Image: Twitter/@ayyk92
As “Bowsette” fan art continues to flood social media streams, some fans discovered that Nintendo played with the idea long before the meme went viral.
“Bowsette,” or “Princess Koopa” in Japan, is a female version of the “Super Mario Bros.” villain Bowser (King Koopa) which came about from the fan work of twitter user haniwa (@ayyk92). Haniwa took inspiration from the new Power Crown feature on the upcoming “Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe” for the Nintendo Switch.
However, it turned out Nintendo had its own idea of a “Bowsette,” which could have come out on “Super Mario Odyssey” as “Koopa Peach.” Japanese Mario fans who bought the “The Art of Super Mario Odyssey” found a short concept manga that showed colored sketches of Koopa Peach. The art book was released in Japan in late September, reports SoraNews24.
Image: Twitter/@mjgptjdmjgt
Similar to Bowsette, Koopa Peach required a headgear to transform. In this case, Koopa had a similar cap to Mario’s magical hat Cappy which allowed him to fuse with Princess Peach. Twitter user drizzle (@drizzle_and_sun) created a visual guide on how the two female bowsers came to be.
Image: Twitter/@drizzle_and_sun
Meanwhile, Bowsette’s popularity had fans petitioning to Nintendo to make the character an official member of the cast. She has grown so popular that Japanese hobbyist and Twitter user Toribi (とりぴー, @0508bk201) even crafted a custom action figure of the fan character.
Image: Twitter/@0508bk201
He’s also working on a Princess Boo version to go with Bowsette. Sadly, an Oct. 1 post said Toribi has no plans to sell either of the custom-made figures.
Image: Twitter/@0508bk201
It is uncertain if Nintendo will grant the fans’ wishes and make Bowsette canon, but the fact that they also played with the idea of a genderbent Bowser could be a light of hope for a future character in the “Super Mario” cast. Alfred Bayle /ra
RELATED STORIES:
LOOK: Girl Bowser, a fan creation, becomes newest internet darling
Super Mario goes topless; fans bewildered by his nipples
Sony allows PS4 owners to play ‘Fortnite’ with everyone else