Bowser

Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
Bowser Koopa
Species	Koopa
Hair color	Red
Eye color	Black
Relatives	Bowser Jr. (Son)
Voiced by	Isaac Marshall (1996) Scott Burns (2001-2008) Frank Welker (2003-2006) Eric Newsome (2007-2008) Kenneth James (2008-Present)
Debut	Super Mario Bros.

Bowser is the arch-rival of Mario who is known as the definitive villain of the Super Mario series. Although preceded by Donkey Kong and followed by several other villains, he has remained the most consistently-appearing antagonist in the series. He is the ruler of most of the Koopa race, and his home tends to vary from game to game, but he is popularly placed in Dark Land or some variation thereof. It would not be unreasonable to assume he has a number of castles and fortresses dedicated to him all around the world. Not only that, but he sports a variety of weapons and devices. Notable mentions include his submarine, Koopa Cruiser, his many airships, tanks, and battleships, and his favorite, the Koopa Clown Car. He has a young son, Bowser Jr., who often helps him with his schemes. His goals include conquering the world, defeating Mario and, most commonly, making Princess Peach his bride. Despite most commonly appearing as a villain, he has also teamed up with Mario in some adventures against other threats, and he has also participating in kart racing as well as sporting events with his enemies.

Background

Baby Bowser

During Bowser's infancy, his only known caretaker was Kamek. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Kamek had a vision predicting that the newly born Mario Brothers would one day defeat the new king. Though he had succeeded in kidnapping Luigi, Mario went with the Yoshi clan to save the toddler's lost brother. The Yoshis overcame all of Kamek's various attempts to defeat them and then battled Baby Bowser in his own nursery. Once he was beaten, Kamek used his magic to make Baby Bowser grow into a giant. The Yoshis were still able to defeat him, restoring him to his normal size. Kamek put the baby on his broom and flew away, vowing revenge.

Bowser as a baby.

Baby Bowser would later take over Egg Island in Yoshi's New Island because he felt that it would make a good vacation home. Kamek also kidnapped Baby Luigi and the stork again. Baby Bowser ended up being defeated, enlarged by Kamek and then beaten again, in a similar manner as in the first Yoshi's Island. Then in Yoshi's Island DS, Baby Bowser was one of the babies kidnapped by the future versions of himself and Kamek. After starting a fight with his future self, Baby Bowser was knocked out of the castle. Baby Bowser joined Yoshi's group for the last four levels of the fourth world until Future Kamek retrieved him. His special ability was spitting fireballs. He later rejoined Yoshi's group to "guide" them through Bowser's castle. However, he feared Yoshi's group wanted to steal his treasure, so he attacked them. He was defeated and retrieved by Kamek, who later accidentally dropped him onto Baby Wario's raft. The two started a fight, due to Baby Wario having looted the future Bowser's treasure. The ending revealed that Bowser was one of the seven "star children", born with one of the seven stars that had fallen from the heavens.

A slightly older Prince Bowser with improved speech appeared in several other games, starting with Yoshi's Story. Yoshi's Story had Baby Bowser turning Yoshi's Island into a storybook and stealing the Super Happy Tree until he was defeated by a group of baby Yoshis. He later called upon Kamek's assistance for two later schemes: turning the Yoshis of Craft Island into yarn in Yoshi's Woolly World and stealing the Sundream Stone in Yoshi's Crafted World. In both instances, he was defeated by Yoshis.

In the past storyline of Partners in Time, it was shown that Bowser had started his hobby of kidnapping Princess Peach when she was still a baby, but the Baby Mario Bros. constantly opposed him. He also loved to steal Yoshi Cookies from Yoshi's Island. Prince Bowser appeared frequently throughout the game and at one point even teamed up with his adult counterpart to battle Mario and Luigi at the Thwomp Volcano.

The NES/Super NES Era

Bowser's classic appearance

In time, Bowser grew into his more well-known adult form and reigned over the Koopas as their king. Bowser battled his old enemies again in Super Mario Bros. after he had successfully launched a campaign against the Mushroom Kingdom. He had captured a number of fortresses and captured the Princess Peach along with many of the mushroom retainers. Using his magic, he had turned most of the kingdom into blocks and other objects and turned some of his own minions into clones of himself to guard the retainers. He was, eventually, foiled and the princess was rescued, who was able to undo his magic. He once more tried the same plot in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, but with the same outcome. In Super Mario Bros. 3 he put his mighty fleet to good use. With the seven Koopalings acting as his 'generals', he seized several different kingdoms around the Mushroom Kingdom. While the Mario brothers sought to foil his plans, he in secret kidnapped Peach. The duo traveled to Bowser's own home in the Dark Land to foil his evil plot. In all of the early games Bowser could be defeated with fireballs or hammers, but the easiest way to defeat him was simply by tricking him into falling into lava.

Bowser busied himself with other affairs. In Super Mario World, he once more brought the Koopalings out so as to conquer Dinosaur Land and kidnap the yoshi's eggs (possibly as revenge on the yoshis for their opposition during his childhood). Opportunity presented itself when the Mario brothers and Peach came there to vacation. This only proved to be his undoing when the plumbers joined up with the yoshis to foil his plans. He then set his eyes on Jewelry Land in Yoshi's Safari, bringing his children along yet again. Mario and Yoshi teamed up and stopped the menace once again, marking the last of Bowser's attempts on other lands.

He once more returned to his princess-nabbing ways in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, but was foiled when Smithy's gang took over his castle. He and his koopa troop traveled around to try and reclaim his fortress, but their numbers dwindled quickly. When he arrived at Booster's Tower, where Peach had ended up, he reluctantly joined forces with Mario by initiating him and his friends into the 'Koopa Troop'. With his brawn, they eventually were able to stop Smithy, at which point Bowser went his own way to rebuild his fortress. In Tetris Attack, he appeared as the final boss (replacing the character Corderia from the original Panel de Pon), but only on Hard difficulty and above, which extended his feud with Yoshi to the present day.

The N64/Gamecube Era

Bowser being defeated by Mario

Bowser was back in full force in Super Mario 64, when he seized Princess Peach's Castle after she had invited Mario over for some cake. He took the castle's Power Stars (120 in the original or 150 in the DS version) and hid them in the castle and lands connected by paintings. In the original version of the game, Mario defeated Bowser singelhandedly, but the events proceeded differently in Super Mario 64 DS, in which Mario was joined by Luigi and Wario in explorting the castle, and the three of them were captured by Bowser's forces. They would later be rescued by Yoshi and worked together to defeat Bowser. With his new magikoopa commander, Kammy Koopa, he next targeted Star Haven in Paper Mario and the stole the Star Rod. He raised up Peach's Castle with his flying fortress and kicked Mario out. But his nemesis was able to gather up the seven Star Spirits to nullify the Star Rod, so that Mario could defeat him. In the final battle of Luigi's Mansion, Bowser appears as the "final" boss, but it turns out to be King Boo hiding in what seems to be a duplicate of Bowser's body. Luigi must knock off Bowser's head by shooting his spiked balls at him in order to lure King Boo out. Oddly enough, Madame Clairvoya foresees Bowser's presence and implies that he died in his last battle with Mario. Sometime later, his son Bowser Jr. posed as Mario on Isle Delfino in Super Mario Sunshine. Bowser had told his son, Bowser Jr., that Princess Peach was his mother. Bowser helped his son fight Mario on Corona Mountain, but was ultimately defeated.

Surprisingly, Bowser was not responsible for Peach's lost voice in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. This did not prevent him from coming along with the brothers to stop the culprits. He took the Mario Brothers along on his Koopa Cruiser to Beanbean Kingdom, but they suffered a crash thanks to Fawful. Shortly after, he ended up suffering a blow to the head losing his memory. Popple, the thief, took the amnesiac Bowser under his wing, naming him 'Rookie'. After a few run-ins with the brothers, Bowser regained his memory, but not soon enough to stop Cackletta from possessing him. After Cackletta's spirit was defeated, he was brought back home in a box. He was once more overlooked in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, when the X-Nauts kidnapped Princess. He set off on his own quest to capture Peach himself (who only 'he is allowed to kidnap') and did prove instrumental in stopping Grodus, even though he fought and was defeated by Mario at the end.

Bowser in action.

Bowser's attempt to kidnap Peach at an amusement park failed when Mario defeated him in the form of a pinball in Mario Pinball Land. In Yoshi Topsy-Turvy Bowser attacked Yoshi's Island once more, and the havoc he caused led the spirit Hongo to transform Yoshi's Island into an isolated picturebook in order to trap Bowser, a reversal of what he had done to the island during his own infancy. However, Yoshi was able to satisfy the wishes of all the island's spirits and defeat Bowser himself, at which point Hongo agreed to restore the island to normal.

In Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, Bowser stole the Music Keys from Mario and Toad after they collected all of them, then he took them back to his castle for a secret plan of his. Mario and Toad followed him and steal the keys back, then engaged him in a dancing duel. Despite whipping out some impressive breakdancing, Bowser was smashed through the ceiling. In the end, it turns out that he only wanted the Music Keys to cure his tone deafness. Mario took pity on him and used the Music Keys to put music in his soul.

The DS/Wii Era

Bowser succeeded in kidnapping two of his greatest threats, Mario and Luigi, with the aid of the Vibe Scepter in Super Princess Peach. However, this time Peach was able to hunt Bowser down in his stronghold on Vibe Island and battled him in order to free the plumbers. They at first fought one-on-one, with Bowser using the Vibe Scepter to power himself up with various emotions until Peach was able to defeat him. However, he then said Peach had much to learn and transformed into a giant, using more standard attacks (although he would also attempt to heal himself using a variant of the Calm vibe) but he was defeated after Peach hurled several bob-ombs into his face.

The adult Bowser also showed up in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time. When trying to capture Peach he wound up being tossed back in time and teaming up with his younger self to battle the brothers at Thwomp Volcano (but neither Bowser knew that they were actually the same person). At the end he accidentally swallowed the poison mushroom that once was the bigger Princess Shroob. He became even more powerful with it and barraged Mario and Luigi with nonstop attacks, never giving either a chance to fight back. However each attack the brothers dodged or deflected wound up hitting the Princess Shroob's ghost until she was destroyed, and Bowser was restored to normal (then promptly defeated). The sequel revealed that Bowser actually kept the surviving Shroobs cryogenically frozen in a hidden area of his underground vault.

In New Super Mario Bros., Bowser once again takes a backseat to Bowser Jr. who goes off to capture Peach himself. Bowser was the boss of the castle in World 1, where he was defeated in the old bridge trick that resulted him falling into lava and apparently dying, leaving behind only his skeleton. Bowser's skeleton, also known as Dry Bowser, appeared as the boss of World 8. After he was defeated in the battle, Bowser Jr. threw the skeleton into a pot to revive Bowser. Although the two teamed up against Mario in Bowser's Castle (at the end of the second part of World 8), Bowser Jr. was defeated first, allowing Mario to slide under Bowser and remove the bridge. Bowser was seen afterwards being dragged back home. In Yoshi's Island DS, Kamek brought Bowser back in time to find the seven star children whom had been born with the seven stars, as presumably it would grant Bowser great power (ironically unaware that Bowser himself was one of the star children). Bowser was the game's final boss, fighting the Yoshis in anger after they defeated his past self. Kamek then grew him to giant size, but he was still defeated.

Bowser in paper form.

Count Bleck captured both Bowser and Peach in Super Paper Mario and forced them to marry in order to fulfill the prophecy of the Dark Prognosticus, and open a Void that would consume all worlds. Bowser enjoyed the marriage, but was accidentally teleported to the Bitlands after Luigi intervened. Bowser remained there and occupied an empty castle with his troops until Mario arrived and destroyed it in Chapter 3-1. Mario was able to defeat Bowser in one-on-one battle. Afterwards Peach talked him into joining their party. Thus Bowser became one of the four legendary heroes who were destined to undo Bleck's prophecies.

Bowser was separated from the others after they were all sent to the Underwhere by Dimentio between Chapters 6 and 7. Bowser was locked in an Underwhere prison, with no idea how he got there. He eventually broke free and made his way to the Underwhere Road, which is where Mario found him in Chapter 7-2. Bowser at first thought Mario was engineering some trick to separate Peach from him and battled Mario again. After another defeat, Bowser was convinced that this was no trick and rejoined Mario's party. Bowser later went one-on-one with O'Chunks in the big battle of Chapter 8-1. Afterwards Bowser stayed behind with O'Chunks to hold up the falling ceiling while the others moved on. Both of them were saved from a crushing demise when the floor collapsed beneath them. Bowser proceeded to join Mario and the others in the game's final battles.

Bowser returned to the villainous fore in Super Mario Galaxy, where he attacked the Comet Observatory during its passing in the Star Festival. He stole several Power Stars and seven Grand Stars, using them to power fusion reactors throughout the universe. He then staged a siege against Toad Town, stealing Peach's Castle with the princess in tow and transporting it to the center of the universe, where he had intended to use the reactors to create new galaxies that he would use to bring the rest of the universe under his and and an unwilling Peach's control. With the help of Rosalina, Mario chased Bowser and Bowser Jr. down, reclaiming the Grand Stars to power the Comet Observatory, and battling Bowser twice along the way. Mario flew the observatory to the center of the universe and dueled Bowser across two planets and within the heart of a supernova. After Bowser's defeat, the supernova collapsed upon itself to create a black hole. The Lumas arrived and closed the hole, while Rosalina sent Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Stunned and worn down by his near-death experience, Bowser simply watched as the festivities began anew.

Bowser's Inside Story

In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Bowser crashed a meeting at Princess Peach's Castle in regards to the Blorbs epidemic. Bowser argued that he had a right to be there, but after seeing Mario and Luigi were also present he was enraged and battled them. He was swiftly defeated, with some help from Peach's wish power in conjunction with Starlow's star power, and was promptly kicked out of the castle. Bowser wound up in the Dimble Woods, where a disguised Fawful (whom Bowser did not recognize from the previous game) sold him a Vacuum Shroom that Bowser immediately ate. It also seemingly sent Bowser into a trance and caused him to inhale everyone in Peach's conference room, including the Mario brothers, Peach and Starlow.

Bowser awoke in Cavi Cape with no recollection of what had happened after he ate the Vacuum Mushroom. Fawful no longer had any need for him and no longer saw him as a threat, especially after Bowser was defeated with ease by Fawful's lieutenant, Midbus, while he took over both Peach and Bowser's castles. So Bowser set off on a quest to reclaim his castle and gain revenge on Fawful. At the same time, Mario and Luigi were exploring his body with the aid of Starlow in order to find Peach. Bowser was completely unaware of all the people within his body, although Starlow began communicating with Bowser under the alias of Chippy in order to try and help him. They were able to clear his Flame Pipe, which allowed him to breathe fire again. He also received aid from Monsieur Broque, who sold him items and lent him his "dog" Broggy if Bowser collected all of the Blitties. Bowser also occasionally found some minions still loyal to him that were trapped in cages, who would rejoin him after being freed.

Along the path back to his castle, Bowser met with his minions Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy and Corporal Paraplonk, who were apparently the only minions to evade capture. They had mounted a cannon to fire at the castle, but first Bowser hunted down a Banzai Bill himself after dealing with a farm of Wigglers. However, the castle then came after him due to the jets Fawful installed and crushed him. During this near-death experience, the Mario Bros. were able to pump him with adrenaline in the Rump Command, which caused Bowser to temporarily become a giant and fight his own castle. Soon he stormed the castle, only to find that Fawful had converted it into a Fawful Theater, and his minions whom had been converted by Fawful no longer remembered him. He was enraged and then forced to fight Midbus as the main attraction in the Fawful Theater.

This time Bowser was able to defeat Midbus and was treated to a feast, seemingly as a reward. However, the feast caused Bowser to become suddenly obese, and he became stuck in his own floor because of it. At this point Fawful used a special device to swipe Princess Peach out of his body, with Bowser being astonished to learn she was in him all along. He was then provided with a special treadmill that literally burned off all of his calories and restored him to normal, although it also caused him to set off the Bob-Omb Storage Depot and be sent flying. At the same time, he learned of Fawful's plan to use Peach to awaken the Dark Star. Bowser set out to stop Fawful and use the Dark Star's power himself. He barged into Dr. Toadley's clinic and battled the Mario Brothers (whom had temporarily escaped his body) there. He also learned that the three Star Cures were needed to reach Fawful.

Bowser sending his Goombas into battle.

Bowser made his way towards the Dimble Woods in an attempt to beat Mario and Luigi to the first Star Cure, but they actually retrieved it within his body. An FYIbird told him the location of the next Star Cure, at which point Bowser realized that he had found that Star Cure and hidden it within his underground vault. He traveled there and met with Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy and Corporal Paraplonk again. Bowser found the Star Cure within the safe after fighting off the Fawful Express and swallowed it to deliver it to "Chippy". However, at this point his minions betrayed him and locked him in the safe, as Fawful had bought them out. The safe was left in a pile of trash in Peach's castle until it was burst open after Mario and Luigi defeated the Junker there.

Although he was free again, Bowser suffered from intense back pains. Mario and Luigi then returned to his body and fixed his back, which caused him to become more springy and flexible to the point where he could roll around as a spiked ball. Using this new ability, Bowser was able to storm the castle and confronted Fawful just as he was draining Peach's power to fuel the Dark Star. Bowser defeated a powered-up Midbus and then thought that he defeated Dark Fawful, at which point he inhaled the Dark Star's cure, which gave him heartburn. Mario and Luigi hunted down the core within his body and drove it out, although it copied enough of Bowser's DNA to begin transforming into a Dark Bowser. At the same time, Bowser still had to contend with Fawful, who turned Peach's Castle into a mech fighter that Bowser had to turn into a giant again to defeat.

Bowser then entered the castle and crushed Dark Fawful in a one-on-one battle. Soon afterwards, Dark Fawful was sucked up by the Dark Bowser, causing it to reach full power. Bowser then began to pursue the Dark Bowser, and just as the final battle was beginning Bowser started to get the idea that Chippy wasn't the only person trapped inside of him. Bowser was able to swallow the Dark Star Core after Dark Bowser spit it out, and it was eventually defeated by Mario and Luigi. With this accomplished, Bowser was able to KO Punch Dark Bowser into submission. Within his body, Dark Fawful soon self-destructed, which caused Bowser to vomit out everyone he had inhaled. He then discovered to his fury that Chippy was in fact Starlow and that the Mario Bros. had been within him all along. Bowser proceeded to battle the Mario brothers and received another brutal defeat while the end credits ran.

Afterwards, Bowser recovered in his castle while set on remodeling the castle as his next project. He also gave Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy and Corporal Paraplonk another chance in his army. Starlow then came to Bowser with a present from the princess, which he only opened in private after sending all his minions off to their work. It was a cake to thank Bowser for his help, adorned with figures of Peach, Mario and Luigi.

Latter DS/Wii Era

In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Bowser had Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings work together in order to capture Princess Peach using a giant cake, which they then brought to his castle to the eighth world. Mario, Luigi and two Toads fought through the Koopalings as well as Bowser Jr. and Kamek across eight worlds before confronting Bowser in his castle. Initially, Bowser fought them in the traditional manner on a bridge with a switch that destroyed the bridge behind him, and what appeared to be Peach being held in a cage above it. However, after the switch was activated and Bowser fell into the lava, this Peach was revealed to actually be Kamek in disguise, who used his magic to turn Bowser into a giant.

The giant Bowser chased Mario down, smashing through parts of the castle and spitting out giant fireballs, until finally Mario stepped on a larger switch by the real Peach that drained the castle's lava and Bowser with it. After the credits, the young Koopas were seen carrying Bowser, who as back at his normal size, back to the castle only for it to collapse on top of them as they neared it, presumably due to all of the structural damage that Bowser had caused in his giant form.

Bowser prepared another galactic conquest in Super Mario Galaxy 2 when he stole the Power Stars and used their power to become a giant. He then attacked the Mushroom Kingdom and captured Peach again, then retreating into space. Bowser showed up as the boss of every even-numbered galaxy. He attacked Mario on a planetoid battlefield by punching the planetoid and later blasting his fire breath. However, Mario was able to hurt him by ground-pounding small meteors to fire them at him. After being beaten each time, he would revert to normal size but retreat to another galaxy while warning Mario that his master plan was still in affect.

Finally at the sixth galaxy, Mario found Bowser's Galaxy Generator, his final base which was shown to be attempting to swallow the Comet Observatory as a new power source. But Mario was able to find him and fight him first. Mario beat him in the same way as usually, at which point he tumbled into a black hole. But then, just as Mario was about to grab the Grand Star, Bowser popped up and grabbed it, then chasing Mario into a black hole until Mario shot enough meteors into him to defeat him. During the ending credits, Bowser was seen at the Mushroom Kingdom, reduced to miniature size (although this seemed to still be enough to terrify the Toad Brigade's captain).

The 3DS/Wii U Era

Bowser captured Peach again in Super Mario 3D Land. The primary twist this time was that a sudden storm stripped the Mushroom Kingdom's Tanooki Tree of its Super Leaves, and most of them empowered parts of his army. Bowser himself did not use a Tanooki Tail, but he had two minions (a Goomba and a Magikoopa) use Tanooki powers to act as his decoys in his castles at the end of the first and fifth worlds. They used the same attack pattern as Bowser, who in this game was acting on a 3-D version of the Super Mario Bros. battle. Bowser usually stayed on a bridge over lava and attacked from afar with fireballs, while sometimes jumping into the air. Mario (or later, Luigi) would have to go around him and get to the end of the bridge. Instead of the original axe, there was a giant button with Bowser's insignia which destroyed the bridge and dropped Bowser into lava. Peach made an attempt at escape, but Bowser was able to recapture her.

Mario finally faced Bowser in World 8's castle and successfully dropped him into the lava. Bowser was somehow able to escape and quickly grabbed Peach before Mario could reach her, instead setting up a cardboard cut-out to fool him. Bowser retreated in into his second, larger castle at the end of World 8. There, they fought a much more expansive battle where Bowser also tried hitting Mario with spiked balls and barrels. Mario reached the end of the bridge and dropped Bowser into lava, but he almost immediately resurfaced and began shooting larger blue fireballs at Mario while chasing him up the crumbling tower. Mario was able to hit one last switch which dropped Bowser again, and he was hit by a piece of rubble which ensured that he fell into the lava. Bowser made a small appearance during the ending credits, where he tried balancing himself on a Goomba Stack in an ineffectual attempt to snatch Peach back from Tanooki Mario, only to wind up falling over. He then appeared in the Special Worlds as Dry Bowser. He was faced as the boss of the first and eighth castles, and in the first castle he held Luigi prisoner. Dry Bowser used blue fireballs and shockwaves to try to hurt Mario or Luigi, but he was still beaten the same way, by destroying the bridge beneath him. Once the latter castle was completed, Bowser (back in normal form) was shown to have captured Peach again. World 8's second castle then had to be replayed with some differences, as Bowser had faster attacks and a more potent whitish-purple fireball instead of the blue one. Regardless, it still had the same end result as the prior battle, and Bowser was beaten once again.

Bowser appeared again as the final boss of New Super Mario Bros. 2, where it was the Koopalings who kidnapped Peach for him. He was faced in the World 6 castle, where initially he was beaten in the classic Super Mario Bros. manner by destroying the bridge to drop him into lava. Then, the Koopalings quickly used their magic wands to make him into a giant. The giant Bowser tried to attack Mario until Mario reached a switch on the roof which sent Bowser plummeting. Afterwards, Bowser was restored to normal size, and the Koopalings tried dragging him away with the Koopa Clown Car, except that his added weight was enough to tip it over. He also appeared as the boss of the World Star castle, in Dry Bowser form (despite there being no scene in which his body is destroyed in this game). The following battle was simply a harder version of the fight from World 6, and once more he was defeated.

Bowser was also featured as the main villain of New Super Mario Bros. U, in which he engineered an airship invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom with Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings. He took over Peach's Castle while kicking out Mario and his friends. He was battled within the castle at the end of the eighth world. Following the trend of the other games, he was first defeated by destroying his bridge and dropping him into lava. Kamek then proceeded to turn Bowser into a giant, which initiated the second part of the battle. The giant Bowser attacked Mario and/or his friends atop the castle walls. This time, the giant Bowser could be damaged by hitting him with the Junior Clown Car after taking it from Bowser Junior, or otherwise he could be worn down by fireballs. In the aftermath of their defeat, Bowser once more ended up weighing down Bowser Junior and the Koopalings in their escape attempt, which resulted in the hastily-repaired airship crashing. Bowser and the Koopalings then had to flee by clinging to the Junior Clown Car.

In Paper Mario: Sticker Star, he attacked Decalburg during the Sticker Fest to seize the power of the Sticker Comet. As he touched the comet, it split into six Royal Stickers, one of which landed on his head and granted him newfound power. Using this power, he was able to defeat Mario, capture Peach and tape up a number of Toads. He then remained at his castle until Mario came to face him at the end of the game, armed with the other five Royal Stickers. Bowser initially tried relying on a series of minions to defeat Mario, but Mario made his way through all of them and seemingly defeated Bowser. However, Bower proceeded to attack Mario again in a giant cardboard form. Kersti had to sacrifice herself and become a sticker to grant Mario the power to defeat Bowser. Bowser was beaten and restored to his normal self, and Mario used the power of the Royal Stickers to restore everything to normal. Bowser made another attempt to touch the Sticker Comet afterwards, only to be scolded by Kersti.

He also appeared in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, where he traveled to Pi'illo Island after he heard that Peach had gone missing there, as he was outraged that someone else would try to kidnap her. He managed to come across Luigi while he was asleep on a Pi'illo, which left a portal to the dream world open. Apparently able to smell her perfume through the portal, he entered it and found his way down to the Dream's Deep, where Mario and Luigi were confronting Mantasma, who had Peach captive. Bowser was initially dismissive of Mantasma, but the bat-like being ultimately won him over with promises of power. Mario and Luigi were still able to beat them in the ensuing battle, but Bowser was then able to knock them out with power granted by Antasma. Antasma convinced Bowser to leave Peach behind for now and focus on carrying out his plan by bringing him to the real world. There, they stole the Dream Stone from the Dozing Sands, and Antasma then activated the Dream Beats to fill the stone with power from the island's sleeping citizens. Antasma stated at one point that he wanted world domination, but Bowser refused to let anyone rule the world other than him, so Antasma changed his conditions to being able to do as he pleased when Bowser took over the world.

With the dream stone's power, Bowser created a new flying castle, which was equipped with a barrier and a powerful laser, which Bowser tested by using it destroy the barrier islands surrounding Pi'llo Island. At this point, he also had Peach captured and replaced with a disguised Kamek. It was not long before the Mario Brothers struck back, using the Zeekeeper's power to destroy his barrier and beach the castle. At this point, Antasma convinced Bowser to sleep so that he could feed off of his dream power. Mario and Luigi were able to find Bowser within the dream world, where Bowser's dream self became a giant by eating loads of meat and later became even more gigantic with Kamek's magic. Still, Dreamy Luigi was able to become a giant too and worked with Mario to defeat him, which forced Bowser awake. Bowser proceeded to double-cross Antasma, as he had been planning to do, because he knew that Antasma was just trying to use him. Bowser took the Dream Stone and retreated to the top of the castle, leaving Antasma to face Mario and Luigi on his own. After Antasma's destruction, the brothers confronted Bowser on top of the castle. There, the imprisoned Peach and Starlow combined their powers to destroy the dream stone, but Bowser was able to inhale its fragments and became empowered by it. Now transformed into Dreamy Bowser, he battle Mario and Luigi again, only to be defeated and lose all of the dream energy. With Bowser restored to normal, the brothers sent him flying into the sky. He ended up trying to head back home on a run-down Koopa Clown Car accompanied by his minions, until a rain of coins made them plummet into the sea.

Bowser attempted to attack a different kingdom in Super Mario 3D World. He took over the Sprixie Kingdom and captured the seven Sprixie Princesses. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad went on a quest to stop him. Bowser was initially battled in castles at the end of the first and seventh worlds, where he attacked while riding his Bowser Mobile as opposed to his usual battle tactics. He was defeated both times, but then he recaptured the princesses and retreated to his own amusement park, World Bowser. Once the heroes reached him again, Bowser used a Super Bell to become Meowser and tried again to fight them. Bowser was ultimately defeated with the help of a giant POW Block and locked away within a bottle. In Yoshi's New Island, Bowser traveled back in time again and acted as the secret final boss, appearing only if all levels were beaten without the use of Flutter Wings. After his infant self was beaten and left with Kamek, Bowser appeared to stop Yoshi and Baby Mario from rescuing Baby Luigi and the stork. After being beaten the first time, Kamek used his magic to make him a giant, only for him to be beaten by Yoshi once again and fall into lava.

In Super Mario Maker, Bowser appeared as one of the usable enemies that could be placed in stages, with a limit of three Bowsers (counting Bowser Junior as a Bowser) per stage. Players could choose several optional attack patterns for him based on his appearances in Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. U. He could also be given wings or the Koopa Clown Car for battles. Bowser also appeared within the game as one of the Mystery Mushroom costumes that Mario could transform into. Bowser's costume could be unlocked as a random prize for clearing a 100 Mario Challenge on Expert or higher, or by scanning an amiibo of Bowser.

In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, it was shown that the Paper Mario versions of the Mario characters existed within a storybook kept in the attic of Peach's Castle. Luigi accidentally opened the book and set everyone free. Bowser eventually met Paper Bowser, and though the two initially insulted and fought each other, they were united by their goal of capturing the princess. The two Bowsers proceeded to kidnap both versions of Princess Peach, and they had both versions of Bowser Junior watch over them. After their sons were defeated, the Bowsers swore revenge, made Bowser's Castle airborne (again dubbing it the Neo Bowser Castle) and destroyed a tower of Peach's Castle. Despite their teamwork, both Bowsers made plans to betray the other and trap him within the Paper Mario book after Mario had been dealt with. Eventually, Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario made it to the final battle with the two of them. The Bowsers planned to trap them in the storybook and then burn it. In the following battle, Paper Bowser eventually absorbed his minions to become armor for Bowser, making them into Shiny RoboBowser. They were still defeated, with Bowser falling to his doom while Paper Bowser was sent back into the storybook. Bowser surfaced again during the ending, and Mario and Luigi continued to pursue him.

In Paper Mario: Color Splash, Bowser went to Prism Island to attempt to paint his shell a rainbow color, only to unwittingly get himself possessed by some evil black paint instead. This transformed him into Black Bowser, and in this form he attacked Port Prisma and scattered the Big Paint Stars in order to drain the island of its color. Black Bowser later captured Peach and drained her of her color. Eventually, Mario found Black Bowser at his castle and battled him. He briefly drained the black paint from him, revealing that Bowser had no idea what was going on, but the black paint regained control, and Black Bowser became larger to try to destroy Mario. Mario and Huey worked together to drain Black Bowser of paint for good, restoring Bowser to normal, with no recollection of what had happened while he was possessed. The clueless Bowser left the island on an airship with the Koopalings, only for it to be accidentally shot down by a celebratory firework.

Bowser also appeared as the main antagonist of Super Mario Run, where he had kidnapped Peach once again. At the end of three of the six worlds in World Tour Mode, as well as at the end of various areas of Remix 30, Bowser was battled in a manner similar to the original Super Mario Bros. battle, but in each of those battles Bowser turned out to be one of his underlings in disguise. The real Bowser battled the player's character at World 6-4 as the final boss of the game (not counting World-Star), where he rode in the Koopa Clown Car within his castle. He attempted to throw bob-ombs, spit fire shoot out spiked balls, and he was defeated by throwing three of his bob-ombs back at him.

The Switch Era

Bowser executed a new plan to capture Peach in Super Mario Odyssey. He enlisted the help of a group of evil rabbit wedding planners known as the Broodals to set up a forced marriage between himself and Peach. He captured Peach as well as a Bonneton named Tiara, whom he forced to act as Peach's crown. When Mario came to save her, Bowser was able to defeat him and threw him from the airship, while shredding up his trademark hat. Bowser and the Broodals traveled from kingdom to kingdom in his airship, stealing something from each area that would make their wedding more extravagant, while also leaving behind a number of posters advertising his wedding. Mario continued to pursue him with a new ally, Tiara's brother Cappy. In battle, Bowser now sported a special hat of his own, a mechanical one that was armed with boxing glove-like fists. He first attempted to battle Mario about halfway through his quest, at the Cloud Kingdom. Mario beat Bowser, but Bowser was able to cover his escape with cannonfire from his airship, which forced Mario and Cappy's ship into a crash landing. Bowser also tried siccing a dragon on Mario when he approached his kingdom. By the time Mario reached the end of Bowser's Kingdom, Bowser himself had already completed preparations. He left his kingdom behind and went to a chapel on the moon to hold the wedding ceremony. He forced a number of citizens from different kingdoms to attend the wedding. The only person not invited was Mario, who showed up anyway. Bowser proceeded to fight Mario in the caves beneath the chapel and was defeated. In the aftermath of the battle, the caves started to collapse on them. Mario could not escape on his own, so he used Cappy's power to temporarily possess Bowser and escaped to safety with Peach and Tiara. Once they were all safely on the moon's surface, Bowser's mind was freed. He and Mario both tried making moves on Peach at the same time, with Bowser trying to present a bouquet of miniature piranha plants to her. Peach was frustrated with both of their gestures and rejected them. Then, as Peach took off in the Odyssey, Bowser attempted to hitch a ride, only for Mario to hop off of him to jump into the ship.

He appeared in Super Mario Maker 2, where he was available to be placed in levels as an enemy, as in the previous game. In the new Super Mario 3D World style, Bowser was available only in his Meowser form. Within the game's Story Mode, Bowser was implied to be the identity of one of the job givers, under the alias of "Father of Name Withheld" (with Bowser Jr. being "Name Withheld"). His jobs involved levels with special traps set up for Mario. At the end of Story Mode, Bowser kidnapped Toadette, and she then had to be rescued in the course titled "Meowser Showdown!". In it, Mario had to navigate a castle while confronting Meowser several times and ultimately had to defeat him with POW Blocks.

In Dr. Mario World, the Virus infestation even spread to Bowser's kingdom. In order to save his minions, Bowser decided to work with Mario and the others as a fellow doctor. Thus, he became a donned his own doctor's outfit and became Dr. Bowser. His special ability as Dr. Bowser was to summon fire that would clear through two random rows (or one in Versus Mode). After clearing the first ten stages of Stage Mode ode as Dr. Mario, the player can choose between Dr. Mario, Dr. Peach or Dr. Bowser as their free playable character. The characters not chosen would have to be unlocked at random through the game's Staffing feature. A doctor version of Dry Bowser was also made available through the Staffing feature starting in late December 2019.

In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Bowser and his minions were captured by King Olly. Bowser himself was bent, folded and stapled to the point where he resembled merely a face that had been folded in half, and he remained in that form for a majority of the game. Bowser was initially imprisoned on a clothespin in the dungeon of Princess Peach's Castle (which had been conquered by Olly) and was forced to watch his minions get folded into origami soldiers. Mario and Olivia rescued him, but they ended up being separated during their escape from the castle. Bowser returned to his castle, where he coordinated his remaining forces in protecting the castle from an origami invasion. However, Kamek mistakenly caused the castle to crash into Shangri-Spa. Bowser's Castle was then taken over by the Scissors working under King Olly. Much later on, Mario arrived and defeated the Scissors. With Bowser freed and the castle back under his control, they launched Bowser's new airship to wage a battle against Olly. The airship ended up crashing, and it ultimately came down to Bowser himself accompanying Mario and Olivia in exploring the Origami Castle. In battle, Bowser used his flame breath to aid Mario against enemies. After Mario defeated the Stapler that was responsible for Bowser being folded up, he was finally able to be restored to his original form after Mario had hit him with his hammer. During the second phase of the final battle of King Olly, Olivia was able to transform Bowser into a giant origami version of himself so that he could battle Olly's current form. With help from Mario and his hammer, Bowser was able to defeat him, although he was unable to stand up against Olly's final form. After Olly was defeated, things were restored to normal, and Bowser was seen attending the Origami Festival at Toad Town with his son. He, Junior and some of Bowser's other minions were also seen enjoying one of the baths at Shangri-Spa during the credits.

Bowser again appeared as the antagonist of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. He suddenly appeared at the Flower Kingdom with Bowser Jr. and Kamek, and he used the power of a Wonder Flower to fuse himself with the Flower Castle and transformed into a giant floating castle bearing his own face. As Castle Bowser, he spread his forces throughout the land, growing dark Piranha Plants to block off areas while turning the Poplins' homes into prisons. He settled at the center of the Petal Islands, where he slowly amassed Wonder power for his ultimate Wonder. He summoned a group of Piranha Plant-shaped clouds to block himself away from anyone who would try to interfere. He still made appearances during the Wonder segments of airship levels, during which he would try to target his enemy to shoot fireballs at them, but he could accidentally destroy obstacles in the player's way in the process. After Mario and his friends gathered all of the Elder Seeds, the last of the Piranha Plant clouds were dispelled, and Bowser welcomed them to his castle, where he taunted them before every level. In the final stage, Bowser took on the form of a large stone head with multiple floating stone hands as the final boss. He tried attacking by shooting out fire-covered constructs and spiked balls, but his opponent was able to use Wonder power when leaping in beat from the floor to hit parts of him and weaken him. Ultimately, part of his hair was destroyed to reveal a switch. Once it was hit, it caused all of Bowser's Wonder energy to seep out and undid his transformation. Bowser was beaten and restored to normal, and the Flower Castle was also restored. In the aftermath, Kamek tried lugging Bowser and Bowser Jr. away in the Koopa Clown Car. Ultimately, he faltered and they fall down into the hills surrounding the Flower Kingdom, leaving behind a cloud of smoke in the shape of Bowser's face.

In Other Mario-Related Games

Sports, Racing and Party Spin-Offs

Despite his antagonistic nature, Bowser has often joined with his enemies in various sporting events, although in some instances he has still acted as an antagonist.

Even in the friendly sports environment, Bowser finds ways to stir up trouble.

• Golf: Bowser was playable in Mario Golf 64, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Golf: Advance Tour (outside of Story Mode), Mario Golf: World Tour and Mario Golf: Super Rush. He also appears in Mario Golf GB.
• Kart Racing: Bowser has been playable in almost all of the Mario Kart games starting from the beginning, including Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (where he is paired with Bowser Jr.), Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Arcade GP, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Tour (unlocked through the game's gacha feature). He also appears as a non-playable opponent in Mario Kart Arcade GP VR.
  • Dry Bowser (Bowser's skeletal form from New Super Mario Bros.) also appears as an unlockable character in Mario Kart Wii (unlocked by getting a star in all 150cc Wii Cups), an alternate costume for Bowser in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, a DLC character in Mario Kart 8, an initial playable character in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a playable driver who can be unlocked through the gacha mechanic in Mario Kart Tour. In Tour, a gold version of Dry Bowser was also made available during certain tours. Other tour-exclusive variants of Bowser available in Tour include a Santa outfit, Meowser and Dr. Bowser.
• Tennis: Bowser was playable in Mario Tennis 64, Mario Tennis GBC (through a transfer pak), Mario Power Tennis, Mario Tennis: Power Tour, Mario Tennis Open, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash and Mario Tennis Aces. Dry Bowser also appears as a playable character in Mario Tennis Open (unlocked by completing the third level of Ink Showdown), Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash (by purchasing him through the rewards menu or completing 10 simple matches in Classic Tennis mode) and Mario Tennis Aces (unlocked by completing an online tournament in July 2019 or automatically added to the game in the following month).
• Baseball: Bowser was playable in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers. His team is the Bowser Monsters.
• Soccer: In Super Mario Strikers, Bowser appears as a non-playable antagonist with his own team of robots known as the Super Team. He later appeared as a playable captain in Mario Strikers Charged and Mario Strikers: Battle League in place of the Super Team.
• The Olympics: Bowser was playable in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, 'Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. In the second through fourth of games, Dry Bowser appears as a boss/rival character, and in the Rio 2016 installment, Dry Bowser is playable for the Javelin Toss event.
• Other Sports: Bowser was playable in Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Mario Sports Mix and Mario Sports Superstars.

Storyline Roles

Bowser has also had notable roles in the intro movies of the various sports movies, where he usually serves as a foil for Wario and Waluigi. In Mario Tennis 64, he showed up when Wario and Waluigi confronted Mario and Luigi, easing the tension by seeming to demand that they simply play tennis. In Toadstool Tour, Bowser went on a rampage and pursued the Wario Bros. in his Clown Copter after their golf ball gave him a black eye, chasing them to his castle, where all three are accidentally caught in his Bob-omb blast. They instead allied with each other in Mario Power Tennis, where Wario and Waluigi stumbled onto his secret training facility. He then submitted them to a brutal training regimen before sending them to attack the Mario Bros. in a tennis game using Bob-ombs, with Bowser supporting them from the sky firing Bob-ombs from a miniature airship. However, the Mario Bros. and eventually all the tennis players in the audience banded together to deflect the bob-ombs until Bowser, Wario and Waluigi were sent blasting off again from their own bombs.

In the Challenge Mode of Mario Super Sluggers, Bowser backed his son's invasion of the Baseball Kingdom. After Junior lost a baseball game to Mario's friends, Bowser stepped up to challenge them instead and revealed his Bowser Castle. After losing the first time, he claimed that he was not ready and asked for a rematch. After being beaten again, he nearly began preparations for another rematch when Peach offered to let him play baseball with them. He then reluctantly attended the following dinner, and, after the fireworks ceremony was sabotaged by Wario and Waluigi, Bowser came from nowhere to save Mario by deflecting an incoming Bullet Bill with his own bat.

In the Adventure Mode of Mario Tennis Aces, a giant Bowser Statue appeared as the boss of Bowser's Castle at Inferno Island, and Bowser himself later appeared as the final boss. After Mario won his tennis match against the possessed Wario and Waluigi, Bowser stole the cursed tennis racket Lucien and the five Power Stones that contained Lucien's power. Like all wielders of Lucien, Bowser's appearance was altered. He called himself Bowcien and considered himself to have obtained absolute power. Mario then had to defeat him at the Temple of Bask by breaking Lucien in a tennis battle.

Mario Party

He also appeared as an antagonist in the Mario Party games. He appeared in every Mario Party and almost always with the same role: he had his own space on the board, and he would subject anyone landing on that space to a randomly-generated event that would usually entail stealing coins and/or stars from one or more of the player characters. He also usually had his own unlockable board as well as some sort of storyline role. In early Mario Party games, he had several Baby Bowser-like minions known as Koopa Kids. Bowser would eventually make two playable appearances in later games of the Mario Party series. In Mario Party 10, a special Bowser Party mode was included in which one player could control Bowser in competing against the other characters. In Super Mario Party, Bowser's role was shifted to make him one of the normally playable characters for the first time in the series, with Bowser Spaces being replaced by Bad Luck Spaces.

Throughout the series, Bowser has played roles within the storylines of most games. Within the first Mario Party, Bowser interfered with the characters' adventures until they come to his stronghold at Bowser's Magma Mountain. After the board was completed, all the stars earned came together to form a large star which defeated Bowser. However, he then proceeded to shatter the Eternal Star into several pieces and defaced it with graffiti. He also stole all 100 of the Stars that had been collected between Mario and his friends, distributing them to his Koopa Kid lieutenants. After all the stars were recollected, they formed a larger star that sent Bowser and the Koopa Kid flying, while they entered and repaired the Eternal Star. He then invaded Mario Land while the others were arguing over the proper name for it in Mario Party 2. He appeared in each board with a different disguise matching the theme of the level, and in each case he was defeated by the board's Super Star at the end of a game. His disguised forms were Captain Bowser in Pirate Land, Bowser the Brash in Western Land, Black Hole Bowser in Space Land, Sphinx Bowser in Mystery Land and Wizard Bowser in Horror Land. After being defeated in each of these forms, he had his Koopa Kids kidnap and replace Toad, before luring Mario's friends into his own land he created, Bowser Land. At the end of the stage, he battled the winning Super Star in a Super Mario 64-inspired battle where he turned into Metal Bowser when the Super Star attempted to pick him up. After receiving a star from the others, the character received the strength to toss Bowser into the atmosphere, causing him to lose his metal form and be knocked out upon landing. Bowser took a break from his usual role as final enemy in Mario Party 3, where he was instead comic relief. He appeared after each Star Stamp was earned and attempted to challenge the player character to a battle for the Star Stamps, but in each instance he usually arrived too late or was ignored, and at one point he was accidentally sent flying by Daisy. When the time came for the final Star Stamp, Bowser challenged the player character to a battle, only to find that the Mischief Star Stamp had already been stolen by Waluigi. He accused Waluigi of stealing his idea and battled him, only to lose to him. He then asked the player character to avenge him by defeating Waluigi.

In Mario Party 4, he showed up after the player's character had collected all of their birthday presents. Bowser claimed to have stolen the presents and then made the player character compete at Bowser's Gnarly Party against three others and then battle him. After being defeated, Bowser fled and "accidentally" dropped his own present for the player, a bizarre-looking object. The Koopa Kid revealed that Bowser did not really steal the presents and that this was his way of doing a good thing for the character on their birthday. Another sympathetic insight into Bowser's character was given through the story of Mario Party 5. In that installment, he traveled throughout the dream lands of the Dream Depot and wreaked havoc in hopes of making his dream came true. Mario (or one of his friends) challenged Bowser on each level and eventually defeated Bowser in one last battle. This actually made Bowser happy, as it fulfilled what he had wished for: a worthy opponent. In Mario Party Advance, Bowser attacked Shroom City and stole all of the Gaddgets and minigames. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi had to adventure throughout the city to retrieve all of the Gaddgets, which includes a number of Bowser-themed Gaddgets. After Bowser was defeated in a minigame for the final Gaddget, he was shown to have enjoyed the challenge and gave up the Bowser Print Gaddget. The ending mentioned that was making a 'fresh start' at beating his rival. In Mario Party 7, Bowser was jealous that he was not invited on the cruise hosted by Toadsworth along with Mario and his friends, so he attempted to sabotage the cruise. After being defeated at Bowser's Enchanting Inferno, he and Koopa Kid were trapped on a small island.

In Mario Party 8, Bowser disrupted the award ceremony for the Star Carnival and stole the Star Rod from MC Ballyhoo. At Bowser's Warped Orbit, the player's character had to defeat Bowser's chosen champion (either Boo or Hammer Bro to make him surrender the Star Rod. In Mario Party DS, Bowser lured Mario and his friends into his castle under the pretense of throwing a Big Bowser Bash to apologize for his past transgressions. It was a trap, and Bowser used an invention called a Minimizer to shrink Mario and his friends down to a tiny size while he stole their Sky Crystal. He cast them all away while he looked for the other Sky Crystals, but Mario and his friends were able to find them first and returned to Bowser's Castle to face Bowser. There, Donkey Kong accidentally broke the Minimizer just as Bowser was about to crush the Super Star of the group, which caused Mario and his friends to revert to their normal sizes. As a last-ditch effort to stop them, Bowser used a Megamorph Belt to transform into Blockhead Bowser, but he was still defeated. Having gained all of the Sky Crystals, Mario and his friends united them to form a special DS on which a minigame called Triangle Twisters could be played. Bowser revealed that playing that game was all he wanted all along, and so Mario and his friends allowed him to play it with them. Bowser was later featured in Mario Party 9, where he and Bowser Junior stole all of the Mini Stars so that Bowser could use them to decorate his castle. Mario and his friends went on a quest to retrieve the Mini Stars, which ended with defeating Bowser at Bowser Station, and Bowser fell out of his Koopa Clown Car when he realized that he had lost. In Mario Party: Island Tour, Bowser was jealous that Mario and his friends were invited to party at the Party Islands, so he built Bowser's Tower and trapped much of the island's fun in bubbles. The character chosen by the player had to navigate the tower accompanied by a green Toad while facing bubble clones of the other characters. Bowser was faced and defeated in Bower's Sky Scuffle, at which point his bubble machine was destroyed. But this was the one game in which Bowser was never truly beaten, as he proceeded to kick the character out of his tower and invited them to challenge him again.

In Super Mario Party, Mario and his friends decided to throw another competition to decide who among them was a Super Star. Bowser arrived at that moment with a group of his minions, and he demanded that they be allowed to take part in the competition as well. He also sent Kamek to act as one of the hosts alongside Toad and Toadette, to keep things fair.

Cameos and Non-Storyline Roles

• In the Game & Watch version of Super Mario Bros., Bowser (described as "the Bowser") was mentioned as the antagonist who captured Princess Peach, but he was not actually battled in the game's storyline. His only appearance in the game was as an alarm, referred to as the Alarm Koopa.
• In Mario Clash, an image of Bowser would appear to congratulate the player if they reached 700,000 points.
• In Yoshi's Cookie, Bowser was playable in Versus Mode and had the highest attack out of the four playable characters. He was also featured in the story mode included in the Nintendo Puzzle Collection version, in which he stole the cookies and was the final opponent faced in the seventh stage.
• In the Game & Watch Gallery series, he appeared in several remakes of Game & Watch games in antagonistic roles.
• Bowser made an appearance in the version of Mario Bros. that was first included in Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros. 2 (which would also be included in the other Super Mario Advance games and the first Mario & Luigi game). He would make an appearance in every fourth phase during Battle Mode and breathe fire from the center of the stage. Bowser could be stunned, but he was the only enemy in the game who could not be defeated.
• Within the WarioWare games, a blue version of Bowser with more human-like proportions (similar to a kaiju) was featured as the antagonist of the Classic Clash microgames that were used in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! and WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!. There was also a variation of the microgame in WarioWare Gold in which Bowser's design was closer to that of his sprite from Super Mario Bros.. WarioWare: Let's Get it Together! also made a microgame based on beating Bowser in Super Mario Bros..

Abilities

Bowser is known for his immense strength and brawn. He is also a slow and lumbering creature. He displays a variety of abilities throughout the games, such as simple feral physical attacks with his claws or shell, or fire breath which ranges depending on the game from spitting out fireballs or breathing out a jet of flame. His size also seems to vary between games, although this may be alotted to the growth magic that Bowser is shown to use in Yoshi's Island DS and Super Princess Peach. The original Super Mario Bros. manual also describes him as having magic abilities which he uses to transform the denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom, although such magic is rarely ever actually seen being used by Bowser in the games.

In Super Mario RPG, the weapons Bowser can use include the Chomp Shell, Chomp, Hurly Gloves (which he uses to toss Mario at the enemy), Spiked Link and Drill Claw. As for his armors, Bowser has the Happy Shell, Courage Shell, Fire Shell and Heal Shell that he can gain and equip throughout the game. He additionally can learn the following special moves:

• Terrorize- Bowser summons a Big Boo which attacks enemies and could inflict them with the Fear status.
• Poison Gas- Bowser summons a Mokura that will poison the enemies.
• Crusher- Bowser summons a thin jagged rock that emerges from the ground beneath an enemy. Can cause great damage and even moreso if timed.
• Bowser Crush- Bowser summons a giant, ghostly-looking Mecha-Koopa to crush all enemies onscreen.

In Bowser's Inside Story, Bowser's primary commands in battle revolve punching enemies, spitting a jet of flame and curling up so that enemies land on his spiked shell. He also gains two abilities that he can only use outside of battle. One is a ground pound-like attack. The other, after Bowser's back is fixed and makes him more flexible, allows Bowser to curl up into a spiked ball and roll around as well as up several walls. Bowser used a similar spiked ball maneuver in the final battle of Super Mario Galaxy.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In the NES version of Tetris, Bowser makes a cameo appearance on a special congratulatory screen that appears upon completion of the Type B mode, along with a number of other Nintendo characters. Bowser is seen playing an accordion.
• In F-1 Race, Bowser made a cameo appearance waving to the player during the ending sequence.
• Within the Super NES version of SimCity, Bowser can appear as a natural disaster. He is depicted as a giant attacking the city in parody of Godzilla and other kaiju.
• He appeared as the main villain of Mario is Missing!, Mario's Time Machine and Hotel Mario. The former game was notable in that it marked one instance where Bowser captured Mario instead of Peach. Bowser also made cameo appearances in the Mario Teaches Typing games, the Mario's Early Years! games and Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up. He also appeared in Mario's FUNdamentals as both a challenger and part of some of the games.
• In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the characters of Talon and Malon (as well as Malon's Terminan counterparts Cremia and Romani in Majora's Mask) each wear a golden Bowser brooch, which may be in reference to Talon being modeled to resemble Mario. A portrait of Bowser can also be seen through a window of Hyrule Castle's garden in Ocarina of Time.
• In Pikmin 2, one treasure was the Flames of Tomorrow matchbox, which contained Bowser Breath-branded matches and featured an image of Bowser's face.
• Bowser also appeared as a playable character in the board game-themed crossover games Itadaki Street DS and Fortune Street.
• Bowser appeared in Yakuman DS as an opponent and could be unlocked as a playable character by defeating all of Challenge Mode's hard challenges.
• In Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, he appeared as the main antagonist faced at the end of World 8 and could be unlocked as a helper character after being defeated. Dry Bowser also appeared as the final boss of Special World 8 and could similarly be unlocked.
• Bowser was included in the Nintendo releases of Skylanders: Superchargers and Skylanders: Imaginators as a playable character referred to as Hammer Slam Bowser. He rides a variation of the Koopa Clown Car called the Clown Cruiser.
• In the Wii U versions of Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2, Bayonetta could summon Bowser while wearing the Princess Peach outfit, with only Bowser's arms and legs being visible.
• As part of the Super Mario Mash-Up Kit for Nintendo releases of Minecraft, Bowser was included as a playable skin, as well as a painting of his emblem.
• Bowser made an appearance in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. He was on vacation for most of the game's story, leaving Bowser Jr. in charge, although he called and texted his son at several points in the game. Near the end of the game, Bowser returned home early and was absorbed by the Megabug, forming the final boss of the game, MegaDragonBowser. After being defeated, Bowser returned to normal, and Bowser Jr. foresaw a punishment.
• He returned in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope as a playable character.

Super Smash Bros.

Bowser appears as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (where he had to be unlocked through the game's variable-based unlocking system or by awakening him in Adventure Mode). He has held the title of the heaviest fighter in the series and is also one of the physically strongest. In Melee, Bowser appeared as the final boss of Adventure Mode, and under special conditions, a giant and monstrous version of Bowser known as Giga Bowser appears as the final boss after Bowser. From Brawl onwards, Bowser can turn into Giga Bowser as his Final Smash. Giga Bowser also appears as a boss again in Ultimate, in several Classic Mode routes as well as in Adventure Mode.

Bowser's personal Classic Mode route in Ultimate is called "The Red One. Every Red One!" Bowser's opponents follow the theme of wearing red. Unlike other Classic Mode routes, Bowser battles a boss character (which is Rathalos) before having a final character battle. The actual final battle of his route is against Mario and then Metal Mario.

Abilities

Within the Smash Bros. games, Bowser is shown as one of the slowest but most physically powerful characters. The following are his special moves:

• Standard Special Move: Fire Breath- Bowser breathes out a jet of flame, as in Super Mario 64 and most later games.
• Side Special Move (1): Koopa Klaw- Bowser strikes at the enemy with his claw. If the opponent is close enough, Bowser will also grab them, at which point he can either gnaw on them or simply toss them. This move is only in Melee and replaced within Brawl.
• Side Special Move (2): Flying Slam- This appears to be similar to the Koopa Klaw, as Bowser swipes at the enemy with his claw. However, once connecting he will leap into the air with the opponent in his hands and smash them down onto the ground beneath him. This move is added in Brawl.
• Up Special Move: Whirling Fortress- Bowser retracts within his shell and spins around in the air, causing damage to anyone he hits.
• Down Special Move: Bowser Bomb- Bower leaps down to the air and then slams down with great force, similar to a usual Ground Pound/Hip Drop move. This is based on Bowser's attack pattern in Super Mario Bros. 3.
• Final Smash: Giga Bowser- Bowser temporarily transforms into Giga Bowser, which is a much larger, more grotesque and more powerful version of Bowser. He can still receive damage, but will not flinch from attacks. Giga Bowser originally appeared as a secret boss in Melee, and Bowser can only transform into him by using a Smash Ball from Brawl onwards. In Ultimate, he attacks by going into the background (similar to how his giant self appears in Yoshi's Island) and punching towards the stage in an area that the player selects with the cursor.

Trophies, Stickers and Spirits

In Melee Bowser, has three standard unlockable trophies along with one of Baby Bowser and one of Giga Bowser. In Brawl, has two normal trophies (one of his normal state and one of him as Giga Bowser) along with trophies for Paper Bowser and Wedding Bowser (Bowser in his tuxedo from Super Paper Mario) and four different stickers (using artwork from DDR: Mario Mix, Mario Kart 64, Mario Power Tennis and Super Paper Mario). In the 3DS/Wii U games, there are two standard trophies of Bowser that are shared between both games. In the 3DS version, there are also trophies for two forms of Paper Bowser (from Paper Mario Sticker Star) and for Bowser with a Standard Kart from Mario Kart, while in the Wii U version has trophies for Giga Bowser and Bowser with a Flame Runner from Mario Kart. Bowser is also part of the image used to represent the River Survival Spirit.

In Ultimate, Bowser has a Fighter Spirit that is earned by beating Classic Mode with him. There is also an Advanced-rank Primary Spirit of Giga Bowser that is earned by defeating Giga Bowser in Adventure Mode. The game also includes Spirits for Baby Bowser, Dry Bowser, Paper Bowser (which enhances into Bowser from Sticker Star) and Bowser in his wedding suit from Super Mario Odyssey.

Brawl: The Subspace Emissary

Bowser's Smash Bros. appearance.

Bowser appeared in Brawl's "The Subspace Emissary" as part of the Subspace Army working with Ganondorf in hunting down various characters and turning them all into trophies. He first had his men steal Donkey Kong's banana horde to lure him into the open. After Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong reclaimed the bananas, Bower ambushed them with a Dark Cannon. Donkey Kong was able to send Diddy flying to safety but in the process was himself turned into a trophy. Bowser was accompanied by a swarm of shadow bugs that initially took on the form of a shadowy version of Bowser. After Fox McCloud and Diddy Kong defeated this fake Bowser, the real Bowser attempted to attack them with the Dark Cannon, but they escaped his grasp.

Bowser later attacked either Princess Zelda or Peach (whichever princess Kirby had rescued in the first level) and turned her into a trophy as well. Ganondorf then sent Bowser to King Dedede's castle to retrieve the trophies that Dedede had stolen from Wario. Bowser and his men attacked by destroying the roof of the castle but were only able to find one trophy (that of the other princess), as the rest were hidden beneath the rubble. After escaping from Mario and Pit in his Koopa Clown Copter, he returned to the swamp area and succeeded in turning Diddy into a trophy, but Falco Lombardi then arrived and destroyed Bowser's Dark Cannon. Bowser escaped, again in the Koopa Clown Copter, while Fox and Falco defeated a giant Shadow Diddy and proceeded to revive Diddy.

Bowser was then seen at Ganondorf's side riding the giant battleship from the entrance to Subspace to take over the world. But after the battleship was destroyed by Kirby, Ganondorf and Bowser retreated into Subspace, where Bowser was betrayed and turned into a trophy by Ganondorf. Bowser was later revived by Dedede, and, after Dedede defeated him in battle, he showed Bowser that the true enemy was waiting for them in the Subspace World. Bowser then reluctantly joined with the heroes for the final battles, but not before he had some fun for himself beating around the Ganondorf trophy.

Ultimate: World of Light

In the Adventure Mode of Ultimate, "World of Light", Bowser was seen in the opening cutscene among the forces that were assembled to confront Galeem and his Master Hand army. Galeem chose to unleash a barrage of beams of light that wiped out all fighters on the field. Bowser was shown trying to fight it off with his fire breath, but he was caught in the blast as well. Afterwards, all of the fighters fell under Galeem's control. Bowser was found within the Molten Fortress and had to be fought as Giga Bowser. After Giga Bowser was defeated, Bowser would be awakened as his old self and joined the playable roster of fighters. He was unique among the unlockable fighters of that mode in that he was the only one unlocked through a boss fight and that could not be battled in his normal form.

Other Media

• Bowser appeared in the Japan-only anime movie Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach. In this version, Bowser kidnaps Peach as in Super Mario Bros.. He also displays shape-shifting powers. At the end of the movie, he becomes a giant and battles Mario. Mario eventually defeats Bowser after he uses a Super Star. In a scene eerily similar to the method of defeating Bowser in Super Mario 64, Mario lifts Bowser up by the tail and spins him around before tossing him away.
• Bowser also appeared in a three-part anime OVA, which each part being based on a different fairy tale. In the first segment, he was an ogre who kidnapped that segment's version of Princess Peach. In the second segment, Mario was tiny and at one point Bowser tried eating him. However, Mario pokes Bowser's stomach with a needle until Bowser spits him out and runs away. In the final segment, Bowser is dressed as a woman and plays the role of the evil queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He tries poisoning Peach and later holds her hostage with a knife, but Bowser is defeated by Luigi.
• Bowser has appeared throughout the Super Mario-Kun manga in slapstick adaptations of the Mario games from Super Mario World onwards, where he is shown as more cheerful and bumbling than actually intimidating.
• Bowser appeared in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show and its two sequel shows as King Koopa, although he was called Bowser in some later episodes. In this series, King Koopa had a more reptilian appearance and had a variety of disguises that he used in each episode (similar to King K. Rool). In the later shows, his Koopalings also appeared.
• Bowser also appeared in Nintendo Comics System and Nintendo Adventure Books, his appearance and demeanor based off his cartoon version.
• He appeared as the main villain of the 1993 live action film Super Mario Bros., once again going by the name of Koopa. In this movie, he is actually a human-like being who evolved from a dinosaur and was the tyrannical ruler of Dinohatten. He sent out his bumbling cousins Iggy and Spike (named after Bowser minions from the video games) to do his dirty work and also used a special machine to de-evolve any naysayers who challenged his authority. At the end of the movie, he briefly transformed into a dinosaur while attacking Mario and Luigi, but he was almost immediately blown away. He was played by Dennis Hopper.
• Bowser made a small appearance in the Disney film Wreck-It Ralph, which was based on the world of video games. He was shown as part of the "Bad Anon" support group, and did not have a speaking role. He was instead shown breathing out fireballs in surprise.
• In the 2023 film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Bowser was featured as the main villain and was voiced by Jack Black. He was close to his portrayal in the games, particularly with the humorous aspects from the RPG games. He was slowly conquering various countries while working his way towards the Mushroom Kingdom and fell in love with Peach, which caused him to want to make her marry him. The marriage turns out to be a trap set by Peach, and after being defeated by Mario and Luigi, Bowser was forced to shrink down with a Mini-Mushroom and was imprisoned within a glass bottle. His appearance within the film has also become popular due to his performance of "Peaches", a love ballad that he sings about Peach.

Canceled Appearances

• In one build of the canceled game Diddy Kong Pilot, Bowser was shown as a playable character.

Trivia

• In Japan, Bowser's name is 'Koopa' or 'Kuppa', a named derived from a Korean dish. The regular Koopa Troopas are called nokonoko.
• In some of the early artwork, Bowser doesn't have his hair.
• The seven Koopalings were originally assumed to be Bowser's children, which was canon for other Mario works such as the cartoon series and comics. However, in 2012, Miyamoto clarified that the Koopalings are not related to Bowser. Only Bowser Junior is officially considered to be biologically related to Bowser.
• Belome says that Bowser tastes repulsive.
• Paper Mario: Sticker Star is Bowser's only RPG appearance where he does not speak any dialogue.