Impostor Bowser
- This article is about the fake Bowsers from Super Mario Bros. For other uses, see Fake Bowser (disambiguation).
| Impostor Bowser | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Artwork from Super Mario Party Jamboree | |||
| First appearance | Super Mario Bros. (1985) | ||
| Latest appearance | Super Mario Party Jamboree (2024) | ||
| Variant of | Koopa | ||
| |||
- “It's shocking how much Impostor Bowser looks like the real Mr. Bowser. Magic is an amazing thing, huh?”
- —Lakitu, Super Mario Party Jamboree
Impostor Bowsers, also referred to as fake Bowsers or as Bowser's decoys in NES Remix, are standard enemies that were transformed to resemble Bowser and serve a comparable role to him. They first appear as bosses in the original Super Mario Bros., in which they were transformed by Bowser himself using his black magic.
Concept and creation[edit]
The concept of fake Bowsers came about during development of Super Mario Bros. Since all enemies have their sprites flipped upside-down when they are defeated (except for Piranha Plants, which simply disappear, and Bullet Bills, which stay rightside up), one of the programmers accidentally inserted an upside-down Koopa Troopa shell when portraying Bowser's death animation as if he were defeated with fireballs. The developers liked this idea, and as a result, this idea was extended to most of the Bowser battles in the game.[1]
History[edit]
Super Mario series[edit]
Super Mario Bros. / Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels / Super Mario Bros. Deluxe[edit]
In Super Mario Bros., the seven fake Bowsers are placed in each castle, with Bowser's Castle containing the real one. Defeating a fake Bowser with five fireballs reveals that they are really just common enemies disguised as Bowser. The enemies and their abilities are the following:
- World 1: Little Goomba - fire
- World 2: Green Koopa Troopa - fire
- World 3: Buzzy Beetle - fire
- World 4: Spiny - fire
- World 5: Lakitu - fire
- World 6: Bloober - hammer
- World 7: Hammer Brother - hammer
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels additional worlds (in the Super Mario All-Stars version, the final fake Bowser is now replaced with the actual Bowser):
- World A: Goomba - fire (FDS) / Red Koopa Troopa - hammer (All-Stars)
- World B: Green Koopa Troopa - fire (FDS) / Green Cheep-Cheep - hammer (All-Stars)
- World C: Buzzy Beetle - fire (FDS) / Bullet Bill - hammer (All-Stars)
- World D: Spiny - fire (FDS)
The "You VS. Boo" challenge of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe:
- 1-4: Green Cheep-Cheep
- 2-4: Bullet Bill
Like Bowser, the blue Bowser's Brother in World D-4 is also a fake revealed to be a Spiny when defeated with fireballs, and only breathes fire. In Super Mario All-Stars, both of these fakes are replaced with the real ones that only throw hammers, although Bowser's Brother is now green and looks identical to his twin. Due to All Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros. also featuring Worlds A-D, all of the fake Bowsers from those worlds return, including the fake Bowser's Brother in World D-4.
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3[edit]
In Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, a fake Bowser appears as a boss in the World-e level Classic World 1-4, where it plays a similar role to that played in Super Mario Bros., though it looks identical to the game's real Bowser. It is revealed that the fake Bowser is a Goomba if it is defeated with fireballs. Since it acts like the fake Bowsers in Super Mario Bros., it is shown walking, unlike Super Mario Advance 4's (as well as every other version of Super Mario Bros. 3's) depiction of Bowser, who only leaps.
Super Mario 3D Land[edit]
While typical fake Bowsers do not appear in Super Mario 3D Land, variants powered by Super Leaves known as Tail Bowsers make their first appearance.
Super Mario Run[edit]
In Super Mario Run, fake Bowsers appear at the end of castle courses, excluding World 6's Bowser's Bob-ombing Run and Make the Cut! which have the real Bowser. World 1's castle, Bowser's Castle Hangout, has a Goomba as the Fake Bowser. World 3's Fire Bar Castle! Youch! has a Green Koopa Troopa as the Fake Bowser, and World 5's Rings of Fire! has a Buzzy Beetle as the Fake Bowser. They walk back and forth along their bridge, occasionally shooting a Bowser's Flame, jumping, or jumping and briefly staying in the air to shoot a Bowser's Flame. A Pause Block is placed directly before the bridge, and a cutscene forces the player to stop on it the first time the player enters the area per run of the course. Fire Bar Castle! Youch! adds a Fire Bar, while Rings of Fire! adds a Fire Chain. An Axe on the other side collapses the bridge, causing the Fake Bowser to reveal its true identity before falling into the lava.
Fake Bowsers do not have an entry in the Notebook. Rather, a Fake Bowser counts as the enemy using the disguise. Thus, the results screen for a course shows that enemy, and adds one to the number of that enemy defeated for the purposes of leveling up that enemy.
In Remix 10, some areas end in castles, with the VS Bowser course. A Fake Bowser must be defeated, through the same means as before. For doing so, the player receives all three of the course's Bonus Medals. The Fake Bowser is always the disguised form of a Goomba. VS Bowser allows the player to enter with a Super Star or while invincible, and touching a Fake Bowser while invincible defeats it instantly. It is knocked off the bridge without losing the disguise. Area 30's version instead has the real Bowser.
Super Mario Party Jamboree[edit]
This section is referring to a subject in an upcoming or recently released game. When the game is released, or more information about this subject is found, this section may need major rewriting.
This notice should be removed after a month has passed since the game was first released.
- “Bet you didn't see that coming. Bye-bye, Toady! Hello, humongous Impostor Bowser!”
- —Kamek, Super Mario Party Jamboree
In Super Mario Party Jamboree, Kamek transforms a Toady into a massive fake Bowser called Impostor Bowser. Unlike other Fake Bowsers, Impostor Bowser has a purple glow and Magikoopa magic symbols coming out of him. He replaces Bowser himself as the host of Bowser Spaces due to Bowser being a playable character.
Impostor Bowser appears prominently on the King Bowser's Keep board, where he is in the middle of the Bowser Byway. Periodically, he will change the direction of travel and transform more spaces on the byway into Bowser Spaces. Uniquely on this board, he will grab players that land on Bowser Spaces instead of them being transported to another location, and even occasionally destroy the roulette to instantly steal a star or all of their coins. He also serves as the boss of that board in the Party-Planner Trek mode, being faced in the Bowser Crashers minigame.
Aside from Mario Party mode, Impostor Bowser is also a focal point in the "Bowser Challenges", Koopathlon and Bowser Kaboom Squad. Both involve surviving attacks from Impostor Bowser, with the ultimate goal of the latter being to defeat him within the time limit.
List of appearances[edit]
| Title | Description | Release date | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Super Mario Bros. | Boss | 1985 | Family Computer / Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels | Boss | 1986 | Family Computer Disk System |
| Super Mario All-Stars | Boss | 1993 | Super Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World | Boss | 1994 | Super Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Super Mario Bros. Deluxe | Boss | 1999 | Game Boy Color |
| Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 | Boss | 2003 | Game Boy Advance |
| Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition | Boss | 2010 | Wii |
| Super Mario Run | Boss | 2016 | iOS, Android |
| Super Mario Party Jamboree | Boss | 2024 | Nintendo Switch |
Gallery[edit]
The fake Bowser of World 1's true form: a Goomba
A fake Bowser in Super Mario All-Stars
Artwork from Super Mario Run
The first fake Bowser in Super Mario Run
Names in other languages[edit]
Fake Bowser[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | にせクッパ[2] Nise Kuppa |
Fake Bowser | Shared with Bowser Clone |
| Dutch | Nep-Bowser[?] | Fake Bowser | |
| French | Faux Bowser[?] | Fake Bowser | |
| German | Falscher Bowser[?] | Fake Bowser | |
| Italian | Finto Bowser[3] | Fake Bowser | Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia |
| Korean | 가짜 쿠파[?] Gajja Kupa |
Fake Bowser | |
| Russian | Поддельный Боузер[?] Poddelny Bouzer |
Fake Bowser | |
| Лже-Боузер[?] Lzhe-Bouzer |
False Bowser | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | |
| Spanish | Bowser falso[?] | Fake Bowser |
Impostor Bowser[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ニセクッパ[4] Nise Kuppa |
Fake Bowser | |
| Dutch | Nep-Bowser[5] | Fake Bowser | |
| French | Faux Bowser[6][7] | Fake Bowser | |
| German | Trug-Bowser[8] | Deception Bowser | |
| Italian | Bowser finto[9] | Fake Bowser | |
| Korean | 가짜쿠파[10] Gajja Kupa |
Fake Bowser | |
| Portuguese | Bowser Impostor[11] | Impostor Bowser | |
| Russian | Лжебоузер[?] Lzhebouzer |
False Bowser | |
| Spanish (NOA) | Bowser impostor[12] | Impostor Bowser | |
| Spanish (NOE) | Bowser de pega[13] | False Bowser |
Trivia[edit]
- The World 3 and World C (original) fake Bowsers are the only Buzzy Beetles that can be defeated by fireballs (outside of Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen!), and the World C (All-Stars) and "You VS. Boo" 2-4 (Deluxe) ones are the only Bullet Bills that can be defeated by fireballs.
- The World A and World C fake Bowsers in All-Stars are the only fake Bowsers whose true forms are right-side-up instead of upside-down.
- In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, an exaggerated cardboard Bowser suspended by a pair of ropes over a bridge is seen at the end of a special area inside Bowser's Castle, which is a side-scrolling level imitating a Super Mario Bros. castle. Mario must move underneath the stationary object and touch the axe to make it fall.
- If the player beats Bowser's Sky Scuffle with any character barring Bowser Jr. in Mario Party: Island Tour, Bowser will reveal that the "Bowser" they defeated had been a decoy, which may have been a reference to the fake Bowsers.
References[edit]
- ^ https://www.giantbomb.com/false-bowser/3015-8320/[better source needed]
- ^ Nintendo (2020). CHARACTERS of Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2. Nintendo (Japanese). Archived February 10, 2021 from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
- ^ November 15, 2018. Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Magazzini Salani (Italian). ISBN 889367436X. Page 22.
- ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Japanese website. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved October 14, 2024.
- ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Dutch game page. Nintendo (Dutch). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
- ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Canadian French game page. Nintendo (Canadian French). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
- ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official European French game page. Nintendo (French). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
- ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official German game page. Nintendo (German). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
- ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Italian game page. Nintendo (Italian). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
- ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Korean website. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved October 14, 2024.
- ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Brazilian game page. Nintendo (Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
- ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Mexican Spanish game page. Nintendo (Latin American Spanish). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
- ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official European Spanish game page. Nintendo (European Spanish). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
