Bowser Statue
Gray Bowser Statues[1] (or simply Bowser StatuesTemplate:Refneeded) are statues that look a lot like Bowser and first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3. The Gray Bowser Statue appears in some levels as a stone bust of Bowser, with its mouth open. It mainly acts as a physically inanimate object, usually for decorative purposes in levels. But occasionally, they fire projectiles at Mario, and they are usually indestructible.
History
Super Mario series
Super Mario Bros. 3
In Super Mario Bros. 3, the Gray Bowser Statue often appears in castles, and acts as an enemy. Normally, the Gray Bowser Statue stays inactive when it is not disturbed. When Mario approaches the statue, it activates and begins to shoot laser beams at Mario. The statue cannot be defeated in this game.
Super Mario World
The Gray Bowser Statue also appeared in Super Mario World. These were hunched over compared to the standing ones in the previous game. These statues shoot fireballs in a straight line in lieu of the laser beams. This game's Gray Bowser Statues were also indestructible. Moving, golden variants called Gold Bowser Statues also appear, which hurt Mario when touched.
New Super Mario Bros.
In New Super Mario Bros., the Gray Bowser Statue appears only as a decoration in the background of some castles. Also, in the Danger, Bob-omb! Danger! minigame, the Gray Bowser Statue makes a cameo as the primary obstacle. This statue moves around, shooting fire in an attempt to burn a Bob-omb. Using the Stylus, the player must help the Bob-omb escape from the fire.
Super Mario Galaxy
In Super Mario Galaxy, they appear in the Ghostly Galaxy and Bowser's Galaxy Reactor as inanimate objects (although destroying them brings out an item or helps a player proceed through a level). In the Ghostly Galaxy, there are a few in the mission "Beware of Bouldergeist". In this mission, a Gray Bowser Statue covers the fireplace with a Launch Star inside. In Bowser's Galaxy Reactor, one makes an appearance on the Starting Planet, and several make an appearance inside the Tower Planet. When these are destroyed by a Bullet Bill, they release one coin each.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
The Gray Bowser statues appear in Super Mario Galaxy 2 in Bowser's Lava Lair and Bowser's Galaxy Generator. The ones in Bowser's Lava Lair can rotate to face Mario, and create a damaging Electric Fence that Mario must jump over. The one in Bowser's Galaxy Generator is found on the Galaxy Generator Door Planet, and though considerably larger than the previous ones, serves for decorative purposes. They also appear in other galaxies but, as in the previous game, are inanimate. Gray Bowser Jr. statues also appear in the Boo Moon Galaxy and Bowser Jr.'s Fearsome Fleet but merely act as decoration.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Heads of Bowser Statues appear in New Super Mario Bros. 2. They can be found on walls breathing large fireballs that fly horizontally to the left. They appear in World 6-5 and World 
Star-7 as well as in the giant Bowser and Dry Bowser battles. The ones in the third part of both battles breathe purple fireballs which fly straight at Mario, similar to Ludwig von Koopa's blue fireballs during his first battle in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
New Super Mario Bros. U
In New Super Mario Bros. U, the Bowser Stunners have the Bowser's faces from Bowser Statues. These faces are connected right through lead wires and electricity. They are invincible and only appear in the level Red-Hot Elevator Ride. The full Bowser Statue can be found in the final battle versus Bowser in the background.
Super Mario World television series
Gray Bowser Statues, though never named, appear occasionally in the Super Mario World animated series. Gray Bowser Statues first appear in the episode "Send in the Clown", where one attacks Mario by shooting a fireball at him while he is traveling through Neon Castle. Later in the episode, Mario accidentally stumbles upon another Gray Bowser Statue, which proceeds to spit a fireball at him; Mario manages to narrowly avoid this fireball, which hits his Koopa Football Player pursuers. In a later episode, entitled "Mama Luigi", two Gray Bowser Statues are shown to act as guards to the entrance of Neon Castle; additionally, a Gray Bowser Statue is also found in the basement of Neon Castle. This Gray Bowser Statue is eventually shut-down by Yoshi, who eats one of its spat fireballs and blasts the Gray Bowser Statue with flames.
Mario Kart series
In the Mario Kart series, Gray Bowser Statues have appeared in Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario Kart 8 in the Bowser Castle courses. In Mario Kart 64, the Bowser Statue would just stand there shooting fire that could not hit the racers (in the Mario Kart Wii version of this course, the shooting fire can hit the racers). However in Mario Kart: Double Dash it could move, and it would shoot fire that could hit the racers. In Mario Kart Wii, it is stationary but shoots a stream of fire onto the course where it can harm the racers. Gray Bowser Statues that shoot lasers from Super Mario Bros. 3 appear in Mario Kart 8.
Mario Party series
They also appeared in Mario Party 2 and Mario Party 8. In both games they appear in minigames where they need to get hit. They are also non-living. In Mario Party 6, several immobile Gray Bowser Statues appear in the Bowser minigame, "Dizzy Rotisserie"; if a character doesn't complete this minigame in time, these Gray Bowser Statue will spring to life and fill the arena in fire, roasting any characters that didn't make it to the finish.
Super Princess Peach
Gray Bowser Statues also appeared in Super Princess Peach as inanimate objects, where they decorated the course where the initial fight with Bowser took place. They only appeared in that battle, where they could be crushed by Bowser's misused charge attack, resulting in a Vibe Crystal for Peach to collect.
Super Mario Maker
Gray Bowser Statues also make a minor appearance in Super Mario Maker. If the player sets the course to castle and puts many ground blocks across the level, eventually Bowser Statues will start appearing, however they are harmless.
See also
References
- ^ Mario Mania, page 52.
