Bowyer

Not to be confused with Bowser.

Bowyer
Artwork from Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)
Species	Bow
First appearance	Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996)
Latest appearance	Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch) (2023)

“What? WHAT? Disturb me you must not! Practicing, I am. More arrows must I shoot! More statues must I make, nya!”
“Gnya, NYA!? A stranger you are... and strange looking at that! Teach you, we must, who's in charge!”

—Bowyer, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Field sprite

Bowyer is a commander of the Smithy Gang in the game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and its Switch remake. Bowyer resembles a bow, and attacks by firing his minions called Aeros at his opponents. His name comes from "bowyer", a person who makes or sells bows to be used for archery.

Bowyer was ordered by Smithy to attack Rose Town. As such, Bowyer, while at the Forest Maze, begins firing poison-tipped arrows at Rose Town. When a person is hit with an arrow, they will become paralyzed and remain frozen like statues. His Aero minions found the second Star Piece in the forest.

When Bowyer gets the Star Piece, he is confronted by a strange, blue garbed warrior named Geno. At the same time, Mario and Mallow arrive to stop Bowyer, the source of the arrows plaguing Rose Town. As a result, the three warriors team up to battle the maniacal monster.

While Bowyer's main attack is firing arrows, the monster is also a master of lightning magic. Additionally, Bowyer can disable the buttons on the player's controllers, meaning that Mario's party and Bowyer will be prevented from using regular attacks, special attacks, or items until another button is disabled.

Later, Mario, Mallow, Geno, Bowser, and Princess Peach encountered several mass-produced Bowyer copies in the Weapon World.

Bowyer can be seen in the parade during the end credits, along with Claymorton and Speardovich, in which all three are pounded by Smithy's hammer.

While having the same overall role in the remake, his boss fight was changed slightly due to the inclusion of the Triple Move mechanic. After dealing significant damage, Bowyer, realizing that he is likely going to lose against Geno, Mario, and Mallow, fires three Aeros at all the buttons, thus effectively disabling the party from attacking him or even healing. However, Geno suggests they team up with their combined might via a Triple Move, with Bowyer initially intending to respond in kind until he realizes he does not have any allies to do so. He then collapses into a heap after the Triple Move is used against him before vanishing. Additionally, Toad Assist cannot be used after Bowyer spawns the buttons.

Profiles and statistics

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars enemy
Bowyer
	HP	720	FP	250	Speed	10
	Location(s)	Forest Maze	Attack	50	Magic attack	30
	Role	Boss	Defense	40	Magic defense	35
	Bonus Flower	None	Yoshi Cookie	None	Morph rate	0%
	Evade	0%	Magic evade	0%	Spells	Static E!, Bolt, Lightning Orb
	Weak	None	Strong	Fear, Poison, Sleep, Mute, Critical	Sp. attacks	G'night
	Coins	50	Exp. points	60	Items	Flower Box (25%), Flower Box (5%)
Psychopath	"What's with these folks?"

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars enemy
Machine Made (Bowyer)
	HP	1000	FP	250	Speed	200
	Location(s)	The Weapons' World	Attack	150	Magic attack	90
	Role	Common	Defense	120	Magic defense	80
	Bonus Flower	None	Yoshi Cookie	None	Morph rate	0%
	Evade	0%	Magic evade	0%	Spells	Static E!, Lightning Orb, Bolt
	Weak	None	Strong	Fear, Poison, Sleep, Mute, Critical	Sp. attacks	G'night
	Coins	40	Exp. points	150	Items	Ice Bomb (25%)
Psychopath	"Nya! I'll SNUFF ya! NYA!"

Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)

Super Mario RPG enemy
Bowyer
	HP	720	Weak Elements	N/A	Drops	Flower Box
	Exp.	60	Weak Statuses	N/A	Rare Drops	N/A
	Found in	Forest Maze
	Monster List profile	The heads of the Rose Town citizens looked like targets to him, so he let loose a volley of arrows on them. He is attended by his arrow followers, Aeros.
	Thought Peek	"What's with these folks? Dressed funny, they are, nya. Furious it makes me, nya!"
	Animations

Super Mario RPG enemy
Bowyer (Machine Made)
	HP	1000	Weak Elements	N/A	Drops	Ice Bomb
	Exp.	150	Weak Statuses	N/A	Rare Drops	N/A
	Found in	Weapon World
	Monster List profile	The cost of mass-producing Bowyers is sky-high, since each one requires dozens of mass-produced Aeros.
	Thought Peek	"Number two am I, nya. Pretty pumped, I am, nya. Crush you I will, nya!"
	Animations

• Website description:
  • Japanese:
    カジオーが送り込んだ、武器軍団の一人。弓の姿をしていて、自分の体を使って矢を放つ。
    「オイラ以外のヤツラが　こまった顔するのは、とっても楽しいニャー！　オマエたちも、そう思うだろ～ニャ？」
    (Translation: A member of the Smithy Gang, sent by Smithy. He has the form of a bow and shoots arrows using his own body.
    "Happy I am, nya! Look...LOOK at their expressions when freeze they do!")

Gallery

• 

  Concept artwork

• 

  Artwork

• 

  Bowyer being confronted by Mario and Geno in the Switch remake

• 

  Bowyer (Machine Made), Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ユミンパ[?] Yuminpa	From「弓」(yumi, "bow") and possibly「くるりんぱ」(kururinpa, a childish slang expression for "crazy")
Chinese	弓箭帕[?] Gōngjiànpà	From「弓箭」(gōngjiàn, "bow and arrow") and a transliteration of the Japanese name
Dutch	Boogerd[?]	From boog ("bow") and the adjective-forming suffix -erd
French	Chtarbarc[?]	Portmanteau of chtarbé (a slang term for "bonkers") and arc ("bow")
German	Bogo[?]	Masculine version of Bogen ("bow")
Italian	Arko[?]	From arco ("bow")
Korean	보이어[?] Boieo	Transliteration of the English name
Spanish	Arquelio[?]	From arquero ("archer") and the male name ending -io

Trivia

• Bowyer uses anastrophe when he speaks, meaning he reverses the usual order of clauses in his sentences when talking to others, similarly to Yoda from Star Wars. He also has a habit of saying "Nya!", which is the Japanese word for "meow".
• In Bowyer's original artwork, his eyes are red, but his in-game sprites have blue eyes; his Machine Made counterpart has red eyes, however.
• For some reason, he has a reaction to Carbo Cookies in his AI script, despite the Carbo Cookie not being available until after his defeat and being unusable in battle, anyway. This reaction also applies to his Machine Made self. The reaction appears to have been intended to unlock all the buttons.