Bowser: Difference between revisions

{{rewrite|reorganize the information & possibly consider relocating some of it into a subpage}}

[[File:Bowser Artwork - Mario Party Island Tour.png|thumb|250px|Bowser's personality between his appearances, but it is always dominated by hatred, selfishness and other negative traits.]]

In most of his appearances, Bowser is a persistent, imposing, commanding villain who has made several attempts to kidnap Princess Peach and invade and take over the Mushroom Kingdom with the help of his army, the Koopa Troop. Because Mario, Luigi, and other characters often work to try and stop Bowser, he has also made it his goal to defeat them. In most games, Bowser revels in causing disorder and intimidating his enemies, such as in ''Mario Party'' and in various sports games. His portrayals in the RPGs range from starring villain to a minor villain who gets sidelined by the starring villain to a playable anti-hero.

Bowser's personality is explored most extensively in the various RPGs, starting with the first one, ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'', in which Bowser loses his castle to another villain. As well as the grief he expresses over his castle, Bowser is shown to be as sad as the other playable characters about Geno's body breaking down, and at one point, his boasting takes the form of a haiku. He was also shown to be very concerned about his self-image, as he was shown to be very reluctant to divulge exactly what he meant by having "bigger fish to fry" than kidnapping Princess Toadstool, even considering lying about "taking a vacation" to avoid the humiliation of admitting to his being forced outside of his own castle. As in later RPGs, however, most of Bowser's actions in the game are self-centered, with his motivation for working with the protagonists ranging to reclaiming his stolen castle, being able to kidnap Peach himself, or preventing another villain from taking over the world which he himself desires. This last reasoning is also behind Bowser's alliance with Mario and the others in ''Super Paper Mario'', after the somewhat oblivious Koopa is reminded that he cannot conquer anything if Count Bleck's genocidal plan on all worlds comes to fruition. On a related note, the RPGs also depict him as having little common sense, as aside from the bit from ''Super Paper Mario'' above where he had to be told directly that he can't conquer any worlds if Bleck's goal came into fruition, he also initially considered breaking off his alliance with the Mushroom Kingdom upon Exor's defeat and being sucked into Smithy's realm, only for Geno to remind him that Exor merely acted as a portal between the two worlds and more of Smithy's forces would come in through that path unless they defeat Smithy himself as well. While Bowser is shown to take pride in his villainy and boasts of being a quality "final boss" throughout the adventure, he seemingly sacrifices himself to save Mario and the others, and even argues with his rival [[O'Chunks]] to save himself while Bowser held the crumbling roof above them. For all his pleasure in villainy, Bowser remarks there are lines he would not cross. He appeared to be as horrified as the rest of the party when witnessing [[Sammer's Kingdom]]'s destruction (deeming such an evil act as "overkill"), and when [[King Olly]] revealed his endgame to be wishing genocide upon all Toads, Bowser vehemently deemed such a goal mad and made clear that, while he has done his fair share of evil, even he would ''never'' attempt to outright exterminate the Toads. These moments are a sharp contrast to his attitude in the ''Super Mario Galaxy'' games, where he is willing to create his own galaxy at the expense of the universe, as well as in ''Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam'', where he threatens to destroy the [[Paper Mario book|paper world]].

[[File:Bowser SM64DS.png|thumb|left|Bowser is usually portrayed as angry and remorseless.]]

As in ''Super Mario Galaxy'', most other platformers leave Bowser as a typical villain, as does the RPG ''Paper Mario: Sticker Star''. The original ''Paper Mario'' also casts Bowser as the main antagonist; however, like ''Super Mario RPG'' that came before it, this portrayal is more well-rounded, introducing a humorous side to Bowser alongside his evilness, and revealing that he has a crush on Peach. Bowser's affection for the princess is later showcased in ''Super Paper Mario'', with the two being forcibly wed in the game by Count Bleck; while the princess disavows the ceremony, Bowser happily and persistently acts as if they are indeed spouses. Bowser's relationship with Peach also comes into play in ''Super Mario Sunshine'', in which Bowser's son apparently believes her to be his mother, although at the end of the game, Bowser sadly admits that he had lied to his child about his parentage. Aside from this, Bowser has never shown remorse for his troublesome actions and the havoc they often cause, but he is often saddened by his own losses. In ''Super Mario Galaxy'', his only regret is his failure to create his own realm, and in ''Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story'', he is dismayed at having to damage his own captured castle while he trying to reclaim it from [[Fawful]]. By contrast, in ''Mario Party 4'', Bowser grudgingly giving the player a present and wishing them a happy birthday as he leaves in shame, moving one of the Koopa Kids to wonder if there might be more to Bowser than he leads others to believe, as Bowser claimed to be somewhat happy.

Unlike the platformers and the other ''Paper Mario'' titles, Bowser's role is reduced to a dim-witted, bumbling comic relief villain in ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'', where he encounters frequent comical failures in his attempts to collect the [[Crystal Stars]] before Mario. The first two ''Mario & Luigi'' titles also cast Bowser as a comical recurring villain that merely causes inconveniences to the Mario Bros. or the main villains. Despite being the central character of ''[[Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'', nothing new is revealed about Bowser's character, but it does provide an overview of his personality to date. His reasons for saving the world from Fawful and the Dark Star involve pride, selfishness, and possessiveness toward Peach He is extremely conceited and boastful about himself and his accomplishments, and he resents having to ask nicely for help from [[Starlow]]. He acts as a respected leader to his troops, and even forgives [[Private Goomp|three]] [[Sergeant Guy|of]] [[Corporal Paraplonk|them]] for defecting to Fawful and allows them back in the Koopa Troop; the remake also elaborates on Bowser's crashing the emergency meeting, revealing that he did so because his kingdom also was affected by the Blorbs outbreak. Bowser's usual brashness and short-temper would often lead him to not think his actions through or be willing to compromise, such as when he flies into a rage upon discovering that Mario and Luigi had been aiding him inside his body the entire time (believing they were partying around inside him) and attacks them mere moments after the three of them had saved the world.

While Bowser is regarded as a respected leader from his troops and as a feared invader from his enemies, Bowser's usual brashness and short-temper can often lead him to not think his actions through or be willing to compromise, such as in ''Bowser's Inside Story'' when he flies into a rage upon discovering that Mario and Luigi had been aiding him inside his body the entire time (believing they were partying around inside him) and attacks them mere moments after the three of them had saved the world.

In ''Mario & Luigi: Dream Team'', while retaining much of his personality from the previous game, he was given more competence and made into more of a serious threat; he thwarts Mario and Luigi's efforts to safeguard Peach from him and reveals he was using [[Antasma]] for his own ends and betrays him. He later implied similar designs with his Paper self, and vice-versa, in ''Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam''. However, he surprisingly was willing to [[Super Smash Bros. Brawl|work under]] Master Hand and [[Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games|have]] [[Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games|an]] [[Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games|equal]] [[Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games|partnership]] with Dr. Eggman. In ''Paper Mario: Color Splash'', Bowser, owing to his being possessed by the black paint for most of the game, was given a far darker personality, namely making clear his intention of "painting the world black", and even going as far as to drain Peach's color and cracking a dark joke of hanging her colorless form up for display. However, after Mario weakened the black paint's hold on Bowser enough for the latter's usual self to surface, Bowser is deeply and understandably confused as to Mario's presence, clearly unaware of what he was doing all this time.

Despite Bowser's role as an intimidating authority figure in the Koopa Troop, he can be quite amiable sometimes, especially to [[Bowser Jr.]], where he is depicted as a loving father figure. His harsh and raging demeanor sometimes softens somewhat towards his loyal minions, with his constellation in ''Mario Party 9'' stating he is considerate of their well-being. He shows genuine affection and pride for Bowser Jr., and can be protective of him when Mario defeats him in battle. Though he believes himself superior, Bowser can be acknowledging of his foes for their tenacity against him in fierce battles or competitive events, even engaging in casual banter. In games like ''Mario Tennis'' and ''Super Mario Party'', he crashes the events but only for friendly competitions to let him and his minions participate. In ''Super Mario Odyssey'', along with planning his forced wedding with Peach extensively, he even comments on Mario's costume before their final battle, prompting anything from a humorously scared response to a genuine compliment on his dress sense depending on the clothing before noting that Mario wasn't invited regardless. In ''Super Mario Party'', he participates with no malicious intent, not even using Kamek's position as a judge to his advantage (even though he put him in the role),and congratulates the character who became the Superstar in good sportsmanship.

While his range of emotions varies from game to game, it is his nearsightedness, aggression, anger, arrogance, and contempt that typifies Bowser in all his appearances, whether he is a straightforward villain conquering the lands and kidnapping Peach or reluctant protagonist only allying with Mario in order to remove the opposition other villains pose to these goals.