We interrupt this episode of game theory before it even begins for a special announcement Hello internet welcome to game- For the last month we've been live streaming every weekday here on the game theorists channel everything from solving the mysteries of FNAF, "A lot Of play-throughs. Of FNAF 4 actually miss this screen..." The chubby bunny pokemon sing-off *intelligible singing* But hey, you're busy people! A lot of you can't tune in to see craziness like this. I am Toast! Conqueror of worlds! So now I'm proud to announce the GT live Channel featuring Daily stream highlights as well as full-length Versions of all the videos you may have missed I created it as a new channel for you guys since I didn't want to overwhelm You with upload notifications. You come here for the theories you go there for, well, stuff like this *more unintelligible singing* This is nuts by the way so earn yourself a clap and a half by checking out the gt Live channel click right here and in the event you like what you see be sure you subscribe If you like having fun with video games every day you'll be glad you did so which character are we gonna completely deconstruct today? Hahaha, this should be fun *Game Theory intro* Hello internet, welcome to Game Theory, taking apart Nintendo's roster one character at a time Today on the chopping block: Bowser! The big bad of the Mario franchise in one of my all-time favorite villans every time we hear about Bowser all were told is that he's supposedly cruel and ruthless, an evil tyrant bent on conquering the Mushroom Kingdom But is the situation really all that black and white? I mean He does always seem to find time to invade kingdoms, start wars, and destroy galaxies But what about his sensitive side? In Super Mario RPG and Super Mario sunshine He's not ashamed to cry and as we see in Super Paper Mario He's a lover as much as he is a fighter excited by the prospect of straight up marrying princess Peach No, I would say he's not nearly as heartless as the Mario Wikia would lead you to believe Seriously quote, "Bowser is a villain of pure evil" Wow pure Evil I don't think anyone whose primary attack vehicle is called a 'Clown Car' can be labeled as pure evil No, I think that under his spiky shelled exterior rests a tortured soul with a kind heart. He's like a transformer There's more to him than meets the eye don't believe me there are facts hidden in plain sight throughout the Mario series that turn Bowser into a very different character explaining everything about his behavior Why he seems so angry all the time and why he invades the mushroom kingdom And kidnaps Peach every other week. Slip on your overalls and prepare to feel bad for every time you've dumped the Koopa king into that pit of lava. Get ready cuz here we go Let's start with the koopalings Larry, Morton, Windy, Iggy, Roy, Lemme, and Ludwig Von Koopa. Seven characters that create one of the franchise's longest-held mysteries. For years we all believe that they're his kids! I mean, makes sense right? We have king Koopa and these guys are Koopalings they look similar Bowser clearly trusts them enough to make them lieutenants in his military And even grants them entire worlds to rule over in more than one invasion But the big problem there is that, well, the koopalings aren't bowser's kids At least according to Mario creator and nintendo creative fellow Shigeru, Miyamoto Who's gone on record, multiple times, stating that Bowser and the Koopalings aren't actually related in an interview with Game Informer Miyamoto said, quote, "our current story is that the seven Koopalings are not Bowser's children. Bowser's only child is Bowser Jr., And we don't know who the mother is." end quote. Well, That was before Miyamoto revealed that he is in fact Bowser Jr's mother which well that was just weird kind of makes me question his Credibility as a source anyway all that probably best saved for a theory on another day, but that's as much of a first-hand source as We're ever gonna get, so let's try to make it work. What's the deal? Who are the Koopalings? He got me thinking look at the manual for Super Mario Brothers 3 the game where the koopalings first appeared the page where they're introduced Literally has these are Bowser's kids as its headline Then in the story section the Koopalings are called his seven children and later Bowser's seven kids. On page three Bowser himself says, "Hahaha! These are my seven-" that is not How bowser would sound. "Hahaha! these are my seven children that are gonna Help me take over the Mushroom World. then later on Larry, Morton, and Lemme all refer to bowser as their father Gee I wonder why we could have thought that they were his kids for so long? The manual seems pretty insistent on it. "You are the father!" Woman: "I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU! *Inaudible Screaming* And I know what you're thinking, "Translation error!" well, that's simply not the case. The Kanji used in the Japanese manual all equate to things like Children and father even when the game was re-released as Super Mario Advance 4, the Koopalings were again referred to as Bowser's children and that's not just a one-off thing for versions of Mario 3, the manual for Super Mario world also described them as Bowser's kids though here It's not mentioned in the Japanese so how can Miyamoto say they're not related But then the manual in its original language say that they are. Both of these things can't be right, right? Actually they kind of can consider this there's more than one way to be a father What if they're not Bowser's biological children? They're his adopted children. You heard that right Bowser Adopted the Koopalings. I mean think about it now We have a way where he's still a parent without them actually being Related giving someone life isn't the only way of being someones mother or father there are other very Admirable and very important ways of being a parent. Taking someone in who's in need, supporting that person, believing in them, allowing them to ransack and rule over a desert kingdom those are the most important parts of Parenthood now I'm gonna show off my psychic skills and read your thoughts again You're thinking this is pretty weird right adoption in a video game, in a Mario game, No less? seems like a stretch for a game with pretty minimal plot. Then again, This is the franchise that introduced the first ever Transgender character into gaming with Berto. So maybe not as extreme as it initially seems, but hold onto your butts Are you holding onto them? Cheeks firmly in hand? Good, because this actually plays into a huge part of Bowser's Backstory that we never stopped to consider. Now think about it for a second. Who are Bowser's Parents? the answer to this has staggering ripple effects throughout the Mario universe See it's never really touched on in most of the Mario games or in other expanded universe materials, but if you look close enough It's pretty heavily implied Bowser is an orphan. Seems crazy, right? But is it really all that surprising? In the Yoshi's island games. We see that baby Bowser has no parents, instead He's in the care of Kamek, the Magic Koopa. Who comes to his rescue when he's fighting baby Mario? Not father Koopa, Kamek. Whenever we see Baby Bowser He's always in a room alone, and never once does he mention my father is gonna get you or I'm Gonna Go tell my mother when he loses like a typical child would even when the fighting gets really serious its adult bowser Himself who travels through space and time to fight Mario and Yoshi, not some elder Koopa and quite frankly if this is indeed true it would explain a lot of the behavioral issues that Bowser Exhibits throughout the franchise. Let's look at the research. After digging through papers covering the Psychological impacts of being raised as an orphan, losing one or both parents at childhood, and being raised in Foster care the data reliably pointed to significant behavioral Changes that align with Bowser's behavior throughout the games. For example, in the study Personality Differences Between Orphans and Non-Orphans researchers compared two groups of approximately 100 children 100 orphans and 100 non orphans they determined that there was a high correlation between being raised in an orphanage and feelings of alienation And hostility towards society, quote, "It's evident from the results that orphanage-reared children show high feelings of alienation And are more hostile towards society when compared to children reared in home atmosphere." And another quote, "The more number of years spent in the orphanage, the more hostility Feeling in the orphan." all of a sudden we have a reason for Bowser's tyranical behavior He's mad at the world as a result of his upbringing He feels alienated from Society and wants to take over to Claim his rightful place But it doesn't stop there Studies examining the relationship between being raised without parents and future criminal activity found that in prison populations Likelihood that a criminal was raised without one or both parents was significantly higher than the average population And according to a 2012 report from the U.S. Administration of Health and Human Services Sixty percent of males aged out of the foster care system had been convicted of a crime I'm assuming the crimes didn't consist of imprisoning the lands fairies in glass bottles but you get the connection, Bowser's anger, in childhood and adulthood, his desire for revenge, his alienation from Society, and his criminal Behavior can all be statistically linked to his parentless upbringing, and let me make it clear This is research covering some cases and these are statistical trends not certainties Not all orphans end up as cartoonish villains. That'd be silly, some also end up as superheroes. it also might explain why he took the Koopalings under his wing. He didn't want them to grow up like he did Speaking of which it also sheds a great deal of light on Bowser's Relationship with Peach. Having a woman like Peach in Bowser's life would give the adopted Koopalings and Bowser's one true Biological Son Bowser Jr. a full family, A father children, and a mother this Nuclear family Unit is something bowser never had growing up and something he might want to provide for his kids and the game's Support this think about it whenever Bowser invades the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnaps Peach What does he do? He takes Peach home to his Castle and leaves his minions to manage the new real estate he acquired through his hostile Takeover. Early on he doesn't even try to kill anyone in his invasions He spares their lives by turning the toads into bricks you see the people and land the mushroom kingdom provides are a plus But the real prize here is peach because she's a person who can fill the void of mother in his familial units why else would he kidnap the princess over and over again rather than, you know, the obvious answer of killing her and the games support this conclusion The only times we see bowser open up emotionally involved Peach and his family look at Super Mario sunshine a game whose entire plot Revolves around Bowser Jr. Constantly kidnapping peach because he thinks that she's his mama someone Please teach us kids some basic biology These things don't go together, and even still they wouldn't produce this. But what would give him that idea in the first place? Well Bowser himself. At the end of the game Bowser confesses to his son that Peach isn't his mom but why lie about Something like that? If you look closely his eyes well up a bit in that final scene the lie the tears this seems to indicate That bowser feels guilty about being a single dad to his son Remorseful about his plan to kidnap princess peach not being able to provide him with a full family But as one last point of evidence here. Let's turn to the pages of the now-defunct Nintendo Power, Counselor's Corner You won't soon be forgotten Now for those of you who don't remember the simple joys of completing a year's worth of spine art or sending in illustrated envelopes? Nintendo power was a news and strategy magazine that was published in house by Nintendo of America in the days before the internet Nintendo Direct Sent a wad of bananas it was the go-to source for everything Nintendo and included in that everything were comics. For 12 issues in 1992 they Ran a comic called Super Mario Adventures Which told the typical story of you guessed it, Bowser kidnapping Peach with the help of the Koopalings, But What makes this comic special is that in it, Bowser finally explains his motivations Why he does it. Volume 35, April 1992 were treated to the following frames Bowser says, "I've done a mighty fine job of raising you kids-" I don't know why I made Bowser sound like a 70 year old smoker, but let's go with it. "-But I've been thinking... you need a mother. So I proposed to princess toadstool And then later that same month the Koopalings say to an escaping princess Peach "Give it up mother dearest-" I don't know why I decided to make them sound like a rip off Mickey Mouse. Like I've said in the past Impressions, not my thing. Now, I recognize it isn't canon, but this is Nintendo publishing these magazines themselves And not only that it was a story written by one of Nintendo's own Copywriters. Is it really so hard to imagine a scenario in which Conversations were held internally at Nintendo around the games the characters and their plots and that those Details somehow made their way, maybe not into the actual game, but into some of the supporting content promoting those games? Honestly I think it makes sense. In short this ties together everything So neatly. Bowser is an orphan a temperamental child raised by a wizard doing his best Angry and driven to regain control over his life He becomes a powerful ruler of the kingdom not wanting others of his race to suffer through the pain He did he adapts the koopalings mentors them and gives them purpose as leaders in his military Eventually bowser wants to give the Koopalings and Jr. A complete family and kidnaps Peach to be his wife and their mother even going so far as to lie to his children Bowser may be a tyrannical monarch who does some terrible things, but at his core is just a deeply flawed Character a lonely kid looking to piece together the family he never had Wait before you sign off. Have you checked out GT Live yet? It's got Mario, lots of Mario. You guys like him, right? I mean you did click on a video about Bowser after all. And FNAF, did I mention FNAF? well GT Live is Officially Scott Cawthon approved. Earl, show them a few more of the incredible things they'll find over there. "You were so close, I wasn't close like that, there. But you, your failure was more colossal." *dolphin laugh* "Your twitter picture looks so different than how you appear in real life." "We believe in you buddy." it's like you're playing games with me, in fact it is you playing games with me. From trumping me in Smash and Mario maker to Trolling me in #IDARB and Megaman. Click here to watch all the highlights And be sure you subscribe and once you've done that click here to check out my pals over at Wisecrack they just released an Incredible video all about the philosophy of Grand Theft Auto 5 if you've ever wanted to know how the characters of Gta V Represent the freudian subconscious, well then my friends, this is the video for you. Seriously though, It's great It's like a game theory episode without that obnoxious guy doing the voice-over So, I'm pretty sure you'll like it and that being said that's about it click here for Gt Live click here for Gta 5 and when it comes to bowser Remember, that's just a theory. A GAME THEORY! Thanks for watching!
What if Bowser's "family" is just a cult set to take down the Mushroom Kingdom. Most cult leaders would be the "father" and his followers are his "children" because of how he would treat them as his own.
My issue is that Bowser has the Koopalings themselves go out and fight Mario while he keeps Peach in his castle.
Still a good theory though.
I always did feel a bit sorry for Bowser at the end of every mario game. And I'll admit, I did tear up a little at the end of this video.
Good theory, but one flaw with the evidence you used. You claim that orphans are more violent and more likely to be criminals however the evidence you used applied to those who grew up in an orphanage, but Bowser Jr. appears to have grown up with Kamek, meaning he at the very least had a guardian, which should change things slightly.
I actually agree with most of this theory. However, personally I don't believe the Koopalings were adopted. This might sound a bit out there, but I think Bowser had Kamek try to clone him so he would have an heir and the Koopaling are all failed attempts. Bowser Jr is the one successful clone and that's why he's the only "true" child of Bowser.
MatPat... you... REDEEMED YOURSELF!
Except Mario is all a stage play confirmed by Miyamoto and I think matpat himself. So the children could be HIS CHILDREN IN THE PLAY That stuck with him idk his theorys have been crap as of late. You know I call this theory. "Grasping for straws."
MatPat really loves going to instruction booklets to quote things considered to be non-canonical now.
This felt like a weaker theory; there are a lot of "maybe" "if" and "possibly". If you've played a number of Mario games,specifically Super Mario RPG or Bowser's Inside Story, you'd know Bowser isn't all that evil, he just wants to be. He's really just the annoying guy in the next kingdom over. Another youtuber did a video about it 6 months ago, which talks about Kamek's influence a bit more.