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Bowser, also known as Koopa (his Japanese name), King Bowser, Koopa King or King of the Koopas, is the main villain of the Mario franchise, where he often serves as the Final Boss in the main games. As the king of the Koopa Kingdom and leads the Koopa Troop, Bowser is a large and burly Koopa whose longtime goal is to take over the Mushroom Kingdom by kidnapping Princess Peach and defeat Mario and his younger twin brother Luigi, which he almost always fails. Bowser made his debut in the iconic Nintendo Entertainment System title Super Mario Bros. released in 1985. Despite being famously known as Mario's archenemy for decades, he is not the first ever nemesis of the plumber, as Donkey Kong predates him by four years in the Donkey Kong arcade game released in 1981. Bowser is one of the most widely recognized and important villains in the video game industry.
Bowser himself has never physically appeared in any game of the Donkey Kong franchise, but he does encounter Donkey Kong and sometimes Diddy Kong in Mario media.
Physical Appearance[]
Bowser is a Koopa much like the common Koopa Troopa and others, which is a turtle-like species, but is far more ferocious like that of King K. Rool, who himself is Donkey Kong's archnemesis. He has a massive muscular body similar to DK with many spikes on his shell, ox-like horns on his head along with his long yellow tail. His body’s is yellow, with red eyes and a green shell, along with white nails. He has five digits on his feet and hands, and he also has cuffs on his arms and legs as well, which he uses to flaunt his status as a rather brutal leader. In most but not all cases, he is even larger than Donkey Kong, primarily due to his bulky shell. According to some media, Bowser appears to be about 8 feet tall, similar to how DK is 7'10" when standing upright according to Donkey Kong 64, though most games depicted either character at various different sizes.
Relationship with Donkey Kong[]
Bowser and Donkey Kong competing against each other in a boxing match, as seen in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Bowser and Donkey Kong are often depicted as bitter rivals, especially since both characters are creations of Shigeru Miyamoto intended as a major enemy of Mario (though, it was revealed later on in Donkey Kong Country that it was DK’s grandfather Cranky Kong who originally clashed with Mario in the arcade games) and are known to have the title as king with unmatched physical strength (although in some cases Bowser is implied to be even stronger). Evidence can be first seen in Mario Party 2, as the description of Donkey Kong says he believes he can defeat Bowser in a one-on-one fight, which is supported by the Bowser Bomb being his favorite item. Another case is when Bowser turned DK into a trophy during the events of the Subspace Emissary mode in the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl and fought Diddy Kong. In the game Mario Super Sluggers, Bowser sends his son Bowser Jr. to invade his stadium, which leads to Donkey Kong and his team joining forces with Mario and his friends to save the baseball stadium from the villain. In addition, in the Mario Party series where Donkey Kong is not playable, the King of the Jungle becomes a polar opposite of Bowser by giving Coins or Stars to Mario and his friends, instead of taking them away like the Koopa King does. In the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie, Donkey Kong assists Mario and his friends to battle Bowser and his army in order to stop them from taking over the world. Donkey Kong is even shown to have a brief duel with Bowser that ends up with the latter comically overpowering the former and attempting to murder him with his claws until Mario intervenes and saves Donkey Kong.
Despite being on bad terms, however, Bowser and DK are shown to be allies in the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U versions of the game Skylanders: SuperChargers, where the two assisted the Skylanders to save the universe from Kaos, and later, The Darkness.
The rivalry between Bowser and Donkey Kong are a popular interest among fans, as due to their appearance and raw strength as among the most powerful characters of their franchises, they are often compared to the iconic kaiju monsters Godzilla and King Kong, respectively, and commonly picked to clash in Super Smash Bros. and other media where they can directly compete physically.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Ganon from The Legend of Zelda series, who is the archenemy of Link, is widely known as a parallel to Bowser.
- Bowser speaks with a gruff accent, as seen in Super Mario Sunshine and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
- Although Bowser's eyes are usually red, some early artwork depicted them being blue.
- In the Mario Baseball games Bowser is the only captain who's teammates all share good chemistry with him.
- Bowser appears to dislike vegetables, because in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, when he yanked the giga-carrot in Dimble Wood, he shouted to Wiggler "vegetables are GROSS!!! WHERE IS meat?!".
- Bowser and Bowser Jr. can be seen as morality pets towards each other.
- Bowser Jr may act like an arrogant, selfish, destructive brat around most people, but when interacting with his dad, he's an obedient, enthusiastic, and very loving son. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle's final act puts this in a more dramatic light as Bowser Jr.'s concern for his father leads him to go as far as to ask Mario's team to save him.
- While Bowser may have a nasty temper and be a jerk towards his allies at times, Jr is able to appeal to Bowser's softer side and constantly tells Jr how proud he is of him. Some of Bowser's most sympathetic moments have been while interacting with his son such as in the ending to Sunshine.