Bowser Statue
Bowser Statues[1] (sometimes parsed Bowser statues) are statues that look like Bowser and first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3. They normally appear as stone busts of Bowser with gaping mouths. They mainly act as an inanimate object, usually for decorative purposes in levels, but sometimes fire projectiles at Mario. In most cases, they are indestructible.
History
Super Mario series
Super Mario Bros. 3
In Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser Statues solely appear in Bowser's Castle. Some are harmless, but others shoot out a diagonal laser when Mario approaches. They cannot be defeated.
Both the original Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World variants of the Bowser Statue appear in Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. They are found in the World-e level Bowser's Last Stand; the former can be found in the first room of the level, while the latter in the penultimate room before the Bowser fight, in both gray and gold colorations.
Super Mario World
Gray Bowser Statues[2] later appear in Super Mario World. They are hunched over compared to the more upright ones in the previous game. These statues shoot fireballs in a straight line in lieu of the laser beams. This game's Bowser Statues are also indestructible. Gold Bowser Statues[2], also known as Miniature Bowsers[3], also make an appearance. Unlike the Gray Bowser Statues, Gold Bowser Statues cannot be stood upon. They jump periodically and damage Mario and Luigi when touched but do not shoot fire. This type can be defeated by luring them into the lava.
Super Mario Galaxy
In Super Mario Galaxy, they appear in the Ghostly Galaxy and Bowser's Galaxy Reactor as inanimate objects (although destroying them brings out an item or helps a player proceed through a level). In the Ghostly Galaxy, there are a few in the mission Beware of Bouldergeist. In this mission, a Bowser Statue covers the fireplace with a Launch Star inside. In Bowser's Galaxy Reactor, one makes an appearance on the Starting Planet, and several make an appearance inside the Tower Planet. When these are destroyed by a Bullet Bill, they release one coin each.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
The Bowser statues appear in Super Mario Galaxy 2 in Bowser's Lava Lair and Bowser's Galaxy Generator. The ones in Bowser's Lava Lair can rotate to face Mario, and create a damaging beam of electricity that Mario must jump over. The one in Bowser's Galaxy Generator is found on the Galaxy Generator Door Planet, and though considerably larger than the previous ones, serves for decorative purposes. They also appear in other galaxies but, as in the previous game, are inanimate. Bowser Jr. statues also appear in the Boo Moon Galaxy and Bowser Jr.'s Fearsome Fleet but merely act as decoration. Unlike the stone Bowser statues, the Bowser Jr. statues are metallic.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Heads of Bowser statues, referred to as Bowser sculptures[4], appear in New Super Mario Bros. 2. They can be found on walls breathing large fireballs that fly horizontally to the left. They appear in World 6-5 and World 
Star-7 as well as in the giant Bowser and Dry Bowser battles. The ones in the third part of both battles breathe purple fireballs which fly straight at Mario, similar to Ludwig von Koopa's blue magic blasts during his first battle in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS
Bowser Statues also make a minor appearance in Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS. If the player sets the course to castle-themed and puts many ground blocks across the level, Bowser Statues will eventually start appearing as foreground decorations. As such, they are harmless and cannot be interacted with. A Bowser Jr. statue also may appear.
Super Mario Odyssey
In Super Mario Odyssey various golden Bowser statues are seen in Bowser's Kingdom. Two of them appear in the area that Topper and Hariet are battled, with one being destroyed for each defeated. They have clothes based off of the Japanese gods Raijin and Fūjin, the gods of thunder and wind, respectively.
Heads of golden Bowser statues can be found in some parts of the Kingdom as well. Cappy can be spun on both of their horns for coins. Two large heads appear facing inward on a large arch towards the end of the poison-filled area at the top, and do nothing. Four large heads appear on the giant arch before the RoboBrood arena, where they let out flame every few seconds. However, since they are in the corners and are facing outwards, getting damaged by them requires jumping off of the structure. A much larger head appears on the front of the same arch, and has a Power Moon in the nose that can be obtained by Ground Pounding on it.
Stone Bowser statues appear in the Underground Moon Caverns of the Moon Kingdom. One Bowser statue near the beginning of the caverns can be captured and moved in order to reveal a hole underneath it with a Power Moon.
Super Mario Maker 2
Bowser Statues reprise their role as harmless foreground decorations in Super Mario Maker 2. In the version 3.0.0 update of the game, Bowser Statues use a retouched version of their Super Mario World sprite in the Volcano theme of the World Maker mode.
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser Statues designed after King Koopa appear in "Do the Koopa", guarding Dark Land and the Temple of Gloom. They fire lasers from their mouths; two of the statues remove the heroes' raccoon power-up.
Super Mario World television series
Bowser Statues, though never named, appear occasionally in the Super Mario World animated series. Bowser Statues first appear in the episode "Send in the Clown", where one attacks Mario by shooting a fireball at him while he is traveling through Neon Castle. Later in the episode, Mario accidentally stumbles upon another Bowser Statue, which proceeds to spit a fireball at him; Mario manages to narrowly avoid this fireball, which hits his Koopa Football Player pursuers. In a later episode, entitled "Mama Luigi", two Bowser Statues are shown to act as guards to the entrance of Neon Castle; additionally, a Bowser Statue is also found in the basement of Neon Castle. This Bowser Statue is eventually shut-down by Yoshi, who eats one of its spat fireballs and blasts the Bowser Statue with flames.
Mario's Time Machine
In the NES release of Mario's Time Machine, Bowser Statues appear in Bowser's Museum, where they use Bowser's graphics from Super Mario Bros. 3, and as such are the same size as him. However, two of their 8-by-8 tiles (the right hand and lower jaw) appear to have been switched by mistake.
Mario Kart series
Mario Kart 64
In the Mario Kart series, Bowser Statues first appear in Mario Kart 64 in Bowser's Castle. Here they are brown and just stand in place shooting fire that cannot hit the racers. One large one appears in the first courtyard, and some smaller ones without arms appear in a later hall with horizontally-sliding Thwomps.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
- Main article: Mecha Bowser
In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, a single Bowser Statue called Mecha Bowser appears in Bowser's Castle. It can move in a jerky, robotic fashion, and it shoots fire that can hit the racers. It does not have a lower half, seeming to slide horizontally along a rail. It later reappears in New Super Mario Bros.' Danger, Bob-omb! Danger! minigame as well as Mario Kart Wii.
Mario Kart Wii
In Mario Kart Wii Mecha Bowser appears in the new iteration of Bowser's Castle, while the Bowser Statues from Mario Kart 64 reappear in their original course, now all with hands and facial detail. The one in the courtyard can now hit races with its fire.
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- See also: Bowser Monument
Bowser Statues that shoot lasers from Super Mario Bros. 3 appear in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe called Laser Statues[5]. The course also features a giant Bowser Statue resembling Mecha Bowser called the Bowser Monument. Both are again featured in Bowser's Castle.
Mario Party series
Non-living Bowser Statues also appear in the Mario Party 2 and Mario Party 8 minigames Destruction Duet and Punch-a-Bunch, respectively, where the objectives are to destroy them. In Mario Party 6, several immobile Bowser Statues appear in the Bowser minigame Dizzy Rotisserie; if a character does not complete this minigame in time, these Bowser Statues will spring to life and fill the arena in fire, roasting any characters that did not make it to the finish. This minigame returns in Mario Party: The Top 100. Also in Mario Party 6, a golden one appears as one of the events in Seer Terror, where it squashes the player.
Super Princess Peach
Bowser Statues also appear in Super Princess Peach as inanimate objects, where they decorate the course where the initial fight with Bowser takes place. They only appear in that battle, where they can be crushed by Bowser's misused charge attack, resulting in a crystal for Peach to collect.
Mario Tennis Aces
A single Bowser Statue appears a boss in Mario Tennis Aces, fought at Bowser's Castle in the mission Battle the Treasure Guardian!.
In battle, the Bowser Statue deploys a forcefield around itself, and launches sets of three fireballs at Mario which must be knocked back; if a fireball is not lobbed back, it becomes a stage hazard. The Bowser Statue will then fire a laser beam that sets the ground ablaze, finishing by firing a giant purple fireball which can be knocked back to deal lots of damage. The Bowser Statue will repeat this process until it is out of health, in which Mario must avoid the oncoming meteors to perform a Zone Shot at the statue's mouth. The statue will then repeatedly shoot streams of fire at Mario, then repeat its ball-serving mechanics, except it will more evenly space out the fireballs it shoots. After Mario fires a Zone Shot at it a second time, it will shoot streams of fire again, except perform a sweeping motion with them. It will then repeat the same ball-serving mechanics it used in the second phase.
After Mario performs the third and final Zone Shot at the Bowser Statue, the Power Stone in its mouth will seemingly disintegrate, and a corrupted Wario and Waluigi take the Power Stone.
Gallery
Mario Kart 64
Mario Party 6
Mario Kart Wii
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | クッパ石像[6][7] Kuppa sekizō クッパ像 Kuppa zō |
Bowser stone statue (Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. 2) Bowser statue (Super Mario Odyssey) |
|
| Chinese | 酷霸王的石像 (Super Mario Odyssey) Kùbàwáng de Shíxiàng 酷霸王的大石像 (Mario Tennis Ace) Kùbàwáng de Dà Shíxiàng[?] |
Bowser's stone statue Bowser's big stone statue |
|
| French | Statue de Bowser[?] | Statue of Bowser | |
| German | Bowser-Statue Bowser-Statue (Gold)[?] |
Bowser Statue Bowser Statue (Gold) |
|
| Italian | Statua di Bowser[?] | Bowser's Statue | |
| Russian | Статуя Боузера[?] Statuya Bouzera |
Statue of Bowser | |
| Spanish | Estatua de Bowser[?] | Statue of Bowser |
References
- ^ Nintendo Mario Mania Player's Guide. Page 114.
- ^ a b Nintendo Mario Mania Player's Guide. Page 52.
- ^ Nintendo Mario Mania Player's Guide. Page 147.
- ^ von Esmarch, Nick. New Super Mario Bros. 2 PRIMA Official Game Guide. Pages 169 and 229.
- ^ Epstein, Joe, Garitt Rocha, and Alexander Musa. (2017) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Official Guide (from Prima Games). Page 162.
- ^ Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten. Page 69.
- ^ Shogakukan. 2015. Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook, pages 41, 60, and 200.
- Koopas
- Traps and Obstacles
- Koopa Troop Weapons
- Animate Objects
- Capturable
- Mario Kart 64 Objects
- Mario Kart 8 Objects
- Mario Kart Wii Objects
- Mario Tennis Aces Bosses
- New Super Mario Bros. 2 Objects
- Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Objects
- Super Mario Galaxy Objects
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 Objects
- Super Mario Odyssey Objects
- Super Mario World Objects
- Super Mario World (television series)
