Nintendo has officially confirmed the birth dates of Mario’s main bad guy, Bowser, and his son, Bowser Jr — but this new information is making some fans feel pretty old.
The Mario franchise is one of the most recognizable video game series of all time, and one of the oldest. First released in 1985, the Super Mario Bros have gone on to become a major staple in the gaming world in the years since.
Alongside their status as gaming icons, the beloved cast of Mario characters has gone on to get their very own movie (which created quite a stir for film buffs) and even scored their own theme park at Universal Studios.
It’s been a wild 38 years for the Mario series, as many fans have grown up alongside the fun-file video games — but they got hit with a cold dose of reality when Nintendo released some new information during a YouTube video in 2023.
Nintendo reveals Bowser & Bowser Jr’s ages
On June 2, 2023, Nintendo of America uploaded a YouTube video teaching first-time Switch users how to create their Nintendo accounts.
In the section for filling in one’s personal information, they used Bowser as an example, whose birthday they listed as February 5, 1989. That makes Bowser 34 years old — as old as some fans who have grown up with the Mario games.
That’s not all; it also used Bowser Jr. as an example for adding children under 12 to one’s Nintendo account, whose birthday they listed as March 3, 2010. This makes Bowser’s son 13 years old.
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Of course, this is fun information to have, which humanizes some of Mario’s most iconic characters just a bit… but it’s definitely making more than a few fans feel seriously old.
“Oh. I guess I’m older than Bowser. Great,” one Twitter user wrote.
OhI guess I’m older than Bowsergreat
— Lumpy (@LumpyTouch) June 5, 2023
“Good lord, Bowser Jr. might be a Fortnite kid,” another joked.
Good lord Bowser Jr. might be a Fortnite kid
— Fico (@FicoIsHere_) June 5, 2023
However, others are expressing some confusion about these dates, as that would mean that both Bowser and Bowser Jr. actually appeared in their very first games before they were actually born.
Bro was -4 years old in this pic.twitter.com/PdGo2KNoFe
— +Surielle (@cookieblobber) June 5, 2023
It’s unclear if these dates are strictly canonical or not; in fact, quite a few Mario characters’ ages are still up in the air. Fans curious about Princess Peach’s age are still left in the dark after watching the Mario Movie, where she’s speculated to be in her early-mid 20s.
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