Midbus: Bowser's grotesque mirror

BossMidbusMario & Luigi

A pink Bowser lookalike, designed as his grotesque mirror. Known as Métaboss in French, Midbus is Fawful's head minion in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009): a cross between a pig and an armadillo. This portrait covers his three showdowns with the Koopa King and his icy form, Blizzard Midbus.

In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, the Koopa King doesn't face just one enemy: he also has to deal with Midbus (Métaboss in French), the head minion of Fawful. This mountain of pink muscle was conceived as a grotesque mirror of Bowser, a rival tailor-made to humiliate him over and over.

An obese and none-too-bright right-hand man, Midbus crosses paths with Bowser three separate times and ends up mutating into a fearsome icy version. Here is everything you need to know about this recurring boss and his status as the Koopa King's warped double.

Contents

• Midbus, Fawful's right-hand man
• A pink Bowser lookalike
• Three showdowns with the Koopa King
• Blizzard Midbus, Fawful's icy weapon
• A slow brain and weapons with never-ending names
• Quick recap
• FAQ

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Midbus, Fawful's right-hand man

Midbus appears in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, an RPG released in 2009 on Nintendo DS, then ported to Nintendo 3DS in 2019 (late 2018 in Japan). There he plays the role of head minion to Fawful (Gracowitz in the French version), the real mastermind pulling the plot's strings behind the scenes.

His European French name is a delicious pun: Méta nods to metabolic syndrome, associated with severe obesity, while Boss spells out his role as an opponent. The English name Midbus plays instead on "mid-boss", meaning the mid-game boss, with an extra wink at a build as wide as a "bus".

Unlike the game's nameless enemies, Midbus is a full-fledged character: devoted body and soul to Fawful, he displays at the same time a constant contempt for Bowser, whom he looks down on at every single encounter. That blind loyalty to his master makes him the perfect pawn, but also a braggart who is easy to provoke.

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A pink Bowser lookalike

Visually, Midbus is modelled directly on Bowser: the same imposing frame, the same horns, the same shell bristling with spikes. But every detail is twisted to turn the whole thing into a deliberate caricature of the Koopa King.

Where Bowser sports his famous green hue, Midbus comes in a massive pink and puffy shade. The creature is an unlikely cross between a pig and an armadillo, ringed with studded metal bracelets on the wrists and marked with a skull-shaped tattoo on the shoulder.

That design makes him a warped mirror of the Koopa King: close enough to bring Bowser to mind at first glance, grotesque enough to make him look ridiculous. That is exactly the effect Fawful is after, using this bloated double to taunt his rival and remind him that he is no longer the only horned monster in the kingdom.

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Three showdowns with the Koopa King

Bowser locks horns with Midbus three separate times over the course of the adventure, and each fight marks a new step in his rise in power.

• The first duel doubles as a tutorial: Midbus sticks to basic rolling attacks, the perfect chance for Bowser to learn the action commands and the right timing for counters.
• The second takes the shape of a full-blown spectacular cage match in Bowser's Castle, where the minion chains together ground slams, wrecking balls and uppercuts in a staging worthy of a pro-wrestling ring.
• The third and last one is a major boss battle, during which Fawful transforms his henchman into a far more dangerous threat.

These repeated encounters establish Midbus as Bowser's personal rival, far more than a mere obstacle along the way. The game methodically builds a vendetta between the two colossi, so that the final showdown feels like a score-settling you have been waiting for from the very start.

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Blizzard Midbus, Fawful's icy weapon

For the final fight against the Koopa King, Fawful supercharges his minion with a ray that transforms him into Blizzard Midbus, a version overloaded with icy powers. The clash takes place in Peach's Castle, where the villain siphons the princess's energy to feed the Dark Star.

Faced with that threat, an unprecedented turnaround happens: Mario and Luigi lend Bowser a hand. The two brothers step in from inside the body of the Koopa King to help him weather the icy assaults, a key moment that perfectly captures the game's concept.

Once beaten, Blizzard Midbus stays trapped inside a gigantic block of ice, frozen up to the neck, endlessly puffing a cloud of icy air out of his snout. His ultimate fate remains unknown, which gives the character one of the most memorable exits in the saga's entire bestiary.

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A slow brain and weapons with never-ending names

Midbus may impress with his build, but he clearly does not shine when it comes to brains. Impulsive and full of himself, he acts mostly on instinct, copying even his flaws from the Bowser he apes.

His simplistic speech is one of his trademarks: short sentences, clumsy turns of phrase, sometimes barely articulated. The head of the North American localisation even explained that he wanted his delivery to evoke a badly dubbed kung fu movie, to play up the character's oafish side.

Another irresistible quirk: he saddles his weapons with endless, pompous names. He christens the robot Junker with a grandiose super ultra mega giga ultra robot, a glaring comic contrast with the rest of his minimalist vocabulary. That blend of raw power and proudly owned stupidity is what makes Midbus such fun, and explains why, years later, he remains one of the most endearing sidekicks in the Mario & Luigi series.

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Midbus at a glance

French name (Europe)	Métaboss
English name	Midbus
Game of origin	Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009)
Role	Fawful's head minion
Species	Pig / armadillo cross
Number of fights	3 against Bowser
Final form	Blizzard Midbus (icy)
Final fate	Frozen in a block of ice

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FAQ

• Who is Midbus in Mario & Luigi?
  Midbus is Fawful's head minion in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. He is a recurring boss, designed as a grotesque double of Bowser, whom he fights several times.
• Are Midbus and Métaboss the same character?
  Yes. Midbus is the original English name, while Métaboss is the official European French name. It is exactly the same character, with the Quebec version calling him Lèchebott.
• How many times does Bowser fight Midbus?
  Three times: a first fight that serves as a tutorial, a cage match in Bowser's Castle, then a final showdown in Peach's Castle where Midbus is transformed.
• What is Blizzard Midbus?
  It is Midbus's icy form, created when Fawful supercharges him with a ray during the last fight. Once beaten, he stays frozen inside a huge block of ice.
• Why does Midbus look so much like Bowser?
  His design deliberately borrows Bowser's build, horns and shell, but in pink and in the shape of a pig-armadillo. He is a warped mirror meant to make the Koopa King look ridiculous.

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