Bowser (Super Mario) (2024)

King Bowser Koopa Sr., best known as simply Bowser or King Koopa, is the main antagonist of Nintendo's Super Mario franchise.

He is the tyrannical king of the Koopa Troop and the arch-nemesis of Mario, who is constantly plotting to take over the entire world and the Mushroom Kingdom. His main minions include Kamek, who had raised him since he was a child, and the Koopalings. He also has a son named Bowser Jr., who frequently aids him in his plans.

In addition, Bowser is deeply infatuated with Princess Peach, the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, and his plans for conquest almost always include kidnapping her to make her his wife, only to be thwarted by Mario and his twin brother, Luigi. Despite his status as a villain, he has sometimes been willing to work alongside the heroes in order to battle threats more serious than himself, so he can continue his own schemes.

He was voiced by Rob Wallace in Mario Is Missing!, Marc Graue in Hotel Mario, Bruce Robertson in Mario's Time Machine Deluxe, Scott Burns from 2002 to 2007, and Kenny James (who also voices Fritz from Attack on Titan).

King Bowser, also known simply as Bowser, is the main antagonist of Illumination's 13th feature film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, an adaptation of Nintendo's Mario video game franchise.

He is the tyrannical king of the Koopa race and the ruler of the Darklands who desires to conquer the world using the powerful Super Star. With the assistance of his right-hand servant Kamek, his enforcer Koopa General and his army, Bowser plans to use the Super Star to target the Mushroom Kingdom and win Princess Peach's hand in marriage. In turn, his plan brings him into conflict with Mario after kidnapping his brother, Luigi, viewing the former as his rival to winning Peach's love and eventually becomes his arch-nemesis.

He is voiced by Jack Black, who also played Slip in The Neverending Story III, Zeke in Ice Age, Carl Denham in the 2005 King Kong remake, Larry Hardcore in Clone High and Slappy the Dummy and the Invisible Boy in Goosebumps, while his grunts and roars are done by Kenny James, who also voices his video game incarnation and Fritz in Attack on Titan. In the Japanese dub, he was voiced by Kenta Miyake, who also voices Leongar in Kirby and The Forgotten Land.

Appearance[]

Bowser has large lips and sharp teeth. He has yellow skin (although Super Mario Bros. portrays him with green skin), lines on his stomach, and sharp claws. His most recognizable features are his spiked shell, red mane, and spiked cuffs, which except for the mane have been prominent features of Bowser in all of his appearances. One point of debate over time has been Bowser's size, which seems to vary in every one of his appearances. Most of the time, he is about twice the size of Mario., though in some games he can be near Kaiju-size.

Personality[]

Bowser's personality varies depending on his role in the plot. In the main platformers, where he is the main antagonist, he has a very dark, brutal, merciless, destructive, cataclysmic, and serious disposition. For years, it was also rumored by fans that while most other Koopas prefer vegetation in their diet, Bowser's sharp teeth, another common feature of his, were an indicator of him preferring meat, preferably from victims he hunts down and captures. Indeed, Bowser is shown quite often to be an expert hunter, and his carnivorous side is definitively confirmed by him devouring Mario and Luigi in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. In the RPGs, he shows some more amusing and funnier sides of himself as he is shown to have a talent for sarcastic wit, works very hard to live up to the "evil king" image, and very often displays a shortsighted lack of common sense. However, the most prominent part of his personality is his confidence. When he decides to help the other denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom against a common foe, it is mostly because of his own ego. In his mind, the only one that is allowed to kidnap Princess Peach, kill Mario, and/or conquer the world is himself, and he flies into a dangerous rage when other villains attempt to usurp his position as "the biggest, baddest brute around." In the RPG games, he is shown to be a benevolent and philanthropic ruler towards his men. In Super Mario RPG, he found two of his men in Monstro Town who had happy lives there, and instead of getting angry and ordering them to return to his army, he was happy for their lives and wished the best for them. 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. During his own game Bowser's Inside Story, 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 spite of being an evil character who never succeeds in defeating Mario and ruling the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser holds a strong love for his diminutive son Bowser Jr., as shown by how he raises him all on his own and is quick to encourage or praise him. In Super Mario Sunshine, he even has Bowser, Jr., kidnap Peach so that his son can have a mother, although the game's ending reveals that it is very "difficult" for him to lie to his son about Peach being his mother (a lie that Bowser, Jr., had already figured out, unbeknownst to his father). Additionally, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story showed that, while Bowser is mean to his troops, he cares about them. He rescued imprisoned soldiers who serve him, got extremely angry when he learned that Fawful had kidnapped his men, and even forgave three traitors. He also can be a good sport at times, as in Super Mario Party, he participates in the party with no tricks or bad intent (not even having Kamek, who he put as a judge, makes the party go in his favor) and congratulates the player who becomes the Superstar. When he was confronted by Dark Bowser who desired to plunge the world into eternal darkness, Bowser was utterly disgusted and angry since he wishes to rule the world, not destroy it. In the Paper Mario games, it is shown that Bowser's troops follow him out of respect rather than fear. 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 wishes 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.

Synopsis[]

Main Series[]

Super Mario Bros.[]

In his first appearance (release wise), Bowser enacts a plot to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom by turning its citizens into inanimate objects and capturing Princess Peach so she can't undo his curse using her magic. The Mario Brothers set out to stop Bowser's plan, and, at the end of each world, must fight one of Bowser's minions impersonating their leader. In the final level, the real Bowser confronts the Mario Brothers and attacks them by shooting fireballs and, unlike his impostors, jumping and throwing hammers. In the end, the brothers defeat Bowser by using the axe at the end of the platform, destroying it, dropping Bowser into the lava below, foiling his scheme and rescuing the Princess.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels[]

Bowser returns and kidnaps Peach and turns the toads into blocks but, this time, he is more cunning as he places many False Bowsers (one of which being his Brother) in many castles while he holds Peach hostage. He is fought in world 8-4 and world d-4 with his battle being the same as in the first game.

Super Mario Bros. 3[]

For his next takeover plot of the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser sends the Koopalings to wreak havoc on its different regions. While the Mario Brothers scramble to undo the damage done by the Koopalings, Bowser kidnaps the unguarded Princess and taunts the Mario Brothers with the news via personal letter once they defeat Ludwig von Koopa in Pipe Land and transport themselves to Dark Land (although this can be skipped by warping directly to Dark Land). After they make their way through his castle, Bowser fights the Mario Brothers by shooting fireballs and trying to crush them. However, after several jumps, Bowser ends up crashing through the floor, defeating himself and allowing the Brothers to free Princess Peach.

Super Mario World[]

Once again, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach when she and Mario are vacationing in Dinosaur Land as also has the land's native Yoshis captured and trapped inside eggs guarded by the Koopalings in different castles. When Yoshi himself attempts to stop Bowser, he is captured as well and placed in a block, where he is discovered by Mario and teams up with him to foil Bowser's plan and save his friends.

Mario eventually arrives in Bowser's castle and, climbing to the castle roof, fights him in his new Koopa Clown Car. During the fight, Bowser attacks by throwing Mechakoopas down on his nemesis (which can be thrown back up at him in order to deal damage), drops rolling steel balls, try crushing Mario by bouncing up and down on the roof, and raining fire down on the roof after being hit. Mario overcomes everything and defeats Bowser, sending him flying off into the distance.

Super Mario 64/Super Mario 64 DS[]

Taking a new approach to kidnapping Peach in order to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser takes control of her castle and steals its Power Stars, imprisoning them inside the castle's paintings with his minions. To prevent Mario from interfering with his plan, Bowser seals off the doors, forcing his enemy to fight his minions in order to collect the Stars so they can unlock the doors, also creating doors that can only be opened using keys withheld by him.

Upon obtaining varying amounts of stars, Mario will encounter Bowser in three different levels; "Bowser in the Dark World", "Bowser in the Fire Sea" and "Bowser in the Sky". In each encounter, Mario will have to defeat Bowser by tossing him into a mine on the outskirts of the arena (although, during the final encounter, Bowser must be tossed into three different mines), while he attacks with fire breath, causing shockwaves, trying to tackle his enemy and even altering the battlefield itself. Mario manages to overcome this, defeating Bowser, taking the last Power Star and rescuing Peach from his grasp.

In the DS remake, Bowser's plot stays the same, although, unlike in the original, Mario, Luigi, and Wario storm the castle to rescue the Princess, only to be ambushed by the Koopa King and his minions, being locked behind special doors, leaving Yoshi as the only one left to stop him. In the final level, both Mario and Yoshi are required to reach Bowser, who, like in the original, only fights Mario as his final opponent.

Super Mario Sunshine[]

For the first time ever, Bowser appears with his son, Bowser Jr., with the latter convinced that Princess Peach is his biological mother and Mario her kidnapper. Taking his father's words to heart, Bowser Jr. takes up the guise of Shadow Mario and vandalizes Isle Delfino with graffiti as the real Mario, Princess Peach, Toadsworth and a few Toads are vacationing there, incriminating Mario and forcing him to clean the isles of the graffiti.

Later into the game, Bowser Jr. "rescues" Peach from Mario and brings her to Corona Mountain, where she (on a rubber duck) is forced to join Bowser and Bowser Jr. in a hot tub full of slime. Mario eventually climbs the mountain to rescue Peach, and Bowser rages at him for disturbing his "family vacation", fighting him by breathing fire and splashing his tub's deadly slime. Despite this, Mario manages to flip the entire tub over by pounding it's five sections, sending everyone down to the island below. While Mario, the Princess and the residents of Delfino island are celebrating, Bowser and Bowser Jr., floating on the flipped over tub, are seen watching them. Bowser tries to confess to his son about lying about Princess Peach being his mother, but Jr. reveals that he already knew, and, once he's older, wants to fight Mario again. Filled with pride in his son, Bowser decides that both of them should rest for a while.

New Super Mario Bros.[]

Bowser has Princess Peach kidnapped again, this time through Bowser Jr., and awaits Mario in the World-1 Castle. When Mario arrives, he fights Bowser in a similar fashion to the original Super Mario Bros.; however, once he is defeated, Bowser's skin is visibly burnt off by the lava below him, transforming him into Dry Bowser. Dry Bowser reappears in the World-8 Castle, and fights Mario much as he did before, only now with the power to toss bones and immunity to fireballs, and is yet again defeated and dropped into the chasm below. This, however, is not the end, as Mario makes his way through Bowser's Castle, where Bowser Jr. revives his father in a cauldron, also tripling his size and strength. Mario then fights Bowser and Bowser Jr. together and can defeat them by pressing the skull switch behind them, sending them plummeting to the ground below while he rescues Peach. After the credits sequence, Bowser Jr. and Bowser are seen at the bottom of the pit, and Bowser Jr. angrily growls at the player.

Super Mario Galaxy[]

Prior to the game, Bowser expands his conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom into universal domination by attacking Rosalina's Comet Observatory and stealing all of it's Power Stars and Grand Stars. Bowser uses the power of the stars to unleash his troops on the cosmos and take over numerous galaxies, plotting to ultimately use the power of the Grand Stars to construct and power a galaxy reactor to create his own galaxy in the center of the universe. Soon enough, Bowser kidnaps Peach during the Star Festival, using several UFOs and airships to uproot her castle and take it to the center of the universe, wanting to rule everything with Peach as his empress.

With help from Rosalina, Mario begins returning the stolen Power Stars and defeating the Koopa Troop and will encounter Bowser at two different points in the game, once at Bowser's Star Reactor and the second time at Bowser's Dark Matter Plant. In both battles, Bowser attacks by creating shock waves, pounding the ground, and spinning in his shell, although, when he pounds one of the glass spots on the arena, he burns himself and runs around aimlessly, and Mario uses the spin attack on him twice to deal damage. Mario eventually makes his way to the near-completed Galaxy Reactor, where he fights Bowser in a similar fashion to before, only with new improvised tactics, but still remains triumphant. Bowser is sent flying into his galaxy's sun, which, due to the Grand Star freeing itself, begins to collapse on itself, creating a titanic black hole that begins devouring the universe. However, the Lumas manage to destroy the black hole from the inside, resetting everything, and Bowser wakes up in the Mushroom Kingdom next to Mario and Peach.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii[]

On Princess Peach's birthday, Bowser masterminds her kidnapping through Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings and has her brought to his castle. Eventually, Mario and his allies make their way through Bowser's Castle, where they face Bowser himself, with Peach dangling in a cage above him. Bowser fights by jumping and shooting fire and is defeated by pressing the switch behind him. However, it is revealed that "Peach" was actually Kamek in disguise, who uses his magic to grow Bowser to a gigantic size. Super Bowser (as he is referred to by the Prima Games strategy guide) chases after Mario and his friends, spewing massive fireballs and smashing his way through the castle. Mario and his friends manage to make it to the real Princess and press another switch, which drops Super Bowser into a pit below him. During the credits, Bowser, having returned to normal size, is seen outside the castle, with the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. trying to push him over. They succeed but the entire castle falls onto them all.

Super Mario Galaxy 2[]

Once again, Bowser steals several Power and Grand Stars, this time by attacking and raiding Lubba's starship, and uses their power to transform himself into a giant. With his new form, Bowser attacks Toad Town during the Star Festival and kidnaps Peach, plotting to once again conquer the universe and build a capital worthy of his size in the center of the universe. With help from Lubba and the other Lumas, Mario begins taking back the Power Stars and encounters Bowser twice on his quest. In both encounters, Mario and Bowser fight on a spherical planetoid, in which Bowser attempts to crush Mario with his fists, send meteors down on him, and breathe fire, although, when he punches the planetoid, Mario can ground pound the uprooted meteors back at him. Once he is defeated, Bowser coughs up a Grand Star and shrinks back down to normal size before he can get it back, although he escapes and tells his nemesis his plan is too far ahead to stop.

At Bowser's Galaxy Generator, Mario encounters Bowser for the final time, and fights him in the same manner he had before. Mario then attempts to collect the Grand Star once Bowser coughs it up, only for the Koopa King to resurface and swallow the Star again, regaining his massive size, and making them fall into a vortex for the final battle. During the battle, Bowser advances on Mario and delivers a punch once he is close enough, although Mario pushes him back by ground-pounding meteorites at him. Once Bowser is defeated, he is sucked into the vortex and is not seen again until Mario, Peach and the Toad Brigade return to their planet near the end of the credits, where he is smaller than normal and unconscious. Mario can then jump on Bowser or spin him with Yoshi's tongue, waking up and angering him.

Super Mario 3D Land[]

Bowser once more kidnaps Peach, the news of which sent to Mario and three Toads via letter. Through more letters, it is shown that Peach attempted to escape the Koopa Troop, but ultimately failed to escape. Bowser also uses Super Leaf-powered doppelgangers of himself to create the bosses of each world, and further used said leaves to enhance his minions' strength.

At his castle, Bowser's first true boss fight emerges, with similar mechanics to the Tail Bowsers. However, this was a trap, as Bowser fled with Peach after his defeat to his other fortress. In the second castle, Bowser uses a mixture of spiked balls, barrels, and his flaming breath to chase down and stop Mario, but he ultimately fails upon falling into the lava by a breaking bridge twice. He then later tries to reach Mario with his tower of Goombas in the credits and using a second kidnapping of Peach to stop him after the special worlds are beaten, but each attempt fails.

Dry Bowser also appears in this game. A few moments after Mario saved Peach, Dry Bowser creates the Special Worlds and abducts Mario's younger brother, Luigi, to lure his archenemy. He imprisons the green plumber in the castle of the first Special World and waits for Mario, knowing he would come to him to save his brother. The two enemies fight and Luigi is rescued by Mario after the skeleton loses. Dry Bowser tries to kill the duo twice, but both attempts fail.

New Super Mario Bros. 2[]

Bowser once again orders the Koopalings to kidnap Peach while Mario and Luigi are away gathering coins. Bowser once again confronts the Mario Bros. in his castle, which they easily defeat him by pressing a switch. The Koopalings appear on the Clown Car and use their wands on Bowser, causing him to emerge from the lava as the gigantic Super Bowser. The final battle plays similarly to New Super Mario Bros. Wii albeit vertically where the Mario Bros. have to jump on flying platforms to avoid the rising lava and Bowser's fists. Once reaching the top, the Mario Bros. step on a giant switch that releases the lava floodgates, sweeping Bowser away. After the credits, Bowser, back to normal size, was carried away by the Koopalings in the Clown Car but his weight causes the car to smash into the ground, with Bowser having his head stuck in the dirt.

New Super Mario Bros. U/New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe[]

While Princess Peach was having a tea party with her friends, Bowser's airship lowers a mechanical hand to move her chair aside before smashing the table, swatting Mario, Luigi, and the Toads out of the castle. Like before, the heroes encounter Bowser in his castle and press a switch to make his bridge fall. After they move along, Bowser Jr. uses his Clown Car holding Kamek to use magic to revive Bowser and turn him massive, escalating to the final battle on the roof of the castle. While massive, Bowser cannot be damaged by any of the player's attacks. Instead, they will have to jump on Bowser Jr. when he lands his Clown Car, causing him to fall out and the player can jump in. They must then pilot the Clown Car above Bowser's head and slam it down. After hitting his noggin three times, Bowser falls from the roof. After his defeat, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings make their escape on the airship. Bowser climbs on, only for his weight to cause the airship to crash. They then make their escape on Bowser Jr.'s Clown Car, with Bowser holding onto the side while the Koopalings hold on to his tail in a link.

He plays an identical role in New Super Luigi U, although there, he must be defeated by Nabbit, Luigi Blue and yellow Toad.

Super Mario 3D World/Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury[]

Bowser invades the Sprixie Kingdom and imprisons six of the seven Sprixie Princesses but te green Princess arrives in the Mushroom Kingdom through a mysterious clear pipe and warns Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad. Bowser emerges from the pipe and grabs the Sprixie Princess, trapping her in a bottle and retreats down the pipe, with the group in pursuit. Bowser fights the group in World 1 and World 7 in his luxurious car, the Koopa Chase. The heroes defeat him in both cases. After defeating him the second time, all seven Sprixie Princess are united after the red one is freed. Suddenly, Bowser returns and stuffs all seven princesses within a larger bottle and escapes to World Bowser.

The group chase after him again, confronting the Koopa King at the Great Tower of Bowser Land, where he uses a Super Bell to transform into Meowser. While chasing him up the tower, Meowser uses a Double Cherry to create clones of himself. At the top, Meowser is on top of a giant POW Block holding the bottle with the Sprixie Princesses. Hitting it enough times defeats Meowser, sending him into the distance and bursting into fireworks. After the group save the Sprixie Princesses and use the pipe to return to the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser can be seen trapped within a large bottle.

Bowser's Fury[]

Bowser Jr. paints Bowser black, causing him to go berserk, becoming the dark and massive Fury Bowser. Bowser Jr. summons Mario to Lake Lapcat to help him stop Bowser's fury and turn him back to normal. Bowser will awaken after some time has passed, unleashing flames and meteors to alter the landscape of Lake Lapcat. Bowser will eventually return to his slumber after some time or if a Cat Shine is collected, activating a lighthouse that drives him away. After collecting a certain number of Cat Shines, a Giga Bell can be awakened to transform Mario into Giga Cat Mario to stand a battle against Fury Bowser, defeating him by ground-pounding his belly.

Once Fury Bowser is defeated, he sinks into the black paint, some of which clears up and reveals a new portion of the map. Upon defeating Fury Bowser three times, the black paint is removed from Fury Bowser. However, he is still massive and furious, and takes all three Giga Bells into a large shield. Mario rides on Plessie to reach the shield and damage it. Once it is struck three times, Plessie absorbs the three Giga Bells and grows enormous, slamming on Fury Bowser, causing him to be launched into the air and burst into fireworks. Once he comes back down, Bowser is back to normal but still angry at Mario, although Bowser Jr. holds him back.

Once all one hundred Cat Shines are collected, Fury Bowser's appearance is altered to where his hair, spikes, and chest turn white.

Super Mario Odyssey[]

Bowser kidnaps Peach again and plans to marry her so Mario teams up with a spirit named Cappy, who desires to rescue his sister Tiara, who Bowser also kidnapped. Preparing for his wedding, Bowser has his minions place posters for it around the world and begins stealing things such as flowers, food, attire, and various other things from various kingdoms, also hiring a group known as the Broodals to keep his wedding plans on track. Eventually, he "invites" various people around the kingdoms to the wedding at Moon Kingdom by abducting them, including Mayor Pauline, and has a final battle with Mario, only to be soundly defeated, knocking him unconscious.

However, due to the Wedding Hall collapsing, Mario is ultimately forced to capture Bowser to get himself and everyone else to safety. Upon regaining consciousness, he attempts to resume his attempt at wooing Peach's hand in marriage, with Mario doing the same, only for Peach to "reject" them both. Bowser then attempts to go home with Peach but gets jumped on by Mario and knocked away from the Odyssey. A segment in the Darker Side in the level "Long Journey's End" involves Mario controlling Bowser to reach the next area.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder[]

One day, the Mario Bros., Princesses Peach and Daisy, and all of their friends visit the neighboring Flower Kingdom to meet their ruler, Prince Florian, and see the magical Wonder Flower. However, they are suddenly ambushed by Bowser and Kamek, with Bowser grabbing the Wonder Flower as Mario tries to stop him. This causes Bowser to fuse with Florian's castle and allows him to conquer the Flower Kingdom with an army of Cloud Piranhas. Seeking to stop Bowser, the Mario Bros. and their friends chase after him, with Nabbit tagging along behind them.

Throughout the game, Bowser works to slowly increase his Wonder power and hinders the heroes' progress by sending Kamek to summon airships, firing at them using his castle's cannons, and using the Wonder Flower to enhance Bowser Jr. during boss battles. Eventually, the heroes make it to Bowser's domain at the center of Petal Isles, where Bowser proceeds to assault them with hordes of Bullet Bills, Missile Mags, and giant, fiery fists.

Upon reaching Castle Bowser, the Koopa King reveals his true plan: to use the Wonder Flower to create an eternal rock-and-roll concert, "Bowser's Rage Stage", that will brainwash the entire universe. In the end, the heroes manage to overthrow Bowser, causing him to lose access to the Wonder Flower and fall to his defeat. Afterwards, Kamek attempts to rescue Bowser and Jr., only for him to lose his grip and cause the three of them to crash into the distance.

Spin-Off Appearances[]

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars[]

Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach in the opening of the game, taking her back to his Keep. Mario pursues Bowser, managing to defeat him and rescue Peach, however, a giant sword crashes into the castle, sending all three flying out of Bowser's Keep. Later into the game, while heading to Rose Town, Mario and Mallow spot Bowser rallying his troops to take back his castle. In Moleville, Mario spots Bowser again, although his forces have been since depleted, as they had no experience fighting with the tough members of the Smithy Gang and are scared off. Regardless, Bowser presses on, not wanting to let Mario see him in a weakened state and therefore lose his reputation.

At Booster Tower, Mario finds Bowser sulking at his forces' abandonment and his losses, until he realizes that he is being watched and feigns confidence. After he and Mario realize that Peach is being held at the top of the tower by Booster, Bowser walks off, but returns soon afterwards and helps Mario break down the tower door. Bowser then lets Mario "join" the Koopa Troop, and joins his party. Bowser subsequently assists Mario and his allies in their quest to stop Smithy and restore the Star Road, eventually succeeding.

Luigi's Mansion[]

Bowser makes a cameo appearance as the "Final Boss". Sometime before the events of Luigi's Mansion, it has been implied that Bowser was killed, and the Boos are planning to resurrect him. When King Boo was about to confront Luigi, he decided to use Bowser's body as a vessel to destroy his rival. After King Boo was defeated, Bowser is "revived" and decides to continue his various schemes to defeat the Mario Bros. and kidnap Princess Peach. However, it is revealed that it is only a costume of Bowser instead of his actual body.

Mario + Rabbids series[]

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle[]

Bowser does not appear for the majority of the game due to being on vacation, leaving Bowser Jr. in charge of his Kingdom in his absence. When Mario and his team encounter Bowser Jr. in Sherbet Desert, Bowser calls his son to check on how things are going, also revealing that he is likely unaware of the Rabbids infesting the entire Mushroom Kingdom. Towards the end of the game, Bowser returns from vacation and is attacked by the MegaBug, who beats him to near unconsciousness before fusing itself with him and creating MegaDragonBowser; the true final boss. After a hard-fought battle, Mario and his team manage to separate and destroy the MegaBug, leaving Bowser unconscious, as Bowser Jr. regrets his previous actions and prepares for his punishment once his father wakes up.

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope[]

Bowser's army is captured by Cursa, a fragment of the MegaBug granted sentience, and he goes out in search for them. He can be found in the Palette Prime, battling Bedrock. After defeating her, Bowser has no choice but to temporarily join Mario and friends in stopping Cursa, becoming a playable character. He wields the Bowzooka that can fire flaming rocks and can summon Rabbid Mechakoopas.

Paper Mario series[]

Main article: Paper Bowser

Mario & Luigi series[]

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga[]

Bowser tries to help Mario and Luigi get Peach's voice back when it was seemingly stolen by Cackletta, during which Bowser quickly became an enemy of Cackletta's minion, Fawful. After a cannon blast, Bowser spends half of the game with amnesia as Popple's assistant Rookie, and the other half possessed by Cackletta as Bowletta. When the Mario Bros. destroy Cackletta, Bowser is restored to normal, and dropped off at his castle on Peach's plane ride back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time[]

In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Bowser kidnaps Princess Shroob, who is disguised as Princess Peach, but his weight causes him to fall through the floor and into a time hole, where he pairs with his younger self to fight the Mario Bros. As a result of the Bowsers' defeat, Bowser falls in a time hole and is knocked out, where he is powered up by the spirit of Elder Princess Shroob. Bowser is defeated when the Mario Bros. trick him into reflecting Elder Princess Shroob's attacks back at her ghost, destroying her.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story[]

After losing to the Mario again, Fawful tricks him into eating a Vacuum Shroom causing him to inhale the Mario Bros., among others) to take his castle back and rule the Mushroom Kingdom himself. He gains a new rival in the form of Midbus facing him many times during the game. Eventually, Bowser destroys the Dark Star, which has taken the form of Dark Bowser, and Fawful self-destructs and forces Mario, Luigi, and the others out of Bowser. Furious to learn his nemeses have been inside his body, Bowser fights the Mario Bros. but they defeated him yet again. Taken back to his castle and nursing his injuries, Bowser is given a cake in gratitude for his role in saving the kingdom.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team[]

After the destruction of Evil Mario in the Dreamworld, Bowser, Kamek and his Elite Trio arrive on Pi'ilo Island after hearing about Antasma kidnapping Princess Peach. They team up when Antasma offers to give Bowser power to defeat the Mario Bros. By stealing the Dream Stone, Bowser and Antasma gain a powerful fortress, Neo Bowser Castle, and Bowser kidnaps Peach.

Mario and Luigi infiltrate Bowser and Antasma's castle where they battled Bowser in his dream world, where he powers up to an enormous size only to be defeated by Mario and Giant Luigi. Eventually, Bowser unexpectedly flings Antasma to the ground, revealing he had been using him and planning to betray him the whole time before leaving him to be defeated once and for all by the Mario Bros. while using the Dream Stone for himself. When the Dream Stone is destroyed by Starlow and Princess Peach's magic, Bowser inhales its dust to transform into Dreamy Bowser, but the Mario Bros. defeat him, returning him to normal and sending him flying into the distance, although he survives. Fleeing the island, blaming his defeat on Antasma, and swearing revenge, Bowser finally remembers Luigi's name (all through the Mario & Luigi games he calls him "Green Stache").

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam[]

After a magical book brings the Paper characters to the regular world, Bowser (who had been planning a massive invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom) is confronted by his paper self and the two get into a scuffle. Eventually, the two settle their rivalry over the rule of only one Bowser in the world and combine their armies to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. Although they work together to kidnap both Princess Peaches and defeat the Mario Bros. and Paper Mario, they both find each other very irritating and secretly plan to betray one another once they succeed in their goal of getting rid of both Marios (and Luigi). After the Mario Bros. raid their castle once and save the princesses, the Bowsers attack Peach's castle in retaliation for them defeating their Juniors.

At the end of the game, the two face the Mario Bros. in their flying castle and explain their plan to trap the trio in the magic book and burn it. The two combine with each other to create Shiny RoboBowser, although Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario are able to defeat it. Bowser is knocked back by the destruction of RoboBowser and plummets to the ground below from his castle, dropping the book in the process, while the trio uses the book on Paper Bowser and return him to his world, much to his dismay.

After all the paper denizens are returned to the book, Bowser, off-screen, is shown to be causing trouble yet again as Mario and Luigi go to confront him once again.

Mario Kart series[]

Bowser has appeared in every entry in the Mario Kart series, usually as one of the heaviest racers in the game. He shares that status with Wario, Donkey Kong, Roy Koopa, Petey Piranha, and Morton Koopa Jr.. In addition, his castle appears as a race track in every game of the series, usually the penultimate track in the Special Cup before Rainbow Road.

Mario Baseball series[]

Bowser is playable in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers as a powerful batter tied with Petey Piranha and King K Rool. In Challenge Mode, Bowser is featured alongside his team as the final opponents to be faced in Challenge Mode. He can only be faced when the player defeats all the other captains. When the player beats Bowser, the Bowser Castle stadium is unlocked. When he is defeated on Special difficulty, the player can play as Bowser in Challenge Mode. In this mode, Bowser must defeat the other captains, and then face of the team composed of nine out of ten of the captains and sub-captains who have taken over Bowser Castle.

In Mario Super Sluggers, he joins Bowser Jr. in taking over Baseball Island, sending his son to take over the Baseball Island. After Bowser Jr. loses in his playground, Bowser faces Mario's team. After losing twice, he becomes playable in challenge mode along with his team of Dry Bones, Hammer Bros., and Magikoopas.

Mario & Sonic series[]

Bowser is a playable character in every Mario & Sonic series installment, ever since Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for the Wii. Bowser is a Power type in every game he appears in.

Bowser first appears in the first game with the other Mario and Sonic characters. His power is the highest in the game beating Vector who is the second strongest with a decent amount of Stamina. Hammer Toss is his easier event. Bowser's six missions in the game are Pole Vault, in which he must clear the bar set at 5.70 meters twice; Javelin Throw, in which the player must throw the javelin between 50 and 55 meters; 400m Hurdles, in which the player must not knock over a single hurdle and finish with a time between 45 and 53 seconds; Hammer Throw; in which the hammer must be thrown between 50 and 55 meters; Singles, in which the player must win by scoring 7 points with smash shots; and Dream Fencing, in which the player must win by knocking their opponent out of the ring twice.

Bowser next appears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games where he plays hockey with Wario and Waluigi in the into to the game. He is joined by Bowser Jr. who is a new comer and has many of the same stats as before. In the Festival mode he can compete against his own family member Dry Bowser In the Adventure mode in the DS version, Bowser and Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik are the two main villains who kidnap the snow sprits to make their own winter Olympic games. One star sprit gets away though this does not concern them. Once Mario and Sonic find out they set off to stop them. Later in the adventure they come across, Rouge the Bat and offer her gemstones if she defeats the player. Once Rouge loses she demands them to realize the snow sprit. When they refuse, Rouge kicks them. However, the villains had managed to kidnap Frosty in the meantime and take him to Blizland, which they had turned into a common hideout that combined elements from Bowser's castles and Eggman's bases. When Sonic and Mario later reach the end of their hideout after freeing Frosty, Bowser and Eggman give them three final challenge to pass. The first is Blazing Bobsleigh, then Fever Hockey, and finally Extreme Snowboarding. Once their rivals have defeat them, they are disappointed that they lost, but are then angered about it and escape. In the aftermath, all the Snow Spirits have been freed and bring the snow back, thus allowing the winter Olympics to resume. After Bowser Jr. and Metal Sonic join the team, Bowser and Eggman can be challenged again. After losing, they decide to join the group to improve their skills.

Mario Party series[]

Bowser has appeared in every Mario Party game as the primary antagonist. His motive for each game varies, but it's mostly to cause misfortune to the players and prevent them from winning. In every game, he is given his own space, which when landed on by a player, Bowser appears and wreak havoc. There are also multiple minigames based around Bowser, where if a player loses, their coins, items, or stars will be taken. From the first Mario Party to Mario Party 7, Bowser is aided by a character named Koopa Kid, but he has since been replaced by Bowser Jr.

In Mario Party 9, his goals are a bit different than his past goals, he tries to collect all mini stars with a machine that he has in his secret base, so that he can decorate his castle with the stars. As usual, Mario and his friends notice his plans, and comes to the rescue, but this time Bowser has backup plans, he will send some of his most loyal minions (The Shy Guys and Kamek) to stop Mario from thwarting his plans. And if somehow that does not work, he will create bosses such as Wiggler, King Bob-omb, Bloopers, and King Boo with the mini stars to distract Mario.

Once Mario manages to come up to his space station, Bowser is the final boss again.

In almost every Mario Party game, he shows some sort of remorse, only to come back as the main antagonist again. That being said, he isn't always the final threat, as in Mario Party 3, Waluigi usurps his role by defeating him himself. He is a playable character in Mario Party 10 in the mode "Bowser Party", as well as the Nintendo Switch game Super Mario Party.

Yoshi Safari[]

Bowser and the Koopalings invade Jewellery Land, kidnapping King Fret and Prince Pine and they also steal twelve magical gems, causing Jewellery Land to split into the Light Realm and Dark Realm. Aimed with the Super Scope, Mario and Yoshi head to Jewelry Land to stop Bowser's plan.

After all levels are cleared in the Dark Realm, the duo are given access to Bowser's Castle. After defeating multiple enemies in their way, Mario and Yoshi fall into a pit and are confronted by their old nemesis. Wearing armor, Bowser is invulnerable with the exception of the blaster cannons on his arms. Once they are destroyed, the chest plate opens and exposes Bowser's belly. Hitting it enough times causes the armor to break off. Bowser's arms are the only vulnerable part, and attack by throwing Koopa shells. After both are damaged enough, they are disabled in bandages and Bowser opens his mouth to breath fire. Shooting his mouth enough times defeats Bowser, surrendering holding two white flags. The game's credits say that Bowser and the Koopalings retreat back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario Discovery series[]

Main article: Bowser (The Software Toolworks)

Hotel Mario[]

Main article: Bowser (CD-i)

Super Smash Bros. series[]

Super Smash Bros. Melee[]

Bowser makes his playable debut in the Super Smash Bros. series as a playable character. His design resembles his appearance from the Nintendo 64 era in games such as Mario 64 and Mario kart 64. He appears as a foe in events 1 and 18. He also appears as the final boss in the game's Adventure Mode. After defeated, he reverts back into a trophy; however, if the Mode has been cleared in less than 18 minutes, the Trophy rises back onto the stage and falls apart, revealing a new form of Bowser, being Giga Bowser.

Giga Bowser also appears in the 51st and final Event Match "The Showdown" along with Mewtwo and Ganondorf.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]

Bowser returns as a playable character where his depiction resembles his current design and also gains a more serious appearance. He also gains the Final Smash, Giga Bowser. He also appears as a major antagonist and recurring boss in the game's story mode; the Subspace Emissary.

In Subspace Emissary, Bowser commands the Subspace Army alongside Ganondorf and both work for the Master Hand. He, along with Wario, set out to find and capture several of the Smash Bros. characters. Bowser first appears in the DK Jungle confronting Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. He has a special gun that will turn any character into a trophy. He aims it at Diddy but DK super punches him far away and gets turned into a trophy instead. After finding Fox McCloud, Diddy finds a Bowser trophy laying around but it was a fake and it dissolves into little shadow bugs. The real Bowser appears and attacks the two. Though Diddy wants to fight Bowser, Fox knows he is too dangerous and the two escape.

Later in the game, Bowser runs into Kirby and whichever princess he saved from Petey Piranha. Bowser turns that princess into a trophy and has the shadow bugs turn into a dark clone of that princess. He then takes the princess aboard the Halberd and leaves the clone to deal with Kirby and other characters. He then receives a transmission from Ganondorf to go to King Dedede's castle and retrieve the other princess trophy. Browser does so and with his Koopa troops, they storm the castle, knock out King Dedede and take the princess trophy. He is pursued outside the castle by Mario, Link, Pit, Kirby, and Yoshi but he escapes and retreats to the Halberd.

With the princesses successfully captured, Bowser goes after Diddy Kong again and this time turns him into a trophy. He goes after Fox but the fox is too fast for the ray gun. Bowser creates a False Diddy Kong to prevent Fox from escaping. But right before he could shoot Fox, Falco Lombardi, Fox’s friend, attacks Bowser and destroys his Dark Cannon, rescuing Fox. Bowser flees while Shadow Bugs make the False Diddy Kong giant and attacks the duo. Fox immediately revives Diddy to help him and Falco to defeat the Giant False Diddy Kong.

Bowser is seen later aboard the giant Subspace Gunship with Ganondorf. Mario, Link, Kirby, Pit, Yoshi, Peach, Zelda, the Ice Climbers, Lucas, Captain Falcon, Captain Olimar, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Fox, Falco, Meta Knight, Lucario, Mr. Game & Watch, Pikachu, Pokémon Trainer, Ike, Marth, R.O.B., and Snake all united, fly toward the ship and Ganondorf open fires on the ships, but Kirby uses the Dragoon and destroys the core of the ship; causing it to explode. Ganondorf and Bowser retreat into subspace in time. As the villains head to meet the Master Hand, Bowser is betrayed by Ganondorf and turned into a trophy by him and pushed aside. Ganondorf and Master Hand meet and are both betrayed by the true villain of subspace, Tabuu. Tabuu knocks the Master Hand unconscious and turns Ganondorf, along with all the heroes into its trophies.

Miles away, King Dedede, Ness, and Luigi are brought back to life and they enter subspace and bring the heroes back to life. Halfway through, they find Bowser's trophy and Dedede revives him. Bowser reawakens in rage and King Dedede engages in battle with him. Dedede wins and Bowser is turned back into a trophy. The same thing happens again but this time Dedede shuts him up and directs him to the fallen Master Hand (whose state dismays Bowser), telling him that Tabuu is the real enemy and they must work together. Bowser then reluctantly joins the groups of heroes. When the rest of the heroes are revived, Bowser finds Ganondorf's trophy with Kirby and continuously beats it in vengeance and storms off. Bowser then joins the heroes in the Great Maze, beating the clone fighters to make their way to the final fight against Tabuu, and they defeat him as well. They are all seen standing proudly on the cliff at the end after saving their world from being assimilated into subspace.

Super Smash Bros. For 3DS/Super Smash Bros. For Wii U[]

Bowser returns as a playable character but, unlike his more serious Super Smash Bros. Brawl design, Bowser now more closely resembles himself from the Mario games, albeit a bit more feral/aggressive-looking. Bowser is shown to be more athletic and agile compared to his previous counterparts, as well as stand straight up as opposed to his slouching. He also transforms into Giga Bowser as his Final Smash.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]

Bowser returns as a playable character and, while he still transforms into Giga Bowser as his Final Smash, Giga Bowser is much more larger and powerful than before, this time punching a certain area of the screen, instantly causing a KO to anyone who is caught in his punch. His Classic Mode route, titled "The Red One. Every Red One!" has him battling red opponents, ending with him facing against Mario and later Metal Mario. Bowser is also one of the many fighters who helps to fight Galeem and Dharkon. He is no longer the biggest fighter having been outclassed by Ridley

Bowser is also represented in several spirits, including Baby Bowser and Paper Bowser. Bowser in his wedding outfit appears as an ace primary grab type that can be obtained automatically by scanning the Bowser (Wedding) Amiibo. It can also be fought in a spirit battle against Bowser on the New Donk City Hall stage that has increased attack power and favors dash attacks. Peach will appear as an ally to the player, and the player will lose automatically if she is KO'd. Dry Bowser appears as a legendary primary shield type that increases fire attacks. His spirit battle is against Bowser on the Battlefield form of Reset Bomb Forest with a lava floor and the opponent can breathe fire via curry and increased defenses.

Fury Bowser is a legendary primary attack type first introduced in the "Bowser's Fury" event that increases fire attacks. His spirit battle is against a giant metal Bowser on the Ω form of Find Mii that can breathe fire via curry after a little while and may randomly obtain a sudden Final Smash. Bowser is also represented in the River Survival spirit, an advanced support type that grants an immunity to tripping. Its spirit battle is against Bowser, Yoshi, Rosalina, and Kirby (representing a Goomba) on the Ω form of Kongo Falls where the player has to survive a minute as Bob-ombs drop from the sky.

Other Media[]

Other Video Game Appearances[]

Tetris[]

In the original, Bowser makes a cameo appearance with Donkey Kong, Link, Pit, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Samus Aran, playing in a band together to congratulate the player. For the band, Bowser plays the accordion.

In Tetris DS, during the standard mode, a Bowser sprite from the original Super Mario Bros. can be seen on the touch screen in stage ten. Additionally, if the player has between 8,000 to 8,999 Tetris points, and views their points, Bowser's sprite can be seen on the top screen.

The Legend of Zelda series[]

A portrait of Bowser and other Mario characters can be seen by looking into one of the windows of the Castle Courtyard. Also, the characters Malon and Talon (the latter bearing an ironic resemblance to Mario), both wear Bowser broaches.

In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Romani and Cremia also wear Bowser broaches.

Miscellaneous[]

In F-1 Race, Bowser, along with various other Nintendo characters, waves at the player once they complete a circuit.

In the SNES port of SimCity, one of the various natural disasters the player can cause is a Bowser attack, in which they summon Bowser in the place of one of the various Godzilla-esque monsters. As such, Bowser will trample through and destroy the player's city.

In the English version of Pikmin 2, one of the game's many collectible treasures, the "Flame of Tomorrow" matchbox, is emblazoned with Bowser's face and is said to hold "Bowser's Breath" brand matches. In the Japanese version, the brand is instead called "Sun Breath".

In Bayonetta 2 and the Wii U and Switch versions of Bayonetta, the titular character can summon Bowser's limbs as Wicked Weaves when wearing the Princess Peach or Daisy costumes.

Films[]

Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen![]

Main article: King Koopa (Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!)

Super Mario Bros. (1993)[]

Main article: President Koopa

A much different interpretation of Bowser appears as the main antagonist of the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film, portrayed by the late Dennis Hopper. In this version, Bowser, or President Koopa, is the tyrannical ruler of Dinohatten, an alternate universe version of New York City in which humanity evolved from reptiles instead of mammals, who desires to merge the two worlds together and eradicate all mammals.

Wreck-It Ralph[]

Bowser makes several minor appearances in Disney's 52nd full-length animated feature film as the story team cannot find a way to properly utilize Mario. In the film, Bowser is a member of the "Bad Guys Anonymous" club, seen in the opening of the film sitting next to Zangief and Dr. Eggman. Bowser listens to Ralph talking about his problems; however, when he states that he does not want to be the bad guy anymore, he breathes flames in shock. Like the other villains, Bowser is seen performing the group's oath and leaves the club afterwards. After Ralph's adventure, Bowser and the other Bad-Anon members are seen at the end of the film listening to Ralph again.

In relation to the film, when Wreck-It Ralph loses the Oscar vote, Bowser apparently uses Nintendo of America's Twitter account to tweet "RAWR! Wreck-It Ralph got robbed!". Later, during a San Diego Comic-Con interview, Mario expresses unsubtle jealousy in Bowser being in the film instead of him but states he still wants his enemy to be a star, because, that way, he will be less inclined to kidnap the Princess.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie[]

Main article: Bowser (The Super Mario Bros. Movie)

Bowser is the main antagonist of Illumination Entertainment and Nintendo's 2023 film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, voiced by Jack Black.

Cartoons[]

Main article: King Koopa (Mario Cartoons)

King Koopa appears as the main antagonist of all three DiC Mario cartoons, voiced by the late Harvey Atkin. In all three series', King Koopa would enact various plots to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and destroy the Mario Brothers, only to be consistently foiled in the end. During the first series, The Super Mario Brothers Super Show, King Koopa has already conquered the majority of the Mushroom Kingdom, leaving Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad to search for ways to defeat him whilst liberating or saving different areas of the Kingdom from him.

Unique to this series alone, King Koopa often adopts various aliases or disguises when executing his schemes, like King K. Rool. In the following series, King Koopa loses his control over the Mushroom Kingdom and plots to regain it, now with the assistance of the Koopa Kids. King Koopa, in live-action form, also appears as the main antagonist of the short-lived spinoff series King Koopa's Kool Kartoons, in which he and his minions take over a TV studio and broadcast cartoons while giving out prizes to children.

Other[]

Bowsette[]

Bowsette or Koopa-Hime [(Japanese: クッパ姫 & English: Princess Koopa)], is a "meme" form of Bowser which was created by the Internet.

On September 13, 2018 Nintendo created their new trailer for the video game New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. In the trailer, a new power is seen for Toadette named the Super Crown. When Toadette uses this power-up, it makes Toadette turn into a hybrid of herself and Princess Peach called "Peachette".

After the trailer, on September 19, 2018, a Malaysian artist known by the names Ayyk92 and Haniwa, posted a comic on Twitter, from which Bowsette originates. In the comic, Bowser and Mario both get rejected by Peach, which makes Bowser take the Super Crown and transform into a Peach-esque women, after which s/he Mario get together to make Peach jealous.

Despite being a meme character, it was Nintendo that has indirectly spawned the original character amongst the Nintendo community as their introduction of the “Super Crown” in New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe. The popularity of the character also spawned new gender-bender characters like King Boo's Princess Booette, False Princess Peach and Chain Chompette.

Doug Bowser[]

After former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime retired from his position, the next president hired was a man named Doug Bowser. Nintendo fans quickly memed the fact that the new president of Nintendo of America is named "Bowser". Nintendo themselves also acknowledged this coincidence during E3 2019 when their conference began with a gag where Bowser crashed the event briefly before Doug Bowser appeared and told Bowser that "[he's] the right Bowser for this presentation", after which Bowser is left confused.

Past[]

While the majority of Bowser's life are unclear, it is hinted by Bowser himself that he had stressfully lived a joyless life. He clearly lived in rough conditions while growing up in the harsh environment of the Dark Lands, as it is ritualistic for a royal Koopa wedding to involve the sacrificing of prisoners. It is unknown whether Bowser had originated from a royal bloodline of the Koopa race or if he ascended to power through sheer power and cruelty. As no references are made to any members of his family, it is also likely Kamek raised an orphaned Bowser (like in Yoshi's Island), which would explain why he values Kamek above all his other minions and why he would seek his advice that a father figure would give in courting others. However, this would not make Kamek an exception to the abuse he gives to his army. No mention is made of any possible offspring, implying that Bowser doesn't have any children unlike in the video games, whether biological or adopted.

What is known is that he commanded his fierce army of monsters from a floating volcanic fortress, with Kamek as his royal advisor and second-in-command, and the Koopa General as his field commander. In time, Bowser became infamous throughout his world, possibly by committing various crimes against the other kingdoms. At some point in his life, Bowser encountered Princess Peach, ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Charmed by her seductive beauty, courage and high spirit, the Koopa King made it his life goal to make the princess his lawfully wedded bride, no matter the cost. Peach, on the other hand, utterly despises Bowser for all the atrocities he's done and has likely fought with him a few times in the past. In an effort to both defeat and impress Peach, Bowser sought out the Super Star, an incredibly rare power-up that would make anyone literally invincible, and after years of searching, discovered that the inhabitants of the Snow Kingdom were in possession of one.

The Super Mario Bros Movie[]

Obtaining the Super Star[]

In the opening scene, Bowser and his army are shown arriving at the Snow Kingdom where the Koopas are deployed from the airship before Kamek announces the arrival of Bowser. Storming out of the airship towards the Snow Kingdom's gates, Bowser demands that they open the gates or face death. The Penguins respond by actually opening the gates as demanded, and then attempt to fight the Koopas by barraging them with snowballs. However, their size results in the snowballs barely affecting Bowser or his troops. After the Penguin King asks if he will give up, Bowser declines and signals Kamek to use his sorcery to move them aside. Bowser then uses his fire breath to destroy the icy kingdom, and Kamek uses his magic to levitate some debris for him to use as a staircase. Eventually, Bowser activates a Question Mark Block amongst the destroyed castle and reveals the Super Star that he searched for years. Confident that no one will stand a chance against him now, Bowser boasts over his victory.

Following this, he and his army celebrate by listening to heavy metal music and partying. After getting their attention, Bowser reveals his plan; to use the Super Star to force Princess Peach into marrying him. This leaves his minions perplexed, as Peach heavily dislikes him for his cruelty. When one Koopa asks what will happen if she refuses, Bowser responds to this by burning him alive with his fire breath, rendering him as a Dry Bones, before explaining that if Peach does reject him, he will use said star to destroy the kingdom she rules; The Mushroom Kingdom.

Learning of Mario and Meeting Luigi[]

Later on, Bowser can be seen playing his piano while passionately singing about Peach before Kamek interrupts him, much to his fury. He lets him know that the princess has been training a "mustachioed human" to stop him. Paranoid that this person could be a supposed suitor for Peach, Bowser invites Kamek to play the piano with him. Once he asks Kamek if he believes that Peach could be interested in the human, to which he says that he has nothing to worry about, an irritated Bowser slams the piano case down on his fingers, much to the wizard's pain. Bowser then storms off while refusing to let Kamek free himself, commenting that "pain is the best teacher".

A group of Shy Guys and a single Snifit would later come to Bowser, bringing him a man in a green shirt with overalls who, as the Snifit announces, ended up in the Darklands. As Kamek holds him in place with his magic, they learn that the man's name is Luigi. Noticing his mustache, Bowser realizes the resemblance he has with the other human Kamek told him about. He then proceeds to tell Luigi that he plans to marry Peach and rule the world, and then asks about his connection with the other human. When Luigi initially refuses to tell him anything, Bowser starts pulling at his mustache hair as means of torturing him for information. Eventually, Luigi cracks and tells the Koopa King that the human is in fact his brother, Mario. Bowser then asks Luigi "DO PRINCESSES FIND HIM (Mario) ATTRACTIVE!", and he exclaims "THEY DO IF THEY HAVE GOOD TASTE!". Having been unintentionally insulted, Bowser furiously tears off a chunk of Luigi's mustache, throws Luigi away, and orders the Shy Guys and the Snifit to take him away, exclaiming that he will make Mario suffer by killing his brother before his eyes. Luigi is then locked in the dungeon with the other prisoners, including the penguins and a Lumalee.

Ambushing the Enemy and Coercing the Princess[]

Bowser later can be seen practicing his proposal for Peach with Kamek dressed like the latter when the Koopa General informs him that she and Mario have recruited the Kong army and are on their way to ambush him. However, Bowser is only concerned over the fact that Peach was impressed by him. As means of a countermeasure, he ambushes them first while they were driving on Rainbow Road. The attack results in the Koopa General sending Mario and Donkey Kong down into the water below, presumably to their deaths. Meanwhile, the rest of the Kongs such as Cranky Kong are imprisoned and Peach and Toad are forced to retreat back to the Mushroom Kingdom to evacuate the citizens and prepare for Bowser's inevitable arrival.

Bowser and his army soon arrive in the Mushroom Kingdom, where he tries to propose to Peach, asking her if she would like to marry him and take over the world as his bride. Peach harshly rejects him but is forced to change her mind after Kamek starts torturing Toad with his magic at the King's demand. Peach and a weaken Toad are then captured and brought on Bowser's ship.

Fight at the Altar[]

At the wedding, Bowser reveals that to Peach that he intends of executing his prisoners in the former's honor, much to her disgust and horror. As Kamek is about announce Peach and Bowser wife and husband, the former punches him away and reveals that she would never marry Bowser. She quickly pulls out an Ice Flower Toad smuggled in her bouquet and transforms into Ice Peach. A furious Bowser calls off the wedding and attempts to incinerate Peach with his fire breath. She quickly jumps out of the way and manages to freeze Bowser, shutting his eyes close before fighting his angry minions. Shortly after Mario and Donkey Kong arrive and help free the prisoners and shoo off the minions, the former is able to reunite with Peach and his brother. Bowser manages to open his eyes and sees Mario and Peach are enjoying each other's company before holding hands. Consumed by rage and jealousy, Bowser burns the ice blocking his head and orders his minions to launch a Bomber Bill to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom. Luckily Mario was able to rush out and stop it by sending it into the warp zone. However following the detonation of said Bomber Bill, the resulting shockwave causes Bowser's castle and everyone in its vicinity to get transported to Brooklyn.

Final Battle at Brooklyn[]

Upon recovering, Bowser spots Mario running for the Super Star. Furious, the Koopa cuts him off before he could touch it and proceeds to punch him into a car before breathing fire at the said car. He proceeds to approach the fleeing Mario while blaming him for ruining his wedding, claiming he was finally gonna be happy and now he is gonna make him suffer just like him through the giant pain of his brutal wrath before throwing a boulder at him. He then picks up and throws Mario into another car, pick up that car, and throws it at Mario. As Mario continues his attempt to escape, Bowser whacks him with his tail and he flies into the Punch-Out Pizzeria, giving him various wounds on his face and causing him to limp, forcing him to fearfully take cover. Bowser proceeds to taunt Mario for thinking he could stop him before taunting him for being too scared to fight. Suddenly, Peach runs up and gives Bowser a heel kick in the face, followed by Donkey Kong hitting the the Koopa down with Toad watching, all three attempting to protect Mario. Bowser, now filled with even more rage, quickly gets up and tackles all three of them, leaving Peach and Toad to get captured by Bowser's Minions while Donkey Kong is pummeled.

Bowser then attempts to kill Donkey Kong by gutting him with his claws before a battered Mario intervenes and stands up to him, proving Bowser wrong about his earlier statement by showing no fear, much to the Koopa's anger as he complains over how he supposedly never gives up no matter what happens. Mario simply laughs in response, commenting how he's "been told that before". Peach then proceeds to use a nearby Koopa shell to knock the Super Star away from Bowser and encourages Mario to use it. Frantic, Bowser attempts to stop the plumber by burning him alive with his fire breath, but Luigi saves Mario at the last second using a manhole to block the flames. Together, the duo make a dash for the Super Star and it initially seems like they weren't able to touch it before being scorched, much to Bowser's satisfaction. It's immediately revealed afterward that they absorbed the star's power to become invincible, as Bowser drops his smile and attempts to give them a giant kick to the face. It has no effect, however, and his cockiness immediately turns into shock right before the two finally punch him back at a far distance away.

Refusing to back down despite the circumstances and his knowledge of the Super Star, Bowser foolishly orders his minions to attack the brothers. However, Mario and Luigi easily take down all of his troops before fighting Bowser himself, who continuously attempts to resist them as they heavily overpower the Koopa, pummeling him back and as Bowser foolishly continues to keep fighting them despite the heavy blows. Mario and Luigi then proceed to throw him into the air, punching him down and violently bashing him in the face through the head of his castle, destroying it and finally defeating Bowser.

Humiliation and Imprisonment[]

Too injured to continue fighting or even move, Bowser could only beg Peach to give him one more chance, which she justifiably refuses and forcibly makes him eat a Mini Mushroom to shrink him small, allowing Toad to put him in a jar as he screams "That is NOT cool!" and later a bird cage inside of Peach's castle as punishment for his crimes and villainy. Meanwhile, Mario jokingly claims that he got her the pet turtle he promised her while back on Rainbow Road. He is shown grumbling as the citizens cheer on Mario's team for stopping Bowser and for saving the day.

In the post-credits scene, Bowser is singing his song “Peaches” again in his cage after being imprisoned, lamenting how Mario, Luigi and Donkey Kong ruined his plans and how his army was useless against them, but promises to keep going with his goal to make Peach his. However, Bowser is interrupted by a Toad guard who tells him to be quiet and calls him a "little guy", similar to what Bowser called Mario earlier. He begins ranting, only for the Toad to shut the door on him mid-sentence and leave him in complete darkness, much to Bowser's irritation.

It's currently likely that Bowser will return in the sequel and to his normal size, break out of jail and take his revenge on Peach, the Kongs, the Toads and the Super Mario Bros.

Powers And Abilities[]

Weaknesses[]

Relationships[]

Mario[]

Bowser's relationship with Mario is about as complex as it is long-standing. Bowser usually sees Mario as the greatest threat to him and the Koopa Troop, him being the one who consistently foils his plans, and, as such, almost all of his schemes include a way to destroy or at least distract his archenemy so he does not interfere. Mario, meanwhile, dislikes Bowser because of how many times he's endangered those he cares about.

Bowser also sees Mario as, more or less, the one thing that stands between him and Princess Peach, and although their love rivalry is fairly one-sided, it is nevertheless prominent, best shown in the ending of Super Mario Odyssey, where the two compete over Princess Peach's hand in marriage, only to both be rejected due to their immaturity. However, despite the years and years the two have spent feuding, Bowser values Mario as an enemy, stating in Super Mario Galaxy that he "chose the right guy to be his archenemy".

Likewise, in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Bowser fears the idea of Mario seeing him in his position of weakness, not wanting to lose his reputation as a villain and acts tough in front of him to hide his insecurity. Similarly, he became more drive to defeat Bedrock after he noticed Mario was watching them with a look of concern. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, Captain Goomba almost immediately realizes that something is off about Bowser (who was really Bowletta in disguise) when he orders Mario to be outright destroyed, taking note of how harsh he was being, even with their history.

In many of the RPG games, it is shown that Bowser is willing to work with Mario if a bigger threat is on the rise, although he makes his reluctance and disdain of doing so very clear. Regardless, he hates the idea of helping Mario without knowing it, as, in Bowser's Inside Story, he rages and tries to kidnap Peach again upon learning that Mario and Luigi had been secretly assisting him in fighting Fawful and Dark Bowser from inside his body.

While disliking Bowser for constantly trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnapping Peach, Mario does not return the hatred of Bowser that the Koopa King carries for him, and is almost always willing to work with him if it is necessary. In Super Mario Odyssey, after they are both briefly rejected by Princess Peach, Mario actually shows some sympathy towards Bowser, seemingly recognizing what it feels like to be rejected, albeit briefly. As a show of their somewhat mutual trust, it is stated (or at least implied) in Paper Mario: Color Splash that Mario and Bowser arrange friendly go-kart races together from time to time.

Luigi[]

Like with Mario, Bowser dislikes Luigi and continuously plots his downfall, again seeing him as a dangerous and formidable opponent for him and the Koopa Troop. However, despite fighting with Luigi for nearly as long as Mario, like many residents of the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser underrates Luigi and sees him as inferior to Mario, not fully considering him but also not truly discounting him as a threat. As a show of his lack of respect for Luigi, in the Mario & Luigi games, Bowser almost never refers to him by name, often forgetting it and instead just calls him "Green 'Stache". It is only at the end of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team that Bowser actually remembers to refer to Luigi by name then on, while declaring that he'll never give up and swearing to fight the two brothers again.

Like Mario, Luigi does not show the same hatred that Bowser carries for him, and is also willing to work with him when necessary. Comparatively, he shows more apprehension of him compared to his brother.

Princess Peach[]

One of the most complex aspects of his personality, Bowser's relationship with Princess Peach has developed far more than with any other character. In the original games and even some of the modern ones to certain degrees, Bowser sees the princess as a tool that he can use to acquire her kingdom. In the original Super Mario Bros., it is stated that Bowser kidnapped her purely because she could undo his spell over the Mushroom people using her magic.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, it is implied that Bowser kidnaps Peach simply because he enjoys the thrill of it, regarding holding Peach captive while Mario comes to save her as "the good old days".

Later into the game, when Geno suggests to Peach that, if the Star Road is not fixed, she may never be saved from Bowser, he is temporarily enthralled by the idea, before being forced to choose between capturing Peach forever and getting his keep back from the Smithy Gang. In many of the RPGs, Bowser seemingly possesses an odd obsession and pride with kidnapping Princess Peach, always becoming enraged when another villain tries to do the same, declaring that he is the only one who allowed to do so.

However, over the years, Bowser has been shown as having an unrequited crush on Princess Peach, which serves as the main reason why he constantly captures her, although it is unknown if this is something he possessed since the beginning or developed over time. At heart, Bowser actually does hold legitimate love for Peach, writing in his diary in Paper Mario that he hopes Peach will like him and trying to receive her affection after doing good deeds or making accomplished feats in games such as the aforementioned Super Mario RPG or Mario Power Tennis. In Bowser's Inside Story, it is shown that Peach is Bowser's most carefully preserved memory.

In Super Paper Mario, when Count Bleck and Nastasia force the marriage between him and Peach in order to unleash the Chaos Heart, Bowser is overjoyed, and later refers to Peach as his wife throughout the game, even though she points out the entire wedding was a sham. Despite his affection, Bowser rarely considers Peach's well-being or happiness, constantly abducting her at any opportunity and endangering her people, friends and loved ones, and, if it comes down to it, he is fully willing to personally fight her to get what he wants or if she gets in his way, such as in Super Princess Peach, Super Mario 3D World and Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Princess Peach has seemingly been aware of Bowser's crush on her since reading his diary in Paper Mario. Naturally, despite Bowser's efforts, Princess Peach does not return his affection and often makes her disgust very clear whenever Bowser becomes upfront about his feelings, although he never gives up regardless. Princess Peach has often tried to use Bowser's feelings as a means of advantage, having sweet-talked him into helping out, and trying to convince him to stop his evil plans if he values her love more than once. Even with their awkward relationship, Princess Peach does see some good in Bowser and values it whenever shown, teaming up with him for the greater good on various occasions, baking him a cake for helping save the Mushroom Kingdom in Bowser's Inside Story, even after he tried to kidnap her again, and being hesitant to continue after his presumed sacrifice in Super Paper Mario.

Bowser Jr.[]

Bowser Jr. is Bowser's son and only known family. He shares Bowser's hatred of Mario and company, and plots with Bowser to help defeat them and take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser loves and adores his son, and is shown to be overprotective and proud. In an advertisement for the Nintendo Switch parental controls, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are shown playing games, talking about hobbies (including clobbering Mario in Mario Kart) and otherwise enjoying each other's company. He bears a striking resemblance to a young Bowser.

The Koopalings[]

The Koopalings, consisting of: Larry Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr., Wendy O. Koopa, Iggy Koopa, Roy Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, and Ludwig von Koopa, used to be depicted as Bowser's children. However, since the introduction of Bowser Jr., the Koopalings have typically been depicted as just high-ranking members of the Koopa Troop, now referring to him as "Lord Bowser" instead of "King Dad". However, in multiple translations of Mario manuals across the world, they are still depicted as being related to Bowser. Bowser hasn't interacted with the present Koopalings much, but in the past, he encouraged their aggressive behavior and evil acts, used Ludwig's inventions for his evil plans, and gave in to Wendy's whining.

Yoshi[]

While not as profound of an enemy as Mario or even Luigi, Bowser still sees Yoshi as arguably his third greatest threat and is not hesitant to eliminate him. In his childhood, Bowser possessed a bratty desire to ride Yoshi when he and Mario arrived at his castle to rescue Luigi, and, afterwards, would antagonize them on various occasions by stealing their cookies and even their Super Happy Tree. In the NES port of Mario's Time Machine, Bowser kidnaps Yoshi when he and Mario attempt to stop him. In Yoshi Topsy-Turvey, Bowser attacks Yoshi's Island directly and fights with Yoshi himself. On two different occasions, Bowser has traveled back to the past and fought with Yoshi, the first being in Yoshi's Island DS, and the second in Yoshi's New Island, where his intention was to directly stop Yoshi from reuniting Mario with Luigi so that the brothers would never grow up to oppose and defeat him.

Wario and Waluigi[]

Although their interactions are limited, Bowser, like many others, generally dislikes and looks down on Wario and Waluigi, and they find themselves opposing each other on various occasions. In the opening cutscene of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Bowser suffers from a black eye after Wario unintentionally hits him with a golf ball, and attacks the duo with Bob-ombs in response. In Mario Super Sluggers, Bowser prevents the scheming plumbers from attacking Mario with a Bullet Bill, knocking the bullet right back at them. In Mario Power Tennis, Bowser decides to employ Wario and Waluigi to help ruin the tournament, harshly training them to improve their tennis skills, before assisting them in trying to destroy the Mario Bros. with Bob-ombs and collectively being defeated by their own explosives. Bowser and Wario also worked together in the Subspace Army though their methods of capturing fighters were different.

Dr. Eggman[]

Bowser gets along well with Dr. Eggman, as the two of them have a lot in common. They share the same ideals of both world conquest (which can extend to even universal) and desire to defeat their archenemies whom they hate with a passion for who always thwarting them. Bowser and Dr. Eggman like hanging out together like they are best friends, doing all kinds of evil hobbies. In fact, in Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, they both conspire to ruin the Olympics with a fog machine. In Wreck-It Ralph, they are members of Bad-Anon, which is a support group for bad guys of the arcade games at Litwak's Arcade. They have worked together in the Olympic games as well.

Allies[]

• Koopa Army
  • Kamek - Second-in-Command, Advisor, and Best Friend
  • Koopa General - High-Ranking Lieutenant 𐠒

Enemies[]

• Mario Bros. & Family
  • Mario - Arch-Nemesis & Love Rival
  • Luigi - Former Prisoner & Sworn Enemy
  • Mario and Luigi's parents
  • Uncle Tony
  • Uncle Arthur
• Mushroom Kingdom
  • Princess Peach - One-Sided Lust Interest & Archenemy
  • Toad - Former Prisoner & Captor
  • Toads
• Penguins
  • Penguin King - Former Prisoner and Attempted Victim
• Kongs
  • Donkey Kong - Attempted Victim
  • Cranky Kong - Former Prisoner
  • Diddy Kong
  • Dixie Kong
  • Chunky Kong

Quotes[]

Other[]

Peaches Lyrics[]

His Evil Ranking[]

What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]

• Made a deal with Mephistopheles, selling his soul to him in exchange for giving Bowser’s army a power boost.
• Lead a genocidal war on the Mushroom Kingdom which ended with him wiping out nearly every single Toad.
• Doing things like routinely imprisoning people on mass due to being traitors and enemies, and likely killing anyone who betrayed him.
• Planned to conquer Daisy’s kingdom Sarasaland and expand his empire even further across the entire world.
• Lacks most of the redeeming traits of his canon counterpart and is overall presented as much more serious and dangerous threat.
• While Mephistopheles is obviously way worse, Bowser has less resources, even if he is quite powerful and has his own crime of committing genocide on the Toads, something which has a major on-screen impact and is central to the plot. There is also no proof Mephistopheles specifically ordered Bowser to do this, even if he certainly did enjoy that it happened.

What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]

• He still cares about Peach and his son Bowser Jr., to the point where Mephistopheles is actually able to use the former's death to manipulate Bowser, and shows horror when Mephistopheles plans to show his son no mercy after he kills him.

His Evil Ranking Part 2[]

What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]

In General[]

• He had an infamous reputation so great that everyone in his world was aware, with Toad calling him the "most evil wretched creature alive". This heavily implies that he has committed several other crimes in the past.
• Despite his claims to be "in love" with Princess Peach, it isn't a mitigating factor, as it is only a lustful obsession, not genuine affection. This was most evident when he attempted to incinerate her as soon as she rejected him during their forced wedding. Moreover he didn't hesitate to hurt her at Brooklyn.
  • Even worse, he is fully aware that Peach hates him to the core, but claims that it makes him love her even more. This shows that he doesn't value her feelings or consent at all and also explains why he is willing to do things that would disgust her in order to get her to marry him.
  • While he's seemingly insecure about proposing to Peach and being contested for her love by Mario (who in reality had no intention (at least at that point) of wooing Peach, considering he only just met her and was focused on rescuing his brother Luigi), it's never really played for sympathy.
• He's shown to be a bad boss towards his minions, such as not remembering the name of the Spinies' species (merely referring to them as "Whatever those things are"), burning a Koopa alive and turning him into a Dry Bones after he simply asks him what he'll do if Peach refuses to marry him solely out of curiosity, having a few of them locked in cages with the other prisoners, squashing three Piranha Plants while practicing a proposal to Peach and ordering them all to attack the Mario Bros. even after they became invincible with the Super Star.
  • The other Dry Bones that attacked Luigi in Bowser’s courtyard imply that he may have also burned his other soldiers for similar reasons.
  • Even his closest minion, and possibly his only friend, Kamek is not exempt from this abuse, as shown when Bowser crushed his fingers under the top of his piano case after he informed him of Mario's presence and association with Peach, not even allowing the latter to free himself immediately. He also declared to Kamek that "pain is the best teacher".
  • When the Koopa General sacrificed himself in order to kill both Mario and Donkey Kong, he paid no attention to his death and was simply happy that his enemies were seemingly defeated.
• He imprisons his victims and those who defy him in a large chamber full of cages suspended over a pool of lava and guarded by Koopas in clown-copters.
  • At some point, he also imprisoned Lumalee, a child Luma who had been imprisoned for so long that he lost all his sanity, becoming darkly nihilistic, cynical, and suicidal.
• While he implies that he had a miserable past while fighting Mario with how he says "I was finally gonna be happy! Now you will suffer, LIKE ME!", there's not enough context to know the full picture. It is more a pretext in his attempt to kill Mario. Not only that but he was already an evil character before the events of the film, which is indicated by Toad.
• Even before to meet Mario he already hated him to death just because he was taken in by Peach. It implies that Bowser totally hates humans and wants to kill all those he meets.
• Unlike most other Illumination villains and his original version, he has no redeeming qualities and is taken seriously most of the time. He especially becomes terrifying whenever he becomes angry.

In Movie[]

• As soon as he's introduced, he demanded the penguins to open their castle's gates, threatening them with death if they didn't comply, and after he had the penguins captured, he burned through their castle and stole their Super Star.
• He planned to use the Super Star to conquer all of the other kingdoms and have Princess Peach marry him, believing that having the star would impress her enough to marry him, and said he would use the Super Star to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom if she refused.
• Upon learning about Mario and his association with Princess Peach, Bowser immediately hated him out of fear of competition for Peach's affection, despite not having met him yet.
  • He even took his anger out on Kamek by slamming a piano case on his fingers, even though he did nothing but deliver the report about Mario.
• When a group of Shy Guys bring Luigi to him, Bowser personally interrogated him about Mario, torturing him by ripping off a good chunk of his mustache when he refused to answer. After learning that Mario was Luigi's brother, Bowser had him then imprisoned in the dungeon while announcing his intention to kill Luigi and make Mario watch just to spite him.
• When he discovered that Peach, Mario and Toad were intending to ambush him with the Kong Army, Bowser ordered his own ambush on them, almost killing Mario and Donkey Kong and capturing the rest of the Kong Army.
• When Peach initially refused to marry him, he had Kamek torture Toad in order to blackmail her into compliance.
• After invading the Mushroom Kingdom, he allowed his soldiers to pillage it for anything of value, showing that he is willing to steal money and other valuable things from people.
• During his wedding with Peach, he attempted to have all his prisoners ritualistically sacrificed in lava in "her honor", despite her being horrified by it.
  • He also intended to sacrifice the residents of the Penguin Kingdom, so if he succeeded, he would have committed genocide against them.
• When Peach revealed that she had no intent on marrying Bowser while ambushing him with an Ice Flower, he angrily responded by stating that they were "breaking up", and then tried to burn her alive with his fire breath.
• Following his wedding being ruined and seeing Mario and Peach happily reuniting and enjoying each other's company before holding hands, he crosses the Moral Event Horizon by angrily ordering his men to fire the Bomber Bill at Peach's Castle to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom out of spite, which would have potentially killed hundreds, if not thousands of Toads as well as his own soldiers who were down there laying waste to the kingdom, further proving his lack of care for his soldiers.
  • Even if this wouldn't have killed any citizens since Peach had told them to evacuate earlier, it still would have left them all homeless.
• Once Bowser and his army were warped to Brooklyn, he brutally attacked, beat up and tried to kill Mario without provocation as he falsely accused the latter of ruining his wedding with Peach (despite the fact that Peach had rejected him before Mario's arrival) and later sadistically taunted him as he took cover in a pizzeria.
• When Peach, Toad and Donkey Kong attempted to stop him from attacking Mario any further, he fought back at them and dominated them, brutally beating Donkey Kong and nearly killing him by gutting him with his claws while his army held Peach and Toad back, only letting him go due to Mario's intervention.
• When Mario went to obtain the Super Star after Peach knocks it away, Bowser attempted to kill Mario by breathing fire in his direction, and would have succeeded if it weren't for Luigi using a manhole cover to block the flame. He then laughed cruelly after believing he had incinerated the brothers.
• Even after Mario and Luigi became invincible with the Super Star, he refused to surrender and ordered his minions to attack them, knowing very well they would have no chance against the brothers.
• Once defeated, he fakes remorse and cowardly begs Peach to give him another chance, but Peach perfectly knows that his apology isn't genuine. For this reason, she shrinks him with a mini-mushroom.

What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]

• While his acts are taken seriously for most parts of the film, he still has several comedic moments related to his feelings for Peach that detract from his villainy and slightly downplay his threatening side, because of this he isn't taken completely seriously enough by the narrative or the characters to be considered PE. These moments include:
  • Him preaching about his supposed "love" to his army, which caused an awkward silence.
  • His self-made serenade called "Peaches", which he sings very passionately and exaggeratedly.
  • Him practicing his proposal to Peach with Kamek, who was was dressed up as Peach for the rehearsal.
  • His actual proposal leaving Peach feeling confused, much to his embarrassment.
  • His awkward reaction to Peach ambushing him during their forced wedding.
  • Him pathetically begging Peach for forgiveness upon his defeat, only to be shrunken down after he's force fed a mini-mushroom and placed in a jar by Toad, much to Bowser's frustration.
  • Finally, him singing his song again while inside a bird-cage in Peach's castle, only to be interrupted and humiliated by a Toad guard, and then having the door shut in his face while shouting empty threats.

Gallery[]

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.
• Bowser is the only Mario villain to appear in all five games of the Mario & Luigi series.
• Although Bowser's universal conquest plans usually fail, it's fair to agree that it was in Super Mario Galaxy that Bowser definitely posed as a very dangerous and totally genuine threat not only to Mario and his friends but to the whole universe. There, he planned to use the Grand Star to create his own galaxy and conquered many other ones for his planned empire, a plan which nearly culminated with the destruction of the universe as we know it with a titanic black hole created by the Grand Star upon his defeat. Even Mario wasn't able to stop it and it was thanks to the Lumas that the universe was ultimately saved.
• In the 1980s, 8-bit home consoles didn't have the ability to have sprites that had more than three colors. However, Bowser appears to have four, this is due to his shackles being a result of the black background. Hacking him into any level without a black background will make Bowser's hands look disconnected with his arms.
• In Super Mario Bros., Bowser only appears at the end of 8-4. In every castle before that, you fight an imposter transformed by Bowser's magic. This is shown when killing imposter Bowser's with fireballs, which have their dying sprites being normal enemies. This idea came from a time in development when one of the programmers changed the dying sprite for Bowser, and was kept in the final game.
• In Paper Mario: Color Splash, Paper Bowser carelessly mixed the paint of the fountain in Port Prisma, which the black paint corrupted Bowser. Black paint/goop corrupted Bowser again in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, after Bowser Jr. painted on his father unintentionally, angering him.
• In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Bower uses a Wonder Flower to merged with Prince Florian's castle, which let him allows him to fly.
• Both in KC Mario and Super Mario-kun, Bowser was referenced to Gamera where one of his attacks in the former was named "Gamera Attack" (ガメラアタック, Gamera Attakku).
• Bowser is one of two Nintendo characters to be a Skylander, the other being Donkey Kong.
• In Luigi's Mansion, the ghostly fotuneteller Madame Clairvoya's seance reveals that Mario had been captured by Bowser; she is surprised by this revelation, as Bowser is believed (at the time) to be dead. This is a red herring, as the true villain is King Boo, using a giant puppet replica of Bowser. Technically, this is Bowser's only appearance in the Luigi's Mansion games.
• Bowser is the very first villain to be playable in Smash bros.
• Bowser is based off the Bull Demon King from Journey to the West.

• Bowser's eyes glow red whenever he is infuriated.
• The scene in which Mario and Luigi throw Bowser up into the air by grabbing his tail is a reference to his defeat in Super Mario 64, in which Mario grabs Bowser by the tail and throws him onto a bomb before he's launched back into the arena defeated.
  • Him being shrunken when Peach force fed him a blue mushroom is a reference to his defeat in Super Mario Galaxy 2. Him then being imprisoned inside of a jar by Toad is a reference to him being stuck in a jar during the end credits of Super Mario 3D World.
• In a twist of irony, Bowser attempting to kill Mario to get him away from Peach only ended up deepening their bond. Furthermore, Mario doesn't (intentionally) try to woo Peach and she simply likes him for the nice person that he is, while Bowser is very upfront about his obsession with her and she is repulsed by it and his horrific actions.
• His wedding tuxedo is based off the same outfit he wore in Super Mario Odyssey.
  • Funnily enough, Bowser's goal in that game was to marry Peach as well, even though he's had a crush on her since Paper Mario.
• It's currently rumored that Bowser will return as the main antagonist of the upcoming sequel and to his normal size, break out of jail and take his revenge on Peach, the Kongs, the Toads and the Super Mario Bros.
• Jack Black, released a live-action performance version of his Bowser's Peaches Song released on the Lyrical Lemonade Youtube Channel
• Bowser's song, "Peaches", has become somewhat of an Internet meme in the Mario fanbase, as him singing peaches sounds like he's saying "b-tches" when heard repeatedly.
• Bowser acts as a foil to the following characters below:
  • Mario: Both are motivated by love in their respective goals; For Mario it's rescuing Luigi, whereas for Bowser it's Peach's hand in marriage. Both of them also have feelings for the princess. However, Mario was initially more focused on saving Luigi than he was winning her heart, only growing feelings for her as they got to know each other more. Additionally, he treats Peach as a person and not an object. Meanwhile, Bowser views her as nothing more than a trophy to be possessed and doesn't care about what she wants, as he genuinely thought that Peach would like hundreds of people being ritualistically sacrificed in a pool of burning lava for their wedding despite that obviously not being the case.
  • Peach: Both are rulers of their kingdom and are both (possibly) orphans. While Peach is a kind monarch and wants to protect her subjects, Bowser has no problems abusing his minions and is a cruel tyrant. If Peach had grew up to be cruel to her Toads and became a tyrant, she would've ended up like Bowser.
  • Donkey Kong: Both are large anthropomorphic animals who think so highly of themselves and get involved in conflict with Mario. Both also want the approval of someone else; Peach in Bowser's case, and Cranky Kong in DK's case. While Bowser insists on Peach loving him despite his multiple atrocities which leads to her rejecting him, Donkey Kong recognizes and eventually overcomes his flaws, which wins his father's approval. Additionally, Bowser's conflict with Mario is violently antagonistic, whereas DK's conflict with Mario is more akin to that of friendly teasing.
• Despite being Mario's archenemy, Bowser doesn't directly interact with him until the climax of the film where he tries to kill him in Brooklyn. However, he does spend a majority of the movie being heavily wary of him impressing Peach and hating him for it.
• Bowser is known to have several voice lines removed that were in the TV Spots and trailers, such as him saying, "I'm so stoked right now" and "Let's end this."
  • Additionally in the teaser trailer when he obtains the Super Star, Bowser says "I've finally found it. Now who's gonna stop me?!". In the movie, however, it was changed to "and now no one can stop me!".
• Bowser being a bad boss in this movie is rather ironic as his mainstream counterpart is quite the opposite.
• Bowser's pose in his render is based off his pose in his official artwork for Mario Tennis Aces.
• Finally at the end of the movie, Bowser tries to give Peach one more chance and she refuses who ends up attacking him and shrinking him by feeding him a Mini Mushroom; although he gets trapped in a jar by Toad.
  • In Peach's Castle, a Toad guard tells Bowser to be quiet that is why Peach decided to attack Bowser in the first place by shrinking him with a Mini Mushroom, it is why Bowser tells the guard who he is.
    • Although Bowser is gigantic in the first film, At the end of the film, he is tiny due to Peach feeding him a Mini Mushroom, whilst Donkey Kong will continue to be gigantic.
• Bowser along with Toad, Princess Peach, Kamek and Donkey Kong are the only five characters in the first film to ever visit Brooklyn.

External Links[]

To Be Added