Shake a Fat Man

[P.P.A.]

Wasn't Waluigi the final boss in Dancing Stage Mario Mix? Ithough that was pretty awesome having him as an evil lord of dance.

[Rob-Bert]

He also overthrew Bowser as the final enemy in Mario Party 3. Now before any of you point out the Mario franchise's spin-off disease, let me remind you that the original three Parties on the N64 were the best that particular part of the series has to offer. Third one being my personal favorite.

[Crazy Penguin]

I'm rather surprised they haven't done a Super Wario Bros game yet, but I suppose it's inevitable. It took me a long time to warm to Waluigi. Learning the Japanese pun behind the name helped, as did the Mario Power Tennis intro. Bowser Jr remains the worst character in the core Mario titles.

[Rob-Bert]

If only because his use pretty much killed any potential the Koopalings ever had in today's Mario games. I felt really cheated when they didn't even get one line during their appearance in Mario & Luigi 1.

[Ngangbius]

The reason we don't see the Koopa kids in anymore of the games(M&L as the exception) was that Miyamoto was tired of them(possibly because he hit a brick wall to do anything more with the characters). I don't really hate Bowser Jr., but I do with the Koopa kids would come back also.

[G.Silver]

I heard it was because the koopalings were all modeled on members of the production staff and for some reason he felt they could only be used if a game had all those developers on its staff. At least that's the story he gave in some interview I read.

[CM August]

From what I heard they merely forgot all about the Koopalings and just happen to overlook them every time by accident. Either way, I can't stand that Bowser's clone baby is now so prevalent in the series. There is absolutely nothing interesting about him, and his defining character trait is that he wants to be just like his Pa. There's a fine line between amusingly simplistic and just plain bad. The Koopalings blow him right out of the water.

[Tsuyoshi-kun]

I don't like Bowser Jr. that much, but I never cared for the Koopalings, either. They were essentially mini-Bowers with dated, stupid-looking faces / hair, and I never understood all the demand for them in another platform game since Super Mario World.

[Rob-Bert]

You haven't watched the SMB3 TV show. The Koopalings could easily rival Wario for most/best personality if they were brought back and done properly.

[Tsuyoshi-kun]

I've seen every episode of both Mario TV shows that had the Koopalings in them and I still stand by my statement. Yes, if handled properly I suppose they could be cool, but we are talking about the same company here who's released 11 different versions of Mario Party.

[Rob-Bert]

HudsonSoft?

[G.Silver]

I just like the idea that Bowser has all these "generals" under him that are in charge of various areas, and just by looking at them have identifiable personalities. In New SMB I wouldn't have expected much from them other than an alternating skin on the midbosses, but in a nuanced way, they would have really changed the "story" of the game, you'd have them handing off the Princess, one after another, some sort of "Koopa Team Spirit" thing. With just Baby Bowser, the little shit just keeps running until he's basically ruined all of Bowser's forces (and got his dad dumped in lava and skeletonized!). It just seems to me that with the Koopalings, there would be some guilt or accountability!

[Rob-Bert]

..and even more varied attack patterns. BJ was one of those bosses that repeats the same thing over and over adding in minor addendums. Each Koopaling could get their own unique weapon and/or style. Remember how Roy quaked the ground in SMB3?

[Esrever]

I'm think that if we had talking versions of the Koopalings in the new Mario games, we would probably hate them just as much as we hate Bowser Junior. It's definitely the whiny-child personality that makes him so grating.

[CM August]

Being a whiny kid is the least of Jr.'s problems. It wasn't the whininess that made the Koopa Kids fun, it was the fact that they constantly exploited their dad and each other for their own childish schemes. Usually ending with Koopa kicking their asses back in line. They're a bunch of backstabbers who somehow manage to work together half the time.
Bowser Jr. just wants to be exactly like Bowser, who has nothing but attaboys for his son. There's nothing interesting about it, no friction at all. It's just... Bowser Jr.

[Esrever]

I don't remember the Koopalings having any discernible personality or backstory at all! Or are you talking about the TV show? Cause I think it's safe to assume Nintendo wouldn't turn to the TV show for inspiration if they ever brought the kids back. "Nothing interesting about it, no friction at all" basically sums up the entire in-game Mario cast... I'm sure they'd give the Koopalings the same treatment.

[CM August]

Naturally I'm speaking of the TV show, and of course it won't happen. But since the thread had deviated to wishful thinking, I felt like chipping in.

[Rob-Bert]

I'm surprised nobody thought of what Intellegent Systems could've done had the Koopalings appeared in a Paper Mario title. You honestly can't tell me the Mario characters lack personality after playing through one of those.

[Ngangbius]

^Funny thing is Alpha Dream's M&L games are dripping with quirky personality as much as IS's Paper Mario games, but when the Koopalings appeared in M&L:SS...well, they just attacked you. Not even one snippet of dialogue or anything else that indicates a personality. They were just generic bosses.

[G.Silver]

The funny thing about the Mario cast is that due to their silence they are just begging to have words put in their mouths, and that's why Paper Mario works so well. It's like a talking goomba is always comedy gold, it doesn't really matter what it says. That, and those games are really well written and localized.

There was something to be said for their "death introductions" in Mario World, like "Ludwig Von Koopa's days of composing Koopa symphonies in Castle #5 are over," but something that stood out to me with the koopalings is their introductions written for them in Nintendo Power, which were likely written JUST for Nintendo Power to make them seem more like real characters. But the thing is, they nailed the personalities down right then. You can tell what the characters are like just by looking at them, you don't really need any introduction, and even with name changes (sure to piss off fans!), they were obviously still really charming in the TV shows because CM is talking about them (I liked them too). Another thing I liked about the design (as a 9 year old) was that they were essentially my age at the time, and I found them somewhat relatable, even if they were villains. I'm not 9 now, but I still think they're fun and interesting-looking, with their crazy hairstyles and otherwise generally deranged qualities. Baby Bowser seems skewed at an even younger demographic, and possibly baby-loving girls as well, I dunno.

Another factor in their inclusion/non-inclusion and an argument against the idea that they have personalities is that in the Japanese Mario World (they weren't named in-game in Mario 3) they don't have names, just "Koopaling #1" and "Koopaling #2" and so forth, as if they didn't realize they were sitting on a franchise goldmine.

[K2J]

anything else that indicates a personality.

Their lead-ups to their fights did nothing for you? I've never played another game with the Koopalings in it in any capacity, but I think their personalities were really nailed down by the types of traps you had to go through to reach them. I forget which one, but I really liked it when the back-to-castle warp appeared before facing the boss, misleading you to think there wouldn't be a fight.

[Rob-Bert]

Another factor in their inclusion/non-inclusion and an argument against the idea that they have personalities is that in the Japanese Mario World (they weren't named in-game in Mario 3) they don't have names, just "Koopaling #1" and "Koopaling #2" and so forth, as if they didn't realize they were sitting on a franchise goldmine.

They got the US names in Japan once Super Mario World was released. Except they ditched "Koopa" as a surname, meaning the parody aspect of Wendy O. Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr. and Ludwig van Koopa was lost.

[Zeta]

Like the Japanese would have gotten any of those.

[Rob-Bert]

They could still appeal to them in other ways... like having English names at all... and that crazy neon hair.

[Ngangbius]

anything else that indicates a personality.

Their lead-ups to their fights did nothing for you? I've never played another game with the Koopalings in it in any capacity, but I think their personalities were really nailed down by the types of traps you had to go through to reach them. I forget which one, but I really liked it when the back-to-castle warp appeared before facing the boss, misleading you to think there wouldn't be a fight.

It's been awhile since I've played the game, but I do remember being surprised when I first encountered the kooplings, because the dungeon sure as heck didn't give you any indication that they would appear there. I don't remember the traps or art design in that area giving any indication of some certain trademark or personality to any of the koopa kids.