Welcome!

Hello everyone, this is koopa375. I created this webpage (/bowser) for Bowser, one of my favourite characters.

Who is Bowser?

Bowser, also known as King Bowser, King Koopa, Bowser Koopa or King Bowser Koopa, is the main antagonist of the Mario franchise - he is the King of the Koopas (fictional turtle species). He attempted but failed multiple times to kidnap Peach. He is a very large fire-breathing turtle with a spiky shell, horns on his head, spikes on his tail, as well as claws on his fingers and toes. He also wears spiked collars on his neck and arms.

At first, however, Bowser wasn't going to be a turtle - Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Mario franchise, first designed him as an ox, taking inspiration from the character King Gruesome (also known as the "Ox King") from the 1960 film "Alakazam the Great" (Journey to the West). It wasn't until when he was convinced by Takashi Tezuka when Bowser was redesigned to look like a large turtle.

How did Bowser get his name?

When deciding on the character's name, Miyamoto first named him "Kuppa" (クッパ, which would later become "Koopa"), after the Korean dish Gukbap (국밥 - soup with rice). He also considered the names "Yukke" (ユッケ) and "Bibinba" (ビビンバ) (육회 yukhoe - raw meat dish, 비빔밥 bibimbap - mixed rice), also after Korean dishes. "Koopa" was eventually selected. When the Mario games were being localised for South Korea, the character's Korean name is Koopa (쿠파) rather than Gukbap. The name "Koopa" is also used in China.

When Nintendo introduced the Mario games to the Western world, the name "Bowser" was used. However, not much is known about the origins of the character's international name "Bowser". However, one theory is that the name Bowser once was a popular pet's name in North America at the time, and someone believed Bowser's head and collar looked like that of a dog.