>>716026061
Bowser has very immediate, down to earth goals that mainly involve kidnapping Peach and trying to marry her, occasionally also wanting to beat Mario. Destroying the universe and invading the Mario-equivalent of Heaven were just coincidences.
K. Rool's first appearance has him stealing away the Kongs' food supply and then occupying their territory in an attempt to force them to surrender to him or starve to death, which has somehow turned into attempting to re-write existence itself not to make himself its ruler, but to literally consume all that exists like he's fucking Galactus. Having to fight DK is what's treated as a coincidence for him.
Shit like this is exactly why DK fans love this fat piece of shit, it's more than merely being a "rival" character.