Dry Bowser

Dry Bowser is a bony, skinless, undead version of Bowser, debuting in New Super Mario Bros.. Dry Bowser was accidentally created in the first castle of New Super Mario Bros. After a short battle with Mario, Bowser falls into the pit of lava below, burning off his skin and leaving nothing but bone. Dry Bowser also appeared in Mario Kart Wii as an unlockable racer. He also reappeared in Mario Kart 8. If you did not already know you were fighting Dry Bowser, a hint is in New Super Mario Bros. when you are running down the hallway to fight him. When fighting regular Bowser, red flames are in the hallway, but with Dry Bowser, the flames are blue.

Appearance
Dry Bowser is simply Bowser's skeletal form, though there are some significant changes to his overall appearance. His snout is slightly morphed into a beak-like shape, while his chest and stomach are hollow due to consisting of five ribs. Dry Bowser's shell is a charcoal gray with dark red spike-rings and scarlet spaces between its plates, as opposed to his counterpart's standard green, red, and black coloration. His horns are longer and more curved, his eye sockets are more triangular, and he sports a bony brow mimicking the characteristically angry position of his living counterpart's eyebrows. Like Dry Bones, Dry Bowser's eyes are black and empty holes with glowing yellow pupils. However, his pupils have been shown to turn a light blue whenever he swipes at Mario during the second phase of his boss battle in New Super Mario Bros. 2. The once black and shiny collars around his neck and arms have been scorched and turned a dull, very dark red, and his hair has been taken up in a ponytail similar to the hairstyle of his son.

In addition to these vast physical changes, Dry Bowser's roar is also different from Bowser's, as his bones rattle when he roars. This can especially be heard in the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games when the player faces him in Ice Hockey.

New Super Mario Bros.
In New Super Mario Bros., to defeat the skeletal monster in world 8, Mario must dodge Dry Bowser's attacks, which include breathing small flames and throwing his own bones, and wait for Bowser to make a high jump. Mario must then run under Bowser and hit the Skull Switch, destroying the bridge and throwing Bowser into a very deep pit making his body break to pieces. His fight is similar to Bowser's fight in World 1, except that he lacks the moving platform, much due to the fact that he is the eighth boss. He is also immune to fireballs. The battle is also similar to the battles against Bowser in worlds 6-8 of Super Mario Bros.; however, in that game he throws hammers instead of bones.

At the final battle of the game, the remains of Dry Bowser were thrown in a cauldron (the contents of which were unknown, but most certainly magical) by Bowser Jr. which turns Dry Bowser or the remains of him back into his original form, except his fire is light blue and he himself is much larger, as if he had used a Mega Mushroom.

Super Mario 3d Land.
Dry Bowser returns in Super Mario 3D Land as the boss in the castle stages of the Special Worlds. His battle tactics are similar to a Bowser Impostor, but they have several subtle differences. For example, he breathes blue fireballs at Mario while approaching him as opposed to the Bowser Impostors' method of breathing fireballs while stationary. He also attempts to hit the hero with his skeleton tail and slam the ground (creating shockwaves). Once Mario hits the switch, the bridge collapses, sending Dry Bowser into the lava. Dry Bowser is fought in the castles of Special 1, Special 5, and Special 8, which parallels how Mario fights Bowser (albeit two of which are impostors) in the normal world counterparts of those same castles.

New Super Mario Bros. 2
Dry Bowser reappears in New Super Mario Bros. 2 as the castle boss of the World Star, the final special world which is unlocked after beating Bowser himself. He behaves the same as his other counterpart in World 6, which marks the first time Dry Bowser becomes a larger size (excluding the use of a Mega Mushroom in Mario Kart Wii). The only difference in the two boss battles is that Dry Bowser is faster than Bowser, can toss bones instead of sledgehammers at Mario, is immune to fireballs, and the platforms are smaller. Unlike the original battle, Peach's cage is nowhere to be seen.[3]

Dry Bowser's face is also used as the icon for the Impossible Pack, a downloadable course pack for Coin Rush mode, though he does not appear in any of its levels.

Mario Kart Wii.
Dry Bowser makes his first playable appearance in Mario Kart Wii. He is a large-sized driver along with his living counterpart. Dry Bowser features a good off-road rating (tied with Toadette) and mini-turbo boost (tied with Wario, Koopa Troopa, and Dry Bones), which makes vehicles like the Flame Flyer and Phantom perform a bit better off the track along with getting a slightly better mini-turbo boost after a drift. He can be unlocked by beating all of the Wii New Grand Prix cups on 150cc with at least a 1 star ranking for each. He is the Time Trial ghost of Grumble Volcano and GBA Bowser Castle 3.

Dry Bowser was the only CPU opponent in the second tournament of March 2009, where he attacked the player by firing fireballs at them throughout the race in  N64  Bowser's Castle. This competition has since been repeated twice.

Mario Kart 8. / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Dry Bowser returns to the Mario Kart series as a downloadable playable character in Mario Kart 8 as part of the game's second DLC pack, Animal Crossing × Mario Kart 8, released in April 2015, which also includes Villager and Isabelle from the Animal Crossing series, eight new courses, and four new vehicle customization options. Dry Bowser is also the only downloadable character in this title who is not a newcomer to the series, as he is playable in Mario Kart Wii.

Dry Bowser is a heavyweight character with a large body frame, and his stats are identical to those of Bowser, Wario, Morton, and the large Mii. The Bone Rattler serves as Dry Bowser's signature vehicle. Likewise, Bone-Dry Dunes has a part of his head on the cliff face over the cave, and advertisements in both Twisted Mansion and  Wii  Grumble Volcano for "Undead Motors" use his emblem.

As with every other playable character in Mario Kart 8, Dry Bowser reappears in the Nintendo Switch port Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as a playable character. He is available from the start, and now shares stats with only Wario.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX.
Dry Bowser appears in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX as an alternate costume for Bowser, making him a heavyweight character.

Mario Tennis Open.
Dry Bowser appears this time as an unlockable playable character in Mario Tennis Open. Dry Bowser, along with Waluigi, are the only Defense-type players in the game. He can be unlocked after the third difficulty level of Ink Showdown, Inksplosion, is completed.

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash.
Dry Bowser appears in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash as an unlockable playable character. Like in Mario Tennis Open, he and Waluigi are the only Defense-type players in the game. His emblem is used in the "Ultra Drink" advertisements seen around the stadium. He can be unlocked either by playing 10 simple matches in classic tennis mode, or by purchasing him from the rewards menu for 5000 coins.

A permanently mega Dry Bowser appears as the final boss of Knockout Challenge mode. Also, if the player is playing as Bowser in the mode, Dry Bowser will appear as the mid-boss as well. If the player is playing as Dry Bowser, Bowser will oppose them in both instances.

Mario Party Island Tour.
Dry Bowser appears in Mario Party: Island Tour, making his first appearance in the Mario Party series, He acts as the fifth boss to be fought in Bowser's Tower, on the twenty-fifth floor, with his minigame Dry Bowser's Brain Bonk. His voice clips from Super Mario 3D Land are reused.

Mario Party 10.
Dry Bowser makes a return in Mario Party 10. During Bowser's boss battle minigame, Bowser's Tank Terror, when his HP reaches halfway, he falls in the lava and turns into Dry Bowser. He also grows huge in this state, making it the second time Dry Bowser becomes a larger size

Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition.
Dry Bowser also appears as an extra boss in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. He serves as the boss of ★World 8-, and his main attribute is Dark, while his sub-attribute is Fire. When fought as an enemy, Dry Bowser will always start the battle with Bowser Claw, which subtracts 12500 HP from the player. Dry Bowser can also perform an attack that takes away most of the player's HP, can breathe dark flames and cause blindness for the entire Orb field, and is able to use Super Heal to fully heal himself as well.

Dry Bowser can also be used as a helper after the player completes ★World 8. His HP and ATK are high, while his RCV is set at 0. His initial level after joining is level 46. As a helper, Dry Bowser's skill, Bowser Smash, can be used to perform a large amount of damage to all enemies, while his Helper Skill, Flame of Vengeance, raises the ATK of all teammates by 4x whenever the player makes 7 combos or more in one turn.

Dry Bowser cannot be rematched after the player completes ★World 8; after Dry Bowser joins the player, a Boom Boom replaces him as the boss of ★World 8-Bowser's Castle.

Dry Bowser also serves as the boss of Fixed Challenge Course 5 in Score Attack. In that course, however, he attacks every two turns, and does not perform any first strike blows

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.
Dry Bowser makes his first appearance in the Mario & Luigi series as the secret boss in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. He is fought at the end of the boss medley in the Battle Ring and is level 48 when encountered. He's the strongest boss in the game. His attacks involves detaching his body parts and throwing them, throwing his head off and spewing blue flames, and inhaling the brothers to regain health. He also has an attack where he summons Thwomps to crush the bros. before spewing a torrent of flames. If all three Thwomps are countered, they take the brunt of the flames, causing them to take turns jumping on Dry Bowser as they hop off, leaving him vulnerable. Occasionally, he summons a pair of Koopalings (Wendy and Roy, or Larry and Ludwig) from portals to assist him, all of whom are at level 46 except for Roy, who is level 45. When he summons the Koopalings, they behave like they do in their previous battles with two exceptions: Wendy does not attack Roy if she is hit by one of his attacks, and Ludwig and Larry do not use Battle Cards. Both Dry Bowser and the summoned Koopaling pair must be defeated in order to end the battle. Dry Bowser is notably unique in that he has a special animation for both entering battle and being defeated.