"Fake Bowser" redirects here. For other uses, seeFake Bowser (disambiguation).

Impostor Bowser
Artwork fromSuper Mario Party Jamboree
First appearance	Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Latest appearance	Super Mario Party Jamboree (2024)
Variant of	Koopa
Variants Tail Bowser

“It's shocking how much Impostor Bowser looks like the realMr. Bowser. Magic is an amazing thing, huh?”

—Lakitu,Super Mario Party Jamboree

Impostor Bowsers, originally known asfake Bowsers and alternatively known asBowser's decoys inNES Remix and spelledImposter Bowsers,^[1][2] are standard enemies that were transformed to resembleBowser and serve a comparable role to him. They first appear asbosses in the originalSuper Mario Bros., in which they were transformed by Bowser himself using his black magic.

Concept and creation

The concept of fake Bowsers came about during development ofSuper Mario Bros. Since all enemies have their sprites flipped upside-down when they are defeated (except forPiranha Plants, which simply disappear, andBullet Bills, which stay rightside up), one of the programmers accidentally inserted an upside-down Koopa Troopa shell when portraying Bowser's defeat animation as if he were defeated with fireballs. The developers liked this idea, and as a result, this idea was extended to most of the Bowser battles in the game.^[3]

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario Bros. /Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels /Super Mario Bros. Deluxe

The fake Bowser from World 1-4 inSuper Mario Bros.

InSuper Mario Bros., the seven fake Bowsers are placed in eachcastle, withBowser's Castle containing the real one. Defeating a fake Bowser with fivefireballs reveals that they are really just common enemies disguised as Bowser. The enemies and their abilities are the following:

• World 1:Little Goomba -fire
• World 2:GreenKoopa Troopa - fire
• World 3:Buzzy Beetle - fire
• World 4:Spiny - fire
• World 5:Lakitu - fire
• World 6:Bloober -hammer
• World 7:Hammer Brother - hammer

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels additional worlds (in theSuper Mario All-Stars version, the final fake Bowser is now replaced with the actual Bowser):

• World A: Goomba - fire (FDS) /RedKoopa Troopa - hammer (All-Stars)
• World B: Green Koopa Troopa - fire (FDS) / GreenCheep-Cheep - hammer (All-Stars)
• World C: Buzzy Beetle - fire (FDS) /Bullet Bill - hammer (All-Stars)
• World D:Spiny - fire (FDS)

The "You VS. Boo" challenge ofSuper Mario Bros. Deluxe:

• 1-4: GreenCheep-Cheep
• 2-4:Bullet Bill

Mario facing the fakeBowser's Brother inWorld D-4 ofSuper Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

Like Bowser, the blueBowser's Brother in World D-4 is also a fake revealed to be a Spiny when defeated with fireballs, and only breathes fire. InSuper Mario All-Stars, both of these fakes are replaced with the real ones that only throw hammers, although Bowser's Brother is now green and looks identical to his twin. Due toAll Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros. also featuring Worlds A-D, all of the fake Bowsers from those worlds return, including the fake Bowser's Brother in World D-4.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3

InSuper Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, a fake Bowser appears as a boss in theWorld-e levelClassic World 1-4, where it plays a similar role to that played inSuper Mario Bros., though it looks identical to the game's real Bowser. It is revealed that the fake Bowser is a Goomba if it is defeated with fireballs. Since it acts like the fake Bowsers inSuper Mario Bros., it is shown walking, unlikeSuper Mario Advance 4's (as well as every other version ofSuper Mario Bros. 3's) depiction of Bowser, who only leaps.

Super Mario 3D Land

While typical fake Bowsers do not appear inSuper Mario 3D Land, variants powered bySuper Leaves known asTail Bowsers make their first appearance.

Super Mario Run

InSuper Mario Run, fake Bowsers appear at the end ofcastle courses, excludingWorld 6'sBowser's Bob-ombing Run andMake the Cut! which have the real Bowser.World 1's castle,Bowser's Castle Hangout, has a Goomba as the Fake Bowser.World 3'sFire Bar Castle! Youch! has a Green Koopa Troopa as the Fake Bowser, andWorld 5'sRings of Fire! has a Buzzy Beetle as the Fake Bowser. They walk back and forth along their bridge, occasionally shooting aBowser's Flame, jumping, or jumping and briefly staying in the air to shoot a Bowser's Flame. APause Block is placed directly before the bridge, and a cutscene forces the player to stop on it the first time the player enters the area per run of the course. Fire Bar Castle! Youch! adds aFire Bar, while Rings of Fire! adds aFire Chain. AnAxe on the other side collapses the bridge, causing the Fake Bowser to reveal its true identity before falling into the lava.

Fake Bowsers do not have an entry in the Notebook. Rather, a Fake Bowser counts as the enemy using the disguise. Thus, the results screen for a course shows that enemy, and adds one to the number of that enemy defeated for the purposes ofleveling up that enemy.

In Remix 10, some areas end in castles, with theVS Bowser course. A Fake Bowser must be defeated, through the same means as before. For doing so, the player receives all three of the course'sBonus Medals. The Fake Bowser is always the disguised form of a Goomba. VS Bowser allows the player to enter with aSuper Star or whileinvincible, and touching a Fake Bowser while invincible defeats it instantly, knocking it off the bridge without removing the disguise. Area 30's version instead has the real Bowser.

Super Mario Party Jamboree /Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV

“Bet you didn't see that coming. Bye-bye, Toady! Hello, humongous Impostor Bowser!”

—Kamek,Super Mario Party Jamboree

Impostor Bowser in theSuper Mario Party Jamboree minigame Bowser Crashers

InSuper Mario Party Jamboree,Kamek transforms aToady into a massive fake Bowser called Impostor Bowser. Unlike other fake Bowsers, Impostor Bowser has a purple glow and Magikoopa magic symbols coming out of him. He replaces Bowser himself as the host ofBowser Spaces due to Bowser being a playable character.

Impostor Bowser appears prominently on theKing Bowser's Keep board, where he is in the middle of the Bowser Byway. Periodically, he will transform more spaces on the byway into Bowser Spaces, as well as changing the direction of travel should one of theEvent Spaces surrounding him be landed on. Uniquely on this board, he will grab players that land on Bowser Spaces instead of them being transported to another location, and even occasionally destroy the roulette to instantly steal a star or all of their coins. He also serves as the boss of that board in the Party-Planner Trek mode, being faced in theBowser Crashersminigame.

Aside from Mario Party mode, Impostor Bowser is also a focal point in the "Bowser Challenges", Koopathlon, and Bowser Kaboom Squad. Both involve surviving attacks from Impostor Bowser, with the ultimate goal of the latter being to defeat him within the time limit. Bowser is not a playable character in any of these modes.

Imposter Bowser reprises his role in theNintendo Switch 2 version ofSuper Mario Party Jamboree,Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 + Jamboree TV.

List of appearances

Gallery

• 

  Super Mario Bros.

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  Super Mario All-Stars

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  Super Mario Run

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  Super Mario Party Jamboree

• 

  Super Mario Party Jamboree

Names in other languages

Notes

A cardboard Bowser inMario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.

• The World 3 and World C (original) fake Bowsers are the only Buzzy Beetles that can be defeated by fireballs (outside ofSuper Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen!), and the World C (All-Stars) and "You VS. Boo" 2-4 (Deluxe) ones are the only Bullet Bills that can be defeated by fireballs.
  • The World A and World C fake Bowsers inAll-Stars are the only fake Bowsers whose true forms are right-side-up instead of upside-down.
• The World 6 and World 7 Bowsers, despite spitting flames at the player from a distance, do not breathe fire in their actual battles, only throwing hammers.
• InMario & Luigi: Superstar Saga andMario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, an exaggerated cardboard Bowser suspended by a pair of ropes over a bridge is seen at the end of a special area insideBowser's Castle, which is a side-scrolling level imitating aSuper Mario Bros. castle.Mario must move underneath the stationary object and touch theaxe to make it fall.
  • In both Lemmy and Wendy's boss fights, they have doppelgangers that are disguised Spinies, similar to the Fake Bowsers (although they bore more similarities to thedecoys fromSuper Mario World in overall role).
• If the player beatsBowser's Sky Scuffle with any character barringBowser Jr. inMario Party: Island Tour, Bowser will reveal that the "Bowser" they defeated had been a decoy, which may have been a reference to the fake Bowsers.

References

• Koopas
• Bowser lookalikes
• Shapeshifters
• Fire creatures
• Bosses
• Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 enemies
• Super Mario Bros. enemies
• Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
• Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels enemies
• Super Mario Party Jamboree characters
• Super Mario Run enemies

• Articles with poor sources