10 Jaw-Dropping Masked Villain Reveals In Video Games
7. Bowser Jr. - Super Mario Sunshine (2002)
Not even the most lighthearted of games are guaranteed to be free of masked miscreants, and in Super Mario Sunshine, the unmasking of this particular character marks the first appearance of two heavily recurring members of the Super Mario series.
The first is Shadow Mario, a dark and liquid-like impersonation of Mario that sets about vandalising Delfino Isle with lethal goop. When Mario makes his way to the colourful Pinna Park and manages to defeat a huge mecha version of Bowser, Shadow Mario takes centre stage and morphs into his true identity: Bowser Jr.
Turns out that not only did the son of Bowser acquire a magic paintbrush and form-changing face mask from Professor E. Gadd, but he's also been led to believe that Princess Peach is his mother, and he's here to take her back from the "bad man" Mario.
This masked reveal is especially shocking, given that this is Bowser Jr.'s debut in the series, and considering that Shadow Mario later returned to the Mario universe as his own character, it's safe to say that the events of Mario Sunshine are felt long after they happen.