King Bowser Koopa (Japanese 大魔王クッパ Daimaō Kuppa "Great Demon King Koopa", in English also Lord Bowser, King Koopa commonly in other media) is the main antagonist of the Mario franchise, the supreme leader of the Koopa Troop, King of the Koopas, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. He has repeatedly, kidnapped or attempted to kidnap Princess Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom. He first appears in Super Mario Bros. and has sometimes been referenced in The Legend of Zelda series.

Since his debut, Bowser has been in nearly every Mario game, including the main series, spin-offs, and crossovers. Besides being a primary villain, Bowser has at times played an anti-hero in several Mario RPGs, with the exception of Paper Mario.

Connections to The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda series

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

During the events of this game, Bowser himself does not physically appear, though from the Castle Courtyard, Link can see Bowser's portrait on a wall in Hyrule Castle. The portrait is a crop of Bowser's artwork from Mario Kart 64.

Later, when Link visits Lon Lon Ranch, he found that both Malon and Talon wear broaches of Bowser's face. This is slightly ironic as Talon bears a great resemblance to Mario, in the way he looks and dresses, and Mario would be unlikely to wear a Bowser broach.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, when Link traveled to the world of Termina, he met a pair of sisters named Romani and Cremia, who also seemed to like Bowser as they too wore Bowser broaches. On the technical side of things, this was due to them sharing the same models as Malon's child and adult forms, respectively. Only a small handful of characters in the game did not share a model with someone from Ocarina of Time.

Super Smash Bros. series

Super Smash Bros. fighter Bowser
Game appearances
Super Smash Bros. Melee Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Special moves
Standard:  Fire Breath Side:  Koopa Klaw (SSBM); Flying Slam (SSBB) Up:  Whirling Fortress Down:  Bowser Bomb Final Smash:  Giga Bowser
Battle entrance
Bowser emerges from an inferno of fire.

Bowser was originally going to be playable in Super Smash Bros., but was taken out of the final version due to data limitations. He later was playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Bowser was very strong, making him a key character to deliver strong attacks. His massiveness makes him incredibly hard to launch out of the arena, though he is very slow as a result. However, his throwing ability is on par with the faster characters. He is also one of the few who can crawl and is also a good edge guarder. Melee also introduced Giga Bowser, a more monstrous version of Bowser. Bowser transforms into Giga Bowser with his Final Smash in Brawl.

Bowser is given a more realistic animal voice in the Super Smash Bros. series, with his Melee voice being similar to his voice effects from the games before Melee's release (such as Mario Kart 64). Bowser's voice effects in Brawl are different than in Melee, but are still more realistic than his cartoonish voice.

Although Bowser does have his own emblem (his face), in the Super Smash Bros. series, his emblem is a mushroom.

Solid Snake codec conversation

• Colonel: Careful, Snake! That's the great and terrible Bowser!
• Snake: Bowser? Looks like a cheap movie monster.
• Colonel: Hardly. Bowser leads an entire army of monsters. But I'd worry more about his claws and fire if I were you.
• Snake: Doesn't look that tough to me. Seems kind of slow, actually.
• Colonel: Well, he is the king of Koopas. It's only natural he'd be slow. But that's only because he's the heaviest fighter here--by far. He's a powerhouse of destruction. Careful he doesn't flatten you.

The Subspace Emissary

In the Subspace Emissary storyline of Brawl, Bowser, a leader of the Subspace Emissary, 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. He pursues Diddy and Fox McCloud with the assistance of a shadowy clone, as well as capturing the princess rescued by Kirby, creating a false copy of her to assist in capturing heroes. It's later shown that Bowser is working closely with Ganondorf in running the Subspace Army, though he dislikes him and prefers Master Hand. He reluctantly follows his orders, however, and retrieves the princess not rescued by Kirby from King Dedede's castle, though he was briefly attacked by Mario's team as he is returning to the Halberd. He then attacks Diddy and Fox again, this time managing to turn Diddy into a trophy and cloning him. However, his Dark Cannon is destroyed as a result of Falco Lombardi's intervention, forcing him to retreat.

Eventually, Bowser and Ganondorf were able to fly a Subspace Gunship into the other world and start bringing pieces of the world into Subspace. They destroy the Halberd, but were unable to hit the smaller, more manuverable ships until the Subspace Gunship was destroyed by Kirby. Bowser decides to go into Subspace to report his failure. He is then betrayed when Ganondorf goes to see Master Hand as well, who turns out to be controlled by the being Tabuu. Upon being revived by King Dedede, Bowser fights him until he learns the truth behind the Subspace mission and joins the heroes in fighting against Tabuu and upon finding Ganondorf's trophy (just after Kirby's discovery of it), furiously attacks it, as retribution for the treason of which he was victim earlier.

Personality

Different characterizations

When Bowser was developed, he was a typical villain of pure evil with immense hatred and anger. Cruel and ruthless, he was typically portrayed as a power-hungry tyrant who lead violent attacks that threatened the lives of hundreds. Bowser's ultimate goal was to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, and eventually, the entire universe. His infamous plans and numerous crimes, ranging from kidnapping to terrorism, have earned him a reputation feared by the entire Mushroom World. While this status of evil is still very prevalent in the series, Bowser has recently had a humorous tone added to his personality and is shown to be more complex in terms of his relationship with his rivals.

Most games tend to focus on a single characterization, which suggests the direction that game takes in story. Some games only focus on his comical aspects, while others focus on a much more sinister side. The games that mainly focus on his comical aspects are the RPGs, where his overall character has a very amusing personality. Bowser has also been known to break the fourth-wall to remind players that he's still evil despite his current actions.

While Bowser is primarily more comical in RPGs, Paper Mario had him considerably more evil due to his focus as the main villain. Though Bowser still had a humorous tone, he was also shown to be very cruel and sinister in certain scenes. Outside the RPG series, Bowser is usually not as comical, and in many instances is shown to be pure evil. The Mario Party series has also depicted Bowser as more serious-driven and angry. New Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Galaxy remove Bowser's usual comical undertones completely and make him a much more sinister villain than he is found typically in the RPGs.

Common sense

While Bowser has shown intellect and a sarcastic wit in many of the games, he has also acted with incompetence. The RPGs primarily depict him with an almost comical lack of common-sense. Two prime examples are when he breaths fire on a Superbombomb in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door when it doesn't explode, and in Super Paper Mario, he must be explicitly told by Mario that he cannot rule the world if the world was destroyed.

While his lack of apparent common-sense is widely evident, Bowser has also been shown on many occasions to be highly intelligent. Many of his plans often make use of high-tech equipment and complicated machinery designed and built himself. He has also shown himself to be quite adept at use of various magics, both innate and talisman-based. He often develops strategies in his conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom as well as defense against Mario, as evidenced by his division of power among his children and generals to act as governors over conquered lands, which is a sign of an intelligent and compromising leader.

Emotions

Bowser's temperament has been depicted varying from pure, driven evil to a comical child-like villain. Despite this widely-opposing personality, any emotions other than anger or hatred have been shown. Bowser has never been seen acting remorseful for his numerous atrocities and destruction to both the localized Mushroom Kingdom and the outer reaches of the universe. He also seems to lack a sense of empathy, which results in a disregard for any other life. In Paper Mario, Mario's defeat at the hands of Bowser, to which Bowser simply mockingly laughed at, was essentially murder before Mario was revived by the combined energy of the Star Spirits. Perhaps Bowser's most extreme disregard for other life was in Super Mario Galaxy, where his plot consisted of wiping out entire galaxies to create a cosmos he can control.

In Mario Party 4, Bowser was shown to be extremely upset when he was defeated and grudgingly gives the player a gift for their birthday. He then leaves in shame, at which one of the Koopa Kids suggests that maybe Bowser has more affection than others are led to believe, a statement which he quickly retracts. Bowser is shown walking in the darkness, alone and miserable, but indeed wishes the player a happy birthday. One time, in Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser tells his son, Bowser Jr., in sadness that Princess Peach is not his mother and appears guilty for lying to him.

In sharp contrast to his usual disregard for other life, and that throughout the game his intent was to save the world only so he could rule it himself, Bowser did seemingly sacrifice himself to save Princess Peach, Mario, Luigi, and even Count Bleck's henchman O'Chunks during Super Paper Mario in Castle Bleck when the ceiling was falling, during which he was arguing with O'Chunks and telling him to get to safety before both were seemingly crushed (it is later revealed that they survived).

Physical appearance

Bowser is a huge, burly, green-shelled Koopa with spikes, horns, and hair. His bushy eyebrows and mane are fittingly a bright, fiery orange. He sports two small horns, many spikes on his shell (similar to a Spiny), as well as along his tail. He wears several spiked collars around his neck and arms. He has three claws on each of his massive feet, which support his impressive girth. While his face and his shell are green, his underbelly and snout are flesh-colored, and his tail and limbs are an orange-tinged yellow. In the original Super Mario Bros., however, his underbelly was also green as. On each of his hands are four claws. His arms are noticeably burly, indicating his vast physical strength. His bright red eyes are always a bit menacing, and this is heightened by his bushy, often-scrunched eyebrows. Bowser had green scales and skin in Super Mario Bros., but this has been changed to yellow scales and skin.

Bowser's appearance is based upon a combination of the many subspecies of Koopa, including Koopa Troopas, Spinies, and Hammer Bros. According to Prima's Super Mario Galaxy guide, Bowser and the Koopa species are also based on the kappa of Japanese mythology, yet this has not been stated by Shigeru Miyamoto.^[1]

Bowser's hair has changed in various games. In his first appearance, Bowser did not have hair at all due to graphic limitations. His red hair was first seen in-game in Super Mario Bros. 3, though hair was earlier depicted on the box for Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, as yellow, rather than red. The hair was also absent when Bowser powers-up into his Super Mario Bros. look on gaining a Mega Star in Super Paper Mario. It is yet again absent in the Mario cartoons as the creators wished to follow the graphic design of Super Mario Bros., leaving his head was covered only by a crown.

Powers and abilities

Since Bowser is the King of Koopas, he possess the powers of many of the Koopa subspecies, such as Fire Bros' fire breath, Spiny's shell spikes, and Hammer Bros.' hammers. Bowser's signature ability is breathing fire. He can choose to either breathe a long breath of flame or shoot many fireballs. Bowser is quite advanced in his fire-breathing, he can shoot blue flames that follow Mario in Super Mario 64 and New Super Mario Bros. and can even breathe fire underwater in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario. Another one of Bowser's most-often used abilities is his power and durability, something that Bowser prides himself in. Bowser is often the most powerful character in sports games and can create shockwaves by doing a simple ground pound in several games. Bowser's durable nature is evident seeing that he has fallen into lava, been blown up, etc., but has managed to survive all this many times. Bowser is also shown to have an extremely loud and powerful roar that often sends weak enemies running away before a battle even begins. In Super Mario Bros., Bowser also threw hammers like a Hammer Bro but has rarely used the technique since, only to be used once again in Super Princess Peach and by his alter-ego Rookie in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. He briefly used it in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars when after battling him at the beginning, he throws a hammer at Mario's Kinklink.

Speed and Agility

Bowser's speed and agility are very inconsistent and they greatly vary from game to game. In some games Bowser is actually faster and more agile than Mario is, such as in Super Mario 64 where Bowser can jump hundreds of feet in the air if Mario tosses him off the platform. In that game for short distances, he can also run faster then Mario can. Despite his size, Bowser has demonstrated the ability to pull off a move similar to Mario's spinning during a boss fight in Super Mario Galaxy. However, Bowser is usually slower than Mario in playable appearances and sports games. In Super Paper Mario, Bowser is the slowest usable character and also has poor climbing abilities. If Bowser tries to climb a ladder, he would only move his arms a little bit and then say "Can't climb this"; however he can climb ladders in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Bowser is shown to have good swimming abilities, just like Mario, though he reportedly hates swimming (though this may derive from the fact that his Koopa Clown Car crash-landed in the sea and he was forced to swim back to Rogueport). Another example is in the Mario & Sonic at the Oylmpics series. In the summer games he is the slowest runner with a 2/10 stat, while in the winter games he has an 8/10 stat; most power characters have a good speed stat in that game, though their speed is still inferior to Sonic's, and they lacked accelerating abilities.

Relationships

Mario

While Bowser has many enemies, no one has caused him more anger than Mario himself. Bowser has had a deep-rooted hatred for Mario because he has continuously disrupted his plans and won the heart of Princess Peach. Though Bowser despises Mario with a passion, he has a grudging respect for him and sees him as a worthy opponent, although he's tried to hide this reluctant respect. This is shown most strongly in Super Mario Galaxy, where Bowser says that he picked the right guy to be his archenemy since Mario always puts up a fight, and even more strongly in Mario Super Sluggers where Bowser saved Mario from being hit with a Bullet Bill sent from Wario and Waluigi. Of course, Bowser only saved Mario so that he could destroy him himself. Mario himself seems to have some sort of sympathy for the villain, going as far as even letting Bowser go in Mario Party DS. Though this is most likely due to the fact that Bowser's scheme unintentionally led Mario and his friends to have fun and that his plans weren't nearly as brutal as past ones. Although it should also be noted that Mario celebrated after viewing Bowser's seemingly permanent destruction in New Super Mario Bros., although he did eventually return. In the first two Paper Mario games, Bowser tries to defeat Mario once and for all using new strategies; stealing the Star Rod to become invincible in the first (though he is defeated the second and third times he is fought) and attacking him twice, each directly after a previous battle (which may leave Mario worn out before he fights Bowser), in the second. Their battle seems to be an eternal one as Bowser has survived numerous situations and even came back from the dead.

In spite of their rivalry, twice Bowser joins forces with Mario to defeat a greater foe who also poses a more immediate threat to him: In the first, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, he and Mario both wanted Smithy defeated, in Bowser's case so he could get his castle back, and viewed it more as Mario helping him than the other way around, and went back to his evil ways once Smithy was destroyed; second, in Super Paper Mario, he is extremely reluctant, but only joins Mario's team when he realizes he can't rule the world if Count Bleck destroys it. He plays a slightly similar role during Mario's quest to get Peach's voice back (to prevent her explosive vocabulary replacement from destroying his castle if he kidnaps her) at the beginning of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, but is attacked by Fawful shortly after. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, however, despite the fact that both he and Mario are trying to defeat Fawful, and that Mario and Luigi are helping him from within, Bowser never joins forces with them, fighting them all three times he encounters them.

Princess Peach

While Bowser has much hatred for the Mushroom Kingdom's residents, this hatred apparently does not apply to Princess Peach. One of the most complex aspects of Bowser is his relationship with Peach. It at first seemed that he only abducted her for control of the kingdom and to use her as bait to lure Mario into danger. However, it is later revealed that Bowser is attracted to Peach and lusts for her. While he has harmed her in many ways, Bowser will never go as far as killing her and treats her fairly nicely. Even though Bowser has an attraction to Peach, he in no way cares for perspective. He has ruthlessly attacked her kingdom, caused much destruction, and forced her to watch him nearly kill Mario, the person she truly loves, while tied up. It seems that Bowser's attraction for Peach is mainly physical, but Peach is the only one in the whole series, other than his children, capable of showing that Bowser has affection somewhere deep in his seemingly cold heart. Peach herself is able to recognize Bowser's softer side towards her and often flirts with him to agree to help Mario, to which Bowser reluctantly agrees. It can be assumed that Bowser does not care for anybody or anything other than Princess Peach, his own children, and his army. It is also possible that he does not care for her at all and just wants to make Mario feel jealous.

Children

Even though Bowser has shown less sinister aspects on rare occasions, he is still an evil villain with a lust for power. He does however care very deeply for his 8 children and is very proud of them for their loyalty towards him and the Koopa Troop. Even though he cares for his children, he sometimes uses them as pawns and can treat them as simply minions rather than family. This is shown most strongly when Bowser lied to Bowser Jr. to give him motivation to embark on a scheme to abduct the princess and destroy Mario, although it is not known if Jr. needed that much motivation anyway. It should also be noted that in Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser grieved over the impending destruction of his galaxy rather than the welfare of his own son. It can be surmised that while Bowser does care for his children, he seems to care for his plans and himself just as much and this care may even overshadow his children. Yet, his children never shown signs of berating him despite his actions.

Luigi

Another one of Bowser's odd, if not comical, interactions with other characters are his ones with Luigi. While Luigi has often helped Mario disrupt the Koopa King's plans, Bowser briefly forgets who Luigi is in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story where he call's Luigi 'Green Stache', showing how little Bowser thinks about Luigi. When Bowser kidnapped Mario in Mario is Missing! he thought he was unstoppable until Luigi stopped him. Since then, it seems he has realized Luigi's potential threat level, Bowser had Luigi captured in Super Princess Peach and in Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser apparently saw Luigi as so much of a threat that he placed him under heavy guard in a haunted mansion guarded by Boos. Even though he sees Luigi as a threat, Bowser holds Luigi in low esteem; he is shocked and disgusted at himself when he believes that he even lost to Luigi in getting a Crystal Star in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. On many occasions though, Bowser seems to hate Luigi mostly for the simple fact that he is related to the man who has caused so much harm to the king and his Koopa Troop. Regardless, Bowser and Luigi are considered enemies, but can get along when the situation calls for it such as in Super Paper Mario.

Yoshi

Yoshi and Bowser have crossed paths numerous times ever since Bowser was a baby. He first encountered Yoshi when Kamek kidnapped Baby Luigi, and Yoshi came to rescue him alongside Baby Mario. While Bowser hardly thinks about those who help Mario in his journey, it is clear that he sees Yoshi as a threat, as he encased his species into Yoshi Eggs in order to keep them from ruining his plans. Later, in Super Mario 64 DS, Bowser imprisoned Mario, Luigi, and Wario inside Princess Peach's Castle Walls, leaving Yoshi to jump into action and stop Bowser. Despite all these events, Bowser still overlooks Yoshi as an actual fatal flaw in a few of his plans.

Strangely enough, despite of their negative relationship, their chemistry is neutral in Mario Super Sluggers.

Wario

Wario, despite being the opposite of his arch-nemesis Mario, is not in good terms with the Koopa King. Wario and Bowser are usually pitted against each other throughout the games, such as Mario Superstar Baseball, where they mercilessly taunt each other, or Super Mario 64 DS, where Wario helps Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi obtain the Power Stars and defeat Bowser. Also, in Mario Super Sluggers, when Wario fired a Bullet Bill towards Mario, Bowser protected Mario by deflecting the attack back. As babies, they also get into fights in Yoshi's Island DS.

Koopa Troop

Bower’s relations with his army and underlings are usually held in good regards. Bowser has respect for all his underlings, but cares very little for them if they fail him. He seems to somehow bring some of his defeated minions in Super Mario Galaxy back to life to give them another shot at beating Mario. If they betray him however, Bowser sees them as enemies and will not hesitate to eliminate them. His minions also, surprisingly, hold Bowser in extremely high regard and serve him out of respect more than in fear. While many do fear his wrath, his minions believe Bowser to be the strongest and best suited to run the army. Nearly every single one of his henchmen, while failing numerous times, is a hundred percent loyal to their king and serve him faithfully. Kammy Koopa and Kamek are prime examples as they treat Bowser as a god and never complain about him, even when he's not around. This applies to most of his other troops with the only complaint being that Bowser may be overly nervous about Peach escaping, though this nervousness is rational.

Names in other languages

Names in other languages
Language		Name	Meaning
	Japanese	クッパ Kuppa	Koopa, a reference to the Korean dish gukbap, called "kuppa" in Japanese
	Chinese	酷霸 Kùbà	Transliteration of the Japanese name
	German	Bowser	-
	Italian	Bowser	-
	Korean	쿠파 Kupa	Transliteration of the Japanese name
	Spanish	Bowser	-

In older Japanese 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."

References

Triva

• Ganondorf and Bowser are the only villains to be playable from Melee up to Ultimate.

This page uses content from the Super Mario Wiki. The original source was Bowser (Revision #767703). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Zelda Wiki, the text of the Super Mario Wiki from before June 9, 2010 is usable under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Information about the site's copyright can be read at MarioWiki:Copyrights.