Bowser’s Red Heirlings By Banzai Bill In a September 2012 interview with Game Informer, Shigeru Miyamoto claimed that the Koopalings are not Bowser's children, and that Bowser Jr. is his only child. Now, before anyone starts claiming that there's no in-game evidence that the Koopalings are King Bowser Koopa's children and hence part of the “royal Koopa line,” let's get this out of the way… The Koopa Bunch Yes, they all share Bowser's surname: Koopa. Even as recently as Super Paper Mario, Larry is referred to by his full name of “Larry Koopa.” Nintendo of America made this especially clear in Super Mario Bros. 3's instruction booklet. 1 Those are just a few of the many instances in which the Koopalings refer to their “King Dad.” After years of growing up looking at the Koopalings as Bowser's offspring, I became more shocked than an army of Amps upon hearing Miyamoto's revelation. I admit I was immediately on the defensive. My first reaction was, “Oh, he's just restating the Japanese canon, not the Western one.” But upon further research, it appears as though the Koopalings may have originally been understood as the Koopa King's children in Japan as well. The Koopalings were referred to as 2 “Kokuppa” in Japan, which could translate to “Child Bowsers.” Or “Little Bowsers.” And then there's this from the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 3 instruction booklet: According to some forum members, Bowser refers to the Koopalings as his sons. I'm not sure—I don't know Japanese. Please e-mail me if you're fluent in Japanese and can confirm. And while you're at it, let me know if Tamakichi Sakura wrote the Koopalings as Bowser's children in the Japanese print of Super Mario Adventures like they were in the English version. Even if the Koopalings were not referenced as Bowser's children in Japan, I acknowledge the authoritative authorship of Nintendo of America, the writers of the Mario comics, the writers of the Mario cartoons, and the writers of the Nintendo Adventure Books. By the historic perspective, I cannot just throw that history away. But what of the conflicting sources? What takes higher precedence: established history or statements from a developer? And what if statements from said developer continue to be consistently inconsistent? When asked about story elements on some of his creations, Miyamoto has made contradictory statements. After being asked for further clarification, he warned, “This is pretty confusing for us, too. (Laughs) So be careful.” Simply put, you cannot have “Word of God” when your God claims he’s not God. Mario fans should know by now to view Miyamoto as a great game designer, not necessarily a storyteller. Should he really have absolute authority on narrative issues when he himself admits that he doesn't think too much about story? My approach is to be as inclusive as possible. So before dismissing anything, I try to reconcile the conflicting information. Even though I don't consider Miyamoto to be the “end-all” of the Marioverse, he's still an important source. And it doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to think that the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. come from different origins. Not only does Bowser Jr. look much more like his King Dad than any of the Koopalings, but he also gets special treatment. He's the one who partners with Bowser in the sporting events. He commands the Koopa Troop during his father's temporary “death” in the DS New Super Mario Bros. So he may be King Bowser Koopa's only biological child. But that doesn't change the established history of Bowser raising the Koopalings as his own. Were they adopted? Stepchildren? Created by Magikoopa magic? Clones? Who knows? So in conclusion, the Koopalings may not have been Bowser's biological children, but he raised them as his own. At least, until Bowser Jr. came along. This means that Morton "Big Mouth" Koopa Jr. and Wendy "Kootie Pie" Koopa may have been right all along… 3 .