Koopa Kid

"I'm here to cause trouble on behalf of Bowser."

- Koopa Kid

The Koopa Kids (Mini Bowsers in PAL regions) are minions of Bowser who only appear in the Mario Party series. They are called Minikoopa or Mini Koopa in Japan (Bowser's name in Japan is Koopa) and Baby Bowsers in Mario Parties 1, 2, and 3. The Koopa Kids resemble miniature versions of Bowser (and are therefore very similar in appearance to Bowser Jr. and Baby Bowser). A Koopa Kid also appears as a playable character in Mario Party 5 and Mario Party 6.

In the earlier games in the series, there appears to be an arbitrarily large number of Koopa Kids, as shown by minigames such as the Mario Party 3 mini-game Baby Bowser Bonkers, with the Koopa kids being capable of splitting themselves. Indeed, Mario Party 4 specifically refers to the Koopa Kid who appears on Bowser Spaces as "one of the Koopa Kids". However, starting in Mario Party 5, there seems to be only a single Koopa Kid of the regular coloration, likely due to his new playable status. The other Koopa Kids in the game are divided into color as mentioned below. However, more than standard Koopa Kid can appear at once in Mario Party 7 (where Koopa Kid is non-playable again) in Pyramid Park.

Mario Party 5 also introduced Green K. Kid, Red K. Kid, and Blue K. Kid (Green M. Bowser, Red M. Bowser and Blue M. Bowser in PAL versions) who, as their names imply, are colored differently. In Mario Party 5, their appearance occurs in the story mode, and they are shown to be the result of one Koopa Kid splitting into three. While they were first named in Mario Party 5, the ability for a Koopa Kid to split into three Koopa Kids first appeared in the final of the hard quest on Mini-Game Coaster of Mario Party 2.

In Mario Party 7, Koopa Kid is no longer playable. He has his own orb that Bowser sometimes sells in his shops. When it is obtained, it will add a Koopa Kid Space to the board.

Koopa Kids have seemingly been removed from the Mario Party series starting in Mario Party 8, likely in favor of Bowser Jr., who appears in Mario Party DS and onwards. This is further suggested by Bowser Jr. outright replacing Koopa Kid in the Mario Party: The Top 100 remastering of The Final Battle! from Mario Party 4.

Mario Party
The Koopa Kids made their debut appearance in Mario Party, as Bowser's henchmen. They are only seen on the final board of the game, Eternal Star.

After playing Bowser's Magma Mountain, Bowser will steal all the Stars that the player collected throughout the game and travel to Eternal Star. When the players find him, he forces them to challenge seven Koopa Kids to get the Stars back.

Each of the Koopa Kids is stationed in a different location on the game board, and can be challenged by any player for 20 coins. If this is done, the player will have to play a short minigame against the Koopa Kid. Both characters will hit a Dice Block, with the higher number winning. It is easy for the player to win, as the player's Dice Block is made to only roll 8-10. If the player wins, they get the Koopa Kid's Star and the Koopa Kid disappears from the board. However, if the Koopa Kid wins (which, as mentioned before, is unlikely), the Koopa Kid will take one of the player's Stars.

When all seven Koopa Kids are defeated, a new group appears and the player must start all over again. This continues until the game is completed. In the board's ending cutscene, the winning player uses the Stars to send the Koopa Kids and Bowser flying into space.

Mario Party 2
In Mario Party 2, Koopa Kid's role expanded slightly. A single Koopa Kid appears on every board in the game, in a similar capacity to Toad, who sells Stars. He is initially placed in one of several predetermined locations on the board alongside Toad, and every time that the Star is bought from Toad, he will move to Toad's previous location. If a player passes Koopa Kid, he will steal 5 Coins from that player. However, he occasionally gives a player 5 Coins instead, later claiming that this was an accident. He will always give the player coins if they are using a Bowser Suit.

Koopa Kids also appear in Item Minigames, where they often symbolize losing, such as the Koopa Kid space in Hammer Slammer. No Koopa Kids appear in Bowser Slots, however.

If a Bowser Bomb is collected by any player in an Item minigame, Koopa Kid will briefly be replaced by Bowser at the end of the turn, who will hit three Dice Blocks and then travel around the board, stealing all coins from any player he passes. This also occurs if someone lands on a Bowser Space and the roulette lands on Bowser's Appearing Act.

Several Koopa Kids appear in Bowser Land, including one who hosts the board instead of Toad. Another Koopa Kid hosts the Bowser Parade, allowing the player to change the direction of the parade for five coins (or for free if the player uses a Bowser Suit). Bowser Land's Bowser Banks are run by a unique blue, glasses-wearing Koopa Kid Banker. The secondary Item Shop on the board is also run by a red, monocle-wearing Koopa Kid Shopkeeper, who will forcibly sell players items for more Coins than usual.

At the end of the Mini-Game Coaster, Koopa Kid appears disguised as the mini game Toad and demanding the player to redo all of the events. Once the real Mini Game Toad unveils Koopa Kid's deceit, he forgoes his disguise and splits into three Koopa Kids. The three Koopa Kids then challenge the player character to a custom game of Shell Shocked in which a team of three Koopa Kid Tanks are faced.

Mario Party 3
In Mario Party 3, Koopa Kid ran his own Item Shop, which sometimes appears in place of Toad's, where he sold sneaky items such as Lucky Lamps, Reverse Mushrooms and Boo Bells. Like in Mario Party 2, Koopa Kids also appear in Item Minigames, where they once again often symbolize losing, such as the Koopa Kid space in Winner's Wheel.

In Duel Mode, Koopa Kid also appears as one of the possible partners. He isn't a default partner, but can be obtained through the lottery. His attack is one, and his health is one. He can occasionally turn into Bowser and deal triple damage when attacking; however, if the transformation fails, he deals no damage. Koopa Kid's salary is three coins per turn.

Mario Party 4
In Mario Party 4, a Koopa Kid would often come in place of Bowser whenever someone lands on a Bowser Space, and would steal 10 to 30 Coins from either the player who landed there, or from all the players. Sometimes, the Koopa Kid would then call Bowser after stealing coins, and a Bowser event would begin. In the Bowser Minigames, two Koopa Kids work as Bowser's servants; one of which is seen fanning him and the other one explains the rules to the game (which may be Fruits of Doom, Darts of Doom or Balloon of Doom) and in addition, he also brings the dart board to the players and announces the scores in Darts of Doom. The same two Koopa Kids appear in The Final Battle!, attacking the player with fireballs from Koopa Clown Car-like vehicles while the player solves a puzzle. One Koopa Kid also hosts the last board: Bowser's Gnarly Party and is seen selling items and hosting board games. Unlike other board hosts, this Koopa Kid appears identical to others. In addition, Koopa Kid can be unlocked as a playable character in Beach Volley Folley. This marks the first time when Koopa Kid is a playable character.

Mario Party 5
In Mario Party 5, Koopa Kid is a playable character, except in Story Mode and Card Party. In Story Mode, Koopa Kid splits up into Red K. Kid, Blue K. Kid and Green K. Kid, and the player has to steal all their coins on abridged versions of the regular boards to defeat them. Unlike in a normal game, all three Koopa Kids move at the same time. In Card Party, Koopa Kid shows up to cause trouble on the Bowser Card.

Mario Party 6
In Mario Party 6, Koopa Kid is again a playable character. The colored Koopa Kid trio also reappears as the player's opponents in Solo Mode's mini games. Unlike in Mario Party 5, Koopa Kid is playable in all game modes.

Mario Party Advance
In Mario Party Advance, Koopa Kids could be seen working with Bowser, and appear in some of his minigames, where the object was usually for the player to defeat them. Up to ninety-nine of them could appear at once. One main Koopa Kid appears throughout the game as Bowser's right-hand man, often appearing to antagonize the player by doing things such as stealing Mushrooms from them or flinging them somewhere else in Shroom City.

Mario Party 7
In Mario Party 7, Koopa Kid is no longer playable. Instead, he appears whenever someone lands on a Koopa Kid Space, and will do things such as swapping players' coins or positions, or use a Cursed Mushroom on the player/team who lands on his space. Red K. Kid, Blue K. Kid and Green K. Kid were also the main antagonists in the three multiplayer Bowser minigames, and they are seen operating the cannons in Bowser's Enchanted Inferno! A Koopa Kid is also seen as one of the hazards (alongside Bowser) in Bowser's Lovely Lift!.

Mario Party: The Top 100
Koopa Kids do not physically appear in Mario Party: The Top 100, only making a minor cameo on box art from previous games that can be viewed in the game's Collection.

Relationship with Bowser
In the English localization of the original Mario Party, Koopa Kid is simply introduced as "Bowser's Cohort". However, in the original Japanese version, the phrase that describes him is rather 「クッパさまのぶんしん」 "Kuppa-sama no bunshin". 「ぶんしん」 derives from the kanji 「分身」, which translates into "one's child" or "one's other self". Therefore, it can be interpreted as either "Master Koopa's Kid" or "Master Koopa's Avatar". Due to the ambiguity, it is unclear if Koopa Kid is specifically meant to be an offspring or offshoot. In the first three games, they were also identified as "Baby Bowser", yet despite the name, are not indicated to be a younger form of Bowser himself.

Certain lines in the sequels suggest an attempt to clarify the relationship. In Mario Party 4, a Koopa Kid refers to Bowser as "Dad" whenever he calls for him. In Mario Party 6, Bowser also grounds them by taking away their Mario action figure if they fail him, implying a parental-like relationship at the very least. In Mario Party 7, when a Koopa Kid would steal coins from a windmill in Windmillville during Bowser Time, Bowser would proudly refer to him as "Son"; however, Koopa Kids instead refer to him as "Mr. Bowser" and appear to work for a wage, expecting to get a raise from Bowser after causing trouble on a Koopa Kid Space.

Unlike the Koopalings in their earlier appearances as well as Bowser Jr., neither Bowser nor the Koopa Kids ever call each other with precisely familial terms in the Japanese versions.

Quotes

 * "This is a present from Master Bowser...I'm sure he dropped it or accidently left it behind!" - Mario Party 4
 * "Yeah! Like a London broil!!" - Mario Party 4
 * "It was supposed to be a slackers' game! Grr! This makes me so mad!" - Mario Party 7
 * "Gwa ha ha! It wasn't for slackers at all! The boss is going to love me for this!" - Mario Party 7

Trivia

 * In the Mario Party 5 artwork, Red Koopa Kid's and Blue Koopa Kid's shells are incorrectly colored green when they should be normally colored red and blue. All three are also shown with the rings around their horns and shell spikes colored according to their respective color rather than brown.
 * In the American version of the Mario Party 5 instruction booklet describing the Bowser Card of Card Party, Koopa Kid is erroneously referred to as Bowser Jr.
 * Both of this character's American names have been used by other Koopas in the Mario franchise. The name used from Mario Party to Mario Party 3 is "Baby Bowser", which is also the name of Bowser as an infant, and from Mario Party 4 to Mario Party 7 he is known as "Koopa Kid", which is the name used by the Koopalings in the cartoons.
 * Koopa Kid's Japanese and new PAL name, "Mini Koopa" and "Mini Bowser" respectively, are not used by other Koopas even once.