#maryoh

So, the Koopas originate from Dark Land. This much we know, from the talk of the Koopalings from the TV show. And, they’ve mentioned that Bowser has ancestors, so it’s assumed that other Koopas exist in the Mario universe. However, we haven’t ever seen any other Koopas aside from Bowser/King Koopa, the Koopalings, and Bowser Jr. So what gives? Where are the other Koopas?

My headcanon is that Dark Land was once a heavily populated area, inhabited by numerous Greater Koopas (evolved to be bigger and more deadly than normal Koopa Troopa enemies). However, due to land development in the Mushroom Kingdom, a lava spring was dammed in the wrong place and Dark Land flooded. All was lost, save for Bowser and Kamek.

While searching for any survivors, Bowser found a nest of unhatched eggs tucked away in a small alcove that was miraculously spared by the lava flow. Shocked and cautiously optimistic, he took the nest of nine eggs back to his castle, desperate to save any possible remnants of the Greater Koopa race. Against the odds, the eggs eventually hatched into the Koopas we now know as the Koopalings.

Despite the fact that they were obviously not his own children, Bowser took the Koopalings under his wing, raising them as his own. Angered by the loss of not only all his subjects but the near-extinction of his entire race, Bowser swore to take revenge on the Mushroom Kingdom, and ultimately, on the ruler that caused the tragedy.

Unfortunately, Kamek, as a more old-fashioned royal advisor, didn’t see any of the Koopalings as a suitable heir to the throne. Since there were no longer any female adult Greater Koopas to speak of, Kamek decided to use his magic to create a suitable heir to the throne by impregnating Bowser with his own clone. (Thus explaining why Bowser Jr. is identical to his father as a child.) Bowser had no idea what Kamek had done until one day, he woke up in an immense amount of pain, and eventually laid an egg containing what would eventually be Bowser Jr.

Bowser would’ve loved to get rid of Kamek at that point, but that damned Magikoopa was all that Bowser had left of his old life. He had become extremely reliant on Kamek, as much as he hated to admit it, so Bowser couldn’t stand to get rid of him at the risk of losing the last remnant of his past.