Bowser
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- “Count Bleck, Floro Sapiens, whatever... Stomping fools is my business! Show me a fool, I'll stomp it! I don't even need a reason!”
- —Bowser, Super Paper Mario
King Bowser Koopa (Japanese 大魔王クッパ Daimaō Kuppa "Great Demon King Koopa", in English also Lord Bowser, King Koopa commonly in other media) is the main antagonist of the Mario series, the supreme leader of the Koopa Troop, King of the Koopas, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. He has repeatedly kidnapped or attempted to kidnap Princess Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom. He has on other occasions attempted to conquer the entire Mushroom World, as well as the entire universe.
Since his debut, Bowser has been in nearly every Mario game, including the main series, spin-offs, and crossovers. Due to his role as the primary villain of the Mario series, his roles in games have been mostly as the final boss, if not as the main antagonist. Besides being a primary villain, Bowser has at times played an anti-hero in all of the Mario RPGs, with the exception of Paper Mario.
Creation
Bowser was created by Shigeru Miyamoto as the villain of Super Mario Bros. Miyamoto stated that they considered naming him either Kuppa, Yukke, or Bibinba, which are all Korean dishes as they are known in Japanese. At the end, Kuppa was chosen[1]. For the later North American release of the game, which also introduced the anglicized spelling Koopa, the character was renamed Bowser.
During the development of Super Mario Bros., Miyamoto considered asking a manga artist or illustrator to do the art for the game. However, time was running short, so he drew the game's original box-art himself. This artwork included Bowser (whom Miyamoto depicted notably different from later designs), with gray-blue skin and lacking horns. For the character's appearance, Miyamoto drew inspiration from an anime film adaptation of the Chinese novel Journey to the West, renamed Alakazam the Great during the film's American localization. He liked the film's main antagonist Gyū-Maō (lit. "Ox Demon King") (King Gruesome in the dub), so loosely based Bowser on an ox as an homage.[2]
Yoichi Kotabe, an animation artist, later joined Nintendo and was asked to do new illustrations for the Mario series. His only reference was the package illustration for Super Mario Bros., so Kotabe asked Miyamoto many questions on how to draw the characters. However, designing Bowser caused problems, since Miyamoto hadn't drawn him often. He brought up that he liked the Ox King from the film, and this was how he imagined Bowser, but Nintendo designer Takashi Tezuka pointed out that Bowser should be a turtle. Through their discussions, Bowser's appearance gradually came together. Since he was now in the turtle family with the Koopa Troopas, they partly based Bowser's new appearance on them. Finally, the new design was created, and Miyamoto congratulated himself by saying "Wow, I can really make Bowser look cool now!"[2]
History
Background
- Main article: Baby Bowser
Bowser's first chronological appearance in-universe is as Baby Bowser in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. At this age, he is shown to have similar powers to the ones he currently possesses as an adult.
When Baby Mario enters his room in his castle, Baby Bowser awakens from his nap, sees Yoshi, and decides he wants to ride the "green donkey." However, he notices Baby Mario is riding Yoshi so he attacks them to get Baby Mario off. Yoshi ends up defeating Baby Bowser, even when Kamek turns him into a giant. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is also his first meeting with Mario. Baby Bowser later steals the Super Happy Tree from the Yoshis and turns Yoshi's Island into a pop-up book in Yoshi's Story, but is defeated again by a newborn Yoshi. Both incidents quickly define the young Bowser as a selfish character lacking empathy. In Yoshi's Island DS, he teams up with the heroes to defeat future Bowser after being betrayed, but betrays them at the end of the game. Baby Bowser is also one of the Star Children.
In Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, Baby Bowser once again appears. At the beginning of the game he attempts to kidnap Baby Peach, but ends up evacuating everyone when the Shroobs attack. However, they are shot down by the Shroobs after intercepting a transmission. He later shows up and steals the Cobalt Star Shards the Mario bros have collected, and flees to Yoshi's Island, where he is found by the brothers causing "mayhem" (he is eating Yoshi Cookies he stole from the islanders). After he eats the shards, Baby Bowser, along with everyone else, is eaten by Yoob, though everyone later escapes. After leaving Yoshi's Island he heads to Thwomp Volcano to build a new castle, where he finds future Bowser, and they team up to defeat Mario and Luigi, though are defeated. Later on, he reunites the Cobalt Star Shards, resurrects Elder Princess Shroob, and is turned into a Shroob Mushroom, but is transformed back and flees.
Super Mario series
Super Mario Bros.
Bowser's first appearance (release-wise) is in Super Mario Bros. In this game, Bowser and the Koopa Troop conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, turning many of the kingdom's defenders and inhabitants into inanimate objects and kidnapping the seven Mushroom Retainers, as well as the only person who can reverse the black magic cast over the land: Princess Toadstool. He then transforms seven of his minions into False Bowsers and sends them to guard the retainers in seven different castles while he personally holds Toadstool captive in an eighth castle.
However, Mario and Luigi suddenly appear, and must traverse the Mushroom Kingdom to free the Mushroom Retainers from the seven castles and eventually reach the eighth castle to fight Bowser himself. He waits for them on a bridge, attacking them by spitting Fireballs and throwing Hammers, as well as leaping around. To defeat Bowser, the player must reach the Ax on the other side of the bridge to destroy it and send him careening into the lava. He or she can also do this by shooting Bowser with five fireballs. Once Bowser is defeated, Princess Toadstool is liberated, and she restores her kingdom to its previous state.
In addition to the original game, Bowser also appears in all of the game's remakes, including Super Mario Bros. Special, VS. Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Undeterred by this defeat, Bowser repeats his plan in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. He reuses his black magic, kidnaps Princess Toadstool again, takes her to his castle, and sends his Koopa Troop soldiers all over the Mushroom Kingdom, with an increased number of False Bowsers keeping watch of the captured Mushroom Retainers in the other castles. Mario and Luigi must once again traverse through the Mushroom Kingdom, fight the Koopa Troop, free the Toads from the False Bowsers, and eventually reach the eighth castle to fight Bowser himself.
Bowser's attacks in this game are the same as the original: throwing hammers and breathing fireballs at Mario and Luigi. Additionally, despite the arena being aesthetically different, the basic concept of the fight is not; the player must grab the ax at the end of the bridge to destroy it, and Bowser falls into the lava below as a result. However, when he is defeated once, it is revealed that Mario and Luigi must fight him again, so they can save the real Princess Toadstool in the fifteenth castle.
In the final castle, located in World D, the brothers once again find Bowser, who fights them with the same attacks as before. Again, despite the arena changing, the battle itself not. With his defeat, Princess Toadstool is once again rescued by the Mario Bros. in the same way as the game's predecessor.
Super Mario Bros. 3/Super Mario Advance 4
After his hiatus during the events of Subcon in Super Mario Bros. 2, Bowser returns for one more invasion with his henchman Boom Boom and his children, the Koopalings, composed of Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy and Ludwig in Super Mario Bros. 3. Each of the Koopalings conquer a different land in the Mushroom World and turn the King of their respective lands into a generic enemy while Bowser resides in his home territory of Dark Land. Mario and Luigi set out to free the kingdoms, all while receiving helpful letters from Princess Toadstool throughout their journey.
After freeing the seventh land and restoring its king, the brothers receive a letter from Bowser, informing them that he has kidnapped the Princess while they were saving the seven kingdoms. After reaching and traversing Bowser's castle, the brothers find the room Bowser is located in, where he descends from above to begin the final battle.
Bowser's attack pattern involves breathing two fireballs at the player, then leaping into the air and and attempting him or her from above. Whenever Bowser ground pounds a pair of blocks, they are destroyed beneath him. After destroying an entire column of blocks, he plummets down the massive pit below and seconds later hit the ground. Bowser could also be defeated with 35 fireballs. Hammers can cause multiple damage so depending on the angle of impact, Bowser can be defeated with as little as three hammers. The door at the back of the room then opens, allowing Mario to rescue Princess Toadstool.
In Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser's appearance in the main game is the same as the original, but his first appearance in the e-Reader levels is in the twenty-seventh level, Kakushi Kuppa Jō, (Hidden Koopa Castle) which is a compilation of obstacles from the previous Bowser's Castles, ending with a Super Mario Bros. 3-style Bowser fight. However, a set of blocks are placed above the ground that Bowser must smash through before he can reach the ones before. He later appears in the thirtieth and final e-Reader level Kuppa no Hikōsen Kōhen (Koopa's Airship Part 2), in which he is fought at the end of the airship. However, this time, the entire room is composed of the blocks seen in the original room, as well blocks that he cannot break.
Super Mario World
Bowser and the Koopalings reappear in Super Mario World, in which he kidnaps Princess Toadstool while she is on vacation in Dinosaur Land with the Mario bros. He also captures several of the native Yoshis, trapping them in eggs and giving each one to one of the Koopalings to guard in the seven castles scattered around the continent. Predictably, Mario, Luigi, and a particularly heroic Yoshi head off to save the Princess and the imprisoned Yoshis by defeating the Koopalings and their father.
When the player reaches Bowser's Castle, Bowser himself is located on the roof of his castle. When Mario reaches him, he appears in his Koopa Clown Car from above, and the battle commences. During the battle, he moves back and forth in his car, and then throws Mecha-Koopas at the hero. However, Mario can use the Mecha-Koopas to his advantage by tossing them back at Bowser, which damage him if they hit his head. After two hits, Bowser disappears for a while, casting flames at Mario. If he hits one of the flames, the attack can be "negated" by Princess Peach, who throws a Super Mushroom to Mario or Luigi. Bowser then returns and first tries to fly around above Mario or Luigi and drops Big Steelies and later Mecha-Koopas at them, and after having Mecha-Koopas thrown at him a second time attempts to ram into Mario with his Koopa Clown Car before resting to throw out two Mecha-Koopas. When the player hits him twice more, he loses control of the Clown Car, allowing Peach to float down to the roof and her rescuers while Bowser himself spirals away into the distance.
While his art is similar to his normal appearance, his in-game appearance is different. He is primarily green, being more similar to his cartoon appearance.
Super Mario 64/Super Mario 64 DS
- “Welcome. No one's home! Now scram--and don't come back! Gwa ha ha ha!”
- —Bowser, Super Mario 64 DS
In Super Mario 64 and its remake, Super Mario 64 DS, Bowser invades Princess Peach's Castle and steals the castle's Power Stars, using them to create worlds inside many of the paintings and walls of the castle. He then kidnaps Princess Peach and holds the Toads inhabiting her castle hostage. To ensure that Mario does not disrupt his plans, Bowser seals off the doors in the castle with the stars and even creates doors that only open with his keys. However, Mario uses one door that is not sealed to enter a painting world and collect Power Stars from it. Using the stars collected from that painting, he is able to open the other doors and systematically sweep through the castle towards Bowser.
Super Mario 64 DS retains the original game's basic plot, but parts of it have been changed. Bowser steals the castle's Power Stars, hides them in paintings, kidnaps the princess, and seals everyone in the castle. Mario, as well as Luigi, and Wario, the latter two having heard that she baked a cake for Mario, head inside the castle and chase after Bowser, leaping into a painting with a Bob-omb on it. However, the trio are ambushed, and Bowser's minions throw them into locked doors. He then locks the castle entrance and places the key in the hands of a rabbit. Afterward, Yoshi, who is sleeping on the castle's roof while this is happening, is able to enter the castle and, using the one room Bowser did not seal, collects Power Stars from the painting in that room. He then uses those stars to unlock more doors and collect more stars, as well as free Mario, Luigi, and Wario.
In these games, Bowser is battled three times: once in the Dark World, once in the Fire Sea and once in the Sky. During each battle, Bowser can only be attacked by grabbing him by the tail, and can only be defeated by tossing him at one of several spiked-bombs surrounding the arena. In the first two battles, Bowser is defeated after being thrown into one bomb; during the final battle, the player must throw Bowser into three bombs to defeat him. When Bowser is defeated the first two times, he gives the player a special key, allowing them to open the door to another area of the castle; when he is defeated the third time, Bowser surrenders, giving Mario the Giant Star before retreating.
Tossing Bowser off the platform results in him leaping out of the abyss below seconds later; during the battle in The Sky, he uses a shockwave attack when doing so. During the Fire Sea battle, Bowser can warp from one section of the platform to another, and can also pound the platform to force it off balance. During the final battle, Bowser leaping out of the abyss can result in part of the platform breaking, and after taking two hits, he causes the entire platform to brake apart, creating a star-shaped arena. He also attacks Mario by dashing in his direction. Bowser also has various fire-based attacks: one involves breathing fire into the air, causing several small fireballs to fall from the sky that after a while disappear; another involves Bowser spitting a number of fireballs that disappear after a while; and the third involves shooting a continuous stream of fire for a short time.
In Super Mario 64, Bowser is solely defeated by the efforts of Mario. However, the remake Super Mario 64 DS differs in that the player is required to be both Yoshi and Mario to prove victorious. Luigi and Wario are available to be unlocked in Big Boo's Haunt and Chief Chilly Challenge respectively, but, keeping true to his rivalry, Bowser only accepts Mario as his opponent in the final battle.
Super Mario Sunshine
In Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser's eighth child, Bowser Jr., is introduced. Bowser tells his son that Peach is his mother and that Mario has kidnapped her. Bowser Jr. takes on the disguise of Shadow Mario and vandalizes Isle Delfino with Graffiti, framing Mario as a graffiti criminal, in order to put Mario in prison and get Peach back to Bowser. Mario, however, determined to prove his innocence, begins to clean the mess with the aid of F.L.U.D.D., a water pump he finds on the airstrip.
Once Bowser Jr. kidnaps Princess Peach, he heads to Pinna Park; after Mecha Bowser loses to Mario there, Bowser Jr. uses the head to flee to Corona Mountain. Bowser, his son, and Peach (who is sitting on a massive rubber duck) are then relaxing in a floating, sun-shaped, slime-filled bathtub just above the peak of Corona Mountain before Mario arrives. Angered by his sudden intrusion during their "family vacation," Bowser decides to attempt to destroy him. He is giant during this battle, attacking Mario by breathing enormous gusts of flame over the section Mario is traversing and splashing the slime in the tub at him, while Bowser Jr. assaults him with Bullet Bills. The player must use F.L.U.D.D.'s Rocket Nozzle to deliver massive Ground Pounds to the edges of the tub, which, when done, cause the bowl to tip over, sending everyone falling to the world below.
During the ending, it is shown that Bowser and Bowser Jr. land on the flipped tub, which is in the ocean near Isle Delfino. While out at sea, Bowser attempts to confess to his son that he had used him as a pawn, but Bowser Jr. then reveals to his father that he knew all along that Peach is not his mother, and that he is eager to challenge Mario again sometime in the future, which fills Bowser with pride. They then decide to continue their vacation together.
New Super Mario Bros.
In New Super Mario Bros., Bowser and Bowser Jr. distract Mario by sending a thunder cloud to strike Peach's castle with lightning. While Mario is checking on the castle, Bowser Jr. makes off with the Princess.
When the player reaches the end of the first castle, Bowser is the boss, the fight being similar to the ones from Super Mario Bros.. He attacks Mario by shooting fireballs at him and leaping into the air. Once the player reaches the switch on the other side of the bridge, Bowser desperately tries to stop Mario from pressing it, but fails when the player does. Shockingly, Bowser perishes in the first world when he falls into the lava, becoming an undead monster with an appearance similar to that of a Dry Bones, known as Dry Bowser. Bowser Jr. runs from Mario's pursuit for the rest of the game.
Bowser's undead form later appears as the first boss of World 8. His attacks are similar to the World 1 battle, but he is also able to throw bones at Mario, a tactic similar to the later boss battles in Super Mario Bros. and the Dry Bones attack. Additionally, he is immune to fireballs in this form. However, pressing the switch on the other end of the room once again causes the bridge to fall from under him and Dry Bowser to crash to the ground. He can also be defeated by using a Mega Mushroom or as Shell Mario.
After beating the castle, the second portion of World 8 can be accessed. Once the second Tower in World 8 is celared, Bowser's Castle can be played. Once the player reaches the boss room, he sees Bowser Jr., who revives his father by throwing his bones into in a cauldron of magic potion; However, Bowser is slightly bigger than before, making it harder to leap over him. The then duo fight Mario one last time.
During this battle, Bowser attacks by walking and leaping around and shooting fireballs. He eventually starts to shoot out multiple barrages of blue fire, making it harder for Mario to dodge. However, they once again can be defeated by pressing the Skull Switch located on the other side of the room, which sends both of his enemies into the pit below. In addition to the normal way of defeating him, Bowser can also be thrown into the lava if the player knocks into him with a Blue Shell while in Shell Mario form, or if they use enough fireballs as Fire Mario. The player can also keep a Mega Mushroom in his item dock and use it in the battles to easily defeat him. Bowser will still do his defeat animation, but Mario will not do a victory pose until he presses the switch.
After the credits, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are seen at the bottom of the pit, with Jr. dragging his unconscious father away.
Super Mario Galaxy
Prior to the events of Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser attacks Rosalina's observatory and steals all the Power Stars, as well as the Seven Grand Stars that power the observatory. Bowser uses these incredible stars to bring his entire fleet to the cosmos and take over many galaxies, planning to construct a galaxy reactor powered by the Grand Stars to create his own galaxy at the center of the universe. Once the reactor is completed, he can proceed to conquer the entire universe, establishing an eternal galactic empire with Peach as Bowser's empress. He then kidnaps Peach during the Star Festival, using a UFO and several airships to uproot her castle and taking it to the center of the universe, where he is overseeing the construction of his reactor. During this time, Bowser Jr. leads most of the Koopa Troop to conquer several galaxies.
Mario, helped by Rosalina, collects many Grand and Power Stars and destroys much of the Koopa Troop, encountering Bowser twice in his attempt to rescue Peach, once at Bowser's Star Reactor and the second time at Bowser's Dark Matter Plant. At the Star Reactor, before the player can reach him, Bowser attempts to stop Mario by destroying the staircase leading to him by breathing meteors at him. During battle, Bowser's attacks include stomping the ground, which creates a shockwave, and ground pounding the plumber; however, if the player can cause Bowser to ground pound the glass, it breaks; he instead strikes the magma inside and burns his tail. Mario can then Spin attack him, causing Bowser to spin around the planet inside his shell, much like a normal Koopa. When Mario does this again, he falls unconscious, only to recover seconds later. Bowser is defeated when this is done again
At the Dark Matter plant, Bowser uses the same tactics as before, but can generate more shockwaves and even has his own version of the spin attack, but can be defeated by using the same method as the first battle. Regardless of these drawbacks, Bowser remains confident in his victory and the follow-through of his main goal to construct his own galaxy.
Mario eventually battles Bowser at the almost-completed galaxy reactor. During the final battle, Bowser Jr. holds Peach captive in an airship while Mario fights Bowser on multiple planets. On the first planet, Bowser attacks by using his shockwaves, and then curling into a stone ball; Mario can attack his stone form by spin attacking his head, the only exposed part of him, causing him to roll on his back around the planet, and then defeat him by spinning again.
On the second planet, Bowser's attacks include curling up into two combined shells and rolling around the planet, as well as shockwaves and fireballs. However, if Mario hits him with a sling plant, he begins to roll around the planet on his back. Mario must then spin attack him twice more in order to move on.
The gravity of the nearby sun then pulls them toward it, and they begin the actual final battle at the core of Bowser's soon-to-be galaxy. Bowser's attacks are simply improved tactics from the previous battles, meaning that he can once again be trumped by ground pounding the glass and burning himself, allowing Mario to spin attack him. The defeated Bowser then flies into into the magma of the sun. Afterward, the final Grand Star frees itself from the galaxy reactor. However, with nothing to stabilize the sun, it collapses in on itself, resulting in the formation of a large black hole that begins to devour the cosmos. Bowser is not dead when he is knocked into the sun's magma, as shown before the black hole is formed, but is most likely killed when it explodes. The Lumas then use their combined power to reverse the black hole, resulting in an explosion that recreates the universe in its entirety.
Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. then appear back at a restored Toad Town. Relieved to be alive, Bowser leaves to plan further schemes.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Bowser appears, once again as the final boss, in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here, he appears together with his eight children, the Koopalings and Bowser Jr.. In the last castle of World 8, Bowser is located in the final chamber, sending out fireballs toward Mario, similar to his appearance in the original Super Mario Bros.. When the battle begins, Bowser is fought in the same manner as in Super Mario Bros., as well as in the first and final castles in the original New Super Mario Bros..
After the player presses the switch, the bridge collapses beneath Bowser, sending him falling into a pit once again. A victory fanfare plays and Mario rejoices, believing he is victorious. However, upon inspecting Princess Peach in the cage above, it turns out that it is, in fact, Kamek, disguised (dressed up) as Peach. Kamek then magicly escapes from the cage and casts a spell over the chasm that Bowser has fallen down. The area begins to rumble, and Kamek pauses to see if the spell had actually worked. To their surprise, Bowser reappears, now at a gigantic size, knocking Kamek off his broom, and proceeds to chase after Mario. The player must advance on to the area beyond, luring Bowser into launching fireballs at walls to destroy them so he or she can proceed. After a long and grueling chase, Mario hears Peach's voice, and is spotted in a cage up ahead, over a large orange flashing switch. By jumping on the switch, a humongous chasm opens up right underneath Bowser that drains the lava from the room, taking the Koopa King with it and defeating him for good.
After the credits (breakable blocks) roll, he is seen being carried by his children, having survived the drop and returned to his normal size. His children then use their combined strength to roll him onto his stomach, but the resulting quake causes the castle to fall over onto them.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
- “I'm HUUUUGE! Even scarier up close, huh?”
- —Bowser, Super Mario Galaxy 2
Bowser appears in Super Mario Galaxy 2, once again as the main antagonist. At the beginning of the game, he invades the Mushroom Kingdom again, along with his son, Bowser Jr., but at a gigantic size, due to the power of the Power Stars that he stole earlier. He kidnaps Princess Peach and flees into space again, claiming to build a galactic empire to suit his new size, and put it's capital at the center of the universe.
Additionally, he attacks and destroys Lubba's starship prior to the game, causing the Lumas to rebuild it in Mario's image when they team up with him. Using the Starship Mario to pursue Bowser, the player has to collect the Power Stars and save Princess Peach as he or she has done before. Bowser also orders a Magikoopa to get rid of Yoshi, as he does not want Mario teaming up with his dinosaur friend.
Bowser is faced three times in this game. The fights take place on a spherical planetoid, where Bowser, in his gigantic size, attempts to crush Mario with his fists, and by sending meteors crashing down. He also uses his Fire Breath. When using his fists, Bowser's hand gets stuck in the planetoid briefly, and any meteors on the battlefield at the time rise and turn yellow. Mario has to Ground Pound the meteors so that they hit Bowser. After each battle, when Bowser is defeated, he coughs up a Grand Star, causing him to shrink back down to his normal size and fall to the ground, but he is not discouraged at all and flees, telling Mario each time that his plan is too far along to stop.
The final battle at Bowser's Galaxy Generator has two phases. When Bowser is defeated once, Mario attempts to collect the Grand Star coughed up by Bowser, but the Koopa King reappears, eats the Grand Star, regains his gigantic size, and then the two fall into a vortex and begin the second phase of their battle. This part requires Mario to send yellow meteors at Bowser before he gets close enough to punch him. After Mario defeats Bowser for the final time, Bowser is sucked into the vortex, and is not seen again until Mario, Peach, and the Toad Brigade return to Mushroom World near the end of the credits, where it is shown that he has become smaller than normal, and is unconscious when he is first seen. Mario can jump on top of Bowser or spin him, waking him up and causing him to become angry.
Super Mario 3D Land
Bowser appears once again as the main antagonist of Super Mario 3D Land. He once again abducts Princess Peach, along with his henchmen, Boom Boom and Pom Pom. One day, a storm blows off all the Super Leaves on the Tail Tree in the Mushroom Kingdom. When Princess Peach goes to check the tree, Bowser catches Peach off guard and grabs her along with all the Tanooki leaves. He takes her to his castle while he has his minions, some of which he powers up with the Super Leaves, fight Mario on his quest.
It is revealed through the letters found after each world that Peach tries to escape, but Bowser's forces eventually overpower her. Bowser then holds her in a cage and keeps her next to his throne. The player must then get through World 8 to reach Bowser's Castle, where he or she fights Bowser by attempting to pass by him, cross the bridge, and push the button on the other side. When the player does this, Bowser falls into the lava. However, Bowser had planned ahead; he set up a wooden cutout of Peach on the top of a tower, and, after this is discovered, Bowser appears from above, holding the real Princess Peach, and heads to his second castle.
After facing one last level, the player is able to access Bowser's second castle. When the player reaches Bowser's quarters, Mario discovers the princess bound to the flagpole, but Bowser falls out of the sky, attempting to pound him from above, and roars, which causes the floor beneath them to fall.
During the second battle, instead of fighting him, the player has to dodge various obstacles until the switch at the end of the area is reached. Bowser attacks Mario with spiked balls at the beginning, with fireballs for the second portion of the area, and with barrels near the end. After all this, the player must finally pass by Bowser once again in order to push the button. Once this is accomplished, Bowser falls to the lava below.
However, when the player passes on to the next section, Bowser to reemerges from below and continues to chase the player. While progressing through a second obstacle course-like area, Bowser leaps across to various platforms, shooting massive white fireballs at Mario. At the very end of this area is another bridge with the switch on the other side. Once the player reaches this point, Bowser attempts to stop him or her from crossing by chasing the player across the bridge. If the player pushes this button, Bowser is sent careening into the lava once more, truly defeating him.
After defeating Bowser, Peach is returned to her castle with the help of Tanooki Mario and three Tanooki Toads. The credits show Bowser trying to reach Mario with the help of a massive Goomba Tower, but failing.
After rescuing Luigi from Dry Bowser, it is revealed that Bowser has once again captured Peach. The player (as Mario or Luigi) must then go back to Bowser's Castle to rescue Peach a second time.
Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!
Bowser is featured as the main villain in the Japan-exclusive movie Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!. The plot of the film is similar to that of Super Mario Bros. in that Bowser is trying to conquer the kingdom, turning its inhabitants into inanimate objects; he even turns Princess Peach's fiance, Prince Haru, into a dog going by the name Kibidango. He is also trying to marry Peach, making this film the first time Bowser has shown a love interest in her. He is introduced in the movie after Peach emerges from Mario's television, having been attacked by various enemies from the Mario series. Mario and Bowser have a brief confrontation, ending with him knocking Mario through the floor, grabbing Peach, and walking back through the TV.
While she is at Bowser's castle, staying in one of the many rooms in the castle, Bowser attempts to convince Peach to love him. However, Peach uses this as an opportunity to trap him, stating that she would like him if he were cute. He then transforms himself into a scarecrow, a dancer, and then a teddy bear. While in this form, Peach takes him and locks him in a box, which he escapes by transforming to his normal form. He then walks out and locks Peach in her room.
Later, Bowser commences his wedding with Peach. However, Peach still refuses to be married to Bowser, and he is surprised to hear that she loves Mario; at that moment, the brothers and Kibidango arrive on a flying ship they found earlier. Angered upon learning that the brothers have arrived, he demands that they destroy the brothers. He then grabs Peach and escapes with the priest. Thinking that the brothers and Kibidango are now dead, Bowser and the priest continue the ceremony, but she once again refuses; she even cries upon hearing Bowser explicitly state that the brothers are dead. However, the castle then begins to fall apart on top of them.
Upon emerging from the rubble, Mario and Bowser begin their second fight, but Bowser is once again easily beating Mario. As they fight, Kibidango attempts to distract Bowser so Mario can use the power-ups by eating them, but before he can eat the star, Bowser notices him and conjures some rice and a flavoring packet in thin air. Mario sees the food and tosses the star away in favor of the rice. However, Mario is not distracted for long, and notices Bowser attempting to step on him and moves away. He then sees the Star fall down a hole in the ground, and Bowser takes the opportunity to try and stomp Mario again; he fails once more, but his enemy falls off the cliff. Peach then begs him to stop, stating that she will marry him if he spares his life. Luigi then appears, having dug up the starman, but before he can feed it to Mario, Bowser notices and stomps them both. However, Mario, having been able to eat the item, then lifts Bowser's foot off of him and uses his increased strength to beat him up, taking Bowser by the tail and flinging him far away. As Mario's power wears off, Bowser can be seen flying away using a parachute, waving a white flag of surrender.
The ending of the movie shows Bowser and several members of the Koopa Troop working at Mario Bros. Grocery, appearing to be content with their current jobs.
I am a Teacher: Super Mario Sweater
The Japan-only game I am a Teacher: Super Mario Sweater features Bowser as one of the possible designs players could put on their shirt.
Game & Watch series
Bowser's appearances in the Game & Watch games are very minor compared to his roles in other titles. His appearances are mostly in the ports included in the four Game & Watch Gallery games.
Bowser's first appearance in a game for Game & Watch is the remake of Super Mario Bros.. Because it is a remake of the game, the game has the same plot as the original.
Game & Watch Gallery's modern version of Oil Panic features Bowser dropping oil from the top of a tower. Below, the player must try to catch the oil and hand the buckets to Yoshi for disposal. Occasionally, Yoshi can knock Bowser from his position.
The modern version of Ball from Game & Watch Gallery 2 features Bowser as one of the four playable characters; the objective of the game is to control him as he attempts to juggle a Goomba, a Boo, and a Koopa Shell, as well as collecting coins and avoiding Bob-ombs.
He also appears in the modern port of Mario Bros. in Game & Watch Gallery 3 and Game & Watch Gallery Advance. His role in this game is to hinder the player's progress by reversing the directions of the conveyer belts they are working on; however, he or she can switch the flow of the belts back to normal by flipping a switch.
Game & Watch Gallery Advance also has Bowser in the modern Rain Shower. Here, he is seen in a tree, trying to throw balloons filled with paint at Mario's friends, who are relaxing on various objects attached to the ropes. Mario is able to help his friends avoid the balloons by using the ropes to move them out of the way.
Golden Look-Look Books
Bowser only appears in one of the three Mario-based Golden Look-Look books: Super Mario Bros.: Trapped in the Perilous Pit. During the book, he heads down to the basement of Peach's castle to kidnap the princess once more, but is encountered by Mario and Luigi, who are fixing the castle's plumbing. Mario tries to fight him, but is defeated; it is when Luigi takes a Fire Flower and fights him that Bowser is defeated. Bowser escapes, however, and the bros try to chase after him, but fall down a large pit. Bowser also shoves the princess down and escapes. At the end of the book, however, the three escape the basement and force Bowser out of the castle.
Super Mario anime series
Bowser is also featured as the main villain in all three shorts in the Super Mario anime series, which had him taking on the guise of various fairy tale villains. In the first story, Momotarō, Bowser acts as an ogre that steals rare treasures from other areas of the galaxy. He hears of the beauty of Princess Peach, and, with the help of his henchmen, the Koopalings, she is kidnapped. Peach's grandparents try to stop him, but fail. During the time that the princess is kidnapped, Bowser attempts to propose to her, but she refuses. Afterward, he holds Peach prisoner in a cave until she accepts. Eventually, Mario and his friends, a Boomerang Bro., a Spike, and a Parabeetle, arrive at Bowser's Castle, defeat the Koopa King, and take Peach and his treasure back.
The second story, Issun-bōshi, features Bowser with a somewhat minimal role, as a bully to both Princess Peach and Mario. While harassing Princess Peach, Mario tries to stand up for her, but Bowser simply tries to stomp him, which later leads to him eating Mario. However, Mario then begins to slash and stab at his insides with the makeshift sword he was given by his father. This causes Bowser to experience a horrific stomachache and regurgitate Mario, falling unconscious. However, when Bowser wakes up, Mario is on his head, but he slices off his horns and eyebrows as he leaps off. Embarrassed, Bowser runs away from the two, dropping a magical hammer on the way. This hammer allowed Mario to be grown to a normal size.
The final story, Shirayuki-hime (Snow White), has Bowser playing the role of the Wicked Queen. He is a selfish tyrant, who often asks his mirror who is the most beautiful in the land, and the response from the mirror is an image of himself. However, one day, when asking the same thing, Bowser is shocked to see the image of Peach has appeared on the mirror. He cannot even sleep because of his anger over the situation. He has four of his Koopalings attack her, but she is saved by Mario, who defeats the Koopalings. However, thinking his minions had succeeded, he asks the mirror his question again, but the response is still the image of Peach. Using various chemicals in a laboratory, Bowser then creates a poison, which he injects into an apple. While both the Toads and Mario were gone from their house, Bowser, disguising himself using a robe, gives Peach a poisoned apple, which causes her to fall into a coma-like state, and flies back to his castle.
Once Mario, Peach, and the Toads arrive at Bowser's castle, he has his Koopalings attack Mario. They succeed with their attack, but the Toads combine with Mario, increasing his strength and allowing him to once again defeat them. Bowser uses this opportunity to escape, but Mario chases after him. However, Mario stops in his tracks when he sees Bowser holding a knife at Peach. At that moment, Luigi unexpectedly enters the scene with a hammer and defeats Bowser. The brothers then take Bowser and throw him face first into his mirror, truly defeating him.
DiC Cartoons
Bowser, though most commonly referred to by the name of King Koopa, is featured as the main antagonist of all three of DIC Entertainment's Super Mario cartoons, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. He later gets his own show in King Koopa's Kool Kartoons, a live-action DIC production. Bowser's appearance in the shows is based on Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2 and his in-game sprite from the original Super Mario Bros.
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
- “Koopa Pack, attack!”
- —Bowser, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Bowser often takes on various aliases and costumes and try to enact a dastardly plot of some sort, most commonly trying to conquer a kingdom or steal an ancient treasure and/or artifact; aiding Bowser in these plots are his Koopa Pack and a sidekick of sorts, most commonly Mouser. In several episodes, Bowser captures Princess Toadstool and attempts to blackmail her into giving him the Mushroom Kingdom, although some other episodes imply that he already has some measure of control over the kingdom.
King Koopa's Kool Kartoons
After The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Bowser recieved his first live-action appearance in King Koopa's Kool Kartoons, a show starring Bowser that only aired for one season between 1989 and 1990. His appearance, as well as his personality and demeanor, is based off of his cartoon appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, but changed to make him look more believable for a live action TV show. During the show, Bower hosts a quiz, to which any viewer can send their answers through the mail, and answers fan mail. He then shows public-domain cartoons unrelated to the Mario series. At the end of each episode, Koopa gives away Nintendo merchandise to the child-exclusive studio audience.
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser, having seemingly been banished from the Mushroom Kingdom sometime after the events of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, returns to it to cause havoc, with the aid of his seven Koopalings. In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser stops his use of aliases and costumes and his plans became somewhat odd in nature, such as turning his children into giant, ninja warriors for the sole purpose of kidnapping Prince Hugo, only to end up transforming him into a poodle.
Super Mario World television series
In Super Mario World television series, Bowser makes somewhat infrequent appearances. He was, as revealed in the episode "Mama Luigi", once again banished from the Mushroom Kingdom, which results in him moving to Dinosaur Land, where he, along with his Koopalings, cause trouble. Bowser's fate at the end of the cartoons is never actually disclosed, as his final appearance shows him trapped in his bedroom, which is rapidly filling with lava.
Mario Ice Capades
In the real-life production Mario Ice Capades, Bowser, known as King Koopa (but referred to as Bowser only once), plans to use an NES to infect computers, then sings about his evil personality and nature. However, his plot is foiled by Mario, Luigi, and children in the audience, when the children attack him with various plumbing tools.
Mario Roulette
In Mario Roulette, Bowser's appearance is as one of the possible results on the roulette.
White Knuckle Scorin'
In the comic included with the White Knuckle Scorin' album released by MCA records, Bowser appears as the main antagonist. His plan is to turn the dinosaurs on Dinosaur Land into fossil fuel, and join OPEC as an oil tycoon. As soon as he kidnaps Princess Toadstool and brings her to his castle, he explains his plan to her, but the princess tells Bowser that he is not smart enough to be an oil tycoon. However, Bowser replies by telling her that he would rather have "brute force and a bad attitude over smarts and education", informing her (in song) that "ignorance is bliss."
Later, Bowser's spies tell him that the Mario Bros. and their ally Yoshi are approaching his castle. Wishing to show off the reading skills the princess taught him earlier, Lemmy helps Bowser in reciting a spell he believes has a nasty effect (he cannot do it himself because he states to have left his reading glasses in the pantry when he was reading the nutritional label on a bag of "toasted lard chips"), but instead creates an illusion in which the entire countryside is given a medieval motif; Mario and Luigi are given suits of armor, which boosts their confidence.
The spell wears off as soon as Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi arrive at the castle, but Bowser has his Mecha-Koopas attack them. He then places Toadstool in a cage, which begins to lower into a vat of lava. They cannot save her in time, and the princess is killed. Mario attempts to claim vengeance, but his grief over the situation allows Bowser to easily beat him. However, Princess Toadstool suddenly appears out of the shadows and strikes Bowser. Revitalized by her sudden appearance, Mario is able to take on Bowser again, while the princess explains that she escaped due to Bowser leaving the operating manual inside the cage. (Bowser states that he never thought about the instructions, since he is illiterate.) The heroes then work together and defeat Bowser and his Mecha-Koopas; Lemmy even helps them out, telling the princess that the Mecha-Koopas hurt Bowser even more. Despite his defeat, however, Bowser orders his minions to sever any Warp Pipes leading outside Dinosaur Land, supposedly leaving the heroes trapped there, but Princess Toadstool then reveals that she has Bowser's spell book. Finding a spell that can transport them home, Yoshi stays behind to recite the spell.
Super Mario-Kun
Bowser also appears as a prominent character in the Super Mario-Kun Japan-exclusive manga. With several of the novels being based of off several of the games, Bowser's appearances in Super Mario-Kun give him the same role he has in the game each volume is based on.
Yoshi series
Yoshi's Cookie
In Yoshi's Cookie, Bowser appears as one of the four playable characters in versus mode. He has the highest attack of the four, but his other stats are average.
The Nintendo Puzzle Collection version of the game features a story mode. Yoshi and Mario have made Yoshi Cookies and are delivering them, but decide to rest due to the nonstop deliveries they are making. Bowser, however, notices the sleeping pair and gets the idea to steal the Yoshi Cookies for himself. Upon waking, Yoshi and Mario head after Bowser to retrieve the cookies.
Bowser is faced on stage seven on every difficulty, after the player defeats Thwomp and Magikoopa. The player must defeat him three out of five times to win.
Tetris Attack
Bowser also appears in Tetris Attack, a game that is based on the Japanese Panel de Pon. The remake replaces several characters of the game with characters from the Mario series and the Yoshi series. Bowser takes the role of Cordelia, as the game’s final boss. During the VS. Mode, Bowser has Kamek cast a spell over the inhabitants of Yoshi's Island, brainwashing them into working for him and his Koopa Troop. He is faced in Mt. Wickedness on hard mode as the final boss, as stated before, after Kamek is defeated.
Bowser is also faced on the final stage and special stage on Stage Clear mode. Stringing together combos and chains depletes his health points. The special stage, however, is only meant to test the player, and the player can retry the final stage if he or she loses.
Yoshi Topsy-Turvy
Yoshi's Island has once again become the target of an adult Bowser's conquests during the events of Yoshi Topsy-Turvy. The Koopa King and his forces attack the island, causing chaos and disorder. In response to this, a spirit named Hongo attempts to contain Bowser and his army by using his magic to place the entire island inside the Forbidden Pop-Up Book, mirroring what Bowser did to Yoshi's Island as a baby. Fortunately, Yoshi manages to convince the powerful spirit to restore Yoshi's Island under the conditions that Yoshi trap Bowser himself; if this is done, than Yoshi's Island does not have to be isolated from the rest of the world. As such, Yoshi set off through the chapters of the storybook version of Yoshi's Island.
Each course is controlled by a different spirit, and each demands that the green dinosaur fulfill a specific task before he or she allows Yoshi to move on. Ultimately, after satisfying the task of every spirit, the spirits allow Yoshi to confront King Bowser. The first part of the battle takes place on a platform. Bowser attacks Yoshi by breathing fire at him, while bombs fall from the sky. Yoshi must lead Bowser into the bombs to damage him; this causes him to fly into the air and fall back onto the ground, which sends two Shy Guys down from above.
When Bowser is damaged enough times, the two fall to a lower platform. Bowser only attacks by leaping and slamming the ground, causing two enemies to fall; other than this, Bowser simply walks toward Yoshi, albeit weaker and slower. Once more, Yoshi must make Bowser walk into the bombs parachuting down from above to damage him. Once this is done enough times, they fall to a pair of even lower platforms over a pit of lava; Bowser's is so small that only one of his feet can fit on it. The player must tilt the screen so that Bowser falls into the lava, which increases in height. Once he falls in, Bowser is defeated. Afterward, with the threat of Bowser eliminated, Hongo keeps true to his word and releases Yoshi's Island, restoring it to its natural state.
Yoshi's Island DS
In Yoshi's Island DS, Bowser travels to the past to find the Star Children, which are said to have the power necessary for Bowser to conquer the universe. Among the many children he takes or attempts to kidnap are Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Peach, Baby Donkey Kong, Baby Wario, and even Baby Bowser. Bowser from the future uses a scepter to bring him back to the past and invades Baby Bowser's Castle. Bowser later kicks Baby Bowser out of the castle when he insults him.
Baby Bowser teams up with Baby Mario, Baby Wario, Baby Donkey Kong, Baby Peach, and Yoshi to save Baby Luigi and the other babies from the future Bowser out of revenge, since his future self had betrayed him. Near the end of the game, while traversing the castle, Baby Bowser turns on his team because he thought they'd come to try and steal his treasure, but he is outnumbered and defeated. The future Bowser then shows up and attacks them for being rude to his past self (even though he'd booted him out of his castle earlier). During the fight, Bowser attacks Yoshi and the babies by leaping around and blasting them with fireballs. By using the Giant Yoshi Eggs carried by Baron von Zeppelins as projectiles, the player can knock Bowser off his feet. He or she is then able to attack Bowser by ground pounding him.
When the player defeats Bowser, Kamek intervenes and enchants Bowser using his magic. The magic causes Bowser to become a giant in the final battle against Baby Mario, Baby Peach, Baby Donkey Kong, and Baby Wario. During the battle, Bowser moves around to the left and right sides of the area and attacks the Yoshis and babies with fireballs, as well as sending down debris. The player must throw the Giant Yoshi Eggs, once again obtained by Baron von Zeppelins, at Bowser so that they explode in his face. Once he or she defeats him again, the unconscious Bowser is carried away by Toadies while Kamek vows revenge and Baby Bowser follows them. it is revealed that the babies, including Baby Bowser, make up six of the seven Star Children, with a Baby Yoshi that is born soon after Bowser leaves the past, being the seventh.
Club Nintendo comics
Bowser is one of the many characters that appear during the Club Nintendo comics. His appearances are as an antagonist, and are mostly major. His first appearance in one is Wart steht unter Strom (Wart is Tensed Up). During the comic, Bowser, for some reason appearing under the name "Wart", is playing what appears to be "Template:Conjecturaltext" on a Game Boy, when the batteries die. He angrily throws them out, the dead batteries landing at Mario's feet. Mario notices them and tells Bowser that they should be disposed in special containers. Even more infuriated, he attacks Mario, resulting in Bowser being electrified by the dead batteries. Afterward, a still flashing Bowser decides to finally accept Mario's advice and heads off to buy a Battery Set.
In Süße Weihnachten (Sweet Christmas), Bowser first appears outside Mario's house, while he is not at home. Bowser also takes advantage of the fact that their door is unlocked and enters. He notices several treats inside, and starts to eat them; afterward, however, a somewhat overweight Bowser starts feeling sick. He tries to leave, but falls over. Dr. Mario, being told of Bowser's condition by a Toad doctor, rushes over and, along with Nurse Toadstool, checks his condition, then gives him a prescription. He is later seen in bed, still sick, in the background while Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad sing "Silent Night".
Bowser's appearance in Super Mario: Mario im Wunderland (Super Mario: Mario in Wonderland) is minor. He, along with Wario and Donkey Kong, emerge from a bush in front of Mario, Toad, and Kirby. They claim that the group stole their cookies, and begin to fight. However, they are scared away by Fox McCloud. He also has a minor appearance in Super Mario: Erholung? Nein, danke! (Super Mario: Recreation? No, thanks!), where he works at the front desk of the Gumba Royal Hotel.
In Die Jagd nach dem Nintendo 64: Krawall im All (The Race for the Nintendo 64: Ruckus in Outer Space), Bowser and Wario have teamed up in order to find a special spacecraft on the planet Earth; they are planning to use the spacecraft to rule the universe. Their only opposition on this quest is Mario and Luigi. Upon landing on earth, the duo notice that the Mario bros. landed first, and fly off in their para-gliders. They notice Mario and Luigi in karts, and begin to attack them. Bowser knocks Mario off the road, but he loses control of his glider. Mario, back on the road, grasps the opportunity and throws banana peels in front of him. He slips on one and collides with Wario; the villains are knocked out while the Mario brothers continue.
Even later, in order to reach the island containing the spacecraft, Wario and Bowser use a type of aircraft with rocket boosters. They outrace Mario and Luigi, who are using their karts converted into jet skis. However, Mario tricks them into believing flying straight is boring, and the villains begin to do various midair maneuvers until they run out of fuel and fall into water. They eventually emerge from the water and try to take the craft, shaped like a Nintendo 64, from the Marios, but fail after the brothers put a flag up on top of it. Their friends congratulate them while Bowser and Wario are sulking.
Mario Teaches Typing games
Bowser also makes some minor appearances in the Mario Teaches Typing games, such as appearing when the letter "B" is typed in the first game's alternate game mode. In Mario Teaches Typing 2, Bowser is not featured in the story mode, but his castle is, though it is later destroyed by Mario and Luigi. Additionally, a Bowser portrait also appears in the room where the Koopa Troopas are playing cards.
Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up
Bowser's appearances in the coloring book-based game Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up include the "attorney and judge" page, in which he is the judge, and the "business executive" page, in which he appears as the business executive. It is interesting to note that Bowser appears with his game and cartoon appearance in this game.
Mario Kart series
Bowser is always a default-unlocked heavyweight character in the Mario Kart games. He also always has his own course, aptly named Bowser's Castle. In later games, both a current incarnation and at least one past incarnation of the track appear.
In Super Mario Kart, he and Donkey Kong Jr. have the heaviest weight and highest speed, but at the same time suffer from poor acceleration and steering. If controlled by a computer, he will sometimes throw fireballs onto the track. In the Japanese release of the game, every character's awards ceremony victory animation involves a bottle of champagne, but part of Bowser's involves drinking it. This is changed in the US version, in which Bowser simply tosses the bottle into the air and catches it.
In Mario Kart 64, Bowser and the other heavyweight characters have poor speed, acceleration, and steering, but high weight, allowing them to ram lighter racers out of their way.
In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, his default partner is Bowser Jr.. Their shared Special Item is the Bowser Shell, and his special Kart is the Koopa King.
In Mario Kart DS, Bowser's Koopa Clown Car cameos as his unlockable kart, the Hurricane. His default karts are a standard kart (Standard BW), like the other racers, and the Tyrant. Once the game is beaten, Bowser can drive any of the thirty-six karts in the game. He also appears as the ghost on Airship Fortress with a time of 2:07:748 on the Hurricane, on Bowser Castle on the Hurricane with a time of 2:19:661, and on GBA Bowser Castle 2 with a time of 1:52:258 on the Standard BW. In Missions Mode, Bowser is the character played as for missions 3-2, 4-5, 5-4, 6-1, 6-8, and 7-7. In addition, he also appears as the opponent to be raced against for mission 7-2.
In Mario Kart Wii, Bowser has the highest weight bonus for his class size, which makes vehicles like the Offroader and Piranha Prowler heavier than normal. The Staff Ghosts that use Bowser are Nin*YABUKI at Bowser's Castle in the Piranha Prowler, with a time of 3:04:836 with no Wii Wheel and manual drift. The expert staff ghost is Nin*Masa, with the same settings, except this time, Bowser is on the Bowser Bike with a time of 2:42:098.
In Mario Kart 7, Bowser returns as a heavy racer. He has one of the best speed and weight boosts in the game. His Koopa Clown Car also has an appearance as the Koopa Clown, an unlockable kart body. The staff ghosts using Bowser are Ret*Matt M on Bowser's Castle, with the standard kart body, Monster tires, and the Super Glider with a time of 02:34.815; the expert staff ghost also uses Bowser in the Blue Seven with Red Monster tires and the Ghastly Glider, the time being 02:15.244. He is also both ghosts on GBA Bowser Castle 1; the normal ghost, Nin*Hayata, uses the Pipe Frame with Standard tires and the Ghastly Glider and has a time of 01:31.030, while the expert, Nin*hokwai, uses the Koopa Clown with the Roller tires and the Super Glider, and has a time of 01:22.221.
Bowser also makes an appearance in the two Mario Kart Arcade GP games; the first has no weight stat to classify characters by, but the second classifies him as a power racer. In both games, Bowser has four special items: Bowser Shell, which has the same effect as Double Dash!!; Shell Body, which makes him invincible; Flaming Tender, which damages any rival that hits it; and Thwomp, which squishes any driver that gets beneath it. Bowser also receives his own two-course cup in each game, both of which consists of Bowser's Castle and Castle Wall, which takes place on the wall surrounding his castle.
Mario is Missing!
Bowser causes much trouble on Earth during Mario is Missing!. Bowser plans to use several hairdryers to melt Antarctica, which would result in the Earth flooding. However, beacuse he cannot afford the numerous hairdryers, Bowser sends his Koopa Troop across the world to steal rare and valuable artifacts to sell.
Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi head to Antarctica to stop him, but Mario is captured by Bowser. Mario's kidnapping, however, differs between the three versions. In the PC version, Luigi remains outside with Yoshi, as he is too scared to go in, so Mario enters by himself, leading to him being kidnapped. In the SNES version, Mario falls down a pit trap activated by Bowser. In the NES version, Bowser catches him in a sack. Either way, Mario is kidnapped, forcing Luigi to save Mario using the skill of deduction.
The endings differ from the console as well. When the player saves Mario in the NES version, Luigi and Bowser fight, but this Bowser turns out to be a fake. The real Bowser is later seen outside his fortress, crying over his defeat in the snow. In the SNES version, Bowser escapes by pulling a lever, but Luigi pulls the same one afterward. The button causes Bowser to be loaded into a cannon which shoots him into Antarctica; he is instantly frozen, and then shatters. In the PC version, Luigi forcefully removes Bowser's shell, making him a beach Bowser, much to his humiliation.
Nintendo Adventure Books
In Double Trouble, Bowser intends on using Iggy's latest invention, a cloning machine called the GLOM, to overrun the Mushroom Kingdom with duplicates made of sand. After encountering Mario in his Koopahari Desert Fortress, Bowser brags about his scheme before giving chase to the plumber, though he quickly loses him. After Mario causes Fort Koopa to collapse by making the GLOM overload and blow up, he spots Bowser, Iggy and Wendy limping off after digging themselves out of the rubble.
Bowser has only a cameo appearance in Leaping Lizards, where he threatens the orchestra performing at the International Mushroom Games (which six of his children are competing in) to play the Koopa Anthem.
In Monster Mix-up, Iggy Koopa builds the Monster Mixer for Bowser, a device that fuses two or more objects or creatures together. He begins to use it by fusing several of his minions into weird conglomerations of the two creatures that formed it. (such as a Goomerang Bro. and a Buzz-Bomb) However, in the end, Bowser is stopped and the machine is destroyed.
After Wendy disappears in Koopa Capers, Bowser uses a Magic Carpet to abduct Luigi from Brooklyn, so he can force the younger Mario Brother into searching for the wayward Koopaling after his own minions prove incapable of finding her. In the best ending, Bowser and the male Koopalings confront Wendy, who had planned on performing a coup, in her secret lair by following Luigi, but they decide to stave off punishing the treacherous Koopaling if she helps search for the hiding Luigi. If Luigi has Boom Boom's socks, he can throw them into Wendy's simmering potion, creating fumes which will knock Bowser, his family and their minions out for at least a week.
Bowser's appearance in Doors to Doom is as an enemy in the series of worlds created by Dr. Sporis Von Fungenstein.
In Dinosaur Dilemma, Bowser has his minions begin abducting all the dinosaurs in Dinosaur Island, so he can "prove" his theory that the dinosaurs went extinct due to not looking both ways before they crossed the street; once the dinosaurs and all evidence of their existence are gone and his theory is thus "proven" true, Bowser intends to be awarded the Snowbell Prize (feeding the cooked dinosaurs to the committee awarding it) and be named curator of the Mushroom Kingdom Museum of Natural History, conveniently located across the street from Mushroom Palace. Mario and Yoshi ultimately crash Bowser's award ceremony, defeat his evil Slimosaurs, rescue the dinosaurs and the kidnapped Luigi, and humiliate the Koopa King in front of the Snowbell Prize committee and the rest of the guests, including Wart.
In Flown the Koopa, Bowser can be found hanging out in the Valley of the Koopas by Mario and Luigi; when asked about the whereabouts of Princess Toadstool and Yoshi, Bowser denies having anything to do with their disappearance, but since the Mario Bros. have annoyed him he sics a quartet of Mecha-Koopas on them. In the best possible outcome, Luigi bludgeons Bowser with a wrench, sending him running and causing him to drop the remote control needed to disable the Mecha-Koopas and defeat Magikoopa, Bowser's cousin and the main antagonist of the book.
Disguised as a Toad named Fungus Cap, Bowser crashes Yoshi's birthday in Unjust Desserts, placing a cherry on the dinosaur's cake that, when eaten, causes Yoshi to go on an eating binge that ends when he devours Luigi. After unsuccessfully trying to dissuade Yoshi's friends from calling dinosaur physician Doc Drake, Bowser sheds his Toad disguise and escapes, but returns later after having Magikoopa shrink him and his forces so he can follow Mario (who intends to rescue Luigi) into Yoshi's body. When Yoshi and Luigi regurgitate everyone they have eaten, Bowser and his forces try to overwhelm Mario, but are defeated and forced to retreat, with the still tiny Bowser being menaced by an ant.
It is interesting to note that, during the earlier books, Bowser's appearances on the covers of Double Trouble and Monster Mix-up show him with his cartoon appearance; on the cover of the later book Unjust Desserts, Bowser, albeit only his face being on the cover, is shown with his game appearance.
Super Mario Adventures
Bowser appears as the primary antagonist in Nintendo Power's comic series Super Mario Adventures. Some time prior to the events of the comics, he has hundreds of Yoshi's captured and enslaved. Yoshi tries to go after them, but he is trapped in an egg and left in the forest. Later, pipes begin to pop out of the princess's castle grounds, and several of Bowser's minions emerge from them. Bowser and his children, in his Koopa Clown Car, later appear out of a massive warp pipe. Bowser explains to Princess Toadstool that he wanted to conquer the kingdom, and that he could only do so by marrying her. Toadstool declines his proposal, but Bowser states that he would return for a final answer. He then heads back down the pipe, with the princess and several Toads in pursuit, to, hopefully, compromise with him.
Several of Bowser's Lakitus later captured Toadstool, and Bowser places her in the custody of his kids, telling them to keep a video line between his castle and theirs open. She is kept in a jail cell inside their castle. After interrupting them playing a video game, he begins to tell his kids that he proposed to Toadstool, but is interrupted by a Magikoopa, telling him that the model of his cake is finished. Bowser is shown the model, but wants it bigger, and has to interrupt his children's video game again to tell them to keep Toadstool inside the castle.
After the princess escapes, Bowser is furious at his kids for loosing his "bride," but the Koopalings show him that they have captured Mario. Bowser then sends two Mecha-Koopas across the moat dividing the mainland from the castle, to tell Luigi that, if he wants Mario back, he must give him Princess Toadstool or Mario will be killed. Luigi tricks Bowser and the Koopalings by sending himself in as the princess, and actually says yes to Bowser's proposal when he arrives.
Luigi then convinces the Koopalings to order pizza, which turns out to be from Yoshi and Toad, with the actual princess and Friendly Floyd in the boxes with several bombs; they ask for Mario to be freed, or they will blow up the castle. After much chaos ensues, Mario is freed and the group escapes.
After flying through the warp pipe to send for a rescue party, Toad is captured by Bowser and his minions. He and several Koopas then disguise themselves as Toads and help the princess and the bros by sending a ladder. However, Bowser then takes out a knife and slices the ladder in two, separating himself and the princess from Mario and Luigi. He then sheds the disguise as the ladder is pulled back up the pipe, revealed to be a small airship. Bowser then unleashes his Paratroopas upon the bros.
Having defeated the Koopas, the brothers find a house in the middle of the forest, unaware that Bowser and the Koopalings are watching them and that the house is one of his traps. Bowser prematurely thinks that the brothers will enter the house, but when they don't, he pushes a button, causing the scent of cheese to emanate from the house. The smell convinces Luigi to head inside, and Mario rushes inside to find him. With the Mario bros. out of the way, Bowser returns to planning his wedding.
On the date of the wedding, Bowser witnesses a Magikoopa command several hundred enslaved Yoshis to drag the enormus cake into the courtyard. He then watches as they are commanded to enter a special room, where they enter a machine that places them in eggs. As he is preparing for the wedding, he learns that the princess is still resisting. However, he has the Magikoopa hypnotize her into loving him. Just as the ceremony is taking place, Mario interrupts. Bowser then has his minions charge after Mario, subduing him. As he is about to continue with their marriage, a gigantic pack of Yoshis charges in, instantly defeating all of Bowser's minions. After the Magikoopa is defeated, the princess regains her senses. Bowser tries to escape in his Koopa Clown Car, but Mario lassos the car, causing Bowser to fall out of it and into the cake, which the Yoshis start to consume. Bowser then tries to continue the wedding, but the cake collapses, with him still on it.
Nintendo Comics System
In the Mario comics of Valiant Comics' Nintendo Comics System, Bowser, known under the name King Koopa at first, is once again featured as the main enemy of the Mushroom Kingdom, which he continues to try and cause chaos in. Though several of his appearances involve him trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, he also has a handful of joke comics revolving around him. His appearance in these comics is exactly similar to his appearance in the DIC cartoons. Throughout the comics, it is implied that Bowser, in some way, is affiliated with the Apook Corporation, a large corporation selling most of the Mushroom Kingdom's commercial products, if not the owner. The corporation mainly retails their products at the Koopamart, a store also implied to be owned by Bowser; it is even designed to look like him.
The short comic The Legend explains how Bowser originally kidnapped the princess, and how the Mario brothers went on their quest to rescue her.
In Just Deserts, Koopa creates a mirage machine, which he uses to create a mirage of the Mushroom King splashing around in an oasis in the middle of the desert Mario and Luigi are trapped in, while he stays at his underground base. However, once they reach the spring, Koopa deactivates the mirage, prompting the bros to search for the king. They eventually arrive at the pyramid Koopa's base is in, and Mario rescues the king and presses a "master mirage" button on the machine, destroying the fortress.
Bowser also appears during Piranha-Round Sue. During the comic, the Piranha Plant Piranha Sue starts a revolution amongst the plants from King Koopa, who transforms the Mushroom King into a lizard. The king then sends Mario and Toad to retrieve a magic wand to turn him back, giving them the Green Gecko Gem, which gives its user a forcefield. Mario gets the wand, but eventually loses both it and the gem to Sue, who then claims that she rules the world; however, Bowser appears then, and Sue states that she got them for Bowser. He disregards this and claims both; however, he tosses the gem aside, deeming it worthless, and notices the wand has the words "Brooklyn Plumbing Novelty Company" inscribed upon it. Bowser then punishes Piranha Sue for being duped.
During Beauty and the Beach, Bowser has taken control of a beach island, giving himself the alias "Ka-Hoopa." His plot is to use bombs heat up the volcano on the center of the island to the point where it erupts and turns the Toads inhabiting the island into Fryguys. He achieves this by having the residents themselves throw the bombs into the volcano, telling them that it will scare away the Trouters near the island. After Princess Toadstool, Mario, and Toad wash ashore on the island, their boat having been destroyed by the aforementioned Trouters, they eventually encounter Bowser. However, he offers them no trouble, even telling them his plan in its entirety, and leaves, stating the volcano would erupt in a matter of minutes. Out at sea, however, he notices that the volcano is not erupting, thanks to Mario's installing of bamboo pipelines to divert the lava.
In Magic Carpet Madness, Bowser first prank phone calls the king, causing him to track mud in the castle; Princess Toadstool scorns him for this. He then sends three Pidgets to the castle under the guise of carpet cleaners, though they really laced it with Flying Carpet Juice he gave them. After Toadstool flies into the sky, the Pidgets hypnotize her. However, the plan falls apart when Toadstool crashes into his blimp.
Before the events of Bedtime for Drain-Head, Bowser kidnaps Toad. However, a sleepwalking Mario, believing himself to be his favorite comic book hero Dirk Drain-Head, breaks in to Bowser's Castle and beats him up; not wanting to be beaten any more, he calls for a truce. They then head back to Peach's Castle, where he is seen serving the king, Wooster, and Toad grape sodas with little umbrellas upon Luigi and Princess Toadstool's arrival. The king then commends Mario by giving him a slap on the back, waking him up; Bowser is shocked to see that he was defeated by Mario in his sleep, and storms off.
In Betrayal Most Proper, Bowser only gets a minor appearance. The king's adviser Wooster has apparently committed treason, and is kidnapped by Koopa Troopas. Back at Bowser's Castle, however, he feeds Bowser and his minions so much junk food that they become overweight and enter into a state of hibernation.
In Duh Stoopid Bomb!, Bowser, along with several minions and an incognito Toad, attend a meeting in which a Shy Guy presents the Stupid Bomb, a device that releases a gas that makes anyone inhaling it stupid for several hours. A Snifit later tells him that Mario and Luigi set off a Stupid Bomb they took on themselves; Bowser is first displeased by this, but then is happy, explaining that they will probably set off more bombs on the rest of the population. He then presents a Smart Bomb, a bomb that will not only reverse the Stupid Bomb, but make the one who inhales its gas highly intelligent. The Snifit takes the bomb, and it explodes in his hands. Using his newfound intelligence, the Snifit usurps Bowser of his power and dumps him into Fryguy Kindergarten, where he is crowned by a group of over-excited Fryguys.
Bowser once again gains a minor appearance in Cloud Burst, where he is seen explaining to a recently amassed army in "World 3" that he has recently been robbed of tons of Koopabits and even his crown, and that they should be on the lookout for the traitor. However, it turns out that that Lakitu, with his cloud and partner Fluffy was the one who robbed Bowser and, earlier, Princess Toadstool. While they try to report to Bowser about Mario's presence, Luigi pulls an escape hatch open, causing himself, the Lakitu, and all the stolen items to fall to the ground, bonking Bowser on the head and knocking him unconscious.
In The Buddy System, Bowser's plan is to, with Lemmy Koopa, blow up the underground's main water pipe. He will later explain that he is doing this to open a taxi service to replace the soon-to-be useless underground. However, the plan's main flaw is Lemmy's stupidity; he does not know how both how to set up the bombs and where the main water pipe is. On the last section, Lemmy uses four bombs, however; the catastrophic explosion causes Bowser and a nearby Mario to be blown toward a Mouser colony. They capture the pair, and Bowser, after the mice call Mario the more intelligent of the duo, explains his plan. However, the Mousers then show him the real main water pipe, and even blow it up as a demonstration to how they would do it, flooding the underground.
He attempts to escape using a Warp Pipe, but Mario explains that the pipes shut off after the water reaches a certain level. They then head back and work together to shut off the water main, and, once this is done, the emergency drain activates. Upon reaching the above ground, Mario and Bowser fight, using a plunger and a tree branch respectively. However, Lemmy then interrupts the fight by bringing in another bomb, and he clumsily drops it; the bomb misses the duo, but cuts the chain keeping them together. Bowser then angrily chases after Lemmy.
Bowser later appears in the comic It's Always Fair Weather. Here, he is seen storming around the Mushroom Kingdom fair grounds, annoyed that he is being mistaken for Luigi inside a Bowser suit at the dunk tank. He then notices a group of hot air balloons, and decides to take out his anger by using his helicopter's propeller blades to blow them away; However, they are then rescued by Mario, who has been transformed for the first time into Raccoon Mario. After landing, Mario is given a kiss by Princess Toadstool; however, the lovestruck plumber stumbles into Bowser, causing him to lose his raccoon abilities. However, Mario is still able to defeat him by activating the cyclone once more, sending Bowser flying into the pool for the "Douse the Bowser" attraction.
He is also in The Revenge of Pipe Ooze!, where he supervising Lemmy's ambush test, which they decide to do at The Annual Dirk Drain-Head Role-Playing Game, under the disguise of hotdog vendors, albeit their only form of disguise being fake mustaches. The Mushroom King and Toad, cosplaying as Pipe Ooze and Muck respectively, head over to their hotdog stand; it is here that Lemmy and Bowser knock them out with magic wands. They then take the pair's costumes, and Lemmy decides to ambush Mario, who is role-playing as Dirk Drain-Head himself.
Later, he uses a catapult to launch Lemmy at Mario, as Bowser questions why his son isn't paying taking in his "evil villain lessons." However, the ambush fails, and Bowser attacks a Piranha Plant who insulted his son earlier. He then takes Lemmy onto a pipe and orders him to attack, but Lemmy asks if he can role-play first. Bowser yells at him, causing his son to feel sad, and then apologizes, granting him two minutes to have fun. He then assists Mario and Luigi in their attempt to act out comic #287 in Dirk's series by beating up Bowser. After this is over, Luigi (who recognizes Pipe Ooze to be Bowser instead of the king) convinces him to help him get Mario's spirit back by pretending to be afraid of him, since Luigi's being Dirk attracted several fans. The ruse works, and Mario proceeds to beat up Bowser. Lemmy and Bowser then leave their costumes and sneak away. Lemmy asks if attacking his own father counts toward passing the ambush test, and Bowser tells him that it does; he also gives him extra credit for attacking a close family member. The two then head off to get some food and rest.
In the comic Tanooki Suits Me, during the grand opening of an art gallery, Mario pushes a button on his Tanooki Suit, turning him into Statue Mario. Mice then steal the statue, as well the rest of the art at the gallery. They then sell it to Bowser for fifty Koopabits, as part of his plan, which also involves selling the art to Wart for a much higher price. Bowser then hears Wart at the door, and sends the mice off, convincing them that it is the police.
As he is about to sell the entire collection for five million Koopabits, Mario transforms back into Tanooki Mario. Not recognizing the plumber in his Tanooki form, Mario convinces Wart that the paintings and statues are actually worthless products from the Apook Corporation, and that they will transform into raccoons as well in a few minutes. Wart is angered by this, and he and Bowser fight while Mario escapes on a forklift with the stolen art.
Bowser's joke comic appearances include shorts such as Koopa Kola, in which he is advertising the soda of the same name, and Koopa's Believe It or Else!, in which he gives several obscure, but possibly true, "facts" about the Mushroom Kingdom.
Yoshi's Safari
Bowser and the Koopalings take over the kingdom of Jewelry Land, kidnapping the rulers King Fret and Prince Pine, and steal twelve magical gems in Yoshi's Safari. This causes a disturbance, causing an earthquake that splits Jewelry Land into the Light Realm and the Dark Realm. Mario, riding Yoshi, heads for Jewelry Land with the Super Scope Princess Peach gives them to defeat Bowser.
After traversing every land, the duo arrive at Bowser's Castle. Once all of the minions inside the castle are defeated, Yoshi and Mario fall down a pit leading to a room with Bowser controlling a robotic mech suit. Inside the armor, Bowser attacks by shooting projectiles at them with the blasters on the hands. However, the entire robot is invincible except for the hands; attacking these enough times disables them and cause the robot's actual weak point to be revealed. When this is attacked enough times, the robotic suit is destroyed, revealing Bowser himself. In this state, he attacks Mario and Yoshi by tossing Koopa shells at them. Like with the robot, Bowser's hands are the only venerable part of him at first. Once his hands are shot enough, they are disabled, and Bowser attacks by breathing flame at them. Yoshi and Mario must shoot Bowser's head in order to damage him at this point. Once he is shot at enough, Bowser surrenders.
After beating the game, a code for the hard mode is unlocked, increasing the difficulty and changing level colors. The text is also changed, to make it appear as though the events of the game are repeating themselves. Mario must once again save King Fret and Prince Pine, as well as reclaim the twelve gems to save Jewelry Land.
Mario's Time Machine
In Mario's Time Machine, Bowser buids the Timulator, a time machine that he uses to steal valuable artifacts from Earth's past, then places them in his own personal museum, not realizing that messing with the past can drastically alter the present. The player must take back Bowser's stolen artifacts and use his time machine to return them to their proper places, saving the time stream.
If the player fails to return all the artifacts in time or returns at least one of them in the wrong order, Bowser escapes by using the Timulator and setting it for "Paradise", forcing the player to start over. However, if the task is done, Bowser attempts to use the machine to escape, but it overloads, then self-destructs, and he is teleported to the Jurassic era, where a Tyrannosaurus Rex stomps him.
Mario's Early Years! series
Bowser's appearances in the Mario's Early Years! games are in the various activities in the game, like dancing for the letter "D". Because the game is aimed at younger children, his appearance in this series is not as a villain.
Hotel Mario
In Hotel Mario, Bowser and the Koopalings turn the entire Mushroom Kingdom into their own personal resorts and retain Princess Toadstool as a "permanent guest" in one of the seven Koopa Hotels. At the beginning of the game, Bowser appears at the entrance to the Mushroom Kimgdom after the Mario Bros. enter, and laughs ominously. The brothers then discover a note left by Bowser explaining the situation, and Mario and Luigi set off to retrieve her.
Once the player arrives at Bowser's Seizures Palace Hotel, he or she must first face Iggy, who works at Bowser's hotel rather than run his own; once he is defeated, the player moves to the next area to face Bowser. He attacks Mario by breathing fire and summoning multiple bolts of lightning. Bowser cannot use elevators due to his size, instead changing floors by leaping between them. However, he can be attacked by jumping on him like the Koopalings, and two stomps to the head temporarily sends him off-screen. Like some of his children, he attempts to put a bitter end to their rivalry by savagely dining on them whole. However, When Mario and Luigi shut all the doors in the hotel, the entire building falls to the ground as the brothers and the princess escape.
Bowser also makes a small cameo during a cutscene in the game, in which his name and face appear on the package for Bowser's Sourpuss Bread. His name also appears on the bottle for Bowser's Ghost Cologne.
Mario's Game Gallery
In Mario's Game Gallery, Bowser appears alongside Mario as one of the two possible opponents for the five games; whether he is the character to be faced or not depends on the game
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
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Bowser actually serves as Mario's ally in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Bowser's weapons are mostly variations of Chain Chomps and his claw, as well as tossing Mario at enemies, using the Hurly Gloves (Described as: "A classic Mario-toss attack," though when Bowser tosses Mario any other time is a mystery); Bowser's weapons themselves are Chomp, Chomp Shell, Hurly Gloves, Spiked Link, and Drill Claw. Bowser's special attacks are Terrorize, in which he summons a Big Boo to attack; Poison Gas, in which he summons a Mokura to poison enemies; Crusher, in which he creates a large column of earth that emerges from the ground and strikes enemies; and Bowser Crush, which involves Bowser summoning a giant Mecha-Koopa to attack enemies.
At the beginning of the Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Bowser kidnaps Princess Toadstool as she is picking flowers outside Mario's Pad. He flies her to his castle, Bowser's Keep, in his Koopa Clown Car. However, Mario, hearing Toadstool scream, is on his tail. The player must head to Bowser's throne room and fight him atop a pair of chandeliers. Bowser seems to be unbeatable, but the princess then advises Mario to attack the Kinklink chain holding up the chandelier. Once the Kinklink is damaged enough, it let's go of the chandelier, and Bowser is sent plummeting to the ground below. However, Bowser then throws Hammers at Mario's chain, bringing him down as well, but before he can hit the ground, Mario Jumps off of Bowser's head, giving him a boost up to the princess to free her.
After the battle, a huge sword named Exor crashes into Bowser's Keep, sending Mario, Toadstool, and Bowser flying in different directions; Bowser lands near Rose Way. While the player is heading down the path, Bowser is spotted, with a small army of minions; they are attempting to reclaim his castle from the Smithy Gang. Later, at Moleville, Bowser is conveniently there at the same time as Mario once again; however, the number of minions he had earlier has decreased.
When the player arrives at Booster Tower, Bowser is once again encountered; however, he is sulking because all his remaining minions have abandoned him. Having no other choice, he decides to join forces with Mario, naming him, Geno and Mallow honorary members of the Koopa Troop. They then break into Booster Tower together, and at Marrymore Bowser helps Mario free Toadstool from Booster.
For the rest of the game, Bowser follows Mario as a member of his party, helping him in completing his quest of collecting the seven Star Pieces to repair the Star Road. They collect the fourth Star Piece on Star Hill with no opposition; the fifth they claim from Yadrovich, a spear-wielding lieutenant of Smithy's army, at Seaside Town after he gains it from them. After collecting the sixth Star Piece in Barrel Volcano, it is snatched by the Axem Rangers, who head to the top of the volcano and into their ship, Blade. Once Mario and the group arrive on the ship, the player must defeat the rangers and Blade in order to claim the sixth Star Piece.
Using King and Queen Nimbus' Royal Bus, the group reaches Bowser's Keep. Upon reaching the same room Mario fought Bowser in at the beginning of the game, the player is forced to fight the Smithy Gang's swordsman Boomer on the chandeliers, this time held up by a pair of Chandeli-Hos. After his defeat, the Chandeli-Ho holding up the player's chandelier is transported to the highest tower in the castle. It is here that he or she must engage the living sword Exor. He is shielded from attacks at first, but, after defeating his eyes, the rest of Exor can be defeated. When the player defeats Exor, he uses the last of his strength to inhale the party, transporting them to Smithy's Factory.
Inside the factory, Mario's group has to face several enemies, including Machine Mades, robot enemies that resemble past bosses, Count Down and the Ding-A-Lings, and Cloaker and Domino. When Smithy is finally encountered, the team engages him in battle. After defeating him, Smithy begins to pout, pounding the floor with his hammer. However, this causes the floor to be destroyed, plunging the entire group into a dark area beneath the factory. Smithy then transforms into his true form, along with five other forms, and continues to fight.
Once Smithy is defeated for good and the seventh Star Piece is claimed, Geno wishes the group goodbye, and they all witness as the spirit possessing the Geno doll, actually named ♥♪!? but going under the name of the doll for the entire game, leaves the doll and returns to the newly repaired Star Road. The credits show that Bowser returns to his castle to help in its repair.
In this game, whenever Bowser uses a Special Move, a diamond is superimposed over his body. In the Japanese version, when Bowser is one of the active party members during battle, he does a gesture similar to giving the middle finger for his victory pose[3]. This is changed when the game was released in America. The theme that plays during Mario's battle with him is a remix of the final battle theme in Super Mario Bros. 3.
Wrecking Crew '98
In Wrecking Crew '98, Bowser begins constructing many new fortresses, greatly deforesting the Mushroom Kingdom. When Mario reaches his house, he notices that one of Bowser's buildings is directly in front of his house, as well as the plants withering due to the lack of sunlight, so he decides to go on a quest to tear them all down. Bowser sends many of his minions to stop the plumber, but they all fall; even Bowser's right-hand construction worker, Foreman Spike, cannot defeat him.
When Mario reaches Bowser's castle, he notices the Koopa King outside, putting the final touches on his fortress. He panics when he notices Mario, but regains his senses and decides to battle him. However, once he is beaten, Bowser is forced to watch as his fortress is destroyed. He is depressed at the sight of his building falling apart, but is then angered at Mario, and vows revenge.
After Bowser is defeated in story mode, both he and Princess Peach are unlocked as playable characters in multiplayer mode.
Mario Party series
Bowser appears as an enemy, and in most cases, as the primary antagonist, in the Mario Party series since the first game. His appearances in the game are mostly to bring misfortune upon the players. In every game he is given his own space, which when landed on by the player causes Bowser to appear and wreak havoc. There are also multiple minigames based around Bowser, where a character's coins, items, or stars are taken if they lose. (In the first game, winning the minigame also results in this.) Throughout the series, Bowser takes many forms, mostly in Mario Party 2. Bowser is only playable in the Beach Volley Folley minigame of Mario Party 4. Another feature in every installment is Bowser being given his own board, which is almost always the final board to be unlocked.
Mario Party
In the original Mario Party, Bowser commonly appears on a random spot on all the boards. When the player runs into him, an event called "Bowser's Bogus Items" is initiated, in which he gives the player completely useless items that usually cost coins. However, there are two exceptions to this; on Luigi's Engine Room, he gives the player one coin at the cost of twenty, and on Wario's Battle Canyon, he uses his claw to send the player to a random space on the board.
When the player lands on a Bowser Space, Bowser appears to the player, then activates a roulette that triggers one of several events. Many of the options on the roulette are simply minigames, but Bowser steals the losers' coins, or a Star in exchange for ten coins; even if the player wins, he still takes their coins. If the roulette stops on "Bowser Revolution", Bowser takes all the competitors' coins and distributes them evenly. If it lands on "Coins for Bowser," Bowser steals some of the player's coins. If the roulette lands on one of the gold-lettered phrases, Bowser does nothing and leaves.
Bowser may also appear when the player hits an Event Block. If the result of hitting the block is Bowser's shell, Bowser appears to the player, then takes twenty coins from him or her; if the player does not have that many, Bowser steals all their coins.
Bowser's board in this game is Bowser's Magma Mountain, consisting of a volcano with one path leading up and can only be unlocked by purchasing it for 980 coins at the shop. The players must collect stars in order to defeat Bowser. Several volcano-head statues, which he speaks through, appear throughout the board. Trying to take an intersection results in Bowser asking if the player wishes to take a shortcut to the top for ten coins. If the player selects yes, a roulette initiates; if the result is a star, the player can take the shortcut, and landing on Bowser's face forces the player to continue on the normal path, with no refunds. Additionally, when the player lands on a Happening Space, Bowser causes the volcano to erupt, turning all Blue Spaces into Red Spaces for two turns; they change back when it is that player's turn. When the player encounters the purple volcano statue, another roulette is initiated. If the result is a star, the player can confront Boo; if the result is Bowser, the player can confront Bowser, who steals a star or twenty coins from the player depending on the result of another roulette.
At the end of the board, the winner's stars form a larger star that destroys the part of the volcano Bowser is in. He then flies into the air and lands back on the ground, followed by the winner jumping on him.
Once the player has won a total of 100 Stars, Bowser steals them all and challenges him or her to a battle on Eternal Star, the final unlockable board, to win them back. This board is a giant Star, broken into pieces and covered in graffiti by Bowser. Once the player wins on this board, his or her stars merge into one large star that blasts Bowser and Baby Bowser into space.
It should also be noted that a wanted poster of Bowser appears in the Mushroom Shop, on the bulletin board that briefly appears when the player leaves. Additionally, in the minigame Balloon Burst, the four players are competing to inflate and pop Bowser balloons. The minigame Tug o' War and Bash 'n' Cash feature the solo player in a Bowser suit.
Mario Party 2
During Mario Party 2, while the characters argue over what to call the land they created, Bowser invades and conquers Mario Land and its six sub-lands. Because of this, Toad decides to settle the character's argument, stating that whoever defeats Bowser earns the right to name the land. Like the characters, Bowser also takes a certain form depending on the land; in Pirate Land, Bowser becomes Capt. Bowser. In Western Land, he becomes Bowser the Brash. In Mystery Land, he becomes Bowser Sphinx. In Horror Land, he is Wizard Bowser. In Space Land, Bowser becomes Black Hole Bowser.
At the end of each board is cutscene featuring the character defeating Bowser in some way. In Pirate Land, Bowser finds the treasure chest in a cave and attempts to claim it, but the player then emerges and challenges him for it. They sword fight, which ends with Bowser being poked in the stomach and running off.
At the end of Western Land, Bowser the Brash is robbing the Koopa Bank when the player arrives to confront him. The two pull out pop-guns in a game of quickdraw, but the player draws his or her weapon faster and shoots Bowser. The cork hits him dead-on and Bowser falls over.
The ending of Space Land features Black Hole Bowser attacking Koopa Troopas with lasers when the player arrives and blasts him with their own, but to no avail. He or she tries running behind him and attacking, but Bowser blocks their attacks. He or she then runs around him in a circle, making him dizzy and open to attack. The player successfully blasts Bowser, launching him into space.
In Mystery Land, Bowser is seen attempting to steal the treasure, a golden Bob-omb statue, from a green Koopa. Bowser Sphinx has him guess what the silhouetted figure is, and the Koopa guesses incorrectly, causing Bowser to put him in a rock. The player then arrives and correctly guesses the figure: it is Bowser himself. Bowser Sphinx then disappears.
The end of Horror Land features Bowser appearing to a Koopa after it is scared by a Boo. Wizard Bowser offers to help him, but he instead transforms the Koopa into a frog. The player then arrives, reverses Bowser's spell, and engages in a magical duel with him. Bowser loses, and is turned into a frog by the player's magic. Bowser then hops away.
The characters then arrive at Bowser's final land, aptly named Bowser Land. On this board, Bowser disappears, and the player heads off to search for him. He reappears behind a Koopa and attempts to harm it, but is confronted by the player before he can. He breathes fire at him or her, which the player dodges, and they try to throw him by the tail, but Bowser utilizes his Metal Bowser power-up, preventing the player from throwing him. Toad then uses the player's stars to strengthen him or her, giving the character the necessary power to throw Bowser across the world and landing where he started, defeating him.
During the event in which a player lands on a Bowser Space, one of many things can happen. In addition to every non-minigame event from the original, several other possible events were added: Bowser's Coin Potluck, Bowser's Multiplying Toads, and Bowser's Appearing Act. Another new option, Stars-Packed to Go, was added, but this is in gold font, and Bowser leaves like in the original if this is the result of the roulette.
Bowser is also one of the options the player can choose in Rock, Paper, Mario. In the game, Bowser beats Peach, but Mario beats Bowser. In addition, the minigame Balloon Burst returns, but as a 2-vs-2 minigame.
Mario Party 3
In Mario Party 3, Bowser attempts to become the Superstar by collecting the seven Star Stamps. However, he is always behind the player and never gets any stamps. He attempts to steal the Beauty Star Stamp, but is beaten by Daisy. When the Mischief Star Stamp appears, Bowser unknowingly sends it flying into the castle when he appears and demands the player battle him to gain the stamp. Waluigi then emerges from the castle with the stamp, and Bowser attacks Waluigi but is easily defeated. A weakened Bowser then begs the player to defeat Waluigi in his name.
For Bowser Space events, several of the options for events were carried over to this game, with several more being added. Several of the events cause hindrance to the competitors, but there are two events that help the player: Bowser Phone Giveaway and Bowser Suit Giveaway. Bowser Suit Giveaway causes Bowser to give the player a free Bowser Suit, and Bowser Phone Giveaway causes Bowser to give him or her a free Bowser Phone, which allows the player to call Bowser and initiate a Bowser event upon one of the players upon its use.
Mario Party 4
In Mario Party 4, Bowser claims to have stolen the player's birthday presents, stating that he or she must win on his board, Bowser's Gnarly Party, to win them back. The final minigame, The Final Battle!, involves chasing Bowser around a cube-shaped arena, until the player finally reaches the actual arena. Once there, the player must press the various buttons around the arena to trigger lightning strikes that electrocute Bowser. Upon defeat, Bowser admits that he didn't steal the gifts and grudgingly gives the player a Bowser gift (although all of these gifts are virtually useless). As stated above, Bowser is also a playable character in the Beach Volley Folley minigame.
When players land on a Bowser space, he occasionally shows up, flattening the player who lands on his space and triggers an event. Along with Bowser Revolution, Bowser Shuffle, and Bowser Suit Giveaway, a new event was added: Bowser Mini-game, in which the player plays a minigame with Bowser.
On the board Bowser's Gnarly Party, Bowser is located at a certain point on the board that changes when a Star is collected, waiting for a player to pass by him and do various things to them depending on their current size. If the player is normal size, Bowser spits flame at him or her, causing the player to lose half their coins. If he or she is miniature size, Bowser uses his fire to send the player to a different starting point. If the player is mega-sized, Bowser challenges him or her to a game of Bowser Wrestling or Panels of Doom; winning causes Bowser to leave until the next Star is claimed, and losing causes Bowser to take half the player's coins. He also occasionally miniaturizes everyone for one turn.
He also has roles in the three Bowser minigames in the game. In Balloon of Doom, he burns any player that ends up popping the balloon, resulting in them losing. In Fruits of Doom, Bowser demands that the players bring him a list of fruit in that order; the players who fail to do so lose. He also announces the loser of Darts of Doom.
Mario Party-e
Bowser makes two appearances in the Game Boy Advance e-reader portion of Mario Party-e. The first is a cameo appearance in Daisy's Rodeo!, in which he is the mechanical bull Daisy has to stay on. The second is in the Wonder Challenge minigame Spinister Bowser, in which he stands atop the roulette.
Mario Party 5
In Mario Party 5, Bowser's plan is to take over Dream Depot and have his own dream come true. After clearing the six boards, the player must defeat Bowser in his final minigame, Frightmare. During the game, Bowser will send various obstacles after the player, and will afterward take on the player himself. Upon pounding a floor tile three times, he and the player will fall onto another arena, where Bowser will drink an elixir and grow giant in size; however, his increased mass will cause him to fall through the floor. Despite this, he attacks the player with energy orbs. By using these orbs as projectiles, the player can defeat Bowser. Once defeated, Bowser will tell the player that his dream did come true, because his dream was to have a worthy opponent.
All of the Bowser Space events in this game are the same as the previous installment, with the exception of Bowser Suit Giveaway, which was replaced with Bowser Bonus. In this event, Bowser has a Ztar steal a star and give it to him. However, sometimes Donkey Kong will intervene, causing Bowser to run off with twenty of the player's coins. The Last Five Turns Event is also run by Bowser. He gives the standings, and has the last place player spin the roulette, which can cause good and bad things to happen.
Bowser Capsules are also collectable items in the game. If the player receives one, Bowser lands on and squashes him or her, then throw it on a Red Space, resulting in that space turning into a Bowser space.
The Event Spaces on Bowser Nightmare also trigger various Bowser-based events. The ones on the bottom left and right sides cause Bowser to go for a stroll, turning all red spaces into Bowser spaces and flattening every player he runs in to, causing them to lose ten coins. When the player lands on the space on the top right, Bowser appears and forces the player to hit a blue or red block; red causes the player to lose half their coins, and blue sends him or her back to the start. The two spaces near the top center forces the player to warp to a circular area with only Red Spaces and Bowser Spaces. Finally, the one on the top of the board causes Bowser to take control of the flamethrower and burn the player, causing him or her to lose all their capsules.
Bowser is also given a role in the three Bowser minigames. In Cage-in Cookin', Bowser roasts any players that fail to escape their cage in time. In Rain of Fire, Bowser uses his fire breath to activate the cannon that shoots several flaming rocks down upon the player. Finally, in Scaldin' Cauldron, after all the players jump into one of the three cauldrons, Bowser enters the room and breathes fire upon two of them; players inside the cauldrons he burns lose.
Mario Party 6
In Mario Party 6, Bowser appears as one of the hosts of the quiz minigame Speak Up, where he changes the rules and the scenery of the game. Bowser also appears in the rare minigame Seer Terror, where players can have their "fortune" told by pulling a rope. However, many of the fortunes are spoken after an unfortunate event happens to the player, which greatly amuses him. There is one fortune in which Bowser is sucked into a black hole; the player "wins" the minigame if they happen to get this fortune.
Bowser is also involved in two of his Bowser minigames. The first is Pit Boss, in which players must dodge spiked balls tossed into an arena by Bowser. The second is Dark 'n' Crispy, in which the players must avoid Bowser's fiery breath in the dark. He is not involved in Dizzy Rotisserie, the third Bowser minigame, but is watching.
Bowser Spaces cause him to appear and preform one of two actions. The first forces the player to play one of three Bowser minigames. The second Bowser space event involves Bowser rolling a die to determine what the player loses. Bowser Spaces can only be landed on at night, with DK Spaces appearing in their place during the day. In Solo Mode, Bowser pits the player against his Koopa Kids in a minigame; losing causes him to take the player's minigames that he or she has earned so far, and winning gives the player the minigame and ten coins.
Aside from Bowser spaces, Bowser also appears on three boards. The first is Clockwork Castle, in which he only appears at night to replace DK, who appears during the day. Like DK, he travels around the board, and gives Ztars to anyone who reaches him (or vice versa). Bowser travels around by taking his own turn like the players, rolling two Dice Blocks instead of one if he breathes fire.
The second board is Castaway Bay, in which he can be the boat docked at the Star Space. If the player reaches Bowser's Battle Yacht, he "rewards" the player by giving him or her a Shadow Star, which takes one Star, or twenty coins if they have none. Additionally, if DK's Boat is docked at the Star Space while the player is participating in the rafting activity, Bowser fires three cannonballs at him or her, causing the player to lose five coins if hit.
The third board he appears on is the Bowser-themed board of the game, Infernal Tower, one of the Solo Mode boards. If the player passes the final space, a cage falls on him or her, which Bowser, in his Koopa Clown Car, then carries away.
Mario Party Advance
In Mario Party Advance, Bowser arrives while Toad is explaining the game and scatters the numerous Gaddgets and minigames throughout Shroom City. After completing the first quest, Bowser seals off the eight pipes in the Pipe House. He also has a slight role on the actual game board; whenever Koopa Kid randomly shows up while traveling through Shroom City, he can use lava to fling the player somewhere else in the city. He can also appear and challenge them to rochambeau (rock, paper, scissors). If he wins, Koopa Kid can choose to block the path, which causes Bowser to drop a statue of him similar to the ones he placed on the pipes on top of Koopa Kid, blocking that section of the board.
As the player completes quests, Bowser destroys the statues covering the pipes. These pipes lead to one of the eight areas Bowser owns around the city.
In Bowser Stadium, Bowser challenges the player to a game of soccer, and, after he is defeated, is forced to play Splatterball. When this game is won, the player wins the game Splatterball, to play any time in minigame mode, and the Gaddget Snooze Ewes.
At Mt. Frostbite, Bowser and Koopa Kid are freezing on the mountain top. When the player arrives, he believes that he or she can warm him up by answering his jokes with the correct punchlines. Once he feels better, he challenges them to play Crushed Ice. After the game is won, Bowser gives him or her the minigame and the Gaddget Breeze Buddy.
At Bowser Mansion, Bowser is accused of stealing a painting from the museum, and the player, along with Shroomlock, must prove whether Bowser is guilty or not by finding faults in his alibi. Bowser tells them that he stayed home all day that day, that he hadn't even seen the painting due to his hatred of Toads and twilight, and that is impossible to hide the painting in the mansion. The player proves Bowser's alibi false by questioning that nothing in the house is big enough to hide the painting, which he could only know if he had seen it. Bowser then states that he hid the painting somewhere outside, and, once Koopa Kid and Shroomlock leave, he forces the player to play Mush Rush Once the game is won, the prize given to him or her is the game and the Gaddget Lip Sync.
At Bowser Toy Shop, the player is challenged by Bowser and Koopa Kid to answer five trivia questions about his favorite show, Toad Force V. If player answers the questions correctly, he has him or her play the minigame Slammer. Once the player wins, they win the minigame.
In Bowser Hideout, Bowser challenges the player to a game of luck: guessing whether the value on the upside-down card is higher or lower than the one preceding it. When he or she wins that game, the player is forced into playing Koopa Kappa. Victory results in receiving the minigame and two Gaddgets: Faux Flame and Hourglass.
At Bowser Pad, Bowser wants the player to get him a gift according to his tastes. The gift either has to be a bracelet, a ring, or a necklace, though the one bought must be the one Bowser truly desires. As a hint, he states that he likes necklaces as much as bracelets, but he likes rings more than bracelets. After retrieving the correct gift and delivering it to him, the gang is challenged to the game Peek-N-Sneak. When the minigame is won, the prize is the game and the Gaddget Shroom Bloom.
In Bowser Game Hall, Bowser challenges Mario and friends to his minigame Watch 'Em, for the title King of Games and the minigame.
At Bowser Lab, Bowser allows the player to select one of the two monsters he created and duel it. Choosing the scary monster challenges Naval Piranha to the game Koopa Kurl; choosing the very scary monster only releases Huffin' Puffin, embarrassing Bowser and forcing the player to leave. Once the Piranha is defeated, the minigame is the prize won.
Once the player accomplishes forty-nine out of fifty quests, Bowser opens the gate in the back of the Pipe House, revealing his lair. After arriving at the house, Bowser challenges Mario to the final minigame, Trap Floor. After the minigame is beaten, the player receives it, as well as the Gaddget Bowser Print.
Bowser also has his own mode, as a part of Challenge Land, known as Bowser Land, which he hosts. The mode involves the player advancing on a roller coaster to get to the end, playing Bowser minigames every time the coaster stops at a designated checkpoint. Once the player reaches the end, Bowser rewards the player coins for how fast he or she reaches him. However, if the player takes too long to reach him, Bowser automatically ends the game.
Mario Party 7
In Mario Party 7, Toadsworth invites Mario and friends to go on a vacation around the world. This causes Bowser to be filled with rage due to the fact that they didn't invite him. Because of this, Bowser tries to ruin everyone's fun during their time off. Eventually, the players arrive at Bowser's Enchanted Inferno!, Bowser's own board, where, upon beating it, Bowser takes the player to his castle to play Bowser's Lovely Lift!. Here, the player has to use dice blocks to reach the one hundredth floor of the castle while avoiding Bowser's attacks.
During a party, a special Bowser-based event occurs every five turns, named Bowser Time. This event causes Bowser to appear and trigger something that hinders the competitors. On every board minus his own, one of the possible events that can occur is that he takes a photograph of him and the player and forcibly takes coins from them as payment (without giving them the photo). On most boards, he destroys one of the orb shops, only to replace it with his own. In addition to these, there are also some board-exclusive events. On Grand Canal, he can also destroy the bridges and rebuild them, this time with only Bowser spaces on them. On Pyramid Park, Bowser can either destroy the bridges for three turns or steal one of the leading player's stars and give it to Koopa Kid. (though it can be claimed back with a Chain Chomp.) On Neon Heights, he can steal the player's coins or a Star or put a Ztar in a chest for the players to find. On Windmillville, he can destroy one of the windmills, along with all coins deposited, or send Koopa Kid to rob a windmill. As for Bowser's Enchanted Inferno!, only one event occurs during Bowser Time, and that is for Bowser to sink the platform currently containing the Star; the Star moves elsewhere, and players on the platform at the time are sent back to the start of the board.
Bowser Spaces cause the player to either play a single or multiplayer minigame, and Bowser takes coins or stars if they lose. He also runs the final four turns event in this game. He spins a roulette, which causes one of many things to happen. The events on the roulette can bring fortune or misfortune upon the competitors.
Mario Party 8
In Mario Party 8, after defeating Star Battle Arena, Bowser steals the Star Rod right as it is about to be rewarded to the player for defeating the other competitors. Bowser and the player then files off to Bowser's Warped Orbit, where he has either a Hammer Bro. or Blooper face against him or her in order to win the rod back. Once the opponent is defeated, Bowser honors his word and returns the Star Rod, but challenges the player to a battle in the minigame Superstar Showdown. During the minigame, Bowser first attacks the player with fireballs. The player can attack him by using the Star Rod to create and launch projectiles that damage him. When he is hit a certain number of times, Bullet Bill launchers appear on the sides of his Koopa Clown Car. After causing him more harm, Bowser's car gains the ability to fire numerous lasers. He also gains the ability to shoot a massive fireball when his health reaches two points. When Bowser's health reaches zero, the car, with Bowser in it, flies into the vortex below.
Landing on a Bowser space causes an event based on the setting of the board to occur. On King Boo's Haunted Hideaway and Shy Guy's Perplex Express, where Bowser remains until reached, he can be negated by landing on a DK Space, or, in the case of King Boo's board, by shuffling the mansion. On DK's Treetop Temple, Bowser moves the Star. On Goomba's Booty Boardwalk, Bowser has the player dodge three Podoboos for ten seconds; hitting them causes the player to lose ten coins. On Shy Guy's Perplex Express, he replaces the current train with his Bad Breath Express, which causes the player who reaches him to lose a Star. On King Boo's Haunted Hideaway, he covers the pitfalls with his own platform; finding him causes whoever does so to lose a Star. On Bowser's Warped Orbit, he steals a Star from the player. On the latter three boards, if the player has no stars when he or she lands on a Bowser Space, Bowser gives them ten coins.
Also on Bowser's Warped Orbit, when the player lands on one of the Happening Spaces, Bowser come down from his observation tower and chase the player (as well as anyone else he runs in to) across the board. Another set of ? Spaces make Bowser reverse the flow of the board, causing the players to move in the other direction.
Mario Party DS
In Mario Party DS, Bowser shows his less goofy and more sinister side when he invites the Mario gang, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong to his castle for a banquet, captures Mario and his friends, and shrinks them down to the size of chess pieces with his Minimizer to get Mario's Sky Crystal. Afterward, he has Kamek throw them out.
Eventually, they get back to Bowser's Castle, and, after defeating his final board, Bowser wants to shrink them more. However, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong then barge into the castle and unintentionally destroy Bowser's Minimizer, causing Mario and friends to grow back to normal size to fight Bowser. However, Bowser uses his Megamorph Belt to turn himself into Blockhead Bowser. In this form, Bowser takes on three forms: a top, a cube, and a snake. In every form, Bowser shoots fireballs at the player, as well has having another unique attack for every form. However, each one also has one golden block that is Bowser's weak spot; hitting this multiple times causes Bowser to shift forms and eventually defeat him.
When he is beaten, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are captured and bound tightly in ropes. Bowser then confesses that he only wants the Sky Crystals to unlock Triangle Twisters, and that he got a little carried away in doing so. Mario understands, and unties Bowser and his son.
In the minigame Hot Shots, Bowser targets give one hundred points to the player when hit.
Landing on a Bowser Space in this game results in Bowser appearing and causing havoc to the player landing on it, by choosing an event at random. If he chooses "Gimme Stars!", but the player has none, he gives them coins. If the option is "Gimme Coins!", he steals 10 or 20 coins from the player. If he chooses "Gimme Charity!", he forces the player to give 10 coins to the others (or as many as he or she had if they don't have 30). If he decides on "Gimme Equality!", he takes everyone's coins and redistributes them evenly. Bowser also once again runs the last five turns event, in which he helps the player by spinning a roulette. Landing on a golden-font word will cause the roulette to fly back to a random spot.
Mario Party Fushigi no Korokoro Catcher
Bowser is one of the characters that appears in the Japanese-exclusive arcade game Mario Party Fushigi no Korokoro Catcher. During Fever Chance, if one of the player's results is Bowser, he appears. With the game being based upon Mario Party 8, Superstar Showdown is also a playable minigame in this game.
Mario Party 9
Bowser appears in Mario Party 9 as the primary antagonist and the boss of his own board, Bowser Station. During the game, he and Bowser Jr. use a device from the station to suck the Mini Stars out of the sky.
Before each board in Solo Mode, there is a cutscene featuring Bowser and Bowser Jr. Bowser is admiring the Mini Stars that he has captured when Bowser Jr. tells him that the player is advancing, and Bowser is shocked by this. He then sends two of his minions to their next destination. However, on Bowser Station, Bowser instead decides to take on the player himself with Bowser Jr.'s help.
When Bowser Jr. is defeated, he flies down in his Koopa Clown Car, creates a Boss Battle Space and Bowser gate at the beginning of the stage, and waits for the players to challenge him there. When the player reach this space, they are forced to face him in his boss minigame, Bowser's Block Battle. The boss battle involves the players throwing blocks with their faces on them to damage Bowser. He is damaged when the player tosses a block which lands face-up with their heads on them; however, if they land on a Bowser symbol, Bowser can use these to attack by spitting a trio of fireballs a number of times equal to the number of blocks with his logos rolled. Once Bowser's health reaches the midway point, Bowser increases his size again. He still uses the fireball attack, but he spits larger fireballs each time. He also attacks by tossing one large block with the faces of six previous bosses on it, which summons one of said bosses to the battlefield so they can rampage and damage the player; the boss depends on what is rolled when the block lands. If the block lands on Bowser himself, he attacks the players with a barrage of fireballs. Bowser also tilts the battlefield when the competitors are tossing the blocks.
Once Bowser's health reaches zero, the ending cutscene reveals that Bowser simply wanted the Mini Stars to decorate his castle as he and Bowser Jr. fly off in their Koopa Clown Cars. Out of anger, Bowser chases off the Mini Stars that approach him, but he falls out of his car, with Bowser Jr. flying after him.
Landing on a Bowser Space in this game causes one of eight events to happen to the current captain (though the roulette result can also affect other players). Bowser Revolution returns from previous games, but Mini Stars are taken and divided equally since coins were excluded from this game. The seven new events are Lose Half of Your Mini Stars (though if the captain is in last place, Bowser doubles their Mini-Stars); Battle for Half of your Mini Stars, in which half of everyone's Mini Stars are taken, fought in a minigame for, and distributed based on the results; Reverse Minigame, in which the players compete in a minigame, but Bowser gives Mini Stars to the player who places last; Give 5/10 Mini Stars to Last Place, (depending on the event landed on, though Bowser gives the captain Mini Stars if they are in last place) Everyone Loses Special Dice Blocks, and Get 10,000 Mini Stars, in which the player is given ten Mini Stars instead (with Bowser stating that he does not have ten thousand).
Bowser also appears during the "Almost There!" event, in which he asks the captain if he or she wants some "presents." Even if the player selects "no," Bowser still converts several spaces into Bowser Spaces. On Bowser Station, Bowser forcibly changes several spaces without asking the player.
Bowser is also given his own constellation, known as "Koopa Major."
Mario Golf series
Bowser is usually a default playable character in the Mario Golf games, though in Mario Golf: Advance Tour, he is unlockable and can only be unlocked by transferring data to and from Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. He also must be unlocked in Mario Golf, by completing character match seven. In the Game Boy Color version of Mario Golf, Bowser appears as a non-playable character. In the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Golf, hole nine of the Mario's Star course is designed after Bowser. Additionally, beating him or Metal Mario on the course unlocks an alternate credits sequence.
In Mario Golf: Advance Tour, he is present to compete against the characters Neil and Ella. He is very rude towards them and almost gets into a fight with Mario as a result, but they are stopped by Peach, who reminds them of their manners. Bowser has the longest hit ratio of all characters but has low control. He hosts a tournament like Peach in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.
During the opening of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Wario and Waluigi attempt to outdo Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong when Wario pulls out his club hits manages his golf ball across the field and into the forest. However, they hear a cry of pain, and, after the golf ball flies back at them, Bowser emerges on the other side of the hole, breathing fire and with a black eye where the ball hit him. He tries to chase after them on foot, but summons his Koopa Clown Car and begins firing Bullet Bills at them as he chases them. After a while, Wario and Waluigi enter a Warp Pipe to escape; Bowser tries following them through, but the car instead jams the pipe. They think they are safe, but Bowser then flies up to them and pulls out a lit Bob-omb. Wario and Waluigi try to escape by opening a massive door, and they do, but the golf ball Mario hits at this point bounces off their heads and knocks the bomb out of Bowser's hands. The bomb then explodes on the three of them.
Mario Tennis series
Bowser also appears as a playable character in almost every title in the Mario Tennis series, (Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy being the lone exception). He is a power character who can make service and return aces easily; he lacks speed, though.
In the opening for Mario Tennis, Right before Mario and Luigi and Wario and Waluigi are about to fight, a spotlight appears right in the middle of them. Bowser and a Boo then descend from above onto the court. Everyone present thinks they are there to cause trouble, but they reveal that they simply wish to play tennis, which the others let them. However, out of nowhere, a Bob-omb appears, about to explode. Unable to react in time, Wario, Waluigi, Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and the Boo are caught in the explosion.
He is also playable in the Game Boy Color version of Mario Tennis, but can only be unlocked through transfer with the Nintendo 64 game. Additionally, by winning three rounds of Two-on-One matches in the Game Boy Color version, then transferring with the Nintendo 64 version, Bowser Court is unlocked.
In the opening for Mario Power Tennis, Bowser has a more dastardly scheme. Near the beginning, he is watching from an unknown location as Wario and Waluigi lose to the Mario Bros.. After vandalizing a poster as revenge, the duo enter a room in the stadium to escape the Bucketheads; this room turns out to be a pit leading to Bowser's lair. Bowser decides to ally with the two, and he trains them to become better at tennis.
That night, the trio interrupt the final match of the tournament. Wario and Waluigi shoot Bob-ombs at the Mario bros., but Mario, along with other players, hit the bombs back with their rackets. Bowser fires a Bullet Bill from his balloon, but Mario deflects it, and it hits the Bob-omb launcher. The launcher, now aimed upward, shoots a Bob-omb at Bowser's balloon, popping it and not only causing it to descend but also exposing several dozen Bob-ombs. Upon seeing this, Wario and Waluigi attempt to run away, but the balloon crashes on them, resulting in a massive explosion.
In both the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance versions of Mario Power Tennis, Bowser uses his Fire Breath for his Offensive Power Shot and his Defensive Power Shot is Spinning Shell Dash, where he ducks into his shell and spins around to recover the ball.
Bowser also appears in Mario Tennis Open. In addition, one of the unlockable Mii costumes in the game is a Bowser costume; it can be unlocked either by beating fifty players online, or by earning fifty victory medals.
Paper Mario series
Paper Mario
- “Mario defeated me...again... He always defeats me... This time I became invincible! And I STILL couldn't beat him!”
- —Bowser, Paper Mario
During the events of Paper Mario, Bowser and his minion Kammy Koopa invade Star Haven and steal the Star Rod, which can grant any wish of the holder. With this object, Bowser imprisons the seven Star Spirits in cards and then places them under the guard of seven of his minions. The next day, Bowser uses his flying fortress to lift Peach's castle up into the sky. Mario attempts to stop him, but Bowser uses the Star Rod to make himself invincible during their fight. Mario's attacks can no longer harm Bowser, and he is able to defeat Mario, ending the fight with his fire breath. Believing his rival to be dead, Bowser summons lightning using the Star Rod to knock Mario out the window and to the ground, locks the party guests in the dungeons of his castle, and puts Peach under heavy guard in her bedroom.
After each chapter, the player has the opportunity to play as Peach. She can sneak out of her room and learn information on where Mario needs to head next. When Peach first escapes her room, she and Twink, the Star Kid with her at the time, find and read Bowser's diary. However, when Bowser enters the room, he sees the he left his diary out and that Peach has read it. Two Koopatrols then enter the room, and Bowser has them take Peach back to her room.
After Mario defeats Tutankoopa, Bowser enters her room. Here, she is told that he is going to send "the Invincible Tubba Blubba" to fight Mario; he is only invincible, however, because his heart has been separated from his body by Bowser at an earlier point. It is at this point that Kammy enters the room and informs Bowser that the Star Spirit escaped from Tubba Blubba's Castle. The two then leave to discuss the matter.
On one occasion when Peach is out of her room, she hears a conversation between Bowser and Kammy. Kammy reports that Tubba Blubba has been defeated, as well as that Mario may be heading to Shy Guy's Toy Box next. Bowser suggests setting something up for him there when he notices Peach. Instead of immediately sending her back to her room, he instead asks her what Mario hates; however, some of the answers she can choose are actually items that benefit Mario. After receiving the answers, Bowser has Kammy place the chosen items in Shy Guy's Toy Box, Mario's next destination, while the guards take Peach back to her room.
After competing in the 64th Trivia Quiz-Off, Bowser enters the room and sees the set, and wishes to participate. However, since the game show is over when he enters, he cannot. He then sees Princess Peach trying to sneak away from the area, and has the Koopatrol and Hammer Bro. take her back to her room.
Even later, Bowser enters Peach's room and attempts to make friendly conversation, though Peach ignores him, stating that Mario will defeat him. However, Bowser denies this when Kammy shows up and informs Bowser that Mario has freed all seven Star Spirits and can use them to get to the castle. In response, Bowser has Kammy inform his minions take up positions across the castle, and has the princess bound to keep her out of trouble. Out of anger for this, Twin tries to attack Bowser, but the attack proves ineffective and Bowser easily swats him out the window. He then leaves to prepare himself for Mario's arrival.
After reaching the location where Mario was defeated by Bowser when he first uprooted Peach's Castle, Bowser enters the room, and the two battle again. During the battle, Bowser uses the Star Rod, but using the Star Beam allows the player to negate this. Once he is defeated, Bowser takes Peach and retreats to the roof of the castle.
Once Mario reaches the castle's roof, Kammy activates her Power Platform, which increases Bowser's size and strength; with his increased power, the Star Beam is rendered useless against him. However, Princess Peach and Twink defeat Kammy Koopa and, by wishing on everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach increases the Star Spirits' power. With this extra power, they create an even more powerful Star Beam known as the Peach Beam, which is strong enough to once again cancel the powers of the Star Rod every time Bowser uses it. With Bowser vulnerable once again, Mario can defeat Bowser and reclaim the Star Rod. After the battle, however, the Power Platform starts to malfunction due to the intensity of the fight and is about to explode; while it is doing so, one of the smaller-scale explosions sends Bowser and Kammy flying away. The Star Rod is returned to the Star Spirits, Peach's castle is put back in place, and peace returns to Star Haven and the Mushroom Kingdom.
During the parade at the end of the game, Bowser appears in his Koopa Clown Car after the hammer-juggling Hammer Bros.. While he is floating by, he is caught in the middle of two magic blasts from Kammy and Junior Troopa, who are having a magic fight. This ends up roasting him, and he chases after the two as they run off. Off-screen, he roasts the two with his fire breath.
During the battle at the beginning of the game, Bowser only attacks by hitting Mario with his claws. However, at the end of the battle, he breathes fire on Mario. During their second battle, he once again attacks with a claw swipe, which can poison Mario. He also has the ability to breath fire, as well as attacking by jumping on Mario. During the battle on the Power Platform, Bowser still uses his jumping, claw swipe, and fire breath attacks, and he can also use the Star Rod to recover 30 HP, as well as using it to send out a beam that can damage Mario and his partner. Bowser can also use the rod to summon bolts of lightning to damage Mario.
During the events of the game, a robotic version of Bowser operated by the Koopa Bros. is fought in chapter one. However, the robot is clearly recognizable as a fake, since the voices of the Koopa Bros. can be heard inside the contraption and it bears several optical distinctions.
Paper Mario is also significant because it reveals another of Bowser's motives for kidnapping Peach: he has a crush on her and hopes to steal her away from Mario.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
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Bowser also appears as a minor villain in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. In this game, Bowser hears from Kammy Koopa that Mario his attempting to find the Crystal Stars; Bowser then decides to find them himself so he can use them to conquer the world. He is also told that someone else has kidnapped Princess Peach, so he makes it his mission to rescue her, then kidnap her himself. Accompanied by Kammy, Bowser appears in many cutscenes, in which he is a playable character. These scenes are often quite humorous, involving Bowser traveling through a side-scrolling world similar to the ones in Super Mario Bros. (these levels partially inspired Super Paper Mario). During these segments, Bowser can breathe fire to defeat enemies, and can collect the Meat found in blocks to increase in size. He also has infinite lives.
At Petalburg, Bowser finds what he thinks is Peach and talks to her, but eventually finds out that he is really speaking to a poster. Later, when he tries to collect the Crystal Stars before Mario, he always appears to be one step behind his nemesis, and ultimately fails to find any of them.
Bowser finally catches up to Mario in the Glitz Pit, where the two enemies fight in front of a large audience, which can result in either Bowser's defeat or victory. He later attempts to return to Glitzville to search for one of the Crystal Stars, but refuses to take the Cheep-Cheep Blimp, and uses his Koopa Clown Car. Unfortunately for him, the airborne vehicle breaks down during flight, sending him plummetting into the ocean below, forcing him to swim back to Rogueport. He later appears in Twilight Town where he questions X-Naut second-in-command Lord Crump about the whereabouts of the Crystal Stars. The reluctant X-Naut summons his army to deal with the Koopa King, but Kammy summons the Koopa Troop to combat them. The two armies prepare to clash, but Bowser's fire breath sets off a Superbombomb, forcing both armies into submission.
Bowser later learns that one of the Crystal Stars is in a secret passage in the Rogueport Sewers. He finds a workout room and claims what he believes to be the star, but is actually the star emblem on Rawk Hawk's champion belt. Rawk Hawk then enters the room and is enraged at Bowser for stealing his belt. The two fight, but Bowser defeats him.
After Mario opens the Thousand-Year Door, Bowser and Kammy Koopa enter the Palace of Shadow to take Peach and steal the treasure that is rumored to be held behind the door. Meanwhile, Sir Grodus threatens to murder Princess Peach after his defeat at the hands of Mario, but Bowser's weight causes him to crash through the floor above them. He lands on the X-Naut leader, crushing him into the ground. Bowser then looks around and admits that he has no idea what is going on, but he is going to "end it right NOW!" Bowser and Kammy are battled before the player gets a chance to save after battling Grodus, and they are the last bosses before the final one. When he defeats them, Mario leaves them passed out on the floor of the Palace of Shadow. If the player leaves the room and comes back, they are gone.
Bowser also has a cameo appearance in the game; his face is used for the item Fright Mask. As the name states, its use will instantly scare any enemies away.
Super Paper Mario
Template:LLQuote Template:Spmenemybox
Bowser joins forces with Mario in Super Paper Mario. During the opening for the game, Mario and Luigi hear from Toad that Princess Peach has been kidnapped, and they head to Bowser's Castle, thinking that he is the perpetrator. Oddly, he is surprised as well, for he is still only preparing to kidnap Peach at the time. While talking to each other, a mysterious figure named Count Bleck appears and abducts Luigi, Bowser, and his minions. He leaves Mario unconscious on the floor of Bowser's Castle, but Tippi, a Pixl, finds Mario and takes him to Flipside. Count Bleck warps everyone he captures to his castle, where he forcefully marries Bowser and Peach in order to unleash the Chaos Heart. The heart's purpose is to open The Void, to end all worlds, although Bowser is unaware of his plans.
After the wedding, most of Bowser's minions are brainwashed by Nastasia, Bleck's secretary. Bowser is removed from Count Bleck's Castle and wakes up in a field in The Bitlands. With a handful of his few remaining minions, Bowser establishes a stronghold in an abandoned castle and fortifies the defenses by stationing his forces throughout the area. However, the fortress is destroyed when Mario and Peach, while on the way to Fort Francis, use their Pixl Boomer to blast the red "X" on the side of the castle. Enraged that Mario has once again ruined his plans, Bowser engages Mario in combat, putting up two barriers so that he cannot escape. Bowser attacks Mario by breathing fire, as well as trying to jump on him. Normal attacks do not affect him; Boomer is the only way to damage him.
It is after the battle that he learns the true purpose behind his marriage to Princess Peach. While he initially refuses to help them, Bowser is told by the pair that he can't take over the world if it is destroyed and that his minions are serving under Count Bleck, and agrees to come with them. (However, he states that he is only doing so for the purpose of one day conquering the world himself.) They later claim the fourth Pure Heart when Tippi's show of emotions summons it at Fort Francis, the fifth from Squirps in the Whoa Zone, and the sixth from King Croacus IV in the Land of Cragnons; however, before they can claim the seventh from King Sammer at Sammer's Kingdom, the Void consumes the entire dimension, though the heroes survive.
They return to the dimension, though it is now nothing more than a blank world. After claiming the rock-like Pure Heart of that dimension from Mr. L, Luigi's alter-ego created by Nastasia's hypnotism, they return to Flipside, where Dimentio appears and "kills" Mario, Princess Peach, and Bowser in front of Merlon and Tippi. Mario and Bowser both end up in the Underwhere, while Peach goes to the Overthere.
In the Underwhere, Bowser is found by some of Queen Jaydes' D-Men. Thinking him to be a highly deadly and horrific creature that escaped its prison earlier, they subdue him and throw him in a room along the Underwhere Road. When Mario and Luigi, who is also sent to the Underwhere by Dimentio, while escorting Luvbi, a Nimbi, to the Overthere due to the actual creature that escaped, are traveling along the Underwhere Road, they encounter three D-Men, and Mario and Luigi offer to handle the "monster" that they contained for them. They head into the room, and find Bowser, asking himself about his current situation, inside. He asks where Peach is, and Mario, Luigi, and Tippi tell him they do not know where she is, but Bowser immediately assumes Mario and Luigi are going to ditch him and take Peach for themselves. Angry, Bowser once again engages them in battle. He attacks Mario with the same attacks he uses earlier: jumping around and breathing fire. He also uses another attack: running straight at Mario and Luigi. It is when he is defeated once more that Mario and Tippi are able to explain that they are in the Underwhere and that Peach's location truly is unknown to them, (though Bowser, ironically, states, "Well why didn't you say so, idiot?!") and rejoins Mario's party afterward. Eventually, they find Peach asleep on the Overthere Stair, but wake her up with a Black Apple. After an adventure in the Overthere, Luvbi reveals to them that she is the eight Pure Heart.
Having claimed all the Pure Hearts, Bowser, Mario, Peach, and Luigi finally arrive at Castle Bleck. After passing through the massive entrance to the castle, the group encounters O'Chunks once more, who transforms into Super O'Chunks; instead of fighting together, however, Bowser wishes to fight him alone. Upon defeat, O'Chunks demands that he finish him, but the victory cannot be relished, as the ceiling starts to fall. As they prepare for the worst, Bowser and the others are shocked to see that O'Chunks is stopping the ceiling from crushing them by holding it up; he explains that, because Bowser defeated him, the heroes deserve the right to move on, and is taking matters into his own hands to make sure they do. However, instead of passing, Bowser decides to help lift the ceiling as well, telling Mario and Luigi to take Peach to safety. He also attempts to get O'Chunks out of there as well, sparking an argument between them as to who should leave and who should remain (with both stating they should stay and that the other should leave), resulting in both apparently being crushed. Interestingly, this causes Bowser to be conveniently left behind during two crucial scenes, the first one being the part where Mimi disguises herself as Merlee and asks Mario and company about their weak-points, and the second being when Dimentio asks Mario and company to join him, stating that they can rule every world with the Chaos Heart in their possession.
It is later revealed that Bowser is still alive because he (and apparently O'Chunks as well) fall through the floor before the ceiling crushed them. He, Peach, and Luigi then interrupt Count Bleck as he prepares an attack to kill Mario, the uniting of the four heroes negating the effects of the Chaos Heart and making Count Bleck venerable.
Once Count Bleck is defeated, Bowser witnesses as Dimentio appears and, after knocking out Nastasia, takes control of the Chaos Heart and fuses with Luigi, whom he enslaves with a Floro Sprout while he is unconscious after Dimentio's "last ditch effort", to form Super Dimentio, who makes himself invincible and teleports Nastasia, Bleck, and Tippi to Dimension D. However, from within the dimension, Bleck and Tippi's love for each other allows the Pure Hearts to power up the heroes. After defeating the powered-up Dimentio, Bowser also witnesses as Bleck and Tippi conduct their own marriage ceremony to permanently destroy the Chaos Heart and the Void. The heroes and everyone else, minus Bleck and Tippi, are then teleported to Flipside, where they are given a congratulatory feast by Saffron.
Strangely, Mario cannot jump on Bowser when battling him without getting hurt due to his horns and spikes, but he can in the previous titles. The theme that can be heard during the boss fights with Bowser is notable for being a remix of both the Super Mario Bros. 3 Dark World map music and his boss theme from the first two fights with him in Super Mario 64. When Piccolo is the active Pixl, Bowser's jump sound effect, as with the other characters, is the same as the Mario jump sound effect from Super Mario Bros., and his fire breath sound effect is the one from Super Mario Bros. as well. His theme heard whenever Piccolo's ability is activated is a metal song.
As a playable character, he moves slower than the others; however, he can not only jump but also breathe fire if the player pushes 
on the Wii Remote, and his attack stat is double the stat of the other heroes. The fire attack is especially useful on the Underwhere Road, in which it can light the torches along the path. Also, unlike the other characters, he cannot climb ladders or vines; he will grow tired if he tries.
Luigi's Mansion
In Luigi's Mansion, King Boo fights Luigi in a giant Bowser mech during the final battle of the game. During battle, the robotic Bowser decoy can only be defeated after a spiked ball is thrown at the Bowser head. Once that happens, King Boo becomes exposed and Luigi can suck him up with his Poltergust 3000. When King Boo's energy gets low and retreats to the body, he screws the head on backwards. Eventually, Luigi captures King Boo, and the fake Bowser duplicate falls.
It is interesting to note that, while the original Bowser is not in the events of the game, he is mentioned. He is said to have been soundly defeated at the hands of Mario by Madame Clairvoya, a fortune telling ghost, though this is but a red herring on her part. His face also appears on some doorhandles.
Super Smash Bros. series
- Main articles: SmashWiki:Bowser (SSBM), SmashWiki:Bowser (SSBB)
Template:SSB Infobox Bowser is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Bowser is very strong, making him a key character to deliver strong attacks. His massiveness makes him incredibly hard to launch out of the arena, though he is very slow as a result. However, his throwing ability is on par with the faster characters. He is also one of the few who can crawl and is also a good edge guarder. Melee also introduces Giga Bowser, a more monstrous version of Bowser. Bowser transforms into Giga Bowser with his Final Smash in Brawl.
Bowser is given a more realistic animal voice in the Super Smash Bros. series, with his Melee voice being similar to his voice effects from the games before Melee's release (such as Mario Kart 64). Bowser's voice effects in Brawl are different than in Melee, but are still more realistic than his cartoonish voice.
Solid Snake Codec Conversation
- Colonel: Careful, Snake! That's the great and terrible Bowser!
- Snake: Bowser? Looks like a cheap movie monster.
- Colonel: Hardly. Bowser leads an entire army of monsters. But I'd worry more about his claws and fire if I were you.
- Snake: Doesn't look that tough to me. Seems kind of slow, actually.
- Colonel: Well, he is the king of Koopas. It's only natural he'd be slow. But that's only because he's the heaviest fighter here--by far. He's a powerhouse of destruction. Careful he doesn't flatten you.
The Subspace Emissary
In the Subspace Emissary storyline of Brawl, Bowser, a leader of the Subspace Army, orders his minions to steal Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard. After Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong have recovered it, he faces them himself. He reveals his Dark Cannon and turns Donkey Kong into a trophy, though not before Diddy is sent to safety with Donkey's Giant Punch. Bowser claims Donkey Kong's trophy as a prize, then pursues Diddy and Fox McCloud with the assistance of a shadowy clone and the Koopa Troop. After his clone is defeated by them, he attempts to blast them with the Dark Cannon, but misses.
Later, he encounters the princess Kirby saves earlier, having been left behind when Kirby heads off to check out an ominous noise. Bowser blasts her from behind using his Dark Cannon, and his shadow bug clone dissolves and forms into the princess, while he retreats with the trophy of the real princess.
It is later shown that Bowser is working closely with Ganondorf in running the Subspace Army, though he dislikes him and prefers Master Hand. He reluctantly follows his orders, however, and heads to King Dedede's castle upon receiving info from Ganon that the king has some trophies there. Bowser later arrives at the castle by falling through the ceiling, chunks of which knocking Dedede out cold and burying the Luigi and Ness trophies. However, Bowser instantly finds the trophy of the other princess, and takes it. Mario and his team catch up to him at this point, and Mario attempts to punch Bowser, but he intentionally misses when he holds up the princess trophy. The others then attempt to attack him, but Bowser manages to escape in his Koopa Clown Car with the princess, flying off to the Halberd.
He later appears a third time to Fox and Diddy Kong, this time turning Diddy into a trophy. Shadow Bugs then crawl over it upon his command and assume the form of Diddy. Bowser then attempts to blast Fox with his Dark Cannon, but it is kicked out of his hands by Falco Lombardi and destroyed when he blasts it multiple times. Bowser then decides to retreat in his Koopa Clown Car, leaving a mega-sized Diddy Kong clone to deal with him, Fox, and Diddy, but it is defeated.
Eventually, Bowser and Ganondorf fly a Subspace Gunship into the other world and use it's massive primary cannon to bring pieces of the world into Subspace. They see the recently liberated Halberd flying toward the ship and use the Subspace Gunship's defense systems to destroy it, but are unable to hit the smaller, more maneuverable ships that emerge from the wreckage until the Subspace Gunship is destroyed by Kirby's Dragoon. The two then head into Subspace to report the failure, but Bowser is betrayed when Ganondorf blasts him with a Dark Cannon, transforming him into a trophy. Master Hand then appears to them, but it is revealed that Master Hand is being controlled by the being Tabuu; Master Hand breaks free afterward and attempts to attack him, but is defeated easily and left unconscious.
Upon being revived by King Dedede, Bowser is still enraged by Ganon's betrayal, and fights him out of anger, but is soundly defeated. He is turned back to normal once more, and this time learns the truth behind the Subspace mission and, upon taking in the situation, joins the heroes in the fight against Tabuu. Upon finding Ganondorf's trophy (just after Kirby's discovery of it), he furiously attacks it, as retribution for the treason of which he was victim earlier.
Eventually, Tabuu is defeated by the combined power of the heroes, and they all return to the World of Trophies. The credits depict the entire group on a cliff, looking out at sea towards a large "X" formed out of light, the location of what once was the Isle of Ancients.
Special Moves
Fire Breath
- Main article: SmashWiki:Fire Breath
- Main article: Fire Breath
Fire Breath is one of Bowser's special moves in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl. Bowser uses this move when 
is pressed. It is exactly the same as a Fire Flower, except that the flames get smaller the more it is used. The attack is somewhat of a long-distance move, and is usually best to use when the enemy is coming in for close-range combat. However, the move leaves Bowser motionless while using the attack, and also leaves his back open for attack. If Kirby copies Bowser's abilities, he gains the Fire Breath attack.
Koopa Klaw
- Main article: SmashWiki:Koopa Klaw
Koopa Klaw is one of Bowser's special moves in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Bowser uses this move when is pressed in conjunction with either left or right on 
. This move has two variations, based on Bowser's distance from his opponent. If the two are sufficiently far apart, he simply lashes out with his claws, leaving a visible trail in the air. If Bowser is near enough to his opponent, however, he grabs a hold of his foe, allowing him to either gnaw on them or execute a throw move. If Bowser grabs them, he can bite them repeatedly, until they manage to escape from his grasp.
Flying Slam
- Main article: SmashWiki:Flying Slam
Flying Slam is Bowser's Side Special Move in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, replacing the Koopa Klaw from Super Smash Bros. Melee. In essence, Flying Slam is essentially the same move as Koopa Klaw, with one fundamental difference: Bowser claws at his opponent and if he connects, he performs a flying suplex, rather than throwing them over his shoulder as he does with the Koopa Klaw. Bowser's air movement can be controlled somewhat during this move. If connecting midair, Bowser lands with the enemy, and can KO himself as well as the enemy. The enemy can, however, control the movement of the two, and fight back, depending on both the enemy's and Bowser's damage percentages. Bowser doesn't bite his enemy with this move, unlike with the Koopa Klaw.
Whirling Fortress
- Main article: SmashWiki:Whirling Fortress
Whirling Fortress is a move that can only be used by Bowser in both Super Smash Bros. Melee and its sequel, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Bowser activates this move when a player presses Up and simultaneously. Bowser conceals himself inside his shell and spins around with it in the air. If it hits any of the other players, they take a relatively large amount of damage, depending on how long they are in contact with the spinning shell. The attack can also be used on the ground, instead of just in the air.
Bowser Bomb
- Main article: SmashWiki:Bowser Bomb
Bowser Bomb is an attack that is used by Bowser in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It is executed by pressing down+, however, there are several different control types for Super Smash Bros. Brawl (see here). Bowser jumps up to the right, and smashes down on the ground, damaging any players under him and launches them into the air. Like the Yoshi Bomb, this always result in an SD if used off the edge as this attack is a stall-then-fall. It is called the Bowser Bomb because it is like a bomb coming down at a high speed, and when Bowser hits the ground, the move's power is quite explosive. This is one of the things that separates the Bowser Bomb from the Ground Pound move. Yoshi has a similar move called the Yoshi Bomb.
The move is a reference to one of Bowser's attacks in Super Mario Bros. 3, in which the Koopa King Ground Pounds where Mario or Luigi is standing. In fact, the position Bowser gets into when using Bowser Bomb is even borrowed from Super Mario Bros. 3.
Giga Bowser
- Main article: Giga Bowser
- Main article: SmashWiki:Giga Bowser
Although not normally playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Giga Bowser appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as Bowser's Final Smash. He still takes damage from hits but does not flinch, making him nearly impossible to KO. Because of his large size, he is able to easily attack and KO an opponent. The duration of this move is very short. While Giga Bowser is activated, Bowser's icon doesn't change. It's also noted that when Giga Bowser performs a Smash-based attack, it can turn into several Elements, such as Flame, Darkness, Ice, or Lightning.
Giga Bowser is a Smash Bros.-exclusive creation, but the concept of Bowser growing in size is not unheard of. In several games, including Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, he has changed his size at different points. The method of this, though, varies from game to game.
Mario & Luigi series
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Princess Peach's voice is replaced with a literally explosive vocabulary by the evil witch Cackletta. Some time after this, Bowser arrives at the castle to kidnap the princess. However, Mario arrives soon after, and the two engage in battle. However, once the fight is over, Bowser states that this isn't the time for a battle, and a Toad tells the two of the situation. Realizing that, if he kidnaps Peach now, her voice will destroy his castle, he and the Mario Bros. venture to the Beanbean Kingdom to recover Peach's voice on Bowser's Koopa Cruiser. On the way, howevert, Fawful, Cackletta's minion, and Cackletta herself show up, and she has Fawful destroy the group. Bowser is defeated by him easily, but the brothers fight Fawful afterward and beat him. Despite this, Fawful uses his helmet in order to send the cruiser plummeting to the ground, specifically Stardust Fields.
Bowser falls into a large cannon, where he is mocked by Tolstar. When the player locates him, Tolstar demands 100 Beanbean Coins in order to free Bowser and keep the incident a secret. Even after the player, along with the Starshade Bros., gathers the coins, Tolstar does not uphold his end of the bargain and attacks Mario and Luigi, but he is subsequently defeated. However, Bowser manages to annoy Sergeant Starshade, one of the Starshade Bros., enough to the point where he is shot out of the cannon by him. Bowser is shot into the mountains, and the impact gives him amnesia. He is then found by Popple, the Shadow Thief. Popple decides to take him under his wing, training Bowser to become a Shadow Thief and renaming him Rookie.
As Rookie, Bowser fights the Mario Bros. twice, remembering nothing about them except that they infuriate him for some reason. Rookie's attacks, which involve throwing hammers and breathing fire, are a reference to Super Mario Bros., where Bowser performs both of those moves during later boss battles. They are first fought at Chateau de Chucklehuck, Popple wanting the Chuckola Reserve for himself, and later at Woohoo Hooniversity, after the Beanstar randomly lands right in front of Popple.
After the Beanstar battle, a Peach-bot head falls in front of the group, the noise it is making disturbing the Beanstar. The four grab the star before it flies into the air, the group flying in different directions as soon as the Beanstar breaks itself into four pieces. Before all this, Rookie ends up remembering he is actually Bowser.
Some time after, he is possessed by Cackletta's spirit, becoming Bowletta. Bowletta takes command of the Koopa Troop, kidnaps Princess Peach, and launches a massive military strike against the Beanbean Kingdom from Bowser's Castle. After Mario and Luigi defeat Bowletta, the brothers are taken into its stomach to fight Cackletta's spirit for the final battle. Bowletta's stomach is full of flames. When Cackletta is completely destroyed, Bowser returns to normal. Still a bit bedazzled, Bowser gets no break, as his castle explodes shortly afterward (literally flying toward the screen of the Game Boy Advance). Bowser falls into Oho Ocean, but is rescued by Prince Peasley. He later awakens with a cold, inside a present box (attached to Peach's Plane) given to Peach and the Mario Bros by Prince Peasley. During their flight back to the Mushroom Kingdom, he is dropped off at his castle while his minions watch.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Bowser first appears in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time after Princess Shroob (disguised as Princess Peach) is brought to the present. He easily defeats the Toad guarding the princess and is about to take her when Mario and Luigi show up. As they are about to battle, a part of the Shroob Mushroom covering her face separates and flies into Bowser's face. He plies it off his face and eats it, though it tastes awful, and he begins to spray a purple gas out of his mouth, which incapacitates Mario and Luigi. Using this to his advantage, he grabs the princess and runs off. As he is fleeing, he stops upon hearing Toadsworth the Younger behind him, and turns to see him charging toward him in Baby Peach's carriage, but he avoids them by jumping over them. However, Bowser's landing causes the chunk of the balcony he is standing on to break, and they both fall into the Time Hole underneath.
The time hole sends him and the princess to Thwomp Volcano. At the bottom, he decides that the volcano is the perfect place to build another castle when Baby Bowser suddenly falls down into the area, and decides that he wants to build a castle there. However, the two then spot each other and both state that the volcano is theirs, then argue by telling the other that he is a Bowser copy, and continue to argue after that (neither of them realizing that they are both Bowser, but from different points in time).
When Mario and Luigi and their baby forms reach the bottom of the volcano, Bowser and Baby Bowser appear before they can save "Princess Peach", reveal that they have teamed up, and challenge them. Bowser can attack the four heroes by jumping, which both creates a shockwave and sends down debris to be avoided. He also attacks by breathing bursts of flame at them, though he may sometimes fake it; the player can tell if he is when Bowser laughs before he attacks. Baby Bowser's attacks also involve Bowser. His first attack involves ground pounding Bowser to have him spit flames at them, and his second involves Bowser retreating into his shell, and Bowser Jr. using his hammer to smack him at Mario and Luigi; once Baby Bowser misses, Bowser does not return for another turn. When the duo are defeated, a geyser of lava emerges from under the Thwomp they stand on at the beginning of the battle, sending the past and present Bowsers flying out of the volcano. Bowser is then knocked off the Thwomp by a Shroob UFO, and is sent into another Time Hole.
After defeating Elder Princess Shroob and returning to the present, Toadsworth and Toadsworth the Younger lead Mario and Luigi to an unconscious Bowser in Peach's throne room; Toadsworth explains that they found him unconscious in the castle's backyard after emerging from the Time Hole. While trying to wake him up, Elder Princess Shroob, in the form of a mushroom, levitates toward Bowser and forces him to eat her; this results in Bowser's body being inhabited by the spirit of Elder Princess Shroob, forming Shrowser. He awakens, feeling revitalized and reawakening, and he engages Mario, Luigi, and their past selves in battle. During the fight, he does not allow the Mario bros. to attack, instead barraging them multiple times with fireballs. These can either be jumped over or deflected with the hammer, though both counters result in Elder Princess Shroob, whose spirit emerges from Bowser at the beginning of the fight, being damaged. Once her health is depleted, Shrowser is defeated, Elder Princess Shroob is destroyed, and Bowser once again falls into a state of unconsciousness.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
- “You got THAT right, buddy! I'm Bowser, the Koopa king!”
- —Bowser, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
In the third Mario and Luigi game, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Bowser's playability is a major plot point, and the namesake of the game. At the beginning, Bowser interrupts a conference by barging into the meeting room, to once again kidnap Peach, but Mario stands in his way. When the player defeats him, Peach forces him out of the castle, she and Starlow using their power to fling him towards Dimble Wood.
Bowser is awakened in a forest by a Magikoopa. After the player traverses the forest for a while, Bowser arrives at a shop, run by a cloaked being, who gives Bowser a "Lucky Mushroom", claiming it can give him the power to defeat Mario. The Magikoopa advises him not to accept it, but Bowser accepts and eats the mushroom anyway, and is placed under Fawful's control as a result, as well as inhaling his surroundings.
Afterwards, he breaks back into Peach's castle a second time and inhales Mario, Luigi, Toadsworth, Toadbert, Princess Peach, and several other Toads, passing out after doing so. Fawful then has Midbus remove Bowser's body from the premises. By using a large, yellow Nubbin in Bowser's Funny Bone, Mario and Luigi are able to awaken Bowser. He is extremely angered by the events that happened, but is unaware that he inhaled everyone at Peach's castle. He is awakened in Cavi Cape Cave. After the player wanders about the cave, Bowser encounters a piece of flimsy material covering an exit. He attempts to destroy it with fire, but cannot. When the player does exit the cave, Bowser meets Fawful, who proclaims that he is going to take over his castle and the entire Mushroom Kingdom. Before Bowser can chase after Fawful, his minion Midbus appears. Bowser attempts to face him, but finds he is still too weak from being knocked out. Midbus leaves him, and Bowser decides to head to his castle.
After the player traverses Plack Beach for a while, Bowser meets Broque Monsieur, a block collector, stuck on a nearby island. Broque asks Bowser to free him in exchange for the Vacuum Block, a block which can give its user the vacuum attack. Bowser accepts, but does not have the strength to pull the island over to the mainland at first. By heading to Arm Center and stimulating his arm muscle, Bowser's strength is increased, which gives him enough power to yank the entire island to the beach. Having saved Broque, he is given the block, then teaches the player how to use the command.
Upon reaching the north end of the beach, Bowser encounters the Sea Pipe Statue. Because it is not in his image, Bowser attempts to destroy it, but it starts to move. Fawful, using a Fawfulcopter, explains to him that he animated the statue, and it engages Bowser in battle. Once the statue is defeated, Bowser becomes thirsty and begins to drink the water flowing out of it, allowing the player to access the Pump Works. In there, Mario and Luigi must recover the Stingler, the key to a door allowing the player to access the Flame Pipe. In the pipe, they find that it is a Scutlet that is blocking the pipe. Upon its defeat, Bowser regains his ability to breathe fire.
Upon advancing in Plaque Beach, Bowser encounters Broque Monsieur once again. This time, his dog has gone missing. They find him, but he is temperamental, so Broque asks Bowser to "teach him zee manners." Bowser agrees, and must defeat Broggy in battle by using his recently recovered fire attack. After discovering Broque Monsieur's shop in the woods, Bowser is asked to bring him fifteen Blitties, in exchange for allowing Broggy to travel with Bowser, allowing him to use the Broggy Bonker attack.
Near the end of the forest, Bowser notices a cage full of Goombas, trapped there by Fawful. He decides to help them, first by making a bridge to the island they are trapped on by using a Wiggler statue, which he is only able to lift once Mario and Luigi boost his arm muscle a second time. Upon freeing them, Bowser can preform the attack Goomba Storm. Fawful then appears to him and explains that several of his other minions have also been trapped in various locations.
He later runs into three more of his minions: Sergeant Guy, Corporal Paraplonk, and Private Goomp. The three tell him that they are attempting to recapture Bowser's castle by launching a Banzai Bill at it; they then inform him that they have the launcher, but no Banzai Bills. He sends them out to retrieve one, then heads off on his own for the same purpose. Instead, at Wiggler's garden, he finds a carrot, and, deeming it a suitable substitute, he is able to pull it out of the ground when Mario and Luigi once again increase his muscle mass. The Wiggler then emerges, angered that Bowser has plucked the carrot from the ground. However, Bowser does not care and asks if it has any Banzai Bills, to which the Wiggler replies that it does; however, he only agrees to hand it over if Bowser eats the carrot in less than one minute. Mario and Luigi must head to Gut Check to help Bowser eat the carrot. Once he does, the Wiggler gives him the option to save. When Bowser asks for the Banzai Bill, the Wiggler forgets everything that happened, and fights Bowser, enraged that he ate the carrot. When Bowser emerges victorious, the Wiggler surrenders the Banzai Bill. On the way back to his minions, however, Bowser starts feeling stomach aches. Mario and Luigi head to the Nerve Cluster and discover that this is because of Durmite, running rampant inside his body, and take care of the issue. After defeating it, they travel on and discover a blocked passage and Toadbert. Luigi then hits the Nubbin nearby, which not only unveils the passage but also gives Bowser the Sliding Punch ability.
After arriving back at the site of the launcher, Bowser, Corporal Paraplonk, Private Goomp, and Sergeant Guy launch the bullet at the castle. Midbus, however, takes notice of the Banzai Bill and flies the castle into the air. He then flies it to Dimble Woods and lands the castle on top of Bowser. In order to revive him, the Mario bros. must head to Rump Command, where they can give Bowser an adrenaline boost. The boost not only revives him but also causes him to grow to a gigantic size. With his increased height, Bowser fights his castle, damaging it to the point where Midbus retreats, flying it back to its original position. After the battle, Bowser decreases in size again and continues his journey to his castle. On the Bowser Path, when Bowser approaches his castle, Midbus once again flies it away. He chases the castle once more and reaches a ledge when Midbus fires a massive cannonball at him. He is able to catch the projectile, but Mario and Luigi must once again increase his arm's strength, which causes Bowser to hurl the projectile back at the castle and permanently ground it.
Once Bowser arrives in his castle, he sees that his minions have been enslaved, and that the entire building has been converted into Fawful Theater. Bowser enters the theater itself and, after complaining about there being no available seats, a Goomba leads him to a "VIP" chair. After Fawful introduces the show, he announces that Bowser is the show's "special guest", and the chair rockets forward, throwing him on the stage when it stops. He is then forced to fight Midbus again. Once Bowser emerges victorious, he is led by several Boos to a winner's feast. During the feast, however, Bowser eats so much that he becomes severely obese, falls through the floor, and becomes stuck, allowing Mario and Luigi to access the Flab Zone.
Some time later, Fawful uses a ray gun to remove Peach from Bowser's body. After retrieving Peach, Bowser falls through the floor and onto a treadmill brought out by Midbus, and uses it to literally burn the fat he gained. However, he then walks over to a crate of Bob-ombs, still on fire, only noticing the sign telling what room he is in and unintentionally lighting a Bob-omb. This Bob-omb leaps into a crate full of others, creating a chain reaction which blows them all up and sends Bowser flying into an underground tunnel. Soon after, he meets a group of Monty Moles, who he learns are building a tunnel all the way to Toad Town. Bowser helps them by pushing their drill vehicle from behind, and Mario and Luigi help him by stimulating his leg muscles. With this help, Bowser is able to finish the tunnel, ending up at Toad Town's underground. However, he wanders down a path and activates a security system that knocks him unconscious.
He later regains consciousness and travels to Doctor Toadley's office, where he encounters the Mario brothers and battles them. Once Mario and Luigi defeat him, the doctor tells the trio that they need to find the three Star Cures to cure the Blorbs and gain access to the castle. He then tells them that the first cure is held by Durmite, whom he states to be located in Dimble Wood. Overhearing this, Bowser rushes off toward the woods.
Bowser is later at Bubble Lake when the brothers lose Durmite in the Energy Hold of Bowser's body. Upon reaching the Tower of Yikk, Bowser notes the propeller on top of the structure, and figures that it can fly him to Dimble Woods. He smells the pollen of nearby plants, which he is allergic to, and Mario and Luigi, by heading to the Nose Deck, are able to supercharge Bowser's sneeze. The gust from said sneeze causes the entire Tower of Yikk to emerge from the lake, come to life, and step on Bowser. The Mario bros. must then head to Rump Command again to revive him and increase his size. After defeating the tower, it is immobilized, allowing Bowser to enter. At the top of the tower, Bowser meets the spirit of Yikk after reading through a book, and he guides Bowser through the use of the Boo-ray Machine. By using this machine, Bowser is able to help the brothers access the Energy Hold to get the Star Cure from Durmite. Afterward, by heading to the Joint Tower, Mario and Luigi can stimulate Bowser's pressure points and enable the Body Slam technique, which allows him to escape the tower.
Once outside, Bowser encounters Private Goomp, who is alone due to running away from Bowser as a giant in Dimble Woods. After Bowser informs the Goomba of his current objective, Goomp states that Bowser has a Star Cure in his underground treasure chamber; he had apparently won it from a being named Kuzzle. Upon reaching and entering the vault, he finds that the underground path he helped dig earlier is now Fawful's property, and that it is in use for the Fawful Express. As Bowser attempts to obtain the cure, the express departs as he is standing on the tracks, and it eventually rams him into a massive rock. Mario and Luigi once again must go to Rump Command, revive Bowser, and increase his size. He must then destroy the train before it reaches a rock bridge unable to support his weight. When he does this, he shrinks back down to his normal size. Once he returns to the vault, he attempts to open the safe, but cannot remember the combination. The Mario brothers then journey to Bowser's Memory Banks and, after defeating the guardian, must jog Bowser's memory by reassembling the memory containing the combination. He opens the safe once this is done and claims the second Star Cure, but Private Goomp, Corporal Paraplunk, and Sergeant Guy, who now work for Fawful, shove him into the safe. Bowser then eats the Star Cure, which is found by Mario and Luigi in the Gut Check.
After Mario and Luigi defeat Junker, the robot's rampage frees Bowser from the safe, but his back hurts after being crammed inside it for too long. Inside the Lumbar Nook, Mario and Luigi are able loosen his back, enabling Bowser to use the Spike Ball move. He then continues his search for Fawful inside Peach's castle. However, during his search, he finds two Piranha Plants, whose fireballs force Bowser to curl into a ball. The brothers travel to the Chest Station and give impulses that allow Bowser to fly into the air. After defeating the plants, Bowser notices Fawful and Midbus using Peach to awaken the Dark Star. Fawful manages to escape, and leaves Midbus, whom he transforms into Blizzard Midbus, to defeat Bowser. However, once Blizzard Midbus is defeated, he is trapped in a block of ice, with cold air blowing out of his snout.
He then continues on to Fawful, who is absorbing power from the Dark Star. However, Bowser interrupts the process by punching him. The Dark Star then heads inside Bowser's body, the heat from the star inside him so intense that he uses Midbus' icy breath to cool his throat. This allows Mario and Luigi to travel through the Airway. After the bros. defeat the Dark Star in battle, it leaves Bowser's body and, having absorbed some of Bowser's DNA, transforms into Dark Bowser; however, since it only has a portion of its power at the moment, the transformation is incomplete. It then runs off, with Bowser in tow.
Bowser chases the Dark Star until he reaches the courtyard of Peach's Castle, where Fawful activates the building. The castle transforms into a robot, and stomps Bowser. The Mario bros. head to Rump Command, revive Bowser, and make him a giant once again. Bowser faces the castle in battle, and, upon emerging victorious, heads back inside and fights Fawful, who transforms himself into Dark Fawful. Fawful's body is destroyed when he loses, but he survives as a mass of dark energy. Fawful is then absorbed by the Dark Star, which is able to complete its transformation into Dark Bowser, then escapes using a hidden passage.
After chasing Dark Bowser to a high tower above the castle, he encounters him on the opposite end, an unconscious Peach nest to him. Dark Bowser then claims that he is going to rule the world, and covers the Mushroom Kingdom in a veil of darkness, a hurricane sucking up its various inhabitants. Starlow attempts to reveal that Mario and Luigi are inside his body at this point, but Bowser cannot hear. He then engages in the final battle with Dark Bowser. During the fight, he manages to defeat Dark Bowser, but Fawful revives him and makes him giant. Bowser then knocks Fawful out of his dark half's body, and sucks him up using his vacuum ability, allowing Mario and Luigi to defeat him from the inside. After Fawful and the Dark Star Core are defeated, Bowser is able to destroy his now unstable dark counterpart, eliminating him once and for all.
However, inside Bowser's body, Fawful is still alive, and, in one final attempt to defeat Mario and Luigi, self-destructs. This does not kill them, and instead sends them and everyone else inside Bowser's body flying to the outside world once more. Bowser is confused at first, but slowly figures everything out, including the fact that Starlow was the one giving him advice the entire time, under the alias "Chippy". This greatly angers him, and, as the credits roll, he engages in battle with the Mario brothers once more, loses, and is carried back to his castle.
Back at the castle, an injured, bedridden Bowser is still overseeing reconstruction of his castle. Private Goomp, Corporal Paraplonk, and Sergeant Guy then enter the room, and beg for their positions back when Birdley, Dr. Toadley's bird, flies in and drops a box onto Bowser's bed. Starlow emerges, wanting to check on him for the fear that he may attack Peach's castle again, though Bowser informs her that he is focusing on rebuilding his own castle at the moment. Still angry about the truth, he yells at her to leave. After she does so, he yells at the trio who previously entered, telling them to work on rebuilding the castle. Once Bowser is alone, he opens the box, revealing a cake with Bowser, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and various other decorations on it.
Bowser's normal battle system is similar to Mario and Luigi's but still contains differences. One such difference is his attack options; his basic attacks are the Punch and Fire Breath. His third option is the Vacuum Block, which allows him to inhale small enemies, items, and sometimes Blitties; any enemies sucked inside him are fought by Mario and Luigi. His final attack option is his own variant of special attacks, which generally involve Koopa Troop soldiers coming to Bowser's aid. When being attacked, Bowser has two forms of defense: He can curl into his shell, or he can counterattack by punching. Outside of battle, Bowser can also kick away small enemies that he encounters and defeat them instantly.
During giant Bowser battles, the player must hold the DS on its side. Bowser only has two attacks: punching, achieved by swiping the stylus across the Touch Screen, and breathing fire, achieved by the player blowing into the microphone. Occasionally, Mushrooms also appear during battle, which can be used to heal him.
Bowser's ranking system is also different. It starts at Bronze Boss as the default and changes to Silver Boss at level 10, Gold Boss at level 20, and Final Boss at level 40.
Additionally, in the Flab Zone, the brothers occasionally encounter Nutsoglobins, who are not mandatory, but can help in navigating the area. They ask them trivia questions about Bowser, but, before they so, they allow the player to ask Bowser questions, with the Nutsoglobin being the mediator between them; each question asked costs five coins. They then ask the player the questions, which are based upon what Bowser says in response to the possible he or she can ask him. Whenever a Nutsoglobin talks to Bowser from inside his body, Bowser does not know who it is that is speaking.
Bowser X
Template:Bisenemy A boss called Bowser X appears in the Challenge Node in Bowser's body and can be fought by Mario and Luigi. To get to him, the player must beat all X bosses, and then face all the other X bosses in a row before facing Bowser X. He is, by far, the strongest boss in the game. He is also the only X boss without a color change from the original. While this is clearly not the real Bowser, such an entity existing inside of him may have been the result of the Emoglobin at the Gauntlet within creating it to challenge the Bros. further, after besting all of the other X bosses.
Like all the other X Bosses in the Challenge Node, Bowser X has upgraded stats and additionally, he is capable of performing all of original Bowser's attacks, plus three new ones. However, Bowser X does not use the remaining troops later on in the battle. Attacks Bowser X performs during battle include:
- Punch - A variant of Bowser's fist attack which is slightly faster than the original one. Mario and Luigi must jump to avoid taking damage. Every once in a while, his nostrils smoke out. When this happens, he completely misses the punch and jumps over the Bros. in clumsiness. Mario and Luigi should not jump during this attack.
- Flame - A fire-based combat technique. It can be avoided by grabbing onto Starlow before Bowser X launches the attack. If the player misses, the attack deals massive damage to the Bros.
- Goomba Storm - This attack has two phases. At first, Goombas run after Mario and Luigi, while Bowser X sets some of them on fire. After that the burning Goombas fall from the sky and the player must use the hammer attack to hit them back. They move at a much faster speed than the original.
- Shy Guy Squad - This attack is similar to Bowser's attack. It can be countered by a timed hammer attack.
- Fireball - Bowser X shoots a simple fireball at one of the Bros.. The attack doesn't do much damage, but he continues to execute this attack over and over. The Bros. must hammer the fireball back at Bowser to damage him. Doing this causes Bowser X to curl up into a ball and head for the upper portion of the screen. There, a rain of fireballs drops from Bowser X at random times. The Bros. must hammer the fireballs when they're above them directly. The final part of this attack is when Bowser X, still curled up, attempts to ram himself onto one of the Bros., heavily damaging him.
- Giant Bowser X - Bowser X grows in size and attacks the Bros. with a barrage of fireballs. The Bros. should jump only when the fireballs head toward the Bro. directly. The Bros. shouldn't jump when the fireball passes overhead. After Bowser X finishes that, he proceeds to chase the Bros.. They must jump over the fiery obstacles and head for the two springs waiting at the end without taking major damage.
- Vacuum - A counter move used every time when the player uses a special attack. Bowser X inhales the used move, making it inaccessible for five turns.
Super Mario-Kun (Pikkapika Comics)
The Super Mario-Kun manga published by Pikkapika Comics also features Bowser as a prominent character and antagonist.
Mario Pinball Land
At the beginning of Mario Pinball Land, Mario, Princess Peach, and a group of Toads go to a fair and are enjoying a day of merriment. Princess Peach rides a special ride, the Air Cannon, made by Professor Elvin Gadd. The machine turns Princess Peach into a pinball and allows her to play a special pinball game. However, two of Bowser's Goombas take advantage of her pinball state, changing the direction of the cannon and shooting her to Bowser's Castle. Mario uses the machine to become a pinball and follows Bowser through five different worlds with some Toads trailing behind. Mario has to use the power of the Power Stars to pass each world.
The player can only access the Bowser battle when he or she earns thirty-five Power Stars. Bowser does not attack Mario, instead roaming around the room and ground pounding, which temporarily disables the flippers. When Mario hits him, Bowser spins around if he is hit from behind, and is momentarily dazed by a frontal attack. The player must use the flippers to hit Mario into the pulleys in the back of the room to raise at least one of the Thwomps in the room as high as possible, so that the blue button in the center begins to glow. By hitting it, the Thwomps fall, causing Bowser to lose balance, leaving him venerable to attack. After three hits, Bowser rolls into a giant-sized pinball, and must be hit by the flippers and Mario to destroy the pulleys and the wall. Once a large enough hole in the wall is formed, Mario can launch him through it, out of the castle, and into a nearby hill. Bowser's defeat earns the player 5,000,000 points.
Yakuman DS
In Yakuman DS, Bowser appears as one of the unlockable characters. He also appears as the rank 2 opponent faced in Ranking mode.
Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
In Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, Bowser is not the main antagonist, but he is the final boss. Once Mario and Toad regain all four Music Keys and return them to Truffle Tower, Bowser arrives and steals them all. Mario and Toad, in the S.S. Brass, follow him, dodging Bowser's Bullet Bills. After arriving at his castle, Bowser challenges Mario to a dance-off. During the battle, if the player dances well enough, a rocket flies into the castle. The rocket then lands and a massive hammer emerges from it to smack Bowser out of his castle.
Defeated, the Koopa King admits that he only wanted the keys to cure his tone-deafness. Before Mario and Toad leave, Mario uses the power of the keys to turn Bowser's Castle and the dark land surrounding it into a paradise. Afterward, the three start dancing, and cannot stop; Toad explains that, when they recaptured the keys, some music was implanted into their souls. The three then begin to dance to the music that is in their souls.
Bowser is later seen in the credits, where he is dancing in front of his castle.
Mario Baseball series
Bowser is a playable character in Mario Superstar Baseball and its sequel, Mario Super Sluggers. He is a team captain with high power stats.
Mario Superstar Baseball's Challenge Mode features Bowser and his team as the final opponents to be faced. He can only be faced when the player defeats all the other captains. When the player beats Bowser , the Bowser Castle stadium is unlocked. When he is defeated on Special difficulty, the player can play as Bowser in Challenge Mode. In this mode, Bowser must defeat the other captains, and then face of team composed of nine out of ten of the captains and sub-captains. Like everyone else, Bower can also recruit other characters to be on his team. In addition, when playing as Bowser, Bowser Jr. does not wander around the map.
In Mario Super Sluggers, Bowser Jr. is jealous that Mario and his friends have their own baseball stadium so he takes over the stadiums in Baseball Kingdom. After Bowser Jr. is beaten by Mario's team, Bowser faces Mario in a baseball game. Mario's team emerges victorious and celebrates. Bowser and Bowser Jr. are invited to the celebration out of pity on the Daisy Cruiser. Bowser refuses, but reconsiders only because Bowser Jr. wants to have fun, so Daisy leads them to the table. To their dismay, however, they only get a small portion of food, while everyone else receives much more.
Back at Mario Stadium, Wario and Waluigi attempt to take Mario out with a sneaked Bullet Bill in the Bob-omb Derby during the celebration. The bullet is fired, and Mario, upon noticing, has not enough time to react, but Bowser jumps in front of him and uses his bat to deflect it back at them. The reason Bowser does this is unknown, though it is likely that either if it hit Mario, he would have no arch-rival, or that he thinks it is his job to take Mario out.
In Mario Superstar Baseball, Bowser has one of the highest batting and pitching stats, but his fielding and running skills are poor to balance him out. His special move is the Killer Ball, where he hits or pitches a Bullet Bill. If used when batting, it pushes back any character that catches it. Bowser's running ability is Body Check, allowing him to tackle the baseman and knocking the ball out of his or her hand, and his fielding ability is Laser Beam, which allows him to throw the ball at high speeds to home base. His team can be named either the Bowser Monsters, Bowser Flames, Bowser Blue Shells, or Bowser Blackstars.
In Mario Super Sluggers, Bowser's power stats are still very high (tied with Petey Piranha and King K. Rool), but his pitching skills are weaker than in the prequel. His fielding and running abilities are higher than in the prequel, but they are still lower than average. While Bowser's Star Pitch remains the same, his Star Swing is changed to the Breath Swing, in which he uses his fire breath on the bat to hit the ball. His team name is the same as the prequel, Bowser Monsters.
Super Princess Peach
In Super Princess Peach, Bowser builds his villa on Vibe Island. There, his troops find the mysterious Vibe Scepter, which Bowser uses to capture Mario, Luigi, and Toad as well as power up his minions. Princess Peach is out on a walk, and when she learns of the situation, she goes on a quest to rescue them. Bowser sends many of his minions to capture Peach, sure that she can be taken with ease. Peach surprises everyone, however, when she defeats Bowser's generals and rescued Luigi and Toad.
At Bowser's villa, Army Hammer Bro. is speaking with him when Peach arrives. Using the Vibe Scepter, Bowser enhances the Hammer Bro. by giving him the ability to use the Rage vibe, then flees. After defeating the Hammer Bro., Peach heads to the next floor to face Bowser. He will attack her by throwing hammers at her, as well as breathing fireballs and a large row of fire. He will also rush forward and destroy one of the statues in the room. After hitting him a few times, Bowser enhances himself with the Joy vibe, causing him to leap up and create shockwaves upon landing. After this, he gives himself the Gloom vibe, in which he attacks by throwing several hammers, and then leaping up and sending down giant hammers. Finally, after hitting him a number of times, he gives himself the Rage vibe, which causes him to attack faster.
Once Bowser is defeated, Peach is forced to battle him once more, however, this time, he has made himself giant. He attacks Peach by slamming his hands onto the ground, which also sends down several spiked balls. He also attacks by throwing several hammers at once and breathing massive fireballs toward her. Finally, he slams both hands onto the ground, which sends down several Bob-ombs; Peach must use these to damage him. Once Bowser is defeated, he reverts to his normal size, and Peach will use Perry, her parasol, to launch Bowser and the scepter away from the island.
Mario Strikers series
Bowser makes brief appearances in Super Mario Strikers as a hazard who interrupts gameplay by tilting the field or attacking the players. During the game he also has his own robotic Super Team to challenge the player's team at the finals for the Bowser Cup and Super Bowser Cup.
Bowser reappears in Mario Strikers Charged as a team captain and playable character. He is a power type character, giving him a high shooting and defense stat, but low movement and passing stats. His deke involves him crouching into his shell and knocking out anybody who runs into him. Super Ability is the Fire Storm!, which causes him to breathe fire upon anyone who ends up in front of him. Bowser's Mega Strike involves him leaping into the air, his spikes and claws growing, his hair turning to flame, and throwing the ball toward the goal. During the game, Bowser wears metal claws to help him manage the ball, as well as to make himself look more fierce. His team number is 66, and his theme is hard rock music.
Mario and the Incredible Rescue
During the events of Mario and the Incredible Rescue, Bowser has several Boos fly to Peach's Castle and kidnap the princess. He does this by stealing a book from Cybele the sorceress, called The Book of Spells, to magically create an army of ghosts. However, Mario, with help from Luigi and Toad, find the six mushrooms necessary to cast the spell that sends the ghosts back to their own realm and defeats Bowser.
Mario Hoops 3-on-3
Bowser appears in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 as an unlockable character. He is unlocked by completing the normal Star Tourney with at least a bronze medal. In this game, he is classified as a powerful character. The only other powerful characters are Donkey Kong and Wario. Bowser's special shot is the Bomber Dunk, which can be performed if the player taps a B-like shape on the touch screen. He sets fire to the ball, and then leaps into the air and dunks it, a large column of flame appearing afterward. Bowser is also the only unlockable Mario character with a baller name, "The Big Shell". Bowser's Castle is also one of the courts in the game.
Itadaki Street series
- “Thank my lucky stars! I'll take some of that money off your hands, wimps! Bwah hah hah!”
- —Bowser, Fortune Street
Bowser appears as a playable character in the game Itadaki Street DS. In the game, the player can also unlock customization options for his or her character. Bowser's customizations include a Bowser Cap and a Bowser Suit.
He later returns as a default playable character in the game's follow-up, Fortune Street.
Mario & Sonic series
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Bowser appears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games as a power type character. He has the highest power stat in the game, combined with a high level of stamina. It is because of his strength that he can do better in events such as the Hammer Toss. His swim stroke is the breaststroke.
Bowser's six missions in the game are Pole Vault, in which he must clear the bar set at 5.70 meters twice; Javelin Throwing, in which the player must throw the javelin between 50 and 55 meters; 400m Hurdles, in which the player mustn't knock over a single hurdle and finish with a time between 45 and 53 seconds; Hammer Throw; in which the hammer must be thrown between 50 and 55 meters; Singles table tennis, in which the player must win by scoring 7 points with blast-shots; and Dream Fencing, in which the player must win by knocking his or her opponent out of the ring twice.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Bowser appears as a playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. He is once again a power character, having high power and speed stats, along with average acceleration and skill stats in the Wii version. In the DS version, he has high speed, power, and stamina, but below average technique and jumping.
In the DS version of the game, in the Adventure Tour mode, Bowser is one of the two main antagonists. He teams up with Dr. Eggman to stop the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and host their own games. In order to achieve this, Bowser uses his fire to melt all the snow, and Eggman captures the six Snow Spirits; however, one manages to escape, but Bowser and Eggman disregard this, believing that the five they have can produce all the snow they need.
Upon hearing about the predicament from the one Snow Spirit, Frosty, Mario and Sonic set out to stop Bowser and Eggman and rescue the other five spirits. They defeat Bowser and Eggman's henchmen and save the Snow Spirits, then confront Dr. Eggman and Bowser right after saving Frosty from Dry Bowser at Blizland. The two challenge them first to Blazing Bobsleigh, then to Fever Hockey, and finally to Extreme Snowboarding. Once their rivals defeat fhem, they are disappointed that they lost, but are then angered about it and escape.
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Bowser returns as a power type character in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. He has high speed, stamina, and power, but low acceleration and technique. In the Wii version, a Bowser suit is also an unlockable costume for the player's Mii to wear.
In the 3DS version of the game, Bowser and Dr. Eggman return as the primary antagonists of the game's story mode. Before the events of the game, after allying with Dr. Eggman again, Bowser has a Magikoopa break the seal on the urn keeping a powerful colored fog known as the Phantasmal Fog contained, located at Stonehenge. From there, Eggman has E-123 Omega retrieve the urn and bring it to him.
On the night before the Olympic Games, Bowser and Eggman are observing the city via several video feeds inside Big Ben, angered that the games have been set up and they have not received invitations. Eggman suggests that they were intentionally uninvited because they are too well prepared for the games. To exact their revenge, Bowser suggests activating the doctor's newest device: a machine that amplifies and unleashes the Phantasmal Fog through various machines scattered throughout London. Eggman asks Bowser and the Koopa Troop to guard the machines that spread the fog and then activates the main machine. The duo then watch from the video monitors as their plan is set into motion.
However, their plans begin to halt when Mario, Sonic, and friends destroy several of their fog-spreading machines. Desperate to keep the London Olympics from happening, Eggman sends out a 3D hologram of him out to wreak havoc near an Olympic stadium. However, the clone is chased down by Vector and Knuckles to the inside of the stadium, where he is cornered by them and Sonic and defeated by the former two, while the real Eggman and Bowser remain safe and hidden inside Big Ben. From there, Eggman uses the main machine to unleash ten times the amount of Phantasmal Fog the other machines could have. However, when Eggman activates this function, Bowser is concerned that the machine may not be safe. The machine then overloads, and fog begins spreading around the interior of the lair. Bowser and Eggman begin to absorb the fog, which makes them stronger, as the Phantasmal Fog begins to spread outside of Big Ben and across London.
As soon as Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and Tails arrive at Big Ben, Bowser and Dr. Eggman instantly reveal themselves, visibly powered up by the fog: they are now glowing various colors and are emanating electricity. They inform the heroes that, as they speak, armies of fog imposters are heading around the city and preventing the Olympic Games. However, Toad and various other allies of Mario's and Sonic's inform them that the fog across the city has been cleared. They are shocked to hear this, but decide to achieve vengeance by defeating Mario's team at a series of Olympic events. When Sonic and Mario defeat them, they try to stop Mario and Sonic from ruining their plan, but are forced to watch as Sonic destroys the machine. Once this is done, Mario uses the urn to suck up the fog, thus stripping Eggman and Bowser of their increased power and sealing the Phantasmal Fog away once more when he places the lid on.
At first, the two are disappointed that they cannot participate in the Olympic Games, and, upon Tails' asking, they explain that they were the only ones that were not invited. They then angrily accuse the group of intentionally not inviting them, but Tails explains that it was an honest mistake; Toad then informs them over the walkie-talkie that, despite the fact that they have not received invitations, Eggman and Bowser are on the list of competitors, and that there is still time to register by providing their IDs at the main stadium. Eggman and Bowser, however, state that they do not have their IDs, but the heroes convince Toad to make an exception and he allows them to register without them if they can make it to the stadium in time.
That night, Bowser is among the various competitors present at the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Mario Sports Mix
Bowser appears in Mario Sports Mix as a powerful-type character. His power stat is high, but his technique stat is lower as a result, and he also has a very low speed stat. His high power stat allows him to hit balls and pucks harder than normal, which can push back weaker characters. In Dodgeball, Bowser can repel dodgeball attacks by spinning inside his shell. However, this move is rendered useless when the dodgeball is equipped with an item. Bowser's special ability involves him spitting a fireball onto the court, near the goal, and then throwing the sports object toward the goal. Anyone caught within the radius of the blast is knocked back and burned, and has a harder time stopping Bowser's shots, or evading them in Dodgeball.
Cameos
SimCity
Bowser makes a cameo in the SNES version of SimCity. He appears during one of the natural disasters featured in the game, which includes a giant-sized Bowser trampling through and destroying the city that is built by the player, which is probably a reference to the Godzilla movies.
Tetris
The results screen for the NES version of Tetris features Bowser as part of a band composed of himself, Donkey Kong, Link, Pit, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Samus Aran. He is playing the accordion.
F-1 Race
Bowser sometimes appears at the beginning and end of a race in F-1 Race.
The Legend of Zelda series
While Bowser himself does not appear in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a portrait of him can be found by Young Link, hanging on a wall in Hyrule Castle. Later, at the Lon Lon Ranch, the characters Malon and Talon both wear broaches of Bowser's face, which is ironic because Talon bears a great resemblance to Mario.
When Link travels to the world of Termina in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, he meets a pair of sisters named Romani and Cremia, who also wear Bowser broaches. This is due to them sharing the same character models as Malon's child and adult forms, respectively.
Pikmin 2
In Pikmin 2, a matchbox with Bowser's face on it appears as a treasure.
Tetris DS
In Tetris DS, during Standard Mode, a Bowser sprite from Super Mario Bros appears on the touch screen on stage ten. Additionally, when viewing the amount of Tetris Points the player has, if the player has between 8000-8999 Tetris Points, Bowser's Super Mario Bros. sprite will appear on the top screen.
Art Style: PiCTOBiTS
In Art Style: PiCTOBiTS, a Super Mario Bros. sprite of Bowser is one of the patterns that must be formed.
Wreck-It Ralph
Bowser, along with several other video game villains, will appear in the upcoming Disney movie, Wreck-It Ralph[4]. In the trailer, he is seen breathing fire and scaring Clyde from the Pac-Man series.
General Information
Personality
Different Characterizations
When Bowser was developed, he was a typical villain of pure evil with immense hatred and anger. Cruel and ruthless, he is typically portrayed as a power-hungry tyrant who leads violent attacks that threaten the lives of hundreds. Bowser's ultimate goal is to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, and eventually, the entire universe. His infamous plans and numerous crimes, ranging from simply kidnapping Princess Peach to acts of terrorism, have earned him a reputation feared by the entire Mushroom World. While this status of evil is still very prevalent in the series, Bowser has recently had a humorous tone added to his personality and is shown to be more complex in terms of his relationships with his rivals.
Most games tend to focus on a single characterization, which suggests the direction that game takes in story. Some games only focus on his comical aspects, while others focus on a much more sinister side. The games that mainly focus on his comical aspects are the RPGs, where his overall character has a very amusing personality. Bowser has also been known to break the fourth wall to remind players that he's still evil despite his current actions. In fact, whenever he joins forces with Mario to face a greater common foe, Bowser's typical motivations for doing so are selfish in nature: for example, in Super Mario RPG, he agrees to help Mario fight the Smithy Gang simply because he wants to get his castle back from them, and in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Bowser only agrees to help Mario and Luigi regain Peach's voice because he wants to kidnap her again, but couldn't because her "explosive vocabulary" would wreck his castle.
While Bowser is primarily more comical in RPGs, Paper Mario has him considerably more evil due to his focus as the main villain. Though Bowser still has a humorous tone, he is also shown to be very cruel and sinister in certain scenes. Outside the RPG series, Bowser is usually not as comical, and in many instances show him to be pure evil. The Mario Party series has also depicted Bowser as more serious-driven and angry. New Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Galaxy remove Bowser's usual comical undertones completely and make him a much more sinister villain than he is found typically in the RPGs.
Although he usually plans to rule the Mushroom Kingdom, and at some points, the entire universe, he also crosses the line at destroying the Universe, or destroying things thereof. This is especially evident when Bowser becomes enraged when he learned that Count Bleck's destruction of existence means he wouldn't have anything to rule over, and after witnessing what happened to Sammer Kingdom when it is consumed by the void, he is legitimately horrified. When it also becomes apparent that his planned galaxy, as well as the entire universe is going to be vaporized after his plans of universal conquest in Super Mario Galaxy fail, he also laments at the loss.
In the film adaptation, Koopa has a similar personality to that in the games at the time. However, he also is shown to have an understandable motive in regards to remerging the human dimension and the other dimensions, citing that he intends to use Daisy to merge them for the future of his species, especially when his species has to go through several hardships that stem from his world being almost a complete wasteland.
Common Sense
While Bowser has shown intellect and a sarcastic wit in many of the games, he has also acted with incompetence. The RPGs primarily depict him with an almost comical lack of common-sense. Two prime examples are when he breaths fire on a Superbombomb in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door when it doesn't explode, and in Super Paper Mario, he does not realize that he cannot rule the world if the world is destroyed until Mario explicitly tells him so.
While his lack of apparent common-sense is widely evident, Bowser has also been shown on many occasions to be highly intelligent. Many of his plans often make use of high-tech equipment and complicated machinery, designed and built by himself. He has also shown himself to be quite adept at use of various magics, both innate and talisman-based. He often develops strategies in his conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom as well as defense against Mario, as evidenced by his division of power among his children and generals to act as governors over conquered lands, which is a sign of an intelligent and compromising leader.
Emotions
Bowser's temperament has been depicted varying from pure, driven evil to a comical child-like villain. Despite this widely-opposing personality, any emotions other than anger or hatred have rarely been shown. Bowser has never been seen acting remorseful for his numerous atrocities and destruction, ranging from the localized Mushroom Kingdom to the outermost reaches of the universe. He also seems to lack a sense of empathy, which results in a disregard for any other life. In Paper Mario, Mario's defeat at the hands of Bowser, to which Bowser simply mockingly laughs at, is essentially murder before Mario is revived by the combined energy of the Star Spirits. Perhaps Bowser's most extreme disregard for other life is in Super Mario Galaxy, where his plot consists of wiping out entire galaxies to create a cosmos he can control.
Despite all this, a more humane side of Bowser has sometimes been seen for brief moments. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Bowser can be seen crying for the loss of his home and Koopa Troop to Smithy and his underlings in front of Booster Tower. He also appears to be just as saddened as Mario, Mallow, and Peach when Geno's body breaks down.
In Mario Party 4, Bowser is shown to be extremely upset when he is defeated and grudgingly gives the player a gift for their birthday. He then leaves in shame, at which one of the Koopa Kids suggests that maybe Bowser has more affection than others are led to believe, a statement which he quickly retracts. Bowser is shown walking in the darkness, alone and miserable, but indeed wishes the player a happy birthday. The most recent occasion where Bowser shows emotion is in Super Mario Sunshine when he tells his son, Bowser Jr., in sadness that Princess Peach is not his mother and appears guilty for lying to him.
In sharp contrast to his usual disregard for other life and that throughout the game his intent is to save the world only so he could rule it himself, Bowser did seemingly sacrifice himself to save Princess Peach, Mario, Luigi, and even Count Bleck's henchman O'Chunks during Super Paper Mario in Castle Bleck when the ceiling falls on them, during which he is arguing with O'Chunks and telling him to get to safety before both were seemingly crushed (it is later revealed that they survive).
Physical Appearance
Bowser is a huge, burly, green-shelled Koopa with spikes, horns, and hair. His bushy eyebrows and mane are fittingly a bright, fiery orange and has bright red eyes. He sports two small horns, many spikes on his shell (similar to a Spiny), as well as along his tail. He wears several spiked collars around his neck and arms. He has three claws on each of his massive feet, which support his impressive girth. He has three claw-tipped fingers and a thumb on each hand, and his arms are noticeably burly, indicating his vast physical strength. While his face and his shell are green, his underbelly and snout are flesh-colored (occasionally depicted as being closer to tan or even yellow), and his tail and limbs are an orange-tinged yellow.
Bowser's appearance is based upon a combination of the many species of Koopa, including Koopa Troopas, Spinies, and Hammer Bros. According to Prima's Super Mario Galaxy guide, Bowser and the Koopas are also based on the kappa of Japanese mythology, although this has not been stated by Shigeru Miyamoto.[5]
Bowser's appearance is not always the same. Graphical limitations in the original Super Mario Bros. meant Bowser could not have hair; artwork for Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels depicted him with yellow hair, and his iconic red hair was finally seen in-game in Super Mario Bros. 3. The original Super Mario Bros. also depicted Bowser as being completely green, rather than having yellow body scales. The creators of the Mario cartoons wished to follow the graphic design of Super Mario Bros., and so their portrayal of King Koopa had him almost completely green in colour and lacking hair, with a crown atop his head instead. His stomach was a deeper yellow than in later game depictions, and the whites of his eyes were also yellow; he also had a more crocodile-like snout. The Nintendo Comics System used the same design as the cartoons, and different installations in the Nintendo Adventure Books used either it or Bowser's game depiction, interchangeably. By comparison, the two Mario anime (the three OVAs and Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!) are relatively true to the games' depiction of Bowser, except for the fact that his eyes are blue instead of red.
The Super Mario Bros. film is often cited as having the most drastic change to Koopa's physical appearance. This version of him is almost entirely human in appearance, though possessing some reptilian traits, such as a long, pointed tongue and slitted pupils. Near the end of the film, Koopa is forcibly de-evolved into a snarling green Tyrannosaurus Rex, then into a large glob of primordial ooze.
Powers and Abilities
Since Bowser is the King of Koopas, he possesses the powers of many of the Koopa species, such as a Fire Bro.'s fire breath, a Spiny's shell spikes, and a Hammer Bro.'s flurry of hammers. Bowser's signature ability is breathing fire. He can choose to either breathe a long breath of flame or shoot many fireballs. Bowser is quite advanced in his fire-breathing; he can shoot blue flames that follow Mario in Super Mario 64 and New Super Mario Bros. and can even breathe fire underwater in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario. Another one of Bowser's most-often used abilities is his power and durability, something that Bowser prides himself in. Bowser is often the most powerful character in sports games. He can also create shockwaves by doing a simple ground pound in several games. Bowser's durable nature is evident seeing that he has fallen into lava, been blown up, etc., many times, but has managed to survive every single time. Bowser is also shown to have an extremely loud and powerful roar that often sends weak enemies running away before a battle even begins. As mentioned above, in Super Mario Bros., Bowser throws hammers like a Hammer Bro. but has rarely used the technique since, only to use it once again in Super Princess Peach and by his alter-ego Rookie in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. He briefly uses it in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars when after battling Mario at the beginning, he throws a hammer at the Kinklink suppording the chandelier he is standing on.
Speed and Agility
Bowser's speed and agility are very inconsistent and they greatly vary from game to game. In some games Bowser is actually faster and more agile than Mario is, such as in Super Mario 64 where Bowser can jump high in the air if Mario tosses him off the platform. In that game he can also run faster than Mario for short distances. Despite his size, Bowser has demonstrated the ability to pull off a move similar to Mario's Spinning during a boss fight in Super Mario Galaxy. However, Bowser is usually slower than Mario in playable appearances and sports games. In Super Paper Mario, Bowser is the slowest usable character and can't climb ladders, unlike Super Smash Bros. Brawl in which he can climb them. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Bowser is shown to have good swimming abilities, just like Mario, though he reportedly hates swimming (though this may derive from the fact that his Koopa Clown Car crash-lands in the sea at one point and he is forced to swim back to Rogueport). Another example is in the Mario & Sonic series. In the summer games he is the slowest runner with a 2/10 stat, while in the winter games he has an 8/10 stat; most power characters have a good speed stat in that game, though their speed is still inferior to Sonic the Hedgehog's, and they lack accelerating abilities.
Magic
According to the Super Mario Bros. instruction booklet, Bowser is a skilled user in dark magic, although he is not shown to use these skills very often. One of the few times Bowser does use magic is in Hotel Mario, where he uses it to summon lightning bolts. Bowser's lightning ability is shown again in the beginning of Super Mario Galaxy when he uses it to summon a spaceship to lift Peach's Castle into space. Another magical ability Bowser uses is teleportation in Super Mario 64. If the player comes too close to him, Bowser will disappear and reappear somewhere else, making it harder to get close to his tail. Bowser also teleports to escape after Mario defeats him in their first two battles in Super Mario Galaxy. Bowser can also turn into many square stones in Mario Party DS and shrink players in Mario Party 4. Bowser has also shown the ability to turn people into Frogs which is shown in Mario Party 2 when he turns a Koopa Troopa into one. Super Mario Bros.: Pīchi-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! also depicts him with the ability to transform himself into various objects.
In both Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bowser uses the powers of the Grand Stars to aid him in his fight with Mario. In the first game, he attacks Mario by spinning, with what appears to be dark matter coming out of his fingers, and in the second game, he uses the power of the Grand Stars to make himself enormous, rivaling the size of Princess Peach's Castle. Another magical ability Bowser uses is to transform himself into a giant boulder during his final fights with Mario in Super Mario Galaxy.
Size
Like his speed, Bowser's size changes between games and he has also been shown to grow much larger sizes with a variety of methods. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door intermissions, eating Meat gradually increases Bowser's size until he is large enough to smash straight through anything in his path; this is mimicked by the effects of the Mega Star in Super Paper Mario. In Super Princess Peach, Bowser uses the Vibe Scepter to become gigantic, and in Super Mario Galaxy 2, he uses the Grand Stars. Kamek makes Bowser giant in New Super Mario Bros. Wii after he is initially defeated and falls down a pit. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Mario and Luigi can make Bowser temporarily giant by heading to Rump Command supercharging him with adrenaline; Bowser X and Dark Bowser can become giant for a short while as well. Bowser starts out giant in Super Mario Sunshine but shrinks after he is defeated. Other games also show him to have modest increases in size from one boss battle to another, such as New Super Mario Bros. and Paper Mario. Like all playable characters, Super Mushrooms make Bowser grow larger in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In Melee, a larger-than-normal Bowser is the final boss of the Adventure Mode, and Events 25 and 42 both feature Bowser as being larger than he is when he has consumed a Mushroom. This so-called Giant Bowser also appears in Event 27 in Brawl. In Mario Party 9, Bowser somehow manages to grow to a giant size at will, and later in the final battle against him he grows somewhat bigger.
Transformation
- Main article: Giga Bowser
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Bowser has the ability to transform into a powerful version of himself called Giga Bowser for his Final Smash. Giga Bowser does not flinch, even from the strongest attacks; his own attacks are more powerful and he is much larger in size than his opponents. Giga Bowser also appears as a boss in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Family
The game Super Mario Bros. 3 introduces the first seven of Bowser's eight children, the Koopalings, who, after their first appearance in Super Mario Bros. 3, would go on to appear in several other games with their father, as well as in various other Mario-related medias, such as cartoons and publications. The game Super Mario Sunshine introduces Bowser Jr., Bowser's eighth and youngest child who, unlike the Koopalings, resembles Bowser greatly. Bowser Jr. is featured in many games such as New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy and is often Bowser's default partner in sports games. The Mario Party series also introduces Koopa Kids (aka Baby/Mini Bowsers) who, despite having an uncanny resemblance to Bowser, seem unrelated to him; though Bowser acts somewhat like a father to the Koopa Kids, doing things such as banning them from playing with their toys when they fail.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island introduces Kamek, a Magikoopa who is the caretaker and possible adoptive father of Baby Bowser. Kamek is shown to take great care of Baby Bowser and worries about him often. Besides Kamek, another father is mentioned by Bowser in a few issues of the Nintendo Comics System Mario series comics. This father is heavily implied to be a criminal currently being chased by the authorities. Bowser and his children are also shown to have a pet rabbit named Pookie in the Nintendo Comics System; he was often abused, until his eventual escape from Bowser's Castle in the comic "Bowser Knows Best".
The first family member of Bowser's ever seen is not in the Mario video games; instead, it is in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "Do You Princess Toadstool Take This Koopa...?", which introduces his mother, who is a bossy and bullying woman. Additionally, King Koopa also mentions a grandfather named Poopa La Koopa in the episode "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid", saying his motto was "Cheat, beat, and be merry!" In the song "Ignorance is Bliss" and an episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Bowser mentions a younger sister who is a bookworm.
In the Super Mario Bros. movie, two idiotic cousins of Koopa, named Iggy and Spike, are introduced. Also, Koopa's second-in-command in the Super Mario Bros. movie, Lena, is implied to have some sort of relationship with him. Yoshi is also portrayed as Koopa's pet, although like Pookie, he is not treated well, and is considered to be a contemptible "throwback" by Koopa.
The UK Nintendo Power once said that Bowser had a wife named Clawdia Koopa; however, as Clawdia is never referenced to again, neither in any games or later issues of Nintendo Power UK, it is often believed that she is simply a joke. In Super Paper Mario, Bowser and Princess Peach are forcibly wed by the sinister Count Bleck and Nastasia. Though Bowser regards this wedding as official and calls Peach his wife throughout the game, she refutes his claims and considers the wedding to be a sham. Koopa's High School Yearbook depicts an unnamed female Koopa who has a crush on Bowser despite the fact that they only talked once (he asked for her sandwich); she founded the one-member "Koopa Fan Club" and was also in the "Future Wives of Tyrants Club", but nothing else is known about her.
In the Nintendo Adventure Book Flown the Koopa, an unnamed Magikoopa stated to be Bowser's third cousin twice removed is featured as the main antagonist; this character also appears in the later books Unjust Desserts and Brain Drain, though has only a minor role in both. While Bowser appears in both Flown the Koopa and Unjust Desserts, he is never shown directly interacting with his cousin.
Relationships with Other Characters
Mario
- Main article: Mario
While Bowser has many enemies, no one has caused him more anger than Mario himself. Bowser has a deep-rooted hatred for Mario because he continuously disrupts his plans and has won the heart of Princess Peach. Though Bowser despises Mario with a passion, he has a grudging respect for him and sees him as a worthy opponent, although he tries to hide this reluctant respect. This is shown most strongly in Super Mario Galaxy, where Bowser says that he picked the right guy to be his archenemy since Mario always puts up a fight, and even more strongly in Mario Super Sluggers where Bowser saves Mario from being hit with a Bullet Bill sent from Wario and Waluigi. Of course, Bowser only saves Mario so that he could destroy him himself. Mario himself seems to have some sort of sympathy for the villain, going as far as even letting Bowser go in Mario Party DS. Though this is most likely due to the fact that Bowser's scheme unintentionally leads Mario and his friends to have fun and that his plan isn't nearly as brutal as past ones. Although it should also be noted that Mario celebrates after viewing Bowser's seemingly permanent destruction in New Super Mario Bros., although he does eventually return. In the first two Paper Mario games, Bowser tries to defeat Mario once and for all using new strategies; stealing the Star Rod to become invincible in the first, (though he is defeated the second and third times he is fought) and attacking him twice, each directly after a previous battle (which may leave Mario worn out before he fights Bowser), in the second. Their battle seems to be an eternal one as Bowser survives the numerous battles he has with Mario, and is even resurrected from the dead.
In spite of their rivalry, twice Bowser joins forces with Mario to defeat a greater foe who also poses a more immediate threat to him: In the first, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, he and Mario both want Smithy defeated, in Bowser's case so he could get his castle back, and viewed it more as Mario helping him than the other way around, and went back to his evil ways once Smithy was destroyed; second, in Super Paper Mario, he is extremely reluctant, but only joins Mario's team when he realizes he can't rule the world if Count Bleck destroys it. He plays a slightly similar role during Mario's quest to get Peach's voice back (to prevent her explosive vocabulary replacement from destroying his castle if he kidnaps her) at the beginning of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, but is attacked by Fawful shortly after. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, however, despite the fact that both he and Mario are trying to defeat Fawful, and that Mario and Luigi are helping him from within, Bowser never joins forces with them, fighting them all three times he encounters them.
Overall, Mario has always been Bowser's number one enemy, and this fact will never change no matter how many times Mario and Bowser team up together to save the world. Mario is also part of the three main heroes who Bowser despises the most, with the other two characters being Luigi and Yoshi.
Princess Peach
- Main article: Princess Peach
Template:LLQuote While Bowser has much hatred for the Mushroom Kingdom's residents, this hatred apparently does not apply to Princess Peach. One of the most complex aspects of Bowser is his relationship with Peach. It at first seems that he only abducts her for control of the kingdom and to use her as bait to lure Mario into danger. However, it is later revealed that Bowser is attracted to Peach and lusts for her. While he has harmed her in many ways, including trying to blow fire on her when Starlow tells him he cannot stay in Peach's castle for the conference on the Blorbs, Bowser will never go as far as killing her and treats her fairly nicely. Even though Bowser has an attraction to Peach, he in no way cares for perspective. He ruthlessly attacks her kingdom, causes much destruction, and forces her to watch him nearly kill Mario, the person she truly loves, while tied up. It seems that Bowser's attraction for Peach is mainly physical, but Peach is the only one in the whole series, other than his children, capable of showing that Bowser has affection somewhere deep in his seemingly cold heart. Peach herself is able to recognize Bowser's softer side towards her and often flirts with him to agree to help Mario, to which Bowser reluctantly agrees. According to Bowser Memory P, Peach is Bowser's most carefully preserved memory.
Children
- Main article: Koopalings
- Main article: Bowser Jr.
Even though Bowser has shown less sinister aspects on rare occasions, he is still an evil villain with a lust for power. He does however care very deeply for his 8 children and is very proud of them for their loyalty towards him and the Koopa Troop. Even though he cares for his children, he sometimes uses them as pawns and can treat them as simply minions rather than family. This is shown most strongly when Bowser lies to Bowser Jr. to give him motivation to embark on a scheme to abduct the princess and destroy Mario, although it is unknown if Jr. needed that much motivation anyway. It should also be noted that in Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser grieves over the impending destruction of his galaxy rather than the welfare of his own son. It can be surmised that while Bowser does care for his children, he seems to care for his plans and himself just as much and this care may even overshadow his children. His children never show signs of betraying him despite his actions.
Luigi
- Main article: Luigi
Another one of Bowser's odd, if not comical, interactions with other characters are his ones with Luigi. While Luigi has often helped Mario disrupt the Koopa King's plans, Bowser briefly forgets who Luigi is in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, where he calls Luigi 'Green Stache', showing how little Bowser thinks about Luigi. When Bowser kidnaps Mario in Mario is Missing! he thinks he is unstoppable until Luigi shows up and thwarts his plot. Since then, it seems he has realized Luigi's potential threat level. An example of this is when Bowser has Luigi captured in Super Princess Peach, and in Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser apparently sees Luigi as so much of a potential threat that he places him under heavy guard in a haunted mansion guarded by Boos. However, despite seeing him as a threat, Bowser still holds Luigi in low esteem; he is shocked and disgusted at himself when he believes that he loses to Luigi in getting a Crystal Star in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. On many occasions though, Bowser seems to hate Luigi mostly for the simple fact that he is related to the man who has caused so much harm to the king and his Koopa Troop. Regardless, Bowser and Luigi are considered enemies, but can get along when the situation calls for it such as in Super Paper Mario. However, Luigi is still one of the three main heroes who Bowser hates the most, with Mario and Yoshi being the other two characters.
Toad
- Main article: Toad
- Main article: Toad (species)
In general, Bowser despises the Mushroom People and often uses a variety of plans to eliminate them. One such way was in Super Mario Bros., where Bowser uses his magic to turn the Toads into various inanimate objects so that they do not get into the way during his kidnapping of the Princess. In games such as Super Mario 64 and its remake, Bowser imprisons Toad and the rest of his species behind the castle walls. In Super Princess Peach, Bowser has his minions not only kidnap the two Mario brothers, but Toad himself. The fact that Bowser often captures Toad may be due to the fact that he sees Toad as a threat just like the Mario Bros. (as a result of his heroic works and his assistance to the Mario Bros. in their adventures). In Mario Superstar Baseball, both Bowser and Toad share bad chemistry between each other; however, in Mario Super Sluggers, only Toad continues sharing a bad chemistry with Bowser.
Yoshi
- Main article: Yoshi
- Main article: Yoshi (species)
Yoshi and Bowser have crossed paths numerous times ever since Bowser was an infant. He first encountered Yoshi when Kamek kidnapped Baby Luigi, and Yoshi came to rescue him alongside Baby Mario. While Bowser hardly thinks about those who help Mario in his journey, it is clear that he sees Yoshi as a threat, as he encased his kind into Yoshi Eggs in order to keep them from ruining his plans. Later, in Super Mario 64 DS, Bowser imprisoned Mario, Luigi, and Wario inside Princess Peach's Castle Walls, leaving Yoshi to jump into action and stop Bowser. Despite all these events, Bowser still overlooks Yoshi as an actual fatal flaw in a few of his plans, although Yoshi is still part of the top three heroes Bowser coldly despises, with Mario and Luigi being the other two.
Strangely enough, despite of their negative relationship, in Mario Super Sluggers, their chemistry is neutral.
Wario
- Main article: Wario
Wario, despite being the opposite of his arch-nemesis Mario, is not in good terms with the Koopa King. The only exception of the relationship is demonstrated in the opening of Mario Power Tennis where Wario and Waluigi team up with Bowser to attempt to destroy Mario and Luigi. However, most of the time, Wario and Bowser are usually pitted against each other throughout the games, such as Mario Superstar Baseball, where they mercilessly taunt each other, or Super Mario 64 DS, where Wario helps Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi obtain the Power Stars and defeat Bowser. In Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour during the opening, Bowser chases Wario and Waluigi after the former unintentionally hits him in the eye with a golf ball. Also, in Mario Super Sluggers, when Wario fires a Bullet Bill towards Mario, Bowser protects Mario by deflecting the attack back. As babies, they also get into fights in Yoshi's Island DS.
Koopa Troop
- Main article: Koopa Troop
Bowser’s relations with his army and underlings are usually held in good regards. Bowser has respect for all his underlings, but cares very little for them if they fail him. He seems to somehow bring some of his defeated minions in Super Mario Galaxy back to life to give them another shot at beating Mario. If they betray him however, Bowser sees them as enemies and will not hesitate to eliminate them. His minions also, surprisingly, hold Bowser in extremely high regard and serve him out of respect more than in fear. While many do fear his wrath, his minions believe Bowser to be the strongest and best suited to run the army. Nearly every single one of his henchmen, while failing numerous times, is one hundred percent loyal to their king and serves him faithfully. Kammy Koopa and Kamek are prime examples as they treat Bowser as a god and never complain about him, even when he's not around. This applies to most of his other troops with the only complaint being that Bowser may be overly nervous about Peach escaping, though this nervousness is rational.
Kamek
- Main article: Kamek
Bowser has known Kamek since he was an infant, having been raised by the Magikoopa. He has been known to do whatever Bowser assigns him to do without complaint, and is one of the better-treated members of the Koopa Troop, but Bowser has been known to attack him when annoyed. He has also interacted with Bowser more than any other characters.
Kammy Koopa
- Main article: Kammy Koopa
Bowser has been known to utterly despise Kammy, despite the fact that she is completely loyal to him. A tattle from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door states that it is unknown whether it is harder for Bowser to put up with her or vice versa. However, he is willing to listen to Kammy when the situation is deemed dire enough, as evidenced by him listening to Kammy and considering her suggestion of evacuating from the self-destructing castle and platform he is on in the ending of Paper Mario. In addition, he also gets angered whenever she somehow harms him, regardless of whether it is accidental or not. This is especially evident in the ending, when Kammy Koopa fights Jr. Troopa, and both their spells accidentally hit Bowser in the face, prompting an enraged Bowser to pursue them before he blasts them with his fire breath attack offscreen.
Baby Bowser
- Main article: Baby Bowser
Although technically a younger version of himself, he has interacted with him a few times. During these few times, notably Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time and Yoshi's Island DS, Bowser is unaware of his past connection to him, referring to him as "Some bratty kid" in the former, and kicking him out of the castle, not realizing that he's a star child, respectively.
Fawful
- Main article: Fawful
Fawful, a recurring villain in the Mario & Luigi series, is a very common enemy of Bowser. Of all the other villains who get in Bowser's way, Fawful is the most persistent. Bowser gains an instant disliking for Fawful when he injures him during their first encounter in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
Bowser is also one of the three protagonists (with the Mario Bros. as the other two) in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, where Fawful tricks him by feeding him a Vacuum Shroom, causing him to suck up those present in the boardroom at Peach's castle, and tries to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser sets out to defeat Fawful (so he can kidnap Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom himself). While he does fight the Mario Bros. every time he encounters them, he spends the majority of the game chasing down Fawful and fighting his minions. Bowser defeats Fawful in battle shortly before he is consumed by the Dark Star, which is later defeated by Bowser. Fawful would be considered a very big enemy of Bowser, but after the battle against Fawful (in his dark form), Bowser claims he is far too weak to even call his enemy, despite all the trouble Fawful had caused him.
Starlow
- Main article: Starlow
Bowser meets Starlow in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story when he crashes a conference on the Blorbs in Peach's castle. They immediately become enemies when Starlow tells Bowser he was not invited to the conference and cannot stay, and she helps Mario fight Bowser to get him out of the castle. However, after Bowser accidentally swallows Starlow, Princess Peach, The Mario Bros., and several Toads, Starlow, under the alias "Chippy," helps Bowser from inside his body.
Throughout, he on several occasions asks "Chippy" to be one of his minions, though she declines all these offers. Many times, when something wrong happens in Bowser's body, he will call to Starlow to fix the problem, and she will reluctantly comply; other times, she will refuse to help him, even going as far as taunting him, such as when Bowser is tricked into overeating, causing him to become chubby and fall through the floor, Starlow said she would help him when she feels like it, much to his anger. However, Starlow does seem to show some concern for Bowser, such as when he is flattened by his own castle, she is worried that something is wrong, and when he gets trapped in his safe, she feels sorry for him, but cannot do anything.
After Fawful's last ditch effort to explode the Mario Bros. fails and sends everyone inside Bowser's body out of Bowser's body, Bowser becomes extremely enraged at the fact that Starlow and the Mario Bros. were inside his body, and a fight between the four ensues during the end credits of the game.
Impersonators
As feared as Bowser is throughout the Mushroom Kingdom and the rest of the Mario universe, there are others who try to imitate his ways in order to get their own gain. There have been many imposters in some games who have tried to replicate or manifest him in varying ways, either perfectly or imperfectly:
- Bowser "mech" (King Boo, Luigi's Mansion)
- Bowser Suit (Mario and his friends, Mario Party, Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, Mario Party 4, Mario Party 8)
- False Bowser (Shadows Bugs, Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
- False Bowser (Various beings, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 3D Land)
- Dark Bowser (Dark Star, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story; Shadoo, Super Paper Mario)
- Bowser X (Gauntlet Emoglobin, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story)
- Bowser??? (Koopa Bros., Paper Mario)
Official Profiles and Statistics
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
- Level: 8
- HP: 80
- Speed:
- Attack: 85
- Defense: 52
- Magic Attack: 20
- Magic Defense: 30
- Default Equipment
- Weapon: None
- Armor: None
- Accessory: None
- Special Attack: Terrorize
Mario Kart (series)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
- Speed: *
- Weight: *****
- Bio: With road rage pumping through his veins, Bowser is the biggest brute on the track. It's impossible to push him around, but his weighty shell makes his acceleration suffer.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
- Kart: Koopa King
- Partner: Bowser Jr.
- Class: Heavy
- Special Item: Bowser's Shell
- Bio: Naturally, Bowser gives new meaning to the term road rage. His massive girth is matched only by his fierce temper.
Mario Kart DS
Mario Kart Wii
- Size: Large
- Actual Bonuses
- Speed: +2
- Weight: +5
- Drift: +3
Mario Kart 7
- Class: Heavy
- Stat Boosts
- Speed: 4
- Acceleration: 2
- Weight: 4.25
- Handling: 2.5
- Off-Road: 3.5
- Site Bio:
"Mario's scaly nemesis is a turbo beast in any race, but he takes a while to reach top speed."
"Bowser is a real heavyweight, and while his acceleration leaves a lot to be desired, his top speed is top class."
Super Paper Mario Catch Cards
| # | Name | Card Type | Image | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 226 | Bowser (1) | Rare | File:BowserCard.png | Mario's mean-spirited rival needs no introduction. He's not too happy about having to help out Mario. |
| 227 | Bowser (2) | Uncommon | File:Bowser2Card.png | There's Bowser looking dapper in a white tux! Pity the minion that had to wax his shell... |
Mario Party DS
| # | Name | Image | Description | How to Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bowser | 
|
Bowser's the fiercest force anywhere! His power is unparalleled! And his authority is beyond question! That's what he'd like you to think anyway! | Win 38,000 MP Points. |
| 28 | Bowser Rival | 
|
37,000 MMP earns you the rank of Bowser Rival, and this is your badge! Makes you seem scary. |
Mario Hoops 3-on-3
- Baller Name: The Big Shell
- Type: Powerful
- Special Shot: Bomber Dunk
- Letter to Tap: B
Mario Baseball series
Mario Superstar Baseball
- Team Captain: Yes
- Player Type: Power
- Home Court: Bowser Castle
- Star Swing: Killer Ball
- Star Pitch: Killer Ball
- Special Skill: Laser Beam, Body Check
- Good Chemistry
- Bad Chemistry
- Stats
- Batting: 9
- Pitching: 9
- Fielding: 1
- Running: 1
- Bio
- "Mario's arch rival and the king of the Koopa Clan. He's challenged Mario and his friends to battles countless times, but his ambitions tend to get crushed every time. His lethal Killer Ball is powerful enough to drag anyone who catches it across the field!"
Mario Super Sluggers
| Character | Good Chemistry | Bad Chemistry |
|---|---|---|
| Bowser | Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Dry Bones, Bowser Jr., Hammer Bro, Magikoopa | Mario, King K. Rool |
Mario Strikers Charged
- Type: Power
- Super Ability: Fire Storm!
- Deke: Hides in his shell to repel opponents.
- Stats
- Movement: 3
- Shooting: 10
- Passing: 3
- Defense: 10
Mario & Sonic series
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Profile
"A Koopa with big spikes, Bowser is an extremely strong competitor and will dominate the Power events with his big muscles. His nasty disposition makes him an intimidating competitor in any event that he enters, especially the hammer throw and javelin throw."
Stats
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Profile
"Bowser is Mario's arch-enemy and leader of the Koopa race trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom at every opportunity. Large and strong, this towering competitor has the Spinning Shell ability on the Wii and DS and Flame Dash ability on the DS. The snow will not slow down this member of Team Mario. You can be sure Bowser believes the gold medal has his name on it!"
Wii Stats
DS Stats
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Profile
"One of Mario's biggest rivals, Bowser is an extremely strong competitor and will dominate the Power events with his big muscles. His size makes him a formidable competitor in any event that he enters, especially the Hammer Throw and Javelin Throw."
Statistics
- Acceleration: 5/10
- Max Speed: 7/10
- Technique: 4/10
- Power: 9/10
- Stamina: 8/10
Super Smash Bros. series
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Instruction Booklet
"A mighty foe that trades speed for pure power."
Trophies
| # | Name | Image | First Game / Move | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Bowser (Classic) |
File:Trophy31.PNG | Super Mario Bros. 10/85 |
Bowser has a long history of kidnapping Princess Peach to lure his nemesis, Mario, into traps. He leads an enormous group of mischievous creatures, not the least of which are his seven children. With outrageous strength, flammable breath, and more spikes than you can shake a Star Rod at, Bowser is a constant threat. |
| 32 | Bowser [Smash] (Adventure) |
File:Trophy32.PNG | : Fire Breath Smash : Koopa Klaw
|
In many ways, Bowser is the toughest character around. Not only does he have near-impervious hide, but his great mass makes him almost impossible to hurl offscreen. Of course, his weight also makes him rather slow to maneuver, so when facing him in battle, it's best to press your attack and not give him a chance to counter. |
| 33 | Bowser [Smash] (All-Star) |
File:Trophy33.PNG | Up & : Whirling Fortress Down & : Bowser Bomb
|
Bowser's Fire Breath strikes continually, but it grows gradually smaller over time until it's barely smoldering. The Koopa Klaw rakes enemies at a distance and pulls nearby foes in close for a good gnawing. Bowser's Whirling Fortress moves laterally over the ground; it works in midair as a recovery. The Bowser Bomb is powerful and paves the way for more attacks. |
| 82 | Giga Bowser | File:Trophy82.PNG | Super Smash Bros. Melee 12/01 |
An even more imposing figure than the original King of the Koopas. Giga Bowser is roughly twice the size of his scaly, fire-breathing, spike-studded Super Smash Bros. Melee counterpart. Predictably, this monstrous creature's offensive and defensive powers are a grade higher than those of regular Bowser. Good luck defeating this colossus! |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Instruction Booklet
"The King of the Koopas is a destructive heavyweight."
Trophies
| # | Name | Image | Appearance(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Bowser | 
|
NES Super Mario Bros. GCN Super Mario Sunshine |
The king of the Koopas and Mario's eternal rival. He breathes fire, hurls hammers, attacks from vehicles like the Koopa Clown Car, and uses all sorts of weapons in hopes of taking out Mario. As his size suggests, he's immensely powerful. His son Bowser Jr. is a chip off the old block who spends his time creating trouble for Mario. |
| 18 | Giga Bowser | 
|
WII Super Smash Bros. Brawl | Bowser, transformed into the terrible and brutal form first seen in Super Smash Bros. Melee. While in this form, he's invulnerable--he takes no damage and cannot be budged. His appearance is so fierce, it's as if he doesn't even belong in the Smash Bros. universe. He cannot maintain this form for long, so dealing out damage efficiently is key. |
| 150 | Paper Bowser | 
|
WII Super Paper Mario | The great king of the Koopas who plots to rule the land with a firm fist. In a change of events, Bowser goes from being Mario's rival to adventuring side by side with him. Bowser's special skill is breathing fire and he has nearly twice the attack power of Mario or Peach, which allows him to take out foes from a distance or multiple enemies with a single blow. |
| 152 | Wedding Bowser | 
|
WII Super Paper Mario | The great Koopa king in a sharp, white tuxedo. Bowser is forced into marriage with Princess Peach by Count Bleck, who plots to wipe out the universe with the Chaos Heart. Although it's all part of Count Bleck's plan, Bowser doesn't seem to be displeased with the prospect. This might just be the last time we ever see Bowser in a tuxedo. |
Stickers
| Image | Game | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| File:DancingBowser.jpg | Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix | [Throwing] - Attack +20 Usable by: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Bowser |
|
Mario Kart 64 | [Weapon] - Attack +13 Usable by: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Bowser |
| File:Bowser MPT.jpg | Mario Power Tennis | [Darkness] - Attack +21 Usable by: Ganondorf |
| File:Pprbwsr.png | Super Paper Mario | [Arm] - Attack +23 Usable by: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Bowser |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Prima Rating
- Offense: 7
- Defense: 5
- Projectile: 3
- Final Smash: 7
- Throwing Ability: 8
- Speed: 1
- Overall: 7
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Alter Egos
- Main article: King Koopa's alter egos
On The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, King Koopa would often don a unique title and costume to go along with the setting of many of the episodes. For instance, in a western-themed episode, he dressed up as a cowboy and took on the name of Kid Koopa. Whereas in a gangster-themed episode, he took on the role of Al Koopone.
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 Writers Bible Bio
"Despite every devious and dastardly plot he hatches, Koopa has a certain Rodney Dangerfield-like vulnerability which makes him as loveable as he is hateable. Koopa is pure id. Unmitigated selfishness running rampant in an ugly green body. He will capture, trick, bribe, threaten, attack, cast evil spells, hurl malicious insults, throw temper tantrums and do anything else despicable and nasty to defeat the Super Marios. And he has so much fun doing it; we always want to see him try again. In Super Mario 3, Koopa fans can enjoy his humorous rantings and funny frustrations even more as he contends with his seven black sheep Koopalings. If reptiles had hair, Koopa would've pulled all his out by now."
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Website Bio: Bowser is the big, boastful bruiser of the Mushroom Kingdom, and ruler of the Koopas. His hobbies are terrorizing Princess Peach and thinking up ways to foil Mario once and for all.
Mario Sports Mix
| Character Name | Character Type | Home Court | Power Statistic | Speed Statistic | Technique Statistic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fortune Street
- Bio: Head of the Koopa Troop, whose sole aim seems to be disturbing the peace in Mushroom Kingdom. He's a dangerous business rival, who won't hesistate to buy your property from under you.
Mario Tennis Open
- Type: Power
- Bio: Bowser is proud of his power. The shots released from his massive body have explosive power! No shot is too strong for him to return.
- Bio 2: There’s only one style possible for this megaton of a player. No matter how hard you hit the ball towards him, he'll always return it with interest.
Portrayals
Over the years, Bowser has been voiced by several people, both in the games and in other media. They include:
- Akiko Wada - Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!
- Christopher Hewett - Mario Ice Capades
- Harvey Atkin - The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World
- Christopher Collins - King Koopa's Kool Kartoons
- Pat Pinney - King Koopa's Kool Kartoons
- Isaac Marshall - Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Mario 64 DS
- Scott Burns - Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Super Sluggers, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
- Eric Newsome - Super Paper Mario, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Party 8
- Kenny James - Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mario Sports Mix, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Mario Party 9
Quotes
- For a full list of quotes, see Category:Quotes.
Gallery
Names
Names in Other Languages
Nicknames and Aliases
- Big dude (Baby Bowser)
- King Bowser
- Lord Bowser
- Darth Koopa
- Mr. Bowser (Merlon, Koopa Kid)
- The Great Bowser
- King Koopa (Cartoons)
- Koopa (Cartoons)
- His/Your Queasiness (Kamek)
- His/Your Grouchiness (Kammy Koopa)
- His/Your Gnarliness (Kammy Koopa)
- His/Your Filthiness (Kammy Koopa)
- His/Your Rancidness (Kammy Koopa)
- His/Your Awfulness (Kammy Koopa)
- His/Your Massiveness (Kammy Koopa)
- His/Your Chunkyness (Kammy Koopa)
- His/Your Ghastlyness (Kammy Koopa)
- Your Sogginess (Kammy Koopa)
- Your Ungratefulness (Kamek)
- The Boss of Bwahaha (Nintendo)
- (King) Dad (Koopalings)
- Pop (Koopalings)
- Daddykins (Kootie Pie)
- Papa/Dad (Bowser Jr.)
- Koopa Stoopa (Toad and Princess Toadstool)
- Koopums (by his mother)
- His Touchiness (Kamek)
- Rookie (Popple)
- Monsieur Turtle Bits (Broque Monsieur)
- Monster (Lubba)
- His Groomness (Johnson)
Trivia
- All 8-bit sprites have only three colors, but Bowser's original sprite from Super Mario Bros. appears to have four. This is because the black background is what gives Bowser his black spiked collars around his wrists. Due to this, using cheat codes so Bowser appears in a non-castle level will look like his hands are separated from his arms.
- This happens again in Super Mario Bros. 3 where Bowser's sprite is designed to exploit the black background and use it as an outline element.
- While King Koopa is not normally referred to as Bowser Koopa in Japan, there are occasions where it is alluded to. For example, in the Japanese version of Mario Kart Wii, his Bowser Bike is known as the Super Bowser. In addition, he still says the "royal Koopa line" in Super Mario Sunshine, meaning that Koopa is also his family name in Japan.
- In the "How to Draw Nintendo Heroes and Villains" book, Bowser is listed as Kerog. While it is unknown how this mistake was made, it should be noted that Kero is the Japanese onomatopoeia for a frog's croaking, and Nintendo has used the name Kerog before (as the Japanese name of Mega Man 2's Croaker enemies).
- Though his first actual appearance in Super Mario Bros. has him throwing hammers as one of his main attacks (it is only five of the seven fakes who do not), he is only seen throwing hammers on three other occasions; once is after his defeat in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, another is during his fight in Super Princess Peach, and several times in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga as Rookie.
- Although Bowser does not make an appearance in Nintendo Monopoly outside of being on the boxart, there is a ? Block card that charges the player $15 for "Bowser Tax".
- In Super Princess Peach, Bowser uses all four of the vibes in his fight against Peach; three of them on the first part, and only the Calm Vibe on the second.
- During the ending of Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bowser is shown to be tiny, which may be a side effect of using the Grand Stars to make himself colossal.
- Ironically, he can be safely stomped in most RPG games, despite not being able to in other games and his spiky horns and shell. Note that in most of these games, Mario has only his jump attack during the first fight with him. In Super Paper Mario, however, this does not happen.
- In Mario Party Advance, When the player arrives at Bowser Lab, Bowser claims to have an IQ of 9,800.
References
- ^ The Legend of Zelda interview with Shigeru Miyamoto from 2000 at Famitsu.com (Japanese)
- ^ a b Iwata Asks: Nintendo DSi, Volume 8 - Flipnote Studio - An Animation Class (part 4) at Nintendo.co.uk
- ^ The Mushroom Kingdom (Accessed on 9-19-08)
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1283105305/
- ^ As told in Prima's official Super Mario Galaxy guide.
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