This is the first thread in Mama Robotnik's "Mario Multiversia" series.
Mario Multiversia #1 – The tormented, twisted psyche of Bowser Koopa
Mario Multiversia #2 – Mario – The Makings of a Hero
Mario Multiversia #3 - Waluigi and the Wah that Saved the World
(Artist : Lisa Plokker)
Bowser Koopa.
Dictator. Despot. Warlord. Monster.
What makes the tyrant tick? What drives him to keep going, after his litany of constantly, relentless failures?
Lets delve into his tormented psyche.
Engineered Creation
"... the seven revered Star Spirits watched over our peaceful world carefully...very carefully… " – Narrator, Paper Mario
(Artist : leotte803 )
The Mushroom World was protected by a host of deities – revered as the Star Spirits (Paper Mario) – who had the ability when needed to imbue their powers into corporeal entities (Super Mario RPG).
They foresaw that the planet would face an onslaught of powerful extra-planetary and extra-dimensional entities such as Smithy (Super Mario RPG), Bleck (Super Paper Mario), the Shroob (Mario and Luigi Partners in Time), the X-Nauts (Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door) and Culex (Super Mario RPG). The spirits had great power, but not enough to battle each of these threats.
"The babies are called star children, and they each possess an extraordinary amount of power..." – Kamek, Yoshi's Island DS
The Star Spirits had a bold plan. They amassed their celestial power and created seven powerful champions, each engineered to protect the world from the dangers to come (Yoshi's Island DS).
The babies Mario, Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong and Yoshi, were to be taken by stork to their new homes and families. The baby Wario would have a less stable upbringing. But first to arrive was the baby Bowser. And he was delivered straight into the arms of the villainous sorcerer Kamek (Super Mario World 2 : Yoshi's Island).
(Artist : RoryDoona)
Commentary – Bowser was created to be a champion of the Mushroom World. Was he sent to the Koopas to unite them into a force for good? Regardless, he was raised by an evil wizard, who taught the child values completely contrary to his pre-destined purpose. Bowser is a tormented creature, created for a purpose he was raised to abhor.
Torments from a Hateful Future
(Artist : bbullion )
"Kamek, an evil Magikoopa from the Koopa Kingdom. Having divined last night that twin babies born this morning will bring disaster to the Koopa family…" - Manual, Super Mario World 2 : Yoshi's Island
The young King Bowser was raised under the auspices of his guardian, Kamek. The sorcerer voiced prophecies that the babies Mario and Luigi would become the greatest threat to the Koopa civilisation. Having convinced the Koopa King that these babies were their enemies, Koopa forces were dispatched to bring back the children, to be destroyed. This ended in disaster when the Yoshi tribe intervened, invading the realm of the Koopas, assaulting their generals, and beat the young Bowser into a senseless stupor. (Super Mario World 2 : Yoshi's Island)
"Don't think I'll ever forget this! I won't! Not for a million years! Not even when I'm an old geezer like YOU" – The Young Bowser, Yoshi's Island DS
Bowser was deposed shortly after by the most unlikely adversary – his own future self. Bowser's adult incarnation invaded the present from a future in which he had been repeatedly defeated, and attacked his young counterpart. He took over the Koopa Kingdom, banishing the child king to the wilderness. (Yoshi's Island DS)
The young Bowser was forced to unite with the Yoshi's in order to banish his older incarnation (Yoshi's Island DS). Further temporal incursions occurred, and the young Bowser watched as Yoshi soundly beat his future self. (New Yoshi's Island)
Commentary – Bowser was raised around a madman who prophesised his future greatness. Reality shattered this when Mario and Yoshi slaughtered their way through the Koopa forces. The child king was then mistreated by his own future self, ingraining both trauma and a literal sense of self-loathing. The young Bowser then saw his future self defeated repeatedly by Yoshi.
Bowser would grow with the foreknowledge that he would become a hateful, petty, failure. His future was already written. He had no free-will. His rage, his viciousness, his fury – all attempts to control a destiny he could not escape.
Raised in war
"… defeating the Shroobs will... still be impossible!" – Toadbert, Mario and Luigi Partners in Time
As the tensions with the Yoshi tribe calmed, a new and terrifying threat emerged. The Shroob – a cruel alien menace – invaded the Mushroom World en-masse. They attacked all civilisations across the planet, causing immense devastation. Their vessels were impenetrable, their soldiers formidable, and their weapons were beyond anything the Mushroom World could fathom.
The Shroob dragged people from their homes, Koopa and Toad alike, and connected them to nutrient extractors – which would drain the very life out of each victim to further fuel the Shroob War Machine.
Like everyone else on the planet, Bowser was terrified.
(Artist : Dralsk )
(Artist : Filip Hondas )
The Shroob were eventually defeated by time-travel – the scientist Elvin Gadd conspired with his future self to introduce a chemical weapon into weather system, which rained genocide onto the Shroob. The invaders melted into pools of screaming, sizzling flesh, and their vessels crashed out of the skies (Mario and Luigi Partners in Time)
Commentary – Bowser would never forget the harrowing Shroob War. The Koopa Kingdom had been so close to its utter destruction, and this would drive Bowser to transform his realm into a militarised war machine. Future invasions, such as those of Smithy and the X-Nauts, only emphasised to the Koopa King the importance of conquest and control.
Unable to Die
"Arrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!" – Dry Bowser, New Super Mario Bros.
(Artist : RoryDoona )
Bowser invaded the neighbouring Mushroom Kingdom time and again. Beyond this, he invaded distant kingdoms, other planets, and parallel universes. His defeats were spectacular and agonising, and included:
(Artist : Marioshi64 )
He is un-killable, and has consequently experienced a level of pain beyond what mortal flesh could withstand. In one of his more recent defeats, his body plunged into a particularly ferocious lava pit – he screamed as his flesh was seared from his bones (New Super Mario Bros.)
Commentary – Bowser was empowered from the moment of his birth – as a Star Child - to be impossibly durable. Consequently, he has been through enough pain that would drive anyone completely mad. While he never wins, he can also never truly lose, and therefore his existence is a futile cycle of defeat.
Obsessive Madness
"I kidnapped Princess Peach! I couldn't be happier, diary! I hope she likes me..." – Bowser's Diary, Paper Mario
(Artist: am-bearre )
Bowser's first conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom was a brutal campaign. He transformed the citizens into stone blocks, and locked Princess Peach in a dank cell suspended above a lava pool. She was a political prisoner, of whom he had nothing but contempt. (Super Mario Bros)
Mario rescued the monarch, and Bowser countered by kidnapping her again and again, only for Mario to rescue her, again and again. She became a trophy that the Koopa King could not possess, and this triggered an obsessive compulsion in his mind.
(Artist : DogmanSP )
This manifested in many ways:
(Artist : DonoArtz )
Bowser also tried a crueller approach. By kidnapping Peach's friends he attempted to isolate the princess. This led to an unusual situation in which Peach summoned the her rarely-seen might, stormed Bowser's kingdom, killed his soldiers, and pulverised the Koopa King leaving him a battered, defeated mess. (Super Princess Peach)
(Artist : williamcjones48 )
Princess Peach is savvy, and understands that Bowser is an indestructible force of nature. She has learned to manage his obsession with her, in a way that minimises the harm to her subjects, such as:
(Artist : YoshiKimos )
Commentary – Bowser is obsessed with a woman who for political reasons and the protection of her kingdom, cannot tell him that she despises him. She encourages him to be involved in activities and events with her for her own agenda – the protection of her people - and not out of any sense of affection. The Koopa King does not pick up on any such nuances, and his torment over her is further fuelled. The Koopa King is trapped in an insane cycle of conquest, followed by friendly sporting events, followed by conquest. He is contained, and yet somehow, he doesn't see it.
The Torments of Bowser Koopa
(Artist : Jason Chan )
Final Commentary - He is a pitiable figure. He is bound from his childhood to predestined failure and defeat, and has no free will of which to speak. He is trapped in a cycle of obsessive behaviour. He is indestructible, but will face agonising defeat after defeat until the end of time. He hates himself so much, that he even travelled back in time to attack his past self. He is trapped.
He may lock Peach in a cage, but she is more free than he will ever be.
Mario Multiversia #1 – The tormented, twisted psyche of Bowser Koopa
Mario Multiversia #2 – Mario – The Makings of a Hero
Mario Multiversia #3 - Waluigi and the Wah that Saved the World
(Artist : Lisa Plokker)
Bowser Koopa.
Dictator. Despot. Warlord. Monster.
What makes the tyrant tick? What drives him to keep going, after his litany of constantly, relentless failures?
Lets delve into his tormented psyche.
Engineered Creation
"... the seven revered Star Spirits watched over our peaceful world carefully...very carefully… " – Narrator, Paper Mario
(Artist : leotte803 )
The Mushroom World was protected by a host of deities – revered as the Star Spirits (Paper Mario) – who had the ability when needed to imbue their powers into corporeal entities (Super Mario RPG).
They foresaw that the planet would face an onslaught of powerful extra-planetary and extra-dimensional entities such as Smithy (Super Mario RPG), Bleck (Super Paper Mario), the Shroob (Mario and Luigi Partners in Time), the X-Nauts (Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door) and Culex (Super Mario RPG). The spirits had great power, but not enough to battle each of these threats.
"The babies are called star children, and they each possess an extraordinary amount of power..." – Kamek, Yoshi's Island DS
The Star Spirits had a bold plan. They amassed their celestial power and created seven powerful champions, each engineered to protect the world from the dangers to come (Yoshi's Island DS).
The babies Mario, Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong and Yoshi, were to be taken by stork to their new homes and families. The baby Wario would have a less stable upbringing. But first to arrive was the baby Bowser. And he was delivered straight into the arms of the villainous sorcerer Kamek (Super Mario World 2 : Yoshi's Island).
(Artist : RoryDoona)
Commentary – Bowser was created to be a champion of the Mushroom World. Was he sent to the Koopas to unite them into a force for good? Regardless, he was raised by an evil wizard, who taught the child values completely contrary to his pre-destined purpose. Bowser is a tormented creature, created for a purpose he was raised to abhor.
Torments from a Hateful Future
(Artist : bbullion )
"Kamek, an evil Magikoopa from the Koopa Kingdom. Having divined last night that twin babies born this morning will bring disaster to the Koopa family…" - Manual, Super Mario World 2 : Yoshi's Island
The young King Bowser was raised under the auspices of his guardian, Kamek. The sorcerer voiced prophecies that the babies Mario and Luigi would become the greatest threat to the Koopa civilisation. Having convinced the Koopa King that these babies were their enemies, Koopa forces were dispatched to bring back the children, to be destroyed. This ended in disaster when the Yoshi tribe intervened, invading the realm of the Koopas, assaulting their generals, and beat the young Bowser into a senseless stupor. (Super Mario World 2 : Yoshi's Island)
"Don't think I'll ever forget this! I won't! Not for a million years! Not even when I'm an old geezer like YOU" – The Young Bowser, Yoshi's Island DS
Bowser was deposed shortly after by the most unlikely adversary – his own future self. Bowser's adult incarnation invaded the present from a future in which he had been repeatedly defeated, and attacked his young counterpart. He took over the Koopa Kingdom, banishing the child king to the wilderness. (Yoshi's Island DS)
The young Bowser was forced to unite with the Yoshi's in order to banish his older incarnation (Yoshi's Island DS). Further temporal incursions occurred, and the young Bowser watched as Yoshi soundly beat his future self. (New Yoshi's Island)
Commentary – Bowser was raised around a madman who prophesised his future greatness. Reality shattered this when Mario and Yoshi slaughtered their way through the Koopa forces. The child king was then mistreated by his own future self, ingraining both trauma and a literal sense of self-loathing. The young Bowser then saw his future self defeated repeatedly by Yoshi.
Bowser would grow with the foreknowledge that he would become a hateful, petty, failure. His future was already written. He had no free-will. His rage, his viciousness, his fury – all attempts to control a destiny he could not escape.
Raised in war
"… defeating the Shroobs will... still be impossible!" – Toadbert, Mario and Luigi Partners in Time
As the tensions with the Yoshi tribe calmed, a new and terrifying threat emerged. The Shroob – a cruel alien menace – invaded the Mushroom World en-masse. They attacked all civilisations across the planet, causing immense devastation. Their vessels were impenetrable, their soldiers formidable, and their weapons were beyond anything the Mushroom World could fathom.
The Shroob dragged people from their homes, Koopa and Toad alike, and connected them to nutrient extractors – which would drain the very life out of each victim to further fuel the Shroob War Machine.
Like everyone else on the planet, Bowser was terrified.
(Artist : Dralsk )
(Artist : Filip Hondas )
The Shroob were eventually defeated by time-travel – the scientist Elvin Gadd conspired with his future self to introduce a chemical weapon into weather system, which rained genocide onto the Shroob. The invaders melted into pools of screaming, sizzling flesh, and their vessels crashed out of the skies (Mario and Luigi Partners in Time)
Commentary – Bowser would never forget the harrowing Shroob War. The Koopa Kingdom had been so close to its utter destruction, and this would drive Bowser to transform his realm into a militarised war machine. Future invasions, such as those of Smithy and the X-Nauts, only emphasised to the Koopa King the importance of conquest and control.
Unable to Die
"Arrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!" – Dry Bowser, New Super Mario Bros.
(Artist : RoryDoona )
Bowser invaded the neighbouring Mushroom Kingdom time and again. Beyond this, he invaded distant kingdoms, other planets, and parallel universes. His defeats were spectacular and agonising, and included:
- Being submerged in molten lava on countless occasions (Super Mario Bros; Mario Lost Levels; Super Mario Bros Special; Vs Super Mario Bros; and All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.)
- Being dropped down an enormous shaft (Super Mario Bros. 3)
- Being launched across a planet in an enormous cannon (Mario is Missing)
- Being exiled onto Jurassic-era earth (Mario's Time Machine)
- Being dropped into a sun (Super Mario Galaxy)
- Falling from atop a giant skyscraper (Super Mario 3D World)
- Had a castle dropped on him (Super Paper Mario)
- Possessed by multiple evil entities that transmogrified his flesh (Mario and Luigi series)
(Artist : Marioshi64 )
He is un-killable, and has consequently experienced a level of pain beyond what mortal flesh could withstand. In one of his more recent defeats, his body plunged into a particularly ferocious lava pit – he screamed as his flesh was seared from his bones (New Super Mario Bros.)
Commentary – Bowser was empowered from the moment of his birth – as a Star Child - to be impossibly durable. Consequently, he has been through enough pain that would drive anyone completely mad. While he never wins, he can also never truly lose, and therefore his existence is a futile cycle of defeat.
Obsessive Madness
"I kidnapped Princess Peach! I couldn't be happier, diary! I hope she likes me..." – Bowser's Diary, Paper Mario
(Artist: am-bearre )
Bowser's first conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom was a brutal campaign. He transformed the citizens into stone blocks, and locked Princess Peach in a dank cell suspended above a lava pool. She was a political prisoner, of whom he had nothing but contempt. (Super Mario Bros)
Mario rescued the monarch, and Bowser countered by kidnapping her again and again, only for Mario to rescue her, again and again. She became a trophy that the Koopa King could not possess, and this triggered an obsessive compulsion in his mind.
(Artist : DogmanSP )
This manifested in many ways:
- Further kidnapping attempts (Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World)
- Outrage that others might try to kidnap the Princess, who he believed was his property (Mario and Luigi series)
- Conquering her castle, and imprisoning the princess in a stained glass window, so he could stare at her without interference (Super Mario 64)
- Marrying her against her will, in a ceremony under duress performed by the demonic Count Bleck (Super Paper Mario)
- Abducting her and arranging a second forced marriage (Super Mario Odyssey)
- Telling his own son that Princess Peach is his mother (Super Mario Sunshine)
(Artist : DonoArtz )
Bowser also tried a crueller approach. By kidnapping Peach's friends he attempted to isolate the princess. This led to an unusual situation in which Peach summoned the her rarely-seen might, stormed Bowser's kingdom, killed his soldiers, and pulverised the Koopa King leaving him a battered, defeated mess. (Super Princess Peach)
(Artist : williamcjones48 )
Princess Peach is savvy, and understands that Bowser is an indestructible force of nature. She has learned to manage his obsession with her, in a way that minimises the harm to her subjects, such as:
- Passively accepting kidnappings and providing minimal resistance (Super Mario RPG, New Super Mario Bros. series) – despite her own formidable powers as a Star Child (Super Princess Peach, Yoshi's Island DS)
- Goading the Koopa King into impressing her in sporting and karting events (Mario Sports titles)
- Later inviting Bowser and his entire family to take part in party games. (Mario Party series)
(Artist : YoshiKimos )
Commentary – Bowser is obsessed with a woman who for political reasons and the protection of her kingdom, cannot tell him that she despises him. She encourages him to be involved in activities and events with her for her own agenda – the protection of her people - and not out of any sense of affection. The Koopa King does not pick up on any such nuances, and his torment over her is further fuelled. The Koopa King is trapped in an insane cycle of conquest, followed by friendly sporting events, followed by conquest. He is contained, and yet somehow, he doesn't see it.
The Torments of Bowser Koopa
(Artist : Jason Chan )
Final Commentary - He is a pitiable figure. He is bound from his childhood to predestined failure and defeat, and has no free will of which to speak. He is trapped in a cycle of obsessive behaviour. He is indestructible, but will face agonising defeat after defeat until the end of time. He hates himself so much, that he even travelled back in time to attack his past self. He is trapped.
He may lock Peach in a cage, but she is more free than he will ever be.
Last edited:
