Bowser Jr.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Baby Bowser, Koopa Kid, or Mini Bowser.
Bowser Jr.
Mario character
Bowser Jr. holding a Bob-omb inside a Koopa Clown Car
Bowser Jr. in New Super Mario Bros. U
First appearanceSuper Mario Sunshine (2002)
Last appearanceMario Golf: Super Rush (2021)
Voiced by
  • Dolores Rogers (2002–2007)
  • Caety Sagoian (2007–present)
In-universe information
AliasJunior
SpeciesKoopa
GenderMale
TitlePrince of the Koopas
WeaponJunior Clown Car (New Super Mario Bros. Wii)

Magic Paintbrush (Super Mario Sunshine)

Various Mechanical Inventions (Super Mario)
FamilyBowser (father)

Bowser Jr. (known as Koopa Jr. (クッパJr., Kuppa Junia) in Japan) is a fictional character who appears in Nintendo's Mario franchise as an antagonist. He is the son of the series' main antagonist, Bowser. Since his debut in Super Mario Sunshine in 2002, Bowser Jr. has been a recurring character in the Mario series and has been made playable in several spin-offs, such as Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Strikers Charged, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate among many others. He often helps his father to kidnap Princess Peach and defeat Mario, but in the end wants nothing more than to impress his father. Bowser Jr.’s defining traits are his striking resemblance to his father, his energetic and driven personality, his expertise in mechanics and technology, his heavy uses of his Junior Clown Car and Magic Paintbrush.

Design and characteristics[]

Bowser Jr. is a yellow-skinned Koopa similar to his father with the same yellow and tan skin complexion, as well as a light green head and a Top-ponytail of orange-red hair held by a black tie. He has one small tooth in his mouth and a large snout, as well as small circular eyes that are beady and black in color. His shell is lined with a green encasing with small white spikes. Junior typically wears a white bandana, decorated with a drawn-on mouth with fangs that is worn around his neck and occasionally over his mouth like a mask (however it is absent in Mario Strikers Charged, and he wore a blue mask with Mario's mustache in Super Mario Sunshine). Bowser Jr. also has two metal wristbands, while Bowser wears four that are all spiked.[citation needed]

Like his father, Bowser Jr. can breathe fire and is physically powerful in spite of his small frame. He is also very agile. According to Mario Kart Wii, Bowser Jr. inherited his father's temper and bad attitude, evident in his motto ("Grin and bear it. When that don't work, grin and crush it."). He is also childish yet revealed to be lonely, and wants to help his dad and "play hero", as said by Bowser in Mario Party: Island Tour. Bowser Jr.’s main interests shown throughout the series include painting, inventing and deploying mechanical marvels, and making his father proud. Bowser Jr. is not to be confused with "Baby Bowser", the infant version of Bowser as appears in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, or “Koopa Kid” from the various games in the Mario Party series.[citation needed]

Bowser Jr. was voiced by Dolores Rogers from 2002 to 2007. Then, Caety Sagoian took over the voice acting role for him since Mario Strikers Charged.[citation needed]

Appearances[]

Bowser Jr. in his "Shadow Mario" form as a doppelgänger of Mario in Super Mario Sunshine

Bowser Jr. first appeared in Super Mario Sunshine, where he disguised as Shadow Mario and disrupted Mario's vacation with Princess Peach by painting the island of Isle Delfino with goop and then kidnapping her by framing Mario,[1] after his father tricked him into thinking that Princess Peach was his mother whom he had to protect.[2] Eventually he found out that Peach was not really his mother,[3] but still wanted to get revenge on Mario.[4] Bowser Jr. later appeared in New Super Mario Bros., in a role similar to Boom Boom from Super Mario Bros. 3, as the boss of every tower, the midpoint in each of the game's worlds as well as in the final battle with his father. Bowser Jr. appears in Super Mario Galaxy, aiding his father in battle,[5] as well as having three worlds of his own. Alongside the Koopalings, Bowser Jr. re-appeared in the New Super Mario Bros. sequel, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, appearing on an airship.[6][7] He also appears in Super Mario Galaxy 2, in the same way as in the original Galaxy. Bowser Jr. also appears in New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe alongside his dad, the Koopalings, and Boom Boom.

Bowser Jr. is a staple character in the various Mario spin-off games as well as the main ones. Bowser Jr. appears in Mario Kart: Double Dash, Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[8][9][10] and also appears in the Mario sports games. He also appears as a mini-boss in Mario Party 9 and is the host of his own board space, where he challenges two players to play a minigame with him.[11] He is also a playable character in Mario Party: Island Tour. He also appears in every entry of the Mario & Sonic series as a member of Team Mario, beginning with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.[12][13] Bowser Jr. made his RPG debut in Paper Mario: Sticker Star (as Paper Bowser Jr.) as one of the bosses. He also appeared in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team as a bonus boss in the Battle Ring. Bowser Jr. meets his paper counterpart, Paper Bowser Jr., in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. He also appeared in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey as a playable character in Bowser Jr.'s Journey, a side story of his adventure with the Koopalings. Bowser Jr. appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, fighting from atop his Junior Clown Car with Shadow Mario as his Final Smash. Each of his alternate costumes replaces him with one of the Koopalings.[14][15]

Bowser Jr. appears in Super Mario Maker not just as a boss that Mario can fight in all game styles, but also as a Mystery Mushroom costume in the Super Mario Bros. style. Bowser Jr. appears along with his father in an official animated presentation video that promotes the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app.

In the 2021 enhanced port of Super Mario 3D World for the Switch, titled Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, Bowser Jr. becomes an ally of Mario in the titular add-on story, in which the two must form an uneasy alliance to confront Bowser after he becomes enlarged and uncontrollably enraged.[16]

Reception[]

Since Bowser Jr.'s introduction in Super Mario Sunshine, reception to the character has been positive. He ranked sixth on GameDaily's list of the top 10 Nintendo characters that deserve their own games.[17] They also listed him as the 18th best Mario enemy, calling him a "chip off the ol' block" from Bowser.[18] In a satirical article written by Kotaku writer Chi Lee, Bowser Jr. was compared to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, and compared the relationship of North Korea and South Korea with the fictional Mushroom Kingdom and Koopa Kingdom.[19] Kotaku also listed Bowser as one of the worst fathers in video gaming, due to allowing Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings to run around with pirate ships and "zappy wands".[20] GameSpy complained that Bowser Jr. was a "dopey successor" to the Koopalings which they liked more, and said that they have "far more charm" when compared to Bowser Jr.[21] 1UP.com listed Fawful as a character they would want more in the Mario Kart series than Bowser Jr. and Waluigi, saying "Unfortunately, rather than exploring the true depth of the series and offering characters like Mario & Luigi's Fawful, we get Bowser Jr. and Waluigi. Yeah, great."[22] Australia's Official Nintendo Magazine listed Bowser Jr. as one of the characters they want in Super Smash Bros. 4, as he would be a "fantastic inclusion".[23] Jeremy Parish of Polygon ranked 73 fighters from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate "from garbage to glorious", placing Bowser Jr. at 67th place and stated that "Cool trivia fact: No one outside of Nintendo actually likes Bowser Jr. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're lying."[24] Gavin Jasper of Den of Geek ranked Bowser Jr. as 23rd on his list of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters, stating that "What we got was a bratty, new part of the Mario mythos that added a little extra dimension to Bowser. Put Bowser Jr. in Smash and you have yourself an amusing and unique brawler."[25]

References[]

  1. ^ McLaughin, Rus. "IGN Presents: The History of Super Mario Bros". IGN. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  2. ^ Nintendo EAD (2002-07-19). Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube). Nintendo. Level/area: Isle Delfino. Bowser Jr.: Leave my Mama alone, you bad man! I won't let you take Mama Peach away!/Peach: Mama? Mama Peach? I'm your... Mama?/Bowser Jr.: Yeah, Papa told me all about it. He told me my Mama got kidnapped by a bad man named Mario.../Peach: So, you're Bowser's son.../Bowser Jr.: So I came here to rescue her!
  3. ^ Nintendo EAD (2002-07-19). Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube). Nintendo. Level/area: Isle Delfino. Bowser Jr.: I know, she's not really my Mama.
  4. ^ Nintendo EAD (2002-07-19). Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube). Nintendo. Level/area: Isle Delfino. Bowser Jr.: Someday, when I'm bigger, I wanna fight that Mario again!
  5. ^ Nintendo EAD (2007). Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo Wii). Nintendo. Level/area: Bowser's Galaxy Reactor (The Fate of the Universe).
  6. ^ "Walkthrough: World 4-Air Ship Bowser Jr". IGN. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  7. ^ Totilo, Stephen. "New Super Mario Bros. Wii Preview: All The Modes, Chaos". Kotaku. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  8. ^ Nintendo EAD (2003). Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Gamecube). Nintendo. Level/area: N/A. He may be smaller than his dad, but Bowser Jr. is just as mean and just as destructive. When he hurls Bowser's shell, he can cause some serious pain.
  9. ^ Nintendo EAD (2008). Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo Wii). Nintendo.
  10. ^ Nintendo EAD (2017). Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo.
  11. ^ Claiborn, Samuel. "How Mario Party 9 Kicked My Ass". IGN. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  12. ^ Robinson, Martin. "GC 2009: Bowser Jr. Goes to Winter Olympics". Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games". Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2016. Description: Bowser Jr. is the son of Bowser, but don't let that fool you. With the good balancing and the inherited hidden strength from his father, he's aiming for first place in these Olympic Games.
  14. ^ "People Are Starting to Unlock Secret Smash Bros. Characters [Update]".
  15. ^ "Bowser Jr. -Fighters- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch System - Official Site". smashbros.com. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  16. ^ Keane, Sean. "Giant Bowser debuts in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury trailer". CNet. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  17. ^ "Top 10 Nintendo Characters That Deserve Their Own Games - Page 5". GameDaily. Archived from the original on October 19, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  18. ^ Chris Buffa (October 3, 2008). "Gallery and Images". GameDaily. Archived from the original on 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  19. ^ Lee, Chi (22 February 2012). "Real Life Bowser Jr Trolls South Korea". Kotaku Australia. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  20. ^ Glasser, Aj. "Father Knows Best: Best And Worst Fathers In Video Games". Kotaku. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  21. ^ "GameSpy: GameSpy's Favorite Videogame Bosses". GameSpy. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  22. ^ Parish, Jeremy. "Fan Service Face-Off - Mario Kart vs. Super Smash Bros". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  23. ^ "THE NEXT SMASH HIT". Official Nintendo Magazine. No. 48. Nintendo. 2012. pp. 53–56. ISSN 1836-4276.
  24. ^ Parish, Jeremy (December 3, 2018). "We rank the Smash Bros. (and friends)". Polygon.
  25. ^ "Super Smash Bros. Characters Ranked". Den of Geek. March 7, 2019.

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