Bowser Jr. (SSB4)
| Bowser Jr. in Super Smash Bros. 4 | |
|---|---|
 
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| Universe | Mario |
| Availability | Unlockable (3DS) Starter (Wii U) |
| Final Smash | Shadow Mario Paint |
| Tier | G (47) |
| “ | Bowser Jr. Clowns The Competition! | ” |
| —Introduction Tagline | ||
Bowser Jr. (クッパ Jr., Koopa Jr.) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Alongside Mr. Game & Watch, Bowser Jr. was officially revealed during the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: 50-Fact Extravaganza on October 23, 2014, being the second-to-last newcomer shown by an official source. Prior to that, he was leaked by ESRB on August 29th, 2014 alongside Shulk and Ganondorf. Bowser Jr. was also among the sixth wave of amiibo figures that are compatible with SSB4. Caety Sagoian reprises her role as Bowser Jr.'s voice actor, 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).
Bowser Jr. is tied with Wii Fit Trainer for 46th/47th out of 58 on the tier list, placing them in the G tier. He has one of the best neutral games among the cast, with Clown Kart Dash acting as an excellent approach option and providing an impressive amount of versatility, while Mechakoopa is a very useful pressure option. 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 juggle potentials.
Unsurprisingly for a character that relies on weaponry over hand-to-hand combat, Bowser Jr. has disjointed hitboxes. However, this is especially noteworthy in his case, as he is the only character whose every attack is disjointed, which enables him to attack from a reasonably safe distance. To supplement this, many of Bowser Jr.'s attacks are powerful enough to KO under 100%.
Despite his strengths, Bowser Jr. has noticeable flaws. His overall ground 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, while his grab game suffers from his standing, pivot and dash grabs' overall lag. His grab game is further compounded by very unimpressive throws, with only his back throw being somewhat viable at best as a KOing option. Lastly, Bowser Jr.'s recovery can be problematic despite his good aerial mobility. This is due to Abandon Ship! offering no overhead protection and thus being very susceptible to gimps, as well as being unable to be re-used if he is hit by a weak attack.
Overall, Bowser Jr. is a character who can pressure and combo certain opponents easily once he is mastered. However, due to his current position in competitive play, Bowser Jr.'s impact on the current metagame is very low despite the efforts of Tweek, who notably spearheaded his metagame before dropping him. This is also reflected in his tournament results, which are currently below average due to his very small playerbase. Nonetheless, he has still made waves of attention from time to time, such as with Jade defeating Trela's Ryu at CEO. Additionally, Tweek announced after CEO 2016 that he would resume playing Bowser Jr., which may result in his tournament presence improving.
How to unlock
Complete one of the following:
After completing one of the two methods, Bowser Jr. must then be defeated on 3D Land.
Bowser Jr. does not have to be unlocked in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Attributes
Bowser Jr. is tied with Samus as the sixth heaviest character, yet he possesses decent mobility overall. 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, although this is much more apparent for Bowser Jr. and his Clown Car: attacks that hit the Clown Car will deal 0.88x damage, whereas those that hit Bowser Jr. himself will deal 1.15x damage.[1] Another quirk Bowser Jr. possesses is his vast amount of disjoints, as he is the only character in the game whose every attack has disjointed hitboxes.
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 doughnut-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's 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 to this, 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 grab range being rather long-ranged and his back throw being a somewhat viable KOing option, his grab comes out very slowly (on frame 12) and his other throws are not very useful in general due to their inability to KO reliably or initiate combos. Finally, Bowser Jr. suffers from poor KO potential due to having very few reliable KOing options.
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 repurposes 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. is a greatly overshadowed character, as his slew of his easily exploitable weaknesses make him a bit underwhelming overall. This is evident in his lack of representation in the Western scene. In comparison, the Japanese scene views him more favorably, and players such as Tweek have shown that he can be viable when his strengths are played wisely and to their fullest.
Update history
Bowser Jr. has been slightly buffed via the 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.
Forward smash's hitbox position improved. This enables it to hit at a closer range.
Neutral infinite has less visual whiffs.
- 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 now matches the other characters': 1 → 8.- Back floor attack now 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 ending lag decreased by 14 frames due to it running 1.3x slower rather than 2x on frames 5-25.
- 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
- Attacks that hit the Junior Clown Car deal 0.88x damage, whereas those that hit Bowser Jr. himself will deal 1.15x damage.[2]
| Name | Damage | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral attack | 3% | The Junior Clown Car punches twice, followed by a flurry of punches and a finishing punch. It deals impressive damage and knockback for a neutral attack, as it can easily deal around 20% and KO around 130%-150% at the edge of a stage. | ||
| 2% | ||||
| 1% (loop), 3% (last) | ||||
| Forward tilt | 8% | The Junior Clown Car thrusts a pitchfork forward. It can be angled and is decent for spacing. | ||
| Up tilt | 6% | The Junior Clown Car thrusts a pitchfork upward. It can chain 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 opens its mouth to attack with a tongue. 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 the tongue's undulating hitbox. | ||
| Dash attack | 1.5% (loop), 4% (last) | The Junior Clown Car opens its mouth to attack with a Grinder. Its loop hits do not connect together very well at high percentages. | ||
| Forward smash | 1% (loop), 11% (last) | The Junior Clown Car uses two drills to pierce the opponent. It is a powerful KOing option with low ending lag and it can be angled. | ||
| Up smash | 1% (first), 1.3% (loop), 1% (second to last), 6% (last) | Bowser Jr. performs a handstand to attack with the Junior Clown Car's spinning propeller. It is Bowser Jr.'s fastest smash attack. | ||
| Down smash | 18% | The Junior Clown Car slams wrecking balls on both sides. It is Bowser Jr.'s most powerful smash attack, but unlike his other smash attacks, it has high ending lag. | ||
| Neutral aerial | 6% (clean), 5% (mid), 3% (late) | The Junior Clown Car spins around with the boxing glove arms extended. It combos reliably from Clown Kart Dash and is a useful anti-pressure option. | ||
| Forward aerial | 11%/9% (clean), 8%/6.5% (mid), 5%/4% (late), 2% (landing) | The Junior Clown Car swings a wrecking ball forward. 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 swings 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. | ||
| Up aerial | 10% (clean), 6.5% (late) | Swings a hammer above himself. It has very little ending 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. | ||
| 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. | ||
| 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 | 13% | 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% (loop), 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. |
| Custom 1 | Piercing Cannon | 4% (uncharged), 10% (fully charged) | Fires a cannonball that pierces opponents and travels faster than the standard Clown Cannon, although the cannonball deals less damage and is smaller. | |
| 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 | 4%+speed (collision), 8% (doughnut) | The Junior Clown Car transforms into a go-kart that speeds forward. Tilting the control stick 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 knockback to opponents on contact compared to simply charging into them. Spinning out in the air can produce horizontal movement, after which this move 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. |
| Custom 1 | Koopa Drift | 2%+speed (collision), 1% (doughnut loop), 2% (doughnut last) | The go-kart careens forward during the doughnut, hitting opponents multiple times. Careening in the air grants much more horizontal recovery, but its jumps are much lower. | |
| Custom 2 | Grounding Dash | 8%+speed | The Junior Clown Car travels faster initially, 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 when the move is used in midair, whereas it will simply explode after a brief period when used on the ground. When Bowser Jr. is out of the Junior Clown Car, he is not rendered helpless and can still attack with a hammer, which is surprisingly powerful enough to KO at medium to high percentages. |
| 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), 9% (explosion) | The Junior Clown Car drops a Mechakoopa from its underside hatch. If it reaches a wall, it will turn around and walk in the opposite direction. If it makes contact with an opponent, it will detonate. Lastly, 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. |
| Custom 1 | Impatient Mechakoopa | 5% | 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 | 15% | The Mechakoopa is larger and walks a shorter distance, but it deals more damage if it is thrown. | |
| 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 take damage. The X will clear away with a final burst after some time. The sheer size of the X makes avoiding damage from this Final Smash difficult. | |
On-screen appearance
- Flies onto the stage in the Junior Clown Car and makes a taunting facial expression towards 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 over his eyes and looks around while
smiling with his mouth closed or 
smiling with his mouth open. - Jumps 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
Active
aMac - Ranked #5 on the Saskatchewan Smash 4 Power Rankings. Admin and large contributor to developments in the Bowser Jr. discord.- Blanc - HM on the Southern Ontario Smash 4 Power Rankings, best player in Kitchener/Waterloo. Notably placed 17th at Canada Cup 2016.
Hatsuyuki - The best Bowser Jr. player in Japan, 7th at Karisuma 8, 13th at Sumabato 10, 17th at Sumabato for THE BIG HOUSE and Sumabato 8.
Jade - A "hidden boss" who is ranked 5th on the Tampa Smash 4 Power Rankings. 65th at CEO 2016 where she notably defeated Trela.- Kantrip - Ranked #7 on the British Columbia Smash 4 Power Rankings.
- Hiro - Numerous MDVA Pr wins. Top 8 at Xanadu and other high placings.
Kub4444 - One of the best Bowser Jr. players from Mexico, ranked 2nd on the Sinaloa Smash 4 Power Rankings, has defeated Regi and Hyuga.- LaRiata - One of the best Bowser Jr. players from Mexico, 5th at Smash Pendiente 45 with a notable victory over MKLeo.
Magi - Europe's top Bowser Jr.; 5th at ALBION and 13th at DAT BlastZone 13.- Mahgnittoc -
- Parappa - The best Bowser Jr. player from MD/VA with rare but consistent placings at Xanadu and a "Wi-Fi Warrior". Currently residing in Wisconsin.
- Tweek - Widely considered to be the pioneer of Bowser Jr.'s metagame. 25th at EVO 2015, 33rd at GENESIS 3, and 3rd at SKTAR 4 exclusively/mostly using Bowser Jr.
- Vicegrip - Southern California's best Bowser Jr. player. Ranked 17th on the SoCal Smash 4 Power Rankings. 5th at 2GGT: Fatality Saga and 13th at 2GGT: ESAM Saga, defeated VoiD and Tyrant.
Inactive
- Hino - Formerly ranked 5th on the Las Vegas Smash 4 Power Rankings. Now ranked 7th but has since switched to Villager.
- Moti - Formerly ranked 1st on the SSB4 Missouri Power Rankings.
Tier placement and history
Bowser Jr. was initially considered to be a high-tier character due to his attacks having disjointed hitboxes and an incredibly versatile side special. However, like many other characters, Bowser Jr. began to drop on the tier list once players figured out his weaknesses are very prominent, with a very linear neutral game, lackluster shield pressure, laggy grab, and exploitable recovery. All of these attributes result in him struggling against many of the top tiers. However, Tweek still managed to get strong results with Bowser Jr., placing 25th at EVO 2015, which becomes more significant due to Bowser Jr.'s lack of improvement with custom moves. He also managed to place 33rd at GENESIS 3 and consistently place top 8 in his region. This would lead Bowser Jr. to place 34th on the first tier list released by the 4BR, in the F tier.
Since Tweek dropped Bowser Jr. in favor of Cloud, he has since become much less of a tournament threat. He still gets decent results thanks to many dedicated players such as Vicegrip and Jade (who defeated Trela at CEO 2016), but lack of high placings at tournaments caused Bowser Jr. to drop to 46th-47th place (tied with Wii Fit Trainer) on the second 4BR tier list, in the G tier.
Reveal trailer
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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 all seven 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 alonside 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 Tracks.
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.
- Bowser Jr. is the only newcomer to be both a starter character and an unlockable character in SSB4.
- Bowser Jr. was on the brink of being cut as a playable character due to limited time and resources. He barely got in due to the game's staff's diligent work.[3]
- 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, Wendy was called "a Kootie-Pie", a reference to her name in the DIC Entertainment cartoons.
- On the same Facebook page, Lemmy is noted as "Hip but no Hop", a reference to Lemmy being called Hip and Iggy being called Hop in the cartoons.
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 |
