Bagura (alternatively Buglear, Bagulaa, Bugler, Buglar, Buggler, Bugglar, Burglar, or Bagular) is the head of the Robot Army, White Bomberman's nemesis and primary antagonist of many Bomberman games. He usually looks like a blue and white, large, elderly Bomberman with a bushy white beard, wearing a monocle and cape. Bagular appeared out of the vastness of space, with his history being unknown but his brilliance clear. Bagura is a brilliant (but mad) scientist and a dark magician, having controlled and created many evil creatures such as Bomber-Cyborgs, with the only purpose of conquering the universe. As one of Bomberman's more resilient enemies, he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals — it seems that he will always return.
Story[]
In Bomberman '94 Bagura, known as Buglear in the original version and Bagulaa in Mega Bomberman, was the main villain and final boss. He attacked Planet Bomber with his Robot Army, splitting the Spirit Pictures to throw it into chaos. Even though the planet shattered into smaller pieces, White Bomberman put it back together by repairing the Spirit Pictures. When his plans were ruined, Bagura sent his artificial comet on a collision course to the planet. Bomberman infiltrated it before it was too late and confronted Bagura. After defeating him and his dragon robot, he revealed his Bomberman form, but was still no match for the original. In the end, his comet was destroyed.
In Super Bomberman 3, Bagura, now known as Professor Bugler or Professor Buglar, appears as the master of the resurrected Five Dastardly Bombers, taking over five planets of the Bomber Nebula. White Bomberman and Black Bomberman were able to attack and defeat the Bombers, but upon losing control of the planets, Bagura targeted the planets for destruction with his Battleship. The heroes entered his ship and were able to take him and the Dastardly Bombers down, rendering them unconscious as the ship exploded. Bagura's body did not survive, but a light is shown emitting from his body. In the post-credits, his brain is revealed to have escaped in a mini saucer.
In Super Bomberman 4, Bagura summoned the Four Bomber Kings and Bomber Great to attack White Bomberman, Black Bomberman, and their friends and exact revenge on them. Bagura's minions sent the heroes hurtling through time, but they once again fought back and confronted Bagura in the giant mech he formed himself into. The mech was destroyed and his mini saucer was lost in the time void somewhere.
Although his original body was destroyed since his debut, Bagura still appears in an identical body in most appearances. How this is possible is unknown, but the most likely way of this being possible is that his body was never completely organic in the first place, which would explain his ability to create Rubber Bombs. Given that he is the "creator" of the Five Dastardly Bombers, it would make sense that he could have installed the same bomb-making ability into his own body.
He is not seen in Bomberman GB 3, but Devil Bomber is said to be an experiment of his that he locked away. In Neo Bomberman, he is shown in his original body just fine without explanation to reclaim Pretty Bomber with his new creation, Atomic Bomber. In Bomberman World, he appears to reawaken the Dark Force Bombers, but is defeated on Planet Black. He is not seen escaping the explosion, but remarks that he will return. In Bomberman Wars, which is a prequel to the previous game, he appears under the name Dark Bomber in what appears to be a reconstructed body in what may be an older time period, perhaps explaining where he wound up after the events of Super Bomberman 4.
Now known as Bagular, he makes another major appearance in Bomberman Hero, in which the Garaden Empire sets out to collect four data disks to form a different body. The army apparently had a difficult time creating a new body, or at least one suited for him, though this is largely because Princess Millian of Primus Star stole one of the disks from them and managed to send it to Planet Bomber before being captured, resulting in the disk coming into Bomberman's possession. The Garaden Empire finally reclaims the disk on Mazone Star thanks to the efforts of Natia, who disguises herself as Millian and tricks Bomberman into handing the disk to her. Despite Bomberman's best efforts, Natia manages to escape. Bagura is then revived on Garaden Star, regaining a corporeal body. This corporeal form is short-lived, however, as Bomberman defeats him, causing him to detonate the Garaden base as a final act of desperation in an attempt to kill Bomberman. Bagura's revival, Millian's kidnapping, and the creation of the Garaden Empire were plotted by Devil Bomber, who was just using Bagura to get his own revenge on Bomberman.
Bagura makes an appearance in the spinoff Bomberman Fantasy Race, and makes a cameo in the opening animation of Bomberman Jetters. Bagura eventually reappears as the antagonist of Bomberman Portable, being the source of the shadowy threat looming over the nearby planets. He is fought multiple times throughout the game, using old inventions in new ways in an effort to eliminate Bomberman.
Calling himself Emperor Buggler and with a more human appearance, he finally returns in Super Bomberman R. Evil Emperor Buggler revived the Five Dastardly Bombers (who had ended up as deactivated on Planet Scrapheap before the events of the game) to conquer the five planets of the Starry Sky Solar System in his name. The Bomberman Bros. (White and Black along with Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, Pink and Aqua) set out to stop the expansion of the Buggler Army's intergalactic conquest and liberate the invaded planets. Along the way, it is revealed on Planet Scrapheap that the reason the Five Dastardly Bombers were so dastardly was because they were forcibly under Buggler's control all along.
Buggler is chased to World 6: Black Hole, an artificial anomaly which threatens to engulf the solar system and eventually the whole universe. He summons the Five Dastardly Bombers to form Great Gattaida, Pink Bomber then gets put in distress when she finds out that Buggler used her big sister, Pretty Bomber in the combined mecha, White Bomber, then yells that he will never forgive Buggler. The Great Gattaida then was defeated by the Bomberman Bros. As a last resort, Buggler uses his own power to grow into Ultimate Buggler. The Five Dastardly Bombers finally regained their senses after Great Gattaida was destroyed and voluntarily give their strength to the Bomberman Bros., defeating Buggler for now. With his final words, Buggler warns that he will always continue to return as long as evil exists in the hearts of men. Afterwards, the formerly Dastardly Bombers peacefully resumed their previous lives, again on good terms with the people of Planet Bomber.
Personality[]
His personality has never really been made clear or expanded upon in the games, but he is shown to be incredibly evil.
In Bomberman Jetters, his personality is initially perceived as incredibly evil and selfish, just like in the games. But it is revealed that he isn't evil at all, he merely has a strong, bitter rivalry with Dr. Ein because of a childhood crush on Momo, White Bomber's grandmother.
Despite his so-called evil intentions, he never intends actual harm on anyone; this is shown when Max led a direct assault on Planet Jetters without his permission, and in fact strongly opposed it.
Near the end of the anime, Bagura gains the role of the victim after Dr. Mechado seizes control of the Shumulvault and imprisons him. Bagura's relationship with Mujoe is then revealed to be more of a close friendship than that of a boss and his lackey, and Bagura begins to show genuine remorse when it seems that Mujoe has perished.
In Super Bomberman R, however, he is unequivocally evil, broadcasting his universe conquering ambitions to all planets, giving the choice of submission or termination. When defeated he goes as far as claim that evil in the hearts of all life-forms in the universe created him, and he will return so long as evil itself exists.
TV Tropes[]
In canon[]
- Adaptational Goal Change: In the games, he seeks to take over the universe. In the anime, he wants to collect and steal rare treasures for himself.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the Jetters anime. Well, he's still an antagonist in Jetters, but he falls more into a friendly and sociable anti-villain role in a stark contrast to his ruthless, malevolent incarnation from the games.
- Adapted Out: He's strangely absent in the Bomberman Jetters games despite having a major role in the anime.
- Adaptation Species Change: He always appears as a round blue alien being. In Super Bomberman R, he's a human-cyborg.
- Anti-Villain: The anime version only. In Bomberman Jetters, he's motivated by jealousy towards Dr. Ein, particularly a Love Triangle the two were involved in with Momo.
- As Long as There Is Evil: His defeated speech in Super Bomberman R has him saying that it was the evil in life-forms that created him, and as long as it exists, he will someday return.
- Bald of Evil: A horrible man who happens to be bald.
- Ball of Light Transformation: Demonstrates this ability on more than one occasion. His brain, too. Taken to its extreme in Bomberman Hero, where he possesses a Helicopter Pack and Cool Tank after his new body is destroyed.
- Barrier Warrior: Can create shields to protect himself in Super Bomberman 3and a few other games. He generally uses it immediately after throwing bombs, to avoid blowing himself up.
- Beard of Evil: He's got a beard and he's a villain. Bonus points as he's also bald.
- Benevolent Boss: In Bomberman Jetters — especially to Mujoe, who he treats more like a close friend than an underling.
- Big Bad: Of the whole franchise, but specifically in Bomberman '94, Super Bomberman 3, 4, and R, Bomberman World, Bomberman Hero, Bomberman Portable, and several other games, where he tries various schemes to conquer and/or destroy as much of the universe as he can. In addition to all that, the anime Bomberman Jetters depicts him as the leader of the Hige Hige Bandits, with Mujoe being his best friend and second-in-command. Ironically, he's not the actual main antagonist of the anime. That honor goes to Dr. Mechado.
- Brain in a Jar: Upon being defeated at the end of Super Bomberman 3, he managed to escape the destruction of his ship by ejecting his brain from his body before the explosion. He makes his return in Super Bomberman 4 with his brain attached to a battle machine, and again in Bomberman Hero as the leader of the Garaden Empire where his forces revive him in a new body.
- Brought to You by the Letter B: There's usually a "B" on his forehead. Other times, he has one elsewhere, like his belt.
- Cartoon Creature: Though his appearance in Super Bomberman R is much more human-looking. The game's website states that his body is cybernetic and has been upgraded in the past.
- Colony Drop: Attempted with his artificial comet on the reconstructed Planet Bomber in Bomberman '94.
- The Corrupter: To the Five Dastardly Bombers, and implied he intended to do the same with Bomberman.
- Creepy High-Pitched Voice: He's the franchise's most rotten character, and he speaks in a fairly high-pitched voice in a couple of his appearances.
- Dark Is Evil: Goes by the name "Dark Bomber" in Bomberman Wars.
- Dark Lord on Life Support: When given a new body in Bomberman Hero, he's shown wearing a life-support mask. It comes off when he transfers himself into another attack machine.
- Emperor Scientist: Calls himself Emperor Buggler in Super Bomberman R.
- Evil Brit: Sounds like one in the PAL version of Bomberman World for PlayStation, and again in Super Bomberman R.
- Evil Counterpart:
- To Bomberman. His final phase in Bomberman '94 is a surprise "Bomberman" form.
- Also serves as one to Dr. Mitsumori and Dr. Ein, being one of the only other major characters who's capable of creating true Bombermen, building them for evil rather than for justice.
- Evil Laugh: He's had a few silent ones in Bomberman '94 and Super Bomberman 3, a disturbing and monotone one in Bomberman Hero, and a bombastically hammy one in R.
- Evil Sounds Deep: In Bomberman Hero and especially the Atlus localization of Bomberman World for PlayStation (inverted in the Japanese version and Bomberman Wars, where his voice is rather high-pitched).
- Evil Old Folks: He's apparently elderly, and to say he's evil is... an understatement.
- Evil Overlord: Fancies himself as the Emperor of Darkness in Portable, and rules empire after empire without fail.
- Final Boss: If he's the main antagonist, chances are that he serves as the final boss.
- Greater-Scope Villain:
- In Bomberman GB 3, he doesn't make a personal appearance, but is mentioned to be the creator of Devil Bomber, the Big Bad of that game.
- In Bomberman Hero, he is dead for most of the game while the Garaden Empire is trying to revive him, with Devil/Evil Bomber once again being the direct villain.
- Lastly, while he's not seen at all, the fact he created the 5 Dastardly Bombers puts him in this role for Super Bomberman 2.
- High-Class Glass: Wears a monocle in his common design first seen in Super Bomberman 3.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Buglear? Burglar? Bagular? It varies depending on the game and the translation.
- "Bagurā" is his Japanese Romanization, made popular by the Anime-Kraze Fan Sub of Bomberman Jetters. Bomberman '08, a mobile phone version of Bomberman '94, also calls him Bagura.
- Not even Japanese is safe; Bomberman Maniax erroneously typed his original appearance in Bomberman '94 as "Bakurā" (although it could be argued this was an attempt at making it a Decomposite Character).
- As of the series' revival in Super Bomberman R, Konami seems to have settled on calling him Buggler; however, a Planet◊ Technopolis◊ screen spells it as Bugler. Presumably, there are trademark issues with Bugler. However, the Wii U Virtual Console release of the original PC EngineBomberman Panic Bomber game (which finally found its way outside of Japan for the first time after Super R's release) calls him Bugler in the digital manual.
- It's All About Me: The only person he cares about is himself.
- Kneel Before Zod: He tells the Bombermen to "Bow down before [his] true power!" in Super Bomberman R. They don't.
- Knight of Cerebus: Whatever game he is in, whenever he is on-screen, the stakes raise much higher, and the game's humor and cheerful nature drops dead.
- Love Makes You Evil: His primary motivation in the Jetters anime.
- Mad Eye: One of his eyes starts bugging out after you beat his first phase in Super Bomberman 3.
- Mad Scientist: He leads a robot army, and his most common character design used from Super Bomberman 3 to Bomberman Portable is sometimes referred to as Professor Buggler.
- Make My Monster Grow: In Super Bomberman R, his special ability is to transform into Ultimate Buggler.
- The Man Behind the Monsters: In Panic Bomber, he originally had the title of "Maou" (demon king), and his robot army is also composed of a variety of monsters.
- Meaningful Name: His most recent name in R, Buggler, is a letter off from the British slang word "bugger", which is used to express dissatisfaction or a reaction towards displeasing behavior. He has a British accent in R, and is also pretty much the Big Bad of the franchise.
- Obviously Evil: A large white beard, Evil Eyebrows, a monocle, a Badass Cape, and is openly shown to be leading a force of baddies in several games' openings: all of these should clue you in that Buggler will be the main threat leading the story along.
- Omnicidal Maniac: In Super Bomberman R, he seeks to destroy the universe by having it consumed by a black hole of his own creation.
- Power Floats: Does this often when engaging in battle to avoid bomb blasts.
- Promoted to Playable: In Bomberman Fantasy Race.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: As Ultimate Buggler — or at least, his one visible eye. His monocle turns yellow.
- Taking You with Me: After getting destroyed again in Bomberman Hero, he detonates his own fortress for one last opportunity to kill Bomberman. It fails.
- Teleport Spam: He has the ability to teleport, and uses it often (most notably Bomberman World and Bomberman Hero). It's generally used as an alternative to the shields, as he teleports out of harm's way after setting bombs.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: He'll often use bouncing rubber bombs to trick the player.
- Token Human: Although a Cyborg, because the originally human Guest Fighters (such as Snake and Reiko) were changed into Bombermen, he is the sole human in R.
- Unexplained Recovery: Even though his new body was destroyed in Bomberman Hero, he still came back in Bomberman World and every other subsequent title.
- Unwitting Pawn: The events surrounding his resurrection and his attacks on Planet Bomber and Primus Star in Hero unknowingly further the plans of Devil Bomber in some manner.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: The sole time he's ever played for laughs is the intro for Atomic Bomber's fight in Neo Bomberman. Every other appearance? He's an absolute Knight of Cerebus.
- Walking Spoiler: Not so much for the games, where his role in the plot is almost always obvious from the start, but in Bomberman Jetters, where he's the leader of the Hige Hige Bandits and ultimately a decent guy who's extremely bitter over an old rivalry with Dr. Ein.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Dr. Ein in the anime when they were kids. After falling in love with Momo, however, they had a falling out and are now enemies.
- Worthy Opponent: Shows signs of this towards Bomberman in Portable, where he states how impressed he is with how Bomberman defeats him and the progress he makes throughout the game.
- You Don't Look Like You: In the Panic Bomber games, he vaguely resembles his '94 design, but with a Cephalothorax body and lacking the bushy beard and Robot Antennae.
In Starable's projects[]
In Amanda's projects[]
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Buggler/Relationships
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Buggler/Quotes
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