What is Bowser x Luigi?

Bowser x Luigi, also called Bowuigi, is a fan shipping pairing between the Super Mario characters Luigi and the Koopa villain Bowser, often with Mario cast as the disapproving brother.

Where did Bowser x Luigi come from?

The pairing started on February 6, 2015, when Twitter user @cousineggplant called Bowser/Luigi their OTP, and took off a day later via a Tumblr comic the same artist posted as arielries.

What does Bowser x Luigi mean?

It refers to a romantic pairing of Bowser and Luigi, usually portrayed as a secret relationship Luigi hides from Mario to avoid family shame.

How do you use Bowser x Luigi?

Fans draw comics, illustrations, and TikTok animatics of the two in tender or domestic moments, often with Mario walking in and reacting with horror.

Is Bowser x Luigi still popular?

The ship saw a major resurgence on TikTok and Twitter in late 2022 after the Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer, with posts from @Moosopp and @hotshotriot reaching tens of thousands of likes and hundreds of thousands of views.

Bowser x Luigi

2015fan shipping pairingclassic

Published November 5, 2026

Bowser x Luigi, also called Bowuigi, is a Super Mario fan shipping pairing between Luigi and the Koopa villain Bowser that caught on via Tumblr in February 2015 after artist arielries drew a short comic of Mario walking in on the pair at lunch. Years of Wattpad fanfiction and Twitter artwork followed before a second resurgence hit TikTok in late 2022 around the Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer.

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Overview

In nearly every Bowuigi work, Mario plays the horrified bystander who disapproves of his brother's secret romance with the Koopa king1. Arielries codified that beat in the founding Tumblr comic by having Mario walk in on the pair during a quiet lunch, a setup echoed later by Twitter art such as @Iam0rang3's January 2019 drawing captioned "mario does not approve of luigi's relationship with bowser"2.

TikTok

The visual tone skews tender and comedic instead of explicit. A widely shared piece by @cody_soh pictures Bowser helping Luigi fix his tie3, and arielries returned to the ship in 2018 with an illustration placing Luigi in Bowser's signature orange4. Wattpad authors extended Bowuigi into long-form fanfiction, including egxhag's "He's my kingdom (Bowuigi)" and BunnyBun2000's "Love Bites Don't it"5.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Twitter / Tumblr (viral spread)

Creator

arielries / @cousineggplant

Date

2015

On February 6, 2015, Twitter user @cousineggplant wrote "my otp, bowser/luigi | luigi hide his sinful relationship with the koopa king from his brother or risk bringing even more shame to the family"6. The next day, the same user published a four-panel comic on their Tumblr page arielries in which Mario walks in on Bowser and Luigi sharing an intimate lunch; the comic reached over 59,900 notes1. A sequel strip followed on February 9 and passed 32,000 notes in the years after7.

How It Spread

Between 2017 and 2021, Bowuigi stayed warm on art-focused platforms. DeviantArt artist mariogamesandenemies drew Luigi feeding Bowser a muffin in June 20178. Wattpad user egxhag then released "He's my kingdom (Bowuigi)" in August 2018, a serial that reached over 9,400 reads5. In January 2019, @Iam0rang3's "mario does not approve" illustration drew over 22,800 likes on Twitter2.

On December 12, 2020, Twitter user @cody_soh shared an image of Bowser helping Luigi with his tie that reached over 27,000 likes3. The following summer, @earthsong9405 released a Bowuigi comic that passed 23,000 likes in a year9, and new Wattpad entries such as Yua_Hamato_2012's "My hero" extended the pairing to tens of thousands of readers10.

The ship surged again after the first Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer landed on October 6, 2022. That same day, @cousineggplant revived Bowuigi with new artwork11, and on December 2, @Moosopp released a piece that attracted over 66,000 likes within a week12. TikTok animatics exploded the same month: @hotshotriot's animatic reached over 824,000 views in seven days13, while @icedstarmilk's explainer video hit 285,000 views in a single day14. Know Your Meme documented the TikTok resurgence as a direct response to the movie's publicity15.

Timeline

2017-06-05

DeviantArt artist mariogamesandenemies draws Luigi feeding Bowser a muffin.

2018-08-24

Wattpad user egxhag publishes "He's my kingdom (Bowuigi)."

2019-01-22

@Iam0rang3's "mario does not approve" artwork reaches over 22,800 likes on Twitter.

2020-12-12

@cody_soh shares the Bowser-fixing-Luigi's-tie image that reaches 27,000 likes.

How to Use This Meme

A typical Bowuigi post pairs a soft or domestic image of Bowser and Luigi, think Bowser fixing Luigi's tie or the two sharing a meal, with Mario appearing as a disapproving third wheel3. Comic-format entries often lean on the "sinful secret" beat from the arielries original, while TikTok animatics set the pair to music and keep the pining tone1.