Paper Bowser

This article is about the character in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. For Bowser as he appears in the Paper Mario series, see History of Bowser § Paper Mario series.

Paper Bowser
Artwork from Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Species	Koopa
First appearance	Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (2015)
Latest appearance	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (spirit cameo) (2018)

“Why should I care about a stupid garbage book? Don't answer that, Son. Just relax while Daddy roasts Mario to a crisp.”

—Paper Bowser, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Paper Bowser is the paper counterpart of Bowser that makes his debut in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam as one of the main antagonists, also marking his first appearance as a wholly distinct character from Bowser. Alongside his son and various other paper characters, Paper Bowser came out of a book containing the whole paper world.

History

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

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Paper Bowser first meets Bowser.

Paper Bowser first appears at Bowser's Castle, confronting the "real" Bowser and getting into a fight with him. Eventually, however, they decide to join forces and kidnap Peach and Paper Peach, subsequently returning to the castle and summoning Petey Piranha to slow Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario down.

Eventually, the two Bowsers plot to betray the other and imprison them in the book, though not before they plan to trap the Mario Bros. in the book and destroy it. The two merge together into Shiny RoboBowser, only to be defeated. Paper Bowser makes one last attempt to grab the book, but Paper Mario reaches it first, and the trio trap him back inside.

Battle

During their boss battle, the Bowser duo has only two attacks, both of which can deal considerable damage. Their first attack involves spitting fireballs at the ground, creating fiery waves for the trio to jump over. After three waves, they will combine their Fire Breath and create a massive fire blast that Paper Mario must jump over, or risk taking a large amount of critical damage. Their other attack is to have Shy Guys stack iron balls onto their hands. They will then toss the iron balls onto the field. The iron balls that target the trio varies depending on which Bowser tosses them last. The Bowsers will alternate between both attacks. Additionally, the Bowsers have a defensive ability: Whenever an Excellent hit is scored on one of them, they will curl up into their shells, forcing the other to be attacked. Due to this trait, only one Bowser can use the ability at a time. If attacked while in their shells, the Bowser will take no damage. Additionally, depending on the attack the trio used, that party member may also take damage.

The two Bowsers appear to share a health pool, unlike previous pairs of bosses. However, it is impossible to bring their health down to zero. After at around 1500 damage is dealt to this health pool, the Bowsers decide to stop holding back, and with the assistance of hundreds (if not thousands) of Shiny paper enemies, they fuse together into Shiny RoboBowser, the game's real final boss.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Paper Bowser appears as two primary attack spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, an Ace-class one using his Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam artwork and a Legend-class one using artwork of Bowser from Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Both of them have two slots for support spirits. The Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Paper Bowser spirit has a spirit battle that references the final act Paper Mario. It is a Stamina battle on the Battlefield form of Peach's Castle, with the orange Bowser puppet fighter having 140 HP and the player having 120 HP. The Bowser puppet fighter favors using special moves and those moves have increased power. When it is heavily damaged, it gets a boost to its attack and defense for the rest of the battle, and it sometimes temporarily becomes invincible. The only items that appear are Star Rods of the Kirby series. TheMario & Luigi: Paper Jam Paper Bowser spirit can be enhanced to the Paper Mario: Sticker Star Paper Bowser spirit once it reaches level 99, which grants it the ability to grant its user the fire breath from eating Superspicy Curry at the start of battles.

Statistics

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam enemy
Paper Bowser
	HP	9999	POW	343 (304)	Defense	335 (333)	Speed	228
	Role	Boss	Type	Paper, Shelled	Weakness	Fire	Location(s)	Neo Bowser Castle
	Level	38	Experience	0 (0)	Coins	0	Item drop	None - 0% None - 0%
Notice: Stats in parentheses are from the game's Easy Mode.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam enemy
Bowser (2)
	HP	2145	POW	350 (300)	Defense	358 (300)	Speed	229
	Role	Boss	Type	Paper, Shelled	Weakness	None	Location(s)	Neo Bowser Castle
	Level	40	Experience	0 (0)	Coins	0	Item drop	None - 0% None - 0%
Notice: Stats in parentheses are from the game's Easy Mode.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam enemy
Shiny RoboBowser
	HP	850	POW	350 (300)	Defense	358 (300)	Speed	229
	Role	Support	Type	Paper, Shelled	Weakness	None	Location(s)	Neo Bowser Castle
	Level	40	Experience	0 (0)	Coins	0	Item drop	None - 0% None - 0%
Notice: Stats in parentheses are from the game's Easy Mode.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Spirit #95 Paper Bowser
	Series/game	Paper Mario Series
	Type	Primary
	Slots	2
	Class	Ace
	Strength / effect(s)	Attack Can be enhanced to Paper Bowser (Paper Mario: Sticker Star) at Lv. 99
	How to obtain	Spirit Board; Purchase from the Vault Shop for 6000G
Spirit battle	Opponent(s)	Bowser
	Conditions	Rule: Defense ↑; Attack Power ↑; Item: Star Rod The enemy will occasionally be invincible when the enemy's at high damage The enemy's special moves have increased power Stamina battle
	Stage	Peach's Castle
	Song	Paper Mario Medley

Spirit #96 Paper Bowser (Paper Mario: Sticker Star)
	Series/game	Paper Mario Series
	Type	Primary
	Slots	2
	Class	Legend
	Strength / effect(s)	Attack Mouthful of Curry
	How to obtain	Enhanced from Paper Bowser

Gallery

• 

  Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam artwork
• 

  Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam screenshot

Quotes

See also: List of Bowser quotes § Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Paper Bowser

• "Where the heck am I?!"
• "What the heck just happened?!"
• "Who the heck is this guy?!"
• "Oh, puh-lease! YOU'RE the knockoff!"
• "I'd like to see you try!"
• "Grrrrrr..."
• "Have a hertz doughnut, paperweight!"
• "Ow, stop pulling my hair, you lousy cheat!"
• "What is it?! Can't you see I'm busy?!"
• "Hand over the princesses!"
• "You sound different than usual, Princess."
• "Did you catch a cold?"
• "I want you to keep an eye on the princesses, Son."
• "No one likes a whiner, Junior."
• "Right, I almost forgot!"
• "Junior, I have a special surprise just for you!"
• "But if you want it, you'll have to go to the villa!"
• "How could they have done this to my son?!"
• "Son, you're talking nonsense. Is your brain OK?"
• "Why should I care about a stupid garbage book?"
• "Don't answer that, son. Just relax while daddy roasts Mario to a crisp."
• "You mean WE'LL rule with iron FISTS, right?"
• "First, we're gonna beat you!"
• "Next, we're going to trap you in this book!"
• "And then we're gonna throw the book into the garbage..."
• "AND LIGHT THE GARBAGE ON FIRE! BWAHAHA!"
• "I sure hope you meant OURS just then!"
• "You bet I do! I'm taking over this world!"
• "So Mario..."
• "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!"

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
Japanese	ペーパークッパ Pēpā Kuppa	Paper Bowser		[?]
Chinese (Traditional)	紙片庫巴 Zhǐpiàn Kùbā	Paper Bowser
Spanish (Latin America)	Bowser de papel	Paper Bowser		[?]
Spanish (Europe)	Bowser de Papel			[?]

Notes

• Although Paper Bowser's appearance in-game is based on Bowser's appearance from Paper Mario: Sticker Star, his official artwork more closely resembles Bowser's appearance in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario, lacking the red rings around his spikes.