Bowser
- For fighter info, see Bowser (SSBM) and Bowser (SSBB).
| Bowser | |
|---|---|
| Bowser Official promotional image of Bowser. | |
| Universe | Mario |
| Debut | Super Mario Bros. (1985) |
| Smash Bros. appearances | Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate |
| Console/platform of origin | Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Gender | Male |
Bowser (Koopa; クッパ, Kūpā) is the main and most consistent series nemesis in the Super Mario video game empire. Since his debut in the world-famous Super Mario Bros. for NES as the arch-rival 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 the second and third games 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 figure in Adventure mode.
Character description
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 son, Bowser Jr. (and possibly the seven "Koopalings" who may or may not be his children as well).
Like Bowser's 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. 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. The UK version of Nintendo Power magazine has stated that Bowser's wife is named Clawdia, however.
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 a large percentage of Mario games nonetheless, such as in the long-running Mario Party 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, but who is offset by low acceleration and handling talent. This archetype is faithfully preserved in Bowser's appearance as a playable fighter in both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl.
Since Super Mario games typically do not feature epic and emotionally involved storylines and character development like an RPG, opting for more straightforward, cheery, and colorful atmospheres whose starring characters are essentially meant to represent gaming personalities more than anything else, Bowser has not had much change in personality and role over the years: he is consistently shown to be brutish, oafish, and sarcastically witty at times, and a "traditional" Super Mario game plot is usually some variation of him kidnapping princess Peach within one of his lava and trap-filled castles and Mario coming to save her from his clutches. It is indicated by several games that this is because Bowser may have genuine feelings for Peach. Bowser is generally a threat to Mario in games that place him in the role of a boss, though more often than not he is more of a bumbling and comical character when trying to come across as "evil". There are Super Mario games, particularly the RPGs, that feature stories that showcase other Super Mario master villains who prove more of a legitimate threat to Mario and the land than Bowser can ever hope to achieve; Bowser grows very jealous whenever that happens, so in several of the RPGs Bowser reluctantly allows himself to work with Mario and friends to battle that villain.
Bowser remains a "regular" 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). Compared to a supreme dark lord character like Ganondorf, Bowser comes across as merely hulking and pompous character whose heart is partially in the right place at times.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
As a playable character
- Main article: Bowser (SSBM)
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: the heftiest and strongest character, but also the most sluggish. He is actually one of two characters that can be said to best fit this role, the other being Ganondorf.
Bowser's B move is the Fire Breath, which is a continuous stream of fire breathed from his mouth into the area in front of him for up to several seconds until it weakens in power and size. His B-forward 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 B-up 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 B-Down 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 a shortways 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 slow, 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 an expert Fox player.
In Single-player
Bowser appears as the general "final boss" of the Adventure mode, and he will be slightly larger, heavier, and stronger than normal. If you defeat him, the Adventure Mode would normally be complete, but if you defeat him on Normal difficulty or harder on with the elapsed time under 18 minutes, the Giga Bowser fight will initiate. Bowser also makes several appearances in the Event matches:
- Event 1: Trouble King: Bowser is the first opponent of the Event mode. You play as Mario, and Mario and Bowser have 2 stock each in an untimed match on the Special Stages: Battlefield stage. KO Bowser twice to win, which is an easy objective because Bowser is lighter than usual and has less competent AI.
- Event 10: All-Star Match 1: Bowser is the last of five opponents you must fight in this series of staged battles. Your character battles him on the Rainbow Cruise stage, and your character has 2 stock while Bowser has 1. With a timer of four minutes, you must defeat him and the other four characters one-by-one with the overall time and life you have: Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, and Peach beforehand.
- Event 17: Bounty Hunters: In this original scenario, you play as Samus teamed up with Captain Falcon (with Friendly Fire turned off), and your shared opponent is Bowser on the Jungle Japes stage. With everyone receiving one stock and 2:00 as the time limit, your aim is to be the one to K.O. Bowser; you fail if Captain Falcon delivers the finishing blow.
- Event 19: Peach's Peril: A scenario designed in homage to the standard plot of traditional Super Mario games of Bowser being after Peach and Mario saving her. You play as Mario teamed with Peach whose AI is set on walking to each end of the stage aimlessly, and you each have 1 stock while the enemy Bowser has infinite stock. Bowser is especially strong and durable in this match, and he will attack either of you in the area on the Final Destination stage. The objective is to last a full minute with both Mario and Peach surviving by the end, and high score is determined by how many times Mario can K.O. Bowser.
- Event 25: Gargantuans: A scenario designed in homage to old, campy monster movies like Godzilla and King Kong: On the Fourside stage with unlimited time, you play as a giant-sized Bowser (as "Godzilla") with 1 stock against a giant-sized Donkey Kong (as "King Kong) with two stock. Two other characters on the match are a tiny Mario and a tiny Peach, who will be K.O.'d within seconds of the battle between the two main monsters.
- Event 42: Trouble King 2: This tough event takes place in Poké Floats. You control Luigi against a giant Bowser in an untimed match where the two of you have a stock of two each.
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.
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.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- Main article: Bowser (SSBB)
Bowser is another returning playable character in Brawl, but with an updated look with more realistic textures. 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.
