Bowser's Castle

Bowser's Castle (also known as Bowser's Keep in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars or Castle Koopa in the Mario TV series) is King Bowser's home and the base of operations for the Koopa Troop. Bowser has a variety of different castles throughout the Mushroom World, each of which usually functions as an important base from which the Koopa King formulates his evil plans. Bowser's Castle is usually the final area that Mario visits to rescue Princess Peach, and is usually guarded by Bowser's most powerful minions.

Super Mario Bros.
Bowser's Castle first appeared in Super Mario Bros. at the end of World 8. In 8-3, Mario battles Bowser's forces outside of the castle, which can be seen in the background; in 8-4, Mario ventures into the castle itself, where he battles and defeats Bowser and saves Peach. It is similar in the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 (known as the Lost Levels in the US), except it appears in world D-3 and D-4 instead, while a castle located in the sky is found in World 8-4.

Super Mario Bros. 3
In Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser's Castle (as well as Bowser himself) was not seen until the very end of the last level, where it was one of the longest levels in the game. Bowser was fought at the end of the Castle, and Princess Peach was freed.

Super Mario World
In Super Mario World, Bowser's Castle is found in the Valley of Bowser. There are many ways to reach the end of the level, like some kind of maze, each way the player goes will be filled with different traps.

Mario is Missing
Bowser's Castle is the main setting of the game "Mario is Missing", but instead of being located in the Koopa Kingdom like in the other games, this castle is located in Antarctica. The castle is also the main setting for the game Mario's Time Machine, except this time it was located in an unknown area.

Yoshi's Safari
Bowser's Castle is the last level in the final area in Yoshi's Safari, which is the Dark Realm of Jewelry Land. After being defeated, Bowser retreats back to the Koopa Kingdom, likely to his own castle.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Even as a youngster, Bowser was the ruler of the Koopa Kingdom. This castle was destroyed after Kamek grew Baby Bowser to a gigantic size.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
During the events of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Bowser's Keep is isolated on a mountain of red, jagged rocks. The keep rests on the largest rock, which, in fact, resembles Bowser himself. The castle can only be accessed by a long bridge that connects to the faraway Vista Hill. The halls of Bowser's Keep are lined with statues of Hammer Brothers and Bowser. The castle is originally guarded by Terrapin soldiers. Additionally, molten lava flows through the keep in several areas. Fortunately, several bridges allow access across the lava (Unfortunately, the bridges are wooden, and as such, will eventually collapse in a room filled with lava. In fact, one bridge breaks right after Mario walks across it. Later, this bridge is replaced with hovering Donut Blocks.) The castle is also filled with ornate chandeliers. Mario and Bowser actually duel on the top of these chandeliers.

Bowser's Keep was also the Smithy Gang's base of operations on Mushroom World. During the beginning of Smithy's invasion, the gigantic sword Exor crashed into the keep. Since Exor is the gateway to Smithy's dimension, the soldiers of the Smithy Gang had an easy time taking control of the castle. In fact, many of Bowser's soldiers defected or ran away instead of fighting. Eventually, the Smithy Gang claims the castle as their own. Additionally, Exor destroyed the bridge connecting Bowser's Keep to the outside world. As such, the castle can only be accessed by flying vehicles.

Yoshi's Story
Baby Bowser's Castle is split into four different areas,Mecha Castle, Lift Castle, Ghost Castle, and Magma Castle. No matter what part of the castle Yoshi decides to go to, he will still meet up with Baby Bowser himself. The outside of the castle will also be seen whenever one of the Yoshi gets defeated, captured, and brought to the castle, along with when White Shy Guy retreves one. It is also seen in the ending sequence when Baby Bowser's minions carry him away.

Paper Mario series
In Paper Mario, a new Bowser's Castle was secretly built right underneath Princess Peach's Castle, and Bowser used some kind of magic to lift it into the sky, kidnapping Princess Peach, along with her castle. The power used to lift the whole castle into the sky is most likely that of the imprisoned Star Spirits and the Star Rod, both of which Bowser had stolen from Star Haven. But Mario, with the help from several party members Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Lady Bow, Watt, Sushie and Lakilester, manage to take back the Star Rod and destroy Bowser's Castle while saving Princess Peach (and her castle).

In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door only the outside and a hallway are seen. Its appearance in the game was to show Kammy explaining to Bowser what happened to the Princess.

In Super Paper Mario, the castle has an equally minimal role, as it is where Count Bleck kidnaps the entire Koopa Clan and Tippi takes Mario to Flipside. However, in The Bitlands, Bowser builds a set of several smaller castles, where several of his minions were located. After Mario destroyed it and defeated the Koopa King, the Princess convinced him to join them.

Mario & Luigi series
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Bowletta used Bowser's Castle to attack the Beanbean Kingdom. This castle could fly, breathe fire, and looked like a statue of Bowser. On the castles "hands", instead of hands there are tower tops. A time bomb blew it up at the end of the game. The ground version cameoed in the credits, when Peach's Plane dropped the present holding Bowser through its roof. This flying castle design is used again later in Yoshi's Island DS, and it is possible that this castle was the same as the one used by Bowletta.

In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, the four heroes get to see a little of Baby Bowser's castle, and actually Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Mario, and Luigi reunite and start their adventure together there.

Super Princess Peach
While Bowsers castle does not appear, Bowser's Villa is not unlike the castle.

Yoshi's Island DS
Bowser travels back to the past searching for the seven star children so he could rule the universe. He takes over the castle of his younger self. After he and his younger self are defeated, the castle is destroyed.

New Super Mario Bros
In New Super Mario Bros, Bowser's Castle is relatively similar-looking to the one in Super Mario World. It is found rising out of a lake of lava and is at the end of a twelve-level-long path. Once inside, the Mario Bros. will encounter Thwomps, Dry Bones, and dozens of torches. The ? Switches in the castle have an unusual effect; once pressed, the room (or at least the gravity of the room) will flip upside down, and the Player and any enemy with it. The second part of the castle is a looping room., similar to Worlds 4-4 and 7-4 of Super Mario Bros. Once finally reaching the boss door at the castle's end, the Player will have to battle both Bowser Jr. and Bowser. To do this, Mario or Luigi must first beat Bowser Jr. by stopping the Koopa shells he throws and bouncing them back at him., and then run under one of Bowser's giant jumps or you can just bring a mega mushroom and beat them all by jumping on them. To end the fight, just step on the switch with a skull on it.

Spin-offs
Bowser's Castle, being a very important location in the Mario Series, has appeared in many of the Mario Spin-Off games.
 * It has appeared in every Mario Kart game.
 * In Super Mario Kart, there is a different course of the castle in every Cup except the Special Cup. Bowser Castle 1 appears in the Mushroom Cup, 2 appears in the Flower Cup, and 3 appears in the Star Cup. Mario Kart Super Circuit featured all of the courses from SMK, so they appeared in that game as well.
 * Mario Kart 64 features a Bowser Castle course in the Star Cup. In 50cc mode there is one thwomp, in 100cc mode, there are two thwomps, and in 150cc and Extra modes, there are three thwomps right before turn 4.
 * Mario Kart Super Circuit had its own Bowser Castle courses, but it also had a fourth one.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!! has a Bowser Castle course (named Bowser's Castle) in the Special Cup.
 * Mario Kart DS had a Bowser Castle course in the Special Cup. The Banana Cup also featured Bowser Castle 2, from MKSC.
 * Mario Kart Wii has a Bowser Castle as the third circuit in Special Cup. The Lightning Cup also has Bowser Castle as its final track. This one is Bowser Castle 3, also from Super Circuit.
 * In Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, a course known as the Bowser Badlands is located near Bowser's Castle. In Mario Power Tennis, there is the Bowser's Castle Court, which tilts and makes players have a hard time keeping their footing.
 * Bowser's Castle also appears as a stage in Itadaki Street DS, along with other stages from the Mario and Dragon Quest series. This Bowser's Castle is based off of the one from New Super Mario Bros..
 * In Super Princess Peach, Bowser's Castle is not seen because the game takes place on Vibe Island, rather than the Mushroom Kingdom. However, Bowser does build a villa there, which is rather similar to the castle.

Cartoons
In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, King Koopa was depicted as owning a wide range of castles, ranging from fortresses, towers and even an ice palace; most often at the end of an episode, the featured castle of King Koopa would be destroyed, and if not, would likely not be seen again. Unlike the games, the various castles seen in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! lacked the abundance of traps that would be normally featured in a castle owned by Bowser, though a large amount of minions were still prevalent in the castles.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 migrated away from the concept of King Koopa owning several castles and instead, one castle, located in Dark Land like the game, was seen; this castle was referred by the name Castle Koopa and Koopa Castle ("Tag Team Trouble"). Castle Koopa largely resembled it's game counterpart, with Bowser's image engraved on to it, though it was blue in color and lacked towers. Castle Koopa also possessed a large hall filled with portraits, as well as bedrooms for the Koopalings and a laboratory most often used by Kooky Von Koopa.

In Super Mario World, Neon Castle, which was short for Coney Island Disco Palace, was featured as the main base and home for Bowser and the Koopalings. Apparently located in a lava filled wasteland, Neon Castle lacked the amount of towers it's game counterpart possessed, only having one; Neon Castle also possessed a rectangular shape and, like the Japanese version of Super Mario World, had Koopa flashing in neon lights on it's front, instead of Bowser. Like it's game counterpart, Neon Castle possessed a large amount of traps, such as Ball 'n' Chains, lava, fire-breathing statues and various kinds of minions.

Publications
In both Nintendo Comics System and Nintendo Adventure Books, Bowser's Castle was infrequently seen, and was shown to have a labyrinth like construction, possessing various passages, bridge and doorways.

In Super Mario Adventures, Bowser's Castle is only seen near the end of the comic, and is portrayed as a large fortress, having many spike-covered towers and a large great hall, capable of holding several hundred different creatures. Catacombs and a lava filled chamber inhabited by Blarggs are also depicted in this version of Bowser's Castle.

Movie
In the Super Mario Bros film, King Koopa, instead of having a castle, had a pair of decaying towers as his base-of-operations; these towers, collectively known as Koopa's Tower, were the Dinohatten equivalent of New York City's now destroyed World Trade Center.

Area Tattles

 * It's Bowser's Castle. This appears to be the hangar for Bowser's vehicles.


 * Boy! Bowser's Castle. Talk about your basic eerie atmosphere, huh? Oh... I'm nervous and excited at the same time. We're headed for the final fight at last!


 * Are we still outside the castle or what? Let's hurry through here. OK, Mario?


 * I've gotta hand it to him, Bowser's Castle is amazing! Such creative use of lava flows! It's just like that volcano!


 * It's a covered hallway in Bowser's Castle. It doesn't look like anythings amiss in here. Let's press on, Mario.


 * Look at the size of that stone Bowser face! He's pretty scary looking. That face gives me the creeps, Mario.


 * It's an underground prison cell, Mario. Are you sure you can find the way back to where we were before?


 * I wonder where all this lava comes from. Don't you think it's odd?


 * Lava, lava, lava! There's such a thing as too much lava, that's for sure. Mario, are you all right in this heat? Boy, it's hot! This adventure has just been one extreme or the other.


 * The only way to cross the lava is to have somebody carry us. If we could find a way to cool the lava off, we could probably walk on it, though. And if we have to pass through lava flows, we can have Bow hide us from danger.


 * Here's the source of the lava. It's miserably hot when it's flowing. It's not so bad when it's cooled off, though.


 * Now we're cooking! I mean, now we're not cooking! It's still hot, but not, you know, burning hot.


 * You know, walking on newly hardened lava is not exactly something that your average Goomba gets to experience.


 * The lava seems to have hardened as it cooled off.


 * There's a treasure chest. Things are looking up. The lava has even cooled.


 * It seems to be a cave. Are we below the castle? It's so dark. They must have had problems setting up lights down here. What a pain for us.


 * It seems to be a cave. Are we below the castle? It's so dark. How long can this darkness possibly last?


 * Ah! We're back inside Bowser's Castle. There's a stone pedestal with Bowser's face carved on it. What poor taste! What an egomaniac! If we push that thing, what do you think will happen?


 * It's a hall in Bowser's Castle. I wonder where it leads. We have to hurry! And yet, we should also be careful.


 * These stairs aren't lighted very well, are they? I wonder how deep below ground they go. Bowser should really look into some ambient lighting.


 * This is a prison cell where Toads are being held. You know... There are Toads here...and beds... It's kind of like a Toad House! Do you think that I'm just an incurable optimist? Well, what's wrong with that?


 * Here's the storage room for Bowser's Castle. It looks like one of his subjects is selling his stuff. Ha ha!


 * It's a covered hallway. I can sum up the decorating in two words: pure Bowser! Such dark colors and drab lighting! What terrible taste!


 * I'm sure Bowser's going to be surprised. I'm sure he'd never believe that we could make it this far. I can't wait to see the expression on his face.


 * If Bombette were about three times bigger, we could just blow all these walls up. It would certainly let us move through these areas a lot faster. But that's probably not a good idea. It would be far too dangerous.


 * We're somewhere inside Bowser's Castle. This hall is quite large. It also looks quite fortified. I wonder if there's anything good around here? An attack item, maybe?


 * Look at all these carvings of Bowser's ugly mug. It's really shameless! I guess he thinks he's cool. Hey, incidentally, about those stone pedestals... Some move and some don't, so check 'em all out.


 * Whoa! This corridor has much lower ceilings, huh? I guess I had gotten used to really high ceilings.


 * In case you don't know by now, some of these Bowser pedestals can be pushed and others can't. In many cases, you can push them from either the right or left side. I wonder where I heard that?


 * This is a hidden passage. It's a bit dark, huh? That's all right. I can sense that something good's in here.


 * Some of these Bowser pedestals can be pushed and others can't. In many cases, you can push them from either the right or left sides. If they move, you can be sure they're covering a hidden passage.


 * See! A hidden passage. This one doesn't seem to be hiding anything interesting.


 * ...Nothing. This room's just a dead end. How worthless. Let's go back to the room where the pedestals are and check 'em out!


 * This hidden passage looks promising, doesn't it? It must lead somewhere... You know, I hope we're going in the right direction. I feel kind of disoriented.


 * We've certainly seen many kinds of treasure on our adventures, haven't we, Mario? There's one that I would value above all others, though. I would keep it in the safest place I know... Mario, please give me your autograph!!


 * Again with the Bowser faces! I'm sick of looking at his ugly mug! Let's find the real Bowser and show him who's boss! And then I can meet Princess Peach!


 * It's the outside of Bowser's Castle. Even the outside feels gross and ominous. Maybe he wasn't so bad until he moved here. Living in such a dank place isn't good for the soul.


 * How many halls have we been through? I wonder what this one leads to... To Bowser's room? Maybe?


 * Know what this reminds me of? A ghost story! This would make the perfect setting for a freaky ghost story! We could have Bow and her friends play the scary parts. Remind me to do that some time back at Toad Town!


 * It's a prison cell within Bowser's Castle. A lot of Toads are here. It's a bit strange... Why would Bowser ever need this many prison cells? Do you think there are that many prisoners?


 * I think we've already come really far. But we're not at Bowser's room yet. Where could he be? This place is so complicated! That Bowser... I really don't like him!


 * "I smell treasure!" Isn't that a good Kolorado imitation? Mario? Wasn't that right on? I wonder what Kolorado's doing?


 * It's a covered hallway in Bowser's Castle. There's no place to hide around here, that's for sure. Not that we need one, Mario! Who'd hide? Not me!


 * Do you think those windows open to outside or to the inner part of the castle? I'm getting totally turned around in here. This castle really is huge.


 * It's a room without a window. It also has a chandelier with no lights in it. I'm getting the feeling that Bowser is really going for the dark, gothic look in here. Maybe he hates bright lights.


 * All the torches hanging over there... Doesn't their pattern strike you as sort of suspicious? It's almost as if there's a hidden meaning there. What do you say we try to remember it?


 * I think we keep passing through the same room. Do you think, perhaps, that somebody's messing with us? Well, it's a waste of time to just keep running around with no clue about what we're doing. It's kind of like what happened in Forever Forest. Say...those torches might hold a clue for us.


 * This is a corridor of sorts. I guess it's more like an elevated skyway, though. If a guy were afraid of heights, his legs would probably tremble and he'd probably freak out. Gulp!


 * You know, if I were designing a castle, I wouldn't put in so many corridors. Well, whatever. You can't expect Bowser to have good taste.


 * This room is one big ego massage for Bowser. I wish we could crush all these statues to dust.


 * Stairs again! Do you think Princess Peach's Castle is at the top of 'em? We're almost there, Mario! I can feel it! Onward! The princess awaits!

Trivia

 * Bowser's Castle from Paper Mario made a cameo appearance in the Mario Kart: Super Circuit course Rainbow Road, as the castle appears in the background.