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