| Bowser | |
|---|---|
| Mario character | |
Promotional artwork by Shigehisa Nakaue (2019) | |
| First game | Super Mario Bros. (1985) |
| Created by | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| Designed by |
|
Voiced by |
|
Portrayed by | |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Koopa |
| Children | Bowser Jr. (son) |
Bowser (Japanese: クッパ, Hepburn: Kuppa; "Koopa"), also known as King Koopa, Lord Bowser, King Bowser, or King of the Koopas, is a character and the main antagonist of Nintendo's Mario franchise. In Japan, the character bears the title of Daimaō (大魔王; "Great Demon King"). He is the arch-nemesis of Mario and the leader of the turtle-like Koopa race. Depicted as a fire-breathing monster with tyrannical ambitions, Bowser repeatedly kidnaps Princess Peach in an effort to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom.
Bowser debuted in the 1985 platform game Super Mario Bros. Creator Shigeru Miyamoto originally envisioned him as an ox inspired by the Ox-King from the Toei Animation film Alakazam the Great (1960). After Takashi Tezuka noted that the character fit better as a turtle, illustrator Yōichi Kotabe redesigned Bowser as the commander of the Koopa Troopas, modeling his traits after the Chinese softshell turtle. Since 2005, Bowser has been primarily voiced in video games by Kenny James.
Beyond the mainline platformers, Bowser appears across the franchise's spin-offs. He occasionally joins forces with Mario in role-playing games such as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996) and Super Paper Mario (2007), and competes in sports titles such as Mario Kart and Mario Tennis, as well as the Super Smash Bros. crossover fighting series. Outside of video games, he was voiced by Harvey Atkin in three animated series produced by DIC Entertainment, portrayed in live-action by Dennis Hopper in the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film, and voiced by Jack Black in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026).
Bowser has received widespread acclaim from critics and players as one of the most iconic and recognizable video game villains. He was ranked the greatest video game villain of all time by the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition.

Bowser was created by Nintendo designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto for Super Mario Bros. (1985), the character's debut. In early design sketches, Miyamoto tentatively named the character "Boss Creeper" (ボス クリーパー, Bosu Kurīpā), after the Shellcreeper turtle enemies from the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. Miyamoto had first envisioned Bowser as an ox, based on the depiction of the ox-like Gyū-Maō (called "King Gruesome" in the English localization) in the 1960 Toei Animation film Alakazam the Great, an adaptation of the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West. Miyamoto contemplated commissioning a manga artist or professional illustrator to produce the game's packaging art, but due to time constraints, he drew the original Super Mario Bros. box art himself. Consequently, Miyamoto's original package artwork features a design that differs from later renditions, closely resembling his concept of an ox with a gray-blue complexion and no horns.
Shortly afterward, animator and illustrator Yōichi Kotabe, who had previously worked at Toei Animation, joined Nintendo to refine and standardize the Super Mario character designs. Having only the original box art for reference, Kotabe thought Miyamoto's initial drawing of Bowser looked like a hippopotamus, while Nintendo designer Takashi Tezuka pointed out that the character was meant to be a turtle rather than an ox. Through discussions with Miyamoto and Tezuka, Kotabe redesigned Bowser to reflect the leader of the turtle-like Koopa Troopas. Kotabe modeled Bowser's finalized design after the Chinese softshell turtle, an aggressive species that suited Bowser's volatile temperament. Seeing Kotabe's completed design, Miyamoto remarked that he could finally make Bowser "look cool now." Kotabe's design became the basis for Bowser's subsequent appearances across video game graphics and promotional artwork. Despite Kotabe's standardized orange-and-yellow color scheme in promotional illustrations, Bowser's in-game sprite in Super Mario World (1990) depicted him with entirely green skin, which graphic designer Shigefumi Hino later explained was an accidental palette oversight on his part.
Miyamoto named the character Daimaō Kuppa (大魔王クッパ; "Great Demon King Koopa") for the Japanese release. The name Kuppa came from the Japanese pronunciation of gukbap (국밥), a Korean dish. Miyamoto also considered the names Yukke (ユッケ) and Bibinba (ビビンバ), the Japanese names for the Korean dishes yukhoe (육회) and bibimbap (비빔밥), respectively. He later explained in Nintendo Dream that he had mistakenly thought kuppa referred to Korean grilled meat (bulgogi), which sounded powerful to him, before learning it was a soup with rice. The name was romanized as "Kuppa" rather than "Koopa" in the English-language end credits of Japanese releases up until Super Mario World (1990). His Korean name is not Gukbap, but Kupa (쿠파), a phonetic round-trip translation. In Japanese dialogue from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996) and Super Mario 64 (1996) onward, Bowser refers to himself using the archaic first-person pronoun wagahai (ワガハイ), a term associated with aristocracy used in Japanese fiction to convey arrogance and self-aggrandizement.
For the North American release of Super Mario Bros., which introduced the anglicized spelling "Koopa" for his turtle subjects, the game's manual introduced the character as "Bowser, King of the Koopa." Nintendo of America had outsourced the manual to an advertising agency, which made up several of the localized names, including "Princess Toadstool" for Peach. It remains unconfirmed how he received the English name "Bowser", though Matthew Byrd of Den of Geek noted several theories: that it was a popular pet name at the time and the character's spiked cuffs evoked a large pet; that whoever renamed him liked the "B" sound of Bibinba, one of the names Miyamoto had considered; or that it was an ironic use of the Norman surname "Bowser" ("good sir"). The character's name is coincidentally shared with Doug Bowser, who served as president of Nintendo of America from 2019 to 2025. Nintendo lampooned the shared name during its E3 2019 Nintendo Direct broadcast, in which the character Bowser walked onstage wearing a necktie after mistakenly assuming he had been appointed president of Nintendo of America.
After being represented primarily through synthesized roars and stock sound effects in 1990s titles, Bowser received full English voice acting in a mainline game from Scott Burns in Super Mario Sunshine (2002). Kenny James subsequently assumed the role as Bowser's primary voice actor for subsequent releases, continuing to voice the character in modern titles such as Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023).
Bowser is the King of the Koopas, a turtle-like species that inhabits the world of the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser differs physically from the rest of the Koopa clan, which consists mainly of bipedal tortoises. He possesses a large spiked turtle shell, horns, a draconic muzzle with fangs, taloned fingers, three clawed toes on each padded foot, spiked cuffs, red eyes, and a mane of bright red hair. He has immense physical strength, is nearly indestructible, can breathe fire, and can leap high despite his bulk. He is also accomplished in dark magic, using it for teleportation, summoning objects, generating electricity, or metamorphosis.
Bowser aspires to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom and routinely kidnaps Princess Peach. In several entries he attempts to force Peach into marriage, such as in Super Paper Mario (2007) and Super Mario Odyssey (2017). Although he is a menacing antagonist in the mainline platformers, in the Mario role-playing games he frequently exhibits a comical, blustering personality and rallies his minions while allying with the heroes.
Originally in Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988), the seven Koopalings were introduced as Bowser's children. Bowser Jr. was later introduced as Bowser's son in Super Mario Sunshine (2002), while the Koopalings were subsequently recharacterized as a gang of Bowser's minions. In a 2012 interview with Game Informer, Miyamoto stated, "Our current story is that the seven Koopalings are not Bowser's children. Bowser's only child is Bowser Jr., and we do not know who the mother is." Since infancy, Bowser has been raised and attended to by the elderly Magikoopa Kamek, who serves as his caretaker and royal advisor.
Bowser debuted in Super Mario Bros. (1985) and returned in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (1986), where he waits at the end of each castle over a pit of lava until Mario drops him into the molten pit below. According to the original game's manual, the Koopa, a tribe of turtles skilled in black magic, overran the Mushroom Kingdom and turned its people into stones, bricks, and plants, and Bowser holds Princess Toadstool captive because she is the only one able to reverse the spell. After being absent from Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988) and Super Mario Land (1989), Bowser returned in Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) as the ruler of Dark Land, commanding an army of wooden tanks and propeller airships alongside the Koopalings as a diversion to kidnap Princess Peach. In Super Mario World (1990), he utilizes mechanized enemies and pilots his airborne Koopa Clown Car.
In the 3D platformer Super Mario 64 (1996), Bowser invades Peach's castle and uses dark magic to trap its residents inside the castle's walls and paintings. The game also recast him as a towering figure far larger than Mario, a scale kept in most later mainline entries. In Super Mario Sunshine (2002), Bowser is depicted with a more comedic, fully voice-acted personality alongside the debuting Bowser Jr., who frames Mario and kidnaps Peach after being told she is his mother. New Super Mario Bros. (2006) marked the debut of Dry Bowser, an undead skeletal form of Bowser resulting from his skin and scales being burned off in lava during the first world's boss fight. Though Bowser is revived in his regular form by Bowser Jr. at the end of the game, Dry Bowser subsequently became a recurring standalone boss and playable character across the franchise.
In Super Mario Galaxy (2007), Bowser uproots Peach's castle into outer space and plans to rule the cosmos from his Galaxy Reactor. He serves as the final boss of New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009), New Super Mario Bros. 2 (2012), and New Super Mario Bros. U (2012), in which magic is used to enlarge him into a giant during the climax. He returns at a gigantic scale in Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010) after utilizing Grand Stars to abduct Peach. In Super Mario 3D Land (2011), Bowser equips minions with Super Leaves to impede Mario. In Super Mario 3D World (2013), Bowser captures the Sprixie Princesses and uses a Super Bell in the final battle to transform into a cat-like form known as "Meowser".
Bowser appears as a placeable boss enemy across multiple historical game styles in Super Mario Maker (2015) and Super Mario Maker 2 (2019). In Super Mario Odyssey (2017), he conducts a series of global heists to steal items for a forced wedding with Peach on the Moon. In the game's climax, Mario throws his sentient hat Cappy onto Bowser, letting the player control him, and in the ending Peach turns down both Bowser and Mario. In the Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021) expansion, Mario teams up with Bowser Jr. across the open world of Lake Lapcat to contend with a gigantic, rampaging version of Bowser corrupted by black paint. In Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023), Bowser uses the power of a Wonder Flower in the Flower Kingdom to merge with Prince Florian's castle and his Koopa Clown Car, transforming into a flying fortress.
Bowser appears in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996), where Mario defeats him in an opening battle atop a pair of chandeliers, immediately after which a giant sentient sword crashes through the roof of his keep. Bowser later joins Mario's party as a playable character to reclaim his castle from the Smithy Gang. In the Paper Mario series, he steals the magical Star Rod to make himself invincible and kidnap Peach as the main villain of Paper Mario (2000), serves as a comical playable character in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) in intermission segments where he mismanages his army, and joins Mario, Peach, and Luigi as a playable hero against Count Bleck after a forced wedding in Super Paper Mario (2007). After serving as the antagonist who shatters the Sticker Comet in Paper Mario: Sticker Star (2012) and being possessed by black paint to steal the Big Paint Stars in Paper Mario: Color Splash (2016), a folded Bowser allies with Mario in Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020) after King Olly turns Bowser's minions into origami Folded Soldiers.
In the Mario & Luigi series, Bowser reluctantly allies with the brothers in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003) to recover Princess Peach's stolen voice from the witch Cackletta so he can kidnap her safely, before suffering amnesia and being possessed by Cackletta's spirit to form "Bowletta". In the time-travel sequel Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (2005), Bowser and his infant counterpart Baby Bowser team up against the Mario brothers. Bowser stars as the lead playable protagonist of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009), in which the villain Fawful tricks him into inhaling Mario, Luigi, and the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom, prompting the brothers to navigate Bowser's insides to assist him as he battles Fawful. In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (2013), Bowser partners with the bat king Antasma on Pi'illo Island before betraying him to claim the Dream Stone and become the final boss. He subsequently partners with his paper counterpart, Paper Bowser, as the co-antagonist of the crossover Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (2015), and wages a three-way conflict with his army against the Mario brothers and the villain Zokket across the world of Concordia in Mario & Luigi: Brothership (2024).
Bowser has appeared in nearly all of the Mario spin-off games. In the Mario Kart series, beginning with Super Mario Kart (1992), he is typically categorized as a heavyweight driver characterized by high top speed and low acceleration, with variations of his themed circuit, "Bowser's Castle", appearing across the franchise. In the Mario Party series, he traditionally serves as a board hazard on "Bowser Spaces" who steals coins or stars from players, while also appearing as a playable character controlled via the Wii U GamePad in the asymmetrical "Bowser Party" mode of Mario Party 10 (2015) and as a standard playable contender in Super Mario Party (2018) and Super Mario Party Jamboree (2024). He is also the story-mode villain of Mario Party DS (2007), in which he invites the cast to a feast presented as an apology, then traps them and shrinks them to miniature size. He is also a playable power character across multiple Mario sports franchises, including Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Mario Strikers Charged, Mario Superstar Baseball, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. In the story mode of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (2019), he, Mario, Sonic, and Doctor Eggman are pulled into a video game based on the 1964 Summer Olympics, housed in a console of Eggman's making.
In educational titles, Bowser serves as the antagonist of Mario Is Missing! (1992), in which he captures Mario at his Antarctic fortress while scheming to steal global landmarks to fund hairdryers to melt the continent's ice, and Mario's Time Machine (1993), in which Mario travels through time to return historical artifacts that Bowser has stolen for his personal museum. He is also the antagonist of Hotel Mario (1994), in which Mario and Luigi make their way through hotels run by Bowser's underlings to save Princess Toadstool.
Other spin-offs where Bowser serves as the primary villain include Mario Pinball Land (2004), where he captures a transformed Princess Peach in his castle, and Super Princess Peach (2005), where his army captures Mario and Luigi using the Vibe Scepter before Peach defeats him. He also appears as the final opponent in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition (2015).
Beyond traditional villain roles, Bowser appears as a playable contender in its international sequel Fortune Street (2011), a sequel to the Japan-only title Itadaki Street DS (2007). He also appears as Dr. Bowser in the mobile title Dr. Mario World (2019). In crossover tactical RPGs, Bowser serves as the corrupted final boss of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (2017) before joining Mario's party as a playable hero in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (2022).
In the Yoshi series, Bowser is the main antagonist of Yoshi's Safari (1993) and Yoshi Topsy-Turvy (2004). Across the franchise, he frequently appears as his infant counterpart, Baby Bowser, debuting as the final boss of the prequel Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995), returning as the main villain who steals the Super Happy Tree in Yoshi's Story (1997), and appearing alongside his time-traveling adult self in both Yoshi's Island DS (2006) and Yoshi's New Island (2014).
Bowser has been a playable fighter in every installment of the Super Smash Bros. series since Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001). In Melee, a larger, monstrous form of him known as Giga Bowser appears as the hidden final boss of the game's Adventure Mode. Beginning with Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008), Bowser transforms into Giga Bowser as his Final Smash, a powerful special attack that lets the player control the creature for a short time. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) reworked the move so that Bowser grows to an enormous size in the stage's background and the player aims his punch.
Bowser has also made cameo appearances in other Nintendo games. In Nintendo's 1991 Super Nintendo Entertainment System version of SimCity, Bowser replaces the original computer game's generic Godzilla-style monster as the random "Monster" disaster, rampaging across the player's city and destroying infrastructure. In the puzzle game Tetris Attack (1996), a Westernized adaptation of the Japanese Super Famicom game Panel de Pon featuring characters from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Bowser places Yoshi's friends under an evil spell, forcing Yoshi to rescue them and battle Bowser's minions. In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), the ranch characters Talon and Malon wear brooches shaped like Bowser's head, and a portrait of Bowser is hidden behind a courtyard window in Hyrule Castle. Under the name "Hammer Slam Bowser", he appears alongside Donkey Kong as a guest playable character and amiibo figurine in Skylanders: SuperChargers (2015). In the 2014 Wii U release of PlatinumGames' Bayonetta, a Princess Peach costume makes the title character summon Bowser's fist in place of a demon.
Bowser first appeared outside of video games in the 1986 anime film Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!, based on Super Mario Bros., in which he was credited as "King Koopa" and voiced by Zainichi Korean singer and media personality Akiko Wada. In the film, he turns the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom into inanimate objects and plans to forcibly marry Peach on Friday the 13th as revenge for her rejection of his proposal, before Mario and Luigi defeat him using three Power-Ups to restore the Mushroom Kingdom. He subsequently appeared as the antagonist in the 1989 original video animation series Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros., voiced by Masaharu Satō across three episodes adapting the folk tales Momotarō, Issun-bōshi, and Snow White.
The DIC Entertainment animated television series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (1989), The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990), and Super Mario World (1991) feature a green, crown-wearing version of Bowser billed as "King Koopa" and voiced by Harvey Atkin. This version of the character was portrayed in live-action by Christopher Hewett in a 1989 Ice Capades broadcast, and by Christopher Collins and later Patrick Pinney in the syndicated children's television series King Koopa's Kool Kartoons (1989–1990). He also appeared as the primary antagonist in print adaptations, including the Super Mario Bros. issues of the Nintendo Comics System, the Nintendo Adventure Books, and Nintendo Power's 1992 comic serial Super Mario Adventures, in which he schemes to force Princess Peach to marry him while she takes up arms to resist his army.
Dennis Hopper portrayed President "King" Koopa in the 1993 live-action film Super Mario Bros. Reimagined from the games' giant turtle into a humanoid dictator descended from dinosaurs, Koopa rules Dinohattan, a city in a parallel dimension where dinosaurs evolved into humans. He abducts Princess Daisy to recover her missing meteorite fragment in an effort to merge his dimension with the human world, before being defeated by Mario and Luigi.
Bowser appears as one of the video game villains attending a "Bad-Anon" support group in the 2012 animated film Wreck-It Ralph. According to director Rich Moore, the writers envisioned the Bad-Anon meeting with Bowser as a central presence early on, and Nintendo was enthusiastic toward his inclusion, stating in Moore's words, "If there is a group that is dedicated to helping the bad guy characters in video games then Bowser must be in that group!"
Bowser was voiced by Jack Black in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026). In the first film, Bowser plots to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom using a Super Star he has obtained unless Princess Peach agrees to marry him. His plans are foiled by Mario and Luigi, who use the Super Star to defeat him before Peach and Toad shrink him with a Mini Mushroom and imprison him. The film also made Bowser the subject of an Internet meme with the song "Peaches", co-written and performed in character by Black, in which Bowser professes his love for Peach. In the 2026 sequel, Bowser Jr. rescues his shrunken father from the Mushroom Kingdom and convinces him to return to villainy. During the final battle, Bowser falls into a pit of lava and emerges as Dry Bowser to fight Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi alongside Bowser Jr. before the pair are defeated and taken into custody by Fox McCloud.
Due largely to the success of the Mario franchise, Bowser has become one of the most iconic and recognizable video game antagonists of all time. IGN placed him at No. 2 out of 100 on its list of greatest video game villains, and GamePro placed him at No. 9 out of 47. GameSpot listed him at No. 9 in its "Top 10 Video Game Villains" article, stating, "Of all the villains to make an appearance on this list, Bowser... has got to be the most interesting," adding, "While some people say Bowser's life may have gotten into a rut, the man has simply refined his game down to an everyday thing. He's focused, he's dedicated, and worst of all, he's patient." Bowser ranked first on GameDaily's list of top 10 Nintendo characters that deserve their own games, which noted that if Yoshi and Wario received standalone titles, Bowser should as well. GameDaily also ranked him sixth on its top 10 Smash Bros. characters list and included him among gaming's most persistent villains. IGN editor Craig Harris described Bowser as a household name, and Jesse Schedeen of IGN named him one of the "oldest villains in gaming history, not to mention one of the most iconic." Empire ranked him as the 23rd-greatest video game character, while Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2013 ranked Bowser first in its list of top 50 villains.
Bowser's role in Super Mario Galaxy received significant praise. Eurogamer editor Margaret Robertson commented that after years of being a "comedy villain", Galaxy put him back at his "scaly, scabrous best". PALGN editor Chris Sell called him the best boss in Mario Galaxy, stating that it was not just because the battles with him were "superb, screen filling affairs", but also because he was "back to being mean again". Nintendo World Report editor Aaron Kaluszka remarked that battling Bowser had never been "this intense and engaging". IGN editor Cam Shea praised his physical presentation in Super Mario Galaxy, describing him as "imposing and weighty", while IGN's Matt Casamassina highlighted the visual detail of the characters, citing Bowser in particular and noting how his "funky red fur waggles in the wind".
Bowser's starring role in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story garnered widespread acclaim. Eurogamer editor Christian Donlan commented that "After years of picking a path carefully around threats, jumping out of harm's way, and tackling challengers mostly from above, it's a pleasure to put those cares aside and relish a few hours of spiky, tortoise-shelled power." Destructoid editor James Stephanie Sterling described Bowser's gameplay as "brilliant comic relief" and praised the writing of his oversized ego. RPGamer editor Michael Cunningham praised Bowser for "stealing the show", while Nintendo World Report editor Pedro Hernandez wrote that the script made the franchise's iconic characters "even more enduring, especially Bowser".
NGamer editor Matthew Castle noted that while all Mario RPGs make good use of Bowser, Bowser's Inside Story was the first where he took center stage. Wired editor Chris Kohler called Bowser's segments funnier than Mario and Luigi's, and Giant Bomb's Brad Shoemaker noted that playing as him gave players an amusing glimpse into his megalomania. IGN's Craig Harris called the game Bowser's "big break", while critics from 1UP.com, GamePro, GameSpy, and GamesRadar+ commended his transition into a comedic, short-tempered anti-hero.
Some Super Mario 64 fans joked that Mario supposedly shouts, "So long, gay Bowser!" when throwing him a great distance. In April 2019, Charles Martinet, Mario's voice actor, tweeted that Mario says, "So long, King-a Bowser!" In the Japanese Rumble Pak-compatible version, as well as Super Mario 64 DS and Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Mario instead says "Buh-bye!".
In the 2018 short fan comic The Super Crown's Some Spicy New Mario Lore posted on DeviantArt and Twitter, Bowser uses a Super Crown to transform into a monstrously sinister woman resembling Peach, whom fans named Bowsette. The character subsequently went viral, and the official Super Mario Odyssey art book later revealed that Nintendo had previously conceptualized an unused mechanic in which Bowser used a hat to possess Peach's body. In 2015, an alligator snapping turtle discovered in the Amur River became an internet sensation for its resemblance to Bowser. Additionally, "Bowser Day" became a recurring social media trend on August 4.