Ludwig von Koopa

Ludwig von Koopa is the oldest Koopaling and was Bowser's second-in-command until Bowser Jr. came along. Like the other Koopalings, not much of Ludwig's personality has been revealed; what is known is that he composes "Koopa Symphonies" and is somewhat arrogant and cruel; he is said to be the cruelest of all the Koopalings. He is also shown to be highly intelligent, such as when he built the gigantic robot in Yoshi's Safari, and is said to be the smartest of the Koopalings. In battle he displays feats such as making earthquakes and magic blasts, spitting fireballs, shooting lightning blasts from his hands and teleportation.

''Super Mario Bros. 3
In Super Mario Bros. 3, Ludwig was charged with taking over Pipe Land. Easily doing so with the aid of his airship and armies, Ludwig stole the wand of Pipe Land's king, whom he turned into either a Piranha Plant or Yoshi, depending on the version of the game.

Boarding Ludwig's airship, Mario managed to fight his way to Ludwig's cabin, there he engaged the Koopa prince in battle. Though fast and capable of making stunning earthquakes and magic blasts, Ludwig was defeated and his control over Pipe Land was at an end.

Super Mario Amada Series
Ludwig, as well as his siblings were featured in the Super Mario Amada Series, a set of three Japanese OVAs. In the Mario retelling of the story "Momotaro", Ludwig and his siblings appear as minions of Bowser, aiding him in abducting Princess Toadstool. In "Shirayukihime (Snow White)" Ludwig also appears as a minion of Bowser once again; like his brothers and sister, Ludwig ends-up being beaten by Mario.

Cartoons
Ludwig also appears prominently in DIC Entertainment's The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Super Mario World cartoon. Here, Ludwig was portrayed as having mad scientist-like personality, inventing various gadgets and doo-dads for his father. In the cartoons, Ludwig was renamed Kooky von Koopa, had somewhat messier hair, was smaller in size, had only one spike on his shell, and also possessed an extremely bizarre laugh. Also, Kooky wasn't the oldest Koopaling, as that position was taken by Bully. His personality was different too, as he didn't ever listen to classical music, and was never portrayed as a composer.

"Baby Ludwig", or more appropriately, Baby Kooky, has made his first appearance in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode, "Toddler Terrors of Time Travel", which had Kooky, as well as Mario, Luigi, Toad and Bowser, regressed to infant states due to a malfunction with a time machine.

Comics
Ludwig appeared in the Nintendo Comics System's Mario comics, as well as Mario's Nintendo Adventure Books. Ludwig also appears in the Super Mario Adventures comic, where he and his siblings aided Bowser in his attempt to marry Princess Peach.

He makes another short appearance in the Club Nintendo comic "Super Mario: Erholung? Nein, danke!", where he works as a mechanic for KoopAir. The plane he is working on takes off before he even finished his work.

''Super Mario World
After he was defeated by Mario, Ludwig was assigned to occupy the fourth world of Dinosaur Land, the Twin Bridges, in Super Mario World. Doing so, he then isolated himself in his castle where he composed Koopa symphonies, at least until Mario showed up to ruin his work.

During his battle with Mario, Ludwig attacked by spitting fireballs, sliding around in his spiked shell, and occasionally making huge leaps. Ultimately, he was defeated a second time by Mario who destroys Ludwig's castle by detonating explosive charges near the bottom of the building, sending it flying into a nearby hill. Subsequently the hill is bandaged in the spot it gets hit.

''Mario is Missing!
In Mario is Missing!, Ludwig, along with a few of his siblings, invaded Earth with his father as part of a plot to flood the world by melting Antarctica. Guarding a corridor of Bowser's headquarters, Ludwig would battle Luigi, who planned on stopping Bowser's plot and saving the kidnapped Mario. In the end, Ludwig was defeated in combat and Luigi managed to move on.

''Yoshi's Safari
Ludwig later helped his father conquer Jewelry Land during the events of Yoshi's Safari. The eldest Koopaling occupied the Mushroom Land region of the kingdom. In battle, Ludwig uses a large robot with four legs, a spiked shell and a retractable head (in which Ludwig himself is stationed). Two cannons are attatched to the head. The robot's weak spot is a large red area which Ludwig normally guards with the robot's head. However as he has to move while he shoots, the red spot often becomes temporarily visible, allowing Mario to destroy it. After the robot explodes, the pieces salvage themselves together into a fighter style mech, which has fists that fly off to attack Yoshi and Mario. In the end this robot is also destroyed, after which Ludwig concedes defeat.

''Hotel Mario
In Hotel Mario, Ludwig appears as the boss in Ludwig's Thump Castle Hotel in Ludwig's Frantic Lab. In this game, Ludwig displayed the previously unseen ability to teleport and shoot blast of lightning from his hands. Despite these new powers, Ludwig is still defeated by Mario.

''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
After years of absence, Ludwig finally made a reappearance in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Ludwig and his siblings (minus Bowser Jr.) act as guards in Bowser's Castle during Bowletta's invasion of the Beanbean Kingdom, presumably believing Bowletta to be their father. Like in Super Mario World, the eldest Koopaling attacked Mario and Luigi by shooting balls of fire and zooming around in his shell. Unfortunately, Ludwig was no match for the bros'. teamwork and was ultimately beaten.

Physical Appearance
Ludwig is best known to have large, wild blue hair (which was white in the sprites of Super Mario World ). It has recently been revealed that, unlike his brother Larry, Ludwig never combs or cleans his hair. He has one fully grown fang that always sticks out of his mouth, and his eyes are on the smaller side. Ludwig and Roy are the strongest of the Koopalings, but since Ludwig is also intelligent, that might make him a tougher opponent than Roy. In the cartoons he had messier hair and was smaller in size.

Personality
Ludwig is the oldest of the Koopalings, possibly making him a teenager. He speaks with a stereotypical German accent. He is somewhat cruel and arrogant, but is still very much into culture; he likes listening to classical music and a bit of opera. He is a composer himself, and composes "Koopa Symphonies" which, according to the comics, are terrible. Also, when Mario caused an explosion that "shook something loose in his brain" he claimed he could finally hear, and presumably discovered how bad his music was as a result; whether he still chooses to compose music or not is unknown. Ludwig is also an evil genius, and while he is considered smarter than his younger brother Iggy, he doesn't seem to be as much an inventor. He is portrayed in the cartoons as a mad scientist rather than an evil genius. He also seems to be into horror, as he had a horror-themed hotel in Hotel Mario.

Bio from The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 Writers Bible
''When Koopa's villainous schemes require sheer lunacy, he calls on Kooky. A graduate of Frankenstein University, Kooky loves to construct monsters in his basement lab in Kastle Koopa. He's responsible for many of the new villainous characters in SM3 [sic]. He built the Doomship. Kooky never showers or combs his hair. He sleeps during the day, if he ever sleeps at all. Eats nothing but candy and fried foods.

Trivia

 * Ludwig von Koopa is named after the famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Additionally, both Ludwigs have the same wild hair and both like to compose music.
 * A Sticker of Ludwig von Koopa can be collected in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Using it on a character in the Subspace Emissary will increase their explosive attacks by eight points.
 * Also, Ludwig was the only original Koopaling to get a sticker in that game.
 * Ludwig was originally going to appear in Super Princess Peach but he and the other Koopalings were removed.