Baby Bowser

"Huh?? Hmm?!!? Mmmmm!!!!?! What kind of gween donkey is dat? Looks wyke fun! Me wanna ri-ide!!! MINE!! MINE!!!""

Baby Bowser is an antagonist in the Mario videogame series and made his first appearance in the 1995 game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for the SNES. He is a version of Bowser in his youth and is not to be confused with Bowser Jr., who in turn is Bowser's only child.

Characteristics
All of Bowser's defining characteristics were already present in his baby form, albeit in a much less threatening way.

At this young age, Baby Bowser was more of a bratty, spoiled child than an actual villain and the main motivations behind his actions are either self-preservation or just a general attempt to cause mischief. In his first appearance in the Mario universe, he was mostly driven by Kamek's prediction of the future, where he saw that Mario and Luigi will defeat him in the future (which became true in countless occasions).

Abilities
Most of Bowser's defining abilities (namely the strength and fire-breath) are already apparent in Baby Bowser although in a much less developed way. However, with the help of his primary Magikoopa Kamek he is able to greatly enhance both his size and abilities. Of all the baby versions of the Mario series characters, his seems to be the most developed and is more of a small child than an actual baby. He was also already commanding a large number of minions, despite his young age.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Baby Bowser is the Final Boss of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. He appears at the end of his castle as Kamek is demanding that Yoshi hand over Baby Mario, as the young king wakes up, complaining that "it's too noisy". He then crushes and kicks Kamek away, noticing Yoshi immediately afterward and wanting to ride the "gween donkey." Baby Bowser attacks by ground pounding where Yoshi is, creating shockwaves on the ground. In addition, if Baby Mario is knocked off of Yoshi's back, Baby Bowser climbs onto his back instead. If Baby Mario is saved afterward, Baby Bowser will be stunned. Baby Bowser can be hit by ground pounding the ground close to him. After Baby Bowser is beaten, Kamek shows up and uses his magic on him, causing him to grow into the kaiju-like Big Baby Bowser, destroying his castle in the process. The final battle takes place on the remains of the room;  Big Baby Bowser sending debris down to destroy part of the ground at the start of the fight. During the second phase, Big Baby Bowser attacks by breathing fireballs at Yoshi, stomping towards him from the background. If Big Baby Bowser gets too close to Yoshi, the ground is destroyed, defeating Yoshi. The player must grab the Giant Eggs that the Baron Von Zepplins carry onto the stage, and throw them at Big Baby Bowser to knock him back. After enough hits, he simply charges forward, and after seven hits, he is defeated, returns to normal size, and is knocked out. Afterward, Kamek reappears and vows revenge before flying off with Baby Bowser. Yoshi then sprints up to the Stork and Baby Luigi, freeing them both and allowing the Stork to deliver the babies to their parents.

Yoshi's Story
Baby Bowser returns in Yoshi's Story, stealing the Super Happy Tree to drain all happiness from Yoshi's Island and turns the entire island into a pop-up book. After some adventuring, the Baby Yoshis find Baby Bowser in his castle, as one of them duels him to reclaim the Super Happy Tree. The Player has to hit Baby Bowser with Bob-ombs while the prince is riding his "pet" and knock him off. He then recites a "poem" about how he's the king, intends to destroy Baby Yoshi, and demands the latter say goodbye. The battle is then on the ground, where Baby Bowser shoots fireballs, throws bombs, and sends shock-waves, where Yoshi has to hit him a few more times to best him. After being beaten, Bowser surrenders, allowing the baby Yoshis to have the Super Happy Tree back. He rationalizes that the fruit tasted horrible anyway, as he is carried out by his Toadies, sobbing.

Yoshi's Island DS
In Yoshi's Island DS, Baby Bowser is at his castle when his future self appears out of nowhere, wanting to kidnap the star children to gain control of the universe. Baby Bowser is ironically abducted by the future Kamek from the past Kamek, and brought to Bowser's Castle. When he realizes the circumstances, he insults his grown-up self and his plan, calling him an "old geezer." Angred by Baby Bowser's insults and oblivious to the fact that his younger self is one of the star children, the Koopa King kicks Baby Bowser out of the castle.

As Baby Bowser plummets, he swears revenge and once he lands, he yells at the sky as a futile attempt to remind his older self that they're the same. Baby Bowser then notices Baby Mario and tells him he saw Baby Luigi in Bowser's Castle. Baby Bowser then realizes that he has just landed on Yoshi and is stoked to get a ride from him. Baby Bowser is then playable for the remainder of World 4 showing up to "kick some major enemy butt, of course!" While carrying him, Yoshi can't swallow enemies, but Baby Bowser can spit fireballs, which defeats enemies and melts ice cubes. Once Big Guy the Stilted is defeated, Baby Bowser leaves Yoshi's group in an attempt to hitch a ride from the future Kamek as he flies off to report to the adult Bowser. However, Baby Bowser loses his grip and falls off of Kamek's broomstick.

Baby Bowser later rejoins Yoshi's group, along with Baby Wario (who he had been fighting with over treasure), when they reach Bowser's Castle. He eventually betrays the other Star Childen, and attacks Yoshi, believing they're after his treasure. After a fight, Yoshi beats the little prince and Kamek takes him away, leaving the group to the future Bowser, who is angry at what Yoshi did to his younger self. After Bowser is beaten, Baby Bowser falls off Kamek's broom and lands on a huge bag of treasure, now claimed by Baby Wario; another argument between the two young misers inevitably ensues. Presumably, Baby Bowser is taken back by the past Kamek.

Yoshi's New Island
After not being seen for 7 Years, Baby Bowser returns in Yoshi's New Island, once again as the main antagonist alongside Kamek and his older self. In this game, he wants to turn Egg Island into a resort for him, so the Yoshi's go to stop him and rescue Baby Luigi. At the end, the scenario is similar to the original Yoshi's Island. He is once again awaken from his slumber, only to crush and kick Kamek out. He soon notices the "familiar green donkey" and proceeds to try and ride Yoshi again. He is the penultimate boss of the game in a two part battle reminiscent of his battle in Super Mario World 2, though the second part of the battle (where he once again becomes the huge Mega Baby Bowser (Thanks, Kamek!) is more similar to the battle with Giant Bowser in New Super Mario Bros. U.   After he is defeated, and before the stork and Baby Luigi are rescued, his future self appears out of nowhere, making Yoshi and Baby Mario battle him.

Yoshi's Woolly World
Baby Bowser is the final boss in Yoshi's Wooly World and is first seen waiting for Kamek to give him enough yarn to make "a big new castle". Then, Yoshi appears and Baby Bowser starts the battle with him. In the fight, Yoshi must throw a yarn ball (provided by one of three red Shy Guys that periodically fall from the top of the screen) at Baby Bowser, then ground-pound him, and repeat this three times to =best Baby Bowser. After Baby Bowser is defeated, Kamek later uses the power of the Wonder Wool to make him transform into Mega Baby Bowser once more. To defeat him, Yoshi must unravel giant yarn balls to get three medium-sized yarn balls each, then throw them at the eight giant, glowing, magenta Wonder Wools circling around Mega Baby Bowser. The game ends when Yoshi successfully defeats Mega Baby Bowser, and the Wonder Wools unravels from him, causing all of the single-color-and-white Yoshis to return back to normal. Afterwards, Baby Bowser is taken away by Kamek, and is last seen near the moon with Kamek carrying him. Poochy then pops out from behind the moon, spooking Kamek and making him accidentally drop Baby Bowser as the game's closing credits begin to roll. Baby Bowser is the only baby character that appears in Yoshi's Woolly World.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Baby Bowser's first and only appearance in the Mario and Luigi series is in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, where he is the secondary antagonist. He first appears at the beginning of the game, in an attempt to kidnap Baby Peach before Baby Mario and Baby Luigi show up in the nick of time to play with Baby Peach. After Baby Mario defeats him however, Shroobs attack Princess Peach's Castle. Luckily, everyone manages to escape on Baby Bowser's Koopa Cruiser. On the way to his castle, Baby Bowser picks up Adult Mario and Luigi to get Baby Peach to stop crying. On the Koopa Cruiser, he receives a transmission from Princess Shroob. She tells the crew something in the Shroobs' language and shoots down the Koopa Cruiser with a missile. Baby Bowser is flung away from the Koopa Cruiser on the impact, and into his castle. Eventually, he realizes his arch-enemies and their adult selves have stolen his Cobalt Star Shard from his castle, and tracked them down to the Vim Factory, where he swipes both his Cobalt Star Shard and the one the Bros. have just obtained.

Baby Bowser then flees to the peak of Yoshi's Island with his caretaker, Kamek. There, he orders Kamek to snatch the Yoshi Cookies from the Yoshis. When the Mario Bros. catch up to Baby Bowser at the peak, he scarfs down all the Yoshi Cookies, but begins to choke. Baby Bowser then leaves to the other side of the peak after Kamek had given him some "evil milk". While Mario and Luigi try to talk it out with him, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi gobble up all the cookies, upsetting Baby Bowser greatly. He runs off while the Mario Bros. defeat Kamek, and they corner him at the other side of the peak. Without thinking his plans through, Baby Bowser eats the Cobalt Star Shards in retribution for the cookies, but soon after, both parties are eaten by Yoob.

Inside Yoob, Baby Bowser, and the Yoshis who were already eaten, are put inside a Yoob Egg. When the Mario Bros. confront Sunnyside ( A monster inside Yoob), he throws the egg Baby Bowser is in at Luigi, breaking it open. After the Mario Bros. defeat Sunnycide, Baby Bowser and all of the swallowed Yoshis escape Yoob.

Back on Yoshi's Island, Baby Bowser tells the Yoshis that he was the one who saved them from Yoob, and beliving him, the Yoshis give him the rest of their cookies. When the Mario Bros. and Toadbert show up to tell them he is lying, Baby Bowser then eats all of the Yoshi Cookies and gets sick. He vomits the Cobalt Star Shards, which, somehow, hit him and fling him away from Yoshi's Island.

Later on, Baby Bowser heads off to Thwomp Island to build a new castle, where he meets his future self. After a small argument, Baby Bowser and Bowser team up, not knowing they are the same, against the Mario Bros. They end up being beaten after the battle and flung into the sky by an Thwomp Elevator, where Bowser ends up in a Time Hole and Baby Bowser ends up on top of the Shroob Mothership.

Baby Bowser shows up again after the Bros. have defeated Princess Shroob and, despite being warned by Adult Princess Peach, he puts the Cobalt Star Shards together and completes the Cobalt Star, releasing Elder Princess Shroom, where Baby Bowser is then turned into a Shroob Mushroom. After the battle with the Elder Princess Shroob, Baby Luigi's tears turn him back to his normal state. While the Mushroom Kingdom is cleansed of all traces of the Shroobs thanks to Professor E.Gadd, Baby Bowser goes home, complaining about losing the Cobalt Star, Kamek telling him to let it go.

Trivia

 * Baby Bowser and Baby Wario are the only babies from Yoshi's Island DS not to appear in Mario Super Sluggers; however, Baby Wario has yet to have a 3D rendering entirely.
 * Technically, Baby Bowser is the only boss in Yoshi's Island to be fought before being enhanced by Kamek, and one of two bosses to not initially be enhanced (the only other being Prince Froggy.)
 * Baby Bowser is referred to as "Prince Bowser" in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, but he was previously "King Bowser" in the English version of Yoshi's Island. This is seemingly a translation error, as he is subsequently referred to as "King Bowser" in Yoshi's Wooly World, and he also explicitly refers to himself as the king in his "poem" to Baby Yoshi prior to the second phase of the final fight in Yoshi's Story.
 * His official artwork in Yoshi's Island DS shows him on the back of a Yellow Yoshi, which only appears during fort levels. However, there is never a point in the actual game where Baby Bowser is usable in a fort.
 * Baby Bowser is the only baby character who is not voiced by someone who also voices their adult counterpart.