Jr. Troopa

A sprite of Jr. Troopa as seen in Paper Mario.
Jr. Troopa
Species	Koopa
Debut	Paper Mario

Jr. Troopa is a juvenile Koopa who appeared as a recurring boss character in Paper Mario.

Background

Jr. Troopa was a young Koopa who wore pieces of his egg shell as headwear and clothing. He was the local bully of Goomba Village and claimed an area of the Goomba's Forest as his personal playground. He was easily agitated by others, and he would become known for his persistence in pursuing grudges. He was known to pick fights with others, even if they seemed stronger than him, and his other hobbies included working out and ordering things by mail, which would play a significant role in his appearances throughout the game.

Mario first encountered him in the prologue of Paper Mario, when he and Goompa had entered his turf in search of Goompa's Hammer. After being defeated in battle, Jr. Troopa became set on gaining revenge on Mario and pursued him to various areas throughout the game for five more matches. With each battle, he had gained some new ability. For their second fight, at Pleasant Path, he hid within his egg shell pieces to increase his defense. He then pursued them to Forever Forest, where he grew wings in order to execute aerial attacks.

Afterwards, he swam across the ocean to Lavalava Island, only to arrive just as Mario had left. This caused him to swim back the way he came in order to confront Mario. In that battle, Jr. Troopa could fly and gained a spike on his head, but he was weakened from all of the swimming he did, which cut his HP in half. This caused him to be defeated more easily, and he only realized after the fact that he could have just used his wings to fly over the ocean without exhausting so much energy. His next appearance was at Shiver Snowfield. That time, he did not use his wings or spike. Instead, he had taken a course on magic, and so he used a magic wand to attack Mario with blasts of magic.

In the final chapter, Jr. Troopa somehow made his way to Bowser's Castle for one last battle with Mario. He rushed to arrive at the last gate separating Bower's Castle from Princess Peach's Castle and knocked out the Koopa Bros. in the process, preventing them from taking their rematch with Mario. In his final battle with Mario, Jr. Troopa periodically alternated between using his magic wand, his wings and the wings with the spiky top. Despite his best efforts, Jr. Troopa was defeated and fled while promising to never give up on defeating Mario.

Jr. Troopa made one last appearance during the game's ending parade, in which he ran around while wielding his wand and engaged in a magic duel with Kammy Koopa. This came to an end when Bowser was accidentally caught in the crossfire of their magic spells, which resulted in him roasting both of them with his fire breath.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Super Mario-Kun manga, Jr. Troopa made several appearances during the Paper Mario arc, which were similar to his appearances in the game.

Trivia

• His English name implies that he is specifically the child form of a Koopa Troopa. His Japanese name is Kowappa, which is simply a derogatory term for a young boy, similar to the word "brat".
• He has a distinct fear of bugs, and he hates both water and snow.
• In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, he can be seen flying with his wings outside of a train window in the background of a photograph attached to an e-mail that Zip Toad sends to Mario.