Rogue's Gallery/Bowser

The episode slowly opens as we see various shots of Le Secluded Isle. The camera pans around the mansion on top of the island as the moon shines down upon it. We follow the camera near a window on the mansion's first floor, which leads us to a large art gallery. We see a man sitting in a large chair in his bathrobe, reading Old Yeller and holding a porcelain cup filled with tea. The figure looks up and notices the audience, breaking the fourth wall.
???: Oh! Hello there, viewer! Didn't know the show was about start...shucks.
???: Anyway! The name is Rogue! Rogue D. Stroyer, to be exact. And y'know...throughout my millions upon millions years of living, I've met many different people. They all range in appearance and personalities, but most of them...most of them have become my friends. Amigos. Buds. Pals. Homeslice. You get the deal by now.
Rogue: See, I was a villain in the past. I kidnapped some people. Conquered some kingdoms. Ended the Ice Age. Beat the vikings, the knights, the samurai, et cetera. While I was still in business, I met tons of people. And we all shared ONE thing in common: we were all villains. We all wanted to conquer the world, we all wanted to kidnap princesses, and we all wanted that sweet, sweet, sweet glory! In fact, a lot of my friends still want ALL of the above. In order to remember them forever, I've had each and everyone one of them in a painting or photograph alongside me!
Rogue: This show will be going over each and every one of them! We'll talk about their history, their origin, where they are today, and other cool little tidbits about them! And it's all narrated by me, Rogue! Now...who should I cover first?
Rogue looks around at all of his many pictures. Finally, his eyes lay upon a picture of him in a tacky tourist outfit, right next to a giant yellow turtle-like being.
Rogue: Ah yes! Bowser would be an excellent villain to start off the series with! He's one of my best friends! I'm POSITIVE he'll like what I have to say about him!
==The Information Station==
It was near the release of 1985's "Super Mario Bros." for the NES that Shigeru Miyamoto had an idea for the game's boxart: get a professional manga artist to do the boxart. However, after a period of time where NO ONE came to Miyamoto's aid (R.I.P.), he realized he would have to do it himself. He had very little trouble designing most of the boxart, as he knew how to design characters like Princess Toadstool (Peach), the Toads, and of course, Mario. There was one character that he had trouble drawing, though, and that character was the notorious King Koopa, known today as Bowser.
This was the design Miyamoto had come up with. It was very reminiscent of a character from The Journey to the West known as the Ox King. You'll notice that this older concept of Bowser shares a lot of features with the current one, but at the same time, had many differences, such as the lack of horns, a gray body, and yellow hair. This was the design that stuck with Bowser until Takashi Tezuka keep rallying for a more turtle-like design for Bowser to animator and character designer Yoichi Kotabe. Bowser went from being ox-like to looking more like a stronger and more menacing Koopa Troopa.
And the rest was history.
Before he was Bowser, he went by three other names: Bibinba, Kuupa, and Yukke, which are all Japanese names for certain Korean dishes. Those aren't the only names Bowser has had, however. He's went by Daimaō Kuppa in Japan and Bowser, King of the Koopa in the original Super Mario Bros. manual.
Bowser is easily the most recognizable video game villain of all time. He's been in over 100 games, and some of them aren't even starring Mario, such as Bayonetta 2, New Super Luigi U, and the SNES port of SimCity. No matter where he is, however, he always has one trait following him everywhere he goes: destruction. SimCity? Destroys your town. New Super Luigi U? Same thing as New Super Mario Bros. U, but without Mario. Bayonetta 2? Replaces some of Bayonetta's attacks with his fist and his foot. He's ALL about destruction, even if he teams up with the heroes in games like Super Mario RPG, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. He's all about at least SOME form of destruction.
Bowser has barely ever played the role of a full-on hero. He's always seem to be in it for some other reason, like getting a chance to takeover the kingdom or helping his tropes. He's never 100% good. He's the ideal bad guy in gaming. The icon. The Mickey Mouse of video game villainy.
However...Bowser isn't just one-sided. He's somewhat compassionate for certain things. He genuinely loves Peach...granted, he isn't the best at showing his emotions on this front, but he really does want Peach to marry him. Heck, that's what he wants to do in Super Mario Odyssey: he wants to marry Peach! He also cherishes his only legit son, Bowser Jr.! As shown in Super Mario Sunshine and (surprisingly) the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls video, he wants his son to be happy, but he still wants to be the best parent an evil lizard monster can be.
And that's the last real point about Bowser I want to make: how he's evolved. Back in Super Mario Bros., he was your generic villain. Then he slowly evolved overtime with games like Super Mario RPG, Super Mario Sunshine, the Mario & Luigi franchise, and even the story mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He has personality, he has motives, he has FLAIR! He is one of the most expressive characters in the entire Mario series! The way he's evolved is comparable to Luigi's development over the years, and frankly, it's one of the best examples of character development I've ever seen.
So where IS Bowser now? Well, he's still going strong. He's still doing what he always does: he kidnaps Peach, he's cracking jokes, and he's out to stop Mario! And frankly, I couldn't ask for a better villain.
==Back to Rogue==
Rogue: So, yeah! There's Bowser for ya! I hope the ol' guy is doing well...
Rogue: But ignoring that, I hope that you liked the first episode of my new show! I'm planning on doing two more episodes on simplier villains like Bowser, so please stay tuned for Episode 2! Thank you for tuning in to Rogue's Gallery, and I'll catch you on the flipside!...heard the food there is good.
Category:Rogue's Gallery
Category:Episodes
Category:Mario (series)