Bowser

For fighter info, see Bowser (SSBM), Bowser (SSBB), and Bowser (SSB4).

Bowser
Bowser File:MarioSymbol.png Official artwork of Bowser from New Super Mario Bros. 2.
Universe	Mario
Debut	Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Smash Bros. appearances	Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Mario Kart 8 (2014)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
Species	Koopa
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Dark Land
Created by	Shigeru Miyamoto
Article on Super Mario Wiki	Bowser

Bowser, known in Japan as Koopa (クッパ, Kuppa), is the supreme leader of the Koopa Troop, King of the Koopas. He is the primary and most consistent antagonist in the Mario series. Since his debut in the world-famous Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo Entertainment System as the arch-enemy of main hero Mario, Bowser is easily one of the most recognizable of all villain figures in the game industry. He has therefore appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. 4 in the Super Smash Bros. series as a playable fighter, and due to his size and strength, an alternative, powered-up and enlarged version of him called Giga Bowser also appears in Melee as a final boss in Adventure Mode and as his Final Smash in Brawl and SSB4.

Character description

Bowser, as he appears in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. His appearance in this game inspired his look in Melee.

Bowser was introduced in the seminal Super Mario Bros. for NES, with most of his traditional character traits introduced along with it: his storyline role as a comically monstrous villain who always goes out of his way to kidnap the Mushroom Kingdom princess, Peach Toadstool, his gameplay role as a boss enemy for Mario to defeat, his fire-breathing abilities, his immeasurable army of henchmen such as mushroom-headed Goombas and turtle-like Koopa Troopas, and so on. Super Mario Bros. holds the Guinness World Record for best-selling video game, at 40 million copies, essentially guaranteeing worldwide fame for all characters who appeared in the game, Bowser included. He has appeared in some form in almost every Mario game to date, along with more members of his "family," mainly his only child, Bowser Jr. and the seven Koopalings.

Like his Koopa Troopa underlings, he features elements of a tortoise, albeit a giant mutant tortoise with qualities of a fire-breathing dragon, with his shell and tail covered with spikes and a pair of almost demonic-looking horns, as well as a very distinctively-constructed face and red hair arranged like a mohawk, both very unlike a typical Koopa Troopa. To settle a common dispute original game developers intended for Bowser to be more of a dragon instead of his common perception as a turtle. Bowser, at times, is depicted in vastly different sizes, somewhat resembling Mario's tendency to grow or shrink in size during games starring him; he's a colossus in his appearance as the final boss of Super Mario Sunshine, while in other appearances he is only slightly larger than the average person. The fact that Bowser has offspring would suggest he had a wife at some point, but this character has never been seen or referred to in the series, though the UK version of Nintendo Power magazine has stated that Bowser's wife is named Clawdia.

Bowser is the primary villain in many Super Mario themed platformers, and therefore usually not a playable character. Bowser has appeared as a playable character, however, in several of Mario games nonetheless, such as in the Mario Kart series. Whereas Mario is consistently the most balanced character in the character line-up of any competitive Mario-themed game, Bowser traditionally fits the "big, slow, and strong character" archetype to the extreme in any game he is playable. In the various Mario-themed sports games, for example, Bowser performs relevant actions more powerfully than others but more slowly as well, while in the Mario Kart games, Bowser as a selectable racer features the heaviest weight and the highest top speed of the racers, offset by low acceleration and handling avbilities. This archetype is faithfully preserved in Bowser's appearance as a playable fighter in both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl.

Bowser remains part of the regular cast in the Super Mario empire of video games, though he only really held the image of a consistently threatening menace in his early game appearances. Nowadays, when he is not on seemingly equal grounds with the other Super Mario characters in competitive games like sports and kart racing or even helpful to the characters in RPG roles, he is an antagonist who is depicted as bumbling, comical, and almost slightly incompetent, but he works hard to come across as "bad" and supposedly has been doing so from a young age as Baby Bowser (which is different from Bowser Jr., his son, though they look so similar their names are often confused).

In Super Smash Bros.

Bowser does not appear in the original Smash in any sort of capacity. However, according to a page on the Japanese Super Smash Bros. site, Bowser was planned to be included as a playable character, but was cut; King Dedede and Mewtwo are also mentioned as having been planned but cut, though no other information is available.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

As a playable character

A Japanese image of Bowser, as he appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Bowser makes his Smash series debut as a default playable character in the GameCube installment, and is billed as staying true to his archetype in normal competitive Mario games: he is among the heftiest and strongest characters in the game, but also among the most sluggish.

Bowser's neutral special move is Fire Breath, a continuous stream of fire breathed from his mouth into the area in front of him for several seconds until it weakens in power and size. His side special move, the Koopa Klaw, can be a good-range claw swipe attack, but can also grab onto enemies that are very close to him, and the move has the unique ability to grab onto enemies when both combatants are in midair. His up special move, the Whirling Fortress, is a third jump consisting of him withdrawing into his damaging spiked shell which is now spinning wildly upwards, and his down special move, the Bowser Bomb, causes a midair Bowser to crash down to earth vertically with great force. If Bowser is on the ground when doing this, he will leap up and in front of him diagonally before performing the crashing down maneuver.

Bowser's setup does not translate well in the fast-action world of Super Smash Bros. Melee. His powerful, damaging attacks with good range are good only when it manages to connect with opponents, for they have long wind-up and wind-down, and such a lack of alacrity seriously harms any fighter's ability to fight. His dash speed is slow, his jumping and landing animations are very laggy, and his wavedash is very slow and nearly useless. He is also not able to combo opponents, and his great size makes himself perhaps the easiest opponent to land combos on. Bowser players must therefore be able to read their opponents extremely well and must successfully pressure their opponents in battle, and make use of his good edge-guarding game, to have a chance at competitive play, though even an expert Bowser player will be severely disadvantaged against a regular Fox player.

Trophies

Bowser is a playable character, so he is featured on three trophies that can be acquired by beating each Regular Match with him on any difficulty. His first trophy is earned by defeating the Classic mode as him on any difficulty, his second from the Adventure mode, and his third from the All-Star mode. There is also a trophy of Bowser at a younger age, "Baby Bowser", who is often confused with his son Bowser Jr.

Bowser's Classic trophy plays a large, symbolic role in Melee's "story", so to speak; the trophy is shown near the end of the opening FMV, getting struck by lightning. At the end of Adventure mode, after K.O.ing Bowser, the trophy is seen plummeting into the darkness. If the right conditions are fulfilled, however, the trophy will rise back up onto the stage, land, and get struck by that special lightning, which will cause it to break apart and reveal Giga Bowser breaking out of it, and the Giga Bowser battle begins. If Giga Bowser is defeated, the trophy will again be seen plummeting into the darkness, where it will now shatter like a little firework, signifying the player's ultimate victory.

Bowser's normal trophies read as follows:

Bowser

Bowser has a long history of kidnapping Peach to lure his nemesis, Mario, into traps. He leads an enormous group of mischevious creatures, not the least of which are his seven children. With outrageous strength, flammable breath, and more spikes than you can shake a Star Rod at, Bowser is a constant threat.

• Super Mario Bros., 10/85 (NES)

Baby Bowser

Even as a youngster, Baby Bowser was already playing pranks and causing trouble for Baby Mario and his pal Yoshi. Even at this early age of his evil career, Baby Bowser had tons of henchmen at his disposal. Many experts speculate that Mario and Bowser have some sort of connection that can be traced back to their mutual births.

• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, 10/95 (SNES)

• 

  Bowser [Classic Mode] trophy

• 

  Bowser [Smash, Adventure Mode] trophy

• 

  Bowser [Smash, All-Star Mode] trophy

• 

  Baby Bowser trophy

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Bowser, as he appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Bowser is another returning playable character in Brawl, but with an updated look with more realistic textures, though with a design more akin to the Mario series rather than his more muscular appearance in Melee. All but one of his special moves from Melee return in Brawl-- his side special move, Koopa Klaw has been replaced with a new move called Flying Slam. As Masahiro Sakurai previously mentioned on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website, Bowser now comes in a "slightly different flavor this time around", and like all the other characters; this can be taken as indication of Sakurai's claim that Brawl was designed with balance in mind.

Bowser's moveset and running speed are slightly faster than in Melee. His Forward Smash now has a chance to hit twice, once for the head, and again for his body, doing anywhere from 36 to 48 percent damage, and being by far, the most damaging smash attack in the game. While he has been buffed from Melee, Bowser is still a low tier character with the worst tournament results of any character in Brawl, ranking 33rd on the current tier list.

Trophies

Bowser

The king of the Koopas and Mario's eternal rival. He breathes fire, hurls hammers, attacks from vehicles like the Koopa Clown Car, and uses all sorts of weapons in hopes of taking out Mario. As his size suggests, he's immensely powerful. His son Bowser Jr. is a chip off the old block who spends his time creating trouble for Mario.

: Super Mario Bros.

: Super Mario Sunshine

Paper Bowser

The great king of the Koopas who plots to rule the land with a firm fist. In a change of events, Bowser goes from being Mario's rival to adventuring side by side with him. Bowser's special skill is breathing fire and he has nearly twice the attack power of Mario or Peach, which allows him to take out foes from a distance or multiple enemies with a single blow.

: Super Paper Mario

Wedding Bowser

The great Koopa king in a sharp, white tuxedo. Bowser is forced into marriage with Princess Peach by Count Bleck, who plots to wipe out the universe with the Chaos Heart. Although it's all part of Count Bleck's plan, Bowser doesn't seem to be displeased with the prospect. This might just be the last time we ever see Bowser in a tuxedo.

: Super Paper Mario

Stickers

Name	Game	Effect	Characters
Bowser	Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix	AttackThrowing+020 Attack +20	Mario Luigi Peach Bowser Yoshi
Bowser	Mario Kart 64	AttackWeapon+013 Attack +13	Mario Luigi Peach Bowser Yoshi
Bowser	Mario Power Tennis	AttackDarkness+021 Attack +21	Ganondorf
Bowser	Super Paper Mario	AttackArm+023 Attack +23	Mario Luigi Peach Bowser Yoshi

Bowser (DDR: Mario Mix)

Bowser (Mario Kart 64)

Bowser (Mario Power Tennis)

Bowser (Super Paper Mario)

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Bowser as he appears in Super Smash Bros. 4

Bowser returns as a playable character in SSB4, with a more upright posture and increased mobility. He has been buffed tremendously from his previous appearances, more so than any other returning characters.

Trophies

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS trophy descriptions

Bowser

NA: The archenemy of Mario and the reason Peach spends more time kidnapped than in her own castle. His plans aren't always the best, and occasionally he even finds himself on Mario's side. In Smash Bros., he's a serious heavyweight who laughs off weaker attacks. Hit him hard to send him flying!

PAL: Mario's princess-kidnapping arch-enemy. Yes, he's quite the villain, but he can also be a bit of a buffoon, too. And sometimes, he even ends up on Mario's side! As a serious heavyweight, he's tough to launch, and using standard attacks on him will only make him laugh. If you want to send him flying, make sure to whack him really hard!

Bowser (All-Star)

NA: Bowser makes good use of his heavy physique with his down special Bowser Bomb, slamming down with his bottom. If he's on the ground, he'll jump into the air before crashing down. Also, he can gain a bit of altitude if you press the special button repeatedly while executing Whirling Fortress, his up special.

PAL: Down special Bowser Bomb makes good use of Bowser's bulky physique to crush opponents. If you use it on the ground, he'll jump first, hitting anyone on the way up with his horns, then hit for a combo on the way down. When you use his Whirling Fortress up special in the air, press the button repeatedly to climb higher.

• 

  Classic

• BowserAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  All-Star

Trivia

• Bowser previously appeared with both Pac-Man and Sonic in the 2012 Disney film Wreck-It Ralph.