Fake Bowser

The False Bowsers first appeared in Super Mario Bros. Mario had to fight seven of them (one in each castle) before he could reach Bowser's Castle and fight the real one. Hitting a false Bowser with fireballs would reveal that they were really just common enemies disguised as their king with a spell. These enemies are a light gray, however. The enemies and their attributes are:


 * World 1: Goomba - fire
 * World 2: Koopa Troopa - fire
 * World 3: Buzzy Beetle - fire
 * World 4: Spiny - fire
 * World 5: Lakitu - fire
 * World 6: Blooper - hammer
 * World 7: Hammer Brother - hammer and fire (same as the real one)

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels additional worlds:
 * World A: Goomba - fire (FDS) / Red Koopa Troopa - hammer (SNES)
 * World B: Koopa Troopa - fire (FDS) / Cheep-Cheep - hammer (SNES)
 * World C: Buzzy Beetle - fire (FDS) / Bullet Bill - hammer (SNES)
 * World D: Spiny - fire (FDS version only)

In Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, a False Bowser also appears in Worlds 8-4, 9-3 and D-4, along with the real Bowser. Unlike the other False Bowsers, this Bowser had more of a mint-green body with a brown muzzle instead of his normal color, and did not appear as an enemy in disguise when defeated with fireballs (except in World D in the original NES version, where he turned into a Spiny just like the Bowser the player finds at the end of the level). This type of Bowser also breathed fire and threw hammers in 8-4, but could only breathe fire in subsequent worlds (except in the Super Mario All-Stars remake, where it could also do both in World D-4). In All-Stars, he also lacked his alternate coloration and looked identical to Bowser. Because of this and the fact that this Bowser is the only Bowser that appears in World 9, players unaware of the original version of the game have mistaken him for the real Bowser.

A False Bowser makes a cameo appearance in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. It is seen in a special area inside Bowser's Castle which is a side-scrolling level imitating a Super Mario Bros. level. The False Bowser appears at the end of that level. The Bowser appears to be made of cardboard and Mario must run underneath him and hit the Ax to make him fall.