Bowser, or King Koopa is the leading antagonist of theSuper Mariogames and a perpetual thorn in the Italian plumber’s side. He’s always causing mischief around the Mushroom Kingdom, constantly kidnapping Princess Peach, and, sometimes, he wants to take over the world. However, those aren’t theweirdest things that Bowser has doneby a long shot.
King Koopa is also father to one Bowser Jr. First introduced inSuper MarioSunshine, the Prince of the Koopas has been a recurring face alongside his father game-in, game-out – most of the time flying around in his little clown car. In the grand scheme of things, Bowser is definitely the ‘bad guy’ of the series, but at the same time, he actually might not be a bad dad.
RELATED:Mario Kart 9’s Absence May Have To Do With Other Super Mario Spin-Offs
Bowser has played a role in some ofthe bestSuper Mariogames ever createdand he’s definitely had a journey through each of them. One might argue that him lying to Junior about Princess Peach being his mother and going on a rampage in the aptly namedBowser’s FuryDLC forSuper Mario 3D Worldmight immediately point him to the ‘bad dad’ end of the dad spectrum, but his overall fatherly acts would beg to differ.
First off, while Nintendo has confirmedBowser Jr as the only legitimate heirto the Koopa Kingdom, he also has a few adopted siblings – the Koopalings. The Koopa King’s heart is so generous that he adopts the Koopalings, who even call him ‘father.’ Bowser, mighty King of the Koopas, could quite as easily just throw these kids off to the side, but he takes the Koopalings under his wing and treats them as his own. Junior may not have a motherly figure, but at least he’s not alone in his upbringing.
Secondly, Bowser provides a lot to his children – not only Bowser Jr, but even the Koopalings themselves.Super Mario Bros. 3gave each Koopaling their own castle. Not only that, but each castle was uniquely customized with their own decor and traps, too. Junior gets his own castle inNew Super Mario Bros.on the DS, and he’s had countless methods to conduct his mischief over the years, including flying airships. All that can’t be cheap, but Bowser seems more than willing to give his kids what they need to succeed, regardless of what it may cost. That definitely should rank him as agreat video game dad.
At the end ofSuper Mario Sunshine, Bowser has a deep conversation with his son and admits to Junior that Princess Toadstool isn’t really his mother – although Junior admits that he knew for some time. Firstly, it’s hard enough for any parent to admit their wrongdoings to his child during a heart-to-heart. Secondly, Bowser is just a single dad who wants a positive, feminine figure in his son’s life.Peach might not be a great motherly figurebut Bowser kidnapping her is really for the sake of the Prince, not himself.
Best of all, Bowser doesn’t coddle his kid. While he does place some restrictions and pays attention to the kinds of media Junior consumes, he allows Prince Koopa the room he needs to grow into his own person. DuringPaper Mario: The Origami King,Bowser enlightens fans on his parenting philosophyas he traverses the Paper Kingdom with Mario and Olivia. “You have to let kids take chances,” he says to the duo after Olivia scolds him for allowing Junior to remain in plight, which is very well the truth. Kids can only learn and grow into responsible, capable adults if they’re allowed to make their own mistakes.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Furyis available now for Nintendo Switch.
MORE:Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury and The Origami King Have Interesting Similiarity
