Ludwig von Koopa: Difference between revisions

In ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'', Ludwig is the boss of [[Pipe Land]]. He's the eldest of the Koopalings<ref name=Age/> and Bowser's second in command.<ref>''Nintendo Power Strategy Guide'' for ''Super Mario Bros. 3'', pages 9 & 72.</ref>  He steals the blue [[magic wand]] of Pipe Land's [[Kings|king]], whom he turns into a [[Piranha Plant]] or [[Yoshi (species)|Yoshi]] in the original and ''[[Super Mario All-Stars]]'' versions of the game, respectively.

In battle, he's able to generate earthquakes that stun Mario after landing from jumps, furthermore he attacks generating magic blasts with his magic wand and retreats in his shell both after being hit by Mario and as a form of attack among the others, this being his unique trait in the game.

The GBA remake, ''[[Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3]]'', expands Ludwig's role slightly with the (originally Japanese-only) e-reader level [[Koopaling Confusion]], where he hides out at a docking area for maritime vessels. If the player takes the bottom route to fight Ludwig, he'll fight Mario or Luigi in a flat cabin, and will end up being defeated in one stomp by either of the Mario Bros. However, if the player goes to the end of the armada, they will fight Ludwig in a cabin with an uneven floor, and he will require the usual three stomps to be defeated. His level acts as the penultimate level to the final e-reader level card (counting [[Bowser's Airship 1]] and [[Bowser's Airship 2]] as one level).  

The stage for the castle battle is three separate, rising platforms which [[Kamek|Magikoopa]] activated with his magic. The platforms rise up and down during the fight and the sides move in unison while the middle does not. Falling between the spaces between the platforms results in losing a life. It is strongly noted that the characters do not get affected by the platforms rising (the players jump normally as if the platforms aren't even rising at all, only the background moves).

Ludwig, alongside the other Koopalings, reappears in ''[[New Super Mario Bros. 2]]''. He is the [[World 5 (New Super Mario Bros. 2)|World 5]] castle boss. He'll once again look away and snicker before battling Mario. In his battle, Ludwig uses his Flutter Jump ability to grab one of the five chains hanging from the ceiling to attack Mario with three blue fireballs, while Mario has to use the five gray pipe cannons on the floor to blast himself against Ludwig fast enough. After that, Ludwig falls onto the floor and gets dizzy. Then Mario can jump on his head. After stomping him once, he starts to shoot four fireballs. After two stomps, the chain Ludwig hangs on starts to swing, making it harder for Mario to hit him but still shoots four fireballs. After another stomp, Ludwig is defeated, leaving the key to World 6.

When both Koopalings attack, Ludwig always makes the first move. They either retreat in their shell and attack the Mario Bros. first and then Paper Mario, or they try to hide behind a giant bomb that some Shy Guys try to deliver to the Bros., or they attack with their magic wand. In the latter case, Ludwig always attacks the Mario Bros. When both of them are defeated, he doesn't attack and sticks to using his Battle Cards.<br />

Ludwig appears in ''[[Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition]]'' as a Fire attribute character. He's the World 7-Castle and World 7-Airship Boss. Ludwig will join the player when ★World 7-Airship is completed. His Skill is '''Ludwig's Volcano''', which changes all Orbs into Fire Orbs.

Ludwig makes his [[Paper Mario (series)|''Paper Mario'' series]] debut in ''[[Paper Mario: Color Splash]]''. He appears in [[Fort Cobalt]], where he battles Mario on his warship, the "Super Ludship"<ref>Nintendo (August 30, 2016). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2rEE5hiiMk Paper Mario: Color Splash – Rescue V: Episode 3]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved September 7, 2016.</ref><ref name="PMCS livestream 3">Crunchii. (September 25, 2016). [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMaaUIHBUQ4l Paper Mario: Color Splash stream]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved September 26, 2016.</ref>. In the battle against him, the projectiles fired by the warship's cannons can be tossed back using the Tail Card. After the first hit, Ludwig orders two [[Koopa Paratroopa]]s to come and help him, if they are defeated but the ship is not further damaged, two more Paratroopas come at the beginning of each turn. After the ship is damaged two times, Ludwig orders two [[Spike]]s to help him, those Spikes immediately draw out spiked balls to be thrown at Mario and stay on the ship; for this reason they cannot be directly attacked by Mario, who is forced to use that Tail Card to toss the spiked balls back at them. Furthermore, the damaged cannons fire a projectile with a low trajectory, causing it to roll on the floor before reaching Mario. When Ludwig’s warship is hit three times by its projectile, it sinks and Ludwig ends in the water and goes into his submarine, the ''Super Ludsub'', which can fire missiles. Using the Balloons Thing Card, the submarine can be carried out of the water and onto the fort’s floor. However, if a Replica of the Balloons is used, Ludwig will fire a missile at the Balloons Replica, rendering it useless. If Mario doesn't use the Balloons, Ludwig will attack with one missile. On the next turn, Ludwig won't attack. On the turn after that, Ludwig will end Mario with a "Meteor Missile Storm", sending out 6 missiles, each dealing 35 HP of damage. The first one can be blocked or deflected with the Tail, the rest are unavoidable. If the attack connects, Mario will be instantly defeated. If Mario uses the Balloons but doesn't attack the Super Ludsub, the balloons will eventually pop, the submarine will fall on the floor and Ludwig will start attacking again with missiles, although this time he apparently doesn't try the Meteor Missile Storm, attacking instead with one missile at a time. When Mario destroys the submarine, Ludwig takes a lot of damage and fights on his own by spinning his shell, sometime attacking just one time per turn, sometime two times, by spinning while coming back after the first attack. After the battle, he admits defeat and his [[Shy Guy|minions]] hand over the blue [[Big Paint Star]].

Ludwig's appearance in the game is largely based on his artwork used in the ''[[Encyclopedia Super Mario Bros.]]'' and in other material released for the 30th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros.. As such, not only does he have black eyes, like many other paper characters, his eyebrows are black instead of being blue. His initial pose while he introduces himself is also derived from said artwork. At the beginning, when he's in the dark, his eyes also display eyeshine.

Like the other Koopalings, Ludwig has yellow and tan skin and a green head. He also has a four-ribbed, plated belly and padded feet, wears the same metal, spiked cuffs as the other male Koopalings and he's average in height, being taller than Lemmy, Larry and Wendy but shorter than Roy, Iggy and Morton. With earlier official material showing him as shorter than Mario<ref>[http://pressthebuttons.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83452033569e201b8d0b43f5b970c 1993 Nintendo Character Guide Comparison Chart.] ''Press The Buttons''. Retrieved October 14,2015.</ref>, ''[[Mario Kart 8]]'' shows that he is still shorter than most of the other middleweight characters, but, much like the other Koopalings, varies in height between games. Ludwig's shortest modern appearance is in the 3DS version of ''[[Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Nintendo 3DS)|Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games]]'', and his tallest is in ''[[Paper Mario: Color Splash]]''. His facial features are defined, having shaped cheeks, a high nose, a low jaw, and deeply curved lips with a complete set of teeth as revealed by ''Super Mario Adventure Game Picture Book 2: Mario and Baby Yoshi'' (「スーパーマリｵぼうけんゲームえほん 2 マリオとチビヨッシー」)<ref>{{media link|SMAGPB2 Yoshi Squishing Ludwig.png|A red, yellow and blue Baby Yoshi growing into adults, squishing Ludwig von Koopa, in ''Super Mario Adventure Game Picture Book 2: Mario and Baby Yoshi'' (「スーパーマリｵぼうけんゲームえほん 2 マリオとチビヨッシー」)}} Ludwig has a full set of teeth along with the overbite.</ref>, ''[[Super Mario World]]'', when leaping during his boss fight, and ''[[Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam]]''<ref>NintenU (December 8, 2015). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3TxwtAasoA Mario & Luigi Paper Jam Walkthrough Part 35 Ludwig & Larry Boss Battle]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved December 13, 2015.</ref>. He has a round head and small, circular gray eyes, like Morton. ''[[Paper Mario: Color Splash]]'' also reveals that his eyes present the [[Wikipedia:Tapetum lucidum|tapetum lucidum]], as eyeshine can be seen when he's partially in the dark while entering the room on his Super Ludship. The traits that differentiate Ludwig from all the other Koopalings are his single overbite on upper center of his snout and large, wild, blue hair, with an hairstyle similar to that subsequently used for [[Flurrie]]. He also has small, blue eyebrows, typically kept at an angle to confer him a serious tone.

Another aspect of Ludwig, not found both in Japanese in-game text and Japanese bios, is his love of classical music and his interests in composing. He waves a conductor's baton in ''Mario is Missing!'' and his UK blurb in ''[[Mario Kart 8]]'' calls him the "Conductor of Chaos". His bio from the ''Mario Kart 8'' Prima Guide says that he plans to compose his own victory theme should he win the race, and both the [[Nintendo Comics System]] and the English version of ''Super Mario World'' reveal that he enjoys composing "Koopa Symphonies", although the former goes on to state that they sound horrendous. The book ''[[Pipe Down!]]'' implied that he was at least partially deaf for a time, as he claims he can finally hear after an explosion "shook something loose in [his] brain". In the 3DS version of ''Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games'', his victory animation when he ends up in 2nd or 3rd place has him performing a stationary march, revealing his sense of rhythm.<ref name="3DSRio2nd3rdanimations">Zephiel810 (February 25, 2016). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtAS9Ve453g Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (3DS) - All Character 2nd/3rd Place Animations]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved February 26, 2016.</ref> The first game that has lines of dialogue from him specifically related to classical music is the English localization of ''Paper Mario: Color Splash'', where he says that "the first movement begins," as the battle begins, and calls the cannons of his warship "Cannon in Sea Major," with the Italian localization stating in a more direct way that he's a composer.<ref>stratussina (October 31, 2016). [https://youtu.be/c1ShokOB5cg?t=1943 Mario paper color splash ITA #23 Base Cobalto Boss Ludwig Megavernistella Blu]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved November 24, 2016. Ludwig says, ''"Che lo scontro abbia inizio! Mettetevi comodi per ammirare il concerto con assolo di cannone che ho composto io stesso!"'', which means, ''"May the fight begin! Take a comfortable seat to admire the concert with cannon solo that I myself composed!"''</ref> According to graffiti of his hair and the list of the points of interests in Super Bell Subway, Ludwig might also be into art, as there's a place called "Ludwig Painting," also mentioned in the graffiti.<ref name="SBSmap">[[Media:MK8 dSBS City Map.png|The map of the city where the Super Bell Subway course is found]]. Ludwig Painting is among the "A" list of points of interest.</ref><ref>[[Media:MK8 dSBS Graffiti.png|The graffiti found in Super Bell Subway]].</ref>

In Ludwig's trophy description in ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'' / ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Wii U|Wii U]]'', he is considered the most intelligent of the Koopalings, in ''Paper Mario: Color Splash'' he even designs his own warship to fight Mario, that he doesn't manage to fully produce before the latter arrives. He has been given the role of an inventor also in other media, such as the Club Nintendo comic ''Super Mario: Erholung? Nein, danke!'', where he works as the mechanic for the KoopAir airline service. In ''[[The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' and the ''[[Super Mario World (television series)|Super Mario World]]'' cartoon, Ludwig's name was changed into Kooky von Koopa, and was portrayed as a stereotypical mad scientist, whose main purpose was to invent new doomsday weapons and gadgets for his [[Bowser|father]]. He would commonly burst out into maniacal laughter or raise his voice by shouting in the middle of talking and seemed to be very aggressive towards the Mario Bros. Kooky didn't also care much about his hygiene, never washing or combing his hair. By contrast, the comics give him a more refined personality and vocabulary. In ''Bowser Jr.'s Journey'', Ludwig is shown to be somewhat serious and astute regarding sensing off elements, as evidenced by his sound suspicions that someone was watching and stalking them, something very bad has happened to Bowser's Castle, and his promptly leaving the party to investigate. His intelligence and knack for strategy was further showcased when he defeated Beef: knowing full well he did not stand a chance against him in a fair fight, he instead outsmarted Beef by leaving behind a mannequin in Ludwig's likeness and tricked him into shoving it into lava while promptly disposing of Beef from behind via shoving him into the same lava pit, and then creating Beef's costume to replace him.

In ''New Super Mario Bros. Wii'', Ludwig learned even more new abilities. He can either blast four fireballs from his wand at time or fire a single fireball, each homing in on the player, and has even mastered the ability of [[Flutter Jump]]ing, being able to stay in the air for several seconds. His appearance in ''New Super Mario Bros. 2'' has him also expanding on these abilities, utilizing the Flutter Jump to grab a chain, and then move between the two, and in addition, he can also increase his rate of fire. In ''New Super Mario Bros. U'', similar to Lemmy and Wendy in ''Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga'', he was also revealed to create fake duplicates to fake out the Mario Bros. He is also shown with the ability to levitate without needing to Flutter Jump. He's also proven to be more acrobatic than most of the other Koopalings being able to jump large horizontal distance with several flips in ''Super Mario World''. While his appearance in ''Mario Kart 8'' doesn't show his abilities, it is shown he can do a double-flip in the air while performing a stunt. Most of his tricks involve him jumping out of his kart, something he does more than any other characters meaning. His agility is further confirmed in the 3DS version of ''Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games'' when he ends up in 2nd place or 3rd place, as in his victory animation he is able to stand on his right hand and spin, spanning two complete circles with his spinning<ref name="3DSRio2nd3rdanimations" />. ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS'' / ''Wii U'' has Ludwig in his own version of the Koopa Clown Car, as he is a "palette swap" of Bowser Jr., just like the other Koopalings. He can shoot cannonballs, use drills, boxing gloves, wrecking balls, and can even jump out of his Clown Car. ''Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam'' shows that he has some decks of Battle Cards that are used in the battle against the Mario Bros. and Paper Mario thanks to Dark Star Points that he and Larry collect by dealing damage to their opponents, showing how ingenious Ludwig is. ''Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games'' shows that Ludwig is very skilled in Table Tennis, which has been known to be a patient and strategic game, perfectly suited to him.

''Disposition: Never calm''<br/>