Bowser

Mario and Luigi's archest enemy of them all. Repeatedly tries to kidnap Princess Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom.

Bowser first appeared in Super Mario Bros. for the NES. He kidnapped Princess Toadstool and took her to the eighth castle. The other seventh castles contained Mushroom Retainers.

Bowser did not appear in Super Mario Bros. 2 - however, he returned for Super Mario Bros. 3. This game introduced Bowser's seven children, the Koopalings - Ludwig von Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, Roy Koopa, Iggy Koopa, Wendy O. Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr. and Larry Koopa. Each Koopaling conquered one of the kingdoms of the Mushroom World by transforming the king of each kingdom into an animal, and Mario had to defeat each one to obtain the Magic Wand to return the Mushroom Kings back to normal. Bowser kidnapped the princess in this game as well, and of course, Mario rescued her.

Bowser and the Koopalings reappeared in Super Mario World. Not only did Bowser kidnap Princess Toadstool, but he also kidnapped the Baby Yoshies, who Mario, Luigi and Yoshi had to free by defeating each Koopaling. At the end of the game, the Yoshi Eggs the Baby Yoshies were trapped in hatched into seven different coloured Baby Yoshies.

Bowser appeared as a baby in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. For more information, see Baby Bowser.

Bowser actually joined Mario's team in Super Mario RPG. Since Smithy had stolen his castle, there was no reason not to help Mario defeat Smithy and his weapons. He used Chain Chomps and Mario dolls as weapons, and his special moves often involved summoning his minions to attack.

Bowser kidnaps the princess once again in Super Mario 64, and as usual, Mario stopped him. He did the same thing in the second Mario RPG, Paper Mario (Nintendo 64).

Bowser didn't appear in Luigi's Mansion for the Nintendo GameCube - instead, King Boo used a Bowser suit to fight Luigi. After a spiked ball was thrown at the head, King Boo was exposed and Luigi could suck him up with his Poltergust 3000.

Bowser and his son Bowser Jr. appeared in Super Mario Sunshine. Bowser Jr. was at first disguised as Shadow Mario, but he is revealed to be Bowser Jr, Bowser's 8th son. Note that Bowser Jr. is not Baby Bowser or Koopa Kid.

Bowser helped Mario again in the third Mario RPG, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - but not for long. Bowser takes Mario and Luigi on the Koopa Cruiser to BeanBean Kingdom, but the Koopa Cruiser is brought down by Fawful and Bowser is shot out of a cannon by a Toad. The next time the Mario Bros. see him, he has amnesia and is working for Popple, the Shadow Thief, by the name of Rookie. Mario and Luigi fight Rookie and Popple twice in the game before he regains his memory just in time for Cackletta to posess his body and become Bowletta. Bowletta kidnaps Peach and Mario and Luigi rescue her by defeating the Koopalings and Fawful before fighting Bowletta. After defeating Bowletta, Mario and Luigi are taken into her stomach to fight Cackletta's spirit for the final battle. Bowser returns to the Bowser Baddies afterwards.

Bowser also appeared as a sort-of-villain in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. He tried to collect the Crystal Stars before Mario, but he didn't collect any of them. Players controlled Bowser after each character as he went back to places Mario had been before.

Quotes

I am Bowser, buisnessman of legend! Fear my accounting! - PM:TTYD

Like the moon over The day, my genius and brawn Are lost on these fools. - SMRPG

Great, just great. Now I look like the King of GUYS WHO TALK TO POSTERS! - PM:TTYD

Paper Mario Stats

Max HP:

• Round 1: 50
• Round 2: 99
• Round 3: 99

Attack Power:

• Round 1: 3 (Ring Attack, Mario's Partner), 4 (Ring Attack, Mario), 6 (Claw Attack), 8 (Fire Breath)
• Rounds 2 and 3: 3 (Ring Attack, Mario's Partner), 6 (Ring Attack, Mario), 8 (Claw Attack and Jump Attack), 10 (Fire Breath and Lightning Slam)

Defense:

• Round 1: 1
• Round 2: 2
• Round 3: 2

Tattle:

• Round 1: It's the Evil King Bowser! Finally, after all this time! He has a huge arsenal of attacks, from blowing clouds of fire to jumping on us. Fire Attack: 8, Stamp Attack/Nail Attack: 6 I'm sure he has other attacks that I don't know. Boy, does he look nasty! He's strong enough as it is, but I'm sure he can use that Star Rod to increase his power until he's nearly invincible. Princess Peach needs us! Let's take him, Mario!
• Round 2: It's the Evil King Bowser! Uh... I think he got bigger. That's not a good sign... He has a huge arsenal of attacks, from blowing clouds of fire to jumping on us. Fire Attack: 10, Stamp Attack/Nail Attack: 8 I'm sure he has other attacks that I don't know. Kammy Koopa's mysterious device has somehow beefed up his power even more. That's hardly fair! You should use that Star Beam whenever he uses the Star Rod to increase his power. Oh, you already knew that?
• Round 3: It's the Evil King Bowser! No more messing around! He has a huge arsenal of attacks, from blowing clouds of fire to jumping on us. Fire Attack: 10, Stamp Attack/Nail Attack: 8 I'm sure he has other attacks that I don't know. When he increases his power with the Star Rod, our attacks will be totally useless. When that happens, you must use our ultimate weapon, the Peach Beam! It has the power of everyone's wishes! This is our time, Mario! Let's take this chump! We're coming, Princess!

Paper Mario 2 Stats

Glitz Pit Battle

HP: 30, Attack: 3, Defense: 1

Tattle: That's Bowser! But what's he doing here?!? My mind just blew a fuse! Max HP is 30, Attack is 3, and Defense is 1. He's uglier than I expected. He's got a poisonous bite, so watch out! It'll make your HP decrease gradually. Also, if he ground-pounds you, you won't be able to use one of your commands! Just focus your attention on beating him down, Mario!

Palace of Shadow Battle

HP: 70, Attack: 7, Defense: 2

Tattle: That's Bowser, genius. You've only fought this guy like, a bazillion times. He'll keep kidnapping Peach, and you'll keep fighting him, until the end of time, I think. Max HP is 70, Attack is 7, and Defense is 2. In addition to his fire breath, he jumps on you and bites. If you get jumped on, you'll be unable to use a command for a little while. Oh, and his bite sometimes poisons you as well. I don't know what Bowser's doing here, but we gotta defeat him quick!