Impostor Bowser

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This article is about the fake Bowsers from Super Mario Bros. For other uses, see Fake Bowser (disambiguation).
Impostor Bowser
Impostor Bowser artwork for Super Mario Party Jamboree
Artwork of Impostor Bowser from Super Mario Party Jamboree
First appearance Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Latest appearance Super Mario Party Jamboree (2024)
Variant of Koopa
Variants
“It's shocking how much Impostor Bowser looks like the real Mr. Bowser. Magic is an amazing thing, huh?”
Lakitu, Super Mario Party Jamboree

A fake Bowser, also known as Impostor Bowser and referred to as Bowser's decoy in NES Remix, is a standard enemy that was transformed by Bowser's black magic into a copy of himself. They first appear in Super Mario Bros.

Background

Concept and creation

The concept of fake Bowsers came about during development of Super Mario Bros. Since all enemies have their sprites flipped upside-down when they are defeated (except for Piranha Plants, which simply disappear, and Bullet Bills, which stay rightside up), one of the programmers accidentally inserted an upside-down Koopa Troopa shell when portraying Bowser's death animation as if he were defeated with fireballs. The developers liked this idea, and as a result, this idea was extended to most of the Bowser battles in the game.[1]

History

Super Mario Bros. / Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels / Super Mario Bros. Deluxe

Fire Mario encounters the fake Bowser in World 1-4 of Super Mario Bros.
The fake Bowser from World 1-4 in Super Mario Bros.

In Super Mario Bros., the seven fake Bowsers are placed in each castle, with Bowser's Castle containing the real one. Defeating a fake Bowser with five fireballs reveals that they are really just common enemies disguised as Bowser. The enemies and their abilities are the following:

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels additional worlds (in the Super Mario All-Stars version, the final fake Bowser is now replaced with the actual Bowser):

  • World A: Goomba - fire (FDS) / Red Koopa Troopa - hammer (All-Stars)
  • World B: Green Koopa Troopa - fire (FDS) / Green Cheep-Cheep - hammer (All-Stars)
  • World C: Buzzy Beetle - fire (FDS) / Bullet Bill - hammer (All-Stars)
  • World D: Spiny - fire (FDS)

The "You VS. Boo" challenge of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe:

Like Bowser, the blue Bowser's Brother in World D-4 is also a fake revealed to be a Spiny when defeated with fireballs, and only breathes fire. In Super Mario All-Stars, both of these fakes are replaced with the real ones that only throw hammers, although Bowser's Brother is now green and looks identical to his twin. Due to All Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros. also featuring Worlds A-D, all of the fake Bowsers from those worlds return, including the fake Bowser's Brother in World D-4.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3

In Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, a fake Bowser appears as a boss in the World-e level Classic World 1-4, where it plays a similar role to that played in Super Mario Bros., though it looks identical to the game's real Bowser. It is revealed that the fake Bowser is a Goomba if it is defeated with fireballs.

Super Mario 3D Land

While typical fake Bowsers do not appear in Super Mario 3D Land, variants powered by Super Leaves known as Tail Bowsers make their first appearance.

Super Mario Run

In Super Mario Run, fake Bowsers appear at the end of castle courses, excluding World 6's Bowser's Bob-ombing Run and Make the Cut! which have the real Bowser. World 1's castle, Bowser's Castle Hangout, has a Goomba as the Fake Bowser. World 3's Fire Bar Castle! Youch! has a Green Koopa Troopa as the Fake Bowser, and World 5's Rings of Fire! has a Buzzy Beetle as the Fake Bowser. They walk back and forth along their bridge, occasionally shooting a Bowser's Flame, jumping, or jumping and briefly staying in the air to shoot a Bowser's Flame. A Pause Block placed directly before the bridge, and a cutscene forces the player to stop on it the first time the player enters the area per run of the course. Fire Bar Castle! Youch! adds a Fire Bar, while Rings of Fire! adds a Fire Chain. An Axe on the other side collapses the bridge, causing the Fake Bowser to reveal its true identity before falling into the lava.

Fake Bowsers do not have an entry in the Notebook. Rather, a Fake Bowser counts as the enemy using the disguise. Thus, the results screen for a course shows that enemy, and adds one to the number of that enemy defeated for the purposes of leveling up that enemy.

In Remix 10, some areas end in castles, with the VS Bowser course. A Fake Bowser must be defeated, through the same means as before. For doing so, the player receives all three of the course's Bonus Medals. The Fake Bowser is always the disguised form of a Goomba. VS Bowser allows the player to enter with a Super Star or while invincible, and touching a Fake Bowser while invincible defeats it instantly. It is knocked off the bridge without losing the disguise. Area 30's version instead has the real Bowser.

Super Mario Party Jamboree

This section is referring to a subject in an upcoming or recently released game. When the game is released, or more information about this subject is found, this section may need major rewriting.
This notice should be removed after a month has passed since the game was first released.

“Bet you didn't see that coming. Bye-bye, Toady! Hello, humongous Impostor Bowser!”
Kamek, Super Mario Party Jamboree

In Super Mario Party Jamboree, Kamek transforms a Toady into a massive fake Bowser called Impostor Bowser. Unlike other Fake Bowsers, Impostor Bowser has a purple glow and Magikoopa magic symbols coming out of him. He replaces Bowser himself due to Bowser being a playable character.

List of appearances

# Title Role Release date Format

1 Super Mario Bros. Boss 1985 Family Computer / Nintendo Entertainment System
2 Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels Boss 1986 Family Computer Disk System
3 Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Boss 2003 Game Boy Advance
4 Super Mario 3D Land Boss 2011 Nintendo 3DS
5 Super Mario Run Boss 2016 iOS, Android
6 Super Mario Party Jamboree Boss 2024 Nintendo Switch

Gallery

Names in other languages

Fake Bowser

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese にせクッパ[2]
Nise Kuppa
Fake Bowser Shared with Bowser Clone
Dutch Nep-Bowser[?] Fake Bowser
French Faux Bowser[?] Fake Bowser
German Falscher Bowser[?] Fake Bowser
Italian Finto Bowser[3] Fake Bowser Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia
Korean 가짜 쿠파[?]
Gajja Kupa
Fake Bowser
Russian Поддельный Боузер[?]
Poddelny Bouzer
Fake Bowser
Лже-Боузер[?]
Lzhe-Bouzer
False Bowser Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Spanish Bowser falso[?] Fake Bowser

Impostor Bowser

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese ニセクッパ[4]
Nise Kuppa
Fake Bowser
Dutch Nep-Bowser[5] Fake Bowser
French Faux Bowser[6][7] Fake Bowser
German Trug-Bowser[8] Deception Bowser
Italian Bowser finto[9] Fake Bowser
Korean 가짜쿠파[10]
Gajja Kupa
Fake Bowser
Portuguese Bowser Impostor[11] Impostor Bowser
Russian Лжебоузер[?]
Lzhebouzer
False Bowser
Spanish (NOA) Bowser impostor[12] Impostor Bowser
Spanish (NOE) Bowser de pega[13] False Bowser

Trivia

Cardboard Bowser
A cardboard Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
  • The World 3 and World C (original) fake Bowsers are the only Buzzy Beetles that can be defeated by fireballs (outside of Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen!), and the World C (All-Stars) and "You VS. Boo" 2-4 (Deluxe) ones are the only Bullet Bills that can be defeated by fireballs.
    • The World A and World C fake Bowsers in All-Stars are the only fake Bowsers whose true forms are right-side-up instead of upside-down.
  • In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, an exaggerated cardboard Bowser suspended by a pair of ropes over a bridge is seen at the end of a special area inside Bowser's Castle, which is a side-scrolling level imitating a Super Mario Bros. castle. Mario must move underneath the stationary object and touch the axe to make it fall.
  • If the player beats Bowser's Sky Scuffle with any character barring Bowser Jr. in Mario Party: Island Tour, Bowser will reveal that the "Bowser" they defeated had been a decoy, which may have been a reference to the fake Bowsers.

References

  1. ^ https://www.giantbomb.com/false-bowser/3015-8320/[better source needed]
  2. ^ Nintendo (2020). CHARACTERS of Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2. Nintendo (Japanese). Archived February 10, 2021 from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  3. ^ November 15, 2018. Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Magazzini Salani (Italian). ISBN 889367436X. Page 22.
  4. ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Japanese website. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  5. ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Dutch game page. Nintendo (Dutch). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  6. ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Canadian French game page. Nintendo (Canadian French). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  7. ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official European French game page. Nintendo (French). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  8. ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official German game page. Nintendo (German). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  9. ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Italian game page. Nintendo (Italian). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  10. ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Korean website. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  11. ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Brazilian game page. Nintendo (Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  12. ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official Mexican Spanish game page. Nintendo (Latin American Spanish). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  13. ^ Super Mario Party Jamboree official European Spanish game page. Nintendo (European Spanish). Retrieved October 16, 2024.