- Not to be confused with Bowyer.
- This article is about King Bowser Koopa, the main antagonist of the Mario franchise. For the character that represents Bowser in the Super Mario Bros. film, see President Koopa. For Bowser as a baby, see Baby Bowser. For the president of Nintendo of America, see Doug Bowser.
- "King Koopa" redirects here. For the kart from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! with a similar name, see Koopa King.
- "Lord Bowser" redirects here. For the sponsor and team of the same name, see Lord Bowser (team).
- “Hear this! I will kidnap Peach OVER and OVER until I pull it off! And no one can stop me! Losing is not an option! And neither is giving up!”
- —Bowser, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Bowser, sometimes known as King Koopa (Japanese: 大魔王クッパ, Daimaō Kuppa, which translates into "Great Demon King Koopa" or "Great Sorcerer King Koopa," the latter being used in the manual of Super Mario Bros.[1]), is a major character and the main antagonist of the Mario franchise. He is a large, powerful, fire-breathing Koopa who leads the Koopa Troop, an antagonistic organization of turtle-like creatures, and has been the arch-nemesis of Mario since his debut in Super Mario Bros. He has repeatedly kidnapped or attempted to kidnap Princess Peach with the ultimate goal of defeating Mario and taking over the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser's defining traits are his monstrous appearance with dragon-like elements, full-throated roar, fire-breathing abilities, cruel personality, bestial reptilian voice, never-ending conflict with Mario, and unrequited crush for Peach.
Creation
Bowser was created by Shigeru Miyamoto as the villain of Super Mario Bros. Miyamoto stated that they considered naming him either Kuppa (국밥), Yukke (육회), or Bibinba (비빔밥), which are all Korean dishes as they are known in Japanese. In the end, "Kuppa" was chosen.[2] For the later North American release of the game, which also introduced the anglicized spelling Koopa, the character was named "Bowser", named after Sylvanus Bowser, US inventor of the first fuel pump and a trade name of SF Bowser inc., the inventor's company.[citation needed]
The earliest known design for what would become Bowser depicted him as resembling an upright Koopa Troopa with spines on his back, and fangs.[3] During the development of Super Mario Bros., Miyamoto considered asking a manga artist or illustrator to do the art for the game. However, time was running short, so he drew the game's original box art himself. This artwork included a depiction of Bowser that is significantly different than later designs, the most obvious anomalies being his gray-blue skin and lack of horns. For the character's appearance, Miyamoto drew inspiration from an anime film adaptation of the Chinese novel Journey to the West, renamed Alakazam the Great during the film's American localization. He liked the film's main antagonist Gyū-Maō (lit. "Ox Demon King," King Gruesome in the dub), so he loosely based Bowser on an ox as a homage.[4]
Yoichi Kotabe, an animation artist, later joined Nintendo and was asked to do new illustrations for the Mario series. His only reference was the package illustration for Super Mario Bros., so Kotabe asked Miyamoto many questions on how to draw the characters. However, designing Bowser caused problems, since Miyamoto had not drawn him often. He brought up that he liked the Ox King from the film, and this was how he imagined Bowser, but Kotabe thought Bowser's original design looked like a hippo[5] and Nintendo designer Takashi Tezuka pointed out that Bowser should be a turtle. Through their discussions, Bowser's appearance gradually came together. Since he was in the same turtle family as the Koopa Troopas, they partly based Bowser's new appearance on them. Finally, the new design was created, and Miyamoto congratulated himself by saying "Wow, I can really make Bowser look cool now!"[4]
For Bowser's finalized design, Yoichi Kotabe took inspiration from the Chinese softshell turtle, which he knew to be a particularly aggressive species of turtles, fitting of Bowser's fearsome nature.[5]
History
Background
- Main article: Baby Bowser
Bowser's first chronological appearance in-universe is as Baby Bowser in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, which was also his first time meeting with Mario. When Baby Mario and Yoshi enter his room in his castle, Baby Bowser is accidentally awakened from his nap by Kamek, who is trying to demand Yoshi to give Baby Mario, and pounds him flat in retribution. Baby Bowser then notices Yoshi, referring to him as a "green donkey", and tries to ride him. However, he notices Baby Mario already riding Yoshi, leading to him attacking the two to get Baby Mario away. At this age, he is shown to have similar powers to the ones he currently possesses as an adult, such as ground-pounding and breathing fire. Yoshi eventually defeats Baby Bowser, even when Kamek turns him into a giant. Later, Baby Bowser steals the Super Happy Tree from the Yoshis and turns Yoshi's Island into a pop-up book in Yoshi's Story, though he is defeated again by a newborn Yoshi. Both incidents quickly define the young Bowser as a selfish character who lacks empathy. In contrast, during the events of Yoshi's Island DS, he at first teams up with the heroes to defeat future Bowser after being betrayed, and is revealed to be one of the star children. In Yoshi's New Island, he plans to turn Egg Island into his vacation home, but this plan is ultimately thwarted by the Yoshis.
Baby Bowser once again appears in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. At the beginning of the game, he attempts to kidnap Baby Peach, but ends up having his crew evacuate when the Shroobs suddenly attack and later shoot them down. He later steals the Cobalt Star shards the Mario Bros. have collected and flees to Yoshi's Island, where he is found eating Yoshi Cookies he stole from the islanders. After eating the shards, he, along with everyone else, is eaten by Yoob, though everyone later escapes with the help of Mario and Luigi. After leaving Yoshi's Island, he heads to Thwomp Volcano to build a new castle, where he finds future Bowser. They team up to fight Mario and Luigi, but are both defeated. Later on, in Shroob Castle, he reunites the Cobalt Star shards, which inadvertently awakens Elder Princess Shroob. She transforms him into a Shroob Mushroom, but after being defeated by Mario and Luigi, returns back to normal.
Super Mario series
Super Mario Bros.
Release-wise, Bowser first appears in Super Mario Bros.. Bowser and his army invade and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, using a spell to transform the citizens into inanimate objects as well as kidnapping the only one capable of undoing the curse, Princess Toadstool. Bowser's attack pattern is similar to that of his impostors; he sits on the bridge spitting fireballs and tossing hammers, as well as leaping into the air. Hitting him with five fireballs or grabbing the axe on the other side of the bridge causes him to fall into the lava, defeating him and saving Princess Toadstool.
In addition to the original game, Bowser appears in all the game's variations, including Super Mario Bros. Special, All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros., VS. Super Mario Bros., Super Mario All-Stars, and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Bowser repeats his plan in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, using black magic to transform the kingdom's inhabitants and kidnapping Princess Toadstool. He holds her in his own castle while the Mushroom Retainers are held by his impostors in the other castles. Bowser again resides in the eighth castle, with the same attacks as the original: throwing hammers and breathing fireballs at Mario and Luigi. The arena, however, is aesthetically different, having two pillars of blocks on the ceiling, the second having a Fire Bar on the end. Also in this final castle is a mysterious dark-shaded look-alike of Bowser, sometimes identified as his brother. Grabbing the ax at the end of the bridge once again causes Bowser to fall into the pit of lava, allowing Mario to rescue the princess. In the SNES All-Stars remake, Bowser is later found in the castle located in World D, and the same strategy is used to defeat him (the original FDS version instead had a fake Bowser being fought).
Super Mario Bros. 3
Bowser returns, along with newcomers such as Boom Boom and the Koopalings, in Super Mario Bros. 3. While the Mario Bros. are scrambling to save the Mushroom World from the Koopalings, Bowser kidnaps Princess Toadstool and takes her to his homeworld, Dark Land. He will inform Mario and Luigi of this via personal letter if the player frees Pipe Land from Ludwig, but they can also warp directly to Dark Land and skip this. Upon reaching the final room of Bowser's Castle, Bowser falls in to start the battle. His attack pattern involves breathing two fireballs at Mario, then leaping into the air and attempting to Ground Pound him. Whenever Bowser ground pounds a pair of blocks, they are destroyed, and after destroying an entire column of blocks, Bowser plummets to the massive pit and hits the ground. Another method is to hit him with 35 fireballs or at least three hammers.
In the remake Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser's appearance in the main game is largely the same as the original, although he will also send a letter revealing he kidnapped Princess Peach if the player managed to warp to Dark Land as if the player had already beaten Pipe Maze. Besides the main game, he also appears in the World-e levels, with his first appearance being the twenty-seventh level, Bowser's Last Stand. This level is a compilation of obstacles from the previous Bowser's Castles, ending with the Super Mario Bros. 3 Bowser fight; however, a set of blocks that Bowser can break through are placed in the air. The description for the card implies that he was guarding a secret treasure room from intruders. He also appears in the thirtieth and final e-Reader level, Bowser's Airship 2, where he is fought again at the end. This time, however, the entire room is composed of the blocks seen in the original room, as well as blocks that he cannot break. Although he does not appear in the preceding level, Bowser's Airship 1, he is mentioned in the level, and the card's commentary has him alluding to his Airship's size not being the only thing that made it impressive. For obvious reasons, he features as the key art for the three cards. He also was in the Mario Bros. remake that's included in the game.
Super Mario World
Bowser reappears in Super Mario World. Here, he kidnaps Princess Toadstool while she is vacationing with the Mario Bros. in Dinosaur Land. His Koopalings also capture several of the native Yoshis, trapping them in eggs guarded by them in one of their seven castles. Yoshi himself attempts to stop them, but Bowser traps him in an egg as well. Bowser's boss fight in Super Mario World has him on the roof of his castle, riding in his Koopa Clown Car. He throws Mechakoopas and Big Steelies at the player, and tries to ground pound him as the battle progresses. After hitting Bowser with a Mechakoopa, he will sink into his car for a short time, while casting flames in the air and having them rain down. Bowser will also attempt to ram into Mario with his Koopa Clown Car before returning to his previous tactics. Upon being defeated, he ends up losing control of his Koopa Clown Car and is ultimately forced to release Princess Toadstool upon the car turning upside down, before being knocked into the distance. Prior to fighting him, he also briefly appears in the Valley of Bowser Map's background flying around in his Koopa Clown Car, although only his eyes can be seen in the darkness, and only a silhouette appears during the occasional thunderclap. In the GBA remake, he is absent entirely after his level is cleared.
While his art is similar to his normal appearance, his in-game sprite appears differently, making him primarily green in color with two large fangs. The Super Mario Advance 2 sprite corrects this, making his arms their normal color. In a 2017 interview, the game's graphic designer, Shigefumi Hino, confessed that Bowser's green skin color here was merely a design oversight.[6] Additionally, an unused full-body sprite found in prototype source code shows him with the proper amount of fingers.[7]
Aside from his role in the game, he also was in the Mario Bros. remake included in the GBA remake Super Mario Advance 2.
Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS
- “Welcome. No one's home! Now scram--and don't come back! Gwa ha ha!”
- —Bowser, Super Mario 64
In Super Mario 64 and its remake, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach, invades Mushroom Castle, and steals the castle's Power Stars. He gives them to his minions, who are lurking inside the castle's paintings. To try to stop Mario from disrupting his plans, Bowser seals off the doors in the castle by forcing Mario to fight for the stars, which are needed to unlock the doors. Additionally, he creates doors that open only with his keys.
Super Mario 64 DS retains the original game's basic plot, but parts of it have been changed. In Super Mario 64 DS, Mario, as well as Luigi and Wario, enter the castle and chase Bowser. The trio are ambushed, however, and Bowser's minions lock them behind special doors. He then locks the castle entrance.
In both versions, Bowser is battled three times: once in the Dark World, once in the Fire Sea and once in the Sky. When Bowser is defeated the first two times, he drops a special key, allowing them to open the door to another area of the castle. When he is defeated the third time, Bowser surrenders and flees, allowing Mario to collect the Jumbo Star.
During each battle, Bowser can only be attacked by grabbing his tail, spinning him around, and tossing him into one of several mines surrounding the arena. Tossing Bowser off the platform causes him to leap up out of the abyss, landing onto the center of the arena; during the battle in the Fire Sea, Bowser tilts the platform upon landing, and during the battle in The Sky, he unleashes a shockwave. In the Dark World battle, Bowser has three attacks: his fire breath, leaping up and pounding the ground, and occasionally clawing Mario if he is close enough. During the Fire Sea battle, Bowser can warp from one section of the platform to another, and can also pound the platform to tilt it; he can also spit single balls of fire, as opposed to a continuous stream. During the final battle, Bowser leaping out of the abyss can result in part of the platform breaking, and after taking two hits, he causes the entire outer edge of the platform to break off, creating a star-shaped arena. He also attacks Mario by dashing in his direction. Bowser also has various fire-based attacks: one involves breathing fire into the air, causing several small fireballs to fall before disappearing; another involves Bowser spitting a number of fireballs that disappear after a while; and the third involves shooting a continuous stream of fire for a short time.
In Super Mario 64, Bowser is defeated solely by Mario. In Super Mario 64 DS, however, both Yoshi and Mario are required to reach him. Luigi and Wario are unlocked in Big Boo's Haunt and Chief Chilly Challenge respectively and can also face off against Bowser, but Bowser accepts only Mario as his opponent for the final battle.
Super Mario Advance
Although Bowser himself never appeared in the original Super Mario Bros. 2, he did appear in the GBA port Super Mario Advance's minigame remake of Mario Bros. He appears in every fourth phase of the battle mode, breathing fire as an attack from the central platform. He cannot be defeated, only stunned. He does not appear in the classic mode.
Super Mario Sunshine
- “Mario! How dare you disturb my family vacation?!”
- —Bowser, Super Mario Sunshine
In Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser's son Bowser Jr. is introduced, with Bowser only appearing along with him in the last boss fight of the game. Bowser convinces his son that Peach is his mother and that Mario has kidnapped her. Taking on the disguise of Shadow Mario, Bowser Jr. covers Isle Delfino with graffiti and frames Mario to put him in prison and return Peach to Bowser.
After Bowser Jr. flees from Pinna Park, Bowser (seen much larger than he normally is), his son, and Peach (who is sitting on a massive rubber duck) are seen relaxing in a floating, sun-shaped hot tub over the top of Corona Mountain as Mario arrives. Angered by his intrusion during their "family vacation," Bowser attempts to defeat Mario again. Bowser attacks Mario by breathing massive flames at him, and by splashing the water in the tub at him. Ground-pounding the five sections of the tub using F.L.U.D.D.'s Rocket Nozzle causes the entire tub to flip over, causing everyone to fall down to the world below.
During the ending, it is shown that Bowser and Bowser Jr. landed on the flipped tub, landing in the ocean near Isle Delfino. While out at sea, Bowser tries to confess to his son that he had used him as a pawn, but Bowser Jr. then reveals to his father that he knew all along that Peach is not his mother. However, he also mentions that he is eager to challenge Mario again sometime in the future. Filled with pride for his son, Bowser decides that they rest for a while.
This is the only 3D Super Mario game in which Bowser is not fought more than once.
Super Mario Advance 3
Although he never appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (his younger self Baby Bowser nonwithstanding), he does appear in the Mario Bros. remake included in the same game, with the same role as before.
New Super Mario Bros.
- See also: Dry Bowser
In New Super Mario Bros., Bowser is again responsible for the kidnapping of Princess Peach, though this time sends Bowser Jr. to do the job. He first appears as the boss of World 1-Castle, in a fight similar to that of the battle in Super Mario Bros.. He attacks Mario by shooting fireballs at him and leaping into the air. After Mario either activates the switch on the other side of the bridge, hits Bowser enough times with fireballs, or defeats Bowser with a Mega Mushroom, Bowser once again falls into the pit of lava; this time, however, the lava causes him to be turned into a Dry Bones version of himself known as Dry Bowser.
Dry Bowser later appears as the boss of World 8-Castle. His attacks are similar to the World 1 battle, but he is also able to throw bones at Mario, similar to the later boss battles in Super Mario Bros.. He is also immune to fireballs in this form. Pressing the switch on the other end of the room once again causes the bridge to collapse, resulting in Dry Bowser falling and crashing.
Once Mario reaches the end of Bowser's Castle, Bowser Jr. revives Bowser by throwing his bones into a cauldron. The two of them then fight Mario one last time. During this battle, Bowser attacks by approaching Mario, leaping, and shooting fireballs. Later in the battle, he also shoots barrages of blue fire. He and Bowser Jr. can once again be defeated by pressing the skull switch located on the other side of the room, which sends them both falling into the pit below. They can also be defeated from fireballs and use of the Mega Mushroom.
After the credits, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are seen at the bottom of the pit, with Jr. dragging his unconscious father away. Bowser Jr. breaks the fourth wall here by growling at the player.
Super Mario Galaxy
- “From this galaxy, I'll rule a great galactic empire with Peach by my side. It will last forever! I will rule every pitiful corner of the universe. So, Mario, as you can see, I got big plans. And stomping you is at the top of my list!”
- —Bowser, Super Mario Galaxy
Prior to the events of Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser attacks Rosalina's Comet Observatory and steals all the Power Stars, as well as the Seven Grand Stars that power the observatory. Bowser then uses the power of these stars to unleash his entire fleet onto the cosmos and take over many galaxies, planning to construct a galaxy reactor powered by the Grand Stars to create his own galaxy at the center of the universe. He then kidnaps Peach during the Star Festival, using a UFO and several airships to uproot her castle and taking it to the center of the universe, where he wishes to rule the universe with Peach as his empress.
Mario, with the help of Rosalina, collects the Power Stars and Grand Stars and destroys much of the Koopa Troop. He encounters Bowser twice in his attempt to rescue Peach: once at Bowser's Star Reactor, and the second time at Bowser's Dark Matter Plant.
At the star reactor, before the player can reach him, Bowser attempts to stop Mario by destroying the staircase leading to him by breathing meteors at him. During battle, Bowser's attacks include stomping the ground, which creates a shock wave, and trying to ground pound Mario. However, if Bowser ground pounds on any of the glass spots on the arena, they will break, causing him to fall into the lava and run around aimlessly. Mario can then spin attack him, causing Bowser to spin around the planet inside his shell, much like a normal Koopa. When Mario does this again, he falls unconscious, only to recover seconds later. Bowser is defeated when this is done again.
At the dark matter plant, Bowser uses the same tactics as before, but can generate more shock waves and even has his own version of the spin attack, but can be defeated by using the same method as the first battle. Regardless of these drawbacks, Bowser remains confident in his victory and the follow-through of his main goal to construct his own galaxy.
Mario eventually battles Bowser at the almost-completed galaxy reactor. During the final battle, Bowser Jr. holds Peach captive in an airship while Mario fights Bowser on multiple planets. On the first planet, Bowser attacks by using his shock waves. He then curls into a ball of stone and rolls around the planet, with his head exposed to attack. On the second planet, Bowser's attacks include curling up into two combined shells and rolling around the planet, as well as fireballs. By hitting him with a rubbery bulb, Bowser is knocked onto his back and begins moving around the planet; he can then be defeated as normal. At this point, the gravity of the nearby sun then pulls them toward it, and they begin the actual final battle at the core of Bowser's soon-to-be galaxy. Bowser's attacks are simply improved tactics from the previous battles, meaning that he can once again be trumped by ground pounding the glass and burning himself, allowing Mario to spin attack him. The defeated Bowser then flies into into the magma of the sun.
Afterward, the final Grand Star frees itself from the galaxy reactor. However, the lack of the Grand Star causes the brown planet to collapse in on itself, resulting in the formation of a massive black hole that begins to devour the universe. Bowser, however, is on the surface of the sun, on a piece of rock, before it explodes. As the universe is being sucked inside, the Lumas head into the black hole, and destroy it from the inside. Bowser later awakens in Toad Town, near Mario and Peach.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Bowser appears, once again as the final boss, in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here, he appears together with the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. In World 8-Bowser's Castle, the last castle of World 8, Bowser is located in the final chamber and shoots fireballs at Mario, similar to his appearance in the original Super Mario Bros.. When the battle begins, Bowser is fought in a similar manner as in Super Mario Bros., as well as in the first and final castles in the original New Super Mario Bros.; attacking by shooting fireballs and leaping into the air.
When the switch is pressed, the floor collapses, and Bowser plummets into the abyss below. However, the Princess Peach in the cage nearby turns out to be Magikoopa in disguise. He escapes from the cage and casts a spell over the chasm that Bowser has fallen down. After several moments, Bowser reappears, now at a gigantic size. He accidentally knocks Magikoopa off his broom and proceeds to chase after Mario. This form is called Super Bowser by the Prima Games strategy guide[8] He attacks by spitting massive fireballs, as well as clawing away at the walls and leaping over to Mario if he is far enough away.
After the credits, Bowser is seen unconscious and outside his castle, having survived the drop and returned to normal size. Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings are trying to push him over, and succeed, resulting in him regaining consciousness. However, pushing him over causes the entire castle to fall over onto them all.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
- “I'm HUUUUGE! Even scarier up close, huh?”
- —Bowser, Super Mario Galaxy 2
Bowser appears in Super Mario Galaxy 2, once again as the main antagonist. At the beginning of the game, he invades the Mushroom Kingdom again, but this time at a gigantic size, due to the power of the Power Stars that he stole earlier. He kidnaps Princess Peach and flees into space again, claiming to build a galactic empire to suit his new size and put its capital at the center of the universe. Additionally, he attacks and destroys Lubba's starship prior to the game, stealing all the ship's Power Stars.
Bowser is faced three times in the game. The fights take place on a spherical planetoid, where Bowser attempts to crush Mario with his fists, and by sending meteors crashing down. He also uses his Fire Breath. When using his fists, Bowser's hand gets stuck in the planetoid briefly, and any meteors on the battlefield at the time rise and turn yellow, allowing Mario to strike. After each battle, when Bowser is defeated, he coughs up a Grand Star, causing him to shrink back down to his normal size and fall to the ground. Each time, however, he is not discouraged and flees, telling Mario each time that his plan is too far along to stop.
The final battle at Bowser's Galaxy Generator has two phases. When Bowser is defeated once, Mario attempts to collect the Grand Star coughed up by Bowser, but the Koopa King reappears, eats the Grand Star, regains his gigantic size, and then the two fall into a vortex to fight again. Bowser advances on Mario as time passes, eventually allowing Bowser to attack with a punch. Mario pushes him back by ground-pounding the meteorites at him. After Mario defeats Bowser for the final time, Bowser is sucked into the vortex, and is not seen again until Mario, Peach, and the Toad Brigade return to their planet near the end of the credits, where it is shown that he has become smaller than normal, and is unconscious when he is first seen. Mario can jump on top of Bowser or spin him, waking him up and causing him to become angry.
Super Mario 3D Land
Bowser appears once again as the main antagonist of Super Mario 3D Land. On one day, a storm blows all the Super Leaves off the Tail Tree. When Mario and three Toads check on the tree, they find an envelope containing a picture showing Peach being captured by Bowser.
It is revealed through the letters found after each world that Peach tries to escape, but Bowser's forces eventually overpower her. Bowser then holds her in a cage and keeps her next to his throne. At Bowser's Castle, Mario faces the actual Bowser, though in the same manner as the Tail Bowsers. However, Bowser had planned ahead; he set up a wooden cutout of Peach on the top of a tower. After Mario discovers this, Bowser appears from above, holding the real Princess Peach, and heads to his second castle.
Inside Bowser's quarters in the second castle, Mario discovers the princess bound to the flagpole and tries to rescue her. However, Bowser falls out of the sky and attempts to ground pound him from above, which causes the floor beneath them to fall.
During the second battle, Bowser attacks Mario with spiked balls at the beginning, with fireballs for the second portion of the area, and with barrels near the end as he makes his way along. On the bridge before the switch, Bowser's attack pattern is the same as in previous battles. After the switch that collapses the bridge is pressed, however, Bowser reemerges from below. While progressing through a second obstacle course-like area, Bowser leaps across to various platforms, shooting massive pink fireballs at Mario. Bowser then chases him again upon reaching a second bridge. When the switch at the end is pressed, Bowser plummets into the lava below, being hit by falling debris. After defeating Bowser, Peach is returned to her castle with the help of Tanooki Mario and three Tanooki Toads. The credits show Bowser trying to reach Mario with the help of a massive Goomba Tower, but failing.
After completing all the special worlds, it is revealed that Bowser has once again captured Peach, and must be beaten again at his castle.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Once more, Bowser appears as the final boss of New Super Mario Bros. 2. He is the boss of World 6, and he attacks using fire and iron mallets in a battle reminiscent of the original Super Mario Bros. On the other side of him is a switch, which Mario presses to send him into the pit below the bridge. However, after he is defeated, the Koopalings appear in the Koopa Clown Car and use their wands' magic on Bowser. This causes him to transform into Super Bowser,[9] also knocking the Koopalings down into the rising lava pit in the process. While Mario is using the platforms to travel upward, Super Bowser swipes at them with his claws. In two segments of the battle, the platforms disappear, and Super Bowser breathes fire at Mario on a full platform. On the roof of Bowser's Castle, there is a massive ! Switch, similar to the one from New Super Mario Bros. When the switch is pressed, Super Bowser plummets to his doom and the game is won.
He and the Koopalings later appear during the credits. Bowser is normal-sized again, and the Koopalings are carrying him away in the Koopa Clown Car, Bowser being held outside of the car by his tail. However, the added weight causes the car to plummet to the ground, scattering the occupants around the area. Bowser is seen with his head stuck in the ground.
Aside from the main story mode, Bowser is also faced on course three of the Gold Classics Pack, one of the game's downloadable Coin Rush course packs. He is fought and defeated in the same manner as the first portion of the final boss battle in the main game. Unlike the main game, however, he does not grow in size, for the same reasons why Bowser's Castle in World 6 and the World Star Castle are not playable in Coin Rush.
New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
Bowser returns in New Super Mario Bros. U and its port, as the main antagonist and final boss. In the game's intro, Bowser, along with his Koopalings, invade the Mushroom Kingdom in their airships. Bowser's ship then uses a mechanical hand to grab Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad, and Yellow Toad (who are having tea with Princess Peach) and fling them out of the castle. Afterward, he invades Peach's Castle.
The first part of his battle is similar to Super Mario Bros., where the player has to get to the other side and press the switch; alternatively, shooting several fireballs also works. This causes the axe to fall and make the bridge collapse, making Bowser fall. The gate then opens and Mario moves on. When Mario reaches the top of the castle, Peach is being held up in the tower. After this, Bowser Jr. shows up in his Junior Clown Car, and Bowser hops on top of the castle while he is huge. Bowser Jr. also fights the player. In order to defeat them, the player must jump on Bowser Jr., causing him to fall out of his Junior Clown Car. This allows the player to jump in and hover over Bowser to harm him. Like the Koopalings, he curls into his shell and spins around when hit. He is defeated after being hit three times by the Clown Car. After beating him, he falls off of the castle as Bowser Jr. witnesses this and is left with Mario, until jumping off on his own.
At the end, the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. are on their wrecked airship and fly away. Bowser notices and climbs on, but his weight causes the airship to crash. Bowser then holds onto Bowser Jr.'s Junior Clown Car as he flies away on that, with the other Koopalings holding onto his tail and lined up like a chain.
In any part of the fight, throwing iceballs gets rid of Bowser's fire and slows him down.
Bowser plays the same role and fights the same in the downloadable content New Super Luigi U.
Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Bowser is once again the main antagonist in Super Mario 3D World. At the beginning of the game, Bowser is revealed to have invaded the Sprixie Kingdom, kidnapping six of the seven Sprixie Princesses in the process. Bowser then shows up from a Clear Pipe in the Mushroom Kingdom and captures the last one just after she explains what happened, disappearing back down afterward. Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toad give chase in order to save the Sprixies.
Bowser is the boss of the World 1 castle, Bowser's Highway Showdown. Unlike most of his prior battles, Bowser does not fight Mario or the others in direct combat: instead, he confronts them from the back of the Koopa Chase, throwing Kick Bombs that must be knocked back at him to damage him and spitting fireballs that leave residue. After taking enough hits from the Kick Bombs, Bowser starts to breathe fire more often, only occasionally throwing Kick Bombs at this point. If the bomb is knocked back just by touching it, it will damage the car, but if it's knocked back with an attack, it will hit Bowser directly and deal triple the damage. Upon being struck by the final Kick Bomb, the Koopa Chase is sent bouncing forward and causes part of the road to collapse, destroying the car and ejecting Bowser from his own castle.
Mario and/or the others later face Bowser a second time in World Castle's castle, Bowser's Lava Lake Keep, where he again is in the car. Bowser now spends most of the battle spewing the residue-producing fireballs at the player and only occasionally throws the bombs that must be knocked back at him. When Bowser is struck by enough bombs, he once again is sent falling into the lava below. However, just as the heroes clear the level and free the final Sprixie Princess, Bowser jumps out in front of them, re-captures the seven Sprixies in a larger bottle, and takes them to the game's true final world, World Bowser, an amusement park built in his image.
Bowser is finally encountered at The Great Tower of Bowser Land, the game's final level. Upon reaching him, Bowser uses a Super Bell to transform himself into Meowser. Later, after climbing up the tower and knocking him away with a POW Block, he uses a Double Cherry for the next portion of the battle. At the very top of the tower is a giant POW Block that once hit enough times defeats Meowser and frees the Sprixie Princesses. During the end credits, Bowser can be seen trapped inside a giant bottle.
The game is notable as being one of the few games with Bowser as the main antagonist where he makes absolutely no attempt at abducting Princess Peach.
Bowser reprises his main game role in the expanded Nintendo Switch port, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, but he also returns as the main antagonist in the exclusive Bowser's Fury mode. In this campaign, he has become corrupted by some unknown force, becoming Fury Bowser in the process, which not only makes him more powerful and imposing, but also comes at the cost of his self-control. As such, he not only has to face Mario again, but his own son as well. It was later revealed that Bowser Jr. was the reason he became Fury Bowser, as he had decided to paint Bowser while the latter was asleep as a prank, with Bowser becoming deeply furious over the result of the prank.
Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS
Bowser appears as a usable enemy in Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS that the player can place onto courses. His behavior changes, depending on the game style that's used, but regardless of the game style, Bowser starts breathing fireballs as Mario gets closer to him. The size of the fireballs are larger if Bowser is given a Super Mushroom.
In the Super Mario Bros. game style, Bowser simply moves left and right while breathing fireballs that vary in altitude. He may also do a small jump during the process.
In the Super Mario Bros. 3 game style, Bowser hops around while breathing fireballs, but he also attempts to perform a ground pound that can briefly stun Mario if he is on the ground; the ground pound can also destroy empty Brick Blocks, and can destroy all destructible blocks if he is giant-sized.
In the Super Mario World game style, Bowser moves around and jumps while breathing fireballs, but he may also breathe fireballs that rain down on Mario from above. Another trait that Bowser is given in this game style is that he can push back Mario if Mario tries to run through him.
In the New Super Mario Bros. U game style, Bowser simply moves left and right, and he will either breathe a fireball, jump, or breathe a fireball while jumping. However, unlike with the other game styles, Bowser actually aims his fireballs at Mario, instead of breathing them at random altitudes. Bowser may also breathe multiple fireballs, along with making a huge jump. Much like in the Super Mario World game style, Mario cannot run through Bowser in the New Super Mario Bros. U game style. On an additional note, if Bowser is giant-sized in this game style, his fireballs can destroy most block types, and he can also destroy any Brick Blocks that he comes into contact with.
The player can only place up to three Bowsers on a single course layer, and if the player shakes Bowser, he changes into Bowser Jr..
If the player gives Bowser wings, he gains gain the ability to flutter briefly, but drops down if Mario is under him. Unlike with Bowser Jr., however, the wings do not save Bowser from falling into an abyss.
If Bowser is riding in a Koopa Clown Car, he pursues Mario while breathing fireballs at him. Bowser can also throw two Bob-ombs at Mario, which will self-destruct after a while; if Bowser is giant-sized, he throws up to four Bob-ombs. This behavior is constant for all game styles.
If Mario tries to combat Bowser, Bowser is immune to jump attacks, but he is defeated if the player delivers 20 hits to him, whether they are through fireballs or with certain items; if Bowser is giant-sized, he can be defeated in 40 hits.
However, regardless of his size, Bowser gets defeated instantly by the following objects:
- A POW Block.
- A Thwomp, a Muncher, or a solid block lands on top of him.
- Mario runs through Bowser while under the effects of the Super Star.
- Mario ground pounds Bowser while wearing the giant stiletto.
On an additional note, giant-sized items (except for the Goomba's Shoe) deal 2x as much damage to Bowser than normal-sized items; for an example, 10 giant Koopa Troopa shells will defeat normal-sized Bowser.
Bowser is also one of the game's official course makers, with four levels attributed to him: Bowser's Puzzle Dungeon, Bowser's Cannonball Run, Bowser's Chambers of Doom and Bowser's Treacherous Trek.
Super Mario Run
Bowser appears as the final boss of Super Mario Run, while fake Bowsers were used at the end of Worlds 1, 3 and 5. During the final battle in World 6-4, Bowser, in his Koopa Clown Car, attacks by spitting out fireballs and shooting a Spiked Ball out of a cannon produced by the Clown Car's mouth at Mario. Sometimes, he will toss Bob-ombs at Mario. If he manages to successfully stomp the Bob-omb, Mario will shoot it back at Bowser. To beat Bowser, the process needs to be repeated three times.
In this game, as the final level only consists of the boss fight, the color coins are present in the battle. When the fifth coin is passed by, the level will recycle through from the beginning until Bowser is defeated.
Super Mario Odyssey
Bowser returns in Super Mario Odyssey, once again as the main antagonist. He invades the Cap Kingdom and kidnaps Tiara to commence his "royal wedding" with Princess Peach, defeating Mario via his wedding hat and shredding the Mario Cap. He then sets up his "wedding", stealing artifacts from various kingdoms to fulfill his desires, and hiring the Broodals to help him against Mario. Although he does not steal anything needed for the wedding from the Metro Kingdom, he does nonetheless cause massive chaos in the kingdom regardless by having Mechawiggler attack the city as well as various tanks, and also proceeded to plaster several ads advertising his wedding (much to the chagrin of the city's mayor, Pauline, who found the posters "tasteless" especially in light of the chaos). Mario and Cappy catch up to Bowser in the Cloud Kingdom, and defeat him. However, he shoots them down with his airship. Later, when the Odyssey is en route to Bowser's Kingdom, he has the Ruined Dragon damage the Odyssey, and also has the Broodals hold off Mario long enough to fully escape from the castle to the Moon Kingdom. 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.
Shortly before the final showdown with him, Bowser comments on the outfit Mario is wearing at the time, prior to telling him "Not that it matters, since you WEREN'T INVITED!" (with the exception of the fourth comment). His remarks are as follows:
- Black Tuxedo / Explorer Outfit / Builder Outfit / Chef Suit / Painter Outfit / Mario 64 Suit / Mechanic Outfit / Classic Suit / Luigi Suit / Doctor Outfit / Waluigi Suit / Diddy Kong Suit / Wario Suit / Metal Mario Suit / Sunshine Outfit / Topper Suit / Rango Suit / Spewart Suit: "Also, that outfit looks familiar, but I can't place it..."
- Caveman Outfit / Cowboy Outfit / Samurai Armor / Pirate Outfit / Knight Armor: "And hey, what's with the history costume?"
- Swimwear / Golf Outfit / Football Uniform / Baseball Uniform / Racing Outfit: "Also, what's with the sporty look?"
- Boxer Shorts / Clown Outfit / Skeleton Suit / Gold Mario Suit / Zombie Outfit / 8-Bit Mario Cap: "And are you trying to scare me with that... totally scary costume? Well, it didn't work, all right?! And y-you WEREN'T INVITED!"
- Bowser's Tuxedo: "Also, I gotta say, great outfit! Very classy!"
- Bridal Gown / Hariet Suit: "Also, you look amazing! Love the outfit!"
- Invisibility Hat: "Huh? Where'd you go?"
- Other: "Also, your outfit isn't halfway fancy enough for the occasion!"
Battle
In battle, Bowser equips boxing gloves on his hat, which resemble the gloves sometimes used by the Junior Clown Car. He will throw the hat and Mario must hit it with Cappy to stop it and flip it over, allowing him to put it on and punch with it using or by shaking the Joy-Con controllers. Once Bowser sees his main weapon disabled, he will ground pound around the arena, sending flaming shockwaves. He may also throw large brick balls, which can be destroyed with the boxing-gloved hat. Mario must repeatedly punch Bowser to send him flying into the spiky barrier surrounding the arena. When Bowser throws his hat again, he will throw it along with purple duplicates of it, which disappear when hit with Cappy. The process of punching Bowser must be repeated to damage him again. For the final throw, there will be five duplicates. Also, after being punched enough the final time, Bowser will spin around, damaging Mario if he is in the way. He must be punched more to defeat him and send him crashing onto his airship.
The second fight is basically the same, but Bowser uses some new tactics. When being attacked, Bowser will always use the spin seen during the final attack in the previous battle, spinning more times depending on how many times he has been hit, and the spins create fiery shockwaves. Like before, he will use duplicates of the hat after being hit once, but he now uses three and eight duplicates, respectively, rather than two and five. He also has two new attacks that he uses while Mario is wearing his hat. Once Bowser is hit once or twice, he may stand in the middle of the arena and breathe a stream of fire around the arena; as he is surrounded by flames during this attack, Mario cannot strike. He may also throw flaming versions of his shell, which cannot be punched away like the bricks. Additionally, for the final hit, Bowser must be punched rapidly again after spinning three times. He will then spin once more and can be attacked to be defeated.
Concept art for the game included in a Japanese artbook indicated that Bowser would have used the capture ability on Princess Peach.[10]
Super Mario Maker 2
Bowser reappears as an enemy in Super Mario Maker 2. He functions similarly to the previous title (also including when Wings or a Super Mushroom are placed on him) and is one of the objects the new Parachute item is able to be placed on. When a parachute is placed on him, he will be able to float down until reaching a solid object like with most objects. Like with the previous game, he is available in all major themes, (although in the Super Mario 3D World style he is replaced by Meowser).
It is strongly implied Bowser is Father of Name Withheld in the game's story mode, which is made evident by his speech pattern: his course descriptions have "Bwa ha ha!" and "Gwa ha ha!" in them, and slang such as "gonna" and "ain't".
He also appears in one of the opening sequences. Bowser slowly walks to the middle of the logo, and after he stops, he preforms a ground pound to the floor, causing the number "2" to fall next to the logo. A Koopa Clown Car comes in and takes Bowser away off-screen.
Super Mario Bros. 35
Bowser appears in Super Mario Bros. 35. Like all enemies, he can be sent to other players, and this may make him appear outside castle levels. A kicked shell can defeat Bowser, but the shell is also destroyed in the process. Transferred Bowsers throw hammers if they are from World 6-4 and later. There are no fake Bowsers in this game.
Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!
King Koopa (as he is known in Japan) is featured as the main villain in the Japanese-exclusive animated film Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!. The plot of the film is similar to that of Super Mario Bros. in that King Koopa is trying to conquer the kingdom and turning its inhabitants into inanimate objects; he even turns Princess Peach's fiancé, Haru-ōji, into a dog going by the name Kibidango. King Koopa is also trying to marry Peach, making this film the first instance in which King Koopa has shown a love interest in her.
King Koopa first appears emerging from Mario's television to capture Princess Peach. Mario tries to stand up to him, but to no avail. Peach tries to fight back, but is grabbed and taken back into the television, where she is held at his castle. At one point, King Koopa attempts to make Peach love him, but Peach tricks him by having him transform into various things, eventually ending up as a teddy bear which she locks inside a box. However, King Koopa breaks free by transforming back to normal, leaving and locking her in her room.
Later, King Koopa commences the wedding ceremony with Peach, but it is interrupted by Mario and Luigi. Taking the princess, King Koopa and the minister escape to another room to continue the ceremony, only for the castle to fall apart around them. After emerging from the rubble, King Koopa and Mario battle. During the battle, King Koopa is easily able to fight him, though after he consumes the three power-ups Mario becomes strong enough to grab King Koopa by the tail and send him flying, undoing his black magic over the land. In the end of the film, King Koopa appears at Mario's Grocery, working happily with his minions.
Game & Watch series
Bowser's appearances in the Game & Watch games are very minor compared to his roles in other titles, having appeared only in the later Super Mario Bros.-based game as the "Alarm Koopa" and as the one who kidnapped Princess Toadstool in the game's storyline. Bowser has more appearances in the ports included in the four Game & Watch Gallery games.
Game & Watch Gallery's Modern version of Oil Panic features Bowser dropping oil from the top of a tower. Below, Mario must try to catch the oil and hand the buckets to Yoshi for disposal. Occasionally, Yoshi can knock Bowser away from his position.
The Modern version of Ball from Game & Watch Gallery 2 features Bowser as one of the four playable characters; the objective of the game is to control him as he attempts to juggle a Goomba, a Boo, and a Koopa Shell, as well as collecting coins and avoiding Bob-ombs.
He also appears in the Modern version of Mario Bros. in Game & Watch Gallery 3 and Game & Watch Gallery 4. His role in this game is to hinder the Mario Bros.' progress by reversing the directions of the conveyer belts they are working on; however, they can switch the flow of the belts back to normal by flipping a switch.
Game & Watch Gallery 4 also has Bowser in the Modern version of Rain Shower. Here, he is seen in a tree, trying to throw colored water balloons at Mario's friends, who are relaxing on various objects attached to the ropes. Mario is able to help his friends avoid the balloons by using the ropes to move them out of the way.
Super Mario Bros.: Trapped in the Perilous Pit
In the Golden Look-Look Book Super Mario Bros.: Trapped in the Perilous Pit, King Koopa heads down to the basement of Toadstool's palace to kidnap the princess while Mario and Luigi, who are working on the castle's plumbing, are with her. Mario tries to fight him, but is defeated; it is when Luigi takes a Fire Flower and fights him that Koopa is defeated. Koopa escapes, however, and the bros try to chase after him, but fall down a large pit. Koopa also throws the princess into the pit, then escapes, locking the basement door behind him. At the end of the book, however, the three escape the basement and force Koopa out of the castle.
Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros.
King Koopa is also featured as the main antagonist in all three shorts in the Japanese-exclusive Super Mario anime series, which have him taking on the roles of various fairy tale villains. In the first story, Momotarō, King Koopa acts as an ogre that steals rare treasures from other areas of the galaxy. He hears of the beauty of Princess Peach, and, with the help of his Koopalings, she is kidnapped. Peach's grandparents try to stop him, but fail. During the time that the princess is kidnapped, King Koopa proposes to her, but she refuses and is thrown into a cell as a result; King Koopa then continues to plunder the galaxy as usual. As he is proposing to her again, he hears news that a strange ship is approaching; Mario and his friends, a Para-Beetle, a Spike, and a Boomerang Bro arrive at the city, face King Koopa and the Koopalings and defeat them. Having been beaten, King Koopa vows to never perform another bad deed.
The second story, Issun-bōshi, features King Koopa with a somewhat minimal role, as a bully to both Princess Peach and Mario. While harassing Princess Peach, Mario tries to stand up for her, but King Koopa simply tries to stomp him, which later leads to him eating Mario. However, Mario starts slashing and stabbing at his insides with the makeshift sword he was given by his father. This causes King Koopa to experience a horrific stomachache and regurgitate Mario, falling unconscious. However, when King Koopa wakes up, Mario is on his head, but he slices off his horns and eyebrows as he leaps off. Embarrassed, King Koopa runs away from the two, dropping a magical hammer on the way. This hammer allows Mario to be grown to a normal size.
The final story, Shirayuki-hime (Snow White), has King Koopa playing the role of the Wicked Queen. She is a selfish tyrant, who often asks her mirror who is the most beautiful in the land, with the mirror's response being an image of herself. However, one day, when asking the mirror the question, Koopa is shocked to see the image of Princess Peach appearing on the mirror, making him angry. After much frustration, she has the Koopalings attack her, but she is saved by Mario, who defeats them. Angered by the failure of the Koopalings, Koopa asks the mirror the question again; this time the mirror tells him that Peach is hiding in Toad's house. In her laboratory in the basement, Koopa creates a poison, which he then injects into several apples. While both the Toads and Mario are gone from the house, Koopa, disguising himself using a cloak, gives Peach a poisoned apple, which causes her to fall into a comatose state, and flies back to her castle.
Once Mario, Peach, and the Toads arrive at Koopa's castle, she has her Koopalings attack Mario. They succeed with their attack, but the Toads combine with Mario, increasing his strength and allowing him to once again defeat them. Koopa attempts to escape, but Mario chases after her. However, Mario stops when he sees Koopa holding a knife at Peach. At that moment, Luigi unexpectedly enters the scene with a hammer and attacks Koopa. The brothers then take her and throw her head first into her mirror to defeat her.
DIC cartoons
Bowser, though only commonly referred to by the name of King Koopa (very rarely was he called Bowser Koopa), is featured as the main antagonist of all three of DIC Entertainment's Super Mario cartoons, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. He later gets his own show in King Koopa's Kool Kartoons, a live-action DIC production. Bowser's appearance in the shows is based on his in-game sprite from the original Super Mario Bros. and also bears some resemblance to Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2, whose army, the 8 bits, are loyal to Koopa in the shows along with the original Koopa Troop. In all three cartoons, Bowser was voiced by Harvey Atkin, who also starred in other shows such as Goosebumps as Mr. Malik, The Adventures of Sam and Max: Freelance Police voicing Sam, and in Cagney & Lacey as Sergeant Ronald Coleman. According to an interview with writer Perry Martin, King Koopa's portrayal was based on comedian Don Rickles.[11]
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
- “Koopa Pack, attack!”
- —Bowser, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Bowser often takes on various aliases and costumes and try to enact a dastardly plot of some sort, most commonly trying to conquer a kingdom or steal an ancient treasure and/or artifact; aiding Bowser in these plots are his Koopa Pack and a sidekick of sorts, most commonly Mouser. In several episodes, Bowser captures Princess Toadstool and attempts to blackmail her into giving him the Mushroom Kingdom, although some other episodes imply that he already has some measure of control over the kingdom.
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
- “Quiet, Koopalings! I'm the king here! I'll decide what land we're gonna take over!”
- —Bowser, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser, having seemingly been banished from the Mushroom Kingdom sometime after the events of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, returns to it to cause havoc, with the aid of his seven Koopalings (referred to as the "Koopa Kids"). In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser stops his use of aliases and costumes and his plans became somewhat odd in nature, such as turning his children into giant, ninja warriors for the sole purpose of kidnapping Prince Hugo, only to end up transforming him into a poodle. Bowser is occasionally referenced as "Bowser Koopa" in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3.
Super Mario World television series
- “I'll be back! And when I do, that little monster of yours is goin' on a crash diet!”
- —Bowser, Super Mario World (television series)
In Super Mario World television series, Bowser makes somewhat infrequent appearances. As revealed in the episode "Mama Luigi", he was once again banished from the Mushroom Kingdom. However, he ends up moving to Dinosaur Land, where he, along with his Koopa Kids, cause trouble. Bowser's fate at the end of the cartoons is never actually disclosed, as his final appearance (not counting "Mama Luigi", which takes place in a flashback) in A Little Learning shows him trapped in his bedroom, which is rapidly filling with lava.
King Koopa's Kool Kartoons
After The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Bowser received his first live-action appearance in King Koopa's Kool Kartoons, a show starring Bowser that only aired for one season between 1989 and 1990. His appearance, as well as his personality and demeanor, is based off of his cartoon appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, but changed to make him look more believable for a live action TV show. Like the cartoons, King Koopa's Kool Kartoons was produced by DIC. During the show, Bowser hosts a quiz, to which any viewer can send their answers through the mail, and answers fan mail. He then shows public-domain cartoons unrelated to the Mario series. At the end of each episode, Koopa gives away Nintendo merchandise to the child-exclusive studio audience.
Super Mario World: Mario to Yoshi no Bōken Land
King Koopa appears as the main villain in the Japanese-exclusive interactive OVA Super Mario World: Mario to Yoshi no Bōken Land. As the plot is the same as the game it is based upon, King Koopa kidnaps Princess Peach while she is on vacation in Dinosaur Land, conquers the Yoshis and sets up fortresses, putting the Koopalings in charge of them. He eventually faces off against Mario and Luigi in his Koopa Clown, and is defeated, spinning out of control into the horizon.
Mario Ice Capades
In the real-life Mario Ice Capades production, Bowser, mostly known as King Koopa (but referred to as Bowser at the beginning), appears while Jason Bateman is explaining Super Mario Bros. to Alyssa Milano. He plans to use the NES they are playing to spread a computer virus and take over the world. He then has his minions head out to infect the system's hardware.
When the Mario Bros. show up, Bowser sends his minions after them, but Luigi easily defeats them with a fire-shooting weapon. After most of his minions are defeated, Bowser, accompanied by a Spiny, attempts to attack the Mario Bros. and some children from the audience, but they are defeated as well.
White Knuckle Scorin'
In the comic included with the White Knuckle Scorin' album, Bowser appears as the main antagonist. He once again kidnaps Princess Toadstool and brings her to his castle, explaining his plan to turn the dinosaurs of Dinosaur Land into fossil fuel and join OPEC. The princess tells him that he is not smart enough to be an oil tycoon, but Bowser informs her that he would rather have "brute force and a bad attitude over smarts and education," informing her (in song) that "ignorance is bliss."
Later, Bowser's spies tell him that the Mario Bros. and their ally Yoshi are approaching his castle. Bowser selects a spell from his spellbook that he believes to have a nasty effect, and (with help from Lemmy, who wished to show off the reading skills the princess had taught him earlier), they cast the spell (Bowser unable to do it himself due to leaving his reading glasses in the pantry when reading the nutritional label on a bag of "toasted lard chips"), which instead creates an illusion that gives the countryside a medieval motif, also boosting the brothers' confidence.
The spell wears off as soon as Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi arrive at the castle, but Bowser has his Mechakoopas attack them. He also places Toadstool in a cage lowering into a vat of lava; the brothers and Yoshi cannot save her in time, and she disappears into the lava. Mario attempts to fight Bowser still, but his grief allows Bowser to easily beat him. However, Princess Toadstool suddenly appears out of the shadows and strikes Bowser. Revitalized by her sudden appearance, Bowser is able to be defeated by Mario again, while the princess explains that she escaped due to Bowser leaving the operating manual inside the cage (Bowser admitting that his illiteracy caused him to not think about them). Bowser is defeated by the heroes (aided by Lemmy), but he orders all Warp Pipes leading outside Dinosaur Land be severed, supposedly trapping them on the island. However, Princess Toadstool had stolen Bowser's spell book, and Yoshi recites the spell to transport his friends home.
Yoshi franchise
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island / Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island
Bowser's first chronological appearance in-universe is as Baby Bowser in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. At this age, he is shown to have similar powers to the ones he currently possesses as an adult.
When Baby Mario and Yoshi enter his room in his castle, Baby Bowser is unintentionally and forcibly awakened from his nap by Kamek (who was trying to demand that Yoshi hand over Mario), and pounds him flat in retribution. Bowser then notices Yoshi, and decides he wants to ride the "green donkey." However, he notices that Mario is riding Yoshi so he attacks them to get Baby Mario off. Yoshi ends up defeating Baby Bowser, even when Kamek turns him into a giant. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is also his first meeting with Mario.
Yoshi's Cookie
In Yoshi's Cookie, Bowser appears as one of the four playable characters in versus mode. He has the highest attack of the four, but his other stats are average.
The Nintendo Puzzle Collection version of the game features a story mode. While Mario and Yoshi are resting as they are delivering Yoshi Cookies, Bowser appears and steals the cookies. When they awake, they go after him. Bowser is faced on stage seven on every difficulty, as the final enemy in the game. He is defeated after beating him three times out of five.
Tetris Attack
Bowser also appears in Tetris Attack, a game that is based on the Japanese Panel de Pon. The rebranded version replaces all of the game's original cast except Mr. Time with characters from the Mario series and the Yoshi series, with Bowser taking the role of Corderia as the game's final boss.
During VS. Mode, the game's story mode, Bowser has Kamek cast a spell over the inhabitants of Yoshi's Island, brainwashing them into working for him and his Koopa Troop. He also has a massive rain created, threatening to flood the world. He is faced in Mt. Wickedness on hard mode, on the twelfth and final stage, after Kamek is defeated.
Bowser is also faced on the final stage and special stage on Stage Clear mode. His health is depleted by stringing together multiple combos.
Yoshi's Story
Baby Bowser steals the Super Happy Tree from the Yoshis and turns Yoshi's Island into a pop-up book in Yoshi's Story, but is defeated again by a newborn Yoshi. Both incidents quickly define the young Bowser as a selfish character lacking empathy.
Yoshi Topsy-Turvy
In Yoshi Topsy-Turvy, Bowser and his minions attack the island. A spirit named Hongo attempts to contain Bowser and his army by using his magic to place the entire island inside the Forbidden Pop-Up Book, mirroring what Bowser did to Yoshi's Island as a baby. After Yoshi satisfies each of the six spirits of Yoshi's Island, the spirits allow Yoshi to confront Bowser. The first part of the battle takes place on a platform. Bowser attacks Yoshi by breathing fire at him while bombs fall from the sky. Bowser is damaged if he walks into the bombs. He flies into the air and lands, causing two Shy Guys to fall onto the platform.
When Bowser is damaged enough times, the two fall to a lower platform. Bowser only attacks by leaping and slamming the ground, causing two enemies to fall. The parachuting bombs damage him if he walks into them. Once this is done enough times, he and Yoshi fall to a pair of even lower platforms over a pit of lava; the size of Bowser, however, allows only one of his feet on it. Tilting the system causes Bowser to fall into the lava, defeating him. Afterward, with Bowser eliminated, Hongo releases Yoshi's Island, reverting it.
Yoshi's Island DS
In Yoshi's Island DS, Bowser travels to the past to find the star children, which are said to have the power necessary for him to conquer the universe. Among the many children he kidnaps or attempts to kidnap are Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Peach, Baby Donkey Kong, Baby Wario, and even Baby Bowser. Bowser from the future uses a scepter to bring him back to the past and invades Baby Bowser's Castle. Bowser later kicks Baby Bowser out of the castle when he insults him.
Baby Bowser teams up with Baby Mario, Baby Wario, Baby Donkey Kong, Baby Peach, and Yoshi to save Baby Luigi and the other babies from the future Bowser out of revenge, since his future self had betrayed him. Near the end of the game, while traversing the castle, Baby Bowser turns on his team because he thought they would come to try and steal his treasure, but he is outnumbered and defeated. The future Bowser then shows up and attacks them for being rude to his past self. During the fight, Bowser attacks Yoshi and the babies by leaping around and blasting them with fireballs. Bowser is knocked off his feet by hitting him with Giant Eggs, which leave him vulnerable to ground-pounding.
When the player defeats Bowser, Kamek intervenes and enchants Bowser using his magic. The magic causes Bowser to become Giant Bowser in the final battle against Baby Mario, Baby Peach, Baby Donkey Kong, and Baby Wario. During the battle, Bowser moves around to the left and right sides of the area and attacks the Yoshis and babies with fireballs, as well as sending down debris. The player must throw the Giant Eggs, once again obtained by Item Balloons, at Bowser so that they explode in his face. Once they defeat him again, the unconscious Bowser is carried away by Toadies while Kamek vows revenge and Baby Bowser follows them. It is revealed that the babies, including Baby Bowser, make up six of the seven star children, with a Baby Yoshi that is born soon after Bowser leaves the past, being the seventh.
Yoshi's New Island
Bowser makes a surprise appearance in Yoshi's New Island as the true final boss. After Baby Bowser is defeated and whisked away by Kamek, Bowser attacks Yoshi and Baby Mario before the two can save Baby Luigi and the Stork, after warping through space and time. His battle involves him jumping and breathing fireballs. Metal Guys appear after Bowser jumps higher than his previous two jumps, thus allowing Yoshi to survive the otherwise ever shrinking space he can walk along, which Yoshi can turn into a Metal Eggdozer to hit Bowser.
When he has been defeated, Kamek hits him with his mallet and turns him giant. This battle is almost identical to Baby Bowser's giant fight. When he jumps, Mega Guys fall down and Mega Eggdozers must be thrown at him. However, raining fireballs, Kamek's magic, and Bowser's occasional fire stream may hurt Yoshi. Once Bowser is defeated, he falls through the lava and disappears, with it being implied that he was sent back to his own time afterward. The battle with Bowser is only accessible after beating World 6-8 (as well as all of the other levels) without the use of Flutter Wings.
Club Nintendo comics
Bowser is one of the many characters that appear during the Club Nintendo comics. His appearances are as an antagonist, and are mostly major. His first appearance in one is Wart steht unter Strom (Wart is Tensed Up). During the comic, Bowser, who is erroneously named "Wart", is playing what appears to be "Super Bowser Land" on a Game Boy, when the batteries die. He angrily throws the batteries out, but Mario shows up and reminds him that they should be properly disposed of. Infuriated, Bowser fights Mario, but the dead batteries end up electrocuting him. In the end, Bowser decides to accept Mario's advice and goes off to buy a battery set.
In Süße Weihnachten (Sweet Christmas), Bowser first appears outside Mario's House while he is not at home. Bowser also takes advantage of the fact that their door is unlocked and enters. He notices several treats inside, and starts to eat them; afterward, however, a somewhat overweight Bowser starts feeling sick. He tries to leave, but falls over. Dr. Mario, being told of Bowser's condition by a Toad doctor, rushes over and, along with Nurse Toadstool, checks his condition, then gives him a prescription. He is later seen in bed, still sick, in the background while Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad sing "Silent Night".
Bowser's appearance in Super Mario: Mario im Wunderland (Super Mario: Mario in Wonderland) is minor. He, along with Wario and Donkey Kong, emerge from a bush in front of Mario, Toad, and Kirby. They claim that the group stole their cookies, and begin to fight. However, they are scared away by Fox McCloud. He also has a minor appearance in Super Mario: Erholung? Nein, danke! (Super Mario: Recreation? No, thanks!), where he works at the front desk of the Gumba Royal Hotel.
In Die Jagd nach dem Nintendo 64: Krawall im All (The Race for the Nintendo 64: Ruckus in Outer Space), Bowser and Wario have teamed up in order to find a special spacecraft on the planet Earth; they are planning to use the spacecraft to rule the universe. Their only opposition on this quest is Mario and Luigi. Upon landing on earth, the duo notice that the Mario Bros. landed first, and fly off in their para-gliders. They notice Mario and Luigi in karts, and begin to attack them. Bowser knocks Mario off the road, but he loses control of his glider. Mario, back on the road, grasps the opportunity and throws banana peels in front of him. He slips on one and collides with Wario; the villains are knocked out while the Mario brothers continue.
Even later, in order to reach the island containing the spacecraft, Wario and Bowser use a type of aircraft with rocket boosters. They outrace Mario and Luigi, who are using their karts converted into jet skis. However, Mario tricks them into believing flying straight is boring, and the villains begin to do various midair maneuvers until they run out of fuel and fall into water. They eventually emerge from the water and try to take the craft, shaped like a Nintendo 64, from the Marios, but fail after the brothers put a flag up on top of it. Their friends congratulate them while Bowser and Wario are sulking.
Mario Teaches Typing games
Bowser also makes some minor appearances in the two Mario Teaches Typing games, such as appearing when the letter "B" is typed in the first game's alternate game mode. Additionally, a Bowser portrait also appears in the room where the Koopa Troopas are playing cards in Mario Teaches Typing 2. In both games' story modes, Bowser is not featured, but his castle is, though it is destroyed by Mario and Luigi at the end. In the second game's story mode intro, the Magical Typewriter gives them a message that states it is "the key to beating Bowser."
Mario Kart series
Bowser is always a default-unlocked heavyweight character in the Mario Kart games. He also always has his own course, aptly named Bowser's Castle.
In Super Mario Kart, he and Donkey Kong Jr. have the heaviest weight and highest speed, but at the same time suffer from poor acceleration and steering. If controlled by a computer, Bowser can toss fireballs onto the track. In the Japanese release of the game, every character's awards ceremony victory animation involves a bottle of champagne, but part of Bowser's involves drinking it. This is changed in English releases, in which Bowser simply waves the bottle above his head.
In Mario Kart 64, Bowser and the other heavyweight characters have poor speed, acceleration, and steering, but high weight, allowing them to ram lighter racers out of their way.
In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Bowser has the highest weight and speed, but also the lowest acceleration in the game.
In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Bowser's default partner is Bowser Jr. Their shared Special Item is the Bowser Shell, and his kart is the Koopa King.
In Mario Kart DS, Bowser's Koopa Clown Car appears as his unlockable kart, the Hurricane. His default karts are a standard kart (Standard BW), like the other racers, and the Tyrant. Once the game is beaten, Bowser can drive any of the thirty-six karts in the game. He also appears as the ghost on Airship Fortress with a time of 2:07:748 on the Hurricane, on Bowser Castle on the Hurricane with a time of 2:19:661, and on GBA Bowser Castle 2 with a time of 1:52:258 on the Standard BW. In Missions Mode, Bowser is the character played as for missions 3-2, 4-5, 5-4, 6-1, 6-8, and 7-7. In addition, he also appears as the opponent to be raced against for mission 7-2. He and R.O.B. are the heaviest characters.
In Mario Kart Wii, Bowser has the highest weight bonus for his class size, which makes vehicles like the Offroader and Piranha Prowler heavier than normal. He also offers decent speed and drift bonuses, which make the Jetsetter and Shooting Star faster and easier to control. The Staff Ghosts that use Bowser are Nin*YABUKI at Bowser's Castle in the Piranha Prowler, with a time of 3:04:836 with no Wii Wheel and manual drift. The expert staff ghost is Nin*Masa with the same settings, except this time, Bowser is on the Flame Runner with a time of 2:42:098.
In Mario Kart 7, Bowser returns as a heavy racer. He has one of the best speed and weight boosts in the game. His Koopa Clown Car also has an appearance as the Koopa Clown, an unlockable kart body. The staff ghosts using Bowser are Ret*Matt M on Bowser's Castle, with the standard kart body, Monster tires, and the Super Glider with a time of 02:34.815; the expert staff ghost also uses Bowser in the Blue Seven with Red Monster tires and the Beast Glider, the time being 02:15.244. He is also both ghosts on GBA Bowser Castle 1; the normal ghost, Nin*Hayata, uses the Pipe Frame with Standard tires and the Beast Glider and has a time of 01:31.030, while the expert, Nin*hokwai, uses the Koopa Clown with the Roller tires and the Super Glider, and has a time of 01:22.221. If using a glider with a stem (Super Glider, Flower Glider etc.) while playing as Bowser, the stem of the glider is bent to go around his shell; for the other characters it is straight.
Bowser is a playable character in Mario Kart 8. He is one of the heaviest racers in the game, having the exact same stats as Wario, Morton Koopa Jr., Dry Bowser, and the large Mii, while rivaling the weight of Metal Mario and Pink Gold Peach. In the Nintendo Switch port Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Bowser instead shares stats with only Morton and large Miis. He also runs an oil company called Bowser Oil, which appears as a sponsor in this game, and also has a racing team called Lord Bowser.
Bowser makes an appearance in Mario Kart Tour as an unlockable Super-rarity driver, available since launch. Like in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, his special item is Bowser's Shell. The 2020 Winter Tour introduced a variant of Bowser disguised as Santa Claus with Christmas lights on his shell, called Bowser (Santa), who is a High-End-rarity driver that utilizes the Coin Box as his special item.
Bowser also makes an appearance in the three Mario Kart Arcade GP games; Mario Kart Arcade GP has no weight stat to classify characters by, but Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 classifies him as a power racer, and Mario Kart Arcade GP DX places him in the heavyweight category. The second game also gives him a personal kart in addition to a standard kart; Bowser's resembles his shell, with spikes lining the sides and on the tires. In the first two games, Bowser has four special items: Bowser Shell, the same item from Double Dash!!; Shell Body, which makes him invincible; Flaming Tender, which damages any rival that hits it; and Thwomp, which squishes any driver that drives under it. Bowser also receives his own two-course cup in the first two games, both of which consists of Bowser's Castle and Castle Wall, which takes place on the wall surrounding his castle. In the first game, beating the Bowser Cup allows the player to face Bowser in a battle as the challenge stage. The player must leap over the streams of fire Bowser spits at them while tossing shells at the supports for his platform. If the player is playing as Bowser for this challenge, they instead face Mecha-Bowser. In Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, the Bowser Cup consists of Bowser Factory and Bowser Castle.
Mario Is Missing!
Bowser causes much trouble on Earth during Mario is Missing!. Bowser plans to use several hairdryers to melt Antarctica, which would result in the Earth flooding. However, because he cannot afford the amount of hairdryers needed to enact the scheme, Bowser sends his Koopa Troop across the world to steal rare and valuable artifacts to sell.
Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi head to Antarctica to stop him, but Mario is captured by Bowser. Mario's kidnapping, however, differs between the three versions. In the PC version, Luigi remains outside with Yoshi, as he is too scared to go in, so Mario enters by himself; Bowser, disguised as a butler, gives Mario some candy, and he is caught in a net afterward. In the SNES version, Mario falls down a pit trap activated by Bowser. In the NES version, Bowser catches him in a sack. Either way, Mario is kidnapped, forcing Luigi to save Mario using the skill of deduction.
The endings differ from the console as well. When the player saves Mario in the NES version, Luigi and what appears to be Bowser fight, but he flees as a Beach Koopa. Bowser is later seen outside his fortress, crying over his defeat in the snow. In the SNES version, Bowser leaps down from above after Mario is saved. However, Luigi pulls a nearby switch that causes Bowser to fall into a hole, into a cannon. He is then shot out of his castle and into the Antarctic snow; he freezes instantly after, then shatters. In the PC version, Bowser advances toward Luigi, but Luigi forcefully removes his shell, making him a "Beach Bowser", much to his humiliation. When Bowser returns, Luigi lies to Bowser by gestering that he threw his shell off the balcony. When Bowser looks over the ledge, Luigi kicks him off and he lands in the snow. He then emerges from a pile of snow, dazed, and falls into unconsciousness. After Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi leave, Bowser appears in the corner, looking in that direction before the credits roll.
Of note is that Bowser is extremely off-model in the NES release. There are two sets of sprites used, with the one in the opening being green and hornless, and the one during battle being orange with horns. Both sets appear to use an edited version of Morton, Ludwig, and Roy's body from Super Mario World, along with an edited version of Lemmy's head from the same game. As such, he is uncharacteristically short in this game, being even shorter than Mario and Luigi. When retracted into his shell, the sprites use the normal Koopa Troopa shell sprite from Super Mario World, except with all original detail removed and completely-square spikes added on. Finally, after defeat, he is knocked out of his shell and appears as a Beach Koopa, specifically from a Koopa Troopa. During the credits, however, he appears as normal.
Nintendo Adventure Books
In Double Trouble, Bowser intends on using Iggy's latest invention, a cloning machine called the GLOM, to overrun the Mushroom Kingdom with duplicates made of sand. After encountering Mario in his Koopahari Desert Fortress, Bowser brags about his scheme before giving chase to Mario, though he quickly loses him. After Mario causes Fort Koopa to collapse by making the GLOM overload and blow up, he spots Bowser, Iggy and Wendy limping off after digging themselves out of the rubble.
Bowser has only a cameo appearance in Leaping Lizards, where he threatens the orchestra performing at the International Mushroom Games (which six of his children are competing in) to play the Koopa Anthem.
In Monster Mix-Up, Iggy Koopa builds the Monster Mixer for Bowser, a device that can fuse two or more objects or creatures together. He begins to use it by fusing several of his minions into conglomerations of the two creatures that formed it (such as a Goomerang Brother and a Buzz-Bomb). However, in the end, Bowser is stopped and the machine is destroyed.
After Wendy disappears in Koopa Capers, Bowser uses a magic carpet to abduct Luigi from Brooklyn, so he can force the younger Mario brother into searching for the wayward Koopaling after his own minions prove incapable of finding her. In the best ending, Bowser and the male Koopalings confront Wendy, who had planned on performing a coup, in her secret lair by following Luigi, but they decide to stave off punishing the treacherous Koopaling if she helps search for the hiding Luigi. If Luigi has Boom Boom's socks, he can throw them into Wendy's simmering potion, creating fumes which knock Bowser, his family and their minions out for at least a week.
Bowser's appearance in Doors to Doom is as an enemy in the series of worlds created by Dr. Sporis von Fungenstein.
In Dinosaur Dilemma, Bowser has his minions begin abducting all the dinosaurs in Dinosaur Island, so he can "prove" his theory that the dinosaurs went extinct due to not looking both ways before they crossed the street; once the dinosaurs and all evidence of their existence are gone and his theory is thus "proven" true, Bowser intends to be awarded the Snowbell Prize (feeding the cooked dinosaurs to the committee awarding it) and be named curator of the Mushroom Kingdom Museum of Natural History, conveniently located across the street from Mushroom Palace, which he plans on pelting with garbage. Mario and Yoshi ultimately crash Bowser's award ceremony, defeat his evil Slimosaurs, rescue the dinosaurs and the kidnapped Luigi, and humiliate the Koopa King in front of the Snowbell Prize committee and the rest of the guests, including Wart.
In Flown the Koopa, Bowser can be found hanging out in the Valley of the Koopas by Mario and Luigi; when asked about the whereabouts of Princess Toadstool and Yoshi, Bowser denies having anything to do with their disappearance, but since the Mario Bros. have annoyed him he sics a quartet of Mechakoopas on them. In the best possible outcome, Luigi bludgeons Bowser with a wrench, sending him running and causing him to drop the remote control needed to disable the Mechakoopas and defeat a Magikoopa, who is Bowser's cousin and the main antagonist of the book.
Disguised as a Toad named Fungus Cap, Bowser crashes Yoshi's birthday in Unjust Desserts, placing a cherry on the dinosaur's cake that, when eaten, causes Yoshi to go on an eating binge that ends when he devours Luigi. After unsuccessfully trying to dissuade Yoshi's friends from calling dinosaur physician Doc Drake, Bowser sheds his Toad disguise and escapes, but returns later after having Magikoopa shrink him and his forces so he can follow Mario (who intends to rescue Luigi) into Yoshi's body. When Yoshi and Luigi regurgitate everyone they have eaten, Bowser and his forces try to overwhelm Mario, but are defeated and forced to retreat, with the still tiny Bowser being menaced by an ant.
During the earlier books, Bowser's appearances on the covers of Double Trouble and Monster Mix-Up show him with his cartoon appearance; on the cover of the later book Unjust Desserts, Bowser, albeit only his face being on the cover, is shown with his game appearance.
Super Mario Adventures
Bowser appears as the primary antagonist in Nintendo Power's comic series Super Mario Adventures. Some time prior to the events of the comics, he has hundreds of Yoshis captured and enslaved. Yoshi tries to go after them, but he is trapped in an egg and left in the forest. Later, pipes begin to pop out of the princess's castle grounds, and several of Bowser's minions emerge from them. Bowser and his children, in his Koopa Clown Car, later appear out of a massive warp pipe. Bowser explains to Princess Toadstool that he wanted to conquer the kingdom, and that he can only do so by marrying her. Toadstool declines his proposal, but Bowser gives her a week to decide anyway. He then heads back down the pipe, with the princess and several Toads in pursuit, to attempt to compromise with him.
Several of Bowser's Lakitus capture Toadstool, and Bowser places her in the custody of his kids, telling them to keep a video line between his castle and theirs open. She is kept in a jail cell inside their castle. After interrupting them playing a video game, Bowser begins to tell his kids that he proposed to Toadstool, but is interrupted by a Magikoopa who informs him that the model of his cake is finished. Bowser is shown the model, but wants it bigger, and has to interrupt his children's video game again to tell them to keep Toadstool inside the castle.
After the princess escapes, Bowser is furious at his kids for losing his "bride," but the Koopalings show him that they have captured Mario. Bowser then has them send two Mechakoopas across the moat dividing the mainland from the castle to blackmail Luigi; if he wants Mario back, he must hand over Princess Toadstool or Mario dies. Luigi tricks Bowser and the Koopalings by sending himself disguised as the princess, and actually says yes to Bowser's proposal when he arrives.
Bowser and his minions later capture Toad when he flies into the Warp Pipe to find Toadstool, Mario, and Luigi a rescue party. He and several Koopas then disguise themselves as Toads and help the princess and the Mario brothers by sending a ladder. However, on the way up Bowser pulls out a knife and severs the ladder, separating himself and the princess from Mario and Luigi. Afterward, he sheds the disguise as the ladder is pulled back up the pipe, revealed to be a small airship. Bowser then sends Paratroopas after Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi.
Having defeated the Koopas, the brothers find a house in the middle of the forest, unaware that Bowser and the Koopalings are watching them and that the house is one of his traps. Bowser prematurely believes that the brothers will enter the house, but when he sees they do not, he pushes a button that causes the scent of cheese to emanate from the structure. The smell convinces Luigi to head inside, and Mario rushes after to find him. Afterward, Bowser returns to planning his wedding.
On the date of the wedding, Bowser witnesses a Magikoopa command several hundred enslaved Yoshis to drag the enormus cake into the courtyard. He then watches as they are commanded to enter a special room, where they enter a machine that traps in eggs. As he is preparing for the wedding, he learns that the princess is still resisting. However, he has the Magikoopa hypnotize her into loving him.
Just as the ceremony commences, Mario emerges to stop him. However, he is shocked to hear that the princess loves Bowser. Bowser then has his minions charge after Mario, subduing him. As he is about to continue with their marriage, a gigantic pack of Yoshis charges in, instantly defeating all of Bowser's minions. After the Magikoopa is defeated, the princess is freed from hypnosis. Bowser tries to escape in his Koopa Clown Car, but Mario lassos the car, causing Bowser to fall out of it and into the cake, which the Yoshis start to consume. Bowser tries to continue the wedding, but the cake collapses while he is still on it.
Nintendo Comics System
In the Mario comics of Valiant Comics' Nintendo Comics System, Bowser, known under the name King Koopa at first, is once again featured as the main enemy of the Mushroom Kingdom, which he continues to try and cause chaos in. Though several of his appearances involve him trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, he also has a handful of joke comics revolving around him; said comic appearances include shorts such as "Koopa Kola," in which he is advertising the soda of the same name, and "Koopa's Believe It or Else!," in which he gives several obscure but allegedly true "facts" about the Mushroom Kingdom. His appearance in this comic series is exactly similar to his appearance in the DiC cartoons, except in "Just Deserts", which uses his game appearance with DiC's colorations and with a crown instead of a mane. Throughout the comics, it is implied that Bowser, in some way, is affiliated with the Apook Corporation, a large corporation selling most of the Mushroom Kingdom's commercial products, if not the owner. The corporation mainly retails their products at the Koopamart, a store also implied to be owned by Bowser; it is even designed to look like him.
"The Legend"
The short comic "The Legend" explains how Bowser originally kidnapped the princess, and how the Mario brothers went on their quest to rescue her.
"Just Deserts"
In "Just Deserts," Koopa creates a mirage machine, which he uses to create a mirage of the Mushroom King splashing around in an oasis in the middle of the desert Mario and Luigi are trapped in, while he stays at his underground base. However, once they reach the spring, Koopa deactivates the mirage, prompting the bros to search for the king. They eventually arrive at the pyramid Koopa's base is in, and Mario rescues the king and presses a "master mirage" button on the machine, destroying the fortress.
"Piranha-Round Sue"
Bowser also appears during "Piranha-Round Sue." During the comic, the Piranha Plant Piranha Sue starts a revolution amongst the plants from King Koopa, who transforms the Mushroom King into a lizard. The king then sends Mario and Toad to retrieve a magic wand to turn him back, giving them the Green Gecko Gem, which gives its user a forcefield. Mario gets the wand, but eventually loses both it and the gem to Sue, who then claims that she rules the world; however, Bowser appears then, and Sue states that she got them for Bowser. He disregards this and claims both; however, he tosses the gem aside, deeming it worthless, and notices the wand has the words "Brooklyn Plumbing Novelty Company" inscribed upon it. Bowser then punishes Piranha Sue for being duped.
"Beauty and the Beach"
During "Beauty and the Beach," Bowser assumes control of a beach island, giving himself the alias "Ka-Hoopa." His plot is to use bombs to heat up the volcano on the center of the island to the point where it erupts and turns the Toads inhabiting the island into Fryguys. He achieves this by having the residents themselves throw the bombs into the volcano, convincing them that doing so will scare off the Trouters near the island. After Princess Toadstool, Mario, and Toad wash ashore on the island, their boat having been destroyed by the aforementioned Trouters, they eventually encounter Bowser. However, he offers them no trouble, even telling them his plan in its entirety, and leaves, stating the volcano would erupt in a matter of minutes. Out at sea, however, he is shocked to notice that the volcano is not erupting, thanks to Mario's installing of bamboo pipelines to divert the lava.
"Magic Carpet Madness"
In "Magic Carpet Madness," Bowser first prank phone calls King Toadstool while he is tending his garden; however, his trip to the phone causes him to track mud across the castle's carpet. Princess Toadstool scolds him for this, then calls a carpet cleaner. Bowser then sends three Pidgits to the castle under the guise of carpet cleaners, while he fills the cleaner with Flying Carpet Juice. Bowser watches from a window and later the roof as Toadstool flies out of her castle's skylight, then into the air. However, the plan falls apart when the hypnotized Princess Toadstool crashes into Bowser's blimp. He is last seen whining on the ground, having crashed into the ground and formed a hole.
"Bedtime for Drain-Head"
Before the events of "Bedtime for Drain-Head," Bowser kidnaps Toad. However, a sleepwalking Mario, believing himself to be his favorite comic book hero Dirk Drain-Head, breaks in to Bowser's Castle and beats him up; not wanting to be beaten any more, he calls for a truce. They then head back to the palace, where he is seen serving the king, Wooster, and Toad grape sodas with little umbrellas upon Luigi and Princess Toadstool's arrival. The king then commends Mario by giving him a slap on the back, waking him up; realizing that Bowser was defeated by Mario in his sleep, he and the others storm off.
"Betrayal Most Proper"
In "Betrayal Most Proper," Bowser only gets a minor appearance. The king's adviser Wooster apparently commits treason, and is kidnapped by Koopa Troopas. Back at Bowser's Castle, however, he feeds Bowser and his minions so much junk food that they become overweight and enter into a state of hibernation.
"Duh Stoopid Bomb!"
In "Duh Stoopid Bomb!," Bowser, along with several minions and an incognito Toad, attend a meeting in which a Shy Guy presents the Stupid Bomb, a device that releases a gas that makes anyone inhaling it stupid for several hours. A Snifit later tells him that Mario and Luigi set off a Stupid Bomb they took on themselves; Bowser is first displeased by this, but then is happy, explaining that they will probably set off more bombs on the rest of the population. He then presents a Smart Bomb, a bomb that will not only reverse the Stupid Bomb, but make the one who inhales its gas highly intelligent. The Snifit takes the bomb, and it explodes in his hands. Using his newfound intelligence, the Snifit usurps Bowser of his power and dumps him into Fryguy Kindergarten, where he is crowned by a group of over-excited Fryguys.
"Cloud Burst"
Bowser once again is given a minor appearance in "Cloud Burst," where he is seen explaining to a recently amassed army in "World 3" that he has recently been robbed of several Koopabits and even his crown, and that they should be on the lookout for the traitor. However, it turns out that that Lakitu and his cloud and partner Fluffy had robbed Bowser and, earlier, Princess Toadstool. While on a mission to reclaim Princess Toadstool's crown, Mario runs into Bowser (who is wearing a hat) and several minions. As Bowser interrogates Mario for the location of his crown and money, Luigi, up above, pulls an escape hatch on Fluffy open, causing himself, the Lakitu, and all the stolen items to fall to the ground, Lakitu bonking Bowser on the head and knocking him unconscious.
"The Buddy System"
In "The Buddy System," Bowser's plan is to blow up the underground's main water pipe. He later explains that he is doing this so he can start up a taxi service to replace the soon-to-be useless underground. However, the plan's main flaw is Lemmy's stupidity; he neither knows how to set up the bombs and where the main water pipe is. On the last section, Lemmy uses four bombs, however; the catastrophic explosion causes Bowser and a nearby Mario to be blown toward a Mouser colony. They capture the pair, chaining them together, and Bowser (after the mice call Mario the more intelligent of the duo) explains his plan. However, the Mousers then show him the real main water pipe, and even blow it up as a demonstration to how they would do it, flooding the underground.
He attempts to escape using a Warp Pipe, but Mario explains that the pipes shut off after the water reaches a certain level. They then head back and work together to shut off the water main, and, once this is done, the emergency drain activates. Upon reaching the above ground, Mario and Bowser fight, using a plunger and a tree branch respectively. However, Lemmy then interrupts the fight by bringing in another bomb, and he clumsily drops it; the bomb misses the duo, but cuts the chain keeping them together. Bowser then angrily chases after Lemmy.
"It's Always Fair Weather"
Bowser later appears in the comic "It's Always Fair Weather." Here, he is seen storming around the Mushroom Kingdom fair grounds, annoyed that he is being mistaken for Luigi inside a Bowser suit at the dunk tank. He then notices a group of hot air balloons, and decides to take out his anger by using his helicopter's propeller blades to blow them away; However, they are then rescued by Mario, who has been transformed for the first time into Raccoon Mario. After landing, Mario is given a kiss by Princess Toadstool; however, the lovestruck plumber stumbles into Bowser, causing him to lose his raccoon abilities. However, Mario is still able to defeat him by activating the cyclone once more, sending Bowser flying into the pool for the "Douse the Bowser" attraction.
"The Revenge of Pipe Ooze!"
Bowser is also in "The Revenge of Pipe Ooze!," where he is supervising Lemmy's ambush test, which they decide to do at The Annual Dirk Drain-Head Role-Playing Game under the disguise of hotdog vendors (their only form of disguise being fake mustaches). The Mushroom King and Toad, cosplaying as Pipe Ooze and Muck respectively, head over to their hotdog stand; it is here that Lemmy and Bowser knock them out with magic wands. They then take the pair's costumes, and Lemmy decides to ambush Mario, who is role-playing as Dirk Drain-Head himself.
Later, he uses a catapult to launch Lemmy at Mario, as Bowser questions why his son is not paying taking in his "evil villain lessons." However, the ambush fails, and Bowser attacks a Piranha Plant who insulted his son earlier. He then takes Lemmy onto a pipe and orders him to attack, but Lemmy asks if he can role-play first. Bowser yells at him, causing his son to feel sad, and then apologizes, granting him two minutes to have fun. He then assists Mario and Luigi in their attempt to act out comic #287 in Dirk's series by beating up Bowser. After this is over, Luigi (who recognizes Pipe Ooze to be Bowser instead of the king) convinces him to help him get Mario's spirit back by pretending to be afraid of him, since Luigi's being Dirk attracted several fans. The ruse works, and Mario proceeds to beat up Bowser. Lemmy and Bowser then leave their costumes and sneak away. Lemmy asks if attacking his own father counts toward passing the ambush test, and Bowser tells him that it does; he also gives him extra credit for attacking a close family member. The two then head off to get some food and rest.
"Tanooki Suits Me"
In the comic "Tanooki Suits Me," during the grand opening of an art gallery, Mario pushes a button on his Tanooki Suit, turning him into Statue Mario. After the opening party, several Mice steal the art, including Mario, and sell it to Bowser for fifty Koopabits, as part of his plan, which also involves selling the art to Wart for a much higher price. Hearing Wart at the door, he sends the mice off, convincing them that it is the police.
As he is about to sell the entire collection for five million Koopabits, Mario transforms back into Tanooki Mario. Not recognizing Mario in his Tanooki form, Mario convinces Wart that the paintings and statues are actually worthless products from the Apook Corporation, and that they will transform into raccoons as well in a few minutes. Angered by the revelation, Wart and Bowser fight while Mario escapes on a forklift with the stolen art.
Yoshi's Safari
Bowser and the Koopalings take over the kingdom of Jewelry Land, kidnapping the rulers King Fret and Prince Pine, and steal twelve magical gems in Yoshi's Safari. This causes a disturbance, causing an earthquake that splits Jewelry Land into the Light Realm and the Dark Realm. Mario, riding Yoshi, heads for Jewelry Land with the Super Scope Princess Peach gives them to defeat Bowser.
After traversing every land, the duo arrive at Bowser's Castle. Once all of the minions inside the castle are defeated, Yoshi and Mario fall down a pit leading to a room with Bowser wearing a robotic suit of armor. Inside the armor, Bowser attacks by shooting projectiles at them with the blasters on the hands. However, the entire robot is invincible except for the hands; attacking these enough times disables them and cause the robot's actual weak point to be revealed. When this is attacked enough times, the robotic suit is destroyed, revealing Bowser himself. In this state, he attacks Mario and Yoshi by tossing Koopa shells at them. Like with the robot, Bowser's hands are the only venerable part of him at first. Once his hands are shot enough, they are disabled (being wrapped in bandages), and Bowser attacks by breathing flames at them. Yoshi and Mario must shoot Bowser's head in order to damage him at this point. Once he is shot at enough, Bowser surrenders (appearing dazed and holding two white flags). The game's credits state that Bowser and the Koopalings return to their home.
After beating the game, a code for the hard mode is unlocked, increasing the difficulty and changing level colors. The text is also changed, to make it appear as though the events of the game are occurring a second time. Mario must once again save King Fret and Prince Pine, as well as reclaim the twelve gems to save Jewelry Land. After defeating Bowser a second time, the game states that he and the Koopalings return to their home for good.
Mario's Time Machine
In Mario's Time Machine, Bowser uses a time machine known as the Timulator to steal valuable artifacts from Earth's past, then places them in his own personal museum. He plans to destroy the Timulator after he is done, which would drastically alter the present. The player must take back Bowser's stolen artifacts and use the Timulator to return them to their proper places, saving the time stream.
If the player fails to return all the artifacts in time, Bowser escapes by using the Timulator and setting it for "Paradise", forcing the player to start over. However, if the task is done, Bowser attempts to use the machine to escape, but it overloads, then self-destructs, and he is teleported to the Cretacious era, where a Tyrannosaurus Rex stomps him. If the player returns at least one of them in the wrong order, Bowser will end up teleported to the Cretacious era as aforementioned, although beyond that nothing else actually happens to him with the narration stating that, while the player did succeed in returning all the artifacts, they did so in the wrong order, thus forcing the player to start over.
In the NES version, Bowser's fight is similar to a fight with a Koopaling in Super Mario Bros 3, in that jumping on him causes him to retract into his shell (barring his head). After he is hit enough times, he flees, and Mario rescues Yoshi. He can be seen crying during the credits.
Hotel Mario
In Hotel Mario, Bowser and the Koopalings turn the entire Mushroom Kingdom into their own personal hotel chain and retain Princess Toadstool as a "permanent guest" in one of the seven Koopa hotels. At the beginning of the game, Bowser appears at the entrance to the Mushroom Kingdom after the Mario Bros. enter, and laughs ominously. The brothers then discover a note left by Bowser explaining the situation, and Mario and Luigi set off to retrieve the princess.
After Wendy is defeated and her hotel vanishes, Princess Peach runs over to the Mario Bros., but is teleported away by Bowser, with his laughter being heard by the two. The hotel they find afterward is Bowser's Seizures Palace Hotel. After reaching the final stage, Bowser's Barbecue Room, the player must face a Bowser look-alike (who is actually Iggy in disguise). Once he is defeated, the player moves to the next area to face the real Bowser. He attacks Mario and Luigi by breathing fire and summoning multiple bolts of lightning. Like Iggy, Bowser does not use the elevators, instead changing floors by jumping between them. However, he can be attacked by jumping on him like the Koopalings, and two stomps to the head temporarily sends him off-screen. Like some of his children, he attempts to put a bitter end to their rivalry by savagely dining on them whole. However, when Mario and Luigi shut all the doors in the hotel, the entire building falls to the ground as the brothers and the princess escape.
Bowser also makes a small cameo during a cutscene in the game, in which his name and face appear on the package for Bowser's Sourpuss Bread.
In the opening cutscene, Bowser has green hands, while his in-game sprite resembles his normal appearance except that his tail is green and has no spikes.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Bowser serves as Mario's ally in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, making this game the first time they have teamed up. At the beginning of the Super Mario RPG, Bowser, in his Koopa Clown Car, flies to Mario's Pad to kidnap Princess Toadstool and take her back to his keep. However, Mario, hearing Toadstool scream, is on his tail. Bowser and Mario face each other atop a pair of chandeliers in the throne room. During battle, he attacks Mario by swiping him with his claws and launching his back spikes at him. At first, Bowser seems to be unbeatable, but the princess then advises Mario to attack the Kinklink chain holding up the chandelier. Once the Kinklink is damaged enough, it lets go of the chandelier, and Bowser plummets to the ground below. Not giving up, however, he throws Hammers at Mario's chain, bringing him down as well, but before he can hit the ground, Mario jumps off of Bowser's head, giving him a boost up to the princess to free her. After the battle, a huge sword named Exor crashes into Bowser's Keep, sending Mario, Toadstool, and Bowser flying in different directions.
While traveling through Rose Way, Mario and Mallow spot Bowser, with a small army of minions consisting of several Terrapins, Magikoopas, and Goombas, headed respectively by Jagger, Magikoopa, and Goomba; he gives them some pep talk, then they head off to reclaim his keep from the Smithy Gang. Later, at Moleville, Bowser is conveniently there at the same time as Mario once again; however, most of the minions he had earlier are now gone, including all of the Terrapins.
Upon arriving at Booster Tower, Bowser is once again sighted; this time, however, he is sulking because all his remaining minions have abandoned him. After noticing Mario behind him and Toadstool on the balcony, he leaves, but returns after Mario finds the door is locked. Realizing that Mario needs his assistance, Bowser rams the door in and joins Mario, naming him, Mallow, and Geno honorary Koopa Troop members. After returning her to Mushroom Kingdom, the Chancellor and fellow Toads are surprised to see that Mario is working with Bowser. Although he is nervous to tell the truth, he is able to stretch it to some extent with the others when they explain what is happening.
After the defeat of Exor, Bowser decides to abandon the group to return to his keep, having finally reclaimed it, and telling Mario that, as a Koopa Troop member, he is required to help with repairs. However, Geno stops him and reminds him that, as long as Smithy is still active, the keep remains at risk. This convinces Bowser to stay with the group.
Upon reaching Smithy, the entire party demands that Smithy hand them his Star Piece, Bowser demanding that he leave his keep. He declines, and the group face him in the final battle. Once Smithy is defeated for good and the seventh Star Piece is claimed, Geno wishes the group goodbye, and they all witness as the Star being possessing the Geno doll, actually named ♥♪!? but going under the name of the doll for the entire game, leaves the doll and returns to the newly repaired Star Road. The credits show that Bowser returns to his castle to help in its repair. Additionally, during the end credits parade, Bowser flies after Croco and a Crook in the Koopa Clown Car after they rob his keep. Some time later in the parade, Booster's Snifits have what Croco stole, Croco and the Crook are chasing after them, Booster is chasing them in the Koopa Clown Car, and Bowser is chasing after him, with several beetles behind him.
Bowser's weapons are mostly variations of Chomps and his claw, as well as tossing Mario at enemies, using the Hurly Gloves (described as: "A classic Mario-toss attack," though when Bowser tosses Mario any other time is a mystery); Bowser's weapons themselves are Chomp, Chomp Shell, Hurly Gloves, Spiked Link, and Drill Claw. Bowser's special attacks are Terrorize, in which he summons a Big Boo to attack; Poison Gas, in which he summons a Mokura to poison enemies; Crusher, in which he creates a large column of earth that emerges from the ground and strikes enemies; and Bowser Crush, which involves Bowser summoning a giant Mechakoopa to attack enemies. Additionally, while fighting the enemies in Bowser's Keep, having Bowser as an active party member can scare away some of the monsters. If he is not, his mood can instead confuse them.
In this game, whenever Bowser uses a Special Move, a diamond is superimposed over his body. In the Japanese version, when Bowser is one of the active party members during battle, he does a gesture similar to giving the middle finger for his victory pose[12]. This was changed before the game was released in America. The theme that plays during Mario's battle with him is a cover of the final battle theme in Super Mario Bros. 3.
Wrecking Crew '98
In Wrecking Crew '98, Bowser begins constructing many new fortresses, greatly deforesting the Mushroom Kingdom. When Mario reaches his house, he notices that one of Bowser's buildings is directly in front of his house, as well as the plants withering due to the lack of sunlight, so he decides to go on a quest to tear them all down. Bowser sends many of his minions to stop Mario, but they all fall; even Bowser's right-hand construction worker, Foreman Spike, cannot defeat him.
When Mario reaches Bowser's castle, he notices the Koopa King outside, putting the final touches on his fortress. He panics when he notices Mario, but regains his senses and decides to battle him. However, once he is beaten, Bowser is forced to watch as his fortress is destroyed. He is depressed at the sight of his building falling apart, but is then angered at Mario, and vows revenge.
After Bowser is defeated in story mode, both he and Princess Peach are unlocked as playable characters in multiplayer mode.
Mario Party series
Bowser appears as an enemy, and in most cases, as the primary antagonist, in the Mario Party series since the first game. His appearances in the game are mostly to bring misfortune upon the players. In every game he is given his own space, which when landed on by the player causes Bowser to appear and wreak havoc. There are also multiple minigames based around Bowser, where a character's coins, items, or stars are taken if they lose. (In the first game, winning the minigame also results in this.) Throughout the series, Bowser takes many forms, mostly in Mario Party 2. Bowser was originally only playable in the Beach Volley Folley minigame of Mario Party 4, but he is also a playable character in Mario Party 10. Another feature in almost every installment is Bowser being given his own board, which is almost always the final board to be unlocked.
Mario Party
In the original Mario Party, Bowser commonly appears on a random spot on all the boards. When the player runs into him, a special event is initiated, in which he gives the player completely useless items that usually cost coins. However, there are two exceptions to this; on Luigi's Engine Room, he gives the player one coin at the cost of twenty, and on Wario's Battle Canyon, he uses his claws to launch the player to a completely random space on the board.
When the player lands on a Bowser Space, Bowser appears to the player, then activates a roulette that triggers one of several events. Many of the options on the roulette are simply minigames, but despite the results of the minigame, Bowser always takes someone's coins (or a Star in exchange for ten coins, in some cases). If the roulette stops on "Bowser Revolution", Bowser takes all the competitors' coins and distributes them evenly. If it lands on "Coins for Bowser," Bowser steals some of the player's coins. If the roulette lands on one of the gold-lettered phrases, Bowser does nothing and leaves.
Bowser appears during the ending sequence of two boards. At the end of Luigi's Engine Room, he watches as the loser is continuously burnt by the steam generators. In Wario's Battle Canyon, he launches the loser out of his cannon.
Bowser may also appear when the player hits an Event Block. If the result of hitting the block is Bowser's shell, Bowser appears to the player, then takes twenty coins from them; if the player does not have that many, Bowser steals all their coins.
Bowser's board in this game is Bowser's Magma Mountain, consisting of a volcano with one path leading up and can only be unlocked by purchasing it for 980 coins at the shop. The players must collect stars in order to defeat Bowser. Several volcano-head statues, which he speaks through, appear throughout the board. Trying to take an intersection results in Bowser asking if the player wishes to take a shortcut to the top for ten coins. If the player selects yes, a roulette initiates; if the result is a star, the player can take the shortcut, and landing on Bowser's face forces the player to continue on the normal path, with no refunds. Additionally, when the player lands on a Happening Space, Bowser causes the volcano to erupt, turning all Blue Spaces into Red Spaces for two turns; they change back when it is that player's turn. When the player encounters the purple volcano statue, another roulette is initiated. If the result is a star, the player can confront Boo; if the result is Bowser, the player can confront Bowser, who steals a star or twenty coins from the player depending on the result of another roulette.
At the end of the board, the winner's stars form a larger star that destroys the part of the volcano Bowser is in. He then flies into the air and lands back on the ground, followed by the winner jumping on him.
Once the player has won a total of 100 Stars, Bowser steals them all and challenges them to a battle on Eternal Star, the final unlockable board, to win them back. This board is a giant Star, broken into pieces and covered in graffiti by Bowser. Landing on a Happening Space results in Bowser using his magic to send every player back to the start. Once the player wins on this board, their stars merge into one large star that blasts Bowser and Baby Bowser into space.
A wanted poster of Bowser appears in the Mushroom Shop, on the bulletin board that briefly appears when the player leaves. Additionally, in the minigame Balloon Burst, the four players are competing to inflate and pop Bowser balloons. The minigame Tug o' War and Bash 'n' Cash feature the solo player in a Bowser suit.
Mario Party 2
During Mario Party 2, while the characters argue over what to call the land they created, Bowser invades Mario Land. Because of this, Toad decides to settle the character's argument, stating that whoever defeats Bowser earns the right to name the land. Like the characters, Bowser also wears a costume and has an alias to fit the theme of each land; in Pirate Land, Bowser becomes Capt. Bowser; in Western Land, he becomes Bowser the Brash; in Mystery Land, he becomes Bowser Sphinx; In Horror Land, he is Wizard Bowser; and in Space Land, Bowser becomes Black Hole Bowser.
At the end of each board is cutscene featuring the winner of each board defeating Bowser in some way. In Pirate Land, a Koopa Troopa finds the treasure in a cave, but Cap'n Bowser then shows up and and attempts to claim it when the winner emerges and challenges him for it. They sword fight, which ends with Bowser being poked in the stomach and running off.
At the end of Western Land, Bowser the Brash is robbing the Koopa Bank when the victor arrives to confront him. Bowser then engages with the winner in a quick-draw. The two draw at the same time, but Bowser misses the character and is hit, then falls over in pain. Depending on the version, he was shot with a different object. In the Japanese version, he had been shot with a bullet, with tense moments before revealing that Bowser ended up shot, while in the overseas version, he was instead shot with a cork from a cork gun, with the visuals making it more obvious as to who was going to be hit.
The ending of Space Land features Black Hole Bowser attacking Koopa Troopas with lasers. When the winner arrives and blasts him with their own, but to no avail. They try running behind him and attacking, but Bowser blocks their attacks once more. The player then runs around him in a circle, making him dizzy and open to attack. The winner successfully blasts Bowser, launching him into space.
In Mystery Land, Bowser Sphinx is seen attempting to steal the treasure, a golden Bob-omb statue, from a green Koopa. Bowser Sphinx has him guess what the silhouetted figure is, and the Koopa guesses incorrectly, causing Bowser to put him in a rock. The victor then arrives and correctly guesses the figure: it is Bowser himself. Bowser Sphinx then disappears.
The end of Horror Land features Bowser appearing to a Koopa after it is scared by a Boo. Wizard Bowser offers to help him, but he instead transforms the Koopa into a frog. The player then arrives, reverses Bowser's spell on the Koopa, and engages in a magical duel with him. Bowser loses, and is turned into a frog by the player's magic. Bowser then hops away.
The characters then arrive at the territory Bowser conquered, aptly named Bowser Land. After beating this board, Bowser disappears, and the players heads off to search for him. He reappears behind a Koopa and attempts to harm it, but is confronted by the winner before he can. He breathes fire at them, which they dodge. The winner tries to throw him by the tail, but Bowser utilizes his Metal Bowser power-up, preventing them from throwing him. Toad then gives the winner's Power Stars to gain strength, giving the character the necessary power to throw Bowser across the world and landing where he started, defeating him.
During the event in which a player lands on a Bowser Space, one of many things can happen. In addition to every non-minigame event from the original, several other possible events were added: Bowser's Coin Potluck, Bowser's Multiplying Toads, and Bowser's Appearing Act. Another new option, Stars-Packed to Go, was added, but this is in gold font, and Bowser leaves like in the original if this is the result of the roulette.
In addition, during the Last Five Turns Event, Bowser predicts who the winner may be in Bowser Land.
Bowser is also one of the options the player can choose in Rock, Paper, MARIO. In the game, Bowser beats Peach, but Mario beats Bowser. In addition, the minigame Balloon Burst returns, but as a 2-vs-2 minigame.
Mario Party 3
In Mario Party 3, Bowser attempts to become the superstar by collecting the seven Star Stamps. However, he is always behind the player and never gets any stamps. He attempts to steal the Beauty Star Stamp, but is beaten by Daisy. When the Mischief Star Stamp appears, Bowser unknowingly sends it flying into the castle when he appears and demands the player battle him to gain the stamp. Waluigi then emerges from the castle with the stamp, and Bowser attacks Waluigi but is easily defeated. A weakened Bowser then begs the player to defeat Waluigi in his name.
For Bowser Space events, several of the options for events were carried over to this game, with several more being added. Several of the events cause hindrance to the competitors, but there are two events that help the player: Bowser Phone Giveaway and Bowser Suit Giveaway. Bowser Suit Giveaway causes Bowser to give the player a free Bowser Suit, and Bowser Phone Giveaway causes Bowser to give them a free Bowser Phone, which allows the player to call Bowser and initiate a Bowser event upon one of the players upon its use. Additionally, during the final five turns event, Koopa Kid occasionally hosts the event, and lets Bowser predict the loser.
Mario Party 4
In Mario Party 4, Bowser claims to have stolen the player's birthday presents, stating that they must win on his board, Bowser's Gnarly Party, to win them back. The final minigame, The Final Battle!, involves chasing Bowser around a cube-shaped arena, until the player finally reaches the actual arena. Once there, the player must press the various buttons around the arena to trigger lightning strikes that electrocute Bowser. Upon defeat, Bowser is in disbelief that he lost to the player and grudgingly leaves, leaving behind something. Koopa Kid then appears and explains that the object is a present from Bowser, as well as that he really did not take the player's presents. Afterward, as he is trudging away, he wishes the player a happy birthday.
When players land on a Bowser space, he occasionally shows up, flattening the player who lands on his space and triggers an event. In addition to Bowser Revolution, Bowser Shuffle, and Bowser Suit Giveaway, there is also a new event: Bowser minigame, in which the player plays a minigame with Bowser.
On the board Bowser's Gnarly Party, Bowser is located at a certain point on the board that changes when a Star is collected, waiting for a player to pass by him and do various things to them depending on their current size. If the player is normal size, Bowser breathes fire, causing the player to lose half their coins. If the player is miniature size, Bowser uses his fire to send them to a different starting point. If the player is mega-sized, Bowser challenges them to a game of Bowser Wrestling or Panels of Doom; winning causes Bowser to leave until the next Star is claimed, and losing causes Bowser to take half the player's coins. He also occasionally miniaturizes everyone for one turn.
He also has roles in the three Bowser minigames in the game. In Balloon of Doom, he burns any player that ends up popping the balloon, resulting in them losing. In Fruits of Doom, Bowser demands that the players bring him a piece of fruit in the order he demands one at a time; the players who fail to do so lose. He also announces the loser of Darts of Doom. Additionally, as stated above, Bowser is also an playable character in the Beach Volley Folley minigame; however, he must be unlocked.
Mario Party-e
Bowser makes two appearances in the Game Boy Advance e-reader portion of Mario Party-e. The first is a cameo appearance in Daisy's Rodeo!, in which he is the mechanical bull Daisy has to stay on. The second is in the Wonder Challenge minigame Spinister Bowser, in which he stands atop the roulette.
Mario Party 5
In Mario Party 5, Bowser's plan is to take over Dream Depot and have only his dreams come true. In each of the first four dream boards, Bowser attempts to destroy each dream by filling them with his own dreams when the player arrives to stop him. Bowser, however, has his three Koopa Kids (a Koopa Kid divided into three, distinguished by color) to challenge the player. When the player advances to Bowser, Bowser challenges the player to a duel at his own dream board, Bowser Nightmare. Toward the end, Bowser states that his dream is coming true, and that it involves the player.
After defeating the Koopa Kids at Bowser Nightmare, the player must defeat Bowser in his final minigame, Frightmare. During this game, Bowser first sends Mechakoopas after the player, then rings of fire. He then lands on the platform himself, attacking with fire breath, charging at the player, and leaping to slam the ground where the player is; the player must lead Bowser to land on the same spot three times so that the floor collapses. During the final phase, Bowser grows to a giant size and attacks by launching energy balls that leave small orbs, then with his fire breath that causes them to glow, and finally with another ball of energy that creates an electric shockwave. The player must hit Bowser with the light orbs five times to win the game. After he has been defeated, Bowser tells the player that his dream came true, his dream being to have a strong opponent.
All of the Bowser Space events in this game are the same as the previous installment, with the exception of Bowser Suit Giveaway, which was replaced with Bowser Bonus. In this event, Bowser has a Ztar steal a star and give it to him. However, sometimes Donkey Kong will intervene, causing Bowser to run with twenty of the player's coins. Bowser Capsules are also collectable items in the game. Bowser lands on the player that receives one, then throws it on a Red Space, turning it into a Bowser Space. The Last Five Turns Event is also run by Bowser. He gives the standings, and has the last place player spin the roulette, which can cause good and bad things to happen.
Bowser is also given a role in the three Bowser minigames, which take place on a purple, mountainous statue of his head. In Cage-in Cookin', Bowser roasts any players that fail to escape their cage in time. In Rain of Fire, Bowser uses his fire breath to activate the cannon that shoots debris down on the field. Finally, in Scaldin' Cauldron, after all the players jump into one of the three cauldrons, Bowser enters the room and breathes fire upon two of them; players inside the cauldrons he burns lose.
Finally, Bowser is one of the computer-controlled opponents in the game's Super Duel Mode. He only appears as an opponent when playing a tournament on hard difficulty. His machine, called the Bowser Dozer, consists of the Heart Body, Spiny Tires, E. Gadd Engine, and Bowser Breath as the weapon.
Mario Party 6
In Mario Party 6, Bowser appears as one of the hosts of the quiz minigame Speak Up, where he changes the rules and the scenery of the game. Bowser also appears in the rare minigame Seer Terror, where players can have their "fortune" told by pulling a rope. However, many of the fortunes are spoken after an unfortunate event happens to the player, which greatly amuses him. There is one fortune in which Bowser is sucked into a black hole; the player "wins" the minigame if they happen to get this fortune.
Bowser is also involved in two of his Bowser minigames. The first is Pit Boss, in which players must dodge spiked balls tossed into an arena by Bowser. The second is Dark 'n Crispy, in which the players must avoid Bowser's fiery breath in the dark. He is not involved in Dizzy Rotisserie, the third Bowser minigame, but is watching from a platform overhead.
Bowser Spaces cause him to appear and perform one of two actions. The first forces the player to play one of three Bowser minigames. The second Bowser space event involves Bowser rolling a die to determine what the player loses. Bowser Spaces can only be landed on at night, with DK Spaces appearing in their place during the day. In Solo Mode, Bowser pits the player against his Koopa Kids in a minigame; losing causes him to take the player's minigames that they earned so far, and winning gives the player the minigame and ten coins. Additionally, in the final five turns event, one of the options the roulette may land on is Bowser Revolution.
Aside from Bowser spaces, Bowser also appears on three boards. The first is Clockwork Castle, in which he only appears at night to replace DK, who appears during the day. After all the players take a turn, Bowser gets to take a turn as well, rolling two dice blocks instead of one if he breathes fire. Anybody he encounters during his turn is given a Shadow Star, which deducts the player's current Star total by one. If the player runs into him during their turns, Bowser forcibly gives them a Shadow Star, then leaps to another random space on the board.
The second board is Castaway Bay, in which he can be the boat docked at the Star Space. If the player reaches Bowser's Battle Yacht, he "rewards" the player by giving them a Shadow Star, which takes one Star or twenty coins if they have none. Additionally, if DK's Boat is docked at the Star Space while the player is participating in the rafting activity, Bowser fires three cannonballs, causing them to lose five coins if hit.
The third board he appears on is the Bowser-themed board of the game, Infernal Tower, one of the Solo Mode boards. If the player passes the final space, a cage falls around them, which Bowser, in his Koopa Clown Car, then carries away.
Mario Party Advance
In Mario Party Advance, Bowser arrives while Toad is explaining the game and scatters the numerous Gaddgets and minigames throughout Shroom City. After completing the first quest, Bowser seals off the eight pipes in the Pipe House. He also has a slight role on the actual game board; whenever Koopa Kid randomly shows up while traveling through Shroom City, he can use lava to fling the player somewhere else in the city. He can also appear and challenge them to rochambeau (rock, paper, scissors). If he wins, Koopa Kid can choose to block the path, which causes Bowser to drop a statue of him similar to the ones he placed on the pipes on top of Koopa Kid, blocking that section of the board.
As the player completes quests, Bowser destroys the statues covering the pipes. These pipes lead to one of the eight areas Bowser owns around the city.
In Bowser Stadium, Bowser challenges the player to a game of soccer, and, after he is defeated, is forced to play Splatterball. When this game is won, the player wins the game Splatterball, to play any time in minigame mode, and the Gaddget Snooze Ewes.
At Mt. Frostbite, Bowser and Koopa Kid are freezing on the mountain top. When the player arrives, he believes that they can warm him up by answering his jokes with the correct punchlines. Once he feels better, he challenges them to play Crushed Ice. After the game is won, Bowser gives them the minigame and the Gaddget Breeze Buddy.
At Bowser Mansion, Bowser is accused of stealing a painting from the museum, and the player, along with Shroomlock, must prove whether Bowser is guilty or not by finding faults in his alibi. Bowser tells them that he stayed home all day that day, that he had not even seen the painting due to his hatred of Toads and twilight, and that is impossible to hide the painting in the mansion. The player proves Bowser's alibi false by questioning that nothing in the house is big enough to hide the painting, which he could only know if he had seen it. Bowser then states that he hid the painting somewhere outside, and, once Koopa Kid and Shroomlock leave, he forces the player to play Mush Rush Once the game is won, the prize given to them is the game and the Gaddget Lip Sync.
At Bowser Toy Shop, the player is challenged by Bowser and Koopa Kid to answer five trivia questions about his favorite show, Toad Force V. If player answers the questions correctly, they must play the minigame Slammer. Upon winning, they obtain the mini-game.
In Bowser Hideout, Bowser challenges the player to a game of luck: guessing whether the value on the upside-down card is higher or lower than the one preceding it. Upon winning the game, the player is forced into playing Koopa Kappa. Victory results in receiving the minigame and two Gaddgets: Faux Flame and Hourglass.
At Bowser Pad, Bowser wants the player to get him a gift according to his tastes. The gift either has to be a bracelet, a ring, or a necklace, though the one bought must be the one Bowser truly desires. As a hint, he states that he likes necklaces as much as bracelets, but he likes rings more than bracelets. After retrieving the correct gift and delivering it to him, the gang is challenged to the game Peek-n-Sneak. When the minigame is won, the prize is the game and the Gaddget Shroom Bloom.
In Bowser Game Hall, Bowser brags about himself being the Game King. At the Pyramid, Kamek states that he gave him the title long ago, but that he became too arrogant because of it afterward. Upon the player stating that they are the King of Games, Bowser challenges them to the minigame Watch 'Em, which he states to have created, to determine the true king of games. Winning forces Bowser to give the player the title, the minigame, and the Gaddget Jewelry Case.
At Bowser Lab, Bowser allows the player to select one of the two monsters he created and duel it. Choosing the scary monster challenges Naval Piranha to the game Koopa Kurl; choosing the very scary monster only releases Huffin Puffin, embarrassing Bowser and forcing the player to leave. Once the Piranha is defeated, the minigame is the prize won.
Once the player accomplishes forty-nine out of the fifty quests, Bowser opens the gate in the back of the Pipe House, revealing his lair. After arriving at the house, Bowser challenges Mario to a showdown for the final Gaddget. The showdown is the minigame Trap Floor. After the minigame is beaten, the player receives it, as well as the Gaddget Bowser Print. The end credits state that he wants to make a clean slate at defeating Mario.
Bowser also has his own mode, as a part of Challenge Land, known as Bowser Land, which he hosts. The mode involves the player advancing on a roller coaster to get to the end, playing Bowser minigames every time the coaster stops at a designated checkpoint. Once the player reaches the end, Bowser rewards the player coins based upon how long it took to reach him. However, if the player takes too long, Bowser automatically ends the game.
Mario Party 7
In Mario Party 7, Toadsworth invites Mario and friends to go on a vacation around the world. This enrages Bowser because they did not invite him. Because of this, Bowser tries to spoil their vacation. Eventually, the players arrive at Bowser's Enchanted Inferno!, Bowser's own board. Upon obtaining a Star and reaching him, Bowser takes the player to his castle to play Bowser's Lovely Lift!. If the player wins, then Bowser and Koopa Kid are pelted with Stars, their vehicles being destroyed. The pair are then blasted onto an island in the middle of the ocean. After recovering from being dazed, Koopa Kid points out the player on the cruise ship in the distance. Enraged, Bowser demands revenge, but does admit that he had fun before Koopa Kid points this out, causing Bowser to return to his enraged state.
Whenever the player begins a party, Bowser arrives and throws three Koopa Kid Orbs onto three random spaces. During a party, a special Bowser-based event occurs every five turns, named Bowser Time. This event causes Bowser to appear and trigger something that hinders the competitors. On every board minus his own, one of the possible events that can occur is that he takes a photograph of him and the player and forcibly takes coins from them as payment (without giving them the photo). On most boards, he destroys one of the orb shops, only to replace it with his own. Whenever a player passes by the shop, they are forcibly sold a Koopa Kid Orb for twenty coins or a Bowser Statue for thirty coins.
In addition to these, there are also some board-exclusive events. On Grand Canal, for instance, he can also destroy the bridges and rebuild them, this time with only Bowser spaces on them. Bowser also hosts the final four turns event in the game. He gives the standings, then lets the last place player stop a roulette, which may cause various events to happen.
Bowser Spaces cause the player to either play a single or multiplayer minigame, and Bowser takes coins or stars if the game is lost.
Mario Party 8
In Mario Party 8, after defeating Star Battle Arena, Bowser steals the Star Rod right as it is about to be rewarded to the player for defeating the other competitors. Bowser and the player then files off to Bowser's Warped Orbit, where he has either a Hammer Bro or Blooper face against them in order to win the rod back. Once the opponent is defeated, Bowser honors his word and returns the Star Rod, but challenges the player to a battle in the minigame Superstar Showdown. During the minigame, Bowser first attacks the player with fireballs. The player can attack him by using the Star Rod to create and launch projectiles that damage him. When he is hit a certain number of times, Bullet Bill launchers appear on the sides of his Koopa Clown Car. After causing him more harm, Bowser's car gains the ability to fire numerous lasers. He also gains the ability to shoot a massive fireball when his health reaches two points. When Bowser's health reaches zero, the car, with Bowser in it, flies into the vortex below.
Landing on a Bowser space causes an event based on the setting of the board to occur. On King Boo's Haunted Hideaway and Shy Guy's Perplex Express, where Bowser remains until reached, he can be negated by landing on a DK Space, or, in the case of King Boo's board, by shuffling the mansion. On DK's Treetop Temple, Bowser moves the Star. On Goomba's Booty Boardwalk, Bowser has the player dodge three Podoboos for ten seconds; hitting them causes the player to lose ten coins. On Shy Guy's Perplex Express, he replaces the current train with his Bad Breath Express, which causes the player who reaches him to lose a Star. On King Boo's Haunted Hideaway, he covers the pitfalls with his own platform; finding him causes whoever does so to lose a Star. On Bowser's Warped Orbit, he steals a Star from the player. On the latter three boards, if the player has no stars when landing on a Bowser Space, Bowser gives them ten coins.
Also on Bowser's Warped Orbit, when the player lands on one of the Happening Spaces, Bowser come down from his observation tower and chase the player (as well as anyone else he runs in to) across the board. Another set of ? Spaces make Bowser reverse the flow of the board, causing the players to move in the other direction.
Bowser is also one of the thirty racers in Moped Mayhem.
Mario Party DS
In Mario Party DS, Bowser shows his less goofy and more sinister side when he invites the Mario gang, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong to his castle for a banquet, stating in the invitation that it is an apology for his wrongdoings. When Mario and his friends arrive at the castle, however, they are captured. Bowser then uses his Minimizer to shrink them to the size of chess pieces for the purpose of obtaining Mario's Sky Crystal. Afterward, he has Kamek throw them out.
At Bowser's Castle, Bowser and Bowser Jr. take the group and place them inside their pinball machine. After collecting enough stars, the player breaks out of the machine to fight him. Bowser wants to shrink them more, but at that moment Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong barge into the castle and ram into Bowser. DK trips on the device and breaks it, causing Mario and friends to grow back to normal size to fight Bowser. However, Bowser uses his Megamorph Belt to turn himself into Blockhead Bowser. In this form, Bowser takes on three forms: a top, a cube, and a snake. In every form, Bowser shoots fireballs at the player, as well has having another unique attack for every form. However, each one also has one golden block that is Bowser's weak spot; After hitting this multiple times, Bowser shifts forms, and after three times he is defeated.
When he is beaten, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are captured and bound in ropes. With all five Sky Crystals in their possession, they combine to form a DS to play Triangle Twisters. Bowser admits that he only wanted the crystals to obtain the game all for himself, but his plans were ruined. However, despite his actions the group offer Bowser the opportunity to play as well. He accepts their offer, and everyone has fun playing the challenge.
Landing on a Bowser Space in this game results in Bowser appearing and causing havoc by choosing an event at random. If he chooses "Gimme Stars!", he steals a number of stars from the player; if they have none, he gives them coins. If the option is "Gimme Coins!", he steals 10 or 20 coins from the player. If he chooses "Gimme Charity!", he forces the player to give 10 coins to the others (if they do not have at least 30, Bowser divides their coins equally amongst the others). If he decides on "Gimme Equality!", he takes everyone's coins and redistributes them evenly. Bowser also once again runs the last five turns event, in which he helps the last place player by spinning a roulette. He is also involved in two board events, both on his own board; Landing on one of the ? Spaces near the start of the board causes him to launch the player into the Bowser Zone (though they may occasionally land in the Star Zone). The ? Spaces in the Bowser Zone have Bowser launch his Zero Flame at the player, causing them to lose all their coins and Stars.
Bowser targets also appear in the minigame Hot Shots. Hitting one causes the player who does so to earn one hundred points.
Mario Party Fushigi no Korokoro Catcher
Bowser is one of the characters that appears in the Japanese-exclusive arcade game Mario Party Fushigi no Korokoro Catcher. During Fever Chance, if one of the player's results is Bowser, he appears. With the game being based upon Mario Party 8, Superstar Showdown is also a playable minigame in this game.
Mario Party 9
Bowser appears in Mario Party 9 as the primary antagonist and the boss of his own board, Bowser Station. During the game, he and Bowser Jr. use a device from the station to suck the Mini Stars out of the sky.
Before each board in Solo Mode, there is a cutscene featuring Bowser and Bowser Jr. Bowser is admiring the Mini Stars that he has captured when Bowser Jr. tells him that the player is advancing, and Bowser is shocked by this. He then sends two of his minions to their next destination. However, on Bowser Station, Bowser instead decides to take on the player himself with Bowser Jr.'s help.
When Bowser Jr. is defeated, he flies down in his Koopa Clown Car, creates a Boss Battle Space and Bowser gate at the beginning of the stage, and waits for the players to challenge him there. When the player reach this space, they are forced to face him in his boss minigame, Bowser's Block Battle. He is giant for the whole game. The boss battle involves the players throwing blocks with their faces on them to damage Bowser. He is damaged when the player tosses a block which lands face-up with their heads on them; however, if they land on a Bowser symbol, Bowser can use these to attack by spitting a trio of fireballs a number of times equal to the number of blocks with his logos rolled. Once Bowser's health reaches the midway point, Bowser grows even more. He still uses the fireball attack, but he spits larger fireballs each time. He also attacks by tossing one large block with the faces of six previous bosses on it, which summons one of said bosses to the battlefield so they can rampage and damage the player; the boss depends on what is rolled when the block lands. If the block lands on Bowser himself, he attacks the players with a barrage of fireballs. Bowser also tilts the battlefield when the competitors are tossing the blocks.
Once Bowser's health reaches zero, he explodes and the ending cutscene reveals that Bowser only wanted the Mini Stars to decorate his castle as he and Bowser Jr. fly off in their Koopa Clown Cars. Out of anger, Bowser chases off the Mini Stars that approach him, but he falls out of his car, with Bowser Jr. flying after him.
Landing on a Bowser Space in this game causes one of eight events to happen to the current captain (though the roulette result can also affect other players). Bowser Revolution returns from previous games, but Mini Stars are taken and divided equally since coins were excluded from this game. The seven new events are Lose Half of Your Mini Stars (though if the captain is in last place, Bowser doubles their Mini-Stars); Battle for Half of your Mini Stars, in which half of everyone's Mini Stars are taken, fought in a minigame for, and distributed based on the results; Reverse Minigame, in which the players compete in a minigame, but Bowser gives Mini Stars to the player who places last; Give 5/10 Mini Stars to Last Place, (depending on the event landed on, though Bowser gives the captain Mini Stars if they are in last place) Everyone Loses Special Dice Blocks, and Get 10,000 Mini Stars, in which the player is given ten Mini Stars instead (with Bowser stating that he does not have ten thousand).
Bowser also appears during the "Almost There!" event, in which he asks the captain if they want some "presents." Even if the player selects "no," Bowser still converts several spaces toward the end of the board into Bowser Spaces. On Bowser Station, Bowser changes several spaces without the player's consent.
Bowser is also given his own constellation, known as "Koopa Major".
Mario Party: Island Tour
Bowser is the main antagonist in Mario Party: Island Tour. In the introduction to Bowser's Tower mode, Bowser is jealous that he was not invited to the party. At that moment, he decides to "make his own party" by creating Bowser's Tower and "lock away the fun" of the Party Islands inside of bubbles.[13] When the character reaches the top of the tower, Bowser will reveal that the destroyed Bowser was a decoy (or that he pretended to be beaten when the player has chosen Bowser Jr.) and proceeds to knock the character and Green Toad off the tower far away, saying they can come back anytime. If the player uses Bowser Jr. in Bowser's Tower, he gives his son unique dialogue. Also, Bowser has his very own board called Bowser's Peculiar Peak, which is the only board in the game that he, and not Yellow Toad, hosts.
Mario Party 10
In Mario Party 10, Bowser appears as a playable character in the new Bowser Party mode and amiibo mode. He is controlled by using the Wii U GamePad, and his goal is to deplete the health of the other characters, who move together in a vehicle like in Mario Party 9, via Bowser Minigames before they can reach the end of the board. Bowser is able to move by rolling multiple dice (the number depending on the number of other players), and if he catches up to the other players they must play a Bowser Minigame.
In the normal mode Bowser also returns with the same role as in previous games. Unlike in previous games, however, Bowser is locked behind a cage with six locks, corresponding to the numbers on the die. Rolling all six numbers results in Bowser being freed, the player who rolled the last number losing half of their Mini Stars, and several Bowser Spaces are created ahead. However, he will remain trapped for the rest of the game if he is not freed by the time the characters in the car reach the Almost There! event.
Bowser also appears as the boss at the end of the Chaos Castle board, facing the players in the minigame Bowser's Tank Terror. Bowser controls a large tank that the other players must shoot at in their own tanks, and attacks by firing spiked bombs from the main cannon and jets of fire from the other cannons. When his health is depleted enough he starts charging, and once he reaches half his health Bowser's tank explodes and he falls into the lava, only to emerge as Dry Bowser.
He is finally the character played as in the Bowser Challenge minigame mode, in which the player must play through every Bowser Minigame depleting as many of the opponents' hearts as he can.
Mario Party: Star Rush
Bowser appears as one of the boss characters players can fight against in Mario Party: Star Rush. Here, he is always the final boss of the last board of each world (for example, World 1-3.) Bowser proclaims that he has got a surprise for any players who are the furthest away from him when a player initiates a boss fight with him, where he penalizes them through a roulette, similar to the Bowser Space in earlier installments. He can take 10 coins away from the players, half their coin amount, make them lose an ally character, or make them give up a Star. If the penalized player does not have the items Bowser demands, he either does nothing or rewards them with coins if the player has no coins. Additionally, Bowser has three Boss Battle minigames: Bowser's Space Race, Bowser's Shocking Slipup, and Bowser's Hit-or-Missile Mania, as opposed to bosses having only one Boss Battle minigame. Bowser's Space Race involves having players pilot machines to drop bombs onto Bowser, Bowser's Shocking Slipup uses Item Boxes to damage Bowser, and Bowser's Hit-or-Missile Mania has players shooting missiles at Bowser while Bowser attacks players with missiles and Spiked Balls. Each of those minigames involve Bowser piloting a spaceship modeled after his shell. After half of his health is depleted, Bowser then transforms the spaceship into a Bowser mech, where he mixes up new attacks with older ones.
Bowser owns all the maps in the final world, World 4, where they are all featured after his castle and his likeness can be seen in various areas of those maps, such as rock formations, gates, and flags that have his emblem on them.
Bowser also appears in Coinathlon in matches that have 5 or 7 laps, where he warns players that he is about to appear prior to players playing a minigame. After the minigame is finished, Bowser forces players to play one of his Bowser's Gauntlet minigames, Bowser's Fence Fury, Bowser's Fire Hazard, and Bowser's Power Bomb. Any player who is eliminated from this minigame gets sent back a number of spaces; players who are eliminated earlier get sent further back. If players survive the minigames, they receive no penalty.
The Bowser amiibo can be used as a playable character in the Mario Shuffle mode. However, the Bowser piece cannot be used if players do not own an amiibo of him.
Mario Party: The Top 100
In Mario Party: The Top 100, Bowser reprises his role in the minigame The Final Battle!, where his appearance and fight is largely unchanged from the minigame's original appearance.
Super Mario Party
Bowser appears as a playable character in Super Mario Party, making his first fully playable appearance in the Mario Party series, leaving his role of causing misfortune to player to Kamek whenever players land on the Bad Luck Spaces, which have replaced Bowser Spaces.
In the game's introduction, when Mario and his friends were suggesting who would be the "Super Star", Bowser appears, bringing along Bowser Jr., Goomba, Boo, Koopa Troopa, Hammer Bro, Shy Guy, Monty Mole, Pom Pom, and Dry Bones, suggesting that he or one of his minions could also be "Super Stars". He also brings in Kamek to host the games alongside Toad and Toadette. Bowser's Dice Block is high-risk, high-reward, having two -3 coins sides, and 1, 8, 9, and 10 in the other sides, respectively.
When spoken to by characters such as Whomp, King Bob-omb, and even Toad, they are more polite towards him. When any of Bowser's playable minions join him as allies, they state their intentions to help Bowser win some stars; Bowser Jr.'s interactions with Bowser are good-natured, reflecting their immense father-son bond, while Kamek fearfully speaks to Bowser when he lands on a Bad Luck Space.
Mario Golf series
Bowser is usually a default playable character in the Mario Golf games, though in Mario Golf: Advance Tour, he is unlockable and can only be unlocked by transferring data to and from Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. He also must be unlocked in Mario Golf, by completing character match seven. In the Game Boy Color version of Mario Golf, Bowser appears as a non-playable character. In the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Golf, hole nine of the Mario's Star course is designed after Bowser. Additionally, beating him or Metal Mario on the course unlocks an alternate credits sequence.
In Mario Golf: Advance Tour, he is present to compete against the characters Neil and Ella. He is very rude towards them and almost gets into a fight with Mario as a result, but they are stopped by Peach, who reminds them of their manners. Bowser has the longest hit ratio of all characters but has low control. He hosts a tournament like Peach in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.
During the opening of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Wario and Waluigi attempt to outdo Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong when Wario manages to hit his golf ball across the field and into the forest. However, they hear a cry of pain, and, after the golf ball flies back at them, Bowser emerges on the other side of the hole, breathing fire and with a black eye where the ball hit him. He tries to chase after them on foot, but summons his Koopa Clown Car and begins firing Bullet Bills at them as he chases them. After a while, Wario and Waluigi enter a Warp Pipe to escape; Bowser tries following them through, but the car instead jams the pipe. They think they are safe, but Bowser then flies up to them and pulls out a lit Bob-omb. Wario and Waluigi try to escape by opening a massive door, and they do, but the golf ball Mario hits at this point bounces off their heads and knocks the bomb out of Bowser's hands. The bomb then explodes on the three of them.
Bowser returns in Mario Golf: World Tour. His post-hole animations involve him interacting directly with the camera. He also has a new golf course that contains elements such as Bob-ombs, Thwomps, and Chain Chomps, like Bowser Badlands from Toadstool Tour.
Mario Tennis series
Bowser also appears as a playable character in almost every title in the Mario Tennis series, (Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy being the lone exception). He is a power character who can make service and return aces easily; he lacks speed, though.
In the opening for Mario Tennis, Right before Mario and Luigi and Wario and Waluigi are about to fight, a spotlight appears right in the middle of them. Bowser and a Boo then descend from above onto the court. Everyone present thinks they are there to cause trouble, but they reveal that they simply wish to play tennis, which the others let them. However, out of nowhere, a Bob-omb appears, about to explode. Unable to react in time, Wario, Waluigi, Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and the Boo are caught in the explosion.
He is also playable in the Game Boy Color version of Mario Tennis, but can only be unlocked through transfer with the Nintendo 64 game. Additionally, by winning three rounds of Two-on-One matches in the Game Boy Color version, then transferring with the Nintendo 64 version, Bowser Court is unlocked.
In the opening for Mario Power Tennis, Bowser has a more dastardly scheme. Near the beginning, he is watching from an unknown location as Wario and Waluigi lose to the Mario Bros.. After vandalizing a poster as revenge, the duo enter a room in the stadium to escape the police; this room turns out to be a pit leading to Bowser's lair. Bowser decides to ally with the two, and he trains them to become better at tennis.
That night, the trio interrupt the final match of the tournament. Wario and Waluigi shoot Bob-ombs at the Mario Bros., but Mario, along with other players, hit the bombs back with their rackets. Bowser fires a Bullet Bill from his balloon, but Mario deflects it, and it hits the Bob-omb launcher. The launcher, now aimed upward, shoots a Bob-omb at Bowser's balloon, popping it and not only causing it to descend but also exposing several dozen Bob-ombs. Upon seeing this, Wario and Waluigi attempt to run away, but the balloon crashes on them, resulting in a massive explosion.
In both Mario Power Tennis and Mario Tennis: Power Tour, Bowser uses his Fire Breath for his Offensive Power Shot and his Defensive Power Shot is Spinning Shell Dash, where he ducks into his shell and spins around to recover the ball.
Bowser also appears in Mario Tennis Open. In addition, one of the unlockable Mii costumes in the game is a Bowser costume; it can be unlocked either by beating fifty players online, or by earning fifty victory medals. Several Bowser-based accessories can also be purchased to be equipped to the player's Mii.
In Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, Bowser, in addition to being a playable character, appears as a boss in Knockout Challenge mode, where he is permanently mega. If Bowser is played as in the mode, his boss role is filled by Dry Bowser.
Bowser appears as a playable character in Mario Tennis Aces, where he is again a Powerful character. He was also available in the game's online tournament demo to play as, available from the start. Bowser additionally appears in Adventure Mode, where he and Bowser Jr. are seen losing a doubles tennis match against Mario and Peach. Soon after this loss, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi are controlled by an evil tennis racket named Lucien. After Mario and Toad collect three of the five Power Stones to avoid Lucien regaining its full power, then receive the other two from the Lucien-controlled characters after Mario, Peach, and Daisy beat them in tennis matches, Bowser steals Lucien and the five Power Stones, then takes them to the Temple of Bask Shrine so he can restore Lucien back to full power. By the time Mario reaches the shrine, Bowser and Lucien have fused together to form Bowcien. Mario defeats Bowcien, destroying Lucien and returning Bowser to normal. Bowser has a tennis outfit that debuts when the June 2019 Online Tournament begins.
Paper Mario series
Paper Mario
- “Mario defeated me...again... He always defeats me... This time I became invincible! And I STILL couldn't beat him!”
- —Bowser, Paper Mario
During the events of Paper Mario, Bowser and his minion Kammy Koopa invade Star Haven and steal the Star Rod, which can grant any wish of the holder. With this object, Bowser imprisons the seven Star Spirits in cards and then places them under the guard of seven of his minions. The next day, Bowser uses his flying fortress to lift Peach's Castle up into the sky. Mario attempts to stop him, but Bowser uses the Star Rod to make himself invincible during their fight. Mario's attacks can no longer harm Bowser, and he is able to defeat Mario, ending the fight with his fire breath. Believing his rival to be dead, Bowser summons lightning using the Star Rod to knock Mario out the window and to the ground, locks the party guests in the dungeons of his castle, and puts Peach under heavy guard in her bedroom.
After each chapter, the player has the opportunity to play as Peach. She can sneak out of her room and learn information on where Mario needs to head next. When Peach first escapes her room, she and Twink, the Star Kid with her at the time, find and read Bowser's diary. However, when Bowser enters the room, he sees the he left his diary out and that Peach has read it. Two Koopatrols then enter the room, and Bowser has them take Peach back to her room.
After Mario defeats Tutankoopa, Bowser enters her room. Here, she is told that he is going to send "the Invincible Tubba Blubba" to fight Mario; he is only invincible, however, because his heart has been separated from his body by Bowser at an earlier point. It is at this point that Kammy enters the room and informs Bowser that the Star Spirit escaped from Tubba Blubba's Castle. The two then leave to discuss the matter.
On one occasion when Peach is out of her room, she hears a conversation between Bowser and Kammy. Kammy reports that Tubba Blubba has been defeated, as well as that Mario may be heading to Shy Guy's Toy Box next. Bowser suggests setting something up for him there when he notices Peach. Instead of immediately sending her back to her room, he instead asks her what Mario hates; however, some of the answers she can choose are actually items that benefit Mario. After receiving the answers, Bowser has Kammy place the chosen items in Shy Guy's Toy Box, Mario's next destination, while the guards take Peach back to her room.
After competing in the 64th Trivia Quiz-Off, Bowser enters the room and sees the set, and wishes to participate. However, since the game show is over when he enters, he cannot. He then sees Princess Peach trying to sneak away from the area, and has the Koopatrol and Hammer Bro take her back to her room.
Even later, Bowser enters Peach's room and attempts to make friendly conversation, though Peach ignores him, stating that Mario will defeat him. However, Bowser denies this when Kammy shows up and informs Bowser that Mario has freed all seven Star Spirits and can use them to get to the castle. In response, Bowser has Kammy inform his minions take up positions across the castle, and has the princess bound to keep her out of trouble. Out of anger for this, Twink tries to attack Bowser, but the attack proves ineffective and Bowser easily swats him out the window. He then leaves to prepare himself for Mario's arrival.
After reaching the location where Mario was defeated by Bowser when he first uprooted Peach's Castle, Bowser enters the room, and the two battle again. During the battle, Bowser uses the Star Rod, but using the Star Beam allows the player to negate this. Once he is defeated, Bowser takes Peach and retreats to the roof of the castle.
Once Mario reaches the castle's roof, Kammy activates her Power Platform, which increases Bowser's size and strength; with his increased power, the Star Beam is rendered useless against him. However, Princess Peach and Twink defeat Kammy Koopa and, by wishing on everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach increases the Star Spirits' power. With this extra power, they create an even more powerful Star Beam known as the Peach Beam, which is strong enough to once again cancel the powers of the Star Rod every time Bowser uses it. With Bowser vulnerable once again, Mario can defeat Bowser and reclaim the Star Rod. After the battle, however, the Power Platform starts to malfunction due to the intensity of the fight and is about to explode, with the power surge also threatening to detonate his castle as well; while it is doing so, one of the smaller-scale explosions sends Bowser and Kammy flying away. Bowser, upon learning of this development, attempts to issue an evacuation order, but the earlier explosion prevented him from doing so. The Star Rod is returned to the Star Spirits, Peach's Castle is put back in place, and peace returns to Star Haven and the Mushroom Kingdom.
Bowser is also present in the parade at the end of the game, in his Koopa Clown Car. While he is floating on, Kammy and Jr. Troopa are blasting magic at each other around him, which ends with Bowser being caught in the middle and struck by both of them at the same time. Bowser chases them off and roasts the pair with his fire breath.
During the battle at the beginning of the game, Bowser only attacks by hitting Mario with his claws, and at the end of the battle, he breathes fire at him. During their second battle, he once again attacks with a claw swipe, which can poison Mario. He also has the ability to breath fire, as well as attacking by jumping on Mario. During the battle on the Power Platform, Bowser still uses his jumping, claw swipe, and fire breath attacks, and he can also use the Star Rod to recover 30 HP, send out a beam to damage Mario and his partner, and summon bolts of lightning to damage Mario.
Paper Mario is also significant because it reveals another of Bowser's motives for kidnapping Peach: he has a crush on her and hopes to steal her away from Mario. Although this had been stated in some Japanese media such as the anime Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!, this is the first instance of such a motive being articulated in overseas releases.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Bowser also appears as a minor villain in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. In this game, Kammy Koopa summons Bowser to tell him that Mario his attempting to find treasures known as the Crystal Stars. Bowser decides to find them himself because he believes they are "good world-conquering tools." She also states that Princess Peach has been taken by someone else, after having just been told herself, so he makes it his mission to find and kidnap her himself. Optionally, prior to Kammy Koopa delivering this news, Bowser can also listen in to two Hammer Bros. talking, with one talking about seeing Bowser swooning over a portrait of Princess Peach before realizing that Bowser was right behind him, although Bowser will apparently find it amusing enough to attempt to get him to continue with the story, to the Hammer Bros.' reluctance. Accompanied by Kammy, Bowser appears in many cutscenes, in which he is a playable character. These scenes sometimes involve Bowser traveling through a side-scrolling world similar to the ones in Super Mario Bros. (these levels partially inspired Super Paper Mario). During these segments, Bowser can breathe fire or jump to defeat enemies, and can collect the Meat found in blocks to increase in size, becoming invincible and being able to destroy blocks and pipes after eating three. He also has infinite lives. Throughout these cutscenes, Bowser always appears to be a step behind Mario, and ultimately fails to find a single Crystal Star.
At Petalburg, Bowser finds what he thinks is Peach and talks to her, but eventually finds out that he is really speaking to a poster.
After Mario reaches Rank 5 in the Glitz Pit, Bowser enters the ring, having heard about a man with a mustache fighting in the arena, and faces him in front of the large crowd. Bowser can attack by either breathing fire, ground-pounding the player, or biting them. This fight can either result in Bowser's defeat or victory, but no matter the outcome he leaves Glitzville afterward.
Later, at The Great Tree, Bowser and Kammy find the Puni elder, who believes that they desire the Crystal Star. Bowser asks where it is, but the elder informs him that Mario took the "legendary treasure" to save Peach. Kammy automatically assumes that Peach and the treasure are connected, and that Mario is going to get them both, prompting Bowser's rage.
He later attempts to return to Glitzville to search for one of the Crystal Stars, choosing his Koopa Clown Car as transportation over the Cheep-Cheep Blimp, the latter of which was flown away by the captain in fear upon realizing who he was. Unfortunately, the airborne vehicle breaks down during flight, sending him plummeting into the ocean below and forcing him to swim back to Rogueport. Upon arriving, Bowser is enraged to see that Kammy went to Glitzville without him, and has her obtain information on Peach and the Crystal Stars.
In Twilight Town, Bowser overhears X-Naut second-in-command Lord Crump mention the Crystal Stars after finding the Superbombomb. When Kammy asks him about the stars, Crump demands that Bowser tell him all that he knows about the Crystal Stars, though Bowser demands the same. In response, Crump summons the X-Naut army to deal with the Koopa King, but Kammy summons the Koopa Troop. Crump throws the Superbombomb at Bowser, though it does not explode. Bowser, however, breathes fire at Crump, accidentally detonating the weapon.
After the incident, Bowser returns to Rogueport, and is sulking when Kammy informs him that their scouts found a hidden underground chamber in Rogueport Sewers (Bowser's exact dialogue when recounting his various failures will vary depending on whether Mario or Bowser won their earlier fight at the Glitz Pit). Kammy directs him to the chamber, which turns out to be a workout room, and they find what they believe to be the Gold Star on a belt. Rawk Hawk then enters the room, and is impressed that Bowser was able to infiltrate his workout room, but refuses to let him take his championship belt. Bowser, however, calls him weak, and Rawk Hawk attempts to attack Bowser, but fails when he jumps on him. However, his attack does hit Kammy. She is knocked into to the champ belt, resulting in the star on the belt breaking. They are shocked at first, but Kammy realizes that it is a fake, and Rawk Hawk tells Bowser that the "Great Gonzales" possesses the real one.
Some time later, at Poshley Heights, Bowser and Kammy arrive at Poshley Sanctum after hearing that a Crystal Star is inside. Bowser attempts to enter, but finds the door is locked, but in his rage he breaks the lock, granting him access. Inside, Bowser finds the Garnet Star on a pedestal, and is excited to finally obtain one. However, Pennington then arrives and informs Bowser that what he is holding is a duplicate created to trick thieves, as well as that "Luigi" already obtained the real one. A Paragoomba then flies in and informs Bowser that Mario has collected all seven Crystal Stars and is heading for The Thousand-Year Door. Bowser and Kammy leave to head after him.
After Mario opens the Thousand-Year Door, Bowser and Kammy Koopa enter Palace of Shadow to take Peach and steal the treasure that is rumored to be held behind the door. Meanwhile, Sir Grodus threatens to murder Princess Peach after his defeat at the hands of Mario, but Bowser's weight causes him to crash through the floor above them and landing on the X-Naut leader. Bowser admits that he has no idea as to what is going on, but that he is going to "end it right NOW!" Bowser and Kammy are battled before the player gets a chance to save after battling Grodus, and thus wind up supplanting Grodus as the penultimate bosses. His attacks are the same as when he is fought in the Glitz Pit. When the two are beaten, they are left dazed on the floor of the Palace of Shadow. If the player leaves the room and re-enters, they are gone.
Bowser's face is used on the Fright Mask. As the name implies, it scares enemies away.
Field Tattle
Outside of battle, Goombella can use Tattle on Bowser only after Mario defeats him and Kammy Koopa in Palace of Shadow
- "That's Bowser. He came to the Palace of Shadow for Peach and that treasure. You gotta give him credit for coming this far, really. I almost respect him, actually. ...But no time for all that! We have to go after Grodus and Peach! C'mon!"
Super Paper Mario
Bowser joins forces with Mario in Super Paper Mario as one of the four heroes destined to save all dimensions from destruction. During the opening for the game, Mario and Luigi hear from Toad that Princess Peach has been kidnapped, and they head to Bowser's Castle, thinking that he is the perpetrator. However, when they accuse him for this, he surprised as well, for he is still only preparing to kidnap Peach at the time. A mysterious figure named Count Bleck then appears, knocks Mario unconscious, and abducts Luigi, Bowser, and his minions. Count Bleck warps everyone to Castle Bleck, his base of operations, where he forcefully marries Bowser and Peach in order to unleash the Chaos Heart. The heart's purpose is to open The Void, to end all worlds, although Bowser is unaware of his plans.
After the wedding, most of Bowser's minions are brainwashed by Nastasia, Bleck's secretary. Bowser is removed from Count Bleck's Castle and wakes up in a field in The Bitlands. With a handful of minions at his side, Bowser establishes a stronghold in an abandoned castle and fortifies the defenses by stationing his forces throughout the area. However, the fortress is destroyed when Mario and Peach, while on the way to Fort Francis, use their Pixl Boomer to blast the red "X" on the side of the castle. Enraged that Mario has once again ruined his plans, Bowser engages Mario in combat, putting up two barriers so that he cannot escape. Bowser attacks Mario by breathing fire, as well as trying to jump on him. Normal attacks do not affect him; the only way to damage Bowser is by using Boomer or by using attack items like the Ghost Shroom or Fire Burst.
It is after the battle that Bowser learns the true purpose behind his marriage to Princess Peach. While he initially refuses to help them, Bowser is told by the pair that he cannot take over the world if it is destroyed and that his minions now obey Count Bleck, and agrees to come with them. (However, he states that he is only doing so for the purpose of one day conquering the world himself.) With Bowser as a party member, the group continues to Fort Francis.
Before the group can claim the sixth Pure Heart at Sammer's Kingdom, the entire dimension is destroyed by the Void. Afterward, they return to the dimension, but find that it has been reduced to an empty world. Upon claiming the rock-like Pure Heart of that dimension from Mr. L, Luigi's hypnotized alter-ego, they return to Flipside, where Dimentio appears and "kills" Mario, Princess Peach, and Bowser.
In the Underwhere, Bowser is found by some of Queen Jaydes' D-Men. Thinking him to be a highly deadly and horrific creature that escaped its prison earlier, they subdue him and throw him in a room along the Underwhere Road. When Mario and Luigi, who is also sent to the Underwhere by Dimentio, while escorting Luvbi, a Nimbi, to the Overthere due to the actual creature that escaped, are traveling along the Underwhere Road, they encounter three D-Men, and Mario and Luigi offer to handle the "monster" that they contained for them. They head into the room, and find Bowser, asking himself about his current situation, inside. He asks where Peach is, and Mario, Luigi, and Tippi tell him they do not know where she is, but Bowser immediately assumes Mario and Luigi are going to ditch him and take Peach for themselves. Angry, Bowser once again engages them in battle. During this fight, he uses the same attacks he uses in the earlier fight, and also charges directly at the player. It is when he is defeated a second time that Mario and Tippi are able to explain that they are in the Underwhere and that Peach's location truly is unknown to them, and he rejoins Mario's party.
After claiming the eight Pure Hearts, the group arrive at Castle Bleck. When they encounter O'Chunks, Bowser opts to fight him alone, though O'Chunks powers himself up into Super O'Chunks. After he is defeated, the ceiling begins to fall on them, but O'Chunks holds it up before everyone present is crushed; he explains that his defeat earned the heroes the right to pass, and he is taking matters into his own hands to make sure this is possible. Despite this, Bowser assists him in holding the ceiling, urging Mario and the others to pass on. He also attempts to get O'Chunks out of there as well, sparking an argument between them as to who should leave and who should remain, resulting in both apparently being crushed, although Tippi and Luigi suspect that Bowser might have survived, the latter also pointing out that Bowser has "survived far worse." This causes Bowser to be conveniently left behind during two crucial scenes, the first one being the part where Mimi disguises herself as Merlee and asks Mario and company about their weak-points, and the second being when Dimentio asks Mario and company to join him, stating that they can rule every world with the Chaos Heart in their possession.
It is later revealed that Bowser is still alive while Count Bleck is preparing an attack to destroy Mario. Bowser reveals that he (and apparently O'Chunks) fell through a hole in the floor before they could be crushed by the ceiling. The uniting of the four Heroes of Light, however, causes the barrier surrounding Count Bleck to be destroyed.
Once Count Bleck is defeated, Dimentio appears and takes control of the Chaos Heart for himself, then fuses himself with Luigi, whom he enslaves with a Floro Sprout while he is unconscious after Dimentio's "last ditch effort", and the Chaos Heart to form Super Dimentio. However, from within Dimension D, Bleck and Tippi's love for each other allows the Pure Hearts to power up the heroes. After defeating the powered-up Dimentio, Bowser witnesses as Bleck and Tippi conduct their own marriage ceremony to permanently destroy the Chaos Heart and the Void. The heroes and Bleck's minions are then teleported to Flipside, where they are given a congratulatory feast by Saffron.
Mario cannot jump on Bowser when battling him without getting hurt due to his horns and spikes like he can in the other RPGs. However, this property is removed when Bowser becomes playable, making him susceptible to damage from above. The theme that can be heard during the boss fights with Bowser is notable for being a cover of both the Super Mario Bros. 3 Dark World map music and his boss theme from the first two fights with him in Super Mario 64. When Piccolo is the active Pixl, Bowser's jump sound effect, as with the other characters, is the same as the Mario jump sound effect from Super Mario Bros., and his fire breath sound effect is the one from Super Mario Bros. as well. His theme heard whenever Piccolo's ability is activated is a metal song.
As a playable character, he moves slower than the others; however, he can not only jump but also breathe fire if the player pushes 
on the Wii Remote, and his attack stat is double the stat of the other heroes. The fire attack is especially useful on the Underwhere Road, in which it can light the torches along the path. Also, unlike the other characters, Bowser cannot climb ladders or vines; he grows tired if the player tries.
Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Bowser appears in Paper Mario: Sticker Star as the main antagonist. At the beginning of the game, Bowser invades Decalburg on the night of the Sticker Fest to claim the Sticker Comet for himself. Several Toads attempt to pull him away as he moves toward it, but they lose their grip, sending Bowser flying into the comet; his touching the star results in it splitting into several pieces that are spread across the Mushroom Kingdom. One of the Royal Stickers that is split off falls onto Bowser's head, amplifying his power. Mario appears on stage to defend Peach, but Bowser is able to defeat him and kidnap her.
He is not seen again until World 6-3, Bowser's Sky Castle. Bowser appears as Mario and Kersti are about to save Princess Peach, then sends the wall back, revealing a lengthy hallway for the final battle. At the start of the battle, three random minions appear to assist him, and when they are defeated, he can summon more unless the doors are barred. Some turns after they are defeated, Bowser heads to another area, where he is defended by a Whomp. After retreating again, Bowser has no minions defending him, but he uses the Podoboos leaping out of the lava to attack. Finally, at the last section, Bowser is assisted by a Chain Chomp, which Bowser also uses to attack but also assists him in battle. Bowser's other attacks include jumping directly on Mario, breathing fire, or folding up into his shell and ramming Mario. Additionally, before each section of the battle, Bowser heals himself.
After being defeated, Bowser falls off a nearby ledge, but soon after emerges in the form of a giant cardboard version of himself. In this form, Bowser attacks with his hands and can be damaged only very little. To counter the Royal Sticker's power, Kersti, Mario's partner throughout the game, sacrifices herself to be used as a sticker to give Mario enough power to stand up to him. When Bowser is damaged enough, one or both of his arms fall off. At this point, he attacks by either breathing fire) or ground-pounding, which causes several boulders to fall onto Mario. After he is defeated, Bowser returns to his normal state, and is left flat on the ground as Mario frees Peach and uses the combined power of the seven Royal Stickers to return everything to normal. Back at the Sticker Fest, Bowser attempts to steal the Sticker Comet again by sneaking over to it, but Kersti appears, having been revived with Mario's wish, and scolds him. Bowser also appears in the parade during the credits sequence. He is seen on an airship float with Bowser Jr.
This is the only game in the Paper Mario series in which Bowser does not have any lines of dialogue.
Paper Mario: Color Splash
Bowser appears in Paper Mario: Color Splash as the main antagonist. He is covered by black paint, altering his physical appearance to a degree that he has red eyes with yellow sclera. It is also implied that the paint also possessed him.
Prior to Mario's arrival on Prism Island, Bowser accidentally created the black paint while attempting to coat his shell in a rainbow color scheme. He was promptly possessed by the paint, and proceeded to lay waste to Port Prisma. After this, he hurled the Big Paint Stars to various locations, draining the island of its color.
After Mario and Huey return the red Big Paint Star to Port Prisma, it prompts a flashback showing Bowser throwing the Big Paint Stars away. After, Bowser shows up to announce his intentions to "share the gift of black paint with the world". When he leaves, he takes Princess Peach with him.
As the Big Paint Stars are collected, flashbacks continue to show what happened at Port Prisma. Once the last one is collected, the following flashback shows Bowser's attempt to paint his shell. He spins around in the Prisma Fountain and mixes the paints together into black paint. As it possesses him, he screams in surprise.
Bowser appears once more during the final sequence at Black Bowser's Castle as the final boss of the game. Once Mario and Huey arrives, he taunts the duo with the now-colorless Peach before initiating a battle. After a tough battle, Mario drains some black paint from Bowser, allowing him to come to his senses. This is short-lived, though, as the black paint possesses him once more. He grows to a larger size, and the true battle begins. Bowser quickly proves to be too much for Mario, but Huey allows himself to be used as a card. Mario successfully returns him to a 3D form. Together, they drain the black paint from Bowser and lock it away. After the battle, Bowser admits to having no idea what's going on before floating away, like the Koopalings before him.
During the ending, Bowser and the Koopalings try to escape on their airship. A celebration firework hits the airship, causing it to crash. Peach then notes that she hopes Bowser learned his lesson this time.
Bowser returns to a speaking role in this game, having a similar personality to his appearances in the first three Paper Mario games. In the scenes where Bowser is in control, he does not hold animosity towards Mario, flat-out asking if Mario is there because of a scheduled kart race.
In battle, Bowser uses a wide variety of heavy-hitting attacks. His fire breath hits several times for small amounts of damage, as the sole exception. He will also summon Black Lava Bubbles to aid him. If they are not defeated, Bowser will absorb them to heal himself. When the second phase starts, Bowser can take damage, but will heal all of it with his following attack. Once Huey is made 3D again, Bowser's attacks can be blocked without him healing. He starts off with a hammer attack and a ball of black paint. As the fight goes on, he starts using stronger attacks that are harder to block. Once he takes enough damage, he uses a last-ditch attack in the form of his "last breath", a huge black paint ball. If the attack is not blocked, Bowser will recover half of his health. If the attack is blocked, Bowser will be left completely defenseless. Any attack from here will finish the battle.
Paper Mario: The Origami King
In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Bowser is overpowered by King Olly, who folds him up into a helpless square, after which he turns several of his minions into Folded Soldiers. In the dungeon below Peach's Castle, Mario finds Bowser hung with a clothespin after he rejects Origami Peach's offer to fold, and frees him. Disappointed that he cannot unfold himself, Bowser tags along until they reach the roof, where they and the castle are then attacked by five streamers, which transport the castle to a distant mountain. A Shy Guy piloting the Clown Car comes to rescue Mario and Bowser, although they end up separated during the assault. Bowser is taken back to his castle, although he is once again overwhemled by Folded Soldiers and hung with a clothespin. After Mario defeats the Scissors and destroys the green streamer, Bowser helps Mario reach Peach's Castle by taking an airship there. Upon reaching the castle, it is transformed into Origami Castle, and Bowser accompanies Mario inside. In battle, Bowser can attack enemies in a straight line with his fire breath, dealing 50 damage to most enemies (75 with the Ally Tambourine), 25 damage to Fire Bros (37 with the Ally Tambourine), and 75 damage to Ice Bros (112 with the Ally Tambourine), although he can sometimes spit a small puff, causing the attack to fail. It is later revealed that the Stapler was the one who kept Bowser in his current state. After Mario defeats the Stapler, Mario hits Bowser with his hammer to return him to his normal self, and they go to face King Olly together. In the second phase of the final battle, Olivia transforms Bowser into a giant origami version of himself to duel King Olly, where Mario backs up the former with the 1,000-Fold Arms. After King Olly is defeated, Bowser attends the Origami Festival to celebrate. Notably, this is the first Mario RPG game in which Bowser is never directly fought at any point of the game.
Luigi's Mansion
Although Bowser himself does not appear in Luigi's Mansion, he was mentioned by Madame Clairvoya, where she says that Bowser had been defeated soundly by Mario a while back. In addition, King Boo uses a mechanical Bowser suit in the final battle with Luigi.[14] During the battle, Luigi must throw Spiked Balls at the suit, which will behead it and cause King Boo to come out. During that, the floating Bowser head will fire icy flames at Luigi until it puts itself back on its body. When King Boo's HP is down to two hundred, the Bowser head will reattach itself backwards when he returns to the body, which will cause the suit to run around aimlessly, but it will soon put its head in the right position. After Luigi defeats King Boo, the Bowser suit and its head still unattached will fall to the ground motionless.
Super Smash Bros. series
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Bowser is a recurring playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series. He was originally planned to be included as a playable character in Super Smash Bros., but was scrapped due to time constraints; however, he made his Super Smash Bros. debut in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Bowser is very strong, with some of the most powerful attacks out of any character. He is also the heaviest character in the game, making it particularly difficult to send him flying, though he is very slow as a result. Bowser is given more realistic, animal-like voice clips in the Super Smash Bros. series, with his voice in this game being similar to his voice effects from the Nintendo 64-era Mario games (such as Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64). Most of Bowser's attacks are original, though his forward tilt resembles the first hit of his Drill Claw move from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.
Bowser's standard special move is Fire Breath, his standard flame-spewing attack. His side special is Koopa Klaw, a claw swipe that grabs enemies. His up special is Whirling Fortress, which has him retract into his shell and spin rapidly. Finally, his down special move is Bowser Bomb, a Ground Pound-type move based on his attack from Super Mario Bros. 3.
Super Smash Bros. Melee also introduces Giga Bowser, a more powerful form of Bowser, as the hidden final boss of Adventure Mode, as well as in Event Mode.
Bowser replaces Luigi as Mario's opponent in the How to Play tutorial from this game onwards.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Bowser is still among the heaviest fighters, being heavier in this game than in Super Smash Bros. Melee (weighing 120 units as opposed to 118), though he is slightly faster and weaker. He is also now one of the few characters who can crawl. He has been given a new side special move for this game: Flying Slam, which has Bowser grab a nearby opponent, leap into the air and slam into the ground on top of them. His Final Smash transforms him into Giga Bowser, which makes him giant, prevents him from taking knockback, and gives his attacks increased power. Bowser's forward smash is no longer a single-hitting headbutt that induces an explosion; it is now a standard headbutt that can hit twice for huge damage.
For this game, Bowser's voice effects are more realistic animal growls and grunts.
The Subspace Emissary
In the Subspace Emissary storyline of Brawl, Bowser, a leader of the Subspace Army, orders his minions to steal Donkey Kong's banana hoard. After Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong have recovered it, he faces them himself. He reveals his Dark Cannon and turns Donkey Kong into a trophy, though not before Diddy is sent to safety with Donkey's Giant Punch. Bowser claims Donkey Kong's trophy, then pursues Diddy, who enlisted the aid of Fox McCloud, with the assistance of a Shadow Bug clone and the Koopa Troop. After his clone is defeated by them, he attempts to blast them with the Dark Cannon, but misses and his targets flee off a cliff.
Later, he encounters the princess Kirby saved (either Peach or Zelda), having been left behind when Kirby heads off to check out an ominous noise. Bowser blasts her with his Dark Cannon after catching the princess by surprise, and his shadow bug clone dissolves and forms into one of the princess, while he makes off with the trophy of the real princess off-screen.
It is later shown that Bowser is working closely with Ganondorf in running the Subspace Army (along with Wario to a minor extent), though he dislikes him and prefers Master Hand. He reluctantly follows his orders, however, and heads to King Dedede's castle upon receiving info from the dark ruler that Dedede has trophies he stole from Wario there. Bowser arrives at the castle by falling through the ceiling, chunks of which knocking Dedede out cold and burying him along with the Luigi and Ness trophies. However, Bowser instantly finds the trophy of the other princess, and takes it. Mario, Link, Pit, Kirby, and Yoshi catch up to him at this point, and Mario attempts to punch Bowser, but he intentionally misses when he holds up the princess trophy as a shield. Pit fires an arrow, which Bowser dodges, but falls off the cliff nearby and into his Koopa Clown Car, flying off to the Halberd.
He later appears a third time to Fox and Diddy Kong, this time turning the unsuspecting monkey into a trophy. He tries to blast Fox, but misses. Shadow Bugs then crawl over it upon his command and assume the form of Diddy. He once again attempts to blast Fox with his Dark Cannon, but cavalry arrives in the form of Falco Lombardi, who kicks his weapon out of his hand and destroys it with multiple blasts from his blasters. Vexed at this, Bowser then retreats in his Koopa Clown Car, leaving the Diddy Kong clone to grow at mega proportions and deal with Falco, Fox, and the restored Diddy Kong, but it is defeated.
Eventually, Bowser and Ganondorf fly a Subspace Gunship into the other world from the Subspace explosion created on the Isle of Ancients and use its massive primary cannon to bring pieces of the world into the Subspace. They see the recently liberated Halberd flying toward the ship and use the gunship's defense systems to destroy it, but are unable to hit the smaller, more maneuverable ships and aircrafts that emerge from the wreckage until the Subspace Gunship is destroyed by Kirby's Dragoon. The duo then deport into Subspace to report their failure to Master Hand, but Ganondorf betrays Bowser by blasting him from behind with a Dark Cannon and transforming him into a trophy. Master Hand then appears to them, but it is revealed that Master Hand is being controlled by the being Tabuu; Master Hand breaks free afterward, thanks to the livid Ganondorf's attempt to attack Tabuu, and attempts to attack him, but is defeated easily and left unconscious.
Upon being revived by King Dedede, Bowser awakens enraged by Ganon's treachery, and fights the hammer king out of anger, but is soundly defeated. He is turned back to normal once more, and (after Dedede humorously flicks him across the nose to calm down) learns the truth behind the Subspace mission and, upon taking in the situation, joins the heroes in the fight against Tabuu. Upon finding Ganondorf's trophy (just after Kirby's discovery of it), he furiously attacks it, as retribution for the treason of which he was victim earlier.
Eventually, Tabuu is defeated by the combined power of the heroes, and they all return to the World of Trophies. The credits depict the entire group on a cliff, looking out at sea towards a large "X" formed out of light, the location of what once was the Isle of Ancients.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
Bowser reappears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and has received a number of changes. For one, Bowser's stance has been made upright, compared to his more hunched appearance in previous games, making him the largest character in the game. He has also been made faster and can jump higher in this game, and now has full armor against moves that deal minor knockback. His weight has been greatly increased, now weighing 130 units. While Bowser's special moves are unchanged, a number of his other moves in the previous games, such as his neutral attack, down tilt, forward smash, neutral and back air attacks, and dash attack, have been replaced with new attacks, while even more have been given changed or new animations; for example, he now actually runs instead of sliding across the ground when dashing, and does not retreat into his shell while double jumping, air dodging, or rolling; this also extends to his helpless and reeling animations.
Bowser and Bowser Jr. also share a victory theme different from the other Mario characters: a rock cover of the standard Mario series fanfare.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Template:Main-external Bowser makes an appearance as an unlockable playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Bowser's moveset and attributes remain mostly the same, though he now has greater resistance to stronger attacks such as Villager's Pocketed projectiles. Bowser also receives super armor on all of his tilts and smash attacks, making them safer to use. Additionally, Bowser's down smash is now a claw swipe that hits in front and behind himself. Bowser's forward tilt and first hit of his neutral attack are now sumo-style punches instead of backhanded punches or hooks. Bowser also hops at the end of his up throw. Bowser, like all other characters, receives improvements to his mobility, while his short hop timing is reduced; additionally, his aerials have less landing lag. Bowser can directionally air dodge once again, and can now use any ground attack out of a run and use his aerial attacks on ladders. Lastly, Bowser's weight has been further increased to 135 units, while some of his attacks deal more damage.
Bowser is unlocked by completing Classic Mode as Donkey Kong, or by playing a VS match after unlocking Ness and Zelda. In World of Light, the player is required to beat Bowser as Giga Bowser in order to recruit him, making him the only character to not be fought in his standard form to be recruited.
In the Adventure Mode, Bowser is present when the fighters oppose Galeem for the first time. He attempts to resist Galeem's large beam attack with his fire breath, but ultimately is consumed and used to create puppet fighters.
Bowser also has several spirits based on him, aside from his fighter spirit. One of them, based on his wedding appearance from Super Mario Odyssey, is an Ace-class Grab-type primary spirit that occupies two slots and simply raises the power of a fighter. It can be encountered on The Final Battle map of World of Light, and in its corresponding battle, the player allies with Peach to fight Bowser on the New Donk City Hall stage. Another one of Bowser's spirits is based on his paper appearance that was specifically used in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, which can be enhanced at level 99 to the form seen in Paper Mario: Sticker Star.
Classic Mode route
Bowser's Classic Mode route has him fight opponents who are clad in red, similar to - and including - his arch-nemesis, Mario. Once Bowser defeats Mario, Metal Mario appears to fight him.
| The Red One. Every Red One! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Opponent(s) | Stage | Song | |
| 1 | Mii Brawler ×2, Mii Gunner, Mii Swordfighter | Find Mii | Airship Theme - Super Mario Bros. 3 | |
| 2 | Ken | Suzaku Castle | Ken Stage | |
| 3 | Samus | Norfair | Brinstar (Melee) | |
| 4 | Giant Charizard, Giant Incineroar | Pokémon Stadium 2 | Victory Road - Pokémon Ruby / Pokémon Sapphire | |
| 5 | Diddy Kong | Kongo Jungle | Stickerbush Symphony | |
| 6 | Rathalos | Roar/Rathalos | ||
| Final | Mario Metal Mario |
New Donk City Hall (Ω) | Ground Theme (Band Performance) - Super Mario Bros. Metal Battle | |
Mario & Luigi series
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga / Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
- “Attacking me when my back is turned, huh? Well, that's typical! C'mere, Super Coward Bros.!”
- —Bowser, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Princess Peach's voice is replaced with a literally explosive vocabulary by the evil witch Cackletta and her minion Fawful. Some time after this, Bowser arrives at the castle to kidnap the princess. However, Mario and Luigi enter soon after, and Mario engages in battle with Bowser (with the latter being irritated at Mario allegedly attacking him while his back was turned). However, once the fight is over, Bowser states that it is not the time for a battle, and a Toad explains the situation. Bowser realizes that if he kidnaps Peach now, her voice will destroy his castle. He and the Mario Bros. venture to the Beanbean Kingdom to recover Peach's voice on Bowser's Koopa Cruiser, Bowser only wanting to kidnap her afterward. On the way, however, Fawful and Cackletta herself show up, the latter ordering Fawful to destroy the group. One of Fawful's attacks from his helmet defeats Bowser, leaving the brothers to fight him. Nonetheless, Bowser gives the Mario Bros. some hints on how to evade/counter Fawful's attacks. After Fawful is defeated, he uses his helmet to attack the cruiser once more, sending it plummeting to the ground, specifically Stardust Fields.
Bowser falls into a large cannon. After locating him, Tolstar, the cannon's owner, appears and demands 100 Beanbean coins to free Bowser and keep the incident a secret. Even after gathering the coins, Tolstar does not uphold his end of the bargain and attacks Mario and Luigi. When he is defeated, however, Bowser's griping annoys Sergeant Starshade, one of the Starshade Bros., enough to the point where he appears and shoots him out of the cannon. He hurriedly requests that the Mario Bros. continue their journey to save Peach's voice before he is fired into the mountains, the impact giving him amnesia. He is later found by Popple, the Shadow Thief. Popple decides to take him under his wing, renaming him Rookie.
As Rookie, Bowser and Popple fight the Mario Bros. twice, not remembering them but seeming familiar to him. Rookie's attacks, which involve throwing hammers and breathing fire, are a reference to Super Mario Bros., where Bowser performs both of those moves during later boss battles. They are first fought at Chateau de Chucklehuck, Popple wanting the Chuckola Reserve for himself, and later at Woohoo Hooniversity, after the Beanstar randomly lands right in front of Popple. After the Beanstar battle, a Peach-bot head falls in front of the group, the noise it generates disturbing the Beanstar. Mario, Luigi, Popple, and "Rookie" all grab onto the star before it flies into the air, each of them falling off in different directions before it splits into four pieces. However, before he falls off, Bowser recovers from his amnesia. It is later revealed that Bowser's earlier attempt at kidnapping Peach forced her to not reveal to Mario her earlier plan of evading Cackletta's attempt at stealing her voice via the use of a decoy.
Bowser lands near the border between the Beanbean and Mushroom Kingdoms. Fawful, who is carrying around Cackletta's soul inside a helmet, releases her spirit to possess the unconscious Bowser, transforming him into Bowletta. Bowletta takes command of the Koopa Troop, kidnaps Princess Peach, and launches a massive military strike against the Beanbean Kingdom from Bowser's Castle. After Mario and Luigi defeat Bowletta, the brothers are taken into its stomach to fight Cackletta's spirit for the final battle. When Cackletta is completely destroyed, Bowser returns to normal. Still a bit bedazzled, Bowser gets no break, as his castle explodes shortly afterward (sending him literally flying toward the screen of the Game Boy Advance). Bowser falls into Oho Ocean, but is rescued by Prince Peasley. He later awakens with a cold, inside a present box (attached to Peach's Plane) given to Peach and the Mario Bros. by Prince Peasley. During their flight back to the Mushroom Kingdom, he is dropped off at his castle while his minions watch.
- “What's your PROBLEM? You make me sick!”
- —Bowser, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
In the Nintendo 3DS remake, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, in addition to appearing in the game's main story mode with the same role as the original game, Bowser plays an integral part in the new Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser mode. Here, a group of Bowser's minions, led by Captain Goomba, venture the Beanbean Kingdom with the intent of reuniting with Bowser and freeing other minions from Fawful's hypnosis. Captain Goomba and the recovered minions also discover Bowser, or rather Rookie, nearby and try to help him, although due to his amnesia, he doesn't recognize them and even declares disgust towards them. After making it to the castle, Bowser seemingly is present and orders them to take on Mario as usual. However, Captain Goomba seemed suspicious of "Bowser" due to him using language that seemed far too harsh on Mario even with his hatred of him (namely, stating they should "destroy" Mario and finish their feud), which they eventually confirm with a Lakitu (who made the discovery directly) that "Bowser" was in fact possessed as Bowletta. After defeating Fawful and his robot underlings, the group of minions ultimately find Bowser after his possessed form is defeated and cleansed by Mario and Luigi. However, the reunion is short-lived, as the castle they are in soon explodes, launching Bowser and the minions out of it. The minions then look on as Bowser is being returned via airplane to the Mushroom Kingdom. Later, inside Bowser's Castle, Bowser is slowly recovering from his amnesia. Through his words, it is revealed that Bowser's memory loss was actually caused by Captain Goomba when he landed on Bowser from above. The mode ends with Bowser angrily chasing after Captain Goomba, with it also being implied that Bowser had Captain Goomba demoted not just his then-newly promoted position of leading the Koopa Troop into direct battle, but also his rank of Captain itself for his inadvertent role in giving him amnesia.[15]
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
- “This little firebrand reminds me of a younger me. Look at him! The kid's got a flair for evil! I'm bringing him on board as my partner, and the two of us are gonna thrash you losers!”
- —Bowser, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Bowser first appears in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time after the recently-rescued Princess Peach. In Peach's bedroom, he is about to take the princess when Mario and Luigi show up. As they are about to battle, a part of the Shroob Mushroom covering her face flies into Bowser's face, and he eats it, the awful taste causing him to spew a gas that dazes Mario and Luigi. As he is escaping with the princess, Toadsworth the Younger charges at him on Baby Peach's stroller, but Bowser jumps over them, leading to the bridge they are on collapsing under Bowser, and ironically helping the Mario Bros., as revealed later in the game. He and the princess fall into a time hole below, which leads to Thwomp Volcano. Inside the volcano itself, he declares it the perfect place to build another castle when Baby Bowser suddenly falls down into the area, stating the same thing. The two then spot each other and argue over ownership of the volcano, claiming that the other is an imposter.
When Mario, Luigi, and the babies reach the bottom of Thwomp Caverns, Bowser and Baby Bowser appear before they can save the princess and challenge them, revealing that they have teamed up. They are the tenth boss of the game. Bowser can attack by jumping, which creates a shockwave, which can either be slow or fast moving. If it is the fast shockwave, it also sends down debris to be jumped over; normal rocks hit both bros., red Thwacks hit Mario, and green ones Luigi. He can also breath a stream of fire, though he sometimes fakes it and does it a second later; the player can tell if he is when Bowser laughs before he attacks (In the Japanese version, Bowser will automatically use this attack after being attacked, and is one of three bosses that will counterattack no matter whose turn it currently is.[16]). Some of Baby Bowser's attacks also involve Bowser. One attack involves ground pounding Bowser to have him spit flames at them, and another involves Bowser retreating into his shell, and Baby Bowser using his hammer to smack him at Mario and Luigi; if the attack is deflected enough Bowser spins off-screen and does not return for another turn. Finally, Baby Bowser can restore 100 HP to Bowser (60 HP in the Japanese and European versions[16]) with a Mushroom. When the duo are defeated, a lava geyser sends the Thwomp they are on flying out of the volcano. Bowser is knocked off by a Shroob UFO, telling his baby self to grow up and become stronger and more evil before falling into the time hole back to the present.
Meanwhile, the dual heroes realize that Princess Peach had been an imposter the whole time. The masquerade had been part of the Shroobs' plot to infiltrate the Mushroom Kingdom's future and take over, which would have succeeded if not for Bowser's unforeseen intervention.
After defeating Elder Princess Shroob and returning to the present, the two Toadsworths lead Mario and Luigi to an unconscious Bowser in Peach's throne room; present Toadsworth explains that they found him unconscious in the castle's backyard after emerging from the time hole. While trying to wake him up, Elder Princess Shroob, in the form of a mushroom that Baby Luigi claimed, floats toward Bowser and forces him to eat her, her spirit now inhabiting his body as Shrowser. Bowser awakens, feeling revitalized, and engages the four in battle again. However, he does not give the Mario Bros. any opportunity to attack, instead constantly attacking with fireballs. Dodging or countering results in Elder Princess Shroob, whose spirit emerges from Bowser at the beginning of the fight, being damaged. Once her health is depleted, Elder Princess Shroob is destroyed and Bowser once again falls unconscious.
One of the signs that the Handfake enemy can hold up depicts the present Bowser, based upon his Super Mario World artwork.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story / Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
- “Did somebody page the king of awesome?”
- —Bowser, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
In the third Mario & Luigi game, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Bowser is the main protagonist, and his playability is a major plot point, as well as him being the namesake of the game; much of Mario and Luigi's side of the plot takes place inside Bowser's body. At the beginning of the game, Bowser barges into the Conference Hall to once again kidnap Peach, partly out of not being invited to the emergency blorbs conference beforehand, but Mario stands in his way. During the resulting battle, Bowser only attacks by spitting small fireballs at Mario. After he is defeated, Bowser is flung to Dimble Woods by Princess Peach and Starlow. After he recovers and explores the woods, he finds a stand owned by a cloaked person that gives him a "Lucky Mushroom," claiming it will allow him to defeat Mario. Bowser carelessly eats the mushroom, which causes him to start inhaling his surroundings and places him under Fawful's control. Returning to the castle, he inhales the occupants of the conference room before passing out and being dragged to Cavi Cape Cave, where he is awakened by Mario and Luigi. After leaving and fighting Midbus, Bowser learns that Fawful has set out to take over his castle, with Bowser's main focus being to return and undo what Fawful has done. He attempts to find a Banzai Bill to breach the castle's defenses, although in the process of searching for an adequate substitute via the Giga-carrot, he is ultimately forced by a Wiggler to eat the whole thing in a minute when he was caught trying to uproot it, ultimately forcing the Wiggler upon beating it to hand over his Banzai Bill. He then fires it at the castle, only for it to start flying to him (thanks to Midbus and Fawful's modifications to the castle) and squish him. Thanks to help, however, he survives and becomes giant, doing enough damage to his castle to force a retreat by Midbus. He then arrives at the castle, or rather, the Fawful Theater and beats Midbus. Unfortunately, his victory is short lived when the boos fattened him up with a victory feast, with Fawful then extracting Peach from him and then left him to literally burn off the excess fat via a treadmill and setting off the castle's Bob-omb caches in the process.
After Bowser is blown out of his castle and ends up in the Tunnel, he helps the Monty Bros. dig a tunnel to Toad Town Caves; however, when he explores this area he triggers a security system that electrocutes him, knocking him unconscious. Bowser later awakens and heads to Dr. Toadley's clinic, where he fights Mario and Luigi. Bowser uses the same attacks as when the player battles with him: punching, breathing fire, Goomba Storm, and Shy Guy Squad, though he does not use the second special move until later in the battle. His punch can be dodged by jumping, and if Bowser huffs before, he instead slips, flying over his target. The fire can be avoided by grabbing onto Starlow while he is charging the attack. Goomba Storm can be avoided by jumping over them and hammering the ones he burns back at Bowser, damaging him. Finally, Shy Guy Squad is stopped by deflecting Bowser with the hammer as he approaches one of the brothers. After defeating him, they learn that they need to find the three Star Cures to cure the blorbs and access Peach's Castle. Hearing the first cure is in Dimble Woods, Bowser rushes off. During the quest for the Star Cures, Bowser manages to find only one, which is in a safe in his treasure room, but is locked inside by Sergeant Guy, Private Goomp, and Corporal Paraplonk, who have betrayed him for Fawful.
After Bowser is freed from the safe in Junker's rampage, he makes his way to Fawful and Midbus and faces Midbus as Blizzard Midbus. After beating him the Dark Star awakens and Fawful attempts to claim its power, but is knocked aside by Bowser before he can absorb too much, the energy he did absorb turning him into Dark Fawful. The Dark Star then flies down Bowser's throat, where it absorbs some of his DNA and transforms into Dark Bowser, which heads after Fawful with Bowser following it. After Bowser defeats Dark Fawful, he escapes in the form of a mass of Dark Energy, which is inhaled by Dark Bowser, completing his transformation. Chasing Dark Bowser to a tower above the castle, Bowser witnesses as his dark clone spreads his darkness around the kingdom, threatening to destroy the kingdom. Engaging in battle with Dark Bowser, he is able to inhale Fawful after forcing him out of Dark Bowser, allowing Mario and Luigi to defeat him, which in turn allows Bowser to defeat Dark Bowser. Defeating him destroys the Dark Star, although Fawful is still alive in the end, and he self-destructs to destroy Mario and Luigi; this instead causes everyone inside Bowser's body to return to the outside world. Angered by the fact that the Mario Bros. were dancing around in his body, he fights them, but is defeated and carried home by his minions. Bedridden after the defeat, Bowser receives a gift from Princess Peach, which turns out to be a cake.
- “Keep an eye on Junior, will ya?”
- —Bowser, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
He largely retains his role in the game's remake, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, with it also being implied that he accidentally released Beef when he set off the Bob-omb storage depot due to literally "burning off fat" earlier. In addition, he has a bit of a role in the alternate game mode Bowser Jr.'s Journey, where he has Kamek and the Koopalings look after Bowser Jr. The mode also reveals that not only were Bowser's minions also victims of the blorb infection (thus explaining his anger at Peach and the other members of the Mushroom Kingdom in the main story for not being invited to the conference), but it is also implied that Fawful was the reason why he never received an invitation. His Super Bowser form is also briefly witnessed by Bowser Jr. while he fought the Tower of Yikk, which caused chaos for Junior and the Koopalings. He also appears in the ending where he is brought back to the castle wounded thanks to his earlier defeat from fighting the Mario Bros., and Bowser Jr. attempts with no success to tell Bowser about his journey (as Bowser was still resting from his injuries). He eventually is supplied by Bowser Jr. with the Skeletone Formula:D formula they had recovered to cure the kingdom of the blorbs, with Bowser Jr. even offering some to Bowser to have him slim down, with Bowser agreeing largely because, thanks to some side-effects from the Vacuum Shroom, he was slightly bloated. However, despite his son's attempts at warning him, he ended up ingesting the entire container rather than just one of the pills, causing him to lose far too much of his mass, causing him to angrily demand to know whether Bowser Jr. pranked him again, only for his son to insist that he did not and point out that he if anything tried to warn him against taking too much of the medicine beforehand before promptly chasing his son. In the post-game, Bowser, learning from Ludwig the full events of Bowser Jr.'s earlier adventure, has him invite his son over so the two can personally duel each other, eventually coming across as even (and their fights becoming violent enough that most of the repairs on the castle were undone).
During the game, Bowser's gameplay is mapped to the 
and 
buttons. His normal battle system is mostly the same as Mario and Luigi's; his fire breath and punch are his equivalent of the Mario Bros. hammer and jump attacks, respectively. Bowser's special attacks involve various Koopa Troop soldiers coming to his aid. Bowser also has the Vacuum Block, which allows Bowser to inhale small enemies, items and parts of enemies, and sometimes Blitties. Any enemies that are inhaled are fought by Mario and Luigi. When being attacked, Bowser has two forms of defense: He can curl into his shell with , or he can counterattack by punching with . However, while on the overworld, he can run into smaller enemies to instantly defeat them. Stat wise, Bowser holds superior HP, Attack and Defense compared to Mario and Luigi, but has mediocre speed.
Bowser also has a unique form of battle in that the player can fight while he is giant. During these battles, the player must hold the DS on its side. His health is also represented by a bar rather than a number. Bowser only has two attacks: punching, achieved by swiping the stylus across the Touch Screen, and breathing fire, achieved by the player blowing into the microphone. Occasionally, Mushrooms also appear during battle, which can be used to heal him. When counterattacking, Bowser can punch in the same way, or breathe fireballs by tapping the desired direction on the Touch Screen; however, the more fireballs spit, the smaller they are.
Bowser's out-of-battle gameplay is also similar to the bros. Pressing causes him to punch, allowing him to break objects such as large rocks as well as hitting blocks, and later while moving allows him to perform a sliding punch. Holding down causes him to breathe fire in a continuous stream, letting him burn flammable objects, but doing so for a prolonged time causes him to tire. At Bubble Lake, Bowser can go underwater, and the switches functions to allow Bowser to swim. As the game progresses, Bowser gains two more abilities, giving these buttons alternative functions; by pressing 
, allows Bowser to perform the body slam, and allows him to use the spike ball move. Bowser may also use special portals called Chakroads, which are used to teleport him to any location with a Chakroad that has been discovered.
Bowser's ranking system is also different. It starts at Bronze Boss as the default and in the original game changes to Silver Boss at level 10, Gold Boss at level 20, and Final Boss at level 40. In the remake, his rank changes to Silver Boss at level 8, Gold Boss at level 16, Master Boss at level 24, and Final Boss at level 32.
Additionally, in the Flab Zone, the brothers occasionally encounter Nutsoglobins, who are not mandatory, but can help in navigating the area. Nutsglobins ask the player trivia questions about Bowser, but, before they so, they allow them to ask Bowser questions, with the Nutsoglobin being the mediator; each question asked costs five coins. They then ask the player the questions, which are based upon what Bowser says in response to the possible question they ask him. Whenever a Nutsoglobin talks to Bowser from inside his body, Bowser does not know who it is that is speaking.
In the Bowser Jr.'s Journey mode, Bowser is fought in the level Bowser and...Bowser? as the captain in the last two rounds. He is first fought as a Ranged type with his Special Skill being Piercing Projectile. In the following round, he is fought as a Melee type with his Special Skill being Spin to Win. After completing the level, Bowser in his Melee form is recruited as an ally. A dark version of Bowser under the effects of Malatone Formula:X is also fought as the final boss in Beat the Minions!. His troops are dark Koopalings (also Malatone-infected), and is a Melee type.
Bowser X
- Main article: Bowser X
A boss called Bowser X appears in the Challenge Node in Bowser's body and can be fought by Mario and Luigi. To get to him, the player must beat all X bosses, and then face all the other X bosses in a row before facing Bowser X. He is, by far, the strongest boss in the game. He is also the only X boss without a color change from the original.
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
- “Give it to me straight. Princess Peach is gone? Hello? That is MY thing! Only I get to kidnap her!”
- —Bowser, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Bowser is the secondary antagonist (eventually becoming the true main antagonist) in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. Unlike past RPG installments, he forms an alliance with Antasma, the other main antagonist. He is fought 3 times in the game; first with his power boosted by Antasma, second as the last giant boss, and third as the final boss in a form known as Dreamy Bowser.
Bowser first appears by a sleeping Luigi in Mushrise Park, during Mario's trek into Dream's Deep. After expressing his outrage over Princess Peach being taken by someone else, he is curious as to what the portal above Luigi's head is, and after catching her scent leaps into the portal to the Dream World. He walks into the middle of a confrontation between the Mario Bros. and Antasma, punching the latter away and allowing Mario and Luigi to pull Peach out of danger. Bowser then prepares to battle Mario and Luigi, but is stopped by Antasma, eventually being convinced by him to allow him to power Bowser up. The powered up Bowser with the help of Antasma bat clones then battles Mario. In the aftermath of the battle, Bowser knocks Mario and Luigi unconscious with his fire breath, having been supercharged by Antasma. He is then convinced to leave Peach lying there unconscious by Antasma, being told he could come for her later. The two then leave the Dream World.
When Mario and Luigi reach the Dreampoint in Dozing Sands where the Dream Stone lies, they find that Bowser and Antasma have already taken it and are heading to Mount Pajamaja. By the time Mario and Luigi made it to the peak where the duo are, Antasma, Bowser and his cronies (Kamek, Corporal Paraplonk, Private Goomp and Sergeant Guy) had set up some speakers, ready to play the Dreambeats, which they use to both scare off the Bros., and to collect power for the Dream Stone as the Dreambeats play. Bowser stays awake by covering his ears.
Bowser is later seen after Mario escapes Dreamy Mount Pajamaja, arriving while riding Antasma to show off his fully-charged Dream Stone. Bowser is not seen until after the Bros. rush to Pi'illo Castle, where he and Antasma wish for an impenetrable castle, which causes the creation of Neo Bowser Castle.
Bowser is not seen again until Mario and Luigi storm Neo Bowser Castle, who is convinced into allowing himself to sleep on Antasma, him doing so causing a barrier that prevents him from being touched or woken up, as shown by the Bros.' attempts. Bowser reappears in Dreamy Neo Bowser Castle, where he hinders the Bros. by sending a giant iron ball rolling after them.
He is not seen in person again until Mario and Luigi find him eating meat, which he devours the remaining amount of to grow big enough to crush Mario in one punch, however, not pleased to hear he just ate all the meat, causing him to jump into what seems to be a bottomless pit, which proves not to be one as a massive Bowser shoots out of the pit and begins raising havoc. Unlike other pre-Giant Battle segments, Mario and Luigi are both prepared to face Bowser, and do so confidently.
After a long battle, the giant Bowser is felled by the Finishing Bros. attack, much like other giants. Kamek, however, intervenes and casts an enlarging spell on Bowser with several other Magikoopas, causing him to grow to a size that dwarfs Giant Luigi and making the fight impossible through normal means. Luigi manages to knock Bowser into the lava, making him woozy and susceptible to a strong blow. Mario, Luigi and Prince Dreambert combine their strengths into an enhanced version of Finishing Bros. known as Star Driver, which manages to finally defeat Bowser, truly ending the long battle.
After the battle, Bowser wakes up, and heads to a higher floor of the castle with Antasma, where he reveals he had been using Antasma rather than vice-versa, and had been planning to double-cross him the whole time, making him the true villain. With the Dream Stone in tow, Bowser proceeds to abandon Antasma to be defeated by the pursuing Bros., and heads up to the highest floor (both inside and outside) of the castle. After vanquishing Antasma, Mario and Luigi soon confront Bowser and the Koopa King proceeds to try and use the stone to destroy his nemeses. However, Peach and Starlow stop him in his tracks and end up breaking the Dream Stone into many microscopic pieces with their power. Desperate, Bowser inhales the pieces, transforming into Dreamy Bowser.
In a grand final battle, the Bros. triumph over Dreamy Bowser, his defeat reverting him back to his normal form. Mario and Luigi then deliver the final blows with their hammers, sending flying in the distance. He is seen in the final cutscene departing with Kamek and Corporal Paraplonk, Private Goomp and Sergeant Guy, where he blames Antasma for messing everything up and praises the trio for doing slightly better than usual, much to their joy. He rants that he will kidnap Peach until he succeeds and vows to Mario and Luigi (whose name he finally remembers now he sees the green plumber as a worthy opponent) that he will return. The sky rains coins from the newfound Dream Coin, and Private Goomp and Sergeant Guy try to grab some. Their movement cause the battered Koopa Clown Car to plummet down below as the floating Kamek and Corporal Paraplonk descend to assist them.
During the first battle in Dream's Deep, Bowser may curl up into a spike ball, grow in size, then chase Mario through the foreground, shooting flames ahead of them that serve as obstacles; the purple flames must be entirely avoided, while the red ones can be jumped over or avoided. Bowser can also jump to Mario and sliding punch into him from any direction. Before shooting his fist at him, Bowser may turn invisible and slip behind Mario and punch him from behind. Regardless, Mario must bring out his hammer and hammer from the side Bowser shoots towards him from. He may also approach and line up with Mario, where he will then charge up a flame blast. If the flames in his mouth are purple, he will shoot out a low wave of purple fire that will hit Mario unless he jumps. If the flames in his mouth are red, he will shoot a line of flames in front of him at Mario, it swerving to either side if Mario does the same beforehand. This can be avoided by stepping out of the way, however cannot be avoided by jumping on the spot. This is done at the end of the attack, and causes him to cough out around eleven to nineteen Antasma Bats that surround him after the attack, who will heal him if Mario takes damage from their attacks.
Normal X Battle
- Main article: Bowser X
Bowser is also fought in the Battle Ring as Bowser X. Unlike most Battle Ring bosses, there's no change in appearance between the X version and the normal version of him. In battle, Bowser X has the boosted stats that all Battle Ring X bosses have, and the same attacks as the original version.
Giant Battle
- Main article: Super Bowser
- “Time to give up hope, Mario! In my dreams, I fear nothing! I can crush even you like a little red bug!”
- —Bowser, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
The giant battle with Bowser consists mainly of Giant Luigi finding ways to drop him into lava to deal extra damage. Luigi must keep the battle moving forward to avoid being blasted into lava by Shy Guys. Bowser may also hide behind forts and summon enemies to attack for him.
After he is defeated, Bowser is tripled in size by Kamek, and Luigi must counter his attacks so that Mario can defeat him with Star Driver.
Like the other Giant Bosses, Bowser has a counterpart in the Battle Ring, called Bowser X. While his strategy is mostly unchanged, he has higher stats and moves faster.
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Bowser appears in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam as one of two primary antagonists, the other being his paper counterpart.
During an early cutscene, Kamek delivers a status update to Bowser. Shortly after, Paper Bowser barges into the room. Bowser has absolutely no idea how he got into the castle, and proceeds to insult him using the term "flimsy knockoff". Paper Bowser returns the insult, before the two of them engage in a fight. They occasionally pop out of the fight cloud to deliver various comments or insults. A Goomba enters the room, interrupting them. He leaves, allowing the Bowsers to get back to "whatever they were doing". Eventually, the Bowsers decide to put their differences aside, team up, and kidnap both Princess Peaches. Later, after Mario and Luigi meet Paper Mario, they learn of the Bowsers' kidnapping of the Peaches. The Bowsers arrive in their clown cars at the entrance to Doop Doop Dunes. They proceed to taunt the trio before unleashing Petey Piranha on them, who is defeated. After trekking through the Doop Doop Dunes, the trio arrive at Bowser's Castle, and Bowser decides to attack them with cannonballs. The first shot misses, but breaks the bridge connecting the castle to Doop Doop Dunes. The second cannonball connects and knocks them out. Wendy, Roy, Larry, and Ludwig take them to the Twinsy Tropics Dungeon, and the Bowser Jrs collect the book containing the Paper Mario world. Later, the Bowser Jrs decide that they want to go on vacation to Mount Brrr. They annoy the Bowsers into forcing the Kameks to bring them to the vacation villa on the mountain. They attempt to tell Bowser about the book, but he ignores them.
Even later, the trio infiltrate Bowser's Castle to rescue the princesses and get back the book. They battle the Bowser Jrs, and after winning, the Bowsers enter the room. They note the shape the Bowser Jr.s are in and hold them in their arms while shouting at Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario. Bowser then remembers the surprise he had been planning, ordering Kamek to "activate the boosters". The castle is lifted out of the lava moat on an oversized aircraft, prompting Bowser to dub it "Neo Bowser Castle". The trio escapes, forgetting the book. Bowser retaliates for the injuries to Bowser Jr by destroying the primary tower of Peach's Castle with a cannonball. He then flies Neo Bowser Castle over Mount Brrr.
The Bowsers, in the following cutscene, decide that the other has outgrown their usefulness, and that they "annoy the other to no end", so they conspire with their respective Kamek on how to get rid of the other. Both plans are the exact same, having to do with the book.
After making their way to the summit of Mount Brrr and defeating King Bob-omb, the trio enters Neo Bowser Castle. While there, the Kameks release Papercraft Bowser, who burns Toadette's papercrafts to a crisp. Toadette mourns the destruction of her work, but learns that she can build a new one out of Fire Ore. The first Fire Ore is in Toadette's possession, but the second is guarded by Bowser, Iggy, Wendy, and Morton. In order to get it, Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario must shoot down Bowser, who attempts to guard it with Bob-ombs. After the trio collects it, the ore is assembled into Papercraft Fire Mario, who fights and defeats Papercraft Bowser. In anger, the Bowsers destroy the bridge to the rest of the castle, forcing the trio to rebuild it. Before they cross, Lemmy, Iggy and Morton activate the castle's cannon and set it to finish off Peach's Castle in five minutes. The trio reach and destroy the cannon first.
On the final stretch, the Bowsers command the Koopalings to finish off the trio. After they are defeated, the Bowsers confront the trio themselves. They express their evil plan to trap the trio in the book, which now no longer contains Paper Mario's world, only an empty void. They then explain that they will throw the book into the garbage afterwards, which they plan to burn. However, the Bowsers both hint that they plan to trap their partner in the book with Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario. The Bowsers then initiate a battle. After a certain number of turns have passed, Bowser and Paper Bowser decide to "crush them now". Paper Bowser merges with his minions, creating a suit of makeshift armor for Bowser. Bowser grows to gigantic size as he puts it on, creating Shiny RoboBowser. After a tough fight, Shiny RoboBowser is defeated, and Bowser is thrown off the castle, supposedly to his death. Paper Bowser attempts to crawl for the book, but the trio get there first and lock him and his army inside.
After the credits, Bowser lands from the sky and begins to cause trouble again, and the Mario Bros. go off to stop him.
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam marks Bowser's first role as the main antagonist in a Mario & Luigi game without any new villains introduced. Additionally, this is the first Mario & Luigi game where Bowser is not fought outside of the final boss battle.
Mini-boss Battle
During the mini-boss battle in Neo Bowser Castle, Bowser will attack by throwing giant bombs at the trio. Said giant bombs have a large blast radius. Iggy and Wendy continue to assist, throwing smaller bombs.
In Battle
| Paper Jam enemy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper Bowser | |||
| |||
| Location(s) | Neo Bowser Castle | ||
| Level | 38 | ||
| Role | Boss | ||
| HP | 9999 | ||
| POW | 343 (304) | ||
| Defense | 335 (333) | ||
| Speed | 228 | ||
| Weakness | Fire | ||
| Type | Paper, Shelled | ||
| Experience | 0 (0) | ||
| Coins | 0 | ||
| Item drop | None - 0% None - 0% | ||
| |||
| Paper Jam enemy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bowser (1) | |||
| |||
| Location(s) | Neo Bowser Castle | ||
| Level | 38 | ||
| Role | Boss | ||
| HP | 9999 | ||
| POW | 343 (304) | ||
| Defense | 335 (333) | ||
| Speed | 228 | ||
| Weakness | None | ||
| Type | Shelled | ||
| Experience | 0 (0) | ||
| Coins | 0 | ||
| Item drop | None - 0% None - 0% | ||
| |||
During the actual boss battle, the Bowsers have only two attacks, but they both do considerable damage. Their first attack involves spitting fireballs at the ground, creating fiery waves for the trio to jump over. Like most paper enemies, Paper Bowser's fire comes out slower than Bowser's. After three waves, they will combine their fire breath and create a massive fire blast that Paper Mario must jump over or risk taking a large amount of critical damage. Their other attack is to have Shy Guys stack iron balls onto their hands. They will then toss the iron balls onto the field. The iron balls that target the trio varies depending on which Bowser tosses them last. The Bowsers will alternate between these attacks. The Bowsers also have a defensive ability: Whenever an Excellent hit is scored on one of them, they will curl up into their shells, forcing the other to be attacked. Only one Bowser can do this at a time. If attacked while in their shell, the Bowser will take no damage. Additionally, depending on the attack used, the party member who attacked may take damage as well.
The two Bowsers appear to share a health pool, unlike previous pairs of bosses. However, it is not possible to bring their health down all the way. After enough turns have passed, the two Bowsers decide to stop holding back, and with the assistance of hundreds (if not thousands) of Shiny paper enemies, they fuse together into Shiny RoboBowser, the game's real final boss.
Mario Pinball Land
Bowser appears as the final boss of Mario Pinball Land. The player must collect the four Star Keys to enter Bowser's Castle, and must have fifteen Power Stars in order to face him. He does not attack Mario, instead roaming around the room and ground pounding, which temporarily disables the flippers. When Mario hits him, Bowser spins around if he is hit from behind, and is momentarily dazed when hit from the front. The player must use the flippers to hit Mario into the pulleys in the back of the room to raise at least one of the Thwomps in the room as high as possible, so that the blue ! Switch in the center begins to glow. By hitting it, the Thwomps fall, causing Bowser to fall over backward and leaving him vulnerable to attack; each successful attack gives the player 100,000 points. After three hits, Bowser rolls into a giant-sized pinball. Mario must knock Bowser into the pulleys and the wall to create a hole. Once a large enough hole in the wall is formed, Mario can launch him through it, out of the castle, and into a nearby hill. Bowser's defeat earns the player 100,000 points times the number of Stars the player has; if the player has all 35 Stars, the bonus is 5,000,000 points.
Yakuman DS
In Yakuman DS, Bowser appears as one of the unlockable characters, unlocked by defeating all of the hard challenges in Challenge Mode. He also appears as the rank 2 opponent faced in Ranking mode. As a computer, Bowser is an offensive opponent, who likes "Open riichi."
Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
In Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, Bowser is not the main antagonist of the game's story mode, but he is the final boss. Once Mario and Toad regain all four Music Keys and return them to Truffle Towers, Bowser arrives and steals them all. Mario and Toad, in the SS Brass, follow him, dodging Bowser's Bullet Bills.
When Mario and Toad enter the castle, Bowser attempts to harness the power of the Music Keys for his own purposes, but finds that they are gone. Toad, standing on a ledge with Mario, then reveals that they stole the keys back from him. Angered, Bowser challenges Mario to a dance-off. The battle consists of the player and Bowser dancing to the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Bowser's Castle music. Bowser is attacked by collecting rocket pieces, which replace some dance steps, to build rockets that contain hammers which smash Bowser flat. Near the end of the song, another such rocket flies in and hammers Bowser out of his castle.
Defeated, the Koopa King admits that he only wanted the keys as a remedy for his tone-deafness. Before Mario and Toad leave, Mario uses the power of the keys to turn Bowser's Castle and the land surrounding it into a paradise. Afterward, the three start dancing, and cannot stop; Toad explains that, when they recaptured the keys, some music was implanted into their souls. The three then continue dancing. Bowser is later seen in the credits, where he is dancing in front of his castle.
If the player dances to Bowser's Castle in Free Mode, the battle against Bowser and the rocket hammering Bowser away are still present, with the Mush Mode objective being to collect other rockets.
Mario Baseball series
Bowser is a playable character in Mario Superstar Baseball and its sequel, Mario Super Sluggers. He is a team captain with high power stats.
Mario Superstar Baseball's Challenge Mode features Bowser and 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. Like everyone else, Bowser can also recruit other characters to be on his team, but not the captains and sub-captains. In addition, when playing as Bowser, Bowser Jr. does not wander around the map.
Bowser has one of the highest batting and pitching stats, but his fielding and running skills are very poor to balance him out. His special move is the Killer Ball, where he hits or pitches a Bullet Bill. If used when batting, it pushes back any character that catches it. Bowser's running ability is Body Check, allowing him to tackle the baseman and knocking the ball out of their hand, and his fielding ability is Laser Beam, which allows him to throw the ball at high speeds to home base. His team can be named either the Bowser Monsters, Bowser Flames, Bowser Blue Shells, or Bowser Black Stars. He is the only character in the game to have two 9/10 stats and two 1/10 stats.
In Mario Super Sluggers, Bowser Jr. crashes his own stadium into the Baseball Kingdom; emerging from the fortress is not only Bowser Jr. and his team, but also Bowser. After Bowser Jr. is beaten by Mario's team, Bowser faces Mario in a baseball game. Mario's team emerges victorious and celebrates. Bowser and Bowser Jr. are invited to the celebration out of pity on the Daisy Cruiser. Bowser refuses, but reconsiders only because Bowser Jr. wants to have fun, so Daisy leads them to the table. To their dismay, however, they only get a small portion of food, while everyone else receives much more.
Back at Mario Stadium, Wario and Waluigi attempt to take Mario out with a sneaked Bullet Bill in the Bob-omb Derby during the celebration. The bullet is fired, and Mario, upon noticing, does not have enough time to react, but Bowser jumps in front of him and uses his bat to deflect it back at them. He then sulks off, not wanting to be noticed for his act of heroism, as Donkey Kong watches him off.
Bowser's power stats are still very high (tied with Petey Piranha and King K. Rool), but his pitching skills are weaker than in the predecessor. His fielding and running abilities are higher than in the predecessor, but they are still lower than average. While Bowser's Star Pitch remains the same, his Star Swing is changed to the Breath Swing, in which he uses his fire breath on the bat to hit the ball. His team name is the same as the predecessor, Bowser Monsters.
Super Princess Peach
In Super Princess Peach, Bowser, having heard about the mysterious power on Vibe Island, builds a summer villa on the island to obtain the Vibe Scepter. One day, Army Hammer Bro rushes into Bowser's throne room to report that the Vibe Scepter has been recovered. He then sends Bowser's minions to use the power of the scepter to capture Mario, Luigi, and Toad. Back at the villa, Bowser is pleased to see that the plan has worked. Wondering about the limits of the Vibe Scepter, Army Hammer Bro summons the Goomba he gave the scepter to; however, the artifact had already affected the Goomba with the Joy vibe, and it begins to wave the scepter around, giving everybody in the throne room various vibes.
After Peach reaches Bowser's villa, Army Hammer Bro opts to fight her when she reaches the throne room. Bowser gives him the opportunity, increasing his strength with the Rage vibe, then flees. After defeating him, Peach heads to the next floor to face Bowser. He attacks her by throwing hammers at her, as well as breathing streams of fire and fireballs that create a column of fire. He also attacks by charging toward her. After reducing him to three health points, Bowser enhances himself with the Joy vibe, causing him to leap up and create shockwaves upon landing. At two health points, he uses the Gloom vibe, in which he attacks by throwing several hammers, which fall as giant hammers. Finally, at one health point, he gives himself the Rage vibe, which causes him to attack faster.
Once Bowser is defeated, Peach is forced to battle him once more, however, this time, he has made himself a giant known as Bowser 2.[17] He attacks Peach by slamming his hands onto the ground, which also sends down several Spiked Balls. He also attacks by throwing several hammers at once. He may also breathe a massive fireball at her; when his health is reduced to three points, he breathes two, when it reaches two, he breathes a stream of fire, and when it is at one, he breathes multiple, bigger fireballs. Finally, he can slam both hands onto the ground, which sends down several Bob-ombs, which are used to damage him. When Bowser 2 reaches one health point, he uses the vibe scepter to activate the Calm vibe to restore his health. Once defeated, Bowser reverts to normal, and Peach uses Perry to launch him as well as the scepter away from the island.
By returning to this level, Bowser becomes a little bit harder to defeat. First, his hammer throws become faster with every life lost. At full health, he will shoot 2 fireballs. at 4 lives, 2 giant fireballs, at 3 lives, 3 fireballs at the same time, at 2 lives, a steady stream of fire, and at 1 life, any of the 4 methods. Finally, one Bob-omb blast will cause his eyes to turn blue, which means it takes 10 Bob-ombs to defeat him.
Mario Strikers series
Bowser makes brief sporadic appearances in Super Mario Strikers as a hazard, tilting the field or attacking the players with his fire breath and tossing shells. During the game, he also has his own robotic Super Team to challenge the player's team at the finals for the Bowser Cup and Super Bowser Cup.
Bowser reappears in Mario Strikers Charged as a team captain and playable character. His team number is 66, and his theme is a hard rock version of the boss battle theme from Super Mario Bros. 3. During the game, Bowser wears metal claws and armor on his shell. He is a power type character, giving him a high shooting and defense stat, but low movement and passing stats. His deke involves him crouching into his shell and knocking away any nearby opponents. His Super Ability is Fire Storm!, allowing him to breathe fire and render any other players on fire, including his teammates. Bowser's Mega Strike involves him leaping up, his spikes and claws growing, his hair turning to flame, and throwing the ball toward the goal. Bowser is also the playable character in the Zero Tolerance! challenge, and used is the opponent for the Against All Odds! challenge.
Mario and the Incredible Rescue
During the events of Mario and the Incredible Rescue, Bowser steals The Book of Spells from Cybele, a sorceress, and uses one of the spells to summon an army of ghosts. He then has several of them go to Peach's Castle to capture the princess. However, Mario, with help from Luigi and Toad, find the six mushrooms necessary to cast the spell that sends the ghosts back to their own realm and defeats Bowser.
Mario Hoops 3-on-3
Bowser appears in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 as an unlockable character. He is unlocked by completing the normal Star Tourney with at least a bronze medal. In this game, he is classified as a powerful character. The only other powerful characters are Donkey Kong and Wario. Bowser's special shot is the Bomber Dunk, which can be performed if the player taps a B-like shape on the touch screen. He sets fire to the ball, and then leaps into the air and dunks it, a large column of flame appearing afterward. Bowser is also the only unlockable Mario character with a baller name, "The Big Shell". Bowser's Castle is also one of the courts in the game.
Itadaki Street series
- “Thank my lucky stars! I'll take some of that money off your hands, wimps! Bwah hah hah!”
- —Bowser, Fortune Street
Bowser appears as a playable character in the game Itadaki Street DS. In the game, the player can also unlock customization options for their character; the accessories based upon Bowser include a Bowser Cap and a Bowser Suit. By default, Bowser when controlled by a computer is an A-rank character.
He later returns as a default playable character in the game's follow-up, Fortune Street. He is once again by default an A-rank opponent. In Tours mode, Bowser is one of the opponents faced on Peach's Castle, as well as on Bowser's Castle.
Mario & Sonic series
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Bowser appears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games as a power type character. He has the highest power stat in the game, combined with a high level of stamina. It is because of his strength that he can do better in events such as the Hammer Toss. His swim stroke is the breaststroke.
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.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Bowser appears as a playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. He is once again a power character, having high power and speed stats, along with average acceleration and skill stats in the Wii version. In the DS version, he has high speed, power, and stamina, but below average technique and jumping.
In the DS version of the game, in the Adventure Tour mode, Bowser is one of the two main antagonists. He teams up with Dr. Eggman to stop the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and host their own games. In order to achieve this, Bowser uses his fire to melt all the snow, and Eggman captures the six Snow spirits; however, one manages to escape, but Bowser and Eggman disregard this, believing that the five they have can produce all the snow they need.
Upon hearing about the predicament from the one snow spirit, Frosty, Mario and Sonic set out to stop Bowser and Eggman and rescue the other five spirits. They defeat Bowser and Eggman's henchmen and save the snow spirits, then confront Dr. Eggman and Bowser right after saving Frosty from Dry Bowser at Blizland. The two challenge them first to Blazing Bobsleigh, then to Fever Hockey, and finally to Extreme Snowboarding. Once their rivals defeat them, they are disappointed that they lost, but are then angered about it and escape.
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Bowser appears as a power type character in the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. He has high speed, stamina, and power, but low acceleration and technique. In the Wii version, a Bowser suit is also an unlockable costume for Miis to wear. In the game's opening, Bowser appears alongside all of the other athletes at the start, as well as later competing in Canoe Sprint 1000m and Football.
In the Nintendo 3DS version of the game, Bowser is included in the Wild Ones category, meaning that he is only playable in certain Events. In the Story Mode, Bowser first appears in the opening with Dr. Eggman, revealing and beginning their plan to cover London in the Phantasmal Fog to prevent the games from happening as revenge for not being invited, with Bowser planning to protect the Fog machines using his minions. The other characters come to the conclusion that Bowser is responsible for the fog when they find the minions guarding sites around London with the fog. Bowser then appears in Corner the Koopa King!, where he attacks Sonic after evading Knuckles and Vector, who then defeat him in an Olympic event before interrogating him. In Clear Skies Again, it is revealed that the Bowser Knuckles and Vector had found was actually a hologram, and the real Bowser had been in Big Ben the whole time, who then helps Dr. Eggman start covering the city in fog again. Bowser next appears in The Grand Showdown, in which he and Dr. Eggman challenge Mario and Sonic to an Olympic event after being powered up by the Phantasmal Fog. After being defeated, Bowser reveals the reasons why they had covered London in fog, and Toad invites them to come to the Main Stadium to sign up for the games. Bowser is then seen at the opening ceremony for the games. In the Challengers bonus episodes, Bowser Jr. aims to impress Bowser and frequently mentions him, asking various characters to tell Bowser about how well he's been doing. Bowser also appears in the Wild Ones bonus episodes, in which he is first seen getting annoyed with Goomba, Lakitu and Magikoopa as they give him an inaccurate tour of London. The minions believe that something is upsetting him and set up a challenge for him with Donkey Kong to cheer him up. After he defeats Donkey Kong, the minions set up a challenge for him to beat Knuckles and Vector, and later another one against a Goomba disguised as Mario. This, along with the arrival of Bower Jr., cheers Bowser up, who reveals he'd been trying to cover up a bad case of toothache. Bowser's final appearance is in The Real Beginning, in which he and Dr. Eggman arrive in Hyde Park to collect their invitations to the Olympic Games, and after being defeated by Peach and Amy, wait for their invitations. Bowser and Dr. Eggman find two Toads who were heading off to deliver the invitations and scare them, causing them to drop their invitations. The pair find the invitations but mistake them for love letters and decide to head off sightseeing instead. A badge of Bowser can be obtained from the badge machine.
Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games
Bowser appears as a playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. He once again returns as a Power-type character.
Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Bowser returns in Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and once again he has high power-related stats in the events. In the 3DS version he is exclusive to Golf and Boxing.
Mario Sports Mix
Bowser appears in Mario Sports Mix as a powerful-type character. His power stat is high, but his technique stat is lower as a result, and he also has a very low speed stat. His high power stat allows him to hit balls and pucks harder than normal, which can push back weaker characters. In Dodgeball, Bowser can repel dodgeball attacks by spinning inside his shell. However, this move is rendered useless when the dodgeball is equipped with an item. Bowser's special ability involves him spitting a fireball onto the court, near the goal, and then throwing the sports object toward the goal. Anyone caught within the radius of the blast is knocked back and burned, and has a harder time stopping Bowser's shots, or evading them in Dodgeball.
Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition
Bowser also appears as the main antagonist in the game, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. He serves as the boss of World 8-
, and is a Dark attribute character. Bowser is also an unlockable helper, but only after the player clears World 8.
As a helper, Bowser's skill can deal damage to all enemies on the field, while his helper skill raises the ATK of all teammates by 3.5x when attacking with 6 combos or more in a single turn.
The player can also unlock another variation of Bowser, called Bowser the Koopa King, by clearing ★World 8; his main attribute is Dark, while his sub-attribute is Water. Like with Bowser, Bowser the Koopa King can be used as a helper character.
Bowser the Koopa King's skill turns all Orbs into Light, Dark, and Heart Orbs, while his helper skill raises the ATK of all teammates by 4.5x when attacking with 8 combos or more in a single turn.
Both Bowser variations offer high HP and ATK, but their RCV is set at 0.
Bowser's undead counterpart, Dry Bowser, also appears in this game, serving as the boss of ★World 8- . He joins the player after ★World 8 is completed.
Mario Sports Superstars
Bowser appears as a playable character in Mario Sports Superstars. As with other installments, he is a Power-based character who generally loses out on control and speed stats. In the baseball portion of the game, Bowser's bat lacks spikes, an anomaly from his bat in the Mario Baseball series, although he reuses his bat animations from the series. In golf, his default drive is 230 yards, and his shots travel at a medium height in a fade trajectory. This game also reuses several of Scott Burns's voice clips from previous games alongside those of Kenny James, Bowser's current voice actor.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Bowser makes an appearance in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Here, he is on vacation for the majority of the game, leaving Bowser Jr. to lead the Koopa Troop in his absence (although Bowser does call his son at one point asking if he has done his homework and assures that Junior is not throwing a party). During Bowser's absence, the Rabbids are transported to the Mushroom Kingdom due to Spawny's actions. Bowser Jr. ends up befriending Spawny and abusing his power of fusing things together to create an army of Rabbid-fused enemies, intending to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and make his father proud upon his return. As Mario's team (itself consisting of four Rabbids) defeat the Rabbid-fused enemies, the Megabug, a vortex that appeared above the Mushroom Kingdom upon the Rabbids' entry, increases in size. Eventually, the Megabug grows large enough to obtain a physical, phoenix-like form, which absorbs Spawny and flies off to Bowser's Castle, creating more Rabbid-fused enemies in the process. Immediately after, Bowser texts his son, revealing that he has decided to come home early. Believing the Megabug to pose a threat to his father, Junior hurries to the castle, and Mario's group follow. Upon Mario's group's arrival, Bowser is at the castle, although barely conscious and near the Megabug. The Megabug fuses with Bowser, creating MegaDragonBowser, and proceeds to attack Mario's group. MegaDragonBowser is defeated, causing Bowser and the Megabug to separate. With the threat averted, Junior attempts to convince Mario's group to be chastised in his place after Bowser regains consciousness. However, they decline.
Dr. Mario World
Bowser, under the persona Dr. Bowser, appears in Dr. Mario World as a playable character. Like all other doctors, Dr. Bowser has his own special ability: when used, two beams of fire appear and clear two rows on the board.[18] Dr. Bowser's attire is somewhat reminiscent of his normal self's wedding attire from Super Mario Odyssey, which is made evident by similar shoes. He carries a stethoscope with his insignia on it around the back of his neck, though it appears to be too small for him to use. He appears in Chapter 3 of the story mode, where he decided to aid Dr. Mario and Dr. Peach in eliminating the viruses, mostly due to his own minions being affected by them.
Other appearances, cameos, and references
Bowser has received many minor appearances and mentions in Mario media. In Luigi's Mansion, Bowser himself does not appear, but Madam Clairvoya mentions that Bowser was defeated by Mario, and King Boo wears a suit modeled after Bowser. The Japan-only game I Am a Teacher: Super Mario no Sweater features Bowser as one of the possible designs players can put on their shirt. Another Japanese-exclusive game called Mario Roulette has Bowser appear if the player stops the roulette on him. Bowser also appears in the many activities in the Mario's Early Years! games, like dancing for the letter "D". In Mario's Game Gallery, Bowser appears in the checkers game; whenever Mario crowns one of his pieces, it turns into Bowser. Bowser also appears in the coloring book-based game Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up; he appears on the "attorney and judge" page, in which he is being questioned by Mario, who is an attorney; and the "business executive" page, in which he appears as the business executive. Also of note is that the former uses his normal design, while the latter uses his cartoon design.
Bowser also appears as a prominent character in the Japanese-exclusive Super Mario-Kun manga. With each novel being based upon the Mario games, Bowser's appearances in Super Mario-Kun give him the same role he has in the game each volume is based on. The Super Mario-Kun manga published by Pikkapika Comics also features Bowser as a prominent character and antagonist.
Aside from the appearances listed above, Bowser has also either been referenced, or has appeared in various other ways in the Mario series. The most common one is in the form of the emblem of the Koopa Troop, the design being based upon Bowser's own face. Bowser statues and busts also appear in locations such as castles and airships.
Bowser also appears in Mario's FUNdamentals in a few games, sometimes acting as the challenger instead of Mario. In the Checkers game, Bowser also appears as the Player 2's equivalent of the "King" in the game, while he appears as a card in the Go Fish game.
Bowser also appears in various forms of merchandise. In Super Mario Chess, Bowser takes the role of one of the kings. In Nintendo UNO, Bowser replaces the Draw 4 card. Additionally, in both versions of Nintendo Monopoly, Bowser's only appearance is on the box; aside from this, one of the ? Block cards has the player pay $15 for "Bowser tax." The 2006 board also shows several scenes featuring Bowser, such as a Bowser interlude from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door or the fight with him from Super Mario 64. He is included in both the Standard and Collector's Editions of Monopoly Gamer. He appears as the "Final Boss" in the Boss Card deck in the Standard Edition. The Collector's Edition includes an additional Bowser figure and Character card to use him as a playable Character, and Bowser Jr. replaces him as "Final Boss".
Although he appears in the book How to Draw Nintendo Heroes and Villains, Bowser is mistakenly known as "Kerog." Although it is unknown how this mistake was made, "kero" is the Japanese onomatopoeia for a frog's croaking. This mistake is not made in the follow-up book, How to Draw Nintendo Greatest Heroes & Villains.
Bowser also makes a number of cameos in non-Mario video games, as well as in other forms of media such as movies, TV and print publications. Minor appearances include his presence in F-1 Race, where he and other Nintendo characters wave at the driver when they complete a circuit (with Bowser in particular only appearing during the tail-end of the ending sequence of the game), and the inclusion of a Super Mario Bros. sprite of Bowser in Art Style: PiCTOBiTS.
In the SNES version of SimCity, one of the natural disasters the player can cause is a Bowser attack, in which he tramples through the destroys the player's city. He replaces the generic Godzilla-style monster used in the other version of the game. He also appears in Mr. Wright's message about the aforementioned natural disaster scenario, where he appears riding a uniwheel and chasing Mr. Wright while breathing fire.
In Pikmin 2, one of the treasures, the Flame of Tomorrow matchbox, is emblazoned with Bowser's face and is said to contain "Bowser Breath" brand matches.
One of the Nintendo 3DS Mii accessories that can be obtained is a Bowser hat. It is in the shape of Bowser's face, and covers the entire Mii's head, with its face being visible inside the mouth. Additionally, one of the Puzzle Swap panels is named, "Mario and Bowser"; the panel features Mario, Luigi, and Bowser standing together, back to back, arms crossed.
For the Wii U port of Bayonetta and its sequel, Bayonetta 2, Bayonetta is able to summon Bowser while wearing the Princess Peach costume, although only Bowser's arm and legs are visible during the summon[19].
Bowser, alongside his son and the rest of the principle Mario cast, appeared in the Nintendo Switch Online Service trailer on the September 13, 2018 Nintendo Direct. He had a prominent role in the NES library section. In particular, he was playing the NES game Ghouls 'n Goblins (Super Mario Bros. 3 in the European version of the trailer), and was so focused on it that he ignored his son requesting that he let him play with him before realizing it as he noticed him walk away, and then offered a second Joy-Con controller to his son so they could play Ice Climbers together. Later, he witnesses his son playing Dr. Mario remotely with Princess Peach, causing him to be baffled at the situation.
During the E3 2019: Nintendo Direct presentation, Bowser, wearing a red necktie, walks onscreen when Yoshiaki Koizumi announces "Bowser" as the new president of Nintendo's North American branch. Mr. Koizumi points out that Bowser is the "wrong" Bowser, much to his shock, as Doug Bowser walks onscreen next to the two. Mr. Koizumi and Mr. Bowser both point out that the latter is the "right" Bowser, much to the Koopa King's confusion.
Tetris series
The results screen for the NES version of Tetris features Bowser as part of a band composed of himself, Donkey Kong, Link, Pit, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Samus Aran. He is playing the accordion. Bowser in particular appears when the player has completed height 4 of Game B's ninth level.
In Tetris DS, during Standard Mode, a Bowser sprite from Super Mario Bros appears on the touch screen on stage ten. Additionally, when viewing the amount of Tetris Points the player has, if the player has between 8000-8999 Tetris Points, Bowser's Super Mario Bros. sprite appears on the top screen.
The Legend of Zelda series
In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a portrait of Bowser, along with other Mario characters, can be seen by looking into one of the windows in the Castle Courtyard; in the Nintendo 3DS remake, this is replaced by an image of what appears to be a New Super Mario Bros. stage. In addition, in the Lon Lon Ranch, the characters Malon and Talon both wear broaches of Bowser's face, which is ironic because Talon bears a great resemblance to Mario.
In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Romani and Cremia also wear Bowser broaches, due to them using the same character models as young and adult Malon, respectively.
Wreck-It Ralph
Like Mario, Bowser cameos or is referenced in numerous television or film productions, but only Bowser makes an appearance in the Disney film Wreck-It Ralph, as the story team could not find a proper place to utilize Mario in the story.[20] In the film, Bowser is a member of "Bad-Anon" (Bad Guys Anonymous) along with the titular character, Ralph,[21] listening to Ralph talk about his problems and reciting the Bad Guy Affirmation with the other video game villains. Once Ralph states he does not want to be a villain anymore, Bowser breathes fireballs in shock. Throughout the meeting, Bowser stirs a cup of coffee and does not have any dialogue, instead coughing most of the time.
Skylanders series
Bowser appears as a playable character in Skylanders: SuperChargers under the name Hammer Slam Bowser. He appears alongside Donkey Kong with a special figurine sold exclusively with Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing Nintendo 3DS starter packs. However, due to an agreement between Nintendo and Activision, they are only playable on the Nintendo versions of the game. A variant of this figure, Dark Hammer Slam Bowser, is included with Wii version starter packs.
Bowser's primary vehicle in the game is the Clown Cruiser, a land and sky vehicle based on the Koopa Clown Car. Bowser's moveset primarily involves the use of Koopa Troopas to attack, while the Clown Cruiser can fire Bullet Bills.
Bowser reappears in Skylanders: Imaginators, alongside Donkey Kong.
Minecraft
In the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack in Minecraft, Bowser appears as a playable skin. Bowser's emblem appears as a painting. The pre-made map included with the Mash-Up Pack also includes a large statue of Bowser, which can be found by entering a recreation of the Valley of Bowser entrance.
General information
Personality
It has been requested that this section be rewritten. Reason: The amount of detail surrounding Bowser's roles is far too biased towards the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario series. Game-by-game analysis of role changes is not required when the focus of the section should be more general.
When Bowser was created, he was a typical villain without much personality beyond simply wanting to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Later games started showing various different aspects of Bowser's character, depending on the nature of the plot. While his platformer role continues to be that of a simple antagonist, his Mario Party antics typically depict him being more angry, childish, and mischievous than dangerous, and his portrayals in the RPGs ranging from a threatening, yet humorous (a part that diminishes in more recent installments of the Mario & Luigi series) villain to a playable anti-hero. Even when Bowser is acting as a protagonist in a game, however, he continues to insist he is an evil, malevolent character, and his reasons for helping Mario are typically for his own selfish agendas. Before a battle, Bowser often releases a loud, full-throated roar as intimidation. Like Wario, Bowser is usually thought of as unintelligent, but can be cunning and deceptive as well.
Bowser's personality is explored most extensively in the various RPGs, starting with the first one, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, in which Bowser loses his castle to another villain. As well as the grief he expresses over his castle, Bowser is shown to be as sad as the other playable characters about Geno's body breaking down, and at one point, his boasting takes the form of a haiku. He was also shown to be very concerned about his self-image, as he was shown to be very reluctant to divulge exactly what he meant by having "bigger fish to fry" than kidnapping Princess Toadstool, even considering lying about "taking a vacation" to avoid the humiliation of admitting to his being forced outside of his own castle. As in later RPGs, however, most of Bowser's actions in the game are self-centered, with his motivation for working with the protagonists ranging to reclaiming his stolen castle, kidnapping Peach himself, or preventing another villain from taking over the world which he himself desires. This last reasoning is also behind Bowser's alliance with Mario and the others in Super Paper Mario, after the somewhat oblivious Koopa is reminded that he cannot conquer anything if Count Bleck's genocidal plan on all worlds comes to fruition. While Bowser is shown to take pride in his villainy and boasts of being a quality "final boss" throughout the adventure, he seemingly sacrifices himself to save Mario and the others, and even argues with his rival O'Chunks to save himself while Bowser held the crumbling roof above them (although it is later revealed that they both survived). He is also shown to be as horrified as the rest of the party when witnessing Sammer's Kingdom's destruction (deeming such an evil act as "overkill"), and when learning of King Olly's true aim of wishing genocide upon Toads, Bowser expressed disgust at the goal and made clear that, while he has done his fair share of evil and nasty stuff, even he would never attempt to outright exterminate Toads; a sharp contrast to his attitude in the Super Mario Galaxy games, where he is willing to create his own galaxy at the expense of the universe, as well as in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where he threatens to destroy the paper world.
As in Super Mario Galaxy, most other platformers leave Bowser as a typical villain, as does the RPG Paper Mario: Sticker Star. The original Paper Mario also casts Bowser as the main antagonist; however, like Super Mario RPG that came before it, this portrayal is more well-rounded, introducing a humorous side to Bowser alongside his evilness, and revealing that he has a crush on Peach. Bowser's affection for the princess is later showcased in Super Paper Mario, with the two being forcibly wed in the game by Count Bleck; while the princess disavows the ceremony, Bowser happily and persistently acts as if they are indeed spouses. Bowser's relationship with Peach also comes into play in Super Mario Sunshine, in which Bowser's son apparently believes her to be his mother, although at the end of the game, Bowser sadly admits that he had lied to his child about his parentage. Aside from this, Bowser has never shown remorse for his troublesome actions and the havoc they often cause, but he is often saddened by his own losses. In Super Mario Galaxy, his only regret is his failure to create his own realm, and in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, he is dismayed at having to damage his own captured castle while he trying to reclaim it from Fawful. By contrast, in Mario Party 4, Bowser grudgingly giving the player a present and wishing them a happy birthday as he leaves in shame, moving one of the Koopa Kids to wonder if there might be more to Bowser than he leads others to believe, as Bowser claimed to be somewhat happy.
Unlike the platformers and the other Paper Mario titles, Bowser's role is reduced to a dim-witted, bumbling comic relief villain in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, where he encounters frequent comical failures in his attempts to collect the Crystal Stars before Mario. The first two Mario & Luigi titles also cast Bowser as a comical recurring villain, with Partners in Time having him team up with Baby Bowser, whom he did not even recognize as being his infant self. Despite being the central character of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, the third Mario & Luigi game reveals nothing new about Bowser's character, but it does provide an overview of his personality to date. His reasons for saving the world from Fawful and the Dark Star involve pride, selfishness, and possessiveness toward Peach, as well as a stated interest in taking over Fawful's plans for himself. He is extremely conceited and boastful about himself and his accomplishments, and he resents having to ask nicely for help from Starlow. He acts as a leader to his troops, and even forgives three of them for defecting to Fawful and allows them back in the Koopa Troop. In the remake, it also elaborates on Bowser's crashing the emergency meeting, revealing that he did so because his kingdom also was affected by the Blorbs outbreak. Bowser's usual rashness and his penchant for destruction and violence come to a head when he flies into a rage upon discovering that Mario and Luigi had been aiding him inside his body the entire time (believing they were partying around inside him) and attacks them, only to be promptly defeated, mere moments after the three of them had worked together to save the world.
In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, while retaining much of his personality from the previous game, he was given more competence and made into more of a serious threat; he has Kamek disguise himself as Princess Peach to drop the Mario Bros.' guard, presuming they would try to pursue Peach, and later backstabbed Antasma, anticipating the latter would try to the same on him in turn. He later implied similar designs with his Paper self, and vice-versa, in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. However, he surprisingly was willing to work under Master Hand and have an equal partnership with Dr. Eggman. In Paper Mario: Color Splash, Bowser, owing to his being possessed by the black paint for most of the game, was given a far darker personality, namely making clear his intention of "painting the world black", and even going as far as to drain Peach's color and hang her colorless form up for display; when Mario and Huey arrived to fight him in his chambers, he even cracked a dark joke about Peach claiming she was "framed" when he caught her sending messages to Mario. It was also revealed that he deliberately sent a drained Toad via mail to Peach and Mario in order to lure them, and specifically Peach, over to Prism Island so he could abduct her. However, after Mario weakened the black paint's hold on Bowser enough for the latter's usual self to surface, Bowser is deeply and understandably confused as to Mario's presence, clearly unaware of what he was doing all this time.
Bowser can be quite amiable sometimes, with his harsh and raging demeanor softening up towards his minions, and is even capable of being civil to foes in some degrees. He shows genuine affection and pride for his son; both he and his paper self were vehemently angry at Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario for defeating Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr. in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. In Super Mario Odyssey, along with planning his forced wedding with Peach extensively (wearing a tuxedo, having his mane groomed, and having her wear the stolen Lochlady Dress), he even comments on Mario's costume before their final battle. Depending on the clothes worn, this could prompt anything from a humorously scared response (as seen with the Skeleton Suit, Zombie Outfit, and even costumes like the Clown Outfit and Boxer Shorts) to a genuine compliment on his dress sense, though he will always note that Mario wasn't invited regardless. In Super Mario Party, he participates in the party with no malicious tricks or intents (not even having Kamek, who he put as a judge, tip the scales in his favor) and congratulates the player who becomes the Superstar in a rare form of good sportsmanship. In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Bowser expresses disgust at the way the Folded Soldiers treat him and his minions, to the extent where he pleads them to put down his minions and set him free.
While his range of emotions varies from game to game, it is his nearsightedness, frustration, anger, arrogance, and contempt that typifies Bowser in all his appearances, whether he is a reluctant protagonist or a straightforward villain who cares only about conquering lands and destroying his opposition.
Physical appearance
Bowser is a huge, burly, green-shelled Koopa with spikes, horns, and hair. His bushy eyebrows and mane are fittingly a bright, fiery red-orange and has bright red eyes. He sports two small horns, many spikes on his shell (similar to a Spiny) with brown-orange spike-rings, as well as along his tail (minus the spike-rings). He wears several spiked collars around his neck and arms. His neck collar in some games such as Mario Kart Tour is also implied to be part of his shell. He has three claws on each of his massive padded feet, four claw-tipped fingers including a thumb on each hand, and his arms are noticeably burly, indicating his vast physical strength. While his face and his shell are green, his plastron and muzzle are beige colored (occasionally depicted as being closer to tan or even yellow), and his tail and limbs are an orange-tinged yellow. The exact coloration of Bowser's head varies depending on the media: while official 2D artwork and most of his in-game appearances have his head and shell match in color, the majority of the official 3D artwork, trailers, merchandise as well as Mario & Luigi games show him with a light green head, similar to Bowser Jr.'s appearance. In his various appearances, his red/orange hair is depicted in a loose cockscomb, the only exception to this being in Super Mario Odyssey, where he instead has his hair groomed in a perm-like fashion for the wedding until he is defeated for the second time. Both Super Mario World and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island reveals that his eyes present the tapetum lucidum, as eyeshine can be seen when he is in the dark flying around World of Bowser (excluding the occasional thunderclap briefly showing him in silhouette) and just before beating up Kamek/confronting Yoshi and Baby Mario, respectively.
According to Prima's Super Mario Galaxy guide, the appearance of Bowser and the Koopas are also based on kappa of Japanese mythology, although this has not been officially stated by Shigeru Miyamoto.[22]
Bowser's appearance has evolved over time. In the box artwork for Super Mario Bros. he has an appearance similar to that of an ox in homage to Journey to the West antagonist Gyū-Maō ("Ox Demon King"), with bluish face and scales, yellow hair and black eyebrows, as well as a less reptilian face. With the contribution of Yoichi Kotabe, Bowser is redesigned between the release of Super Mario Bros. and the release of the Famicom version of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. During this redesign he is given blue eyes, as well as red hair and red eyebrows. Despite that, some artwork for Super Mario Bros. 3, while featuring Bowser's redesigned appearance as well as the blue eyes, retains the yellow hair and black eyebrows while also showing him wearing a cape. His eyes are changed to red again in Super Mario World. The brown rings around the spikes and horns are first seen in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven stars and are seen again in Super Mario 64, though in the latter game the horns and spikes are yellow. In Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser's appearance is very similar to the current appearance, with a few minor inconsistencies, such as his plastron traveling all the way up his neck.
Bowser's appearance does not always follow the design of the time, and the same illustrations were often modified when used in subsequently released material. Two illustration made by Yoichi Kotabe[23] were slightly modified and colored with different colors. The first image is used in the manual of Super Mario Bros. 3, with Bowser having red hair and eyebrows and closed eyes, but also in Super Mario Bros. pinball machine, with him having blue eyes, and in Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World, with him having blue eyes and holding a wand. There is even a version of it in which he has red eyes. The second image is used in the promotional pamphlet of Super Mario: The Lost Levels, in which Bowser has yellow hair, yellow eyebrows and blue eyes, without rings around the spikes, and in other artwork related to that game, in which he has red eyes, hair and eyebrows, orange claws on the feet and with white rings around the spikes. Similarly, graphical limitations in the original Super Mario Bros. lead to Bowser not having hair. His in-game model in Super Mario 64 has feet which are not padded, although in artwork for that game, he has padded feet. Similarly, in Super Smash Bros. Melee, his feet are not padded, although in his Classic mode trophy he has padded feet. Furthermore, in the Paper Mario series and in artwork for the Mario & Luigi series, he has black eyes like the other characters, in the first three Mario & Luigi games he lacks foot pads and Paper Bowser's spike rings are absent until Sticker Star.
The creators of the Mario cartoons wished to follow the graphic design of Super Mario Bros., and so their portrayal of King Koopa had him almost completely green in color and lacking hair, with a crown atop his head instead. His stomach was a deeper yellow than in later game depictions, and the whites of his eyes were also yellow; he also had a more crocodile-like snout, which was also colored green. He was also given a single pair of spiked bands on his wrists, with the spikes on said bands being yellow in color.
Nintendo Comics System used the same design as the cartoons for the Mario comics, and different installations in the Nintendo Adventure Books used either it or Bowser's game depiction, interchangeably. The cartoon, Nintendo Comics System and Nintendo Adventure Books designs were later reused to a certain extent for Bowser's green palette swap in Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS and Wii U (as well as being based on a palette swap for him in Mario Golf). By comparison, the two Mario anime (the three OVAs and Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!) are relatively true to the games' depiction of Bowser. It must be noticed that in them his eyes are blue instead of red, as in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and Super Mario Bros. 3. Similarly, in the three OVAs he also frequently wears a cape, like he did in artwork for Super Mario Bros. 3. On the other hand, in Super Mario World: Mario to Yoshi no Bōken Land he has red eyes, and his appearance on overall is similar to the appearance of Bowser in artwork for Super Mario World.
In the Super Smash Bros. series, he had various palette swaps (4 in Super Smash Bros. Melee, 6 in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and 8 in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS / Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate). His red palette swap in Melee and Brawl, and to a certain extent 3DS / Wii U, was based on one of his palette swaps in Mario Golf (although the latter two games also had it resembling Bowser's in-game sprite from the NES version of Mario is Missing), while his blue palette swap was based on how he appeared on the Japanese box art for Super Mario Bros. His white appearance in Brawl and gray appearance in 3DS / Wii U was likewise based on Morton Koopa Jr. prior to his New Super Mario Bros. Wii redesign. His green appearance was based on one of his palette swaps from Mario Golf, his in-game sprite for Super Mario World, and to a certain extent his appearance in the DiC cartoons and Nintendo Comic Systems and his in-game sprite from the original Super Mario Bros. game. His blue palette swap in 3DS / Wii U was primarily based on the blueish Bowser's Brother from Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels, although it also to a certain extent resembles a palette swap of his from Mario Golf.
As another trait exclusive to the Super Smash Bros. series, Bowser's body has better defined scales and muscles; exclusively in Super Smash Bros. Melee, he has defined biceps. Starting from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Bowser is less bulky and slightly scalier, better resembling his appearance in contemporary Mario games. Starting from Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, Bowser is also upright and even less detailed than before. In Ultimate, Bowser retains his upright posture, though his color scheme is darker and more monotone (traits taken from Melee), while his horns, spikes, hair, and scales feature simple detailing (traits taken from Brawl).
Although Bowser does not generally wear clothing, there are a few instances where he does: The Japanese artwork for Super Mario Bros. 3 depicts Bowser wearing a purple cape. In addition, Bowser, or rather, King Koopa, frequently uses disguises in the DiC cartoons (mostly based on pop-culture icons), and in Mario Party 2, similar to how the playable characters wore themed outfits befitting the various boards (ie, a Pirate for Pirate Land, a Cowboy in Western Land, a Space Cadet in Space Land, an archaeologist in Mystery Land, and a Witch/Wizard in Horror Land), Bowser wore various outfits and adopted aliases befitting the themes of all the game boards except for Space Land (as he instead just pilots a space vehicle without wearing an actual costume). In addition, in a few cases when he is about to marry Peach, such as Super Mario Adventures, Super Paper Mario and Super Mario Odyssey, he wears white Groom's outfits having each times different features such as the shoes, or lack thereof, and the bow tie. In Mario Tennis Aces, Bowser receives his own tennis outfit, which is a black T-shirt with orange flame designs on it, accompanied by red kneepads. In Mario Kart Tour, Bowser received a Bowser (Santa) variant as a High-End driver in the 2020 Winter Tour. For this variant, Bowser wears a Santa hat, a red and white collar, and has Christmas lights on his shell. He also carries and and green present and a white sack for this variant.
Speech
In the NES and SNES Mario games, Bowser did not have voice acting, with the manual of Super Mario Bros. 3 nonetheless showing that he was able to speak. The 1986 Japanese Super Mario Bros. film gave Bowser voice acting for the first time in history, with the Amada Anime Mario Series (1987-1989) following in suite. Neither the movie nor the series were officially subtitled nor dubbed in English, thus the first time Bowser was heard speaking in English was in the 1989 DIC Entertainment Mario cartoon titled The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, in which he was portrayed by Harvey Atkin, giving him a Brooklyn accent. This trait was carried over in DIC's 1990 and 1991 cartoons titled The Adventures Of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. He utilizes tiger-like growls in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, and also has a screech that he utters when hit by one of the Mechakoopas in Super Mario World. He eventually received voice acting in the PC version of Mario is Missing!, although he would not receive full-fledged voice acting until a decade later. Afterwards, he received a limited degree of voice acting in the games starting with Super Mario 64, although it was for the most part limited to roars and occasional laughter, with in-game text describing what he is saying to Mario. He later received full-fledged voice acting in Super Mario Sunshine, where he was given a gruff, yet slightly goofy-sounding voice. In games released after this, his voice clips are generally the same mixture of both, recently being more frequently growling and roars with in-game text indicating what he is actually saying. A notable exception is the localizations of The Cat Mario Show, where Bowser speaks full sentences that were localized and dubbed in all the main European languages as well. Overall, Bowser has a bass voice.
Powers and abilities
Bowser possesses various abilities, the more prominent of which being his fire breath. He can produce continuous flares or flurries of individual fireballs, and as seen in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario, he can even use his fire breath underwater. He has been shown to cause fiery rain in Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros U, while in Super Mario 64 and New Super Mario Bros., he can produce blue flames that home in on Mario. Bowser is very proud of his fire breath, and is immensely displeased to find himself temporarily unable to use his flames in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. In the PC version of Mario is Missing!, Bowser is immune to fireballs, however this is not the case in most other games. Similarly, while lava defeats Bowser in many games, including the original Super Mario Bros., or New Super Mario Bros. (in which it skeletonizes him into Dry Bowser), in other titles, he appears to be resistant to it, such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In addition, in the SNES version of Mario is Missing!, Bowser ends up launched at high velocity into the snow in Antarctica, resulting in him freezing solid and then shattering, and in the PC and SNES versions of Mario's Time Machine, Bowser in the best endings is sent back to the Cretacious Period and ends up stepped on by a T-Rex, squishing him into a puddle, although his moving and blinking eyes suggests he survived.
Bowser's near immunity and the fact that he always recovers from his defeats is another hallmark of his capabilities. As well as being submerged in lava, Bowser has also fallen great distances, been blown up, crushed, electrocuted, flash frozen and shattered, yet not one of these defeats has been permanent, with Luigi once remarking that "Bowser's survived far worse" after the Koopa appeared to sacrifice himself to save the others from a collapsing roof in Super Paper Mario. Bowser's playable side-scrolling sections in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door show him to have infinite lives, which may explain his durability.
Another hallmark of the Koopa King is Bowser's raw physical strength and power. Bowser is often the most powerful character in sports games, and in Super Paper Mario, his attack stat as twice that of the other heroes. He can easily break through boulders and topple enemies many times his own size, and in Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story, when Mario and Luigi stimulate his muscles with minigames, Bowser can move islands and lift giant stone statues, among other things. Like his fire breath, Bowser takes pride in his strength, and is quick to use punches, claw swipes, tackles, stomps, body slams and other physical attacks in battle.
Unlike his strength, Bowser's speed and agility is not consistent between games. Bowser is usually slower than Mario, like in Super Paper Mario, some Super Smash Bros. games and most sports titles, although despite being the slowest runner in the Mario & Sonic summer Olympics, with a 2/10 stat, in the winter games, he has an 8/10 stat. In Super Mario 64 Bowser can jump incredible heights and make short charges at Mario, and while he cannot climb ladders in Super Paper Mario, both this game and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door show him to be a good swimmer, although the latter reveals that he dislikes the activity. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Bowser has sluggish mobility and low jumps, but his dashing speed is exceptionally quick. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Bowser's mobility is faster, though still sluggish compared to the rest of the cast. Starting from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, Bowser is a speedy powerhouse fighter.
In the original Super Mario Bros., Bowser throws hammers at Mario, like a Hammer Bro, and this ability reappears in various games, including Super Princess Peach, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and New Super Mario Bros. 2. Several games also show Bowser causing shockwaves with his ground pounding, and he can also duck into his spiked shell and spin or roll around to attack. In Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Bowser can attack his enemies using bites, with the latter game giving him the ability to poison others with his fangs, while the former gives him a poisonous claw attack. Like these poisonous moves, another uncommonly seen skill is Bowser's lightning power, which only appears in Hotel Mario and the opening cutscene of Super Mario Galaxy. Both games also make use of Bowser's teleporting ability, as he uses it to bring Peach to his hotel in Hotel Mario and teleports away after his first two defeats in Super Mario Galaxy; he also teleports across the battlefield if the player comes near him in Super Mario 64.
According to the Super Mario Bros. instruction booklet, Bowser is a skilled user in dark magic, using it turn the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom into blocks and other items. While this aspect of Bowser's abilities is not seen in many other games, he makes use of similar magic to shrink players in Mario Party 4 and turn a Koopa Troopa into a frog in Mario Party 2. In Mario Party: Island Tour, he uses magic to create a 30-floor tower. He also teleports himself away after being beaten at the Bowser's Star Reactor and Bowser's Dark Matter Plant in Super Mario Galaxy. Bowser is also shown to be capable of flight, as seen in Super Mario 3D Land, where he flies away after being defeated in World 8-Bowser: Part 1. Finally, Bowser can transform himself, such as turning into a giant boulder during his final fights with Mario in Super Mario Galaxy, or changing into Giga Bowser in the Super Smash Bros. games, which grants him numerous new powers, such as the ability to freeze opponents. In the anime film, Super Mario Bros.: Pīchi-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! he has the ability to shapeshift into anything he desires, and he can drastically change his size in various games.
Size
Like his speed, Bowser's size changes between games, and often varies between or during battles in single titles. In Super Princess Peach, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, and various Mario Party titles, Bowser uses an assortment of magical artifacts and items to turn himself temporarily giant for his final showdowns with Mario, and starts out giant in Super Mario Sunshine, shrinking back down to regular proportions after his defeat. Kamek makes Baby Bowser giant in Yoshi's Island, and he and the Koopalings use spells to turn Bowser gigantic in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. 2, respectively. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Mario and Luigi can make Bowser temporarily giant by supercharging him with adrenaline; Bowser X and Dark Bowser can become giant for a short while as well. Other games also show him to have modest increases in size from one boss battle to another, such as New Super Mario Bros. and Paper Mario. In the playable Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door intermissions, eating Meat gradually increases Bowser's size. He also grows via meat in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, though this was only shown to be possible in the Dream World. Like other Super Smash Bros. characters, Bowser can grow with the aid of Super Mushrooms and there are also Super Smash Bros. Events that feature Bowser as being larger than normal. While his "normal" size varies from game to game (ranging from slightly taller than Mario in Super Mario Bros., to being roughly five times his height in Super Mario Odyssey), usually he is about twice Mario's height, or a head taller than Peach, and is always much bulkier than the other characters. The only instances of any of his giant forms being officially named are in the Prima guides for New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U, where he is called Super Bowser, as well as Baby Bowser's giant form, named Mega Baby Bowser in Yoshi's Woolly World. Within the Super Smash Bros. series, Bowser's size changes.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Bowser is only slightly taller than Mario, rivaling the heights of Peach and Samus. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, Bowser is the tallest and largest character in the game, due to both his new upright posture, as well as the general proportional differences between the characters. Bowser's height carries over in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, remaining the tallest character of the roster.
Relationships
Although technically a younger version of himself, Bowser has interacted with Baby Bowser during two occasions of time travel. In Yoshi's Island DS, Baby Bowser insults his future self, who then rashly blasts him out of the castle; later, however, Bowser becomes outraged when he discovers his younger self being bested by the Yoshis. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, the two Bowsers do not recognize each other and argue about the ownership of Thwomp Volcano, eventually putting their differences aside to work together to try and defeat Mario, Luigi and their own baby selves. After their defeat, Bowser's parting advice to Baby Bowser is to "Get stronger and more evil". In Yoshi's New Island, he also ambushes Yoshi and Baby Mario just as they were to save the Stork and Baby Luigi again in order to avenge his younger self's defeat.
Bowser's minions all hold Bowser in high regards and loyally serve him out of respect, rather than fear, although most are mindful of his fiery temper. Bowser does not take betrayal well and will not hesitate to attack deserters as enemies, although he has been shown to be forgiving at times, such as letting the trio of Corporal Paraplonk, Private Goomp and Sergeant Guy return to service after they betrayed him for Fawful in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. Bowser, despite repeatedly downgrading their competence and intellect, has high faith and pride in his minions. While he is harsh, he does return their loyalty to him, notably shown in Super Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. The latter game's remake, or more specifically the tie-in story Bowser Jr.'s Journey, further reinforces his returning his loyalty towards his minions, as it was revealed that a large part of the reason he was outraged at his not being invited to the emergency seminar over the Blorbs virus outbreak at Peach's Castle was largely because his own kingdom was suffering from the outbreak. In Paper Mario, while labeling the Koopa Bros. and Tutankoopa as weaklings, he did appreciate their loyalty and takes their defeats as a great disrespect by Mario. Bowser has also been shown to treat minions in a fatherly fashion, namely towards the Koopa Kids in the Mario Party series (who, despite their similar appearances are not related to Bowser), although they treat him as a boss only. One minion who treats Bowser fairly informally at times is Kammy Koopa, who loyally and tirelessly puts up with his constant stream of derision when working together during the first two Paper Mario games. In her tattle, Goombella wonders whether it is harder for Bowser to put up with Kammy or vice-versa, but despite his verbal abuse, Bowser often takes Kammy's advice to heart.
Family
Template:Quote2 Both the original Japanese and English versions of the game Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced Bowser's seven children, the Koopalings.[24][25] They were also depicted as his children in Super Mario World,[26][27] Yoshi's Safari,[28] the first trophy of Bowser in Super Smash Bros. Melee[29], the DIC cartoons, and various comics released shortly after Super Mario Bros. 3. However, after Hotel Mario, the Koopalings went on a nine-year hiatus, and many years later, in 2002, Super Mario Sunshine introduced Bowser Jr., Bowser's youngest child who, unlike the Koopalings, resembles Bowser greatly. Bowser Jr. is considered the heir to the throne since the Koopalings have made a return to the series with their 1988 origin eliminated for the most part. Something similar happened to Bowser's Brother from Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, who was later considered to be something akin to a fake Bowser and eventually a character of unknown identity.
Before the introduction of Bowser Jr., Ludwig von Koopa was once said to be Bowser's second in command in the Super Mario Bros. 3 Nintendo Power Strategy Guide,[30] leader of the Koopalings in the Official Nintendo Guidebook of Super Mario Collection (the Japanese version of Super Mario All-Stars)[31] and Bowser's comrade in the Perfect Edition of the Great Mario Character Encyclopedia.[32] Bowser has always been very proud of the Koopalings' close loyalty to him, and while the dynamics between them was openly familial in the cartoons and comics, in the games the Koopalings were just main bosses and had no dialogue nor interaction with Bowser. On the other hand, in Super Mario Sunshine, he first tried to use Bowser Jr. as a pawn in his schemes, even going so far as to lying that Peach was the child's mother to give him extra incentive to defeat Mario for taking her away from their "family". However, after his plan failed, in a rare moment of humility, Bowser eventually decides to tell his son the truth about Peach, but Bowser Jr. had known all along, and simply wanted to fight Mario to be like his father. Bowser does indeed care about his son, who often brings out his softer side, and at times obsesses over his well-being, such as in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where he becomes infuriated after learning that the Mario Bros. had injured him. The two currently share closer ties than he and his Koopalings, with Bowser Jr. often acting as Bowser's default partner in sports and spin-off games. On a similar note, in the NES library portion of the Nintendo Switch online service trailer, Bowser when he realized that his son had been asking to play with him and had ignored him up to then had a guilty reaction and promptly offered a second Joy-Con so they would play together, and then proceeded to play Ice Climbers. Although genuinely caring for his son, even he has found Bowser Jr. difficult to raise largely due to the latter's hyperactivity as well as having access to his own army and flying car, admitting as much to Olivia when explaining how King Olly is trivial to him before the final battle, implying that Bowser Jr. was more difficult than King Olly ever was. As a result, he states that he tends to raise Junior with a free-range parenting style, letting him take risks and even insisting that he can handle himself while he's being overwhelmed by Paper Macho Goombas. On the Koopalings' end, the Koopalings were also shown to be extremely devoted to Bowser, with their loyalty to the Koopa King being immense enough that they are willing to serve Bowser even when the latter is not actually himself, as evidenced by their servitude to "Bowser" in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Paper Mario: Color Splash (who had actually been Bowletta and Black Bowser, forms taken when Bowser was possessed by Cackletta and corrupted by the black paint, respectively). Nonetheless, in a flashback the Koopalings had nearing the climax of the Bowser Jr.'s Journey story arc of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, Iggy is seen speaking out of line with the other Koopalings by denying that Bowser was at all smart or wise (and even implying that Bowser was even crazier than Iggy for thinking he was such), resulting in Bowser being implied to have hit him across the room. Bowser, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings all have personal emblems with silhouettes of their faces, the silhouette of Bowser's face used in his emblem is also present in many buldings, machines and devices that he controls.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island introduced Kamek, the Magikoopa who raised Bowser from infancy and who has been seen interacting with him the most throughout the series. As seen in subsequent Yoshi series games and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Kamek takes great care of Baby Bowser and worries for his safety, with his devout loyalty continuing into Bowser's adulthood. Kamek's Psychopath line in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars even implies that he considers Bowser to be like a son to him, as despite his brain-washing by the enemies, he thinks "That's... my child?" when faced with Bowser in battle. The only time a rift has been shown between the two is in Mario Party Advance; after winning a minigame Kamek explains that he took leave of Koopa Troop when Bowser disappointed him by taking the title of "Game Master", rather than earning it, although the ending states that the two reconciled. Aside from that incident, the two get along well, and Bowser seems to show much more respect to his elderly guardian than to any other of his subordinates.
Various other relatives of Bowser's have been mentioned or shown in a minor capacity throughout the franchise. Bowser mentions a father in few issues of the Nintendo Comics System Super Mario Bros. series, with the implication being that he is a wanted criminal on the run. Bowser is first shown to have a mother in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "Do You Princess Toadstool Take this Koopa...?", which depicts her to be a bossy and bullying woman who resented her son for remaining a bachelor. Mario's Time Machine Deluxe for MS-DOS, however, shows another version of Bowser's mother, who is an elderly librarian, in the included Library program. Bowser also mentions a grandfather named Poopa La Koopa in the Super Show episode "Butch Mario & The Luigi Kid", saying his motto was "Cheat, beat, and be merry!". In the "Raiders of the Lost Mushroom", Bowser claims that his "great-great grandkoop" built the Temple of Koopa to hide the Lost Mushroom, which he left to Bowser. In an episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Morton brings up one of the Koopalings' great grandmothers. Bowser and the Koopalings are shown to have a pet rabbit named Pookie in the Nintendo Comics System series, which was often abused until its eventual escape in the comic "Bowser Knows Best". In the Nintendo Adventure Book Flown the Koopa, a Magikoopa stated to be Bowser's third cousin twice removed is featured as the main antagonist; this character also appears in the later books Unjust Desserts and Brain Drain, though he has only minor roles in both. Finally, in both an episode of the Super Show and the song "Ignorance is Bliss", Bowser mentions a younger sister who is, according to him, a bookworm.
Love interests
One of the most complex aspects of Bowser's character is his relationship with Peach. As explained in the manual of Super Mario Bros., Bowser initially started abducting Peach to prevent her from restoring the transformed Toads back to normal. In the same The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode that featured his mother, Bowser tried and failed to marry Peach, and his unrequited crush on the princess recurs in various games, starting with a diary entry he wrote in Paper Mario expressing his hopes that Peach would like him, ultimately leading him to attempt to forcefully marry her. He even told his son Bowser Jr. that Peach was his mother, although the events of Super Mario Sunshine forced him to admit that this was a lie. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story revealed that Bowser's most carefully preserved memory was of Peach. Paper Mario: The Origami King further hints at his crush on Peach, as when he and Mario encounter Origami Peach for the first time, he quietly expresses embarrassment at her seeing him folded up, and when confronting King Olly just before the final battle against him, Bowser inquires of Peach's status and asks if she is safe, comfortable, and has something to read before claiming he was merely asking for a friend.
Despite his feelings for her, Bowser actually shows very little regard for her happiness and well-being as he constantly kidnaps her, attacks her kingdom, and fights the people she cares about. He has also put Peach herself in danger more than once, either inadvertently or on purpose, most notably in Super Princess Peach and Super Mario 3D World, where the princess herself faced Bowser in combat, and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, where he breathes fire at her, Starlow, and Toadsworth. In Super Paper Mario, the two were wed by Count Bleck and Nastasia as part of the former's plan to unleash the Chaos Heart, and while Bowser regarded the marriage as official and happily referred to Peach as his wife throughout the game, she refuted his claims and called the wedding a sham, as she does not return his affection at all. Despite this, she is still willing to work with Bowser when the situation calls for it, and will even sweet-talk, flatter or show him genuine goodwill or concern when they are acting as allies. In the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls video, Bowser's phone screen has a picture of Peach on it. Additionally, when witnessing Bowser Jr. doing an online match against Peach with the game Dr. Mario in the NES library portion of the Nintendo Switch Online service trailer, Bowser seemed to react in a somewhat baffled manner to his son playing with Peach. In some cases, he also forgoes abducting Princess Peach, usually if he's aiming for a more important objective. This bit is especially evident in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, as when Peach discovers Bowser's presence with Mario, she initially fears that he's going to abduct her again, only for Bowser to explicitly state he has no interest that time in doing so due to having "bigger fish to fry" (with his reluctantly explaining what he meant by that after returning her to the Mushroom Kingdom).
The Nintendo Comics System single-panel comic "Koopa's High School Yearbook" shows Bowser to have had an admirer in high school: after he asked for her sandwich, the unnamed Koopa developed a crush on Bowser, forming the one-member "Koopa Fan Club" and joining the "Future Wives of Tyrants Club". A popular rumor also suggests that Bowser has or had a wife named "Clawdia Koopa", though there is no evidence to support her existence. In a September 2012 interview, Miyamoto simply stated that Bowser Jr.'s mother is unknown,[33] which is supported by a question from the Snifit or Whiffit quiz show in Paper Mario: Sticker Star.
Foes
Mario is Bowser's arch-nemesis and as such, is almost always the one who stops the Koopa King's evil plans. Bowser despises Mario for this and constantly tries and fails to stop him as part of his schemes to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom and beyond. Despite the open hostility between the two, Bowser has occasionally been seen to hold a grudging respect for Mario, such as his statement in Super Mario Galaxy that he "chose the right guy to be his archenemy". Bowser's drive to be the one to defeat his eternal enemy has also led him to intervene when other villains threaten Mario, such as in Mario Super Sluggers, where Bowser stopped an attack launched by Wario and Waluigi. Many of the RPGs involve Bowser teaming up with Mario to stop an emergent foe that poses a threat to both of them, such as Smithy, who took over Bowser's castle in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, or Count Bleck in Super Paper Mario, whose plot to destroy all worlds ran counter to Bowser's dreams of global domination. In the case of the former game, he even went as far as to name Mario, Mallow, and Geno "honorary members" of the Koopa Troop (although it was heavily implied that he did this solely as an excuse to "join" them to avoid the humiliation of having to ask for their help). In the case of Paper Mario: Color Splash, however, Bowser does not show any of his characteristic animosity towards Mario in the few instances (mostly because he was completely confused about what was going on, being completely unaware of his actions as Black Bowser) where he is in control, and when defeated even implied that he invites, or at least schedules, go-kart races at his castle with the plumber. While Bowser makes a show of his reluctance to team up, Mario seems more complacent with working with Bowser despite their history, and occasionally shows him some leniency, such as letting him go after his actions in Mario Party DS merely gave Mario and the others a fun experience. Overall, however, the animosity is mutual, and Bowser's run-ins with Mario usually end in the Koopa King's defeat. In addition, it is implied that, despite his animosity to Mario and, to a certain extent, Luigi, even he would never attempt to actually have them destroyed, as when Bowletta, while disguised as Bowser, ordered for the Koopa Troop to "destroy" Mario, Captain Goomba was suspicious of him since he knows that that kind of talk was extremely harsh even with Bowser's characteristic hatred towards Mario. Paper Mario: The Origami King further cements this, as in that game, Bowser insists that he and Mario would be nothing without each other. However, it's implied that he eventually overcomes these feelings, as in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team he attempts to use the Dream Stone to make the Mario Bros. disappear, and in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, he plans to trap Mario in the Paper World and then destroy it.
Luigi often fights Bowser alongside Mario, and as such, is also one of the Koopa King's greatest adversaries. Like many other characters in the Mario series, Bowser is often depicted as holding Luigi in lower esteem than his brother; however, he usually does not go so far as to discount Luigi as a threat. After his defeat in Dream Team, Bowser sees Luigi as a more legitimate foe (their battle as giants in the dream world likely contributing to this); at least remembering his name. Another ally of Mario's is Yoshi — the history between Bowser and both the Yoshi character and the Yoshis as a whole goes back to the Koopa King's childhood, when he enjoyed stealing cookies from the Yoshis, and even took their Super Happy Tree and Sundream Stone at certain points, forcing them to retaliate. Yoshi himself first faced Baby Bowser in his quest to save Baby Luigi, who had been kidnapped by Kamek, and the bad blood between him and both the Magikoopa and the Koopa King himself continues to the present day.
Generally speaking, any ally of Mario's is an enemy of Bowser's, although they occasionally share common foes, including the aforementioned Smithy, Count Bleck and Fawful. One of Bowser's few victories actually came out of his conflict with Fawful during Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, when the latter took over both Bowser and Peach's castles and kidnapped the Princess. While Mario and Luigi were aiding Bowser during this game, he was unaware of this, instead communicating exclusively with their ally Starlow, who used the alias "Chippy". Despite their common goal, Bowser and Starlow spent the whole adventure trading barbs and occasionally refusing to cooperate, although Starlow sometimes expressed concern and sympathy for the Koopa King and he eventually came to think of her as a loyal minion, and even complied to her demand to ask for her help politely at one point, only to become enraged when he learned the truth of who she really was. As of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Starlow and Bowser are now completely enemies. Another "frenemy" situation is the one between Bowser and Wario, who have joined forces (along with Waluigi) against Mario in Mario Power Tennis, and worked together (albeit fractiously) as babies in Yoshi's Island DS. The ending of Mario Superstar Baseball shows Wario and Waluigi on Bowser's team. Most of the time they are on opposing sides, as in Super Mario 64 DS and the Mario Party series when Wario was on Mario's side. In Mario Super Sluggers, Wario helps in stopping Bowser's invasion of Baseball Kingdom, and in the ending, he and Waluigi are thwarted in their sneak attack on Mario by Bowser due to the latter's desire to be the one who defeats their shared adversary.
Impersonators
In several instances throughout the series, there have been characters who have imitated Bowser's appearance, generally for their own gain. There have been many impostors in some games who have tried to replicate or manifest him in varying ways, albeit perfectly or imperfectly:
| Impersonation | Impersonator/Creator | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
| Fake Bowser | Various | Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. Special, Super Mario Run |
| Mechakoopas | Super Mario World, Yoshi's Safari, Hotel Mario, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Party 5, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Power Tennis, Mario Party Advance, Mario Party 7, Super Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mario Party 9, New Super Mario Bros. U, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Super Smash Bros. For Nintendo 3DS / Wii U | |
| Iggy Koopa | Hotel Mario | |
| Bowser clone | Belome | Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars |
| Bowser Suit | Mario and company | Mario Party, Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, Mario Party 4, Mario Party 8 |
| Bowser??? | Koopa Bros. | Paper Mario |
| Koopa Kid | Mario Party 3 | |
| King Boo | Luigi's Mansion | |
| Mecha-Bowser | Bowser Jr. | Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Party 5, Mario Power Tennis, Mario Kart Arcade GP, Mario Party 7, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Party 9 |
| Dark Bowser | Shadoo | Super Paper Mario |
| False Bowser | Shadow Bugs | Super Smash Bros. Brawl |
| Dark Bowser | Dark Star | Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story |
| Bowser X | Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team | |
| Tail Bowser | Fake Bowser | Super Mario 3D Land, Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games |
Nicknames and aliases
- See also: King Koopa's alter egos
In several of his appearances, Bowser has been known to use aliases, or is referred to through a self-given nickname or a nickname given by others. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show and Mario Party 2 mostly show him under an alias matching the theme of each location explored.
- King of the Koopa / King of the Koopas / Koopa King (Various)
- King Koopa (Japanese name and other media such as cartoons)
- Koopa (Japanese name and other media such as cartoons)
- King Bowser (Various)
- Lord Bowser (Paper Mario series, Mario Kart 8 and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games)
- Big dude (Baby Bowser)
- Cap'n Bowser
- Bowser the Brash
- Wizard Bowser
- Bowser Sphinx
- Black Hole Bowser
- The King of Awesome
- Mr. Bowser (Merlon, Koopa Kid, Wendy O. Koopa)
- The Boss of Bwahaha (Nintendo)
- King Dad (Koopalings)
- Pop (Koopalings, Bowser Jr.)
- Big B (Iggy Koopa)
- Daddykins (Kootie Pie)
- Large Bowser (Morton Koopa Jr.)
- Papa (Bowser Jr.)
- Dad (Bowser Jr., Koopalings)
- Koopums (His mother)
- Rookie (Popple)
- Monsieur Turtle Bits (Broque Monsieur)
- Monster (Lubba, Rosalina, Lumas)
- Sire (Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games)
- Master Bowser (Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam)
- Father of Name Withheld (Super Mario Maker 2, as evidenced by the adversity against Mario and speech manner present in his Story Mode level descriptions; "Name Withheld" refers to Bowser Jr.)
Profiles and statistics
- Main article: List of Bowser profiles and statistics
Bowser's profiles usually discuss his antagonistic history with Mario, Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom, with his evilness, bad temper and impressive strength and power often being mentioned. In Mario Kart games, he is always among the heaviest players and in other sports games, he is a power player. His speed is highly variable, although when the stat is applicable, his acceleration is usually low. His HP and attack skills vary depending on when he is battled in the RPGs, and as a playable character, he is the powerhouse of the roster.
Portrayals
Over the years, Bowser has been voiced by several people, both in the games and in other media. They include:
List of appearances by date
Quotes
- Main article: List of Bowser quotes
Gallery
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Bowser.
Audio samples
Voice
 Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS - Bowser's laugh (Charles Martinet) | File info |
| Super Mario Sunshine - "MARIO! How dare you disturb my family vacation!? (roars)" (Scott Burns) | File info |
| Mario Party 8 - Bowser's laugh (Scott Burns) | File info |
| Super Mario Galaxy - Bowser's laugh (Kenny James) | File info |
Themes
| King Bowser - Bowser's battle theme in Super Mario Bros. 3 | File info |
| The Evil King Bowser - Bowser's battle theme in Super Mario World | File info |
| Last King Koopa - Bowser's battle theme in Super Mario All-Stars (Super Mario Bros.) | File info |
| King Bowser - Bowser's battle theme in Super Mario All-Stars (Super Mario Bros. 3) | File info |
| Fight against Koopa - Bowser's battle theme in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars | File info |
| Koopa Castle (Second Time) - Bowser's Castle's second theme in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, which is an arrangement of "King Bowser" from Super Mario Bros. 3 | File info |
| King Bowser - Bowser's battle theme in Super Mario Galaxy | File info |
| Final Battle with Bowser - Bowser's final battle theme in Super Mario Galaxy | File info |
| The Evil King Bowser - An arrangement of "The Evil King Bowser" from Super Mario World, used in Fortune Street | File info |
| Bowser Battle 1 - Bowser's battle theme in Super Mario Odyssey | File info |
| King Bowser - An arrangement of "King Bowser" from Super Mario Bros. 3, used in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | File info |
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | クッパ[?] Kuppa |
"Koopa", a reference to the Korean dish gukbap, called "kuppa" in Japanese. In older media, Bowser had the alternative titles 「クッパ大王」 Kuppa-daiō and 「魔王クッパ」 Maō Kuppa, meaning "Great King Koopa" and "Demon King Koopa", respectively. In the games, his title is usually 「大魔王クッパ」 Daimaō Kuppa, meaning "Great Demon King Koopa". | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 酷霸王[?] Kùbàwáng |
From "酷" (kù, cool/cruel) and "霸王" (bàwáng, tyrant/despot/overlord). "酷霸" (Kùbà) is also transliterated from the Japanese name, and used for the surname of the Koopalings.[34] | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 庫巴[?] Kùbā |
Transliteration of the Japanese name | |
| Dutch | Bowser[?] | - | |
| German | Bowser[?] | - | |
| Italian | Bowser Re Attila (cartoon series)[?] |
- From Attila the Hun |
|
| Korean | 쿠파[?] Kupa |
Transliteration of the Japanese name, although the name originates from a Korean food's name, Gukbap (국밥). | |
| Portuguese | Bowser[?] | - | |
| Romanian | Regele Koopa (The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, most episodes) Regele Kooper (KidsCo promo for the DiC Mario cartoons. Accessed July 27, 2018.) Bowser Koopa (The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, episode "Princess Toadstool for President") Bowser (Template:Media link)[?] |
King Koopa King Kooper - - |
|
| Russian | Боузер[?] Bouzer |
Transliteration of the international name. | |
| Slovenian | Kralj Koopa[?] | King Koopa | |
| Spanish | Bowser[?] | - | |
| Swedish | Kung Koopa (cartoon series)[?] | King Koopa |
Trivia
- While Bowser is generally referred to as "Koopa" in Japan, there are occasions where his localized name is alluded to. For example, in the Japanese version of Mario Kart Wii, the Flame Runner is known as the Super Bowser. Because all regional releases of Super Mario Sunshine use the English voice acting, Peach calls Bowser Jr. "Bowser's son," and Bowser himself calls his family the "royal Koopa line," meaning that Koopa is also his surname in Japan. Bowser Koopa is rarely directly given as his full name, but it has occurred in some officially licensed material such as the White Knuckle Scorin' album comic, as well as certain cartoon episodes and comic issues.
- All 8-bit sprites have only three colors, but Bowser's sprite from Super Mario Bros. appears to have four. This is because the black background is what gives Bowser his black spiked collars around his wrists. Due to this, using cheat codes so Bowser appears in a non-castle level will look like his hands are separated from his arms. This occurs again in Super Mario Bros. 3 where Bowser's sprite is designed to exploit the black background to give him an outline.
- Even though Bowser's suit in Super Mario Odyssey is referred to as a tuxedo, it resembles more of a colonial-style greatcoat than a traditional tuxedo.
- Bowser's roar in the N64 games up to the release of Super Mario Sunshine is a stock roar created by Sound Ideas for the Universal Studios Sound Effects Library. The roar was originally used in the 1957 film The Land Unknown.
- In the E3 2019 Nintendo Direct coverage, Bowser briefly appears only to have a sign saying "Wrong Bowser", which was a pun on Nintendo's newly made CEO Doug Bowser. The Japanese version included a text explaining the joke, due to Bowser being known as King Koopa in Japan and thus the joke being untranslatable otherwise.
- In the flavor text for Princess in Peril, Bowser and Bowser Jr. threatens that anyone who "kidnaps" Peach instead of themselves will be "launched into the next dimension", alluding to a line from the Saban dub of Dragon Ball Z that was used as a euphemism for death.
References
- ^ Due to the various possible meanings of maō, on page 14 of the North American manual for Super Mario Bros., the character is referred to as "the sorcerer king" in addition to "King of the Koopa".
- ^ The Legend of Zelda interview with Shigeru Miyamoto from 2000 at Famitsu.com (Japanese)
- ^ Supper Mario Broth (April 21, 2017). Concept art of Bowser for Super Mario Bros., drawn by Shigeru Miyamoto. This is the earliest known drawing of Bowser, possibly the first ever made. SupperMarioBroth.
- ^ a b Nintendo.com. Iwata Asks: Nintendo DSi, Volume 8 - Flipnote Studio - An Animation Class (part 4). Retrieved December 21, 2015.
- ^ a b William Andureau (December 06, 2018). "Les confidences du dessinateur historique des personnages Nintendo". Le Monde. Retrieved December 14, 2018 (English translation available here)
- ^ "Nintendo Mini Classics: Super Famicom" Launch Party Interview Part 5: Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island, at Nintendo's Japanese website.
- ^ Twitter post showing early SMW tiles. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
- ^ Fernando Bueno. When Super Bowser begins spitting fireballs, edge up against the right wall and jump over the fireballs to let them bypass you. When they hit the wall ahead of you, they’ll demolish it, creating a path for you to continue. New Super Mario Bros Wii Official Digital Strategy Guide for Wii, section Walkthrough - World 8-Bowser's World - World 8-Castle.
- ^ von Esmarch, Nick. New Super Mario Bros. 2 Prima Official Game Guide. Page 169.
- ^ Doolan, Liam (September 29, 2018). Super Mario Odyssey Art Book Reveals "Official Bowsette" Concept Existed Long Before The Fan-Made One. Nintendo Life. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
- ^ Brett Homenick (September 11, 2018). DO THE MARIO! Perry Martin on Scripting the Cartoon Adaptations of the Super Mario Bros.!. Vantage Point Interviews. Retrieved October 05 2018.
- ^ The Mushroom Kingdom (Accessed on 9-19-08)
- ^ [1]
- ^ Hinckley, Jill. Nintendo GameCube Collection: 4 Guides for the Price of 1 Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Page 80. "Wait a minute! That isn’t Bowser at all! It’s a mechanical puppet controlled by the cunning King Boo! When a successful strike knocks ”Bowser’s” head off, King Boo wobbles out of his Bowser suit while Bowser’s head fires shards of ice at you."
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbKcKjdsUQ8
- ^ a b TMK | Mario in Japan | Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. The Mushroom Kingdom. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
- ^ Super Princess Peach Glossary
- ^ Nintendo Mobile (June 17, 2019). Welcome to Dr. Mario World. YouTube. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ Platinum Games' official blog
- ^ http://www.inquisitr.com/334657/wreck-it-ralph-explains-why-mario-wont-make-an-appearance/ Interview explaining in greater detail why Mario and Luigi were no placed in the film, the claims of money reasons having been a joke taken literally. (Retrieved December 7, 2012)
- ^ Wreck-It Ralph trailer. IMDb. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
- ^ As told in Prima's official Super Mario Galaxy guide.
- ^ Bowser's illustrations made by Yoichi Kotabe. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
- ^ Super Mario Bros. 3 Japanese instruction booklet transcription on GeoCities. In the story section (pg. 4), they are called「自分の子供コクッパ7兄弟」, and King Koopa's line (pg. 2) reads 「ワッハハ。これから俺様の息子達がこのゲームの説明をするぜ。息子達の言うことをよーく聞いてせいぜいガンバルことだな。ワッハハ。」 Note Koopa's use of 「俺様の息子たち」 (ore-sama no musuko-tachi), which equates to "my children" (or, literally, "my sons") while at the same time referring to himself in an extremely arrogant manner. The children are introduced with the phrase 「そして、これがコクッパ7兄弟だ！！」 (pg. 3). Larry (pg. 4), Morton (pg. 8) and Lemmy (pg. 34) refer to King Koopa as 「オヤジ」 (oyaji), which is both a Japanese word for "father" as well as a term of endearment.
- ^ Super Mario Bros. 3 English instruction booklet. In the story section (pg. 5), they are called "Bowser's 7 kids" and "his 7 children", and Bowser's line (pg. 3) reads "Ha Ha Ha! These are my 7 children that are going to help me take over the Mushroom World!" The children are introduced with the phrase "These are Bowser's kids!!" (pg. 4). Larry (pg. 5), Morton (pg. 9) and Lemmy (pg. 34) refer to Bowser as their father or dad.
- ^ Super Mario World English instruction booklet, Template:Media link (Mysterious Sunken Ship description).
- ^ Template:Media link. Note that their name is written with 「7兄弟」 instead of 「7人衆」.
- ^ Template:Media link.
- ^ Template:Media link.
- ^ "Bowser’s oldest Koopaling and second in command, he’s a real monster!" - Nintendo Power Volume 13, page 9.
- ^ 「長いたて髮をふり乱して襲ってくる、コクッパー族のリーダー・ルドウィッグ。」Super Mario Collection Nintendo Official Guidebook, page 267, Shogakukan.
- ^ 「クッパの仲間だ」. Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten (Perfect Edition of the Great Mario Character Encycloepdia), page 232, Shogakukan.
- ^ Screw Attack reports that "The koopalings are NOT related to Bowser!!!" and provide a scan of a Game Informer interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, in which he states that the Koopalings are not "currently" considered to be Bowser's children, unlike Bowser Jr., whose mother is "unknown" (only English translation is available). Posted September 12, 2012. (Retrieved September 15, 2012.)
- ^ iQue's localization of Super Mario Advance 2