Bowser

Description
King Bowser Koopa (Japanese 大魔王クッパ Daimaō Kuppa "Great Demon King Koopa", in English also Lord Bowser, King Koopa commonly in other media) is the main antagonist of the Mario series, the supreme leader of the Koopa Troop, King of the Koopas, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. He has repeatedly kidnapped or attempted to kidnap Princess Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom. He has on other occasions attempted to conquer the entire Mushroom World, as well as the entire universe.

Since his debut, Bowser has been in nearly every Mario game, including the main series, spin-offs, and crossovers. Due to his role as the primary villain of the Mario series, his roles in games have been mostly as the final boss, if not as the main antagonist. Besides being a primary villain, Bowser has at times played an anti-hero in all of the Mario RPGs, with the exception of Paper Mario.

When Bowser was developed, he was a typical villain of pure evil with immense hatred and anger. Cruel and ruthless, he is typically portrayed as a power-hungry tyrant who leads violent attacks that threaten the lives of hundreds. Bowser's ultimate goal is to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, and eventually, the entire universe. His infamous plans and numerous crimes, ranging from simply kidnapping Princess Peach to acts of terrorism, have earned him a reputation feared by the entire Mushroom World. While this status of evil is still very prevalent in the series, Bowser has recently had a humorous tone added to his personality and is shown to be more complex in terms of his relationships with his rivals.

Most games tend to focus on a single characterization, which suggests the direction that game takes in story. Some games only focus on his comical aspects, while others focus on a much more sinister side. The games that mainly focus on his comical aspects are the RPGs, where his overall character has a very amusing personality. Bowser has also been known to break the fourth wall to remind players that he's still evil despite his current actions. In fact, whenever he joins forces with Mario to face a greater common foe, Bowser's typical motivations for doing so are selfish in nature: for example, in Super Mario RPG, he agrees to help Mario fight the Smithy Gang simply because he wants to get his castle back from them, and in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Bowser only agrees to help Mario and Luigi regain Peach's voice because he wants to kidnap her again, but couldn't because her "explosive vocabulary" would wreck his castle.

While Bowser is primarily more comical in RPGs, Paper Mario has him considerably more evil due to his focus as the main villain. Though Bowser still has a humorous tone, he is also shown to be very cruel and sinister in certain scenes. Outside the RPG series, Bowser is usually not as comical, and in many instances show him to be pure evil. The Mario Party series has also depicted Bowser as more serious-driven and angry. New Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Galaxy remove Bowser's usual comical undertones completely and make him a much more sinister villain than he is found typically in the RPGs.

Although he usually plans to rule the Mushroom Kingdom, and at some points, the entire universe, he also crosses the line at destroying the Universe, or destroying things thereof. This is especially evident when Bowser becomes enraged when he learned that Count Bleck's destruction of existence means he wouldn't have anything to rule over, and after witnessing what happened to Sammer Kingdom when it is consumed by the void, he is legitimately horrified. When it also becomes apparent that his planned galaxy, as well as the entire universe is going to be vaporized after his plans of universal conquest in Super Mario Galaxy fail, he also laments at the loss.

In the film adaptation, Koopa has a similar personality to that in the games at the time. However, he also is shown to have an understandable motive in regards to remerging the human dimension and the other dimensions, citing that he intends to use Daisy to merge them for the future of his species, especially when his species has to go through several hardships that stem from his world being almost a complete wasteland.

While Bowser has shown intellect and a sarcastic wit in many of the games, he has also acted with incompetence. The RPGs primarily depict him with an almost comical lack of common-sense. Two prime examples are when he breaths fire on a Superbombomb in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door when it doesn't explode, and in Super Paper Mario, he does not realize that he cannot rule the world if the world is destroyed until Mario explicitly tells him so.

While his lack of apparent common-sense is widely evident, Bowser has also been shown on many occasions to be highly intelligent. Many of his plans often make use of high-tech equipment and complicated machinery, designed and built by himself. He has also shown himself to be quite adept at use of various magics, both innate and talisman-based. He often develops strategies in his conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom as well as defense against Mario, as evidenced by his division of power among his children and generals to act as governors over conquered lands, which is a sign of an intelligent and compromising leader.

Since Bowser is the King of Koopas, he possesses the powers of many of the Koopa species, such as a [http://www.mariowiki.com/Fire_Bro. Fire Bro. ]'s fire breath, a Spiny's shell spikes, and a Hammer Bro.'s flurry of hammers. Bowser's signature ability is breathing fire. He can choose to either breathe a long breath of flame or shoot many fireballs. Bowser is quite advanced in his fire-breathing; he can shoot blue flames that follow Mario in Super Mario 64 and New Super Mario Bros. and can even breathe fire underwater in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario. Another one of Bowser's most-often used abilities is his power and durability, something that Bowser prides himself in. Bowser is often the most powerful character in sports games. He can also create shockwaves by doing a simple ground pound in several games. Bowser's durable nature is evident seeing that he has fallen into lava, been blown up, etc., many times, but has managed to survive every single time. Bowser is also shown to have an extremely loud and powerful roar that often sends weak enemies running away before a battle even begins. As mentioned above, in Super Mario Bros., Bowser throws hammers like a Hammer Bro. but has rarely used the technique since, only to use it once again in Super Princess Peach and by his alter-ego Rookie in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. He briefly uses it in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars when after battling Mario at the beginning, he throws a hammer at the Kinklink suppording the chandelier he is standing on.

Bowser's speed and agility are very inconsistent and they greatly vary from game to game. In some games Bowser is actually faster and more agile than Mario is, such as in Super Mario 64 where Bowser can jump high in the air if Mario tosses him off the platform. In that game he can also run faster than Mario for short distances. Despite his size, Bowser has demonstrated the ability to pull off a move similar to Mario's Spinning during a boss fight in Super Mario Galaxy. However, Bowser is usually slower than Mario in playable appearances and sports games. In Super Paper Mario, Bowser is the slowest usable character and can't climb ladders, unlike Super Smash Bros. Brawl in which he can climb them. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Bowser is shown to have good swimming abilities, just like Mario, though he reportedly hates swimming (though this may derive from the fact that his Koopa Clown Car crash-lands in the sea at one point and he is forced to swim back to Rogueport). Another example is in the Mario & Sonic series. In the summer games he is the slowest runner with a 2/10 stat, while in the winter games he has an 8/10 stat; most power characters have a good speed stat in that game, though their speed is still inferior to Sonic the Hedgehog's, and they lack accelerating abilities.

(info from Super Mario Wiki)

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