Bowser X

Bowser X is a boss that first appears in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. This upgraded form of Bowser only appears in the Challenge Node in Bowser's body and the Battle Ring. To get to him, the player must beat all X bosses normally, and then face all the other X bosses in a row before facing Bowser X. He is the only X boss without a color change from the original.

Bowser X re-appears as an extra boss in the game Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. As with the previous title, Bowser X is a stronger version of Bowser who appears as an X boss in the Battle Ring in Pi'illo Castle. He is faced twice: once in normal form, and again in giant form. He is the second normal X boss faced, and the final giant boss in the Battle Ring. Once more, he is the only X boss to retain his normal palette.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Like all the other X Bosses in the Challenge Node, Bowser X has upgraded stats. He is capable of performing all of the original Bowser's attacks, plus three new ones. However, Bowser X only uses two of his minion attacks (Unless Bowser did not rescue Shy Guy Squad). The attacks Bowser X performs during battle include:


 * Punch - A variant of Bowser's fist attack, which is slightly faster than the original one. Mario and Luigi must jump to avoid taking damage. Every once in a while, his nostrils smoke out; when this happens, he completely misses the punch and jumps over the Bros. in clumsiness. Mario and Luigi should not jump during this attack.
 * Flame - Bowser's trademark flame breath attack. It can be avoided by grabbing onto Starlow before Bowser X launches the attack. If the player misses, the attack deals massive damage to the Bros.
 * Goomba Storm - This attack has two phases. At first, Goombas run after Mario and Luigi, while Bowser X sets some of them on fire. After that, the burning Goombas fall from the sky and the Bros. must use the hammer attack to hit them back. They move at a much faster speed than the original.
 * Shy Guy Squad - This attack is similar to Bowser's attack. It can be countered by a timed hammer attack. This variant, however, bounces back onto the rope then back at the Bros. at a slightly faster speed. This can be countered multiple times.
 * Fireball - Bowser X shoots a simple fireball at one of the Bros., which doesn't do much damage, but he continues to execute this attack over and over. The Bros. must hammer the fireball back at Bowser X to damage him. Doing this causes Bowser X to curl up into a ball and head for the upper portion of the screen; there, a rain of fireballs drops from Bowser X at random times. The Bros. must hammer the fireballs when they're directly above. For the final part of this attack, Bowser X (still curled up) attempts to ram himself into one of the Bros., heavily damaging them if not countered.
 * Giant Bowser X - Bowser X grows in size and attacks the Bros. with a barrage of fireballs. The Bros. should jump only when the fireballs head directly toward them, and remain earthbound when the fireball passes overhead. After Bowser X finishes, he proceeds to chase the Bros. through a series of fiery obstacles; to avoid major damage, the Bros. must jump over said obstacles and head for the two springs waiting at the end.
 * Vacuum - A counter move used every time when the player uses a special attack. Bowser X inhales the used move, making it inaccessible for five turns.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
During the first battle against Bowser X, he is accompanied by Antasma X in his bat form. Bowser X uses all the same tactics Bowser does for this battle: He can spew purple waves of fire at Mario before launching a bigger flame attack that Mario must jump over. He can also roll up into his shell and chase Mario through the foreground, creating flames that Mario must avoid while running; the red flames are avoidable by jumping, while the purple ones must be avoided completely. Bowser X will also attempt a sliding punch, which Mario must counter with his hammer; before punching, Bowser X may teleport behind Mario to catch him off guard. Unlike the real world battle where Antasma is forcibly popped out of Bowser and they retreat, Bowser X and Antasma X explode in defeat.

Giant Bowser X
Bowser's giant form also appears as an X Boss in the giant boss battles of the Battle Ring. As with the previous battle, Bowser uses the same attacks, though they are a bit faster and some have slightly different patterns.