Character Sheet: Bowser (Main 3D Games)

BOWSER

Now that we're done with all of the major 3D Mario titles, I think we need to now go through and update our characters, starting with revisions for any characters included so far that appeared in any of these games. Out of the 24 so far, 17 need revision:

1. Mario
2. Luigi
6. Pauline
7. Princess Toadstool
8. Toad
9. Yoshi
10. Bowser
13. Koopa Troopa
13e. Dry Bones
14. Shy Guy
15. Goomba
16. Piranha Plant
17. Boo
18. Lakitu
19. Hammer Bro
20. Chargin' Chuck
21. Magikoopa

Next up, let's deal with Bowser, who acts as the main villain in all five games covered in this section and has radically different boss fights in all of them, as well as some cutscene moves to consider a little.

Bowser is still a heavyweight, moving moderately slowly, but not too bad. He still maintains most of his abilities from before, including his propensity for breathing fire and slamming down hard enough to break stuff. In 64, Mario faces him on large round platforms surrounded by floating mines. In this fight, he can also charge toward the player, tip the entire stage, and create shockwaves with his stomps. In Sunshine, he hangs out in a giant hot tub and doesn't bring anything new to his repertoire other than his enormous size. In the first Galaxy game, he fights you on a small planetoid, punching at you with a spin, curling up into a boulder, and spinning in his shell. In the second game, he spends most of it as a giant, flying around a planet, throwing meteors at it and punching it with shockwaves. In Odyssey, he uses a special hat with punching gloves, throws boulders around, and swipes with his tail. He can also be captured by Cappy, with most of his basic moves, plus his claw attack currently used by Smash. All of these can contribute to all sorts of moves, so we'll see what we can do.

Here is the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Fire Breath

We'll keep Bowser's fire breathing ability, as it is the one constant in all of his boss fights and any moveset without it would feel incomplete.

Side B: Boulders

For now, I'm holding off on giving Bowser his claw ability that normally fills this slot, as I've only seen it used once so far. Instead, I will combine moves from Galaxy, Galaxy 2, and Odyssey, having him toss out boulders matching all three of those moves which do heavy damage.

Up B: Koopa Klown Kar

We're going to keep the Koopa Klown Kar for now, at least until Bowser Jr. has built up enough moveset specifically using the Kar to accurately call it a moveset.

Down B: Slam Down

And we're keeping his slam move, complete with the shockwaves produced during all but Sunshine's boss battles, as it really works for him.

Final Smash: Giant Bowser

This one is basically his Final Smash from Ultimate, except that it more matches its usage in Super Mario Galaxy 2, floating as a giant in the background, before punching at the players. No word yet on whether this will produce yellowish meteors you can buttbash into his face.

Entrance: Bowser will land in his Koopa Klown Kar.

Taunts: His evil laugh from Super Mario 64, many of his taunts from Odyssey and other games, holding up a captive something or other, the list goes on.

Next up: Let's cover Bowser's most iconic minion, the Koopa Troopa.