Kolorado

"Archaeology is about mystery. And you know, without mystery life is rather bland, hm? Maybe you should write this stuff down Mario."

- Kolorado

Professor Kolorado (コロラド教授) is an adventure-loving, bold, slightly foolish, mustachioed Koopa explorer and archaeologist in Paper Mario. He is a former student of the famous Professor Frankly. Kolorado lives in Koopa Village, but rarely is home, preferring to go out on quests for ancient artifacts, which angers his wife. He is also the idol of his neighbor Kooper, who eventually becomes his assistant at the end of Paper Mario.

Background
Not much is known of Kolorado's life before Paper Mario. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Goombella informs Mario that Kolorado was a student of the renowned scientist Professor Frankly. Kolorado seems to have followed the footsteps of his father, a fellow adventurer who died while exploring Hooktail Castle. It is unknown what Kolorado's reaction to the news of his father's demise was, or whether he even knows about it at all. Kolorado later married and settled down in Koopa Village. However, Kolorado left the village frequently to explore unknown lands, frustrating his wife. On his journeys, Kolorado became well-known and respected in the archaeological community and the personal idol of Kooper.

Paper Mario
Mario first hears of the famous adventurer during his visit to Koopa Village. Kooper mentions that Kolorado is his role model, and if Mario enters his house, he meets Kolorado's Wife, who is angry that her husband is constantly away from home. Mario and Parakarry find a letter addressed to Kolorado they found on Mt. Rugged and plan to deliver it to him.

Mario and his partners meet Kolorado when they journey to Dry Dry Desert in an attempt to rescue the Star Spirit Mamar. Kolorado, along with a group of fellow explorers, is there to find the treasure of the famous Dry Dry Ruins. When Mario discovers the Dry Dry Ruins, he finds an Artifact that he gives to Kolorado. Kolorado gives him a Star Piece as thanks. Kolorado sends Mario a letter, stating that he finally found the ruins (Mario never tells him he had found it), but has not found any treasure there. Moustafa also sends Mario a letter saying he saw a "suspicious looking Koopa" messing around the ruins, referring to Kolorado.

Mario encounters Kolorado again in the Toad Town Port. The explorer is attempting to find a way to Lavalava Island, in order to find a legendary treasure there. Mario finds a Whale who agrees to carry the two adventurers to the island after Mario cures it of a stomachache caused by Fuzzipede. Kolorado then accompanies Mario to Yoshi's Village and when a path is opened to Mt. Lavalava, he rushes ahead to the volcano. On the way, he is saved by Mario from the dangerous inhabitants of Jade Jungle (although Mario has the option to ignore Kolorado and continue through the jungle, after which Kolorado would somehow escape the enemy and berate Mario for not helping him). Kolorado reaches the volcano, but is unable to find any treasure. At one point, he is nearly killed by a Spiny Tromp trap. During Mario's battle with the Lava Piranha, Kolorado attempts to aid him, but is badly burnt and runs away. After the plant's defeat, Kolorado, Mario, and the newly freed Star Spirit Misstar venture deeper into the near-erupting volcano to try to find a way out. At the end of the volcano, a chest is discovered, and a frantic Kolorado makes a near fatal reach for it as lava rises behind him. He is scooped up at the last minute by Misstar, and the band of adventurers escape from the volcano.

Kolorado is distraught at his lost treasure, despite Misstar telling him he should be glad to still have his life. Kolorado is too miserable to leave Yoshi's Village until Mario finds the Treasure Chest, which miraculously survived the Volcano exploding and was simply blown to a section of Jade Jungle. After Mario gives the treasure inside it, the Volcano Vase, to Kolorado, the overjoyed explorer trades a Magical Seed for the treasure and accompanies Mario back to Toad Town.

Once back in Toad Town, Kolorado tells Mario that he plans to go back to Koopa Village and see his wife. However, during his return trip, a large Koopa called Kent C. Koopa blocks the path to Koopa Village and demands one hundred Coins for passage. Mario helps the distraught Kolorado by defeating the burly Koopa, and Kolorado spends the remainder of the game with his wife, though he mentions plans to explore the Crystal Palace. He actually does go on an expedition to the Palace in an epilogue scene; it is in this scene that Kooper is shown to have joined his crew.

Through the rest of Paper Mario, Kolorado is alluded to in two of Goombario's Tattles, in both of which Goombario impersonated Kolorado and his love for treasure. A Duplighost in Crystal Palace also disguised himself as Kolorado, bizarrely intending to trick Mario into thinking he was Kooper.

After the game is beaten, Kooper becomes Kolorado's assistant and leads him to Shiver City, where they being leaving on an expedition to Crystal Palace, fulfilling Kolorado's past plans. When they get there, though, they are stopped by Parakarry, who gives Kolorado a message from his infuriated wife, forcing him to forestall the expedition and return to Koopa Village. Kolorado is later seen alongside his wife in the game's ending parade, where he waves to the player atop a float based on the Whale and is sprayed into the air.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
If Mario reads Lumpy the Ratooey's journal, he will discover that at some point Kolorado went back to Dry Dry Desert and that Lumpy encountered him there during Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Kolorado helped Lumpy make his dream of finding oil a reality by providing him with shelter.

Mario also discovers the remains of Kolorado's father in Hooktail Castle.

Personality
Kolorado is consistently portrayed as extremely courageous, willing to go into the depths of Mt. Lavalava to find treasure. As Raphael the Raven comments, this bravery often gives way to foolishness; Kolorado is also an ignorant character in his comical and constant misnamings of the whale (much to the whale's annoyance) as a tuna and Misstar as a starfish. Kolorado is a generally friendly character who is willing to help, but despite his intentions, never actually aids Mario in his quest. In fact, he is shown to be very weak; during his time on Lavalava Island, he is attacked by both Jungle Fuzzies and Spear Guys, and is unable to fight back against either of them, requiring Mario to assist him. This paradox of courage and inability to fight is clearly shown when Kolorado attempts to help Mario in fighting the Lava Piranha; although he rushes courageously at the monster, he is easily beat back without so much as laying a hand on him.

Kolorado seems to be a bit of a work-a-holic. He is obsessed with finding treasure, and his wife comments that he is rarely at home, always going on some expedition. Although there is no voice-acting in Paper Mario, Kolorado's text seems to hint at a stereotypical "British" accent, as he often uses phrases such as "tally-ho", "old boy", "old chap", and "old bean". A British accent was also applied to Admiral Bobbery from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

Tattle
"He's the archaeologist, Kolorado. He's famous as both a scholar and an explorer. Unfortunately, he's also renowned for his carelessness. He's wild about treasures and ancient secrets, so he's always taking off around the world on some adventure."

- Goombario

Trivia

 * Kolorado is a parody of Indiana Jones, as they are both named after an American State (Kolorado is a homonym for Colorado), and they are both legendary archaeologists in their respective media. They also wear similar outfits and go on quests for unique artifacts. He is also similar to Flint Cragley from Super Paper Mario.