Bowser

Bowser is a major character featured in Mario Golf. The nefarious ruler of the Koopa Kingdom, he is a frequent adversary of Mario.

Early on in Mario Golf, Bowser carries out a plot to kidnap Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. However, his scheme is cut short by the Battleship Halberd crashing into the castle. After saving both Mario and Peach from the disaster, Bowser becomes a reluctant ally as they set out to stop the Villainoct.

Bowser has immense physical strength, which he uses in tandem with his pyrokinetic abilities in combat.

Appearance
Bowser's resemblance to his fellow Koopa kin is dubious at best. While adorned with a green shell and covered mostly in yellow scales, Bowser's head is mysteriously a dark green. He's also covered in sharp bits, from the spikes on his shell and tail to the horns on his head. His jagged maw is noticeably unkoopa-like.

Bowser's bright red hair has been brought up now and then in the text. He has a tuft of hair on his head and a matching set of eyebrows whose colors have been likened to fire.

Bowser does not wear clothes. The implications of this have yet to be explored in the text. However, Bowser does wear spiked black leather collars at his wrists, the bases of his shoulders, and his neck.

Before Mario Golf
Someway or another, Bowser became the unquestioned ruler of the entire Koopa Kingdom. He has presumably been the king for a while, at least as long as he's been kidnapping Princess Peach. His Peach kidnapping exploits eventually led him to meeting Mario, and the two developed a bitter rivalry. Five years prior to the events of Mario Golf, Bowser conceived a son, Bowser Jr.

Mario Golf
In his first true appearance, Bowser is seen laying siege to the Mushroom Kingdom. Losing a fight with Mario, Bowser feigns defeat, and the former leaves with Peach to make a celebratory cake. Given alone time, Bowser sits in silent contemplation. He expresses remorse over his redundant lifestyle, and wishes for a better life for his son. Just then, Bowser sees the Halberd hurtling towards the castle. Bowser springs to try and get Peach to flee the castle. When Mario and Peach don't believe his warning, Bowser then kidnaps Mario to lure Peach outside. He's caught, however, and forced to drag Peach into his shell to shield her from the crash. He also protects Mario. Bowser and the others discover the pilot Meta Knight in the wreckage, with Bowser provoking the alien to nearly attack him.

Bowser joins the others in asking Meta Knight about the nature of the crash. When Meta Knight explains the prophecy of the Villainoct and the Stargazer, Bowser immediately agrees to help stop them. A confused Mario and Peach ask why, to which Bowser simply answers he wants revenge for having his life endangered.

Bowser and the others head to Mario's house to use his warp pipe to Brooklyn. Once they discover Dimentio has closed off every pipe in the kingdom, Bowser comes up with a plan and leads the group to his castle. Taking his private express train, Bowser and the group arrive at the castle where Bowser explains his plot to infiltrate the Villainoct in a disguise and use their powers to get to Brooklyn. Bowser retrieves the disguise from Bowser Jr's room, which is revealed to be the fursuit for Bowser's fursona. Bowser, disguised as "Meowser," has Meta Knight contact the Villainoct. Getting in touch with Medusa, "Meowser" has a shaky interview but ends up getting in. Bowser and the others head out for the Arbiter's Grounds to meet with the Villainoct.

Abilities
Bowser is shown to be immensely strong in Mario Golf. In chapters 4 and 5, he's seen carrying fully grown human beings and scaling the entirety of the Halberd with no visible difficulty; all of this happens even after the merciless beating he received from Mario earlier. A lot of this power seems to stem from his sheer size and weight, with Bowser being shown crushing normal human furniture. Other physical attributes include the shell on his back, which has been shown capable of sustaining the destruction of the Mushroom Kingdom castle easily.

Bowser's most identifiable ability is arguably his fire breath. While only shown once so far in Mario Golf, Bowser's fire aptitude in the text seems to be on par with that of the original Mario canon, spewing intense streams of fire with seemingly no limit.

As king of the Koopa Kingdom, Bowser naturally has every resource of the kingdom available at his disposal. This includes the Koopa army and all of its armaments, along with other resources he has utilized in the text such as his own private express train.

While not demonstrated in Mario Golf, Bowser has identified himself as a practitioner of dark magic, going so far as to major in it. He also has a minor in theater, though how much it has paid off is questionable.

Chapter Appearances

 * Chapter 1: Level 1 (Simulation)
 * Chapter 2: Level 1 Again? (Simulation)
 * Chapter 3: Something's Not Right (Simulation)
 * Chapter 4: This One's Real
 * Chapter 5: The Smash Brothers
 * Chapter 7: The Pleaser of Crowds
 * Chapter 10: Mario Explains Time Travel