Kings

"Hey you! How about lending me your clothes? No dice? What a drag!"

- Kings

The kings are the monarchs of the various lands of the Mushroom World. Seven of them are featured in Super Mario Bros. 3, and each was turned into a different creature by King Bowser's children. The kings are unnamed individually, although The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 gave some of them unique identities, and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! even introduced several similar characters and territories. Like Princess Toadstool, they have Toad helpers.

Super Mario Bros. 3
The Koopalings invaded seven kingdoms of the Mushroom World, stealing the royal magic wands and using them to transform their kings into various creatures. With the king in his vulnerable state, the evil Koopaling then ruled over the world in the king's place, with Boom Boom and the Koopa Troop forces placed all over the kingdoms. Renowned heroic brothers Mario and Luigi of the Mushroom Kingdom arrived to help them, first starting with Grass Land.

To save a king, the Mario Bros. have to go to his castle, where the Toad pleads the heroes to restore the king but taking the magic wand back from the Koopaling. After that, Mario and Luigi must assault the airship, defeat the Koopaling, and return the king back into his human shape. He thanks the Mario Bros. for saving him, and he delivers a letter from Princess Toadstool enclosed with a "jewel" (or power-up). If the player manages to restore the kings to their human forms while wearing a special suit, then they get different rescue dialog for each different suit. This continues until the brothers reach the forbidden kingdom of Dark Land, where Bowser ended up holding the princess hostage.

In Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, if the player defeated Bowser before saving the kings, upon selecting the castle, the player is treated to a cutscene where it shows the Koopaling of the respective world invading the castle, snatching the magic wand and using it to transform the king, and then escaping seconds before Mario arrives. In addition, because Princess Toadstool would have been saved beforehand, the king will not give the player a letter from her. Each king had been transformed into strange creatures by the Koopalings:
 * Grass Land King – Turned into a dog (a Cobrat in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
 * Desert Land King – Turned into a spider (a Hoopster in the remakes).
 * Water Land King – Turned into a kappa (a Dino Rhino in the remakes).
 * Giant Land King – Turned into a dinosaur (Donkey Kong Jr. in the remakes).
 * Sky Land King – Turned into a vulture (an Albatoss in the remakes).
 * Ice Land King – Turned into a seal (a Monty Mole in the remakes).
 * Pipe Land King – Turned into a Venus Fire Trap (Green Yoshi in the remakes).

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 created personalities for several rulers. Many, if not all, of them also looked different.


 * Prince Hugo – the new ruler of Giant Land (likely making him different from the king seen in Super Mario Bros. 3)
 * The Sultan – the ruler of a palace that may be in Desert Land
 * King Mackerel – the ruler of Mertropolis, a domed underwater city
 * Wizard King of the West – the wizard of an unknown location that resembles Sky Land
 * King Windbag – the ruler of a domain implied to be Ice Land
 * Emperor Ed – the ruler of Sky Land

Trivia

 * If Mario defeats a Koopaling as Frog Mario, Tanooki Mario, or Hammer Mario, the king says one of the following:
 * "Oh me, oh my! You've been transformed! Shall I change you back with this wand?"
 * "Thank you, kind raccoon. Please tell me your name."
 * "Hey you! How about lending me your clothes? No dice?! What a drag."
 * The king of Water Land bears a striking resemblance to Mario, possibly due to the castle being on four islands that resemble Japan. The castle is in a location near Kyoto, Nintendo's headquarters.
 * If Dark Land and the Mushroom Kingdom are counted as additional regions of the Mushroom World, then there are actually a total of ten monarchs during the events of Super Mario Bros. 3 (King Bowser, Princess Toadstool, and the Mushroom King).