Koopa Paratroopa

Koopa Paratroopa
Koopa Paratroopa's basic appearance
Alignment	Evil
Affiliation	Koopa Troop, Bowser, Koopa Troopa, Bowser Jr.
Species origin	Turtles; Paratroopers
Rarity	Common
First appearance	Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Related species	Koopa Troopa
Notable member(s)	Parakarry

Koopa Paratroopa, often known as Paratroopa or Parakoopa, are Koopa Troopas with wings. They lose their wings when they are attacked in air, such as getting stomped or hurt by fireballs. They traditionally come in two varieties: Red Koopa Paratroopas usually fly up and down or side to side in a set path, while green Koopa Paratroopas often bounce in the player's general direction. Red Koopa Paratroopas first appear in World 1-3 of Super Mario Bros., while the green ones first appear in World 2-1 of the same game. However, some Paratroopas hover left and right. Their name comes from "paratrooper", a term used in the military to describe soldiers who parachute down to attack.

Creation and Development

As mentioned below, an enemy that first appeared in Mario Bros., the Shellcreeper, was the "ancestor" of the Koopa Troopa. When creating Super Mario Bros., a few changes were made to the enemies, including the ability to jump on them in order to damage them.

The Koopa Troopa's name comes from Bowser's Japanese name, クッパ　Kuppa, which is itself derived from the Korean dish of the same name. [1] The last name Troopa, is taken from the word "troop" in reference to the Koopas' role as foot soldiers in Bowser's army, with the a likely added on to make the name rhyme. It could also be viewed as a corruption of the word "trooper", in the same way that Paratroopa could be analogous to "paratrooper". Their Japanese name, ノコノコ Nokonoko,means "unconcernedly," although the latter use is usually written in hiragana.

While often referred to as turtles, they actually bear more resemblance to real-world tortoises than they do turtles. For example, they seem to be land-based, having no real affinity for water and lacking webbing, and the rounder, less streamlined shape of their shells more closely resembles tortoises. Additionally, the Koopa Troopas' ability to remove their shells is not true to actual turtles or tortoises, although popular culture often overlooks this fact.

Appearances

Mario Kart series

Mario Kart: Mega Mash-Up

Paratroopa returns as an unlockable character. It is a small racer and it's karts and bikes will follow a red and yellow (sometimes also green) colour scheme. You can unlock it by completing a Time Trial on 16 different courses.

It will do the following to each stat in whatever kart or bike it rides:

• Speed: +3
• Weight: +1
• Acceleration: +2
• Handling: +0

Gallery

The Video Games Fanon Image Database contains renders of this subject. For all available renders of this character, see here.