mario
Mario Kart
This article is about the Mario Kart item. For a similar item in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, see Spiky Shell.

Bowser's Shell, also referred to as the Bowser Shell,[1] is an item in the Mario Kart series, starting with Mario Kart: Double Dash!! It is a gigantic spiky shell identical to Bowser's that can crash through multiple drivers and obstacles in a row.

History

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

BowserShellIcon-MKDD
Artwork for Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Artwork for Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Bowser's Shell first appears in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! as a Special Item that Bowser and Bowser Jr. can receive. Like with most other Special Items, Petey Piranha and King Boo can also receive it. When released, it bounces around the track like a normal Green Shell, toppling any kart that it hits as well as knocking down the rear character, making the racers drop their items and temporarily disabling them from switching and using items. After Bowser's Shell hits the walls of a course roughly fifteen times, the shell breaks apart. Unlike many other items, Bowser's Shell can resist being destroyed by other racers and some other items, and it even bounces off another Special Item should it collide with one.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 / Mario Kart Arcade GP DX

Bowser's Shell reappears as one of Bowser's items in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 and as an item any character can use in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX.

Mario Kart Tour

Bowser's Shell reappears in Mario Kart Tour as the special skill of Bowser, Bowser Jr., Dry Bowser, and the Bowser, Dry Bowser, and Koopa Clown Mii Racing Suits. It acts similarly to its original appearance, though it tends to slide along the middle of a racetrack and curve its trajectory towards nearby drivers. Players can throw Bowser's Shells only forwards, but Mega Bowser and Mega Dry Bowser in Vs. Mega bonus challenges can throw them backwards. When Bowser's Shell+ is used, the shell is bigger and is able to hit other racers more easily.

The item currently has the longest gap between drivers getting the skill, with no drivers getting Bowser's Shell after Bowser Jr. got it in the Tokyo Tour, until the Bowser and Dry Bowser Mii Racing Suits got it in the 2022 Bowser Tour, a difference of 75 tours.

Unused appearances

Mario Kart DS

An icon of the Bowser Shell is unused in the demo version of Mario Kart DS.

Flavor text

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Mario Kart Tour

Gallery

Hat mario To view Bowser's Shell's
image gallery, click here.

References

  1. "Every character has a unique special skill. Bowser’s Bowser Shell knocks rivals off the road, […]" – Meet the Amazing Racers of Mario Kart Tour. apple.com (United States). Retrieved October 6, 2021. (Screenshot.) (Archived October 6, 2021, 22:06:00 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  2. mariokarttourEN (September 1, 2019). Twitter. Retrieved March 10, 2020.

Navigation

Reuse disclaimer

Source: This article contains content from the article Bowser's Shell from the Super Mario Wiki A list of the original authors can be found on that article's history page or on the local history page.

Content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, and content submitted to the Super Mario Wiki before February 27, 2026 is compatible with the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. For more information, read MarioWiki:Copyrights.