Characters / Super Mario Bros.: Bowser

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• '80s Hair: Sports an impressive red mane that spikes out behind his head, almost a bit like Godzilla's dorsal fins.
• Absurdly Youthful Father: Bowser is old enough to be the father of a child as young as Bowser Jr, but if the Koopalings are also Bowser's children (such as during the Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World periods, until 2012, where it turned out it WASN'T the case), it complicates things. Bowser is only a few years older than Mario (who is 24-26), and the Koopalings seem to be teenagers or young adults.
• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Most of the time, he only wears a spiked collar and spiked bands on his wrists and upper arms. However, some games give him full outfits; in Super Mario Odyssey he wears a white tuxedo, in Mario Tennis Aces he has a DLC outfit consisting of a shirt with flames on it and shorts, and in Dr. Mario World he wears a doctor's coat like everyone else. He also had a white tuxedo in Super Paper Mario, though it was missing pants and shoes and generally wasn't as elaborate as the suit in Odyssey.
• Achilles' Heel: Bowser is extremely tough and it seems nothing in the universe can stop him, except the Mario Brothers (or Princess Peach).
• Accidental Hero: In Mario Golf Super Rush, Bowser built his golf course around and in the domain of the Snow King, with the intent of using the course for a showdown with Mario. He would end up defeating the Snow King by using his Power of Flame to revive the volcano, melting the snow in the Highlands. The previously legendary hero even regards Bowser himself as a hero.
• Acrofatic: In spite of his body build, he can jump as high as Mario, among other things. In fact, he often is able to jump higher than Mario. He can even run faster than Mario in Super Mario 64 (but only when charging) and Super Mario Galaxy. Of course, it helps that most of his bulk seems to be muscle instead of fat, not unlike how The Kingpin's built. Bowser is also a very good dancer as shown in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix where he can breakdance and spin on his shell without any trouble.
• Actually a Doombot:
  • Used in his first appearance — if you defeat the Bowsers in the first seven kingdoms with fireballs, they transform into a different enemy, the implication being that it was one of Bowser's troops disguised as him. Later games such as Super Mario 3D Land would revive this trick for the early encounters with Bowser, with 3D Land giving each imposter a tanooki tail.
  • Bowser uses a decoy in Mario Party: Island Tour. Once you beat it, the real Bowser ambushes you and knocks you off the tower.
  • There's also the one in Luigi's Mansion, except it's meant to throw the player for a loop as Bowser has absolutely nothing to do with King Boo's plans for the plumbers.
• Adipose Rex: He's the king of the Koopa Kingdom, and also usually portrayed as fairly rotund. Especially early in the franchise's history, where he sported a noticeably round gut.
• Advancing Boss of Doom:
  • In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, after defeating Bowser the first time, Kamek uses his magic to make Bowser bigger. Mario must avoid Bowser as he chases him through a lava filled level until he reaches a button and presses it to make Bowser fall into the lava.
  • In New Super Mario Bros. 2, after defeating Bowser (or Dry Bowser), the Koopalings use their magic to make him bigger. Mario must climb up platforms while avoiding Bowser's fire breath and claw swipes until he reaches a switch to make Bowser fall.
  • Most notably in Super Mario 3D World. The final battle is mainly Mario and co. attempting to climb the tower while avoiding Bowser (or Meowser), who constantly attacks them in an attempt to knock them off. And when he's been knocked off the tower the first time, he'll use a Double Cherry powerup to split into multiple copies of himself to continue the assault from practically every angle. The music also becomes faster and more intense as you near the top.
• Aesop Amnesia: Bowser really ought to know better than to kidnap Princess Peach, but where's the fun in that?
• Affably Evil: A really peculiar example. Typically, Bowser is a Card-Carrying Villain and an egomaniac, but he cares deeply for his son and will drop his grudge with Mario if the situation calls for it. The few moments we don't see him being a villain (such as in The Origami King), he can be respectful. He also shows a respectful side towards Mario in other games such as Galaxy, where he openly says he's grateful having Mario as his arch-enemy.
• And Now You Must Marry Me: This is his plan for Peach, since he both wants control over the Mushroom Kingdom and to be with his Villainous Crush. This is especially apparent in Super Mario Odyssey, where he outright intends on forcibly marrying her.
• Angry, Angry Hippos: His facial features resemble a hippopotamus and he's an ill-tempered brute.
• Anthropomorphic Shift: The original Bowser was this great hulking brute who lumbered around like a dinosaur and maneuvered like a drunken hippo... and then the GameCube era began and Bowser was redesigned, now capable of walking erect and demonstrating increasingly impressive athletic stunts. The original, hulking Bowser is never shown any more, so it's not uncommon to find people who think that Super Smash Bros. made him more monstrous in appearance rather than realizing it's actually maintaining his original character design. And even then, 3DS/Wii U updated that Bowser to be more upright and athletic, in-line with his newer look.
• Anti-Hero: When someone else is trying to take over the world, he will sometimes work with Mario. He makes it clear that his motives for doing so are entirely selfish.
• Anti-Villain: Invoked by Miyamoto. He believes the minimum story for a Mario game is fighting a villain, beating him, and then finding out the villain isn't so bad after all, which would invoke a type I (Noble Anti-Villain).
• Arch-Enemy: He and Mario have been fighting since they were children, with no end in sight. Mario & Luigi: Brothership exaggerates this even further, as despite being in the middle of a clash with Zokket's forces, Bowser immediately breaks away from it to attack Mario and Luigi as soon as he sees them. The same game also deconstructs this trope, as Mario and Luigi go to Bowser's new base just to politely ask for some of his berries, only for Bowser to attack them just for being there, giving Zokket's forces enough time to kidnap Bowser Jr. while he's distracted with the Marios. Ultimately, Brothership shows that Bowser would be much more competent and successful if he could just let them go.
• Art Evolution: In the early days of the franchise, Bowser's skin tone varied between orange, yellow, and green, he had stubby limbs, may have three fingers and a thumb or four, and he may or may not have a crown. By time of Mario 64 his general appearance of orange skin, three fingers, and no crown was set, and by the time of Galaxy he was codified as having normal-size arms and legs. Also through this time period other minor details of appearance (the exact color of his hair, how his spiked bracers looked and how he wore them) were locked in.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Whenever he has grown to an enormous size.
• Back from the Dead: His Dry Bowser form, which was created when he actually died in the first battle of New Super Mario Bros..
• Badass Arm-Fold: He does this pose in the artworks of Super Mario World, Super Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Super Mario 3D World. Also in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, just before he finishes off Dark Bowser.
• Badass Army: The Koopa Troop has accomplished some impressive feats over the years. They've conquered the Mushroom Kingdom twice, assaulted the Star Spirits, and stolen from Rosalina, who has goddess-like powers. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story Bowser can summon them to aid him in battle. If it weren't for the Mario Bros., Bowser would probably win.
• Badass Cape: In at least two pieces of Super Mario Bros. 3 promotional material, Bowser is portrayed as having a purple cape, along with a gem on his collar. This carried over, sans gem, to his appearance in the Super Mario Amada anime.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Super Mario Odyssey has him sport a badass white suit with a matching top hat for his forced marriage to Peach.
• Badbutt: Typically, he can come across as this — being one of the more extreme characters in a saccharine franchise. He's also especially this in the RPGs, with his hammy commentary and incredulous feats.
• The Bad Guy Wins:
  • In Mario Party: Island Tour, there's no way to beat him: get to the top floor of his tower and he knocks you off.
  • In the very first cutscene of Super Mario Odyssey, he straight-up defeats Mario and throws him off his airship, with Mario's cap being shredded by one of said airship's propellers for good measure.
• Benevolent Boss: His minions don't follow him out of fear; they follow him out of respect and admiration. They are scared of his explosive temper in case they screw up, his son included, but for all of Bowser's sound and fury, his punishments usually consist of angry shouting, menial labor duties, or grounding (again, for his son). In Super Mario RPG, he does not demand the defectors he finds to return to his command, but is happy for their new lives, and nearly all of his subjects happily return to his service once he gets his castle back. It's telling that villains in other RPG entries need to either ally with Bowser or brainwash his minions if they want access to his forces — while they might grumble about their king, they will never betray him.
• Berserk Button: He's liable to start ranting and raving at the mere mention of Mario's name. Unfortunately, his minions love to gossip about the plumber, so this happens more often than he, or his minions, would expect.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Bowser is almost always boisterous and hammy, but can be very competent or threatening in many of his appearances. He has attempted to, and nearly succeeded in, destroying and remaking all of reality in Super Mario Galaxy, and literally punches an Eldritch Abomination to death in Bowser's Inside Story. If he didn't have Mario as an opponent, he'd be unstoppable. Cracked even has a list of 5 Reasons Bowser Is The Most Successful Video Game Character.
• Big Bad: Of the series and entire franchise (for most games). He never stepped down from the position in any of Super Mario main games, and his total appearance across the franchise easily outnumbers any other Big Bad's, including his predecessor Donkey Kong.
• Big Bad Wannabe: In the various RPGs, save the first Paper Mario, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where he is often put into the hero position to stop the game's Big Bad. Averted in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, where he solidly outclasses Antasma for the role of the main antagonist, especially since M&L veterans have probably got used to him playing second-fiddle to the RPG villain of the week. He's also the Big Bad in Paper Mario: Color Splash, but is Not Himself due to being corrupted by the Black Paint.
• Big Eater:
  • In a Bowser Mini-Game from Mario Party 4 titled "Fruits of Doom", the objective is to deliver the fruit Bowser orders to him. He always orders 10-11 pieces, and all of them are almost as large as his entire head. And he eats every single one he receives in one bite without slowing down.
  • After defeating Midbus in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Bowser is presented with a victory feast. He boasts that he's going to eat it all prior to the food being force-fed to him.
  • In the "Gain 10,000 Bananas" event triggered on landing on a Bowser Space in DK's Jungle Ruins in Mario Party 9, Bowser will refuse to give the player the bananas on account of having gotten hungry enough to eat all 10000 of them.
• Big Entrance: Naturally, befitting his royal status, Bowser's arrival is always treated as magnificent.
• Big Fancy Castle:
  • Bowser's castles are usually large, obstacle-filled fortresses with lava pools, checkerboard floors, can be mazelike on certain occasions and tend to carry statues or banners with the king's visage on them. Early Mario Kart games tended to have as many as 3-4 tracks set in the castle while later games usually make it one of the longer and more complicated tracks to race through.
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder takes it to an absurd degree by having Bowser himself turn into a castle.
• Big Fun: The final stage of Super Mario 3D World is an amusement park built in his own image. In most of the spinoffs, he's this, but it's taken up to eleven with Mario Party 10, where the giant Koopa is having a party, and everyone is forcibly invited.
• The Big Guy: Serves as this when on Mario's team, as well as the Boisterous Bruiser.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Bowser has a pair of big, red and bushy eyebrows that contribute to his Obviously Evil appearance by always curving downwards.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Often in the RPGs, which play up his hamminess.
• Boss-Arena Idiocy: A notable offender, as almost every game where he's a boss has him getting defeated by axe switches, spiked bombs, destroyable floors, etc., that are all present in his arenas for no discernible reason.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: He falls victim to this in Bowser's Fury.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: He sometimes does this, ranging from telling Mario to "keep that control stick/Touch Screen smokin'" to flying into the screen at the end of Superstar Saga.
• Breakout Villain: Mario fought with other villains such as Donkey Kong, Foreman Spike, and other assorted baddies before Bowser showed in the franchise's most popular game. After that, he became the series' main nemesis. Due to the series' success, he's become one of the most memorable and recognizable Nintendo villains in all of gaming. He's also got an increasing number of playable appearances; from being a party member in some of the RPGs; as the main character of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and the Bowser-centric Bowser Party in Mario Party 10; and finally, to being a playable Capture enemy in the last segment of Super Mario Odyssey, marking the first time he's playable in a main series title.
• Breath Weapon: Makes use of fire breath in almost all of his appearances — but, strangely, not once in Super Mario RPG.
• Bright Is Not Good: A giant ox-turtle with dayglo yellow scales, a bright green shell and fiery red hair that rides in a goofy clown copter. Despite this description, he's very credible as a threat on just about any scale he wants to work on. He has an especially great fondness for lighting up his castle with neon lights that would make a five star Las Vegas hotel look like a truck stop.
• Brutish Bulls: He has strong ox motifs, especially through his horns, and is a powerful and short-tempered king. In fact, his design was specifically inspired by Alakazam the Great's take on the Ox Demon King.
• Butt-Monkey: While not having it nearly as bad as Luigi does, he does have some unfortunate moments. This was played straight with several of the RPGs prior to the 2010s, with Bowser regularly being treated like a chump; TTYD in particular has him on the receiving end of all sorts of insults and Amusing Injuries as he tries and fails to keep up with Mario.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He loves being evil. This is especially prevalent in the cartoons, where he almost constantly gloats about what an evil villain he is.
• Cartoon Creature: He's a Koopa, but he barely has any resemblance to his own species and isn't readily identifiable with any one other species. At a glance, he looks like a dragon mixed with an ox and turtle, while having features of crocodile and dinosaur sandwiched in.
• Catchphrase: In some games (especially Mario Party), "I'll remember this!"
• Cats Are Mean: As Meowser in Super Mario 3D World.
• Characterization Marches On: Bowser was little more than a Generic Doomsday Villain in the early games of the franchises, owing to their lack of a story. It would only be with Super Mario RPG that he would be begin being developed into a more sympathetic and three-dimensional character, even acting as Deuteragonist in several games.
• The Chessmaster:
  • The first Super Mario Bros. 1 was very straightforward. Fighting your way through Bowser's forces until you faced him. He seemed to have learned his lesson in Super Mario Bros. 3 by sending in the Koopalings to capture the lesser kingdoms and kidnap Peach while Mario and Luigi were busy saving the kings. When the Mario Bros. enter his kingdom he had already prepared his arsenal of tanks and airships in an attempt to stop them.
  • And he's still showing remarkable cunning in Super Mario 3D World. In this game, he's targeting the Sprixie Princesses, to which he's an Outside-Context Problem; only by sheer chance of Mario & Co. stumbling upon a Clear Pipe at the start of the game do they get involved. He doesn't even bother trying anything on Peach, seeing Mario right there and ready to foil his plan on the spot. And during the final battle with him, he finally decides to use Mario's powerups against him.
  • In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, both the Bowsers and the Kameks attempt to kidnap Toadette so she won't interfere when they realize the danger she poses.
  • He's arguably reached his peak come Super Mario Odyssey, becoming a nigh-untouchable mastermind. Throughout the entire game, he is always one step ahead of Mario, to where he's always too late to retrieve the delicate treasures Bowser steals for his wedding with Peach. Bowser even strikes down the Odyssey twice; once after losing a fight and the other via the Lord of Lightning, and ultimately ruins Mario's chances of winning Peach's heart even if he too was rejected. Certainly a step up from the old bridge-and-axe battle strats.
• The Chosen One: Despite being the Big Bad of the series, he's one of the Heroes of Light foretold in the Light Prognoticus, as well as one of the seven Star Children.
• Chubby Chaser: He has only ever had eyes for Peach. However, in a promotion for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, he flirts with her more enthusiastically when she powers up into Elephant Peach, her bigger and stouter form.
• Classic Villain: Represents Ambition, Lust, Pride, and Wrath. He constantly attempts to take over the world and remake it in his image. Also, he always takes the opportunity to kidnap Princess Peach even when doing so is detrimental to his plans. His enemy, Mario, is a Nice Guy who loves helping people, while Bowser is ultimately selfish and seeks control over others. Even when things are going his way, Bowser is always in a sour mood, and when his anger increases, his boss fights become more difficult and intense. He is always beaten because he fails to consider how dangerous Mario and his friends are.
• Climax Boss: He frequently will battle Mario long before his final boss battle.
  • In Super Mario 64, he battles Mario at the end of the first and second sections of Peach's castle.
  • He forms half of the world bosses in Galaxy and Galaxy 2, with Bowser Jr. as the other half.
  • In Super Mario Odyssey, he's fought right after the Wooded Kingdom or Lake Kingdom (depending on where you arrived from second) and strands Mario in the Lost Kingdom afterward.
  • In Mario & Luigi: Brothership even though he’s not the main antagonist, Glohm Bowser is fought during the Final Dungeon Preview, reveals a heavy part of Zokket’s plot and is the point where the game Cerebus Syndrome kicks in.
• Clown Car: Super Mario World features the first appearance of his flying vehicle, in which he keeps himself, the princess, and an immeasurable supply of giant iron boulders to crush Mario with. It even looks like a clown.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: When first introduced in Super Mario Bros. 1, he was this to Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong was a gorilla who kidnapped an ordinary lady and invaded a construction site in New York. He was mostly working alone, and just threw obstacles for Mario to avoid. Bowser is a fire-breathing dragon turtle king who took over the Mushroom Kingdom using an entire army of his own, transformed the Toads into various objects using black magic, and kidnapped the princess of that kingdom in an attempt to keep her from undoing said magic. Unlike Donkey Kong, who was an Anti-Villain attacking out of rage and confusion and later redeemed himself when he grew into Cranky Kong, Bowser truly is evil and stuck around as Mario's constant nemesis throughout the series.
• Cool Airship: He has fleets of airships in his army. Of particular note is his flagship, introduced in the opening of Super Mario Galaxy: which is bigger than most of the other airships and has a bust of his head under the bowsprit. It gets a snazzy purple and white paint job to match its owner's outfit in Super Mario Odyssey.
• Cool Car: Has one in Super Mario 3D World that looks like a mix between a classic convertible and a Hummer Dinger, using it to try and run over Mario and friends. He's so proud of it that he even introduces it with gestures that seem to say "Check out the new wheels, chumps!"
• Cool Chair:
  • He has numerous thrones throughout the series, particularly in the Mario Party series where he has a different one in almost every game. Mario Party 10 takes it to its logical conclusion in the Bowser Challenge mode where the better Bowser's score is, the better the chair he gets.
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2 features a chair that's built like a fortress and practically the size of a small planet (mainly to accommodate Bowser's new size).
• Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: He does this with his son in the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls video, to demonstrate a feature of the app that allows parents to put restrictions on age-inappropriate games.
• Crippling Overspecialization: He is always the most extreme power/heavyweight character in the spin-off games at the cost of everything else. This ends leaving his stats to have a lower total than the likes of Donkey Kong or Wario.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: A variation of this. Most of the time his majesty is more brawn than brains and typically doesn't think things through except in certain cases. And of course, there's the fact that he has a tendency to get caught in his own traps. But still, underestimating this brute is the last thing you want to do. He may not be the brightest at times, but he's still the king and he'll gladly remind you why.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Almost all of his fights against someone other than Mario, Luigi, or Yoshi are incredibly one-sided in his favor. (Rawk Hawk, anyone?) Most of these happen offscreen, though.
• Dark Is Evil: He uses dark magic and resides in dark, ominous castles. Dark is also his primary element in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition.
• A Day in the Limelight: In Mario Party 10, playing as him and spoiling the progress for the other players is the main feature of the game.
• Deader than Dead: In New Super Mario Bros., after his Family-Unfriendly Death in World 1, he eventually returns as Dry Bowser for Revenge during World 8... only to be defeated once again. But this is ultimately subverted: Bowser Jr. manages to revive what's left of Dry Bowser into a souped-up version of his flesh-and-blood self.
• Deadpan Snarker: On occasion, although the "deadpan" does throw this into question. His DiC version, however, fits the bill more, with his raspier voice.
• Death Glare: In Mario Superstar Baseball, each batting character has a unique animation for getting beaned by the ball. Only DK and Bowser manage to stay on their feet after taking a blow. Bowser shoots the pitcher a look as if to say "You really went there?" (DK goes after your ass).
• Decomposite Character: Dry Bowser in various spinoffs and Paper Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam are their own character as opposed to originally being him undead and with an Art Shift, respectively.
• Defeat Means Playable: If you defeat Bowser in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, he will join your team.
• Dem Bones: Dry Bowser, the koopa king's equivalant form to his Dry Bones minions.
• Demonic Possession:
  • Bowser is frequently on the receiving end of this, most notably in the RPGs, where it happens to him nearly as frequently as it happens to King Dedede.
  • A heroic variant occurs in Super Mario Odyssey, which finally gives Mario himself the chance to do this via Capturing. He does this to use Bowser's strength to rescue Peach from the crumbling Moon Blocks.
• Depending on the Writer: ...or, more accurately, type of game.
  • The platformer games portray him as a legitimate threat to the Mushroom Kingdom and Princess Peach, and a truly terrifying foe. Spin-off titles may keep to that, or portray him as a Dumb Muscle Anti-Villain treated like a recurring nuisance whom no one takes THAT seriously anymore, and he'd team up with Mario and Peach to battle more dangerous threats. At his highest in Super Mario Galaxy, he's an aspiring Galactic Conqueror who dreams of ruling a Koopa Empire that spans the cosmos; at his lowest in Super Mario RPG, he's an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain who everyone knows Mario can beat without breaking a sweat, and he often cries to himself about how much he misses his castle.
  • It's inconsistent to whether or not he has a Villainous Crush on Peach and kidnaps her because he wants to force her to marry him, or if he abducts her just because he wants to take over her kingdom (granted, these aren't mutually exclusive options). When she's a playable character, Bowser will attack her just as fiercely as Mario with the same apparent intent to kill her.
  • His abilities vary as well. It's fairly universal that Bowser has great physical prowess; he's super strong, extremely durable, and can leap great distances. But his magical prowess varies wildly, from just having some magical minor powers like shapeshifting and teleporting, to being a full Evil Sorcerer. Various games justify this inconsistency by demonstrating Bowser has access to magical enhancements and artifacts (the Power Stars, Kamek's spells, a Magic Wand, etc.) that allow for his increased usage of magic.
  • His portrayals in the Mario Party series merit mention: Sometimes, he's a Card-Carrying Villain who enjoys tormenting Mario and friends, other times, it's suggested that deep down he actually enjoys their company, and shows this in his own twisted ways and some games suggest that he's fine with taking part in the parties (or, in 7's case, acting out of a perceived slight of not having been invited). His competency also varies: In Mario Party 3 he's a comic relief villain who gets hit with The Worf Effect via Daisy and Waluigi while in Mario Party 10's "Bowser Party" mode, he's an unstoppable menace hellbent on defeating Team Mario.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: His motivation for attacking the Mushroom Kingdom besides imposing his rule on the world, and eventually the entire universe (besides his Villainous Crush on Peach). New Super Mario Bros. U shows what he'll do with the Mushroom Kingdom once he has it: turn it into a classic World 8 Lethal Lava Land, just like his home kingdom.
• Determinator: One of Bowser's defining traits, as stated by his image quote, is his sheer refusal to give up. No matter how many times the Mario Bros. trounce him and foil his plans, no matter how many times he's beaten up, humiliated, or dunked in lava (bonus points for all three), he will always come back to try again. Even stripping him to the bone only makes him even tougher and just as determined to win.
• Didn't Think This Through: A lot of Bowser's failings are a direct result of him simply not paying attention to details, lack of savvy from sheer arrogance, or just grabbing the Villain Ball.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?:
  • He literally punches out an Eldritch Abomination in Bowser's Inside Story.
  • In Super Mario 3D World, due to Rosalina being playable, Bowser and any one of his troops can kill her.
• Difficult, but Awesome: Bowser is an expert-level character in his various playable appearances in the spin-off titles.
  • His top speed and weight in Mario Kart makes him able to plow through the competition and lead the pack, but extremely hard to recover the moment the player screw up.
  • His Helper Skill in Puzzle & Dragons demand that the player makes a combo of six or more to make short work of the enemies with high HP and ATK stats, but he has nonexistent recovery and his regular skill takes twenty turns to charge in a game where most skills are fully charged between ten and fourteen turns.
  • Bowser is the ultimate Mighty Glacier in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers whose good chemistry with his minions carries his team to victory as a star player, but he also has one of the highest amounts of bad chemistry links on the roster, such that players who don't pay attention to team composition and the chemistry system will struggle to win.
• Dishing Out Dirt:
  • In Super Mario RPG, Bowser can learn the spell "Crusher", which summons a sharp rock beneath an enemy.
  • In Super Mario Galaxy, one attack in the second phase of the final boss battle has Bowser surround himself with rock and roll towards Mario or Luigi.
• Distressed Dude: In Mario Golf Super Rush, he is accidentally knocked out by pollen from the Tree of Sleep in the bouquet given to him by Bowser Jr., with the Snow King promptly freezing him in a sheet of ice. When Junior eventually frees him with a Fire Flower, Bowser arrives as the player defeats the Snow King to finish him off.
• Dracolich: Dry Bowser is a giant undead fire-breathing toothy reptile, so he's close enough.
• Draconic Humanoid: He's a giant, horned reptile-man who can breathe fire, but he's nominally a member of the turtle-like Koopas, complete with a spikey turtle shell.
• Dragons Prefer Princesses: Bowser has some dragon-like features and constantly kidnaps, and is possibly in love with, Peach. In Super Mario Run, Bowser doubles down for a two-princesses-for-one deal, as he captures Princess Daisy for the first time.
• Dragon Tamer: In Super Mario Odyssey, Bowser manages to somehow command the Ruined Dragon, a massive, lightning-breathing dragon who serves as the main boss of the Ruined Kingdom.
• The Dreaded: Everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom who isn't Mario, Luigi, or Peach is terrified of him. In Super Mario RPG, Bowser's presence in the party actually frightens away his former Mooks who have defected to Smithy. Yes, his mooks fear him more than they fear the living weapons factory from beyond the stars. It should be noted that Bowser is always portrayed as a Benevolent Boss, and his mooks are still scared of him. Played for Laughs in Super Mario Run, where a mere statue of Bowser is enough for some Toads to cower in fear just by looking at it. Its description also says that the statue gets even scarier at night.
• Dressed to Plunder: As Capt. Bowser in Mario Party 2's Pirate Land.
• Dual Boss: Him and Bowser Jr. in Super Mario Sunshine, New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. U.
• Dub Name Change: From King Koopa to Bowser. Unlike with Toadstool, this change still endures to this day, and English-speakers will be hard-pressed to think of him as anything else. Interestingly, unlike most cases of this, his name wasn't always changed from the beginning, as older fans will remember knowing him as King Koopa because of the cartoons (despite being listed as "Bowser, King of the Koopas" in the original manual).
• Dumb Muscle: Seriously downplayed. Bowser isn't really dumb, but this side of him comes in the RPGs, where he doesn't show much common sense but is one of the strongest characters. Emphasis on muscle. However this is actually totally averted in the main series, where Bowser is shown to be a Genius Bruiser who shows a lot of cunning and comes very close to succeeding most of the time only to be stopped by the equally powerful and clever Mario.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • In his very first appearance, Super Mario Bros. 1, he is stated to be a Sorcerous Overlord who practices black magic. Most depictions afterward have largely phased this out, preferring mainly intimidation and brute strength over magic. That said, some games (particularly the Mario Party games) do give him some degree of dark magic, although he rarely uses it for direct combat. Super Mario 64 also gives him a teleportation move and abilities that alter the battlefield, as well as surreal castle traps such as the changing Peach portrait and the endless staircase.
  • In the first game, later level Bowsers would throw a ton of hammers like the Hammer Bros. Besides The Lost Levels and New Super Mario Bros. 2, this move is dropped in later games.
• Edible Theme Naming: Bowser's Japanese name, クッパ Kuppa, was named after the Japanese word for 국밥 gukbap, a Korean soup with rice. Creator Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to name him after a dish in Korean cuisine, and also had considered naming him ユッケ Yukke (after 육회 yukhoe) or ビビンバ Bibinba (after 비빔밥 bibimbap). This distinction is lost in English, where his primary name is Bowser, and even his surname is Koopa instead of Gukbap (or the pre-2000 transliteration Kukpap). The distinction is also lost in Korean itself, where he is instead localized as 쿠파 Kupa, a round-trip translation through the Japanese name. As a result of the character being named Kuppa, the word in the Japanese language is now probably better associated with Bowser than with the Korean dish, as hilariously evident in Google Translate's English translation of the Japanese Wikipedia article for gukbap.
• The Emperor: While he's never referred to as such, Bowser is actually an emperor, as he has a massive empire that he is trying to expand and even has kings as minions.
• Enemy Mine: In some of the spinoffs, mostly because he can't stand the notion of anyone else destroying the Mario Brothers and ruling over the Mushroom Kingdom.
• Enraged by Idiocy: Expect this to happen whenever his underlings screw up or goof off. He then usually blames them for ALL of his schemes derailing.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Bowser is indeed a villain and he may not be a responsible father (or at least, for the most part), but he genuinely loves Bowser Jr. and constantly tells him how proud of him he is. And anyone who harms him will know his wrath, unfettered and raw.
    • In Sunshine, he hesistantly starts to tell Jr. Peach isn't his mother like he believed, and looks genuinely remorseful when his son solemnly admits he already knew.
    • This is best exemplified in the trailer for the Nintendo Switch's Parental Control App where Bowser acts every bit like a responsible, loving father, setting rules for Jr's playtime on the Switch, covering his eyes when he sees something inappropriate for kids, and protecting him from a group of Boos (a metaphor for online predators).
  • In contrast to Kammy Koopa, who at best he treats as just a lackey doing his bidding, Bowser actually shows genuine respect to Kamek. Considering their past together, this is no surprise.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Happens in the RPGs, especially when he teams up with Mario. Like most things on this list, this often varies from game to game, as there have been plenty of times where these things didn't bother him in the slightest.
  • He wants to rule over the Mushroom Kingdom, not destroy it. This is evident in a lot of his reactions to outright destruction, including the Dark Star in Bowser's Inside Story, and especially his single line if he's the character being played as upon entering the void left in place of the destroyed Sammer's Kingdom in Super Paper Mario:
    "I'm all for being evil, but this is just overkill."
• Everyone Owns a Mac: And everyone includes Bowser. Ensures he exerts his parental control authority over Jr. He even has a photo of Peach as a wallpaper.
• Everything's Better with Rainbows: In his final fight in Super Mario 64, the lighting caused him to have rainbow-colored skin. This was omitted in the DS remake, however.
• Evil Brit: In Mario's Time Machine Deluxe, where he's voiced by Bruce Robertson.
• Evil Counterpart: Over the years, he's become this to Mario and to Peach.
  • He and Mario both are associated with fire and wield numerous powerups, both are Acrofatic badasses that use their weight to injure their enemies (Mario through jumping, Bowser through stomping hard enough to break blocks), and both are interested in Peach. However, Mario is a Humble Hero and generous soul who fights for good often without asking for anything in return, and his affections for Peach are warmly returned. Bowser is a greedy king, bully, and a tyrant who chases after Peach despite her obvious rejection of him.
  • Bowser and Peach both are beloved rulers of their respective kingdoms with enormous magical power. Peach, however, only uses her powers to heal and defend herself, while Bowser's very first assault against her kingdom involved turning her people into blocks. Peach's people love her because she's kind and generous to everyone. Bowser's people love him because he's a wicked tyrant who still looks out for his own.
  • He's also one to Donkey Kong in Mario Party from 5 to 9: Landing on a Donkey Kong Space summons DK who gives away coins or stars. Bowser, on the other hand, takes away coins or stars. This is best exemplified in Mario Party 6 and Mario Party 8, where their spaces are mutually exclusive (depending on whether it's day or night in 6 or depending on whose space was landed on last in 8), and in the latter game the two's spaces even take unique and opposing functions per board.
• Eviler than Thou: Frequently suffers from being on the receiving end of this trope in the RPGs from many of the RPG villains, although he invokes being on the giving end right before fighting Dark Bowser. Bowser also outgambits Antasma, using him for his own ends while predicting he would betray him unless he betrays him first, which was unexpected for both Antasma and a number of players.
• Evil Eyebrows: Bowser has a pair of Big Ol' Eyebrows that always curve downwards whether is in a good mood or not.
• Evil Gloating: Bowser does a lot of this when things are going his way. A prime example is in Super Mario 3D Land, when he sends Mario a letter, with a photo showing he's recaptured the escapee, Princess Peach, caged her up with a bowtie, as a gift to himself, while he sits smugly in his throne room.
• Evil Is Bigger: Regardless of his varying size, he's almost always bigger than Mario and the other protagonists, though some of his minions, like Petey Piranha, are even bigger than he is.
• Evil Is Burning Hot: He has fire breath and has a general association with fiery places like volcanoes and stars. Also, he is apparently fireproof, judging by the number of times that he got dropped in lava.
• Evil Is Hammy: Getting hammier with each game.
• Evil Laugh: "GWAHAHAHA!"
  • It's especially evident in Super Mario 64, where it plays whenever Bowser manages to do so much as slightly inconvenience you, from being the sound effect of locked doors to being the noise you'll hear when Mario runs out of health.
• Evil Makeover: He did this to Peach's Castle in New Super Mario Bros. U. When you get to the end of the game and return to the castle, it looks more like his own, with dead vegetation surrounding it and a lava moat.
• Evil Only Has to Win Once: Bowser's plans are so destructive that Mario has to win every single time.
• Evil Overlord: Fits this to a T. Though, as mentioned before, he's actually admired by his minions, and it's mainly the good guys that view him as this.
• Evil Redhead: Originally just a scaly beast, Bowser gained an orange mohawk in time for Super Mario Bros. 3. He and his son are the only redheads amongst the Koopa Clan.
• Evil Sorcerer: Bowser has showcased some magic tricks in a couple of games. In the original, he allegedly turned all the Toads into Question Blocks. Despite his status as the dumb muscle, he gets the hang of any ancient magical artifact with ease. So far, he has wielded the Star Rod, the Vibe Scepter, the Power Stars, the Grand Stars, and many other magical items with finesse. Bowser seems to be able to use magical flames aside from regular fire breath, could turn invisible/teleport in Super Mario 64, and shot lightning from his fingertips in the intro of Super Mario Galaxy. In Bowser's Inside Story, the Koopa King even assists his Magikoopas by throwing fireballs at their wands, amplifying their power during the Magikoopa Mob attack. Bowser seems to have at least some magical skill.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Bowser's voice has always been deep in the games, though it sounds more Evil Sounds Raspy in the DIC shows. This trope is then thrown sky high come Super Mario Galaxy, where he has an absolutely monstrous voice.
• Evil Versus Evil: As evident from all the Enemy Mine situations he found himself in, Bowser never gets along with other villains out of sheer villainous ego and belief that only ''he'' should be the top dog bad guy who takes over the world, kills Mario and kidnaps Peach (or vice versa). He dislikes Smithy, Fawful and Count Bleck, hates Zokket so much he doesn’t seem to notice Reclusa and attacks the Soli-Tree just for Zokket specifically, betrayed Antasma, and apparently even dislikes King K. Rool, as the two have bad chemistry in Mario Super Sluggers. You could even say the only thing Bowser absolutely despises more than Mario and absolutely will not stand for under any circumstances is actually being outdone by or sharing space with another villain. As seen in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Bowser doesn't even get along well with himself. Hell, in Mario Super Sluggers' final story cutscene, he stops Wario and Waluigi from blowing Mario to pieces with a Bullet Bill, redirecting the missile right back at them!
• Evil Versus Oblivion: A consistent trait — Bowser wants to Take Over the World, not destroy it. Since he can't rule a world that doesn't exist, villains that do want to destroy the world will invoke his wrath. However, this only applies to the world he's trying to conquer. He has no issue with destroying other worlds if it's beneficial to him; in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Bowser and his paper counterpart's plan to get rid of Luigi and the two Marios involves trapping them in the book that contains the "Paper" universe, then burning the book.
• Evil Virtues: Love and respect. Despite his hotheaded nature and self-centered schemes, Bowser places great value in the bonds he has with both his allies and his enemies. He respects Mario as an adversary, he sees the worth in all of his minions, he shows a lot of familial love towards Bowser Jr., and in spite of constantly kidnapping her, his love for Peach is genuine rather than loving the idea of her.
• Evil Wears Black: The Mario Sports titles in the Switch-era depict him wearing black sports outfits.
• Expy: According to Word of God he's based on the Bull-Demon King, a recurring antagonist from Journey to the West... or more specifically his depiction in the 1960 animated film Saiyuki (AKA Alakazam the Great). The influence seems to be rooted in his ox-like design, his lairs on or in the vicinity of volcanos and his habit of falling into lava as a means of defeat.

• Failed a Spot Check: Along with gravity, this is the biggest contributing factor to Bowser's defeats.
  • Placing switches that destroy his bridges in his debut, and again in Super Mario 3D Land.
  • Making the floor of his lair in Super Mario Bros. 3 out of fragile brick tiles that he can break by jumping on them.
  • Having a back door to his castle in Super Mario World that by-passes most of the Valley of Bowser.
  • Placing explosives around his arenas in Super Mario 64.
  • Placing a POW block on the top of his tower in Super Mario 3D World. Made worse by him standing on it.
• Failure Is the Only Option: Bowser will always succeed in stage one of his plans, but chances are he'll never actually come out on top in the end.
• Fairy in a Bottle: This is how he captured the Sprixie Princesses in Super Mario 3D World.
• Family-Unfriendly Death:
  • At the end of the SNES version of Mario is Missing!, after the player has defeated him, he gets shot out of a cannon and landed in the deep snow outside of his castle where he froze up and shattered.
  • In the original New Super Mario Bros., he was engulfed in lava, which melted off his flesh. His son tosses his remains in a cauldron and revives him later, though.
• "Fantastic Voyage" Plot: His innards serve as major locations in the aptly-named Bowser's Inside Story.
• Fat Bastard: Bowser's got quite a gut on him. But he's still plenty strong and depending on the game, he's still athletic as ever.
• A Father to His Men:
  • While he doesn’t tolerate incompetence in the slightest and has quite a temper with his troops, he has been shown to care about them and is a firm believer of No One Gets Left Behind as seen in the RPG games.
  • This trope is the reason why his baseball team in Superstar Baseball and Super Sluggers ends up being so dangerous: everyone on his team (as well as the regular Koopa Troopas and Paratroopas found on other teams) has good chemistry with him, so his minions perform even better the moment he's on the field.
• Feet-First Introduction: In the beginning of each of his Boss Battles in Super Mario 64.
• Fiction 500: Wealthy enough to always have a new castle, an army of minions, and a fleet of massive battleships at the ready no matter how much Mario destroys them. And given the level of adoration his minions have for him, their paychecks must not come cheap. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story implies that at least a huge chunk of his wealth is stolen, though.
• Fiery Redhead: He's got a fiery temper, breath, and hair to match.
• The Fighting Narcissist: He is very attractive in his own eyes. Ironically, he doesn't get along with himself that well; as shown in Paper Jam.
• Final Boss: Bowser was one of the earliest final bosses, and he has played this role more times than the majority of VG villains.
• Fisher King:
  • New Super Mario Bros. U shows what would happen if Bowser successfully conquered the Mushroom Kingdom: He transforms Peach's Castle and the surrounding area into a World 8 Lethal Lava Land similar to his home kingdom.
  • In Bowser's Fury, Bowser's appearance triggers a massive rainstorm and turns the normally friendly cats of Lake Lapcat hostile. The black goop around the kingdom also seems to be have been spread by him.
  • In Mario Golf Super Rush, Bowser uses his flame breath to reactivate Mount Snow's volcano, resulting in the course being as lava-filled as the others in his domain. Playing the "Golf Adventure" mode reveals that this is preferred as Mount Snow was previously the domain of the evil Snow King, who had frozen over the volcano prior and promptly does so again when Bowser is out of commission.
  • In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Bowser's new form allows him to exhaust magical fumes, which warp the world and allowing him to conquer the Flower Kingdom.
• Flipping Helpless:
  • Whenever Mario or his friends defeat him in Super Mario 64 (DS) by throwing him into a bomb, Bowser lands on his shell and groans in exhaustion in the original version, and helplessly flaps his arms and legs in the DS version. Bowser realizes there's nothing else he can do and promptly escapes while leaving behind a special key or the Giant Star.
  • In the ending cutscene of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, an unconscious Bowser is lying on his shell, with the Koopalings flipping him over. Their triumph is shortlived, as the Koopa King's own castle crumbles and crushes them.
• Fluffy the Terrible: He's the central threat of the entire series, has nearly conquered the Mushroom Kingdom multiple times over, commands an army of monsters...and his name used to be one typically given to a dog. The joke tends to get lost on younger players, as he's since become easily the most famous bearer of the name.
• Force and Finesse: During their confrontations, Bowser always unleashes his full power against Mario, forcing him to take another approach to win.
• For the Evulz: This is his M.O. in Mario Party, especially the first one where he will usually be somewhere on the board, messing with anyone who passes him.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Choleric: He's boisterous, short-tempered and his persistence has made him Mario's enemy since they were kids. Given that he's a king, this temperament works in his favor just as much as it doesn't.
• Friendly Enemy: His overall relationship with Mario zigzags between seeing him as his Arch-Enemy, his temporary ally, his Worthy Opponent, sometimes all three in the same game. As much as Bowser hates Mario, he also greatly respects him, is willing to have fun with him when not plotting to world domination, and the two can even be seen comforting each other after being rejected by Peach in Super Mario Odyssey.
• Fusion Dance: While he doesn't do it often, the Koopa King sometimes does this tactic with other foes, assuming they don't possess him outright.
  • The climax of Mario Tennis Aces' Adventure Mode sees Bowser merging with Lucien to create Bowcien. Unlike Luigi, Wario and Waluigi, Bowser willingly allows Lucien to fuse with him and seemingly retains control on some level.
  • While not with a villain, Super Mario Bros. Wonder kicks off with Bowser attempting to steal one of the Flower Kingdom's Wonder Flowers, resulting in Bowser fusing with his Koopa Clown Car and the Flower Kingdom's castle, turning him into a sentient Ominous Floating Castle.
• Galactic Conqueror: Bowser has indicated several times that his ambitions don't stop at the world.
  • In Yoshi's Island DS, Bowser seeks out the Star Children whose hearts possess stars powerful enough to take over the universe.
  • Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 revolve around Bowser's attempts to create a universe-spanning empire with his own galaxy at the center.
  • In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Bowser claims that his Wonder will affect everyone in the universe, making them his "captive audience".
• Gameplay and Story Integration: As a Dual Boss with his son in New Super Mario Bros., taking out Bowser Jr. first will cause him to utterly lose it and become far more aggressive. He's a loving father and a Papa Wolf, so it shouldn't be a huge shock.
• Gasshole: While it's not present in the games or any other media, Bowser can be seen farting surprisingly often in the many manga adaptations of the Mario series. In Super Mario-kun alone, he can be seen doing it at least 11 times across its entire run thus far. Arguably the most noteworthy instance comes in Super Mario-kun's Super Mario RPG arc, where Exor is defeated after Bowser farts in his face◊ while riding on Lakitu's bus.
• Generic Doomsday Villain: Mostly his early appearances before he got a personality. He also got hit by this trope in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, in which he had no dialogue and only made two appearances.
• Genius Bruiser: Given his Dumb Muscle portrayal in the RPGs, it's often easy to forget Bowser can easily cross into this territory, and that this is his general personality in the main series. Some of the weapons that were created, if the Koopalings aren't involved, are implied to have been developed by him. Some of his Evil Plans are also convoluted; Super Mario Galaxy has Bowser come up with a plan that requires the use and creation of a galactic-scale reactor to conquer the universe, while Dream Team depicts him making a deal with Antasma and hijacking the final fight after knowing Antasma would betray him.
• Genius Loci: Bowser's Fusion Dance with his Koopa Clown Car and Prince Florian's Castle transforms him into a living castle. As shown towards the end of the game, Castle Bowser has three different components that Bowser can speak from: The face on the front of the ship, the castle itself on top of it, and a core within the heart of the castle.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss:
  • The real Bowser's boss fight in Super Mario Run involves the player running after his Koopa Clown Car. Interestingly, Bowser is the only example of such a boss fight in Super Mario Run.
  • The final battle of Super Mario 3D Land initially begins like this, with Mario pursuing Bowser up his collapsing castle. The dynamic is then inverted during the second half as Bowser, having fallen via the first bridge, returns and chases Mario.
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Though he usually does a good job of avoiding this, since he usually has some role in the story or is at least mentioned ahead of time, this trope fully applies to him in Yoshi's New Island where he literally travels through time to fight Yoshi. We get no reason as to why he does it, nor was there any hints that he would do it, and it all just raises more questions than answers. The game’s ending reveals that the character of Mr. Pipe was adult Mario, so it might have been possible that Bowser was trying to stop baby Mario from finding his parents.
• God-Emperor: In Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, as he builds a galactic empire that he intends on ruling forever with Peach at his side as his queen.
• Godhood Seeker: His plan in both Galaxy games is to take over the entire universe and rule it with Peach by his side forever, along with making his OWN galaxy in the center of the universe. SMG2, however, takes it to a whole new level when Bowser uses a few of the Grand Stars on HIMSELF, rather than use them to power up reactors, which seem to give him more power as he becomes gigantic (though he already had this power). He is also able to conjure up meteorites and apparently a BLACK HOLE in the final battle.
• God of Evil: In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bowser becomes this, or at least close to it, as the result of devouring the Grand Stars. He becomes powerful enough to conjure up meteorites and black holes and even begins to devour more of the universe to become even bigger and more powerful, even going as far as to try to devour Rosalina's spaceship towards the end of the game. Considering that Rosalina is implied to be a Physical God herself yet was unable to stop him, it's implied that Bowser had either become just as powerful as her or had become even more powerful.
• Go-Karting with Bowser: Trope Namer. Despite all the trouble Bowser causes, Mario still invites him on his outings with his friends. Of course, given Bowser's personality, it's entirely possible that he's going golfing and go-karting with Mario because he wants to beat him at anything. In conversations with guests at Nintendo New York, Mario even says that Bowser comes over to his house often and is invited over for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner as well as other gatherings.
• Good Parents: One of Bowser's most consistent traits is that he's a surprisingly loving father. In the old days when the Koopalings were depicted as his children, cartoons and comics showed him as somewhat stern and temperamental but ultimately caring and supportive. With the introduction of Bowser Jr, his caring side is even more apparent; even in promotional videos, he tries to keep his son away from trolls and other unsavory things. The Nintendo Switch Parental Controls trailer shows him being a responsible parent and limiting the amount of time that Bowser Jr. plays on the Nintendo Switch, while also talking to him about their favorite games and playing on the Switch together.
• Graceful Loser: After the player beats him in Mario Party 5, he tells the player his wish, saying that he wished for a strong opponent, remarking that he lost and won at the same time and that he tends to think positively. He then congratulates the player before he leaves.
• Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: Bowser has lost more times to gravity than to Mario himself.
• Greater-Scope Villain: On occasion, he'll take a backseat to let one of his underlings be the Big Bad
  • "Super Mario Sunshine" and "Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle", Bowser Jr. is the main antagonist. Bowser is still the Final Boss in both games.
  • In the "Yoshi's Island" series Kamek is the main antagonist, as Bowser is a baby.
  • Bowser serves as this in the Luigi's Mansion series. While King Boo is a minion of his and uses a like-like suit of him in the first game's final battle, Bowser himself has no involvement in the plot or King Boo's plans.
• Greed: One of Bowser's primary motivations for conquering various kingdoms and the entire universe is his own lust for power.
• Green and Mean: Bowser's primary color is green, and he's Mario's Arch-Enemy.
• Growing Wings: In Super Mario Maker, level creators can insert wings onto any enemy, thus essentially creating a Mario platformer in which he could fly without the need of a Clown Car.
• Hair Color Dissonance: His current appearances throughout the 90s onward would subsequently depict him having a red colored mohawk, in comparison to his earlier artwork, where his mohawk was strangely colored a brightened flaming yellow for the Japanese box art for the original Super Mario Bros. 1 and Super Mario Bros. 3. The yellow colored mohawk in the series hasn't been used for any other game in the series, with the major exception for some of his alternate colored costumes in the Super Smash Bros. series.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: It doesn't take much to make Bowser mad. It's even a gameplay mechanic in Mario Party 10's Bowser Party mode.
• Healing Factor: Occasionally has this ability in the RPGs, particularly in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (where, as Dreamy Bowser, he will occasionally go into the background and summon meat to devour while his minions fight for him.) and Paper Mario: Sticker Star (where, at the beginning of each phase of the final battle, Bowser will completely heal himself.)
• The Heavy: Plays this role in almost every game he’s since in his debut.
• He Cleans Up Nicely: In preparation for his wedding with Peach in Super Mario Odyssey, Bowser dons a white, stylish wedding suit and combs his hair sideways, making him royally stylish as a result.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: No matter how many times he ends up working with Mario, he will always be evil.
• Hell Hotel: His hotel in Hotel Mario.
• A Hero to His Hometown: The Koopas and his minions adore him; the rest of the world however...
• Hey, You!: Averted at first in the original Super Mario 64, since only Mario could be controlled, but when the DS remake added new characters to choose from, this trope is played straight to most people they talk to, including Bowser. As in the original, only Mario can enter Bowser in the Sky, but this trope still applies before the final fight, then averted after.
• Hijacked by Ganon: He does this towards the end of Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix. To be fair, however, Waluigi's role in the plot had long since been finished. He's also behind Shadow Mario in Super Mario Sunshine and Foreman Spike in Wrecking Crew 98. It's teased, but ultimately doesn't happen in Luigi's Mansion, and while you fight Bowletta and Shrowser in the first two Mario & Luigi series, they don't really count because Bowser is actually possessed by the main villain in both cases. But Mario & Luigi: Dream Team DOES count, where he leaves Antasma at the mercy of the Mario Bros. near the end. In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Bowser intends to inflict this trope upon his own Paper self. The reason this doesn't occur is that Paper Bowser is too valuable, and the Mario Bros. manage to defeat them before they can decide who is the best Bowser.
• Horns of Villainy: Bowser sports two small ox-like horns that help signify that he's the villain. Notably, Bowser (along with his son Bowser Jr.) is also one of the only Koopas who has horns, which, in a sense, signifies his status as the King of the Koopas. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Bowser can boost his Horn stat in order to improve his chances to earn critical hits and get a better scratch card when shopping, identical to the Mario Bros.' Stache stat.
• Hostile Show Takeover: He does this all the time in the Mario Party series, with him even being playable in 10. He performs a more literal case of this in Mario Party 6, where he can potentially hijack the Speak Up minigame from Brighton and Twilia.
• Humongous Mecha: Has had several of these built in his image but rarely actually piloted by him. His spaceship in Mario Party Star Rush, however, does turn into one during his boss battle.
• Hypnotize the Captive:
  • In one of the comics for Nintendo Comics System (specifically Magic Carpet Madness), he had his pidget minions make a mess in Peach's castle, then take Peach up to the sky so they can hypnotize her. Unfortunately for him, this didn't help, because she wrecked his blimp in her state.
  • In Super Mario Adventures, when running out of ideas on how to win the already-kidnapped Peach over, he got a Magikoopa to do this. Of course, Mario and Co. stopped him.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: Under NO circumstances is anyone else allowed to kidnap Peach, take over the Mushroom Kingdom, or defeat Mario, without his say-so.
• Iconic Outfit: Played with in terms of Bowser's green, spiky shell, as it isn't really an outfit but nevertheless easily recognizable. Played straight with Bowser's spiked collar, armbands and wristbands, however.
• I Control My Minions Through…: Respect, with some Power and Authority thrown in. Best demonstrated in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, where his special attacks involve his minions and are obtained by freeing them because they want to work for him.
• Ignored Enamored Underling: The big guy has quite a few of them and he wishes he didn't. He expects his minions to do their job with pride and without question. And then there's these followers whose overly-enthusiastic attitudes of adoration and devotion make him feel... uncomfortable.
• Improbable Age: His age is hard to tell, especially since he's not human. Since both Mario and Bowser were babies in Yoshi's Island, he couldn't be that older than Mario, who the creators have consistently said is about 25 years old. But that seems a little too young for someone who's a father to Bowser Jr., who acts like a preteen. One Nintendo Switch instruction video put Bowser at 34 years old and his son at 13 years old, which is more probable, but this is not supported by the games as said earlier.
• Improbable Weapon User: During the first two fights with him in Super Mario 3D World, he'll attack with exploding soccer balls.
• Improbably High I.Q.: He claims that his IQ is 9800 in Mario Party Advance. This is par for the course with him, though.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Mostly in the spinoffs. In general, he can dish it out just fine to anyone who isn't Mario, Luigi, or Peach. But he's a prototypical victim of The Good Guys Always Win, and everyone seems to know it. And even then, he has actually beaten Mario before.
• Interpretative Character: While Bowser has several key character traits, the intricacies of his character and his motivations for kidnapping Peach vary from game to game. For example, he originally kidnapped her because she wielded the only magic that could oppose him. Nowadays it tends to vary between him kidnapping her because it's the best way to lure Mario into a trap, kidnapping her because she's the key to his evil plot of the day, or kidnapping her because of a Villainous Crush.
• Invincible Villain: Notable in that Bowser, even without any power-enhancing abilities, is virtually unstoppable against anyone who isn't Mario and Luigi. This comes to a head in Galaxy, where he creates his own galaxy - and it took the entire universe being destroyed and rebuilt to stop his plot.
• Irony: He is a turtle who can breathe fire. Turtles are reptiles, which are known for being cold blooded.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Very infrequently, but he does have some softer moments. Most of them are directed towards Bowser Jr., the Koopa Troop, and occasionally Princess Peach. One of the best examples is in the ending of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, where Bowser gruffly compliments Corporal Paraplonk, Sergeant Guy, and Private Goomp for performing above the usual standard against Mario and Luigi, even if their actions ultimately ended in failure. There has to be some reason why his army regards him with genuine respect and admiration, after all.
• Joker Immunity: He is just too popular and too integral to the Mario series to be killed off permanently, be it falling in lava, falling from thousands of feet in the air, being thrown into a star, etc. It's even lampshaded in Super Paper Mario when he's left in a room with a descending ceiling. Mario, Peach, and Luigi already know that didn't kill him and bring up that he's "survived worse."
• The Juggernaut: Generally a very good example. He survives everything that's thrown at him, keeps coming back for more, and only ever slows when the Mario Bros. step up to fight him. And even then, he nearly KILLED Mario in Paper Mario — this is something no Mario character had ever managed before, or ever would again.

• Karma Houdini: No matter how many times you beat him in Mario Party: Island Tour, he'll always knock you back down to square one afterward.
• King Mook: Of the Koopa race in general, obviously. Although Shigeru Miyamoto initially envisioned him as an ox like King Gruesome from Alakazam the Great, this was changed when designer Takashi Tezuka pointed out the bizarre logic in an ox ruling over turtles. Bowser became more turtle-like overall, but his face is more ox-like.
• Knight of Cerebus: While he sometimes veers closer to an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain in some spin-offs, mainly the RPGs, most of the time Bowser showing up is when things get serious. Super Mario Galaxy and Paper Mario 64 in particular feature Bowser as a grave threat from the start and don't let up much.
• Knuckle Cracking: Bowser cracks his knuckles as part of his Idle Animation in Super Mario Party.
• Large and in Charge: He's the largest Koopa in existence and is also the king of the Koopa Troop.
• Large Ham: Simply put, when Bowser's on the scene, he makes damn well sure you know it.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • In Super Mario Galaxy 2, after terrorizing the Mushroom Kingdom as a giant in the beginning, at the end he returns there, this time mini-sized.
  • At the end of Super Mario 3D World, he's imprisoned in a bottle by the Sprixie Princesses as punishment.
• Laughably Evil: This was Bowser's general personality in later spinoffs, such as in Paper Mario 64 and the Mario Party series. Later Mario RPGs toned down this aspect as time went on, although Mario Party keeps it. The main series may feature one or two humorous scenes with him but generally portray him as a menacing and sinister villain.
• Leitmotif: It goes without saying that Bowser has many leitmotifs, but two points in particular stand out.
  • Stylistically, Bowser has been associated with rock-and-roll since at least Super Mario World^note and potentially as far back as Super Mario Bros. 3; the 8-bit limitations make it harder to tell, but modern-day arrangements go for rock styling. It was dropped for a bit after Super Mario 64—the Galaxy games gave him orchestral themes and most other games around that time followed suit—but it came back in full force with 3D World and has stuck around since then.
  • Melodically, Bowser's most notable leitmotifs are his theme from Super Mario 64 (which tends to crop up in most of the franchise) and his theme from Super Mario 3D World (which permeates that game in particular). The Mario & Luigi series also introduced its own leitmotif for him in Bowser's Inside Story, which recurred from that game onward.
• Lethal Chef: If one of the unused lines in the DOS version of Mario Is Missing! is of any indication.
  Mario: I was getting so sick of Bowser's cooking!
• Lightning Bruiser: In some games, usually ones where he only serves as a boss, Bowser is surprisingly nimble for his size. For instance, in Super Mario Galaxy, he backflips over Mario (and runs faster than him). He has surprising running speed in the Super Smash Bros. series, and he is one of the two fastest swimmers in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Yoshi and the Mysterious Book reveals Baby Bowser grew up with no interest in reading, unlike Bowser Jr., who reads on his own for fun.
• Love Triangle: Expanded upon in Odyssey. The Koopa King considers himself caught in one with Mario for Peach's affection. Bowser views himself as superior to Mario in every way, yet blames the plumber for not winning the princess' hand in marriage. The way he sees it, if it weren't for Mario, she'd choose him. Then when Peach, tired of their constant fighting rejects both suitors, he bawls his eyes out, realizing Peach doesn't reciprocate the love he has for her.
• Made of Iron: Bowser is flat out immune to direct damage in most mainline games and often can take quite a beating in RPGs. The only thing that can stop him on a consistent basis is falling into a pit of lava, and even that only puts him out of commission for a brief period of time. In the ending of New Super Mario Bros. Wii he survives his own castle tipping over onto him after his usual lava bath.
• Magic Knight: While his minions are using magic more often than him, he himself is a quite capable user of dark magic. Though he prefers to rely on his brute strength and fire breath.
• Magic Wand: While not nearly to the extent of his followers, Bowser does occasionally wield magic wands such as the Star Rod from Paper Mario or the Vibe Scepter from Super Princess Peach, though they never last past one game. Unusually, most of the wands Bowser wields are usually used for specific purposes compared to the more general uses of the Magikoopas and the Koopalings' wands and, befitting his more physical fighting style, he rarely uses them in-battle directly and instead prefers to power himself or his minions up.
• Make My Monster Grow: Used on himself; Bowser's favorite One-Winged Angel trick is to grow even bigger, ranging from merely twice his normal size to Godzilla-class, and he's got myriad ways to do it, too, ranging from magical assistance to one hell of an adrenaline rush.
• Malevolent Mugshot: He always plasters an emblem of his face on his properties.
• Manly Tears: At the end of Sunshine, he gets a single tear in his eye when he's about to tell his son that Peach isn't his mother, and hearing from him that he already figured out that wasn't the case. And that he wants to fight Mario again in the future.
• Maou the Demon King: The Japanese versions refer to him as Kame-zoku no Daimaou, or the Great Demon King of the Turtle Tribe, and his ox-like features are based on Gyu-Maou. He's the Trope Maker as far as video games are concerned.
• Marathon Boss: In Super Mario World, the fight with him isn't too long compared to a lot of other examples of this trope, but compared to his kids, it's long enough that the timer is removed. Played straight in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, where he has truckloads more HP than anything fought before him, not even counting when he turns into a giant. The fight is so long that Mario can run out of stickers before beating him.
• Me's a Crowd:
  • In the final battle of Super Mario 3D World, he is able to use the Double Cherry to clone himself.
  • In Super Mario Maker, you can insert up to six (three per sub-level) copies of Bowser in a level.
• Mighty Glacier: When he's playable, he's primarily defined by being much slower and more cumbersome than other characters, often with a limited or absent jumping ability (except in Super Paper Mario, where he can still jump as high as Mario and Peach), but making up for this by being much stronger and much, much tougher than anyone else. In several of the spin-offs, he's is frequently the most extreme of heavyweights, investing in power and weight over all else: this also includes the racing game variant in Mario Kart, where he is always the among the heaviest characters and usually has one of the best (if not the) top speed in the game, at the cost of acceleration and controls.
• Mind-Control Music: The Rage Stage in Super Mario Bros. Wonder is implied to be this: A massive rock concert that will "make the entire universe my captive audience!" according to Bowser.
• Mirror Boss: In the final battle with him in Super Mario 3D World, he uses a Super Bell to turn into Meowser and later uses a Double Cherry to continue the assault when beaten the first time.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: Bowser is mostly turtle-like with some ox-like features retained from previous concepts, but also has some features of crocodile, dragon, and dinosaur.
• Modest Royalty: Unlike most other rulers in the Mario games, he doesn't wear a crown or anything else that suggests he's a king.
• A Molten Date with Death: A recurring method for defeating him, usually by activating a switch behind him that drops Bowser into the lava pit below. In New Super Mario Bros., this results in the creation of Dry Bowser. He gets better.
• Monster Lord: Bowser leads a kingdom with an army consisting of turtles, mushrooms, ghosts and many more creatures.
• Monument of Humiliation and Defeat: In Mario Party: Island Tour, he built a huge tower as a monument to his power and locked all the fun of the other Party Islands away.
• Morality Pet:
  • His son is one to him, usually being able to appeal to Bowser's softer side. Bowser himself is one to his son, who acts much more obediently and enthusiastically around him.
  • Depending on the incarnation, Princess Peach is also one, usually when he wants to marry her.
• Mordor: His kingdom is usually portrayed as a barren wasteland of rocky crags crossed by rivers of lava, bereft of any growing thing or of any feature save his castle.
• Near-Villain Victory:
  • In Super Mario Galaxy, he's minutes away from taking over the entire universe and creating his own galaxy, but Mario stops him in the nick of time.
  • In Mario Party DS Bowser, in a rare moment of no-nonsense behavior, elects to shrink the Superstar down further rather than fight them. Luckily, DK appears and not only causes Bowser to drop the Minimizer, but (accidentally) stomps it, restoring everyone to their original sizes.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: He never seems to be (seriously) harmed when he gets thrown into lava (which happens very often, by the way). Outside of RPGs, he is typically immune to standard forms of attack. The only time he did get hurt by lava was in New Super Mario Bros., where his skin melted off! He actually put up a fight after that, even though at that point he was a skeleton! Super Mario Galaxy even reveals that not even a red giant can permanently kill him! ...Well, the end of the universe can, actually.
• Nice to One: Bowser is infamous for frequently kidnapping Princess Peach, battling the Mario Bros, and overall threatening the Mushroom Kingdom. Yet despite his historical villainy, he's also a very loving father to his son Bowser Jr., caring for him just as any good parent would care for their kids.
• Non-Mammalian Hair: He's a turtle-like creature with a swept-back mohawk of red hair resembling flames and matching big ol' eyebrows.
• Not Worth Killing: He could soundly defeat Mario and the Toads at the beginning of Super Mario Galaxy 2, but given his new gigantic size, considers wasting any more time on such insects beneath him. He simply wants to rule the universe. At the final fight, he's so fed up with Mario confronting him over and over, he tells him to go get lost in a warp pipe.
• Not Zilla: Bowser's appearance after some of the early games bears some resemblance to Godzilla, and things such as his rampage through Tokyo in SimCity and the giant battles in Bowser's Inside Story may even pay homage to this.
• Obviously Evil: Bowser wants to Take Over the World (sometimes the universe), has a penchant for laughing and gloating, is covered in spikes and resides in dark, ominous Castles. His horns, hair and perpetually scowling eyes help too. Being evil is something Bowser prides himself in.
• Occidental Otaku: Considering his previous castles were more European in design, in Odyssey, either his kingdom was retconned to be a Japan analogue, or he's a massive weeb (and enough of one to design his castle accurately, with many well-researched references to Japanese culture).
• Odd Friendship: In the promotional materials for Skylanders: SuperChargers at least, he apparently is friends with Donkey Kong. Other games may push his Friendly Enemy relationship with Mario up to this as well.
• One-Winged Angel:
  • In Super Mario 3D World, he uses a Super Bell to transform himself into a tiger-like version of himself called Meowser.
  • Halfway through his boss minigame in Mario Party 10, Bowser's tank explodes and he falls into the lava. He promptly re-emerges as a giant Dry Bowser, drastically changing the fight up to that point.
  • Bowser's Fury inverts it. While Bowser is going all out in the final phase, by that point the black paint has been cleaned off him, reverting him from Fury Bowser but still blind with rage.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You:
  • He wants to be the only one to defeat Mario. And the only one to kidnap Peach. (Or the only one to kidnap Mario and defeat Peach.) He also doesn't like the idea of someone more powerful than him taking over the Mushroom Kingdom before he does. This is what typically leads to the Enemy Mine situations when he teams up with the plumbers.
  • In Super Mario 64 DS, he will flat out refuse to fight anyone else except Mario for the final battle, despite his losses. Only Mario is worthy to be called his rival, and no one else matters.
• OOC Is Serious Business: After being defeated by Mario the end of Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser is forced to admit to Jr. that he lied to him about his mother. It's the only time in the whole series where Bowser shows genuine regret for his actions.
• Orcus on His Throne: In many of his games, he'll wait for Mario in his castle.
• Other Me Annoys Me: Bowser's so unlikeable he can't even get along with himself. He meets his younger self in Yoshi's Island DS. Unlike in Partners in Time however, Bowser and Baby Bowser are aware of being the same person. However, Baby Bowser is unimpressed with the fact that his adult self hasn't conquered the universe by that point, and annoys him to the point of Bowser launching him out of the castle. Despite this, Bowser still gets offended at Yoshi for defeating his younger self.
• Our Dragons Are Different: While mostly based on a turtle with features of an ox, Bowser has some dragon-like features; he can breathe fire, and he has reptilian features from his turtle side along with sharp teeth and claws. Despite this, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U doesn't consider him to be a dragon, as he and his son are the only draconic characters^note the others are Yoshi, Charizard, Ridley (non-playable) and Corrin not to be labeled as such.
• Outlaw: As Bowser the Brash in Mario Party 2's Western Land.

• Papa Wolf: Despite his villainous antics, most early canon involving him as the father of the Koopalings presents him as a rather caring father (in his own twisted manner, anyway). However, nowadays, this is shown even stronger with Bowser Jr. - Notably, in New Super Mario Bros., it's even integrated into the gameplay within the final battle, with Bowser unleashing a maelstrom of fireballs at you and attacking with a greater quantity of them in general should you defeat Jr. first. In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, the Bowsers destroy Princess Peach's castle in retaliation for Mario hurting their respective Juniors, and in Paper Mario: The Origami King he lets loose a fireball while folded up to save Junior from enemies.
• Parental Abandonment: As a child, he was referred to as "Prince Bowser", but no mention of his parents is made. The only parental figure he's shown to have is Kamek.
• Perpetual Smiler: Due to how his snout and mouth are structured, this is Bowser's default expression. Combined with his Evil Eyebrows, this turns Bowser's facial expression into a very evil one. Certain 2D artworks invert this and make him seem more angry instead of gleeful.
• Person of Mass Destruction: He generally prefers to let his minions handle most things, but he's every bit the One-Man Army Mario is and then some. When motivated, Bowser can smash through nearly anything and anyone in his path with very little resistance.
• Pet the Dog: He's not a very nice guy, but he seems to genuinely care about his troops, his son, and Peach. Landing on Bowser Spaces in Mario Party is normally bad news as the Koopa King nearly always finds a way to screw over the player(s), but Bowser seems to have a charitable side, and takes pity on anyone without any coins or stars, and will give them some spare change.
• Pick on Someone Your Own Size: Aside from Petey Piranha, Bowser is easily the biggest character in the entire franchise, and older than the short and portly plumber, yet is absolutely obsessed with beating Mario and stealing Peach from him.
• Playing with Fire: Bowser always has at least one fire-based ability whenever he's playable, in which he often uses his fire breath.
• Powered Armor:
  • The first half of his boss fight in Yoshi's Safari has him decked out in blue armor.
  • Shiny RoboBowser is essentially Bowser wearing papier-mâché armor created from Paper Bowser and his minions.
• The Power of Hate: Due to his anger over being painted black by his son, Fury Bowser spreads his dark ink around Lake Lapcat, darkening the lighthouses and corrupting the cats with a Hate Plague. Near the end, his fury has gotten so bad that not even the lighthouses can hold him back anymore. Despite being cleared of said ink, Bowser still being big and rampaging shows that he really didn't like being pranked by his son. And REALLY HATED the fact that Mario, his nemesis, had to save him as well.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He does side with the Mario Bros. in the spinoffs, but only when the Mushroom Kingdom is not being taken over by him, or when his kingdom is taken over.
• Pride: Bowser is not at all subtle with how proud he is of himself, his kingdom and the influence he has over others. This also helps him remain confident in eventually defeating Mario, even after so many losses.
• Promoted to Playable:
  • Bowser was first made playable in Super Mario Kart, and he's been playable in most spin-off titles since.
  • The King of the Koopas finally joins the party in Mario Party 10, and receives his own game mode called Bowser Party, where a player-controlled Bowser harasses the other players, while also being playable in amiibo game modes. Super Mario Party is even more notable as he's now a standard playable character rather than being locked to specific game modes.
  • In the various RPG games, Bowser is occasionally promoted to being a party member through Enemy Mine, mostly because the Big Bad of said games are much nastier that Bowser himself or they plan to harm or have already taken over his troops and kingdom. Happens most prominently in Super Mario RPG, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Super Paper Mario, Paper Mario: The Origami King, and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.
  • In the Super Mario Strikers series, Bowser originally appeared as a regular stage hazard, but was added as a playable captain in the sequel, Mario Strikers Charged.
  • After beating the Final Boss in Super Mario Odyssey, Mario must use his Capture ability on the Koopa King, making this the first time Bowser is playable, at least physically, in a main series game.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Bowser is a rich and powerful king, but still shows obvious signs of immaturity on a regular basis; he has nasty mood swings that scare even his most loyal servants, he never feels responsible for his failures, always looking for someone else to blame, and is never satisfied with what he already has, always wanting more. The best showcase of this is when he meets his younger self in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time: barely anything differentiates them in personality, showing that Bowser has barely evolved mentally since infancy.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The king of the Koopas and by far and away the most powerful.
• Reality Warper:
  • In Super Mario 64, he uses the stolen Power Stars to warp the Pocket Dimension-like Painting Courses to his liking. Additionally, he rigs each Bowser Course entrance with a different spatial effect (a Trap Door into a literal Dark World, a mobile portal to an Under the Sea Course, and an infinitely respawning Absurdly Long Stairway, respectively).
  • In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, as "Castle Bowser", he leaves a trail of Wonder energy smog across the Flower Kingdom.
• Real Men Eat Meat: Fittingly for a boisterous meathead, Bowser is shown to enjoy it a lot - meat on the bone is even used as his answer to Mario and friends' mushrooms in both The Thousand-Year Door's Bowser levels and in the form of drumsticks as his healing items in Bowser's Inside Story. Dream Team has Bowser also eating meat in order to grow larger so he can defeat the Mario Brothers. It comes up in conversation when he meets the Squiggler from the Wiggler Family Farm in Bowser's Inside Story, which reveals he's the veggie-hating kind.
  "Vegetables are GROSS! Don't you have any meat?!"
• Reasonable Authority Figure: To his own minions, at least. While Bowser is quick to punish them for failure, he is shown to be capable of mercy and forgiveness. Best shown in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, where nearly every single one of his minions treats him like a personal idol.
• Reclining Reigner: Occasionally, after certain Bowser events in Mario Party 3, Bowser will lie on the ground in this pose. There is also a random chance that he will already be like this when the Bowser event starts.
• Recurring Boss:
  • He's fought eight times in Super Mario Bros. 1 (although only the final fight is real, as the other seven are against replicas of him), twelve in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (ten fake, two real), three in Super Mario 64, New Super Mario Bros. 1, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario 3D World each, and seven in Super Mario 3D Land.
  • In the RPGs, he's fought a total of 22 times, ignoring copies; in all of them except for Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, and Paper Mario: Color Splash, he's fought two to four times.
  • To make up for his being the final boss of the third stage of each world in Mario Party Star Rush, Bowser has three different variations of his battle.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over:
  • His flags usually have his face colored red on a black background.
  • Fury Bowser is completely black-colored aside from his hair and eyebrows, which remain red but look more firey, and his stomach, which appears to be glowing yellowish.
  • The sports outfits Bowser has been given has always been colored black with a dash of red, sometimes with a fire motif.
• Redemption Promotion: In some of the RPGs, he really gets to show what he's capable of when he isn't fighting the Mario Bros..
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Has red eyes and is not to be taken lightly.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Bowser's always the red to Kamek, Fawful and Antasma's blue.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The Koopa Troop, a kingdom of turtles, are the resident bad guys of the Mario franchise. And Bowser is the biggest, baddest of them all.
• Reptomammal: Bowser and his relatives have a shell and tail like that of a tortoise or turtle, but have hair on their heads, bull-like horns, and a mammalian snout.
• RevengeSVP: The plot and one of the major focuses of Mario Party 7 revolves around this: Toadsworth invited everybody on a cruise around the world except Bowser, and he's so upset that he vows to sabotage their vacation at every turn as payback. His main way of doing this is in the form of Bowser Time, where Bowser arrives every 5 turns to cause some kind of shenanigans for the players even outside of the regular Bowser spaces.
  "This makes me MAAAAD!! GRRRAAAA!! They're going on a vacation... AND NOT TAKING ME! They want a fun vacation? I'll give them a fun vacation! And by that, I mean NO FUN AT ALL! I'll find those chumps and wreck their good times! Bwa ha ha ha!"
• Riddling Sphinx: As the Bowser Sphinx in Mario Party 2's Mystery Land.
• Roar Before Beating: He sometimes does this before his boss battles.
• Rotten Rock & Roll: Bowser has been heavily associated with rock music, from his boss themes in the platformers to the Bowser's Castle themes from the later Mario Kart games. The most iconic examples, however, are probably his SNES era themes, such as "The Evil King Bowser" from Super Mario World.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Despite having a massive army, he's not afraid of taking matters into his own hands.
• Sad Battle Music: He's a fan of this one. In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Party 9, Yoshi's New Island, Paper Jam and Color Splash, the final boss themes are all either dark, melancholic or genuinely hopeless.
• Sadist: Played up in the Mario Party series where his minigames typically involve him putting the crew through "fun" minigames. Even on the boards themselves, he'll happily take any opportunity to make those unfortunate enough to run into him miserable.
• Sanity Has Advantages:
  • Despite his arrogance, selfishness, and hot temper; Bowser has one significant advantage over the other Mario villains: he’s not crazy. Mario constantly needs to sharpen his wits to beat him every time.
  • While his Fury Bowser form may look more intimidating, Giant Bowser regains enough sanity after losing the black paint to trap the Giga Bells into a sphere in order to keep Mario from using them, forcing the plumber to partner up with Plessie for the final battle.
• Satanic Archetype: Bowser is sometimes called Great Demon King and his kingdom, especially in Super Mario Bros. 3, resembles Hell. It's a case of In Name Only, though, in that he's just portrayed as simply an Evil Overlord. However, in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, he arguably becomes this, as he wants to take over the entire universe and rule it for eternity, starting with his own created galaxy and opposes Rosalina who is implied to be God or at least a Physical God in the former, and even arguably becomes a God of Evil in the latter, or at least as close to it as possible and tries to devour the universe to make himself more powerful. Both times, he even comes close to succeeding. And in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, he ultimately proves to be the devil in the deal between him and Antasma. It seems like he decided to live up to that title in those games.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In any of the Mario Party games where you land on a Bowser space, he'll offer his own demented versions of mini-games (read: most of them involve him taking coins from the players). Occasionally, the selector will land on 100-Star Present or 10,000-Coin Present. If this happens, Bowser will do nothing for a few seconds and then run off-screen.
• Secondary-Color Nemesis: Bowser has a green face and shell as well as yellow-orange skin, which contrasts Mario's status as a Primary-Color Champion.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Super Mario Odyssey has Bowser take his attempted courtship with Peach to the absolute extreme, going on a global quest to raid, fabricate, and purchase items and accoutrements for the greatest wedding in history. The world's most beautiful wedding dress, a lush and exquisite bouquet, a humongous and delicious wedding cake, a living magical tiara, the most gastronomic banquet ever assembled, and the ceremony to culminate in a chapel located on the Moon with a spectacular view of the Earth as a backdrop. It fails to charm her.
• Shockwave Stomp: An occasional attack of Bowser's is to stomp the floor and unleash a traveling shockwave, with it first appearing in the final boss battle of Super Mario 64. In the first Galaxy, he can even stomp up to five times in a row.
• Sigil Spam:
  • Ever since the GameCube era solidified his Malevolent Mugshot logo, Bowser's loved to plaster it on anything that belongs to him, from his tanks to his castle.
  • His shell is similarly used in his decor, including as a domed roof for his castle from New Super Mario Bros. onward.
• Signature Laugh: Whenever he laughs, he either goes "GWAHAHAHA!" or "BWAHAHAHA!"
• Signature Roar: Bowser was given a series of shrill snarls — taken from the Tyrannosaurus rex in The Land Unknown — which were first heard during the N64 days and last heard in 2006's New Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi's Island DS — having been phased out in favor of giving him human-sounding vocalizations.
• Single-Target Sexuality: To Peach, particularly in the Paper Mario games, where he's explicitly shown to have a Villainous Crush on her. He only has eyes for Peach, he wants Peach all to himself, and hates Mario for winning her affections.
• Skewed Priorities: He has two main goals as a villain: To take over the universe, and to kidnap and then marry Princess Peach. The "kidnapping" part tends to get in the way of both.
  • He could probably accomplish the former pretty easily if he avoided getting Mario's attention by ALWAYS putting the kidnapping of Peach first.
  • In Super Mario Odyssey, Bowser spares no expense at putting on the biggest, most extravagant royal wedding he can think of, to such an extent that Peach might have actually found it charming... if he hadn't kicked it off with yet another abduction attempt.
• Slouch of Villainy: Bowser sometimes does this in the Mario Party games. He also does this in Super Mario Galaxy.
• Smarter Than You Look: In many of the RPGs, he is portrayed as a Dumb Muscle, but in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, he successfully betrayed Antasma and took the Dream Stone for himself. Furthermore, many of his inventions are incredibly complex and can even warp reality, such as his galaxy reactor which he uses to create a galaxy at the center of the universe.
• Smug Super: He loves rubbing it in other's faces whenever he obtains a major power boost.
• So Proud of You: He is very pleased when, at the end of Sunshine, Bowser Jr. tells him he wants to fight Mario again.
  Bowser: That's my boy! Well put, son! The royal Koopa line is as strong as ever!
• Sorcerous Overlord: Downplayed. In the original Super Mario Bros., he allegedly had all the Toads turned into objects like blocks. However, while he's mostly reliant on his physical strength, some games do show that he indeed knows how to use magic and isn't afraid to use it to augment his abilities (or to make a quick getaway).
• Sore Loser: Mario Party 10 showcases best how much he HATES to lose. Even once.
• Space Pirate:
  • As Black Hole Bowser in the Space Land of Mario Party 2.
  • He and his army also take up this motif in Super Mario Galaxy, complete with flags modeled after The Jolly Roger's.
• Speaking Simlish: In Super Mario Odyssey, he speaks through mumbles with the occasional coherent word; In the opening sequence, for example, he can be heard clearly saying "Peach", "Mario" (during the dialogue which contains the words) and "adios" (as he walks off and his airship flies away).
• Species King: Bowser is the king of the Koopas.
• Species Surname: His full localized name is sometimes given as "Bowser Koopa".
• Spell My Name with a "The": At least, according to the instruction manual for the Game & Watch version of SMB◊.
• Spikes of Villainy: His shell, collar, and bracelets are all spiked, in addition to his horns. There's also his castles, and several of his Cool Chairs throughout the series.
• The Spiny: Bowser's horns and spiked shell makes him quite a tough customer in most 2D games. More often than not, trying to Goomba Stomp him is a bad idea.
• Staying Alive: It seems almost nothing can kill this guy.
• Stripped to the Bone: His first appearance as Dry Bowser.
• Strong as They Need to Be: His Super-Strength, and often what it takes to hurt him; sometimes Mario's regular attacks hurt him, and lots of the time, hitting him hurts Mario instead. This also applies to his speed and agility; when playable, he's usually a Mighty Glacier with poor jumping, but when he's a boss, he can outrun and outjump Mario.
• Studded Shell: The Trope Codifier.
• Summon Magic: His fighting style in Super Mario RPG, and in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story; while not exactly magic, he can summon his troops.
• Super-Persistent Predator: From the party guest's perspective in Mario Party 10. Absolutely nothing stops him as he chases after everyone else and comes stomping through the levels. From his point-of-view as a party host, he's just having fun.
• Super-Strength: He never misses a chance to show off his great strength.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Typically blames his minions for any failures and incompetence. How justified he is for feeling this way varies between games.
• Sympathetic Villain, Despicable Villain: Bowser's fatherly traits towards his son and his own minions leaves him as the Sympathetic Villain, while villains that appear in RPGs and other spin-offs end up being the Despicable Villains.
• Tactical Suicide Boss: His constant use of this trope undoubtedly inspired his Dumb Muscle personality in the RPGs.
• Take Over the World: Next to having Peach for himself and destroying his arch-enemy, this is Bowser's most consistent motivation. Most likely why he doesn't take it well when he comes across another villain who tries to steal his spotlight, or worse, destroy the world he wants to rule.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Bowser's usual demeanor when he has to work alongside Mario to save the world.
• Thememobile: The Koopa Clown Car.
• This Cannot Be!: After Mario defeats him in Super Mario Galaxy, He can only watch in utter disbelief as his attempted conquest of the universe falls apart.
  "NOOOO! My galaxy! My empire! This can't be happening..."
• Token Evil Teammate: Bowser takes on this role in Super Mario RPG, where he is one of the party members, and Super Paper Mario where he is one of the four playable characters.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • In Super Mario 3D World, he becomes a little more competent, strategy-wise anyway. On top of generally showing a bit more competence in his minions and obstacles, somewhere along the line, Bowser finally took a good look at Mario's powerup arsenal, and asked himself "why haven't I ever tried to use these?"
  • In Super Mario Odyssey the game opens with Mario and Bowser in the middle of one of their climactic showdowns. Bowser wins. And, throughout the game, he manages to get away with the artifacts he stole for his wedding long before Mario can actually catch him - meaning that the two boss battles he has with Mario are the only times where Bowser is actually even cornered. And, in the end, Bowser indirectly denies Mario victory over him - as Peach, tired of the doting and pressure the two of them put on her, walks off on her own as the two sulks over their lost opportunity. This is a mainstream Mario game, where, while he saves the day, he does not win.
• Totally Not a Werewolf: An unstated example overlapping with Not Using the "Z" Word. Bowser is almost never referred to as a dragon, with the rare exceptions only applying to specific transformations of his. This is despite Yoshi getting the title, and several 'actual' dragons present in the series.
• Tough Spikes and Studs: Bowser's spiked bracelets are an iconic and consistent part of his appearance, exuding a sense of danger and power befitting his status as Mario's archnemesis. His wedding outfit in Super Mario Odyssey features a fancier silver variant of his bracelets.
• Trademark Favorite Food: The guy loves Peach's cake so much, he kidnaps her multiple times just so he can get some. The RPG series and Mario Kart Arcade GP also shows he likes to eat meat, functioning as Bowser's answer to the Mario Bros. mushrooms.
• Training Boss: In the first three Mario & Luigi games and Super Mario RPG, he's an easy fight meant to get Mario used to the battle system. In the case of the former, Luigi usually sits out the fight for one reason or another.
• T. Rexpy: He's not an official dinosaur, but there's some T. rex in his Cartoon Creature makeup, mainly through his overall posture and facial structure.
• Troll: Mainly in the Mario Party series; where he uses a roulette to see which event he will cause. This is exceptionally noticeable when something along the lines of "Get 10,000 Stars" lands, at which point Bowser will either immediately run off, alter the roulette so it lands on something else, or outright con the players and give them nothing. This is even present in Super Mario Odyssey, where he jokingly invites Mario to his wedding with Peach.
• Turtle Shield: Like all Koopas, Bowser possesses a turtle-like shell, though his particular shell is spiked. However, Bowser can and has used his shell as a means of defense. Bowser's shell has helped him survive being submerged in lava, explosions, and even having his own castle fall on him. Bowser's shell can also protect him from enemy attacks and offers resistance to the elements like fire and ice.

• Ungrateful Bastard: During the ending of Bowser's Fury, after Mario finally breaks Bowser out of his uncontrollable rampage, rather than thanking the plumber or even showing the slightest amount of gratitude for breaking him out of his mindless rage, he instead shows anger at Mario's mere presence and continues to still try to attack and kill the plumber with Bowser Jr. even needing to hold him back from doing so.
• Universally Beloved Leader: Bowser's people follow him not out of fear, but out of respect and admiration, and they are just as loyal to him as the people of the Mushroom Kingdom are to Peach.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: Peach likes Bowser and is willing to be a friend to him, as long as he behaves himself. But she isn't into him the way he'd like. So he repeatedly kidnaps her to try to make her change her mind. That's not usually how it works.
• Unskilled, but Strong:
  • This is a consistent thing with Bowser compared to Mario: while he's obviously stronger and tougher than his archnemesis, games like Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy have shown that he can also run faster than Mario, and jump higher to make a powerful stomp. However, these games also show he needs a little anticipation before a sprint or a jump, and he either nearly falls in the Bottomless Pit or burns his tail in his own reactor.
  • Bowser is also much more capable in an intellectual level, as he knows different kinds of magic and is the commander of a massive airship fleet, but his arrogance and his short-temper cost him many possible victories against Mario, who's more contained and able to improvise with what he has.
• Vehicular Assault: While he prefers to fight mano-a-mano, Bowser isn't above using vehicles to fight Mario every once in a while.
  • In its debut in Super Mario World, Bowser used the Koopa Clown Car, primarily ramming and attempting to crush Mario. Outside of the final battle of Super Mario Run however, the Clown Car see most of its offensive use in the Mario Party series, particularly Mario Party 8 where it can use Bullet Bill blaster add-ons and a mouth laser.
  • In Mario Party 4 and Mario Party 7, Bowser uses one-off vehicles during their respective final boss minigame. Interestingly, when Mario Party 4's minigame returned for The Top 100, the craft Bowser initially used was swapped out for the Koopa Clown Car.
  • Super Mario 3D World featured a purple muscle car, which Bowser uses for his first two boss fights. The car itself doesn't have any weapons, but it forces Mario & co to chase Bowser down a trap-filled highway.
• Vigorous Bull: In his more sympathetic portrayals, he's a showy, cocky meathead who commands respect from his adoring minions and might even help save the world.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: The Super Mario Bros. franchise is a lighthearted world with a severe lack of logic, and Mario's Arch-Enemy is a giant turtle, who, while hammy, has planned to rule over the universe from his own created galaxy by stealing from a powerful cosmic caretaker of baby stars, kidnap Toads and force them into slave labor and trap the Mario Bros. in the Paper World and destroy it by burning the book. Bowser shows that he falls into this trope quite nicely in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team when the Mario Bros. visit his dream and find themselves in a nightmarish landscape filled with visions of flowing magma, cannons laying waste to the landscape, iron chains wrapped over the very ether of the plane, cracked and decrepit brick walls locking everything in, sharp and dangerous protrusions everywhere and dark colored faces of floating Bowser heads, making it clear that Bowser is just as evil as he sees himself as.
• Villain Ball:
  • He just can't stop kidnapping Princess Peach even when doing so is actually a hindrance to his plan. This is most blatant in Super Mario Galaxy, where Bowser's plan is to steal all the power stars in space, then use them to power a huge machine at the center of the universe that will give him control of every galaxy there is. When the game opens, he seems to be pretty far into his plans, and Mario has no idea they're even happening. The only reason Mario finds out is that Bowser decides to kidnap Peach right in front of Mario, setting the plumber on his trail with just enough time to stop his schemes.
  • Bowser also does this in Super Mario Bros. 3, where his plan is actually pretty clever: have his minions turn the seven kings of the Mushroom Worlds into animals, forcing Mario and Luigi to travel far and wide to help them. While they're distracted, Bowser kidnaps Peach. This one worked like a charm — until Bowser sends Mario a taunting letter telling him exactly where to find the Princess.
• Villain in a White Suit: He wears a white wedding suit in Super Mario Odyssey, and remains the franchise's perennial villain.
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • Is the master of Turns Red in video games. This is most apparent in the Final Boss of New Super Mario Bros.. If you take out Bowser Jr. first, Bowser absolutely loses it.
  • In the final boss battle for Super Mario Odyssey, he progressively gets more and more frustrated with Mario for crashing his wedding with Peach. He starts breathing fire after Mario lands a hit on him and the speed of his throws gets faster. His hair also becomes disheveled in the final phase as he tries so desperately to hit Mario.
• Villainous Crush: One of his possible motivations for kidnapping Peach, especially in the Paper Mario series.
• Villainous Glutton: On "DK's Jungle Ruins" in Mario Party 9, Bowser's excuse if his roulette lands on the "get 10,000 Bananas" event is that he got hungry and ate all of them^note or almost all, if he gives the player 10.
• Villain Protagonist: Whenever he's a playable character in the RPGs, especially in Bowser's Inside Story, where he's one of the main protagonists.
• Villain Respect:
  • In Super Mario Galaxy, he compliments Mario for beating him a second time, remarking that Mario truly is his Arch-Enemy.
  • After defeating him in Mario Party 5, Bowser congratulates the player, remarking that he wished for a Worthy Opponent and the player made his wish come true.
• Villain Song: Some obscure Mario-related media have Bowser break out in song.
  • Ignorance is Bliss by Jellyfish where he gloats to Princess Toadstool that he does not need education and reveals his plot to become an oil baron. While the tie-in comic had the Mario characters reference the names of the songs, Ignorance is Bliss is the only Mario-themed on the album.
  • The Mario show at the Ice Capades has Bowser, portrayed by Christopher Hewett, sing about how rotten he is as he plots to release a virus to take over the world.
  • The rare ''Super Mario Bros Special" features "Great King Koopa's Hell Bridge".
  • Super Mario Adventures has Bowser make his entrance by rapping to Princess Peach about how she must marry him or else he'll turn all her people to stone. Larry, Wendy and Roy also contribute.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Mario Golf Super Rush has him revered as a deity whose sacred flame drove off the Snow King.
• White Hair, Black Heart: In Bowser's Fury, Fury Bowser's hair and spike coloring change from red to white when you fight him with all 100 Cat Shines. This is to help signal that the fight is harder than it was initially.
• Who Dares?: "Mario! How dare you disturb my family vacation?!" in Sunshine.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Bowser's Fury goes this route: On one hand, Fury Bowser is probably one of the strongest forms Bowser's ever used. On the other hand, Bowser's sanity appears to have taken a dive as he's so consumed by fury over Junior's prank that he's turned into a mindless rampaging monster. Even his doggedly-loyal son is concerned for him in this form, mostly because it's his fault that Bowser ended up that way.
• The Worf Effect: Whenever there's a new villain around, Bowser is usually first in line to get walloped. Especially in Mario Party 3, where he gets owned by both Daisy and Waluigi. This trope works in his favor when he hijacks Antasma's status as the Big Bad in Dream Team.
• World's Strongest Man: In terms of pure physical might, Bowser has everyone beat in the Mario universe. Even Mario, hero though he may be, can't always beat Bowser in a straight fight by himself, as shown at the beginning of Odyssey; he often has to rely on traps, tools, and the help of other characters to best the Koopa King in battle.
• Worthy Opponent:
  • In Super Mario Galaxy, he mentions that he's glad Mario always puts up a good fight.
  • A fight against a strong opponent was his wish in Mario Party 5.
    Bowser: WHAT?! I lost... But with this, a dream has come true! As a gift, I'll tell you what my dream was! That is... I wished for a strong opponent! In other words, my dream has come true! I lost the battle, but I still won! I tend to think positively!
• Would Hurt a Child: As Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time shows, he has absolutely no problem with attacking the baby counterparts of the Mario Bros. and even goes as far as to try and kill them as well.
• Yandere: The Paper Mario series posits that his kidnappings are partially motivated by his love for Peach, and Super Mario Odyssey confirms this.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: Bowser always gets a pretty good jump on Mario and friends when it comes to enacting his evil plans. He'll always succeed in kidnapping the Princess (or Mario and Luigi), he'll always get his hands on the powerful Artifact of Doom, and he'll always spoil the party by stealing the Mini-stars. It's maintaining his iron grip on his advantage where Bowser usually falls flat. Finally averted in Mario Party Island Tour, where he actually wins.
• You Don't Look Like You:
  • In earlier games he had a thinner maw, yellow hair, green scales all around his body and a more bestial stance, before Super Mario 64 characterized his current look and Super Mario Sunshine solidified it. In Super Mario Maker he retains his older look in the Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 styles, but Super Mario World has an entirely original set of sprites to befit his current appearance. The cartoons made him look more like a dinosaur as well as coating his entire body bar his belly in green and making his shell black.
  • The NES version of Mario Is Missing! portrays Bowser as a standard Koopa with Bowser's characteristics: his maw, horns and a spiky shell.
• You Got Guts: In Mario Party 4, he'll praise anyone who approaches his giant-self in anything smaller than Mega form, right before incinerating them for their childish impudence.
• You Have Failed Me: Kid-friendly variation: In one of the Mario Party games, when Bowser is defeated, he'll punish the Koopa Kids by not allowing them to play with their Mario action figures for their failure to beat Mario.
• Younger Than They Look: Mario and Luigi are said to be 24-25 years old, and the Yoshi's Island series and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time show that Bowser was also a baby at the same time they were, though the fact that he can talk implies that he's at least a few years older. Taking this into account, Bowser is likely only 26-30 years old^note Interestingly, a (now privated) Nintendo Switch instructional video implies that Bowser is 27.
• Your Size May Vary: His size ranges from being about the same size as Mario, to being a fair bit bigger than him, to being a colossal behemoth who could swallow Mario whole. According to the official height chart, he's supposed to be about eight and a half feet tall, but he's usually larger. Bowser's Inside Story attributes his size-changing ability to his adrenaline, but sources in the main series attribute it to magical artifacts he's empowering himself with.

Dry Bowser

Debut: New Super Mario Bros.

A skeletal version of Bowser. In his debut game, Dry Bowser was created in the first castle when Bowser was Stripped to the Bone after being dunked into a Lava Pit. On a few rare occasions, he has made appearances as a separate character from Bowser, such as Mario Party: Island Tour and the Mario & Sonic series.

• Background Boss: In New Super Mario Bros. 2, he attacks from the background in his second phase, just like regular Bowser.
• Bad Boss: In his final battle in Super Mario 3D Land, his shockwaves will not only hurt Mario/Luigi, they will kill any other enemy they touch.
• Bad with the Bone: Just like Dry Bones, he has the ability to throw bones.
• Decomposite Character: And no, not because he's a skeleton. In his first appearance, he was an undead Bowser. In a few games after, Dry Bowser appears as his own entity. In Mario Party: Island Tour, Bowser refers to him as a "close family friend" in the English version. And in the Mario & Sonic series, he assists Bowser and Eggman in their evil schemes (though he's never shown being in the same place and time as Bowser, being the only boss not seen in the endings). Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition is a particularly confusing example as Bowser's dialogue after beating him in World 8 implies that Dry Bowser is a result of him gaining his "full powers", but you immediately unlock him after clearing World 8 and Special World 8's complete lack of plot does not help matters. Starting with Mario Party 10, this trend would disappear, and focus on Dry Bowser being a form of Bowser again. While some games can have him appear alongside his fleshy counterpart, the same is done for other forms such as Tanooki and Baby Mario.
• Defeat Means Playable: Just like his living counterpart, if you defeat him in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, he will join your team.
• Dem Bones: He's a skeletal version of Bowser.
• Depending on the Writer: Dry Bowser is usually a form of Bowser, but there are occasions where he is a separate character.
• Divergent Character Evolution: In Mario Tennis Open, he's a Defense-type, while his living counterpart is a Power-type.
• Dracolich: He's a giant, undead, fire-breathing toothy reptile.
• Downloadable Content: Mario Kart 8's April 2015 DLC adds him as a playable character.
• Evil Redhead: Just like his living counterpart, Dry Bowser sports the same fiery red hair.
• Evil Sounds Deep: He usually has a deeper version of Bowser's voice. In some games, he sounds downright demonic.
• Glacier Waif: In every Mario Kart game where he is playable, Dry Bowser is on the heavyweight class because of his stature.
• Immune to Fire: What sets him apart from his normal form as a boss (aside from 3D Land, where Bowser is also immune in his base form). Unlike the other boss battles in the 2D games, Mario has to use the standard strategy of knocking him into a pit and can't cheese his way with a Fire Flower.
• King Mook: While normal Bowser is this to the Koopas as a whole, Dry Bowser is this to the Dry Bones, their skeletal counterparts. He even falls apart and reassembles himself like one in his debut appearance, and he shares their immunity to fire.
• Make My Monster Grow:
  • He turns giant in New Super Mario Bros. 2, courtesy of the Koopalings' magic.
  • In Mario Party 10, after Bowser gets thrown into the lava at the end of the first phase of his boss fight, he reemerges as Dry Bowser and becomes giant.
  • Much like normal Bowser, he is permanently Mega in Mario Tennis Ultra Smash's Knockout Challenge.
• Non-Mammalian Hair: His skin was burned off, but his hair remained intact.
• One-Winged Angel: In Mario Party 10, halfway through his boss fight, Bowser himself turns into this form for the first time since New Super Mario Bros.
• Promoted to Playable: Mario Kart Wii is his first playable appearance.
• Recurring Boss: In Super Mario 3D Land, where he shows up in the special worlds for three boss fights. Unlike regular Bowser, he does not employ fakes; all three fights are against the real deal.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: If being a skeleton of the Big Bad of the series isn't scary enough, he also sports these to make himself more terrifying.
• Rule of Fun: Just like the baby characters, as well as other forms in later games such as Metal Mario, Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach, he appears playable in spin-offs alongside his fleshy self for this reason. Briefly averted in Mario Party Island Tour, which treats him more as a separate person, but this was never brought up again.
• Stone Wall: Much like Waluigi, Dry Bowser is a Defense character in the Tennis spin-offs, giving him longer reach at the cost of slower movement speed.
• Technicolor Fire: His fire breath is blue, as opposed to his living counterpart's orange. His fire breath was still orange in his debut, though.
• Tennis Boss: In Mario Party: Island Tour, the objective of his boss fight is to knock the bones he throws back at him with a hammer.
• True Final Boss:
  • In New Super Mario Bros. 2, he's the boss of World Star, which is unlocked after beating the regular final boss in World 6 and requires 90 Star Coins to enter.
  • Happens again in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, where he is the boss of Special World 8.
  • He's usually the final opponent of Mario Tennis Ultra Smash's Knockout Challenge, except when using Dry Bowser himself.
• Vocal Evolution: Inverted: For Mario Kart Wii and Mario & Sonic at The Winter Olympic Games Dry Bowser was given a distinct, deeper, heavily modified version of Bowser's voice. In later appearances, however, Dry Bowser's voice becomes a slightly lower pitched Bowser's, to the point of sometimes being barely distinguishable. He does regain his original voice in his Mario Party 10 appearance, though.