Koopa Troopa
From Freepedia
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 left 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). The Koopa Troopa will die if it slides off of a cliff or slides too far off the screen. 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.
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Varieties
Koopa Troopas
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. 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 King Koopa, but this was later dropped in Super Mario Bros. 3. The Koopa Troopas' shells came in shades of green and red.
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, 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.
Koopa Troopas were the most regularly-seen minions of Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Each of their voices were done by John Stocker. However, on the show they were drawn incorrectly, and often wound up wearing themed costumes to go with whatever alter-ego Bowser had taken on in the episode. Occasionally, a single Koopa Troopa would be shown working with Mouser and Tryclyde from Super Mario Bros. 2. When the show spun off into The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 the next year, the Koopa Troopas weren't seen so frequently, but were drawn to better resemble their video game counterparts. However, they managed to remain regular minions in the Super Mario comic book stories in the Nintendo Comics System.
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 t-shirt, 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 and Super Mario 64 DS. 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. The Koopa Troopa enemies were relatively rare compared to how common they were in past games; they only appear in a couple areas, and there's few of them in those two areas. There is a character called Koopa the Quick, who holds two stars, and will only give each of them to you if you beat him in two races, on Bob-omb Battlefield and Tiny Huge Island.
In Paper Mario, some of the Koopa Troopas are on Mario's side. The Koopas residing in Koopa Village are mostly found wearing green shells. However, a blue-shelled Koopa Troopa named Kooper resides in Koopa Village, and joins Mario to help defeat Bowser. Enemy Koopa Troopas wear shades, and are most often found to be wearing red shells and serving the Koopa Bros. They are found in the Toad Town Sewers, but with grey and purple shells instead. 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. His girlfriend is named Koopie Koo, who is often overprotective of Koops.
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 green Koopa Troopa as a character has also been playable in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Power Tennis, and Mario Superstar Baseball.Hookbill the Koopa
Hookbill the Koopa is a magically empowered Koopa Troopa, and the final boss of World 4 in the video game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. His name stems from his large hookbill jaw.
To defeat Hookbill, one must pelt him with eggs until he falls over, and then pound under his belly. This must be done three times to win the battle. Hookbill has several different attacks. First, he will crawl to you on all fours, causing you to drop Baby Mario if he touches you. When you pound his stomach, he will withdraw into his shell and start bouncing around before proceeding to his next attack. After being wounded once, he gets up on two legs and starts running, again causing you to lose control of Baby Mario if he comes in contact with you. For his final attack, he will jump and attempt to body slam you. Once Hookbill is defeated, he falls off of the edge.
Hookbill appears in Tetris Attack as the first of the four bosses, along with Naval Piranha, while Raphael Raven became a hero instead of a villain.
Paratroopas
There are also flying Koopa Troopas, called Koopa Paratroopas (sometimes abbrieviated to Parakoopas), which follow the same basic pattern, with greens bouncing towards Mario and reds hovering up and down in place. To kill the Koopa Paratroopas, you have to stomp them once so they lose their wings, then repeat the process used for the basic Koopa Troopas. Paratroopa is a playable charcater in Mario Tennis, Mario Power Tennis, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Superstar Baseball.
Hammer Brothers
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.
Dry Bones & Skeleton Koopas
A different type of Koopa Troopa is introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. They are the known as Dry Bones and Skeleton Koopas. In Super Mario Bros. 3, they are usually found in fortresses (picture below). They resemble a normal Koopa Troopa but have a bony texture and are gray. In Super Mario World, they wear red shoes and are better designed. Most bones are visible as opposed to Dry Bones in Super Mario Bros. 3 which are only grey. They are usually found in castles and fortresses as well. If Mario jumped on one, it would crumble to the ground, but reassemble itself shortly after. It could be killed by a hammer, hitting it with the tail of a raccoon or tanooki suit, by a star, and by hitting it with the cape. Dry Bones is set to be playable in Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Party 7 and Mario Kart DS coming in 2005.
Word origins
The word "koopa" is most likely a play on the word "kappa", the name of a mythical Japanese creature.
