Larry Koopa, (ラリー) is the youngest of the Koopalings, a clan of seven siblings that act as leaders of the Koopa Troop under Bowser, and who were originally considered to be his children. Like Ludwig, Larry has blue hair, albeit a lighter color and in a different style, resembling a cockscomb. In the Nintendo Power Super Mario World guide, Larry is referred as "Bowser's number one Koopaling". Many sources initially claimed he was named after the American talk show host Larry King. The former Nintendo of America employee Dayvv Brooks, who originally named the Koopalings, claimed instead that Larry was named after Larry Mullen, Jr., the drummer for the rock band U2. All the Koopalings therefore would have been named after musicians. However, Brooks contradicted this in a December 2015 interview, stating that Larry was not named after anyone in particular, and that he just simply "looked like a Larry.
General information[]
Physical appearance[]
Larry is rather similar to his siblings, sharing the regular skin and head color. He is set apart by his blue hair, that are usually combed to resemble a cockscomb, whose appearance remained relatively consistent over time. Another more recent distinguishing trait is the blue star on the side of his head, which is similar to Morton's star and the stripes on the side of Lemmy's head; this star was not added until New Super Mario Bros. Wii. With early official information depicting him as much shorter than Mario[, Larry is still shorter than Mario in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but varies in height between games, with his shortest modern appearance being in Mario Kart 8, where he has to fit small-sized vehicles, and his tallest being in Paper Mario: Color Splash, and is overall slightly shorter than Ludwig. Larry has two, fang-like teeth in the upper corners of both sides of his snout, similar to Roy (though, originally, he had four protruding teeth), along with a complete set of teeth as shown in the battle against him and Ludwig in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, when he flails his wand against Paper Mario and when he's falling after being hit by his own bomb. His mouth is feline-shaped, as his lips are deeply curved, and his nose is flat; it is relatively the same as Roy's aside from the jawline. He also has a plated belly and padded feet.
He has large, oval eyes that are light blue, like Wendy; however, his in-game sprites in Super Mario World depict them as green due to the SNES's color palette limitations. For the same reason, his hair is depicted as white in his Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World sprites. Artwork for Super Mario World revealed that he has green eyelids as well, that reappear in Super Mario Chie Asobi Ehon ④ Larry No Itazura (Super Mario Wisdom Games Picture Book ④ Larry's Mischief) and, more recently, Paper Mario: Color Splash, in this latter game being rather white colored. His head is oval-shaped as well. He is on the small side when compared to the others. His shell is also light blue, lined with a white encasing, and the multiple, short spikes are circled with blue rings; originally, his shell was green, as seen in both his artwork and his sprites for Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, which was changed to its current color in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. He wears the same metal, spiked cuffs as the other Koopalings.
Larry's appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series is unaltered when compared to most of the Mario characters, including Bowser. However, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate gives Larry a slightly darker and subdued color scheme, while his hair, spikes, and shell feature simple detailing, though his scales remain undefined. This trait is shared with Bowser Jr. and the other Koopalings.
Personality[]
Like the other Koopalings, not much of Larry's personality has been revealed. One of his most recurring traits so far has been the care for his hair. Super Mario Chie Asobi Ehon ④ Larry No Itazura (Super Mario Wisdom Games Picture Book ④ Larry's Mischief) showed that he was personally able to comb them into the typical cockscomb, and both Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam as well as Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions showed him fixing his hair even during battles. One of his lines of dialogue in the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games again confirmed him being concerned about fixing his hair.
His trophy description in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS describes him with "aggressive tendencies." While this may reference his short temper in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros 2 and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, this may also have earned him his apparent position as head of the Koopa Troop special forces (which are considered to be the Koopalings themselves in his Super Smash Bros. for 3DS English trophy, his Super Smash Bros. for Wii U U.K. English trophy and his Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Boxing Ring stage screen alias). The North American version of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, however, states he has a "serious case of little-brother syndrome", suggesting that he feels overshadowed by or inferior to his older siblings. He also seems to have an interest in sports, as he uses bombs as bowling balls in Hotel Mario, he uses a tennis racket to hit his own fireballs in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and he performs a special glider trick when riding sport bikes in Mario Kart 8. Despite this interest, he has never appeared in any of the Mario sports games. In the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Larry got 'hooked' on Equestrian and can't seem to stop talking about it to the player. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam also implies he may have an interest in video games as Roy, after he and Wendy fail to get Larry to help them, says that he is "probably off playing video games or something." New Super Mario Bros. Wii shows that he didn't possess a lot of stamina, as he was quite far behind his family, trying to catch his breath, while his siblings were trying to help Bowser up off the ground. Although, this may be due to the fact that he was residing in World 1, presumably the furthest world from Bowser's Castle in World 8. He also frequently gets dizzy after spinning, as shown in both Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, when he attacks by spinning his shell, and in his 1st place victory animation in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. In the Japanese manual for Super Mario Bros. 3, Larry speaks in a masculine manner while thinking lowly of the Mushroom World's kings and suggesting he and his siblings only follow orders because they don't want Bowser to yell at them. The official strategy guide for Super Mario Bros. 3 has Larry being depicted as taunting and arrogant, believing Mario won't deduce his weaknesses, and also has a strange accent where he pronounces "th-" syllables with "d" syllables. In Mario is Missing!, Larry even attempts to talk his way out of being defeated by Luigi when sensing that the latter is about to defeat him. In Mario Kart 8, Larry's silhouette could be seen in the Electrodrome race track as a disk jockey, implying that he may have an interest in that profession, or an interest in music in general. The same game also has him operating a business known as Larry Lights, which based on the name implies that he does some electrician or pyrotechnic work. His Prima Official Game Guide bio of the game also states that he is a "cheatsy devil" (which may be a reference to his cartoon counterpart) and an experienced schemer. In volume 41 of "Super Mario-Kun," the Koopaling was accused of being a flirt by Blue Toad, as he and his brother caught Larry for hitting on their mother. In Paper Mario: Color Splash, he is shown to be something of a glutton, as evidenced by his (anonymously) having Mario prepare a massive steak and specifically requesting that he wants the best prepared steak, the fact that he uses the train's chimney to revive stamina via hearts that a Shy Guy was delivering to him, and upon being beaten his deeply considering getting some lamb chops. Like in the instruction booklet for Super Mario Bros. 3, Larry also makes clear that his motives for hijacking the train to get the Orange Big Paint Star is specifically to avoid upsetting Bowser, although in this case, he claims he pities Bowser when he's upset due to citing that his disappointed face was "heartbreaking." When he is defeated, Larry ends up stating he'll have to go on the lam due to failing Bowser, feeling he can't face him ever again, although the term "lam" caused him to think of getting lamb chops. When winning a medal, Larry also felt that his horse should at least get something for his hard work, and implies that he intends to get the horse carrots as his way of thanking it.
In The Adventures of the Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Super Mario World animated series, Larry was known as Cheatsy Koopa and he was given a personality to match his name, as he was sneaky, unfair, and devious. For example, he attempts to double-cross Bowser in his attempt to obtain the Mushroom Kingdom from Princess Peach in "Never Koop a Koopa". He also eavesdrops on a conversation between Mario and Yoshi in "The Yoshi Shuffle". It is also shown that he enjoys listening to music, as shown in the episode "Never Koop a Koopa", where he is ignoring his father's lecture and listening to music on a set of headphones. He seems to be sarcastic too, as shown in "Gopher Bash", he says Don't just help him! Stand there! to his minions. In the PC version of Mario is Missing!, Larry is shown acting tough as the first guard, but shows cowardice once Luigi gains a Fire Flower and has the potential to destroy him. Like Ludwig, he is also into horror to some degree, as seen in Hotel Mario, since the room that the player fights him in is called "Larry's Scary Lair". His hotel itself is very dark and the entrance states, "THIS MINE IS MINE". Larry's hotel tagline may also indicate a greedy side to him, since the name of the hotel shows that Larry is very possessive of his belongings.
While the games don't reveal much about the relationship between Larry and his siblings, both Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam and the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games reveal that Larry has some kind of admiration for Ludwig, whom he tries to imitate, although he still isn't able to replicate all his moves without getting dizzy. In the former game, he always fights with Ludwig in the battles and is never seen alone with his other siblings, furthermore he also shows more respect towards him than his brothers, calling him boss and accepting to have him as his lead even after Ludwig's leadership among the Koopalings has been questioned; in battle he also follows him trying to imitate his moves, but gets dizzy after spinning in the shell[9]. In the latter game, Larry's 1st place victory animation starts by imitating Ludwig's 2nd and 3rd place victory animation, but after spinning he again gets dizzy. In Bowser Jr.'s Journey, he was also shown to be very defensive towards Morton, as when Bowser Jr. was chewing him out for "stealing" his glory, Larry Koopa cut in and began shouting at Bowser Jr. and telling him off regarding his behavior to Morton.
Powers and abilities[]
Like the other Koopalings, Larry has shown the ability to generate magic blasts and spit fireballs, as well as walk, run, jump and spin inside of his shell. He is usually the weakest of the group due to him being faced in battle before the others in most games. However, on some occasions he is actually the last to be fought and his abilities are altered accordingly. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii the only magic he can perform with his wand is to make a low heated blue fire ball. Unlike the other Koopalings, Larry doesn't show any signs of improvisation, as he keeps his battle tactics mostly the same when the player fights him the second time (neither has he ever used Warp Pipes in his battles, unlike his siblings). In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga he has the same stats as Iggy and uses the same technique of spinning around at extreme speeds in order to make his foes dizzy. He is unique in that he uses a tennis racket to spar with the Mario Bros. before the actual battle, and uses the same racket during the battle to send back some of his fireballs intercepted by the Bros. hammers. He is also capable of utilizing poison and burn status effects as a deterrent against Bros. Attacks. In Hotel Mario, he uses a bowling ball against them. In New Super Mario Bros. 2, he fires energy blasts at Mario that ricochet against obstacles, similar to Wendy's rings. He also used water geysers to his advantage in his battle in New Super Mario Bros. U. In Super Mario World, Larry shares Iggy's tactics against the Mario Bros. by throwing balls at them that he keeps in his shell. However, he also raises the stakes by having Podoboos periodically jump up, and flings balls at a faster frequency than Iggy. In addition, Larry seems to have higher strength than an average person (though not superhuman), and he has superhuman durability, being dunked into lava and survived Mario destroying his castle while he was still in the lava in Super Mario World, for example.
Sprites from Super Princess Peach relating to his planned appearance implied that he would have utilized his spin attack once again against Peach. Similarly, it would have been implied that his Vibe-state during what would have been the second half would have been "Calm."
