Bowser Jr

Junior

Lord Jr. (Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey)

Lord Bowser Jr. (Super Mario Party)

Kiddo (Bowser)

Son (Bowser)

Young Master (Kamek)

Great One (Kamek)

Small Bowser (Morton)

Bowser's Kid (Starlow)

Dry Bowser (grandfather)

Koopalings (adoptive siblings)

Mario (enermy)

Yoshi (enermy)

**Bowser Jr.**, sometimes simply known as "**Jr.**" or "**Junior**," is a secondary antagonist in Nintendo's *Mario* franchise. As his name indicates, he is the son of Bowser and serves as the prince of the Koopas, heir to the throne to be the future king. Bowser Jr. made his debut in Super Mario Sunshine and has since helped his father to kidnap Princess Peach and battle Mario and Luigi in many subsequent games. Bowser Jr. has also taken on playable roles in spin-off titles such as Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Strikers Charged. Bowser Jr. wants nothing more than to make his father proud, and Bowser's rarely seen emotional side is often brought out by his interactions with his son. His alter ego is Shadow Mario. Bowser Jr.'s defining traits are his striking resemblance to his father, his hyperactive and mischievous personality, his expertise in mechanics, his heavy uses of the Junior Clown Car and the Magic Paintbrush, and the bib-like bandana he wears.

## General information

### Physical description

Bowser Jr. has a yellow skin tone that lacks the tan seen on his dad and most of the Koopalings, as well as 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, as well as his father's fiery orange hair and eyebrows; 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, with the exception of his in-game appearance in *Super Mario Galaxy*, in which he is depicted as having two fangs, one on each side. Bowser Jr. has little hands and little padded feet, which have small white claws. His shell is green, lined with a white encasing, and the multiple, short spikes are circled with orange rings, similar to his father's shell, while his belly is plated, with four ribs. He has also been shown with a considerable amount of strength, seen in *Super Mario Sunshine* and *New Super Mario Bros.* where he is able to carry Princess Peach with little to no problem.

Bowser Jr. bears a striking resemblance to his father. The similarity is even more apparent in *Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time*, with Baby Bowser looking almost exactly like Bowser Jr., but with a different, plain white bandana. In *Yoshi's New Island*, Baby Bowser looks even more like Bowser Jr., but without the bandana. By contrast, Bowser Jr. typically wears a white bandana that is decorated with drawn-on fangs, in order to depict his father's mouth[8], and worn like a mask, though in his very first appearance, the bandana was blue and had a picture of Mario's nose and mustache drawn on it, having been used with the purpose of disguising himself as Shadow Mario. In some of Bowser Jr's earlier appearances, such as *Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour* and *Mario Power Tennis*, he wears his bandana over his mouth, whereas in later appearances, such as *Mario Party: Island Tour* and *Mario Golf: World Tour*, he wears it around his neck. Rather than sporting the same spiked cuffs the male Koopalings have, Bowser Jr. has spikeless, metal cuffs on his wrists, like Baby Bowser since *Yoshi Touch & Go*.

Bowser Jr.'s exact size varies from game to game like his father's. He was smallest in *Super Mario Sunshine* and some spin-offs, where he is half of Mario's size. As of *New Super Mario Bros.* and its three sequels he is roughly Mario's size. In *Super Mario Galaxy* he has grown considerably, towering over Princess Peach. He usually appears to be larger than Lemmy, and has a chubby frame similar to Ludwig's, though smaller.

Bowser Jr.'s appearance in the *Super Smash Bros.* series is unaltered when compared to the other *Mario* characters, including his father. In *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*, however, Bowser Jr.'s color scheme is slightly darker and subdued, while his hair, horns, spikes, and shell receive simple detailing, similar to Bowser. However, Bowser Jr.'s scales remain undefined. These details are also expressed by the Koopalings.

In *Super Mario Maker*, Bowser Jr. receives new designs based off the graphical styles of *Super Mario Bros.*, *Super Mario Bros. 3*, and *Super Mario World*. However, it is the *Super Mario Bros.* style that changes his appearance the most, since he is depicted with regular eyes, as opposed to his beady ones, while perpetually grinning with a row of visible teeth. In the *Super Mario Bros. 3* style, he always has a serious expression on his face.

In *Dr. Mario World*, Bowser Jr. is given clothing for the first time: he wears dark green pants, a plain white collared shirt with an orange tie on top, and a white lab coat. Additionally, Bowser Jr. sports a stethoscope around his neck; however, he does not wear a head mirror like many of the other doctors, and still retains his spikeless armcuffs.

Because of *Mario* creator Shigeru Miyamoto's preference for left-handed characters like himself, Bowser Jr. is left-handed. Despite this, he plays right-handed, by default, in *Mario Power Tennis*, and while he is left-handed while fielding in *Mario Super Sluggers* and *Mario Sports Superstars*., he appears on the right-handed side of the batting field.

Bowser Jr/List of Bowser Jr's Overview

### 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, 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*.