Bowser

King Bowser Koopa (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 primary antagonist of the Mario series and the archenemy of Mario. He is the leader of the Koopa race. Although Bowser has joined forces with Mario in a few games, he has never ceased to kidnap Princess Peach and attempt to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom since his first appearance in Super Mario Bros..

As the central villain of one of the world's most popular video game franchises, Bowser is easily one of the most recognizable video game villains ever, though he has comic-relief roles in most of the RPGs. Though their origins are unknown, Bowser has eight children; the seven Koopalings and Bowser Jr..

Family
Bowser is shown to have eight children. Seven of them, the Koopalings, debuted in Super Mario Bros. 3. Later on, Super Mario Sunshine featured an eighth child: Bowser Jr.. Recently, for the first time in the series, both Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings appeared and teamed up together in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Appearances
In Super Mario Bros., his first appearance, Bowser appears at the end of each of the eight worlds (Level X-4). These areas are "dungeon stages" and are characterized by white brick platforms, ample lava and spinning sticks of fire that can burn Mario/Luigi. Bowser waits at the end, on a bridge over a pool of lava. By grabbing the axe at the right end of the bridge, Mario/Luigi can cut the rope at the end, making the bridge collapse and sending Bowser into the pit of lava below. Alternatively, Bowser can also be defeated by repeatedly shooting him with fireballs. Due to graphic limitations, the in-game Bowser does not seem to have hair, although the official artwork for the game, as well as the remake in Super Mario All-Stars, depicted him with hair. Bowser throws hammers in Super Mario Bros., similar to the Hammer Bros., but this ability has largely been dropped; exceptions being throwing hammers with magic in Super Princess Peach, and he also threw hammers at the beginning of Super Mario RPG, and uses them as his primary attack in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga when he is teaming up with Popple, while Dry Bowser (his skeletal form) in New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii throws bones in a similar manner.

Though Bowser appears in the Japanese sequel to Super Mario Bros. (a title known outside Japan as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels), he appears and behaves identically to his original incarnation. Only in Super Mario Bros. 3 did Bowser return with a new plot and a new look. For the first time in the games, players saw Bowser with a mane of red hair, a look that has remained with Bowser ever since. This time, Bowser only appears at the end of the final level: his castle at the end of World 8, where Mario and Luigi have to trick him into crashing through his floor in order to defeat him (although he could also be defeated with several fireballs or hammers.) This game also introduces Bowser's first seven children, the Koopalings. Despite the presence of offspring, no mate of Bowser has appeared in any story, and his only known relationship is his marriage to a reluctant Princess Peach in Super Paper Mario.

Super Mario World
Bowser's next appearance in a standard 2-D platform adventure was Super Mario World. There, he once again appears as the final boss in the Valley of Bowser. Bowser's children, the Koopalings, again make an appearance. Here, Nintendo introduces something that would continue to be associated with Bowser through the rest of his video game appearances to date: Bowser riding the Koopa Clown Car. Fireballs now proved to be useless, and the player had to defeat him by stunning his Mechakoopas and tossing them back at him.

Super Mario RPG
For the first time ever, in Super Mario RPG, Bowser becomes a full-fledged ally to Mario. After being thrown out of his castle (called a keep in this game) by the Smithy Gang (the antagonists of the game), he reluctantly joins Mario on his quest to recover the star pieces and repair the mystical Star Road, thus defeating Smithy and returning Bowser's castle to Bowser.

Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS
In Super Mario 64 and its remake, Super Mario 64 DS, Bowser invaded Princess Peach's Castle and stole the Power Stars. He used them to create worlds inside many of the paintings and walls of the castle. Peach and many of her Toads were also trapped in the paintings of the castle and could only be freed by Mario regaining all of the Power Stars.

To ensure that Mario did not disrupt his plans again, Bowser sealed off the doors in the castle with the stars and even created doors that would only open with his keys. Unfortunately for Bowser, he did not lock one door, leading to his undoing as Mario was able to collect stars from the painting beyond that door, and then open other doors and systematically sweep through the castle towards Bowser.

In these games, Bowser was battled three times: once in the Dark World, once in the Fire Sea and once in the Sky. Every single time, Mario defeats Bowser by grabbing his tail and throwing him into one of several bombs surrounding the battle arena. In the DS version, during the Fire Sea battle, Bowser also warps from one section of the platform to another, and pounds the platform to make it go off balance. In the third and final battle, Mario had to throw Bowser into a bomb three times before he was defeated. Bowser even managed to double Mario's load by breaking apart the vast platform they were on into the shape of a star, making tossing him a difficult venture. He also attacked Mario by chasing him. Bowser was able to escape, but Mario saved Princess Peach and restored peace to the castle with the power of the stars.

In Super Mario 64, Bowser was solely defeated by the efforts of Mario. However, the remake Super Mario 64 DS differed in that the player was required to be both Yoshi and Mario to prove victorious. Luigi and Wario were available to be unlocked in Big Boo's Haunt and Chief Chilly Challenge respectively. But, keeping true to his rivalry with the red-clad plumber, Bowser would not accept any challengers but Mario himself for the final battle (although a glitch allowed him to be fought by anyone).

Luigi's Mansion
In Luigi's Mansion, Madame Clairvoya tells Luigi that Bowser has been "soundly defeated" by Mario, and speculates that King Boo might have revived him, suggesting that Bowser was presumed destroyed following his latest clash with Mario. His demise is an unconfirmed event however, as the Bowser-like entity of Luigi's Mansion is never identified, and is merely piloted as a suit by King Boo, who is the final boss and ultimate villain of the game. Interestingly enough, at the end of the game, the Bowser-like spirit is also trapped in the painting with King Boo.

Super Mario Sunshine
In Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser's eighth child, Bowser Jr., was introduced. Bowser told his son that Peach was his mother and that Mario kidnapped her. Bowser Jr. took on the disguise of Shadow Mario and vandalized Isle Delfino with Graffiti, framing Mario as a graffiti criminal. Mario, determined to prove his innocence, cleaned the mess with the aid of F.L.U.D.D. Bowser Jr. kidnapped Peach during this time and was pursued by Mario. Bowser Jr. revealed his true identity, but Mecha Bowser allowed Bowser Jr. to get away to Corona Mountain.

Mario reached Bowser and his son at the end of the volcano in a floating, sun-shaped, slime-filled bathtub just above the peak of Corona Mountain. Bowser tried to kill Mario by breathing enormous gusts of flame and splashing slime at him, while Bowser Jr. assaulted him with Bullet Bills. Mario used F.L.U.D.D's Rocket Nozzle to produce a few massive Ground Pounds that tipped the bowl over, sending the Koopas to fall into a miniature island adjacent to Isle Delfino. Bowser confessed to his son that he had used him as a pawn, but Bowser Jr. then revealed to his father that he knew all along that Peach was not his mother, and that he was eager to challenge Mario again some time in the future, when he would be bigger, which filled Bowser with pride. They then decided to continue their vacation together.

Super Princess Peach
In Super Princess Peach, Bowser, after hearing about a mysterious and powerful artifact hidden on Vibe Island, decides to search for said artifact, and he consequently also builds his summer villa there. Eventually, Bowser finds the artifact, the Vibe Scepter, which is capable of controlling and manipulating the emotions of others. Bowser proceeded to entrust a Goomba with the Vibe Scepter and then orders this Goomba to lead a brigade of Hammer Bros. to attack Princess Peach's Castle. Bowser's raiding party succeeds in capturing Mario, Luigi and several Toads. Unfortunately for Bowser, his Goomba minion proved incapable of handling the Vibe Scepter's power and ended-up casting a spell over Vibe Island, unleashing chaos throughout. After all of the Toads and Luigi are rescued, Princess Peach and her umbrella ally, Perry, can face Bowser who, with the Vibe Scepter, can increase his power; regardless, Bowser is still defeated and Mario is freed by the princess.

New Super Mario Bros.
In New Super Mario Bros., Bowser is the first boss. He is fought the same way as in the original Super Mario Bros. (except the axe is replaced with a generic switch which performs the same function), but this time, the lava he falls in disfigures him into a Dry Bones-like skeleton. The reanimated Bowser skeleton, named Dry Bowser or Skeleton Bowser, is later fought in the first World 8 castle, before Bowser Jr. resurrects his father in a potion-filled cauldron just in time for the game's final showdown. In this showdown, Bowser is a bit smarter, and will attempt to lunge at the player when the player gets behind him.

Yoshi's Island DS
Bowser also appeared in the Nintendo DS game Yoshi's Island DS as the game's main antagonist. In this game, Bowser travels back in time in search of seven legendary stars that can apparently give him the power to rule the universe. The search for these stars lead Bowser to kidnap babies all across the planet thinking that the stars are located in the hearts of certain babies. Bowser appears as the game's final boss, right after his younger self.

Mario Kart DS
Once a totally despised criminal, Bowser has occasionally stepped down from his position of evilness to have some fun with Mario and his friends in the Nintendo DS game Mario Kart DS. He is still a long ways from perfect, as he often kidnaps the princess or causes trouble in Mushroom Kingdom. As a racer, Bowser is extremely heavy. That's good for top speed, but horrible for acceleration and off-track racing.

Super Paper Mario
Bowser made an appearance in the Wii game Super Paper Mario. Princess Peach is forced to marry him by the mysterious Count Bleck and Nastasia. However, the union between them reveals the Chaos Heart, which would produce The Void that would threaten all of existence. He reluctantly joins up with Mario and Peach (as well as Luigi, who joins later on) to stop the evil Count Bleck and his minions.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
Bowser makes an appearance in the official game of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He is classed as a 'Power' type and has alot of Power and Stamina. He is very good at the Hammer Throw, but not so good at 100m.

Super Mario Galaxy
Prior to the events of Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser attacked Rosalina's observatory and stole all the Power Stars and the Seven Grand Stars that powered the observatory. Bowser used these incredible stars to bring his entire fleet to the cosmos and take over many galaxies, planning to construct a galaxy reactor powered by the Grand Stars that would make all the galaxies collapse upon themselves. This would give birth to a new cosmos in which he would use to rule and control the whole universe as a Galactic Empire that would last forever with Peach as Bowser's empress. He then kidnapped Peach during the events of the Star Festival, and held her at the center of the universe where he was overseeing the construction of his reactor. During this time, Bowser Jr. led most of the Koopa Troop to conquer several galaxies.

Mario, helped by Rosalina, collected many Grand and Power Stars and destroyed much of the Koopa Troop, encountering and defeating Bowser twice in his attempt to rescue Peach. Regardless of these drawbacks, Bowser remained confident of 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. held Peach captive while Mario fought Bowser on multiple planets. Despite his efforts, Mario defeated Bowser and sent him into the magma of his own sun. The final Grand Star was released from the galaxy reactor, which exploded and formed a large black hole that began to suck up the cosmos. The Lumas used their powers to reverse the black hole, creating a new Big Bang and reforming the cosmos. Rosalina then appears to Mario in a vision, explaining to him that the nature and fabric of the universe is always unpredictable and always uses different patterns to sustain itself. Bowser tried to control this force for his own nefarious means, and for that he almost paid the ultimate price; he nearly sacrificed his own life. Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. are then shown back at a restored Toad Town. Relieved to be alive, Bowser left to plan further schemes

Super Smash Bros.
Bowser is also a playable character in Super Smash Bros Melee and Super Smash Bros Brawl. In Brawl, he uses his final smash by turning into Giga Bowser.

See also Bowser (SSBM) and Bowser (SSBB)

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Bowser appeared, and was again the final boss in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here, he appeared together with his eight children, the Koopalings and Bowser Jr.. In the last castle of World 8, Bowser was found in the last chamber, sending out fireballs toward Mario, similarly to his appearance in the original Super Mario Bros. When Mario began the battle, Bowser was fought in the same manner as in Super Mario Bros., as well as in the first castle in the original New Super Mario Bros. After Mario pressed the switch that caused the bridge to collapse beneath Bowser, sending him falling into a pit once again, a victory fanfare played and Mario rejoiced, believing to have won. However, upon inspecting Princess Peach up above, it turned out that it was, in fact, Kamek, disguised as Peach. Kamek then cast a spell over the chasm that Bowser had fallen down. As a rumbling noise began, Kamek paused to see if the spell had actually worked. To his surprise, Bowser appeared, now at a gigantic size, knocking Kamek off his broom, and proceeded to chase after Mario. Mario rushed through the area beyond the boss room, luring Bowser into launching fireballs at walls so that they were destroyed and he could proceed. After a long and grueling chase, Mario heard Peach's voice, and saw her in a cage up ahead, over a large switch. Jumping on the switch, Mario opened a humongous chasm, right underneath Bowser, that drained the lava from the room and took the Koopa King with it, defeating him for good. He was later seen being helped by his children, having survived the drop and returned to his normal size, but then crushed by his own Castle.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Bowser appears again in Super Mario Galaxy 2, once again as the primary antagonist. He invades the Mushroom Kingdom again, along with his son, Bowser Jr., but at a gigantic size, due to the power of the Power Stars that he stole. He kidnaps Princess Peach and flees into space again, claiming that he'll build a galactic empire to suit his new size, and put it in the center of the universe.

Additionally, he attacked and destroyed Lubba's starship prior to the game, causing the Lumas to rebuild it in Mario's image when they team up with him. Using Starship Mario to pursue Bowser, Mario has to collect the Power Stars and save Princess Peach as he has done before. Bowser also orders a Magikoopa to get rid of Yoshi as he does not want Mario teaming up with his dinosaur friend.

Mario faces Bowser three times in this game. The fights take place on a spherical planetoid, where Bowser, in his gigantic size, attempts to crush Mario with his fists, and by sending meteors crashing down upon him. When using his fists, Bowser's hand does get stuck in the planetoid briefly, and any meteors on the battlefield will rise and turn yellow. Mario has to ground pound on the meteors, so that they hit Bowser. He'll also use his fire breath to try and fry Mario.

The final battle at Bowser's Galaxy Generator has two phases, with the second phase requiring Mario to send yellow meteors at Bowser before he gets close enough to punch him.

During the ending, Bowser is shown to be tiny, which may likely be a side effect for using the Grand Stars to make himself huge.

Mario Party Games
Bowser appeared in all Mario Party but as the villain. On Mario Party 2 Bowser got his own space. If a character lands on his space something bad happens. Sometimes he'll force the players to play one of his dreaded minigames like Rain of Fire, Treasure Dome!, Fruits of Doom and more.

Mario Party 8
In Mario Party 8, Bowser attacked the winner of the Star Battle Arena tournament, stealing the Star Rod. He challenges the champion to a duel against one of his minions: either Hammer Bro or Blooper in Bowser's Warped Orbit. Upon defeating the minion, Bowser challenged the champion to his minigame, Superstar Showdown. If the champion won, Bowser would claim defeat and Star Rod was won.

Mario Party DS
Bowser once again meddled with Mario and friends when he invited Mario to his castle for an apology party. When Mario arrived the King of Koopas blasted Mario with the minimizer a shrinking device.

Personality
Bowser is a villain of pure evil. Cruel and ruthless, Bowser is commonly portrayed as a power-hungry tyrant whose intentions are to rule the Mushroom Kingdom and the entire universe. His crimes range from kidnapping Princess Peach to acts of terrorism, giving him a reputation feared and dreaded by the entire Mushroom World.

One of Bowser's common traits is his unsatiable lust for power and conquest. He thinks of everything in terms of power, and is always looking for ways to extend his dominion over the world. Several times, Bowser has shown to possess an arrogant sense of entitlement. Indeed, in Super Mario Galaxy, it shown that political power is not enough for Bowser. Bowser believes that only he is worthy to rule the universe and reshape it in his own image.

Bowser lacks a sense of empathy and shows as little mercy to his followers as to his enemies. He has an extremely low tolerance for failures and disrespect. Super Mario Galaxy depicts Bowser as having genocidal tendencies, as his plan consisted in the destruction of entire galaxies for the creation of his new galactic empire.

The games tend to portray different sides of Bowser. The platform games portray Bowser as a serious, relentless and legitimate villain, who will stop at no end to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. At the same time, the RPGs depict him as a comic villain, reflecting the sympathetic aspects of his villainy as well as his clumsiness and ineptness.

Despite his opposing personality, Bowser has rarely shown emotions other than anger or hatred. However, it should be noted that, despite Bowser's evil nature, he is actually in love with Princess Peach and has tried to win her heart on several occassions. Bowser does not know, however, that his constant attacks on the Mushroom Kingdom has made Peach hate him.

Super Mario Media


In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Bowser would often take on various aliases and costumes and try to scheme a dastardly plot of some sort, most commonly trying to conquer a kingdom or steal an ancient treasure and/or artifact; aiding Bowser in these plots were his Koopa Troop and also a sidekick of sorts, most commonly Mouser.

In several episodes, Bowser would capture Princess Toadstool and attempt to blackmail her into giving him the Mushroom Kingdom, although some other episodes implied he already had some measure of control over the kingdom.

Powers

 * Fire Breath: Bowser's signature ability. Bowser 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 flames that follow Mario in Super Mario 64 and New Super Mario Bros. and can even breath fire underwater in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario.
 * Superhuman Strength: Bowser is shown to possess colossal strength that surpasses those of Wario and Donkey Kong. Several spinoffs depict Bowser as the strongest character.
 * Superhuman Stamina: Bowser has incredible stamina that is sure never to run out. Therefore, Bowser can mantain physical activity for days if needed to be.
 * Invulnerability: Bowser possesses a high level of invulnerability. He has fallen into lava, been blown up, etc., but has managed to survive all this many times.
 * Magic: According to the Super Mario Bros. instruction booklet, Bowser is a skilled user in dark magic.
 * Electrokinesis: As seen in Hotel Mario and Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser can use magic to summon lightning bolts.
 * Teleportation: Another magic ability Bowser uses is teleportation, as seen in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy.

Abilities

 * Master Combatant: Bowser is shown to be a highly trained warrior. He has an extremely aggressive fighting style that employs his fire-breathing, physical strength and claws.
 * Genius-level Intellect: 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.
 * Intimidation: With his terrifying appearance and ruthless nature, Bowser instills fear in friend and foe alike, something he no doubt enjoys.

Gallery
クッパ Bowser Bowser Bowser