Bowser’s family is a bit of a mystery. There’s Bowser himself, and Bowser Jr, his
son. The Koopalings are NOT his children, so we
don’t really know who they are. When it comes to the canonical Mario games,
that’s Bowser’s entire family. Two characters. But let’s add one more person to the family
tree: Bowser’s Brother: the character Nintendo forgot about. It all starts with the Japanese sequel to
Super Mario Bros, known as The Lost Levels in English. If you don’t know, Mario 2 as it was known
in Japan is more of a Mario 1.5: it’s a collection of new and MUCH HARDER levels for
Super Mario Bros. It also introduces a bunch of new enemies. And one of these new enemies, found in three
different levels, looks like a blue version of Bowser. It’ll throw hammers at the player along
with breathing fire, just like regular Bowser. So, who is this enemy? Well, both Lost Levels and the original Super
Mario Bros have these enemies called “fake Bowsers”. At the end of most of the game’s levels,
Bowser will be blocking your path. However, when you kill him, it’s revealed
that it was actually just a regular enemy like a Goomba or a Koopa Trooper. The story goes that Bowser used his magic
to transform these regular enemies into a “fake clone of himself”. So on first glance, you might assume that
the Blue Bowsers that appear in the Lost Levels must be regular old “fake Bowsers”. However, watch what happens when you kill
all three of these blue Bowsers. See if you notice a difference between them. Did you see it? Bowser 1 and Bowser 2 died as you'd expect. However, Bowser 3 turned into a spiny when
it died. In other words, it was a "fake Bowser". However, that means the first two Bowsers
are actually a character of their own, distinct from Bowser himself. Now, Japanese guide books that came out around
this time seem to refer to this Blue Bowser as another member of the Bowser species. “This is not the real Bowser”, one guide
book states, “In worlds 8-4 and D-4, Bowser appears twice. The first of those is the blue Bowser...”
says another. One other guide book actually makes fun of
readers, saying “Oh! Bowser is here again. That is to say, the Great Demon King Bowser
is actually a TWIN, not! Idiot.” To be clear, this guide book is saying that
Blue Bowser is NOT Bowser’s twin. It's making fun of YOU for thinking that! So then, why am I calling this blue Bowser
Bowser’s brother. Well… *ahem*
“Bowser’s Brother. You’re in for a surprise. Bowser’s got a twin. Watch out for his hammers and pelt him with
Fireballs or make a run for it.” Yeah so, in the 90s, Nintendo pulled a complete
180 and flipped their stance on Bowser’s brother. The game Super Mario All Stars was released,
which included a remake of The Lost Levels. And check out what Japanese guide books said. “In "Mario 2", Bowser's little brother was
a strong enemy who had the same strength as Bowser's body doubles,” says one guidebook. Another one just referred to him as “The
first of the Bowser brothers!” But if you don’t trust these sources, I’ve
got an even more direct one for you. Around the time, Nintendo themselves worked
on something called “Super Mario Complete Encyclopedia”, and when it came to the “other”
Bowser, it had this to say: "He's Bowser's younger brother"! And then described him as “the younger of
the Bowser brothers”. And of course, when the game came to America,
Nintendo Power published this: “You’re in for a surprise. Bowser’s got a twin.” So, if you disregard the sources from the
80s, it seems as though Bowser’s brother is the younger twin of the Bowser we know
and love. He’s blue, he breathes fire and he throws
hammers at Mario. So, what happened to him? Why haven’t YOU heard of Bowser’s brother
before? Well to put it simply, Bowser’s brother
never appeared in a single Mario game again. There have been references to him, though. Mario Golf and Mario Tennis for the N64 include
a blue version of Bowser, although it might not be a specific reference to Bowser’s
brother. But then, the 8th alternative costume of Bowser
from Super Smash Bros for Wii U and Super Smash Bros Ultimate definitely IS a reference
to this blue Bowser. Obviously, it looks like him for one, but
then also one of the game’s tips says this: “A Bowser Impostor?! In Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Mario
fights a blue fake Bowser before the real thing. That blue fake is his eighth color in this
game!” Wait, so according to Super Smash Bros, the
Blue Bowser is NOT Bowser’s brother, contrary to what Nintendo included in their Complete
Encyclopedia from the 80s. Yeah, there’s actually still a lot of uncertainty
when it comes to the character, particularly in modern times. Some sources, like the English Super Smash
Bros games, unequivocally state that this Bowser is actually just a fake, although it’s
worth noting that the Japanese version of this same tip is much more ambiguous about
the relationship between Blue Bowser and regular Bowser. Other sources though come down in the complete
opposite direction, like the English guidebook for Super Mario Deluxe, which reads “Look
out! Bowser has a Hammer-throwing brother, and
he’s here to stop you from getting to the end.” So, which one’s true? Well, ultimately there’s no definitive way
to know, BUT let me read you the most recent and up-to-date answer, from the 2015 Super
Mario Bros Encyclopedia. “Mysterious Blue Bowser! In W8-4 just before confronting Bowser, a
blue-bodied Bowser must be fought. He has the same abilities as Bowser, but his
true identity is unknown.” Hey, thanks for watching to the end! Subscribe to see next week’s video as soon
as it’s ready, plus you can find me on Twitter @thomasgdocs. Okay - I’ll see you next week! Bye!
