Koopa Troop

The Koopa Troop, also known as the Turtle Tribe, the Koopa clan, Team Bowser, or simply the Koopa, is an alliance led by King Bowser Koopa, and they serve as his armed forces. The Koopa Troop has taken over the Mushroom Kingdom multiple times and has even attempted to take over the universe. According to Kammy Koopa in Paper Mario, the motive for the clan is to have revenge against all who have treated Koopa Troopas poorly, though many of their goals are based entirely on Bowser's own interests. Despite the name Koopa in the troop's name, not all members of the troop are Koopas, although they served as the majority of the members and also had high-ranking roles. This inconsistency is actually not present in Japanese material, where the Koopa Troop is known as Bowser's Army. According to official Japanese character books, the Army is led by the Turtle Tribe, with older material indicating the members of Bowser's Royal Family as leaders. In both the Super Mario Pia and the Encyclopedia Super Mario Bros. the Royal Family term is missing and more in general the organization of Bowser's Army is no longer explained, with the former exclusively reconfirming that the Turtle Tribe still leads it. As proven in New Super Mario Bros. and Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, when Bowser is absent, his son takes leadership of the Koopa Troop.

The Koopa forces differ from game to game. Goombas and Koopa Troopas are among the most common, and Magikoopas, Hammer Bros., and Koopatrols are among their elites.

During Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Bowser's Keep is invaded by the Smithy Gang via Exor. By the time Bowser is met at Booster Tower, there are no more remaining Koopa Troopers by his side. He claims that Mario, Mallow, and Geno are active members when he joins the party (although it is heavily implied that he did this so he can avoid the humiliation of having to ask for their help).

In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, a group of troops which Bowser dubs the Bowser Baddies man the Koopa Cruiser. Bowser mistakes Luigi as an eager recruit, and takes him along Mario's quest to reclaim Princess Peach's voice from the Beanbean Kingdom, but the Baddies and their King are swiftly dealt with by Cackletta and Fawful. The Nintendo 3DS remake of the game, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions adds a story mode that focuses exclusively on Bowser's troops. In it, they are dubbed Bowser's Minions, even though the Japanese title of that mode is actually Koopa Troop RPG (「クッパ軍団RPG」). During this story mode, the troops, led by Captain Goomba, set out to reunite and recruit all the troop members, and eventually rescue Bowser.

In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, the Koopa Troop is shown to be split into different divisions (the Goomba unit, the Shy Guy unit, the Koopa unit, the Bob-omb unit and the Magikoopa unit), as evidenced when Fawful shows Bowser his captured soldiers. As Bowser rescues his soldiers, he is able to use them as attacks, for example, using a squadron of Shy Guys to sling Bowser forward to the enemy.

In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, the enemies under the command of King Koopa are often referred to as the Koopa Pack, although it seems to be used interchangeably between generic minions of King Koopa and a core group consisting of King Koopa, Mouser, Tryclyde, and a single Koopa Troopa. On one occasion, they also went by Koopa Troopers and Team Koopa. In the show, all of the members (except for King Koopa) are somewhat unintelligent. In "Raiders of the Lost Mushroom," Mouser, Tryclyde, and Koopa Troopa said that stealing is wrong, which made King Koopa (or Kolonel von Koop as he was called) angrily hit them with a whip and say that bad guys are supposed to steal.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Koopa Troop forms part of the Subspace Army, commanded by Bowser, Ganondorf, and Wario. Although the group is led by Master Hand, it is later revealed the he is being used by Tabuu in order to trick the three commanders into enveloping the World of Trophies into Subspace.

On some occasions, Bowser has teamed up with others (such as Luigi in Super Paper Mario and Antasma in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team) to achieve a common goal, but in these instances, these characters are not considered part of the Koopa Troop.