Characters / Super Mario Bros.: Bowser Jr.

Super Mario Bros. Main Character Index
Main characters: The Mario Brothers | Allies (The Princesses) | The Koopa Kingdom (Bowser — Bowser Jr. — The Koopalings — Other High-Ranking Subordinates — Bosses) | Assorted Nasties
RPG characters: Super Mario RPG | Paper Mario (64 — The Thousand-Year Door — Super — Sticker Star — Color Splash — The Origami King) | Mario & Luigi (Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser)
Spinoff series: Yoshi's Island | Luigi's Mansion | Mario Golf | Mario Tennis | Super Mario Maker | Donkey Kong series (Kongs) | Wario series (Wario and Waluigi)
Crossovers: Punch-Out!! | Super Smash Bros. | Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games | Skylanders | Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle | Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Other media: The Great Mission to Save Princess Peach! | Super Mario Bros. (DiC) | Super Mario Bros. (1993) | The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Bowser Jr.

Debut: Super Mario Sunshine
Voiced by: Dolores Rogers (2002–2007), Caety Sagoian (2007–present)

"Someday, when I'm bigger... I wanna fight that Mario again!"

"Leave my Mama alone, you bad man! I won't let you take Mama Peach away!"

— Super Mario Sunshine

Bowser Jr. (known in Japan as Koopa Jr.; full name presumably Prince Bowser Koopa Jr.) is Bowser's son and heir to the throne. He's a rotten little schemer who wants Princess Peach to become his mommy. He first appeared in Super Mario Sunshine disguised as Mario in order to get him sent to prison, and when that failed he personally kidnapped Princess Peach himself, revealing his true form. Since then, Bowser Jr. has become his father's right hand man and most reliable soldier, having successfully kidnapped Princess Peach more times than anyone except Bowser himself.

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Tropes associated with Bowser Jr.:

A - C

• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: He wears two black wristbands and a white bandana with fangs on it. Much like his father, later spinoffs give Bowser Jr. outfits with Dr. Mario World giving him a doctor's outfit and Mario Golf Super Rush giving him a full golf ensemble, complete with a visor modeled after his clown car and shoes (unlike his doctor's outfit).
• Affably Evil: Like his father, he has gradually developed into this over time. He's a Spoiled Brat who can be just as tyrannical as his father, but he does have a soft spot for his friends and his dad. This is especially pronounced in Bowser's Fury, where he teams up with Mario to save Bowser and not only doesn't betray him, but also stops his father from attacking the plumber at the end and paints a picture of himself and Mario adventuring together as a show of gratitude.
• Affectionate Nickname: His father typically just calls him "Jr." or "son". Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games reveals that his minions call him 'little sire', and the 3DS Super Smash Bros. audience calls him "BJ" in their encouragement chants. Roy of the Koopalings calls him 'squirt', and both him and Paper Bowser Jr. call each other 'buddy' in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.
• Androcles' Lion: At the end of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Bowser Jr. is grateful to Mario for saving his father, and essentially calls off his invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom while also letting Mario and friends leave unharmed.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Despite not officially being siblings, Jr. acts like this towards the Koopalings in Bowser Jr.'s Journey.
• Anti-Villain: Compared to his father, Bowser Jr.'s goals and actions usually stem from a desire to keep Dad proud of him, jealousy over not having something or, rarely, simply wanting a friend.
• Art Initiates Life: Most of the Mooks and Yoshis in Super Mario Sunshine were created by his Magic Paintbrush. And in Bowser's Fury, as Fury Bowser's powers are derived from the paintbrush's black paint, the Fury Shadows also indirectly are the result of it.
• Archnemesis Dad: On a few occasions, Bowser Jr. ends up fighting against his father:
  • Mario Party Island Tour allows him to be selected for the "Bowser's Tower" mode, complete with Toad and Bowser's dialogue changing to reflect this. At the end, it is Subverted however: Bowser reveals that he did it to give his son the chance to play the hero.
  • Bowser fights Junior as the post-game Final Boss of Bowser Jr.'s Journey. It's also Downplayed as he does so specifically to see how much Junior has grown and Junior, for his part is genuinely excited to fight his dad.
  • In the Bowser's Fury side mode in the Super Mario 3D World re-release, Bowser Jr. teams up with Mario to stop the corrupted Bowser, while Bowser shows seemingly no qualms about harming his son in his attempts to kill Mario.
• The Artifact: His Magic Paintbush hasn't had any significance since the days of Sunshine and when it appears it's usually just a throwback. The Wii era introduced a replacement Iconic Item in the form of his miniaturized, heavily customizable Clown Car, but the brush still appears on occasion. Heck, during his stint as a Superboss, the only use he finds for it is to tickle people. That said, games like Bowser Jr.'s Journey and Super Nintendo World more promptly features both it and the Clown Car, with the Bowser's Fury subgame having him use both prominently with the latter's credits revealing that it played a role in causing the whole mess.
• Attack Its Weak Point: In boss fights where he appears in the Clown Car or some other giant machine, the weak point tends to be Bowser Jr.'s cockpit. This has carried over to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, where hitting Bowser Jr. will do more damage than hitting the Junior Clown Car.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: For his boss fight in Mario Party Star Rush, Kamek makes Bowser Jr. and his clown car larger than usual, a strategy usually favored by his father. At the end of the fight, Jr. shrinks back to how he was before. On top of this, Jr. has helped Kamek grow his father giant in New Super Mario Bros. U.
• Autobots, Rock Out!: A villainous example; with a couple of jazz exceptions, most of Bowser Jr.'s leitmotifs are either rock n' roll based or involve an electric guitar.
• Badass Adorable: He's cute, wears a crudely drawn mask to make himself look scarier, and is as tall as Bowser's knee at best, but his tricks and childish, yet deadly machines still make Jr. a genuine threat.
• Badass Bookworm:
  • Quite handy with machinery, just like Bowser. While admiring the Ghost Ship stage in Fortune Street, he casually mentions he designs his own mechas, and a chalkboard in his room in Mario + Rabbids showing the design for Mecha Jr. seems to back that claim up. His Final Smash trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U outright states that he's brainier than his father.
  • This is finally shown in-game in Bowser Jr.'s Journey where he is able to modify Iggy's abandoned faceless clown car into a Junior Clown Car.
• Badass Driver: Bowser Jr. has controlled a variety of machines throughout his villainous career and is a remarkable pilot for his age. In particular, he's so comfortable flying his Clown Car that he's frequently seen standing on its rim without fear of falling off. He's also apparently a talented horseman, as he's the main opponent in the Equestrian trial in Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
• Badasses Wear Bandanas: One of the reasons he drew fangs on his bandana is to make himself look more intimidating when he wears it over his mouth. It could also be a nod to his piloting abilities by referencing the shark-teeth nose art found on fighter planes.
• Bad Boss: In his Boss Battle in Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser Jr.'s ship's weaponry not only damages Mario, it kills any Mook unfortunate enough to get between the Koopa prince and his prey. It also comes up in Bowser Jr.'s Journey; Junior constantly acts like a Royal Brat and mistreats his minions constantly, to the point that Roy gets fed up and leaves the team. Wendy proceeds to remark that even Bowser treats his troops better than Bowser Jr. does (which the player can agree with, considering this is a sidegame to Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story).
• Bait-and-Switch Boss: His final appearance in Galaxy, which he fires meteors to try and stop Mario's ascent.
• Barrier Warrior:
  • The Magic Paintbrush can create an orange, gelatinous wall of caustic paint that's immune to the Paintbrush's normal weakness of water, but can still be erased with Yoshi saliva.
  • In Sticker Star, he'll activate a domed barrier over his Clown Car to protect himself.
  • In the final battle of Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, he'll cast defensive buffs to shield himself and the Bowser + Koopalings combo. On top of that, his separate life bar, light-element status, and tendency to heal soaks up a lot of damage that would normally be aimed at his father and friends.
• Bastard Bastard: He claims Peach was his mom in Sunshine, and she and Bowser aren't exactly married. Subverted in the ending, where he admits he knew Peach wasn't his mom while Bowser was trying to break the news to him.
• Bearer of Bad News: His role in Mario Party 9, where he updates his father on the player's (successful) progress and Bowser's (failed) defenses, until the final board where he takes on Mario personally.
• The Beast Master: His second favorite tactic: In a similar vein to Kamek, Bowser Jr. will sic various creatures on Mario to stop him. This trope is most prevalent in Super Mario Sunshine despite Junior never personally commanding any of them: It's heavily implied (and outright confirmed in some sources) that the majority of the enemies and bosses Mario encounters were created from Junior's graffiti and the few that weren't (Eely-Mouth in Noki Bay, the Chain Chomps in Pianta Village, etc) were still manipulated by him in some fashion.
• Beware the Silly Ones: And how.
  • Two of his most threatening appearances (Super Mario Sunshine and Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle) are also two in which he's at his most childish.
  • The Sept. 2018 Direct shows him as an S+ roller with a splat count surpassed only by Peach.
• Big Bad: Of Sunshine, being the instigator of the plot, and the main threat. He's also this in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, where although he didn't instigate anything, he does take advantage of the mess to try and take over the Mushroom Kingdom and make his papa proud. In both instances, however, Bowser is still the final boss.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: The little guy to his father's big guy.
• Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: In all of his Mario Tennis appearances save for Aces, he's classified as a Tricky-type character, meaning all his shots are imbued with a very high amount of curve. Inverted in his Mario Golf appearances, where his shot is classified as perfectly straight and low flying.
• Black Bead Eyes: Just like Baby Bowser, Bowser Jr. has small, beady black eyes, although his eyes usually have a pupil-like shine to them that Baby Bowser's doesn't. Just like Bowser's red eyes didn’t become apparent until he grew up, it's unknown what Bowser Jr.'s actual eye color will be when he's older.
• Blood Knight: Games like Bowser Jr.’s Journey and Paper Mario: The Origami King depict him with a voracious appetite for combat, constantly looking for sparring partners among enemies and allies alike, and a deep impatience for anything not having to do with fighting.
• Bratty Half-Pint: The premiere brat of the Mario series, Bowser Jr. loves being a headache to the people of the Mushroom Kingdom.
• Breath Weapon: Initially untrained and undeveloped at fire breath, as he attempted to do so in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Strikers Charged with only weak embers, but mastered it in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where it homes in on the players and sets the floor ablaze on contact. While he never actually attacks with it, Dream Team shows he can now breathe an entire stream of fire.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Bowser Jr. breaks the fourth wall several times throughout the New Super Mario Bros. series, usually as little self aware pivots to the screen done for comedic effect. However, the most notable instance is the very last scene in the original New Super Mario Bros., where he turns to the players and snaps his jaws.
• Break the Haughty:
  • In the last half of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Bowser Jr.'s previously smug attitude is replaced with genuine concern when he learn that his father is at risk of getting attacked by the Megabug. By the time Mario and his allies reach Bowser's Castle, Junior freely takes the blame for his actions and begs Mario to help Bowser.
  • In Bowser Jr.'s Journey, while Kamek tried to get Junior to realize how poorly he was acting, it's only when the Koopa Prince is about to eat the burnt drumstick Morton gave him that the severity of his actions starts setting in.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: In the physical sense; he's clearly shown he's capable of acrobatic feats, impressive running speed, and enough physical stamina to keep ahead of Mario on foot, but he generally prefers to cruise around in his Clown Car due to laziness. This is especially evident in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where it takes goading and encouragement from his minions to get him to begin training, but becomes very successful when he finally does start applying himself.
• But Thou Must!: In Mario Party 9, when the player lands on a Bowser Jr. space and spins for a Bowser Jr. minigame, he'll ask if you're sure you want to play the one that you end up landing on. If you say "yes", you'll play the minigame, and if you say "no", he'll still make you play that minigame.
• Card-Carrying Villain: While he doesn't display it as frequently as his father, Bowser Jr. brags about his 'evilness' with the same kind of relish in certain titles, particularly in games where he's competing against people like Fortune Street and Mario Super Sluggers.
• Casino Park: Jr. Street, Bowser Jr. Boulevard, and his boss fight minigame stages in Mario Party 9 and Star Rush all use this as their basis.
• The Chase: In virtually all of his appearances where he plays The Dragon or the Big Bad, it will involve him leading Mario on a giant chase.
• Cheerful Child: When he isn't trying to kidnap her, Bowser Jr. tends to act this way whenever he's around Princess Peach.
• The Chessmaster: One of the reasons he's been so successful at capturing Peach has been his ability to either neutralize or distract Mario. In his first appearance, he commits various crimes disguised as Mario in order to get him thrown into prison, and in New Super Mario Bros. he causes a diversion in the castle while Mario and Peach are out on a walk to get the two separated.
• Children Are Innocent: Played with. He's quite the corrupt little kid, reveling in destruction and the defeat of his enemies by any means necessary. However, he IS still a kid at heart, and values the same innocent things that a kid would value: fun, companions, treats, and time spent with his dad. Bowser Jr.'s Journey acknowledges this directly by showing that he didn't realize the Koopa Troop were bad guys before deciding that, from his viewpoint, helping his father is not wrong.
• Child Soldier: Usually when he's involved in Bowser's plans, he's the second-in-command and works akin to a commander.
• Co-Dragons: With Kamek to his father, as both he and Kamek share authority.
• Color-Coded Elements: His magic brush is capable of creating Fire Graffiti and Electric Graffiti by changing the color of the paint.
• Combination Attack:
  • He and his paper counterpart usually attack together in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
  • Bowser Jr. can perform combination attacks with the Koopalings in Bowser Jr.'s Journey.
• Confusion Fu:
  • He tends to mix up his attacks to throw the Bros. off, and he shows a surprising ability to adapt to a bad situation rather quickly.
  • In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the final battle has him pick over his Clown Car and his dad's; the latter of which was chosen.
  • During his boss fight in Dream Team, he attempts to trick the brothers by throwing either a piece of junk, or a Bob-omb and then attacking the one that isn't distracted.
• Cool Airship:
  • Played with in the New Super Mario Bros. series as he's usually guarding his father's flagship instead of having his own. Played straight with his miniature galleon in the original Super Mario Galaxy as well as his battleship in Paper Mario: Sticker Star complete with a Banzai Bill Cannon. His very heavily armed Junior Clown Car also counts as this.
  • The Bowser Jr. Cup in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX invokes this by having the two primary tracks take place across a fleet of airships, not entirely unlike 8's Cloudtop Cruise.
• Cool Boat:
  • Bowser Jr. has piloted a variety of vehicles, including submarines. In his first appearance he piloted a bullet-bill armed submarine in the final boss fight with his father. Later, his Junior Clown Car is modified with a submarine mode to attack Mario underwater in New Super Mario Bros. U.
  • His playroom in Mario Super Sluggers doubles as a submarine, appearing out of the waters in the opening sequence and going underwater to transform into Bowser's Castle.
• Cool Car:
  • The Junior Clown Car is a miniature version of the senior Koopa Clown Car, complete with a multitude of personal on board weapons and a face so expressive it borders liveliness.
  • In Double Dash, Bowser Jr.'s personal car is the Bullet Blaster, one of the fastest lightweight cars in the game and easily the meanest looking.
• Cool Chair: Mario Party DS shows that he has a variant of his father's throne.
• Crowd Chant: He, like the other fighters, has an audience cheer in Super Smash Bros. when someone playing as him does particularly well. They don't call out his entire name, but simply shorten it to "BJ" in the 3DS version and "Jr." in the Wii U version.
• Cryptic Background Reference:
  • At the end of Super Mario Sunshine, the only clue we get to whoever his mother may be is that he knew it wasn't Peach from the very start. He never states whether this means he discovered who his actual mother is or not, and he doesn't seem to press the matter any further with his dad (who seems extremely happy to avoid talking about the matter at all). He continues to call Peach 'Mama' in later appearances despite knowing full well she isn't.
  • He states that "a strange man in a white coat" gave him his Magic Paintbrush in Sunshine. It is very heavily implied that the old man in question is Professor E. Gadd, but what actually happened between the two and what relationship they have, if any, has never been followed up on.
  • The thieving morally ambiguous character Nabbit wears a bandanna over his mouth with the exact same fanged-mouth design as on Bowser Jr.'s. This has never been pointed out in-universe, so it's unknown if they have a connection or not. The post-game of Bowser Jr's Journey confirms that Bowser Jr is familiar with Nabbit and is capable of recruiting him as an ally, but other that little is known about the two. Interestingly, Nabbit is the last character Bowser Jr. can recruit in the game.
• Cute Little Fangs: His handkerchief sports these as well as the little fang he has in his mouth.

D - E

• A Day in the Limelight:
  • He serves as the Big Bad of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, seeking to utilize "Spawny's" powers to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom while his father is on vacation.
  • After only appearing as a post-game unit with no relation to the story in Minion Quest, Bowser Jr. stars in its equivalent mode, Bowser Jr.'s Journey, in the Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story remake.
  • He allies with Mario in Bowser's Fury. Notably, unlike the other examples, this also means that he's fighting against his father.
  • Bowser Jr. acts as the main antagonist of Super Nintendo World, based on the app's storyline.
• Defeat Means Playable: In Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, just like the Koopalings, he will join your team if you beat him in the final Star World Tower.
• Depending on the Writer: Not quite to the extent of his father or the Koopalings, but his self-awareness of his actions vary: Sometimes he's portrayed as a straightforward villain, while other times he's porteayed in a more child-like light with more self-serving goals. Bowser Jr.'s Journey in particular portrays him as being unaware that his father and the Koopa Troop were evil to begin, and decides that they still aren't from his point of view.
• Determinator:
  • If his father's pride is on the line, Bowser Jr. will do anything to accomplish his goals.
  • Subjected to a Decon-Recon Switch in Bowser Jr.'s Journey: During the first half of the game, Bowser Jr. displays an almost entirely single-tracked focus on finding the ingredients for the cure for the blorbs. It gets to the point where he prioritizes the cure over the disappearance of his father's castle. The second half of the game, however, sees Bowser Jr. taking that determination and using it for a more noble goal: reuniting with the Koopalings and taking back Bowser's Castle from the Best Fitness Friends.
• Don't Tell Mama: Like most kids, Bowser Jr. is intimidated by his father’s temper, and often voices how much he hates bringing him news that will make him mad. He also seems to fear Bowser’s disappointment to a degree, as he sheepishly asks the player not to tell his dad that he didn’t make the qualifiers in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
• Doomsday Device: Invoked with his "Boomsday Machine" in Super Mario Galaxy 2.
• The Dragon: In most of his appearances, Bowser Jr. has been his papa's main backup. Sometimes, he and Kamek work together as Co-Dragons.
• Dragon Ascendant: Presumably, Bowser Jr. temporarily becomes the leader of the Koopa Troop while his father is a member of the undead in New Super Mario Bros.
• Dramatic High Perching: He seems to enjoy being in high places. Aside from flying around in his Clown Car, he's commonly seen hanging out on the bowsprits of ships or towering in one of his mechs. He lampshades this himself in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where he comments to himself that he has no fear of heights, and even seems to enjoy the thrill of being at the top of an incredibly high mountain. He even sounds like he's having fun as he falls out of the sky after the final boss battle in Super Mario Sunshine.
• The Dreaded: To Toads; since Bowser Jr. spends so much time infiltrating the Mushroom Kingdom, Toads seem to fear him just as much as they do Bowser. This is later justified when he stuffs Toads into containers for sheer amusement in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
• Dual Boss:
  • Bowser Jr. frequently battles alongside his father in final boss fights, usually as small but fast supporting fighter. He does this in Sunshine, New Super Mario Bros., and New Super Mario Bros. U.
  • In Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, Bowser Jr. is a separate entity from the Bowser + Koopaling combo, with his own life bar and attacks. His HP is comparatively the smaller of the two, but his light-element status perfectly complements the combo’s dark-element status by covering each-other’s vulnerabilities, and Bowser Jr. casts defensive buffs and healing spells to effectively double the amount of damage the player needs to dish out to win. Finally, if Bowser Jr. is defeated, the combo will sometimes use a revival spell to bring him back to full health.
  • He's also this with his paper counterpart in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam where the duo will work together using attacks and even healing/reviving each other.
• Dub Name Change: For most of the world his name is either Bowser Jr. or Koopa Jr., with the exception of European Spanish translations, where he's called 'Bowsy'.
• Easily Forgiven: He never does seem angry at his father for lying to him about who his mother is. Instead, he just seems fixated on the idea of fighting Mario again.
• Enemy Mine: He and Mario work together in the Bowser's Fury portion of the Super Mario 3D World re-release, likely due to whatever's corrupting Bowser.
• Enfant Terrible: He's the son of an Evil Overlord who aspires to be like his dad.
• Establishing Character Moment: He first appears on a giant mech claiming that he's there to rescue 'mama' Peach from Mario, after uncovering his devious trick to get Mario thrown in prison. He establishes his love of machines, his proclivity for tricks, and his tendency to see himself as the hero and Mario as the villain right from the get go.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Played With. Bowser Jr. has shown time and again that he's fond of Princess Peach, regardless of whether she’s his biological mother or not. Aside from encouraging her to partake in vacation activities with him in Sunshine, she’s the only character other than Bowser that Jr. speaks nicely to in Mario Sluggers, his mechanical claw gingerly moves her out of harm's way in the opening of New Super Mario Bros. U, and in Fortune Street he admits that he doesn't mind spending a little extra money at a shop (within reason) as long as it’s hers. And yet, he still has no reservations about kidnapping her time and again.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: No one in the entire world is more important to him than his father— to Bowser Jr., Bowser is the best and strongest at everything, and he'll get angry at the mere suggestion to the contrary. He also seems to have an intense emotional bond with Princess Peach, and wants her to be his mother just as much as Bowser wants her to be his wife. He even revives his own dad in New Super Mario Bros.
• Evil Gloating: Taunting seems to be one of his favorite activities, even after he’s lost a battle. This can range from childishly sticking out his tongue and making faces at his opponents to detailing how much crying they’re going to be doing when they lose. His love of taunting has gotten him in trouble in the past, however, as his need to mock Mario before he makes his getaway in New Super Mario Bros. Wii resulted in his airship leaving without him noticing.
• Evil Redhead: Just like his dad.

F - H

• False Friend: Played With in Rabbids Kingdom Battle. At first, it seems like Bowser Jr. only befriends Spawny for his powers, even going so far as to bully him into activating his abilities by intimidating him and causing him stress. However, he also seems very protective of the rabbid and seems to legitimately care about his wellbeing, making him seem more like a selfish, but ultimately caring older brother to Spawny than anything else.
• Fiery Red Head: While not quite to the same degree as Bowser, Bowser Jr. has definitely inherited a great deal of his father's bad temper, as well as his fiery red hair.
• Final Boss: While he never plays this role by himself, he often shares it with his dad. This is the case with Super Mario Sunshine, New Super Mario Bros., and New Super Mario Bros. U.
• Forgotten Phlebotinum: Despite its immense potential for destruction, Bowser Jr. never again uses the Magic Paintbrush in any of his evil schemes after Sunshine, except for a minor Continuity Cameo in his bonus boss fight in Dream Team, where he uses it for tickling people, and in Bowser's Fury, as a result of a Deadly Prank and his Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, all the way until he finally uses it again as his Ranged Mode weapon in Bowser Jr.'s Journey. He does often use it for sports; though, he usually only slings paint at people and never uses its portal/monster creation capabilities nor the additional properties that the paint had in its original appearance. He also never again uses a magical disguise on par with his Shadow Mario bandanna.
• Foil:
  • He's one to his father, as his Final Smash trophy says that Bowser Jr. prefers using mechas and monsters to his father's brute strength and while he's implied in certain descriptions and depictions to be almost as strong as his father, he prefers using trickery and smarts. The flipper descriptions from Bowser's Pinball Machine in Mario Party DS shows that this applies even to their pinball strategies, with Bowser putting a lot of oomph into his shots while Junior plays more strategically. Additionally, while Bowser is usually content to wait until Mario arrives at his current location, Bowser Jr. tends to go out of his way to confront Mario directly.
  • In Super Mario Sunshine he was one to Mario himself: Mario is a happy-go-lucky man with the curiosity of a child who uses the F.L.U.D.D. to clean up Isle Delfino and protects Princess Peach from Bowser. Bowser Jr. is a mischievous, Wise Beyond His Years child who uses the Magic Brush to defile Isle Delfino and kidnaps Peach for his father (under the assumption that she is his mother). This effect is further hammered home by the fact that Bowser Jr. spends the majority of Sunshine as Shadow Mario: a naughty copy of Mario who can match his every move, whose defeat animation is him throwing a childish temper tantrum and has a Leitmotif rooted in the Underground theme of Super Mario Bros. whereas Mario himself is usually associated with the overworld theme.
  • In terms of similarities, he may also count as an Evil Counterpart to Diddy Kong: both are gadget-using sidekicks that double as smaller counterparts of the characters they look up to (Donkey Kong for Diddy, Bowser for Jr.).
• Four-Temperament Ensemble : Sanguine.
• Fragile Speedster: Typically as fast and agile as the Mario Brothers, but without the staying power to back it up. This shows in his boss battles (when he isn't piloting some sort of robot), and his stats in the spin-off games. For example, he's a lightweight in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe; and he's classified as a Speedy character in Mario Sports Mix.
• Full-Body Disguise: While imperfect in how much it actually looks like Mario, the Shadow Mario disguise does completely alter Bowser Jr.'s body shape, color tone, and voice to the point that it'd be impossible for someone to guess it was Jr. if they didn't know about the disguise beforehand.
• Gadgeteer Genius: One of Bowser Jr.'s major calling cards is his affinity for machines, and is the most extensive gadget user in the Mario universe next to Professor E. Gadd, using them as a substitute for his father's brute strength that he doesn't yet have. This generally includes things like mechs, vehicles, and robots to use in his battles against Mario, some of which he apparently designs himself. However, the spin-offs show he’s also attracted to less sinister tech as well, like slot and pinball machines.
• The Gambler:
  • A rather bizarre but noticeable tendency in some spin offs have been to give him a casino bent, such as the slot-machine stage gimmicks in 3-on-3 and Sports Mix, as well as his dice based boss fight in Mario Party 9. These instances tend to also come with casino-style big band jazz.
  • A figurine description in Mario Party DS suggests he might be a gambler himself. Additionally, in sharp contrast with his father, Jr.'s minigames in 9 and amiibo Party in 10 function more as double or nothing games, allowing players to either win or lose 5 mini stars/10 coins respectively.
• Generation Xerox: Bowser Jr.'s appearance is identical to his father when he was a kid, and they share many personality traits. Bowser Jr. does seem more competent of a villain than Bowser was at his age.
• Genius Bruiser:
  • You know the Jumping Out of a Cake method of capturing Princess Peach in New Super Mario Bros. Wii? Well, according to the Japanese site, that was planned by Bowser Jr. His debut scheme in Super Mario Sunshine is one of the most complex evil schemes in the series.
  • Mario + Rabbids cements him as one with the Lava Pit where he makes his lair in a volcano which has been converted into a factory..
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: He's the Superboss of Dream Team, marking his first appearance in the entire Mario & Luigi subseries, let alone the game itself.
• Giggling Villain: He giggles a lot when not imitating his dad's Evil Laugh.
• Glass Cannon: While Bowser Jr. shares his father's powers and interest for strength, he's still a child who has to compensate low defenses with agility and intelligence.
  • In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, he's a lightweight, and his personal car, the Bullet Blaster (who, fittingly, looks like a Banzai Bill) endures off-road the most and is the lightweight vehicle in the game, but also benefits the turbos that come with it and has a top speed comparable to heavyweights.
  • In Mario Strikers, he is an offensive character who's good at passing and shooting, but he can't run fast and can't tackle opponents.
  • In Super Mario Maker, Bowser Jr., unlike his father, can actually be defeated by jumping on his head enough times, but he compensates his lack of defense with better aimed fireballs and a unique shell spin move to attack over a wide area.
• Glory Seeker: Particularly, glory in the eyes of his dad, which he craves to a fault. In Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, it's shown he can be made to do nearly anything by simply telling him ‘I bet your father would be really impressed’. In fact, this works so well that at one point he bets his freedom on a race with Metal Sonic just because a minion suggested that his father would be impressed if he won.
• Go-Karting with Bowser: In the Mario Kart series he goes karting with the other characters. Guess who his default driving partner is in Double Dash?
• Goldfish Poop Gang: Becomes this in Paper Mario Sticker Star due to him not really being involved in the story, unlike Kamek.
• Gotta Catch 'Em All: In Sticker Star his main objective seems to be hunting down rare stickers. At least until the last time he's encountered, during which he wants revenge.
• Graffiti Town: Most of the stages in Super Mario Sunshine are this by default. Outside of Sunshine , Jr. apparently enjoys less destructive forms of graffiti art and considers himself quite skilled at it. In his throne room of the Bowser Castle stage in Mario Kart GP 2 he even has a large sign with his picture on it that says 'King of Graffiti'.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • His villainous acts in Mario Super Sluggers stems from intense jealousy that Mario and friends have their own baseball island to play on.
  • His first two attacks in Paper Mario Sticker Star are due to him wanting Mario's rare stickers.
• Ground Pound: One of his most fearsome moves in Mario Maker as it stunlocks the player leaving them open to attack. Some level creators exploit this for infinite stunlocks that the player once immobilized, cannot escape from.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Albeit for a very brief period: In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Bowser Jr. can aid in battles during the period between restoring him back to normal and fighting the miniboss. However, the player can go straight to the miniboss after the preceeding sequence and he permanently leaves the party (as far as the game is concerned) afterwards, meaning that its unlikely that they'll see him in battle unless they put off fighting the miniboss.
• Hammerspace: In Paper Jam, it's shown he stores various thing under his bandana, somehow.
• Happy Dance: Bowser Jr. often does a little hop from one foot to the other when he's excited or energized. In Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics, his father has to motion for him to keep still when he does this during the opening ceremony.
• Healing Factor:
  • Throughout his boss battles in Sticker Star, he'll start to heal himself once his health gets too low.
  • In the final boss fight of Puzzle & Dragons: Mario Edition, he'll often heal both himself and the Bowser + Koopalings combo whenever he or they have low HP on his turn.
  • In their boss battle Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, both Bowser Jr.s may pull out a Mushroom or even a 1-Up Mushroom out of their Clown Car to heal their buddy.
• The Heavy:
  • In Sunshine. His dad is the Final Boss, but Bowser Jr. does all the work.
  • This is generally his role in plots where he's involved, and takes up this role again in every New Super Mario Bros. game except for 2, which he wasn't present in.
  • In Wonder, while his dad is busy gathering energy for his Ultimate Wonder, Bowser Jr. goes to the different areas of the Flower Kingdom to use the Wonder power himself to cause some sort of trouble, not only being the one who terrorizes the Flower Kingdom, but also buying time for Bowser.
• Hero of Another Story: In the Bowser's Inside Story remake, he goes out to seek a cure for the Blorbs, a quest which ends up running behind the scenes of the main game.
• Hero Stole My Bike: As the Junior Clown Car appears in more games, it's becoming more frequent for Mario to hijack it, often to use it against Jr. or even Bowser himself.
• Heroic Wannabe: He's explicitly stated to have fantasies about being a hero in Mario Party: Island Tour, and in his original appearance he claimed he was rescuing princess Peach from the 'bad man' Mario. Finally, in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, he gladly takes credit for accidentally saving two Chaos from Dr. Eggman's robots,^note  Composed of an Egg Pawn and an Egg Flapper with the chapter in question even being named 'Bowser Jr.: Superhero?'
• Hero Worship: Inverted. Bowser Jr. adores his evil father and even states once that his dad is "braver than any dumb hero". That said, in Mario Party: Island Tour his father does mention that Bowser Jr. often fantasizes about playing the hero himself.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Mario Party DS hints towards Bowser Jr. having a fear of loneliness, something that Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam explores in depth when he meets with his paper version.
  • Most portrayals of his graffiti use it to indicate his unruliness. In the postgame of Bowser's Fury, he instead uses his graffiti as a means to artistically express his true feelings of gratitude towards Mario for helping him, despite his usual bluster towards the plumber in the ending cutscene.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Bowser Jr. is shown, in spite of acting abrasive or uncaring of the other's feelings, to genuinely care for the wellbeing of those he considers to be his friends. This is most clearly seen with Spawny and Morton.
• Humongous Mecha: One of his favorite and most well known tactics, Bowser Jr. has used a variety of giant robots and mechs in his boss fights, among them being Mecha-Bowser, Megaleg, Megahammer, and the Boomsday Machine. He also has a stage in Super Mario Galaxy named Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: His Junior Clown Car, appropriately enough, seems to have unlimited item space for Bob-ombs, Mechakoopas, and other weapons.

I - K

• Iconic Item: His bandanna and Magic Paintbrush; even after Sunshine, Bowser Jr. was so keen on the bandanna that he got a new one. Nowadays, the Junior Clown Car has also become this, nearly displacing the Paintbrush, to the point that he even plays tennis with it◊. He returns to using a magic paintbrush for projectile attacks in Bowser Jr.'s Journey.
• Identical Grandson: Bowser Jr. looks quite similar to Bowser when he was young. There are consistent differences in the shape and proportion of their nose, ponytails, and eyebrows, but these are fairly subtle. The only major differences seems to be that Bowser Jr.'s bandana typically has drawn on fangs as opposed to the white bandanna Baby Bowser favors, if he even wears one at all.
• I Just Want to Have Friends:
  • In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam it's heavily implied that he's much lonelier than he cares to admit. When he finally finds a friend in Paper Bowser Jr., he worries so much about losing him that the two try to hunt down the only way back to the paper world and destroy it.
  • In Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympics, his so called ‘pals’—implied to be other competitors he had been trying to impress—don't believe it when he wins the semi-finals and won't show up to watch him compete in the finals. Bowser Jr. even asks the player if they know anyone who would come and root for him, as all of Bowser’s minions have been stacked to root for his father.
  • All of his interactions with Spawny can be summed up as such in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, he wants the companionship more than causing mischief for the heroes.
• Improbable Power Discrepancy: In his Bonus Boss battle in Dream Team, he is somehow a more powerful boss than his own dad after absorbing the Dream Stone and becoming a Reality Warper.
• Improbable Weapon User: The Magic Paintbrush and the Junior Clown Car. He also manages to play it straight and invert it simultaneously in Mario Super Sluggers by using the Magic Paintbrush as a baseball bat. (In Mario Superstar Baseball, he just had a spiky, metallic bat, instead.)
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: He's portrayed as this in the Mario & Sonic series, to the point of being a borderline No-Respect Guy.
• Insistent Terminology: Inverted. The cloth around Bowser Jr's neck has been called many things over the years, including a bib, a bandanna, a neckerchief, a scarf, a mask, and even a shirt. Even in-universe it seems people are uncertain of exactly what it is, with a passerby in Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games stumbling through a couple of terms before eventually settling on calling it a "thingie".
• Interpretative Character:
  • Again, in the physical sense. His Competitive Balance status between spin-offs varies wildly between titles: he's balanced in Mario & Sonic Olympics, offensive in Sluggers and Strikers, speedy in 3-on-3 and Sports Mix, technical in Mario Golf, tricky in Mario Tennis, a powerhouse in Mario Superstar Baseball, and a Lightning Bruiser in Smash Bros.
  • Bowser Jr.'s Journey takes this to its logical conclusion. To compensate for him being a permanent part of the team, Bowser Jr. can assume any of the three minion types; Melee (normal), Ranged (using his Magic Paintbrush), or Flying (riding the Junior Clown Car).
• Intimidation Demonstration: He attempts this in his away-team introduction in Mario Strikers: Charged, but (rather adorably) falls short.
• It's All About Me: Just like his father, Bowser Jr. is incredibly selfish and usually thinks in terms of rewards and consequences that affect him regardless of how it might affect others. However, if his loved ones are in danger, such as his father in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, he'll put aside his own pride and needs for their sake.
• Jack of All Stats: In Mario Kart Wii, he's a middleweight; and in the Mario & Sonic Olympics series, he's classified as a Balanced-type character.
• Japanese Delinquent: Like the stereotypical Japanese street punk, Bowser Jr. wears a painted bandanna over his face, sports a rebellious hair style, wears punk jewelry, slings graffiti, and rides around in heavily modified vehicles.
• Jazz:
  • Going along with his frequent gambling themes, a lot of his spin-off music is dark, casino-style jazz, such as in Mario Party 9, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, and Mario Sports Mix.
  • In Super Mario Maker, every in-game object plays a different instrument when they hit a music block; the instrument that plays for Bowser Jr. is, naturally, the saxophone.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In spite of his selfishness and generally being a brat, his interactions with Paper Bowser Jr. and Spawny (though, still filtered with a bullying attitude for the latter) show that he can potentially genuinely care for people aside from his father.
• Jumping Out of a Cake: Along with the Koopalings in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
• Junior Counterpart: As the name implies, he's one to his father.
• Just a Kid:
  • He seems to hate getting this reaction from people, and hates being called small or little in general.
  • His dialogue from the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games implies he’s internalized the idea that people don’t have much faith he can accomplish anything due to his young age and size, to the point that he second guesses his own team’s praise of his performance in the semi-finals to even sounding a bit downbeat about winning a medal because he feels everyone assumed he'd lose.
• Kid-Appeal Character: He's a villainous character for sure, but he's also cute and child-like enough to be appealing to children.
• The Kid with the Remote Control: Inverted. When he isn't directly piloting his many war machines, he usually has indirect control over them through verbal commands, such as Megaleg in Super Mario Galaxy. However, he's never used them responsibly or with any care for the machines themselves. He even seems to see his trusty Junior Clown Car as disposable in some games, often not even batting an eye if gets trashed.
• King of Games: Bowser Jr. brags that he's a pro at pinball in Mario Party DS, to the extent that his father is perfectly fine with letting him run the pinball stage in story mode. However, since this is a stage and not an actual pinball game, we never actually see if he is as good as he says he is. That said, the collectible descriptions imply that he is more strategic than his father.

L - O

• Leitmotif: Like his father: Bowser Jr. tends to have different leitmotifs depending on the subseries:
  • The Super Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros. Wii leitmotifs are the most notable, getting remixed or being a Recurring Riff in various spinoffs and media.
  • Mario Party 9 also introduced a theme for him, which was remastered for Mario Party 10.
  • In Paper Mario: Sticker Star, he had a theme called "My Things!". Paper Mario: The Origami King replaces it with "Enter, Bowser Jr.!" (not to be confused with the Super Mario Galaxy theme), a more cutesy-theme that bears similarities melodywise to his father's new leitmotif.
• Le Parkour: In his first appearance, Jr. proved himself to be fairly acrobatic while disguised as Shadow Mario, able to keep just out of reach of Mario in the city streets of Isle Delfino.
• Lightning Bruiser:
  • In Super Smash Bros. He's tied with Charizard for the fourth heaviest character in the game, racks up damage quickly, takes less damage when the Clown Car is hit instead of Jr. directly, and is decently fast for a character of his weight class.
  • In sports games where he's categorized as a speed-type, he almost always has the highest strength stat of any speed-type character.
• Like Father, Like Son: Not only does he look just like his papa, but they share the same goal: kidnap Peach and crush Mario. Their motivations, however, seem different. For Bowser, defeating Mario is a personal matter, while Bowser Jr. sees defeating Mario as something that would make his dad proud.
• Literally Shattered Lives: His attempted charge at Bowser's Castle's in Paper Mario: The Origami King ends with the scissors cutting him to pieces.
• Living Shadow: In his boss fight in Super Nintendo World, Bowser Jr. creates shadow copies of himself.
• Lonely Rich Kid: He's heavily implied to be one in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where Bowser often bribes him to do things he doesn't want to do, but only seems truly happy when he finally finds a playmate in his paper counterpart.
• Luke, You Are My Father: Bowser Jr. declares that Peach is his mother, an idea that he got from his father. While this is a lie, Bowser Jr. knew all along that Peach wasn't his mother, but still wanted to kidnap her because he wishes she might act like his mother.
• Magic Versus Science: On the opposite end of the scale from his father: while Bowser's been more frequently seen using magic, Bowser Jr. has a fondness for machines. This is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that Bowser and the Koopalings have all been shown using magic wands at some point in their lives, while the closest thing that Bowser Jr.'s ever used is the Magic Paintbrush, which is one of E. Gadd's inventions. However, he has been seen doing some magic from time to time, such as turning Daisy to stone off screen in Mario Super Sluggers and using a magic potion to revive Bowser in New Super Mario Bros.
• Magitek: The Magic Paintbrush uses E. Gadd's technology to create magical paint.
• Megaton Punch:
  • In New Super Mario Bros. U it was first revealed that Bowser Jr. had a pair of boxing glove arms installed on his Clown Car. It's since become a staple weapon of the vehicle, appearing in several of his attacks in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U as well as in Mario Party 10 as a Bowser Jr. Space penalty.
  • Bowser Jr. is the one who controls the giant mechanical claw that grabs Princess Peach at the beginning of New Super Mario Bros. U, and uses it two more times throughout the game in an attempt to squash Mario. He later uses this same claw as a special move in Mario Tennis Aces.
• Mentors: He's the host/guide for Bowser in Mario Party 10's Bowser Party and Bowser Challenge mode.
• Mighty Glacier: In both the Mario Sluggers and Mario Strikers series, he's a high-offense character with low speed. In Mario Tennis Aces he's a defensive type character due to his Junior Clown Car's long arm reach that covers a lot of area on the court, but also lacks agility.
• Mini-Mecha:
  • His clown car can occasionally function as one, such as in Mario Tennis Ultra Smash or Super Smash Bros.
  • "Mecha Jr." his mecha used in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, is large, but still small enough that his clown car can function as a cockpit and generally nowhere near the size of the other machines he's used.
• Missing Mom: He acknowledges that Peach is not his mother at the end of Super Mario Sunshine, yet does not pursue the issue any further than that. He still refers to her as "Mama Peach" in Mario Superstar Baseball, implying he wishes she could become his stepmother. During the promotion of Super Mario Maker, however, Shigeru Miyamoto jokingly suggested that he is Bowser Jr.'s mother.
• Modest Royalty:
  • Just like his dad, he doesn't wear anything to suggest he's a prince.
  • Also done in a meta sense as, aside from the American version of Super Smash Bros For Wii U and Minion Quest, he is never directly called a prince, usually referred to as "King Bowser's son" at best.
• Monster Mouth: In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the mouth on Bowser Jr.'s mask becomes an actual mouth while under the effects of the Wonder Flower.
• Morality Pet:
  • Bowser Jr. is one to Bowser. While it's hinted he may not always be a very responsible father, Bowser clearly loves his boy very much, and constantly tells him how proud he is of him. Some of Bowser's most sympathetic moments have been while interacting with his son.
  • Bowser is also one to Bowser Jr. He may act like an arrogant, selfish, destructive brat around most people, but when interacting with his dad, he's an obedient, enthusiastic, and very loving son. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle's final act puts this in a more dramatic light as Bowser Jr.'s concern for his father leads him to go as far as to ask Mario's team to save him.
  • Depending on the game, Princess Peach is this to him. Bowser Jr. is suggested to want her as a mother and encountering him in Mario Superstar Baseball will have him act happy and excited when playing as Peach. That said, in games like Super Mario Galaxy and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, he simply treats her as a prisoner and nothing more.
  • In Bowser Jr.'s Journey, Morton is shown to be one to Junior; Whilst Junior still isn't above harshly berating him, he still treats him nicer overall than he does with the rest of the Koopalings, even going as far as to call him his buddy.
• More Dakka: Of the enemies seen assisting Bowser Jr., the two he seems to favor the most are Bullet Bills and Bob-ombs. His Junior Clown Car in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U also comes equipped with a massive cannon. Also his airship in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, in addition to the usual cannons, has a Banzai Bill Cannon instead of a face on the front.
• Muck Monster: The goop produced by the Magic Paintbrush spawns small sludge monsters that will attack Mario if he gets too close.
• My Friends... and Zoidberg: The challenge you complete for recruiting him in Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser is called "recruit "that guy"".
• My Little Panzer: Since he's evil and likes machines, most of his 'toys' are dangerous vehicles, robots, and weapons that he uses to fight Mario. Even his innocent Jr. Clown Car is crammed full of explosives, cannons, buzz saws, and boxing gloves.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: He is fiercely devoted to his dad and will always stand by him. Bowser Jr.'s Journey reveals that Junior sees morality as relative and finds nothing wrong with helping his father (despite said father being evil).
• Never My Fault:
  • A trait he shares with his dad. He blames Mario and friends for 'picking on him' in response to his shenanigans in the Mushroom Kingdom. He also refuses to believe Mario keeps getting the best of him fairly in Sunshine, and tells him he's only able to get as far as he does because of FLUDD. He also blames his papercraft battle defeat on Kamek for making it too 'flimsy', despite Kamek warning him before hand.
  • In Mario & Sonic at The Rio 2016 Olympic Games, he and his father blame their losses on the fact that their league is called the "Mario League" instead of the "Bowser League".
  • Initially played straight in Mario + Rabbids, as Bowser Jr. blames Mario for Spawny falling out of the Clown Car and Spawny getting captured by the Megabug, but gets inverted later as a regretful Jr. begs Mario to save his dad, suggesting he can recognize when he's at fault even if he'll only admit it in a crisis situation.
  • Subverted in Bowser's Fury. While he initially tries to hide that his father's rampage is the result of a prank from painting on him with his magic brush, he still considers things to have Gone Horribly Wrong to the point where he needs Mario's help.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: A super-sized Bowser would have won in New Super Mario Bros. U if only his son hadn't tried to help out by bringing Bob-ombs and an unshielded clown car for Mario to use as weapons. Even Jr. himself can be picked up and thrown into his giant daddy, so his presence isn't really helping Bowser at all.
• The Nicknamer: In Mario Superstar Baseball, he nicknames three of the team captaions ^note Mario is just called by name and Yoshi is simply called "You": He calls DK "Mr. Ape", Wario "Beetle Brows" and Peach, as in Sunshine, "Mama".
• Ninja Brat: His preferred method of getting at Peach isn't to storm the castle barricades, but to sneak in and then grab her at the right opportunity, usually with his bandanna drawn up to cover his face. It helps that he's a lot smaller and faster than his dad.
• Nitro Boost: His Trick Shot in Mario Tennis Aces is him doing a high speed corkscrew towards the ball using hidden boosters on his Junior Clown Car.
• Non-Mammalian Hair: A turtle with red hair tied in a ponytail. Like father, like son.
• Not Now, Kiddo: Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam implies that Jr. gets this response whenever he isn't taking part in his father's schemes. Even when he and his paper counterpart are injured, the Bowsers initially brush off their attempts to tell them about the book (albeit more out of concern that time).
• Overlord Jr.: He's Bowser's son, making him the Prince of the Koopas to the King of the Koopas.

P - S

• Parental Substitute: Toyed with; although it's clear at the end of Sunshine that Bowser Jr. understands Peach isn't his real mother, he seems to desperately wish that she would play some kind of motherly role in his life. Peach herself does not see their relationship as this, and in Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle she even says that Bowser Jr.'s more dangerous than his father in some ways; however, in Fortune Street she often criticizes the way Bowser is raising him, hinting that she at least cares somewhat about his well-being.
• Person of Mass Destruction: In Super Mario Sunshine, he manages to cause considerable collateral damage to Isle Delfino's infrastructure, ecosystem, and way of life... with nothing but a magic paintbrush. And the credits of Bowser's Fury implies that Fury Bowser's powers and the subsequent devastation of Lake Lapcat were the result of Bowser Jr. painting him with black paint as a prank.
• Pet the Dog:
  • In the ending of Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, Bowser Jr. lets Spawny go free after gingerly catching him out of the air, and thanks Mario's crew for helping his father. He even seems to suggest that, unlike his father, he does not truly hate Mario and even seems open to being nicer to him in the future.
  • He acts like a brat to everyone, but he is capable of toning it down sometimes. In Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympics he actually apologizes to the player for saying something mean to them upon their first meeting, and even gives them some game tips to make up for it.
• Poisoned Weapon: The paint that the Magic Brush produces is highly toxic, and can be imbued with caustic or elemental properties that will damage Mario on contact.
• Portal Door: One of the Magic Paintbrush's abilities is the power to create 'color portals' out of the Shadow Mario's stylized M insignia.
• Post-Victory Collapse: After fighting Roy to a stand-still, he collapses and not even multiple healing spells from Kamek are enough to rouse him. Subverted shortly after, where he gets back up and keeps moving.
• The Prankster: It's implied that he pulls pranks as part of his mischief. Even his father isn't immune. This backfires in Bowser's Fury as the black paint Junior uses erodes his father's sanity.
• Reality Warper:
  • The power of the magic brush isn’t in its ability to be used as a direct weapon, but in its ability to create allies, warp landscapes, alter the properties of objects, and create elemental energy. If fact, if it weren't for it’s Weak Sauce Weakness of pressurized water, it might just be the most powerful piece of technology yet shown in the Mario universe.
  • As Wonder Bowser Jr., he gets the ability to manipulate the environment around him (or, in the case of his first fight, himself and his opponents), an ability he uses every time he takes a hit.
• Reclining Reigner: He strikes this pose after his break-dancing home entrance in Strikers: Charged and if he gets second or third place in Mario Party: Island Tour, probably to look cool and aloof.
• Recurring Boss: In most appearances, though his tactics usually change considerably.
• Red Baron: His boxing ring title in the North American version of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is "Prince of the Koopas", making it one of the few games to explicitly call him a prince.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the red to Kamek's blue.
• The Reveal: It's at the end of the fight with Mecha-Bowser in Super Mario Sunshine that Bowser Jr., in his first ever appearance, reveals he was Shadow Mario all along, and had been masquerading as Mario to get him framed for the crimes he committed so he'd be thrown in jail.
• Rich Boredom: It’s hinted several times that, underneath it all, Jr. wants to have fun just like any other normal child would. After he and his father are soundly beaten in Mario Super Sluggers, Jr. persuades his father to accept an invitation to a party that Bowser was less than keen on attending. In Paper Jam, he states that he was incredibly bored before Paper Bowser Jr. shows up and almost immediately asks if he’ll play with him.
• Riddle for the Ages: Who is Bowser Jr.'s biological mother? Does he himself know? If not, why hasn't his father told him? Or, when one remembers that babies in the Mario world are delivered by storks, does he even have a biological mother?
• The Rival: Fortune Street implies that he sees Diddy Kong as a rival (though the fact that Diddy seems to see him as more of an annoyance than anything implies that it's somewhat one-sided), possibly to reflect Bowser and Donkey Kong's occasional rivalry.
• Royal Brat:
  • Surprisingly inverted usually. Taking after his dad, the few times Bowser Jr. has been seen conversing with his minions shows him treating them rather well. An exception is Kamek, who he rarely listens to in a manner remincent of his father at his age.
  • Played straight and promptly deconstructed, however in Bowser Jr.'s Journey, where the first time we see Junior after Bowser leaves is him forcing Captain Goomba's squad to let him fight them (and increasing the number of times he needs to win by 1 each time he does). Additionally, as time goes on, his arrogance and brattiness cause friction with the Koopalings. Overcoming this is something Jr. ends up going through.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Had one since his debut in Sunshine. It was part of a disguise in that game, but nowadays it's just something he wears.
• Scary Teeth: His mask has them. According to the Japanese Nintendo Kids site, the mouth is meant to be his dad's.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After watching his super-sized father's melodramatic defeat at the hands of Mario in New Super Mario Bros. U, Bowser Jr. decides to simply give up and jump into the ravine along with him.
• Secret Identity: Of Shadow Mario... in Sunshine at least. The identity of Shadow Mario whenever the two go golfing is less clear.
• Sentient Vehicle: While Bowser's Koopa Clown Car has emoted as well, the Junior Clown Car has been so expressive that it's beginning to be implied that it may have some degree of sentience. This is further backed in Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U when the Koopalings all have mass-production model Clown Cars with robotic eyes while his has more organic eyes.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: If he's not fighting alongside his father in the final battle, Jr. usually exits the story right before Mario reaches Bowser's Castle (sometimes abruptly). However, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is probably the straightest example as he and his paper counterpart are knocked unconscious just in time for their fathers to take center stage.
• Sigil Spam: Much like his father, he likes to brand stuff related to him whether its using his face, his Clown Car or the mouth on his mask.
• A Sinister Clue: He's the evil son of the evil Koopa King, and he's a leftie.
• Sky Pirate: Whether in airships or his own cannon-armed personal Junior Clown Car, Bowser Jr. has often taken this role as his villainous motif, bandanna and all. In the Aerial Road and Aerial Arena stages of the Bowser Jr. Cup of Mario Kart GPDX, he commands several airships within his father's fleet, one of which has a control room with several gauges and an old fashion ship's helm. Mario Kart Tour strengthens the image by giving him a pirate-themed alt as part of the Pirate Tour, which features Airship Fortress as its highlighted track.
• Smug Smiler: Very rarely is he ever seen without a self-confident little smirk on his face.
• Sore Loser: Perhaps even more so than his hot-headed father, Bowser Jr. is a very sore loser. He has never been seen congratulating anyone for beating him (except his father and occasionally Princess Peach in spin-offs), and usually accuses the other party of cheating, being overly aggressive, or winning solely through luck. He also tends to hold grudges against those who consistently beat him until winning against them takes a higher priority than the task at hand—a trait that has made Mario his arch enemy since his original Sunshine appearance.
• Spikes of Villainy: Just like his dad, he sports a shell with spikes on it, although they aren't as pointy as his father's.
• Spin Attack:
  • His special attack in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, "Junior Smash" has him ram his spinning clown car into the party. He also can use his shell to spin about like Bowser and the Koopalings, although he rarely does it outside of Super Mario Maker.
  • In some games he seems to favor an upside down spin that balances on one of his shell spikes like a top, touted in the Mario and Sonic games as a 'reverse shell spin'. He doesn’t withdraw his head or limbs into his shell while doing this, making it look like he’s break dancing.
• Spoiled Brat: His father spoils him rotten by giving him all the toys and gadgets he could want. That being said, he genuinely enjoys just being with his dad and causing trouble with him.
  • Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam implies that Bowser does this partially to get Jr. to do something he doesn't want to do.
  • While he's generally much more well behaved around his father than he is around anyone else, he isn't above throwing a fit in front of him, either because he's being denied something he wants or forced to do something he hates. Played for Laughs in all instances.
  • His answer to anything not going his way is to threaten to tell his father, and will even lie about aspects of his predicament just to make his father madder at his opponents. When mocked for doing this in the DS version of Mario & Sonic at the 2012 London Olympic Games, however, he immediately drops this tactic and angrily challenges all his opponents to a fight even though he’s outnumbered and surrounded.
  • In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Bowser sums up this part of his son in one sentence:
  Bowser: Try parenting a "high-energy" kid with access to a flying car and his own army!
• Stalker without a Crush: He's utterly determined to defeat Mario, often appearing more times in the games as a boss, than Bowser himself does!
• Storming the Castle: Bowser Jr. ironically has one thing in common with Mario: they're both very good at infiltrating enemy castles. Of course, Mario typically infiltrates Bowser's castle to rescue Princess Peach, while Bowser Jr. infiltrates Mushroom Castle to kidnap her.
• Street Urchin:
  • His original appearance in Sunshine and some character ornamentations in the spin off games tend to give him an urban hoodlum slant. His painted bandana, love of graffiti, and street-themed sports arenas are among these.
  • Adding to the hoodlum aspect, in Fortune Street Bowser Jr. states that he feels "right at home" at Robbin' Hood Ruins, to the point of being excited at the prospect of finding booby-traps.
• Suddenly Voiced: Inverted. In Sunshine, Bowser Jr. for some reason actually spoke like everyone else in the game, but from Galaxy onwards, he reverted to dialogue boxes and Voice Grunting like everyone else.
• Superboss: Yes, really. Bowser Jr. is the final boss of the Battle Ring Medley in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. He's appropriately one of the hardest bosses in the game, with a variety of complex attacks and the ability to steal your Bros. Attacks.
• Super-Scream: Both of his abilities in Mario Strikers Charged are this. His Super Ability, the Sonic Roar, can even shrink opponents caught in it.
• Surf Rock: His entrance and victory fanfare in Mario Strikers: Charged.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
  • His design is incredibly similar to Baby Bowser in Yoshi's Island, retroactively becoming nearly identical.
  • He's also one to Koopa Kid from the Mario Party series:, being a diminutive Bowser sidekick. Koopa Kid was (inconsistently) treated as Bowser's offspring in the GameCube Mario Party games, and was even referred to as Bowser Jr. in the original Mario Party 5 instruction booklet. Nintendo and Hudson Soft / ND Cube themselves seem to have realized this, as Koopa Kid was dropped from Mario Party following the seventh game and the series has used Bowser Jr. ever since including for Koopa Kid's role in the The Final Battle from Mario Party 4 in The Top 100.
  • While not nearly as much as the other examples, he could be considered one to the Koopalings in his debut: As he's Bowser's offspring who uses a magical weapon (which may or may not be stolen) to run riot across a region. However, executionwise, he is vastly different from the Koopalings, and only further diverged when his Magic Paintbrush was swapped out in favor of the more Bowser-inspired Junior Clown Car.
• Swiss-Army Weapon: In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, his signature Junior Clown Car comes equipped with drills, boxing gloves, Mechakoopas, a go-kart form, a tongue, a cannon, buzz saws, wrecking balls, mechanical claws, a giant fork, a self destruct mechanism, and a bladed propeller.

T - Y

• Thememobile:
  • He gets his own Koopa Clown Car in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which he brings over to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U. He also uses his dad's in his last fight.
  • Paper Mario: Sticker Star and New Super Mario Bros. U gives it a few updates, and it now has the official name of Junior Clown Car, as first stated in Dream Team.
• Thicker Than Water: Because of Bowser's "death" in New Super Mario Bros., Bowser Jr. would technically take the throne, if just for a short while. In the end, however, he's more concerned with getting his dad back, and revives Bowser with a magic potion, suggesting he sees himself as Bowser's son first and Prince of the Koopas second.
• Too Much Alike: In Bowser Jr.'s Journey he gets off on the wrong foot with basically all the koopalings, but especially Roy, who hates his self centered, aggressive brattiness. Wendy is quick to point out that Roy, with his macho tough guy personality, isn't too terribly different from him.
• Tsundere: In Bowser Jr.'s Journey, after telling Kamek his decision to search for all the Koopalings, he very quickly (and unconvincingly) says that he's only doing it because he wants to show off how strong he is and that they might be hurt, and not because he wants to be their friend or anything. Kamek can barely hide his smirk at how obviously Junior is trying to hide his true feelings.
• Undying Loyalty: Bowser Jr. deeply loves his father, and as shown in New Super Mario Bros., remains loyal to him even after his apparent death.
• Ungrateful Bastard: He's very selfish towards the beginning of Bowser Jr.'s Journey having a tendency to play himself up while berating the Koopalings for things that annoy him. It's this ungratefulness that causes the Koopalings to consider him a headache to work with, particularly Roy.
• The Unreveal: During a Mario Myths video made to promote Super Mario Maker, Shigeru Miyamoto finally answers the question of who Jr.'s mother is... by pointing at himself.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Being a child, sometimes Bowser Jr.'s actions snowball into drastic situations which Mario has to clean up.
  • In Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, while he didn't create the Megabug, his abuse of Spawny's powers and attempts to weaponize the Rabbids constantly empowers the Megabug. By the time Mario and his allies reach the Lava Pit, it's very close to physically manifesting.
  • In Bowser's Fury, He paints his father black with his magic paintbrush as a joke, and inadvertedly creates Fury Bowser as a result, although it's ambiguous whether or not the paint directly affected Bowser's anger.
  • In Mario Golf Super Rush, the flowers Junior picked for Bowser accidentally knocks him into a Deep Sleep, allowing the Snow King to take over the Bowser Highlands and causing unusual weather on the other golf courses.
• Vague Age: It's not entirely clear how old Jr. is intended to be. He physically resembles his father as a baby, and his bandana is sometimes referred to as a bib, but doesn't act much like a baby at all, even after taking into account the fact that babies in this series regularly drive go-karts. Further confusing matters is that Baby Bowser uses Bowser Jr.'s voice clips in later games, but usually at a higher pitch which would imply that he's younger than Junior.
• Vehicular Turnabout: You can hijack the Junior Clown Car in New Super Mario Bros. U, and can use it against him and Bowser. In Dream Team you can jump into his Clown Car whenever he gets out and chase him down, throwing various kinds of junk at him for damage. As this is the only chase sequence in the game where it's YOU chasing down the boss, who has to avoid YOUR attacks this time, it's immensely satisfying.
• Video Game Stealing: In his secret boss fight in Dream Team, every time he's hit with a Bro attack, he'll jump out of his car and steal the bro item away. The items can be gotten back by either damaging him enough, jumping into his Clown Car while he's out of it, or winning the match.
• Villainous Breakdown: Played both straight and inverted. Jr. sometimes begins showing visible cartoon fuming when he's on the brink of defeat. In New Super Mario Bros. U, he loses his temper just seeing Mario enter his room. However, in defeat he's usually one to throw in the towel and even lead a retreat, especially if his Dad goes One-Winged Angel and is still defeated.
• Villainous Friendship:
  • In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr. form a friendship so ironclad that it borders on Heterosexual Life-Partners territory. The two love each other's company and quickly become fearful that, should the Paper World book be discovered, Paper Bowser Jr. would have to leave and the two would be bored and lonely again.
  • He also partners up with Metal Sonic in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, even having a unique team victory animation.
  • Initially, he and Spawny are this in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle when he convinces the rabbid to side with him against Mario. Their friendship becomes a bit one-sided around half way through the second world as Spawny is increasingly reluctant to use his powers, causing Jr. to bully him into activating it. Even as Spawny appears less and less willing to be a part of Bowser Jr.'s plans, the prince insists the two are happy together and never stops being protective of the rabbid's safety.
• Villainous Valour: Despite his Combat Pragmatist nature, he does seem to want to win by genuinely besting his opponents rather than winning by default because of his opponent’s failings. In Paper Mario: Sticker Star he seems downright angry if Mario runs away from him in the middle of a battle, so much so that on return his mocking sounds much more impatient and irritated than before. He shows this attitude again in the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games where he orders the player not to lose to anyone in the preliminaries before he gets a chance to beat them in the finals himself.
• Warrior Prince: While he seems to like fighting indirectly through his machines and trickery more than actual hand to hand combat, he is seen fighting Mario directly in games such as New Super Mario Bros and Super Mario Maker.
• Weaponized Car: Even more so than the original Koopa Clown Car, his Junior Clown Car is armed to the teeth with a large variety of weapons and transformations.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy:
  • One of his most defining characteristics is his intense desire to make his father proud of him, and he'll go to absolutely tremendous lengths to do so. It's played with, though, in that Bowser is already extremely proud of his son— Bowser Jr. just wants to keep making him proud.
  • In the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Bowser Jr. challenged Metal Sonic to a race, on the condition that if Bowser Jr. lost, he'd become Dr. Eggman's slave. What did Bowser Jr. want if he won? Only for Eggman to tell his dad about how awesome he was.
• What a Drag: It's often Bowser Jr.'s job to drag his dad back home after getting pummeled by Mario. In New Super Mario Bros. U, it went one step further when he ended up having to fly his father AND the seven Koopalings home in his tiny and very overworked-looking Clown Car.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: In Super Mario Galaxy 2, he is never seen again after he is blown away into the far reachest of space by the Boomsday Machine's explosion, not even being seen during the credits.
• Worthy Opponent: Mario is this for him. Though the motivation for wanting to defeat the plumber is zigzagged between It's Personal to simply wanting to please his father.
• Your Size May Vary:
  • Just like Bowser, his size tends to vary from game to game. In some games like Super Mario Sunshine, he's roughly the same size as Mario. In other games like Super Mario Galaxy, he's taller than Peach. In Mario Maker Bowser's son stands nearly as tall as him. According to the official size chart, he is meant to be as tall as Bowser's leg.
  • Similarly, his Junior Clown Car also shifts shape. In some depictions, it's small enough to only fit Bowser Jr. while in others, it's large enough that it can seat more than one person. Paper Mario: The Origami King in particular suggests that it can hold Mario, Kamek and Junior all at once.

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