Farewell, Gay Bowser

Status: Verified
Category:: Catchphrase
Inception Year: 2005
Source: YTMND

Associated Keywords: super mario 64, king bowser, voice line, video game, nintendo 64, sergeieisenstein, me4554, ryderremade, somethingfishy4, so long gay bowser meme, gaming, video games

About This Meme

"So Long, Gay Bowser" represents an often-misinterpreted vocal utterance delivered by the primary character, Mario, during intense boss confrontations within the 1996 platform video game, Super Mario 64. By early September 2020, it became public knowledge that a specific rendition of the game, meticulously crafted for the Nintendo Switch console, had omitted Mario's aforementioned vocal cue from his climactic encounter with Bowser.

The Origin Story

During various boss encounters within Super Mario 64, players are required to seize the antagonist, King Bowser, by his tail and subsequently spin him around a number of times before ultimately flinging him into an explosive device (as illustrated below). With each successful toss, Mario is audibly heard articulating "So long, King Bowser" with a distinctive Italian accent; however, this phrase has been widely misconstrued by many as "So long, gay Bowser." On August 17th, 2005, a YTMND user known as "Wizard" inaugurated a dedicated webpage titled 'So long, gay Bowser!', which prominently showcased an animated GIF of Mario launching Bowser, concurrently accompanied by the audio of the specific voice line playing in the background.

Its Dissemination

On May 26th, 2010, the YouTuber SergeiEisenstein uploaded a visual recording titled "So long, gay Bowser!", which presented a specially edited gameplay segment depicting Mario repeatedly throwing Bowser while verbalizing the phrase during the boss battle (as shown beneath).

On August 1st, 2011, a GameFAQs participant identified as me4554 submitted an inquiry, bearing the heading "Does Mario truly articulate 'so long, gay bowser'?", to the Nintendo 64 discussion forums. Subsequently, on November 16th, 2013, a Tumblr account holder, ryderremade, shared a photographic image of a gravestone upon which the name "Bowser" had been inscribed, accompanied by the poignant caption "so long… gay bowser wipes tears" (as depicted below).

On February 18th, 2014, an anecdotal account, presented in greentext format, detailing a child's act of lethally flinging a cat against a wall while vociferously exclaiming "So long, gay Bowser!", was published on 4chan (as illustrated below). Following this, on June 29th, 2016, Redditor Somethingfishy4 posted a captured image of the aforementioned 4chan greentext narrative to the /r/greentext subreddit, where it successfully garnered in excess of 1,300 positive reactions (achieving a 95% endorsement rate) and 50 distinct comments before its eventual archival.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars Voice Line Omission

Regarding the debut of the Nintendo Switch collection, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, the iteration of Super Mario 64 incorporated into this compilation notably excised the specific voice utterance from Mario's engagement with Bowser.

Nonetheless, this particular alteration is primarily attributable to Nintendo's utilization of an alternative version of the game. In 1997, Nintendo Japan released a revised edition of Super Mario 64, which was officially designated as "Super Mario 64 Shindou Edition." This distinct version faithfully preserves the original American voice acting and introduces several key modifications, including various bug corrections, enhanced interoperability with the Rumble Pack accessory, and the inclusion of certain audio clips that were initially absent from the game's inaugural Japanese release but subsequently integrated into its global launch. Since Bowser is recognized as クッパ (Koopa) in Japan and not by his Western appellation, the original phrase would have been utterly nonsensical for Japanese players, and thus it was appropriately substituted with the line "Bye Bye." It is this particular rendition of the game that Super Mario 3D All-Stars exclusively employs.

Farewell, Gay Bowser