Bowser
Bowser, also known as King Bowser or King Koopa, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Nintendo's Mario franchise. In Japan, he is titled Daimaō. He is the arch-nemesis of Mario and the leader of the turtle-like Koopa race. Depicted as a fire-breathing monster with a tyrannical personality, Bowser's ultimate goals are to kidnap Princess Peach and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom.
Bowser debuted as Mario's opponent in the 1985 video game Super Mario Bros. Designer Shigeru Miyamoto initially conceived him as an ox based on the Ox-King from the Toei Animation film Alakazam the Great. However, Takashi Tezuka remarked that the character resembled a turtle more than an ox, leading them to redesign Bowser as the leader of the turtle-like Koopas. Since 2007, Bowser has been voiced by Kenny James.
Following Super Mario Bros., Bowser has appeared in various genres, including role-playing games like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi, sports games such as Mario Kart and Mario Tennis, and fighting games like Super Smash Bros. He has appeared in multiple animations, including three series produced by DIC Entertainment and was portrayed by Dennis Hopper in the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film. Jack Black voiced him in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Bowser has received a mostly positive reception, with critics noting that he is one of the most iconic and recognizable video game villains. He was crowned the greatest video game villain of all time by the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition.
Development
Bowser was created by Nintendo designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto had first envisioned Bowser as an ox, based on the ox-like King Gruesome from the Toei Animation film Alakazam the Great. However, Nintendo designer Takashi Tezuka pointed out that the character looked a lot more like a turtle than an ox. Miyamoto and Tezuka then began to redesign his look to reflect a leader of the turtle-like Koopa Troopas. In his final design, Miyamoto commented that he could make Bowser "look cool now". During the development of Super Mario Bros., Miyamoto contemplated commissioning the game's art to a manga artist or illustrator. However, due to a lack of time, he created the game's original box art himself. Bowser is depicted in this artwork in a way that differs from later renditions, with the most noticeable differences being his gray-blue complexion and lack of horns. Miyamoto received inspiration for the character's appearance from an anime film version of the Chinese novel Journey to the West, which was renamed Alakazam the Great. Yōichi Kotabe based Bowser's final design on the Chinese softshell turtle, which he recognized as highly aggressive, reflecting Bowser's short temper.Bowser's original working name was "Boss Creeper", after the Shellcreepers, the predecessors to the Koopa race, from Mario Bros. Miyamoto then named him wikt:大 Daimaō Kuppa. Kuppa came from the Japanese name for wikt:국밥, gukbap, a Korean dish. Miyamoto had also considered the names ユッケ Yukke and ビビンバ Bibinba, also Japanese names of Korean dishes. For the later North American release of the game, which also introduced the anglicized spelling "Koopa", the character was named Bowser. His Korean name is not Gukbap, but 쿠파 Kupa, which is essentially a phonetic round-trip translation. The name was anglicized to Kuppa rather than Koopa in the Japanese versions up until the release of Super Mario World.
It is currently unconfirmed how the character received the English language name "Bowser", or who gave him this name, although there are multiple competing theories. Matthew Byrd of Den of Geek noted that one theory comes from "Bowser" being a popular name for pets at the time, while another suggests that Miyamoto himself chose the name because both "Bowser" and Bibinba start with B. Another theory still relates to the origins of the surname "Bowser", derived from a Norman greeting meaning "good sir", and that it may be used ironically for the character given his diabolical nature.
Within early comics and potentially in the Super Smash Bros. series, Bowser has been compared to Gamera, the iconic fictional turtle kaiju with the abilities to breathe fire as well as fly by hiding in his shell and spinning it; Bowser's ability to perform the latter is called "Gamera Attack".
Characteristics
Bowser is the King of the Koopas, anthropomorphic turtles that inhabit the world of the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser differs greatly from the rest of the Koopa clan, which consists mainly of bipedal tortoises. He has a large, spiked turtle shell, horns, a draconic muzzle with fangs, taloned fingers, three clawed toes on each foot, red eyes, and a shock of red hair. He has immense physical strength, is nearly indestructible, can breathe fire, and can jump very high for his large size. He is accomplished in black magic for teleportation, summoning objects, flying, generating electricity, telekinesis, or metamorphosis.Bowser's physical size varies and in most games, he towers over most characters. In Super Mario RPG, he stands only slightly taller than Mario. He changes his size at will or through others' sorcery in games including Yoshi's Island, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Galaxy 2.
Bowser aspires to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and merge it with his own realm. He is infatuated with Princess Peach, and routinely kidnaps her as part of his plans for domination. Sometimes, he kidnaps Peach simply to lure Mario into a trap, but occasionally he hopes to marry her, such as in Super Mario Odyssey. He is typically the central antagonist in the main series, but in the RPG series, he sometimes works with the heroes to defeat a greater evil. His personality is generally menacing and sinister, but he sometimes displays a more comical side as a blustering, buffoonish bully with some emotional vulnerability. He also cares for his minions.
Originally in Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser was stated to be the father of the Koopalings with subsequent official sources adding that he is their biological father, but since their return in New Super Mario Bros. Wii they have been referred to as Bowser's minions. Bowser Jr. was introduced as Bowser's son in the 2002 game Super Mario Sunshine. In a 2012 interview, Shigeru Miyamoto stated, "Our current story is that the seven Koopalings are not Bowser's children. Bowser's only child is Bowser Jr., and we do not know who the mother is."
Appearances
Bowser debuted in the video game Super Mario Bros.. He then appeared through all Super Mario games, the Paper Mario series, the Yoshi series, and the Mario & Luigi series.Other ''Mario'' games
Bowser has appeared in nearly all of the Mario spin-off games, including in the Mario Kart and Mario Party series. Bowser appeared in multiple Mario sports games, such as Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Super Mario Strikers, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.He appeared in Mario's Time Machine, Hotel Mario, and Mario Pinball Land. Bowser appears as a playable character in Itadaki Street DS and its Wii sequel Fortune Street. Bowser is also a Dark attribute character who appears as the main opponent in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition.
Bowser appears in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. In Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Bowser makes a cameo. He also reappears in the sequel Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.
Other games
Bowser is a playable character in every installment of the Super Smash Bros. series since 2001's Super Smash Bros. Melee. He was intended to be playable in the series' first installment, but was removed during development due to time constraints. Bowser is in Tetris Attack, a game inspired by the Japanese game Panel de Pon. All of the original cast members are replaced except Mr. Time, with characters from the Mario and Yoshi series, with Bowser taking on the role of Corderia as final boss. With the name Hammer Slam Bowser, Bowser debuts as a playable character in Skylanders: SuperChargers. He appears alongside Donkey Kong and comes with a Skylanders unique figurine. Dr. Bowser is playable in Dr. Mario World.In other media
portrayed King Koopa in the 1993 live-action film Super Mario Bros. In the film, Koopa is the usurper ruler of Dinohattan, a city in a parallel universe in which humans evolved directly from dinosaurs. He abducts Princess Daisy but is eventually defeated by Mario and Luigi. This incarnation is almost entirely human in appearance, with blonde hair he gels in a crown-like shape, and he frequently wears a black business suit and necktie. However, after brief exposure to his own evolution-reversing technology by the Mario Bros., he starts occasionally possessing some reptilian traits. The climax of the film sees Koopa devolve into an enormous green Tyrannosaurus rex to battle the Mario Bros., who further devolve him into primordial ooze.Bowser is one of the gaming villains attending a "Bad-Anon" support group in the 2012 animated film Wreck-It Ralph. The writers had early on envisioned the Bad-anon meeting with Bowser as a major character within the scene; according to film director Rich Moore, Nintendo was very positive towards this use, stating in Moore's own words, "If there is a group that is dedicated to helping the bad guy characters in video games then Bowser must be in that group!"
Bowser was voiced by Jack Black in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and the upcoming The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. In the film, Bowser successfully captures the Super Star from the Penguin Kingdom and plots to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom unless Princess Peach agrees to marry him. His plans are ultimately foiled by Mario and Luigi, who retrieve the Super Star from Bowser, and defeat him in a final battle taking place in Brooklyn. Bowser is then shrunk with a Mini Mushroom and imprisoned in a bottle. In a mid-credit scene, Bowser is singing his song from earlier in the film, but he is scolded by a guard. This has also made Bowser the subject of an Internet meme with the song "Peaches", written and performed in character by Black.
He appeared in Nintendo gamebooks. Bowser appears as the primary antagonist in Nintendo Power's comic series Super Mario Adventures. Bowser reappears in the Mario comics of Valiant Comics' Nintendo Comics System as the principal antagonist of the Mushroom Kingdom.