Bowser Jr.

History:

Bowser has sired children all over the Koopa Kingdom, very rarely with the same mother. He adores all his children however, and collectively the first seven, all born in the early-to-mid 80s are collectively known as the Koopalings. All of these youngsters, however, were generally spoiled, retarded, eccentric, lazy or generally just not how Bowser pictured his heir. Soon after the first Grand Prix though, Bowser sired an eighth child. Not seeking to see this one grow up spoiled and lazy in the castle, Bowser made him live on the Northern Fringes of Dark Land under the watch of the Silent Shy Guy Army and the ever-presence of Kamek, Bowser's most loyal Magician and Major Domo. Bowser Jr. grew to be ruthless and almost as adept at magic as his old man. When the time came on this Tenth Birthday, they struck against Mario together, with Bowser Jr. leading the charge. They failed but afterwards seeing his son coming in to his own, Bowser invited him into the Castle, eventually giving him the entire East Wing, or what remained of the Course from the 1997 Grand Prix.

Since then Bowser Jr. has always been at his father's side, although his influence has been largely laughable. He doesn't own any tracks wholly by himself, nor does he have much capital or political power to throw around. As long as Bowser lives, he will always exist in his shadow, but due to his Father's negligence for the first Decade of his life Bowser Jr. is always seeking to prove himself, creating one of Bowser's Most Loyal Servants. In his own twisted way Bowser created one of the more dangerous Weapons in his Army in his own son.

Double Dash:

After Bowser Jr. first appeared in Super Mario Sunshine he showed up here in Double Dash as a default partner for Bowser. It's interesting that although Bowser Jr. is certainly just a miniature version of Bowser, unlike Baby Mario or Baby Luigi he is a distinct Character, not just a baby version (although that exists as well). In fact, Bowser Jr. has much more in common than Baby Mario does with Mario. He is basically the Lightweight version of Bowser (as Diddy is to Donkey Kong). The major character distinction in Double Dash are only weight classes and Special Items. Differences in racing comes mostly from Karts, each character having his or her own Signature Ride.

Bowser Jr. drives the Bullet Blaster, which in general is awful. It acts very much like a Heavy Kart although it is in fact the Lightest Kart in the game, meaning it's going to get trashed. It has one of the highest Top Speeds at 58 mph, and as the 12th fastest Accelerating Kart it actually is the fastest to reach this speed, although only the Barrel Train accelerates slower among Light Karts. Despite this it has the worst Offroad, turn speed and shocks of any Light Kart, and is one of the worst overall in all these areas. I've never found a lot of use for this, but its decent Acceleration and excellent Speed should count for something even though it's severely lacking in every other area.

Bowser Jr. is one of three pairs to have the same item but exist in a different Weight Class (the others being Diddy and Donkey as well as Wario and Waluigi), which can be useful. His Item is the Bowser Shell, which shoots out just as large as his Father's. It's a dangerous Item to use. It's best on straightaways where it will decimate anyone ahead, but against a wall or on a curve there's a supremely good chance it will bounce back and hit you. It's also very effective when shot backwards, meaning it's a bit better to get while near the lead. It is avoidable though if misplaced, something like the Koopas' Triple Shells can be a bit more efficient.

Bowser Jr. is also the only character in the game not to have a personal track where he takes the lead during the Secret Staff Ghosts in Time Trials. He does ride behind Bowser on Bowser Castle though. Using the Koopa King they whip up a time of 2:44:690.

Wii:

In Wii, each Driver was separated into three different Size Classes and within those classes had access to Six Bikes and Six Karts, each with its own set of specific Stats. In addition, each Character added his or her own Bonuses to each Stat, creating a wide array of different possible Racing Styles. Bowser Jr., along with Diddy Kong, moved from a Lightweight to a Middle Class driver. He also has one of the poorest sets of Bonuses in the game, making him pretty useless. He gets +3 Mini Turbo that is met or beaten by Daisy, Diddy and Birdo in his Size Class as well as a +3 Offroad that is met or beaten by Birdo and Yoshi. Since Birdo gets superior Bonuses in the same categories as well as a +3 Weight Bonus she's basically a better version of Bowser Jr., meaning there is no reason to use him ever. Here are Bowser Jr.'s Specific Stats:

Bowser Jr. doesn't have any Karts explicitly associated with him. The closest may be the Super Blooper which changes to a different colour only when he rides it, or the Zip Zip, which has Stats similar to the Phantom, which is associated with Dry Bowser (I know, that might be stretching it, folks). Both of these Vehicles actually do well with his meager Bonuses. Other than that, he can succeed in the Dolphin Dasher, but in general he should just be avoided.

Bowser Jr. only appears as a Staff Ghost on one track in this game, but it's the Final Track, so that's something significant. He rides the Standard Kart M on the Retro N64 Bowser's Castle in 03:19.323. The Expert switches to the Sneakster and goes 02:55.933. Bowser Jr.'s logo also appears on Moonview Highway for some reason, although he doesn't really seem to have any connection with that track.