Bowser (The Super Mario Bros Movie)
by ari webb-bryantHistory
Background
Prior to sometime before the events of the first movie, Bowser was raised by Kamek and eventually had a son as in Bowser Jr., telling him bedtime stories about his desire to conquer the world, and then the universe while creating a planet known as Planet Bowser; which has an amusement park, statues in their likeness, and the Boomsday Machine that could destroy any world. However, Bowser sent his son off to boarding school never to see him again for a long time.
What is known is that he commanded his fierce army of monsters from a floating volcanic fortress, with Kamek as his royal advisor and second-in-command, and the Koopa General as his field commander. In time, Bowser became infamous throughout his world, possibly by committing various crimes against the other kingdoms. He imprisoned many of those who opposed him, including a Lumalee who had apparently spent so much time in his cage that he eventually became deranged and suicidal. At some point, Bowser encountered Princess Peach, ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, and became charmed by her beauty, courage and high spirit. Upon which, the Koopa King made it his life goal to make the princess his lawfully wedded bride, no matter the cost. Peach, on the other hand, utterly despised Bowser for all the atrocities he's done and has likely fought with him a few times in the past. In an effort to both defeat and impress Peach, Bowser sought out the Super Star, an incredibly rare power-up that would make anyone literally invincible, and after years of searching, discovered that the inhabitants of the Snow Kingdom were in possession of one.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Bowser is seen first raiding the Snow Kingdom to retrieve a Super Star, taking all of its inhabitants hostage in the process. Back at his fortress he announces that he will propose to the monarch of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach, otherwise he will destroy the entire kingdom. As he sings a song about his love for Peach and his desire to rule the world, he gets alerted by his right hand man, Kamek that a mustachioed human as arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom, which he dismisses, but soon demands to find him and what he is up to.
He also gets another hostage from his Shy Guys, that being Luigi. He then interrogates the green plumber on his brother's whereabouts, assuming that Mario and Peach are in a relationship, and that Mario is trying to steal his love from him. After intimidating him where Mario is, Bowser has Luigi locked up with various other prisoners.
Bowser is then later seen practicing his proposal to marry Peach, but is then alerted again by the Koopa General, that they have found Mario and friends, taking the secret passage back to the Mushroom Kingdom, as he then orders them to ambush them along with the Kong Army. After Mario and Donkey Kong are blown up by the general, Bowser laughs in pride, with the assumption that the two have died.
He then proceeds to infiltrate the Mushroom Kingdom, as all the Toads there evacuate, he lands his fortress right at Princess Peach's castle, where he then attempts to propose to the monarch. When Peach refuses, he has Kamek torture Toad as coercion into doing so.
Later at their wedding, Bowser also has all of his prisoners be dipped into the lava as a ritual sacrifice for them. Upon rejected by Peach, he attempts to kill her, before the latter uses her ice powers to freeze and temporarily subduing him. Later, Mario and Donkey Kong crash the wedding, and upon seeing a glance of his enemy sharing company with his crush, he furiously orders a Bomber Bill be launched on the Mushroom Kingdom.
Mario, however, is able to redirect in into the Warp pipe he entered through, causing it to suck everyone, including Bowser into it. He, his army, and his fortress soon crash through Brooklyn, terrorizing all the citizens in the process, where he stops Mario from obtaining his stolen star from earlier. He then goes on a chaotic meltdown, while ranting on Mario for ruining his plans and attempts to kill the plumber, soon knocking him into the Punch-Out Pizzeria. Upon finding that Mario has given up, he smiles in satisfaction. However, Peach, Donkey Kong, and Toad attempt to fend off the evil king, while Mario watches his commercial in the pizzeria to have the courage to stand up to him.
As Bowser is about to kill Donkey Kong in cold blood, Mario calls out to him and once again the king aims his sights at him. Bowser then attempts to scorch Mario with his fire breath, before Luigi stepped in and fended him off by shielding his attack with a nearby manhole. The two brothers then are able to get the star, and with invincibility, easily take him and his army down, also destroying his fortress in the process. A now defeated Bowser then begs the heroes for mercy, before Peach rejects and forces down a Mini Mushroom in his mouth, shrinking him. Toad then proceeds to imprison the Koopa King in a glass jar, before he mouths Mario's line, when the plumber comments to the princess of getting her a pet turtle.
He is shown grumbling as the citizens cheer on Mario's team for stopping Bowser and for saving the day.
In the post-credits scene, Bowser is singing his song “Peaches” again in his cage after being imprisoned, lamenting how Mario, Luigi and Donkey Kong ruined his plans and how his army was useless against them, but promises to keep going with his goal to make Peach his and marry her. However, Bowser is interrupted by a Toad guard who tells him to be quiet and calls him a "little guy", similar to what Bowser called Mario earlier. He begins ranting, only for the Toad to shut the door on him mid-sentence and leave him in complete darkness, much to Bowser's irritation.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Following his defeat from the first film, it is revealed Bowser has constructed himself a replica of his castle within the dungeon of Peach's, spending most of his free time painting. (the portraits usually being him with Peach, his troops, or Mario dying) He is visited regularly by Mario and Luigi, the former whom he still has a grudge against, and threatening him when the plumber shows distaste to his paintings. Bowser then goes back inside where he takes a nap, though it is interrupted when Bowser Jr. attacks Peach's castle with his flying saucer, invading it to free his father. He is unsuccessful and the castle alongside Bowser's miniature home is destroyed in the wreckage as they crash land on the Honeyhive Galaxy.
Bowser rolls free, having survived and attempts to run off, though is easily apprehended by Mario. The two get into a scuffle until Yoshi puts Bowser in his tongue and spits him out into Luigi's palm. The four venture to the Honeyhive Kingdom where Bowser talks to the plumber brothers about time during his rehabilitation and convinces Mario to punch him and undo the effects of the Mini Mushroom. Mario refuses at first but some tempting from Bowser, Luigi, and Yoshi makes the plumber stomp on him and allows him to grow back to his normal size, leading to the Koopa King to smooch his nemesis as thanks. When the arrive at the front gates, Bowser is halted by a few Honeybee guards from entering, but he does so through intimidation.
Meeting the Honeyhive leader, the Honey Queen, she orders Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi to do labor work, but Bowser decides to sacrifice himself instead for the sake of the trio to find the others. He is taken to a field to mine for honey where he discusses to the other Honeybee workers about his struggles and obsession before he is found and kidnapped by Bowser Jr., bidding the others farewell. He is brought aboard and reunites with his son, who announces his plans to destroy the entire universe, though Bowser is hesitant after realizing the more positive sides to life and his friendship with Luigi. However, he remains proud of his son for his ambition.
When Bowser and Bowser Jr. encounter their enemies in the Arwing piloted by Fox McCloud, Bowser Jr. plans to kill them with the weapons in his arsenal, but Bowser suggests for a more non-lethal approach, leading Jr. to instead transform the brothers into infants with the Super Scope. During that period Mario is believed to have assumed Bowser backstabbed them, though he has a more guilty face upon witnessing these events.
Eventually, Bowser Jr. is able to snap his father out of having his developed remorse after revealing that he had fulfilled his dreams of creating their own personal planet, just the way he described it to him. Because of this, Bowser once again becomes a ruthless villain as he announces his return to the Koopa Troop and prepares to use the Boomsday Machine to annihilate the Mushroom Kingdom, using Rosalina as a power source. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi land on Planet Bowser for one last confrontation with Bowser and Bowser Jr. Bowser confronts Mario and Peach on a drawbridge above a lava lake with dual axes wield by him as he berates them for all of his problems they inflicted upon him. Mario is able to get the upper hand and severs the chains supporting the bridge, leading to Bowser's plummet into the lava below.
Thought to be dead to Jr.'s horror, Bowser reemerges now as Dry Bowser and joins his son to fight Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi. The two are able to overpower the brothers, but Yoshi's blimp form crashes into Bowser, which scatters his bones everywhere before Bowser Jr. creates the Ruined Dragon from his paintbrush as a final resort. It backfires when it eats Jr. which Bowser's skull calls out in terror as Mario is forced to use a Red Star and save Jr. from the giant dragon.
Peach meanwhile finally frees Rosalina from captivity and turns the entirety of Planet Bowser into a lush planet, foiling the duo's cataclysmic plans for planetary destruction. Jr. is then happily seen searching for his father's remaining bones to reassemble him as the two are arrested by Fox McCloud offscreen for their war crimes against humanity and imprisoned. Bowser is then seen trying to get his son to hurry up and dig them out to escape the prison as they become spooked when approached by Lumalee, who now acts as their prison guard monitoring them.
