Author's Note: This is the story about Koopa Troopa's history throughout the games that I mention in my profile page. It goes into detail about how Koopa established his connection to Mario and friends, his personality, some of his goals, his friendships and rivalries, etc. You'll see that this story has some connecting elements with my other work, "Koopa Gets Crushed". Don't worry, though, this one will not focus on the shipping aspect at all. It's just for "continuity" reasons, if you can even call it that. You REALLY should have noticed the naming trend in my fanfics by now. It should be noted that most of this is just my headcanon, but enjoy nonetheless.
In the Mushroom Kingdom, the two predominant races of creatures were the Toads, and the Koopas. The Toads were particularly benevolent, cheerful mushroom people, always living in large groups throughout the towns. The Koopas, on the other hand, were allied with the big, bad King of the Koopas, Bowser. They liked to cause trouble and were in constant battle with the Toads for the territory of the Mushroom Kingdom.
However, as strange as it may seem, not all Koopas were malevolent. In fact, many members of the species usually associated with Bowser, such as Goombas and Koopas, were actually decent individuals who just wanted to live a normal life. These individuals have set up towns and villages far away from Bowser's domains.
One such individual was Koopa Troopa. Like many others in the Mushroom Kingdom, he was named after his species. He had many defining traits that differentiate him from other Koopa Troopas, mainly his slightly darker skin coloration and his brighter green shell and boots. Koopa Troopa lived in a small, seaside hut in the tropical Koopa Troopa Beach.
One day, Koopa Troopa was taking a walk through the beach, admiring the beatiful vista of the waves in the sea.
"I just love sunny days!" Koopa said happily as he watched the seagulls flying in the sky.
He suddenly spotted a bunch of weird, black hopping objects in the distance, coming from above the rocks that surrounded the beach. The objects were getting closer and closer each time.
"Oh, no... Not those things again...", said Koopa in disappointment. He had just spotted the Fuzzies - a species of black, gross parasites that just loved to steal shells. They were a huge nuisance to Koopa Troopas for this reason.
"I better not get my shell stolen by those robknockers again..." Unfortunately, Koopa's rant wasn't enough to get the Fuzzies off of his beach. They came, closing in on the poor turtle.
"W... watcha gonna do?!" Koopa asked frantically as the Fuzzies hopped around him.
The Fuzzies promptly stole Koopa Troopa's shell and hopped off into a small crevice in the rocky wall, leaving Koopa on his boxers.
"Oh, crud, I'm in a rather embarassing situation!" Koopa lamented, looking around to check if there was someone on the beach. "I need to find a way to get my shell back!"
Koopa tried to chase the Fuzzies, taking the long path around the rocks. Eventually, Koopa managed to catch up to the Fuzzies, causing them to take the desperate action of hopping right into a nearby Warp Pipe. Koopa followed suit, jumping into the pipe too.
"Where... where am I?" Koopa asked to himself after hopping from the pipe. He was in a strange, tropical forest with tall trees and smiling leaves where even the bushes had smiley faces.
"Oh... the Fuzzies! I must catch them!" Koopa said as he chased the Fuzzies through the forest.
Eventually, the Fuzzies pulled a dirty trick - they climbed a very tall, smiling tree with Koopa's shell. Koopa Troopa wasn't a particularly good climber, causing him to struggle as he attempted to climb the tree. The Fuzzies simply laughed at him whilst teasing him with the shell.
Luckily for Koopa, something unexpected worked on his favor - suddenly, a ridiculously long red thing pulled the shell from the tree and smacked the Fuzzies, dropping them from the treetop. The parasites ran away in fear, much to Koopa's delight.
"Here, take your shell. Those things won't be back for a while!" A green dinosaur approached the shell-less Koopa with the shell in hands.
"Oh... thank you so much! You saved my life!" Koopa said as he put his shell on.
"You're welcome! It's always great to see visitors around here! So, what's your name?" The dinosaur asked.
"My name is Koopa Troopa, but you can just call me Koopa. How 'bout your name?"
"I'm Yoshi. Nice to meet you!" Yoshi and Koopa shook their hands.
"Nice to meet you too! So, Yoshi... could you tell me where are we? I came from that pipe over there without really knowing where it'd take me beforehand..."
"This is Yoshi's Island, the native homeland for the Yoshis!" Yoshi said whilst showing Koopa the around.
"Oh, I see... I like this place!" Koopa replied.
"Here, I'll show the around!"
Koopa Troopa followed Yoshi as they explored many interesting locations of Yoshi's Island, such as the hollow grasslands, the spiral hills and the egg valley. They got along pretty well, since they had similar personalities and interests. They both shared a cheerful, energetic and colorful personality, and could really relate to each other. It was all the beginning of a strong friendship.
After spending a huge amount of time exploring the island, Yoshi and Koopa finally decided to take a rest. The two of them, quite the big eaters, shared a huge, juicy watermelom whilst talking with each other in the shade of a tree.
"Hey, Koopa... I really think you should join our racing tournament!" Yoshi said, inviting Koopa for the Mushroom Kingdom's big go-kart racing tournament.
"Oh wow, what?! Are... are you serious? You think they'd accept me?" Koopa asked, excited about the idea of showing off his driving skills.
"Yeah, I'm sure they will! They are a bit short on participants..." Yoshi replied.
"Oh... uh... sure then!" Koopa agreed to join the competition. Yoshi and Koopa proceeded to hug each other affectionately, feeling so content and at home on each other's arms. It was as if they were best friends since childhood, even though they had just met. The great chemistry between them and their happiness at being with each other was tangible.
"I can't wait to see you at the Mario Kart Lobby, ready to race!", said Yoshi. Koopa Troopa's timid tendences were sure to give him a bit of a hard time showing up in front of a crowd. He was ready for his chance to shine, though. After so many years of a relatively slow and tranquil life on the beach, a fast-paced and crazy experience like a kart racing with items being thrown everywhere was a nice change for Koopa.
"All right, I'll be there tomorrow!" Koopa exclaimed. He took a bite of the watermelon before checking the time on his super-cool watch, "Oh! 19:00 PM! I'd better go home now... see you soon, Yoshi!"
"Bye, Koopa. Yoshi!", said Yoshi happily. They shook their hands and Koopa left for the beach through that same Warp Pipe.
In the next day, Koopa Troopa made his way to the Mario Kart Lobby, the place where the racers prepared between races, organized everything and customized the karts. Koopa looked around, trying to find his buddy Yoshi, the only member he knew at the time. He didn't seem to find the dinosaur, though. Frustrated, Koopa decided to just enter the lobby and hope for the best. Once inside, he found himself in a fancy building with many Toads, and the main participants of the tournament. They were all divided in groups, talking with each other. All the chatter, plus the fact that Koopa was a newcomer and hardly knew anyone, made him feel nervous. Still no signs of Yoshi, to top it all off.
"Oh... where's Yoshi? I'm not familiar with anyone here..." Koopa said, frustrated. Shortly after, he was greeted by a handsome, green-clad plumber who had noticed his uneasiness.
"Hello, and welcome to the racing tournament!" said the plumber.
"Uh... um... thanks..." Koopa replied.
"What's your name?" The plumber asked Koopa.
"Um... my name is... uh... Koopa Troopa. But you can call me Koopa." The poor turtle was so nervous, he was sweating and gulping down every few seconds.
"Nice to meet you, Koopa! My name is Luigi."
"Oh... I knew it! You're the famous hero from the Mushroom Kingdom!" Koopa started to feel better and more relieved.
"Heh, nice... finally someone who recognizes me!" Luigi replied, in reference to all the times his name and role as a hero were forgotten by everyone.
"So, want me to show you the around?" asked Luigi.
"Oh... uh... sure! That'd be nice..." said Koopa, feeling nervous again. He could barely make eye contact with Luigi, the poor Koopa.
"And here we have the garage. Well... I think that covers it. I hope you enjoy the races!" said Luigi cheerfully. He then blinked at Koopa, which caused the uneasy turtle to blush.
"Oh... thanks!" Koopa then ran off to find Yoshi.
"Wow... that Luigi guy is cute! I just hope he doesn't get me distracted during the races, teehee... I better find Yoshi!" Koopa thought to himself.
After some time of running around, Koopa eventually found Yoshi eating in the kitchen.
"Oh, there you are, Yoshi! I finally found you!" Koopa shouted.
"Nice to see you, Koopa! Welcome!" Yoshi said.
"So... I think the next race will start soon..."
"Oh, yeah, we'd better go see our karts! I can't wait to see them!" Followed by that, Yoshi and Koopa went off to find their karts in the garage. And thus, Koopa was officially a part of the main crew.