Jr. Troopa

"I'm your worst nightmare! Here comes the pain!"

- Jr. Troopa

Jr. Troopa (or Master Jr. Troopa, as he calls himself) is a character and recurring boss in Paper Mario. He is a young Koopa who never left his egg after he was born. He lives near Goomba Village who enjoys picking on the other kids. He has his own piece of territory he calls "Jr. Troopa's Playground". At the beginning of the game, Goompa states that Jr. Troopa is the boss of a "neighborhood gang", but none of its other members are ever seen. Throughout the game, Jr. Troopa trails Mario and his allies during their adventure and returns in stronger form after each defeat. Mario battles him for a total of six times throughout the game.

Paper Mario
Early in the game, Mario and Goompa travel to Jr. Troopa's playground to find the Goomba's missing Hammer and Goombaria's dolly. Eventually, they find the hammer and the doll and head back to Goomba Village. However, Jr. Troopa discovers Mario and Goompa are in his territory and challenges Mario to a fight. Mario defeats him and heads on his way.

After Mario saves the first Star Spirit from the Koopa Bros., Jr. Troopa ambushes him on his way back to Toad Town. During this fight, Jr. Troopa hides in his shell, raising his defense. However, Mario beats him once again and he flees.

Jr. Troopa appears once again in Forever Forest. He is so lost and scared he is initially glad to see Mario, but attacks him when he remembers they are enemies. Jr. Troopa's new ability is flight. Nevertheless, Mario beats Jr. Troopa yet again.

Still chasing Mario, Jr. Troopa trails him to Lavalava Island, swimming all the way across the ocean. However, just as Jr. Troopa arrives, Mario leaves on the back of a Whale, forcing Jr. Troopa to turn around and swim back across the ocean instead of flying. Jr. Troopa arrives at the harbor in Toad Town and challenges Mario. This time, Jr. Troopa places a spike on top of his head to go with his wings. However, his HP is lowered to twenty as a result of his continuous swimming.

Jr. Troopa appears once again in Shiver Snowfield, though Mario can learn from the penguins that they were talking about him making a ruckus. Jr. Troopa has learned some magic and uses a wand-like stick to create balls of damaging magic. After Mario defeats him, he gets frozen in a block of ice before he has time to recover.

Jr. Troopa makes his final appearance in Bowser's Castle, appearing just as Mario is preparing to face the Koopa Bros.. He defeats the Koopa Bros. himself and proceeds to challenge Mario. In this fight, Jr. Troopa starts in his normal form, later switches into his flying and spiked form, and finally goes back on the ground wielding his magic wand. After Mario defeats him, Jr. Troopa runs away, shouting that he will never give up.

Jr. Troopa is later seen fighting Kammy Koopa during the ending sequence. Both end up attacking Bowser by accident and end up getting burned to a crisp.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Jr. Troopa makes a cameo appearance in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. In the photograph included with Zip Toad's email, Jr. Troopa can be seen flying in the background.

Super Mario-Kun
Jr. Troopa makes an additional appearance in the Paper Mario arcs of Super Mario-Kun. He plays the same role as he does in the game by interfering with Mario's progress. As in the games, he uses various power-ups to aid him in the fight, but is always defeated in the end.

Field Tattle
Outside of battle, Goombario can use Tattle on Jr. Troopa after Mario defeats him for the second, fourth, and fifth times.
 * "That's Jr. Troopa. He used to boot us out of the forest near Goomba Village. He thinks he's pretty tough. As far as I can tell, he goes around picking fights with people who are stronger than he is. Talk about dumb! His hobbies are working out and ordering stuff by mail."

Official Nintendo Player's Guide

 * Jr. Troopa 1: Jr. Troopa is a bully and a thug, and he lashes out at anyone who invades his precious playground. Be wary: If you damage him enough, he'll use a special Full Power Attack. When he does, know that he's only one hit from destruction.
 * Jr. Troopa 2: He told you he'd be back, and Jr. Troopa wasn't kidding. This time around he's developed a new trick—hiding inside his shell. A Hammer attack will work best for your second meeting.
 * Jr. Troopa 3: The little fellow just doesn't know when to quit. He's even sprouted a pair of wings for your third skirmish in the Forever Forest. Bow's invisibility talent will be helpful against Jr. Troopa, as his attacks have grown in strength.
 * Jr. Troopa 4: The good news is that Jr. Troopa's last incarnation is tired from a long day of swimming. The bad news is he's learned some new moves and borrowed a hat from a Spiked Goomba.
 * Jr. Troopa 5: Jr. Troopa has followed you all the way to the frozen wastelands of Shiver Snowfield. He's lost his wings and the spiked hat this time out, but he's armed with a magical attack that takes off quite a few hit points.
 * Jr. Troopa 6: Your final battle against Jr. Troopa is the toughest yet. He can change shape at will, using all the powers he's learned in a final attempt to destroy Mario once and for all.

Trivia

 * Jr. Troopa breaks the fourth wall during the fourth fight, where he remarks his HP bar has dropped in half.
 * In one of his conversations with Mario, Jr. Troopa accidentally calls himself Jr. Koopa.
 * During Chapter 3, Jr. Troopa encounters Mario in Forever Forest as soon as the latter obtains the Super Boots in Boo's Mansion and tries to leave the forest. During Chapter 5, he appears on Lavalava Island as soon as Mario leaves on the Whale once he obtains Sushie. This is likely due to the fact that, once Mario has those items, he can activate Warp Pipes in Toad Town Tunnels that connect with those areas, which would otherwise cause the player to skip a Jr. Troopa battle.
 * The player can attack him after beating him at Pleasant Path, Toad Town (after returning from Lavalava Island), and Shiver Snowfield, with him grunting in pain.
 * Jr. Troopa's battle theme plays at a slower tempo during the battles in Forever Forest and Bowser's Castle.

Jr. Troopa Jr. Troopa