Final Bowser is a surprisingly difficult boss in Paper Mario, which is to be expected from the game’s last battle. He has 99 health and 2 defense. But still, can he be defeated in a single turn? I invited Bird650 to help me answer that question!

The final Bowser fight is separated into 2 phases. Phase 1 is somewhat scripted; Bowser cannot die even if he reaches 0 health. But, Mario and his partner are free to chip away at his health during the first two turns. On turn 1, Bowser will attack, randomly choosing between his Fire, Claw, and Stomp abilities. At the end of turn 2, Bowser doubles his attack power and becomes invincible with Star Shield. Mario’s Star Beam was said to remove Bowser’s Star Shield, but the phase ends when it fails, and all seems lost.

After a long cutscene that upgrades Star Beam and heals Mario, phase 2 begins. Bowser retains the same health pool, so any damage dealt to him earlier carries over. Now starts the real final battle, where Bowser can actually lose. He still has the same shield from the first phase though. Star Beam, now called Peach Beam, is able to remove Final Bowser’s invincibility. This takes up Mario’s first turn, and our only hope at defeating Bowser on turn 1 is with a partner.

That’s hard to manage, but it is possible with enough damage in phase 1. There are a few ways to approach this, but most will utilize some combination of the Ultra Boots (3 base damage), both Power Plus badges (+2 damage), All or Nothing (+1 damage), PUp, DDown (+1 damage), Mega Rush (+4 damage while in Peril), Merlee’s Spell (+3 damage when it activates), Watt’s Turbo Charge (+1 damage for a few turns), and Power Bounce (deals immense single target damage, scaling with attack power). If Mario can manage 2 solid Power Bounces in phase 1, gets 2 strong partner moves in, and avoids Bowser’s attack to maintain Mega Rush’s damage boost, we can deal tons of damage. This sets us up for a turn 1 kill in phase 2.

The problem is, it’s not a perfect strategy. Power Bounce allows you to jump on enemies repeatedly until you mistime one of your hits. There is a hard limit at 101 jumps on a single target more than enough to K.O. every enemy and boss in one turn. However, a lot of RNG (luck) was implemented to discourage this. Power Bounce is still extremely overpowered with boosted attack power, but the damage potential is inconsistent, especially on bosses.

The developers used a formula to limit Power Bounce’s lethality on tougher enemies. A random “cap” can force Mario to stop a Power Bounce early, even if you timed the jump perfectly. Every enemy in the game has an unacknowledged Power Bounce property, which factors into the formula and determines the chances of getting capped. To no one’s surprise, the final iteration of Bowser is the most unforgiving of them all. Jdaster64 has more information here:

• The Super Mario Files: https://supermariofiles.wordpress.com...
• Bowser's AI:    • Vs. Anti Guys Unit, Final Jr. Troopa,...  
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