Ludwig Von Koopa
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| Ludwig in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. | |
| Ludwig von Koopa | |
| Species | Koopa |
| Hair color | Blue |
| Eye color | Black |
| Relatives | Koopalings (siblings) |
| Voiced by | Mike Vaughn (2009-2014) David J. Goldfarb (2014-Present) |
| Debut | Super Mario Bros. 3 |
Ludwig Von Koopa is the seventh and oldest of the Koopalings, who act as recurring boss characters under Bowser's command throughout the Mario games. His appearance is distinguished by his wild blue hair and single tooth. Like his younger siblings Morton and Roy, Ludwig is usually able to create small tremors whenever he slammed the ground.
Background
In Super Mario Bros. 3, he invaded the Pipe Maze kingdom in an airship and stole their king's magic wand. He turned that king into an animal (a Piranha Plant in the original version and a Yoshi (species)Yoshi in the remake) and remained in his airship until the Mario Brothers came and defeated him. He acted as the game's seventh boss and the last boss faced before Bowser. After his defeat, the wand was reclaimed from him and returned to the king. Ludwig made an additional appearance as the boss of one of the e-reader levels of the GBA remake, in a stage that was initially available only in Japan, known as Koopaling Confusion. In this appearance, he was instead faced in a docking area, and the difficulty of the battle was decided by which of two routes the player took through the level.
During Super Mario World, Bowser conquered Dinosaur Land, and Ludwig inhabited a fortress atop Cookie Mountain while holding one of Yoshi's friends captive. He acted as the game's fourth boss, attacking by hopping and blasting fireballs, similarly to Bowser's classic tactics. Mario managed to defeat Ludwig and destroyed his fortess afterwards.
When Bowser stole the twelve magic crystals of Jewelry Land during Yoshi's Safari, Ludwig was given the Green Crystal to watch over in Mushroom Land. There he piloted what looked like a giant mechanical Spiny. He acted as the game's second boss and was once again defeated.
After a long absence, the Koopalings returned when Bowletta called them into action to eliminate the Mario Brothers in Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. Ludwig was fourth in line to take on the brothers. Ludwig only battled them if they successfully jumped over his shell as he slid around the room within it. He was defeated in the ensuing battle.
Ludwig and the other Koopalings returned for New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where his design was modified to sport a blue shell. He and the others kidnapped Peach on her birthday and escaped in an airship. While returning to their kingdom, Bowser Jr. dropped the Koopalings off at fortresses along the way to slow down Mario and/or his friends. Ludwig remained at the World 7 fortress; he chuckled to himself when Mario arrived, then attacked with homing spells from a new magic wand and by fluttering overhead (though he lacked his paralyzing stomp). Upon losing, he escaped to the World 7 castle. Kamek aided Ludwig during his second fight by creating three small platforms that ascended the castle's tower. After his second defeat, Ludwig returned home on foot along with the other Koopalings. There they discovered a fallen Bowser and helped him back up, after which Bowser's Castle fell on top of them.
In New Super Mario Bros. 2, the Koopalings worked together to kidnap Peach for Bowser while piled into the Koopa Clown Car together. They then took turns holding onto Peach while Mario and Luigi pursued them. Ludwig was the boss of World 5 and the last Koopaling who could be faced in the game, once more acting as the game's penultimate boss. During this battle, Ludwig hung onto chains from the ceiling while attempting to blast fireballs at Mario or Luigi. To defeat him, Mario or Luigi would have to fire himself out of one of the pipe cannons in the floor directly below Ludwig, which would knock him down and leave him temporarily stunned, so that he could then be stomped. Ludwig was ultimately defeated, but he and the other Koopalings returned in World 6's castle. There, they piled into the Koopa Clown Car and used a light that it emitted to attempt to temporarily petrify Mario or Luigi as they made their way through the castle. After Bowser's initial defeat, they used the magic from their wands to make him grow into a giant, at which point he knocked them into the lava. After the giant Bowser was defeated, the Koopalings tried to tow him away with the Koopa Clown Car, only to accidentally crash. The Koopalings also appeared again within World Star's castle, where they once more attempted to petrify the player and made Dry Bowser grow.
Ludwig also appeared in New Super Mario Bros. U as the boss of the seventh world, the Meringue Clouds. In this boss battle, he not only used his magic wand to shoot fireballs, but he also used it to create two fake clones of himself to distract Mario and friends during battle. There were several ways to see through the trick, and Ludwig was ultimately knocked out of his airship. At the end of the game, he hung onto Bowser's tail as they attempted to escape in a falling airship.
The Koopalings later made their Mario sports debut as unlockable racers in Mario Kart 8. They reprised this role in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, where they were available as default racers. Ludwig also appeared as a guest character in the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where he was playable in Table Tennis.
Other Appearances
Video Games
- Ludwig also appeared alongside the other Koopalings as bosses in the licensed games Hotel Mario and Mario is Missing!. In Hotel Mario, he was the boss of Ludwig's Thump Castle Hotel and displayed the unusual abilities to teleport and shoot lightning.
- He appeared in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U as a playable character, due to being available as an alternate costume for Bowser Jr. Thus, he has the same moveset which involves operating out of a Junior Koopa Clown Car. His appearance is accompanied by a trophy which refers to him as the cleverest of the Koopalings, who "has a mature air about him, but he likes to sound off and act pompous".
Other Media
- Ludwig and the other Koopalings appeared in the Momotaro and Snow White portions of Amada's Super Mario OVA as minions of Bowser whom Mario defeated to reach Bowser.
- Ludwig and the other Koopalings appeared in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World animated series, where Ludwig was called Kooky Von Koopa. In this version, Bully was instead the oldest Koopaling.
- The Koopalings also appeared in the various comic adaptations of the Mario games such as the Mario comics of the Nintendo Comics System (where Ludwig's personality was based on the cartoon version), the Nintendo Adventure books and the Super Mario Adventures comic series.
Canceled Appearances
- Unused sprites of Ludwig and the other Koopalings were found in Super Princess Peach, indicating that they were intended to appear in the game as bosses but were removed at some point in development.
Trivia
- Ludwig's name comes from the classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven, who also had unusual hair.
- The Koopalings were initially known as Bowser's children, with Ludwing being his oldest son. It was initially assumed that Bowser Jr. was their youngest sibling, but Shigeru Miyamoto revealed in a 2012 interview that the Koopalings are not in fact related to Bowser, and that Bowser Jr. is his only child.
- In Mario Kart 8, graffiti can be seen for a business called "Ludwig's Painting", which implies that he is an artist.
- A sticker of Ludwig appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.