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“ | SHOWTIME! | „ |
~ Bowser's most famous quote when he starts a battle without an initial hit in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story |
“ | Yeah... I'm a piece of work, ain't I?! All this power, AND looks too! I know, I know! You're thinking, “A big strong guy like him would be great to have along!” right? I'm gonna do something I may regret later...! I'll let you join the “Koopa Troop”. You can thank me later... | „ |
~ Bowser joining Mario in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars |
“ | GWAHAHA! Great dark hurricane! Seriously, perfect backdrop for an awesome final battle! You really sweat the details! Listen up! You're saying the kingdom will vanish? NOT TODAY! THIS KINGDOM IS ALL MINE! SO YOU VANISH! | „ |
~ Bowser before battling Dark Bowser |
King Bowser Koopa Sr., also known as King Koopa or Bowser, is the main antagonist of Nintendo's Super Mario franchise. Even though he is the main antagonist of the series, he has had some anti-heroic roles in some spinoff games, and is also an ally in the Skylanders series.
He is a turtle-esque monster who is the supreme leader of the Koopa Troop, the father of Bowser Jr. and the arch-nemesis of Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach. Despite being their enemy, however, Bowser has aided the heroes from time-to-time in order to fight even bigger threats than himself. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars he teamed up with Mario and Peach, along with Mallow and Geno, to defeat the Smithy Gang after they took control of his castle. In the Mario & Luigi series, he briefly worked with the Mario Bros. to recover Peach's voice from the evil bean witch, Cackletta, and then later on aided them in defeating her former servant, Fawful when he took over both Bowser and Peach's kingdoms to reawaken the Dark Star. In Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope he aided the heroes in fighting against Cursa, who brainwashed his army into serving it in conquering the universe.
He was voiced by Scott Burns, then by Kenny James as his normal self, while being voiced by Frank Welker as his gargantuan form, Giga Bowser, in the Super Smash Bros. series. In the 2023 movie, a different version of him is voiced by Jack Black, who also plays Po from the Kung Fu Panda franchise.
Appearance
Bowser has large lips and sharp teeth. He has yellow skin (although Super Mario Bros. portrays him with green skin), lines on his stomach, and sharp claws. His most recognizable features are his spiked shell, red mane, and spiked cuffs, which except for the mane have been prominent features of Bowser in all of his appearances. One point of debate over time has been Bowser's size, which seems to vary in every one of his appearances. Most of the time, he is about twice the size of Mario.
Other Media
Super Smash Bros
Bowser appears in most of the Smash Bros games except the original game for the N64.
Bowser makes his debut in the Smash Bros. series as a default playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee and is billed as staying true to his archetype in normal competitive Mario games: the heftiest and strongest character, but also the most sluggish. He is actually one of two characters that can be said to best fit this role, the other being Ganondorf. He appears as Giga Bowser as the final boss of Adventure mode who can only be fought if the mode is beat in under 18 minutes. Giga Bowser is also the opponent alongside Mewtwo and Ganondorf in event 51.
Bowser returns in Smash Bros Brawl as a fighter who looks fiercer and more serious. He is a major antagonist in Adventure Mode.
He appears as a member of the Subspace army alongside Wario and Ganondorf and has a job in kidnaping fighters. He first appears in the DK Jungle confronting Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong after they find their bananas. He has a special gun that will turn any character into a trophy. He aims it at Diddy to turn him into one, but DK super punches him far away and gets turned into a trophy instead. After running into and teaming up with Fox McCloud, Diddy finds a Bowser trophy laying around that they beat, but it was a fake, and it dissolves into little shadow bugs. The real Bowser appears and attacks the two, but they escape deeper into the jungle.
Later in the story, Bowser distracts Kirby and finds the princess he saved from Petey Piranha. Bowser turns that princess into a trophy and has the shadow bugs turn into a dark clone of that princess. He then takes the princess aboard the Halberd and leaves the clone to deal with other characters. He then receives a transmission from Ganondorf to go to King Dedede's castle and retrieve the other princess trophy. Bowser does so and with his Koopa troops, they storm the castle, knock out King Dedede and take the princess trophy. He is pursued outside the castle by Mario, Link, Pit, Kirby, and Yoshi but he escapes and retreats to the Halberd.
With the princesses successfully captured, Bowser arrives at the swamp after Fox and Diddy Kong again and this time, turns the ape into a trophy. He goes after Fox, but the fox is too fast for the ray gun. Bowser is then attacked and his gun is destroyed by Falco Lombardi. The two then bring Diddy Kong back to life and Bowser flees, but not before having the shadow bugs form a giant False Diddy Kong and has it attack the trio, although the evil copy gets defeated.
Bowser is seen later aboard a giant subspace warship with Ganondorf. The protagonists, all reunited, fly toward the ship and Ganondorf open fires on the ships, but Kirby uses the Dragoon and to destroy the core of the ship; causing it to explode, so Ganondorf and Bowser retreat into subspace. As the two villains head to meet Master Hand, Bowser is betrayed by Ganondorf and turned into a trophy by him and pushed aside. Ganondorf and Master Hand meet and are both betrayed by the true master mind of subspace, Tabuu. Tabuu knocks the Master Hand unconscious and turns Ganondorf, along with all the heroes (Except Sonic, Toon Link, Jigglypuff and Wolf) into its trophies.
Far away, King Dedede, Ness and Luigi are brought back to life, and they enter subspace to bring the other heroes back to life. Halfway through, they find Bowser's trophy and revive him. Bowser reawakens and attacks the trio and King Dedede engages in battle with him. Dedede wins and Bowser is turned back into a trophy. The same thing happens again but Dedede shuts him up and tells him that Tabuu is the real enemy. Bowser then reluctantly joins the groups of heroes. When the rest of the heroes are revived, Bowser finds Ganondorf's trophy and continuously beats it as revenge for earlier and storms off in anger. Bowser then joins the heroes in the Great Maze, beating the clone fighters to make their way to the final fight against Tabuu, and they defeat him as well. They are all seen standing proudly on the cliff at the end after saving their world from being assimilated into subspace.
Bowser returns as a playable character in the video games Super Smash Bros. For 3DS and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U. Unlike his more serious Super Smash Bros. Brawl design, Bowser now more closely resembles himself from the Mario games, albeit a bit more feral/aggressive-looking. He is also way more athletic than before standing up straight this time.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Bowser was vaporized by Galeem and the only way to unlock Bowser is to defeat Giga Bowser in battle.
Power and Abilities
- Fire Breathing: Bowser's most prominent and consistent ability, appearing in nearly all games he has been featured in. He can breath continuous streams of fire, or shoot blasts or flurries of fireballs at his foes. In some games, like Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros U, he can make it "rain" fire blasts, and, in Super Mario 64 and New Super Mario Bros., can also shoot blue fire blasts that can home in on Mario. His fire breath is so hot that it is also just as effective underwater as it is on land.
- Superhuman Qualities: Over the years, Bowser has displayed countless feats that put him far above the average koopa.
- Superhuman Strength: Bowser's raw physical strength is frequently seen as one of his main powers. He can smash through boulders, lift immensely heavy objects with relative ease, and topple enemies numerous times his size. In many of the RPG and sports games, he is typically among the strongest characters in the game, like in Super Paper Mario, where his attack stat is twice that of Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach's respectively. Much like with his fire breath, he prides himself on his strength and frequently incorporates physical attacks into his fighting because of this.
- Superhuman Durability: Bowser has proven time and time again that he is not taken down very easily by most foes. He can endure a seemingly endless amount of punishment, and somehow always returns from this in one way or another. He has been drenched in lava, electrocuted, blown up, crushed by objects as heavy as his castle numerous times, fallen hundreds of feet, and even squashed by a T-Rex in Mario's Time Machine, and has inevitably survived each fate. In Super Paper Mario, after he seemingly sacrifices himself by holding up the ceiling of Count Bleck's Castle with O'Chunks, Luigi encourages the Princess and his brother to not give up hope on him by saying "he's survived far worse".
- Superhuman Speed and Agility: Although his speed is hardy consistent between games, in some of his appearances, Bowser is shown to be a capable runner and quite agile for his size. In Mario & Luigi: 's Inside Story, he uses a treadmill placed by Fawful and Midbus to burn off thousands of calories gained by eating incredibly unhealthy food in only a few seconds, in Movie he was faster than before on game as he jumps front of Mario as able to keep up.
- Superhuman Stamina: Bowser's stamina is almost as limitless as his durability. He rarely ever shows signs of tiring, even when massively expending himself for hours on end. In battle, never slows down, keeping up with Mario and other enemies like his dark counterpart Dark Bowser blow for blow.
- Dark Magic: While not as prolific in the use of it as Kamek, Bowser is well versed in using various forms of Dark Magic against his opponents. He knows spells that can transform people into inanimate objects, as explained in the manual of Super Mario Bros. and he has used different magical wands over the years for varying purposes (although this is more commonly seen in the cartoons and comics).
- Size Manipulation: In numerous games, he can transform himself into a giant size to battle his enemies. Most of the time this is by being empowered by Kamek or somebody else, but, as seen in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, if he's supercharged with adrenaline, he can temporarily achieve his giant size naturally. In the Super Smash Bros. series, by breaking a Smash Ball, can become Giga Bowser, an alternate, yet still effective version of his typical giant form. Regardless of how he gains it, Bowser's giant form massively increases his strength, durability, and other abilities, to the point where Mario and other characters cannot fight him directly and must find some other way to defeat him. In games such as Paper Mario and Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bowser can use the power of Stars to grow himself to immense size.
- High Skill in Sports and Other Activities: Like almost all Mario characters, Bowser is an extremely qualified player in numerous sports and physical activities. While not being particularly talented in any activity, he has been shown as a skilled tennis, soccer, hockey and basketball player, golfer, go-kart racer, Olympic athlete, wrestler (given some of his moves in the Smash Brothers games), and even a professional dancer, in Movie he capable Fighting with his fist able to defeat Donkey Kong, Toad and Princess Peach
Quotes
“ | Gwah ha ha ha! | „ |
~ Bowser |
“ | Mario! Prepare yourself for the great beyond! | „ |
~ Bowser in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars |
“ | Bwaaaa ha ha! The water's great, eh, Jr.? | „ |
~ Bowser in Super Mario Sunshine |
“ | MARIO! How dare you disturb my family vacation! [roars] | „ |
~ Bowser in Super Mario Sunshine |
“ | Princess Peach! You are formally invited... to the creation of my new galaxy! Gwahahaha! This festival's over! | „ |
~ Bowser's first words in Super Mario Galaxy |
“ | Raawwwrrgh! My powers... gone... My empire... shrinking... My huge cake... never got a slice... | „ |
~ Bowser's last words in Super Mario Galaxy 2 |
“ | Now go make mayhem!! | „ |
~ Bowser in Mario Party 8 |
“ | Mario! I don't have time for you. I'm busy planning my wedding! Don't you know how stressful that is?! | „ |
~ Bowser in Super Mario Odyssey |
“ | Happy times indeed! It's time for a Bowser Mini-game! | „ |
~ Bowser in Mario Party 5 |
“ | Wait, outer space? Bowser Station? THAT MEANS THEY'RE COMING HERE! | „ |
~ Bowser in Mario Party 9 |
“ | Tippi! Yeah, you're right. C'mon, let's jump him! | „ |
~ Bowser in Super Paper Mario |
“ | I rule! Heh heh heh! | „ |
~ Bowser in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour |
“ | I feel funny. I can't keep from dancing, and I feel...happy? | „ |
~ Bowser in Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix |
“ | Bowser: WELL, wimps? A "thank you" would be nice! I did save your lives just now! Beep-0: [sighs] Never mind all that, what are you DOING here, Bowser?! |
„ |
~ Bowser in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope |
“ | I'm bad, and that's good. I'll never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me. | „ |
~ Bowser in Wreck-It-Ralph |
Audio Samples
Heroic Roles
- Whenever Bowser isn't kidnapping Peach, he can surprisingly friendly towards Mario and co. Examples include when Bowser is forced to ally with Mario against a bigger threat and multiplayer based spinoffs such as Mario Kart.
- As revealed in the spin-offs, Bowser shows his minions with some respect and can reward them greatly whilst also being a deeply loving father.
- Bowser's first heroic role came in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. He teamed up with Mario, Peach, Mallow, Geno to defeat Smithy and his army to reclaim Bowser's Keep.
- In Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga, Bowser aided Mario and Luigi in travelling to the Beanbean Kingdom although he was quickly defeated by Tolstar shooting him from a cannon.
- Bowser was transported to Skylands by travelling through a rift that had been created by Kaos' terrible Sky-Eater. The Skylanders sent out a distress call across all the dimensions to call for reinforcements, and for reasons known only to himself, he has decided to join this epic battle against Kaos and the Darkness in his Clown Cruiser as the newest and most lethal of all the SuperChargers.
- Bowser appeared in Wreck-It Ralph as one of the minor characters and a member of Bad-Anon, which acts as a support group for the bad guys/villains of the arcade.
- Additionally, he is the only character from the Mario franchise that appears in the movie.
- Bowser is a major supporting character in Paper Mario: The Origami King, where he is stapled into a tiny box for most of the game. Upon the death of the Stapler, he assumes his true form and aids Mario and Olivia when confronting King Olly. Once King Olly enlarges, he turns into the gigantic Mega Bowser and proves instrumental in the defeat of King Olly's second form, although the tyrant's final form sends him flying off into the abyss, though he survives. Once King Olly is defeated and peace is restored, there is an apparent ceasefire of tensions between the Bowser and Mushroom Kingdoms as Bowser and his minions join in the Origami Festival.
- In Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Bowser first appeared fighting against the Spark Hunter Bedrock, seemingly struggling to keep up with his opponent and being dragged into a Battle field pocket dimension. To allow him to fight in battle arenas, Bowser is given a rocket launcher named the "Bowzooka" which he promptly picked up and used to assist in fighting against Bedrock. Once Bedrock was defeated, Bowser explained that he was fighting Cursa's armies in an attempt to recover his armies that had being brainwashed, and was invited to join Mario and the Rabbids in their quest. From that point onward Bowser joins the party as a playable character.
- In the Subspace Emissary of Super Smash Bros Brawl and World of the Light of Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Bowser teams up with the rest of the casting of the two games, even though he attempted to kidnap Diddy Kong three times and Fox McCloud twice. He however stopped tormenting them when Falco Lombardi arrived to their rescue and protected the two from the king of the Koopas.
External Links
- Bowser on the Villains Wiki
- Bowser on the Wikipedia
- Bowser on the Mario Wiki
- Bowser on the Nintendo Wiki
- Bowser on the Super Mario Wiki
- Bowser on the Wreck-It Ralph Wiki
- Bowser on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
- Bowser on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
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The Arcade Internet Video game characters Disney characters |
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