Kamek

"Welcome! It's time to face my magic!"

- Kamek

Kamek is an old, yet powerful Magikoopa and apparent advisor to Bowser (or at least high-ranking member in the Koopa Troop). He first appears in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. He is also Baby Bowser's caretaker, and continues to look after Bowser, even in the present day. Because of this, he is generally considered to be Bowser's stepfather or at least his primary parental figure. Kamek's name comes from the name for the Magikoopa species in Japanese: Kamekku (カメック), which is derived from kame, the Japanese word for "turtle". He is the main villain of the Yoshi series.

Various unnamed Magikoopas appearing in the Mario series are considered to be Kamek, often due to the parallels between their relationship with Bowser or their position in the Koopa Troop. In the case of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, this assumption stems from the character having "Kamek" in his name, and not from the so-called Psycho Kamek's portrayal, which bears little resemblance to Kamek himself.

Super Mario Adventures
An unnamed Magikoopa character extremely similar to Kamek appears in Nintendo Power's Super Mario Adventures comic, which was created at least four years before his introduction in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. This Magikoopa acted like a second-in-command to Bowser and was in charge of his wedding to Princess Toadstool, doing such duties as creating a giant wedding cake for the occasion and overseeing Bowser's troops and the Yoshis he had enslaved.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Kamek makes his true debut appearance in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and its remake Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 as the main antagonist of the game. Using his crystal ball, Kamek foresees that Mario and Luigi, who were born that night, would cause great trouble for the Koopa Troop and for Bowser in the future. Deciding to capture Baby Mario and Baby Luigi before they could become a threat to the Koopa Troop, Kamek attacks the Stork that is delivering the babies to their parents. However, Kamek only managed to kidnap Baby Luigi during his attack, and Baby Mario falls to Yoshi's Island below during the scuffle.

Returning to his castle, Kamek, discovering that he made an mistake, becomes extremely upset. He sends out his minions, the Toadies, to go out in search for Baby Mario. Meanwhile, Baby Mario is found by the Yoshis, who help him track down and try and rescue his abducted brother. Before a boss is fought by a Yoshi and Baby Mario, Kamek would appear to taunt the Yoshi before using his magic to increase the boss enemy's size (except on one occasion).

When Yoshi and Baby Mario reach the entrance to Baby Bowser's Castle, Kamek tries to stop them from entering it by flying into them on his broom while Yoshi tries to fly across a large gap as the Yoshi Helicopter. Later on in the castle, when Yoshi enters Kamek's own chambers, Kamek attacks him directly, teleporting around his room, trying to blast Yoshi with his magic scepter, which turns the blocks scattered throughout his room into enemies and stars, as well as injuring Yoshi.

Once Yoshi passes through his room, Kamek appears before Yoshi in Baby Bowser's room, and demands that Yoshi gives back Baby Mario; awakened by Kamek's shouting at Yoshi, the irritated Baby Bowser complains about Kamek provoking him and smashing him as flat as paper before Baby Bowser tries to ride Yoshi. Once Baby Bowser is defeated by Yoshi, Kamek appears and uses his magic to increase Baby Bowser's size to gigantic, causing him to destroy his castle in the process. After Baby Bowser's giant form is beaten by Yoshi and Baby Bowser is reverted to his normal form, Kamek appears and, after grabbing Baby Bowser, declares to return before flies off into the moon with Baby Bowser, leaving Yoshi to rescue Baby Luigi and the Stork.

Kamek also appears as the main threat of the Extra Level "Kamek's Revenge" and a minor threat towards the end of the Secret Level "Endless World of Yoshis" (a.k.a. Crazy Maze Days). Both encounters are similar to his encounter in King Bowser's Castle in that he tries to smash into Yoshi and Baby Mario while flying around on his broom. However, his big mouth gives him away as he shouts something and flies towards Yoshi.

Tetris Attack
In Tetris Attack, Kamek, along with the adult self of Bowser, puts a curse on Yoshi's Island, brainwashing the bulk of its inhabitants to serve them. Kamek appears as the penultimate boss in the hard difficulty setting, after encountering Hookbill the Koopa and Naval Piranha on Mt. Wickedness. He is fought alongside his Toadies, and once he is beaten the player fights Bowser. Kamek is also playable in two player mode.

Yoshi Touch & Go
Kamek once again attacks the Stork and steals away Baby Luigi in Yoshi Touch & Go. What happens next depends on the mode played. In some scenarios, the Stork will get Baby Luigi back, and in others, Yoshi must "battle" Kamek's Toadies to get Baby Luigi back. In all modes, Kamek will appear to kidnap Baby Mario if Yoshi is to befall one of his traps. Challenge Mode actually places Yoshi in a race against time as a meter (which can be expanded second-by-second with the destruction of an enemy or collection of any sort of Coin) counts off the moments before an invincible Kamek appears to attack Yoshi and steal Baby Mario.

Yoshi's Island DS
During Yoshi's Island DS, Kamek is once again the main antagonist, alongside Bowser. Kamek travels back in time with the adult self of Bowser in search of the Star Children, seven babies whose hearts possess unimaginable power. Kamek is shown with his Toadies kidnapping several babies, trying to obtain the Star Children. Like in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Kamek appears before every boss battle to give an enemy monster an advantage in battle (usually making them gigantic). After Bowser is beaten in combat by Yoshi, Kamek once again uses his magic to turn Bowser gigantic. Despite this, Bowser is still beaten by a team of Yoshis and Kamek and his master are forced to retreat.

The Kamek of the past makes a brief cameo in Yoshi's Island DS; when Baby Bowser is kidnapped by Kamek of the present, he can be seen yelling for Baby Bowser to be returned. This Kamek's palette seems to be based off of that of the original Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, while the Kamek from the future looks just like he did in Yoshi Touch & Go.

Yoshi's New Island
Kamek appears in the Nintendo 3DS game, Yoshi's New Island as the main antagonist alongside Baby Bowser. He once again attempts to kidnap the Baby Mario Bros. from the stork, but only succeeds in kidnapping Baby Luigi again. He once again power up the game's bosses, but through use of a giant magical hammer this time. He is also fought as the boss of the forts in the game (much like Bowser Jr. and Boom Boom), marking the first time he is directly a boss in the Yoshi series. The Kamek of the present timeline makes a surprise appearance with the present Bowser as the true final bosses, where during the second phase, Kamek would appear and launch fireballs at Yoshi. After the battle, Kamek and Bowser transform into a star and are transported back to their present timeline.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, a brainwashed Magikoopa appears as a boss. This Magikoopa is intended to be Kamek due to him being old friends with Bowser and, if players read his mind with Mallow's Psychopath ability, the Magikoopa will state "That's... my child?", referring to Bowser, whom he raised. However, when the game was translated to English, the translators forgot about giving the name "Kamek" to the individual Magikoopa character and, as a result, Kamek was called "Magikoopa" in the English release. This has caused confusion among fans and led many to believe it was another character altogether.

In the Japanese version, the character has the name "Kamezādo" (カメザード, literally "Turtle Wizard") and his Psychopath line is 「キイーッウキイーーッ！　あの時の赤んぼう！？」 "Kiiukiii! The baby from that time!?", again implying that he is the Magikoopa from Yoshi's Island. However, the name has not been used again.

After he is defeated, he makes a Coin Block that has an infinite amount of coins appear for the player, and will fully heal them when spoken to.

Club Nintendo
Kamek is featured as a recurring villain in the Mario comics in the German edition of Club Nintendo, the German equivalent to GoNintendo, first appearing in the story "Mario in Mariozilla", in which he tries to shrink Mario. His plan fails, and Mario grows to an enormous size, resulting in a fight between the two of them. The power of Kamek's broom unintentionally shrinks them both, and only Dr. Light is able to transform them back. At the end of the story, Kamek and Mario give each other a hug. Kamek also appears in Club Nintendo's adaptations of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Story (despite not appearing in Yoshi's Story).

Mario Kart series
A Magikoopa appears to be a playable character in early screenshots of Mario Kart 64, although this being Kamek has yet to be officially proven. The Magikoopa character was eventually replaced by Donkey Kong.

Kamek makes a small cameo appearance in both Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. In the former, Kamek can be seen floating back and forth near the finish line at Bowser Castle 3. In the latter, a sign advertising "KAMEK'S MAGIC SHOW" with an animated image of Kamek above it can be seen in Baby Park. This Kamek sign can also be seen in the Mario Kart DS version of Baby Park.

Mario Party 2
Kamek first appears in the Mario Party series in Mario Party 2 on the Horror Land board, where he offers the player the Darkness Lamp, which, should the player accept, changes the board to night.

Mario Party 5
In Mario Party 5, a Kamek Orb can be obtained; when used on a space, this orb summons Kamek, who will proceed to shuffle everyone's orbs around.

Mario Party 6
In Mario Party 6, the Kamek Orb must again be used on a space, and when an opponent player lands on it it summons Kamek, who will change their Character Spaces into Character Spaces for the player who originally used the Orb.

Mario Party Advance
Kamek also appears as the famous Game Mage in Mario Party Advance; Monty Mole, Hoot the Owl, and Amp all mention him when their quests are cleared. If players can find Kamek's location, he will challenge them to a mini-game, the winner of that mini-game becoming the Game Master. If players defeat Kamek he will explain that he has left Bowser's forces due to Bowser simply taking the title of Game King instead of earning it. The end credits for Mario Party Advance say that Kamek had "forgiven Bowser and rejoined his side."

Mario Party 7
In Mario Party 7, the Kamek Orb is again used on a space, and if a player lands on this space, three of their orbs are taken by Kamek and given to whoever originally used the Kamek Orb.

Mario Party 8
In Mario Party 8, Kamek (misnamed Magikoopa) appears on Bowser's Warped Orbit. If a player lands on the nearby Green Space, he'll switch that character's candy with someone else's. He also makes appearances on other boards, usually summoned by a Green Space.

Mario Party DS
In Mario Party DS, Kamek is the one who acts out the first stage of Bowser's plan, by delivering the invitations to dinner at Bowser's Castle to Mario and his friends. Later on in the story mode, Kamek is fought as a boss in his own board Kamek's Library, in the minigame Book Bash. There are also several collectible items that belong to Kamek, including his fountain pen.

Mario Party 9
Kamek (referred to as Magikoopa in North America) is one of Bowser's minions in Mario Party 9 along with Shy Guy. In Solo Mode he appears randomly in the boards, and if he or Shy Guy wins, the player has to play through the board again, though if they tie with the player the player moves onto the next stage. When the player finishes Solo Mode, both Kamek and Shy Guy will become playable characters. Although other Magikoopas have been playable in the Mario Baseball games, this is the first game since Tetris Attack where Kamek himself is playable.

Mario Party: Island Tour
Kamek is seen riding his broomstick in Mario Party: Island Tour. Here he owns a board known as Kamek's Carpet Ride. He also has two items that appear in Perilous Palace Path. These are the Crazy Kamek, which summons him to switch the user's space with another randomly-chosen player, and the Chaos Kamek, which switches everyone's spaces like the Bowser Shuffle event from Mario Party 3.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
At the beginning of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, a desperate Baby Bowser, after his botched attempt to kidnap Baby Peach before the Shroob attack on Princess Peach's Castle, calls Kamek to pick him up in the Koopa Cruiser.

Rather than pick up the prince directly, Kamek instead sends members of the Koopa Troop to help him find Baby Bowser, while Kamek himself remained at Baby Bowser's Castle. After Baby Bowser crash-lands the Koopa Cruiser into the castle, Kamek desperately begins to search for his charge. Before he finds Baby Bowser, Kamek notices the Mario Brothers and recognizes the babies as those he had once tried to kidnap. Assuming they meant the worst, Kamek magically summons Boos and Goombas to attack the brothers. The quartet quickly defeat the enemies, and in his haste to find Baby Bowser, Kamek is forced to leave, letting the brothers go undefeated.

Once Kamek finds the Koopa's crown prince, the pair set out to reclaim the Cobalt Star Shard that the brothers had taken from the castle. Kamek and Bowser were able to find the brothers at the Vim Factory, where they took both their Shard and the one Mario and Luigi had taken from Swiggler. The pair proceeds to escape to Yoshi's Island. However, Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi quickly discover their hiding place. On the island, Kamek is reduced to running errands for Baby Bowser, including stealing Yoshi Cookies for him. When the brothers attempt to reach the island, the Magikoopa uses his magic powers to create fires that deter them throughout their quest to defeat the resting Baby Bowser at the island's cliffs. In a last ditch attempt to stop the Mario Bros., Kamek fights them directly.

In battle, Kamek has 601 HP and uses a mixture of the Magikoopa attacks from Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. First, he will throw spike balls at either brother which has to be countered with a Hammer but he occasionally throws a Mushroom, inadvertently healing the heroes. When he has only 110 HP left, he heals himself with 206. After that he will make multiple copies of himself, which are indistinguishable from the original except for the fact that any deflected attacks only return to the real Kamek, and that the real Kamek follows a little other floating up-down pattern than the fakes. Multi-hit items will hit Kamek and all his copies. After Kamek takes enough hits, he will fall off of his broom. He will throw fire using his scepter and if it only hits one Bro. or less, Kamek himself will catch on fire (though this does not damage him) and charge towards the brother that the fire was intended for which can be stopped by hitting him with a Hammer. Then, after two turns, he will get back on his broom. Unlike other bosses in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, after his defeat, he will appear to explode like a normal enemy. After his defeat, Kamek does not appear again until the epilogue after the defeat of the Shroobs, traveling back to Baby Bowser's Castle with Prince Bowser.

Kamek sports an apron while on Yoshi's Island. He uses it to store important items such as his scepter and broom and is never shown performing such tasks as cooking or cleaning. Kamek's role as a parental figure was a primary source of comic relief whenever the Magikoopa appeared; he would often have to perform duties similar to those of a normal parent; but twisted to fit with Bowser's need for evil (for instance, he once had to get Baby Bowser 'evil milk' from 'an evil cow').

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
In Dimble Wood, a Magikoopa instructs Bowser on how to use his punch and fire breath. Another Magikoopa is seen treating Bowser's wounds during the credits, and again at the end informing Bowser of the arrival of Birdley. It is never specified whether or not this Magikoopa is Kamek, though, at the end of the game, the same Magikoopa appears to have a similar personality to Kamek, so it is assumed that the Magikoopa is him. It may also be worth noting that a downloadable wordsearch available on the game's website has his name in it, along with several other major characters names from the game.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
"Actually... Yeah, you know, this frilly pink thing is pretty darn cute, I must say. I mean, those blue robes are just so DRAB. Sometimes I open the closet and just gag."

- Kamek

Kamek, this time explicitly referred to as such, reappears as the tertiary antagonist and recurring boss in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.

He first appears on Pi'illo Island in Mushrise Park with Bowser as Mario explores Dreamy Mushrise Park. Kamek often appears with Bowser and later Antasma throughout the story, although his first major role is not apparent until after Mario and Luigi defeat Mount Pajamaja in Dreamy Mount Pajamaja. While Princess Peach is waiting for the Bros. at Pi'illo Castle, Kamek abducts her unknowingly to anyone and takes her place by disguising as her. He plans to enter the Dream World under her guise to sneak enemies in there. He, as Peach, asks Toadsworth to escort her to Driftwood Shore for she feels the need to go into hiding from Bowser, who has recently built a new castle with the help of Antasma and the Dream Stone.

With the help of Broque Madame, "Peach" and Toadsworth are disguised as Brocks in exchange for giving her massages. Shortly after, Mario and Luigi are sent here by Broque Monsieur to find Peach. Realizing he could use them for this purpose, "Peach" expresses the wish to go into further hiding in the Dream World. Mario, Luigi, Starlow, Prince Dreambert, and Toadsworth agree without hesitation. After meeting Seadric the Seadring, a dream genie, and using Dream Eggs retrieved from his siblings (Seabell, Seatoon and Seabury) to expand the Dream World, Mario and Luigi go in to investigate and make sure the path ahead is safe. "Peach" follows soon after, because she became "too worried". She also requests that Mario and Dreamy Luigi save their game before entering the final door, warning them it might be dangerous, ironically in doing so, Kamek inadvertently helps the Bros.

After entering the door, "Peach" starts to act more and more suspicious, to the extent she flirts with Mario slightly. The Bros. are puzzled, then Kamek's trademark laugh is heard and he reveals himself, amused that they hadn't seen through his disguise earlier and reveals his true intentions. He says that he's taken a shine to Peach's dress since the last time he wore it, and that it's so much better than his drab blue robes, and then summons Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy, and Corporal Paraplonk to take care of the Bros.

After the Elite Trio's defeat, Kamek frowns down at the trio and demotes them to janitorial duty, telling them to scrub the castle floors and sending them back to Neo Bowser Castle in the Real World, Kamek following soon afterwards. In Neo Bowser Castle, Kamek is seen mixing up the doorways to make it harder for the Bros. to progress, afterwards fleeing into the Dream World. He repeats this three times, except the third time, Kamek doesn't get time to mix up the doorways, and thus just flees into the Dream World without doing so. In Dreamy Neo Bowser Castle, Mario fights Kamek three times, due to him fleeing during battle the first two times.

The first fight (in Area A) is with Kamek, but later into the battle he creates four clones to confuse Mario with. Before Kamek is fought the second time (in Area B), he is seen disguised as Peach, his attempts to trick Mario and Dreamy Luigi failing. The fight that follows is with Kamek who commands an army of Dry Bones. The third and final battle is with Kamek and a green Kamek clone, a red Kamek clone and a white Kamek clone, who all have their own behaviour patterns and stats.

After Kamek is defeated in the third battle, he remains on the floor until Mairo and Luigi leave the area. Kamek then flies off to look for Bowser, and reappears during the battle with Giant Bowser, commanding the squad of Magikoopas with him and leading the magical energy ball attack. When Giant Bowser is felled, Kamek appears, and with the co-operation of several other Magikoopas, increases Bowser's size further, yet unintentionally getting flung off the platform as a result. In spite of the fact that the trajectory would have most likely flung him into the lava, Kamek again is not killed, as he is seen with Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy, Corporal Paraplonk, and a severely weakened Bowser, escaping from the island on the Koopa Clown Car. The villains soon encounter a shower of coins from the Dream Coin, which causes Private Goomp and Sergeant Guy to shake the car so much it plummets into the ocean, prompting Kamek and Paraplonk to fly down and rescue them.

In the first battle with him, Kamek can attack by creating magical shapes with his wand, sending them upwards and having four of the shape created surround Mario from all four sides, the real version of the shape floating into Mario from a particular angle depending on what shape it is. Mario must face the shape from its floating path, and destroy the shape with a swing of the hammer to avoid taking damage. If he creates a blue circle, the real one of the four will be the southern circle. If he creates a green square, the real one of the four will be the northern square.
 * Battle 1

After taking a certain amount of damage, Kamek will split into five identical duplicates, four being clones who disappear after getting struck and one being the real Kamek who takes damage as a signal he's the real one. Occasionally they will shuffle amongst each other to confuse Mario - the real Kamek can be identified as the one that snickers to himself after the shuffle.

With his clones when they're all on brooms, Kamek can attack by lining up with them, all five moving up for a split second on the spot for a brief moment, having them all prepare a magical blast which starting from the southmost Kamek, will fire straight forward in a downwards arc. After the northernmost fires, they will all float down and fly straight ahead, the real Kamek dropping down to nearly ground-level at the last moment. Mario must remember which Kamek moved upwards last as that would be the real one, jump over the magical blasts and then line himself up with that Kamek to jump over or on to him to avoid taking damage.

In the second battle with Kamek, he keeps his magical shape attack, but uses a wider variety of shapes. If he creates an upright red triangle, the real one of the four will be the eastern triangle. If he creates an upside-down red triangle, the real one of the four will be the western triangle.
 * Battle 2

Kamek also still duplicates into five, but instead attacks with his clones by having them all spawn three enemies one by one in a row that could either be a Spiny or a Goomba. After three have been created by each, the enemies may be swapped between rows before they move towards Mario, Mario having to line up with the row with three Goombas to jump and bounce off each in order to avoid damage and possibly counter-attack if the real Kamek is in that row.

In the third battle, Kamek keeps his magical shape attack, but instead of cloning into five, he clones into four and colours his three clones green, red and white, each one with different abilities and stats. Kamek attacks with these clones by creating a blue ring and stacking it with the rings of the creator's respective colours that the clones create, the rings closing up in a set order and speed, Mario having to jump as the rings close to avoid taking damage. If any Kamek is defeated, their ring will not appear in this attack and will thus be skipped. Kamek is the last to close up his ring, his ring widening up quickly then closing at a smooth yet fast pace.
 * Battle 3

On his own, Kamek can chase Mario on his broom into the background, where rows of three Thwomps appear and Kamek attempts to blast Mario with a wave of magic. Mario must run in line with the Thwomps who pound the ground before he reaches them; going under the Thwomps who idle before Mario reaches them will result in them crushing Mario when he goes under them while the Thwomps who smashed the ground already idle. In order to avoid the blasts Kamek fires, Mario must jump over them with good timing or move to the left if Kamek is flying on the right and vice versa. If Kamek is in the middle, Mario must jump to avoid the blasts as they cover the whole running area. If Mario survives three waves of Thwomps, Mario will make it under a fourth wave of Thwomps automatically just before they crash into the ground, Kamek flying right into them and taking damage as a result, the attack ending. Getting hit by either Kamek's blasts or the Thwomps will result in the attack ending.

Mario Superstar Baseball
While Kamek does not appear in Mario Superstar Baseball, he is mentioned in the Magikoopa trophy, being described as "the best Magikoopa".

Super Princess Peach
In Super Princess Peach, Kamek reappears as Giant Kamek (Japanese デカメック Dekamekku), working for Bowser once again. After the Mario Bros. and several Toads are kidnapped by the Army Hammer Bro., Kamek is trusted with safeguarding the captured Luigi. Upon Princess Peach and her talking umbrella Perry's arrival at the section of Giddy Sky where Luigi is held captive, they find the green-clad plumber trapped in a bubble with Kamek watching over him. When Peach attempts to approach her friend, Kamek interrupts the reunion with a magical spell that sends Luigi flying. The Magikoopa then flies around before being inveloped in magical rings that make him grow giant-sized, he then attacks. Kamek's ensemble is different from his other appearances: His robe is now purple and covers his whole body (Though his underclothes are still blue, shown when he attacks) with matching shoes and hat. Kamek's scepter is also enormous and floats at the wizard's side instead of being held by him.

During the battle, Kamek levitates in the air, periodically teleporting from place to place. This teleporting can be tracked via his wand, which moves around to stay by his side. Kamek frequently fires the magic blast typical of Magikoopas from his scepter. These either come in bursts of three or five, or occasionally three shots in succession that home in on the princess. Kamek will also summon Magikoopas on brooms to ram the princess, some of which carry Vibe Crystals which drop to the ground on defeat. A cloud moves in a circular fashion in the center of the battleground, which is the easiest way to get to Kamek and strike the Wizard with his weakness: Wind.

If Peach attacks Kamek's face with Joy's whirlwind, Kamek's head will spin 360 degrees multiple times before stopping, leaving him dizzy and vulnerable to any method of attack. Kamek's face is the only solid part of his body, Peach will pass harmlessly through his robe. When Kamek's HP is reduced to 2 points, he starts using Gloom, his robes and clothing turning blue and starting to cry. The cloud is destroyed and Peach must now use Joy to fly up to Kamek as well as stun the Magikoopa. His magic comes faster and he also teleports more frequently. Despite his powers, Kamek is defeated by the teamwork of Peach and Perry in the end.

Unlike the other bosses, who explode upon being defeated, Kamek turns transparent and disappears, hinting that he survived the battle (enforced by his appearance in New Super Mario Bros. Wii). Luigi then falls from the sky, his bubble popping, and has a happy reunion with the princess, though she apparently does not remember his name, the game's dialogue calling him a "strange green man". Peach, Luigi, Perry and the Toads then travel to Bowser's Villa to confront the villain and rescue Mario.

Kamek must be battled again post-game to unlock the extra stages in Bowser's Villa.

The glossary of Super Princess Peach refers to Kamek as "A Kamek made huge by magic." Because "Kamek" is the Japanese name of both the Kamek character and the species known as "Magikoopa" in Western localizations, Giant Kamek may actually be a generic Magikoopa and not the genuine Kamek due to translation errors (which would explain the seemingly improper article "a" being applied to him). However, because Giant Kamek is clad in robes that are not the same as the Magikoopas he summons, it is still likely that he is the true Kamek due to this form of distinction. The fact that Giant Kamek was guarding Luigi, a hostage of major importance, also supports the theory that he was indeed intended to be accepted as the Kamek character, as naturally Bowser's best wizard would be suitable for the job of guarding Luigi.

Super Mario Galaxy
"So long! Enjoy your flight!"

- Kamek

In Super Mario Galaxy, Kamek makes a small appearance in one of the opening cutscenes. As Mario tries to enter Princess Peach's Castle after being lifted into space, Kamek appears. He attacks Mario with his magic, sending him, Luma and other debris flying off into space. The Magikoopa's identity as Kamek is confirmed by the description, quoted below, on his official Super Mario Galaxy trading card, along with the Prima guide book. Although his appearance is small, it marks his return in the main series and he has stayed in it since.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Kamek appears in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where he is the main antagonist alongside Bowser, playing a similar role to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island DS. Right before the second battle against a Koopaling in their Castle, he will use his magic to make the battle more difficult for the heroes, dropping magic dust over the room that makes something happen that is unique to each Koopaling. He is also seen carrying Bowser Jr. after his first two battles with him, and is the boss of the Eighth World's tower.

Here is what he does in each world:
 * World 1: He divides the floor into fifths and causes it to alternate rising and falling.
 * World 2: He causes five giant Warp Pipes to protrude from the ceiling that Roy Koopa can shuffle around in.
 * World 3: He causes Lemmy Koopa's circus ball to multiply in size and become huge.
 * World 4: He floods Wendy O. Koopa's room, rendering her invincible to jump attacks at that time.
 * World 5: He causes the Chain Chomp that is attached to Iggy's carriage to multiply in size.
 * World 6: He lowers the floor and when Morton Koopa Jr. ground pounds, the two pillars around him shoot up.
 * World 7: He turns the floor into three rising platforms and upgrades Ludwig von Koopa's shot to four blasts.
 * World 8: Tower: He causes the floating blocks to move around. Castle: He makes Bowser huge.

In the battle of his fortress, Kamek casts magic on the field, causing the whole arena to start sidescrolling to the left. Kamek teleports onto the field, casting his own type of magic as well. If the bolts land onto the sidescrolling blocks, it turns into a random enemy. Of course, Kamek can teleport himself anywhere else along the field. Again, it takes three stomps to take down the Magikoopa. He does not spin around in a shell when stomped and also unlike the Koopalings, when Kamek retreats from the fortress, he returns to the Airship instead of the Castle. He is next seen kidnapping Peach off of the Airship and taking her to Bowser's Castle.

Kamek later appears for the finale in Bowser's Castle. After the Koopa King's defeat, the princess inside the cage turns around, revealing that "she" was actually Kamek dressed as Peach in order to fool Mario and co. In another reference to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Kamek turns Bowser giant with his magic, but before the final battle commences, the enlarged Koopa King accidentally knocks Kamek off his broom.

If a player loses a life and re-enters the fight from the save point, Kamek is not in the cage. However, if Bowser's Castle is started from the beginning a second time (after Bowser is defeated), the disguised Kamek scene is there again. This holds true for all runs of Bowser's Castle from the beginning.

New Super Mario Bros. U
Kamek reappears in New Super Mario Bros. U (and New Super Luigi U) as a major antagonist and boss. In addition to starting the purple tornado that shrouds Peach's Castle, Kamek appears at the beginning of Boom Boom boss fights (from Layer-Cake Desert onwards) to empower him, by giving him new abilities, or enlarging him. Kamek also appears at Screwtop Tower to empower the boss of the tower, Boss Sumo Bro. Kamek makes his appearance as a boss in Slide Lift Tower, where he uses magic blocks which contains enemies to crush the players and shoot magic blasts that turn the blocks of the floor into donut lifts upon contact. Finally, Kamek makes one last appearance at the end of the first Bowser fight in The Final Battle, where he is unconscious and being held by Bowser Jr., who wakes him up and convinces him to turn Bowser into Giant Bowser to fight off the Mario Bros. Kamek is not seen anywhere in the ending.

Super Smash Bros. series
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Kamek gets a very minor appearance as two Stickers. One sticker shows him casting a spell. This sticker, if used in the Subspace Emissary by a specific character, will raise the power of the character's magic attacks by thirteen. The second sticker is Kamek riding his broom, which raises the selected character's indirect special power by five.

Kamek is also shown to appear in the Mushroom Kingdom U stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, where he transforms the stage's layout and appearance.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Kamek appears in the 3DS version of Mario & Sonci at the London 2012 Olympic Games as a rival of the BMX event.

Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games
Kamek appears in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games as a rival in the Legends Showdown mode. He is found in Area 2, and is raced against in Bullet Bill Sledge Race.

Paper Mario series
Kamek may have been the unnamed Magikoopa seen delivering news to Kammy Koopa in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and/or the one standing by Bowser in the opening scene of Super Paper Mario. However, since neither Magikoopas are referred to by name or have much dialogue, this remains unconfirmed. Also, unused text for the game reveals an enemy called "Kamek's Apprentice". No sprites or images have been found for the enemy, however.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star
"Well, well, well. Very impressive. You two somehow managed to make it all the way here. Eventually."

- Kamek

Kamek makes his official debut in the Paper Mario series in the Nintendo 3DS game Paper Mario: Sticker Star, behaving similarly to Kammy Koopa in past Paper Mario games. He is first encountered in World 1-3, Water's Edge Way, near the Comet Piece, immediately facing Mario in battle. At the beginning of the battle, Kamek is aided by two Goombas. In every battle, Kamek sits on his broom, making him immune to any ground and low-altitude attacks. Kamek attacks by firing a magic blast at Mario, as well as flying near him and whirling his broom at him. When Mario defeats Kamek, he paperizes, removes the Comet Piece, and flings it away before leaving.

In World 2-2, he fights Mario when Mario is on the tongue of the Yoshi Sphinx. When he is fought, he turns all of Mario's stickers into Flip-flops. In addition, he is also revealed to have been directly responsible for the Drybake Stadium's disappearance. In World 3, he splits Wiggler's body into pieces and scatters them across the forest. In World 4, Kamek comes to the Enigmansion. He finds the Book of Sealing and opens it up, causing a swarm of Boos to come out and haunt the mansion. He then watches as Mario puts all the Boos back into the book. When Mario puts the Book of Sealing back on its pedestal, Kamek comes out of hiding and uses his magic to transform all the Boos into one Big Boo to fight Mario.

When he is fought in Bowser's Castle, he uses his magic to turn all of Mario's stickers into Flip-flops once again, and he can also split up into clones. When Mario defeats him in Bowser's Sky Castle, he dissolves into ash. Despite this, Kamek is revealed to have survived as shown in the end parade, where he introduces the Koopa Troop. He also has his own theme when he appears.

Kamek's reaction to meeting Mario in Paper Mario: Sticker Star when introduced implies that he never met him before the events of the game, despite his attempt at kidnapping him as a baby in other games. However this could be referencing the fact that Paper Mario: Sticker Star is Kamek's first appearance in the Paper Mario series all together.

Mario Golf: World Tour
Kamek makes his first appearance in the Mario Golf series in Mario Golf: World Tour, where he appears as an unlockable playable character. He is unlocked by collecting 45 Star Coins in Challenge Mode.

Physical appearance
In his most recent appearances, Kamek is depicted as being nearly identical to the generic Magikoopa. This means that in most of his appearances, he wears a pair of round spectacles and a set of blue robes, complete with a blue wizard's hat. Both the brim of his hat and the edges of his sleeves are white. He is always seen with his scepter, a golden stick with a red jewel at the end; he is also usually seen with his broom, which is a stereotypical straw-colored broom with no particular quirks about its appearance. In the past, however, there have been a few attempts to make Kamek look distinct from others of his kind. The first of these was introduced in his debut appearance. His blue hat has a white brim, while regular Magikoopas' hat brims were blue. White trim is also on the end of his robes' sleeves. In Super Princess Peach, besides the more obvious increase in size, he had a complete change of wardrobe at first; instead having cyan robes covered by a purple cloak and changing his round glasses for a more triangular shaped pair. In addition his scepter was longer and had a green jewel as opposed to red. After receiving enough damage in the battle with Peach, his colors return to his classic set.

Kamek's skin, like all Magikoopas and most other Koopa species, is yellow. Despite being very old, he shows no physical signs of his age, looking very similar in the present as he did in the past. However he appeared somewhat smaller in his past appearance in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

Like other Magikoopas, it is not clear whether Kamek has a shell. Kamek does have a small hunch on his back which might be a shell, and in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, he says at one point that the bros. were "really starting to chap [his] shell"; however, he is never seen ducking into a shell to protect himself when attacked, and neither Kamek nor any other Magikoopa has been seen losing their hypothetical shell like many other members of the Koopa troop (including Bowser himself) do at some point.

Powers and abilities
Kamek displays powers commonly associated with Magikoopas, including short range teleportation, creating beings from inanimate objects, pyrokinesis, firing magical blasts from his scepter, and the ability to create multiple copies of himself. These are assumed to be much more powerful than those of a regular Magikoopa, because of his top rank. Kamek is also capable of flying on a broomstick, being the first ever Magikoopa to display such an ability.

Aside from the aforementioned powers inherent to all Magikoopas, Kamek has portrayed as having powers unique to himself, the most prominent of which is his ability to shrink and grow other creatures (including himself) to extreme proportions. Kamek is also capable of psychic powers, such as divination, brainwashing, foreseeing events in the future, and manipulating objects with his mind. These he does without using his scepter, although he does utilize a crystal ball for precognition and divination.

Kamek also displays some expertise at mechanics, supposedly building the apparent time travel device he and Bowser utilize in Yoshi's Island DS; Kamek's ingenuity at mechanics remains in the Club Nintendo comics, with one story even having him create a vacuum cleaner-like device which can absorb color and emotions. Kamek is also a master at various types of games, pertaining such skills at them that he has been given the coveted title of Game Mage.

Although not usually shown in his appearances, Kamek has been shown to have superhuman strength. This is revealed in Yoshi's New Island, as for many times throughout the game, Kamek has been able to lift and use a giant magical hammer many times his size to power the game's bosses with little to no effort.

Personality
Kamek is a character that is devoted to Bowser. In addition, Kamek views Bowser as a son to him, as evidenced by his quote "That's... my child?" in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Kamek does, however, have some sense of free thinking, as seen when he abandons Bowser for taking the Game King name in Mario Party Advance. In addition, he is willing to aid Mario if needs be, as evidenced by his helping Mario and his allies in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

A more sympathetic side of Kamek is seen as he raises his prince in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. As aforementioned, his menial errands and grudging acceptance towards them makes the Kamek of this game more snarky and comical.

From Mario Party DS, it would seem that Kamek is also quite academic, as the board that he owns is a library. This is reinforced that Kamek can build complicated machines.

Role in the Koopa Troop
Kamek's role in the Koopa Troop is yet to be made completely clear. What is certain is that he is Bowser's caretaker. Although Kamek is of the highest rank in the Koopa Troop, his actual title and role is not really known. He does seem to have a certain level of military command; especially back when Bowser was young, when he took almost complete control of the army of the Koopas. This was shown again in Yoshi's Island DS, although this is the present day incarnation of the wizard, confirming that he still maintains a position as one of Bowser's generals. He spends a lot more time actually in the field than Bowser, and may also serve as one of Bowser's individual agents.

There is also a possibility that he is the head of the Magikoopas who serve under Bowser, in the same manner that Goomboss rules the Goombas as a "puppet king". This is evidenced by the Magikoopa bio from Mario Superstar Baseball, which calls him "the best of the Magikoopas", and in Super Princess Peach, where he commands the only legion of them in the entire game.

If Kamek is about the same rank as Kammy Koopa, a fellow main Magikoopa, it is likely that he will be ranked slightly below Bowser and take orders only from the Royal Family themselves.

Bowser
Kamek interacts far more with Bowser than with any other character. He seems to serve the role of a father figure to Bowser, since it was largely Kamek who raised him since infancy, and is very loyal and protective to the King. Likewise, Kamek also seems to view Bowser as being like a son to him, as evidenced by his English psychopath line in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Much of his time is spent ensuring the welfare and comfort of Bowser, as shown by his errands on Yoshi's Island and his frantic searching after the Koopa Cruiser crash in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time. Bowser seems to show much more respect to his elderly guardian than to any other of his henchmen (except Bowser Jr.), and does not insult him at all; completely contrasting his relationship with Kammy. In two instances, when Bowser was a baby, he attacked Kamek for waking him up from his sleep. These were the only known times Bowser has ever attacked Kamek and once he grew into an adult, Bowser has respected Kamek since then. However, Bowser did knock Kamek off of his broom once, which was when he became giant in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, although that was an accident. He has also shown to betray Bowser, as seen in Mario Party Advance, because he was being unfair, though he forgave him later.

Mario and Luigi
Mario and Luigi are mostly on negative terms with Kamek, as both adults and babies. This is especially apparent after having endured two attempted kidnappings and having a fair number of battles against him. However, Kamek himself does not really show any interest or hatred towards the brothers, mostly just dismissing them as inferior to Bowser, unless ordered to directly oppose them. In addition, he is willing to aid Mario if needs be, as evidenced by his actions in Super Mario RPG, although its implied that he aided them solely because Bowser was allied with them at the time. After being beaten by Mario in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, he acknowledges that Mario is stronger than him, but maintains that he is no match for Bowser.

Yoshi
Despite his conflict with the Mario Bros., Kamek's true main enemy is Yoshi, similar to Mario and Bowser and Luigi and King Boo. It is clear that Kamek shows a natural hatred for Yoshi, as the pair are arch rivals and are always battling each other, much like Bowser and Mario. Throughout the Yoshi series, Kamek has made numerous attempts to defeat them and prevent them from reuniting the Mario Brothers. Naturally this caused friction between the two. The main cause of this is that their ideals conflict; Kamek wants to ensure the success of the Koopa Troop by preventing the Mario Bros. from becoming heroes, and the Yoshis want to make sure that they are born simply because they are kind and want the best for them. Ever since these events occurred, the Yoshis have had a bad relationship with the Magikoopas, seeing as their chemistry is bad in Mario Super Sluggers, and one kept Yoshi captive in Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Super Mario Galaxy trading card description
''Bowser's evil minion, Kamek, is a powerful wizard who will do anything to please his master. After Bowser hoisted Peach's entire castle out of the ground in a massive laser attack, Mario clung on to the castle walls trying to save her. Kamek saw this and cast a spell on Mario that sent him floating out into the universe.''

Mario Party 9

 * Partner: Shy Guy
 * Bio: Wand-waving Kamek joins the Mario Party roster for the first time and enters the fray with a proven track record for causing mischief and mayhem.

Quotes
Kamek's quotations range from stereotypical villain boasting to those of a caring yet haggard parent, and as the child in question is Bowser, the two themes overlap such as this appeal made to Baby Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Partner's in Time: "Oh, here, have some warm milk. It's, uh, from an evil cow." Kamek has also been shown to be snarky, patronizing and condescending at various times, and is clearly taken aback whenever things go awry, the most infamous example being when the player manages to defeat the boss Naval Piranha before the fight even begins, causing Kamek to appear, exclaim "OH MY!" and fly away again without another word. Typically, however, his response to setbacks is a more subdued "Oh dear".

Trivia

 * Official artwork for Yoshi Touch & Go depicts Kamek with five fingers, whereas he only has four in every other appearance.
 * Kamek's Super Mario Galaxy trading card displays the artwork of a generic Magikoopa.
 * The New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U Prima game guides and the official trading card description call Kamek his species name, "Magikoopa".
 * In New Super Mario Bros. U, Kamek has a new laugh that he does before powering up Boom Boom or the Sumo Bro., but when he is about to be fought in his tower, he laughs the same way he did in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
 * Official artwork for Paper Mario: Sticker Star depicts Kamek with a blue band on his hat, while in-game, it is white. This makes it similar to his original debut appearance.