King Bowser Koopa Sr. (大魔王クッパ,Daimaō Kuppa?, , lit.“Great Demon King Koopa”), also known as Koopa, Lord Bowser, or King Koopa (commonly in older media) is the main villain of Nintendo’s Super Mario franchise and the arch-nemesis of Mario. He is the king of the Koopa race and leader of the Koopa Troop. Bowser most commonly kidnaps Princess Peach, with whom he has unrequited love, so he can make her his queen. Despite her being forced to marry him for a brief period in Super Paper Mario, Peach always rejects Bowser. Although Bowser has joined forces with Mario in a few games, he repeatedly kidnaps Peach and attempts to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom and the rest of the world since his first appearance in the 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System title Super Mario Bros. Bowser steadfastly refuses to give up on his goal no matter how many times Mario or his brother manage to stop him. Bowser often serves as just the Final Boss in the many games of the Super Mario series. However, he is a playable character in the spin-off titles.
As the central villain of arguably the world’s most popular video game franchise, Bowser is easily one of the most iconic and recognizable video game villains ever created. Bowser has a rather spoiled son called Bowser Jr. in current games, and in classic games has seven additional children called the Koopalings.
Bowser as seen in the Super Mario Bros. Instruction Booklet.
Differing greatly from standard Koopas, who resemble bipedal tortoises, Bowser himself appears monstrous and enormous, more akin to an ox or dragon. His iconic features include a large, spiked shell, horns, razor-sharp teeth, and a shock of red hair. While most Koopas appear to be herbivorous, Bowser, perhaps due to his sharp teeth, prefers meat, particularly from victims he hunts down (with his carnivorous side confirmed in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story), though on occasion he has consumed vegetation, as seen in Mario Party 4.
Though Bowser's physical size tends to vary from game to game, in most games, he is very large and bulky, usually portrayed as at least one-and-a-half to twice Mario's height. He is physically powerful due his size and muscular physique like Donkey Kong.
Bowser's appearance has evolved over time. On the box art for Super Mario Bros. he has an appearance similar to that of an ox in homage to Journey to the West villain 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 before the release of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, where he is given blue eyes, red hair and red eyebrows. Despite that, some artwork for Super Mario Bros. 3 mix features from his original design and his redesign. While featuring Bowser's redesigned appearance as well as the blue eyes, retains the yellow hair and black eyebrows. 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 they are yellow. Starting in Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser's standard in-game appearance came more in line with his initial redesign with a few minor inconsistencies, such as his plastron traveling all the way up his neck.
Bowser's appearance is not always consistent in every detail, and the same illustrations were often modified when used in subsequently released material. Two illustrations made by Yoichi Kotabe 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 the 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 Bros.: 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 in his playable model and boasts better defined scales and biceps. 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 Paper Mario: Sticker Star.
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 Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate). His red palette swap in Melee and Brawl, and to a certain extent Nintendo 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 Nintendo 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 Comics System and his in-game sprite from the original Super Mario Bros. game. His blue palette swap in Nintendo 3DS / Wii U was primarily based on the bluish 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.
Bowser rarely wears clothing. The Japanese artwork for Super Mario Bros. 3 depicts Bowser wearing a purple cape. In the DiC cartoons, Bowser frequently uses disguises based on pop-culture icons. Mario Party 2 has Bowser donning themed outfits befitting the various boards (e.g. a Pirate for Pirate Land, a Cowboy in Western Land, a Space Cadet in Space Land, etc.). In the few cases when he's trying to force Peach to marry him, Bowser dresses in a white groom's suit, such as in Super Mario Adventures, Super Paper Mario, Super Mario Odyssey and the The Super Mario Bros. Movie. 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 a red and green present and a white sack for this variant.
Personality and traits[]
"I don't like it. I think this Peach Crown is crazy. Makes me wanna breathe fire! (Roars)"
An early concept of Bowser kidnapping Peach by Shigeru Miyamoto in the Japanese Super Mario Bros. box art.
When Bowser was originally created for Super Mario Bros., he was a typical villain without much personality beyond simply wanting to take over the world and the Mushroom Kingdom. Later games started showing various different aspects of Bowser's character, depending on the nature of the plot. While his main role in most Super Mario installments continues to be that of a simple villain, Bowser's Mario Party series 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 expectedly 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. However, the villian can actually be cunning and deceptive as well, as seen in several cases, and even occasionally be one step ahead of Mario and friends, though arrogance can get the best of Bowser.
Bowser's personality is explored most extensively in the various RPGs, starting with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System title, 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, run of the mill villain, as does the RPG Paper Mario: Sticker Star. The original Paper Mario also casts Bowser as the main villain; 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 Jr. 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 trying to reclaim it from Fawful. By contrast, in Mario Party 4, Bowser grudgingly gives 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. 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.
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 much 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 Doctor 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.
Bowser is often dishonest and treacherous, as well as sadistically enjoying doing really horrid things. While Bowser is not beyond keeping his word, he frequently does break it. Bowser will not hesitate to dispose of those who have outlived their usefulness to him. These sorts of justifications are commonly employed logic for Bowser to get-away with nearly anything as far as he is concerned.
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.
By contrast, in Mario Party 4, Bowser grudgingly gives the player a present and wishes them a happy birthday as he leaves in shame, moving one of the Koopa Kids to wonder if there might be more to Bowser than he leads others to believe, as Bowser claimed to be somewhat happy.
Perhaps humorously, he does have a soft side. In the Mario Party series, specifically the older games, whenever a character encounters Bowser and does not have any Stars or Coins, Bowser will often express genunie disappointment for them being broke and even gives them some of the latter (much to the character's surprise). In the latest installments, however, he angrily tells them to leave in frustration due to himself not being able to steal Coins.
With the aforementioned statements in mind, despite being the main villain of the Mario series, Bowser does have standards against crossing the line of doing foul actions and is therefore not always inherently evil.
Bowser attacking Mario with his signature Flame Breath in an artwork of Super Mario 64
As the main villain across the many games of the Mario franchise, Bowser has displayed a variety of powers both physical and magical. At his most basic, Bowser can breathe fire, shred targets with his claws, withstand the most punishing attacks with his resilient body and destroy most targets with his incredible strength. Bowser is often a capable magic user too, once even being called a sorcerer-king.[6]
He also boasts a number of transformations, some originating from his own biology and others via a magical item. Most of them, however, involve Bowser growing to gigantic proportions.
Physical[]
Bowser's ability to spit fire appears to be entirely natural to his biology, as he possessed it even in his infancy and it's tied into the functions of his internal organs.[7][8] He can emit this fire in the form of fireballs, streams of flame and as fiery rain. These are considerably dangerous, as they can blast through stone and liquefy metal.
Complimenting his size, Bowser boasts truly monstrous strength. His jumps are able to produce shockwaves and he can tear through the landscape with his bare hands. Without assistance, he was able to hold up a giant iron cannonball several times his own size, which exceeded a weight of 1 Million pounds.[9] Even further than that, he was able to pull an entire island closer to himself.
Bowser's Inside Story showed that Bowser's body has the ability to briefly induce extreme increases in his abilities in moments of stress. This can manifest in brief but drastically increased speed, strength and even increasing the size of his body to the same height as that of his castle. However, to do this he appears to need help from people within his body. After eating the Vacuum Shroom, Bowser gained the power to inhale anything into his body with a torrential suction force, miniaturizing them.
Magical[]
Conjuring boulders
Elemental manipulation of the earth
Conjuring a thunderstorm
Cloning his hat
Bowser spits flaming meteors
Telekinesis & barrier creation
Portals to transport himself or allies
1/7
Though not his main form of attack, Bowser has been shown to be a powerful user of black magic. It was he who cast the spell that turned the Toads of the Mushroom Kingdom into bricks[10] and turned Yoshi's Island into a storybook[11].
In the Mario Party series Bowser makes broader use of magic. He's shown to call down lightning, turn a Koopa into a frog in Mario Party 2 and created his entire 30-floor tower with magic.
He has extensive skill at manipulating the earth. He can spit flaming meteors to destroy platforms or crystallize a target, coat himself in stone to perform a powerful rolling attack, summon boulders or metal Bowser shells from thin air and even beckon the earth to raise a colossal spike beneath a foe. It's unclear if this control of the earth is magical in nature or a type of elemental telekinesis.
If killed, Bowser can reanimate himself as Dry Bowser, his Dry Bones form. In this skeletal form, Bowser becomes immune to fireballs and lava. When damaged, he will fall apart but quickly pull himself back together unharmed. He can expel blue flames, and use dark portals to transport himself and his allies between locations as desired.
Inexplicably, Bowser was once shown flying unassisted after his defeat in World 8-: Part 1.
Although Bowser has showcased many other magical skills, most seem to be derived from or enhanced by an external power source:
Grants the users every stated request, such as flying them away within a protective barrier, granting one new powers such as the ability to open portals to the Dream World, and removing any target from existence.
Rainbow Flame
Rainbow-colored fireballs spat at the Bros.
Portals / Dreamy Minions
Conjure Dreamy versions of Goombas, Shy Guys, Bob-ombs, Paratroopas and Airships from portals.
Dreamy Grab
Telekinetically grabs one of the Bros.
Dreamy Snack
Conjures meat-on-the-bone that heals Bowser.
Giant Dreamy Bowser
Bowser gigantifies himself and his attacks.
Duplication
Dreamy Bowser duplicates himself and both fire bursts of rainbow fire.
Dream Hammer
An enormous mallet is conjured and slammed into one of the Bros.
A boss in Chapter 3-1: When Geeks Attack; available after defeating Bowser in Chapter 3-1; after Chapter 6-1, Dimentio will disband the party including Bowser; Bowser can be re-recruited in Chapter 7-2: The Sealed Doors Three
Always appears as the final boss for each board in Toad Scramble; appears as a boss in Bowser's Hit-or-Missile Mania; appears in Bowser's Gauntlet minigames
Unlockable fighter; can be unlocked with one of the following: Defeat Giga Bowser in Molten Fortress in Adventure Mode: World of Light, clear Classic Mode as Donkey Kong or anyone in his unlock tree, play VS. Matches with Bowser being the third character to be unlocked
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.
As he made his first appearance in 1985, Bowser is among the first major villains in the video game industry. He is also considered one of the greatest and most influential by many publications.
Despite Bowser being well-known as Mario's archnemesis for decades, the Koopa King is NOT the plumber's first ever enemy. Four years before his debut, the 1981 Donkey Kong arcade game had its titular villain being Donkey Kong, in which his role would last until the release of Donkey Kong Country in 1994 (though a few games still reprise his former role).
Although Bowser's name is King Koopa in the movie, he is a humanoid dinosaur.
Bowser is the only Mario villain to appear in all five games of the Mario & Luigi series.
Bowser's iconic deep laugh and classic roars during the Nintendo 64 era until New Super Mario Bros. were stock sound effects. The former, surprisingly is actually by Charles Martinet, the former longtime voice actor of Mario, himself laughing and slowed down, and was recorded some time before he was officially taken the role. The latter were taken from edited cougar meows and boars squealing as well as the roar from the 1957 film The Land Unknown. The Boo enemy at the time used a sped version of the aforementioned laugh.
Although Bowser's universal conquest plans usually fail, it is fair to agree that in Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser posed as a very dangerous and totally genuine threat not only to Mario and his friends but to the whole universe. There, he planned to use the Grand Star to create his own galaxy and conquered many other ones for his planned empire, a plan which nearly culminated with the destruction of the universe as we know it with a titanic black hole created by the Grand Star upon his defeat. Even Mario wasn't able to stop it and it was thanks to the Lumas that the universe was ultimately saved.
Ganon from The Legend of Zelda series is a parallel to Bowser, in which both main antagonists are hideous bipedal monsters based on a real-life animal (boar/turtle, respectively) that share the same longtime goal of taking over a kingdom by force (Hyrule/Mushroom Kingdom, respectively) and kidnap a princess (Princess Zelda/Peach, respectively), that almost always gets thwarted by the hero (Link/Mario, respectively). This is due to the fact that both Mario and Zelda were originally created by the same development team and shared many ideas. Bowser himself is also known to have somewhat of a relationship with Ganon. Between the two flagship Nintendo villains, however, it possible that Ganon is more inherently evil than Bowser.
In the 1980s, 8-bit home consoles such as the NES didn't have the ability to display sprites that had more than three colors due to hardware limitations. However, Bowser appears to have four, this is due to his shackles being a result of the black background. Hacking him into any level without a black background will make Bowser's hands look disconnected with his arms.
Bowser's infamous icon seen in the Nintendo 64 era
In spite of being a beloved antagonist among Nintendo fans in general, due to Bowser's rather devilish appearance and in certain games his own villainy, however, some individuals have claimed him terrifying enough to suffer nightmares. For example and notoriously, in Super Mario 64, when Mario is defeated and consequently loses a life, a silhouette of Bowser's face fully appears on-screen with a wicked deep laugh before it slowly begins to fade. This same symbol was also used for the first two Mario Party games as a screen transition when encountering him or landing on a Bowser Space (accompanied by a screeching sound) before being slightly revamped since the release of the Nintendo Gamecube to be less frightening.
In any version of Super Mario Bros., Bowser only appears at the end of World 8-4. In every castle before that, the player fights an imposter transformed by Bowser's magic, known as Fake Bowser. This is shown when killing imposter Bowser's with fireballs, which have their dying sprites being normal enemies. This idea came from a time in development when one of the programmers changed the dying sprite for Bowser (simply being flipped upside-down), and was kept in the final game.
Though Bowser is famously known for kidnapping Peach in many games of the franchise, never once had the Koopa King attempted to do so for Princess Daisy. A likely reason for this is due to the fact that in Mario Party 3, she can be seen effortlessly sending Bowser flying to the sky with a single slap, proving to the villian the ruler of Sarasaland is far more capable of defending herself than the Mushroom Kingdom counterpart.
In Paper Mario: Color Splash, Paper Bowser carelessly mixed the paint of the fountain in Port Prisma, which the black paint corrupted Bowser. Black paint/goop corrupted Bowser again in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, after Bowser Jr. painted on his father unintentionally, angering him.
In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Bower uses a Wonder Flower to merged with Prince Florian's castle, which let him allows him to fly.
Both in KC Mario and Super Mario-kun, Bowser was referenced to Gamera where one of his attacks in the former was named "Gamera Attack" (ガメラアタック, Gamera Attakku).[12][13][14]
Bowser is one of two Nintendo characters to be a Skylander, the other being Donkey Kong.
In Mario Party 2, during the duel where the winner fights Bowser in Bowser Land, he himself is shown be capable of using the same powerful transformation as Metal Mario seen from Super Mario 64, to increase his weight tenfold.
In Luigi's Mansion, the ghostly fotuneteller Madame Clairvoya's seance reveals that Mario had been captured by Bowser; she is surprised by this revelation, as Bowser is believed (at the time) to be dead. This is a red herring, as the true villain is King Boo, using a giant puppet replica of Bowser. Technically, this is Bowser's only appearance in the Luigi's Mansion games.
Bowser is based off the Bull Demon King from Journey to the West.
In the Mario Baseball games Bowser is the only captain who's teammates all share good chemistry with him.
Bowser and Bowser Jr. can be seen as morality pets towards each other. Bowser Jr. may act like an arrogant, selfish, destructive brat around most people, but when interacting with his dad, he's an obedient, enthusiastic, and very loving son. While Bowser may have a nasty temper and be a jerk towards his allies at times, Jr is able to appeal to Bowser's softer side and constantly tells Jr how proud he is of him.
World 6-1 • World 6-2 • World 6-3 • World 6- • World 6-4 • World 6-5 • World 6-6 • World 6-7 • World 6- • World 6-8 • World 6-9 • World 6-10 • World 6- • World 6-
World 7-1 • World 7-2 • World 7-3 • World 7-4 • World 7-5 • World 7- • World 7- • World 7-6 • World 7-7 • World 7-8 • World 7-9 • World 7- • World 7- • World 7-
Slip Slidin' Away • Lil' Penguin Lost • Big Penguin Race • Frosty Slide for 8 Red Coins • Snowman's Lost His Head • Wall Kicks Will Work (N64)/Mario's Super Wall Kick (DS) • Switch Star of Cool, Cool Mountain (DS)
Big Boo's Haunt
Go on a Ghost Hunt • Ride Big Boo's Merry Go Round • Secret of the Haunted Books • Seek the 8 Red Coins • Big Boo's Balcony • Eye to Eye in the Secret Room • Switch Star of the Basement
Hazy Maze Cave
Swimming Beast in the Cavern • Elevate for 8 Red Coins • Metal-Head Mario Can Move! (N64)/Metal-Head Wario Can Move (DS) • Navigating the Toxic Maze • A-Maze-Ing Emergency Exit • Watch for Rolling Rocks • Underground Switch Star
In the Talons of the Big Bird • Shining Atop the Pyramid • Inside the Ancient Pyramid • Stand Tall On the Four Pillars • Free Flying For 8 Red Coins (5th Star, N64) (7th Star, DS) • Tox Box Switch Star (DS) • Pyramid Puzzle
Snowman's Big Head • Chill with the Bully • In the Deep Freeze (N64) • Yoshi's Ice Sculpture (DS) • Whirl from the Freezing Pond • Shell Shreddin' for Red Coins (N64) • Snowman's Silver Star (DS) • Into the Igloo • Red Coins in the House (DS)
Wet-Dry World
Shocking Arrow Lifts! • Top o' the Town • Secrets in the Shallows and Sky (N64)/5 Secrets in the Shallows and Sky (DS) • Express Elevator--Hurry Up! • Go to Town for Red Coins (N64)/Go to Town for the Red Coins (DS) • Quick Race Through Downtown! • Soaked Silver Stars (DS)
Tall, Tall Mountain
Scale the Mountain • Mystery of the Monkey Cage • Scary 'Shrooms, Red Coins • Mysterious Mountainside • Breathtaking View from Bridge (Star 5, N64)/Breathtaking View from the Bridge (Star 7, DS) • Blast to the Lonely Mushroom (Star 6, N64) (Star 5, DS) • 5 Secrets of the Mountain
Roll into the Cage (N64) • Luigi in the Cage (DS) • The Pit and the Pendulums (N64) • The Pendulum Switch Star (DS) • Get a Hand • Stomp on the Thwomp •Timed Jumps on Moving Bars • Stop Time for Red Coins • Tick Tock Silver Stars
Rainbow Ride
Cruiser Crossing the Rainbow • The Big House in the Sky • Coins Amassed in a Maze • Swingin' in the Breeze • Tricky Triangles! • Somewhere over the Rainbow • Switch Star of the Manor
Gooper Blooper Breaks Out • Blooper Surfing Safari • The Caged Shine Sprite • The Secret of Ricco Tower • Gooper Blooper Returns • Red Coins on the Water • Shadow Mario Revisited • Yoshi's Fruit Adventure
Dune Bud Sand Secret • Mirror Madness! Tilt, Slam, Bam! • Wiggler Ahoy! Full Steam Ahead! • The Sand Bird is Born • II Piantissimo's Sand Sprint • Red Coins on the Coral Reef • It's Shadow Mario! After Him! • The Watermelon Festival
Mecha Bowser Appears! • The Beach Cannon's Secret • Red Coins of the Pirate Ships • The Wilted Sunflowers • The Runaway Ferris Wheel • The Yoshi-Go-Round's Secret • Shadow Mario in the Park • Roller Coaster Balloons
The Manta Storm • The Hotel Lobby's Secret • The Mysterious Hotel Delfino • The Secret of Casino Delfino • King Boo Down Below • Scrubbin' Sirena Beach • Shadow Mario Checks In • Red Coins of the Hotel
Chain Chomps Unchained • II Piantissimo's Crazy Climb • The Goopy Inferno • Chain Chomp Takes a Bath • Secret of the Village Underside • Pianta's In Need • Shadow Mario Returns • Fluff Festival Coin Hunt
Bob-omb Sudden Death • Bob-omb Trampoline • Jumping Sudden Death • Jumping Brothers • Lakitu Launch • Vs. Mario's Slides • Vs. Pair-a-Gone • Vs. Trampoline Time
Dino Piranha • A Snack of Cosmic Proportions • King Kaliente's Battle Fleet • Dino Piranha Speed Run* • Purple Coin Omelet* • Luigi on the Roof
Honeyhive Galaxy
Bee Mario/Luigi Takes Flight • Trouble on the Tower • Big Bad Bugaboom • Honeyhive Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race* • The Honeyhive's Purple Coins* • Luigi in the Honeyhive Kingdom
Pull Star Path • Kamella's Airship Attack • Tarantox's Tangled Web • Pull Star Path Speed Run* • Purple Coin Spacewalk* • Yoshi's Unexpected Appearance
Rolling Green Galaxy
Rolling in the Clouds
Battlerock Galaxy
Battlerock Barrage • Breaking into the Battlerock • Topmaniac and the Topman Tribe • Topmaniac's Daredevil Run* • Purple Coins on the Battlerock* • Battlerock's Garbage Dump • Luigi under the Saucer
Hurry-Scurry Galaxy
Shrinking Satellite
Bowser's Star Reactor
The Fiery Stronghold
Sling Pod Galaxy
A Very Sticky Situation
Beach Bowl Galaxy
Sunken Treasure • Passing the Swim Test • The Secret Undersea Cavern • Fast Foes on the Cyclone Stone* • Beachcombing for Purple Coins* • Wall Jumping up Waterfalls
Bubble Breeze Galaxy
Through the Poison Swamp
Ghostly Galaxy
Luigi and the Haunted Mansion • A Very Spooky Sprint • Beware of Bouldergeist • Bouldergeist's Daredevil Run* • Purple Coins in the Bone Pen* • Matter Splatter Mansion
Bunnies in the Wind • The Dirty Tricks of Major Burrows • Gusty Garden's Gravity Scramble • Major Burrows's Daredevil Run* • Purple Coins on the Puzzle Cube* • The Golden Chomp
Freezeflame Galaxy
The Frozen Peak of Baron Brrr • Freezeflame's Blistering Core • Hot and Cold Collide • Frosty Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race* •Purple Coins on the Summit* • Conquering the Summit
Dusty Dune Galaxy
Soaring on the Desert Winds • Blasting through the Sand • Sunbaked Sand Castle • Sandblast Speed Run* • Purple Coins in the Desert* • Bullet Bill on Your Back • Treasure of the Pyramid
Honeyclimb Galaxy
Scaling the Sticky Wall
Bowser's Dark Matter Plant
Darkness on the Horizon
Bigmouth Galaxy
Bigmouth's Gold Bait
Gold Leaf Galaxy
Star Bunnies on the Hunt • Cataquack to the Skies • When It Rains, It Pours • Cosmic Mario/Luigi Forest Race* • Purple Coins in the Woods* • The Bell on the Big Tree
Sea Slide Galaxy
Going after Guppy • Faster Than a Speeding Penguin • The Silver Stars of Sea Slide • Underwater Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race* • Purple Coins by the Seaside* • Hurry, He's Hungry
Toy Time Galaxy
Heavy Metal Mecha-Bowser • Mario/Luigi Meets Mario • Bouncing Down Cake Lane • Fast Foes of Toy Time* • Luigi's Purple Coins* • The Flipswitch Chain
Bonefin Galaxy
Kingfin's Fearsome Waters
Bowser Jr.'s Lava Reactor
King Kaliente's Spicy Return
Sand Spiral Galaxy
Choosing a Favorite Snack
Deep Dark Galaxy
The Underground Ghost Ship • Bubble Blastoff • Guppy and the Underground Lake • Ghost Ship Daredevil Run* • Plunder the Purple Coins* • Boo in a Box
Dreadnought Galaxy
Infiltrating the Dreadnought • Dreadnought's Colossal Cannons • Revenge of the Topman Tribe • Topman Tribe Speed Run* • Battlestation's Purple Coins* • Dreadnought's Garbage Dump
Matter Splatter Galaxy
Watch Your Step
Melty Molten Galaxy
The Sinking Lava Spire • Through the Meteor Storm • Fiery Dino Piranha • Lava Spire Daredevil Run* • Red-Hot Purple Coins* • Burning Tide
Missions marked with an asterisk (*) are exclusively available while a Prankster Comet is in orbit. Missions marked with two asterisks (**) are only available when receiving a letter from Mailtoad.
* - Exclusive to New Super Mario Bros. U • ** - Exclusive to New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe • *** - Exclusive to New Super Luigi U † - Level before the world
Binoculars • Boulder • Bowser Statue • Cactus • Jizo • Letter • Manhole • Meat • Mini Rocket • Picture Match Part • Pole • Puzzle Part • RC Car • Spark pylon • Taxi • Tree • Zipper
1-Up Fuel • 1-Up Mushroom Car Insurance Group • 1 Up Racing • 100% Organic Antifreeze • B Dash • BaNaNa Boy • Barrel Travel • Blooper's Seafood Bar • Bob-omb Plugs • Boomerang Bros. International Airlines • Bowser Oil • Bowser Technology • Broadway Musical Entertainment • Bullet Bill Speed Trial • Burning DK • Chain Chomp Racing Chains • Coconut Café • Donkey Kong: The Best Musical! • Dream Gliders • Fountain Café • Fun Flower • Fuzzy Battery • Galaxy Air • Green Shell Strike Equipment • Green Shell Taxi • Iggy's Glass • Kingdom Café • Lemmy's Tire Service • Lord Bowser • Ludwig Painting • Mario Automobile Association • Mario Electrical Support • Mario Expo in Los Angeles • Mario Kart Oil • Mario Super Motor Team • Mario Work Gear • Moo Moo Meadows Milk • Morton Construction • Mushroom Piston • No Limits • Paratroopa Airlines • Peach Cosmetics • Peach & Daisy Royal Patisserie • Princess Orange • Princess Peach • Princess Peach Jewels • Propeller Toad Transport • Race • Racer's • Rainbow Exploration Agency • Red Shell Strike Equipment • Roy Smooth Sounds • Shell Books • Shell Island • Sunshine Parts • Shy Guy Metals • Super Marine World • Toad City Sightseeing • Toad Mushroom Power • Toad Polar Expedition 2014-2015 • Toad Services • Toad Shopping Plaza • Toad Toy Store • Tropical Grocery • Undead Motors • Waluigi Sea Bed • Wario Bank • Wario Billionaires • Wario GP • Wendy's Car Interiors • Wiggler Air • W Wheel • Yoshi's Egg Market • Yoshi Runners
Cups
Baby Daisy Cup • Baby Luigi Cup • Baby Mario Cup • Baby Peach Cup • Baby Rosalina Cup • Birdo Cup • Bowser Cup • Bowser Jr. Cup • Cat Peach Cup • Chargin' Chuck Cup • Daisy Cup • Diddy Kong Cup • Dixie Kong Cup • Donkey Kong Cup • Dry Bones Cup • Dry Bowser Cup • Fire Bro Cup • Fire Rosalina Cup • Funky Kong Cup • Hammer Bro Cup • Ice Bro Cup • Ice Mario Cup • Iggy Cup • Kamek Cup • King Bob-omb Cup • King Boo Cup • Koopa Troopa Cup • Lakitu Cup • Larry Cup • Lemmy Cup • Ludwig Cup • Luigi Cup • Mario Cup • Metal Mario Cup • Mii Cup • Monty Mole Cup • Morton Cup • Nabbit Cup • Pauline Cup • Peach Cup • Peachette Cup • Pink Gold Peach Cup • Poochy Cup • Rosalina Cup • Roy Cup • Shy Guy Cup • Tanooki Mario Cup • Toad Cup • Toadette Cup • Waluigi Cup • Wario Cup • Wendy Cup • Yoshi Cup
Bonus challenges
Break Item Boxes • Do Jump Boosts • Combo Attack • Ring Race • Steer Clear of Obstacles • Take them out quick! • Time Trial•Precision Gliding•Goomba Takedown
• ⋆-Enemy, boss, or stat exclusive to the main game. • ⋆⋆-Enemy, boss, or stat exclusive to Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser. • ⋆⋆⋆-Enemy variants differ in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions.
Paper Bob-omb • Paper Boo • Paper Boomerang Bro • Paper Broozer • Paper Chain Chomp • Paper Dry Bones • Paper Fire Bro • Paper Fire Piranha Plant • Paper Fuzzy • Paper Goomba • Paper Hammer Bro • Paper Koopa Troopa • Paper Ninji • Paper Paragoomba • Paper Paratroopa • Paper Scaredy Rat • Paper Shy Guy • Paper Sombrero Guy • Paper Spear Guy • Paper Spike • Paper Spiny • Paper Swoop
Breezy Tunnel • Fire Vellumental Cave • Scorching Sandpaper Desert • Scorching Sandpaper East • Scorching Sandpaper Far East • Scorching Sandpaper Far West • Scorching Sandpaper Minor • Scorching Sandpaper West • Shroom City • Sweetpaper Valley • Temple of Shrooms •
Unlikely Heroes • Flower 'Bud' • Danger From Above • Welcome to the Jungle • Brother, Where Art Thou? • On the Bubble • Do U Stack Up? • Precarious Pillar • Top Banana • The Hidden Bridge
Sherbet Desert
Cold Hands, Warm Heart • Undergarment Gulch • Guardians of the Oasis • Square One • The Gatecrashers • Shields of Sherbet Desert • Temple of Bwahmanweewee • Call of Sherbet Mountain • It Came From the Freezer • The Hidden Gorge
Spooky Trails
Looking for Mr. Tom Phan • Peek-a-Boo! • Benefits of Getting Lost • Madame Bwahstrella • Introducing El Calavera! • Double-Barreled • Every Treasure Has Its Thorn • Moonlight Sonata • Opening Night! • Secret Swamp
If It Rains It Pours Lava • When the Going Gets Tough • ...The Tough Get Going • In Full Gear • Bowser Jr.'s Lair • Reunited • Spawny Snatched! • Castle Guards • Bowser's Castle • Clandestine Cave
⋆-DLC exclusive content for The Tower of Doooom. ⋆⋆-DLC exclusive content for The Last Spark Hunter ⋆⋆⋆-DLC exclusive content for Rayman in the Phantom Show
Bowser's Villa 8-1 • Bowser's Villa 8-2 • Bowser's Villa 8-3 • Bowser's Villa 8-4 • Bowser's Villa 8-5 • Bowser's Villa 8-6 • Bowser's Villa 8-7 • Bowser's Villa 8-8 • Bowser's Villa 8-9
World 6-1 • World 6-2 • World 6-3 • World 6- • World 6-4 • World 6-5 • World 6-6 • World 6- • World 6- • World 6-7 • World 6-8 • World 6-9 • World 6- • World 6-
World 7-1 • World 7-2 • World 7-3 • World 7- • World 7-4 • World 7-5 • World 7-6 • World 7- • World 7-7 • World 7-8 • World 7-9 • World 7- • World 7-10 • World 7-11 • World 7- • World 7-
World 8-1 • World 8-2 • World 8- • World 8-3 • World 8-4 • World 8-5 • World 8- • World 8-6 • World 8-7 • World 8-8 • World 8- • World 8-9 • World 8-10 • World 8-11 • World 8- • World 8- • World 8-12 • World 8-
: Part 1.
