Kings

This article is about the kings in Super Mario Bros. 3. For other uses of the term, see King.

“Oh thank heavens! I’m back to my old self again. Thank you so much. Here is a letter from the princess.”

—Kings, Super Mario Bros. 3

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 the Koopalings. 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.

History

Super Mario Bros. 3

The transformed Water Land King pointing at the Koopalings' airship in 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 by 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 has already been saved beforehand, the king does not give the player a letter from her.

The Water Land King, after being turned into a kappa.

Each king had been transformed into a creature of some sort 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 SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
• Water Land King – Turned into a kappa, resembling a Spike (a Dino Rhino in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
• Giant Land King – Turned into a dinosaur (Donkey Kong Jr. in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
• Sky Land King – Turned into a vulture (an Albatoss in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
• Ice Land King – Turned into a seal (a Monty Mole in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
• Pipe Land King – Turned into a Venus Fire Trap (Green Yoshi in the SNES and Game Boy Advance 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

Gallery

Human Kings

• Grass Land King
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  Sprite of King of Grass Land (NES)

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  King of Grass Land (SNES)

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  In throne room (SNES)

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  Sprite of the king of Grass Land (GBA)

• Desert Land King
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  Sprite of Desert Land King (NES)

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  Sprite of Desert Hill King (SNES)

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  In throne room (SNES)

• Water Land King
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  Sprite of Water Land King (NES)

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  King of Sea Side (SNES)

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  In throne room (SNES)

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  King of Sea Side (GBA)

• Giant Land King
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  Sprite of Giant Land King (NES)

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  Sprite of Big Island King (SNES)

• Sky Land King
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  Sprite of The Sky Land King (NES)

• Magic Scepter.png

  Sprite of The Sky Land King (SNES)

• Ice Land King
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  Sprite of Ice Land King (NES)

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  Sprite of Ice Land King (SNES)

• Pipe Land King
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  Sprite of Pipe Land King (NES)

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  Sprite of Pipe Land King (SNES)

Transformed Kings

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  Nintendo Power artwork of the Water Land King

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  King of Grass Land (NES version)

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  King of Desert Land (NES)

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  King of Water Land (NES)

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  King of Giant Land (NES)

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  King of Sky Land (NES)

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  King of Ice Land (NES)

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  King of Pipe Land (NES)

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  King of Grass Land (SNES)

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  King of Desert Hill (SNES)

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  King of Sea Side (SNES)

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  King of The Sky (SNES)

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  King of Iced Land (SNES)

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  King of Big Island (GBA)

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  King of Pipe Maze (GBA)

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	王様 Ōsama 国王 Kokuō	King

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?" (to Frog Mario)
  • "Thank you, kind raccoon. Please tell me your name." (to Tanooki Mario)
  • "Hey you! How about lending me your clothes? No dice?! What a drag." (to Hammer Mario)
• The king of Water Land bears a striking resemblance to Mario. Also, the castle's island resembles Japan, with the castle itself placed where Kyoto, Nintendo's headquarters, would be.
• All of the transformed kings are depicted with generic crowns either on or near them, despite the fact that only four of the non-transformed kings wear crowns.