Super Smash Bros. Fighters – Super Mario series – 07 Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings
In the Super Mario series: Super Mario Sunshine (2002)
In the Super Smash Bros. Series: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U (2014)
Theme Song: Fortress Boss – Super Mario Bros. 3
Boxing Ring Title: Prince of the Koopas
Bowser Koopa Jr. is a major antagonist in the Super Mario series. He is the son of Bowser, and thus the heir to the Koopa Throne. He looks up to his father, and hopes to defeat Mario to make him proud. In addition to helping his father in his plans to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, he also assists in kidnapping Peach, who he looks to as a mother-figure of sorts. He is not to be confused with Baby Bowser, a similar-looking character who is his father's younger-self.
After Mario obtains his second Shine Sprite, Shadow Mario attempts to "rescue" Peach, only to get defeated by Mario. He then flees to Bianca Hills, with Mario pursuing him. Once Mario obtains ten Shine Sprites, Shadow Mario successfully “rescues” Peach from
Mario and escapes to Pinna Park. There, he duels Mario by using a giant Mecha-Bowser. Upon losing, Shadow Mario reveals his true identity and takes Peach to Corona Mountain,
where his dad is hanging out. Afterwards, Bowser Jr. continues to annoy
Mario throughout the plumber's quest.
Once
Mario manages to defeat Bowser Jr. in every location near Isle Delfino,
Bowser Jr. retreats to Corona Mountain to hang out with his papa
and “mama” in Bowser's Hot Tub. Once Mario makes it to the top, he engages in a battle with the father and son duo, with Bowser Jr. firing Bullet Bills at the pesky plumber. Despite their best efforts, Bowser Jr. and his father would lose, resulting in everyone falling out of the hot tub, with the Koopas falling somewhere pretty far away from Isle Delfino. As Mario and Peach celebrate their victory, Bowser would try to admit to his son that he lied about Peach being his mama, only for Bowser Jr. to reveal he already knew. Junior then admits that he would like to fight Mario again some day, which makes his papa proud.
Bowser Jr. is first seen at "Bowser Jr,'s Robot Reactor," where he summons Megaleg to attack Mario. Later, he personally fights Mario himself in "Bowser Jr.'s Airship Armada." Much later at "Bowser Jr.'s Lava Reactor," he summons King Kaliente to attack Mario. Despite his best efforts, Bowser Jr. loses all three battles, and thus loses the Grand Stars he was guarding.
Bowser Jr. isn't seen again until Bowser's Galaxy Reactor, where he's personally guarding Princess Peach. When Mario begins to approach, he fires cannonballs at the stairs Mario's climbing to try and stop him. Once Mario arrives, Junior watches his dad fight the plumber. Once Bowser is defeated, Peach is rescued, and Mario obtains the last Grand Star. However, without the Grand Star, Bowser's Galaxy goes haywire, and Bowser Jr. ends up falling off his airship and plummeting into Bowser's artificial sun. However, he's shown to be okay following the Lumas resetting the universe, where's he's seen dancing on his airship.
Notably, Bowser Jr. is shown to have grown a fang on the right side of his mouth. This was notably removed in later games, suggesting this was an oversight.
Bowser Jr. is fought at every Tower level. Depending on how he's wearing his bandana depends on the strategy he'll use to fight Mario. During World 1, his dad serves as the world's end boss, and his defeat results in him turning into Dry Bowser. At the end of the game, Bowser Jr. revives him by tossing Dry Bowser into a cauldron, which revives him. Junior than teams up with his dad to defeat Mario, but both Koopas are inevitably defeated. During the end credits, Bowser Jr. can be seen dragging his unconscious father elsewhere, though he briefly looks at the player to growl at them.
Once the heroes manage to complete World 1-3, a Toad informs them that Bowser Jr. is capturing Toads and stuffing them into blocks, which the heroes can go rescue if they wish to do so. Whenever the heroes manage to defeat a Koopaling, Bowser Jr. taunts them before fleeing to his airship. However, during Worlds 4 and 6, the airship ends up taking off without him, which forces him to chase after it, allowing the heroes to board the airship themselves where they fight Bowser Jr. At world 8, Bowser Jr's. Airship serves as the second-to-last level, where the young prince abandons his Junior Clown Car in favor of using his dad's Koopa Clown Car, though this attempt ends up with him losing once more.
Bowser Jr. is personally fought at the beginning to Soda Jungle, and the end of Meringue Clouds. In the former, Bowser Jr. fights the heroes underwater, firing Homing Torpedo Teds from his Junior Clown Car at them. In the latter, Junior uses his ride's boxing gloves to try and punch the heroes, as well as throw Bob-ombs at them. Upon losing here, he tries to crush the heroes with the airship's massive mechanical fist, only to end up causing destroying the airship itself, causing it to crash.
He receives a bigger role in Paper Mario: The Origami King. At Shangri-Spa, Bowser Jr. foolishly flies headfirst to his father's fallen castle to rescue him, only to get sliced to pieces by Scissors. Mario, Olivia, and Kamek than gather those pieces, and hurry to the Spring of Purification to revive him. Though it works, Junior is now too creased, dirty, and colorless to help, so the three visit various hot springs to revive him. Once they do so, they head to Bowser's Castle to rescue the Koopa King, as well as defeat Scissors.
Bowser Jr. also stars in his own story in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, where he heads off on a separate adventure to find a cure for the blorbs, that's not only affecting the Mushroom Kingdom, but also Bowser's Kingdom. Throughout the adventure, Bowser Jr.'s selfish and uncaring nature causes a lot of his minions to slowly abandon him, and when Kamek confronts him with this, Bowser Jr. resolves to better himself.
In the Mario Tennis series, Bowser Jr. makes his debut in Mario Power Tennis, where he is classified as a Tricky character. While initially playing the game on foot, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash would see Junior ride around in his Junior Clown Car instead.
Personality-wise,
Bowser Jr. is shown to be bold and energetic troublemaker. He’s also quite clearly inherited his father’s
selfishness and short-temper, as he can get enraged easily. Unlike
Bowser, he’s slightly smarter than him, and will think his actions
through before doing them, though he can still make hasty decisions. While he initially fought Mario "hand-to-hand" as it were in his debut, he begin to switch to using machinery as early as Super Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Bowser Jr. also prefers to get around in his Koopa Clown Car than, with the implied reason for this is because he's somewhat lazy.
Despite his brattiness, Bowser Jr. is actually a pretty lonely kid, and wishes to have many friends. While this was first implied in his bio in Mario Party DS, this was shown in full in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where he did all he could to ensure that Paper Bowser Jr, wouldn't have to go home back to his world.
The Koopalings are a group of seven Koopas who loyally serve under Bowser. While originally depicted as his children – making them Bowser Jr.’s older brothers and sister – this idea was dropped once Bowser Jr. made his debut. Nowadays they’re portrayed as the leaders of Bowser’s Koopa Troop, though there is the occasional implication that they MAY be related to both Bowser Senior and Junior.
Debut
In the Super Mario series: Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
In the Super Smash Bros. Series: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U (2014)
Boxing Ring Title: The Youngest
Larry is the youngest of the Koopalings. He’s the head of Bowser’s Attack Squad.
A notable trait about Larry is how proud he is of his hair. He always makes sure to take care of it, and gets easily riled up if it gets messed up. Speaking of which, he can get easily angered if insulted, or even upon spotting his enemies. He also has a
big appetite, and was shown eating a giant steak bigger than him and
implying he’s still hungry afterward in Paper Mario: Color Splash. Larry is also said to have a bit of "little brother" complex, though despite that, he appears to admire his older brother Ludwig, even trying to mimic a few of his moves. In the Nintendo Power guidebook for Super Mario World, it's implied that Bowser sees Larry as his "number one Koopaling."
Larry’s shell is light-blue, though it was originally green.
Debut
In the Super Mario series: Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
In the Super Smash Bros. Series: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U (2014)
Boxing Ring Title: The Enforcer
Morton is implied to be the second youngest of the Koopalings. Despite this, he towers over all of his siblings except Iggy.
Morton is
proudly “more brawn than brain” though despite his low intelligence, he's sometimes astute enough to
realize if there’s any possible setbacks. He's also a very loyal individual; when Bowser asks them to watch over his son during Bowser Jr.'s Quest, Morton takes the job seriously, even butting into an argument between Junior and Roy to defend Junior. While Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam initially had him speak normally, Paper Mario: Color Splash has him speaking in broken sentences and in third person, which is more in line with how he talks in the Japanese version of the former. Morton is also a bad cook, as shown in his attempt to cheer Bowser Jr. up by presenting him with charred meat.
Morton’s shell is black with a white ridge, though it was originally white with a gold ridge.
Debut
In the Super Mario series: Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
In the Super Smash Bros. Series: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U (2014)
Boxing Ring Title: The Bold Beauty
Wendy is implied to be the fifth oldest of the Koopalings, and is the only female.
Wendy is a strong-minded, intrusive tomboy, and a bit greedier than her siblings. She also has a short temper, and can become violent when provoked. Despite also being quite selfish, she can be helpful to others on occasion, such as giving a Mii - who was searching for a particular bow - one of her own bows in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Wendy also appears to have a love of the ocean, as she tends to conquer regions that have water. Among her siblings, she tends to hang out with Roy, though the two appear to view each other as rivals, with Wendy throwing snarky remarks at him now and then. She also views Princess Peach and Princess Daisy as rivals as well. Paper Mario: Color Splash would reveal that Wendy has a small crush on Mario, an aspect that was mostly shown in various promotional material such as Super Mario Manga Mania before then.
Wendy’s shell is pink.
Debut
In the Super Mario series: Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
In the Super Smash Bros. Series: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U (2014)
Boxing Ring Title: The Laughing Prankster
Iggy is implied to be the fourth oldest of the Koopalings, and the is
tallest one in the group.
Iggy is a zany, hyperactive, and frivolous individual, which makes it hard to predict what he's thinking or what he'll do. He even enjoys provoking whoever he's messing with, taunting them and giggling with glee, though even he has some reservations on that. Regardless of his eccentric behavior, Iggy does have a degree of common sense, though it doesn't stop him from occasionally saying whatever comes to his mind, which can occasionally land him in trouble. It's also occasionally implied that he's a mechanic, and a few games reveal he has a pet Chain Chomp that he occasionally uses to fight the Mario Bros. on occasion. Iggy is also protective of Bowser Jr., though not to the same extent as Morton.
Iggy’s shell is lime-green, though it was originally green.
Debut
In the Super Mario series: Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
In the Super Smash Bros. Series: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U (2014)
Boxing Ring Title: The Cool One
Roy is implied to be the third oldest of the Koopalings, and always sports his signature "Bad Boy sunglasses."
Roy is a laid-back individual who's a bit of a slacker, but can quickly turn around into an efficient soldier when the situation calls for it. He's also a bit of a bully, as shown in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions where he's shown to enjoy bullying the lower-ranked members of the Koopa Troop. Roy also enjoys acting and appearing cool to others. Like his little brother Morton, he's "more brawn than brain," though unlike him, Roy does have moments where he will stop and try to think his plans through. Roy also appears to enjoy employing various dirty tactics to give him an edge over the Mario Bros., though there are some tactics he disproves of. He also tends to hang out his little sister Wendy despite their rivalry.
Roy’s shell is purple, though it was originally pink.
Debut
In the Super Mario series: Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
In the Super Smash Bros. Series: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U (2014)
Boxing Ring Title: Wacky War Machine
Lemmy is implied to be the second oldest of the Koopalings, and is the smallest one of the group.
Lemmy is a rather childish and immature individual, and seems to retain a childlike innocence about him. Although he'll gladly help Bowser in his schemes, its been said that he'd rather join the circus than do that. His love of the circus is often shown through him balancing on top of a rubber ball, as well as in New Super Mario Bros. U where the interior of his airship resembles a circus. In Paper Mario: Color Splash, he'd finally become a ringleader for the Emerald Circus, where he has Mario go through various dangerous "circus tricks" before confronting the plumber himself. The game would also reveal that Lemmy enjoys dancing. Lemmy also loves snow-themed regions, and tends to conquer them the most.
Lemmy’s shell is orange, but was originally green.
Debut
In the Super Mario series: Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
In the Super Smash Bros. Series: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U (2014)
Boxing Ring Title: Pompous Prodigy
Ludwig is the oldest of the Koopalings, and is usually implied to be the strongest and smartest among the group.
Ludwig is a precocious and conceited individual, who loves showing off whenever he makes an entrance. Getting ignored is often the one thing that can easily set him off. He's also quite arrogant and tends to underestimate his foes, as shown in New Super Mario Bros. Wii where he simply chuckles upon seeing Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, and Blue Toad arrive in his lair. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam reveals that Ludwig views himself as the leader of the Koopalings, to which his siblings don't agree with. Despite his arrogance, he can be surprisingly humble in his defeats on occasion. Ludwig is also a big fan of classical music, as well as composing his own music. Ludwig was initially considered to be Bowser's second-in-command until the debut of both Kamek and Bowser Jr., though he still hold a high enough rank that he can personally give status reports to Bowser.
Ludwig’s shell is dark-blue, though it was originally green.
When it comes to their battles, Larry, Morton, and Iggy occasionally jump into the air and shoot their magic at the Mario Bros.; Wendy fires off a deadly ring, adding an additional one every time she's hit; Lemmy throws three bouncy rubber balls while moving around the battlefield; while Roy and Ludwig follow the pattern of shooting magic and jumping, except that they cause earthquakes upon landing that can stun the Mario Bros. if they're on the ground. Each Koopaling needs to be jump on three times, after which they give up the Magic Wand and flee.
Each of the Koopalings rule over a specific area of Dinosaur Land, except for Larry, who's castle is near Bowser's. Iggy and Larry fight the Mario Bros. on a tilting platform, where the only way to defeat them is to jump on them to make them fall into the lava below; Morton and Roy would try to ram the Mario Bros., after which they would climb up the wall and run on the ceiling and attempt to flatten the heroes; Ludwig spits fireballs at the Mario Bros., and whenever he's stomped, he retreats into his shell to chase them down before performing an impressive jump to try and give himself some distance from the plumbers; while Lemmy and Wendy pop out of pipes alongside fake doll-versions of themselves, and need to be stomped three times before they're defeated. Once a Koopaling has lost, Mario and Luigi would retrieve the Yoshi Egg they were guarding before completely destroying the Koopaling's castle.
Notably, this game would give the Koopalings some redesigns, some minor, some major; as well as giving them their own unique shell color. They would also manage to obtain their own Magic Wands, which they would use occasionally throughout the series from then onward.
Notably, Roy, Iggy, Wendy, Morton, and Ludwig serve as the bosses of the main worlds, with Larry and Lemmy serving as optional bosses from the first two Special Worlds. Once Mario and Luigi defeat them and reach Bowser's Castle, they try to ambush the two inside by trying to turn them into stone statues! Unfortunately for them, the Mario Bros. get by them and defeat Bowser. They then decide to use their magic to make Bowser bigger, only to get knocked aside by him for their efforts. During the credits, the Koopalings are seen escorting Bowser in the Koopa Clown Car, but the vehicle is unable to support their combined weight, and they end up crash-landing near some trees.
While not showing up in the original game, they show up in the remake of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story in the game's Bowser Jr.'s Journey mode. Bowser is about to head off to Peach's Castle to "invite himself" in the discussion they're having about the recent Blorb outbreak, and asks the Koopalings to watch over his son, Bowser Jr., while he's gone. When Bowser Jr, gets the idea on finding the cure for the Blorbs himself to impress his dad, they follow to assist him, but slowly desert him one by one for various reasons. However, each one of them slowly returns to help Junior once he tries to stop acting selfish and rude.
In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, the Koopalings assist Bowser and Paper Bowser on their conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom, and are fought in certain parts of the game in pairs: Larry and Ludwig; Wendy and Roy; and Morton, Iggy, and Lemmy. They also show up in the final section of the game, where they serve as a boss rush before confronting both Bowsers. During the game, Roy wonders where their Paper counterparts are, but Wendy simply assumes that they're busy doing other important things back in their universe.
In Super Smash Bros., Bowser Jr. serves as the “default” fighter, with the Koopalings serving as his “alternate costumes.” Regardless, all of them can get around pretty quickly in their Junior Clown Cars, and with its wide arrange of moves, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings should have no trouble keeping up with Bowser, let alone the rest of the cast!
Special Moves
Bowser Jr. fires a cannon ball from the mouth of his Junior Clown
Car. The Cannonball will fly straight head for a bit before gravity
effects it and it begins to fall. The longer you charge it, the faster
it flies and the more damage is deals!
Inspired by the
various cannon balls that the Koopaling’s airships fired in “Super
Mario Bros. 3”, the big steel balls Bowser would drop from his Clown Car
in “Super Mario World”, and Bowser Jr.’s third boss fight where he
would fire explosive spiked cannon balls from his dad’s Koopa Clown Car
at the heroes in “New Super Mario Bros. Wii.”
Bowser Jr. drives forward at incredible speeds, whacking everyone up in the air! Bowser Jr. can also jump while performing the move, though doing a double jump will cancel out of the attack.
Somewhat inspired by the Koopa Clown Kart in “Mario Kart 7,” though beyond its driver using items, it is incapable of flinging the foe upwards. In an amusing note, neither Bowser Jr. or the Koopalings were playable in that game.
Bowser Jr. activates both the Self-Destruct Button and the Eject Button on his Junior Clown Car. Junior goes flying into the air as his Clown Car explodes about a second later.
This move is original to Super Smash Bros., though it seems to be somewhat inspired by how Bowser Jr.’s machinery tends to explode and he gets flung off elsewhere after he’s defeated in some games, like “Super Mario Galaxy.”
Hammers are the main weapons the Hammer Bros. use, and Bowser himself would wield hammers on occasion in certain games, like “Super Mario Bros.” Bowser Jr. has wielded hammers himself occasionally, as first shown in “Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.”
The Magic Wands are the main weapons the Koopalings use, first showing up in “Super Mario Bros. 3.” In that game, the wands were stolen from the ruler of the land they conquered. It wouldn’t be until “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” that they’d get their own Magic Wands to use, though they wouldn’t be shown using it to physically whack people with it until “Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam,” and even then that was only Larry.
Bowser Jr. opens a secret compartment in his Koopa Clown Car and releases a Mechakoopa. The Mechakoopa wanders around the battlefield for a bit before exploding. If it approaches an edge, it’ll turn around.
If it touches an opponent, it’ll clamp onto them with it’s jaw and detonate itself half-a-second later.
Only one Mechakoopa can be deployed at a time. If Bowser Jr. attempts to summon a second one, nothing will be sent out of the Junior Clown Car’s secret compartment. Bowser Jr. will have to wait until the one he currently deployed either explodes or happens to get tossed off-screen.
Inspired by the final battle against Bowser in “Super Mario World,” where Bowser would throw Mechakoopas at Mario and Luigi. The two had to jump on the Mechakoopas to stun them, and then pick them up and throw them back up at Bowser’s head to defeat him.
Mechakoopas were first being shown able to explode in “Mario Party 5” in the Final Boss minigame “Frightmare,” where they were the first wave of enemies the heroes had to defeat.
Bowser Jr. puts on his Shadow Mario disguise, jumps towards the foreground and paints a giant “X” on the camera.
Inspired by Bowser Jr.’s plot during the events of “Super Mario Sunshine” where Bowser Jr. disguises himself as Shadow Mario and spreads various types of graffiti over Isle Delfino using his Magic Paintbrush to get Mario in trouble. During the Shadow Mario chase sequences, Bowser Jr./Shadow Mario would occasionally spread graffiti on the ground to try and slow Mario down. The graffiti used is pretty similar to the Lava Graffiti Bowser Jr. uses in Pianta Village.
Additional Notes
Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings take less damage if their Junior Clown Car is attacked, and more damage if they themselves are attacked.
Palutena’s Guidance on the Koopalings states that their Junior Clown Cars are a mass-produced model of Bowser Jr.’s, which probably explains why their Clown Cars looks a bit different compared to Junior's.
Like how Bowser is named “Koopa” in Japan, Bowser Jr.’s name there is “Koopa Jr.”
In Japan, the Koopalings weren't given any names in their debut, and were just called "コクッパ," which translates to "Little Koopa." (or rather "Little Bowser.") Nintendo of America would be the ones who would give them names, basing them off of a tabloid talk show presenter (Morton Downey Jr.) and musicians. (Wendy O. Williams, Iggy Pop, Roy Orbison, Lemmy Kilmister, and Ludwig von Beethoven) The source of Larry’s name is in conflict, as Dayvv Brooks – former Nintendo employee – originally claimed that he was named after Larry King, but later claimed he was named as such because “he looked like a Larry.” Regardless, Japan would later adopt these names for Super Mario World.
While the Boxing Ring stage gives Bowser Jr. and the seven Koopalings their
own unique Boxing Title in various regions, the Japan version has them
all share the title “万能のチャリオット,” which means “All-Purpose Chariot.” Guess the Junior Clown Car is considered more important there, huh?
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