Bowser Jr. (SSB4)
| Bowser Jr. in Super Smash Bros. 4 | |
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| Universe | Mario |
| Other playable appearance | in Ultimate |
| Availability | Unlockable (3DS) Starter (Wii U) |
| Final Smash | Shadow Mario Paint |
| Tier | F (48) |
| “ | Bowser Jr. Clowns The Competition! | ” |
| —Introduction Tagline | ||
Bowser Jr. (クッパJr., Koopa Jr.) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. After initially being leaked on August 19th, 2014 as part of the ESRB leak, he was revealed as a fighter with Smash for 3DS's launch in Japan on September 13, 2014, followed by his official trailer being shown off during the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 50-Fact Extravaganza on October 23rd, 2014.[1] Caety Sagoian reprises her role as Bowser Jr.'s voice actor from Mario Strikers Charged and onwards, albeit via recycled voice clips from various Mario spin-off games. The Koopalings also use their voice clips from the New Super Mario Bros. games, which were voiced by Lani Minella (Larry, Morton, Wendy, and Lemmy), Mike Vaughn (Iggy and Ludwig) and Dan Falcone (Roy), in place of their respective voice actors (except Roy) from Mario Kart 8.
Bowser Jr. is ranked 48th out of 55 on the tier list, placing him in the F tier. He is able to attack from a reasonably safe distance, which is supplemented by a few of his attacks being powerful enough to KO under 100%. He also has a very capable neutral game: Clown Kart Dash functions as an excellent approach option and provides an impressive amount of versatility, while Mechakoopa is useful for pressuring and stage control. Despite being a heavyweight, Bowser Jr. also sports a deceptively good air game, courtesy of his fairly fast aerial mobility and his aerial attacks' follow-up and juggling potentials.
Despite his strengths, Bowser Jr. has noticeable flaws. His overall grounded mobility is slow, which necessitates using Clown Kart Dash in order to keep up with faster opponents. Lag is another glaring issue; many of Bowser Jr.'s attacks have among the largest amounts of ending lag in the game, requiring players to use reads or baiting in order to secure KOs with him. Bowser Jr.'s grab game also suffers from his standing, pivot and dash grabs' overall lag, and his grab game is further made worse by very unimpressive throws, with only his back throw being useful, as a situational KOing option. Lastly, Bowser Jr.'s recovery is predictable and unsafe, as Abandon Ship! is very susceptible to gimps due to offering no overhead protection, it can only travel in one direction, and it can be rendered unusable if he is hit even by a weak attack.
Bowser Jr. has minimal presence throughout the entire metagame, owing to a small playerbase and results. Although he previously attained stronger tournament results and a deeper metagame from Tweek, he later switched to using the higher-tiered Cloud, leading to a stagnation of Bowser Jr.'s own metagame. Bowser Jr. has still made waves of attention from time to time, such as with Jade defeating Trela's Ryu at CEO 2016, but he struggles to make an impact at most tournaments.
How to unlock
Complete one of the following:
- Play 100 VS Matches.
- Clear Classic Mode as Bowser on Intensity 6.0 or higher.
After completing one of the two methods, Bowser Jr. must then be defeated on 3D Land.
Bowser Jr. is a starter character in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Attributes
Bowser Jr. is tied with Samus as the sixth heaviest character, yet he possesses overall decent mobility. While he has slow walking and dashing speeds, a fast falling speed and above average gravity, all of which are typical of a heavyweight, he has a surprisingly fast air speed and above-average air acceleration. Outside of this, Bowser Jr. possesses a few unorthodox, yet noteworthy, traits. Like Duck Hunt's dog and duck, he and his Junior Clown Car have two separate hurtboxes. However, the properties of Bowser Jr. and his Clown Car's hurtboxes are much more apparent: attacks that hit the Clown Car will deal 0.88× damage, whereas those that hit Bowser Jr. himself will deal 1.15× damage.[2] However, Bowser Jr.'s hitbox takes priority over the Clown Car's hitbox[3], making him vulnerable to receiving more damage more often than not. Although the knockback calculation ignores this, he will still be KO'd earlier than most heavyweights, as the knockback formula takes the target's damage after the attack damage has been added. One unique quirk Bowser Jr. possesses is that all but one of his attacks have disjointed hitboxes (with the only exception being Clown Kart Dash), which gives him decent overall range.
Clown Kart Dash is considered to be Bowser Jr.'s best move overall because of its versatility, with its most apparent benefit being much better movement to make up for his slow dashing speed (which can be made even faster via jump-canceling) and grants him an excellent approach option. Clown Kart Dash is also integral to Bowser Jr. due to its mindgame and damage racking potentials. It can function either as a strong head-on attack or initiate aerial combos due Bowser Jr. being able to jump during it, which are further improved by jump canceling. Lastly, it can function as a horizontal recovery option, which is further supplemented by its doughtnut-based attack and having armor that can withstand a maximum of 7%.
Abandon Ship! is another useful move that possesses impressive knockback and grants Bowser Jr. considerable vertical distance. Unlike most recovery moves, Abandon Ship! does not initiate helplessness; this allows Bowser Jr. to not only air dodge if necessary, but also allows him to perform a powerful hammer swing upon pressing the attack button, which is an almost guaranteed KOing option when used in sync with Clown Kart Dash at high percentages. Mechakoopa is a very useful tool for zoning, combos, follow-ups, and even defensive purposes due to its ability to block incoming projectiles like Link and Toon Link's Bombs can.
Bowser Jr.'s good aerial mobility supplements the utility of his aerial attacks. His neutral aerial is useful as both an edge-guarding and out of shield option. His forward and back aerials are useful as edge-guarding, spacing and KOing options. While Bowser Jr.'s up aerial only hits above him, it is capable of juggling and can KO on stages with low ceilings, such as Battlefield or Town and City. Down aerial can shield stab and works well used out of Clown Kart Dash at lower percentages, due to the hitbox it produces compensating for its high landing lag.
Despite his great aerial mobility and damage racking potential, Bowser Jr. is not without his flaws. One of his biggest problems is that his recovery is glaringly susceptible to gimps. While Abandon Ship! grants him impressive vertical distance, a weak hit from an attack can result in Bowser Jr. not being able to respawn his Clown Car if the player does not button mash. Another major problem that Bowser Jr. faces is a lack of viable options on shield, making him susceptible to punishes. Bowser Jr. is also a very straight-forward character, which can make him quite predictable at times. In addition, Mechakoopa is the crux of Bowser Jr.'s neutral game, making it easy (especially for characters such as Rosalina & Luma) to shut down his options. Also, his Clown Cannon is a slow move that, unlike most chargeable projectiles, cannot be stored. Despite his overall grab range being rather long, his grabs have very high start-up and ending lag, while his throws are not very useful in general due to their inability to KO at reasonable percentages or initiate combos. Lastly, Bowser Jr. suffers from poor KO potential due to having very few reliable KOing options (his smash attacks and his forward/back aerials), which is further compounded by said options being burdened with considerable ending lag.
Bowser Jr. gains very few buffs from his custom moves. Piercing Cannon is faster and pierces opponents, but it deals less damage and knockback. Air Cannon is also faster and briefly stalls Bowser Jr. in midair, but replaces the cannonball with a windbox, which re-purposes it from an offensive option to a defensive option. Big Mechakoopa is stronger and larger, but it sacrifices Mechakoopa's ability to trip up opponents. Outside of these, Bowser Jr.'s remaining customs are less effective than the default versions.
Overall, Bowser Jr. fares well with a bait and punish playstyle like his father does, but he can also be potent at pressuring the opponent thanks to Clown Kart Dash and Mechakoopa. However, his slew of his easily exploitable weaknesses can make him a bit underwhelming overall and greatly overshadowed compared to the rest of the cast. While his flaws have resulted in his lack of representation in the Western scene, the Japanese scene views him more favorably. Additionally, professionals like Tweek have shown that he can be viable when his strengths are played wisely and to their fullest.
Update history
Bowser Jr. has been buffed slightly via game updates. The most notable instance occurred in update 1.1.4, which moderately decreased his smash attacks' ending lag and made his forward and back aerials stronger. The changes to the shield mechanics in updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 also slightly help him due to some of his moves possessing high damage outputs and/or hitting multiple times.
Down throw deals slightly less damage: 8% → 7.5%. It also does eight hits, down from ten.
Neutral infinite has decreased trails.
Forward smash's initial hitbox re-positioned, and its last hit's hitbox size increased: 6u → 7u.
- Clown Cannon deals more damage: 7% (uncharged)/4.4% (uncharged late)/18% (fully charged)/12.6% (fully charged late) → 8.5%/5.9%/20%/14%.
Floor attack's shield damage output matches the other characters': 1 → 8.- Back floor attack deals 10 shield damage, as did the other characters' before update 1.1.1.
- Clown Cannon's knockback increased: 80 (sweetspot)/60 (sourspot) → 85/65.
- Clown Cannon's hitbox size increased: 4.5u → 5.5u.
- Air Cannon's frame speed multiplier decreased: 2× → 1.3×, decreasing its ending lag by 14 frames.
- All smash attacks' ending lag decreased: 60 frames → 56 (forward), 63 frames → 57 (up), 68 frames → 60 (down).
- Forward aerial deals more damage: 8% → 9% (clean), 5% → 7% (late).
- Forward aerial knockback increased: 30 (base)/90 (scaling) → 33/93.
- Back aerial's late hit deals 2% more damage (8% → 10%) and knockback scaling (90 → 92).
Moveset
- Fighter ability: Moves that hit the Junior Clown Car deal 0.88× damage, whereas those that hit Bowser Jr. himself will deal 1.15× damage.[2] Bowser Jr.'s hurtbox takes priority over the Clown Car's hurtbox.[3]
For a gallery of Bowser Jr.'s hitboxes, see here.
| Name | Damage | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral attack | 3% | The Junior Clown Car performs a one-two combo, followed by a flurry of punches, followed by a jab. It has impressive damage racking potential, as it can easily deal around 20%. Its first hit is quite useful for jab locks due to its minimal ending lag, whereas its last hit's extremely high knockback growth can KO around 130%-150% while near the edge. However, its neutral infinite is quite easy to escape, even with minimal SDI, while its last hit is punishable. As a result, it is best used against off-stage opponents that are attempting to grab the edge. The flurry punches of the move are similar to an attack Bowser Jr does when smashing the steel blocks in the Boarding the Airship level from New Super Mario Bros U. | ||
| 2% | ||||
| 2% (loop), 3% (last) | ||||
| Forward tilt | 8% | The Junior Clown Car thrusts a pitchfork forward. It can be angled and is very useful for spacing. | ||
| Up tilt | 6% | The Junior Clown Car thrusts a pitchfork upward. It can combo into itself beginning at 0% and juggle at medium percentages, but has a blind spot between the fork's prongs and the Junior Clown Car. | ||
| Down tilt | 1.5% (hits 1-2), 5% (hit 3) | The Junior Clown Car uses its tongue to lick forward three times. It has a fair amount of utility, as it is efficient at warding off rushdowns, can act as a set-up for a dash attack, or interfere with an opponent attempting to grab an edge due to its undulating hitbox. This is possibly based on a cutscene in Super Mario Sunshine were Shadow Mario sticks his tongue out at Mario when he is kidnapping Peach. | ||
| Dash attack | 1.5% (hits 1-5), 4% (hit 6) | The Junior Clown Car opens its mouth to swing a Grinder twice. Its loop hits do not connect together very well at high percentages. | ||
| Forward smash | Smash Twin Drills | 1% (hits 1-5), 11% (hit 6) | The Junior Clown Car uses two drills to drill the opponent in place. The final hit is a powerful KOing option, while the whole move has low ending lag and it can be angled. | |
| Up smash | 1% (hit 1), 1.3% (hits 2-5), 1% (hit 6), 6% (hit 7) | Bowser Jr. performs a handstand to attack with the Junior Clown Car's spinning propeller. It is Bowser Jr.'s fastest smash attack, with its multiple hits being useful for pressuring shields or denying aerial approaches. | ||
| Down smash | 18% | The Junior Clown Car slams wrecking balls on both sides. It is Bowser Jr.'s most powerful smash attack, and is the third strongest down smash in the game, making it deadly for punishment. However, it has high ending lag unlike his other smash attacks, making it equally as punishable. | ||
| Neutral aerial | 6% (clean), 5% (mid), 3% (late) | The Junior Clown Car spins around with the boxing glove arms extended. It is a weak but useful aerial, which combos reliably from Clown Kart Dash and is effective as a anti-pressure and edgeguarding option. | ||
| Forward aerial | 11%/9% (clean), 8%/6.5% (mid), 5%/4% (late), 2% (landing) | The Junior Clown Car swings a wrecking ball forward in a circling motion. Landing while the wrecking ball is still out produces another hitbox, which can lead to more follow-ups on the ground, as well as compensate for its high landing lag. Useful for edge-guarding and spacing, as well as a viable KOing option. | ||
| Back aerial | 14% (clean tip), 8% (clean base, late) | The Junior Clown Car thrusts a wrecking ball backward. Like his forward aerial, landing while the wrecking ball is still out produces another hitbox, which can lead to more follow-ups on the ground. Useful for edge-guarding and a viable KOing option due to its high knockback. | ||
| Up aerial | 10% (clean), 6.5% (late) | Swings a hammer above himself. It has little lag and is a useful juggling option. | ||
| Down aerial | 1.3% (loop), 2% (last), 2% (landing) | The Junior Clown Car extends a drill from its underside hatch to pierce opponents. Its high ending lag is compensated by the hitbox it produces upon landing, which grants it follow-up potential. If the attack hits an opponent, it can cancel quickly into other moves; if not, Bowser Jr. suffers from moderate ending lag. This could be similar to the Spin Drill from Super Mario Galaxy. | ||
| Grab | — | The Junior Clown Car extends a claw to grab the opponent. A slow grab overall. | ||
| Pummel | 2% | Hits the opponent with a toy hammer. A fairly fast pummel. The toy hammer looks identical to the one used in the Eekhammer sticker from Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Each hit plays the recurring sound of Mario jumping onto a Goomba in the Super Mario franchise. | ||
| Forward throw | 3% (hit 1), 6% (throw) | The Junior Clown Car throws an uppercut. It is fairly good for launching opponents at the edge for an edge-guard. | ||
| Back throw | 12% | The Junior Clown Car spins and then throws the opponent backward. Bowser Jr.'s most powerful throw, as it can KO most middleweights starting around 160% without rage. | ||
| Up throw | 7% | The Junior Clown Car flings the opponent upward. It can lead into up aerial at low percentages. | ||
| Down throw | 0.5% (hits 1-5), 4% (throw) | The Junior Clown Car throws the opponent onto the ground and then extends a drill from its underside hatch to pierce opponents. It can be used to pressure the opponent into his Clown Kart Dash. | ||
| Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge |
— | — | ||
| Techs | — | — | ||
| Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front) |
6% | Gets up while spinning a pair boxing gloves outstretched on both sides. | ||
| Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back) |
7% | Gets up while spinning a Grinder around himself. | ||
| Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip) |
5% | Gets up while thrusting a pitchfork on both of sides. | ||
| Edge attack Edge getups |
7% | Slams a pair of wrecking balls while climbing up. | ||
| Neutral special | Default | Clown Cannon | 8.5% (uncharged), 5.9% (uncharged late), 20% (fully charged), 14% (fully charged late) | The Junior Clown Car opens its mouth and fires a cannonball. It can be charged to increase the cannonball's speed and power. At the end of its path, the cannonball will drop to the ground, which can hit opponents attempting to recover if it is spaced properly. However, it has high overall lag. |
| Custom 1 | Piercing Cannon | 4% (uncharged), 2% (uncharged late), 10% (fully charged), 5% (fully charged late) | Fires a cannonball that pierces opponents and travels faster, although the cannonball is smaller and deals noticeably less damage. | |
| Custom 2 | Air Cannon | — | Fires a gust of wind that will push opponents backward, although it deals no damage. In the air, it can also be used to move backward quickly, aiding Bowser Jr.'s horizontal recovery. | |
| Side special | Default | Clown Kart Dash | 5% (beginning leap), 4%-7% (collision), 8-12% (doughnut) | The Junior Clown Car transforms into a go-kart that jumps back slightly before speeding forward. Holding the control stick/circle pad forward increases speed, and tilting it in the opposite direction or pressing the attack/special button will cause the Junior Clown Car to perform a doughnut, which deals more damage and has higher knockback to opponents on contact compared to simply charging into them. Using the Kart in the air slightly improves horizontal movement, after which it can be used again. All versions of the move can be jump canceled, even right after hitting an opponent, which can lead into combos and mix-ups, and gives Bowser Jr. more vertical recovery, though he cannot double jump after the leap. The Kart will bounce slightly upon hitting the ground. |
| Custom 1 | Koopa Drift | 2% (collision), 1% (doughnut loop, up to 8 hits), 2% (doughnut last) | The go-kart careens forward during the doughnut, hitting opponents multiple times. Doesn’t have a hitbox in the middle of a dash. Careening in the air grants much more horizontal recovery, but its jumps are much lower. | |
| Custom 2 | Grounding Dash | 8% (collision) | The Junior Clown Car travels faster, but its doughnut does not deal damage. It buries grounded opponents on contact, but grants less horizontal distance. | |
| Up special | Default | Abandon Ship! | 5% (contact), 13% (explosion), 15%/10% (hammer) | Bowser Jr. ejects himself from the Junior Clown Car. The Junior Clown Car slowly falls to the ground and then explodes with high power when the move is used in midair, whereas it will simply explode after a brief period when used on the ground. The move covers a decent amount of vertical distance, and is flexible with horizontal steering. When Bowser Jr. is out of the Junior Clown Car, he is not rendered helpless and can still dodge or attack with a hammer, which is powerful enough to KO at medium to high percentages. However, taking any weak hit while out of the Junior Clown Car prevents another use of the move without button mashing or landing. |
| Custom 1 | Meteor Ejection | 8%/3% (contact), 10% (explosion), 15%/10% (hammer) | The Junior Clown Car produces a meteor effect upon activation. However, it covers less vertical distance, whereas Bowser Jr. seems to cover more horizontal distance after being ejected. | |
| Custom 2 | Koopa Meteor | 17% (contact), 15%/10% (hammer) | Ejects Bowser Jr. high into the air before the Junior Clown Car explodes, ejecting him downward. Deals strong knockback and a powerful meteor smash upon contact on opponents caught near the bottom. | |
| Down special | Default | Mechakoopa | 2% (contact), 7% (explosion) | The Junior Clown Car drops a Mechakoopa from its underside hatch. The Mechakoopa falls in a strong downward arc; once it lands, it starts walking around. If it reaches a wall or dead end, it will turn around and walk in the opposite direction. If it makes contact with an opponent (or travels enough distance in the air without landing), it will detonate. If enough time passes and they have not hit an opponent yet, they will spark out and detonate automatically. They can be picked up and thrown as items either by Bowser Jr. or his opponent. Picking them up will delay their detonation slightly. Bowser Jr. won’t be damaged by his own explosions. |
| Custom 1 | Impatient Mechakoopa | 1% (contact), 4% (explosion) | Launches a Mechakoopa at a fair distance. The Mechakoopa is armed to explode the moment it is launched and will explode shortly after landing. | |
| Custom 2 | Big Mechakoopa | 1% (thrown), 15% (explosion) | The Mechakoopa is larger and walks a shorter distance, but doesn’t detonate upon colliding. | |
| Final Smash | Shadow Mario Paint | 3% (paint), 5% (explosion) | Bowser Jr. transforms into Shadow Mario and uses the Magic Paintbrush to paint a giant, orange X on the screen. Anyone caught in the X's hitbox will be damaged, with the X pulling opponents into it once they are hit. The X will clear away with an explosion after some time. The sheer size of the X makes avoiding damage from this Final Smash difficult, similarly to Iceberg. | |
On-screen appearance
- Flies onto the stage in the Junior Clown Car and makes a taunting facial expression toward the camera.
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Taunts
- Up taunt: Jumps up, sits on the rim of the Junior Clown Car, and exhales a tiny flame while chuckling.
- Side taunt: Pulls out a hammer and swings it around twice.
- Down taunt: The Junior Clown Car turns into its go-kart form, sports an angry expression while performing a doughnut, then returns to normal.
| Up taunt | Side taunt | Down taunt |
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Idle poses
- Places his hand above his eyes and looks around while
smiling with his mouth closed or 
smiling with his mouth open. - Hops impatiently in the Junior Clown Car.
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Crowd cheer
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Victory poses
- Uses Clown Kart Dash while laughing, then stops and pulls out a hammer.
- Gets out of the Junior Clown Car and rubs it with his right hand while smiling with his mouth open or smiling with his mouth closed.
- Jumps out of the Junior Clown Car, hops in celebration a few times while laughing, then strikes a pose.
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In competitive play
Official Custom Moveset Project
| Character | Custom sets available | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bowser Jr. |
1113 | 1121 | 1123 | 1211 | 1213 |
| 1313 | 3111 | 3113 | 3213 | 1112 | |
Notable players
aMac - Ranked 3rd on the Saskatchewan Power Rankings.- Blanc - The best Bowser Jr. player in Canada. Placed 17th at Canada Cup 2016, and won the Ontario Smash 4 2018 Arcadian. Ranked 9th on the Southern Ontario Power Rankings.
DaNeel - Formerly 1st in Mississippi, now living in Alabama as the best Bowser Jr. in the Southeast.- Fluzi - Placed 13th at Final Round 20. Ranked 10th on the South Carolina Power Rankings.
Hatsuyuki - The best Bowser Jr. player in Japan. Placed 7th at Karisuma 8, 13th at Sumabato 10, and 17th at Sumabato for THE BIG HOUSE and Sumabato 8.- Hino - Formerly ranked 5th on the Las Vegas Power Rankings prior to switching to Villager.
- Jade - Placed 65th at CEO 2016. Ranked 5th on the Tampa Smash Power Rankings. She has a win over Trela.
- Kantrip - Ranked 7th on the British Columbia Power Rankings.
Kub4444 - One of the best Bowser Jr. players in Mexico. Ranked 2nd on the Sinaloa Power Rankings. He has wins over Regi and Hyuga.- LaRiata - One of the best Bowser Jr. players in Mexico. Placed 5th at Smash Pendiente 45. He has a win over MKLeo.
- Llany - The best Bowser Jr. player in the Midwest. Has wins over Mr E and ScAtt. Currently ranked 15th on the Michigan Smash 4 Power Rankings.
Magi - The best Bowser Jr. player in Europe. Placed 5th at Albion and Schism 2, 25th at Albion 2, and 49th at Syndicate 2017.- Moti - Placed 7th at Kings of the North 4, 13th at Midwest Mayhem 3, 17th at King of the Springs 2, and 49th at both Smash 'N' Splash 2 and UGC Smash Open. Formerly ranked as high as 1st on the St. Louis Power Rankings.
- Parappa - The best Bowser Jr. player in MD/VA, though he currently resides in Wisconsin. He has achieved rare, but consistently high placings at Smash @ Xanadu tournaments. Formerly ranked 11th on the MD/VA Power Rankings.
- Taternator - One of the best Bowser Jr. in SoCal. He frequents MSMs and places well. Taken sets off of players such as Raito, K9sbruce and VoiD.
- The Bowz - One of the best Bowser Jr. players in Michigan. Placed 13th at Saints Gaming Live 2018, 17th at Showdown: Battle Royale, 33rd at Little Big House 2 and 97th at Frostbite 2018.
- Tweek - Widely considered to be the best Bowser Jr. player in the world. Placed 25th at EVO 2015, 33rd at GENESIS 3, and 3rd at SKTAR 4. Has since switched mains to Cloud. Only used Bowser Jr. as a rare counterpick/sandbagging after switching mains.
- Vicegrip - One of the best Bowser Jr. player in SoCal. Placed 5th at 2GGT: Fatality Saga and 13th at 2GGT: ESAM Saga. Formerly ranked 17th on the SoCal Power Rankings. He has wins over VoiD and Tyrant.
- CoonTail - One of the best Bowser Jr players in the Atlantic North outside of Tweek. Placed 13th at Xanadu 160 with wins against Mister Eric and Techei.
- ZomBiehn - Placed 3rd at MCGArena and 13th at GUMS 8. Formerly ranked 2nd on the Maine Power Rankings prior to his retirement. He has wins over Ntarps, Cagt, DM888, LordXav1er and Light.
Tier placement and history
Bowser Jr. was initially considered to be a high-tier character due to his attacks having disjointed hitboxes and Clown Kart Dash's incredible versatility. However, like many other characters, Bowser Jr. began to drop on the tier list once players discovered that his he has a very linear neutral game, lackluster shield pressure, laggy grabs, and exploitable recovery. All of these attributes resulted in him struggling against many top-tier characters. However, Tweek still managed to achieve impressive results with Bowser Jr., such as placing 25th at EVO 2015, which was especially significant due to Bowser Jr.'s lack of improvement with custom moves. Tweek also managed to place 33rd at GENESIS 3 and consistently achieve top 8 placings in his region. As a result, Bowser Jr. was ranked 34th on the first tier list.
However, after Tweek dropped Bowser Jr. in favor of Cloud, his tournament prominence has dropped significantly. While he still achieves decent results thanks to many dedicated players, such as Vicegrip and Jade (the latter of whom notably defeated Trela at CEO 2016), and his metagame keeps being developed, Bowser Jr.'s lack of high placings at tournaments have resulted in him tying with Wii Fit Trainer for 46th/47th on the second tier list, and then slightly dropping to 48th on the third tier list. Currently, Bowser Jr. remains ranked as 48th on the fourth and current tier list, which can be attributed to players like Kub4444 achieving good, albeit scarce, placements in their region. Despite this, his tier placement remained debatable throughout the game’s competitive lifespan; some players advocated that he should be ranked even lower due to his mediocre neutral game and poor recovery, whereas others argued that he should be ranked slightly higher thanks to his previously attained success and decent disjoints.
Reveal trailer
Trophies
- Bowser Jr.
Bowser's beloved, spoiled son sports a bandanna with a large mouth drawn on it. Like his father, Bowser Jr. longs to take Mario down. In Smash Bros., he'll fight from inside his heavily armed Junior Clown Car. The Clown Car takes less damage than Bowser Jr., so mind your positioning.
Bowser's probably a big fan of his son, what with him hating Mario just as much as dear old Dad does. The tyke's Junior Clown Car is packed with gadgets and gizmos to throw at enemies! By the way, he's extra vulnerable when he jumps out of it, but...you wouldn't dream of attacking the cute little fella then, would you?
: Super Mario Sunshine (08/2002)
: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (11/2009)
- Bowser Jr. (Alt.)
- The Clown Kart Dash special move turns the Junior Clown Car into a kart. If you change direction while driving it, it'll spin and do more damage. When you use his up special, Bowser Jr. leaps from his Junior Clown Car, dropping it on the foes below.
- The Clown Kart Dash special move turns the Junior Clown Car into a kart. If you change direction while driving it, it'll spin and do more damage. When you use his up special, Bowser Jr. jumps out of the Junior Clown Car, letting it hit opponents. Try to catch opponents with it while you're directly over them to hit them on the head!
- : Super Mario Sunshine (08/2002)
- : New Super Mario Bros. Wii (11/2009)
- Shadow Mario Paint
- In Super Mario Sunshine, someone went around causing havoc disguised as Mario. It turned out not to be the brawny Bowser, but his brainier son, Bowser Jr. Now he becomes Shadow Mario again for his Final Smash, painting a giant X on the screen. It sticks around after Bowser Jr. transforms back, letting him gleefully knock foes into it.
- In Super Mario Sunshine, someone went around causing havoc disguised as Mario. It turned out not to be the brawny Bowser, but his brainier son, Bowser Jr. Now he becomes Shadow Mario again for his Final Smash, painting a giant cross on the screen. It sticks around after Bowser Jr. turns back, so he can gleefully knock people into it.
Classic (3DS)
Alt. (3DS)
Classic (Wii U)
Alt. (Wii U)
In Event Matches
Solo Events
- Behind Enemy Lines: As Fox, the player must survive one minute against Bowser Jr. and Mega Man while they are all heavily damaged.
- It's Past Your Bedtime!: As Jigglypuff, the player must make Bowser Jr., Ness, and Toon Link fall asleep at the same time by using Sing.
- New Challengers 1: Bowser Jr. is one of the seven opponents fought, alongside Rosalina & Luma, Wii Fit Trainer, Little Mac, Villager, Duck Hunt and Lucina.
- Family Ties: Bowser Jr., who is aided by a giant Bowser, must defeat Mario and Luigi.
- Enough with the Kidnapping: As Peach, the player must defeat Bowser Jr. and Bowser.
Co-op Events
- A Lurking Menace: Mario and Luigi must defeat Bowser Jr., but if the match lasts too long, they must also defeat a giant Bowser.
- Peach in Peril: Bowser Jr. and Bowser must defeat all opponents except Peach, where KOing her results in a failure.
- Solidarity: Olimar and Rosalina & Luma must defeat Mario and Luigi and then they must defeat Bowser Jr. and Bowser.
- The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
Alternate costumes
Instead of alternate color schemes, Bowser Jr.'s alternate costumes consist of the Koopalings. Bowser Jr.'s Junior Clown Car is the only one with black eyes and horizontal orange "eye paint", while the Koopalings' Clown Cars have yellow mechanical eyes with vertical black "eye paint".
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Gallery
Artwork of Bowser Jr. from the official site.
Bowser Jr.'s splash art.
Bowser Jr.'s amiibo.
Using Clown Kart Dash alongside Wario's Wario Bike.
Taunting alongside his father, who is using Fire Breath.
Using Clown Cannon alongside Kirby, who is also using it due to having copied him.
Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings on Onett.
Morton and Iggy using Abandon Ship! on Ludwig and Lemmy. Morton and Iggy's size differences in SSB4 are noticeably different in comparison to their sizes in the Mario series.
Wendy using her forward smash on Iggy.
Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings on The Great Cave Offensive.
Using Shadow Mario Paint, his Final Smash, on Mario and Luigi.
Using Mechakoopa.
Using Clown Kart Dash on Spirit Train.
Trivia
- Bowser Jr. is the only character who does not have an alternate costume that shares the same name as the default costume or is a palette swap of the original costume. Due to this, he's the only character to use his default color scheme in his Alt. trophies.
- Similarly, Bowser Jr. is the only character who does not use an alternative costume when he is fought in rounds 4-5 in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U's classic mode, as well as Smash Tour with customs. However, Larry will appear in his place in a team battle if the player chooses a previously-defeated Bowser Jr. as a teammate.
- This additionally makes Bowser Jr. and Villager are the only characters where all eight of their palette swaps have a chance of appearing in All-Star Mode. However, because his placement in All-Star Mode is based on his debut rather than that of the Koopalings (who debuted before him), the Koopalings will be misplaced chronologically during All-Star mode if the opponent's costume is a Koopaling. The same applies to Olimar and Alph.
- In Bowser Jr.'s reveal trailer, he is seen firing a cannonball which then explodes. However, this does not happen in game, not even from his custom moves. Also, his reveal trailer is the only one to have a character use a shield in the CGI portion of the trailer.
- Bowser Jr. is the only newcomer to be both a starter character and an unlockable character in Smash 4.
- Bowser Jr. was on the brink of being cut as a playable character due to limited time and resources. He barely got onto the roster due to the game staff's diligent work.[4]
- When Bowser Jr. gets a Super Leaf, the ears will be on his head but the tail will be on the back of his Junior Clown Car.
- When he uses Abandon Ship!, the tail on the Junior Clown Car disappears.
- One of Bowser Jr.'s conquest teams is called the "Kooky Kids". "Kooky" is also Ludwig's name in the DiC Entertainment cartoons The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.
- On the official Super Smash Bros. Facebook page and Nintendo of Europe's official Twitter account, Wendy was called "a Kootie-Pie", a reference to her name in the DIC Entertainment cartoons.
- On the same Facebook and Twitter pages, Lemmy is noted as "Hip but no Hop", a reference to Lemmy being called Hip and Iggy being called Hop in the cartoons.
- In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Koopa Clown vehicle, if used by a Koopaling will change colors to match the ones they use in Super Smash Bros. 4.
- In Bowser Jr.'s trailer, a music piece, "Bowser Jr.'s Fiery Flotilla", was featured, but did not appear in the game.
References
| Fighters in Super Smash Bros. 4 | |
|---|---|
| Veterans | Bowser · Captain Falcon · Charizard · Diddy Kong · Donkey Kong · Dr. Mario · Falco · Fox · Ganondorf · Ike · Jigglypuff · King Dedede · Kirby · Link · Lucario · Lucas · Luigi · Mario · Marth · Meta Knight · Mewtwo · Mr. Game & Watch · Ness · Olimar · Peach · Pikachu · Pit · R.O.B. · Roy · Samus · Sheik · Sonic · Toon Link · Wario · Yoshi · Zelda · Zero Suit Samus |
| Newcomers | Bayonetta · Bowser Jr. · Cloud · Corrin · Dark Pit · Duck Hunt · Greninja · Little Mac · Lucina · Mega Man · Mii Fighter (Mii Brawler · Mii Gunner · Mii Swordfighter) · Pac-Man · Palutena · Robin · Rosalina & Luma · Ryu · Shulk · Villager · Wii Fit Trainer |
