Bowser JR. (SSBU)

**Bowser Jr.** (Template:Ja, *Koopa Jr.*) is a playable character in *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*. He was revealed for the game along with the rest of the veterans on June 12th, 2018. He returns with his Junior Clown Car, and the Koopalings also return as his alternate costumes. Bowser Jr. is classified as fighter #58.

As in *Smash 4*, Template:S's portrayals of Bowser Jr. in the Template:Uv games were repurposed for *Ultimate*. In addition, Lani Minella’s portrayals of Larry, Morton, Wendy, and Lemmy, Mike Vaughn’s portrayals of Iggy and Ludwig, and Dan Falcone’s portrayal of Roy from the *New Super Mario Bros.* games that were used in *Smash 4* were also repurposed for *Ultimate.*

## How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

* Play VS. matches, with Bowser Jr. being the 61st character to be unlocked.
* Clear Classic Mode with Fox or any character in his unlock tree, being the sixth character unlocked after Daisy.
* Have Bowser Jr. join the player's party in World of Light.

Bowser Jr. must then be defeated on Delfino Plaza for the first two methods or Mushroomy Kingdom for the third method.

## Attributes

Bowser Jr. is a unique heavyweight in the sense that, his Junior Clown Car has a separate hurtbox from him, making his survivability variable. Bowser Jr. has the sixtieth fastest walking speed, sixty-second fastest dashing speed and initial dash, twenty-sixth fastest air speed, thirty-first highest air acceleration, thirty-fourth highest gravity, the twenty-eighth fastest falling speed and fast falling speed, and the sixty-eighth highest traction. As a result of these attributes, Bowser Jr.'s mobility is merely average in most cases, though many characters supersede him in terms of approach.

Bowser Jr. and his Junior Clown Car both have separate hurtboxes, much like the Duck Hunt dog and duck. He possesses a unique mechanic where the Clown Car takes less damage from all incoming attacks, whereas he himself takes more damage in comparison. Unlike in *SSB4*, the Clown Car's hurtbox takes priority over Jr.'s hurtbox: when combined with his heavy weight, this gives Bowser Jr. potentially above-average survivability compared to other characters, and even other heavyweights. Bowser Jr. also possesses a purely disjointed moveset and two good projectiles in Clown Cannon and Mechakoopa, giving him a ranged gameplan.

Clown Cannon can have two cannonballs in play at the same time, deals good damage and knockback, and its cannonballs travel quickly. This, as a result, makes Clown Cannon good for disrupting or throwing off approaches, as well as KOing at high percentages. This is further compounded by its outstanding shield damage, making Clown Cannon a viable punishing tool. Mechakoopa is also disruptive in its own right, due to its explosion that is induced from hitting it. The Mechakoopa always follows opponents no matter the circumstances, and explodes upon contact, serving as an excellent KO setup against launched opponents.

Clown Kart Dash travels extremely quickly, vastly making up for his somewhat poor approach, as he can easily cover long distances, both on the ground and in the air. Clown Kart Dash also deals above-average damage and knockback at maximum speed, enabling it to KO opponents at mid-high percentages. Junior can double jump out of his side special, which grants him potential aerial follow-ups. Abandon Ship! travels good vertical distance, allowing Junior to return to the stage if he is right below it. The Junior Clown Car itself damages opponents upon exploding, serving as a potential KOing option, should it hit foes at later percentages. Bowser Jr. himself is gifted with a hammer, which deals high damage and knockback, and has quick startup, all of which allow it to swiftly end opponents. Clown Kart Dash and Abandon Ship! can be mixed up with an air dodge for an excellent recovery.

Bowser Jr.'s aerials have great utility, going hand-in-hand with his specials. Neutral aerial has edgeguarding capabilities, and it is good to use out-of-shield, because of its lingering hitbox. His forward and back aerials are great for edgeguarding, spacing, and KOing, because of their high knockback, high potential damage, and good range. Bowser Jr.'s up aerial is good for juggling, because of its decent speed and vertical range; it is also good for KOing. Lastly, down aerial can shield stab, and works well with Clown Kart Dash when initiating follow-ups.

Bowser Jr.'s smash attacks are good KOing options, all dealing high knockback and overall damage: forward smash has low ending lag, stabs shields, and can be angled; up smash has very quick startup and ending lag, pressures shields, and denies any aerial approaches; lastly, down smash has high range, and KOs the earliest out of Jr.'s smash attacks.

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 straightforward character, which can make him quite predictable at times. In addition, Clown Cannon and Mechakoopa are important to Bowser Jr.'s neutral game, making it easy (especially for characters such as Fox) to shut down his options. Despite his overall grab range being rather long, his grabs have noticeable start-up and ending lag, while his throws are not very useful in general due to their inability to KO at reasonable percentages, while only up throw has combo potential at lower percents. Bowser Jr. suffers from poor KO potential due to having very few reliable KOing options (his neutral attack, smash attacks and his forward/back aerials), which is further compounded by said options being burdened with considerable ending lag.

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 Cannon, Clown Kart Dash and Mechakoopa. However, his slew of easily exploitable weaknesses can make him a bit underwhelming overall and greatly overshadowed compared to the rest of the cast. Because of this, his results and representation have been largely below-average overall, like in *SSB4*.

## Changes from *Super Smash Bros. 4*

Near the end of *SSB4*Template:'s metagame, Bowser Jr. had been considered a low tier, and was thus ranked as the 8th worst character in *SSB4*Template:'s most recent tier list (48th out of 55). Because of this, he was noticeably buffed in his transition to *Ultimate*, albeit not enough to keep up with the rest of the cast.

One of the biggest changes include the Junior Clown Car now taking priority over Bowser Jr.'s hurtbox, making him unique as he will now take less damage on average compared to any other fighter. He also benefits heavily from the universal frame 3 jumpsquat, allowing him to use his formidable aerials more effectively. Bowser Jr.'s mobility is also better, due to his higher walking, dashing, and air speeds; his increased dashing speed contributes to a better grounded approach, while his increased air speed slightly aids his air game and recovery. His up tilt and grab's misleading hitboxes have been fixed (with the latter being given more range). Up throw is now capable of starting combos, while his down throw now deals much more damage, improving his previously lackluster grab game. His neutral attack was also fixed and connects reliably like many other neutral attacks, which is especially relevant for Bowser Jr., as the final hit has good KO potential.

His special moves, previously notorious for their lag and/or situational use, have been buffed significantly. Clown Cannon, a previously slow projectile with limited use, is now less punishable due to its decrease in lag and increase in lifetime if fired in the air, and two can be in play at once. It also deals far more shield damage; an uncharged landing cannonball can now hit twice to almost break a full shield. Clown Kart Dash travels faster, allows Bowser Jr. to keep his double jump if cancelled, no longer requires travel time to deal maximum damage and immediately deals higher damage if the directional key is held forward, while its spinout deals far more knockback, making the move harder-hitting in general. Abandon Ship!'s hammer swing has more range and a longer duration. Finally, Mechakoopas start moving quicker and bite onto victims, guaranteeing that the second hit will connect.

However, Bowser Jr. has received some minor nerfs, including a sourspot on his forward tilt and the removal of air dodging out of Clown Kart Dash. In addition, he retains many former flaws that are still notable, including his extremely gimpable recovery.

The only notable nerf he received is that Mechakoopas fall over if they walk into a shield and can then be picked up by the opponent, making it much easier to deactivate them.

Overall, Bowser Jr.'s moveset and attributes have been retooled to be more consistent and significantly less situational than in *SSB4*, allowing him to zone opponents more effectively. As of now, it is unknown how his changes will affect him compared to the rest of the cast. Due to many of his weaknesses from *SSB4* remaining intact, many top-level players still view him as one of the worst characters in the game, similarly to Kirby, but this is still debatable, especially after the buffs he received in updates and amazing performances thanks to players such as Template:Sm and Template:Sm.

### Aesthetics

* As with all veterans returning from *SSB4*, Bowser Jr.'s model features a more subdued color scheme. Like his father, his horns, hair, and spikes feature simple detailing, but his scales remain undefined and his body is not as monotone. The new detailing is also expressed by the Koopalings.
	+ The Junior Clown Car's color scheme is also more subdued. In addition, the inside of the Junior Clown Car now contains a control panel.
* The Junior Clown Car is more expressive, with new facial animations when Bowser Jr. gets hit and when he misses a grab.
* The Koopalings are more emotive than before, with their eyes and mouths animating somewhat differently from Bowser Jr.'s. Previously, only Lemmy had unique expressions.
* Instead of a hammer, the Koopalings pull out their respective wands from *Super Mario Bros. 3* and the *New Super Mario Bros.* games.
* Bowser Jr. has a different pose during air dodge.
* Bowser Jr. now grabs the ledge with one hand as opposed to two, and has a panicked expression on his face.

### Attributes

* Like all characters, Bowser Jr.'s jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 6).
* Bowser Jr. runs faster (1.424 → 1.566).
* Bowser Jr.'s initial dash is faster (1.6 → 1.76).
* Bowser Jr. walks faster (0.88 → 0.924).
* Bowser Jr.'s air speed is faster (1.08 → 1.134)
* Bowser Jr.'s Clown Car hurtbox takes priority over his body hurtbox, meaning that the opponent has to intentionally aim for his head to deal increased damage. Because of this, Bowser Jr. generally takes less damage from attacks than any other character.

### Ground attacks

* Neutral attack:
	+ Hit 2 has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 30) and deals more hitstun, allowing it to connect into the looping hits more reliably.
	+ The looping hits have less startup lag (frame 10 → 4) and a faster rehit rate (frames between hits: 4 → 2), causing them to connect more reliably.
	+ The last hit has less startup lag (frame 8 → 7) and a bigger hitbox.
	+ First hit and looping hits deals less damage (first hit: 3% → 2%, loop: 2% → 0.5%).
	+ The last hit has more ending lag (FAF 39 → 44).
* Forward tilt:
	+ Forward tilt deals less knockback (30 base/110 scaling → 55/70).
	+ It has less ending lag (FAF 34 → 32).
	+ It has a sourspot that deals less damage (8% → 6%).
* Up tilt:
	+ Up tilt's blind spot between the fork's prongs and the Junior Clown Car has been removed.
	+ It has less ending lag (FAF 33 → 31).
* Down tilt:
	+ Down tilt deals more damage (1.5% → 2% (hits 1-2), 5% → 6% (hit 3), total: 8% → 10%) with no compensation on knockback.
	+ Its first two hits can be escaped from with SDI at very high percents.
* Dash attack:
	+ Dash attack's looping hits deal more damage (1.5% → 1.8%, total: 11.5% → 13%).
	+ Its hits connect more reliably.
	+ It has slightly less ending lag (FAF 50 → 48).
	+ Its final hit launches at a more horizontal angle that is more desirable for edgeguarding (60° → 50°).
* Forward smash:
	+ Forward smash's final hit has slightly less startup lag (frame 36 → 35) making it connect more reliably from the looping hits, though opponents still sometimes fall out.
* Up smash:
	+ Up smash hits six times instead of seven, with total damage compensated (1.3% (hits 2-5), 1% (hit 6) → 1.3% (hits 2-4), 2.3% (hit 5)).
	+ Its hits have a faster rehit rate (frames between hits: 3 → 1), causing them to connect more reliably.
	+ It has slightly less ending lag (FAF 57 → 54).
	+ Its final hit deals more base knockback (32 → 38).
* Down smash:
	+ Down smash deals slightly more knockback (40 base/89 scaling → 41/91).

### Aerial attacks

* All aerials have less landing lag (18 frames → 9 (neutral), 27 → 16 (forward), 24 → 14 (back), 15 → 9 (up), 25 → 15 (down)).
* Neutral aerial:
	+ Neutral aerial deals more damage (6% (clean)/5% (mid)/3% (late) → 8%/7%/5%) with knockback scaling compensated (100 → 83/81/80).
* Forward aerial:
	+ Forward aerial no longer has a sourspot. It has also lost the late hit that deals 5%, making the weakest possible hit the previous sourspot's middle hit (7%).
* Down aerial:
	+ Down aerial's looping hits have 1 less frame of lag between each hit, making them connect more reliably.
	+ It deals more damage (1.3% → 1.5% (hits 1-8), 2% → 2.5% (last), total: 12.4% → 14.5%) with knockback scaling on the last hit compensated (130 → 124).

### Throws/other attacks

* Grabs
	+ Bowser Jr. preemptively pulls out his toy hammer in his grab animation, and will look dejected if it misses.
	+ Standing grab has more range, actually matching the hitbox of the Junior Clown Kart's claw instead of stopping before the middle of the claw.
	+ Standing and pivot grabs have less startup lag (Standing/pivot: frame 12/15 → 11/12).
	+ Dash grab has slightly more startup lag (frame 13 → 14).
	+ All grabs have more ending lag (Standing/dash/pivot: FAF 36/45/42 → 41/49/44).
* Pummel:
	+ Pummel's animation is slightly different.
	+ It deals less damage (2% → 1.3%), but is faster.
* Forward throw:
	+ Forward throw's second hit deals more damage (6% → 7%, total: 9% → 10%) with no compensation on knockback, improving its KO potential.
* Back throw:
	+ Back throw deals less damage (12% → 11%) with knockback scaling compensated (65 → 70).
* Up throw:
	+ Up throw has less ending lag (FAF 45 → 38) and deals less knockback (55 base/85 scaling → 65/60), granting it combo potential.
* Down throw:
	+ Down throw has seven looping hits instead of five that deal significantly more damage (0.5% (hits 1-5) → 1.2% (hits 1-7), total: 6.5% → 12.4%).
	+ It sends at a more horizontal angle (55° → 30°), allowing it to set up for edgeguards.
	+ It deals less knockback (80 base/110 scaling → 90/55).
* Edge attack:
	+ Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 10%).

### Special moves

* Clown Cannon:
	+ Clown Cannon's charging animation has been altered to be more similar to smash attacks. When fully charged, the animation stops, giving a better indication of its charge time.
	+ Its cannonballs travel in a spiraling path, similar to ones fired by Shotzos, instead of flying straight. This increases their effective range.
	+ It has less startup (frame 43-103 → 37-97) and ending lag (FAF 81-141 → 73-133).
	+ It can have up to two cannonballs in play at once.
	+ Its aerial cannonballs keep an active hitbox after starting to fall in midair, allowing them to be used for edgeguarding. This does not apply for cannonballs that have already landed.
	+ Its cannonballs deal more damage when uncharged (early: 8.5% → 10%, late: 5.9% → 7%).
	+ Its cannonballs deal significantly more shield damage, capable of doing more than half a shield's health when fully charged.
	+ Its uncharged cannonballs travel slower, letting one follow it. This makes it easier to dodge, but grants new setups based around the cannonball, significantly improving its utility.
		- Because of this, an uncharged cannonball can hit shields twice before it drops at maximum distance, dealing extreme shield damage.
	+ Its cannonballs deal less knockback.
* Clown Kart Dash:
	+ Clown Kart Dash moves faster.
	+ It reaches its maximum speed immediately after beginning to move and therefore also no longer needs to accelerate to deal maximum damage with the collision.
	+ Its collision deals more damage (4%-7% → 5.2%-8.8%) and has more knockback scaling (80 → 95).
	+ Its spinout deals more damage (8%-12% → 10%-16.3%) with knockback scaling not fully compensated (80 → 75).
	+ Its spinout has less startup lag (frame 5 → 3).
	+ After cancelling it in the air, Bowser Jr. keeps his double jump.
	+ It can no longer be airdodged out of.
	+ It makes Bowser Jr. jump higher on sloped platforms.
* Abandon Ship!:
	+ The Junior Clown Car no longer respawns when Bowser Jr. grabs onto a ledge after using Abandon Ship!. While this results in him always receiving 1.15x damage if he gets hit, it also means that his hurtbox is considerably smaller.
	+ Abandon Ship!'s hammer swing has a longer hitbox duration (frame 8 (hit 1)/13 (hit 2) → 8-9/13-14).
	+ Its hammer swing has a bigger hitbox.
* Mechakoopa:
	+ Mechakoopas start walking earlier (frame 54 → 48). They no longer bounce.
	+ They cling onto the opponent they make contact with, detonating on them even if they are being knocked away. This also allows for reliable kill setups.
	+ They explode upon hitting a shield if thrown.
	+ They deactivate and lie on the ground when they walk into a shield. They can still be picked up and used before they completely disappear after a second passes.
* Final Smash:
	+ Shadow Mario Paint is active for a shorter amount of time.

## Update history

Bowser Jr. has been buffed in game updates so far. However, how these buffs will affect his status is yet to be known.

 **1.1.0**

* Abandon Ship! has more super armor.
* Bowser Jr. can no longer air dodge more than once after using Abandon Ship!.

 **3.0.0**

* Neutral attack 2 deals more hitstun, allowing it to connect into the rapid jab more reliably.

 **3.1.0**

* Dash attack's final hit launches at a more horizontal angle that is more desirable for edgeguarding (60° → 50°).
* Up tilt has less ending lag (FAF 33 → 31).
* Up smash's final hit deals more base knockback (32 → 38).
* Clown Cannon has less startup (frame 43-103 → 37-97) and ending lag (FAF 79-139 → 73-133) when used in the air, matching the lag when used on the ground.
* Clown Kart Dash moves faster. Because the damage is determined based on how quickly Bowser Jr. is moving, it also deals more damage (4%-7.3% → 5.2%-8.8%).
* Clown Kart Dash keeps an active hitbox after bouncing off the ground.
* Abandon Ship!'s clown car hitbox connects into the explosion more reliably when used on the ground.
* Abandon Ship!'s hammer swing has more range (hitbox size: 6.5u/3.0u → 7.0u/3.5u) and a longer hitbox duration (frame 8 (hit 1)/13 (hit 2) → 8-9/13-14).

## 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. The Junior Clown Car's hurtbox takes priority over Bowser Jr.'s hurtbox.

{{MovesetTable

! Stage
be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in *Ultimate*. Bowser Jr. also appears as a primary spirit in the form of Shadow Mario.

Additionally, due to
•Tiny R.O.B. File:ROBYellowSSBU.png (×2)

Grab

File:Riki Spirit.png
•Shulk File:ShulkYellowSSBU.png

Neutral
•Flowery
•Assist Trophy Enemies (Riki)
•Hostile assist trophies will appear
•You constantly take minor damage after a little while