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 his Koopa Troop take over the Mushroom Kingdom by turning many of the Kingdom's defenders into inanimate objects and kidnapping the seven Mushroom Retainers, as well as the only person who can undo his black magic: Princess Toadstool. He then turns seven of his minions into False Bowsers and sends them to guard the Retainers in seven different castles while he personally keeps Toadstool captive in an eighth castle.
Fortunately for the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi unexpectedly appear and immediately set out to end Bowser's reign of terror. Mario and Luigi traverse the Mushroom Kingdom, freeing the Mushroom Retainers and eventually reaching the eighth castle and fighting Bowser himself. The Koopa King waits for them on a bridge, attacking by spitting Fireballs and throwing Hammers. But he is sent careening into the lava below when one of the brothers destroys the platform with an Ax placed at the far end of the bridge. Toadstool is liberated and her kingdom restored.
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Undeterred by this defeat, Bowser repeats his plan in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. Without any delay after he is defeated by Mario and Luigi, Bowser reuses his black magic, kidnaps Princess Toadstool again, takes her to his castle, and sends a massive number of 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.
Despite Bowser's entirely similar but improved plan, Mario and Luigi traverse through the new lands of the Mushroom Kingdom, fight the Koopa Troop, free the Toads from the False Bowsers once more, and eventually reach the eighth castle to fight Bowser himself. His attacks in this game are the same as the original: throwing hammers and breathing fireballs at them. Once again, he is defeated by the brothers when the use the Ax to destroy the bridge, but he must be fought again so Mario and Luigi can save the real Princess Toadstool in the fifteenth castle.
In the final castle, the brothers once again find Bowser, who fights them with the same attacks as before. However, the brothers still pass by him, grab the Ax on the other side of the bridge, and send Bowser plummeting to his death once more. Bowser is finally defeated, the Mushroom Kingdom is completely safe and Princess Toadstool is rescued by the Mario Bros. in the same way as the game's predecessor.
Super Mario Bros. 3
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, the brothers receive a letter from Bowser, informing them that he has kidnapped the Princess while they were saving the seven kingdoms. The Mario Bros. then boldly fight their way towards Bowser's Castle for the final showdown. After traversing Bowser's castle, the brothers reach the Koopa King at last, who descends from above to begin the fight. He will attack the brothers by breathing fireballs at them, then leap into the air and ground pound. However, this attack also leads to his defeat; whenever Bowser ground pounds the brick block-appearing blocks, he will smash them. After destroying an entire column of blocks, he will plummet down the massive pit below and seconds later hit the ground. The door at the back of the room will then open, allowing Mario to rescue Princess Toadstool.
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.
At Bowser's Castle, Mario will eventually reach the roof of the large fortress, in which the final battle will take place. Bowser will then appear in his Koopa Clown Car from above, and the battle with commence. During the battle, he will move back and forth in his car, and then throw Mecha-Koopas at the hero. However, Mario can use the Mecha-Koopas to his advantage by tossing them back at Bowser. After two hits, Bowser disappears for a while, casting flames at Mario. If he hits one of the flames, the attack will be "negated" by Princess Peach, who throws a Super Mushroom to Mario or Luigi. Bowser will then return and first tries to fly around above Mario or Luigi and drop 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 two Mecha-Koopas. After being hit again, 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
In Super Mario 64 and its remake, Super Mario 64 DS, Bowser invades Princess Peach's Castle and steals the Power Stars, and uses them to create worlds inside many of the paintings and walls of the castle. Peach is then stolen, and the Toads are held hostage inside the castle. To ensure that Mario did not disrupt his plans again, Bowser seals off the doors in the castle with the stars and even creates doors that will only open with his keys. Unfortunately for Bowser, he did not lock one door, leading to his undoing, as Mario is able to collect stars from the painting beyond that door. Using the stars collected from that painting, he is able to open the other doors and systematically sweep through the castle towards Bowser.
The remake retains most of the original's story, but parts of it have been changed. Bowser steals the stars, hides them in paintings, kidnaps the princess, and seals everyone in the castle. Mario, as well as Luigi, and Wario, 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 door to the castle, the key in the hands of a rabbit. Afterward, Yoshi, sleeping on the castle's roof, is able to enter the castle and, using the one room Bowser did not seal, collects Power Stars from the painting in that room, and 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. Every single time, Mario defeats Bowser by grabbing his tail and throwing him into one of several spiked-bombs surrounding the battle arena. During the Fire Sea battle, Bowser also warps from one section of the platform to another, and pounds the platform to force it off balance. In the third and final battle, Mario has to throw Bowser into a spiked-bomb three times before he is defeated. However, Bowser manages to double Mario's load by breaking apart the vast platform they are on into the shape of a star, making tossing him a difficult venture. He also attacks Mario by chasing him. In the end, Bowser surrenders to Mario, and hands him the Giant Power Star before fleeing.
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 with the red-clad plumber, Bowser will not accept any challengers but Mario himself for 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.
While Mario is busy cleaning the island, Shadow Mario kidnaps Peach, using a Bowser-shaped boat to flee to Pinna Island. After defeating Mecha Bowser on the island, Shadow Mario reveals himself to be Bowser Jr., who uses Mecha Bowser's head to escape to Corona Mountain.
Bowser and his son 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, who is giant during this battle, tries to kill him by breathing enormous gusts of flame and splashing slime at him, while Bowser Jr. assaults him with Bullet Bills. Mario uses F.L.U.D.D.'s Rocket Nozzle to produce a few massive Ground Pounds to the edges of the tub that tip the bowl over, sending the Koopas to fall onto the flipped tub, which lands 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 Mario 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 Mario reaches the switch on the other side of the bridge, Bowser desperately tries to stop Mario from pressing it, but fails. 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.
Dry Bowser, 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. He is also immune to fireballs in this form. However, Mario is still able to defeat him by pressing the switch, causing the bridge to fall from 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, Mario gains access to the second part of World 8. He eventually reaches Bowser's Castle, where Bowser Jr. 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 duo fight Mario one last time. During this battle, Bowser eventually starts to shoot out multiple barrages of blue fire, making it harder for Mario to dodge. Despite this, Mario triggers a Skull Switch, sending both of his enemies into a pit. 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 takes over many galaxies, planning to construct a galaxy reactor powered by the Grand Stars from which he will create his own galaxy at the center of the universe. Using this galaxy, he will then proceed to conquer the entire universe, establishing a galactic empire that will last forever 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 and defeating 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, 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, he will break it, striking the magma inside and burning his tail. Mario can then Spin attack him, causing Bowser to spin around the planet inside his shell, much like a normal Koopa. Mario can then spin at him again, causing him to fall unconscious and eventually defeating him.
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 is defeated a second time. Regardless of these drawbacks, Bowser remains confident of 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 fought Bowser on multiple planets. On the first planet, Bowser will attack by using his shockwaves, and then curling into a stone ball; Mario can defeat him by spin attacking his head, causing him to roll on his back around the planet, and then defeat him by spinning again.
On the second planet, Bowser will curl up into two combined shells and roll around the planet, as well as use shockwaves and fireballs. However, if Mario hits him with a sling plant, he will begin 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 will use improved tactics from the previous battles, but is defeated once again by ground pounding the glass and burning himself, allowing Mario to spin attack him. The defeated Bowser will then fly into into the magma of the sun. Afterward, the final Grand Star will free 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 powers to reverse the black hole, creating 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 Mario begins the battle, 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 Mario presses the switch that causes the bridge to collapse beneath Bowser, sending him falling into a pit once again, a victory fanfare will play 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 as Peach. Kamek then 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 his surprise, Bowser reappears, now at a gigantic size, knocking Kamek off his broom, and proceeds to chase after Mario. Mario rushes through the area beyond the boss room, luring Bowser into launching fireballs at walls to destroy them so he can proceed. After a long and grueling chase, Mario hears Peach's voice, and sees her in a cage up ahead, over a large switch. Jumping on the switch, Mario opens a humongous chasm, right underneath Bowser that drains the lava from the room, taking the Koopa King with it, defeating him for good.
He is later 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 that he'll 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, Mario has to collect the Power Stars and save Princess Peach as he 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.
Mario faces Bowser three times in this game. The fights take place on a spherical planetoid, where Bowser, in his gigantic size, will attempt to crush Mario with his fists, and by sending meteors crashing down. When using his fists, Bowser's hand gets stuck in the planetoid briefly, and any meteors on the battlefield will rise and turn yellow. Mario has to Ground Pound the meteors so that they hit Bowser. He'll also use his Fire Breath. At the end of each battle, Bowser coughs up a Grand Star, causing him to shrink back down to his normal size.
The final battle at Bowser's Galaxy Generator has two phases. After defeating him once, Mario attempts to collect the Grand Star coughed up by Bowser, but the Koopa King will reappear, eat the Grand Star once more, regain his gigantic size, and then the two will 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 Tanooki 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 fight Mario on his quest.
Peach ultimately tries to escape, but Bowser's forces overpower her. Bowser then imprisons her in a cage and keeps her next to his throne. Soon after defeating Boom Boom, Pom Pom, and the two False Bowsers, Mario reaches Bowser's castle and fights the real Bowser. Reaching the end of the bridge and pushing the switch, Mario causes Bowser to fall into the lava. However, Bowser had planned ahead; he set up a wooden cutout of Peach on the top of that tower, and, after Mario discovers this, he flees to his second castle with the real princess.
After facing one last level, Mario is able to reach Bowser's other castle. He discovers the princess bound to the flagpole, but Bowser falls out of the sky at him and roars, which causes the floor beneath them to fall. Mario then, instead of fighting him, has to dodge various obstacles until he reaches the switch at the end of the area. Bowser first tries to hit Mario with fireballs, then with spiked balls, and then throws barrels at him. After all this, Mario must finally get past Bowser in order to push the button. He does so, causing the bridge beneath him to collapse and fall into the lava below. However, he then emerges moments later and continues chasing Mario as he tries to reach a second button. While Mario is progressing, Bowser will leap across to various platforms, shooting massive fireballs at him. At the very end is a bridge with the button on the other side; Mario has to run away from Bowser and cross hurdles of Brick Blocks to reach it. Upon pressing it, Bowser falls from his position and into the lava once more. He is defeated, and Peach is returned to her castle with the help of Tanooki Mario and two 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. Mario (or Luigi) must then go back to Bowser's Castle and save her once again.
Game & Watch series
Bowser's appearances in the Game & Watch games are very minor compared to his roles in other titles. His only appearances are in ports in the four Game & Watch Gallery games.
Game & Watch Gallery's modern version of Oil Panic features Bowser dropping oil from the top of a tower. Below, Mario must try to catch the oil and hand the buckets to Yoshi for disposal. Occasionally, Yoshi can knock Bowser from his spot.
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 brothers progress by switching the directions the conveyer belts they are working on; the brothers can switch the direction 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 things attached to the ropes. Mario is able to help his friends by having them avoid the balloons.
Super Mario Bros.: Pīchi-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!
Bowser is featured as the main villain in the Japan-exclusive movie Super Mario Bros.: Pīchi-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 falls 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. He attempts to use the power-ups, but before he can eat the star, he drops it. He then continues to beat up Mario with Peach begging him to stop, stating that she will marry him if he spares his life. Luigi then appears, having dug up the starman, but before Mario can eat it this time, Bowser stomps him. However, Mario, having been able to eat the item, then lifts Bowser's foot off of him and uses his super strength to beat him up, taking Bowser by the tail and flinging him far away.
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.
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. Bowser is eventually defeated and Princess Peach is rescued by Mario with help from his allies.
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.
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.
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. 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.
Super Mario Bros. film
In the Super Mario Bros. film, Bowser, here named President Koopa, is the ruler of Dinohattan. Sixty-five million years ago, a meteorite crashed onto earth, somehow isolating a population of dinosaurs in a dimension parallel to Earth, where some eventually evolved into a human form. Koopa is one such humanoid dinosaur, having descended from Tyrannosaurus rex.
Originally serving as a top general, Koopa eventually seized control of Dinohatten from Daisy's father, whom he turned into fungus, with plans to use a shard of the meteorite to reunite the dimensions and allow him to take over Earth as well. However, Daisy's mother manages to take the princess and the shard through a portal to Earth, leaving them at the entrance to a cathedral before trying to return to Dinohatten, only to be captured by Koopa. In the ensuing struggle, Koopa accidentally knocks over a support beam and the tunnel collapses, crushing Daisy's mother and blocking off the portal.
Some time after, Koopa assigns his cousins Iggy and Spike, who are also his minions, to retrieve Princess Daisy so he can use the meteorite shard she carries for his master plan. However, his bumbling cousins continuously deliver him the wrong girls, until finally succeeding in kidnapping Daisy. They barge into a mud bath shared by Koopa and his lover Lena (who are discussing how much better Earth is compared to their barren dimension) to announce the good news, however it turns out that they lost the shard to Mario and Luigi in the process of capturing Daisy.
Later, after Mario and Luigi are arrested, they are taken to see their lawyer, who is actually Koopa under an alias. He tries to trick the brothers into handing over the necklace, which has the shard on it and which they don't have anymore, eventually reaching the point where he physically assaults the brothers and orders them and Toad to be de-evolved. In the de-evolution chamber, Koopa witnesses as Toad is turned from a human like state to a Goomba, a strong, large, and stupid being loyal to Koopa. He then orders the brothers to tell him where the necklace is, or face de-evolution. However, the brothers escape, pushing Koopa into the de-evolution device, defeating all of his minions, and setting the machine for the Jurassic period. While the de-evolution ends prematurely and Koopa remains in his human-like form, his eye briefly becoming more reptilian hints that he had in fact been affected by the machine.
Iggy and Spike later break in on another of Koopa and Lena's mud baths, reporting that Mario and Luigi are in the Koopahari Desert. Koopa orders Lena to bring him Daisy, and has Iggy and Spike taken to the de-evolution chamber. However, instead of de-evolving them, Koopa has his cousins evolved, which results in the pair becoming smarter. He then orders the pair to capture Mario and Luigi and retrieve the shard or be killed.
Koopa is discussing training his Goombas with the de-evolution gun when Lena arrives, telling him that Daisy is ready. He is then finally introduced to Daisy, who is in another room with Yoshi, a Velociraptor-like creature. He surprises Daisy by entering the room and telling her Yoshi is a dinosaur. Ignoring her pleas for the whereabouts of her father, Koopa tells her that she also descended from dinosaurs, and, afterward, his head begins to show dinosaur-like traits. A frightened Daisy then runs away, but is caught by a Goomba, whom Koopa demands to take Daisy away.
At another point, he enters Devo 4, the holding chamber for Daisy's father, where he engages in small-talk with the fungus. He eventually states that his rebellion will have been in vain after the dimensions have been united.
Lena later enters Koopa's quarters, secretly possessing the meteorite shard, with Iggy and Spike as her prisoners. She convinces Koopa that they were now against him, and he orders them to be killed. He then walks off with Lena, who tries to reveal that she has the shard, only to be ignored. She bemoans the fact that Koopa only cares about Daisy now, while he states that he only cares for the future of their species and leaves, whereupon Lena decides to take action on her own.
Koopa is later told by the police chief that the army Is ready for the invasion of earth. Alarmed by this, Koopa demands to know who gave the order, to which the chief states that he did, according to Lena. Koopa then figures out that she has the shard, and demands her arrest. He, along with a Goomba entourage, later run into Luigi and Daisy and capture the duo. Afterward, he orders the preparation for the invasion of earth. Eventually, the police chief captures Lena and delivers the shard to Koopa, and he then orders to prepare for the invasion.
Outside, Koopa and a small group of Goombas are distracted as Mario, as well as the missing girls from Brooklyn, fly out of a ventilation shaft on a mattress, allowing Luigi and Daisy to rejoin Mario. However, Koopa then approaches the brothers with a flamethrower, declaring he had won, and gives several commands through a communicator. The distracted Koopa does not notice Luigi grab a Banzai Bill from a local shop, which Mario loads into a Thwomp Stomper and activates it. The stomper knocks Koopa into an empty vat above streets. Mario, using some fungus as a vine, leaps onto the bottom of the vat, climbs on top of it, and hits Koopa, knocking the shard out of his teeth. Not being able to locate the shard, Mario is able to trick Koopa into thinking he has it.
They continue the fight on a catwalk, Mario pulling out the Bob-omb the brothers retrieved earlier and winds it, though the bomb falls through a hole. Unaware that the Bob-omb is still on its trek, the two dimensions begin merging before their eyes. Mario, Koopa, and his legion of Goombas appear at the excavation site after Koopa's tower merges with the World Trade Center. Casting aside the flamethrower, which no longer functions, Koopa takes a de-evolution gun from a Goomba and fires at Mario, though he dodges the blast, which accidentally hits Anthony Scapelli, a business owner, and turns him into a monkey. He tries firing at him again, but Mario pulls out a mushroom the brothers found earlier to absorb the blast. The mushroom starts to grow, eventually becoming really large, and Mario uses it to attack Koopa, knocking the gun out of his hand.
Thanks to the efforts of Luigi and Daisy, the dimensions are split again, and Mario is joined by Luigi, who hands him a de-evolution gun. The brothers then fire the guns at him, just as the Bob-omb arrives right beneath Koopa and explodes, sending him flying into the empty vat. After a moment of silence, he emerges from the vat, having de-evolved into a tyrannosaurus. The brothers then continuosly blast Koopa again until he finally devolves into primordial ooze.
Nintendo Comics System
In the Mario portions 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.
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 Luigi 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.
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 were actually created by the Apook Corporation, and that they would turn into raccoons in a matter of 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 and Koopa's Believe It or Else!.
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 was captured by Bowser and his minions. He and several Koopas then disguised themselves as Toads and helped 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.
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 gets inside. 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.
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.
Super Mario-Kun (Pikkapika Comics)
The Super Mario-Kun published by Pikkapika Comics, despite being short-lived, also feature Bowser as a prominent character and antagonist.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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. Mario then fights and defeats Bowser and claims the princess back.
Mario Roulette
In Mario Roulette, Bowser appears as one of the only four chracters that appears in game.
Mario Teaches Typing games
Bowser also makes some minor appearances in the Mario Teaches Typing games. In the second game, Bowser is not featured in the story mode, but his castle is, though it is later destroyed by Mario and Luigi.
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 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 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 will squish 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, he cannot afford the numerous hairdryers, causing Bowser to send his Koopa Troop across the world to steal rare and valuable artifacts to sell.
Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi set out 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 skills of deduction. The Mario bros. then launch Bowser to the center of Antarctica, defeating him (or, in the case of the PC version, forcefully removing Bowser's shell, making him a beach Bowser, much to his humiliation).
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 and builds a great museum, not realizing that messing with the past can drastically alter the present. Mario takes back Bowser's stolen artifacts and uses his own time machine to return them to their proper places, saving the time stream.
If the player fails to return all the artifacts 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 is overloaded, and he is teleported to the Jurassic era, where a Tyrannosaurus Rex stomps on him.
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 gave them to defeat Bowser. Mario and Yoshi end up fighting Bowser in a giant robot. Bowser fights Mario using many tricks, such as throwing bombs, but he is still defeated, ending his reign over Jewelry Land.
After defeating the game, a code for the hard mode is unlocked, increasing the difficulty and changing level colors. The text is 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 Early Years! series
Bowser's appearances in the Mario's Early Years! games are in the various activities in the game.
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 Koopa's seven hotels. Mario and Luigi destroy the hotels of each Koopaling, but Toadstool evades their possession. Mario then reaches Bowser's Seizures Palace Hotel, a hotel run by Bowser himself. After defeating Iggy, who does not own a hotel but works in Bowser's, the brothers face Bowser. They manage to defeat Bowser, and the entire hotel crumbles to pieces as the bros and the princess escape.
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. He uses variations of Chain Chomps and his claws to attack, 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). His special moves often involve summoning his minions to attack. His special moves 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 at 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 plumber bursts into Bowser's throne room and fights him atop Bowser's chandeliers. Bowser seems to be unbeatable, but with some advice from the princess, Mario attacks the Kinklink chain holding up the chandelier, sending it and Bowser plummeting to the ground below. However, Bowser throws Hammers at Mario's chain, bringing him down as well. On the ground, Mario Jumps on top of Bowser, giving him a boost up to the Princess and frees 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 Mario and his ally Mallow are traveling down the way, Bowser, along with a small army of his minions, is 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 two do not notice each other, and the number of minions he had earlier has decreased.
By the time Bowser reaches Booster Tower, all his minions are gone, so 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, they take down the rangers and Blade and 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, they are forced to fight the Smithy Gang's swordsman, Boomer, on the chandeliers, held up by a pair of Chandeli-Hos. After his defeat, the Chandeli-Ho holding up the Mario group's platform is transported to the highest tower in the castle. It is here that they are forced to fight the living sword Exor. He is shielded from attacks at first, but, after defeating his eyes, the rest of Exor can be defeated. Once that is done, Exor uses the last of his strength to inhale the group, 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. Eventually, they finally reach Smithy himself, and engage 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 them into a dark area beneath the factory. Smithy then transforms into his true form, along with five other forms, and continues the fight, only to be defeated by Mario and his team in the end.
After collecting the seventh Star Piece, 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. At the very end of the game, Bowser returns to his castle and helps 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 starts the construction of many new fortresses, greatly deforesting the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario decides to save the environment by destroying all of Bowser's fortresses. Bowser sends many of his minions to stop the plumber, but they all fall, even Bowser's right-hand construction worker, Foreman Spike. Mario eventually destroys Bowser's final fortress, saving the environment.
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, in which he will bring misfortune upon the players. In every game he is given his own space, which when landed on by the player will cause 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 will also result in this) Throughout the series, Bowser has taken 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 always the final board to be unlocked.
Mario Party
In the original Mario Party, Bowser mostly appears whenever the player lands on a Bowser space. He then activates a roulette, which can trigger one of several events. Each of the events will always end with one or more players losing coins, except for "Bowser Revolution", in which he will take all the competitors' coins and distribute them evenly. Additionally, if a player has a star, but no coins, Bowser would forcibly take their star in exchange for ten coins. Several of the events are simply revamped minigames. If the roulette lands on one of the gold-lettered phrases, Bowser will do nothing and leave. Bowser will also appear sometimes, in an event known as "Bowser's Bogus Items," 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.
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. Landing on a green statue 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 activates; landing on a star will allow the player to take the shortcut, and landing on Bowser's face forces the player to continue on the current path, with no refunds.
At the top of the volcano is a purple statue, through which Bowser will ask if the player wants to buy a star. Another roulette is then activated, and the player will receive a star from Boo if it lands on the star. Landing on Bowser will force the player to see him, and he will steal a star or coins, depending on the result from 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 them to a battle on Eternal Star, the final unlockable board and the only one not named after a particular character, to win them back. This board is a giant Star, broken into pieces and covered in graffiti by Bowser. After the player wins on this board, his or her stars will merge into one large star that will blast Bowser and Baby Bowser into space.
Mario Party 2
During Mario Party 2, while the characters argue over what they should call their new land, Bowser invades and takes over Mario Land and its six sub-lands. Because of this, Toad decides to settle the character's argument, stating that whoever could defeat Bowser would have the world named after him or her. 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, it will show a cutscene featuring the character defeating Bowser in some way. In Pirate Land, Bowser will find the treasure chest in a cave and attempts to claim it, but the player will then emerge and duel him for it. The two 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. He is attacking a green Koopa by trapping it with the lasers when the player arrives and blasts him with their own, but to no avail. The character 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 then 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 figure in the silhouette is, and the Koopa guesses incorrectly, causing Bowser to put him in a rock. The player then arrives and correctly guesses the figure, stating that it is Bowser himself, and Bowser Sphinx disappears.
The end of Horror Land features Bowser appering to a Koopa after he is scared by a Boo. Wizard Bowser offers to help him, but the Koopa is instead transformed into a frog by him. The player then arrives, reverses Bowser's spell, and engages in a magical duel with him. In the end, Bowser loses, and is turned into a frog by the player's magic. Bowser then hops away.
Having lost control of five of the six lands, Bowser is desperate to hold onto the final land, Bowser Land. At the board, Bowser disappears, and the player heads off to search for him. He shows up behind a Koopa and attempts to harm him, but is confronted by the player before. 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 before, preventing the player from throwing him. Toad then uses the player's stars to strengthen him or her, giving the character the power necessary 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 will leave like in the original if the roulette stops there.
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 will cause the person using it to select someone to preform a Bowser event upon calling him.
Mario Party 4
In Mario Party 4, Bowser claims that he stole the player's presents, and that he or she must go win his board 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 will electrocute Bowser. Upon defeat, however, 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 an unlockable character in the Beach Volley Folley minigame.
When players land on a Bowser space, he occasionally shows up, flattening the player who landed 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 will be on a certain point on the board that will switch when a Staris collected, waiting for a player to pass by him and will do various things to them depending on their current size. If the player is normal size, Bowser will spit flame at him or her, causing the player to lose half their coins. If he or she is miniature size, Bowser will use his fire to send the player to a different start point. If the player is mega-sized, Bowser will challenge them to a game of Bowser Wrestling or Panels of Doom; winning will cause Bowser to leave until the next Star is claimed, and losing will cause Bowser to take half the player's coins. He will also occasionally miniaturize everyone for one turn.
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 attempts to take over Dream Depot and have his own dream come true. After clearing the five boards, the player must take on the sixth: Bowser Nightmare. After defeating that board, 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 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 will give 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 will squash the player and throw it on a Red Space, which will result in turning that space into a Bowser space.
Mario Party 6
Out of the entire Mario Party series, Bowser has the least influence in Mario Party 6. He appears as the co-host of the quiz minigame Speak Up, where he changes the rules and the scenery of the game. Bowser also appears in the minigame Seer Terror, where players can see their fortune by pulling a rope. However, many of the fortunes are spoken after an event happens, which greatly amuses him. There is one fortune in which Bowser is sucked into a black hole; getting said fortune will cause the player to "win" the minigame.
Bowser Spaces will cause him to appear and do one of two things. The first forces the player to play a minigame, and the other 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.
Mario Party Advance
In Mario Party Advance, Bowser arrives while a 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 will use lava to fling Mario and friends 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 will cause 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 Mario and his friends complete quests, Bowser will destroy one of the statues covering the pipes. These pipes will lead to one of the eight areas Bowser owns around the city.
In the Bowser Stadium, Bowser challenges Mario to a game of soccer, and, after he is defeated, is forced to play Splatterball. After that 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 Mario and friends can warm him up by answering his jokes with the correct punchlines. After doing so, he challenges them to play Crushed Ice. After the game is won, they will win the game and the Gaddget Breeze Buddy.
At the Bowser Mansion, Bowser is accused of stealing a painting from the museum, and the Mario gang, along with Shroomlock, must prove whether Bowser is guilty or not by finding faults in his alibi. Bowser states 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 there is now way to hide the painting in the mansion. Eventually, it is proven that Bowser did indeed steal the painting; his alibi is proven false when he said 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 received is the game and the Gaddget Lip Sync.
At the Bowser Toy Shop, Mario is challenged by Bowser and Koopa Kid to answer five questions about his favorite show, Toad Force V. After answering the questions correctly, he challenges them to the minigame Slammer. Once Mario and friends win, they will win the minigame.
In the Bowser Hideout, Bowser challenges the gang to a game of luck: guessing whether the value on the upside-down card is higher or lower than the one beside it. When Mario wins that game, he is forced into playing Koopa Kappa. Victory results in receiving the minigame and two Gaddgets: Faux Flame and Hourglass.
At the Bowser Pad, Bowser wants the Mario group to get a gift according to his tastes. The gift will either be a bracelet, a ring, or a necklace, though the gift bought has to be the one Bowser really wants. He says that he likes necklaces as much as bracelets, but he likes rings more than bracelets. After retrieving the right gift and getting it to him, the gang is challenged to a game of Peek-N-Sneak. When the game is won, the prize is the minigame and the Gaddget Shroom Bloom.
In the Bowser Game Hall, Bowser challenges Mario and friends to his minigame Watch 'Em, for the title King of Games and the minigame.
At the Bowser Lab, Bowser allows the gang to select one of his monsters 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 won.
After forty-nine of the fifty quests have been beaten, Bowser will open the gate in the back of the Pipe House, revealing his secret lair. After arriving at the house, Bowser will challenge Mario to the final minigame: Trap Floor. Once the minigame is beaten, Mario will receive 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 will reward the player coins for how fast he or she reaches him. However, if the player takes too long, Bowser will stop 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 will arrive at Bowser's Enchanted Inferno!, Bowser's own board, where, upon beating it, Bowser will take 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, every five turns a special Bowser-based event occurs, named Bowser Time. This event causes Bowser to appear and trigger something that hinders the competitors. On every board, he will take a photograph of him and the player and take coins from them as payment. On most boards, he will destroy one of the orb shops and 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, but this time with only Bowser spaces. 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 for Neon Heights, he can steal the player's coins or a Star or put a Ztar in one of the chests 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!, Bowser will only do one thing during Bowser Time, and that is to sink the platform currently containing the star.
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 rewarded to the player for defeating all of his/her rivals. Bowser files off to Bowser's Warped Orbit, where he has either a Hammer Bro. or Blooper face against the player. Once they are defeated, Bowser challenges the player to a battle in the minigame Superstar Showdown. During the minigame, Bowser first attacks the player with fireballs. When he is hit a certain number of times, Bullet Bill launchers will appear on the sides of his Koopa Clown Car. After harming him more, Bowser's car gains the ability to fire numerous lasers. However, despite all his firepower, Bowser is defeated once again by the player and flees.
Landing on a Bowser space will cause 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. In DK's Treetop Temple, Bowser moves the Star. In Goomba's Booty Boardwalk, Bowser has the player dodge Podoboos for ten seconds; hitting them causes the player to lose ten coins. On Shy Guy's Perplex Express, he replaces the train with his Bad Breath Express, which will cause the player who reaches him to lose a Star. In King Boo's Haunted Hideaway, he covers the pitfalls with his own platform; reaching him causes whoever does so to lose a Star. In 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 will give them ten coins.
Also on Bowser's Warped Orbit, when the player lands on one of the Happening Spaces, Bowser will come down from his observation tower and chase the player (as well as anyone else run in to) across the board. Another set of ? Spaces will make Bowser reverse the direction 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 breaks into the castle and destroys 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 block, and a snake. In every form, Bowser will shoot fireballs at the player, as well has having another attack for every form. However, each one also has the one golden block that is Bowser's weak spot; hitting this multiple times will cause Bowser to shift forms and will eventually defeat him. After, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are captured and bound tightly in ropes, and he confesses that he only wants the Sky Crystals to unlock Triangle Twisters, and that he got a little carried away. 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 would result 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 had none, he would give them coins. If the option is "Gimme Coins!", he would steal 10 or 20 coins from the player. If he chooses "Gimme Charity!", he would force 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 all the coins and distributes 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 9
Template:Newsubject-section Bowser is confirmed to be a boss at the end of one of the boards, as well as the main antagonist, in Mario Party 9. The game will involve him and Bowser Jr. using a device to suck up Mini-Stars, but the reason behind this is currently unknown.
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. 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 try to outdo Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong when Wario hits a golf ball across the field. However, they hear a yelp 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 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.
In Mario Tennis, Right before Mario and Luigi and Wario and Waluigi are about to fight, a spotlight appears right in the middle of them, and Bowser and a Boo fall onto the court. The entire group thinks he is there to cause trouble, but Bowser reveals that he simply wishes to play tennis, which they let him. However, out of nowhere, a Bob-omb appears, about to explode. Wario, Waluigi, Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and the Boo are caught in the blast. He is also playable in the Game Boy Color version of Mario Tennis, but is only unlocked through transfer with the Nintendo 64 game.
In Mario Power Tennis, Bowser has a more dastardly scheme. Near the beginning, he is watching in a secret area as Wario and Waluigi lose to the Mario Bros.. After vandalizing a poster in revenge, the duo enter a room in the stadium to escape the Bucketheads; this room turns out to be the entrance to Bowser's lair. Bowser decides to ally with the two, and he trains them to become better at tennis.
Ultimately, 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 fire 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 fly downward but also exposing several dozen Bob-ombs. Seeing this, Wario and Waluigi attempt to run away, but the balloon crashes on them, causing a massive explosion.
Bowser is scheduled to appear with Bowser Jr. in Mario Tennis Open.
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 weapon, Bowser imprisons the Seven Star Spirits in cards and then scatters them in various strongholds and fortresses throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. 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, and defeats Mario for the first time ever. Believing his rival to be dead, Bowser throws Mario's tattered body 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 castle. Bowser then uses the Star Rod to create havoc throughout the kingdom, ravaging it with beasts and monsters loyal to him. He also places each one of the Star Spirits under the guard of seven his most trusted minions.
At some points in the game, Peach can sneak out of her room and, on occasion, overhear conversations between Bowser and Kammy. He will also sometimes enter her room to converse with her. On the first occasion when Bowser enters her room, 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.
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, but Bowser sees her after this. 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 items in Shy Guy's Toy Box, Mario's next destination, while the guards send Peach back to her room.
At another point, Bowser overhears the 64th Trivia Quiz-Off, and wishes to participate. However, since the game show is over when he enters, he cannot, and decides to compensate by sending Peach, who was one of the three contestants, to her room.
Even later, Bowser once again enters Peach's room and tells her that, if Mario arrives, he will not be able to defeat the army waiting for him. He then has his minions take up positions across the castle, and bounds the princess to keep her out of trouble. Out of anger for this, Twink, the Star Kid staying with Peach through the entire game, 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 rescuing all the Star Spirits and storming through Bowser's and Peach's castles, Mario reaches and battles Bowser again. The Star Spirits use their power to create the Star Beam, which is able to negate the powers of the Star Rod and make Bowser venerable again. Shocked, Bowser retreats to the roof of Peach's castle. Once Mario reaches the castle's roof, Kammy activates her Power Platform, which increases Bowser's size and strength and thus rendering the Star Beam useless against him. However, Princess Peach and Twink defeat Kammy Koopa and, by wishing on everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom, increase the Star Spirits' power. By doing this, 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 and make Bowser powerless against Mario's attacks once again. At the battle's conclusion, Bowser is defeated and the Star Rod is taken back by the heroes. However, the Power Platform starts to malfunction due to the intensity of the fight and explodes, sending 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 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
Template:Pmenemybox Template:LLQuote 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 to conquer the world. He is also told that someone else kidnapped Princess Peach, and makes it his mission to rescue her and kidnap her himself. Accompanied by Kammy, Bowser appears in many cutscenes, in which he is a playable character. These scenes are often quite humorous and involve 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 the Koopa Clown Car. Unfortunately for him, the airborne vehicle breaks down during the flight, sending him into the ocean below, and forcing him to swim back to Rogueport. He later appears in Twilight Town where he questions Lord Crump about the whereabouts of the Crystal Stars. The reluctant X-Naut summons his army to deal with the Koopa King, but Kammy calls the Koopa Troop to battle 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 belt. Rawk Hawk then enters the room and is enraged at Bowser for stealing his belt buckle. 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. 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 ceiling. He lands on the X-Naut leader, crushing him into the ground. Bowser looks around and admits he has no idea what is going on, but he's going to "end it right NOW!" Bowser and Kammy battle Mario, but are defeated. They are battled before the player gets a chance to save after battling Grodus, and they are the last bosses before the final one. Mario leaves them passed out on the floor of the Palace of Shadow. When the player leaves the room and comes back, they are gone.
Super Paper Mario
Template:LLQuote Template:Spmenemybox
Bowser joins forces with Mario in Super Paper Mario. During the beginning of the story, Mario and Luigi find Princess Peach missing and rush to Bowser's Castle, thinking that he is the perpetrator. Oddly, he is surprised as well, for he is only preparing to kidnap Peach and isn't ready yet. While talking to each other, a mysterious figure named Count Bleck abducts Luigi, Bowser, and his minions. He leaves Mario unconscious on the floor of Bowser's Castle, but Tippi finds Mario and takes him to Flipside. Count Bleck forces Bowser and Peach to get married in order 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 castle. Enraged that Mario has once again ruined his plans, Bowser chooses to battle Mario one-on-one, putting up two barriers so that he cannot escape. He will attack Mario by breathing fire, and then trying to jump on him, but he is soundly defeated by the plumber, with the help of Boomer. 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, 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, 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.
After returning to the Underwhere once Queen Jaydes restores the Pure Heart, Mario and Luigi, who was also killed by Dimentio when they left the blank world, find Bowser while trying to get out of the Underwhere to find Peach. Mario and Luigi try to explain to Bowser what has happened, but Bowser immediately assumes Mario and Luigi are going to ditch him and take Peach for themselves. Bowser once again engages them in battle, but is defeated again, and rejoins Mario's party afterword. Eventually, they find Peach asleep, but wake her up with a Black Apple. After an adventure in the Overthere, Luvbi, one of the Nimbis, 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. Bowser defeats him, but the victory cannot be relished, as the ceiling starts to fall. Despite being enemies, O'Chunks stops the ceiling from crushing the others by holding it up. Bowser then decides to help lift the ceiling as well and he tells Mario and Luigi to take Peach to safety. However, he also attempts to get O'Chunks out of there as well, causing 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 apparently both getting 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. The second scene is when Dimentio asks Mario and company to join him, stating that they could rule every world with the Chaos Heart in their possession. It is later revealed that Bowser survived because he (and apparently O'Chunks as well) fall through the floor before they could be crushed. 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.
After defeating Count Bleck, Bowser witnesses as Dimentio appears and, after supposedly killing Nastasia, merges with Luigi to form Super Dimentio, who makes himself invincible and teleports Nastasia, Bleck, and Tippi to Dimension D. However, from withing the dimension, Bleck and Tippi's love for each other allows the Pure Hearts to activate and 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.
As a playable character, he moves slower than the others; however, he can not only jump but also breathe fire if the player pushes {[button|wii|paddown}} on the Wii Remote, and his attack and defense stats are higher than the other three. Also, unlike the other characters, he cannot climb ladders or vines; he will grow tired if he tries.
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, 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 he 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 are fly a Subspace Gunship into the other world and start bringing pieces of the world into Subspace. They see the Halberd flying toward the ship and use the Subspace Gunship's weapons 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 he is betrayed when Ganondorf blasts him with a Dark Cannon, transforming him into a trophy. He then goes to see Master Hand, but is then revealed that Master Hand is being controlled by the being Tabuu; Master Hand breaks free afterward, but is defeated easily.
Upon being revived by King Dedede, Bowser is still enraged by Ganon's betrayal, and fights him, 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 fighting 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 entire group is then seen 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: Fire Breath
- Main article: SmashWiki: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 will leave Bowser motionless while using the attack, and will leave his back open for attack. If Kirby copies Bowser's abilities, he will gain 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 will grab a hold of his foe, allowing him to either gnaw on them or execute a throw move. If Bowser grabs them, he will be able to 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'll perform a flying suplex, rather than throw them over his shoulder as he did with the Koopa Klaw. Bowser's air movement can be controlled somewhat during this move. If connecting midair, Bowser will go down 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 will 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 would Ground Pound 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 won't 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 isn't 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 that Peach's voice was removed. Realizing that, if he kidnaps Peach now, her voice would 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, that night, Fawful, Cackletta's minion, and Cackletta herself show up, and she sends Fawful to destroy the group. Bowser is defeated easily, but the brothers defeat Fawful. 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 and later found by Mario and Luigi. Tolstar demands 100 Beanbean Coins in order to free Bowser and keep the incident a secret. Even after the brothers, along with the Starshade Bros., gather the coins, they are attacked by Tolstar, 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 ends up in the mountains with amnesia, where he is rescued by Popple, the Shadow Thief. Popple decides to take him under his wing starts training Bowser to become a Shadow Thief, renaming him Rookie.
As Rookie, Bowser fights the Mario Bros. twice, remembering nothing about them except that they enraged him for some reason. Rookie's attacks, which involve throwing hammers and breathing fire, is a reference to Super Mario Bros., where Bowser performs both of those moves during later boss battles. They are first fought at Château de Chucklehuck, Popple wanting the Chuckola Reserve for himself, and later at Woohoo Hooniversity, after the Beanstar randomly landed 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 on to it before it can fly up, and they are sent flying in different directions, followed by the star breaking 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 then awakens with a cold inside a present box (attached to Peach's Plane) given to Peach and the Mario Bros by Prince Peasley. He is dropped off at his castle while his minions eagerly watch.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Template:Pitenemy Bowser first appears in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time after Princess Shroob (disguised as Princess Peach) is brought to the present. Mistaking her for Princess Peach, he grabs her, and flees. However, he falls off the balcony and into a time hole, which sends him to Thwomp Volcano. Here, he meets his younger self (which he mistakes to be some bratty kid, not realizing who he really was). They team up and fight the Mario Bros. and their younger selves, though are beaten by the group. When they are defeated, a Thwomp flings them into the air, and Bowser falls back into another time hole.
When Mario and Luigi defeat Elder Princess Shroob, she turns into a small mushroom. Back in the present, Bowser, who is unconscious in Peach's throne room, eats it and becomes Shrowser, who fights Mario and Luigi (and doesn't allow them to attack). However, Mario and Luigi find a way to attack by reflecting Shrowser's own attacks and using them against Elder Princess Shroob. After this, the Elder Shroob is completely destroyed, and Bowser faints with the brothers doing a victory pose on him.
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 newest 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 fails, courtesy of Mario. Peach then forces him out of the castle, she and Starlow using their power to fling him towards Dimble Wood.
He awakens in the forest, and immediately after notices a shop in the middle of the area. The cloaked man running the shop then gives Bowser a "Lucky Mushroom", claiming it can give him the power to defeat Mario. He eats it, but comes under Fawful's control. Afterwards, he breaks back into Peach's castle 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. After being woken up by Mario and Luigi, Bowser, not aware that he has living people in his stomach, is extremely angered by the series of events that took place. He is awakened in Cavi Cape Cave, where he discovers that he has lost the ability to breathe fire. After leaving the cave, he meets Fawful, who proclaims that he is going to take over Bowser's castle and the entire Mushroom Kingdom. Before Bowser can chase after Fawful, his minion Midbus appears, and easily defeats the still weak Bowser in battle. After being defeated, Bowser awakens and sets off for his castle.
When he arrives at Plack Beach, Bowser meets Broque Monsieur, a block collector, stuck on an island, and asks Bowser to free him in exchange for the Vacuum Block, a block which can give its user the vacuum attack. Not having the strength to pull the island over to the mainland at first, the Mario brothers help him by increasing his arm muscle, which gives him enough strength to yank the entire island to the beach. Having saved Broque, he is given the block and is taught how to use the command.
Once Bowser reaches the northern end of the beach, he encounters the Sea Pipe Statue. Because it is not in his image, Bowser attempts to destroy it, but quickly discovers that Fawful animated the statue so it can defend itself, and the statue attacks Bowser. However, after defeating it, Bowser begins to drink from it, allowing the Mario brothers to travel through the Pump Works. In there, the brothers recover the Stingler, the key to access the Flame Pipe. After the bros. discover and defeat Scutlet, who is blocking the pipe, Bowser regains his ability to breathe fire. Using this skill, he defeats Broque Monsieur's dog, Broggy, and continues on his quest. After discovering Broque Monsieur's shop in the woods, Bowser is asked to bring him fifteen Blitties. Once he does so, Broque will give Bowser Broggy, allowing him to use the Broggy Bonker attack.
Up ahead, Bowser notices a cage full of Goombas, trapped there by Fawful. He frees them, allowing him to preform Goomba Storm. 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 realize that they have the launcher, but no Banzai Bills. He goes out in search of one, instead finding a carrot in a Wiggler's garden that he thinks will make a good substitute. The Wiggler then emerges, angered that Bowser had plucked the carrot from the ground. He then asks if it has any Banzai Bills, to which the Wiggler replies that it does, but it will only give the bullet to Bowser if he ate the massive carrot. With help from Mario and Luigi, Bowser completes the task, but the Wiggler forgets everything that happened, and fights Bowser, now mad that he ate the carrot. Bowser emerges victorious, and the Wiggler surrenders the Banzai Bill. On the way back to his minions, however, Bowser starts feeling stomach aches. The brothers discover that this is because of Durmite, running rampant inside his body, and take care of the issue.
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, where it lands on Bowser. In order to revive him, the Mario bros. go to Rump Command, where they revive Bowser with an adrenaline boost. This also causes him to grow to a gigantic size. With his increased height, Bowser takes on his castle, damaging it to the point where Midbus flies it away. After the battle, Bowser decreases in size again, but Midbus fires a massive cannonball at Bowser. The Mario brothers once again help him by increasing his arm muscle, allowing him to throw the projectile back at the castle, permanently grounding the structure.
Once Bowser arrives in his castle, he sees that his minions were all enslaved, and that his military training facility was converted to Fawful Theater. Bowser enters the theater, and, after noticing there were no more seats, a Goomba leads him to a "VIP" chair. After Fawful introduces the show, he announces Bowser as the special guest, and the chair rockets forward, throwing him on the stage. He is then forced into battle with Midbus again. Once he wins, he is led by several Boos to a winner's feast. During the feast, however, Bowser eats so much that the falls through the floor and becomes stuck. During this time, Fawful uses a ray gun to remove Peach from Bowser's body. After getting Peach, Bowser falls through the floor and onto a treadmill brought out by Midbus, and uses it to literally burn the calories he gained. However, he then walks over to a crate of Bob-ombs, instead noticing the sign saying what room he is in, unintentionally lighting a Bob-omb. This Bob-omb leaps into a crate full of others, creating a chain reaction which blows up the other crates and sending Bowser flying to 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. With Bowser's help, the tunnel is finished, but he wanders down a path that activates a security system, knocking him unconscious.
In Doctor Toadley's office, Bowser encounters the Mario brothers, and he battles them. After Mario and Luigi win, the doctor tells the trio that they need to find the three Star Cures to cure the Blorbs and find a way into the castle. He then tells them that the first cure is held by Durmite, located in Dimble Wood. Overhearing this, Bowser runs off toward the woods.
Bowser is later at Bubble Lake when the brothers loose Durmite in the Energy Hold of Bowser's body. Thanks to the Mario brothers enhancing Bowser's sneezing, he is able to cross the river and activate a propeller mechanism. This causes the entire Tower of Yikk to fly out of the lake and onto Bowser. The Mario bros. head to Rump Command again to revive him and increase his size. After defeating the tower, it is immobilized, allowing Bowser to enter. Through a holographic image inside a book, he meets Yikk, who guides him through the use of the Boo-ray Machine. By using this machine, Bowser is able to help the brothers get the Star Cure from Durmite, who transforms into Wisdurm, and learn the Body Slam technique, which allows him to escape the tower.
Once outside, Bowser encounters Private Goomp and the others, and asks them if they had seen a Star Cure. They reply by saying that Bowser keeps a Star Cure like object in his vault back in his castle. He journeys there, and finds that the underground path he helped dig is now Fawful's property, and that it is in use for the Fawful Express. The express prepares to leave the castle, with Bowser on the tracks, and it eventually rams him into a rock. Mario and Luigi once again go to Rump Command, revive Bowser, and increase his size. He then proceeds to destroy the train before shrinking back to normal. Once he returns to the vault, he finds the safe, but cannot remember the code to open it. The Mario brothers then journey to Bowser's Memory Banks and, after defeating the guardian, jog Bowser's memory by reassembling the memory containing the code. He opens the safe and claims the second Star Cure, but Private Goomp, Corporal Paraplunk, and Sergeant Guy, who are now under Fawful's command, shove him into the safe. Bowser then eats the Star Cure, which is found by Mario and Luigi in his gut.
Eventually, he is freed from the safe, but his back hurts after being crammed inside it for too long. Inside the Lumbar Nook, Mario and Luigi eventually 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 to 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.
The Dark Star is chased by Bowser until he reaches the courtyard of Peach's Castle, where Fawful activates it. The castle becomes 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 wins, then heads back inside and fights Fawful, who trasforms himself into Dark Fawful. Bowser is victorious and Fawful's body is destroyed, but he survives as a mass of dark energy. Fawful is then absorbed by the Dark Star, and 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 manages to destroy his now unstable dark half, 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 his 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, begging for their positions back. Birdley, Dr. Toadley's bird, then flies in and drops a box onto Bowser's bed. Starlow emerges, wanting to check on him, fearing that he may attack Peach's castle again, though Bowser tells her that he is focusing on rebuilding his own castle at the moment, then, still angry about the truth, 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 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 will be 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. During giant Bowser battles, Bowser only has two attacks: punching and breathing fire. His ranking system 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.
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 will need to 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 will smoke out. When he does this, he'll completely miss the punch and jump 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 will deal massive damage to the Bros.
- Goomba Storm - This attack has two phases. At first, Goombas will run after Mario and Luigi, while Bowser X sets some of them on fire. After that the burning Goombas will fall from the sky and the player needs 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 will shoot a simple fireball at one of the Bros.. The attack doesn't do much damage, but he'll continue to execute this attack over and over. The Bros. must hammer the fireball back at Bowser to damage him. Doing this will cause Bowser X to curl up into a ball and head for the upper portion of the screen. There, a rain of fireballs will drop 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, will try to ram himself onto one of the Bros. heavily damaging him.
- Giant Bowser X - Bowser X will grow in size and attack 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 will proceed 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 will inhale the used move and it will be inaccessible for five turns.
Mario Pinball Land
In 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 ride 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. 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.
When Mario finally gets to battle Bowser, the plumber has to drop Thwomps on him to cause Bowser to lose balance. After three hits, Bowser rolls into a giant-sized pinball and is used to break a hole in the castle wall. Mario then continues on to save Princess Peach.
Yoshi series
Yoshi's Cookie
In Yoshi's Cookie, Bowser appears as one of the four playable characters in versus mode. The Nintendo Puzzle Collection version of the game also features a story mode, in which Bowser steals all the Yoshi Cookies from Mario and Yoshi, who are exhausted from delivering them. Mario and Yoshi, upon waking, then head off to retrieve them. Bowser is faced on stage seven as the final boss on every difficulty, in a best-three-out-of-five match.
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 bonus stage and final stage on versus mode. He can be defeated by stringing together multiple combos. The special stage is only to test the player; the final stage can be replayed if the player is defeated
Yoshi's Universal Gravitation
Yoshi's Island has once again become the target of an adult Bowser's conquests during the events of Yoshi's Universal Gravitation. The Koopa King and his forces attack the island, causing chaos and disorder. In response to this, a spirit named Hongo tries 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 if the green dinosaur could personally trap Bowser. If the threat of Bowser is contained, there would be no need to keep the island as an isolated storybook. 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 would allow Yoshi to move on. Ultimately, after satisfying the task of every spirit, Yoshi is allowed to confront King Bowser. In the end, Bowser is once again defeated by Yoshi. With the threat of Bowser eliminated, the spirit Hongo 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 invade Baby Bowser's Castle. Later Bowser 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, when they reach Baby Bowser's Castle, Baby Bowser turns on his team because he thought they'd come to try and steal his treasure. Outnumbered, Baby Bowser is 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), but is defeated also. Kamek then enchants the future Bowser to become a giant in the final battle against Baby Mario, Baby Donkey Kong, and Baby Wario. During the battle with the giant Bowser, the Yoshis throws Giant Yoshi Eggs in such a way that they all collide and explode in front of Bowser's face. In the end, Bowser is defeated, and it turns out that the heroic babies were six of the Star Children, as well as a Baby Yoshi that is born soon after Bowser left the past.
Mario Baseball series
Bowser is a playable character in Mario Superstar Baseball and its sequel, Mario Super Sluggers. Bowser is a team captain and a very powerful batter.
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. 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. 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 is still a very powerful batter (tied with Petey Piranha and King K. Rool), but his pitching skills are weaker than in the prequel. His fielding and running abilities are slightly better 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 would be easy to capture with the Mario Bros. out of the picture. 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 and 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 will enhance himself with the Joy vibe, causing him to leap up and create shockwaves upon landing. After this, he will give himself the Gloom vibe, in which he will attack by throwing several hammers, and then leaping up and sending down giant hammers. Finally, after hitting him a number of times, he will give himself the Rage vibe, which causes him to attack faster.
Once Bowser is defeated, Peach will be forced to battle him once more, however, this time, he has made himself giant. He will attack her by slamming his hands onto the ground, which will also send down several spiked balls. He also attacks by throwing several hammers at once and breathing massive fireballs toward her. Finally, he will slam both hands onto the ground, which will send down several Bob-ombs; Peach must use these to damage him. Once Bowser is defeated, he returns to normal, and Peach will use Perry, her parasol, to launch Bowser and the scepter away from the island.
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, Mario activates a rocket, which sends Bowser into the sky. Defeated, the Koopa King admits that he only wanted the keys to cure his tone-deafness. Mario then turns the castle into a large stadium, and the trio begins to dance.
Mario Football series
Bowser makes brief appearances in Mario Smash Football as a hazard who interrupts gameplay by tilting the field or attacking the players. During the game he has his own robotic Super Team to challenge the player's team at the finals for the Bowser Cup and Super Bowser Cup, but they are defeated.
Bowser reappears in Mario Strikers Charged Football 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 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 will set fire to the ball, and then leap into the air and dunk 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.
Mario & Sonic series
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Bowser appears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games as a power type character. He is the strongest character with a high level of stamina. Bowser does excellently in events such as the Hammer Throw or any events dealing with strength. Out of ten, his stats are: Power-10/10, Speed-2/10, Skill-3/10, and Stamina-9/10. His swim stroke is breaststroke and his six missions are:
- Pole Vault - Clear the bar twice, it is set at 5.70m.
- Javelin Throw - Throw the Javelin between 50m and 55m.
- 400m Hurdles - Knock over 0 hurdles, finish with a time between 45 and 53 seconds.
- Hammer Throw - Throw the hammer between 50m and 55m.
- Singles - Win, scoring 7 points with blast-shots.
- Dream Fencing - Win, force your opponent out of bounds twice.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Bowser appears as a playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. He is given a high power stat, and his speed stat is also quite high as well.
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 melts 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, but lose at all of them. 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. 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. The villains are shocked to hear this, but decide to achieve vengeance by defeating Mario's team at a series of Olympic events. However, they are defeated, and 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.
At first, the two are disappointed that they will not "be able to join the Olympic Games," and, upon Tail's 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 very high, but his technique is weak, and he has a very low speed stat. Bowser is capable of hitting pucks and balls real hard, which can make them push back weaker characters with ease. 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 shot involves him spitting a fireball onto the court, and then throwing the sports object to the goal. Anyone caught in the fireball blast will be burned, and will have a harder time stopping Bowser's shot, or evading it in Dodgeball.
Itadaki Street series
Bowser appears as a playable character in the game Itadaki Street DS. He later returns as a playable character in the game's follow-up, Fortune Street.
Cameos
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.
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.
Pikmin 2
In Pikmin 2, a matchbox with Bowser's face on it appears as a treasure.
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 threatened 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 relationship 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 agreed to help Mario fight the Smithy Gang simply because he wanted to get his castle back from them, and in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Bowser only agreed to help Mario and Luigi regain Peach's voice because he wanted 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 became enraged when he learned that Count Bleck's destruction of existence meant he wouldn't have anything to rule over, and after witnessing what happened to Sammer Kingdom when it was consumed by the void, he was legitimately horrified at what happened. When it also became apparent that his planned galaxy, as well as the entire universe was going to be vaporized after his plans of Universal conquest failed, he also lamented at the loss.
In the film adaptation, Koopa has a similar personality to that in the games at the time. However, he also was 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 had to go through several hardships that stemmed 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 to both the localized Mushroom Kingdom and the outer 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 laughed at, was essentially murder before Mario was revived by the combined energy of the Star Spirits. Perhaps Bowser's most extreme disregard for other life was in Super Mario Galaxy, where his plot consisted 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 broke down.
In Mario Party 4, Bowser was shown to be extremely upset when he was 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 was 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 was falling, during which he was arguing with O'Chunks and telling him to get to safety before both were seemingly crushed (it is later revealed that they survived).
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.[4]
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 the movie) 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., but has managed to survive all this many times. Bowser is also shown to have an extremely loud and powerful roar that often sends weak enemies running away before a battle even begins. In Super Mario Bros., Bowser also threw hammers like a Hammer Bro. but has rarely used the technique since, only to be used once again in Super Princess Peach and by his alter-ego Rookie in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. He briefly used it in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars when after battling him at the beginning, he throws a hammer at Mario's Kinklink.
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-landed in the sea and he was forced to swim back to Rogueport). Another example is in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympics 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's, and they lacked 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 came too close to him, Bowser would disappear and reappear somewhere else, making it hard to get close to his tail. Bowser also teleported 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.
In both Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bowser used the powers of the Grand Stars to aid him in his fight with Mario. In the first game, he would attack Mario by spinning, with what appeared to be dark matter coming out of his fingers and in the second game, he used 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 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.
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 him greatly. Bowser Jr. has been featured in many games such as New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy and is often Bowser's 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 Nintendo Comics System. This father is heavily implied to be a criminal currently being chased by the authorities. Bowser and his children were 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 was not in the Mario video games, instead, it was in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "Do You Princess Toadstool Take This Koopa...?", which introduces his mother, who was a bossy and bullying woman. Additionally, King Koopa also mentioned 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 was 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 was simply a joke. In Super Paper Mario, Bowser and Princess Peach are forcibly wedded 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 depicted an unnamed female Koopa who had 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's tried 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 saved Mario from being hit with a Bullet Bill sent from Wario and Waluigi. Of course, Bowser only saved 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 led Mario and his friends to have fun and that his plans weren't nearly as brutal as past ones. Although it should also be noted that Mario celebrated after viewing Bowser's seemingly permanent destruction in New Super Mario Bros., although he did 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 has survived numerous situations and even came back 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 wanted 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
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 seemed that he only abducted 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 has ruthlessly attacked her kingdom, caused much destruction, and forced 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 ML, 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 lied to Bowser Jr. to give him motivation to embark on a scheme to abduct the princess and destroy Mario, although it is not known if Jr. needed that much motivation anyway. It should also be noted that in Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser grieved 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 kidnapped Mario in Mario is Missing! he thought he was unstoppable until Luigi stopped him. Since then, it seems he has realized Luigi's potential threat level, Bowser had Luigi captured in Super Princess Peach and in Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser apparently saw Luigi as so much of a threat that he placed him under heavy guard in a haunted mansion guarded by Boos. Even though he sees Luigi as a threat, Bowser holds Luigi in low esteem; he is shocked and disgusted at himself when he believes that he even lost 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 part 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 had used his magic to turn the Toads into various inanimate objects so that they did not get into the way during his kidnapping of the Princess. In games such as Super Mario 64 and its remake, Bowser imprisoned Toad and the rest of his species behind the castle walls. In Super Princess Peach, Bowser had 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 shares a bad chemistry with 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, who unintentionally hit him in the eye with a golf ball. Also, in Mario Super Sluggers, when Wario fired a Bullet Bill towards Mario, Bowser protected 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 a 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 has an instant disliking for Fawful when he injures him during their first encounter in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Bowser is also a protagonist (with the Mario Bros. as the other two) in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, where after Fawful tricks him with a vacuum shroom 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 sees them, he spends the entire 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 as 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 met Starlow in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story whan he crashed a conference on the Blorbs in Peach's castle. They immediately became 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, under the guise "Chippy", Starlow and the Bros. help Bowser from inside his body and Bowser on several occasions asks "Chippy" to be one of his minions. Starlow declines all these offers though. Many times, when something wrong happened in Bowser's body, he would call to Starlow to fix the problem, she would often reluctantly comply. Other times, she would refuse to help him, even going as far as taunting him, such as when Bowser got chubby and fell through the floor, she said she would help when she felt like it, much to his anger. However, Starlow does seem to show some concern for Bowser, such as when he got flattened by his own castle, she got worried that something was wrong, and when he got trapped in his safe, she felt sorry for him, but could not 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 3)
- False Bowser (Shadows Bugs, Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
- False Bowser (Various beings, Super Mario Bros.)
- Dark Bowser (Dark Star, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story)
- Bowser X (Gauntlet Emoglobin, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story)
- Bowser??? (Koopa Bros., Paper Mario)
Official Profiles and Statistics
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."
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 Football
- 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. Information
Super Smash Bros. Melee Instruction Booklet
"A mighty foe that trades speed for pure power."
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Instruction Booklet
"The King of the Koopas is a destructive heavyweight."
Super Smash Bros. Melee 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. |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl 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. |
Sticker Information
| 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 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.
Portrayals
Over the years, Bowser has been voiced by several people, both in the games and in other media. They are:
- 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
- Dennis Hopper - Super Mario Bros. film
- 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 and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
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 (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.
- 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.
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)
- ^ As told in Prima's official Super Mario Galaxy guide.
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