Greetings. I am Ludwig Von Koopa. I am here today out of obligation, against my free will, to speak about the basic factual information of my species, Chrysemys Dragonous, more commonly known as the Dragon-Koopas.
I shall divide this report into multiple sections to simplify reading. For the first portion of my explanation, I will speak mainly to physical attributes as opposed to abilities. Shells will be covered under their own section later on.
Skin
To begin, I shall focus on the skin, or rather, scales, of the Chrysemys Dragonous. They are so closely knit together, that they are practically skin, and any break is not evident in younger Dragon-Koopas. It is only when they reach adulthood that the scales become more apparent. For simplicity sake, I will simply refer to it as skin. Typical specimens are found to have bright yellow skin. In the case of my brother and grandfather, this is not the case. Their skins were found to have different quantities of Melanin, a typical chemical found in the revolting Homo Sapien genus. Within them, they are found to contain greater quantities of this substance compared to the typical Dragon-Koopa. This is completely natural within Dragon-Koopa species, though as for the regular Koopa species, it is not nearly as common.
Most often, Chrysemys Dragonous will pertain a different coloured head compared to the rest of the body. Females are not as commonly born with this colour difference, as my irritating sister proves quite well. It's rarer for the female counterpart to have a separately coloured head compared to the rest of the body, and when this is not the case, oftentimes this is due to abnormal amounts of XX vs. XY chromosomes, where the XY chromosomes are more numerous compared to normal levels. This can often cause unwanted sickness and defects within Koopas.
To explain further, my imbecilic brother Roy ended up being born with a slightly larger quantity of XX chromosomes. While this did not affect anything about him, mentally, emotionally, or personality wise, it did cause him to have a pink head and shell, as well slightly sensitive eyesight when he was a hatchling, which is why he was forced to wear shades… he doesn't actually need them now, a slight operation put this in order, but being the pigheaded idiot that he is…
But I digress. In any case, it has had no lasting consequences on his health. I suppose I should be grateful… not like he would tell us if something was the matter anyway…
Apologies. I seem to have gone on a tangent. I aspire it to not occur again.
Continuing on about head colours, the most common colour is green. Again, the amounts of Melanin influence head colour. Surprisingly, quantities of this chemical can greatly vary between the head and the body, as my brother Morton shows quite well. The most common make-up is a green head, along with a yellow body. Junior's head is more of an apple green, which is common for younger generations. His head will darken as he ages. The parent and grandparent colours also influence what the children will appear as. The ears, much like a bird, are practically invisible against the head, though I can assure you that they do exist. Otherwise I would not be able to hear my beautiful music playing, and I also wouldn't have gone deaf as a child.
Another odd quality of Dragon-Koopas are the evidence of birthmarks. The most common birthmark in my family is stars, though Lemmy does have two odd orange lines on one side of his head. I do not possess such a birthmark, as they are not common, and, to my knowledge, neither do Bowser Jr, Roy, Bowser, Wendy, or Iggy, though I may be wrong concerning the latter…
Eyes and Eyebrows
Dragon-Koopa eyes greatly vary between individual. There are essentially two styles of eyes within the male Dragon-Koopa: the miniscule black eyes, such as those that Morton and I possess, and the extremely large, coloured eyes. As we age, mine and Morton's eyes will grow larger, while my brothers' will remain the same size. Female eyes are miniscule and black at birth, and they slowly grow overtime, as do the eyelashes, that males lack. My sister's eyes are about ¾ of the final size.
As for colours that the eyes can be, they can vary from black, blue of various shades, green, red, brown, and, on a rarer occasion, hazel.
Crossed eyes are, unfortunately, a fairly common case within Dragon-Koopas. They limit sight, and while they can be fixed with surgery and therapy, it can be very risky.
Eyebrows are also common, but are not always evident. There is a fifty-fifty chance of having them, and they are the colour of the hair of the Koopaling.
Snouts and Fangs
Snouts, besides colours, are probably what vary the most between Dragon-Koopas. They can be a more catlike snout, or turtle-shaped. Jaw lengths vary greatly, and, like fingerprints, few are ever exactly the same, even within twins. The snout portion of a Dragon-Koopa takes up over half of the head, and is a paler shade compared to the rest of the body. While hues can vary, they are most commonly a beige-ish colour. Mouths themselves typically take up half of the snout's space, though in Morton's case, that isn't even close…
Noses comprise mainly of the top of the snout, and solely of two teardrop-shaped nostrils are visible. Dragon-Koopas have very powerful sense of smell, though this will be covered later.
Female mouths typically have no fangs, though there are many exceptions to this. They also do not actually have as big lips as they are portrayed as having, as many seem to think. That is only the disgusting cosmetic that is referred to as 'lip stick' which greatly enhances the size. Completely a waste of hard-earned coins, if you ask me.
Continuing on, fangs are very important to Dragon-Koopas. The number of exposed fangs can vary, some not even having any, and some having as many as six exposed fangs. Strength-wise, they are comparable to the human alligator. Basically, the strength of the jaw is around 1750 pounds of force in an adult Dragon-Koopa, though some have hit 2000 pounds of force. The fangs are kept very sharp, and can even pierce certain metals. Unfortunately, because of the need for extremely close range to do such a thing, it is fairly useless in combat with pesky plumbers. And somehow, the bite is not very effective against them anyway. It makes one wonder if they are really human…
Body
The body of the Chrysemys Dragonous is fairly straightforward: Two arms, two feet, four fingers on each hand, three toes on each foot, and a shell. Compared to our heads, our bodies are slightly disproportionate, being smaller than they should. This is corrected during the physical maturity process, which is discussed under the Age section. As I've said before, the body is covered in scales, which are tightly knit in children and adolescents, before they become more evident in adulthood. The female body is more slender than the male, but both are very powerful at adulthood. Physical prowess will be discussed under the Internal section. Other than that, there's nothing really left to make mention of.
Padded Stomach and Feet
The pads on the stomach and feet are a light shade of beige, and, like the snouts, hues can vary between individuals.
The padded areas can be considered like plastrons in a regular turtle, but they are actually softer and more delicate compared to the yellow scales. On the stomach, the number of padded areas is typically three at hatching, and the number can increase up to ten in adults. Usually, it stops around seven. Spinning inside of one's shell toughens up the padded stomach, and protects the individual from debris as well.
The foot pads, too, are more delicate, but walking on stone hardens them to scale status, though they also serve as a protection from rocks when walking. Lemmy's foot pads, due to his walking on a rubber ball, are therefore not very hardened, and are much more sensitive to touch, ground, and rocks than what is considered standard.
Tails
Like all dragons, Dragon-Koopas possess tails which, when adulthood is reached, grow spikes on top. Considering the battle style of this species, tails are not very useful, though they do help retain balance. Unfortunately, they can also serve as a convenient swinging device. They do often emit emotion, such as happiness, but other than that, they have little purpose.
Horns and Claws
Horns are mainly for decoration, though they do serve battle purpose when charging. Oftentimes, horns can depict someone's age, but only if they are there at birth. However, most of the time, they don't start growing until the growth age is hit, which I'll get into more detail about later on under the Age section.
Claws, which I'll also be getting into later, are imperative for battle. They're always white. Found on fingertips and toes, they assist in climbing, and allow for many a good attack.
Hair
This is probably the most diverse and… shall we say, random, for lack of a better word… attribute of any Dragon-Koopa.
Hair can be literally anything and everything, from beautiful dark blue locks to insane rainbow Mohawks to bald like rocks and everything in between. Admittedly, Ignatius' was due to a freak experiment, but why he left it like that is something I cannot even fathom, let alone explain.
Why my sister has no hair; that is left to theory. It's possible that the female counterpart is naturally bald, which would explain why the greater quantity of XX chromosomes in Roy left him hairless, and that greater quantities of XY chromosomes in females create hair. However, it's also possible that it pertains to age. I cannot say for certain, though I will do more research on this subject.
Hair colour is usually synonymous with shell colour. Keyword: usually. There are many exceptions to this apparent 'rule', and any attempt to create a rule for hair is completely preposterous and I dismiss it promptly. Though admittedly it is more common for Dragon-Koopa hair to match the shell… perhaps Iggy's look is natural after all…?
Gah. Enough ponderings about my siblings. It is distracting me from my work.
Chrysemys Dragonous hair is much more… shall we say… gravity defying. It's easier to deal with than disgusting human hair, and grows much more readily. Hair-cutting is a must each month, lest you desire yourself to become something of a shaggy beast.
Now, facial hair is extremely uncommon within this genus, notwithstanding eyelashes and eyebrows. I have yet to see someone of my species with a beard or moustache. While I do not discredit the idea, as it is possible for regular Koopas so I do not see why it should be impossible for us, I am hesitant to call it fact without viable proof. Should evidence arise, I shall post a side comment as quickly as possible.
This is all for now. Next, I will be discussing the most important part of any Dragon-Koopa. I say my farewells, and I also wonder how for the life of me I got myself into this, and why I'm still doing it.
I wanted to do something a little different. All facts are based on canon or widely accepted headcanon. Anything that is uncertain are things that haven't been shown in the games, and most of this is simply to determine a base for Dragon-Koopas. Kudos to Walkazo for her influence within this entire fanon. I didn't give Ludwig an accent this time around because he's writing as opposed to speaking. A lot of the XX/XY chromosome stuff I admittedly made up. I wanted to be as scientifically accurate as possible, hence I did research on turtle types to see which genus the Koopalings would most likely be based on their body type and appearance. I based their scientific name on the 'Painted Turtle', because of somewhat similar appearance and the fact that Koopaling shells are multiple colours. Unfortunately, because of the differences between Junior and the Koopalings, I can't put many things down as fact, such as horns. So, I suppose there is basis for multiple outcomes within a Dragon-Koopa when they hatch. The Age factor is also important for an upcoming story. I also hold to the fact that Mario and Luigi aren't fully human. Supporting this is that they were actually born in the Mushroom Kingdom... and while they are placed under the genus 'homo sapien'... it may not be entirely true...