Koopalings

The Koopalings are a group of recurring boss characters from the Super Mario series. They are seven siblings who act as Bowser's lieutenants. During their original appearances, they were specifically known as Bowser's children. This was later retconned after Shigeru Miyamoto stated in a 2012 interview that they are not actually related to Bowser, and that Bowser Jr. is his only child.

Members

They are listed in their original boss order from Super Mario Bros. 3. This is commonly speculated to be their age order, from youngest to oldest, but the only aspects of the age order to be confirmed are Larry being the youngest and Ludwig being the oldest.

• Larry Koopa
• Morton Koopa Jr.
• Wendy O. Koopa
• Iggy Koopa
• Roy Koopa
• Lemmy Koopa
• Ludwig von Koopa

History

They were originally introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3. In this game, each of them commanded an air ship and attacked a different kingdom of the Mushroom World. Each Koopaling stole a magic wand from the kingdom's respective king and used it to turn the king into an animal or object. Ultimately, Mario defeated each of them in their airships and returned the wands to the kings, who were restored to normal. They reappeared as bosses in Super Mario World, where they inhabited castles in different areas of the Dinosaur Land and watched over Yoshi's friends (who were trapped in eggs). Each of them ruled a different world except for Larry, who could be faced within the Valley of Bowser, where Bowser was the ultimate boss.

They made another appearance as bosses in Yoshi's Safari, where they fought from different mecha suits. Afterwards, they had a long period without appearances until Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where they were deployed as minibosses by Bowletta (Bowser possessed by Cackletta) within Bowser's Castle. Mario and Luigi had to find them and defeat them individually. Despite being an RPG, they had no dialogue. Their appearance in this game would later be heavily altered in the 3DS remake, which included giving them dialogue.

The Koopalings made a proper return to the main games in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where they acted as bosses of different worlds and wielded magic wands as in Super Mario Bros. 3. Most of their appearances were redesigned for this appearance, with some of the changes (such as Iggy getting taller) suggesting that the Koopalings had aged in between appearances. In that game, each Koopaling was first fought at a world's fortress and then had to be fought again at the castle at the end of a world, where Kamek used his magic to help them in some way. This game was also the first time that they Koopalings appeared with and worked with Bowser Jr., who was believed to be their sibling at the time. They continued to appear as bosses in the following New Super Mario Bros. games: New Super Mario Bros. 2 and New Super Mario Bros. U.

They have also made more appearances in the RPG games over time. They appeared as bosses in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam and Paper Mario: Color Splash, with the former game marking the first time that they have in-game dialogue. They have also appeared in the new modes that were added into the 3DS remakes of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story. In the former game, they were placed under Fawful's control and had to be defeated to be recruited.

Within the spin-off games, all of the Koopalings made their Mario Kart debut as playable racers in Mario Kart 8 (as unlockable characters) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, as well as making a non-playable appearance as opponents in Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. In Mario Kart Tour, they initially appeared in the beta version and were made available in the main game in October 2019. In the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series, several Koopalings appeared as a playable characters in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Larry, Wendy, Roy and Ludwig were each playable in a different event in the 3DS version, while only Larry and Wendy appeared in the Wii U version. Larry, Ludwig and Wendy returned as guest characters in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Costumes of all of the Koopalings were also made available in earlier games.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• The Koopalings have also appeared as bosses in Mario is Missing! and Hotel Mario, in addition to portraits of them being seen in some versions of Mario's Time Machine.
• In the Super Smash Bros. series, all of the Koopalings have appeared as playable fighters starting in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U. They are only playable as alternate costumes of Bowser Jr. Thus, they are each shown riding their own Junior Clown Car, with their moveset being based around using the vehicle's functions. Their clown cars have a slightly different design than Bowser Jr.'s; according to Palutena, their vehicles are the "mass-produced type" in contrast to Junior's. Ludwig had previously appeared as a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and each Koopaling had their own trophy in the 3DS/Wii U game and their own Fighter Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
• They appeared as bosses in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. They could only be fought once and could not be recruited, and they gained transformations in an update. They also appeared piled into Bowser's Clown Car with Bowser in the final battle.
• In Nintendo releases of Minecraft, each of the Koopalings have been made available as playable skins as part of the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack.

Other Media

• In the Super Mario anime anthology, the Koopalings appeared in the Momotaro story as Bowser's minion when Bowser acted in the role of the tale's ogre.
• The Koopalings were featured in the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World cartoons as regular characters. They had different names in this series due to the cartoon being produced without coordination with the people localizing Super Mario Bros. 3. Their names in this series were mostly based on their characteristics (such as Cheatsy and Kooky).
• The Koopalings have appeared in various official comics from the 90s, including Super Mario Adventures. Their personalities have often been based on their depiction in the cartoons, while retaining their names from game canon.
• In the Super Mario-Kun manga, they have typically appeared in arcs based on games where they appeared.

Trivia

• The Koopalings are mostly named after different celebrities. Their names were chosen by Nintendo of America.
• They have sometimes been referred to as the Koopa Kids instead, but that designation has also been assigned to the Baby Bowser lookalikes from early Mario Party games. In Japan, they are simply known as "Bowser's minions" or the "7 Bowser team".

See Also

• Bowser
• Bowser Jr.
• Koopa Kid