Paper Bowser

Chronological information
First game	Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (2015)
Game appearances	Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (cameo)
Personal information
Gender	Male
Status	Alive
Homeland	Paper World
Species	Paper Koopa Troopa
Connections
Family	Paper Bowser Jr. (son)
Friends	Bowser Bowser Jr. Goombas Kamek Koopalings Iggy Koopa Larry Koopa Lemmy Koopa Ludwig von Koopa Morton Koopa Roy Koopa Wendy O. Koopa Paper Bowser Jr. Paper Goombas Paper Kamek Petey Piranha
Enemies	Luigi Mario Paper Mario (arch-enemy) Paper Princess Peach Paper Toads Princess Peach Starlow Toads Toadette
Rivals	Bowser
Character traits
Alignment	Bad

This page is on the separate character from the Paper Mario series. For more information on the main character, see Bowser.

Why should I care about a stupid garbage book? Don't answer that, son. Just relax while Daddy roasts Mario to a crisp.PAPER BOWSER to PAPER BOWSER JR. in MARIO & LUIGI: PAPER JAM.

Paper Bowser is the incarnation of Bowser that appears alongside Bowser himself in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam and it is the main antagonist of the game. Alongside various other paper characters, Paper Bowser came out of a book containing a whole paper world. Bowser was previously depicted as Paper Bowser in the Paper Mario series. He is the final boss with Bowser.

Biography

When Luigi accidentally opens the Paper Mario storybook seen at the start and end of every game and unleashes the entire population of the Paper Mushroom and Bowser Kingdom are spread across the world. Paper Bowser is first seen confronting his non-paper counterpart at his castle and this results in a brawl between the two Bowsers. Unfortunately, they team up to combine their armies and take over the Mushroom Kingdom with brute force. Realizing the danger, Paper Mario teams up with Mario and Luigi to take down the Bowsers and save both worlds. Later, as the two Marios and Luigi leave to attack Bowser's Castle, the two Bowsers attack Peach's Castle and While working together, neither of them get along and secretly plan to betray one another once the Mario Bros. have been defeated. After the Mario Bros. raid Bowser's Castle to rescue the Princess Peaches, the Bowsers attack Peach's Castle as revenge for the defeat of Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr.

At the end of the game, the three Mario Bros manage to make it to the top of Bowser's Castle and defeat both Kamek and Paper Kamek as well as the Koopalings. The Bowsers lift off on the end of a platform but the Mario Bros pursue and corner them in the skies. However, the Bowsers explain their plan to trap the trio in the magic book and burn it to be rid of them once and for all before commencing the final boss fight. In said battle, their only two attacks involve normal Bowser breathing fireballs whilst Paper Bowser charges up a fire wave and the two throwing massive spiked balls at the Bros who must hammer them back at the Bowsers. After taking a beating, the two combine with each other and an army of Paper Minions to create the immensely powerful Shiny RoboBowser who is the game's true final boss. However, Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario are able to defeat it at which point Shiny Robobowser cringes before exploding in a massive purple implosion. Whilst the real Bowser is blown right off the platform and plummets to the ground below, Paper Bowser remains on the platform but the Mario Bro trio use the book on Paper Bowser. This returns him to his world as he swears revenge and promises to get back at them. However, by the time that Paper Princess Peach returns to the world, Paper Bowser causes chaos again and cuts goodbyes short as Paper Mario must stop him once again.

Battle

During their boss battle, the Bowser duo only has two attacks, both of which can deal considerable damage. Their first attack involves spitting fireballs at the ground, creating fiery waves for the trio to jump over. After three waves, they will combine their Fire Breath and create a massive fire blast that Paper Mario must jump over, or risk taking a large amount of critical damage. Their other attack is to have Shy Guys stack iron balls onto their hands. They will then toss the iron balls onto the field. The iron balls that _target the trio varies depending on which Bowser tosses them last. The Bowsers will alternate between both attacks. Additionally, the Bowsers have a defensive ability: Whenever an Excellent hit is scored on one of them, they will curl up into their shells, forcing the other to be attacked. Due to this trait, only one Bowser can use the ability at a time. If attacked while in their shells, the Bowser will take no damage. Additionally, depending on the attack the trio used, that party member may also take damage.

The two Bowsers appear to share a health pool, unlike previous pairs of bosses. However, it is impossible to bring their health down to zero. After enough turns of battling, the Bowsers decide to stop holding back, and with the assistance of hundreds (if not thousands) of Shiny paper enemies, they fuse together into Shiny RoboBowser, the game's real final boss.

Personality

Count Bleck, Floro Sapiens, whatever... Stomping fools is my business! Show me a fool, I'll stomp it! I don't even need a reason!Paper Bowser's overly arrogant and very aggressive nature.

Paper Bowser's personality is slightly different than that of his mainstream counterpart. While he is also very ruthless, cruel, and destructive, he shows more comedic and lighthearted sides. He also shows great care for his minions as he is shocked when they got folded into origami and is angry that Count Bleck kidnapped and brainwashed them. He is also shocked and disgusted when he sees how evil Count Bleck, Dimentio, and King Olly are compared to him, stating that he never would go to such an extent of evil. Bowser is never willing to go further than he has to in order to achieve his goals. The most blatant example of this occurs in The Origami King when he berates King Olly for wanting to commit what is pretty much genocide against the Toads. However, when confronted by the canon version of Bowser, he became very competitive and planned to betray him once his usefulness was fulfilled but never got the chance.

Bowser is more willing than his main universe counterpart to team up with Mario and company should someone far more evil than him emerge. However, it should be noted that this is never a free choice he ever makes and only ever occurs when it is convenient to him. In Super Paper Mario, he would literally die if he didn't stop Count Bleck and he had lost his entire kingdom in The Origami King and took an "enemy of my enemy" approach. Even when allied with Mario, Bowser was always snarky and had a habit of insulting even his allies if they didn't immediately follow his orders. Bowser can be extremely compassionate though as seen when Olivia cried after the death of Scissors about having to face Olly alone and Bowser comforted her (albeit in his usual gruff manner). He reassures her again when she is distressed about confronting her brother, saying she should try to raise a high-spirited boy who leads his own army and adding that Olly doesn’t scare him and should not let the anxiety get the better of her, no matter what.

Black Bowser was probably the most evil we have ever seen Paper Bowser. Black Bowser was a sadist who wanted to drain all peace and happiness from this world and then rule it as well as imprisoning Princess Peach in a painting ala King Boo in order to keep her from aiding Mario. Whereas normal Paper Bowser was shown to care about his allies, Black Bowser saw them as disposable at best and was happy to throw his allies under the proverbial bus if it furthered his goals.

Powers and Abilities

Gwar har har har har har! Aww, all worn out from battle. Mario? Yes! Easy pickings! Today's the day I flush a plumber down the drains!Bowser starting the penultimate boss battle in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.

• Sheer Power: Over the years, Paper Bowser has displayed countless feats that put him far above the average person, and possibly even one of the most powerful Nintendo characters. In Super Paper Mario, his attack stat is twice that of Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach respectively. Additionally, in The Origami King, Bowser is Mario's most powerful companion with the ability to potentially kill a line of four Folded Soldiers with a single stream of fire.
• Superhuman Strength: Bowser's raw physical strength is frequently seen as one of Bowser's main powers. He can smash through boulders, hold a ceiling up with O'Chunk's help, catch and lift massive spiked balls above his head and throw them, and rock his entire castle just by stamping.
  • Enhanced Strength: As Mega Bowser, Paper Bowser was easily able to hold King Olly at bay and then overwhelm him with Mario's help.
• Durability: Paper Bowser has been stamped on hundreds of times, drenched in lava, electrocuted, blown up by Boomer, Hammered, stamped on crushed by objects as heavy as a ceiling, and fallen hundreds of feet, and has inevitably survived each fate.
• Fire Breathing: Paper Bowser's signature ability, appearing in all games he has been featured in. It manifests in several different ways and is apparently so hot that it is also just as effective underwater as it is on land.
  • Fireballs: Bowser's main fire based ability where he can breath fireballs from his mouth as big as his fist.
    • Fireball Barrage: Paper Bowser (whilst still partially possessed by the Black Paint) was able to fire off twelve fireballs in immediate succession from his mouth.
  • Fire Waves: Bowser can charge up fire in his mouth and fire off a large sweep of fire across the ground. This was only done in Paper Jam.
• Superhuman Speed and Agility: Although his speed is hardy consistent between games, in some of his appearances, Bowser is shown to be a capable runner and quite agile for his size.
• Superhuman Stamina: Bowser's stamina is almost as limitless as his durability. He rarely ever shows signs of tiring, even when massively expending himself for hours on end. In battle, Bowser never slows down, keeping up with Mario and other enemies like King P;;y blow for blow. That said, in The Origami King, he is exhausted by having to "walk" with his face.
• Shell Rush: Paper Bowser can retract into his shell and twirl it to plow through Mario.
• Magic: While not as prolific in the use of it as Paper Kamek, Bowser is well versed in using various forms of magic against his opponents including magical energy blasts.
• Fourth Wall Awareness: Paper Bowser has shown himself to be fully aware of the proverbial Fourth Wall and breaks it in almost every game that features him (except for Sticker Star in which he doesn't speak). The biggest example of this was when he said "no more sequels" before his boss fight in Super Paper Mario.
• Sticker Power: In Sticker Star, Paper Bowser obtained the Golden Royal Sticker and gained a plethora of new abilities. However, these were lost when Mario reclaimed his Royal Sticker.
  • HP Regain: Paper Bowser could raise his arms into the air and use the Royal Sticker's power to get back to full health. However, he didn't use this as a giant.
  • Minion Summoning: Paper Bowser was able to summon minions through doors at the side of the stage using his Golden Royal Sticker.
  • Thwomp Summoning: As part of his second phase, Paper Bowser was able to summon a large Thwomp to defend him against Mario's attacks.
  • Podoboos Attack: Paper Bowser was able to thrust his arm forward and send six Podoboos into Mario to deal massive damage.
  • Immortality: Paper Bowser was able to survive a several thousand foot drop off of his platform when Mario knocked him off it with his own Chain Chomp.
  • Enlargement: Paper Bowser was able to enlarge himself into a giant cardboard cutout of himself using the power of the Golden Royal Sticker.
    • Invulnerability: Paper Bowser was almost completely immune to Mario's Stickers as even his most powerful Stickers only did one hit point of damage. It took Kersti's self-sacrifice to empower Mario and allow him to bring down Paper Bowser.
    • Cardboard Smack: Paper Bowser was able to swing his right arm with enough force to send Mario flying around the screen like a Slaphammer and deal damage.
    • Cardboard Smash: Paper Bowser was able to raise his left hand and bring it down to flatten Mario into the ground.
      • Crumpling Effect: Failing to block Paper Bowser's smack always results in Mario being crumpled and unable to move for three turns.
• Power Absorption: In Paper Mario, Paper Bowser used the power of Stars to grow himself to immense size.
• Piloting Skills: Although less prominent than Bowser Jr., Bowser is skilled at piloting various means of transportation such as his Koopa Clown Car.
• Black Paint Empowerment: Paper Bowser became covered in Black Paint in Colour Splash which gave him arguably more power than even the Golden Royal Sticker but turned him pure evil. He lost these powers when Huey absorbed it all off of him.
  • Black Paint Shell Rush: Black Bowser could retract into his shell and slam through Mario but it was much more powerful than usual, dealing sixteen damage even if blocked.
  • Black Lava Bubble Generation: Black Bowser could summon Black Paint versions of Podoboos up from the Black Paint Mario knocked off of him to fight in his place.
  • Enlargement: Dark Bowser was able to enlarge himself after getting repossessed by channeling the power of the Black Paint.
    • Attack Immunity: Dark Bowser was completely immune to all of Mario's attacks as a giant and was only defeated by all of the Black Paint being sucked up off of him.
    • Black Paint Ball: Dark Bowser was able to swing his right arm over his head to generate a basketball sized ball of Black Paint to throw at Mario for devastating damage.
    • Black Paint Reabsorption: Any Black Paint thrown onto Mario would automatically be reabsorbed into Bowser by flying off of Mario and into his chest.
    • Tornado Shell Rush: After half of his Black Paint was drained, Black Bowser could retract into his shell and slam through Mario. However, this time it would have dark purple tornados above it and was much more powerful than usual, dealing fifty damage even if blocked.
    • Ultimate Black Paint Ball: Dark Bowser's last resort attack and his most powerful attack where he reared back and channeled all of his remaining Dark Paint and even his colour into one giant black glowing paint ball. He would then absorb it into his mouth and puke it at Mario who had to absorb it into Huey or it would be an instant game over.
• Fusion: Paper Bowser was able to fuse with Bowser to form Shiny RoboBowser by jumping on top of Bowser and then summoning an army of paper minions to form a big energy sphere. Bowser would then jump into it and the minions would form armour around him.
  • Suction: To summon the minions for the fusion, Paper Bowser created a massive vortex around himself that forced the minions to fuse with him.

Arsenal

• Fists: Paper Bowser typically doesn't have any weapons but his sheer strength and bare fists more than make up for that.
• Claws: Although usually lacking in conventional weapons, Paper Bowser has razor sharp claws on his hands to maul his enemies with. This was only used to attack Mario in the original Paper Mario.
• Horns: Paper Bowser has razor sharp pointed horns on his head that, in Super Paper Mario and Colour Splash, prevent Mario from jumping on his head as that causes injury.
• Shell: Paper Bowser has an extremely strong shell, allowing him to run into his enemies and protect himself.
• Star Rod: Paper Bowser stole the Star Rod in the original Paper Mario and used it to make himself invincible. It was returned to Star Haven after his defeat.
  • Lightning Blasts: Paper Bowser was able to raise the Star Rod into the air to summon a yellow lightning bolt to blast Mario out of Peach's Castle.
• Golden Royal Sticker: An item Paper Bowser accidentally obtained from the Sticker Star which made him virtually unstoppable.
• Thwomp: In Sticker Star, Paper Bowser summoned a large Thwomp to try and defend himself but it was easily destroyed.
• Chain Chomp: Paper Bowser summoned a Chain Chomp to aid him during his battle in Sticker Star.