Koopalings

The Koopalings (occasionally called Koopa Kids in the cartoons and by fans, not to be confused with the actual Koopa Kids) are the seven oldest of King Bowser Koopa's eight children. This makes all of them the heirs of the Koopa Kingdom. Oftentimes, the Koopalings act as high-ranking leaders of the Koopa Troop and mostly appear as bosses in the various Mario series games.

Not only were the Koopalings modeled after the design team of Super Mario Bros. 3, but they were all named after famous pop-culture icons: musicians (Iggy, Lemmy, Ludwig, Wendy, Roy) and talk show hosts (Morton, Larry). In the Japanese version, the Koopalings originally had no distinct names. The North American localizers of Super Mario Bros. 3 gave them names. In the Japanese version of Super Mario World, their first names were adopted, which is most likely why their full names were never mentioned again afterward. It is also thought that this is why they had entirely different names in the American cartoon series.

Bowser also has an eighth child, Bowser Jr., who was introduced many years after the Koopalings made their debut. Bowser Jr.'s status as a Koopaling is unknown, as he has yet to be referred to as one.

Names of the Koopalings
The Koopalings are listed below in order from what is supposedly oldest to youngest. The names in parentheses are their alternate names used in the animated series:
 * Ludwig von Koopa (Kooky von Koopa)
 * Lemmy Koopa (Hip Koopa)
 * Roy Koopa (Bully Koopa)
 * Iggy Koopa (Hop Koopa)
 * Wendy O. Koopa (Kootie Pie Koopa)
 * Morton Koopa Jr. (Big Mouth Koopa Jr.)
 * Larry Koopa (Cheatsy Koopa)

Birth Order
According to the Player's Guide for Super Mario Bros. 3, Larry is stated to be the youngest of Bowser's children, while Ludwig is said to be the eldest. As Larry is the first Koopaling of the game, while Ludwig is the last, it is strongly implied that all seven Koopalings are fought in order from youngest to oldest, provided the player doesn't warp. However, the birth order for the five middle children has never been officially confirmed. Bowser Jr.'s age in relation to the Koopalings is also unclear, though he is assumed to be younger.

In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, an alternate birth order was used; much of this information comes from the Writer's Bible included on the Shout! Factory DVD set. Bully is regarded as the eldest, while Hip and Hop are twins, as well as the youngest. While Hip and Hop are said to be six-year olds, the rest of their siblings are all teenagers. Although Kootie Pie celebrated her sixteenth birthday in "Reptiles in the Rose Garden", the ages of Bully, Big Mouth, Cheatsy, and Kooky are unknown.

''Super Mario Bros. 3
The first appearance of the original seven Koopalings was in Super Mario Bros. 3. Here, the Koopalings were ordered by Bowser to use their airships and armies to conquer the various lands of the Mushroom World. Each Koopaling, after attacking a kingdom, would steal the magic scepter of the land's ruler and transform that ruler into an animal of some kind.

Mario would encounter and battle a Koopaling every time he ventured through a heavily guarded airship. The battle against the Koopalings would consist mostly of dodging the Koopalings' leaps and magical blasts from their stolen scepter. It would only take three jumps on the head in order to defeat a Koopaling. Once defeated, a Koopaling would retreat into his/her shell, fly to an unknown place (possibly Dark Land) and drop his/her scepter.

''Super Mario World
In Super Mario World the Koopalings aid Bowser in his attack on Dinosaur Land. Each Koopaling was charged with guarding a fortress on each of Dinosaur Land's areas.

After traveling through a Koopaling fortress, Mario would battle a Koopaling, who would need to be bashed on the head 3 times to be defeated. After a Koopaling was defeated, a captured Yoshi egg would be rescued and the path to a new area would be opened.

Once defeated, Morton, Ludwig, and Roy went spiraling into the distance (apparently vanishing in a puff of smoke), while Iggy, Lemmy, Wendy, and Larry fell into the lava. Whether they can survive lava, or whether they were somehow revived by Bowser for their appearances in future games, this was never revealed.

For some reason (likely technical restrictions), the Koopalings' in-game sprites have alternate color schemes from their artwork such as Ludwig with white hair and a yellow shell rather than blue hair and green shell.

''New Super Mario Bros. Wii
The Koopalings made their return in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, serving as bosses in seven of the game's eight worlds. They also make an appearance in the game's opening sequence, hiding in a cake that the Koopalings presented Princess Peach with. Bowser Jr. will also be appearing alongside the Koopalings, marking the first time that all eight of Bowser's children have appeared in the same game. The seven Koopalings appear to all have Magic Scepters, while Bowser Jr. has a Koopa Clown Car of his own. In the first seven worlds, Mario and his friends would have to ascend a tower in the middle of the world, the top of which the Koopaling of that world awaits. When defeated in battle, the Koopalings are also seen jumping away after their defeat much like Bowser Jr. in the original New Super Mario Bros., setting up a rematch at the castle at the end of the world. Upon catching up with the Koopalings again, Kamek will appear and add a new element to the battle, such as replacing the floor of Larry's room with one that shifts up and down, or giving Lemmy an even larger ball than before. The Koopalings have been given voices as well.

The Koopalings appeared to be killed in their respective castle battles (falling off the screen), but after the credits, it is shown that they and Bowser Jr. survived, helping Bowser get back up. When he does, however, Bowser's castle falls on top of all nine of them.

In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Larry is in World 1, Roy is in World 2, Lemmy is in World 3, Wendy is in World 4, Iggy is in World 5, Morton is in World 6, and Ludwig is in World 7.

It is interesting to note that, while in Super Mario Bros. 3 Morton was the boss of a desert level, Roy was the boss of a sky level, and Ludwig was the boss of a pipe level, these have been slightly switched. Roy is the boss of a desert level, Ludwig is the boss of a sky level, and Morton is the boss of a mountain level (replacing the pipe level). Also, Iggy's giant level is replaced with a forest level. Larry, Lemmy, and Wendy retain their types of levels (grass, ice, and water, respectively).

Super Mario anime
The first appearance of the Koopalings outside of video games was in the Japanese-exclusive movie, Super Mario anime series, which was an adaptation of three fairy tales. In the Mario version of Momotarō, they appeared as Bowser's minions, who was portrayed as the stories' ogre. The Koopalings also appeared as minions of Bowser (now the Wicked Queen) in the adaptation of Snow White ("Shirayukihime").

Mario cartoon series
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, the Koopalings (sometimes referred to as the Koopa Kids) were featured as recurring villains, replacing Mouser, Tryclyde, Fryguy and Clawgrip from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. Oddly, the names of the Koopalings were altered in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, this is probably due to the shows creators using the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 3 as a reference and as the Koopaling's weren't named in that game, the show creators simply created names and gave the Koopaling's personalities to match these names; these names were presumably kept in the Super Mario World animated series, which was created after the Koopalings were officially named, so as not to confuse viewers.

Also in the show, the order of the Koopalings' ages were altered; see the section Birth Order for more information. Rather than acting as Bowser's highest ranking minions, the Koopa Kids acted directly as his children. They did things such as try to get his attention, gain his appreciation, and even plot against him.

Nintendo Comics System
The Koopalings were also recurring characters in Valiant's Nintendo Comics System imprint. Here, their personalities were similar to the animated series counterparts, though they had their "game names" and appearances. In the Super Mario Adventures comic, the Koopalings acted as Bowser's henchmen in his plot to kidnap and marry Princess Toadstool.

''Mario is Missing!
In Mario is Missing!, the Koopalings travel to Earth with Bowser to aid him in his plan to melt Antarctica, thereby flooding the Earth. A Koopaling would guard the corridor of Bowser's fortress and battle Luigi, who was searching for his missing brother. All it would take are a few bops on the head to defeat a Koopaling in Mario is Missing!.

In the Super Nintendo version of Mario is Missing!, only Ludwig, Roy and Iggy Koopa appear; in the PC version of the game, Lemmy and Morton Koopa Jr. are the only ones not appearing, though they are mentioned in the game's manual. Also in the PC version, instead of stomping the Koopalings, Luigi defeats them with a single blast from a Fire Flower that he gains after locking each door on a floor.

''Yoshi's Safari
In Yoshi's Safari, the Koopalings once again aid Bowser in the conquest of a kingdom, this time the target is Jewelry Land. In this game, the Koopalings attack Mario by using weaponry built by Iggy. It would take various shots from Mario's Super Scope to beat a Koopaling, thus forcing it to hold up "the white flag of defeat".

''Hotel Mario
Hotel Mario was the last appearance of the Koopalings for several years. In Hotel Mario a Koopaling would guard a hotel which they had taken over. Mario would have to adventure through a Koopaling's hotel and reach their room to battle them. Like in the previous engagements, the Koopalings were defeated.

''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
"Koopalings! Your time has come!"

- Bowletta

After several years absence, the Koopalings make a return appearance in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. During the game, the witch Cackletta who had previously stolen Bowser's body takes control of Bowser's Castle and uses the fortress to attack Beanbean Castle Town. The Koopalings were summoned by Bowletta to guard the castle from the inside and to impede the Mario bros.' progress.

After getting into Bowser's Castle, Mario and Luigi fight the Koopalings in their respective rooms, usually needing to complete some sort of challenge in order to battle them. Additionally during the battles against Roy, Wendy and Larry use a Time Bob-omb in battle. If the Mario Bros. failed to end the battle successfully in 9 turns, the Bob-omb's timer would reach zero and it would explode, resulting in an instant Game Over. While the Mario bros. ventured through the castle they encountered Bowser's children in the same order as in Super Mario World (Iggy, Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Roy, Wendy and Larry). For some reason none of the seven Koopalings had any lines of dialogue.

As in Super Mario World, they each seemed to die when they were defeated (leaving only a warp point for the Mario Bros. to enter), yet they returned in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, indicating that Bowser somehow revived them.

Cameo Appearances

 * In the LazerBlazer - Type A: Intercept mode in the game Super Scope 6, Iggy Koopa 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 FLUDD first scans Mario.
 * The Koopalings are also mentioned briefly in Bowser's trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
 * A video game called Larry Koopa: Zombie Heartbreaker was mentioned in Super Paper Mario.
 * Ludwig von Koopa appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a sticker.
 * Iggy Koopa appears in Mario's Early Years, with a nickname of 'Ikky Koopa'
 * The Koopalings were originally going to appear in Super Princess Peach as boss characters in the order of Super Mario World, though they were dropped from the final version of the game for unknown reasons, possibly to add new bosses. The boss sprites for all 7 Koopalings were found in the game's data when it was hacked.

Relationship with Bowser
In some of the Koopalings' appearances they were shown to act as his minions, though other depictions showed them acting as his children. It should be noted that the events of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World seemed more like giving his children gifts rather than simply using them as part of an evil plan. Bowser Jr. was shown to act like Bowser's child so it can be assumed he treats the rest the same way, as he has never stated Bowser Jr. is his favorite child; and using his other offspring as minions does not fit the current characterizations of Bowser. The reason Bowser Jr. makes more appearances is believed that Bowser hasn't been real happy with the Koopalings frequently losing. As a result, he likely places them on guard duty a lot.

Trivia

 * Ironically, while the Koopalings were fought on Airships in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Jr. was fought in towers in New Super Mario Bros., they swapped roles in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where Jr. is fought only on the Airships and the Koopalings are encountered in the towers of each world.
 * When the Koopalings jump from the cake in New Super Mario Bros. Wii's opening sequence, they are lined up in the same order that they were fought in Super Mario Bros. 3. Additionally, the boss music used in Towers when fighting them is a remix of the boss theme from Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, when the Koopalings threw the cake on Peach and ran away, Larry was also squashed under the cake. His legs pop out shortly after and he begins running with the other Koopalings.
 * When the castle falls on the Koopalings and Bowser in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, only Bowser reacted. The rest of the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. just stared at the collapsing castle.