in Japan) is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

who appears in Nintendo's ''

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

'' franchise as an antagonist. He is the son of the series' main antagonist,

Bowser , or King Koopa, is a fictional character, the primary antagonist in Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. In Japan, the character bears the title of . Bowser is the leader of the turtle-like Koopa race. Despite the ...

. Since his debut in ''

Super Mario Sunshine is a 2002 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the second 3D game in the ''Super Mario'' series, following '' Super Mario 64'' (1996). The game was directed by Yoshiaki Koizumi and Kenta Usui, produced b ...

'' in 2002, Bowser Jr. has been a recurring character in the ''Mario'' series and has been made playable in several spin-offs, such as '' Mario Superstar Baseball'', '' Mario Strikers Charged'', ''

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and (colloquially and collectively referred to as ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' or ''Smash 4'') is a group of two 2014 crossover fighting video games developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS ...

'', and ''

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeed ...

'' among many others. He often helps his father to kidnap

Princess Peach is a fictional character in Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, created by Shigeru Miyamoto and introduced in the 1985 original '' Super Mario Bros.'' installment. She is the princess regnant and ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, where she resides ...

and defeat

, but in the end wants nothing more than to impress his father. Bowser Jr.’s defining traits are his striking resemblance to his father, his energetic and driven personality, his expertise in mechanics and technology, his heavy uses of his Junior Clown Car and Magic Paintbrush, and the bib-like bandana he wears.

Overview

Bowser Jr. is a yellow-skinned Koopa similar to his father with the same yellow and tan skin complexion. He has a light green head, a top-ponytail of orange-red hair held by a black tie, and usually wears a bandana. In his debut in ''

'', he wears a dark blue one with a graffiti of Mario's nose and mustache that he uses to transform into his alter-ego, Shadow Mario. As Shadow Mario, he looks exactly like Mario in form, but is dark blue and translucent. Bowser Jr. is very skilled, powerful, and a formidable opponent to the Mario brothers. He has remarkable talent with mechanics and computers, able to skillfully invent and pilot a variety of vehicles and giant robots. He uses magic as shown in '' Mario Super Sluggers'' where he turned Daisy into a stone statue, and in '' New Super Mario Bros.'' where he performs necromancy to revive his dad at the end of the game. He is just as acrobatic as Mario and can perform the same jump techniques. Bowser Jr. is sometimes influenced by his father's temper and bad attitude in any villainous acts. In '' Mario Party: Island Tour'', it is revealed that he would rather be a hero, but does not want to disappoint his father.

Appearances

Bowser Jr. made his debut in ''

'', where he was disguised as Shadow Mario and disrupted

's vacation with

by painting Isle Delfino with goop and then kidnapping her by framing Mario, after his father tricked him into thinking that Princess Peach was his mother whom he had to protect. Eventually he found out that Peach was not really his mother, but still wanted to get revenge on Mario. He later appeared in '' New Super Mario Bros.'', in a role similar to Boom Boom from '' Super Mario Bros. 3'', as the boss of every tower, the midpoint in each of the game's worlds and in the final battle with his father. He appears in the ''

Super Mario Galaxy is a 2007 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the third 3D game in the ''Super Mario'' series. As Mario, the player embarks on a quest to rescue Princess Peach, save the universe from Bowser, and collect 1 ...

'' series, aiding his father in battle, and having three worlds of his own. Alongside the

Koopalings The (also known as in Japan and Europe or in Japan) are a fictional group of seven childlike characters in the ''Mario'' video game franchise by Nintendo. Their individual names are Larry Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr., Wendy O. Koopa, Iggy Koopa, ...

, Bowser Jr. re-appeared in the ''New Super Mario Bros.'' sequel, '' New Super Mario Bros. Wii'', appearing on an airship. He is in the '' New Super Mario Bros. U'' series. Bowser Jr. is a staple character in the ''Mario'' games and spin-offs such as '' Mario Kart'', ''Mario'' sports, and the '' Mario & Sonic'' series. He is a mini-boss in ''

Mario Party 9 is a party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The ninth main installment in the ''Mario Party ''series, it was announced at E3 2011 and released in Europe, North America, and Australia in March 2012, followed by ...

''. and a playable character in '' Mario Party: Island Tour''. Bowser Jr. made his RPG debut in '' Paper Mario: Sticker Star'' (as Paper Bowser Jr.) as one of the bosses. He appeared in '' Mario & Luigi: Dream Team'' as a bonus boss in the Battle Ring. Bowser Jr. meets his paper counterpart, Paper Bowser Jr., in '' Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam''. He appeared in '' Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey'' as a playable character in Bowser Jr.'s Journey, a side story of his adventure with the Koopalings. Bowser Jr. appears as a playable character in ''

'' and ''

'', fighting from atop his Junior Clown Car with Shadow Mario as his Final Smash. Each of his alternate costumes replaces him with one of the

. Bowser Jr. appears in ''

Super Mario Maker is a 2015 side-scrolling platform game and game creation system developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U, released worldwide in September 2015. Players can create, play, and share courses online, free of charge, based on the styles ...

'' not just as a boss that Mario can fight in all game styles, but also as a Mystery Mushroom costume in the ''

Super Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game '' Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for ...

'' style. In the '' Bowser's Fury'' campaign of ''Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury'', Bowser Jr. forms an uneasy alliance with Mario to confront Bowser, after the latter becomes enlarged and uncontrollably enraged.

Reception

Since Bowser Jr.'s introduction in ''Super Mario Sunshine'', reception to the character has been positive. He ranked sixth on

GameDaily GameDaily (GD) was a video game journalism website based in the United States. It was launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads. The site changed its business model from a flat fee ...

's list of the top 10 Nintendo characters that deserve their own games. They also listed him as the 18th best ''Mario'' enemy, calling him a "chip off the ol' block" from Bowser. In a satirical article written by Kotaku writer Chi Lee, Bowser Jr. was compared to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

's leader Kim Jong-un, and compared the relationship of North Korea and South Korea with the fictional

Mushroom Kingdom The is a fictional principality in Nintendo's ''Mario'' series. It is the setting of most main-series ''Mario'' games with an inconsistent presentation. There is no established canon regarding the topography of the ''Mario'' universe, and many ...

and Koopa Kingdom. Kotaku also listed Bowser as one of the worst fathers in video gaming, due to allowing Bowser Jr. and the

to run around with pirate ships and "zappy wands". GameSpy complained that Bowser Jr. was a "dopey successor" to the Koopalings which they liked more, and said that they have "far more charm" when compared to Bowser Jr.

1UP.com ''1Up.com'' was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, ''1Up.com'' provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused conten ...

listed Fawful as a character they would want more in the ''Mario Kart'' series than Bowser Jr. and

Waluigi is a fictional character in the ''Mario'' franchise. He plays the role of Luigi's arch-rival and accompanies Wario in spin-offs from the main ''Mario'' series, often for the sake of causing mischief and problems. He was created by Camelot em ...

, saying "Unfortunately, rather than exploring the true depth of the series and offering characters like ''Mario & Luigi''s Fawful, we get Bowser Jr. and Waluigi. Yeah, great." Australia's ''

Official Nintendo Magazine ''Official Nintendo Magazine'', or ''ONM'', was a British video game magazine that ran from 2006 to 2014 that covered the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, and Wii U video game consoles released by Nintendo. Originally published by EMAP as '' ...

'' listed Bowser Jr. as one of the characters they want in ''

Super Smash Bros. 4 and ( colloquially and collectively referred to as ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' or ''Smash 4'') is a group of two 2014 crossover fighting video games developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3D ...

'', as he would be a "fantastic inclusion". Gavin Jasper of ''

Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a bi-annual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ...

'' ranked Bowser Jr. as 23rd on his list of ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' characters, stating that "What we got was a bratty, new part of the Mario mythos that added a little extra dimension to Bowser. Put Bowser Jr. in Smash and you have yourself an amusing and unique brawler."

References

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