Bowser???
- “The sequel should be called Paper BOWSER!”
- —Bowser???, Paper Mario
Bowser??? is a boss in the game Paper Mario. He is controlled by the Koopa Bros., but is actually weaker than the Koopa Bros. themselves. It only has one attack: hitting Mario with its hand. It has more defense than most enemies, but Bombette can bypass its defense. The fact that Bowser??? is false is further revealed when voices can heard from inside its abdomen, arguing that someone is being a hog and should move over, which clearly suggests there are multiple occupants inside in a manner akin to a Chinese marching dragon or pantomime horse costume. After being defeated, Bowser??? will break into pieces and fall into the prison cell used to hold the Bob-ombs (which the Koopa Bros. also eventually fall into). A picture of Princess Peach can then be seen on the bottom part of it. Bowser??? seems to be made out of cloth and what may be cardboard or metal, and its purpose was to fool Mario into thinking that it was indeed the Koopa King (and further to create the illusion that it was invincible, as the real Bowser was at the time).
In the ending parade of Paper Mario, Bowser???'s remains have been transformed into a float for the Koopa Bros.
Trivia
- The background music used in the fight with Bowser??? is a remix of Bowser's theme from Super Mario Bros. 3.
- The Koopa Bros. break the fourth wall when they say that the next game should be called Paper Bowser.
