Iggy Koopa

Iggy's revamped design from New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Iggy Koopa
Species	Koopa
Hair color	Blue/Yellow/Pink
Eye color	Unknown
Relatives	Koopalings (siblings)
Voiced by	Mike Vaughn (2009-2015) Ryan Higgins (2014-Present)
Debut	Super Mario Bros. 3

Iggy Koopa is the fourth of the Koopalings who appear as recurring bosses in the Super Mario series and act as subordinates of Bowser. He is known for having more of a bizarre appearing, as he sported swirly glasses and also had rainbow-colored hair in his early appearances. He was also described as "demented" (or "crazed" in a remake) in Super Mario World.

Background

Original Appearances

Iggy's original appearance from Super Mario World.

In Super Mario Bros. 3, Iggy invaded Big Island for Bowser with an airship. He stole the king's magic wand and used it to turn the king into an animal (a dinosaur in the original game or a Donkey Kong Jr.-like ape in remakes). Iggy acted as the game's fourth boss and used the basic Koopaling attack pattern, which involves jumping around and firing magic blasts from the wand, as well as curling into his shell and spending some time rolling around after each time he was hit. After he was defeated, the stolen wand was returned to Big Island's king, who was also restored to normal.

After Bowser conquered Dinosaur Land in Super Mario World, Iggy was given a fortress to rule Yoshi's Island from, and was also given one of Yoshi's friends to guard. Iggy acted as the game's first boss and battled Mario atop an unstable island in a lake of lava. Iggy attacked by withdrawing into his shell and tossing fireballs. Mario could defeat Iggy by hopping on him or bombarding him with fireballs until he slid off the island and into the lava. After leaving the castle, Mario blew it up with dynamite. Iggy appeared again in Yoshi's Safari, where he guarded the White Crystal (one of twelve magic crystals of Jewelry Land stolen by Bowser) at the Grand Bridge. He acted as the sixth boss, battling Mario and Yoshi in a giant Blooper robot.

Modern Appearances

After a long absence, the Koopalings returned when Bowletta called them into action to eliminate the Mario Brothers in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Iggy was the first of the Koopalings to challenge them. He twirled around the brothers to make them dizzy and watched them stumble through an obstacle course to reach him him. The brothers endured their dizzy spells and survived the course. Iggy tried battling the brothers directly with magic spins and fireballs, but he was no more successful then he was in his previous tries and met defeat once again.

Iggy returned in New Super Mario Bros. Wii with a new look; he has now become tall and lanky, and his shell is a lighter shade of green. His new design also features a sprout of green hair rather than his original multicolored mohawk. Along with the other Koopalings, he kidnapped Peach on her birthday and escaped aboard an airship. As the airship distanced itself from Peach's Castle, Bowser Jr. dropped the Koopalings off at fortresses along the way to slow down Mario and his allies. Iggy remained at the World 5 fortress. When Mario arrived, Iggy taunted him before attacking with a new magic wand across several moving platforms. After his loss, Iggy escaped to the World 5 castle and attacked the heroes with spells while they made their way through. When faced again at the end of the castle, Iggy was sitting in a cart attached to a Chain Chomp. Kamek arrived and used magic to make the Chomp into a giant that dragged Iggy throughout the room. He still managed to shoot blasts from his magic wand, but he was once again defeated. After his second loss, Iggy made his way home on foot along with the other Koopalings. There they found Bowser defeated and helped him back up, only to have Bowser's Castle fall on top of them.

In New Super Mario Bros. 2, the Koopalings worked together to kidnap Princess Peach and took turns holding onto her. Iggy was the boss of the second world's castle, where he once more worked with a Chain Chomp. This time, he rode in a platform that was pulled by a normal-sized Chain Chomp. He was still defeated, and the key to the next world was unlocked through his downfall. The Koopalings turned up again at Bowser's castle in World 6, where they attempted to petrify Mario with a light emitted by the Koopa Clown Car and also used their magic to make Bowser gigantic after his first defeat. After the giant Bowser was defeated, the Koopalings attempted to tow him away with the Clown Car, only to accidentally crash it.. The Koopalings made a final appearance in World Star's castle, where they once more attempted to petrify Mario and made Dry Bowser grow.

Iggy also appeared in New Super Mario Bros. U, where the Koopalings had each gotten their own personalized airship sporting images of their respective faces and shells. After the airships accompanied Bowser's airship for his attack on Princess Peach's Castle, the Koopalings' airships scattered to occupy the neighboring area. Iggy ended up acting as the boss of the Soda Jungle, which was the fifth world that could be unlocked. To reach him in his airship, Mario and/or his friends would have to fire themselves out of a cannon found at the end of his castle level (Iggy's Volcanic Castle in the original game of Iggy's Swinging-Chains Castle in New Super Luigi U). Iggy's battle took place in a room that had two Warp Pipes on the floor, two on the ceiling and lava beneath them. In the battle, Iggy would use the Warp Pipes to run along the ceiling and fire magical blasts, one of which would temporarily summon a Magmaargh to aid him. Whenever he spun around in his shell after being hit, he would also go through the pipes to reach the other side of the room in an attempt to catch the opponent off-guard. After he was defeated, his airship was sent on a crash course. The Koopalings appeared again at the end of the game, where they attempted to escape in Bowser's hastily-repaired airship, only for it to crash again due to the weight of the giant Bowser. They all ended up clinging to Junior's Junior Clown Car in a human chain as their escape.

The Koopalings were also added to Super Mario Maker 2 in April 2020 and were available as enemies for stages made in any style, except for the Super Mario 3D World style.

Sports Appearances

The Koopalings also appear as playable characters in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, being unlockable in the former game and default racers in the latter. In Mario Kart Tour, Iggy was potentially available in the beta version of the game and was made available for the final version of the game in October 2019. He had to be unlocked at random through the game's gacha feature or could occasionally show up for sale at the shop (which uses coins earned in-game).

A Mii costume of Iggy has also appeared in the Mario & Sonic series since in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Iggy and the rest of the Koopalings appeared as bosses in the licensed games Mario is Missing! (in the Super NES and PC versions only) and Hotel Mario. In the latter game he was a boss in Bowser's Seizure Palace Hotel rather than having his own hotel, and he attacked by shooting fireballs and lightning while wearing a Bowser mask. He could be defeated after knocking the Bowser mask off, at which point he would summon the real Bowser.
• In the Super Smash Bros. series, Iggy (along with the rest of the Koopalings) has appeared in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable alternate costume of Bowser Jr.. Thus, he has the same exact moves as Bowser Jr. and attacks only from the confines of a Junior Clown Car. He has also been represented by a trophy in the 3DS/Wii U game and a Fighter Spirit (which has to be bought from the Vault's shop) in Ultimate.
• In Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, Iggy appeared as a boss in World 5-Castle and World 5-Airship, and he could be recruited after defeating him in the latter level. He was a Wood attribute character.
• In Nintendo releases of Minecraft, playable skins of Iggy and the other Koopalings are available as part of the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack.

Other Media

• In the "Momotaro" and "Snow White" shorts produced as part of Amada's Super Mario OVA, the Koopalings appear as minions of Bowser whom Mario defeats on his way to challenge Bowser himself.
• The Koopalings appeared as Bowser's main minions in the animated series The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and its sequel series Super Mario World, where he was known as Hop. Lemmy was portrayed as his twin brother Hip, and together they were the youngest Koopalings in this continuity as well as being known for being notorious pranksters.
• The Koopalings appear as Bowser's minions in various adaptations such as the Mario comics of the Nintendo Comics System, the Nintendo Adventure books and the Super Mario Adventures comic. The Nintendo Adventure books notably portrayed him as the inventor among the Koopalings.
• In the Super Mario Bros. movie, one of Bowser's bumbling minions is named Iggy, but only seems to be related to the game Iggy by name only. He is Bowser's cousin instead of his son and is paired with the dim-witted Spike. Although Iggy acts like the smarter of the duo, he fails just as frequently as his partner, and later in the movie they desert King Koopa to help Mario and Luigi after they are evolved by Koopa's machine and gain common sense as a result.

Canceled Appearances

• Unused sprites for Iggy and the other Koopalings were found in Super Princess Peach, indicating that they were intended to appear in the game as bosses at some point and were removed at some point in the game's development.

Trivia

• Iggy was named after the famous punk singer Iggy Pop.
• The Koopalings were initially known as Bowser's children, but a 2012 interview with Miyamoto revealed that the Koopalings are not actually related to Bowser and that Bowser Jr. is Bowser's only child.
• In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, there are also billboards advertising a business called Iggy's Glass. It advertises "Crystal Clear Windshields" and is represented by an image of Iggy's glasses.
• In Mario Tennis Aces, the Koopalings' personalized airships from New Super Mario Bros. U could be seen in the background of the Savage Sea court.