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A Koopa Troopa is a type of turtle in the Mario video game series. Many work for the king of Koopas, Bowser. Alongside Goombas, Shy Guys, and Piranha plants, they are the most common enemies featured in the series.
It takes two jumps to kill a Koopa Troopa in all the side-scrolling Mario games. The first jump makes him hide in his shell (from which he will reemerge if you leave it alone), and the second jump kicks his shell away, killing anything it comes into contact with (including Mario if it bounces back towards him due to a pipe or other obstruction). In Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, it is possible to pick up the shells and carry them for a while before kicking them at enemies.
Varieties
There are many varieties of Koopas, but the original distinction was of color: green and red. In Super Mario Bros., green Koopas will always march in a straight line, even if this means falling into a pit, while reds march back and forth in a fixed area. There are also flying Koopa Troopas, called Koopa Paratroopas (sometimes called Parakoopas), which follow the same basic pattern, with greens bouncing towards Mario and reds hovering up and down in place.
In Super Mario World, if Yoshi eats different colored Koopa shells (green, red, yellow, and blue) he will acquire certain powers. Yoshi will merely spit out green shells, but red shells give him fire breath (when spat out), yellow creates an earthquake when he hits the ground (while held in his mouth), and blue allows him to fly (while held in his mouth).
There is another subtle difference between green, red, blue, and yellow koopas in Super Mario World. When Mario jumps on a Koopa, the Koopa will come out of its shell. Red koopas will climb back into their shell, but green ones will not. If a blue Koopa is knocked out of its shell and finds its shell again, it will attempt to kick it at Mario. If a Koopa climbs into a yellow shell, it will flash, become invincible, and roll on the ground toward Mario. If Yoshi then eats one of these extremely rare flashing shells, he will be granted the ability to fly, spit fire, and cause earthquakes when he hits the ground.
A Hammer Brother from Super Mario Bros. 3, leaping up on to a ledge. A more advanced Koopa variant is the Hammer Brother, bipedal turtles who wear helmets and toss hammers. In Super Mario Bros. 3, "wandering" Hammer Brothers rove around fixed areas on the world map; coming into contact with the Hammer Brothers icon will result in a quick battle on a mini-level, the reward of which is a power-up.
Appearances Koopas arguably first appeared in the arcade game Mario Bros. There are turtle enemies in this game; however, these turtles were called "Shellcreepers", not Koopa Troopas.
In Super Mario Bros., the turtle enemies earned the name "Koopa Troopa", and Koopa Paratroopas made their debut. The boss character at the end of every fourth level was called "Koopa" in Japan. In the United States, he was known as "Bowser", occasionally "Bowser, King of the Koopas". Later, "Koopa" became his last name.
 Skeletal Dry Bones are usually found in fortress or ghost house levels. Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced giant Koopa Troopas and Paratroopas, and Dry Bones, a skeletal Koopa Troopa that always reforms after being stomped. The game features several variations on the Hammer Brothers (Boomerang, Fire, and extra-large Sledgehammer Brothers).
In Super Mario World, stomping on Koopas ejects them from their shells, rather than causing them to hide. An ejected Koopa will slide out of his shell, wearing only a pair of boxers, and will crawl back to his shell after being temporarily stunned. He can be stomped on while outside his shell, for extra points. Unlike the Koopas in earlier games, Super Mario World's Koopas are bipedal. Dry Bones make a reappearance.
Koopas appeared as both enemies and characters in Super Mario 64. As an enemy, you could jump on a Koopa once and then ride on his shell, allowing you to plow over enemies and glide around easily unless you hit a solid object. Hitting him again after removing him from his shell killed him, which was helpful in getting 100 coins in a level because he yielded a blue 5-coin. As a character, he is represented as Koopa the Quick, a turtle that you race for a star on two separate occasions.
In Paper Mario, some of the Koopa Troopas are on Mario's side. In particular, a blue-shelled Koopa Troopa named Kooper helps Mario defeat Bowser. Enemy Koopa Troopas wore shades. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, a young Koopa Troopa named Koops assists Mario in an effort to take down the mighty dragon, Hooktail.
A generic Koopa Troopa is a playable character in Super Mario Kart, a racing game. He has excellent traction, very good acceleration, but a low top speed. As a computer opponent, he has the ability to fire unlimited turtle shells at other players' karts. He is not featured in Mario Kart 64. In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Koopa Troopa (green) and his partner Paratroopa (red) are both light racers, and the only characters able to regularly get sets of three green or red shells.
The Koopa Troopa as a character has also appeared in both Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Power Tennis.
Word origins The word "koopa" is most likely a play on the word "kappa," the name of a mythical Japanese creature. |
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