Giga Bowser
- This article is about Giga Bowser in general and his appearance as a boss. For his regular appearance, seeBowser.
| Giga Bowser | |
|---|---|
   Giga Bowser across the series | |
| A boss in | Melee Ultimate |
| Universe | Super Smash Bros. |
| Point worth | 100000 |
| Location | Final Destination (Melee) Molten Fortress/Final Destination (Ultimate) |
Giga Bowser (ギガクッパ,Giga Koopa) is a gargantuan, powered-up version ofBowser. He first appeared as the hidden final boss inSuper Smash Bros. Melee'sAdventure Mode and as one of the final opponents the player must face inEvent Mode. He eventually made his semi-playable debut inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl as Bowser'sFinal Smash. While the character he is based on, Bowser, is from theMario universe, Giga Bowser is considered a part of theSuper Smash Bros. universe, due to having debuted in theSuper Smash Bros. series.
InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
InAdventure Mode[edit]
InMelee, Giga Bowserappears as a hidden final boss. To encounter him, the player must reach the final stage ofAdventure Mode on Normaldifficulty or higher and defeatGiant Bowser within 18 minutes. If done correctly, a new cutscene will be shown after Giant Bowser is defeated - his KO'dtrophy will return to the stage and be struck by lightning, causing it to come back to life as Giga Bowser. Defeating Giga Bowser leads to the completion of the Adventure Mode; defeating him without using a continue rewards the player with his trophy.
InEvent 51: The Showdown[edit]
Giga Bowser also appears inMelee's final Event Match, alongsideGanondorf andMewtwo. The match is similar to his appearance in the Adventure Mode, but with the presence of two teammates. Clearing the Event Match allows the player to useFinal Destination as aVersus stage, as well as rewarding Final Destination's trophy; as an added bonus, clearing the match without losing a stock rewards the player with an exclusiveNotice.
Unlike most other bosses, Giga Bowser has adamage percentage as opposed toHP (in both of his appearances) and takes knockback; the player must KO him by knocking him offstage as opposed to merely attacking him.
As a playable character[edit]
- Main article:Giga Bowser (SSBM)
If the game is hacked through the use of thedebug menu, it is possible to use Giga Bowser as a character. Giga Bowser is mostly functional, and his name is even displayed on the Jumbotron inPokémon Stadium (as "G-Bowser"). Internally, Giga Bowser is known asGKOOPS. He posseses 20 units ofknockback-basedarmor.
Due to a lack ofvictory poses to display for him on theresults screen,the game will usually crash if Giga Bowser wins a match, due to apanic event being called.
When the game is played on theDolphin emulator and panic events are deliberately suppressed, when Giga Bowser wins a match, the game will not freeze, and the results screen will appear. The game, however, will displaySheik's name in red, and Giga Bowser's stock icon will be aTarget. Theannouncer, however, will properly say Giga Bowser's name.
Trophy[edit]
- Giga Bowser
- An even more imposing figure than the originalKing of the Koopas, Giga Bowser is roughly twice the size of his scaly, fire-breathing, spike-studded Super Smash Bros. Melee counterpart. Predictably, this monstrous creature's offensive and defensive powers are a grade higher than those of regular Bowser. Good luck defeating this colossus!
- Super Smash Bros. Melee (12/01)
InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl andSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]
As a Final Smash[edit]
Giga Bowser makes his debut as a semi-playable character in theSmash series as part ofBowser's Final Smash. When the Final Smash is activated, Bowser transforms into Giga Bowser, allowing players to take advantage of his increased power and range, as well as different hitbox properties. While Giga Bowser does notflinch during this transformation, the transformation only lasts ten seconds.
Outside of this appearance, as well as his related trophy, Giga Bowser does not make any other appearances inBrawl, andSSB4.
InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
As a Final Smash[edit]
InUltimate, due to full-moveset transformation Final Smashes being removed, Giga Bowser forgoes having a full moveset, instead acting akin to theDragoon, where he teleports to the background and allows the player to aim a punch. The punch deals 40% damage, and causes aninstantScreen KO for opponent(s) at 60% damage or greater.
As a boss[edit]
Giga Bowser appears as aboss inClassic Mode forMario,Captain Falcon andSephiroth. For the first two,Bowser initially appears instead of a boss on the final stage; once he isKO'd, a cutscene plays where he transforms into Giga Bowser, similarly to the final stage ofMelee's Adventure Mode at high difficulties. AMaxim Tomato appears for recovery as the battle begins. This does not happen in Sephiroth's route, as he fights Giga Bowser straight away, and in the second to last round. UnlikeMelee, Giga Bowser almost neverflinches from attacks, and the player must deplete hisHP to defeat him, as opposed to being launched off the screen, just like every other boss. Despite this, he can still be KO'd by the blast zone if he accidentally leaves the stage; though rare, this can happen due to improper use ofFlying Slam orBowser Bomb. FollowingSmash 4, he utilizes Bowser's moveset fromBrawl. Additionally, he moves slower as his attacks now have much more startup lag.
InWorld of Light, Giga Bowser is first fought in theMolten Fortress sub-area of the Light Realm map, and then fought again during the Final Battle like every other boss. The player faces him on theFinal Destination stage, while theGiga Bowser theme is playing. Unlike other boss battles, defeating him will release the regular Bowser as a playable character from Galeem's control, instead of both appearing separately on the map (as is the case withGanondorf andGanon). He's fought for a second time during thetrue final battle withGaleem andDharkon. During the battle's second phase, Giga Bowser is the second Light Realm boss to appear on screen, which might indicate him being the second boss in the game.
While difficult, because hisarmor is no longer unlimited and instead has a threshold of 95knockback units, it is possible to make Giga Bowser flinch or even be launched.[1]Cloud'sLimit Break andHero'sHatchet Man are a couple moves that can launch him, as well ascountering many of his single-hit attacks (some slow or multi-hit counters likePeach's,Palutena's, andGreninja's are unable launch Giga Bowser);Mii Swordfighter'sBlade Counter will cause Giga Bowser to flinch and cancel his attack, even if the retaliating hit doesn't launch him. Since his attacks do less damage on lower difficulties, the player will need to use stronger counters (e.g.Joker'sTetrakarn) or to counter his stronger attacks likeforward smash. This allows the player to see his knockback animations, double jump, aerial up special, and ledge options. When launched, Giga Bowser does not get launched as far as other fighters, due to his knockback physics being different, causing him to decelerate faster; specifically, his launch speed decays at a rate of 0.08 units/frame² rather than the usual 0.051.Pac-Man'sFire Hydrant and (to a lesser extent)Steve'sblocks cause Giga Bowser's AI to act strangely, such as jumping after Flying Slam or performing a dash turnaround[2] and landing Flying Slam off-center or potentiallyBowserciding.[3] If Giga Bowser is hacked to have a regular increasing damage percentage (see below), standard attacks at high damage can also break the knockback threshold.
All move names are sourced from the JapaneseDairantō Smash Brothers SPECIAL Official Guide. As there are no official English localized listings for the non-special moves, many of the names used here reflect the Japanese names for certain subjects.
| Move | Damage | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous Scratch (連続ひっかき) | 6% (Hit 1), 8% (Hit 2) | Scratches twice with his claws. |
| Koopa Back Fist (クッパ裏拳) | 18% | Lunges forward and delivers a punch surrounded by dark flames. Based off of Bowser's forward tilt attack. |
| Ceiling Scratch (天井ひっかき) | 16% (close), 15% (mid), 12% (far) | Performs an arcing overhead slash with his claws. Based off of Bowser's up tilt attack. |
| Bull Head (ブルヘッド) | 28% (sweetspot), 18% (sourspot) | Headbutts the opponent, creating an explosion. Based off Bowser's forward smash attack fromMelee toBrawl. |
| Rising Spike (ライジングスパイク) | 18% (rising), 10% (landing) | Lays in a prone position, then sends his body flying upwards, stabbing the opponent with his spiked shell. Based off of Bowser's up smash attack. Shell hasinvincibility frames from frame 30-36. |
| Buzzsaw (バズソー) | 2% (hits 1-5), 6% (final hit) | Retracts into his shell and spins around, creating blades of razor-sharp wind around him. Based off of Bowser's down smash attack fromMelee toSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. |
| Fire Breath (クッパブレス,Koopa Breath) | 2% (early), 1.4% (late), 0.8% (latest) | Breathes a large stream of flames. |
| Flying Slam (ダイビングプレス,Diving Press) | 20% | Grabs the opponent, jumping into the air and spinning around before slamming them to the ground with a body press. He almost always goes for the center of the stage. |
| Whirling Fortress (スピニングシェル,Spinning Shell) | 2% (first hit), 10% (multihits) | Retracts into his shell and spins around rapidly. More closely resembles theMelee incarnation, which had a strong first hit. Limbs are intangible from frames 28-80. |
| Bowser Bomb (クッパドロップ,Koopa Drop) | 4% (headbutt), 16% (falling), 10% (landing) | Jumps into the air, slamming down with a powerful hip drop. |
As a playable character[edit]
Much like inMelee, Giga Bowser can only be played as throughhacking or modding the game. However, his moveset is significantly restricted, including the removal of dashing, dash attack, down tilt, neutral aerial, and down aerial. Despite these changes, Giga Bowser retains much of his primeval moveset fromBrawl, such as theMelee back aerial, making him an imposing character to defeat regardless.
Spirit[edit]
| No. | Image | Name | Type | Class | Slots | Base | Max | Base | Max | Base | Max | Ability | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,097 |  | Giga Bowser |  | ★★ | 3 | 1655 | 6700 | 813 | 3289 | 692 | 2802 | Fire Attack ↑ | Super Smash Bros. Series |
Differences between Bowser and Giga Bowser[edit]
Undoubtedly the most dramatic transformation between Bowser and Giga Bowser is the clear difference between their sizes; Giga Bowser is almost twice as large as Bowser, and even if Bowser is under the influence of aSuper Mushroom, Giga Bowser is still slightly larger than him. Visually, Giga Bowser has more pronounced physical features than the normal Bowser; aside from the aforementioned size, Giga Bowser has longer and less-bulky limbs with more toned muscular regions, sharper fangs, claws and shell spikes, a less rounded snout, larger horns, spikier hair, a more realistic shell, larger feet, bloodshot eyes, and a darker overall skin tone.
As Giga Bowser's larger frame implies, he is considerably heavier than Bowser; when fought in Adventure Mode, he is also given knockback-basedarmor to make him even more difficult toKO; a subtractive threshold of 20 KB inMelee, and a non-subtractive threshold of 95 KB inUltimate. Adding to this, Giga Bowser also takes minimalhitstun from attacks, making him effectively unable to flinch from some attacks due to making them unsafe on hit. Just like Master Hand and Crazy Hand, Giga Bowser cannot begrabbed,inhaled byKirby, oregg laid byYoshi, severely limiting combo options outside of those started from attacks. In order to compensate for Bowser's ordinary sub-par recovery, Giga Bowser'sWhirling Fortress grants significantly more height, and it also has 26invincibility frames; its large hitboxes also give multiple pseudo-invincibility frames after this, making it a very safe move and arguably one of the safest in the series. It is faster than his Frame 7 Jab, sitting at Frame 5, making it one of the best out of shield options in the game, on top of his already formidable shield game padded by the grab immunity. If Giga Bowser captures an opponent withKoopa Klaw, he can bite his opponent, but the pummel will whiff onYoshi, andPichu if mashed too fast. It can also whiff on the first hit with a few specific characters, although these circumstances can be rare. In addition to this error, Giga Bowser'sfastfalling speed is identical to his ordinary falling speed, making landing difficult.
As a transformation of Bowser, Giga Bowser's moveset is identical to his and he usually has passivesuper armor. His attributes, however, are significantly altered. His attacks are considerably stronger in power and knockback. Some of Giga Bowser's attacks also have different properties as a result of his transformation;Fire Breath, for instance, does not run out or become weaker the longer it is used, as well as having a longer range (inUltimate, it can carpet the entire surface ofFinal Destination; however, unlike his past appearances, his fire runs out after a period of time.). In addition, many of Giga Bowser's attacks are given unusual hitbox properties: his claw-based attacks (side tilt,up tilt,down tilt,edge attacks,forward aerial, andback throw) all have adarkness hitbox; his shell-based attacks (hisup smash,neutral aerial,back aerial,down aerial, andup throw) all haveelectric hitboxes; his horn-based attacks (hisforward smash,pummel, andforward throw) have explosion effects; and hisdown smash hasfreezing properties, as doesWhirling Fortress when used on the ground.
Gallery[edit]
Giga Bowser inMelee
Bowser turning into Giga Bowser inUltimate
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
 Japanese | ギガクッパ,Giga Koopa |
 English | Giga Bowser |
 French | Giga Bowser |
 German | Giga Bowser |
 Spanish | Giga Bowser |
 Italian | Giga Bowser |
 Chinese (Simplified) | 巨兽酷霸王,Giga Koopa |
 Chinese (Traditional) | 巨獸庫巴,Giga Koopa |
 Korean | 기가쿠파,Giga Koopa |
 Dutch | Giga Bowser |
 Russian | Гига-Боузер |
Trivia[edit]
- InMelee there exists an unused sound clip where theAnnouncer says Giga Bowser's name. This clip can only normally be heard in theSound Test.
- As expected, due to Giga Bowser's different names in English and Japanese, there exist two different sound bites, one where the announcer says "Giga Bowser!" and the other "Giga Koopa!". In theNTSC version, the two clips are oddly swapped in the Sound Test; the announcer says "Giga Koopa!" when the game language is set to English and "Giga Bowser!" when the game language is set to Japanese. ThePAL version only has the "Giga Bowser!" clip, as expected. Both are used properly if Giga Bowser is hacked to be available on thecharacter select screen, or if he wins a match without thegame crashing.
- The size difference between Bowser and Giga Bowser is approximately equal to one usage of aSuper Mushroom orPoison Mushroom, with Giga Bowser being slightly larger when he is shrunk or Bowser is enlarged. Despite this, the two characters'weights do not share the same ratio as the code for changing characters' sizes does, so Giga Bowser will actually be lighter than Bowser in both cases.
- Giga Bowser was at one point under consideration to be a transformation of Bowser in theSkylanders gameSkylanders: SuperChargers. However, he was replaced by theSkylanders-original Molten Bowser.
- Giga Bowser inMelee, as well asSuper Smash Bros.'sMetal Mario andGiant Donkey Kong, are the only boss characters in theSuper Smash Bros. series to have their own character data and still use the standard percentage-based damage meter as opposed to a health bar.
- Every other boss inMelee to use the standard percentage meter (and every boss that does this fromBrawl onward aside from the final form ofMaster Core) is simply a regular character with a modifier attached, while the aforementioned three bosses are actually coded as separate characters.
- Giga Bowser's design closely resembles that of Ganon's inThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, due to them being hulking, monstrous-looking bipedal creatures that sport a mostly green coloration, and similar horns, hair, and tails. The resemblance between the two is best seen inUltimate, due to Ganondorf reverting back to hisOcarina of Time design, last seen inMelee, in this game.
- Giga Bowser was created due toMasahiro Sakurai's interpretation of Bowser's 8-bit sprites as a "frenzied, terrifying monster", compared to his modern appearance, which he described as "steadily becoming cuter". Regarding Giga Bowser's appearance inMelee, Sakurai noted that he is a separate character from normal Bowser (hence the usage of his blackalternate costume in Adventure Mode), though this is not the case in later installments.[4][5]
- InUltimate, although Giga Bowser cannot be normally brought to the blast line, he can stillself-destruct by usingBowser Bomb toward the edge.[6]
- Giga Bowser can still come in contact with and obtain aSmash Ball. However, he does not have a programmedFinal Smash of his own, as he is not intended to use one (hence his boss battle's lack of Smash Balls). Once used, it will appear as ifBowser is transforming into Giga Bowser, but will then immediately shrink as if reverting back to his regular form, with a green flash accompanying him. However, this Final Smash has no effect whatsoever apart from the green flashes remaining onto Giga Bowser until he is KOed, while he is otherwise unaffected. If Giga Bowser uses another Smash Ball afterwards, another layer of green flashes will appear on him and so on.
- If Giga Bowser is in a trapping Final Smash, such as Kirby'sUltra Sword, there a few moments where the player can see Giga Bowser revert to aT-pose position, likely because of the lack of animations for Giga Bowser being hit by the attack. Once the Final Smash ends, Giga Bowser will keep spinning in the air, and will stay that way until Training Mode is closed and reopened, or aMetroid is used on him.
- Similarly, if Giga Bowser is hacked as a playable character and then wins a battle inUltimate, he appears in his T-pose due to lacking victory animations.
- Despite making his debut inMelee, none of the fighters that debuted in the same game fight him as their final boss.
- As of patch 10.0.0, Giga Bowser is the least common boss forUltimate's Classic Mode, being fought by 3 characters.
- Giga Bowser is the only boss inUltimate:
- That can be launched, albeit only under exceptional circumstances.
- That can be KO'd by passing a blast line.
- That can self-destruct.
References[edit]
- ^Attacks that can launch Giga Bowser
- ^Giga Bowser is weird around fire hydrants
- ^Giga Bowser defeated by blastzone... with Pac-Man
- ^https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/flash/syukeiken/return575.html
- ^https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKIZ_oFGCIE
- ^Giga Bowser self-destructing with Bowser Bomb
