Morton
- "Bigmouth" redirects here. For the enemy in Virtual Boy Wario Land, see Big Mouth. For the galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy, see Bigmouth Galaxy.
- Not to be confused with Morty.
| Morton | |
|---|---|
 Artwork from Mario Kart Tour | |
| Full name | Morton Koopa Junior |
| Species | Koopa |
| First appearance | Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) |
| Latest appearance | Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park (2026) |
| Latest portrayal | David Cooke (2014–present) |
| Member of | Koopalings |
- “MORTON STRONG! MORTON MORE TONS!”
- —Morton, Paper Mario: Color Splash
Morton Koopa Jr. (known as Big Mouth Koopa in the DIC cartoons, and erroneously called Morton O. Koopa in the Playing with Power: Nintendo NES Classics guide)[1] is one of the Koopalings, a clan of seven siblings[2] that act as leaders of the Koopa Troop under Bowser (originally considered his children). Morton stands out because of his primarily darker skin coloration and his white head with a star painted on the left side. No in-universe explanation of his name was provided at the time, though the editors of the magazine Nintendo Power once claimed that when they asked Bowser why Morton Koopa was called "Junior", he was apparently in the middle of a family spat and denied having any sons, then pelted them with Bob-ombs until they left.[3]
General information[edit]
Physical description[edit]
Unlike the other Koopalings, Morton has a dark brown-ish gray skin tone, except for his face, which is white. He also has a unique gray star mark (although Larry now has a similar marking) on the left side of his face which is centered on his left eye and covers part of his snout and cheek. This is evocative of the makeup of famous rock band KISS, specifically Paul Stanley, a.k.a. "The Star Child". Morton has four, fang-like teeth in the upper corners of both sides of his large mouth; they are the same as Iggy's. He also has a four-ribbed, light, plated belly and a single tan-colored pad on each foot. His shell is black, lined with a white encasing, and the multiple, short, spikes are circled with light gray rings.
He has small, circular-shaped gray eyes, like Ludwig's. He has a round head and a large and burly body, making him both taller and broader than most of his siblings. According to Bowser Jr., Morton was big-boned, thus explaining his more burly appearance. Morton appears to be relatively hairless, except for three, thin, long, black hairs at the top of his head. He also has three-haired black eyebrows that extend off his face like Wendy's. Morton wears the same metal, spiked, cuffs as the other male Koopalings. In the Super Smash Bros. series, Morton's appearance is unaltered compared to most Super Mario characters, including Bowser. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, however, Morton receives a slightly darker and subdued color scheme, while his hair, spikes, and shell receive simple detailing, though his scales remain undefined. This trait is shared with Bowser Jr. and the other Koopalings.
Development[edit]
Part of Morton's body could be seen in the sketch made during the redesign of Bowser for the Family Computer Disk System version of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, showing Morton's head being similar to the current one, including the shape of the mouth and the star on the left eye. Differences with respect to the current design include two protruding teeth instead of the current four, two-haired brows instead of the current three-haired ones and two hairs instead of the current three. The claws in the toes also weren't as visible as they currently are. A more notable difference, though, is Morton's size: in the sketch Morton was shown to be about as tall as Toad[4] and the body proportions showed him being younger, with the head proportionally being bigger with respect to the rest of the body.
His redesign in New Super Mario Bros. Wii marginally changed his appearance, with his shell becoming darker, lined with a white encasing instead of the previous yellow one and featuring light gray rings around the spikes. The pads under his feet also became tan colored just like the pads of the other male Koopalings, while before their color was distinct.[5][6] Finally, Morton's irises became visible, revealing their gray color and his tail became visible as well in hand-drawn and artwork illustrations, while previously it was visible only in the sprites of the games. His skin color also was changed from brown to gray, and his size changed from being one of the mid-sized Koopalings to becoming the largest and heaviest of them.
Personality[edit]
Even though according to the trophy of the fourth installment in the Super Smash Bros. series Morton is proudly more brawn than brains, similarly to Roy, the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 3 manual implies that he is astute enough to realize whether there are any possible setbacks regarding defeating Mario and can likewise report the information to Bowser. Furthermore, in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, when Iggy and Lemmy are eager to fight the Mario Bros., Morton reminds them that they had just wiped out Wendy, Larry, Ludwig, and Roy beforehand. The English translation of the Super Mario Bros. 3 manual instead tones down his thoughtful wording and makes him seem angry, a trait confirmed in the Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Player's Guide, in which Morton is said to be a grouch with a cantankerous personality. Some of his stunts include him flexing his muscles, which indicates that he likes showing off his strength. This trait, along with the preference of brawn over brains, is exacerbated in Paper Mario: Color Splash, in which he boasts about his strength and weight while talking in an unintelligent, loud and simple manner, such as saying "MORTON STRONG! MORTON MORE TONS!". This is likely imitating his talking style in the Japanese versions of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam and Paper Mario: Color Splash, where he does not use particles in his sentences. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, Morton is always shouting and often speaks in the third person, but his sentences are more complete and concise. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, Morton is again depicted as being unintelligent like in Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser, with the Best Fitness Friends jokingly stating that he has 10 brain cells. Regardless of his intelligence or lack thereof, however, he still possesses a strong will like the other Koopalings, as Fawful is forced to use a maximum dosage of his brainwashing spray to bring him under his command, and in Bowser Jr.'s Journey, he resists the effects of Malatone:X long enough to attempt to warn Bowser Jr. to flee from him due to knowing he can no longer control himself. It's also implied that he is not a good cook, as when offering Bowser Jr. a piece of meat, he is reluctant to eat it.
In the Mario & Luigi series, Morton shows loyalty and protectiveness to his comrades and the royal Koopa family. This is first shown in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, with Iggy and Lemmy left disabled from their own attacks on the Mario Bros. that backfire on them, and Morton declaring his intent on avenging them. It is explored further in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, particularly with his relationship with Junior. Upon given the order to look after Junior by Bowser, Morton takes his role as a protector seriously, keeping the Koopa prince happy by feeding him his favorite food, and even one of his skills as First Officer is placing himself in front of Junior, acting as a shield. Morton puts Junior's safety as priority and would fight anyone who has intentions of harming him, even from one of his own siblings, shown when he got in between Roy and Junior when the latter two are arguing.
In the English version of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Morton is significantly more levelheaded than his portrayals in the rest of the series, speaking normally, and showing more restraint and strategy during his boss fight than Iggy and Lemmy, at least until the two are damaged.
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, all the Koopalings were given names to match the personalities they were given and such was the case with Morton, whose name was changed to Big Mouth Koopa. Big Mouth was extremely talkative, to the point of never seeming to know when to stop talking, which continuously forced Bully to interrupt him. According to the bio on the DVD set for The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, he was also extremely arrogant in regards to his intelligence, as well as exceptionally ignorant regarding the actual facts of the world, and he never accepts responsibility for being wrong, preferring to blame others instead. In addition, he was also known to make cutting remarks, which were severe enough to even make his father cry if directed at him. This talkative trait is also mentioned in Mario Mania, which states that he is "more talk than action."[7]
Unused lines for Mario is Missing!, which would have been used for a planned boss battle against Morton, implied that he was largely sarcastic and wise-cracking.
Powers and abilities[edit]
Like Roy, Morton is one of the strongest Koopalings, using his weight to try and crush Mario or paralyze him by using a powerful ground pound, as in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Super Mario World, which even involve him running up the walls and dropping down from the ceiling. His debut appearance in Super Mario Bros. 3 does not involve his earthquake-causing power, however, and he relies on the standard abilities shared with his siblings to fight, such as jumping and shooting magic blasts, although he generally does not use his magical abilities as much as the other Koopalings. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, he tends to use his magic wand once his enemies are already immobile, and the game also shows that he cannot actually jump very high, unlike earlier depictions. He also has the ability to shoot spiked balls from his wand, as shown in New Super Mario Bros. 2.
In New Super Mario Bros. U, he has a magic hammer that he uses to knock giant Pokey segments at the player. He also has a wooden hammer that can become infused with fire in Paper Mario: Color Splash.
Like the other Koopalings, Morton can breathe fire, and in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, he uses some sort of sonic screech against the Mario Bros., which is like Bowser Jr.'s Sonic Roar! Super Ability from Mario Strikers Charged. His bio on the Japanese New Super Mario Bros. Wii website also implies that Morton's strength is dependent on his weapon.[8] In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Morton also is demonstrated to have a degree of superhuman strength, as he is shown effortlessly lifting and hurling a massive Chain Chomp at the Mario Bros. in an attempt to avenge Iggy and Lemmy. In Super Mario Maker 2, Morton has the ability to smash blocks underneath him with a ground pound, similar to Bowser in Super Mario Bros. 3, only with the added twist of generating fireballs upon landing.
Despite his strengths, his size also results in him being unable to get up once he is forced onto his back, as evidenced by the ending for New Super Mario Bros. 2, where he ends up on his back as a result of the Koopa Clown Car crashing.
Sprites relating to his planned appearance in Super Princess Peach imply that he would have inflated himself like a balloon at some point during the battle, as well as spit objects out and charge at Peach.
History[edit]
Super Mario series[edit]
Super Mario Bros. 3[edit]
Morton made his first appearance in Super Mario Bros. 3 where he, along with his siblings, aided their father in an attempt to take over the Mushroom World. At some point, Morton discovered that Mario was capable of accessing transformations, which meant Mario might prove to be a challenge, and likewise reported the discovery to Bowser. Morton usurped the king of Desert Land and took over. He used the same attack pattern as Larry, but in the end he was defeated by Mario.
Morton also uses his wand to shoot magical projectiles. Larry, fought previously before Morton, barely used his wand, as what he mainly did was jump. Morton jumps also, and is a slight bit harder to defeat than Larry.
Morton also appears in Airship's Revenge, an optional bonus World-e level for the remake. Besides Morton, only two other Koopalings are given e-Reader levels: Lemmy and Ludwig, and until the Wii U Virtual Console port, Morton was the only one of the three to be present in both the Japanese and overseas releases of the e-Reader levels. In his level, Morton attacks Mario with a new airship and fights the same way as he did in his original boss battle, complete with wand. After being stomped three times, Morton is defeated once more.
Super Mario World[edit]
Morton appeared again in Super Mario World, helping his family in an attempt to take over Dinosaur Land. His castle is located in the second area, the Donut Plains. Morton attacks Mario and Luigi by climbing the walls and ceiling of his room and dropping down. The player needs to stomp on his head thrice or shoot a dozen fireballs at him to win. Due to a glitch, Morton can be hit with two fireballs and then stomped to be quickly defeated, just like Ludwig and Roy. Afterward, Morton's castle was kicked twice by Mario before repeatedly stomped on to cause it to collapse.
Although Morton's official artwork depicts his shell as gray, his sprites are differently colored, similarly to most of the other Koopalings: his battle sprites use the green palette intended for the green Koopa Troopas and Larry, while his cast roll sprite uses the teal palette applied to the Buzzy Beetles' in-game sprites, and resembling Ludwig's palette in Super Mario Bros. 3; although a gray palette closer to his artwork (and his Super Mario Bros. 3 sprite) exists in the game's graphics, for unknown reasons, it is applied to Roy's cast roll sprite instead, and none of the Koopalings within gameplay.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii[edit]
Morton appears as a boss once again in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In the game's intro, Morton, the other Koopalings, and Bowser Jr. use a giant cake to sneak into Princess Peach's birthday party. They use the cake to capture her and then fly away on their airship with Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, and Blue Toad following them from close behind.
Morton is fought in World 6 in his tower on a platform with the ends of each side slightly raised up, set in a sea of lava. When Morton sees that Mario made it to him, he stamps his foot and growls, then begins to fight. Morton's main attack is shooting Ruby-colored fireballs that can be targeted in any direction. He can also do a Ground Pound move similar to that of Roy Koopa or a Sledge Bro, that stuns anybody who is on the ground. His pounds last for less time than Roy or a Sledge Bro. Also, Morton's casting speed is extremely slow compared to Roy, but his magic is the fastest in the game, along with Iggy. Whenever Morton is damaged, he jumps into his shell and spin to attack. This attack is faster than the other Koopalings. Fortunately, it can be easily avoided if the player jumps on the raised ground. However, Skewers come down from above and land on the two raised platforms, damaging anyone that they hit. Once Morton has been stomped on three times, he retreats to his castle.
In his castle fight, it appears it is going to be very alike to the attacks Larry used. Then, Magikoopa flies in and sprinkles magic. At first, nothing looks different, except the ground has slightly lowered. Then, Morton uses his immense weight to ground pound and cause the platforms on either side of him to rise up and hit the ceiling. He jumps around and repeat this tactic throughout the battle. Getting squished defeats Mario and company in one hit. It is strongly noted that Morton never uses his magic in the castle fight, and he does not start spinning around as long as the pillars are up. Also, unlike his tower battle, Morton's Ground Pounds does not stun grounded players during the castle battle.
After being defeated, Morton is later seen along with the other Koopalings getting Bowser back up, only to have the castle fall on top of Bowser.
Unlike in the past titles, players fight Morton after Roy in this game. Also, in Super Mario Bros. 3, he is the boss of a desert world, while another desert world (though still the second world) is given to Roy in this game, and Morton gets a mountain world instead. In addition, neither Roy or Morton get the cloud world, but it is rather given to Ludwig.
New Super Mario Bros. 2[edit]
Morton reappears in New Super Mario Bros. 2, where he is fought similarly to Roy in the predecessor. He first shows up at the end of World 3-
Castle after Wendy's defeat, taking Peach away to World 4-
Tower when Mario enters the next room. When Mario reaches Morton's boss room in his tower, Morton descends on a chain to taunt him. He is then fought in World 4-
Castle and stomps his foot and growl at Mario, like he did in the previous game. In his battle, he creates spiked balls using his wand during the battle and use Ground Pounds to stun all players that are on the floor. Just like the other battles with the Koopalings the player has to jump on him to defeat him. Unlike the other Koopalings, because of the nature of his boss fight with Mario, he does not spend a limited amount of time in his shell upon being stomped, as he requires a pipe upon being stomped on to return to his position. After three stomps, Morton is defeated, leaving the key to World 5.
Morton survived the encounter, and rejoined his comrades at Bowser's castle, where they attempted to petrify Mario with their Koopa Clown Car's petrification device. He also aided Bowser alongside the rest of the Koopalings by causing him to grow larger, but it resulted in him and the others being knocked into a lava pit by Bowser due to his increased size. He and the other Koopalings survived, however, and attempted to help Bowser by airlifting him with the Koopa Clown Car, but this resulted in it crashing due to it being unable to handle the combined weight of both them and Bowser. Morton ended up on his back, also attempting to get himself back up but could not due to his large size.
New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe[edit]
Morton returns in New Super Mario Bros. U, its expansion, New Super Luigi U, and their Nintendo Switch port.
After assaulting Peach's Castle with the rest of the Koopalings and Bowser, Morton's airship is seen in the second world, Layer Cake Desert, much like how he was the boss of the second worlds of Super Mario Bros. 3 (Desert Land, which mirrors how he has once again taken over a desert in this game) and Super Mario World (Donut Plains), flying around the desert's castle (Morton's Compactor Castle in New Super Mario Bros. U, and Morton's Lava-Block Castle in New Super Luigi U). Like the airships of the other Koopalings, Morton's head is on the bow of his airship, and the deck of the ship is designed to look like his black shell. The stern of his ship and the lids of his cannons are gray, similar to his former shell color from past appearances. Morton's airship has a pair of cannons on each side like Roy's ship, albeit stacked on top of each other rather than being placed side by side. Compared to the other Koopaling airships, Morton's appears to be the most robust, and is made out of a darker wood, a reference to his darker skin tone. Once the player enters the boss door of the castle (which leads to an outside section), his airship swoops in from the left, letting off a laugh (which sounds different from his usual voice, with a similar oddity occurring during the airship intros of Roy and Ludwig) as the player ascends a flight of stairs and jumps into a cannon to board his airship, ending up in his cabin, which has gold-tinted windows, three gold Stone-Eye statues next to the windows, and, between two chasms, a pit of quicksand under a bridge.
Like in previous games, Morton stomps his foot once the players enter his boss room, he retains his stunning ground pound earthquakes, he slides around in his shell whenever he is stomped on (though he no longer slides around as quickly as he once did), and it still takes three jumps or several fireballs to defeat him. However, he does not use a magic wand this time. Instead, like Wendy, Lemmy, and Roy, Morton uses a unique weapon, in his case, wielding a giant black magical hammer. In battle, Morton will ground pound one end of the bridge he and the player are fighting on, causing a giant Pokey with five segments to be sprung up from the sand pit below and onto the bridge. Morton would then swing his hammer to knock three of the Pokey's segments at the player, either rolling them across the ground, or flinging them in high arcs, before doing a fourth swing that knocks the Pokey's remaining two segments forward in the same way. He then hops across the bridge to the other side to repeat his attack cycle. When defeated, the player is shown on the map repeatedly jumping on Morton's airship, causing it to fly offscreen and eventually crash.
Once the player beats The Final Battle, Morton, the other Koopalings, and Bowser Jr. are seen on Bowser's dilapidated airship, urging Bowser to jump on with them as they make their escape. However, when Bowser does this, he ends up dragging the airship down, causing it to crash into a mountain, forcing Bowser Jr. to carry his father with his heavily-damaged Koopa Clown Car, while the Koopalings are forced to hold Bowser's tail, with Morton being the last one to hold on.
Super Mario Maker 2[edit]
Morton appears alongside the other Koopalings as a placeable enemy in the final update for Super Mario Maker 2, being available in every game style except the Super Mario 3D World style. Morton receives an original sprite for his appearance in the Super Mario Bros. style, as well as a redrawn sprite for the Super Mario World style. In this game, Morton attacks by slamming the ground, creating fireballs that travel across the surface of the ground. When Morton slams the ground, he can break Brick Blocks and activate ON/OFF Switches. While winged, he can fake out his slams in order to confuse the player. While jumping and slamming the ground, his wand also flashes, implying that the fireballs actually originated from his wand and not from the slams themselves.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park[edit]
- “PRIZE BELONG TO MORTON! YOU NO CAN HAVE! MORTON FIGHT TO KEEP PRIZE. AND MORTON HAVE SECRET. SECRET IS BOSS BOWSER'S WONDER POWER. OOPS. NOW NOT SECRET.”
- —Morton, Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park
Morton makes an appearance in Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park, alongside the rest of the Koopalings. Along with them, he steals the Bellabel Flowers from Bellabel Park and runs away with them, so the player must find him based on the Recruit Poplin's eyewitness accounts and fight against him in the Deep Magma Bog.
Prior to his battle, he uses the power of a Wonder Flower to transform into his Wonder form, a giant, marionette-like form that is manned by Lakitus. In this form, Morton summons crates with his emblem on them and uses his signature ground-pound to activate Hot-Hot Rocks and make objects such as giant Spike Balls and the aforementioned crates bounce up.
During his battle, he slams his giant fists down onto the ground to crush the heroes. Defeating him requires pulling on the strings at the top of the arena, eventually making him punch himself in the head and take a hit. After six strings are pulled, making him take two hits, he starts flashing red, summoning a Spike Ball larger than any others found in the fight and more quickly slamming his fists onto the ground. After the heroes pull nine of his strings, thus making him punch himself three times, Morton is defeated. The music used is identical to what played when fighting Wendy and Lemmy.
Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros.[edit]
Morton, along with the other Koopalings appeared in two of the Japan-only Super Mario anime videos. In Momotarō, they try to defend their king's castle, only to be defeated by Mario and his friends in their quest to rescue Princess Toadstool. In Snow White, Morton and the other Koopalings play a similar role, once again, being defeated by Mario as he attacks Bowser's Castle.
Super Mario World: Mario to Yoshi no Bōken Land[edit]
Morton appeared in the interactive Anime adaptation of Super Mario World. On Chocolate Island, he, alongside Lemmy, Wendy, Larry, Ludwig, and Roy, ambushed Mario and Luigi at a fortress. He alongside his brothers fought Mario after Wendy nearly fell into lava, but was stomped by Mario alongside Roy. Although they got up, Mario by that time broke open a red block to get a Cape Feather and sent them flying.
DIC cartoons[edit]
- “It's curtains for you creeps! You're history, you've had it, you're done for, it's all over, we win, time's up, your clock is cleaned! The sun has set, the fat lady has sung, the cheese has molded, the Super Mario Bros. are no more!”
- —Big Mouth, "Crimes R Us"
In the cartoons The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, produced by Nintendo and DIC Entertainment, Morton Koopa Jr. was renamed Big Mouth Koopa (although he was once called "Big Mouth Koopa Jr." on the bonus disc of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 DVD set released by Shout! Factory, making him closer to his original namesake), ostensibly because he was more talk than action. In fact, he talks so much that someone frequently has to step in to stop his speeches (usually King Koopa or Bully). He once performed a duet called "Gonna Stomp My Name on the Walk of Fame" with Kootie Pie in "Dadzilla."
Aptly, in the Super Mario World cartoon, he occasionally served as an announcer in three episodes: "Send in the Clown," "Rock TV," and "The Yoshi Shuffle." "The Yoshi Shuffle" marks Big Mouth's last animation appearance.
There are a few physical differences between Morton and Big Mouth: Morton's shell is gray, and in the Super Mario Bros. 3 cartoon, Big Mouth's is sometimes colored purple. Big Mouth has much larger eyes and purple eyelids; the star-shaped birthmark on Morton's face is darker around the cheek, while it is just one solid color on Big Mouth. Lastly, Big Mouth is shorter and thinner than Morton, his arms are thinner and a little bit longer, his claws are a little bit sharper, and his mouth is light orange instead of pink, while his skin is dark orange instead of dark brown. In the Super Mario World cartoon, however, his mouth and skin return to their original colors.
He was voiced by Gordon Masten.
The name "Big Mouth" might be a reference to "Loudmouth", a nickname given to his game namesake, Morton Downey, Jr.
List of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episodes featuring Big Mouth Koopa[edit]
- "Sneaky Lying Cheating Giant Ninja Koopas"
- "Reptiles in the Rose Garden"
- "Dadzilla"
- "Misadventure of Mighty Plumber"
- "A Toadally Magical Adventure"
- "Do the Koopa"
- "Mush-Rumors"
- "Crimes R Us"
- "7 Continents for 7 Koopas"
- "Recycled Koopa"
Nintendo Adventure Books[edit]
In Leaping Lizards, Morton sneaks into Mushroom Palace, vandalizing the throne room and transforming the Mushroom King into a rabbit with his magic wand. If Luigi decides to run ahead of his friends after hearing what Morton is up to, he can find the Koopaling in the midst of smearing peanut butter on the walls, and gets into a fight with him, acquiring his wand before the Koopaling escapes if the reader makes the right choices. If Luigi loses the fight or if he delayed going to the palace to return together with Mario, the Princess and Toad, Luigi is forced to pursue the fleeing Morton as he makes his way to Water Land on a boat, eventually upturning the boat and forcing the Koopaling to surrender his wand with the right decisions. Due to not knowing how to use Morton's wand, and thus left unable to change the king back, Luigi proceeds to track the Koopaling to his houseboat in Water Land and breaks in, prompting Morton to call Iggy and the Doom Ship for backup, only to be abandoned by his sibling when the bespectacled Koopaling spots Luigi. Forced to try and swim for it, Morton is eventually cornered on a small island and tipped onto his shell by Luigi if he decides to pursue him instead of boarding the Doom Ship, leaving him helpless. Under threat, Morton grudgingly reveals to Luigi that the only way the king can be changed back to normal is with using a Magic Silver Whistle, which Iggy is later revealed to possess. Three weeks later, Morton and five of his siblings show up as competitors in the International Mushroom Games, where the first prize is Iggy's whistle, which he won by cheating in the previous competition. What events Morton participates in besides the Beetlebowl (an all-team contest) are unspecified.
In the early parts of Monster Mix-Up, Morton manages to kidnap the Princess thanks to his minions for use as a test subject for Bowser's Monster Mixer. If the player chooses to visit the Hall of Horrors tent, it leads to an ambush by Morton where he also captures Mario, Luigi, Toad and the Mushroom King as additional test subjects, leading to a Game Over.
In Koopa Capers, Morton and his brothers have their wands stolen by Wendy, who disappears with them shortly afterward, intent on overthrowing their father with her own army, and a super wand she plans to create by fusing her own wand with her brothers'. If Luigi, who had been coerced by Bowser into searching for Wendy, tracks the female Koopaling down to her hideout, Bowser and the male Koopalings, who had been following him, will barge in after the plumber, but decide to stave off punishing Wendy for her mutiny if she helps search for the hiding Luigi. If Luigi had acquired Boom Boom's socks earlier in his adventure, he can toss them into Wendy's simmering wand combination potion, which will release fumes that knock the entire Koopa family and their minions out for at least a week. During a point where Wendy was about to attack Luigi, a small picture that was supposed to show an angry Wendy O. Koopa mistakenly had a picture of Morton instead, even though he was not in that particular scene.
At an unknown point in Brain Drain, Morton's mind ends up in Toad's body due to Iggy's Synapse Switcher. When Luigi's mind is transferred to Princess Toadstool's body, Morton (who is unaware of the change) tries to trick Luigi into following him to a secluded houseboat by promising him "triple decker lasagna and chocolate chip raviolis". If Luigi tells Morton who he really is, Morton immediately tries to attack him, but Luigi escapes by using the princess's floating ability to cross the nearby Dinosaur Lake. If Luigi instead decides to pretend to be the princess and take Morton up on his offer of snacks, he will be taken to the houseboat, and be ambushed by a group of Koopa Troopas, leading to a Game Over.
Mario is Missing![edit]
Though Morton does not appear in any versions of the game, his picture is in the SNES version's manual. In addition, unused quotes attributed to Morton can be found in the original DOS version, suggesting that he was originally planned to be encountered in-game as well.
Yoshi's Safari[edit]
In Yoshi's Safari, Morton helps his family invade Jewelry Land and steal the jewels that maintain the stability in the kingdom. Bowser entrusts one of these jewels to Morton, who then watches over the area known as Spirit Mountain. He attacks in a giant, blue, mechanical frog, but Mario and Yoshi defeat him with the aid of the Super Scope.
Hotel Mario[edit]
In Hotel Mario, Morton is the first Koopaling to be fought by Mario and Luigi. He is given the treetop Wood Door Hysteria Hotel to run when the Mushroom Kingdom is taken over by Bowser. Here, he holds Princess Toadstool captive for a short while. At Morton's Tree House o' Pain, he has little defining characteristics. He chases the player and occasionally opens a door. If he and the player take the same elevator at the same time, Morton eats the brother and spits out his cap once he exits the elevator; this behavior is shared with Roy.
Mario & Luigi series[edit]
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga[edit]
The Koopalings reappeared in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga where they guard Bowser's Castle. Morton is the second Koopaling to be fought. Defeating Morton raises a platform, allowing the Mario Bros. to continue on towards Lemmy.
To get to Morton, Mario and Luigi have to jump over shockwaves he sends towards the two. High Jumps and Spin Jumps do not work. In battle, Morton has two attacks, sending shockwaves and spitting fireballs at the target (like all the other Koopalings).
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam[edit]
- “Bwahahaha! I'm gonna stomp 'em silly.”
- —Morton, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Morton reappears in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. He is first seen with Iggy, Lemmy, and King Bob-omb on top of Mount Brrr, where they shower the land with new enemies and terrain with the help of cannons. In Bowser's Castle, Morton alongside Lemmy command the Papercraft King Boo, which they use to battle Mario & co., but are soon quickly defeated. He is then seen in Neo Bowser Castle, where he attempts to stop the Mario gang from obtaining one of the Fire Ores needed to create Papercraft Fire Mario. Later on in Neo Bowser Castle, after Mario and co. create the bridge leading to the Bowsers, he appears at the end of the bridge with Iggy and Lemmy, telling them to hurry up and push the button in order summon a large cannon that is aimed at Peach's Castle. At the end of the game, on top of Neo Bowser Castle, Morton is encountered one last time along with the rest of the Koopalings, where he is fought alongside Lemmy and Iggy. In his battle, he can mess up the bros' battle cards, making them do effects that are unknown to the player. After Lemmy and Iggy get dizzy from their own attacks, Morton attempts to get back at the Mario Bros. by lifting Iggy's Chain Chomp and throwing it at them. Mario and Luigi must use Paper Mario as a trampoline to bounce the Chain Chomp back to Morton. Failing to do so results in an instant Game Over. Successfully bringing the Chain Chomp back to Morton causes damage to him and leave him dizzy, as well as damaging Iggy and Lemmy even more. He remains dizzy until it is his turn to attack again if he hasn't been defeated. After the battle, Morton utters some last words, where he tells Bowser to forgive them for failing to defeat Mario and the others before exploding.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions[edit]
- “COME HERE NOW!”
- —Morton, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
Morton appears in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions with the same role as the original game and added dialogue. His shockwave and fireball attacks have been modified slightly: he sends an extra shockwave after pounding the ground, and in addition to spitting fireballs at Mario and Luigi individually, he can also spit two fireballs that target both of them at once. These fireballs bounce on the ground once before landing on Mario and Luigi. Out of all the Koopalings, he is the only one to lack a special rule before the battle starts (such as swapping stats or adding a Time Bob-omb).
He also appears in the added on alternate story mode Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser as a Melee-type ally. He and the other Koopalings get brainwashed by Fawful in the beginning of the game’s story and try to conquer the Beanbean Kingdom afterwards. Morton attacks Little Fungitown with a bunch of Fire Bros., and is recruited after Captain Goomba and his squad defeats him in Teehee Valley, much to their objection to save Toads.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey[edit]
- “NO WORRY, SMALL BOWSER! MORTON BELIEVE IN YOU!”
- —Morton, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
Morton appears in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, in the game's new side story Bowser Jr.'s Journey. At the beginning of the game, he gives Bowser Jr. a Charred Spicy Drumstick in an attempt to get in good with him and along with the other Koopalings (besides Lemmy, who stayed at Bowser's Castle), helps him in his quest to find the ingredients for Skeletone Formula:D.
Out of all the Koopalings, Morton was the most loyal to Bowser Jr., despite the latter constantly berating him. As the other Koopalings left because they got fed up with Bowser Jr.'s poor leadership or had other issues to fix throughout the quest, Morton stuck with him no matter what and even gave him his magic brush, revealing he kept it for a while. In Cavi Cape, he demanded for the Omega-onion, one of the ingredients they were seeking, from an Oho Jee in an argument that humorously lasted half an hour. Also by this point, Morton was the last Koopaling remaining.
However, even Morton did not stay with Bowser Jr. forever, though not by choice. After completing the Skeletone Formula:D, all of their servings are stolen by the Best Fitness Friends and converted into Malatone Formula:X. Morton is force fed one of the servings, which brainwashes him. As he was getting brainwashed, Morton attempted to warn Bowser Jr. to run from him, but succumbed to its effects and threw Bowser Jr. into the sea.
After Bowser Jr. had found all the other Koopalings, they went into Bowser's Castle where Morton confronts them. After a fierce battle, Bowser Jr. feeds Morton a RenewaLeaf, which brings him back to his senses and back on Bowser Jr.'s side, who shares a tearful reunion with Morton and gives all the Koopalings his apologies for his behavior, before rallying them for the final battle.
Of all the Koopalings, Morton's relationship with Bowser Jr. was developed the most in this story, which served a purpose to Jr.'s change of attitude towards his allies, while he thought about the moment Morton got brainwashed and then when Morton gave him the Charred Spicy Drumstick.
During the festivities by the Koopa Corps. regarding their victory against Fawful's forces, Morton and Bowser Jr. proceeded to feast on some meat.
Mario Kart series[edit]
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[edit]
Morton, alongside the rest of the Koopalings, appears as a playable character for the first time in Mario Kart 8, where he is an unlockable character. This time, he is voiced by David Cooke. His nickname in a Japanese Nintendo Direct for Mario Kart 8 is ｢無敵のタフガイ」,[9] or "Unrivaled Tough Guy'" (localized as the "Mass of Muscle"[10] or "Invincible Tough Guy"[11]). His emblem is a white silhouette of his head on a black background in a similar way to Bowser's emblem.
Morton is the heaviest Koopaling in the game, with his greatest strengths being his speed and weight tied with Wario, Bowser, Dry Bowser, and heavy Miis. His other stats can potentially drop to the lowest possible levels, however.
Morton is the Normal Staff Ghost for Bone-Dry Dunes. Various advertisements and references appear in some of the tracks in the game for Morton Construction.
Morton's main colors for his Standard parts and Pipe Frame are white and gray, and his secondary color is green. The color scheme selection of his other parts is based on his signature black, making it nearly identical to that of Black Miis. An exception to this is his GLA, which is white.
Morton reappears in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Nintendo Switch port, retaining his status as being among the heaviest playable characters, but now sharing statistics with only Bowser. He is also now available from the start. In races, Roy is Morton's rival.
Mario Kart Tour[edit]
Morton appears in Mario Kart Tour as a Normal character, being very easy to unlock. His special item is the Giant Banana. In the closed beta test, however, his special item was the Triple Green Shells.
Morton is one of the few characters in the game not to receive any new favorite tracks beyond his debut, with his only default favorite track being N64 Kalimari Desert. He shares this distinction with Baby Peach, Baby Rosalina, Shy Guy, Dry Bones and Wendy.