Talk:Ankoopa

Name
For future reference, the Prima guide for ML:SS refers to the Ankoopa as a "giant turtle". The term's consistent for a couple of pages, but it's hard to verify if it's consistent throughout.
 * The NP guide also refers to them as giant turtles. It's a very generic term, to the point where it seems silly to consider it an official name, but with a lack of a source for "Ankoopa", is it worth renaming the article?
 * What's the context? 16:41, 5 January 2016 (EST)
 * I can't speak for the NP guide (you'd have to ask Smasher), but for Prima:
 * "A giant Turtle[sic] blocks the passage to a cave to the right of the watering hole. (And, no, the Hammers the boys receive won't do the trick.)" (p. 58)
 * "Use Fire Tickle to make Luigi stiff-arm the giant turtles blocking the pathway." (p. 97)
 * "Barrel through the giant turtle to the east. Continue east. Knock over the giant turtle and take the yellow pipe back to the surface." (p. 98)
 * Those are the only mentions I could find.

generic or not, "ankoopa" is an invented name that makes No Sense. I'd rather have it changed. --Glowsquid (talk) 17:16, 5 January 2016 (EST)

Would it be reasonable to put in in if not put it in Big Koopa Troopa? 17:20, 5 January 2016 (EST)
 * That's definitely a conjectural name. Even if the authors meant "Koopa", they wrote "Turtle", so we're stuck with that. I also wouldn't put them in Big KT, since they have a noticeably different appearance and they all have that same dumb-sounding dialog that no other Koopa species has.
 * Honestly, I'd me much happier with "Giant Koopa (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)" than taking "giant turtle" far too literally as the name, which is basically conjectural too (only more misleading because then there'd be no template admitting we're grasping at straws). It's like how despite a Japanese manual talking about an enemy that was like a "kikai no sakana", we named the article Mechanical Fish - it's a much more straightforward and intuitive (for the majority English-speaking readers) conjectural title than if we'd pretended the Japanese description was the name, but since it's taken (and directly translated) from an official source, it's at least better than pulling a name out of a hat. In this case, "giant" comes from the "giant turtle" descriptions while "Koopa" comes from the fact that they're Koopas, and calling a spade a spade will be less confusing for readers and better for searches and whatnot. But even though "Ankoopa" does seem to have been made up, it's all over the Internet, so when we move the page, leave the redirect intact. Finally, leaving a separate page is better than merging it with Big Koopa Troopa because there are differences between these guys and regular Koopas (the overhanging shell and sheer pudginess), plus having the game in the page title will hopefully help convince folks looking for "Ankoopa" that this is still the page for them. - 18:26, 5 January 2016 (EST)

Merge with Big Koopa Troopa
In the remake, these things look identical to Big Koopa Troopas, the Japanese name doesn't distinguish them from regular Koopa Troopas, and they don't seem to have an official English name, so we're stuck with the horribly generic, facepalm-worthy name "Turtle." For that reason, I think we should merge this with Big Koopa Troopa. Its pudgy appearance in the original game can be written off as a design oddity. 20:50, 4 February 2019 (EST)
 * What about that wince-inducing "shell all the way behind the head" detail? Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 20:54, 4 February 2019 (EST)
 * What about the Cheep Cheeps in several N64 games, the Skeeters in Galaxy 2, and so many Super Mario Sunshine enemies? One-off design oddities do not a new species make. Especially when the remake seems to have settled on them being regular giant Koopa Troopas and our only other option is calling it a "turtle." 20:40, 8 February 2019 (EST)
 * I wasn't arguing, I was just bringing up an extraneous detail :P Anyways, I'm still not sure of this, through the Japanese name might be intended to be taken as a generic identifier. In the end, though, seeing these as Big Troopas may be the best we have. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 20:44, 8 February 2019 (EST)
 * I'm also not sure about this, though I'm leaning towards the idea that it's more of a replacement like Puffer-Cheep and Spiny Cheep Cheep or Psycho Kamek and Dr. Toadley. LinkTheLefty (talk) 07:42, 9 February 2019 (EST)
 * I would agree, but there's one major difference between Puffer-Cheeps and these things: Puffer-Cheeps have a proper name. Because of that, we are catering to the whims of incompetent guide writers and calling them "Turtles." It's not a real name, it's us grasping at straws because we can't find anything better. I suppose we could only merge the remake version and consider it a replacement along the lines of Spiny Cheep Cheep replacing Puffer-Cheep. However, I just don't think that the fat Koopas are distinct enough to split without an official name. That, and I just hate having a Koopa Troopa named "Turtle" on the wiki. 20:34, 10 February 2019 (EST)
 * I'm not sure wether to merge it to Koopa Troopa or to redirect it into Big Koopa Troopa either. Merge to Koopa Troopa, i'd say. -- 08:03, 9 February 2019 (EST)
 * I disagree most with merging it with the basic regular-sized variant because the game already has those Koopa Troopas. LinkTheLefty (talk) 13:08, 9 February 2019 (EST)

What to do with this article
This is a continuation of the above discussion in proposal form. To sum up, here's a rundown of the current situation:
 * The fat Koopa Troopas in ML:SS are redesigned to look exactly like Big Koopa Troopas in the 3DS remake.
 * These things do not have a known official name in English. Prima generically called them "Turtles." So thanks to their infuriating incompetence, we have a Koopa Troopa named "Turtle" on the wiki.
 * The Japanese name does not distinguish them from ordinary Koopa Troopas.

The way I see it, we have four ways to deal with this issue:


 * Merge with Big Koopa Troopa: My preferred solution. It gets rid of the "Turtle" issue, and the fatness can be considered a one-off design oddity. Mutliple enemies in Superstar Saga had off-model designs, so this is hardly a stretch.
 * Merge with Koopa Troopa: I don't agree with this at all for reasons mentioned in the above discussion, but I'll add it for the sake of completeness.
 * Consider the appearance of Big Koopa Troopas in the remake a replacement of the original species: Some species/characters were replaced in Bowser's Minions (Puffer-Cheeps with Spiny Cheep-Cheeps, Mecha-Chomps with Mechakoopas), so we could treat this like a replacement rather than a redesign. If this passes, A Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions section will be added to the Big Koopa Troopa article stating that they replaced the fat Koopas and BM will no longer be considered an appearance of the "Turtles." This doesn't get rid of the "Turtle" problem, though.
 * Do nothing: Self-explanatory.

Proposer: Deadline: February 26, 2019, 23:59 GMT

Merge with Big Koopa Troopa

 * 1) Per proposal.
 * 2) I'd see no harm in this.
 * 3) Per proposal.
 * 4) Per the original Hammer Bros. being Sledge Bro vultures. And literally being "big" versions of the Troopa NPCs, even if obese and malformed in the shell, as well as the wholly generic JP name.
 * 5) That "Turtle" name we have shouldn't have been a thing to begin with despite the Prima guide being a complete fuck up.
 * 6) I was kind of conflicted about this at first, but I see no reason as to why I shouldn't support this.

Merge with Koopa Troopa

 * 1) The Japanese guide simply considers them as a normal Koopa Troopa, so this seems to be the most appropriate option for me.

Consider the appearance of Big Koopa Troopas in the remake a replacement of the original species

 * 1) Wait, the case of Spiny Cheeps? Definitely, it was originally a Porcupine fish, and is now a Spiny Cheep Cheep. And let's say, it was originally an oversized normal Koopa Troopa before being the actual big variant.

Comments
The main issue I have with fully merging with Big Koopa Troopa is that the "big" enemies are scaled-up versions of the normal-sized enemies, whereas these Troopas also (originally) had different proportions and so I don't think that is exactly what the creators were trying to evoke (for example, a Fat Guy is not a Mega Guy). Additionally, that option still wouldn't completely resolve the issue of calling them "Turtles" since using contemporary names is part of policy, and since "Big Koopa Troopa" didn't enter use until nearly a decade later, we wouldn't be calling them Big Koopa Troopas when referring to Superstar Saga. LinkTheLefty (talk) 23:42, 11 February 2019 (EST)
 * Most instances of "turtle" seem to be lowercase, though, indicating it wasn't intended as a definite name. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 23:47, 11 February 2019 (EST)
 * I think there's no perfect solution in this case because it's the remake that's throwing a loop in this as well as Prima guide not helping at all and probably being counterproductive. I'd much prefer if we could keep information on the Superstar Saga Koopa and the remake Koopa in one spot if we can. It'll help with the searches and all. I also need to point out that the remake should count as "updated" information because we did rename that Boomerang Bro. to Beanerang Bro, so that argument on "since the name isn't used a decade earlier, we shouldn't be messing with the continuity [or something like that]", to me, is not really solid to me. 23:53, 11 February 2019 (EST)
 * @LinkTheLefty: That policy you cited also specifically says not to take Prima's blatant research errors at face value. And calling Koopa Troopas "turtles" is as blatant as it gets. If this merge happens, the proper "name at the time" would be "Giant Koopa," not "Turtle." As for the Fat Guy and Mega Guy point, well, it's easier to distinguish those because they are both officially named. The fat Troopas of ML:SS are not. Without that, I just can't take fatness as an indicator of an entirely new species. It's not like we consider Heff T. a member of a "Fat Toad" species, he's just a Toad who happens to be fat. 01:41, 12 February 2019 (EST)