Koopa is the name of many of the fictional species in the Mario series of video games. Koopas exist in the Mushroom Kingdom, and are one rank above Goombas. There appear to be two distinct species of koopa. One, the Koopa Troopa, are turtles with usually a red or a green shell. See the articles on Koopa Troopa and Koopa Para-Troopa for more. Some variants are in Lakitu, Hammer Brothers and Magikoopa forms.
The second species is represented by King Koopa (Bowser) and his children. They are large bipedal turtles with spiked shells, claws, horns and (strangely enough, for reptiles) hair. They can also breathe fire. These koopas are intent on conquering various kingdoms, and use the smaller Koopa Troopas as soldiers.
Naming conventions:
- Koopa - Moves on land only. After Super Mario Bros 3, the Koopa visibly walks on two hind legs rather than crawling.
- Koopa Paratroopa - Equipped with wings that allow either sustained flight or continuous jumping.
- Green Koopa - The most basic Koopa, does not recognize edges and will fall to their death.
- Red Koopa - Recognizes edges and performs an about face to avoid them.
- Blue Koopa - Same as Red Koopa, except shell gives a flying ability to Yoshi.
- Yellow Koopa - Same as Red Koopa, except shell gives a stomping ability to Yoshi.
- Hammer Bros - Equipped with hard armor, helmet, and throwing hammers.
- Fire Bros - Equipped with Hammer Bros armor. Have red skin and spit fireballs.
- Lakitu - Resembles a Koopa, though possibly not part of the Koopa family proper. Throws Spiny eggs from a cloud that hatch into adult Spinies.
- Magikoopa - Casts spells that can transmofrigy blocks and other objects into monsters. Kamek, a Magikoopa, is the caretaker of Bowser Jr in Yoshi's Island.
- King Koopa - The patriarchal Koopa. There is no Koopa Queen known to exist, so it is assumed the King Koopa lays its own eggs. The current King Koopa is named Bowser, however, Super Mario Bros does not specify if more than one King Koopa can exist. Originally in Super Mario Bros, one King Koopa was the boss of one world in the Mushroom Kingdom, but whether these were the same Koopa King or separate Koopas is unknown. He appears in Yoshi's Island as Bowser Koopa Junior.
Koopa Kids - Offspring of King Bowser:
- Larry Koopa
- Morton Koopa Jr.
- Wendy O. Koopa
- Iggy Koopa
- Roy Koopa
- Lemmy Koopa
- Ludwig Von Koopa
