Bowser facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bowser |
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| Mario character | |
3D character artwork
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| Created by | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| Designed by | Shigeru Miyamoto Yōichi Kotabe |
| Portrayed by | Christopher Collins/Patrick Pinney (King Koopa's Kool Kartoons) Christopher Hewett (Mario Ice Capades) Dennis Hopper (Super Mario Bros.) |
| Voiced by |
Harvey Atkin (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World)
Rob Wallace (Mario Is Missing!) Marc Graue (Hotel Mario) Bruce Robertson (Mario's Time Machine Deluxe) Charles Martinet (1996, 2004, vocal effects) Scott Burns (2002–2010) Eric Newsome (2007) Kenny James (2005, 2007–present) Jack Black (2023 film) Naoki Tatsuta (BS Super Mario Collection)
Akiko Wada (Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!) Masaharu Satō (Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros.) Takeshi Watabe (Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi's Adventure Land) Takanobu Hozumi (Japanese DVD dub of Super Mario Bros. film) Hiroshi Arikawa (Japanese Nippon TV dub of Super Mario Bros. film) Kenta Miyake (2023 film) |
| Information | |
| Aliases | King Koopa |
| Species | Koopa |
| Title | King of the Koopas |
| Children | Bowser Jr. (son) |
Bowser, also known as King Koopa, is a famous character from Nintendo's Super Mario games. He is the main bad guy, or antagonist, in the Mario world. In Japan, he is sometimes called the "Great Demon King."
Bowser is the biggest enemy of Mario, the famous plumber. He leads a group of turtle-like creatures called the Koopas. Bowser's main goals are to kidnap Princess Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom. He looks like a scary monster with parts of a dragon, has a loud roar, can breathe fire, and acts like a mean boss.
Bowser first appeared in the 1985 video game Super Mario Bros.. At first, his creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, thought he would look like an ox. This idea came from the Ox-King in the movie Alakazam the Great. But another designer, Takashi Tezuka, thought Bowser looked more like a turtle. So, they worked together to make him the leader of the turtle-like Koopas.
Today, Bowser is voiced by Kenny James. Other actors who have voiced him include Scott Burns, Eric Newsome, and Charles Martinet. In the 2023 Super Mario Bros. movie, Jack Black voiced him.
After Super Mario Bros., Bowser started appearing in many different types of games. These include role-playing games like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi, and sports games like Mario Kart and Mario Tennis. He also shows up in the Super Smash Bros. fighting games. Bowser has been in cartoons and movies too. He was voiced by Harvey Atkin in some TV shows and played by Dennis Hopper in the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie.
Many people like Bowser, and critics often say he is one of the most famous and well-known video game villains ever.
Contents
How Bowser Was Created
Bowser was created by Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto first imagined Bowser as an ox. He got this idea from the Ox-King character in the movie Alakazam the Great.
However, another Nintendo designer, Takashi Tezuka, thought the character looked more like a turtle than an ox. So, Miyamoto and Tezuka worked together to change Bowser's look. Since Bowser was the leader of the turtle-like Koopa Troopas, they decided to make his new design more like a turtle. Miyamoto later said he was happy with the final design, thinking Bowser looked "cool."
Miyamoto named him Daimaō Kuppa in Japanese. The name Kuppa came from gukbap, a Korean dish. Miyamoto also thought about other Korean dish names like Yukke and Bibinba. When the game came to North America, the character was named "Bowser."
The earliest ideas for Bowser showed him as an upright Koopa Troopa with spikes and fangs. Miyamoto drew the original box art for Super Mario Bros. himself. In this early art, Bowser looked a bit different, with gray-blue skin and no horns. Later, artist Yōichi Kotabe helped create Bowser's final design. He based it on the Chinese softshell turtle, which is known for being aggressive, just like Bowser's personality.
Bowser's Look and Personality
Bowser is known as the "King of the Koopas." These are human-like turtles who live in the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser looks very different from most Koopas, who usually walk on two legs.
He has a huge, spiky turtle shell, horns, a dragon-like snout with sharp fangs, and clawed fingers and toes. He also has red eyes and a shock of red hair. Bowser is incredibly strong and almost impossible to defeat. He can breathe fire and jump very high, even for his large size. He also knows a lot of black magic. This magic lets him do things like teleport, summon objects, fly, create electricity, move things with his mind, or even change his shape.
Bowser's size can change a lot in different games. In most games, he is much taller than other characters. But sometimes, like in Super Mario RPG, he's only a little taller than Mario. In games like Yoshi's Island and Super Mario Galaxy, he can change his size whenever he wants or when magic helps him.
Bowser always wants to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and combine it with his own land. He also really likes Princess Peach and often kidnaps her as part of his plans. Sometimes, he kidnaps Peach just to trick Mario into a trap. Other times, he hopes to marry her, like in Super Mario Odyssey.
Bowser's role in the games changes. He is usually the main bad guy in the main Mario games. But in the RPG games, he sometimes works with the heroes to stop an even bigger threat. His personality is usually scary and mean. However, he can also be a bit funny, acting like a loud, clumsy bully who sometimes shows his feelings. He also cares about his followers.
Bowser has one son, Bowser Jr., who often helps his dad kidnap Princess Peach. We don't know who Bowser Jr.'s mother is. For a while, people thought the Koopalings were Bowser's children. But in 2012, Shigeru Miyamoto said that the Koopalings are not Bowser's kids. Bowser Jr. is his only child.
Bowser's Appearances in Games and Other Media
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Bowser first appeared in the video game Super Mario Bros.. Since then, he has been in almost all Super Mario games, except for a few like Super Mario Land. He also appears in the Paper Mario series, the Yoshi series, and the Mario & Luigi series.
Other Mario Games
Bowser has been in almost all of the Mario spin-off games. This includes every game in the Mario Kart series and every Mario Party game. He also appears in many Mario sports games, such as Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Super Mario Strikers, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.
He also showed up in games like Mario's Time Machine and Hotel Mario. Bowser is a playable character in Itadaki Street DS and a main opponent in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition.
Bowser also plays a role in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. He makes a cameo in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and returns in its sequel, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.
In Other Media
Outside of the Super Mario games, Bowser is a playable character in every Super Smash Bros. game since Super Smash Bros. Melee in 2001. He also appears in Tetris Attack as the final boss. Bowser is a playable character in Skylanders: SuperChargers as "Hammer Slam Bowser." He also appears as "Dr. Bowser" in Dr. Mario World.
In the 1993 live-action movie Super Mario Bros., Dennis Hopper played King Koopa. In this movie, Koopa is the evil ruler of Dinohattan. He kidnaps Princess Daisy but is eventually defeated by Mario and Luigi. This movie version of Koopa looks mostly human, but he can turn into a giant green Tyrannosaurus rex.
Bowser is one of the video game villains who attends a "Bad-Anon" support group in the 2012 animated movie Wreck-It Ralph. The creators of the movie wanted Bowser to be a big part of this scene. Nintendo was very happy about this, saying that if there's a group for bad guys, Bowser definitely needs to be there!
Jack Black voiced Bowser in the 2023 animated movie The Super Mario Bros. Movie. In the film, Bowser captures the Super Star and plans to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom unless Princess Peach marries him. Mario and Luigi stop his plans, defeat him, and shrink him down. In a scene after the credits, Bowser is singing his song from the movie, "Peaches," which became a popular Internet meme.
Bowser has also appeared in Nintendo gamebooks and as the main bad guy in the comic series Super Mario Adventures and Nintendo Comics System.
Images for kids
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3D character artwork
See also
In Spanish: Bowser para niños
