Bowser (Nintendo character)

King Bowser Koopa (Japanese:クッパ), a fictional turtle from Nintendo video games, is Mario and Luigi's arch nemesis. He constantly kidnaps Princess Peach Toadstool and has repeatedly attempted to conquer Mushroom Kingdom since his first appearance in Super Mario Brothers.

In Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World, his seven children helped him in his conquest. In Super Mario World 2 we learn that Mario and Bowser first encountered each other when they were babies. In Super Mario RPG Bowser teams up with Mario, Peach, and their two new friends Mallow and Geno in order to get his castle back from an extraterrestrial named Smithy (or Kajioo in Japan).

In Super Mario 64, he steals Peach's castle. In Yoshi's Story, he converts Yoshi's Island into a storybook, and in Paper Mario he steals Peach's castle again with the Star Rod. In he tries to kidnap Peach but somebody else has got there first and so ends up in a complicated adventure to help Mario get her back so he can kidnap her.

Bowser also appears in secondary Mario Games like Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, The Mario Party Series, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Tetris Attack and Super Smash Bros. Melee. In these games he is not the villain, but rather a selectable character that the player can chose to play as.

Bowser has been known by different names over the years, which have since amalgamated into his current title. In Japan, he has always been known as simply Koopa. When Super Mario Brothers came out in the US, he was given the more American name of Bowser, King of the Koopas. Somewhere along the line the two names merged, and he is now known in America as being Bowser Koopa, with "Koopa" as his, and his children's last name.