Bowser's Castle

Bowser's Castle (also known as Bowser's Keep in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Bowser Castle in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story or Castle Koopa in the Mario cartoons) 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 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 the level 8-3, Mario will battle Bowser's forces outside of the castle, which can be seen in the background; in the level 8-4, Mario will venture into the castle itself, where he will battle and defeat Bowser in order to save Princess Peach. It is similar in the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 (known as the Lost Levels in the US), except that 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. The mentioned castle 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 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.

Super Mario World
In Super Mario World, Bowser's Castle, also known as Neon Castle is found in the Valley of Bowser. There are two ways of entering the castle and many ways to reach the end of the level. There are 2 main corridors where Mario/Luigi will have to choose one of four possible doors. The player can reach the Castle without clearing Level 7, by the Star Road that will lead him/her to the front gate. To get to the back gate, the player had to find the secondary exit in Valley of Bowser 2 and go through Valley Fortress. This takes the player straight to Back Door, skipping most of the level.

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.

Mario Pinball Land
Bowser's Castle was the last place Mario had to go in Mario Pinball Land. After using the Star Keys to open the gate, Mario went into the main foyer (where another Air Cannon and Toad's Tent was located). Players had the option to explore the other rooms in the castle, where Mario would end up fighting all the bosses again (after clearing the room of the other nasties), or go through the Star Door in the middle of the foyer and face Bowser. Bowser's arena was quite small, as all the other levels were, but the Koopa King himself proved to be quite tricky. Bowser wandered around the room until he found a spot to jump on. His landing caused the flippers to get stuck for a few seconds, rendering Mario vulnerable to be sent out. Every time Mario hit Bowser while walking cased him to rebound to another part of the room. Hitting Bowser while standing stopped him from doing his jump. The only way to injure Bowser, however, was to spin the gears on the wall to raise the chained Thwomps upward, then hit the ! Switch in the back of the room. This made the Thwomps fall on the ground, causing Bowser to fall backwards, leaving Mario to bash him. Mario did this three times, but instead of beating him, Bowser curled up, acting like a giant pinball. It was then the flipper's job to keep Mario from falling out while bash Bowser into the wall enough to send him flying out of the castle. This left Mario saving Princess Peach, and they both went back to The Fun Fair to enjoy the rest of the day.

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 as well as other enemies. 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 (including the Player and any enemy in it). The second part of the castle is a looping room, similar to Worlds 4-4 and 7-4 of Super Mario Bros. Once the final boss door is reached at the castle's end, the Player will have to battle both Bowser Jr. and Bowser.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Bowser is again fought in his castle in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. This time Kamek casts a spell to make the Koopa King grow to massive size, and he chases the Bros. through his castle.

Later after the final battle, Bowser, Bowser Jr., and the Koopalings are flattened by the castle as it falls over.

The path leading to the castle suggests that it is the same one, or in the same location, as the castle seen in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario, though the one room of the castle seen in these two games is never seen in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, as this castle is full of lava in typical style to sidescrolling games.

Super Princess Peach
As this game takes place on Vibe Island, rather than the Mushroom Kingdom, the castle itself is not seen during the events of the game. However, Bowser does build a villa there, which is rather similar to the castle.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3
Bowser's Castle appeared as a basketball court in Mario Hoops 3-on-3. The court had lots of dangers, such as Thwomps occasionally appearing out of ? Panels. Also, Podoboos launch up from the lava, and if any players touch them, they would run around uncontrollably and on fire. Bombs would do the same as well, but these ones are bigger. The music heard in this court is a remix of the Bowser's Castle theme from Super Mario Bros..

Itadaki Street DS
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 the one from New Super Mario Bros..

Paper Mario
In Paper Mario, a new Bowser's Castle was secretly built right underneath Princess Peach's Castle, and Bowser lifted into the sky, kidnapping Princess Peach, along with her castle. The power used to lift the whole castle into the sky is most likely the Star Spirits and the Star Rod's power, both of which Bowser had stolen from Star Haven. But Mario managed to take back the Star Rod and destroy Bowser's Castle while saving Princess Peach (and her castle). In this game Bowser's Castle looks bigger than Peach's

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Bowser's Castle didn't play a major role, as only the outside and a hallway are seen. Its appearance was mainly to show Kammy Koopa explaining to Bowser what happened to the Princess.

Super Paper Mario
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. This is the exact same castle seen in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. However, in The Bitlands, Bowser found a set of several smaller castles, where several of his minions were located. After Mario destroyed them, and defeated the Koopa King, the Princess convinced him to join them on their quest.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
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" there were tower tops. Mario, Luigi and Prince Peasley went there with Blablanadon near the end of the game to stop Bowletta,. The castle was the final world of the game. In the castle, the Mario Bros. had to get through many challenges and fight each of the Koopalings in their room in order to open the next area until they made it to Fawful. After the fight, the Mario Bros. got to the throne room where Bowletta resided. They fought Bowletta, but she then swallowed the Bros., making them fight Cackletta's spirit inside Bowletta's stomach. After the Mario Bros., Peasley, and Blablanadon escaped the castle, a time bomb planted by Prince Peasley blew the castle up, and the remains crashed into the Oho Ocean. This flying castle design is re-used in Yoshi's Island DS, and is somewhat similar to the one featured in Paper Mario.

The ground version of Bowser's Castle appeared in the credits, when the Toad Express dropped the present through its roof.

Enemies

 * Boo
 * Bowletta (boss)
 * Chomp Bro.
 * Fawful (boss)
 * Gunner Guy
 * Hammer Bro.
 * Iggy Koopa (boss)
 * Larry Koopa (boss)
 * Lemmy Koopa (boss)
 * Ludwig von Koopa (boss)
 * Magikoopa
 * Morton Koopa Jr. (boss)
 * Sniper Bill
 * Roy Koopa (boss)
 * Wendy O. Koopa (boss)

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, the castle was called Baby Bowser's Castle, since the Mario Bros. visit it in the past. The four heroes get to see a little of Baby Bowser's castle. The four Bros. practically reunite and start their adventure together there. Baby Bowser was never seen inside the castle during the entire game. There is also a Time Hole here which links to Peach's Castle in the present.

Enemies

 * Goomba
 * Boo
 * Boom Guy

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story Bowser's Castle is taken over by Fawful. Control of operating the castle is given to Midbus. After Bowser helps to fire a Banzai Bill at his own castle (taken over by this time), Midbus commands the castle to land on top of Bowser. Mario and Luigi must travel to Bowser's adrenaline gland and cause Bowser to grow big enough to fight his castle. In battle, the Castle's main attack is a flying ram. Its main tactic is opening its entrance doors and releasing Spinies, which prevent Bowser from punching. After the castle is in ruin, Midbus retreats and the castle is moved back to its original resting place. Later, Bowser attempts to gain access to the castle, however Midbus commands it to hover out of Bowser's reach. After wandering to the opposite side of the area, Midbus fires a giant cannonball at Bowser, who after building up energy courtesy to Mario and Luigi, throws it back at the castle and forces it to land. Bowser then gains access to his castle, where he discovers that not only that Fawful had brainwashed his minions, but had also turned the castle into a theater. In the meantime, Bowser decides to see the show Fawful puts on. Fawful had however, tricked him into a VIP chair, which fires Bowser onto the stage and he gets stuck in a forced fight against Midbus.

Later in the game, Bowser must return here to look for the second Star Cure, which he had stolen before the events of the game. However, Fawful had blocked up the path to his treasure stash and Bowser must push a Fawful statue off the castle balcony to break the barrier. However, his former minions begins to push against the statue too, trying to save the statue and push Bowser off the balcony. Mario and Luigi then must help Bowser push the statue. Then Bowser manages to go underground and got to his treasure vault, but the Monty Moles that had helped Bowser get underground Toad Town earlier are now working for Fawful and is moving all of the treasure from the vault in the Fawful Express.

Enemies

 * Midbus (boss)
 * Jailgoon
 * Sniffle Thwomp
 * Fawful Express (boss)
 * Magifoofa
 * Fawful Guy
 * Shroobs (boss)

Mario Kart series
Bowser's Castle has appeared in every Mario Kart game. In Super Mario Kart, there was a different course of the castle in every Cup except the Special Cup. Bowser Castle 1 appeared in the Mushroom Cup, 2 appeared in the Flower Cup, and 3 in the Star Cup. Mario Kart Super Circuit featured all of the courses from Super Mario Kart, so they appeared in that game as well. Mario Kart 64 featured a Bowser Castle course in the Star Cup. In 50cc mode there was one Thwomp, in 100cc mode, there were two, and in 150cc and Extra modes, there were 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!! had a Bowser Castle course 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 Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Mario Kart Wii had a Bowser Castle as the third circuit in Special Cup. The Lightning Cup featured the same Bowser Castle from Mario Kart 64 as its final track. Bowser Castle 3, from Super Circuit, also appeared in the retro Grand-prix. Every version of the course featured the same dangers, lava, Thwomps, and dangerous jumps.

Mario & Sonic series
Bowser's Castle appears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games as a location Dream Ice Hockey. It also appears in Dream Figure Skating as the second stage to be faced. It exist of a giant stone Bowser head. There is also a lot of lava around the dream event.

Mario Sports Mix
In Mario Sports Mix, Bowser's Castle appeared in all of the sports for the players to compete in.

''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
In Yoshi's Island, Bowser's Castle is located atop a tall mountain on the island. The last level is here and it requires the player to go into one of four random doors. Afterward, a giant playroom for Baby Bowser is discovered inside. After defeating Baby Bowser, Kamek will come by and make him extremely large and the player fights on the top of the castle which throughout the battle is slowly destroyed. The castle is later entirely destroyed after the final battle.

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.

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 decided to go to, he would 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 retrieves one. It is also seen in the ending sequence when Baby Bowser's minions carry him away.

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.

Other Appearances
In addition to the game appearances, Bowser's Castle also made appearances in the cartoons, and various comics and movies.

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! produced by DiC Entertainment, King Koopa owned 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 appear in a castle owned by Bowser.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
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. This castle was referred by the name Castle Koopa and Koopa Castle ("Tag Team Trouble"). Castle Koopa largely resembled its 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 Ludwig Von Koopa.

Super Mario World television series
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 its 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 its front, instead of Bowser. Like its game counterpart, Neon Castle possessed a large amount of traps, such as Ball 'n' Chains, lava, fire-breathing statues, as well as various kinds of minions.

Super Mario Adventures
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.

Super Mario Bros. film
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.
 * Several incarnations of Bowser's Castle feature an area where the player must choose one out of four or six doors to enter.
 * 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 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 from New Super Mario Bros. appeared in Sim City DS as a special landmark. The game said that the castle was located in South America.
 * Strangely, in Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time, Bowser's Castle has a face of Baby Bowser in the past. After coming back in the present Baby Bowser's face is still on the grown up Bowser's castle.
 * In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, if Mario attempts to go to Bowser's Keep without restoring Star Road, a cutscene will play showing Mario watching the damaged castle from Vista Hill. After a few seconds, he will jump up and down in anger and walk away.