Bowser, also known as Koopa (his Japanese name), King Bowser, or King of the Koopas, is a monstrous and powerful fire-breathing Koopa and the main antagonist of the Mario franchise. He made his debut in the 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System title, Super Mario Bros.. As the archnemesis of the protagonists Mario and Luigi, Bowser is the leader of his own massive army, the Koopa Troop. He seems to have a non-ending infatuation with Princess Peach, and for this reason, the villain kidnaps her very often, as his longtime primary goal is to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and defeat Mario. Like Ganon - the main antagonist of The Legend of Zelda series, Bowser is large and burly, mightily strong, threatening, and fierce, and he can breathe fire known as his trademark Flame Breath and can jump high into the air and stomp on the ground to damage enemies in his range. In spite of his hefty weight and size and is normally slow, some games such as Super Mario 64 depict Bowser being able to run at high speeds and can be surprisingly agile. Bowser has a bratty son named Bowser Jr. (who ironically resembles his own younger self), who is both his namesake and heir to the throne, and also has seven more underlings known as the Koopalings, who themselves were originally intended to be his children as well during the NES and Super NES eras. Like many primary characters of Mario, he is one of the most recognized and important Nintendo characters.
Due to both The Legend of Zelda and SuperMario franchises have many parallels between each other, Bowser can be considered a mirror to Ganon in that both characters are recurring major antagonists with hideous bipedal appearances based on a real-world animal (turtle/ox and boar, respectively, although a notable difference is that Bowser was implied to have been born with that form, while Ganon was originally human in some games) and fearsome strength that is very difficult to face alone, the beasts themselves are kings with hundreds of minions and own a castle (his is known as Bowser's Castle), have the same goal of ruling over a kingdom (Hyrule/Mushroom Kingdom, respectively) by force that ended up being constantly thwarted by the hero (Link/Mario, respectively), kidnap a princess (Zelda/Peach, respectively), can transform into a more powerful state, and their roles being the Final Boss in the majority of their series' main titles. However, between the two, it is possible that Ganon is more inherently evil than Bowser, as the latter sometimes have a more comical way of villainy, he genuinely cares for his son, and to an extent does have standards about destroying the entire world. On a similar note, while Bowser is usually implied to have romantic feelings for Princess Peach as a motivation for abducting her besides general conquest, Ganon on contrast generally has no such feelings for Princess Zelda and only abducts/antagonizes her due to seeking out her Triforce of Wisdom (the closest it ever implied he had any potential feelings for Zelda was in the Akira Himekawa manga adaptation of Twilight Princess where it shows his offer to have her rule by his side as well as admitting before his suicide that he looks forward to seeing Hyrule's princess again in the next life).
In Ocarina of Time, Malon and Talon both wear brooches portraying the face of Bowser. Additionally, a portrait of Bowser can be seen in the east window of the Hyrule Castle Courtyard, along with the likenesses of Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Yoshi, based on Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. This is however, removed in Ocarina of Time 3D, as it was replaced with a scenery from New Super Mario Bros.
Majora's Mask
In Majora's Mask, Romani and Cremia, who are the Terminan counterparts of Malon based on her child and adult age, both wear the same brooch depicting Bowser's face from the previous game, due to their models being reused.
Giga Bowser is a giant, more monstrous and dangerous form of Bowser, original to the Super Smash Bros. series and he has not appeared in the Mario franchise. Giga Bowser first appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee, where he can be fought in Adventure Mode if the player completes Normal mode or harder without using any continues in under 18 minutes. Defeating Giga Bowser earns the player the Giga Bowser Trophy.
Like his regular self, Giga Bowser has no direct connections to The Legend of Zelda series, but he does appear alongside Ganondorf and Mewtwo from the Pokemon franchise in the bonus 51st event match of Super Smash Bros. Melee, The Showdown.
Bowser, like Ganon, as one of the first and most iconic villains in video game history, is often considered by critics and fans alike as one of the greatest main antagonists in the gaming industry.
Bowser has reddish hair similar to that of Ganon and his human form Ganondorf, though some older artwork and games depict the villain having orange or yellow colored hair.
His sprite in Super Mario Bros. has no hair at all due to limitations of the NES, much like Ganon's original appearance in 2D-based Zelda games and Echoes of Wisdom.
Unlike Ganon who has been slain by Link multiple times throughout The Legend of Zelda series, Bowser has only physically died once. In this case, in New Super Mario Bros., he was sent down into a pit of magma which reduced him into a skeletal form known as Dry Bowser (his own version of the Dry Bones enemy), though he would eventually be revived by Bowser Jr. during the final battle. This is rather highly unusual, as many platform-based Super Mario games had Bowser falling into such a substance without harm.
He also was reduced to Dry Bowser in the ending of Bowser Jr.'s story mode in the remake for Bowser's Inside Story, although in that case, he wasn't actually killed and such was treated more humorously (due to his ingesting the entire blorb cure container causing him to literally lose all his weight).
Similar to Ganon, Bowser in Japan is titled "大魔王" (Daimaō), which translates to "Great Demon King". However, this is possibly a mistranslation for overseas, where he is called "Great Sorcerer King", instead.
Like Ganon, Bowser is normally heard through laughs and roars especially in older games, but he is indeed capable of full speech, which is most prominent in Super Mario Sunshine and other media such as The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Notably he has a gruff accent.
His classic roars in the Nintendo 64 era until New Super Mario Bros. are stock sound effects taken from The General Series 6000 Sound Effects Library, Major Records - Sound Effects, and the 1957 film The Land Unknown, often made up of a cougar meowing or boars squealing. Interestingly, Bowser's infamous deep laugh from Super Mario 64 and other games until Mario Party 4 is actually a stock sound of Charles Martinet - the former longtime voice actor of Mario, laughing and slowed down, and it was performed some time before he was officially auditioned as the franchise's main protagonist. It would be reused and drastically sped up for the Boo enemy until the GameCube era, a parallel to how Poes in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask being a sped up version of Ganondorf's laugh.
Despite Bowser is normally incredibly powerful much like Ganon, there have been some cases in the Mario games where he could be easily knocked down by another seemingly weaker character, usually in spin-off titles. For example, in Mario Party 3, Bowser was comically slapped away into the sky by Princess Daisy in its story mode.
Interestingly, Bowser's original appearance as seen in the Japanese Super Mario Bros. box artwork by Shigeru Miyamoto did not depict the villain with horns and is colored blue rather than green. This is because he had envisioned Bowser as an ox based on the 1960 anime Alakazam the Great's main antagonist, named Bull Demon King (or Ox-King), which itself is based on the Chinese novel Journey to the West. However, fellow longtime Nintendo employee and close friend Takashi Tezuka remarked to Miyamoto that the character looked more like a turtle similar to the Koopa Troopas, leading them to redesign Bowser into his final appearance based on the Chinese soft shell turtle, a species known for their aggressive nature, which Bowser himself shares. Because of this new improved change, Shigeru congratulated himself.
Coincidentally, Ganon was also inspired by a character from Journey to the West, this time by Zhu Bajie, who is a boar.
The idea of a blue Bowser was reused for very few games in the Super Mario series, most prominently Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels (FDS version only) as a rare alternate Fake Bowser, although initially it was planned to be an actual twin sibling of the villain, and some spin-off games such as the Super Smash Bros. series used this coloration as an alternate costume.
Although Bowser has been seen teaming up with Ganondorf in the Super Smash Bros. series, specifically Brawl, no media from Nintendo has yet directly depicted the Gerudo warlock with the Super Mario series villain in his actual monster form, Ganon.
Similar to Link having an evil shadow of himself known as Dark Link, Bowser also has more inherently corrupt version, named Dark Bowser. However, it is not technically the Koopa King himself, but rather the Final Boss of Bowser's Inside Story, Dark Star, in the form of his genetic code. A similar situation existed in Paper Mario: Color Splash where Bowser was turned into Black Bowser after the latter attempted to spin multiple colors together to give himself a multi-colored shell in the color fountain but created black paint by mistake. However, while technically the same as Bowser, its heavily implied to be a separate entity (the Black Paint itself) possessing Bowser during the final battle due to Bowser expressing confusion about Mario's presence midway through the battle and still being confused even after being defeated.
Miscellaneous
In the 59th episode of the Death Battle web series, Bowser was pitted against Ganondorf and ultimately lost due to Ganondorf's superiority in magic.
Although Bowser is technically a turtle, his unique fire-breathing ability and spiky appearance as opposed to the common Koopa Troopa makes him comparable to that of dragons as well.
Either coincidentally or intentionally, the current Nintendo of America president is named Doug Bowser, which therefore shares his surname with the Koopa King's.
This was even the subject of a joke in the Nintendo Direct announcing Doug Bowser's ascension to president where Bowser walks in wearing a red necktie as if he had been made the president of Nintendo only to be told it is the wrong Bowser before Doug Bowser steps in, much to the Koopa King's confusion. In the Japanese, Cantonese, and Korean dubs of the Direct, this had subtitles being put in place explaining the joke, due to Bowser being known by different names in those countries (ie, King Koopa in Japan).
Exclusively in the Mario Party series, Bowser owns a twisted, dark version of the Super Star item known as the Ztar. Although they simply serve to take away Coins or even take away one Star from the player's count, it is theoretically possible that they can power the Koopa King up to incredible proportions similar to the one Mario and friends use in platform-based games. However, they technically first appeared in Super Mario RPG as a special attack by the Count Down and Culex bosses.
Though Bowser is not known to have an actual father unlike his son Bowser Jr. and perhaps the Koopalings, a certain Magikoopa named Kamek (the main antagonist of the Yoshi platforming games) appears to have raised him as a baby and is seen as his father figure. In other games and media, he serves one of Bowser's high-ranking members.
This also makes Kamek similar to Twinrova, who herself was a parental figure to the main villain Ganon (acting as his surrogate mothers in the form of Koume and Kotake).
In the Bowser's Fury campaign of Super Mario Bros 3D World, due to Bowser Jr. painting him in black Goop, Bowser takes on a powerful, gigantic transformation known as Fury Bowser. In this form, the Koopa King is in a dark, much more demonic appearance similar to that of Demise, and is out-of-control. In this case, to take him on, Mario is forced to team up with Bowser's son to stop the great threat.
Despite Bowser being a beloved antagonist among fans of Nintendo in general, much like Ganon, however, due to his ferocious appearance and sometimes his own villainy in certain games, there have been individuals in some cases claiming him terrifying enough to even suffer nightmares. For example, in Super Mario 64, whenever Mario is defeated and the player consequently loses a life, a silhouette of Bowser himself fully appears on-screen with a wicked deep laugh as it begins to slowly fade (which some called the "Death Screen"). This same symbol was reused for the first two Mario Party games as a screen transition when a player lands on a Bowser Space (itself accompanied by a screeching sound) as well as encountering the Koopa King, before it was slightly revamped in later games to be less frightening.
Although widely known as Mario's archenemy for decades, Bowser is not the plumber's first ever nemesis. Four years before his debut, in 1981, the Donkey Kong arcade game had its titular antagonist being Donkey Kong, in which the ape's role would last until 1994 by the release of Donkey Kong Country on the Super NES where he is reformed into a heroic character since (though few media still reprise his former antagonistic role). Ironically enough, DK is used in some media such as the Mario Party series as the good equivalent of Bowser. Due to their well-known similarity as powerhouses, have the title as king, as well as their muscular appearance, some fans find the two coincidentally like the iconic kaiju monsters King Kong and Godzilla when they compete against each other due to the characters' resemblance.
Another piece of irony is that Nintendo faced an unsuccessful lawsuit in 1982 by Universal Studios in which the company believed Donkey Kong is a rip-off of King Kong.
In the Mario Party series, specifically the first seven titles, Bowser supposedly had his young self appear in multiple numbers as a minor antagonist, named Baby Bowser. However, although they strongly resemble himself, they were retconned as a separate character and renamed "Koopa Kid" in the fourth game on the GameCube to distinguish from the actual Baby Bowser seen in the Yoshi series, and therefore had such a name only in the Nintendo 64 era. They have since been replaced by Bowser Jr. in the modern games.
In the Mario Kart series, specifically Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2/DX, and Mario Kart Tour, Bowser (as well as Bowser Jr. and Dry Bowser) is capable of throwing spares of his own spiky shell at targets as a special item, which can produce devastating effects.
In Mario Party 2, Bowser has a unique transformation known as Metal Bowser, which is based on Metal Mario in Super Mario 64, where he uses it to face the winning character in Bowser Land as a special move to increase his weight ten times, making the villain impossible to throw. However, it was negated when he/she was given a Super Star. In the Super Smash Bros. series, this form can appear when hitting Metal Boxes, which is shared for all other characters.
Bowser as he appeared in Super Mario Bros.
Bowser in Super Mario Bros. (SNES version)
Super Mario Bros. artwork
Bowser as he appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES version)
Bowser in Super Mario Bros. 3 (SNES version)
Super Mario Bros. 3 artwork
Super Mario Bros. 3 artwork of Bowser wearing a cape
Bowser as he appeared in Super Mario World
Super Mario World artwork
Bowser as he appeared in Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 artwork
Super Mario 64 artwork of Bowser burning Mario with his Flame Breath
Bowser being swung by Mario in an artwork of Super Mario 64
Mario Kart 64 artwork, which was used for his picture cameo in Ocarina of Time
Bowser as he appeared in the early Mario Party games
Bowser as he appeared in Super Mario Sunshine
Artwork of Bowser performing his signature Flame Breath attack
Artwork of Bowser in a modern rework of his previous Super Mario World art
Bowser sitting on his throne
Dry Bowser, Bowser's skeletal form
Bowser's Fury form, a ferocious state with an appearance resembling Demise
Bowser as he appears in Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Bowser as seen in The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Bowser and his son Bowser Jr. playing the Nintendo Switch
Bowser punching his fists in frustration
Bowser at a very young age, known as Baby Bowser
Bowser and the Koopalings
Bowser kidnapping Princess Peach, a common motive of his main goals
Bowser in his Metal Bowser form as seen in Mario Party 2
Classic Bowser emblem seen in Super Mario 64
The early Mario Party version of the older Bowser symbol used for screen transitions (which has an inverse scheme compared to the previous image)
Bowser's picture cameo in Ocarina of Time, alongside Yoshi, Princess Peach, Mario, and Luigi
Bowser artwork from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Bowser's alternate palettes in SSBM
Bowser taking a Gerudo Dragon blow by Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Ganondorf delivering a Warlock Punch onto Bowser in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Bowser taking Ganondorf's Dark Dive in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Bowser in one of his winning poses from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Bowser render from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Bowser kidnapping Princess Zelda in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Bowser using the Trophy of Princess Zelda a shield against Mario
Bowser listening to Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Ganondorf and Bowser angrily commanding in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Bowser's "Bowser Brother" alternate coloration from Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U
Bowser's render from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Bowser's stock icon from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Bowser fighting a powerful opponent in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Giga Bowser in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Bowser in Mario Kart 8
Modern Bowser emblem as seen in Mario Kart 8
Bowser is seen in the background as Link pulls a trick in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
