Bowser’s family has long been a Gordian Knot of confusion. For years, we all thought
the Koopalings were his kids--I mean, they were even known as the Koopa Kids. But then
along came Bowser Jr. in 2002’s Super Mario Sunshine. And at first, he seemed to fit alongside
the others as a weird, 8th Koopa Kid. But that line of thought was soon dashed when
Nintendo declared that the Koopalings weren’t actually Bowser’s kids, but were just other
Koopas under Bowser’s employ, making Bowser Jr. Bowser’s one and only child....right?
Well, as it turns out, there are even more Koopa progeny out there that were introduced
before Bowser Jr.: the Koopa Kids, no no, not these Koopa Kids who are no longer his
kids, but these guys, who went on to become a staple of the Mario Party series...until
they weren’t. So are they really Bowser’s kids as their name implies? And whatever happened
to these little party poopers? Well, it’s time to cast the searchlight on these forgotten
Koopas to discover just why they’ve disappeared and uncover the mystery of their family relations.
Welcome to Missing in Action where we take a look back at game elements that have mysteriously
gone missing.
The Koopa Kids’ first appearance was in 1999’s Mario Party, though they weren’t
known by that name quite yet. We’ll get to that soon enough. And like the Koopalings
before them, they served as Bowser’s henchmen, but only on the final board of the game, the
Eternal Star. There, rather than receiving Stars from Toad, players had to challenge
one of seven Koopa Kids spread across the board. However, instead of simply spending
20 coins to buy the stars, players had to outroll them first. Pull it off, and then
the player had the pleasure of actually buying that star. But roll lower and the Koopa Kid
would steal a star from them instead. Oof. Nevertheless, it served as a good way to change
up the game’s mechanics while building it up as the final board.
But for North Americans, these little guys went by a different name at first. They were
collectively known as Baby Bowsers. So that led to even more confusion. Are these Bowser’s
babies? Are they Bowser in baby form, perhaps through some elaborate time travel and cloning
shenanigans? Just what the heck was up with these kids, er, babies? Well, it seems the
original Japanese version and European versions might clear things up...well, slightly. In
the Eurpopean release of Mario Party, they’re called Mini Bowsers while in Japan they go
by Mini Koopas, which makes sense since Bowser is known as King Koopa in Japan. So essentially,
they’re just smaller versions of Bowser. Mini-me’s if you will. But that still doesn’t
fully explain their origin.
It is odd that these Koopa Kids were created at all though, because there were already
seven Koopalings waiting to be used. It could’ve been a great way to bring the group back into
a Mario game, especially since at the time they hadn’t been seen officially since 1993’s
Yoshi’s Safari, or 1994’s (shudder) Hotel Mario. So it could’ve only been a five year
absence rather than the ten year wait for their eventual return in Mario & Luigi: Superstar
Saga.
But the decision not to use the Koopalings likely came down to a simple truth. Only one
character model needed to be created for the Koopa Kids. It’s just a lot easier, especially
when the Koopalings appearance would’ve boiled down to little beyond an extended cameo.
The Koopa Kids simply made more sense for Mario Party and kicked off their partying
career as they returned in Mario Party 2 the following year where they were still referred
to as Baby Bowsers in North America. But rather than seven of them, only one Koopa Kid is
seen for most of the game. However, his role was greatly expanded. He now appeared on every
board as a kind of alternative to Toad, taking over his previous spot whenever he moved around
the board. While Toad would sell Stars, the Koopa Kid would steal five coins from any
player who passed him, though there was a slight chance that he would accidentally award
five coins instead. That said, players could game the system by wearing a Bowser Suit when
passing by, guaranteeing a gift of coins
A Koopa Kid also appeared in nearly every Item Minigame where they acted as the losing
option, awarding no item at all. Ironically, the only Item Minigame they don’t appear
in is Bowser Land’s Bowser Slots. Especially considering this is the board where some of
the other Koopa Kids also appear, though not quite the full seven from the original game.
One acts as the host of the board instead of Toad while another manages the Bowser Parade,
which allows a player to change the parade’s path for five coins. And finally there’s
the one who manages the secondary Item Shop and forcibly makes players buy an item from
him. These Koopa Kids also have some design variations amongst themselves as the Koopa
Kid Banker is colored blue and wears glasses while the secondary Item Shop is run by a
red, monocle-wearing Koopa Kid.
The amount of Koopa Kids were cut yet again in Mario Party 3 where there was primarily
only one and it was still referred to as Baby Bowser in North America. The Koopa Kid’s
role had it acting as a counterpart to Toad once again though this time the two both ran
Item Shops. The Koopa Kid’s shop would randomly appear in place of Toad’s where he sold
the trickster items like Reverse Mushrooms and Boo Bells. Technically there was more
than just this one Koopa Kid in Mario Party 3 thanks to a lone minigame, Baby Bowser Bonkers.
But that was the only time more than one appeared on screen.
The Koopa Kid wasn’t just relegated to a clerk though, as long as you played one of
the other modes. In the new Duel Mode, he acted as a possible partner thanks to the
lottery. Statwise, both his attack and health is only one, but he is able to occasionally
transform into Bowser to deal triple damage. That said, the transformation can fail causing
him to do no damage at all. He was still an unpredictable troublemaker at heart, but this
was the first hint of the Koopa Kid eventually becoming something more than a non playable
character.
It was with the arrival of Mario Party 4 that the Koopa Kids finally attained their proper
name of Koopa Kid in North America, and there might be a reason for the change. The game
was released in 2002, the same year as Super Mario Sunshine which introduced the world
to Bowser Jr.. Referring to the Koopa Kids as Baby Bowsers could have made Bowser’s
children all the more confusing to anybody paying attention. Still, it didn’t help
all that much considering the Koopalings were commonly referred to as the Koopa Kids when
they were first introduced, with even the Super Mario Bros. 3 manual proclaiming “These
are Bowser’s kids!!”
To further complicate matters, a Koopa Kid will actually refer to Bowser as Dad whenever
he’s called. So is he their father or not? Maybe other Mario Party games will offer a
clue. As far as their role in Mario Party 4, a Koopa Kid would appear whenever a player
landed on a Bowser Space and proceed to steal anywhere between 10 and 30 coins from that
player or even all of the players. And sometimes he would be really troublesome and call in
Bowser for a Bowser event after that.
Otherwise, during the Bowser Minigames two Koopa Kids could be seen as Bowser’s servants,
one which fanned him and the other that explained the rules of the minigame. These two are also
seen helping Bowser during the Final Battle where they attacked with fireballs as the
player tried to solve a puzzle. More Koopa Kids can be seen in the final board of the
game, Bowser’s Gnarly Party, where they sell items and host minigames. But a Koopa
Kid is playable in this game thanks to the extra mode, Beach Volley Folley, where it
was joined by Toad, Koopa Troopa, Shy Guy, Boo, and Bowser as extra unlockable characters.
But all of them were limited to this minigame and even then, only in Free Mode. So despite
Bowser Jr. making his debut, the Koopa Kids were getting plenty to do in the Mario Party
series.
And that culminated in 2003’s Mario Party 5 where a Koopa Kid finally became a proper
playable character in most of the modes. There were still some limitations though as he couldn’t
be selected for Story Mode or the Card Party, which made sense given Story Mode featured
three unique looking Koopa Kids with a Red, Blue, and Green variety. These three were
the ones players would face off against in smaller versions of the boards and were only
slightly different from the usual, playable design. And in Card Party, the Koopa Kids
would appear to cause trouble if a Bowser Card was drawn. It would be a little odd for
a Koopa Kid to cause trouble for a Koopa Kid.
The irony is that as Koopa Kid became more playable, the less important his role would
be. In Mario Party 6, he was freely selectable in every mode, effectively making him just
another character. The only other variation was the return of the Red, Blue, and Green
Koopa Kids who were separate from the playable one and acted as the player’s opponents
only when challenging Solo Mode’s minigames. It really appeared that for all intents and
purposes, the Koopa Kid was just one of the cast at this point. And then it all came tumbling
down.
The Koopa Kids’ roles immediately began to change with 2005’s Mario Party Advance.
One was no longer a playable character and instead could be seen working either alongside
Bowser or as the opponent in one of Bowser’s minigames. They could also cause trouble by
stealing players’ Mushrooms or flinging them somewhere else in Shroom City. They were
back to simply being Bowser’s henchmen. What’s even odder is that the Koopa Kids
weren’t limited to just seven members anymore. Up to 99 could appear at once in some of Bowser’s
minigames. If they are all his kids, Bowser’s been one busy guy.
And Mario Party 7 kept muddling the waters as Bowser would call the Koopa Kids “Son”
although they themselves only called him “Mr. Bowser.” In this game, a Koopa Kid is still
no longer playable although he did receive his own space on the boards. Landing on it
caused some of the same effects that a Bowser Space did in the past like Bowser Revolution
or Bowser Shuffle. It could also cause minor effects like using a Cursed Mushroom on the
player who landed there. Otherwise, the tri-colored Koopa Kids acted as antagonists during the
Bowser minigames and can even be seen operating the cannons on the Bowser’s Enchanted Inferno
board. And then there’s the Solo Cruise minigame, Bowser’s Lovely Lift, where a
Koopa Kid acts as one of the hazards.
After this, the Koopa Kids completely disappeared. They didn’t show up at all in Mario Party
8 and Mario Party 9 introduced Bowser Jr, effectively replacing them from that point
on. Even Bowser became playable in Mario Party games thanks to the Bowser Party Mode in Mario
Party 10 and the main game of Super Mario Party. To rub salt in that wound all the more,
Mario Party: The Top 100, a game that recreated and celebrated 100 of the past Mario Party
minigames, replaced the Koopa Kids with Boswer Jr.--not only had the Koopa Kids gone missing,
but now they were being erased from history!
But why this sudden change and total removal? It’s never really been commented on or officially
acknowledged, although it makes some sense that Nd Cube wouldn’t use Hudson Soft’s
original characters when they took over the series starting with 2012’s Mario Party
9. So this all leaves the question hanging in the air, were the Koopa Kids actually Bowser’s
kids or not? He may have called them son in Mario Party 7 but that’s easy enough to
explain away since it could just be a term of affection rather than a familial bond.
Is there a definitive answer?
Well, not really. And that’s because the story has officially been changed, as confirmed
by Shigeru Miyamoto in his 2012 interview with Game Informer. When asked about the Koopalings
being Bowser’s children, he stated: Our current story is that the seven Koopalings
are not Bowser's children. Bowser's only child is Bowser Jr. And there it is, full confirmation
that the Koopalings were retconned to no longer be Bowser’s kids. Now they’re more of
a special minion team for him, hence the portmanteau that makes up their name: Koopa and underling,
Koopaling.
That also means that the Koopa Kids are not Bowser’s children either. At least not canonically.
It’s difficult to say what the original intention of Hudson Soft was with their creation.
But these days, it seems likely that Nintendo considers them just a group of kids who happen
to bear Bowser's likeness with no parental link to Bowser. Which all raises another,
debatably more important question. Is anyone going to do anything about how much child
labor Bowser uses? That can't be legal, right?!
While the Koopa Kids had a good run in the Mario Party series, it seems unlikely that
they’ll ever return. Even if their boards from past Mario Parties are brought back in
a future game, their roles would likely be replaced by more well-known Mario characters
as evidenced by The Top 100 using Bowser Jr instead. I mean, after so many games in the
series they only just now let Goombas be a playable character in Super Mario Party. In
the end, the Koopa Kids are simply an idea whose time has long since passed though it
is fascinating to see how their roles grew as the series went on until they not only
vanished, but were actively removed from Mario Party’s history. Yikes. But what do you
think? Could the Koopa Kids actually see a return? Do they deserve one? And is there
anything else that’s gone missing that you want found? Let us know by posting in the
comments below and we may feature it in a future episode. Thanks for watching, and make
sure to click that subscribe button for future Missing in Action episodes and even more from
GameXplain!