Bowser takes over at Nintendo of America Dave Lee

North America technology reporter Published duration 21 February 2019

image copyright Nintendo / BBC image caption Doug Bowser, right, will take over the firm in April. He shares a name with one of Super Mario's most formidable foes

In what is surely one of the most charming cases of nominative determinism ever, it has been announced the new head of Nintendo of America will be a man named Doug Bowser.

Bowser, as Nintendo fans will know all too well, has long been Super Mario’s main nemesis - a foe who, for more than three decades now, routinely kidnapped Mario's girlfriend, Princess Peach.

Mr Bowser will take over in April from retiring Reggie Fils-Aime, a highly popular figure among Nintendo fans.

“With a name like Bowser, who better to hold the keys to the Nintendo castle?” Mr Fils-Aime said about his successor in a video message posted on Twitter on Thursday.

In a statement, he added: “Nintendo owns a part of my heart forever.

image copyright Nintendo image caption Reggie Fils-Aime became a Nintendo fan favourite thanks to moments like this - dancing to promote one of Nintendo's new titles

"It’s a part that is filled with gratitude - for the incredibly talented people I’ve worked with, for the opportunity to represent such a wonderful brand, and most of all, to feel like a member of the world’s most positive and enduring gamer community.

"As I look forward to departing in both good health and good humour, this is not ‘game over’ for me, but instead ‘levelling up’ to more time with my wife, family and friends.”

'The Real Bowser'

Nintendo is headquartered in Japan, but Nintendo of America is responsible for distribution and localisation of its popular titles, as well as helping maintain relationships with third-party developers.

Mr Bowser, who is currently the firm’s head of sales, said: "Rest assured, we will continue to build on his work to evolve and expand our brand, furthering Nintendo’s global mission of creating smiles. There are millions more of those to come.”

Nintendo is still enjoying the strong success of its Switch console which has sold more than 20 million units worldwide, sending the firm’s stock price up by over 50% since 2016. Nintendo’s previous console, the Wii U, was widely considered a flop.

Mr Bowser has often joked about his name, referring to himself as “The Real Bowser” on social media.

A picture posted by the company in 2015 showed Mr Bowser in his office sharing a welcome message - though it didn’t take long for fans to spot the two stuffed Mario and Luigi toys tied up on a shelf behind him

Technology journalist Joshua Topolsky joked on Twitter : "I'm being told the new Nintendo boss has plans to kill the Mario character off."

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