Dark Bowser

"Soon this kingdom will vanish along with all who dwell within. And you, too, will sleep eternally in the dark power's embrace!"

- Dark Bowser

Dark Bowser is Bowser's final boss in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. He has all the powers Bowser has, along with many dark variations as well. He is far more evil than the original Bowser; while Bowser simply desires to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, Dark Bowser wants to destroy it outright.

Appearance
Dark Bowser looks like Bowser. However he has dark blue skin and shell, black horn and spike rings, paler snout, stomach, horn and spike color, red eyes, and a black mohawk.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
While the evil Dark Star was gathering DNA from Bowser's body, Mario and Luigi tried to stop it before it succeeded. The brothers manage to defeat it, but it seems that it had already got every piece of DNA that it needs. The only parts missing were the legs, which it gathers by inhaling Dark Fawful, thus creating a dark version of Bowser. He flees from Bowser, but when Bowser finds him in the secret tower, they both execute flame breath attacks that clash with each other, initiating the prologue to the final battle. Bowser overwhelms him, then they both curl up into a spike ball and the fight commences. Bowser again overwhelms his dark form, who then unleashes a dark storm over the Mushroom Kingdom, trapping Broque Monsieur, the Blue Paratroopas and several Toads in bubbles. Bowser is now the only one who can defeat him.

One of Dark Bowser's attacks is throwing a boulder into the air and blasting it apart, causing rocks to fall out of the sky. Bowser must use his shell to avoid taking damage. However, he must also punch one of the rocks at Dark Bowser, who is charging a blast of dark fire. When the rock lands in his mouth, the attack's energy recoils and he inflicts damage on himself from the inside. If Bowser does not, however, he takes damage from the blast.

Another attack involves him punching Bowser repeatedly. Bowser must counter with his own punch, making their fists clash and negate any intended damage. The two giant blows meet and throw the titans back, creating a shock wave. Then Dark Bowser will jump into the air as a spiked ball and tries to land on Bowser. Bowser must bare his shell to protect himself. He can then counterattack by quickly throwing a punch at Dark Bowser. Another attack traps Bowser in a cage and raises it into the sky. He will then charge up an energy ball to launch at Bowser. Bowser must try, by punching repeatedly, and destroy the cage's lock before he gets hit by the energy ball (He should have just about enough time.). He can also swing the cage off its hinges with shell defense to damage Dark Bowser. After taking enough damage, Dark Bowser will fall to the ground; he is then healed by the ingested Dark Fawful and will grow larger. He will always follow this up by tossing a mixed ball of "Dark Minions" at Bowser, including Goombas, Koopa Troopa, Thwomps, Bob-ombs, and Bullet Bills. The ball pushes Bowser back several feet, after which he must then walk back through the "Dark Minions" while dodging or countering their attacks. When returns to the field, Dark Bowser again curls up into a spike ball and tries to slam into him from above. Bowser must defend with his shell, then do it again as Dark Bowser prepares the next spike-ball slam.

Bowser has to punch him in the stomach so that he spits up Fawful and then inhale him, which Dark Bowser will try to counteract it with his own inhaling technique. Successfully inhaling Fawful pulls him into Bowser, where the Mario Brothers must fight Dark Fawful. Only upon Dark Fawful's defeat can Bowser give his shadowy doppelganger the final blows.

Once defeated, Dark Bowser dissolves, leaving only the Dark Star, which rises into the air and explodes, restoring the Mushroom Kingdom to normal.

While Dark Bowser is incomplete, he speaks extremely slowly. However, as he becomes complete, he starts to speak fully. In the Japanese version, his speech is halted and written completely in katakana while he is incomplete. When Dark Bowser inhales Dark Fawful and is completed, he begins to speak in more natural Japanese, with kanji and no pauses.

Trivia

 * Dark Bowser is the third final boss that Bowser has a direct hand in defeating, after Smithy and Super Dimentio from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Super Paper Mario, respectively (although using Bowser for either of these battles was optional). The Mario Bros. also defeated Elder Princess Shroob, from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, by deflecting Bowser's fireballs up at her (Bowser was unknowingly possessed by the alien princess and she was using him to try and defeat the Mario Bros.).
 * Bowser's fight with Dark Bowser is reminiscent of the final battle in Paper Mario, as both take place on a large circular arena above Princess Peach's castle.
 * Dark Bowser is the third final boss that is a different form of Bowser, the first two being Bowletta and Shrowser, and the fourth being Dreamy Bowser.
 * Surprisingly, those forms of Bowser are all in the Mario & Luigi games.
 * This is the second time the evil spirit of the main antagonist was fought inside Bowser's body. The first time was in Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga against Cackletta's Soul inside of Bowletta's mouth, as proven by the teeth and the flames.
 * One of the glitches in Super Mario Bros. gives Bowser an underground pallet, which has some similarity to Dark Bowser's colors