As one of the biggest baddies in all the video game universe, Bowser is a classic character that most casual players know nothing about. Honestly, we can’t blame you. A lot of his facts can be found in old Nintendo game guides and small snippets that are sprinkled throughout the game. It’s hard to get a clear image on what the Koopa King’s life and backstory really is, but at the very least we can understand that he’s not really the nicest turtle around. He’s captured Princess Peach over twenty times and has successfully ruined any of Mario’s peaceful days just on a whim. With how many shenanigans he’s pulled in the past, it’s no wonder he’s such a popular villain.
The other thing that’s obvious just at a glance is just how powerful Bowser has to be. Not only is he an expert in capturing princesses, but he’s also a giant, fire-breathing jerk with a bad attitude that’s ready to fight on anyone and everyone. If it weren’t for the little latch we jump on at the end of his level, we wouldn’t stand a chance against him! There’s a lot of interesting facts about both Bowser’s body and the abilities he has that we can only scrape the surface of. Since the original game was released in the 80s, it’s safe to say we have a lot of time to cover and a lot of Bowser lore to dig into. So, what can the Koopa King’s body do exactly?
25 There Are Several Impostors In The Original Game
If you remember in the original game, there were plenty of Bowsers you had to defeat before you got to the last castle to defeat the boss. But, from a storyline perspective, that wouldn’t make sense because you’ve already gone ahead and defeated Bowser several times before, right? Why would this last time be any different?
The previous ones weren’t even Bowser!
The reason why is because the one’s you’d fought before are actually Goombas that have been altered with Koopa magic!
24 He Was Originally Supposed To Be An Ox
Everyone knows Bowser as the angry green turtle-like creature; the design for him is so iconic it would be hard to see him any other way! And yet, this wasn’t even the first design choice for Bowser when he was first thought of.
In fact, Bowser was originally supposed to be an ox! Miyamoto originally thought that the film Alakazam the Great’s Ox King made for a perfect reference when he thought up of a villain. Of course, it wouldn’t make too much sense for an ox to be leading a bunch of turtles, so they would later change his design.
23 Bowser Is The Only Koopa Like Him
Have you ever noticed that there aren’t really other Koopas like Bowser? That’s probably because Bowser is one of a kind! Surely, we’ve seen other Koopas with their own unique abilities that separate them from their fellow shelled friends, like Kamek or Lakitu, but Bowser is on a whole different level.
Seriously, who else breathes fire?
Bowser has a clear physical distinction from his fellow Koopas simply because he is the king. So he physically would be bigger, and quite a bit more powerful, then the rest of his subjects.
22 Koopas, In General, Evolved From Dinosaurs
While we’re not entirely sure what humans have to do in the world of Mario, we do know where Koopas actually evolved from! A lot of people think that because the Koopas look like turtles that they might just be really cool bipedal turtles.
Well, you’d only be half right in making that assumption. Apparently, the Koopas were evolved into humanoid forms from dinosaurs! This certainly would make sense, especially since there is a Dinosaur Land that frequents the Mario games.
21 His Physical Size Changes From Game To Game
If you’ve played more than one Mario game, you’ve probably noticed that there’s something not quite right about Bowser’s size. In some games, he seems to be the size of a castle and in other’s he’s just a head taller than Mario himself.
We have a genuine question; just how tall is Bowser?
Bowser’s size frequently changes from game to game. That means there’s no real height for the Koopa King, although we can assume that he generally likes to be tall.
20 However, He Can Change His Size At Will
While we’re not sure what Bowser’s true height is, we do know that he actually can change his size on a whim. Part of this is definitely because he holds certain magical capabilities, often considered to be more on the dark side.
This helps explain why Bowser can choose when he’s going to get extremely large and end you on a level you worked really hard to complete. It can certainly be annoying for the player when he gets overpowered like that!
19 That's A Lot Of Speed And Agility...
Despite Bower’s bulky build, he’s actually very agile and fast. In some games, he is portrayed as being a little bit slow; this makes sense because he is a lot larger and heavier regardless of his size. However, he’s sometimes seen as incredibly fast and difficult to avoid.
Seriously, how much does Bowser have to work out to be this strong?
He can also jump incredibly high, so it doesn’t seem like any of that muscle or the giant spiked shell is really causing him any problems!
18 Remember That Bowser Is Sort Of A Zombie?
Some fans have theorized that you can never truly end Bowser; and they’re not really wrong considering how many times we’ve beaten him in game. No matter what, Bowser always comes back to capture the princess, even after he’s been reduced to nothing but bone.
And literally, we know that Dry Bowser is just Bowser after he’s done a cannonball right into some lava. Some theorize this could be because Bowser is skilled in black magic. Could it be that this Koopa has the key to immortality?
17 In Fact, Bowser Has A Lot Of Final Forms
In every Mario game, we get to see what kind of crazy form Bowser will take on next. Sure, we usually get a classic where it’s just the Koopa King himself, ready to smash you into oblivion, but other times it’s a little more than that!
Meowser was seriously scary even though he was adorable!
Everything from MegaDragonBowser to Meowser is still just Bowser with a little bit of an upgrade. Each form is still surprisingly scary and extremely fun to beat!
16 He's Incredibly Skilled At Magic
We’ve mentioned before that Bowser can indeed use black magic. It’s one of the many talents that he has outside of capturing princesses; which he has to have a talent for because seriously, we’ve let him do this too many times.
Outside of being able to change his physical size and breathe fire, Bowser also has some magical capabilities. It’s said that this is how he’s transformed himself and other people as well as boosting some of his abilities to get stronger.
15 He's Considered Nearly Indestructible
If you thought that bringing himself back from the underworld was pretty OP, then you should consider the fact that it’s already super difficult to end him in the first place. By now we know that there’s nothing we can really do to get rid of Bowser for good; he’ll just keep coming back. So, what more can we do than just keep beating him?
If it weren’t for other devices, we’d probably never defeat Bowser.
Consider the fact that Mario has to trick him to fall in a pit just to save Peach. No amount of fire balls can defeat this turtle!
14 You Can Summon His Fists In Bayonetta
Bowser is one of those famous Nintendo characters that shows up in pretty much every game. While we know there are a ton of Bowser Easter eggs, here’s one that you’re really going to like! Bowser’s fists and feet can actually be used as a weapon in Bayonetta!
Bayonetta 2 for the Wii U keeps the tradition of the witch being able to summon behemoths to aid her; it just so happens that Bowser is now one of them! It’s pretty powerful and certainly cool.
13 You Can Actually Look Around Inside His Body
For a list about Bowser’s body, it would be widely inappropriate to not include the game Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. After being inhaled by Bowser, the brothers find themselves inside the Koopa King’s body.
It’s one of the few times Mario and Luigi have helped their enemy.
In order to defeat Fawful, a mad scientist and the real antagonist of the game, Mario and Luigi decide to aid bowser for the common good. We certainly didn’t expect Bowser’s insides to look like this!
12 There Are Apparently Pipes Inside Bowser That Lead To The Outside?
A lot of what we know about Bower’s body comes from that particular game; Mario and Luigi: Bower’s Inside Story. It’s the only time we’re going to be that close with the Koopa King after all! One of the interesting things we learn is that there are actually different pipes in his body! Yes, exactly like the ones Mario uses on the outside!
There are specific pipes that actually lead to the outside world. We figure this out because how else would our heros be able to leave Bowser’s body?
11 He Can Breathe Fire Because Of A Pipe
Speaking of those super cool pipes in Bowser’s body, there’s also a special pipe that helps him breathe fire! As one of the stages you’ll have to go through, the Flame Pipe seems to be the answer to our question on how Bowser could ever possibly breathe fire.
A pipe was all there was to it!
In this stage, you’ll have to fight off a giant Scutlet in order to help Bowser get his fire breathing abilities back, but if you’re Mario and Luigi there’s really nothing to it!
10 There Are Several Amiibos Of Bowser
This may not come as a surprise to you, if you’re a real hardcore Nintendo fan, but there are tons of Bowser Amiibos! The popular toys can certainly help you in different games, but a lot of times fans just like to have them for collection purposes.
Bowser is one of those characters that has several different versions. Some are of him in a wedding suit while others are different menacing poses, but either way it makes us want to collect them all!
9 Bowser Only Had One Child
Contrary to what Super Mario Bros. 3 told you, the Koopalings are not Bowser’s children. According to Miyamoto, only Bowser Jr. is his child while the rest are simply more minions to the Koopa King. In addition to that, we’re also still not sure who Bowser Jr.’s mother is.
We’re just kind of sad Nintendo went back on their lore…
Even though it is a little confusing, since a lot of the Koopalings look like Bowser, we guess we’ll just have to respect Miyamoto’s word!
8 Bowser Never Talks Until Super Mario Sunshine
Surprisingly, Bowser never really talked before Super Mario Sunshine; no one worded sentences or anything, just grunts. Scott Burns would be the first of Bowser’s voice actors to get a chance at speaking for Bowser.
When you consider that characters like Mario have had pretty much the same voice lines over their whole career, it’s pretty changing to see the Koopa King actually have a say in something. This would especially give us more to the character, who was really just a blank villain for most of the series.
7 He's An Orphan
If you’ve never really felt bad for a villain, you might want to now. Bowser has never met either of his parents. While he seems to have been treated just fine from what we can tell in the Yoshi’s Island series and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time games, it’s still a little sad.
Poor baby Bowser! Or… Maybe poor Kamek!
It seems like Bowser was mostly raised by the Magikoopa Kamek, who didn’t seem too thrilled about that job. Baby Bowser always seems to be kicking him around, so we don’t really envy that job.
6 Dennis Hopper Played Bowser Once
We’re sorry we even have to bring it up, but technically it does have to do with Bowser and we should probably just tip the band aid off now. Dennis Hopper was the one to play Bowser in the live-action version of Super Mario Bros.
Rather than being a king, Hopper would be a president and already you can tell that the whole film would go down from there. Later, Hopper would say that it was one of the few roles he really regretted.