King Bowser Koopa (大魔王クッパ , lit.“Great Demon King Koopa”?) in English also Lord Bowser, King Koopa commonly in other media) is the primary antagonist of Nintendo's Mario franchise and is the archenemy of Mario. Bowser most commonly kidnaps Princess Peach, because he wants to marry her and make her his fair and beloved queen. He is the leader of the Koopa race. Although Bowser has joined forces with Mario in a few games, he has never ceased to kidnap Princess Peach and attempt to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom since his first appearance in Super Mario Bros.. But Bowser isn't all bad. There was one, if not a couple exceptions of Bowser being a good guy. One such game is Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. In the game, Bowser inhales Mario and Luigi, and the Mario Bros end up helping Bowser.
As the central villain of one of the world’s most popular video game franchises, Bowser is easily one of the most recognizable video game villains ever, though he has comic-relief roles in most of the RPGs. Though their origins are unknown, Bowser has a son called Bowser Jr.
Physical description[]
Bowser differs greatly from the rest of the Koopas, who appear mainly as bipedal tortoises. His iconic features include a large, spiked shell, horns, razor-sharp teeth, and a shock of red hair. In addition, while most Koopas appear to be herbivorous and prefer fruits and vegetables as their diet, Bowser, due to his sharp teeth, prefers meat, particularly from victims he hunts down and captures (with his carnivorous side confirmed in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story), though he has, on occasion, consumed vegetation, as well. He is physically powerful, can breathe fire, and is said to have skills in black magic, as he teleports off the Bowser's Star Reactor battle place when beaten.
Bowser's physical size tends to vary from game to game In most games, he is very large, presumably standing more than eight feet tall but there are exceptions. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, he is barely bigger than Mario.
Personality traits[]
When Bowser was created, he was a typical villain without much personality beyond simply wanting to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and the world. Later games started showing various different aspects of Bowser's character, depending on the nature of the plot. While his platformer role continues to be that of a simple antagonist, his Mario Party antics typically depict him being more angry, childish, and mischievous than dangerous, and his portrayals in the RPGs ranging from a threatening, yet humorous (a part that diminishes in more recent installments of the Mario & Luigi series) villain to a playable anti-hero. Even when Bowser is acting as a protagonist in a game, however, he continues to insist he is an evil, malevolent character, and his reasons for helping Mario are typically for his own selfish agendas. Before a battle, Bowser often releases a loud, full-throated roar as intimidation. Like Wario, Bowser is usually thought of as unintelligent, but can be cunning and deceptive as well.
Bowser's personality is explored most extensively in the various RPGs, starting with the first one, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, in which Bowser loses his castle to another villain. As well as the grief he expresses over his castle, Bowser is shown to be as sad as the other playable characters about Geno's body breaking down, and at one point, his boasting takes the form of a haiku. He was also shown to be very concerned about his self-image, as he was shown to be very reluctant to divulge exactly what he meant by having "bigger fish to fry" than kidnapping Princess Toadstool, even considering lying about "taking a vacation" to avoid the humiliation of admitting to his being forced outside of his own castle. As in later RPGs, however, most of Bowser's actions in the game are self-centered, with his motivation for working with the protagonists ranging to reclaiming his stolen castle, kidnapping Peach himself, or preventing another villain from taking over the world, which he himself desires. This last reasoning is also behind Bowser's alliance with Mario and the others in Super Paper Mario, after the somewhat oblivious Koopa is reminded that he cannot conquer anything if Count Bleck's genocidal plan on all worlds comes to fruition. While Bowser is shown to take pride in his villainy and boasts of being a quality "final boss" throughout the adventure, he seemingly sacrifices himself to save Mario and the others, and even argues with his rival O'Chunks to save himself while Bowser held the crumbling roof above them (although it is later revealed that they both survived). He is also shown to be as horrified as the rest of the party when witnessing Sammer's Kingdom's destruction (deeming such an evil act as "overkill"), and when learning of King Olly's true aim of wishing genocide upon Toads, Bowser expressed disgust at the goal and made clear that, while he has done his fair share of evil and nasty stuff, even he would never attempt to outright exterminate Toads; a sharp contrast to his attitude in the Super Mario Galaxy games, where he is willing to create his own galaxy at the expense of the universe, as well as in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where he threatens to destroy the paper world.
As in Super Mario Galaxy, most other platformers leave Bowser as a typical villain, as does the RPG Paper Mario: Sticker Star. The original Paper Mario also casts Bowser as the main antagonist; however, like Super Mario RPG that came before it, this portrayal is more well-rounded, introducing a humorous side to Bowser alongside his evilness, and revealing that he has a crush on Peach. Bowser's affection for the princess is later showcased in Super Paper Mario, with the two being forcibly wed in the game by Count Bleck; while the princess disavows the ceremony, Bowser happily and persistently acts as if they are indeed spouses. Bowser's relationship with Peach also comes into play in Super Mario Sunshine, in which Bowser's son apparently believes her to be his mother, although at the end of the game, Bowser sadly admits that he had lied to his child about his parentage. Aside from this, Bowser has never shown remorse for his troublesome actions and the havoc they often cause, but he is often saddened by his own losses. In Super Mario Galaxy, his only regret is his failure to create his own realm, and in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, he is dismayed at having to damage his own captured castle while trying to reclaim it from Fawful. By contrast, in Mario Party 4, Bowser grudgingly gives the player a present and wishing them a happy birthday as he leaves in shame, moving one of the Koopa Kids to wonder if there might be more to Bowser than he leads others to believe, as Bowser claimed to be somewhat happy.
Unlike the platformers and the other Paper Mario titles, Bowser's role is reduced to a dim-witted, bumbling comic relief villain in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, where he encounters frequent comical failures in his attempts to collect the Crystal Stars before Mario. The first two Mario & Luigi titles also cast Bowser as a comical recurring villain, with Partners in Time having him team up with Baby Bowser, whom he did not even recognize as being his infant self. Despite being the central character of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, the third Mario & Luigi game reveals nothing new about Bowser's character, but it does provide an overview of his personality to date. His reasons for saving the world from Fawful and the Dark Star involve pride, selfishness, and possessiveness toward Peach, as well as a stated interest in taking over Fawful's plans for himself. He is extremely conceited and boastful about himself and his accomplishments, and he resents having to ask nicely for help from Starlow. He acts as a leader to his troops, and even forgives three of them for defecting to Fawful and allows them back in the Koopa Troop. In the remake, it also elaborates on Bowser's crashing the emergency meeting, revealing that he did so because his kingdom also was affected by the Blorbs outbreak. Bowser's usual rashness and his penchant for destruction and violence come to a head when he flies into a rage upon discovering that Mario and Luigi had been aiding him inside his body the entire time (believing they were partying around inside him) and attacks them, only to be promptly defeated, mere moments after the three of them had worked together to save the world.
In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, while retaining much of his personality from the previous game, he was given more competence and made into more of a serious threat; he has Kamek disguise himself as Princess Peach to drop the Mario Bros.' guard, presuming they would try to pursue Peach, and later backstabbed Antasma, anticipating the latter would try to the same on him in turn. He later implied similar designs with his Paper self, and vice-versa, in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. However, he surprisingly was willing to work under Master Hand and have an equal partnership with Dr. Eggman. In Paper Mario: Color Splash, Bowser, owing to his being possessed by the black paint for most of the game, was given a far darker personality, namely making clear his intention of "painting the world black", and even going as far as to drain Peach's color and hang her colorless form up for display; when Mario and Huey arrived to fight him in his chambers, he even cracked a dark joke about Peach claiming she was "framed" when he caught her sending messages to Mario. It was also revealed that he deliberately sent a drained Toad via mail to Peach and Mario in order to lure them, and specifically Peach, over to Prism Island so he could abduct her. However, after Mario weakened the black paint's hold on Bowser enough for the latter's usual self to surface, Bowser is deeply and understandably confused as to Mario's presence, clearly unaware of what he was doing all this time.
Bowser can be quite amiable sometimes, with his harsh and raging demeanor softening up towards his minions, and is even capable of being civil to foes in some degrees. He shows genuine affection and pride for his son; both he and his paper self were vehemently angry at Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario for defeating Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr. in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. In Super Mario Odyssey, along with planning his forced wedding with Peach extensively (wearing a tuxedo, having his mane groomed, and having her wear the stolen Lochlady Dress), he even comments on Mario's costume before their final battle. Depending on the clothes worn, this could prompt anything from a humorously scared response (as seen with the Skeleton Suit, Zombie Outfit, and even costumes like the Clown Outfit and Boxer Shorts) to a genuine compliment on his dress sense, though he will always note that Mario wasn't invited regardless. In Super Mario Party, he participates in the party with no malicious tricks or intents (not even having Kamek, who he put as a judge, tip the scales in his favor) and congratulates the player who becomes the Superstar in a rare form of good sportsmanship. In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Bowser expresses disgust at the way the Folded Soldiers treat him and his minions, to the extent where he pleads them to put down his minions and set him free.
While his range of emotions varies from game to game, it is his nearsightedness, frustration, anger, arrogance, and contempt that typifies Bowser in all his appearances, whether he is a reluctant protagonist or a straightforward villain who cares only about conquering lands and destroying his opposition.
Powers and abilities[]
Bowser has many powers from dark magic that include teleporting, causing shockwaves to come out of his jumps, fire breath, charging, and transforming victims.
Relationships[]
- Main article: Bowser's relationships
Appearances[]
In Super Mario Bros., his first appearance, Bowser appears at the end of each of the eight worlds (Level X-4). These areas are "dungeon stages" and are characterized by white brick platforms, ample lava and spinning sticks of fire that can burn Mario/Luigi. Bowser waits at the end, on a bridge over a pool of lava. By grabbing the axe at the right end of the bridge, Mario/Luigi can cut the rope at the end, making the bridge collapse and sending Bowser into the pit of lava below. Alternatively, Bowser can also be defeated by repeatedly shooting him with fireballs. Due to graphic limitations, the in-game Bowser does not seem to have hair, although the official artwork for the game, as well as the remake in Super Mario All-Stars, depicted him with hair. Bowser throws hammers in Super Mario Bros., similar to the Hammer Bros., but this ability has largely been dropped; exceptions being throwing hammers with magic in Super Princess Peach, and he also threw hammers at the beginning of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, and uses them as his primary attack in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga when he is teaming up with Popple, while Dry Bowser (his skeletal form) in New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii throws bones in a similar manner.
Though Bowser appears in the Japanese sequel to Super Mario Bros. (a title known outside Japan as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels), he appears and behaves identically to his original incarnation. Only in Super Mario Bros. 3 did Bowser return with a new plot and a new look. For the first time in the games, players saw Bowser with a mane of red hair, a look that has remained with Bowser ever since. This time, Bowser only appears at the end of the final level: his castle at the end of World 8, where Mario and Luigi have to trick him into crashing through his floor in order to defeat him (although he could also be defeated with several fireballs or hammers.) This game also introduces Bowser's first seven children, the Koopalings. Despite the presence of offspring, no mate of Bowser has appeared in any story, and his only known relationship is his marriage to a reluctant Princess Peach in Super Paper Mario.
Non-canonical appearances[]
Non-canon warning: This article or section contains non-canonical information that is not considered to be an official part of the Mario series and/or isn't considered to be part of the series' overall storyline.
Other media[]
- "Cursed crocodiles, it's that Parmasan Plumber! and he's as big as me!"
- ― King Koopa
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show![]
In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Bowser would often take on various aliases and costumes and try to scheme 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 were his Koopa Troop and also a sidekick of sorts, most commonly Mouser. Along with Mouser, many Super Mario Bros. 2 bosses like Fryguy and Tryclyde appear as well.
In several episodes, Bowser would capture Princess Toadstool and attempt to blackmail her into giving him the Mushroom Kingdom, although some other episodes implied he already had some measure of control over the kingdom.
Wreck-It-Ralph[]
Bowser appears in the Disney Animated film Wreck-It-Ralph as a cameo along with other video game villains in a villains support group, Bad-Anon: One Game at a Time. They make a personal bad guy credo after the seminar is over.
Non-canon warning: Non-canonical information ends here.
Gallery[]
To view Bowser's
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Trivia[]
- Although Bowser's name is King Koopa in the movie, he is a humanoid dinosaur.
- His color scheme and crown in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, and related cartoons, were taken from Wart, as well as the 8-bits appearing among his minions, who served Wart in Super Mario Bros. 2.