Kings

"Hey you! How about lending me your clothes? No dice? What a drag!"

- Mushroom Kings

The Mushroom Kings are the monarchs of the various lands of the Mushroom World. They are first found in Super Mario Bros. 3. There are seven Mushroom Kings in total, and each was turned into a different creature by Bowser's children. The Kings do not have official names, although The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 gave some of them names, and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! even introduced several Mushroom King-like characters and their territories. Like Princess Toadstool, they have Toad helpers.

Super Mario Bros. 3
Not long ago, the evil Koopalings invaded the seven kingdoms of the Mushroom World. Each Koopaling came to the castle of the land and knocked out the Toad, then stomped the Mushroom King to steal his Magic Wand and transformed him into a creature. The evil Koopaling then ruled over the world in the king's place, the king being in his vunerable state, with Boom Boom and the Koopa Troop all over the kingdoms, until Mario and Luigi, sent by the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom came to help them, first starting with Grass Land.

To save a Mushroom King, the Mario Bros. have to go to his castle, where the Toad is pleading the heroes to save the world and return the Mushroom King back to the way he was, with the Magic Wand the Koopaling stole from him. After that, Mario and Luigi must defeat the Koopaling, destroy the airship and return the Mushroom King back into his human shape. As a Mushroom King, he thanks the Mario Bros. for saving him, he gives a letter from Princess Toadstool to Mario and receives a special item. Mario and Luigi may continue their way to the next kingdom of Dark Land after saving the Pipe Maze King. If the player manages to restore the Kings to their human forms while wearing a special suit, then they get a different answer for each different suit. With the Tanooki Suit, the King says "Thank you kind racoon! Please tell me your name?" With the Hammer suit he asks if they could lend him their clothes. With the Frog Suit, he asks if they want to be restored to their original form, thinking that they had been transformed into actual frogs.

In the GBA remake, Super Mario Advance 4, if the player defeated Bowser before saving the kings, upon selecting the castle, the player is treated to a cutscene where it shows the Koopaling of the respective world invading the castle, snatching the Magic Scepter, using it to transform the king, and then escaping seconds before Mario arrives. In addition, because Princess Toadstool would have been saved beforehand, the King will not give the player a letter from her. Each Mushroom Kings had been transformed into strange creatures by the Koopalings:
 * Grass Land King – Turned into a dog (a Cobrat in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
 * Desert Hill King – Turned into a spider (a Hoopster in the remakes).
 * Sea Side King – Turned into a kappa (a Dino Rhino in the remakes).
 * Big Island King – Turned into a dinosaur (Donkey Kong Jr. in the remakes).
 * The Sky King – Turned into a vulture (an Albatoss in the remakes).
 * Iced Land King – Turned into a seal (a Monty Mole in the remakes).
 * Pipe Maze King – Turned into a Venus Fire Trap (Green Yoshi in the remakes).

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 created personalities for several rulers. Many, if not all, of them also looked different.


 * Prince Hugo – the new ruler of Giant Land (likely making him different from the king seen in Super Mario Bros. 3)
 * The Sultan – the ruler of a palace that may be in Desert Land
 * King Mackerel – the ruler of Mertropolis, a domed underwater city
 * Wizard King of the West – the wizard of an unknown location that resembles Sky Land
 * King Windbag – the ruler of a domain implied to be Ice Land
 * Emperor Ed – the ruler of Sky Land

Trivia

 * If Mario defeats a Koopaling as Tanooki Mario, Hammer Mario, or Frog Mario, the King says one of the following:
 * "Thank you, kind raccoon. Please, tell me your name."
 * "Hey you! How about lending me your clothes? No dice? What a drag."
 * "Oh my! You have been transformed! Shall I change you back?"
 * The king of Sea Side bears a striking resemblance to Mario, possibly due to the castle being on four islands that resemble Japan. The castle is in a location near Kyoto, Nintendo's headquarters.