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Bowser, also known as King Koopa or Lord Bowser, is a video game character and the primary villain of Nintendo's Mario series. In Japan, the character is fully known as Daimaō Koopa (大魔王クッパ Daimaō Kuppa, lit. "Great Demon King Koopa")[1] and commonly called Koopa (クッパ Kuppa).[2] The leader and most powerful of the turtle-like Koopa race, Bowser is Mario's archenemy, usually kidnapping Princess Peach and attempting to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom.
[edit] Creation and conceptionBowser was the creation of Nintendo designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto had first envisioned Bowser as an ox, basing him on the Ox King from the Toei Animation film Alakazam the Great. However, Nintendo designer Takashi Tezuka pointed out to Miyamoto that the character looked more like a turtle than an ox. Despite popular misconception[citation needed], Bowser is, in fact, supposed to be a turtle, not a dragon. Miyamoto and Tezuka then began to work together to define Bowser's appearance. Since the character was in the turtle family with the Koopa Troopas, the two began to base his new appearance on them, creating a new illustration. In his final design, Miyamoto commented that he could make Bowser "look cool now".[3] Miyamoto named him 大魔王 クッパ Daimaō Kuppa. Kuppa came from the Japanese name for 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 (육회 yukhoe and 비빔밥 bibimbap respectively).[4] Interestingly enough, the Korean name for the character Bowser/Kuppa is not Gukbap, but 쿠파 Kupa, which is essentially a phonetic round-trip translation.[5] Kuppa is also said to be a pun on 河童 kappa.[citation needed] In the Super Mario Bros. film, Bowser, known as King Koopa at the time, was portrayed by Dennis Hopper. Makeup artist Jeff Goodwin tried to make Bowser look strange-looking, but not so much that it was obvious what was wrong with him. To accomplish this, he removed the eyebrows from the character, a trick he utilized on actor Gary Oldman in the film Track 29. He also gave Bowser red stipple on his eye sockets, while hair stylist Michelle Johnson designed his hair with a ruffle head hairdo. Koopa is given an elongated tongue, which was designed by putting a fake tongue on Dennis' tongue, using computer generated graphics to make it seem like it was slithering. He appears at the end of the film in a realistic dinosaur form, which was created by a different company from the one that produced the film. This form was designed by Rob Burman.[6] [edit] CharacteristicsBowser is said to be "King of the Koopas", the race of turtle-like creatures that co-exist with the Toads that inhabit the Mushroom Kingdom. In many games, particularly the RPG series, there are some Koopas who tend to be friendly towards Mario, whereas the Koopas that are evil or are followers of Bowser are labeled "Koopa Troopas". Bowser is most well-known for his repeated kidnappings of Princess Peach. The reasons for these kidnappings have changed dramatically over the years, from the fact the Princess is the only one who can undo Bowser's black magic, to the fact he has some love and devotion towards her, such as in the original Paper Mario. No matter what the motive, he can use her to take over the Mushroom Kingdom or, in some cases, the world or the universe. In one of his greatest conquests, Bowser won the trust of the Goomba race by promising them that they would receive more of the Mushroom Kingdom if they gave him their undying allegiance and made him their leader. Although Bowser is the main antagonist, he has allied with Mario in a few games.[7] In games where he teams up with Mario to face a common enemy, he is often arrogant and egotistical, often joining for selfish reasons (such as to get his castle back from invaders or retrieve Peach's stolen voice so he can kidnap her again). Early on, Bowser was solely created as a monstrous main villain. However, as video game technology improved, Bowser developed a deep, comical personality, namely in RPGs like Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Paper Mario. Bowser is depicted as being fixated on defeating Mario, but also as an oafish, blustery character with no other plans than kidnapping the Princess and waiting to defeat Mario. He also appears to be blindly confident in his own chances of victory and sometimes jealous of other villains when they come up with evil plans more complex than his own. In a number of games, although Bowser is shown to hate Mario, he in fact possesses a degree of respect for him, and even appears as a playable antihero. Bowser's appearance has been tweaked several times throughout the series, but most of the basic overall look has been consistent. Early versions were more turtle-like, resembling a large Meiolania standing on its hind legs, and with all the attributes of other enemies combined (fire spitting, spines and hammer throwing). Later revisions gave him a much more bipedal, draconic appearance, with an alligator/big cat-like face and powerful fire breath. Bowser's size tends to vary from game to game, sometimes only slightly taller than Mario (mostly in sports and spin-off titles), and other times being enormous (mostly in the main titles), though he is usually at least seven feet tall.[8] Bowser's abilities vary greatly. His most common physical traits are the ability to breathe fire, spinning around at Mario inside his shell, and being extremely resilient. He is generally immune to standard attacks. His mobility varies greatly—in games where Bowser is a non-playable character, he is usually more agile and faster than Mario. Conversely, when Bowser is playable, he is often much slower than Mario. Outside his common abilities, some games give Bowser unique attacks; unique in that the attacks are not in other games—such as being able to create shockwaves or flaming boomerangs. Bowser also has sharp claws and a spiked shell, which often play into his arsenal of weapons. Bowser has eight children. Seven of them, the so-called Koopalings, debuted in Super Mario Bros. 3, where they function as bosses at the end of every one of the game's worlds. Each Koopaling has his or her own airship, which are levels where the player has to navigate through before encountering the Koopaling. The seven kids reappeared as bosses in Super Mario World (having castles instead of airships), Mario Is Missing!, Yoshi's Safari, and Hotel Mario. Their last appearance was in the final stage of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where they played the role of minibosses . Koopalings will return and make their 3D model debut in the upcoming New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Super Mario Sunshine introduced an eighth child, Bowser Jr., who wreaked havoc on Isle Delfino. Post-Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser Jr. continues to play a role in his father's evil schemes. [edit] Appearances[edit] Video games[edit] Main series.png) Bowser's first appearance was in Super Mario Bros. as the main villain who kidnaps Princess Peach and as the boss of the 8th world. Although he appears to be the boss character of Worlds 1–7 (level 4), this is not the case. Bowser uses his black magic to transform seven regular enemies, such as Goombas and Buzzy Beetles into replicas of himself called False Bowsers (defeating one of his decoys with fireballs reveals its true self). He reappears in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels under the same role. He also appears in Super Mario Bros. 3, and along with the seven Koopalings, he kidnaps Peach again and wreaks havoc within various kingdoms in Mushroom World. Bowser and his seven underlings reappear again in Super Mario World, where they conquer Dinosaur Land and kidnap Peach while she and Mario are on vacation on Yoshi's Island. Bowser makes his first full 3D appearance in Super Mario 64 (his first actual 3D appearance being Super Mario RPG) where he invades Princess Peach Toadstool's castle and seals much of it with the magic of the stolen Power Stars. He returns in Super Mario Sunshine, in which his son, Bowser Jr., who is disguised as an evil version of Mario, kidnaps Peach. Bowser himself eventually appears in the final boss battle of the game. In New Super Mario Bros., Bowser is the boss of the first world, and after being defeated, he falls into lava and becomes a Dry Bones-esque skeleton called Dry Bowser. He is eventually restored by Bowser Jr. and acts as the final world's boss along with his son. In Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser steals Power Stars from Rosalina's Comet Observatory and kidnaps Peach, taking her to the center of the universe to recreate it, with the intention of taking over the universe. Bowser will return in the upcoming sequel Super Mario Galaxy 2, though whether he'll have the role of the main villain, secondary antagonist or anti-hero is unknown.. Bowser makes various appearances in the Mario RPGs. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, he allies with Mario to regain his castle, which is stolen by the main antagonist, Smithy. Despite being Mario's sworn enemy, Bowser seems to get along with Mario and his friends during the adventure after joining them, even going so far as to protect Mario several times. He even goes so far as to demand Mario help Peach return home, as anyone besides him kidnapping her "just wouldn't be right". He plays minor antagonistic and supporting roles in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and its sequel, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. Bowser also makes an appearance in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story as a playable character alongside Mario and Luigi. He is the main antagonist of Paper Mario, a minor antagonist in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and a playable character in Super Paper Mario. In the early 3D Mario games, Bowser is voiced by Isaac Marshall. Marshall's voice for Bowser consisted of various roars, grunts and growls. Marshall continued to provide his voice until Super Mario Sunshine in 2002, when he was replaced by Scott Burns. Burns was the first to provide spoken dialogue for Bowser. However, voice clips done by Marshall were used in some later games for Bowser's roar. More recently, Bowser has been voiced by Kenneth James in games such as Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. [edit] Other gamesBowser appears as a playable character in the Mario Kart series and various Mario Sport titles, such as Mario Golf and Mario Tennis. He is also a playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. He is high on power, but has very low speed and skill. His first appearance as a playable character was in Super Mario Kart. After this, he has appeared in many spin-off games, such as the Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Strikers Charged, and Mario Super Sluggers. In Mario Kart Wii, Dry Bowser is an unlockable character. Bowser also appears in various spin-off games, such as Mario Is Missing!, Yoshi Topsy-Turvy, Paper Mario and Super Princess Peach, as the main antagonist. Bowser also appears as the main villain in many of the Mario Party games, with the exception of Mario Party 3 in which he is portrayed as comically inept. He plays an active role in their story modes and antagonizes the characters during gameplay. He also appears as the final boss of Luigi's Mansion (his first Gamecube appearance), although this was a massive robotic mech made to look perfectly like Bowser rather than it being Bowser himself. Bowser is a selectable character within Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is the largest and heaviest character in both games and he makes use of his bulk, fire breathing, and claws. The games also feature a different form not seen in any Mario series game called "Giga Bowser", a darker and more monstrous form with added power elements to his attacks. Bowser appears as a child in various games. Known as Baby Bowser, he antagonizes the Baby Mario brothers and various members of the Yoshi species. He first appears in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island where Kamek predicts the brothers will become problems in the future, so he attempts to kidnap them. The first half of the fight is in Baby Bowser's playroom. The second half takes place in the ruins of the castle. In the sequel, Yoshi's Island DS, Baby Bowser joins with Mario and a group of Yoshi in order to regain his castle from his future self that travels back in time. He is also an antagonist along with his future self in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and steals the Super Happy Tree from a group of Yoshi in Yoshi's Story. [edit] Other mediaBowser's first appearance in any Mario media outside the games was in the Mario anime film Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!, in which he is voiced by Akiko Wada. He then appeared in the Super Mario Bros. 3 OVA films. His first American appearances were as the antagonist in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World which was produced by DiC Entertainment productions, in which he is voiced by Harvey Atkin and the character is typically referred to as "King Koopa" rather than Bowser, and has a mostly different color scheme. In the series, he is one of the characters able to talk. Bowser also appears as the regular antagonist in the Mario comics published as part of the Nintendo Comics System, and other pieces of writing. He is the villain of the Super Mario Bros. film, where he is played by Dennis Hopper and acts as the antagonist - a human descended directly from dinosaurs - of the parallel-universe city of Dinohattan (the film's version of the Mushroom Kingdom). He is killed in the climax when Mario and Luigi devolve him into primordial slime. Bowser has been played by Christopher Hewett in the 1989 Ice Capades. The film version of Bowser was met with significant criticism, even being mentioned by the actor who portrays him, Dennis Hopper, as the worst role he has ever played on the Conan O'Brien Show.[9] [edit] ReceptionDue largely to the success of the Mario franchise, Bowser has become one of the most iconic and easily recognizable video game antagonists of all time. He frequently appears in lists for greatest video game antagonists. IGN placed him at #10 (out of 10),[10] Gamepro placed him at #9 (out of 47),[11] and MMOABC placed him at #4 (out of 10, with 4 additional honorable mentions).[12] GameSpot listed him at #9 in their "Top 10 Video Game Villains" article, stating "Of all the villains to make an appearance on this list, Bowser...has got to be the most interesting," later adding "While some people say Bowser's life may have gotten into a rut, the man has simply refined his game down to an everyday thing. He's focused, he's dedicated, and worst of all, he's patient."[13] Bowser ranked in the first slot on Game Daily's top 10 Nintendo characters that deserve their own games list, explaining if Yoshi and Wario get their own games, Bowser should too due to his being one of gaming's most nefarious villains.[14] In GameDaily's top 10 Smash Bros. characters list, he ranked sixth.[15] [edit] References
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