Bowser Jr.

**Bowser Jr.** is a character from the *Mario* franchise.

Bowser Jr. is Bowser's son and heir to the throne. He's a rotten little schemer who wants Princess Peach to become his mommy. He first appeared in Super Mario Sunshine disguised as Mario in order to get him sent to prison, and when that failed he personally kidnapped Princess Peach himself, revealing his true form. Since then, Bowser Jr. has become his father's right hand man and most reliable soldier, having successfully kidnapped Princess Peach more times than anyone except Bowser himself.

## **Appearance**

Bowser Jr. has a yellow skin tone, he has a light green head with small horns on each side, each being circled with orange rings, small circular eyes that are black in color and lack sclera and irises. His hair being tied up into a top-ponytail. His mouth is wide, puffy, and con-vexed with a large snout having one, fang-like tooth in the upper left corner. He has sharp claws on his fingers and toes and a rounded, four-ribbed plated belly, as well as chubby, white-padded feet. His shell is green, lined with a white encasing, and the multiple, short spikes are circled with orange rings.

## **Personality**

Bowser Jr. can be summed up as a bold and energetic troublemaker. His trouble-making side is seen as he tricks Mario in both Super Mario Sunshine and New Super Mario Bros. In Bowser Jr.'s Journey, he is shown to lie in order to get what he wants, as a running joke is that he demands a set number of wins before he will be satisfied, and counts up regarding how many times they have left to fight instead of down. According to Mario Kart Wii, Bowser Jr. inherited his father's short temper and bad attitude, evident in his motto ("Grin and bear it. When that don't work, grin and crush it."). He is also bratty, spoiled, and rude. His favorite hobbies are stealing cookies, causing trouble for people, and scribbling (which may explain the widespread graffiti that was made at Isle Delfino). However, he seems determined to defeat Mario in a fair fight in order to prove his power. His bio in Paper Mario: Sticker Star suggests he is also occasionally lazy due to riding his Junior Clown Car throughout the game. He is also apparently quite bright, with his Final Smash trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U stating he is brainier than his father. He also has a habit, when energized or excited, of jumping from one foot to the other. In fact, he seems to have a hard time standing still for very long, suggesting he is hyperactive. Two of Bowser Jr.'s kart tricks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe have him jump out and heartily laugh while holding his belly and wiggling his feet around, or smack his rear end, further implying his hyperactivity. Fortune Street also indicates that he has a more sarcastic nature to him, as he sometimes tells the player that he's "proud" of him with hearts crossed in a deadpan manner before explaining he was actually making a sarcastic reply.

His selfishness can also work against him, as evidenced with Bowser Jr.'s Journey, where despite organizing his troops to attempt to find the cures for the blorbs, his more petulant nature ended driving some of the Koopalings, most notably Roy, to temporarily abandon him. However, in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, he shows some remorse for his actions and admits everything is his fault.

He absolutely hates losing and usually accuses his opponents of cheating or simply winning through luck. This also extends to how he sees his opponents: He refused to believe it was simply Mario’s own skill that led to his defeat again and again and claimed that it was only because of his F.L.U.D.D. that he gets the upper hand over him in Super Mario Sunshine. As a result, he craves the respect and acknowledgment of others—especially his father—and resents being looked down upon because of his age or size.

He is quite fearless when attacking his father's enemies, although even he can be frightened into retreating when things go disastrously wrong in battle. In particular, he seems to have little to no fear of heights, as he himself states in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, and enjoys doing dangerous stunts on his airborne vehicles like standing on the rim of his Clown Car’s cockpit or balancing on the bowsprits of airships.

He also seems fascinated by big, dangerous machines, such as robots, and mechanized vehicles that he often employs in his fights against Mario. He seems to have a hand in designing at least some of the machines he uses, such as the pinball machine in Mario Party DS. This same game describes him as obsessive about little details in the things that he makes as well as never being quite satisfied with his own work. Sometimes he will add details because he thinks they're "cool," only for him to have second thoughts about their practicality.

Despite his love of doing evil, Bowser Jr. does seem to occasionally flirt with the idea of being a hero. He seems to see his rescue of Princess Peach from the "bad man" Mario as a heroic deed, and he persuades his dad to let him pretend to be a hero in Mario Party: Island Tour. However, he may just enjoy the positive attention more than actually doing good deeds, as in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, he gladly takes credit for accidentally saving two Chao’s from Dr. Eggman’s robots. In the English version of Bowser Jr.'s Journey, he claims not to believe in the concept of good and evil, viewing such things as outdated and how everything is relative when confronting the Best Fitness Friends.

Despite all of his arrogant personality traits, it is also stated that he harbors a lonely side that he does not let other people know about, first alluded to in Mario Party DS. This aspect of his personality was explored in greater depth in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam with his friendship to Paper Bowser Junior, and the depths the two go to try to keep Paper Bowser Jr. from being forced to return to his own world. It is unknown where the Koopalings stand to him in that respect. A similar depiction of loneliness was also showcased in the Nintendo Switch Online service trailer's NES portion, where he attempted to ask his dad to let him play his game with him but then nearly walked away dejected when the Koopa King initially ignored him. He also seems more willing to swallow his pride than his father, such as when he convinced Bowser to accept an invitation to a party after their defeat in Mario Super Sluggers, or when he begged Mario to rescue his father from the Megabug's influence in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.

## **The Adventures in Gamesphere**

### **Gamesphere Accounts**

In Chapter 6, Bowser Jr. is present at the 31st Annual Gamesphere Legacy Awards. He is cheering for his father whom is awarded number nine spot at the top tens.

In Chapter 7, Bowser Jr. is seen attending a festival somewhere in the PC Kingdom.

In Chapter 10, Bowser Jr. is amongst the many guest inside an amusement park in the PC Kingdom.

## **Abilities**

Despite his young age and size, Bowser Jr. is very skilled, powerful, and a formidable opponent to the Mario Bros. From his first appearance, he has shown remarkable talent with mechanics and computers, able to skillfully pilot vehicles and giant robots as well as hack emails. He is also able to take on his Shadow Mario form through the use of his Magic Paintbrush and a bandana that has drawing of Mario's moustache; in this form, he is just as acrobatic as Mario and can perform the same jump techniques. When using his Magic Paintbrush, he can create goop and graffiti infused with different effects, enemies such as Swoopin' Stus and Gatekeepers, Yoshis, and even bosses such as Petey Piranha and King Boo. He also has high level of skill wielding it. He rotates the Magic Paintbrush with one hand effortlessly and uses it as an offensive combat weapon against his opponents. Bowser Jr. is shown to be fast and skilled, though at times he may be given varied stats. Being the heir to the royal Koopa line, Bowser Jr. seems to have some of his father's traits. He is usually physically powerful like his father in spite of his small frame, and has shown off great levels of durability to the point of being able to survive near-death situations. This is evident in Super Mario Galaxy, where he falls into the gigantic sun after his father's defeat, and is later shown to be alive back in Mushroom Kingdom, as well as New Super Mario Bros Wii, where he survives after being crushed by Bowser's collapsing castle. Like his father, Bowser Jr. can do a normal shell spin, but in some games he's also shown he's able to do a 'reverse shell spin' where he balances on one of the spikes on his shell and spins like a top, usually with his arms, legs, and head outside of the shell.

Bowser Jr. was, at first, unskilled in breathing fire as shown in Mario Strikers Charged where he attempts to breathe fire like his father in his entrance, only to breathe smoke and a tiny flame. This changes in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where he can breathe fireballs that can home onto opponents, and creates a large blaze of fire when the fireball is on contact with the ground. In New Super Mario Bros. U, he can breathe fireballs consecutively. In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, he is able to breathe a stream of fire. He can also withdraw and duck into his shell for offensive and defensive purposes and uses Koopa Shells as weapons in New Super Mario Bros. In Mario Strikers Charged, he has a Super Ability that shrinks his opponents called Sonic Roar! where he emits large sonic waves by screaming loudly. He uses this as a Mega Strike as well. Bowser Jr. appears to excel in magic as shown in Mario Super Sluggers where he turned Daisy into a stone statue. This is also supported in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, where he can Paperize, create a defensive shield, and heal. Bowser Jr. is also surprisingly strong for his size as demonstrated in Super Mario Maker, where he possesses the ability to ground pound and paralyze any opponents that stay on the ground, an ability performed by most large and strong characters like Bowser, Morton, Roy, and Ludwig. He demonstrates his deceptively vast strength once more in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where he can easily throw a gigantic cannonball several times his own size at the Mario Bros. and Paper Mario.

## **Trivia**

* While the Koopalings are fought on airships in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Bowser Jr. is fought in towers in New Super Mario Bros., they swapped locations in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, as Bowser Jr. is fought on airships, whereas the Koopalings are fought in the towers and castle of each world.
* In the New Super Mario Bros. games, Bowser Jr.'s actions, such as running and jumping, create sound effects with a high pitch unique to him. This distinct sound effect was mimicked by Bowser during the ending of New Super Mario Bros. U.
* In the Collector's Edition of Monopoly Gamer, Bowser Jr. is the "Final Boss" in the Boss Card deck. He replaces his father, Bowser, as "Final Boss" from the Standard Edition, as Bowser is instead a playable character in the Collector's Edition.