Character Sheet: Dry Bowser (New Series)

DRY BOWSER

Settle in, folks, we've got a lot of revisions to get through for this one. The "New" series featured most of the series favorites, almost all of which have been included here already and most of them brought at least something new to the table. In fact, we only have four new characters to include this time. They are:

1. Mario (Revision 4)
2. Luigi (Revision 3)
3. Koopa Troopa (Revision 3)
3e. Dry Bones (Revision 2)
4. Goomba (Revision 3)
5. Piranha Plant (Revision 3)
6. Boo (Revision 3)
8. Princess Peach (Revision 2)
9. Toad (Revision 2)
10. Yoshi (Revision 2)
11. Bowser (Revision 2)
13. Lakitu & Spinies (Revision 2)
14. Hammer Bro (Revision 2)
15. Chargin' Chuck (Revision 2)
16. Kamek (Name change, Revision 2)
20. The Koopalings (Revision 1)
22. Boom Boom (Revision 1)
25. Rosalina & Luma (Revision 1)
27. Bowser Jr. (Revision 1)
30. Blooper (Revision 1)
31. Monty Mole (Revision 1)
33. Petey Piranha (Revision 1)
11e. Dry Bowser
22e. Pom Pom
39. Fursuit Mario
40. Sprixie Princess

I guess it's time to truly sit down and consider how I approach echo fighters and color swaps. Up until now, things had been pretty clear cut, as Toadette, Dry Bones, and King Boo were all very clearly distinct from their base counterparts, and those characters who were color swaps of one another came as a group set, like the Koopalings or the Broodals, and unless I wanted to introduce the premise of multi-echoes and how that would work, it was primarily the main feasible option and it worked. There was no reason to consider any method otherwise.

But this time around, we were introduced to two characters who feel sort of as though they don't quite fit either. They are distinct from their counterparts in a way, but they don't feel . . . distinct enough to warrant a whole extra fighter, if you get what I'm saying. But at the same time, it kinda feels like a slap in the face to the characters to relegate them to color swap status (I mean, who really likes the whole Olimar and Alph setup anyway), but we don't have that problem with the Koopalings or the Broodals, so what do we do?

I tested the waters and put a poll out on DeviantArt asking whether or not Pom Pom was preferred as an echo or a color swap. The results were . . . inconclusive. A complete fifty-fifty. So, that's kind of a bust. So I had to sit down and think about the situation. What exactly was the difference between a color swap and an echo fighter? Really, at the end of the day, they are both still based on the character model of the original with only moderate changes to their stats more than anything. From an aesthetic standpoint, it only means more alternate colors for the Echoes than for the Color Swaps. It seems as though the difference so far, really has mostly been the number of characters that are too close to each other to be fully distinct. In the case of the Koopalings and the Broodals, we are dealing with seven whole characters and four (or five) whole characters to deal with, and I'd rather not start listing characters as 24, 24e, 24ee, 24eee, 24eeeeeeeeeeeeeee . . . Whereas with Toad, Koopa, and Boo, they only really had one other person, so an echo was easy. But those echoes are their own distinct characters: Toadette has grown and evolved away from Toad as a character, Dry Bones have always been distinct, and King Boo is very much a distinct character from your everyday run of the mill Boos. What has Pom Pom ever been but "lady" Boom Boom? Dry Bowser literally is just Bowser. Literally the same character. But . . . FLUDD Mario is the same character as Mario, as is Fursuit Mario, and Paper Mario, and Doctor Mario, and Baby Mario, and whatever other version of the character may come around.

So, I don't know. I don't feel entirely comfortable making them full echoes, but I also don't feel comfortable tucking them away as color swaps. I am going to leave them as echoes for now, but if it suits you to consider them as only color swaps, please do. If it pleases you to consider them echoes, also, please do. We will see what the future holds. Thanks for reading.

Here is the moveset for the echo, Dry Bowser:

Standard B: Fire Breath

Pretty much the same as Bowser's.

Side B: Bony Boulders

Dry Bowser will chuck a boulder, the same way Bowser does, but I think this version should be made up of a bunch of bones crunched together into a ball.

Up B: Shell Spin

Dry Bowser will tuck into his shell and spin much as Bowser does.

Down B: Slam Down

Dry Bowser will also slam down, making a shockwave, but unlike Bowser, he will fall apart momentarily due to the impact.

Final Smash: Giant Dry Bowser

Much like Bowser's final fight, this one will likewise be patterned after the New Super Mario Bros. Wii fight.

Entrance: Bowser's skeleton will be lying on the ground before coming together again.

Taunts: Shaking so that his bones shift around. (I'm pretty sure I've seen that animation).

Next up: Let's do the same for Pom Pom.