Lord of the Koopas and Goombas, Bowser rules Koopa kingdom, Mushroom Kingdom's rival nation, with an iron fist. His schemes vary from the reasonable, such as finding magical artifacts to increase his power, to the absolutely insane, such as attempting to melt Antarctica.....with blow driers. At first roughly Super Mario's height, over the years, Bowser's average height has steadily increased to about twice as tall as Mario. In addition to his armies of various minions, Bowser has eight children, the most infamous of which being Bowser Junior, who has become a villain in his own right. Bowser is easily one of the most doggedly persistent villains of all time, always coming back with new plans every time he is defeated. Unlike many other Nintendo villains, Bowser has managed to avoid actually being killed by his rival on most occasions, and even when he is killed, he is promptly revived through magic in the same game. Bowser has also tried countless times to kidnap Princess Peach and marry her with no sucess.