Bowser’s History

by andresomg on June 17, 2008

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Hello Smashers, Today we’ll talk about King Koopa or Bowser, the evil antagonist of the Mario series.

Bowser is a video game character in Nintendo’s Mario series. He is also known as King Koopa. In Japan, he is called Koopa , and is the primary antagonist of the Mario series.

Bowser is Mario’s archnemesis. He is the leader and most powerful of the turtle-like Koopa race. Although Bowser has joined forces with Mario in a few games, he is considered a “bad guy” due to his ambition to kidnap and dethrone Princess Peach and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom.

Though their origins are unknown, Bowser has eight children; the seven Koopalings and Bowser Jr.

Bowser made his first appearance in Super Mario Bros as the main villain and boss. He appears at the end of each of the eight worlds. These encounters take place on a bridge over a pool of lava. His attacks include fire breath and Hammer Bros.-style throwing hammers.

In his first appearance, Bowser (King Koopa) appears at the end of each of the eight worlds (e.g. Level X-4), but apart from Level 8-4, they are actually common enemies disguised as Bowser. Defeating “Bowser” with fire balls reveals the disguised enemy. The enemies are as follows: 1-4 - Goomba, 2-4 - Koopa Troopa, 3-4 - Buzzy Beetle, 4-4 - Spiny, 5-4 - Lakitu, 6-4 - Blooper, 7-4 - Hammer Brother.

Due to graphical limitations, the in-game Bowser does not seem to have hair, although the official artwork for the game, as well as the remake in Super Mario All-Stars, depict him with it.

Bowser_(smb1) Bowsers History

That evil Bowser, always creating so much trouble

In Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser returns with a new look. For the first time in the games, players saw Bowser with a mane of red hair, spiked bracers, and a face similar to that of an oni, with features like that of a western dragon. This look has remained with Bowser ever since.

The game features the first of three appearances from the Koopalings, which serve as bosses for the end of each world. Bowser only appears at the end of the final world, which takes place in his castle.

smb3tlcvh2 Bowsers History

Woah Bowser, you seem kinda hairy


Bowser’s next appearance in a standard 2-D Mario platform adventure was Super Mario World. Bowser appears only as the boss of the last level: his castle in the Valley of Bowser. Bowser’s children, the Koopalings, again make an appearance.

In Super Mario World, Nintendo introduces something that would continue to be associated with Bowser through quite a few of his later video game appearances: his Koopa Clown Car.

ss_smw_bowser Bowsers History

That clown car is thougher than it looks


Bowser appeared as the enemy of Mario again in this Super Mario RPG, but later joined forces with Mario, Mallow, Geno and Princess Peach to get help to regain control of his castle. Using the power of his Chain Chomp, he could bash enemies and use claw attacks with an assortment of special moves.

MarioRPG_2 Bowsers History

Here we see Bowser fighting along Mario and Geno (SquareEnix Character)


In Super Mario 64 and its update Super Mario 64 DS, Bowser invades Peach’s castle and imprisons its inhabitants in the walls with the magic of the stolen Power Stars. In these games, Bowser appears noticeably larger and more menacing than in previous games.

j01bowser Bowsers History

Woah Bowser, seems like you grew a bit


Paper Mario sees Bowser continue his quest to kidnap Princess Peach by stealing her castle and flying it into space. Paper Mario is the only Mario RPG game where Bowser is the main villain. In all of the other RPG games Bowser is either an ally or a minor foe.

super_paper_mario_e3 Bowsers History

No matter the place, Bowser is always there

In Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser cons his newly-introduced son, Bowser Jr., into disguising himself as Mario and painting the resort of Isle Delfino with graffiti. Once again, Bowser has grown much larger than he has been in previous games.

bowsersunshine Bowsers History

Bowser seems to be in a comfortable pool

In New Super Mario Bros., Bowser is the first boss and the final boss. He is fought the same way as in the original Super Mario Bros., but this time, the lava he falls into disfigures him into a Dry Bones-esque skeleton. The reanimated Bowser skeleton, known as Dry Bowser, is later fought as the game’s penultimate battle, with a fully recovered Bowser (along with Bowser Jr.) as the final showdown.

new_super_mario__012 Bowsers History

Ah, brings back old memories

One of Bowser’s most recent appearances was in the Wii game Super Paper Mario. Princess Peach is forced to marry him by the mysterious Count Bleck and Nastasia. However, the union between them reveals the Chaos Heart, which would produce The Void that would threaten all of existence. He reluctantly joins up with Mario, Luigi and Peach to stop the evil Count Bleck and his minions.

super-paper-mario-bowser-peach-wedding Bowsers History

I’m sure Bowser is real happy

Bowser reprises his role again as the primary antagonist in Super Mario Galaxy. With a large armada of airships, Bowser and Bowser Jr. descend upon the Mushroom Kingdom to kidnap Princess Peach in order to establish a new galactic empire among the stars.

134551-super-mario-galaxy Bowsers History

I wonder what Bowser takes to be so big at times

In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Bowser returns as a villain. In the beginning of the game, after the princess is kidnapped, he and the Mario brothers fly to Beanbean kingdom in his airship, which crashes near the border. Afterward, he becomes a recurring boss character, losing his memory and working for the theif Popple, and finally being possessed by Cackletta.

His Koopaling children make their third appearance in the final level of the game as 7 miniboss characters.

bowserstuck Bowsers History

Help.. I’m stuck..

Well that’s all for now, stay tuned for more news and updates, be sure to join the friend-finder and check out the imageboard, we have a lot of things for you to have fun :)

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