| NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Bowser from The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The mainstream version can be found here: Bowser (Super Mario) |
| “ | (Laughing Evilly) I finally found it! And NOW NO ONE CAN STOP ME! | „ |
| ~ Bowser after finding the Super Star; also his most famous quote |
| “ | MARIO! YOU WANT THIS?! (Growling Furiously) YOU RUINED MY WEDDING! I WAS FINALLY GONNA BE HAPPY! NOW YOU WILL SUFFER! LIKE ME! You really thought you could stop me?! You worthless, weak little NOTHING! COME OUT AND FIGHT! Or are you too scared? (Laughs Evilly) Just what I thought. | „ |
| ~ Bowser's raging and villainous breakdown as he stops Mario from getting the Super Star, beating him before taunting him under the belief that he's afraid of him |
King Bowser, also known simply as Bowser, is the main antagonist of Illumination's Super Mario Bros. Movie. He is the tyrannical king of the Koopa race and the ruler of the Darklands who desires to conquer the world using the powerful Super Star.
With the assistance of his right-hand servant Kamek, his enforcer Koopa General and his army, Bowser plans to use the Super Star to target the Mushroom Kingdom and win Princess Peach's hand in marriage. In turn, his plan brings him into conflict with Mario after kidnapping his brother, Luigi, viewing the former as his rival to winning Princess Peach's love and eventually becomes his arch-nemesis.
He is voiced by Jack Black, who also played Slip in The Neverending Story III, Zeke in Ice Age, Carl Denham in the 2005 King Kong remake, Larry Hardcore in Clone High and Slappy the Dummy and the Invisible Boy in Goosebumps, while his grunts and roars are done by Kenny James, who also voices his video game incarnation and Fritz in Attack on Titan. In the Japanese dub, he was voiced by Kenta Miyake, who also voices Leongar in Kirby and The Forgotten Land.
Appearance
Just like his video game incarnation, Bowser is a large, dragon-like Koopa, which is a race of turtle-like beings. He has large lips with sharp teeth, yellow and green scales, lines on his stomach, and sharp claws. His most recognizable features are his spiked shell, red mane, horns and spiked cuffs, which except for the mane have been prominent features of Bowser in all of his appearances. While his size has varied over the course of the games, Bowser in the movie stands at around twice the height of Mario.
Personality
| “ | This guy's a lunatic. A psycho. He will eat you for breakfast. He won't even notice it probably because you're very, very small. | „ |
| ~ Princess Peach describing Bowser to Mario |
Bowser is an extremely sadistic and cruel tyrant, who will goes to great measures when it comes to getting what he wants and doesn't hesitate to destroy anyone who gets in his way. He also kidnapped the entire Penguin Kingdom and the Kong Army and made them his prisoners, one after he stole the Super Star from them and the other when he ambushed them on Rainbow Road. He then went as far as attempting to burn all of his prisoners alive (one of them, Lumalee, being a child) in lava for no legitimate reason during his wedding with Princess Peach, saying that he was doing it in "her honor.” He was even oblivious that she was obviously horrified by it. According to the princess herself, Bowser is immensely deranged and psychotic.
Unlike his video game counterpart, who even in his most heinous outings, cares for the well-being and lives of his minions, this version of Bowser is an awful leader towards his own troops. He doesn't bother to remember the names of some of the species such as the Spinies, burns one of his henchmen to the point where his flesh melts off, turning him into a Dry Bones in the process, simply because they asked about the possibility of Princess Peach refusing to marry him, and even has some of them locked in cages with the other prisoners for unknown reasons. He was also unaffected by the Koopa General's supposed death when he sacrificed himself to destroy Donkey Kong's kart, only focusing on the fact that he seemingly eliminated Mario and Donkey Kong in doing so. In addition, while the original is capable of showing respect for his enemies, Bowser doesn't seem to harbor any such feelings for anyone who oppose him.
The closest thing to an exception of his mistreatment (and the closest thing Bowser has to a real friend in general) is Kamek, who he is more open to regarding his insecurities. He also notably expressed shock when Princess Peach knocked Kamek out during the wedding reception. That being said, this doesn't stop Bowser from abusing Kamek when angry, such as when he slams his fingers inside a piano case because he was annoyed by Mario.
A defining trait that Bowser has is his extreme infatuation towards his sworn enemy and rival monarch, Princess Peach. Most of his heinous deeds throughout the film stem from him wanting her hand in marriage. He believed that obtaining a Super Star will win her affection, and even went as far as dedicating a song to her titled "Peaches". However, he is incredibly delusional about his romance with her, as he does not once stop to consider how any of his actions repulse the princess and make her want nothing to do with him, something that even one of his minions points out to him. This, in turn, makes Bowser stoop to even more desperate measures to make sure that Princess Peach is his, such as threatening to destroy her kingdom and even having Kamek torture Toad with his magic right in front of her. Bowser himself admits that he is aware that the princess hates him, but claims that it makes him love her even more.
Despite his feelings, however, he is not above attacking Princess Peach should she push him far enough, as shown once she rebels against him during their forced wedding while declaring that she had no intent toward marrying him. To emphasize his pettiness, Bowser immediately tries to incinerate her on the spot and later sends a Bomber Bill towards her castle to destroy her kingdom purely out of spite. He can also be seen fighting her, Toad and Donkey Kong in Brooklyn when they protect Mario from him. This shows that Bowser's supposed "love" for her is solely possessive and objectifying at worst. But even after being humiliated and imprisoned by Princess Peach, he continues to sing his serenade for her, showing that his desire to have her as his wife hasn't changed despite her making it abundantly clear how much she despises him.
He is also deeply paranoid and insecure, as, despite saying otherwise when Kamek says he shouldn't be worried, he immediately felt threatened by Mario when learning that Princess Peach was training him, feeling that Mario could be a supposed rival for the princess' affection. The feeling only grows worse when asking his brother, Luigi, if princesses find Mario attractive. When he says that "they do if they have good taste", his immediate response is ripping out a chunk of his mustache and abusively throws Luigi and threatening to kill him just to break Mario's spirit. He even had Luigi’s cage lower than the rest of the prisoners’ during the wedding’s sacrifice scene to make sure that he dies first to spite Mario. Overtime, his dislike of Mario evolves into full-on animosity, as the mere sight of him interacting with Princess Peach after crashing his wedding, especially after he was certain that the plumber had perished in his ambush, was enough to send him over the edge and free himself of the ice Princess Peach froze him in using an Ice Flower. Later, when his castle gets sent to Brooklyn, he wastes no time in brutally attacking Mario over all the trouble he caused him and makes it very clear how personal his interference was despite hardly knowing him.
While it may appear that he has some honor when he gave his word to Princess Peach of not harming her Toads when she reluctantly agreed to marry him, it ultimately becomes null and void when he never said anything about not harming anyone who isn't a Toad, when he attempted to burn all of his prisoners alive.
Relationships
Allies
- Koopa Army
- Kamek - Second-in-Command, Advisor, and Best Friend
- Koopa General - High-Ranking Lieutenant 𐠒
- King Bob-omb
- King Boo
Enemies
- Mario Bros. & Family
- Mushroom Kingdom
- Princess Peach - One-Sided Lust Interest & Archenemy
- Toad - Former Prisoner & Captor
- Toads
- Penguins
- Penguin King - Former Prisoner and Attempted Victim
- Kongs
- Donkey Kong - Attempted Victim
- Cranky Kong - Former Prisoner
- Diddy Kong
- Dixie Kong
- Chunky Kong
Powers and Abilities
- Immense Strength: Bowser is extremely strong, being able to pick up an entire human with just one hand, lift heavy objects like cars with ease and kick or stomp with immense force. He is so strong that he was able to overpower and almost kill Donkey Kong, who is the champion of the Jungle Kingdom.
- Immense Durability: Bowser's hide is durable enough to withstand severe beatings from Mario and Luigi while they were empowered by the Star nor did he suffer any serious injuries after being literally crushed against his own fortress, as they kept beating him until he started to actually slow down from too much heavy injury and in the end he is finally unable to get up.
- Immense Stamina: Bowser is tough enough to continue the final confrontation unhindered despite having been frozen in ice not too long before, then going wild in Brooklyn, engaging in a fierce fight against Princess Peach and Donkey Kong and taking blow after blow from Mario and Luigi empowered by the Star while still remaining conscious after his defeat, though unable to get up.
- Fire Breath: Bowser's signature power is his immensely powerful fire breath. His flames are hot enough to melt an entire ice castle with one continuous blast and is able to keep his flames going for over a minute without stopping to catch his breath.
- Claws: Bowser has sharp claws that he could use to slash his enemies with lethal force. he attempted to use his claws to finish off Donkey Kong.
- Tail: Bowser could use his own tail as a blunt weapon, which he used against Mario during his relentless rage-fueled attack on him.
- Intelligence: Bowser is shown to be intelligent and a great tactician. He is also a skilled leader as he is the king of the Koopa Kingdom.
- Intimidation: Bowser is feared and infamous all throughout the various kingdoms. He becomes especially scary whenever he is angry, and his eyes even glow red when he is outraged.
- Piano Skills: Bowser is a fairly skilled pianist as shown twice in the movie.
- Singing Skills: Bowser is also a pretty decent singer as also shown twice in the movie where he sang the song "Peaches".
Weaknesses
- Delusion: Despite his intellect, he's ultimately very foolish to believe Princess Peach would ever be with him no matter how many times she tries to get that through his head and blindly believes Mario purposely tried to win her heart from him when he clearly had no intention of doing so in the first place as his only goals were to save Luigi and stop Bowser. In addition, Bowser keeps his focus on Mario while he wasn't the only one trying to stop him as his friends were the main threat to him as well, and when Mario and Luigi became invincible by the Super Star, Bowser refused to admit defeat and kept on the attack, only to be beaten up until he's finally too injured to continue fighting, thus getting defeated in the end.
Quotes
| “ | OPEN THE GATES... or die! | „ |
| ~ Bowser's first words while threatening the Penguin Kingdom |
| “ | Penguin King: That is but a taste of our fury! Do you yield? Bowser: (Chuckles Evilly) I do not. |
„ |
| ~ Bowser refusing to yield to the Penguin King, before easily defeating his army |
| “ | Kamek: Sire! Bowser: (Annoyed) What? Kamek: A report from our intelligence. A mustachioed human has arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser: (Growls Angrily) Kamek: (stumbles in fear) The princess has been training him. They are up to something, sire! Bowser: (calms down) Sit. Jam with me. (Bowser and Kamek play the Underground theme on the piano) Bowser: This, uh... human. Where did he come from? Kamek: We... aren't sure. Bowser: Does the princess... like him? Kamek: Sire! Look in the mirror! You have nothing to worry about. Bowser: I know that. I'm not threatened. (slams cover down on Kamek's fingers) Kamek: (Screams in Pain) Bowser: (Yelling) FIND OUT WHO HE IS AND WHAT THEY'RE PLANNING!! (slams fist on piano) Kamek: (Painfully) I'm on it, sire! May I lift the cover? Bowser: Not yet. Pain is the best teacher. |
„ |
| ~ Bowser speaking with Kamek after being informed about Mario |
| “ | Leave him to me. | „ |
| ~ Bowser upon seeing Luigi |
| “ | Bowser: Not sure if you know who I am, but I'm about to marry a princess and rule the world. (sharpens claws) Luigi: Wow. (Chuckles Nervously) Yay... Bowser: But there's one problem, Luigi: there's a human traveling with my fiancée. Has a mustache, just like you. Do you know him? |
„ |
| ~ Bowser revealing his goal to Luigi while pressing him over information regarding his brother, Mario. |
| “ | GET HIM OUT OF MY SIGHT! WE'LL SEE HOW TOUGH THIS "MARIO" IS WHEN HE WATCHES ME KILL HIS BROTHER! | „ |
| ~ Bowser threatening to kill Luigi to spite Mario after interrogating the former |
| “ | Princess Peach, here we are. I guess love really makes a guy come out of his shell. Let's rule the world together, forever. Will you marry me? | „ |
| ~ Bowser practicing his proposal for Princess Peach to Kamek |
| “ | So, like, Peach was super impressed? | „ |
| ~ Bowser to the Koopa General |
| “ | (Laughing Evilly) Goodbye, Mario. | „ |
| ~ Bowser after Mario and Donkey Kong were sent falling from Rainbow Road and the Kong Army are taken afterwards |
| “ | Princess Peach. Brave as ever. | „ |
| ~ Bowser encountering Princess Peach face-to-face |
| “ | Bowser: Peaches, with this star, we will be invincible. We can rule the world together, forever. Will you marry me? Princess Peach: Marry you? Are you insane?! I would never marry you! Bowser: ...Maybe you should reconsider. |
„ |
| ~ Bowser before he has Toad tortured to force Princess Peach to marry him |
| “ | You have my word. | „ |
| ~ Bowser to Princess Peach after she is forced to accept his proposal when Toad was tortured |
| “ | (Laughs Evilly) Time for a wedding! | „ |
| ~ Bowser, as she and Toad are taken into Bowser's airship after forcing her to accept his proposal |
| “ | LAUNCH THE BOMBER BILL AND DESTROY THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM!!! | „ |
| ~ Bowser sending a Bomber Bill to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom after the heroes crash his wedding; his most famous quote |
| “ | NO! THAT'S MINE!! | „ |
| ~ Bowser after Princess Peach knocks the Super Star away from him so Mario can use it |
| “ | RIP THEM TO PIECES!! | „ |
| ~ Bowser furiously ordering his minions to destroy the Mario Bros. after they absorb the Super Star |
| “ | Bowser: Peaches... Uh, Listen, this is not the way I pictured it, but give me one more chance. Princess Peach: Ew, no. Bowser: No, no, no, no, no- (gets fed the Mini Mushroom) HEY! HEY! THAT IS NOT COOL! |
„ |
| ~ Bowser's defeat as he asks for another chance, only for a Mini Mushroom to be stuffed in his mouth |
| “ | Toad Guard: Hey, quiet in there! Lights out, little guy! (taps cage) Bowser: HEY! YOU CAN'T TREAT ME LIKE THIS! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!? I AM BOW- (door slams shuts) Bowser: (sighs) |
„ |
| ~ Bowser's last words as he is left locked in a cage dungeon of Peach's Castle |
Peaches lyrics
| “ | This one is for my one and only true love... Princess Peach. ♪Peach, you're so cool.♪ ♪And with my Star, we're gonna rule.♪ ♪Peach, understand!♪ ♪I'm gonna love you ‘til the very end!♪ ♪Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches!♪ Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches!♪ ♪I LOVE YOU! Oh~♪ ♪Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches!♪ ♪Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches!♪ ♪I LOVE YOU! Oh~ ♪ ♪Mario, Luigi, and-a Donkey Kong too♪ ♪A thousand troops of Koopas couldn't keep me from you.♪ ♪Princess Peach, at the end of the line,♪ ♪I'll make you mine! Oh~♪ ♪Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches!♪ ♪Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches!♪ ♪I LOVE YOU! Oh~ ♪ ♪ PEACHES! PEACHES! PEACH! PEACH!!! ♪ |
„ |
| ~ Bowser singing “Peaches”, and pronouncing his love for Princess Peach. |
Vocals (Like the original Bowser)
Trivia
- Jack Black attended the premiere of The Super Mario Bros. Movie dressed as Bowser.
- Bowser's eyes glow red whenever he is infuriated.
- The scene in which Mario and Luigi throw Bowser up into the air by grabbing his tail is a reference to his defeat in Super Mario 64, in which Mario grabs Bowser by the tail and throws him onto a bomb before he's launched back into the arena defeated.
- Him being shrunken when Peach force fed him a blue mushroom is a reference to his defeat in Super Mario Galaxy 2. Him then being imprisoned inside of a jar by Toad is a reference to him being stuck in a jar during the end credits of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury.
- In a twist of irony, Bowser attempting to kill Mario to get him away from Princess Peach only ended up deepening their bond. Furthermore, Mario doesn't (intentionally) try to woo Princess Peach and she simply likes him for the nice person that he is, while Bowser is very upfront about his obsession with her and she is repulsed by it and his horrific actions.
- His wedding tuxedo is based off the same outfit he wore in Super Mario Odyssey.
- Funnily enough, Bowser's goal in that game was to marry Princess Peach as well, even though he's had a crush on her since Paper Mario.
- Jack Black, released a live-action performance version of his Bowser's Peaches song released on the Lyrical Lemonade Youtube Channel
- Bowser's song, "Peaches", has become somewhat of an Internet meme in the Mario fanbase, as him singing peaches sounds like he's saying "bitches" when heard repeatedly.
- Bowser acts as a foil to the following characters:
- Mario: Both are motivated by love in their respective goals; For Mario it's rescuing Luigi, whereas for Bowser it's Princess Peach's hand in marriage. Both of them also have feelings for the princess. However, Mario was initially more focused on saving Luigi than he was winning her heart, only growing feelings for her as they got to know each other more. Additionally, he treats Princess Peach as a person and not an object. Meanwhile, Bowser views her as nothing more than a trophy to be possessed and doesn't care about what she wants, as he genuinely thought that Princess Peach would like hundreds of people being ritualistically sacrificed for their wedding despite that obviously not being the case.
- Princess Peach: Both are rulers of their kingdom and are both (possibly) orphans. While Princess Peach is a kind monarch and wants to protect her subjects, Bowser has no problems abusing his minions and is a cruel tyrant. If Princess Peach had grew up to be cruel to her Toads and became a tyrant, she would've ended up like Bowser.
- Donkey Kong: Both are large anthropomorphic animals who think so highly of themselves and get involved in conflict with Mario. Both also want the approval of someone else; Princess Peach in Bowser's case, and Cranky Kong in Donkey Kong's case. While Bowser insists on Princess Peach loving him despite his multiple atrocities which leads to her rejecting him, Donkey Kong recognizes and eventually overcomes his flaws, which wins his father's approval. Additionally, Bowser's conflict with Mario is violently antagonistic, whereas Donkey Kong's conflict with Mario is more akin to that of friendly teasing.
- Despite being Mario's archenemy, Bowser doesn't directly interact with him until the climax of the film where he tries to kill him in Brooklyn. However, he does spend a majority of the movie being heavily wary of him impressing Princess Peach and hating him for it.
- Bowser is the second Illumination animated movie villain to be overly sensitive and have extreme anger issues, following Jimmy Crystal from Sing 2.
- Ironically, both had their fate seen with them being imprisoned in some form, with Jimmy Crystal being apprehended and Bowser being detained in a jar.
- Bowser is known to have several voice lines removed that were in the TV Spots and trailers, such as him saying, "I'm so stoked right now."
- Additionally in the teaser trailer when he obtains the Super Star, Bowser says "I've finally found it. Now who's gonna stop me?!". In the movie, however, it was changed to "and now no one can stop me!".
- Unlike in the games where Mario knew Bowser since they were babies, In the movie Mario and Bowser don't meet till they are adults.
External Links
- Bowser on the Antagonists Wiki
- Bowser on the Mario Wiki.
- Bowser on the The Super Mario Bros Movie Wiki
 Villains
| ||
|
Marioverse Movies Television Books See Also | ||
 Villains
| ||
|
Kongs Kremling Krew Tiki Tak Tribe Snowmads Others Saturday Supercade TV Series See Also | ||