Jr. Troopa

"I'm your worst nightmare! Here comes the pain!"

- Jr. Troopa

Jr. Troopa (or Master Jr. Troopa, as he calls himself) is a character and recurring boss in Paper Mario. He is a young Koopa who never left his egg after he was born. He lives near Goomba Village and enjoys picking on the other kids. He has his own piece of territory he calls "Jr. Troopa's Playground." At the beginning of the game, Goompa states that Jr. Troopa is the boss of a "neighborhood gang," but none of its other members are ever seen. Throughout the game, Jr. Troopa trails Mario and his allies during their adventure and returns in stronger form after each defeat. Mario battles him a total of six times throughout the game.

Paper Mario
Jr. Troopa debuts in Paper Mario, where he is encountered and fought by Mario a total of six times throughout the course of the game. He first appears shortly after Mario and Goompa recover the Hammer and start heading back to Goomba Village. Angered that Mario and Goompa have trespassed into his territory/playground, he challenges Mario to a fight. However, Mario is able to defeat him with hardly any difficulty. After he is defeated, Jr. Troopa flees, allowing Mario to continue on his way.

After Mario rescues the first Star Spirit from the Koopa Bros., Jr. Troopa ambushes him on his way back to Toad Town, having apparently hidden in the bushes for some time. As he dashes toward Mario, he accidentally slips and falls into the water nearby, though manages to get back up to Mario and his partner, who then comments on Jr. Troopa.


 * Goombario: Hey...you're Jr. Troopa! Are you following us? You need to mellow out!
 * Kooper: Who is this crazed guy? What a nut...
 * Bombette: Who's this kid...? Let me get this straight... He wants to challenge you? He's got to be kidding!

Following this, Jr. Troopa asks Mario whether he remembers him. Regardless of how Mario answers, he commences a second battle with him, during which he is able to hide in his shell to raise his defense. Despite this, Mario is still able to defeat him. Rather than leave immediately this time, however, Jr. Troopa instead remains in this spot for some time, visibly disoriented.

Jr. Troopa is encountered a third time while Mario is traversing Forever Forest. Whether or not Mario has defeated Tubba Blubba yet, he encounters him after obtaining the Super Boots. He is so lost and scared he is initially glad to see Mario, though quickly remembers that they are rivals. This prompts another line of dialogue, which varies depending on who Mario's partner is at the time.


 * Goombario: Why, it's Jr. Troopa! Have you been crying? Did you get lost in there?
 * Kooper: Hey, Mario. It looks like this kid is lost.
 * Bombette: This little boy is filthy! What happened to him? Is he a lost child or something?
 * Parakarry: Oh dear. This poor child looks very upset. Was he lost in the forest?
 * Lady Bow: Who is this kid? What a dirty little urchin... He must be lost...

This angers Jr. Troopa to the point he challenges Mario to a duel for a third time. This time, he is able to fly during battle, preventing Mario from using certain attacks to damage him. After he is defeated this time, Jr. Troopa flees immediately. When Mario exits the forest, Jr. Troopa is spotted being extremely grateful he has made it out.

Having not given up on pursuing Mario, Jr. Troopa trails him to Lavalava Island, swimming all the way across the ocean. Whether or not Mario has defeated Lava Piranha yet, he is fought after Sushie has been recruited. However, just as he arrives, Mario leaves on the back of a Whale, forcing Jr. Troopa to turn around and swim back across the ocean. Jr. Troopa arrives at the harbor in Toad Town just after Mario and challenges him yet again. This time, Jr. Troopa places a spike on top of his head to use in addition to his wings. However, his HP is lowered significantly to twenty as a result of his continuous swimming and consequential exhaustion. After he is defeated, Jr. Troopa realizes that he should have just flown across the ocean instead, blaming this on this defeat. Like after his second defeat, Jr. Troopa remains in this spot for some time before disappearing.

While exploring Shiver Snowfield, Mario encounters Jr. Troopa a fifth time. Though he is desperate to leave the cold climate, he is determined to defeat Mario first, this time using magic during battle with the help of a wand. Regardless, he is defeated once again, offering hardly any commentary afterwards this time. Leaving and returning to this area reveals he has become frozen in a block of ice.

Jr. Troopa makes his sixth and final appearance in Bowser's Castle, appearing just as Mario is preparing to face the Koopa Bros. - he defeats the Koopa Bros. himself and proceeds to challenge Mario. In this fight, Jr. Troopa starts in his normal form, later switches into his flying and spiked form, and finally goes back on the ground with his magic wand. After Mario defeats him, Jr. Troopa runs away, shouting that he will never give up and will defeat Mario next time.

Jr. Troopa is later seen fighting Kammy Koopa during the ending sequence. Both end up attacking Bowser by accident and end up getting burned to a crisp.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Jr. Troopa makes a cameo appearance in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. In the photograph included with Zip Toad's email, Jr. Troopa can be seen flying in the background.

Super Mario-kun
Jr. Troopa makes an additional appearance in the Paper Mario arcs of Super Mario-kun. He plays the same role as he does in the game by interfering with Mario's progress. As in the games, he uses various power-ups to aid him in the fight, but he is always defeated in the end.

Field Tattle
Outside of battle, Goombario can use Tattle on Jr. Troopa after Mario defeats him for the second, fourth, and fifth times.
 * "That's Jr. Troopa. He used to boot us out of the forest near Goomba Village. He thinks he's pretty tough. As far as I can tell, he goes around picking fights with people who are stronger than he is. Talk about dumb! His hobbies are working out and ordering stuff by mail."

Official Nintendo Player's Guide

 * Jr. Troopa 1: Jr. Troopa is a bully and a thug, and he lashes out at anyone who invades his precious playground. Be wary: If you damage him enough, he'll use a special Full Power Attack. When he does, know that he's only one hit from destruction.
 * Jr. Troopa 2: He told you he'd be back, and Jr. Troopa wasn't kidding. This time around he's developed a new trick—hiding inside his shell. A Hammer attack will work best for your second meeting.
 * Jr. Troopa 3: The little fellow just doesn't know when to quit. He's even sprouted a pair of wings for your third skirmish in the Forever Forest. Bow's invisibility talent will be helpful against Jr. Troopa, as his attacks have grown in strength.
 * Jr. Troopa 4: The good news is that Jr. Troopa's last incarnation is tired from a long day of swimming. The bad news is he's learned some new moves and borrowed a hat from a Spiked Goomba.
 * Jr. Troopa 5: Jr. Troopa has followed you all the way to the frozen wastelands of Shiver Snowfield. He's lost his wings and the spiked hat this time out, but he's armed with a magical attack that takes off quite a few hit points.
 * Jr. Troopa 6: Your final battle against Jr. Troopa is the toughest yet. He can change shape at will, using all the powers he's learned in a final attempt to destroy Mario once and for all.

Trivia

 * Jr. Troopa breaks the fourth wall during the fourth fight, where he remarks his HP bar has dropped in half.
 * In one of his conversations with Mario, Jr. Troopa erroneously calls himself Jr. Koopa in the NTSC-U version. This error was corrected in the PAL version.
 * During Chapter 3, Jr. Troopa encounters Mario in Forever Forest as soon as the latter obtains the Super Boots in Boo's Mansion and tries to leave the forest. During Chapter 5, he appears on Lavalava Island as soon as Mario leaves on the Whale once he obtains Sushie. This is likely due to the fact that, once Mario has those items, he can activate Warp Pipes in Toad Town Tunnels that connect with those areas, which would otherwise cause the player to skip a Jr. Troopa battle.
 * The player can attack him after beating him at Pleasant Path, Toad Town (after returning from Lavalava Island), and Shiver Snowfield, with him grunting in pain.
 * Jr. Troopa's battle theme plays at a slower tempo during the battles in Forever Forest and Bowser's Castle.

Jr. Troopa Jr. Troopa