Bowser

"Count Bleck, Floro Sapiens, whatever... Stomping fools is my business! Show me a fool, I'll stomp it! I don't even need a reason!"

- Bowser

King Bowser Koopa (Japanese 大魔王クッパ Daimaō Kuppa "Great Demon King Koopa", in English also Lord Bowser, King Koopa commonly in other media) is the main antagonist of the Mario series, the supreme leader of the Koopa Troop, King of the Koopas, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. He has repeatedly kidnapped or attempted to kidnap Princess Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom. He has on other occasions attempted to conquer the entire Mushroom World, as well as the entire universe.

Since his debut, Bowser has been in nearly every Mario game, including the main series, spin-offs, and crossovers. Besides being a primary villain, Bowser has at times played an anti-villain in all of the Mario RPGs, with the exception of Paper Mario.

Creation
Bowser was created by Shigeru Miyamoto as the villain of Super Mario Bros. Miyamoto stated that they considered naming him either Kuppa, Yukke, or Bibinba, which are all Korean dishes as they are known in Japanese. At the end, Kuppa was chosen. For the later North American release of the game, which also introduced the anglicized spelling Koopa, the character was renamed Bowser.

During the development of Super Mario Bros., Miyamoto considered asking a manga artist or illustrator to do the art for the game. However, time was running short, so he drew the game's original box-art himself. This artwork included Bowser (whom Miyamoto depicted notably different from later designs), with gray-blue skin and lacking horns. For the character's appearance, Miyamoto drew inspiration from an anime film adaptation of the Chinese novel Journey to the West, renamed Alakazam the Great during the film's American localization. He liked the film's main antagonist Gyū-Maō (lit. "Ox Demon King") (King Gruesome in the dub), so loosely based Bowser on an ox as an homage.

Yoichi Kotabe, an animation artist, later joined Nintendo and was asked to do new illustrations for the Mario series. His only reference was the package illustration for Super Mario Bros., so Kotabe asked Miyamoto many questions on how to draw the characters. However, designing Bowser caused problems, since Miyamoto hadn't drawn him often. He brought up that he liked the Ox King from the film, and this was how he imagined Bowser, but Nintendo designer Takashi Tezuka pointed out that Bowser should be a turtle. Through their discussions, Bowser's appearance gradually came together. Since he was now in the turtle family with the Koopa Troopas, they partly based Bowser's new appearance on them. Finally, the new design was created, and Miyamoto congratulated himself by saying "Wow, I can really make Bowser look cool now!"

Background
Bowser's first chronological appearance in-universe is as Baby Bowser in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. At this age, he was shown to have similar powers as when an adult.

When Baby Mario enters his room in his castle, Baby Bowser awakens from his nap, sees Yoshi, and decides he wants to ride the "green donkey." However, he notices Baby Mario is riding Yoshi so he attacks them to get Baby Mario off. Yoshi ends up defeating Baby Bowser, even when Kamek turns him into a giant. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was also his first meeting with Mario. Baby Bowser later stole the Super Happy Tree from the Yoshis and turned Yoshi's Island into a pop-up book in Yoshi's Story, but was defeated again by a newborn Yoshi. Both incidents quickly define the young Bowser as a selfish character lacking empathy.

''Super Mario Bros.
Bowser's first appearance (release-wise) is in Super Mario Bros. In this game, Bowser and his Koopa Troop take over the Mushroom Kingdom by turning many of the Kingdom's defenders into inanimate objects and kidnapping the seven Mushroom Retainers, as well as the only person who could undo his black magic: Princess Toadstool. He then turns seven of his minions into False Bowsers and seds them to guard the Retainers in seven different castles while he personally keeps Toadstool captive in an eighth castle.

Fortunately for the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi unexpectedly appear and immediately set out to end Bowser's reign of terror. Mario and Luigi traverse the Mushroom Kingdom, freeing the Mushroom Retainers and eventually reaching the eighth castle and fighting Bowser himself. The Koopa King waits for them on a bridge, attacking by spitting Fireballs and throwing Hammers. But he is sent careening into the lava below when one of the brothers destroys the platform with an Ax placed at the far end of the bridge. Toadstool is liberated and her kingdom restored.

''Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Undeterred by this defeat, Bowser repeats his plan in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. Without any delay after he got defeated by Mario and Luigi, Bowser reuses his black magic, kidnaps Princess Toadstool again and took her to his castle, and begins sending more and more soldiers of the Koopa Troop all over the Mushroom Kingdom, with the increased number of False Bowsers imprisoning the Mushroom Retainers in other castles.

Despite Bowser's improved plan almost as impossible to stop, Mario and Luigi, who don't give up hope, traverse through the new lands of the Mushroom Kingdom, fight the Koopa Troop, free the Toads from False Bowsers, and eventually reach the eighth castle to fight Bowser himself. He was defeated by the brothers again, but he has to be fought again so Mario and Luigi can save the real Princess Toadstool in the fifteenth castle. In the end, Bowser is finally defeated, the Mushroom Kingdom is completely safe and Princess Toadstool is rescued by the Mario Bros. in the same way as the predecessor.

''Super Mario Bros. 3
After his hiatus during the events of Subcon in Super Mario Bros. 2, Bowser returns for one more invasion with his henchman Boom Boom and his children, the Koopalings: Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy and Ludwig in Super Mario Bros. 3. Each Koopaling conquers a different land in the Mushroom World and turns the King of their respective lands into a generic enemy while Bowser resides in his home territory of Dark Land. Mario and Luigi set out to free the Kingdoms, all while receiving helpful letters from Princess Toadstool throughout their journey. After freeing the seventh land, the brothers receive a letter from Bowser, informing them that he had kidnapped the Princess while they were saving the kingdoms. The Mario Bros. boldly fight their way towards Bowser's Castle for the final showdown, defeating him once again and saving the Princess. To defeat him the bros. had to avoid his attacks and wait for him to Ground Pound the blocks underneath him to eventually make him fall in the Bottomless Pit below.

''Super Mario World
Bowser and the Koopalings reappear in Super Mario World, in which he kidnaps Princess Toadstool while she was on vacation in Dinosaur Land with the Mario bros. He also captures several of the native Yoshis, trapping them in eggs and giving each one to one of the Koopalings to guard in the seven castles scattered around the continent. Predictably, Mario, Luigi, and a particularly heroic Yoshi save the Princess and the imprisoned Yoshis by defeating the Koopalings and their father. The boss-fight in Super Mario World has Bowser and Mario battle on the roof of Bowser's castle while Bowser flew his Koopa Clown Car, throwing Mecha-Koopas and Big Steelies at the hero. Mario can use the Mecha-Koopas to his advantage by tossing them back at Bowser. After two hits, Bowser disappears for a while, casting flames at Mario. However, his attack is countered by Princess Peach, who throws a Super Mushroom to Mario or Luigi. After all this, Bowser returns and attempt to ram into Mario with his Koopa Clown Car before resting to throw two Mecha-Koopas. Eventually, he loses control of the Clown Car, allowing Peach to float down to the roof and her rescuers while Bowser himself spirals away into the distance.

While his art is similar to his normal appearance, his in-game appearance is different. He is primarily green, being more similar to his cartoon appearance.

''Super Mario 64/Super Mario 64 DS
In Super Mario 64 and its remake, Super Mario 64 DS, Bowser invades Princess Peach's Castle and steals the Power Stars. He uses them to create worlds inside many of the paintings and walls of the castle. Peach and many of her Toads are also trapped in the paintings of the castle and can only be freed by Mario regaining all of the Power Stars.

To ensure that Mario did not disrupt his plans again, Bowser seals off the doors in the castle with the stars and even creates doors that would only open with his keys. Unfortunately for Bowser, he did not lock one door, leading to his undoing, as Mario is able to collect stars from the painting beyond that door, and then open other doors and systematically sweep through the castle towards Bowser.

In these games, Bowser is battled three times: once in the Dark World, once in the Fire Sea and once in the Sky. Every single time, Mario defeats Bowser by grabbing his tail and throwing him into one of several spiked-bombs surrounding the battle arena. During the Fire Sea battle, Bowser also warps from one section of the platform to another, and pounds the platform to make it go off balance. In the third and final battle, Mario has to throw Bowser into a spiked-bomb three times before he is defeated. Bowser even manages to double Mario's load by breaking apart the vast platform they are on into the shape of a star, making tossing him a difficult venture. He also attacked Mario by chasing him. Bowser was able to escape, but Mario saves Princess Peach and restores peace to the castle with the power of the stars.

In Super Mario 64, Bowser is solely defeated by the efforts of Mario. However, the remake Super Mario 64 DS differed in that the player is required to be both Yoshi and Mario to prove victorious. Luigi and Wario are available to be unlocked in Big Boo's Haunt and Chief Chilly Challenge respectively. But, keeping true to his rivalry with the red-clad plumber, Bowser will not accept any challengers but Mario himself for the final battle.

''Super Mario Sunshine
In Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser's eighth child, Bowser Jr., is introduced. Bowser told his son that Peach was his mother and that Mario kidnapped her. Bowser Jr. took on the disguise of Shadow Mario and vandalized Isle Delfino with Graffiti, framing Mario as a graffiti criminal. Mario, determined to prove his innocence, begins to clean the mess with the aid of F.L.U.D.D., a water pump he found on the airstrip.

While Mario is busy cleaning the island, Bowser Jr. kidnaps Peach, using a Bowser-shaped boat to flee to Pinna Island. After defeating Mecha Bowser, Bowser Jr. revealed his true identity, but he used Mecha Bowser's head to escape to Corona Mountain.

Mario reached Bowser and his son at the top of the volcano in a floating, sun-shaped, slime-filled bathtub just above the peak of Corona Mountain. Bowser tries to kill Mario by breathing enormous gusts of flame and splashing slime at him, while Bowser Jr. assaults him with Bullet Bills. Mario uses F.L.U.D.D.'s Rocket Nozzle to produce a few massive Ground Pounds to the edges of the tub that tipped the bowl over, sending the Koopas to fall onto a miniature island adjacent to Isle Delfino. While on this island, Bowser confesses to his son that he had used him as a pawn, but Bowser Jr. then reveals to his father that he knew all along that Peach was not his mother, and that he is eager to challenge Mario again sometime in the future, which fills Bowser with pride. They then decide to continue their vacation together.

''New Super Mario Bros.
In New Super Mario Bros., Bowser and Bowser Jr. distract Mario by sending a thunder cloud (possibly Lakithunder) to strike Peach's castle with lightning. While Mario is checking on the castle, Bowser Jr. makes off with the Princess.

When Mario reaches the end of the first castle, Bowser is the boss, the fight being similar to the ones from Super Mario Bros. Shockingly, Bowser perishes in the first world when he falls into the lava, becoming an undead monster with an appearance similar to that of a Dry Bones. Bowser Jr. runs from Mario's pursuit for the rest of the game.

Dry Bowser, Bowser's undead form, is the next-to-last boss. At the end of the game, Bowser Jr. revives his father by throwing his bones into in a giant pot of magic potion, and the duo fights Mario one last time. During this battle, Bowser eventually starts to shoot out multiple barrages of blue fire, making it harder for Mario to dodge. Despite this, Mario triggers a Skull Switch, sending both of his enemies into a pit. In addition to the normal way of defeating him, Bowser can also be thrown into the lava if the player knocks into him with a Blue Shell while in Shell Mario form, or if they use enough fireballs as Fire Mario. The player can also keep a Mega Mushroom in his item dock and use it in the battles to easily defeat him. Bowser will then still do his defeat animation, but Mario won't do a victory pose until he presses the switch.

After the credits, Bowser Jr. is seen dragging his unconscious father away.

''Super Mario Galaxy
Prior to the events of Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser attacks Rosalina's observatory and steals all the Power Stars and the Seven Grand Stars that powered the observatory. Bowser uses these incredible stars to bring his entire fleet to the cosmos and takes over many galaxies, planning to construct a galaxy reactor powered by the Grand Stars that would make all the galaxies collapse upon themselves. This would give birth to a new cosmos in which he would use to rule and control the whole universe as a Galactic Empire that would last forever with Peach as Bowser's empress. He then kidnaps Peach during the Star Festival, and holds her captive at the center of the universe, where he is overseeing the construction of his reactor. During this time, Bowser Jr. leads most of the Koopa Troop to conquer several galaxies.

Mario, helped by Rosalina, collects many Grand and Power Stars and destroys much of the Koopa Troop, encountering and defeating Bowser twice in his attempt to rescue Peach. Regardless of these drawbacks, Bowser remains confident of his victory and the follow-through of his main goal to construct his own galaxy.

Mario eventually battles Bowser at the almost-completed galaxy reactor. During the final battle, Bowser Jr. holds Peach captive in an airship while Mario fought Bowser on multiple planets. Despite his efforts, Mario defeats Bowser and sends him into the magma of his own sun. The final Grand Star is then released from the galaxy reactor. However, with nothing to stabilize the sun, it becomes a supernova, resulting in the formation of a large black hole that begins to suck up the cosmos. Bowser is not dead when he is knocked into the sun's magma, but is most likely killed when it exploded. The Lumas then use their powers to reverse the black hole, creating an explosion. Rosalina then appears to Mario in a vision, explaining to him that the nature and fabric of the universe is always unpredictable and always uses different patterns to sustain itself. Bowser tried to control this force for his own nefarious means, and for that he almost paid the ultimate price; he nearly sacrificed his own life. Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. then appear back at a restored Toad Town. Relieved to be alive, Bowser leaves to plan further schemes.

''New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Bowser appears, once again as the final boss, in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here, he appears together with his eight children, the Koopalings and Bowser Jr.. In the last castle of World 8, Bowser is located in the last chamber, sending out fireballs toward Mario, similar to his appearance in the original Super Mario Bros.. When Mario begins the battle, Bowser is fought in the same manner as in Super Mario Bros., as well as in the first and final castles in the original New Super Mario Bros.. After Mario presses the switch that will cause the bridge to collapse beneath Bowser, sending him falling into a pit once again, a victory fanfare will play and Mario rejoices, believing he is victorious. However, upon inspecting Princess Peach in the cage above, it turns out that it is, in fact, Kamek, disguised as Peach. Kamek then casts a spell over the chasm that Bowser has fallen down. As a rumbling noise begins, Kamek pauses to see if the spell had actually worked. To his surprise, Bowser appears, now at a gigantic size, knocking Kamek off his broom, and proceeds to chase after Mario. Mario rushes through the area beyond the boss room, luring Bowser into launching fireballs at walls to destroy them so he can proceed. After a long and grueling chase, Mario hears Peach's voice, and sees her in a cage up ahead, over a large switch. Jumping on the switch, Mario opens a humongous chasm, right underneath Bowser — that drains the lava from the room, taking the Koopa King with it — defeating him for good. He is later seen being carried by his children, having survived the drop and returned to his normal size, but then is crushed by his own castle.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
"I'm HUUUUGE! Even scarier up close, huh?"

- Bowser

Bowser appears in Super Mario Galaxy 2, once again as the main antagonist. He invades the Mushroom Kingdom again, along with his son, Bowser Jr., but at a gigantic size, due to the power of the Power Stars that he stole. He kidnaps Princess Peach and flees into space again, claiming that he'll build a galactic empire to suit his new size, and put it in the center of the universe.

Additionally, he attacks and destroys Lubba's starship prior to the game, causing the Lumas to rebuild it in Mario's image when they team up with him. Using Starship Mario to pursue Bowser, Mario has to collect the Power Stars and save Princess Peach as he has done before. Bowser also orders a Magikoopa to get rid of Yoshi as he does not want Mario teaming up with his dinosaur friend.

Mario faces Bowser three times in this game. The fights take place on a spherical planetoid, where Bowser, in his gigantic size, will attempt to crush Mario with his fists, and by sending meteors crashing down. When using his fists, Bowser's hand gets stuck in the planetoid briefly, and any meteors on the battlefield will rise and turn yellow. Mario has to Ground Pound the meteors so that they hit Bowser. He'll also use his Fire Breath. At the end of each battle, Bowser coughs up a Grand Star, causing him to shrink back down to his normal size.

The final battle at Bowser's Galaxy Generator has two phases, with the second phase requiring Mario to send yellow meteors at Bowser before he gets close enough to punch him. After Mario defeats Bowser for the final time, Bowser is sucked into a black hole, and is not seen again until Mario, Peach, and the Toad Brigade return to Mushroom World near the end of the credits, where it is shown that he has become extremely tiny. Mario can jump on top of Bowser or spin him, causing him to become angry.

''Super Mario 3D Land
Bowser also returns in Super Mario 3D Land as the main antagonist. He once again abducts Princess Peach, along with his henchmen, Boom Boom and Pom Pom. One day, a storm blows off all the Tanooki Leaves on a tree in the Mushroom Kingdom. When Princess Peach goes to check the tree, Bowser catches Peach off guard and grabs her along with all the Tanooki leaves. He takes her to his castle while he has his minions fight Mario on his quest.

Peach ultimately tries to escape, but Bowser's forces overpower her. Bowser then imprisons her in a cage and keeps her next to his throne. Soon after defeating Boom Boom, Pom Pom, and the False Bowsers, Mario reaches Bowser's castle and fights the real Bowser. Bowser is defeated, and Peach is returned to her castle with the help of Tanooki Mario and two Tanooki Toads.

After rescuing Luigi from Dry Bowser, it is revealed that Bowser has once again captured Peach. Mario (or Luigi) must then go to Bowser's Castle and save her once again.

''Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!
Bowser is featured as the main villain in the Japan-exclusive video Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!. In it, Bowser abducts Princess Peach, wanting to force her to love and marry him. He also has the ability of transforming himself into whatever he wants. Near the end of the film, Bowser tries to forcefully marry Princess Peach, only for the wedding to be interrupted by Mario and Luigi. Bowser is eventually defeated by Mario who, on becoming empowered by a Starman, throws him over the horizon. In the post-credits sequence of the movie, Bowser, as well as his Koopa Troopa minions, can be seen happily working at Mario and Luigi's grocery store.

Super Mario anime series
Bowser is also featured as the main villain in all three shorts in the Super Mario anime series, which had him taking on the guise of various fairy tale villains. In the first story, Momotarō, Bowser acts as an ogre that kidnaps Princess Peach with the help of his henchmen, the Koopalings. Bowser is eventually defeated and Princess Peach is rescued by Mario with help from his allies.

The second story, Issun-bōshi, features Bowser with a somewhat minimal role, as a bully to both Princess Peach and Mario. While harassing Princess Peach, Bowser eats Mario, who prods at his innards with a needle. This causes Bowser to experience a horrific stomachache and regurgitate Mario, running away yelling.

The final story, Shirayuki-hime (Snow White), has Bowser playing the role of the Wicked Queen, who wishes to steal the beauty of Princess Peach. After poisoning Peach, Bowser tries to take her as a hostage, only to be defeated by Luigi.

DIC Cartoons
Bowser, though most commonly referred to by the name of King Koopa, is featured as the main antagonist of all three of DIC Entertainment's Super Mario cartoons, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. Bowser's appearance in the shows is based on Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2 and his in-game sprite from the original Super Mario Bros.

''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
"Koopa Pack, attack!"

- Bowser

In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Bowser often takes on various aliases and costumes and try to enact a dastardly plot of some sort, most commonly trying to conquer a kingdom or steal an ancient treasure and/or artifact; aiding Bowser in these plots are his Koopa Pack and a sidekick of sorts, most commonly Mouser. In several episodes, Bowser captures Princess Toadstool and attempts to blackmail her into giving him the Mushroom Kingdom, although some other episodes imply that he already has some measure of control over the kingdom.

''The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser, having seemingly been banished from the Mushroom Kingdom sometime after the events of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, returns to it to cause havoc, with the aid of his seven Koopalings. In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser stops his use of aliases and costumes and his plans became somewhat odd in nature, such as turning his children into giant, ninja warriors for the sole purpose of kidnapping Prince Hugo, only to end up transforming him into a poodle.

Super Mario World television series
In Super Mario World television series, Bowser makes somewhat infrequent appearances. He was, as revealed in the episode "Mama Luigi", once again banished from the Mushroom Kingdom, which results in him moving to Dinosaur Land, where he, along with his Koopalings, cause trouble. Bowser's fate at the end of the cartoons is never actually disclosed, as his final appearance shows him trapped in his bedroom, which is rapidly filling with lava.

''King Koopa's Kool Kartoons
King Koopa's Kool Kartoons is a live-action series in which Bowser gives Nintendo related merchandise to his all-child audience members, as well as showing them old, public domain cartoons. It only aired in the 1989 holiday season.

Super Mario Bros. film
In the Super Mario Bros. film, Bowser, or rather, President Koopa, is the ruler of Dinohattan. Sixty-five million years ago, he and the other dinosaurs were taken to another dimension. As time passed, Koopa began to evolve, eventually reaching a human-like state. He also has a lover, Lena.

Nintendo Comics System
In the Mario portions of Valiant Comics' Nintendo Comics System, Bowser is once again featured as the main enemy of the Mushroom Kingdom, which he continues to try and cause chaos in.

''Super Mario Adventures
Bowser appears as the primary antagonist in Nintendo Power's comic series Super Mario Adventures. Some time prior to the events of the comics, he has hundreds of Yoshi's captured and enslaved. Yoshi tries to go after them, but he is trapped in an egg and left in the forest. Later, pipes begin to pop out of the princess's castle grounds, and several of Bowser's minions emerge from them. Bowser and his children, in his Koopa Clown Car, later appear out of a massive warp pipe. Bowser explains to Princess Toadstool that he wanted to conquer the kingdom, and that he could only do so by marrying her. Toadstool declines his proposal, but Bowser states that he would return for a final answer. He then heads back down the pipe, with the princess and several Toads in pursuit, to, hopefully, compromise with him.

Several of Bowser's Lakitus later captured Toadstool, and she was kept with Bowser's children, telling them to keep a video line between his castle and theirs open. After interrupting them playing a video game, he begins to tell his kids that he proposed to Toadstool, but is interrupted by a Magikoopa, telling him that the model of his cake is finished. Bowser is shown the model, but wants it bigger, and has to interrupt his children's video game again to tell them to keep Toadstool inside the castle.

After the princess escapes, Bowser is furious at his kids for loosing his "bride," but the Koopalings show him that they have captured Mario. Bowser then sends two Mecha-Koopas across the moat dividing the mainland from the castle, to tell Luigi that, if he wants Mario back, he must give him Princess Toadstool or Mario will be killed. Luigi tricks Bowser and the Koopalings by sending himself in as the princess, and actually says yes to Bowser's proposal when he arrives.

Luigi then convinces the Koopalings to order pizza, which turns out to be from Yoshi and Toad, with the actual princess and Friendly Floyd in the boxes with several bombs; they ask for Mario to be freed, or they will blow up the castle. After much chaos ensues, Mario is freed and the group escapes.

After flying through the warp pipe to send for a rescue party, Toad was captured by Bowser and his minions. He and several Koopas then disguised themselves as Toads and helped the princess and the bros by sending a ladder. However, Bowser then took out a knife and sliced the ladder, separating himself and the princess from Mario and Luigi. He then revealed himself and the ladder was pulled back up the pipe, revealed to be a small airship. Bowser then unleashes his Paratroopas upon the bros.

Having defeated the Koopas, the brothers find a house in the middle of the forest, unaware that Bowser and the Koopalings are watching them. Bowser thinks that the brothers will enter the house, but when they don't, he pushes a button, causing the scent of cheese to emanate from the house. Luigi runs into the house, and Mario rushes inside to find him. With Mario out of the way, Bowser can return to planning his wedding.

At the date of the wedding, Bowser witnesses a Magikoopa command several hundred Yoshis to drag the cake into the courtyard. He then watches as they are commanded into a room, where they are forced into eggs. As he is preparing for the wedding, he learns that the princess is still resisting. However, he has the Magikoopa hypnotize her into loving him. Just as the ceremony is taking place, Mario interrupts. Bowser then has his minions charge after Mario, subduing him. As he is about to continue with their marriage, a gigantic pack of Yoshis charges in, instantly defeating all of Bowser's minions. After the Magikoopa is defeated, the princess regains her senses. Bowser tries to escape in his Koopa Clown Car, but Mario lassos the car, causing Bowser to fall out of it and into the cake, which the Yoshis start to consume. Bowser then tries to continue the wedding, but the cake collapses, with him still on it.

''Nintendo Adventure Books
In Double Trouble, Bowser intends on using Iggy's latest invention, a cloning machine called the GLOM, to overrun the Mushroom Kingdom with duplicates made of sand. After encountering Mario in his Koopahari Desert Fortress, Bowser brags about his scheme before giving chase to the plumber, though he quickly loses him. After Mario causes Fort Koopa to collapse by making the GLOM overload and blow up, he spots Bowser, Iggy and Wendy limping off after digging themselves out of the rubble.

Bowser has only a cameo appearance in Leaping Lizards, where he threatens the orchestra performing at the International Mushroom Games (which six of his children are competing in) to play the Koopa Anthem.

After Wendy disappears in Koopa Capers, Bowser uses a Magic Carpet to abduct Luigi from Brooklyn, so he can force the younger Mario Brother into searching for the wayward Koopaling after his own minions prove incapable of finding her. In the best ending, Bowser and the male Koopalings confront Wendy, who had planned on performing a coup, in her secret lair by following Luigi, but they decide to stave off punishing the treacherous Koopaling if she helps search for the hiding Luigi. If Luigi has Boom Boom's socks, he can throw them into Wendy's simmering potion, creating fumes which will knock Bowser, his family and their minions out for at least a week.

In Dinosaur Dilemma, Bowser has his minions begin abducting all the dinosaurs in Dinosaur Island, so he can "prove" his theory that the dinosaurs went extinct due to not looking both ways before they crossed the street; once the dinosaurs and all evidence of their existence are gone and his theory is thus "proven" true, Bowser intends to be awarded the Snowbell Prize (feeding the cooked dinosaurs to the committee awarding it) and be named curator of the Mushroom Kingdom Museum of Natural History, conveniently located across the street from Mushroom Palace. Mario and Yoshi ultimately crash Bowser's award ceremony, defeat his evil Slimosaurs, rescue the dinosaurs and the kidnapped Luigi, and humiliate the Koopa King in front of the Snowbell Prize committee and the rest of the guests, including Wart.

In Flown the Koopa, Bowser can be found hanging out in the Valley of the Koopas by Mario and Luigi; when asked about the whereabouts of Princess Toadstool and Yoshi, Bowser denies having anything to do with their disappearance, but since the Mario Bros. annoyed him he sics a quartet of Mecha-Koopas on them. In the best possible outcome, Luigi bludgeons Bowser with a wrench, sending him running and causing him to drop the remote control needed to disable the Mecha-Koopas and defeat Magikoopa, Bowser's cousin and the main antagonist of the book.

Disguised as a Toad named Fungus Cap, Bowser crashes Yoshi's birthday in Unjust Desserts, placing a cherry on the dinosaur's cake that, when eaten, causes Yoshi to go on an eating binge that ends when he devours Luigi. After unsuccessfully trying to dissuade Yoshi's friends from calling dinosaur physician Doc Drake, Bowser sheds his Toad disguise and escapes, but returns later after having Magikoopa shrink him and his forces so he can follow Mario (who intends to rescue Luigi) into Yoshi's body. When Yoshi and Luigi regurgitate everyone they have eaten, Bowser and his forces try to overwhelm Mario, but are defeated and forced to retreat, with the still tiny Bowser being menaced by an ant.

Mario Kart series
Bowser is always a heavyweight character in the Mario Kart games, and he usually has his own course, aptly named Bowser's Castle.

In Super Mario Kart, if controlled by a computer, he will sometimes use lava balls on the player.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, his default partner is Bowser Jr.. His special item is the Bowser Shell, and his special Kart is the Koopa King.

In Mario Kart DS, Bowser's Koopa Clown Car cameos as his unlockable kart, the Hurricane.

In Mario Kart Wii, Bowser has the highest weight bonus for his class size, which makes vehicles like the Offroader and Piranha Prowler heavier than normal. The Staff Ghosts that use Bowser are Nin*YABUKI at Bowser's Castle in the Piranha Prowler, with a time of 3:04:836 with no Wii Wheel and manual drift. In expert the staff ghost is Nin*Masa, with the same settings, except this time, Bowser is on the Bowser Bike with a time of 2:42:098.

In Mario Kart 7, Bowser returns as a heavy racer. He has one of the best speed and weight boosts in the game.

''Mario is Missing!
Bowser causes much trouble on Earth during Mario is Missing!. Bowser plans to melt Antarctica, which would result in the Earth flodding. Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi set out to stop him, but Luigi stays behind with Yoshi because he was too scared to go into Bowser's Castle. However, Mario ends up being kidnapped, forcing Luigi to save Mario using skills of deduction. The Mario bros. then launch Bowser to the center of Antarctica, defeating him (or, in the case of the PC version, forcefully removing Bowser's shell, making him a beach Bowser, much to his humiliation).

''Mario's Time Machine
In Mario's Time Machine, Bowser buids the Timulator, a time machine that he uses to steal valuable artifacts from Earth's past and builds a great museum, not realizing that messing with the past can drastically alter the present. Mario takes back Bowser's stolen artifacts and uses his own time machine to return them to their proper places, saving the time stream.

''Yoshi's Safari
Bowser takes over the kingdom of Jewelry Land and steals twelve magical gems in Yoshi's Safari. This causes a disturbance in the ground, causing Jewelry Land to split into the Light Realm and the Dark Realm. Mario, riding Yoshi, heads for Jewelry Land with the Super Scope Princess Peach gave them to defeat Bowser. Mario and Yoshi end up fighting Bowser in a giant robot. Bowser fights Mario using many tricks, such as throwing bombs, but he is still defeated, ending his reign over Jewelry Land.

''Hotel Mario
In Hotel Mario, Bowser and the Koopalings turn the entire Mushroom Kingdom into their own personal resorts and retain Princess Toadstool as a "permanent guest" in one of his seven Koopa Hotels. Mario and Luigi destroy the hotels of each Koopaling, but Toadstool evades their possession. Mario fights Bowser in his own hotel and defeats him, rescuing the princess.

''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Bowser actually serves as Mario's ally in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. He uses variations of Chain Chomps and his claws to attack, as well as tossing Mario at enemies, using the Hurly Gloves (Described as: "A classic Mario-toss attack," though when Bowser tosses Mario any other time is a mystery). His special moves often involve summoning his minions to attack.

At the beginning of the Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Bowser kidnaps Princess Toadstool as she is picking flowers at Mario's Pad. He flies her to his castle, Bowser's Keep, in his Koopa Clown Car. However, Mario, hearing Toadstool scream, is on his tail. The plumber bursts into Bowser's throne room and fights him atop Bowser's chandeliers in what is their one millionth battle. Bowser seems to be unbeatable, but with some advice from the princess, Mario attacks the Kinklink chain holding up the chandelier, sending it and Bowser plummeting to the ground below. However, Bowser throws Hammers at Mario's chain, bringing him down as well. On the ground, Mario Jumps on top of Bowser, giving him a boost up to the Princess.

After the battle, a huge sword named Exor crashes into Bowser's Keep, sending Mario, Toadstool, and Bowser flying in different directions; Bowser endes up near Rose Way. His troops flees in panic, and by the time he reaches Booster Tower, he decides to join forces with Mario(even going as far as naming Mario, Geno and Mallow honorary members of the Koopa Troop until his castle is won back from Exor and the Smithy Gang). However Bowser helps Mario and his Party for a bit longer after his castle is won because (as Geno points out) it will not be truly secure until Smithy is defeated, though the King of the Koopas insists he only did it because Smithy had previously insulted him.

In this game, whenever Bowser uses a Special Move, a diamond is superimposed over his body. In the Japanese version, Bowser does a gesture similar to giving the middle finger for his victory pose. This is changed when the game was released in America. The theme that plays during Mario's battle with him is a remix of the final battle theme in Super Mario Bros. 3.

''Wrecking Crew '98
In Wrecking Crew '98, Bowser starts the construction of many new fortresses, greatly deforesting the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario decides to save the environment by destroying all of Bowser's fortresses. Bowser sends many of his minions to stop the plumber, but they all fall, even Bowser's right-hand construction worker, Foreman Spike. Mario eventually destroys Bowser's final fortress, saving the environment.

Mario Party series
Bowser appears as an enemy, and in most cases, as the primary antagonist, in the Mario Party series since the first game, causing chaos and coin-loss on the players. He is often given his own space, which when landed on by the player will teleport them to Bowser. There are also multiple mini-games based around Bowser, where a character's coins, items, or stars are taken if they lose. Throughout the series, Bowser has taken many forms, mostly in Mario Party 2. Bowser is only playable in the Beach Volley Folley mini-game of Mario Party 4. Bowser also receives his own board, which is always the final board to be unlocked.

''Mario Party 2
During Mario Party 2, Bowser takes over Mario Land and its six sub-lands. The characters of the game have a contest to see who could beat Bowser the fastest in order to prove themselves the best. In Pirate Land, Bowser becomes Capt. Bowser. In Western Land, he becomes Bowser the Brash. In Mystery Land, he becomes Bowser Sphinx. In Space Land Bowser becomes Black Hole Bowser. Bowser eventually loses control of five of his lands. Desperate to hold onto the final land, Bowser Land, Bowser utilizes his Metal Bowser power-up, but the player uses the stars they obtained to defeat him.

''Mario Party 3
In Mario Party 3, Bowser attempts to become a Super Star by collecting the seven Star Stamps. However, he was always behind the player and never got any stamps. He attempts to steal the Mischief Star Stamp, but realizes that Waluigi had stolen it. Bowser attacks Waluigi but is easily defeated. A weakened Bowser then begs the player to defeat Waluigi in his name.

''Mario Party 4
In Mario Party 4, Bowser claims that he stole the player's presents, and that he or she must go win his board to win them back. Upon defeat, however, Bowser admits that he didn't steal the gifts and grudgingly gives the player a Bowser gift (although all of these gifts are virtually useless). Bowser is also an unlockable character in the Beach Volley Folley minigame.

''Mario Party 5
In Mario Party 5, Bowser attempts to take over Dream Depot and have his own dream come true. Once defeated, Bowser says that his dream did come true, because his dream was to have a worthy opponent.

''Mario Party 6
In Mario Party 6, he appears as the co-host of the quiz mini-game Speak Up, where he changes the rules and the scenery of the game. Bowser also appears in the mini-game Seer Terror, where players can see their fortune.

''Mario Party 7
In Mario Party 7, Toadsworth invites Mario and co. to go on a vacation around the world. This causes Bowser to be filled with rage due to the fact that they didn't invite him. Bowser then tries to ruin everyone's fun, but in the end, the player ultimately triumphs over Bowser.

''Mario Party 8
In Mario Party 8, Bowser steals the Star Rod right as it is about to rewarded to the player for defeating all of his/her rivals. Bowser goes to Bowser's Warped Orbit, where he has either a Hammer Bro. or Blooper face against the player. They are defeated, but Bowser challenges the player to a battle in the mini-game Superstar Showdown. Bowser is defeated once again by the player and flees.

''Mario Party Advance
In Mario Party Advance, Bowser arrives while a Toad is explaining the game and scatters the numerous Gaddgets and minigames throughout Shroom City. After completing the first quest, Bowser seals off the eight pipes in the Pipe House. He also has a slight role on the actual game board; whenever Koopa Kid randomly shows up while traveling through Shroom City, he will use lava to fling Mario and friends somewhere else in the city. He can also appear and challenge them to rochambeau (rock, paper, scissors). If he wins, Koopa Kid can choose to block the path, which will cause Bowser to drop a statue of him similar to the ones he placed on the pipes on top of Koopa Kid, blocking that section of the board.

As Mario and his friends complete quests, Bowser will destroy one of the statues covering the pipes. These pipes will lead to one of the eight areas Bowser owns around the city.

In the Bowser Stadium, Bowser challenges Mario to a game of soccer, and, after he is defeated, is forced to play Splatterball. After that game is won, the player wins the game Splatterball, to play any time in minigame mode, and the Gaddget Snooze Ewes.

At Mt. Frostbite, Bowser and Koopa Kid are freezing on the mountain top. When the player arrives, he believes that Mario and friends can warm him up by answering his jokes with the correct punchlines. After doing so, he challenges them to play Crushed Ice. After the game is won, they will win the game and the Gaddget Breeze Buddy.

At the Bowser Mansion, Bowser is accused of stealing a painting from the museum, and the Mario gang, along with Shroomlock, must prove whether Bowser is guilty or not by finding faults in his alibi. Bowser states that he stayed home all day that day, that he hadn't even seen the painting due to his hatred of Toads and twilight, and that there is now way to hide the painting in the mansion. Eventually, it is proven that Bowser did indeed steal the painting; his alibi is proven false when he said that nothing in the house is big enough to hide the painting, which he could only know if he had seen it. Bowser then states that he hid the painting somewhere outside, and, once Koopa Kid and Shroomlock leave, he forces the player to play Mush Rush Once the game is won, the prize received is the game and the Gaddget Lip Sync.

At the Bowser Toy Shop, Mario is challenged by Bowser and Koopa Kid to answer five questions about his favorite show, Toad Force V. After answering the questions correctly, he challenges them to the minigame Slammer. Once Mario and friends win, they will win the minigame.

In the Bowser Hideout, Bowser challenges the gang to a game of luck: guessing whether the value on the upside-down card is higher or lower than the one beside it. When Mario wins that game, he is forced into playing Koopa Kappa. Victory results in receiving the minigame and two Gaddgets: Faux Flame and Hourglass.

At the Bowser Pad, Bowser wants the Mario group to get a gift according to his tastes. The gift will either be a bracelet, a ring, or a necklace, though the gift bought has to be the one Bowser really wants. He says that he likes necklaces as much as bracelets, but he likes rings more than bracelets. After retrieving the right gift and getting it to him, the gang is challenged to a game of Peek-N-Sneak. When the game is won, the prize is the minigame and the Gaddget Shroom Bloom.

In the Bowser Game Hall, Bowser challenges Mario and friends to his minigame Watch 'Em, for the title King of Games and the minigame.

At the Bowser Lab, Bowser allows the gang to select one of his monsters and duel it. Choosing the scary monster challenges Naval Piranha to the game Koopa Kurl; choosing the very scary monster only releases Huffin' Puffin, embarrassing Bowser and forcing the player to leave. Once the Piranha is defeated, the minigame is won.

After forty-nine quests are beaten, Bowser will open the gate behind the Pipe House, revealing his secret lair. Mario will then challenge Bowser to the final minigame, Trap Floor. Once the minigame is beaten, Mario will receive it, as well as the Gaddget Bowser Print.

Bowser also has his own mode, as a part of Challenge Land, known as Bowser Land, which he hosts. The mode involves going on a roller coaster to get to the end, playing Bowser minigames every time the player stops. Once the player reaches the end, Bowser will reward him coins for how fast he/she got there.

''Mario Party DS
In Mario Party DS, Bowser shows his less goofy and more sinister side when he invites the Mario gang, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong to his castle for a banquet, captures Mario and his friends, and shrinks them down to the size of chess pieces with his Minimizer to get Mario's Sky Crystal. Afterward, he has Kamek throw them out.

Eventually, they get back to Bowser's Castle, and, after defeating his final board, Bowser wants to shrink them more. However, Donkey Kong breaks Bowser's Minimizer and the Mario gang return to normal size, and they fight Bowser. However, Bowser uses his Megamorph Belt to turn himself into Blockhead Bowser. Block Bowser has three forms (Top, Block and Snake). In each he fires fireballs and has to be hit on the golden block by Mario & co. After, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are captured and bound tightly in ropes, and he confesses that he only wants the Sky Crystals to unlock Triangle Twisters, and that he got a little carried away. Mario understands, and unties Bowser and his son. In the minigame Hot Shots, Bowser targets give one hundred points to the player when hit.

Mario Golf series
Bowser is usually a default playable character in the Mario Golf games, though in Mario Golf: Advance Tour, he is unlockable and can only be unlocked by transferring data to and from Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. He also must be unlocked in Mario Golf. In Mario Golf: Advance Tour, he is present to compete against the characters Neil and Ella. He is very rude towards them and almost gets into a fight with Mario. It is interrupted by Peach who reminded them of their manners. Bowser has the longest hit ratio of all characters but has low control. He hosts a tournament like Peach in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.

During the opening of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Bowser is hit in the eye by one of Wario's golf balls. Enraged, he chases Wario and Waluigi across many golf fields. Eventually he traps them and prepares to throw a Bob-omb at them. However, one of Mario's golf shots knock the Bob-omb out of Bowser's hands and the three are caught in an explosion again.

Mario Tennis series
Bowser also appears as a playable character in almost every title in the Mario Tennis series, (Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy being the lone exception). He is a power character who can make service and return aces easily; he lacks speed, though. In Mario Power Tennis, Bowser uses his Fire Breath for his Offensive Power Shot and his Defensive Power Shot is Spinning Shell Dash, where, he ducks into his shell and spins around to recover the ball.

In Mario Tennis, Bowser is mistaken for causing trouble when he interrupts a tennis tournament. However, he innocently reveals he simply wants to play tennis, so Mario and the gang invite him in their new tournament. However, in Mario Power Tennis, Bowser has a more dastardly scheme. Bowser takes Wario and Waluigi under his wing after they lose in a tournament against the Mario Bros. Bowser trains the two to become better at tennis and ultimately the triumvate interrupts the final match of the tournament. Wario and Waluigi shoot Bob-ombs at the Mario bros., but Mario hits one back with his racket. Bowser fire a Bullet Bill from his balloon, but Mario deflects it, causing Bowser's balloon to start to crash. Seeing that his balloon is full of explosive Bob-ombs, Wario and Waluigi attempt to run away, but the balloon crashes on them and the three villains are defeated in a massive explosion.

''Paper Mario
"Mario defeated me...again... He always defeats me... This time I became invincible! And I STILL couldn't beat him!"

- Bowser

During the events of Paper Mario, Bowser and his minion Kammy Koopa invade Star Haven and steal the Star Rod, which can grant any wish of the holder. With this weapon, Bowser imprisons the Seven Star Spirits in cards and then scatters them in various strongholds and fortresses throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. The next day, Bowser uses his flying fortress to lift Peach's castle up into the sky. Mario attempts to stop him, but Bowser uses the Star Rod to make himself invincible, and defeats Mario for the first time ever. Believing his rival to be dead, Bowser throws Mario's tattered body down to the kingdom, locks the party guests in the dungeons of his castle, and puts Peach under heavy guard in her castle. Bowser then uses the Star Rod to create havoc throughout the kingdom; ravaging it with beasts and monsters loyal to him. Bowser gives each one of the Star Spirits to be guarded by his most trusted minions.

Mario eventually defeats Bowser's army and rescued the seven Star Spirits. After storming through Bowser's and Peach's castles, Mario reaches and battles Bowser again. The Star Spirits use their power to create the Star Beam, making Bowser's invincibility useless. Shocked, Bowser retreats to the roof of Peach's castle. Kammy Koopa boosts Bowser's size and power with her Power Platform, thus preventing the Star Beam from working against the Koopa King. However, Princess Peach and the Star Kid, Twink, defeat Kammy Koopa and upgrade the Star Beam to the Peach Beam, which is able to make Bowser damageable once again. Bowser is defeated and the Star Rod is taken back by the heroes. After the battle, Bowser's device starts to malfunction due to the intensity of the fight and explodes, sending Bowser and Kammy flying away. The Star Rod is returned to the Star Spirits, Peach's castle is put back in place, and peace returns to Star Haven and the Mushroom Kingdom.

During the events of the game, a robotic version of Bowser operated by the Koopa Bros. is fought in chapter one. However, the robot is clearly recognizable as a fake, since the voices of the Koopa Bros. can be heard inside the contraption and it bears several optical distinctions.

Paper Mario is significant because it reveals another of Bowser's motives for kidnapping Peach: he has a crush on her and hopes to steal her away from Mario.

''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Bowser also appears as a minor villain in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. In this game, Bowser hears from Kammy Koopa that someone else kidnapped Princess Peach, and makes it his mission to rescue her and kidnap her himself. Accompanied by Kammy, Bowser appears in many cutscenes, in which he is a playable character. These scenes are often quite humorous and involved Bowser traveling through a side-scrolling world similar to the ones in Super Mario Bros. (these levels partially inspired Super Paper Mario). Bowser also tried to collect the Crystal Stars before Mario, but always appeared to be one step behind his nemesis, and ultimately failed to find any of them.

Bowser finally catches up to Mario in the Glitz Pit, where the two enemies fight in front of a large audience, which can result in either Bowser's defeat or victory. He later attempts to return to Glitzville to search for one of the Crystal Stars, but refuses to take the Cheep-Cheep Blimp, and uses the Koopa Clown Car. Unfortunately for him, the airborne vehicle breaks down during the flight, sending him into the ocean below, and forcing him to swim back to Rogueport. He later appears in Twilight Town where he questions Lord Crump about the whereabouts of the Crystal Stars. The reluctant X-Naut summons his army to deal with the Koopa King, but Kammy calls the Koopa Troop to battle them. The two armies prepare to clash, but Bowser's fire breath sets off a Superbombomb, forcing both armies into submission.

After Mario opens the Thousand-Year Door, Bowser and Kammy Koopa enter the Palace of Shadow to take Peach and steal the treasure that is rumored to be held behind the door. Sir Grodus threatens to murder Princess Peach after his defeat at the hands of Mario, but Bowser's weight causes him to crash through the ceiling. He lands on the X-Naut leader, crushing him into the ground. Bowser looks around and admits he has no idea what is going on, but he's going to "end it right NOW!" Bowser and Kammy battle Mario, but are defeated. They are battled before the player gets a chance to save after battling Grodus, and they are the last bosses before the final one. Mario leaves them passed out on the floor of the Palace of Shadow. When the player leaves the room and comes back, they are gone.

''Super Paper Mario
Bowser joins forces with Mario in Super Paper Mario. During the beginning of the story, Mario and Luigi find Princess Peach missing and rush to Bowser's Castle, thinking that he is the perpetrator. Oddly, he is surprised as well, for he is only preparing to kidnap Peach and isn't ready yet. While talking to each other, a mysterious figure named Count Bleck abducts Luigi, Bowser, and his minions. He leaves Mario unconscious on the floor of Bowser's Castle, but Tippi finds Mario and takes him to Flipside. Count Bleck forces Bowser and Peach to get married in order to open The Void to end all worlds, although Bowser is unaware of his plans.

After the wedding, most of Bowser's minions are brainwashed by Nastasia, Bleck's secretary. Bowser is removed from Count Bleck's Castle and wakes up in a field in The Bitlands. With a handful of his few remaining minions, Bowser establishes a stronghold in an abandoned castle and fortifies the defenses by stationing his forces throughout the area. He eventually encounters Mario and Peach, and chooses to battle Mario one-on-one. Bowser is soundly defeated by the plumber, with the help of Boomer, and he learns the true purpose behind his marriage to Princess Peach. While he initially refuses to help them, Bowser realizes that he can't take over the world if it is destroyed and agrees to come with them.

Later in the game, when Dimentio "kills" Mario, Princess Peach, and Bowser, Mario and Bowser both end up in the Underwhere, while Peach goes to the Overthere. Mario and Luigi, who was also killed by Dimentio earlier, find Bowser while trying to get out of the Underwhere to find Peach. Mario and Luigi try to explain to Bowser what has happened, but Bowser immediately assumes Mario and Luigi are going to ditch him and take Peach for themselves. Bowser once again engages them in battle, but is defeated again, and rejoins Mario's party afterwords.

Bowser, Mario, Peach, and Luigi travel through many dimensions to stop The Void, eventually arriving at Castle Bleck. Here, Bowser defeats O'Chunks in battle. However, the ceiling starts to fall and O'Chunks stops the ceiling from crushing the others by holding it up. Bowser helps lift the ceiling as well and he tells Mario and Luigi to take Peach to safety. However, he also attempts to get O'Chunks out of there as well, causing an argument between them as to who should leave and who should remain (with both stating they should stay and that the other should leave) resulting in apparently both getting crushed. Interestingly, this causes Bowser to be conveniently left behind during two crucial scenes. The first one being the part where Mimi disguises herself as Merlee, and asks Mario and company about their weak-points. The second scene is when Dimentio asks Mario and company to join him, stating that they could rule every world with the Chaos Heart in their possession. It is later revealed that Bowser survived because he (and apparently O'Chunks as well) fell through the floor before they could be crushed. Bowser returns to help in the defeat of Super Dimentio and witnesses the marriage of Count Bleck and Tippi in order to stop The Void.

Strangely, Mario cannot jump on Bowser when battling him without getting hurt due to his horns and spikes, but he can in the previous titles. The theme that can be heard during the boss fights with Bowser is notable for being a remix of both the Super Mario Bros. 3 Dark World map music and his boss theme from the first two fights with him in Super Mario 64.

''Luigi's Mansion
In Luigi's Mansion, King Boo fights Luigi in a giant Bowser mech during the final battle of the game. During battle, the robotic Bowser decoy can only be defeated after a spiked ball is thrown at the Bowser head. Once that happens, King Boo becomes exposed and Luigi can suck him up with his Poltergust 3000. When King Boo's energy gets low and retreats to the body, he screws the head on backwards. Eventually, Luigi captures King Boo, and the fake Bowser duplicate falls. It is interesting to note that, while the original Bowser is not in the events of the game, he is mentioned. He is said to have been soundly defeated at the hands of Mario by Madame Clairvoya, a fortune telling ghost, though this is but a red herring on her part. His face also appears on some doorhandles.

Super Smash Bros. series

 * ''Main articles: SmashWiki:Bowser (SSBM), SmashWiki:Bowser (SSBB)

Bowser is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Bowser is very strong, making him a key character to deliver strong attacks. His massiveness makes him incredibly hard to launch out of the arena, though he is very slow as a result. However, his throwing ability is on par with the faster characters. He is also one of the few who can crawl and is also a good edge guarder. Melee also introduces Giga Bowser, a more monstrous version of Bowser. Bowser transforms into Giga Bowser with his Final Smash in Brawl.

Bowser is given a more realistic animal voice in the Super Smash Bros. series, with his Melee voice being similar to his voice effects from the games before Melee ' s release (such as Mario Kart 64). Bowser's voice effects in Brawl are different than in Melee, but are still more realistic than his cartoonish voice.

Solid Snake Codec Conversation

 * Colonel: Careful, Snake! That's the great and terrible Bowser!
 * Snake: Bowser? Looks like a cheap movie monster.
 * Colonel: Hardly. Bowser leads an entire army of monsters. But I'd worry more about his claws and fire if I were you.
 * Snake: Doesn't look that tough to me. Seems kind of slow, actually.
 * Colonel: Well, he is the king of Koopas. It's only natural he'd be slow. But that's only because he's the heaviest fighter here--by far. He's a powerhouse of destruction. Careful he doesn't flatten you.

The Subspace Emissary
In the Subspace Emissary storyline of Brawl, Bowser, a leader of the Subspace Emissary, orders his minions to steal Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard. After Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong have recovered it, he faces them himself. He reveals his Dark Cannon and turns Donkey Kong into a trophy, though not before Diddy is sent to safety with Donkey's Giant Punch. He pursues Diddy and Fox McCloud with the assistance of a shadowy clone, as well as capturing the princess rescued by Kirby, creating a false copy of her to assist in capturing heroes. It is later shown that Bowser is working closely with Ganondorf in running the Subspace Army, though he dislikes him and prefers Master Hand. He reluctantly follows his orders, however, and retrieves the princess not rescued by Kirby from King Dedede's Castle, though he is briefly attacked by Mario's team as he is returning to the Halberd. He then attacks Diddy and Fox again, this time managing to turn Diddy into a trophy and cloning him. However, his Dark Cannon is destroyed as a result of Falco Lombardi's intervention, forcing him to retreat.

Eventually, Bowser and Ganondorf are able to fly a Subspace Gunship into the other world and start bringing pieces of the world into Subspace. They destroy the Halberd, but are unable to hit the smaller, more maneuverable ships until the Subspace Gunship is destroyed by Kirby's Dragoon. Bowser decides to go into Subspace to report his failure. He is then betrayed when Ganondorf goes to see Master Hand as well, who turns out to be controlled by the being Tabuu. Upon being revived by King Dedede, Bowser fights him until he learns the truth behind the Subspace mission and joins the heroes in fighting against Tabuu and, upon finding Ganondorf's trophy (just after Kirby's discovery of it), furiously attacks it, as retribution for the treason of which he was victim earlier.

Fire Breath
Fire Breath is one of Bowser's special moves in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl. Bowser uses this move when is pressed. It is exactly the same as a Fire Flower, except that the flames get smaller the more it is used. The attack is somewhat of a long-distance move, and is usually best to use when the enemy is coming in for close-range combat. However, the move will leave Bowser motionless while using the attack, and will leave his back open for attack. If Kirby copies Bowser's abilities, he will gain the Fire Breath attack.

Koopa Klaw
Koopa Klaw is one of Bowser's special moves in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Bowser uses this move when is pressed in conjunction with either left or right on. This move has two variations, based on Bowser's distance from his opponent. If the two are sufficiently far apart, he simply lashes out with his claws, leaving a visible trail in the air. If Bowser is near enough to his opponent, however, he will grab a hold of his foe, allowing him to either gnaw on them or execute a throw move. If Bowser grabs them, he will be able to bite them repeatedly, until they manage to escape from his grasp.

Flying Slam
Flying Slam is Bowser's Side Special Move in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, replacing the Koopa Klaw from Super Smash Bros. Melee. In essence, Flying Slam is essentially the same move as Koopa Klaw, with one fundamental difference: Bowser claws at his opponent and if he connects, he'll perform a flying suplex, rather than throw them over his shoulder as he did with the Koopa Klaw. Bowser's air movement can be controlled somewhat during this move. If connecting midair, Bowser will go down with the enemy, and can KO himself as well as the enemy. The enemy can, however, control the movement of the two, and fight back, depending on both the enemy's and Bowser's damage percentages. Bowser doesn't bite his enemy with this move, unlike with the Koopa Klaw.

Whirling Fortress
Whirling Fortress is a move that can only be used by Bowser in both Super Smash Bros. Melee and its sequel, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Bowser activates this move when a player presses Up and simultaneously. Bowser conceals himself inside his shell and spins around with it in the air. If it hits any of the other players, they take a relatively large amount of damage, depending on how long they are in contact with the spinning shell. The attack can also be used on the ground, instead of just in the air.

Bowser Bomb
Bowser Bomb is an attack that is used by Bowser in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It is executed by pressing down+, however, there are several different control types for Super Smash Bros. Brawl (see here). Bowser jumps up to the right, and smashes down on the ground, damaging any players under him and launches them into the air. It is called the Bowser Bomb because it is like a bomb coming down at a high speed, and when Bowser hits the ground, the move's power is quite explosive. This is one of the things that separates the Bowser Bomb from the Ground Pound move. Yoshi has a similar move called the Yoshi Bomb.

The move is a reference to one of Bowser's attacks in Super Mario Bros. 3, in which the Koopa King would Ground Pound where Mario or Luigi is standing. In fact, the position Bowser gets into when using Bowser Bomb is even borrowed from Super Mario Bros. 3.

Giga Bowser
Although not normally playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Giga Bowser appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as Bowser's Final Smash. He still takes damage from hits but won't flinch, making him nearly impossible to KO. Because of his large size, he is able to easily attack and KO an opponent. The duration of this move is very short. While Giga Bowser is activated, Bowser's icon doesn't change. It's also noted that when Giga Bowser performs a Smash-based attack, it can turn into several Elements, such as Flame, Darkness, Ice, or Lightning.

Giga Bowser is a Smash Bros.-exclusive creation, but the concept of Bowser growing in size isn't unheard of. In several games, including Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, he has changed his size at different points. The method of this, though, varies from game to game.

''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Princess Peach's voice is replaced with a literally explosive vocabulary by the evil witch Cackletta. Realizing that, if he kidnapped Peach, her voice would destroy his castle, he and the Mario Bros. ventured through the Beanbean Kingdom to recover Peach's voice on Bowser's Koopa Cruiser. On the way, the Koopa Cruiser is shot down by Fawful, Cackletta's minion. Bowser falls in a large cannon and is shot out by the Starshade Bros.. Bowser ends up in the mountains with amnesia, where he is rescued by Popple, the Shadow Thief. Popple starts training Bowser to become a Shadow Thief, renaming him Rookie.

As Rookie, Bowser fights the Mario Bros. twice, remembering nothing about them except that they enraged him for some reason. Rookie's attacks, which involve throwing hammers and breathing fire, is a reference to Super Mario Bros., where Bowser an perform both of those moves. Rookie ends up remembering who he is, but he is then possessed by Cackletta, becoming Bowletta. Bowletta takes command of the Koopa Troop and launches a massive military strike against the Beanbean Kingdom from Bowser's Castle. After Mario and Luigi defeat Bowletta, the brothers are taken into its stomach to fight Cackletta's spirit for the final battle. Bowletta's stomach is full of flames. When Cackletta is completely destroyed, Bowser returns to normal. Still a bit bedazzled Bowser gets no break as his castle explodes shortly afterward (literally flying toward the screen of the Game Boy Advance). Bowser falls into Oho Ocean, but is rescued by Prince Peasley. He then awakens with a cold inside a present box (attached to Peach's Plane) given to Peach and the Mario Bros by Prince Peasley. He is dropped off to his castle while his minions eagerly watch him.

''Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Bowser appears after Princess Shroob (disguised as Princess Peach) is brought to the present. Mistaking her for Princess Peach, he grabs her, and flees. However, he falls off the balcony and into a time hole, which sends him to Thwomp Volcano, where he meets his younger self (which he mistakes to be some bratty kid, not realizing who he really was). They team up and fight the Mario Bros. and their younger selves. When they're defeated, a Thwomp flings them into the air, where Bowser falls back into another time hole.

When Mario and Luigi defeat Elder Princess Shroob, she turns into a small mushroom. Back in the present, Bowser, who has been resting, unconscious in Peach's throne room, eats it and becomes Shrowser, who fights Mario and Luigi (and doesn't allow them to attack). However, Mario and Luigi find a way to attack by reflecting Shrowser's own attacks and using them against Elder Princess Shroob. After this, the Elder Shroob is completely destroyed, and Bowser faints with the brothers doing a victory pose on him.

''Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
"You got THAT right, buddy! I'm Bowser, the Koopa king!"

- Bowser

In the newest Mario and Luigi game, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Bowser's playability is a major plot point, and the namesake of the game. At the beginning, Bowser attempts to once again kidnap Peach, but fails, courtesy of Mario. Peach then forces him out of the castle, and he is flung towards Dimble Wood. After being given a strange Mushroom from a cloaked merchant, he eats it, but comes under Fawful's control. Afterwards, he inhales Mario, Luigi, Toadsworth, Toadbert, Princess Peach, and several Toads, passing out after doing so. After the disposing of Bowser and with Peach and the Mario Bros. out of the way, Fawful takes control of both Peach's and Bowser's castles. After being woken up by Mario and Luigi, Bowser, not aware that he has living people in his stomach, is extremely angered by the series of events and chases after Fawful, only to find that his castle has been taken over by the latter.

Mario and Luigi venture through Bowser's insides for much of the game. Bowser, on the other hand, ventures in the Mushroom Kingdom for all of his time (the player cannot play as Bowser while Mario and Luigi are not in his body with the exception of the tutorial on his punch and fire in Dimble Wood). Bowser can also call upon his minions once he rescues them, and swallow enemies as well. When he swallows enemies, good things can happen; for example, certain enemies carry healing or power-up items. Sometimes, small enemies are actually inhaled and fought inside of Bowser by Mario and Luigi. He eventually defeats a dark version of himself named Dark Bowser, ridding the Mushroom Kingdom of the evil of the Dark Star forever.

Bowser gets trapped multiple times during the game (such as eating so much food that he gets stuck in the ground) and it's usually up to Mario and Luigi to change something in his body so that he can proceed. At some points in the game, Bowser is mortally wounded, and requires an adrenaline boost to be revived. This boost will cause him to become gigantic.

In one event, Bowser is fought by playing as Mario and Luigi, using his learned moves (except the Vacuum). However, the player cannot play as the opposite.

Bowser X
A boss called Bowser X appears in the Challenge Node in Bowser's body and can be fought by Mario and Luigi. To get to him, the player will need to beat all X bosses, and then face all the other X bosses in a row before facing Bowser X. He is, by far, the strongest boss in the game. He is also the only X boss without a color change from the original. While this is clearly not the real Bowser, such an entity existing inside of him may have been the result of the Emoglobin at the Gauntlet within creating it to challenge the Bros. further, after besting all of the other X bosses.

Like all the other X Bosses in the Challenge Node, Bowser X has upgraded stats and additionally, he is capable of performing all of original Bowser's attacks, plus three new ones. However, Bowser X does not use the remaining troops later on in the battle. 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 will smoke out. When he does this, he'll completely miss the punch and jump over the Bros. in clumsiness. Mario and Luigi should not jump during this attack.
 * Flame - A fire-based combat technique. It can be avoided by grabbing onto Starlow before Bowser X launches the attack. If the player misses, the attack will deal massive damage to the Bros.
 * Goomba Storm - This attack has two phases. At first, Goombas will run after Mario and Luigi, while Bowser X sets some of them on fire. After that the burning Goombas will fall from the sky and the player needs 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.
 * Fireball - Bowser X will shoot a simple fireball at one of the Bros.. The attack doesn't do much damage, but he'll continue to execute this attack over and over. The Bros. must hammer the fireball back at Bowser to damage him. Doing this will cause Bowser X to curl up into a ball and head for the upper portion of the screen. There, a rain of fireballs will drop from Bowser X at random times. The Bros. must hammer the fireballs when they're above them directly. The final part of this attack is when Bowser X, still curled up, will try to ram himself onto one of the Bros. heavily damaging him.
 * Giant Bowser X - Bowser X will grow in size and attack the Bros. with a barrage of fireballs. The Bros. should jump only when the fireballs head toward the Bro. directly. The Bros. shouldn't jump when the fireball passes overhead. After Bowser X finishes that, he will proceed to chase the Bros.. They must jump over the fiery obstacles and head for the two springs waiting at the end without taking major damage.
 * Vacuum - A counter move used every time when the player uses a special attack. Bowser X will inhale the used move and it will be inaccessible for five turns.

''Mario Pinball Land
In the beginning of Mario Pinball Land, Mario, Princess Peach, and a group of Toads go to a fair and are enjoying a day of merriment. Princess Peach ride a special ride, the Air Cannon, made by Professor Elvin Gadd. The machine turns Princess Peach into a pinball and allows her to play a special pinball game. Two of Bowser's Goombas take advantage of her pinball state, changing the direction of the cannon and shooting her to Bowser's Castle. Mario uses the machine to become a pinball and follows Bowser through five different worlds with some Toads trailing behind. Mario has to use the power of the Power Stars to pass each world.

When Mario finally gets to battle Bowser, the plumber has to drop Thwomps on him to cause Bowser to lose balance. After three hits, Bowser rolls into a giant-sized pinball and is used to break a hole in the castle wall. Mario then continues on to save Princess Peach.

''Tetris Attack
Bowser also appears in Tetris Attack, a game that is based on the Japanese Panel de Pon. The remake replaces several characters of the game with characters from the Mario series and the Yoshi series. Bowser takes the role of Cordelia, as the game’s final boss. During the VS. Mode, Bowser has Kamek cast a spell over the inhabitants of Yoshi's Island, brainwashing them into working for him and his Koopa Troop.

''Yoshi's Universal Gravitation
Yoshi's Island has once again become the target of an adult Bowser's conquests during the events of Yoshi's Universal Gravitation. The Koopa King and his forces attack the island, causing chaos and disorder. A spirit named Hongo encases the entire island in a storybook to contain Bowser and his armies, mirroring what Bowser did to Yoshi's Island as a baby. Fortunately, Yoshi manages to convince the powerful spirit to restore Yoshi's Island if the green dinosaur could personally trap Bowser. If the threat of Bowser is contained, there would be no need to keep the island as an isolated storybook. As such, Yoshi set off through the chapters of the storybook version on Yoshi's Island.

Each course is controlled by a different spirit, and each demands that the green dinosaur fulfill a specific task before he or she would allow Yoshi to move on. Ultimately, after satisfying the task of every spirit, Yoshi is allowed to confront King Bowser. Of course, he emerged victorious in the end and Bowser is once again defeated. With the threat of Bowser eliminated, the spirit Hongo releases Yoshi's Island, restoring it to its natural state.

''Yoshi's Island DS
In Yoshi's Island DS, Bowser travels to the past to find the Star Children, which are said to have the power necessary for Bowser to conquer the universe. Among the many children he took or attempted to kidnap were Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Peach, Baby Donkey Kong, Baby Wario, and even Baby Bowser. Bowser from the future uses a scepter to bring him back to the past and invade Baby Bowser's Castle. Later Bowser kicks Baby Bowser out of the castle when he insults him.

Baby Bowser teams up with Baby Mario, Baby Wario, Baby Donkey Kong, Baby Peach, and Yoshi to save Baby Luigi and the other babies from the future Bowser out of revenge, since his future self had betrayed him. Near the end of the game, when they reach Baby Bowser's Castle, Baby Bowser turns on his team because he thought they'd come to try and steal his treasure. Outnumbered, Baby Bowser is defeated. The future Bowser then shows up and attacks them for being rude to his past self (even though he'd booted him out of his castle earlier), but is defeated also. Kamek then enchants the future Bowser to become a giant in the final battle against Baby Mario, Baby Donkey Kong, and Baby Wario. During the battle with the giant Bowser, the Yoshis throws Giant Yoshi Eggs in such a way that they all collide and explode in front of Bowser's face. In the end, Bowser is defeated, and it turns out that the heroic babies were six of the Star Children, as well as a Baby Yoshi that is born soon after Bowser left the past.

Mario Baseball series
Bowser is a playable character in Mario Superstar Baseball and its sequel, Mario Super Sluggers. Bowser is a team captain and a very powerful batter. In Mario Super Sluggers, Bowser Jr. is jealous that Mario and his friends have their own baseball stadium so he takes over the stadiums in Baseball Kingdom. After Bowser Jr. is beaten by Mario's team, Bowser faces Mario in a baseball game. Mario's team emerges victorious and celebrates. Bowser and Bowser Jr. are invited to the celebration out of pity. Bowser refuses but goes anyways since Bowser Jr. wants to have fun, so Daisy leads them to the table. To the dismay of Bowser and Bowser Jr., they only get a small portion of food. Wario and Waluigi attempt to take Mario out with a sneaked Bullet Bill in the Bob-omb Derby during the celebration, but Bowser jumps in front and deflects it back at them. The reason Bowser did this is unknown, though it is likely that either if it hit Mario, he would have no archrival, or that he thinks it is his job to take Mario out.

In Mario Superstar Baseball, Bowser is one of the best batters and pitchers, but his fielding and running skills were very bad. His special move is the Killer Ball, where he hits or pitches a Bullet Bill.

In Mario Super Sluggers, Bowser is still a very powerful batter (tied with Petey Piranha and King K. Rool), but his pitching skills are weaker than in the prequel. His fielding and running abilities are slightly better than in the prequel, but he is still pretty weak in those categories. While Bowser's Star Pitch remains the same, his Star Swing is changed to the Breath Swing, in which he uses his fire breath on the bat to hit the ball.

''Super Princess Peach
In Super Princess Peach, Bowser builds a villa on Vibe Island. There, his troops find the mysterious Vibe Scepter, which Bowser uses to capture Mario, Luigi, and Toad. Princess Peach is out on a walk, and when she found out what happened, she goes on a quest to rescue them. Bowser sends many of his minions to capture Peach, sure that she would be easy to capture with the Mario Bros. out of the picture. Peach surprises everyone when she defeated Bowser's generals and rescued Luigi and Toad. Peach defeats Bowser when she reaches his villa, but he grows bigger and attempts to crush her. However, Peach uses the power of her vibes to eliminate Bowser again and rescue Mario.

Mario Football series
Bowser makes brief appearances in Mario Smash Football as a hazard who interrupts gameplay by tilting the field or attacking the players. During the game he attempts to have his own robotic Super Team win a soccer tournament, but they are defeated. Bowser reappears in Mario Strikers Charged Football as a power type character who can tackle hard and make goals easily. His special ability is the Fire Storm!. When performing his mega shot, Bowser turns into a fiery monster and then hurls the ball at the goalie. Bowser wears metal claws to help him manage the ball, as well as to make himself look more fierce.

''Mario Hoops 3-on-3
Bowser appears in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 as an unlockable character. In this game, he is classified as a powerful character. The only other powerful characters are Donkey Kong and Wario. Bowser's special shot is the Bomber Dunk, which can be performed if the player taps a B-like shape on the touch screen. Bowser is also the only unlockable Mario character with a baller name.

''Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Bowser appears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games as a power type character. He is the strongest character with a high level of stamina. Bowser does excellently in events such as the Hammer Throw or any events dealing with strength. Out of ten, his stats are: Power-10/10, Speed-2/10, Skill-3/10, and Stamina-9/10. His swim stroke is breaststroke and his six missions are:
 * 1) Pole Vault - Clear the bar twice, it is set at 5.70m.
 * 2) Javelin Throw - Throw the Javelin between 50m and 55m.
 * 3) 400m Hurdles - Knock over 0 hurdles, finish with a time between 45 and 53 seconds.
 * 4) Hammer Throw - Throw the hammer between 50m and 55m.
 * 5) Singles - Win, scoring 7 points with blast-shots.
 * 6) Dream Fencing - Win, force your opponent out of bounds twice.

''Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Bowser appears as a playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. He is given a high power stat, and his speed stat is also quite high as well. In the DS version of the game, in the Adventure Tour mode, Bowser is one of the two main antagonists. He, along with Dr. Eggman try to stop the 2010 Olympic Winter Games by capturing all the Snow Spirits.

''Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Bowser returns as a Power type character in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

''Mario Sports Mix
Bowser appears in Mario Sports Mix as a Powerful type character. His power stat is very high, but his technique is weak, and he has a very low speed stat. Bowser is capable of hitting pucks and balls real hard, which can make them push back weaker characters with ease. In Dodgeball, Bowser can repel dodgeball attacks by spinning inside his shell. However, this move is rendered useless when the dodgeball is equipped with an item. Bowser's special shot involves him spitting a fireball onto the court, and then throwing the sports object to the goal. Anyone caught in the fireball blast will be burned, and will have a harder time stopping Bowser's shot, or evading it in Dodgeball.

The Legend of Zelda series
While Bowser himself does not appear in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a portrait of him can be found by Young Link, hanging on a wall in Hyrule Castle. Later, at the Lon Lon Ranch, the characters Malon and Talon both wear broaches of Bowser's face, which is ironic because Talon bears a great resemblance to Mario.

When Link travels to the world of Termina in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, he meets a pair of sisters named Romani and Cremia, who also wear Bowser broaches. This is due to them sharing the same character models as Malon's child and adult forms, respectively.

''SimCity
Bowser makes a cameo in the SNES version of SimCity. He appears during one of the natural disasters featured in the game, which includes a giant-sized Bowser trampling through and destroying the city that is built by the player, which is probably a reference to the Godzilla movies.

''Pikmin 2
In Pikmin 2, a matchbox with Bowser's face on it appears as a treasure.

Different Characterizations
When Bowser was developed, he was a typical villain of pure evil with immense hatred and anger. Cruel and ruthless, he is typically portrayed as a power-hungry tyrant who leads violent attacks that threatened the lives of hundreds. Bowser's ultimate goal is to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, and eventually, the entire universe. His infamous plans and numerous crimes, ranging from simply kidnapping Princess Peach to acts of terrorism, have earned him a reputation feared by the entire Mushroom World. While this status of evil is still very prevalent in the series, Bowser has recently had a humorous tone added to his personality and is shown to be more complex in terms of his relationship with his rivals.

Most games tend to focus on a single characterization, which suggests the direction that game takes in story. Some games only focus on his comical aspects, while others focus on a much more sinister side. The games that mainly focus on his comical aspects are the RPGs, where his overall character has a very amusing personality. Bowser has also been known to break the fourth wall to remind players that he's still evil despite his current actions. In fact, whenever he joins forces with Mario to face a greater common foe, Bowser's typical motivations for doing so are selfish in nature: for example, in Super Mario RPG, he agreed to help Mario fight the Smithy Gang simply because he wanted to get his castle back from them, and in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Bowser only agreed to help Mario and Luigi regain Peach's voice because he wanted to kidnap her again, but couldn't because her "explosive vocabulary" would wreck his castle.

While Bowser is primarily more comical in RPGs, Paper Mario has him considerably more evil due to his focus as the main villain. Though Bowser still has a humorous tone, he is also shown to be very cruel and sinister in certain scenes. Outside the RPG series, Bowser is usually not as comical, and in many instances show him to be pure evil. The Mario Party series has also depicted Bowser as more serious-driven and angry. New Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Galaxy remove Bowser's usual comical undertones completely and make him a much more sinister villain than he is found typically in the RPGs.

Although he usually plans to rule the Mushroom Kingdom, and at some points, the entire universe, he also crosses the line at destroying the Universe, or destroying things thereof. This is especially evident when Bowser became enraged when he learned that Count Bleck's destruction of existence meant he wouldn't have anything to rule over, and after witnessing what happened to Sammer Kingdom when it was consumed by the void, he was legitimately horrified at what happened. When it also became apparent that his planned galaxy, as well as the entire universe was going to be vaporized after his plans of Universal conquest failed, he also lamented at the loss.

In the film adaptation, Koopa has a similar personality to that in the games at the time. However, he also was shown to have an understandable motive in regards to remerging the human dimension and the other dimensions, citing that he intends to use Daisy to merge them for the future of his species, especially when his species had to go through several hardships that stemmed from his world being almost a complete wasteland.

Common Sense
While Bowser has shown intellect and a sarcastic wit in many of the games, he has also acted with incompetence. The RPGs primarily depict him with an almost comical lack of common-sense. Two prime examples are when he breaths fire on a Superbombomb in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door when it doesn't explode, and in Super Paper Mario, he does not realize that he cannot rule the world if the world is destroyed until Mario explicitly tells him so.

While his lack of apparent common-sense is widely evident, Bowser has also been shown on many occasions to be highly intelligent. Many of his plans often make use of high-tech equipment and complicated machinery, designed and built by himself. He has also shown himself to be quite adept at use of various magics, both innate and talisman-based. He often develops strategies in his conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom as well as defense against Mario, as evidenced by his division of power among his children and generals to act as governors over conquered lands, which is a sign of an intelligent and compromising leader.

Emotions
Bowser's temperament has been depicted varying from pure, driven evil to a comical child-like villain. Despite this widely-opposing personality, any emotions other than anger or hatred have rarely been shown. Bowser has never been seen acting remorseful for his numerous atrocities and destruction to both the localized Mushroom Kingdom and the outer reaches of the universe. He also seems to lack a sense of empathy, which results in a disregard for any other life. In Paper Mario, Mario's defeat at the hands of Bowser, to which Bowser simply mockingly laughed at, was essentially murder before Mario was revived by the combined energy of the Star Spirits. Perhaps Bowser's most extreme disregard for other life was in Super Mario Galaxy, where his plot consisted of wiping out entire galaxies to create a cosmos he can control.

Despite all this, a more humane side of Bowser has sometimes been seen for brief moments. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Bowser can be seen crying for the loss of his home and Koopa Troop to Smithy and his underlings in front of Booster Tower. He also appears to be just as saddened as Mario, Mallow, and Peach when Geno's body broke down.

In Mario Party 4, Bowser was shown to be extremely upset when he was defeated and grudgingly gives the player a gift for their birthday. He then leaves in shame, at which one of the Koopa Kids suggests that maybe Bowser has more affection than others are led to believe, a statement which he quickly retracts. Bowser is shown walking in the darkness, alone and miserable, but indeed wishes the player a happy birthday. The most recent occasion where Bowser shows emotion is in Super Mario Sunshine when he tells his son, Bowser Jr., in sadness that Princess Peach is not his mother and appears guilty for lying to him.

In sharp contrast to his usual disregard for other life and that throughout the game his intent was to save the world only so he could rule it himself, Bowser did seemingly sacrifice himself to save Princess Peach, Mario, Luigi, and even Count Bleck's henchman O'Chunks during Super Paper Mario in Castle Bleck when the ceiling was falling, during which he was arguing with O'Chunks and telling him to get to safety before both were seemingly crushed (it is later revealed that they survived).

Physical Appearance
Bowser is a huge, burly, green-shelled Koopa with spikes, horns, and hair. His bushy eyebrows and mane are fittingly a bright, fiery orange and has bright red eyes. He sports two small horns, many spikes on his shell (similar to a Spiny), as well as along his tail. He wears several spiked collars around his neck and arms. He has three claws on each of his massive feet, which support his impressive girth. He has three claw-tipped fingers and a thumb on each hand, and his arms are noticeably burly, indicating his vast physical strength. While his face and his shell are green, his underbelly and snout are flesh-colored (occasionally depicted as being closer to tan or even yellow), and his tail and limbs are an orange-tinged yellow.

Bowser's appearance is based upon a combination of the many species of Koopa, including Koopa Troopas, Spinies, and Hammer Bros. According to Prima's Super Mario Galaxy guide, Bowser and the Koopas are also based on the kappa of Japanese mythology, although this has not been stated by Shigeru Miyamoto.

Bowser's appearance is not always the same. Graphical limitations in the original Super Mario Bros. meant Bowser could not have hair; artwork for Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels depicted him with yellow hair, and his iconic red hair was finally seen in-game in Super Mario Bros. 3. The original Super Mario Bros. also depicted Bowser as being completely green, rather than having yellow body scales. The creators of the Mario cartoons wished to follow the graphic design of Super Mario Bros., and so their portrayal of King Koopa had him almost completely green in colour and lacking hair, with a crown atop his head instead. His stomach was a deeper yellow than in later game depictions, and the whites of his eyes were also yellow; he also had a more crocodile-like snout. The Nintendo Comics System used the same design as the cartoons, and different installations in the Nintendo Adventure Books used either it or Bowser's game depiction, interchangeably. By comparison, the two Mario anime (the three OVAs and the movie) are relatively true to the games' depiction of Bowser, except for the fact that his eyes are blue instead of red.

The Super Mario Bros. film is often cited as having the most drastic change to Koopa's physical appearance. This version of him is almost entirely human in appearance, though possessing some reptilian traits, such as a long, pointed tongue and slitted pupils. Near the end of the film, Koopa is forcibly de-evolved into a snarling green Tyrannosaurus Rex, then into a large glob of primordial ooze.

Powers and Abilities
Since Bowser is the King of Koopas, he possesses the powers of many of the Koopa species, such as a Fire Bro.'s fire breath, a Spiny's shell spikes, and a Hammer Bro.'s flurry of hammers. Bowser's signature ability is breathing fire. He can choose to either breathe a long breath of flame or shoot many fireballs. Bowser is quite advanced in his fire-breathing, he can shoot blue flames that follow Mario in Super Mario 64 and New Super Mario Bros. and can even breathe fire underwater in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario. Another one of Bowser's most-often used abilities is his power and durability, something that Bowser prides himself in. Bowser is often the most powerful character in sports games. He can also create shockwaves by doing a simple ground pound in several games. Bowser's durable nature is evident seeing that he has fallen into lava, been blown up, etc., but has managed to survive all this many times. Bowser is also shown to have an extremely loud and powerful roar that often sends weak enemies running away before a battle even begins. In Super Mario Bros., Bowser also threw hammers like a Hammer Bro. but has rarely used the technique since, only to be used once again in Super Princess Peach and by his alter-ego Rookie in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. He briefly used it in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars when after battling him at the beginning, he throws a hammer at Mario's Kinklink.

Speed and Agility
Bowser's speed and agility are very inconsistent and they greatly vary from game to game. In some games Bowser is actually faster and more agile than Mario is, such as in Super Mario 64 where Bowser can jump high in the air if Mario tosses him off the platform. In that game he can also run faster than Mario for short distances. Despite his size, Bowser has demonstrated the ability to pull off a move similar to Mario's Spinning during a boss fight in Super Mario Galaxy. However, Bowser is usually slower than Mario in playable appearances and sports games. In Super Paper Mario, Bowser is the slowest usable character and can't climb ladders, unlike Super Smash Bros. Brawl in which he can climb them. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Bowser is shown to have good swimming abilities, just like Mario, though he reportedly hates swimming (though this may derive from the fact that his Koopa Clown Car crash-landed in the sea and he was forced to swim back to Rogueport). Another example is in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympics series. In the summer games he is the slowest runner with a 2/10 stat, while in the winter games he has an 8/10 stat; most power characters have a good speed stat in that game, though their speed is still inferior to Sonic's, and they lacked accelerating abilities.

Magic
According to the Super Mario Bros. instruction booklet, Bowser is a skilled user in dark magic, although he is not shown to use these skills very often. One of the few times Bowser does use magic is in Hotel Mario, where he uses it to summon lightning bolts. Bowser's lightning ability is shown again in the beginning of Super Mario Galaxy when he uses it to summon a spaceship to lift Peach's Castle into space. Another magical ability Bowser uses is teleportation in Super Mario 64. If the player came too close to him, Bowser would disappear and reappear somewhere else, making it hard to get close to his tail. Bowser also teleported to escape after Mario defeats him in their first two battles in Super Mario Galaxy. Bowser can also turn into many square stones in Mario Party DS and shrink players in Mario Party 4. Bowser has also shown the ability to turn people into Frogs which is shown in Mario Party 2 when he turns a Koopa Troopa into one.

In both Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bowser used the powers of the Grand Stars to aid him in his fight with Mario. In the first game, he would attack Mario by spinning, with what appeared to be dark matter coming out of his fingers and in the second game, he used the power of the Grand Stars to make himself enormous, rivaling the size of Princess Peach's Castle. Another magical ability Bowser uses is to transform himself into a giant boulder during his final fights with Mario in Super Mario Galaxy.

Size
Like his speed, Bowser's size changes between games and he has also been shown to grow much larger sizes with a variety of methods. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door intermissions, eating Meat gradually increases Bowser's size until he is large enough to smash straight through anything in his path; this is mimicked by the effects of the Mega Star in Super Paper Mario. In Super Princess Peach, Bowser uses the Vibe Scepter to become gigantic, and in Super Mario Galaxy 2, he uses the Grand Stars. Kamek makes Bowser giant in New Super Mario Bros. Wii after he is initially defeated and falls down a pit. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Mario and Luigi can make Bowser temporarily giant by supercharging him with adrenaline; Bowser X and Dark Bowser can become giant for a short while as well. Bowser starts out giant in Super Mario Sunshine but shrinks after he is defeated. Other games also show him to have modest increases in size from one boss battle to another, such as New Super Mario Bros. and Paper Mario. Like all playable characters, Super Mushrooms make Bowser grow larger in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In Melee, a larger-than-normal Bowser is the final boss of the Adventure Mode, and Events 25 and 42 both feature Bowser as being larger than he is when he has consumed a Mushroom. This so-called Giant Bowser also appears in Event 27 in Brawl.

Transformation


In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Bowser has the ability to transform into a powerful version of himself called Giga Bowser for his Final Smash. Giga Bowser does not flinch, even from the strongest attacks; his own attacks are more powerful and he is much larger in size than his opponents. Giga Bowser also appears as a boss in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Family
The game Super Mario Bros. 3 introduces the first seven of Bowser's eight children, the Koopalings; who, after their first appearance in Super Mario Bros. 3, would go on to appear in several other games with their father, as well as in various other Mario-related medias, such as cartoons and publications. The game Super Mario Sunshine introduces Bowser Jr., Bowser's eighth and youngest child who, unlike the Koopalings, resembles him greatly. Bowser Jr. has been featured in many games such as New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy and is often Bowser's partner in sports games. The Mario Party series also introduces Koopa Kids (aka Baby/Mini Bowsers) who, despite having an uncanny resemblance to Bowser, seem unrelated to him; though Bowser acts somewhat like a father to the Koopa Kids, doing things such as banning them from playing with their toys when they fail.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island introduces Kamek, a Magikoopa who is the caretaker and possible adoptive father of Baby Bowser. Kamek is shown to take great care of Baby Bowser and worries about him often. Besides Kamek, another father is mentioned by Bowser in a few issues of Nintendo Comics System. This father is heavily implied to be a criminal currently being chased by the authorities. Bowser and his children were also shown to have a pet rabbit named Pookie in the Nintendo Comics System; he was often abused, until his eventual escape from Bowser's Castle in the comic "Bowser Knows Best".

The first family member of Bowser's ever seen was not in the Mario video games, instead, it was in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "Do You Princess Toadstool Take This Koopa...?", which introduces his mother, who was a bossy and bullying woman. Additionally, King Koopa also mentioned a grandfather named Poopa La Koopa in the episode "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid", saying his motto was "Cheat, beat, and be merry!" In the song "Ignorance is Bliss" and an episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Bowser mentions a younger sister who is a bookworm.

In the Super Mario Bros. movie, two idiotic cousins of Koopa, named Iggy and Spike, are introduced. Also, Koopa's second-in-command in the Super Mario Bros. movie, Lena, is implied to have some sort of relationship with him. Yoshi was also portrayed as Koopa's pet, although like Pookie, he is not treated well, and is considered to be a contemptible "throwback" by Koopa.

The UK Nintendo Power once said that Bowser had a wife named Clawdia Koopa; however, as Clawdia is never referenced to again, neither in any games or later issues of Nintendo Power UK, it is often believed that she was simply a joke. In Super Paper Mario, Bowser and Princess Peach are forcibly wedded by the sinister Count Bleck and Nastasia. Though Bowser regards this wedding as official and calls Peach his wife throughout the game, she refutes his claims and considers the wedding to be a sham. Koopa's High School Yearbook depicted an unnamed female Koopa who had a crush on Bowser despite the fact that they only talked once (he asked for her sandwich); she founded the one-member "Koopa Fan Club" and was also in the "Future Wives of Tyrants Club", but nothing else is known about her.

In the Nintendo Adventure Book Flown the Koopa, an unnamed Magikoopa stated to be Bowser's third cousin twice removed is featured as the main antagonist; this character also appears in the later books Unjust Desserts and Brain Drain, though has only a minor role in both. While Bowser appears in both Flown the Koopa and Unjust Desserts, he is never shown directly interacting with his cousin.

Mario


While Bowser has many enemies, no one has caused him more anger than Mario himself. Bowser has a deep-rooted hatred for Mario because he continuously disrupts his plans and has won the heart of Princess Peach. Though Bowser despises Mario with a passion, he has a grudging respect for him and sees him as a worthy opponent, although he's tried to hide this reluctant respect. This is shown most strongly in Super Mario Galaxy, where Bowser says that he picked the right guy to be his archenemy since Mario always puts up a fight, and even more strongly in Mario Super Sluggers where Bowser saved Mario from being hit with a Bullet Bill sent from Wario and Waluigi. Of course, Bowser only saved Mario so that he could destroy him himself. Mario himself seems to have some sort of sympathy for the villain, going as far as even letting Bowser go in Mario Party DS. Though this is most likely due to the fact that Bowser's scheme unintentionally led Mario and his friends to have fun and that his plans weren't nearly as brutal as past ones. Although it should also be noted that Mario celebrated after viewing Bowser's seemingly permanent destruction in New Super Mario Bros., although he did eventually return. In the first two Paper Mario games, Bowser tries to defeat Mario once and for all using new strategies; stealing the Star Rod to become invincible in the first (though he is defeated the second and third times he is fought) and attacking him twice, each directly after a previous battle (which may leave Mario worn out before he fights Bowser), in the second. Their battle seems to be an eternal one as Bowser has survived numerous situations and even came back from the dead.

In spite of their rivalry, twice Bowser joins forces with Mario to defeat a greater foe who also poses a more immediate threat to him: In the first, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, he and Mario both wanted Smithy defeated, in Bowser's case so he could get his castle back, and viewed it more as Mario helping him than the other way around, and went back to his evil ways once Smithy was destroyed; second, in Super Paper Mario, he is extremely reluctant, but only joins Mario's team when he realizes he can't rule the world if Count Bleck destroys it. He plays a slightly similar role during Mario's quest to get Peach's voice back (to prevent her explosive vocabulary replacement from destroying his castle if he kidnaps her) at the beginning of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, but is attacked by Fawful shortly after. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, however, despite the fact that both he and Mario are trying to defeat Fawful, and that Mario and Luigi are helping him from within, Bowser never joins forces with them, fighting them all three times he encounters them.

Overall, Mario has always been Bowser's number one enemy, and this fact will never change no matter how many times Mario and Bowser team up together to save the world. Mario is also part of the three main heroes who Bowser despises the most, with the other two characters being Luigi and Yoshi.

Princess Peach


While Bowser has much hatred for the Mushroom Kingdom's residents, this hatred apparently does not apply to Princess Peach. One of the most complex aspects of Bowser is his relationship with Peach. It at first seemed that he only abducted her for control of the kingdom and to use her as bait to lure Mario into danger. However, it is later revealed that Bowser is attracted to Peach and lusts for her. While he has harmed her in many ways, including trying to blow fire on her when Starlow tells him he cannot stay in Peach's castle for the conference on the Blorbs, Bowser will never go as far as killing her and treats her fairly nicely. Even though Bowser has an attraction to Peach, he in no way cares for perspective. He has ruthlessly attacked her kingdom, caused much destruction, and forced her to watch him nearly kill Mario, the person she truly loves, while tied up. It seems that Bowser's attraction for Peach is mainly physical, but Peach is the only one in the whole series, other than his children, capable of showing that Bowser has affection somewhere deep in his seemingly cold heart. Peach herself is able to recognize Bowser's softer side towards her and often flirts with him to agree to help Mario, to which Bowser reluctantly agrees. It can be assumed that Bowser does not care for anybody or anything other than Princess Peach, his own children, and his army.

Children


Even though Bowser has shown less sinister aspects on rare occasions, he is still an evil villain with a lust for power. He does however care very deeply for his 8 children and is very proud of them for their loyalty towards him and the Koopa Troop. Even though he cares for his children, he sometimes uses them as pawns and can treat them as simply minions rather than family. This is shown most strongly when Bowser lied to Bowser Jr. to give him motivation to embark on a scheme to abduct the princess and destroy Mario, although it is not known if Jr. needed that much motivation anyway. It should also be noted that in Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser grieved over the impending destruction of his galaxy rather than the welfare of his own son. It can be surmised that while Bowser does care for his children, he seems to care for his plans and himself just as much and this care may even overshadow his children. His children never show signs of berating him despite his actions.

Luigi


Another one of Bowser's odd, if not comical, interactions with other characters are his ones with Luigi. While Luigi has often helped Mario disrupt the Koopa King's plans, Bowser briefly forgets who Luigi is in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, where he calls Luigi 'Green Stache', showing how little Bowser thinks about Luigi. When Bowser kidnapped Mario in Mario is Missing! he thought he was unstoppable until Luigi stopped him. Since then, it seems he has realized Luigi's potential threat level, Bowser had Luigi captured in Super Princess Peach and in Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser apparently saw Luigi as so much of a threat that he placed him under heavy guard in a haunted mansion guarded by Boos. Even though he sees Luigi as a threat, Bowser holds Luigi in low esteem; he is shocked and disgusted at himself when he believes that he even lost to Luigi in getting a Crystal Star in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. On many occasions though, Bowser seems to hate Luigi mostly for the simple fact that he is related to the man who has caused so much harm to the king and his Koopa Troop. Regardless, Bowser and Luigi are considered enemies, but can get along when the situation calls for it such as in Super Paper Mario. However, Luigi is still part of the three main heroes who Bowser hates the most, with Mario and Yoshi being the other two characters.

Toad
In general, Bowser despises the Mushroom People and often uses a variety of plans to eliminate them. One such way was in Super Mario Bros., where Bowser had used his magic to turn the Toads into various inanimate objects so that they did not get into the way during his kidnapping of the Princess. In games such as Super Mario 64 and its remake, Bowser imprisoned Toad and the rest of his species behind the castle walls. In Super Princess Peach, Bowser had his minions not only kidnap the two Mario brothers, but Toad himself. The fact that Bowser often captures Toad may be due to the fact that he sees Toad as a threat just like the Mario Bros. (as a result of his heroic works and his assistance to the Mario Bros. in their adventures). In Mario Superstar Baseball, both Bowser and Toad shares a bad chemistry with each other. However, in Mario Super Sluggers, only Toad continues sharing a bad chemistry with Bowser.

Yoshi
Yoshi and Bowser have crossed paths numerous times ever since Bowser was an infant. He first encountered Yoshi when Kamek kidnapped Baby Luigi, and Yoshi came to rescue him alongside Baby Mario. While Bowser hardly thinks about those who help Mario in his journey, it is clear that he sees Yoshi as a threat, as he encased his kind into Yoshi Eggs in order to keep them from ruining his plans. Later, in Super Mario 64 DS, Bowser imprisoned Mario, Luigi, and Wario inside Princess Peach's Castle Walls, leaving Yoshi to jump into action and stop Bowser. Despite all these events, Bowser still overlooks Yoshi as an actual fatal flaw in a few of his plans, although Yoshi is still part of the top three heroes Bowser coldly despises, with Mario and Luigi being the other two.

Strangely enough, despite of their negative relationship, in Mario Super Sluggers, their chemistry is neutral.

Wario
Wario, despite being the opposite of his arch-nemesis Mario, is not in good terms with the Koopa King. The only exception of the relationship is demonstrated in the opening of Mario Power Tennis where Wario and Waluigi team up with Bowser to attempt to destroy Mario and Luigi. However, most of the time, Wario and Bowser are usually pitted against each other throughout the games, such as Mario Superstar Baseball, where they mercilessly taunt each other, or Super Mario 64 DS, where Wario helps Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi obtain the Power Stars and defeat Bowser. In Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour in the opening, Bowser chases Wario and Waluigi, who have hit him in the eye with a golf ball. Also, in Mario Super Sluggers, when Wario fired a Bullet Bill towards Mario, Bowser protected Mario by deflecting the attack back. As babies, they also get into fights in Yoshi's Island DS.

Koopa Troop


Bowser’s relations with his army and underlings are usually held in good regards. Bowser has respect for all his underlings, but cares very little for them if they fail him. He seems to somehow bring some of his defeated minions in Super Mario Galaxy back to life to give them another shot at beating Mario. If they betray him however, Bowser sees them as enemies and will not hesitate to eliminate them. His minions also, surprisingly, hold Bowser in extremely high regard and serve him out of respect more than in fear. While many do fear his wrath, his minions believe Bowser to be the strongest and best suited to run the army. Nearly every single one of his henchmen, while failing numerous times, is a hundred percent loyal to their king and serves him faithfully. Kammy Koopa and Kamek are prime examples as they treat Bowser as a god and never complain about him, even when he's not around. This applies to most of his other troops with the only complaint being that Bowser may be overly nervous about Peach escaping, though this nervousness is rational.

Kamek
Bowser has known Kamek since he was an infant, having been raised by the Magikoopa. He has been known to do whatever Bowser assigns him to do without complaint, and is one of the better-treated members of the Koopa Troop, but Bowser has been known to attack him when annoyed. He has also interacted with Bowser more than other characters.

Kammy Koopa
Bowser has been known to utterly despise Kammy, despite the fact that she is completely loyal to him. A tattle from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door states that it is unknown whether it is harder for Bowser to put up with her or vice versa. However, he is willing to listen to Kammy when the situation is deemed dire enough, as evidenced by him listening to Kammy and considering her suggestion of evacuating from the self-destructing castle and platform he is on in the ending of Paper Mario. In addition, he also gets angered whenever she somehow harms him, regardless of whether it was accidential or not. This is especially evident in the ending, when Kammy Koopa was fighting Jr. Troopa, and both their spells accidentially hit Bowser in the face, prompting an enraged Bowser to pursue them before he blasts them with his fire breath attack offscreen.

Baby Bowser
Although technically a younger version of himself, he has interacted with him a few times. During these few times, notably Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time and Yoshi's Island DS, Bowser is unaware of his past connection to him, referring to him as "Some bratty kid" in the former, and kicking him out of the castle, not realizing that he's a star child, respectively.

Fawful
Fawful, a recurring villain in the Mario & Luigi series, is a very common enemy of Bowser. Of all the other villains who get in Bowser's way, Fawful is the most persistent. Bowser has an instant disliking for Fawful when he injures him during their first encounter in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Bowser is also a protagonist (with the Mario Bros. as the other two) in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, where after Fawful tricks him with a vacuum shroom and tries to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser sets out to defeat Fawful (so he can kidnap Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom himself). While he does fight the Mario Bros. every time he sees them, he spends the entire game chasing down Fawful and fighting his minions. Bowser defeats Fawful in battle shortly before he is consumed by the Dark Star, which is later defeated by Bowser. Fawful would be considered as a very big enemy of Bowser, but after the battle against Fawful (in his dark form), Bowser claims he is far too weak to even call his enemy, despite all the trouble Fawful had caused him.

Starlow
Bowser met Starlow in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story whan he crashed a conference on the Blorbs in Peach's castle. They immediately became enemies when Starlow tells Bowser he was not invited to the conference and cannot stay, and she helps Mario fight Bowser to get him out of the castle. However, after Bowser accidentally swallows Starlow, Princess Peach, The Mario Bros., and several Toads, under the guise "Chippy", Starlow and the Bros. help Bowser from inside his body and Bowser on several occasions asks "Chippy" to be one of his minions. Starlow declines all these offers though. After Fawful's last ditch effort to explode the Mario Bros. fails and sends everyone inside Bowser's body out of Bowser's body, Bowser becomes extremely enraged at the fact that Starlow and the Mario Bros. were inside his body, and a fight between the four ensues during the end credits of the game.

Impersonators
As feared as Bowser is throughout the Mushroom Kingdom and the rest of the Mario universe, there are others who try to imitate his ways in order to get their own gain. There have been many imposters in some games who have tried to replicate or manifest him in varying ways, either perfectly or imperfectly:


 * Bowser "mech" (King Boo, Luigi's Mansion)
 * Bowser Suit (Mario and his friends, Mario Party 3)
 * False Bowser (Shadows Bugs, Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
 * False Bowser (Various beings, Super Mario Bros.)
 * Dark Bowser (Dark Star, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story)
 * Bowser X (Gauntlet Emoglobin, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story)
 * Bowser??? (Koopa Bros., Paper Mario)

''Mario Kart: Super Circuit

 * Speed: *
 * Weight: *****
 * Bio: With road rage pumping through his veins, Bowser is the biggest brute on the track. It's impossible to push him around, but his weighty shell makes his acceleration suffer.

''Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

 * Kart: Koopa King
 * Partner: Bowser Jr.
 * Class: Heavy
 * Special Item: Bowser's Shell
 * Bio: Naturally, Bowser gives new meaning to the term road rage. His massive girth is matched only by his fierce temper.

''Mario Kart DS

 * Karts:
 * Standard
 * Tyrant
 * Hurricane

''Mario Kart Wii

 * Size: Large
 * Actual Bonuses
 * Speed: +2
 * Weight: +5
 * Drift: +3

Mario Kart 7

 * Class: Heavy
 * Stat Boosts
 * Speed: 4
 * Acceleration: 2
 * Weight: 4.25
 * Handling: 2.5
 * Off-Road: 3.5
 * Site Bio:
 * Flag of USA.png "Mario's scaly nemesis is a turbo beast in any race, but he takes a while to reach top speed."
 * Flag of Europe.png "Bowser is a real heavyweight, and while his acceleration leaves a lot to be desired, his top speed is top class."

''Mario Hoops 3-on-3

 * Baller Name: The Big Shell
 * Type: Powerful
 * Special Shot: Bomber Dunk
 * Letter to Tap: B

''Mario Superstar Baseball

 * Team Captain: Yes
 * Player Type: Power
 * Home Court: Bowser Castle
 * Star Swing: Killer Ball
 * Star Pitch: Killer Ball
 * Special Skill: Laser Beam, Body Check


 * Good Chemistry
 * Koopa Troopa
 * Koopa Paratroopa
 * Dry Bones
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Hammer Bro.


 * Bad Chemistry
 * Mario
 * Daisy
 * Toad
 * Peach
 * Toadsworth
 * Baby Mario
 * Baby Luigi
 * Toadette


 * Stats
 * Batting: 9
 * Pitching: 9
 * Fielding: 1
 * Running: 1


 * Bio
 * "Mario's arch rival and the king of the Koopa Clan. He's challenged Mario and his friends to battles countless times, but his ambitions tend to get crushed every time. His lethal Killer Ball is powerful enough to drag anyone who catches it across the field!"

''Mario Strikers Charged Football

 * Type: Power
 * Super Ability: Fire Storm!
 * Deke: Hides in his shell to repel opponents.


 * Stats
 * Movement: 3
 * Shooting: 10
 * Passing: 3
 * Defense: 10

Profile
"A Koopa with big spikes, Bowser is an extremely strong competitor and will dominate the Power events with his big muscles. His nasty disposition makes him an intimidating competitor in any event that he enters, especially the hammer throw and javelin throw."

Profile
"Bowser is Mario's arch-enemy and leader of the Koopa race trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom at every opportunity. Large and strong, this towering competitor has the Spinning Shell ability on the Wii and DS and Flame Dash ability on the DS. The snow will not slow down this member of Team Mario. You can be sure Bowser believes the gold medal has his name on it!"

Profile
"One of Mario's biggest rivals, Bowser is an extremely strong competitor and will dominate the Power events with his big muscles. His size makes him a formidable competitor in any event that he enters, especially the Hammer Throw and Javelin Throw."

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Prima Rating

 * Offense: 7
 * Defense: 5
 * Projectile: 3
 * Final Smash: 7
 * Throwing Ability: 8
 * Speed: 1
 * Overall: 7

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Alter Egos
On The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, King Koopa would often don a unique title and costume to go along with the setting of many of the episodes. For instance, in a western-themed episode, he dressed up as a cowboy and took on the name of Kid Koopa. Whereas in a gangster-themed episode, he took on the role of Al Koopone.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 Writers Bible Bio
"Despite every devious and dastardly plot he hatches, Koopa has a certain Rodney Dangerfield-like vulnerability which makes him as loveable as he is hateable. Koopa is pure id. Unmitigated selfishness running rampant in an ugly green body. He will capture, trick, bribe, threaten, attack, cast evil spells, hurl malicious insults, throw temper tantrums and do anything else despicable and nasty to defeat the Super Marios. And he has so much fun doing it; we always want to see him try again. In Super Mario 3, Koopa fans can enjoy his humorous rantings and funny frustrations even more as he contends with his seven black sheep Koopalings. If reptiles had hair, Koopa would've pulled all his out by now."

''Fortune Street

 * Bio: Head of the Koopa Troop, whose sole aim seems to be disturbing the peace in Mushroom Kingdom. He's a dangerous business rival, who won't hesistate to buy your property from under you.

Portrayals
Over the years, Bowser has been voiced by several people, both in the games and in other media. They are:


 * Akiko Wada - Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!
 * Christopher Hewett - Mario Ice Capades
 * Harvey Atkin - The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World
 * Christopher Collins - King Koopa's Kool Kartoons
 * Pat Pinney - King Koopa's Kool Kartoons
 * Dennis Hopper - Super Mario Bros. film
 * Isaac Marshall - Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Mario 64 DS
 * Scott Burns - Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Super Sluggers, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
 * Eric Newsome - Super Paper Mario, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Party 8
 * Kenny James - Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, ''Mario Sports Mix and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

Quotes

 * For a full list of quotes, see Category:Quotes.

Nicknames and Aliases

 * Big dude (Baby Bowser)
 * King Bowser
 * Lord Bowser
 * Darth Koopa
 * Mr. Bowser (Merlon, Koopa Kid)
 * The Great Bowser
 * King Koopa (Cartoons)
 * Koopa (Cartoons)
 * His/Your Queasiness (Kamek)
 * His/Your Grouchiness (Kammy Koopa)
 * His/Your Gnarliness (Kammy Koopa)
 * His/Your Filthiness (Kammy Koopa)
 * His/Your Rancidness (Kammy Koopa)
 * His/Your Awfulness (Kammy Koopa)
 * His/Your Massiveness (Kammy Koopa)
 * His/Your Chunkyness (Kammy Koopa)
 * His/Your Ghastlyness (Kammy Koopa)
 * Your Sogginess (Kammy Koopa)
 * Your Ungratefulness (Kamek)
 * The Boss of Bwahaha (Nintendo)
 * King Dad (Koopalings)
 * Pop (Koopalings)
 * Daddykins (Kootie Pie)
 * Papa (Bowser Jr.)
 * Koopa Stoopa (Toad and Princess Toadstool)
 * Koopums (by his mother)
 * His Touchiness (Kamek)
 * Rookie (Popple)
 * Monsieur Turtle Bits (Broque Monsieur)
 * Monster (Lubba)
 * His Groomness (Johnson)

Trivia

 * All 8-bit sprites have only three colors, but Bowser's original sprite from Super Mario Bros. appears to have four. This is because the black background is what gives Bowser his black spiked collars around his wrists. Due to this, using cheat codes so Bowser appears in a non-castle level will look like his hands are separated from his arms.
 * While King Koopa is not normally referred to as Bowser Koopa in Japan, there are occasions where it is alluded to. For example, in the Japanese version of Mario Kart Wii, his Bowser Bike is known as the Super Bowser. In addition, he still says the "royal Koopa line" in Super Mario Sunshine, meaning that Koopa is also his family name in Japan.
 * In the "How to Draw Nintendo Heroes and Villains" book, Bowser is listed as Kerog. While it is unknown how this mistake was made, it should be noted that Kero is the Japanese onomatopoeia for a frog's croaking, and Nintendo has used the name Kerog before (as the Japanese name of Mega Man 2 's Croaker enemies).
 * Though his first actual appearance in Super Mario Bros. has him throwing hammers as one of his main attacks (it is only five of the seven fakes who do not), he is only seen throwing hammers on three other occasions; once is after his defeat in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, another is during his fight in Super Princess Peach, and several times in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga as Rookie.
 * Although Bowser does not make an appearance in Nintendo Monopoly outside of being on the boxart, there is a ? Block card that charges the player $15 for "Bowser Tax".
 * If Goombella tattles Bowser, the location is listed as "Glitzville", even though he is fought a second time in The Palace of Shadow, so the location should be "Various".
 * In Super Princess Peach, Bowser uses all four of the vibes in his fight against Peach; three of them on the first part, and only the Calm Vibe on the second.
 * During the ending of Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bowser is shown to be tiny, which may be a side effect of using the Grand Stars to make himself colossal.
 * Ironically, he can be safely stomped in most RPG games, despite not being able to in other games and his spiky horns and shell. Note that in most of these games, Mario has only his jump attack during the first fight with him. In Super Paper Mario, however, this does not happen.