Iggy Koopa

Iggy Koopa (also known as Hop Koopa) is one of the eight children of Bowser and is the fourth oldest. Iggy is depicted as a demented, mechanical genius. His two main outstanding physical characteristics are his glasses and green hair (originally pink, light blue, yellow). He was very recently shown to be the thinnest of the Koopalings. Iggy is named after Iggy Pop, a famous punk rock singer and leader of the band The Stooges.

''Super Mario Bros. 3
Iggy's first appearance was in Super Mario Bros. 3, in which he aids his siblings and father in their plot to conquer all of the Mushroom World. Using his army and weaponry, Iggy took control of Big Island, the rightful king of which, he turned into a dinosaur (or a Donkey Kong Jr. look-alike in remakes) using his own stolen Magic Scepter.

Iggy can be found and battled by Mario in the cabin of his personal Airship, which is heavily guarded by various traps. In battle, Iggy would try to either jump on to Mario or shoot magical blasts of energy at him using his stolen Magic Scepter. After being jumped on three times by Mario, Iggy would be beaten and would relinquish the Magic Scepter of Giant Land's ruler.

''Super Mario World
Sometime after the events of Super Mario Bros. 3, Iggy returned with his family in Super Mario World, aiding them in their conquest of Dinosaur Land. When Dinosaur Land was successfully subjugated by Bowser's forces, Iggy was given reign over Yoshi's Island, in a castle where he guarded a Yoshi trapped within an egg.

Located deep within his castle, Iggy fought Mario by charging at him on a platform floating haphazardly in lava; Iggy was immune to all of Mario's attacks, and could only be knocked back by them. Iggy also shot fire balls at Mario when he had time. Iggy was defeated by Mario by being knocked backwards and into the lava surrounding the platform the battle is taking place on.

''Super Mario Sunshine
In Super Mario Sunshine, Iggy makes a small cameo appearance, being shown on a small screen battling Mario in Super Mario World, near the start of the game, where Mario is scanned by F.L.U.D.D.

''New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Iggy along with the rest of his siblings, the Koopalings, return in New Super Mario Bros. Wii as final bosses of each world. Iggy's appearance has been changed drastically, as he is now thinner, and his hair color has changed from rainbow to solid green, and is styled differently. He is also shown to be very hyperactive.

Iggy is first encountered in the World 5 tower. When he first sees Mario, he is falsely shocked by his appearance and then taunts him. Here, he jumps between the main floor and three moving platforms. Iggy also shoots green fireballs from his wand to attack Mario, and appears to casts the fireballs faster than his other siblings. After he is stomped on three times, Iggy retreats to the castle deeper into World 5.

When Mario encounters him in the castle, Iggy is in a carriage attached to an average-size Chain Chomp (possibly a pet). Kamek suddenly flies in and triples the Chain Chomp's size. Mario must get behind the Chain Chomp and attack Iggy, who still shoots fireballs from his wand. If Mario strikes Iggy, the Chain Chomp will turn red, turn around its direction, and start moving fast for a short time. After Mario hits Iggy twice, the Chain Chomp will become faster, giving Mario less time to react. Eventually, however, Iggy is defeated, and Mario gains the key to leave the castle and move on to World 6.

Iggy survived the battle, however, and was seen along with the other Koopalings getting Bowser back up, only to have Bowser's castle fall on top of all of them.

Super Mario anime series
In the Super Mario anime series, Iggy and his siblings appear in the series' first story, Momotarō, where they aid Bowser in kidnapping Princess Peach. Iggy also appears in the series' third story, once again as a minion of Bowser (now the Wicked Queen), like his brothers and sister. Iggy ends up beaten by Mario.

Mario Cartoons
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World produced by DiC Entertainment and Nintendo, Iggy was renamed Hop Koopa and he, along with his twin, Hip Koopa, were portrayed as the youngest of the Koopalings. Unlike some of the other cartoon Koopalings, Hop closely resembled his game artwork. Hop and Hip were constantly seen together, and the duo were constantly pulling pranks on unsuspecting citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. Like many stereotypical twins, Hop and Hip would often share their sentences by either speaking in unison or finishing each other's lines. Additionally, Hop was not portrayed as an inventor like in the games; that role went to Kooky.

Comics
Iggy appeared in the Nintendo Comics System story "Bowser Knows Best", and Nintendo Power's Super Mario Adventures, where he and his siblings act as Bowser's henchmen in his plot to kidnap and marry Princess Toadstool.

Nintendo Adventure Books
In Brain Drain, Iggy creates the Synapse Switcher, a device capable of switching people's minds. From his base in Dinosaur Land, Iggy uses the Synapse Switcher to cause widespread havoc throughout the Mushroom Kingdom by amplifying the machine's rays using the signals broadcast by the nearby WMUSH radio station. In the book's good ending, Iggy, after taking over WMUSH with his minions, attempts to use the Synapse Switcher on Mario and his friends at close range, but the group protect themselves using Fungus Up cola, which they discovered can counteract the effects of the Synapse Switcher. Due to forgetting to put on a protective helmet before activating the Synapse Switcher, Iggy ends up in the body of a Wiggler, while Yoshi's mind (which had previously been switched with another Koopaling) is tranfered into his.

''Mario is Missing!
Though absent from the NES version of Mario is Missing!, Iggy is in the SNES and PC versions of the game, the latter of which he spoke entirely in rhyme. In this game, Iggy travels to Antarctica with his family and some of his siblings, trying to aid them in stealing artifacts, which Bowser intended to sell in order to raise funds to buy hairdryers from Hafta Havit Mail-Order; with these hairdryers, Bowser planned to melt Antarctica, flooding the Earth.

Iggy is encountered by Luigi in Bowser's Antarctic fortress; while looking for Mario and stopping Bowser's plot, Iggy is fought by Luigi, who can easily defeat him by stomping on his head repeatedly (or, in the PC version, hit by a fireball).

''Yoshi's Safari
In Yoshi's Safari, Iggy helped his family invade the kingdom of Jewelry Land; stealing the jewels that that maintained the stability in Jewelry Land, Bowser entrusted one of these jewels to Iggy, who was given domain over Grand Bridge. To aid his family in the conquest of Jewelry Land, Iggy created seven heavily armed mechs, one for himself and the other six for his brothers and sister.

Utilizing a large mech whose appearance was based upon a Blooper, Iggy had six cannons on his mech, one located in the end of six of his mech's ten tentacles. Iggy would need to be blasted repeatedly with Mario's Super Scope to be injured; Iggy's Blooper mech, upon sustaining enough damage, would explode, and Iggy would be left floating on a piece of debris floating on the ocean, waving a white flag.

''Hotel Mario
In Hotel Mario, Iggy, unlike his siblings, did not gain a hotel when the Mushroom Kingdom was taken over by Bowser; instead, Iggy was located inside Bowser's Seizure Palace Hotel, in "Bowser's BBQ Room". In his battle against Mario in Hotel Mario, Iggy wore an over-sized Bowser mask and, along with jumping between floors, could spit fireballs and summon a small amount of lightning that could strike Mario. Iggy's Bowser mask would need to be jumped on repeatedly by Mario to defeat Iggy; eventually, Iggy's mask would fall off and he would be defeated, summoning the real Bowser to battle.

''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Iggy appeared in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where he, along with his siblings (excluding the recently introduced Bowser Jr.) were employed by Bowletta to protect Bowser's Castle, which was converted into a flying fortress used to attack Beanbean Castle Town, from Mario and Luigi. Iggy is the first of the Koopalings encountered by Mario and Luigi, and before battling the two, Iggy will spin rapidly, making Mario and Luigi dizzy before fleeing further into his room. Mario and Luigi would need to dizzily stumble through the traps in Iggy's room to reach the bespectacled Koopa and fight him.

Cameos
In the LazerBlazer - Type A: Intercept mode in the game Super Scope 6, Iggy can occasionally be seen flying across the game screen chasing Mario while riding a missile.

In Super Mario Sunshine, a brief clip of Mario fighting Iggy Koopa in Super Mario World can be seen when F.L.U.D.D. first scans Mario.

Character Description
Like most of the other Koopalings, Iggy has a yellow and tan skin complexion, as well as a green head. Iggy has four, fang-like teeth in the upper corners of both sides of his snout; they are the same as Morton's. He also has a four-ribbed, padded stomach and padded feet. His mouth is straight, and he has a jutting jaw-line. Iggy has always been the tallest of the Koopalings, but it wasn't until New Super Mario Bros. Wii that he took on his lanky appearance. His hair is tall and adds to his height; originally he had a multicolour mohawk, similar to his brother Lemmy, but it is now depicted as a plant-like stalk of lime-green hair tipped with darker green. He has large, oval eyes with blue-ringed irises, although sometimes his eyes are depicted as swirls to indicate that the glasses he wears have very thick lenses.

As well as his distinctive glasses, he wears the same metal, spiked cuffs the other Koopalings. His shell is light green, lined with a white encasing, and the multiple, short spikes are circled with purple rings. His shell used to be blue, as seen in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, in both of which Larry was the one with the green shell. However this was due to the in-game palette used to design the sprites, Iggy's official artwork for both games, still shows him wearing his green shell.

Personality and Traits
Iggy is portrayed as being a mechanical genius, having invented various machines used by the Koopa Troop, most notably the mechs used by his siblings in Yoshi's Safari. He's known by many as the second smartest, only being beaten by Ludwig. It is also rumored that he is constantly being bullied by his older brother, Roy Koopa. Many assume his hobby is inventing things for the Koopa Troop. Also, according to the in-game dialogue in Super Mario World, Iggy is also demented, essentially making him a mad genius. This is supported by his rematch in the castle in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where he was shown laughing a lot and in an almost maniacal way. Also, in New Super Mario Bros. Wii as well as Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, he is shown to be extremely energetic and hyperactive. In the latter, he was seen with the ability to spin around the Mario Bros. quite a few times in a tornado-esque fashion, and not even be close to becoming tired. He is also said to be something of a trickster, who goes too far when he taunts his opponents; such as when he smacks his rear end in front of his adversary. In Mario is Missing!, Iggy spoke completely in rhyme. In the comics, he seemed to think his father was somewhat stupid and acted like he was smarter.

In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, Hop was quite childish in personality, and often pulled pranks instead of causing true crimes, though some episodes had him doing so.

In the Super Mario Amada Series, Nintendo Comics System and Super Mario Adventures, Iggy's personality was largely identical to that of his brothers, with him having no real defining characteristics.

Powers and Abilities
Iggy rode a Chain Chomp in his boss battle in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and in the beta sprites of Super Princess Peach, it was shown that the Koopaling could use his hair like a spear. He could spin like a top in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and even move fast enough to make his opponents dizzy. As shown in New Super Mario Bros Wii his magic blasts are the fastest out of all the Koopalings. In Hotel Mario he could cause small amounts of lightning to rain down on Mario, and like his siblings, he can shoot fireballs.

Bio from The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 Writers Bible
''While the rest of the Koopalings are in their teens, Hip and Hop are bratty six-year-olds. These twins don't go anywhere without one another, and are always finishing each other's sentences. Silly and dumb, goofy and bumbling, they are always lost, and have probably forgotten where they were going anyway. They flunked Koopergarten. They wouldn't be a threat to the Marios and the princess, if it weren't for the fact that they have the most powerful Magic Wands, and are easily manipulated by Bully and their other siblings.

Trivia

 * Iggy was originally going to appear in Super Princess Peach, although he was taken out of the final game with the rest of the Koopalings.
 * The in-game text in the SNES version of Super Mario World that described Iggy as "demented" was changed into "crazed" in the Game Boy Advance version.
 * In the fastest possible route to complete Super Mario World, Iggy is the only Koopaling that must be fought.
 * Additionally, if one uses the fastest possible route to complete New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Iggy would be the only Koopaling that the player must defeat; the cannon to World 8 is accessed through a secret exit at the World 5 Ghost House, which comes after the World 5-Tower.
 * The Nintendo Adventure Book Brain Drain reveals Iggy has an apparent secret love of music. One of his minions mentions the rumor that Iggy always wanted to be a disc jockey, and later Luigi can find Iggy's homemade music video, which depicts him moonwalking in a garish green wig and gold jumpsuit.