Magikoopa

A Magikoopa in Super Mario Galaxy
Magikoopa
Type	Koopa
Debut	Super Mario World

The Magikoopa is a magic-wielding Koopa that serves as a recurring enemy in the Mario series.

Information

Magikoopas are hooded, bespectacled Koopa mages in the service of Bowser. The Magikoopa's usual routine in platformer games is to appear from nowhere, cast a spell and then teleport across the room. The Magikoopa's wand emits magical blasts (shaped like squares, triangles and circles) that transform blocks into enemies. Other magical abilities have included the ability to grow and shrink other creatures. Magikoopas have also been known to ride flying broomsticks.

Appearances

The Magikoopas originally appeared as fortress enemies in Super Mario World. In their next appearances, they appeared as bosses. A nameless Magikoopa who changed size was boss of the Dark Woods in Yoshi's Safari. Another unnamed Magikoopa was a boss in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars while under the control of Smithy. After being defeated by Bowser and his allies, the Magikoopa was free from Smithy's spell and tried to redeem himself by summoning a chest containing an endless supply of coins. Other Magikoopas were seen in the game as part of Bowser's Koopa Troop, but they were never battled.

They also appeared as enemies in Paper Mario, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Super Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. In Paper Mario and The Thousand-Year Door, they have a wider variety of spells, but in Super Paper Mario they can only fire their standard blasts of magic. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, one Magikoopa was fought by Bowser and became helpful afterwards, and after a group of Magikoopas were freed at Bowser's Castle, they would teach Bowser the Magikoopa Mob attack which summoned Magikoopas to aid in battle. In Super Princess Peach, they were present during a boss battle with a "Giant Kamek". They also appeared as enemies in Super Mario Galaxy, usually in airship levels, along with a Magikoopa boss named Kamella, and they appeared again in Super Mario Galaxy 2. They reappeared again in Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World with a simplified attack pattern of throwing magic and then teleporting away. Additionally, the second Bowser fought in 3D Land was shown to actually be a Magikoopa assuming his form with a Tanooki tail.

In Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, they appeared as enemies. Magikoopas also appeared as enemies available to be placed in courses in Super Mario Maker.

Sports

Magikoopas are playable in Mario Superstar Baseball (Blue, Green, Red and Yellow varieties) and Mario Super Sluggers, where they use their wands as baseball bats. In the latter game's challenge mode, each Magikoopa appears individually in a different area and must be challenged at different points to progress.

In Mario Party 2, a Magikoopa resided at Horror Land's Mystery Mansion and sold Darkness Lamps. In other Mario Party games, Magikoopa items (the Magikoopa referred to as Kamek in several games) appear, and the item summons a Magikoopa that shuffles around all the players' capsules.

Variations

In the Paper Mario games, some Magikoopas had different abilities based on their robe color.

• Blue Magikoopas could perform all of the spells of the other Magikoopas.
• Dark Magikoopas appear in the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials in Super Paper Mario. The main difference between them and normal Magikoopas is higher HP and Dark Magikoopas being completed obscured by shadow. Apparently they wear contacts.
• Gray Magikoopas could turn their allies transparent.
• Green Magikoopas could raise their allies' defensive power.
• Red Magikoopas could raise their allies' attack power.
• White Magikoopas could heal their allies, likely in reference to the "White Mage" class in most RPG games.
• Yellow Magikoopas could charge their allies with electricity.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door featured only the Red, White, Green and normal Magikoopas, and their magical powers were a mix of the powers from the previous game plus new ones. This included the ability to create duplicate Magikoopas.

Notable Magikoopas

A Magikoopa named Kamek is well-known as Bowser's caretaker in the Koopa King's youth, and as Bowser's right-hand man when he grew up. Later games implied that the two split ways, and Kammy Koopa (the only female Magikoopa shown to date) instead operated as Bowser's main minion primarily in the Paper Mario games. Kamek has since returned to prominence in games such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In some cases, Kamek is the only Magikoopa to appear in a game. The only other Magikoopa character is Kamella, another female Magikoopa who is a boss in Super Mario Galaxy.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Magikoopas make an appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U. In the 3DS version, Magikoopas appear as enemies in the Smash Run mode. In the Wii U version, Kamek specifically appears in the Mushrom Kingdom U stage, where he can use his magic to alter the stage. The 3DS game has a Kamek trophy, although it seems that the trophy is actually intended to be for Magikoopas as a whole, as Kamek having the same Japanese name as the Magikoopas in general often leads to such translation errors and the trophy specifically refers to the Magikoopas' attacks from Smash Run.

Other Media

• Magikoopas appeared in several episodes of the Super Mario World cartoon series, where they were known as Koopa Wizards. One episode featured a particularly strong one known as Wizardheimer.
• Within the early run of the Super Mario-Kun manga, only one Magikoopa was shown under Bowser, which seemed to foreshadow Kamek's eventual role.
• Magikoopas were shown in the Super Mario Adventures comic. One was a deputy to Bowser who was very similar to Kamek. There was also a more ancient Magikoopa who hypnotized the princess and various Toads.

Canceled Appearances

• The Magikoopa was initially going to be added as a racer in Mario Kart 64, but its spot was ultimately taken by Donkey Kong.

Trivia

• In Japan they are known as Kamekku, which raises confusion because it is the same Japanese name used for the character Kamek. This has also led to translation errors such as generic Magikoopas being called Kameks in Super Princess Peach.