Bowser: Difference between revisions

|latest_portrayal=[[Kenneth W. James]] ([[List of games by date#2005|2005]], [[List of games by date#2007|2007]]–present)

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'''Bowser''', sometimes known as '''King Koopa''' or '''King Bowser''', is the main antagonist of the [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]]. He is a large, powerful, fire-breathing [[Koopa (Bowser's species)|Koopa]] who leads a large army of [[Bowser's Minions|minions]], and has been the arch-nemesis of [[Mario]] since his debut in ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' He has repeatedly kidnapped or attempted to kidnap [[Princess Peach]] with the ultimate goal of defeating Mario and taking over the [[Mushroom Kingdom]].

[[File:Bowser earliest concept art.jpg|thumb|left|Earliest known concept artwork for "Boss Creeper"]]

[[File:Bowser and Peach original SMB.png|thumb|Bowser as drawn by Shigeru Miyamoto for the box art of ''Super Mario Bros.'']]

The earliest known design for what would become Bowser depicted him as resembling an upright Koopa Troopa with spines on his back, and fangs.<ref>Supper Mario Broth (April 21, 2017). [https://www.suppermariobroth.com/post/159838163530/concept-art-of-bowser-for-super-mario-bros-drawn Concept art of Bowser for Super Mario Bros., drawn by Shigeru Miyamoto. This is the earliest known drawing of Bowser, possibly the first ever made.] ''SupperMarioBroth''.</ref> 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 a depiction of Bowser that is significantly different than later designs, the most obvious anomalies being his gray-blue skin and lack of horns. For the character's appearance, Miyamoto drew inspiration from an anime film adaptation of the Chinese novel ''{{wp|Journey to the West}}'', renamed ''{{wp|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 he loosely based Bowser on an ox as a homage.<ref name="iwata_asks">Nintendo.com. [https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/ds/dsi/7/3/ Iwata Asks: Nintendo DSi, Volume 8 - Flipnote Studio - An Animation Class (part 4)]. Retrieved April 30, 2023.</ref>

==History==

{{main|History of Bowser}}

==General information==

For all his pleasure in villainy, Bowser sometimes remarks there are lines he would not cross. He appears to be as horrified as the rest of the party when witnessing the [[Sammer's Kingdom]]'s destruction by the [[Void]] (deeming such an evil act as "overkill"), and when [[King Olly]] revealed his endgame to be wishing eradication of all Toads, Bowser vehemently called such a plan mad and made clear that, while he has done his fair share of evil, even he would never attempt to outright exterminate the Toads.

===Physical appearance===

Bowser is typically shown as attracted to Princess Peach despite kidnapping her and showing open hostility to her kingdom and her friends. According to the manual of ''Super Mario Bros.'', Bowser initially started abducting Peach to prevent her from restoring the transformed [[Toad (species)|Toads]] back to normal. Various media depict Bowser as wanting to marry Princess Peach, being central plot points in ''Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen!'', ''Super Paper Mario'', ''Super Mario Odyssey'', and ''The Super Mario Bros. Movie'', the last in which Bowser expresses his love for Peach in a song called [[Peaches]]. In the same ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' episode that featured his mother, Bowser has tried and failed to marry Peach, and his unrequited crush on her recurs in various games, starting with a diary entry he wrote in ''Paper Mario'' expressing his hopes that Peach would like him. ''Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story'' revealed that Bowser's most carefully preserved memory was of Peach. ''[[Paper Mario: The Origami King]]'' further hints at his crush on Peach, as when he and Mario encounter Origami Peach for the first time, he quietly expresses embarrassment at her seeing him folded up, and when confronting King Olly just before the final battle against him, Bowser inquires of Peach's status and asks if she is safe, comfortable, and has something to read before claiming he was merely asking for a friend. In ''Super Mario Sunshine'', he told Bowser Jr. that Peach is his mother to manipulate him into helping with the fight against Mario. In few cases, he can forgo abducting Princess Peach, usually if he is aiming for a more important objective. This bit is especially evident in ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'', as when Peach discovers Bowser's presence with Mario, she initially fears that he is going to abduct her again, only for Bowser to explicitly state he has no interest that time in doing so due to having "[[Smithy|bigger fish to fry]]" (with his reluctantly explaining what he meant by that after returning her to the Mushroom Kingdom).

[[File:Clawdia.png|thumb|upright=0.85|The female Koopa from ''Koopa's High School Yearbook'']]

|''Hotel Mario''

|-

|[[Belome]]

|''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars''

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|''[[Mario Kart Arcade GP]]''

|2005

|Arcade

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|''[[Mario Kart Arcade GP 2]]''

|2007

|Arcade

|description4=Bowser's battle theme in ''Super Mario All-Stars'' (''Super Mario Bros. 3'')

|file5=SMRPG Fight against Koopa.oga

|description5=Bowser's battle theme in ''[[Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars]]''

|file6=SMRPG Koopa Castle Theme 2.oga

|description6=[[Bowser's Castle]]'s second theme in ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'', which is an arrangement of "King Bowser" from ''Super Mario Bros. 3''

|file7=King Bowser Super Mario Galaxy.oga