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This Inconsistently Heinous was Headlined on December 2022. | ||
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This article pertains to an Inconsistently Heinous with more than one version who is Inconsistently Heinous! |
| “ | SHOWTIME! | „ |
| ~ Bowser when he starts a battle without an initial hit in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, as well as his most famous quote. |
King Bowser Koopa Sr., best known as simply Bowser or King Koopa, is the main antagonist of Nintendo's Super Mario franchise.
He is the tyrannical king of the turtle-like Koopa Troop race and the arch-nemesis of Mario, who is constantly plotting to expand his kingdom by conquering the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser is in love with Princess Peach, and his attempts of conquest almost always include kidnapping her in one way or another. He is also the father of Bowser Jr. who frequently aids him in his plans.
He was voiced by Rob Wallace in Mario Is Missing!, Marc Graue in Hotel Mario, Bruce Robertson in Mario's Time Machine Deluxe, Scott Burns from 2002 to 2007 and Kenny James since 2007.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Heinous?[]
Background/In General[]
- Even in childhood as Baby Bowser, in the Yoshi series, he constantly abused Kamek, tormented and bullied the Yoshis, and was arguably brattier and more spoiled than his future son. Due to having had such natural bad behavior from a young age, it’s likely no upbringing possible would have made a difference in his cruel personality.
- When he grew to a child, he showed a strong will to consider violence for his own ends, as shown in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.
- In said game, it is shown that he also started to develop his feelings to Peach and his hatred to Mario and Luigi when they were all children.
- When he grew to a child, he showed a strong will to consider violence for his own ends, as shown in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.
- Unlike the original Donkey Kong (now Cranky Kong), and Foreman Spike, who both were bog-standard villains and were not much of a threat, Bowser is the first real threat Mario ever faces.
- He kidnapped Princess Peach in his attempts to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom time and time again.
- He attempted to expand his conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom into full-on domination of the universe with an iron fist four times, as shown in Yoshi's Island DS, the Super Mario Galaxy duology and Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
- He sometimes gets to become harsh to his minions, even when they do nothing to him.
- Although the heinous standard is pretty high, he manages to stand out for the sheer amount of crimes he commits ranging from flooding the Earth, attempting to burn the paperverse book, enslaving the Toads, and turning most of the Toads into lifeless bricks, effectively putting them in a fate worse than death, never showing a sign of remorse for any of them. Not to mention that he also has personal villainy towards the Mario Bros., Princess Peach and Yoshi. Not only that, but he is also the most recurring villain because Mario and his friends are confronted him in most of video games of the franchise.
Mainstream (in the past)[]
- In Yoshi's Story, he becomes envious of this happiness of the Yoshis and casts a spell to transform Yoshi Island into a pop-up storybook. He later steals the Super Happy Tree, further weakening the Yoshis and making them fall to gloom.
- In Yoshi's Woolly World, he had Kamek turn most of the Yoshis into bundles of yarn to play with them, temporarily putting the Yoshis in a fate worse than death.
- In Yoshi's Crafted World, he tries to steal the Sundream Stone and use it to destroy the Yoshis.
Mainstream (in the present)[]
- In Super Mario Bros., during his first invasion on the Mushroom Kingdom, he turned most of the Toads into inanimate objects, and kidnapped seven other Toads and held them hostages in different castles.
- In Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, he turned most of the Toads into inanimate objects again, and kidnapped ten other Toads and held them hostages in different castles, and ordered his brother to kill Mario and Luigi.
- In Super Mario Bros. 3, he ordered his minions to wreak havoc across different regions of the Mushroom Kingdom, and he ordered the Koopalings to steal the seven kings' magic wands to have access to more power for his minions.
- This resulted in the Koopalings stealing the kings' magic wands and turning them into animals, even though he didn't meant for the latter thing to happen.
- In Super Mario World, he held the Yoshis native to Dinosaur Land in captivity inside eggs that most of them are inside blocks, all as a revenge for the Yoshis defeating him in the past as Baby Bowser.
- He also ordered the Koopalings to kidnap seven baby Yoshis.
- In Yoshi's Safari, he and the Koopalings kidnapped the rulers of the Jewelry Land in an attempt to rule the land.
- They also stole 12 gems from the land.
- In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, he tried to give Mario a bad reputation by telling to the Mushroom Kingdom people that he joined his army.
- In Super Mario 64, he took over and drastically modified Peach's castle and stole all of its Power Stars as well as two keys to open the basement and the upper floor, and in the DS remake of the game, he had Goomboss, King Boo and Chief Chilly lock up Mario, Luigi and Wario.
- As a result of this, numerous Toads got trapped inside numerous rooms of the castle.
- He also states that he hates seeing peace in the Mushroom Kingdom if Mario defeats him for the third time with all the Power Stars restored to the castle.
- In Super Mario Sunshine, he manipulated his son, Bowser Jr., into believing that Peach was his mother and Mario was her kidnapper.
- This resulted in Bowser Jr. vandalizing Isle Delfino, incriminating Mario, and later on "rescuing" Peach from Mario.
- In Yoshi's Universal Gravitation, resuming in his revenge on the Yoshis, he terrorizes Yoshi's Island with his minions and attempts to kill Yoshi.
- In Yoshi's Island DS:
- He and Kamek travelled to the past to kidnap the seven Star Children to use their power in the present to conquer the universe.
- He and Kamek kidnapped Babies Mario, Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong, and Wario while suspicious that they are most of the Star Children. While they kidnapped most of the Star Children, they didn't got to confirm that they were most of the Star Children.
- He attempted to kill Yoshi for hurting his past-self, and later attempted to kill the other Yoshis when they interfered, eventually resuming in his aforementioned revenge on the Yoshis.
- In Super Mario Galaxy:
- He attacked Rosalina's Comet Observatory and stole all of its Power and Grand Stars for himself.
- He planned to use the power of the Grand Stars to create his own galaxy in the center of the universe with his Galaxy Reactor so that he would have an effective vantage point to conquer and rule everything as a Dark Lord/Tyrant.
- This makes him indirectly responsible for his Galaxy Reactor blowing up and destroying the universe, only to be undone because of the Lumas' heroic sacrifice.
- He was more saddened about the destruction of his galactic empire rather than the universe collapsing.
- This makes him indirectly responsible for his Galaxy Reactor blowing up and destroying the universe, only to be undone because of the Lumas' heroic sacrifice.
- In Super Mario Galaxy 2, he attacked and raided Lubba's starship to steal more Power Stars and use them to become bigger and stronger.
- In Super Mario 3D Land, he stole all the Super Leaves from the Tail Tree and gave them to his soldiers.
- He later tricked Mario by putting down a cardboard cutout of Peach and took the real Peach to a different castle.
- Later as Dry Bowser, he took Mario’s brother, Luigi, hostage and imprisoned him in the first Special World not only to get revenge on his archenemy for defeating him, but also to lure him, knowing that Mario would risk his life to rescue his younger brother.
- He kidnaps Peach again after he is defeated as Dry Bowser.
- In Yoshi's New Island, he travels to the past to kill Yoshi once again, still not giving up in his revenge for the Yoshis defeating him multiple times as Baby Bowser.
- In Super Mario 3D World, he invaded the Sprixie Kingdom and imprisoned all of their princesses.
- In Super Mario Odyssey, he kidnapped Peach, and by extension Tiara, once again, this time to marry Peach, with the Broodals arranging the wedding.
- Meanwhile, he made allies with the Ruined Dragon and attempted to kill Mario with it by having it breathe a powerful magenta lightning bolt at the Odyssey, shooting it down.
- In Bowser's Fury, even though Mario saved him from the black paint (which was Junior’s fault for painting over his face), he ungratefully tried to attack him, only to be stopped by Junior.
- In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, he took over Prince Florian's castle by fusing with it, wreaking much havoc over the Flower Kingdom, and then trying to spread his tyranny over the universe.
New Super Mario Bros.[]
- In New Super Mario Bros., he had Bowser Jr. kidnap Peach by sending a cloud to attack her castle to distract Mario.
- In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, he ordered Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings to kidnap Peach on her birthday making sure that even her special day is spoiled. He then had Kamek trick Mario into thinking he was Peach before using his magic to become giant while trying to kill Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad, and Yellow Toad.
- In New Super Mario Bros. 2, he had Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings kidnap Peach while Mario and Luigi were distracted getting coins from the sky.
- In the game's Special World, as Dry Bowser, he attempts to kill Mario again.
- In New Super Mario Bros. U, he ambushed Peach's castle with the Koopalings before throwing Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad, and Yellow Toad far off into Acorn Plains and then managed to take over the Mushroom Kingdom with an iron fist, making numerous drastic modifications in the Mushroom Kingdom (especially Peach's castle).
- He then had Bowser Jr. and Kamek turn him into a giant once again to kill Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad and Yellow Toad.
Mario Party[]
- In the Mario Party series, he primarily attempts to cause misfortune to the players and prevent them from winning.
- If the player loses in his minigames, he will take their coins, items, or stars. Additionally, if the player ever lands on the option of winning 10,000 Mini Stars/coins in his roulette, he outright refuses to hold up his end of the bargain.
- In the Story mode of Mario Party DS, he tricked Mario and his friends into believing that he dropped his evil ways and shrunk them down to microscopic size. When they return to his castle, he stuffs them in a pinball machine and causes mass terror to them.
- In Mario Party 9, he stole all of the mini stars from the sky so that he can use them to decorate his castle.
- In the Bowser Party mode of Mario Party 10, he attempts to ruin Mario and all his friends' day as a giant.
- Even though he doesn't actually try to kill them, he still endangers them.
Mario sport games[]
- In Mario Tennis, he trained Wario and Waluigi in tennis, and then after that the three of them crashed the opening ceremony, and started attacking with Bob-ombs.
- In Mario Super Sluggers, he joined Bowser Jr. in taking over Baseball Kingdom and ordered his son to take over the Baseball stadiums.
- After losing to Mario's team the first time he vows revenge and acts like a sour loser even trashing his castle with his bat.
Mario & Luigi (in the past)[]
- In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time:
- He attacked the castle of the also young Peach, attempted to kidnap her, and attempted to kill the also young Mario and Luigi.
- When the Shroobs arrive, he has his crew kill 6 UFOS and completely ignored that a Toad was inside one of them, making him responsible for committing manslaughter.
- He shot another 3 UFOS because they attacked him, while this is justifiable, he took sadistic pleasure and gloated about it.
- When he noticed the Mario Bros. after they were defeated by 3 Shroobs, he is the only one who is willing to let them die with even his minions considering to help them and yet he only does so after baby Peach cries.
- He stole the Cobalt Star's shards and even went on eating them after being in a dead end. This all due to the Mario Bros. and their infant counterparts stealing his treasure and cookies, despite the cookies being what he stole from the Yoshis.
- He lied that he saved the Yoshis from Yoob in order to have them praise him and get him cookies, only to be deservingly knocked out into sky by Elder Princess Shroob.
- Despite Princess Peach warning him not to, he completed the Cobalt Star for the sake of his greed, allowing Elder Princess Shroob to return.
Mario & Luigi (in the present)[]
- In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, he broke into Peach's castle, knocked Toad out and accidentally kidnapped Princess Shroob (whom he believed to be Peach) into Thwomp Volcano and planned, alongside his younger counterpart, to murder the Mario Bros. and even their infant counterparts as well.
- He even uses Thwacks (sentient species of Thwomp) as attacks by killing them via causing shockwave so their remains can knock Mario and Luigi. While this may seem unintentional, he can cause a shockwave without killing anyone, proving that Bowser isn't far away from using anyone as kamikaze attacks.
- At some point, shown in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, he froze Elder Princess Shroob, Commander Shroob, Junior Shrooboid and several of their minions with it being implied that it was to keep them as treasures. While they deserve it, it shows how little he thinks of another being's life.
- In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, even if he's unknowingly helping the Mario Bros. save the Mushroom Kingdom from Fawful and the Dark Star, it's only to take back his territory, kidnap Peach back, and ensure only he can take over the kingdom himself; at several points, he even showed desire to expropriate Fawful's plans for himself.
- In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team:
- He joins Antasma in an alliance, helping him put everyone to sleep on Pi'illo Island to activate the Dream Stone.
- He and Antasma destroyed three islands by using their new castle's laser cannon.
- He betrays Antasma by throwing him to the ground and using the Dream Stone for himself, proving that he only ever saw him as a pawn and means to an end. While Antasma was Near Pure Evil and this needed to be stopped, Bowser only did so to rule the world himself and not out of any heroic desire to stop him. After his defeat, he angrily blamed everything on Antasma.
- He absorbed the Dream Stone to achieve his goals, planning on killing the Mario Bros. and taking the entire world (and possibly the entire universe) for himself with his newfound power.
- In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam:
- He teamed up with with Paper Bowser to combine their armies and rule over the Mushroom Kingdom.
- He and Paper Bowser both planned on betraying each other after they defeat the heroes. They also hint at the fact that they intend to trap the other inside the book with the two Mario's and Luigi.
- He enslaved hundreds of Toads alongside his paper counterpart.
- Both he and Paper Bowser attack Peach's castle in retaliation for the heroes defeating both of their Juniors.
- He, alongside his paper counterpart, attempted to burn the book containing the Paper Mario universe, which would destroy the Paperverse and everyone in it.
- In Mario & Luigi: Brothership:
- He attempted to take over Concordia upon being transported there alongside his army.
- He opens fire on Shipshape Island once when spotting Mario and Luigi, putting the lives of everyone on board at risk just so he could have a chance at killing Mario. This ended up knocking the brothers overboard and severed connection with two of the islands they've gathered.
- When being informed of this, he demands his troops to take over the villages in HeatFreeze Island.
- He took over Offandon Island and lied to its inhabitants by saying Mario and Luigi were criminals, making them fugitives to the people there.
- He hoarded many Ampberries for himself inside his new castle, despite the fact that they were essential in curing those infected by Glohm.
- Although he did save Mario and Luigi from being killed by Reclusa's forces, this purely coincidental as he was focused on getting revenge against Zokket for kidnapping Junior and turning him into a Glohm zombie even though he wasn't a threat anymore.
- Furthermore, he proceeds to threaten the Mario Bros. to not get in his line of fire.
Spin-off Material[]
- In Mario is Missing!, he stole various famous landmarks and attempted to flood the Earth by using hair dryers to melt Antarctica, and later kidnapped Mario to prevent him from thwarting his plans, but not knowing that Luigi was following Mario.
- He then ordered the Koopalings to kill Luigi, and when that didn't work, he attempted to kill him by himself.
- In Mario's Time Machine!, he stole various historical artifacts from Earth's history to make his own museum.
- In the NES version of the game, he kidnapped Yoshi and berated Mario for coming to the museum. He later tried to kill Mario when he was about to save Yoshi.
- In Super Princess Peach, he stole the vibe Scepter and kidnaps Mario, Luigi and Toad, resulting in Peach having to save them.
- In Mario Pinball Land, he has his minions change the aim of a pinball cannon Peach was in as she got turned into a pinball, to get her kidnapped. This forces Mario to turn himself into a pinball to save Peach from Bowser.
- He later kills two Thwomps during his final battle with Mario in said game by brutally destroying them with his shell.
- In Super Mario Run, he destroyed the Mushroom Kingdom, endangering all the Toads in there.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He is on & off with a few anti-heroic roles, such as helping Mario stop Smithy from taking over the Mushroom Kingdom, initially aiding Mario and Luigi in retrieving “Peach's” voice by using his airship to get them to the Beanbean Kingdom, saving the Mushroom Kingdom from being destroyed by the Dark Star when it assumed the form of Dark Bowser, playing an essential role in the defeat of Reclusa, and when he teamed up with the heroes to defeat Cursa. In fact he even passes the series admirable standards:
- While he attacked the Mario Bros. after they worked together to stop Fawful and the Dark Star, this was because he was never properly aware of their alliance; this implies he abhors working with Mario without proper consent.
- Regardless, he is legitimately honorable in his truces and never resorts to truly betraying the heroes when siding with them for threats bigger than him despite his egotism and self-serving motivations.
- He shows a strong amount of genuine care, affability, and respect toward others (including Mario and his friends):
- He has consistently shown genuine care towards his son, Bowser Jr, as he often gets enraged when Mario hurts him, does not spoil him too much or abuse him at all, shows patience with his hyperactivity, and sometimes dedicates his time to making him happy. He showed remorse for lying to him about Peach being his mother and confessed the truth after their defeat in Super Mario Sunshine. The epilogue to Bowser Jr.'s Journey also shows the two playfully fighting against each other with the minions. While he rejects Peach inviting them to Baseball Kingdom, Bowser relents because Junior wants to have fun.
- Despite kidnapping her multiple times, he has shown to have genuine romantic feelings for Princess Peach, with that sometimes being the reason he kidnaps her, and he was shown to be visibly upset when she rejected him in Super Mario Odyssey. It's also worth noting that whenever he kidnaps her, he never intentionally harms her at all and often just locks her up in some way or another. While there are times when he attacks her during boss battles such as Super Princess Peach, Super Mario 3D World, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, he never truly canonically uses outright lethal attacks as it's only in an equitable fight, so it doesn't detract too much from his genuine romantic feelings for her.
- Plus, in the latter game, if faced by Peach, he calls her “My Beloved” and purposely makes dodging his attacks very easy for her.
- While he can be hard on his minions at times, he cares for the well-being of his soldiers and is genuinely loyal to them, as he was furious when learning that Fawful brainwashed most of them while locking up the ones he didn't in cages. Kamek outright states Bower's minions follow him out of respect rather than fear or malice.
- He also trusts the Koopalings enough to give them powerful military connections even going out of his way trying to keep them happy as if they were his own. As with his own son, he also doesn’t get angry when they fail in their goals, knowing how hard they try for him.
- He forgave the Elite Trio for their betrayal even though they maintain some disloyalty towards him even after this.
- He honors Kamek who continues to serve as a parental figure to him, as well as for his undying loyalty, and is frequently affable with him compared to his other minions. In Super Mario Party, he invites them along with himself and Junior to the party.
- While he often disparages their competence and intelligence, Wendy and Kamek remark Bowser comparatively treats his underlings with much better respect than Bowser Jr. initially did in Bowser Jr.’s Journey.
- Despite hating Mario, he holds a certain degree of respect for him, as he mentions how the plumber makes for an "excellent archenemy" in Super Mario Galaxy. He is also self-conscious of himself in Mario’s eyes, admitting embarrassment at the thought of notably Mario seeing him bloated in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and appearing concerned once he realizes his nemesis was watching his fight with Bedrock in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, likely not wanting to be defeated in front of Mario. He is willing to put aside his hatred of him to stop greater threats or have fun in the sports spin-offs. He notably saves Mario from Wario and Waluigi's sneak attack on him even though he has nothing to gain from it (though it could have been done out of entitlement to be the one who kills Mario himself).
- To a lesser extent, he has some respect for Luigi. While he holds him in lower regard compared to Mario, he doesn’t disregard him as a threat. Originally referring to him as “Green Stache” in the first four Mario & Luigi entries, Bowser finally refers to him by his name after his defeat on Pi'illo Island, showing he now views him as a more significant foe. Furthermore, in Superstar Saga, he was willing to let Luigi join the Koopa Troop, simply because he thought he was asking to join. This course of action assured that Mario succeeded in his task to defeat Cackletta.
- By the time of Brothership, he's formed somewhat of a friendship with Starlow. According to the latter, she visits Bowser on some occasions and he begrudgingly lets her get away with poking fun at him even though he's gotten mad at others for doing less. While he kicks her and the Mario Bros. out of his throne room shortly afterwards, he does accept the chicken leg she got for him as a gift, meaning he did appreciate the gesture.
- In Mario Party 9 & 10, he will give Mini Stars to the player in last place, meaning he is honorable to some extent and plays the games fairly.
- In Mario Party DS after losing to the heroes, he joins the other characters in playing Triangle Twisters and has a fun time along with Bowser Jr.
- While he does have some serious roles in games (ex. Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario 64, the Super Mario Galaxy duology, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Super Mario Odyssey, Super Mario 3D World: Bowser's Fury, and Mario & Luigi: Brothership), he is also shown to have many comedic moments throughout the franchise and isn't taken seriously at times, such as many of his defeats, and also being treated as a comic relief in some of the past titles such as Mario Party 3, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and Mario Tennis Aces.
Trivia[]
- His animated movie counterpart from The Super Mario Bros. Movie does not count as Inconsistently Heinous due to having no redeeming qualities and his love for Peach is rather a lustful obsession (stating he will wipe out the Mushroom Kingdom if she rejects him, tortures Toad to force her to marry him, even tries to kill her as soon as she rejected him again before he follows through on his threat and later tries to strike her to death at Brooklyn), with his several comedic moments being relatively minor due to how seriously his attacks against the Mushroom Kingdom, Brooklyn, and Mario and friends are taken, so much that version of Bowser is Near Pure Evil instead. However, this may change in future movies if his son Bowser Jr as well as threats bigger than him, are added to the story. Alternatively, he could become Pure Evil if he either abandons his comical qualities or if they no longer detract from his villainy.
- Bowser is currently the icon of the Other Uses template.
External Links[]
- Bowser on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
- Bowser on the Villains Wiki
- Bowser on the Heroes Wiki
- Bowser on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
- Bowser on the Mario Wiki
- Bowser on the Super Mario Wiki
- Bowser on the Nintendo Wiki
- Bowser on the VS Battles Wiki
- Bowser on the Incredibly Cruel Wiki
- Bowser on the Shonen Villains Wiki
- Bowser on the Wikipedia
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 Inconsistently Heinous
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Video Games Paperverse TV Shows Comics Fanon Versions of Luigi Versions of Waluigi Others See Also | ||
 Inconsistently Heinous
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Playable Characters Bosses Subspace Army World of Light Trophies/Spirits/Stickers Others Fanon See Also | ||
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