Koopa Troopa

Koopa Troopas are turtle-like creatures with removable shells that come in many different colors, with red and green Koopa Troopas being the most common; green Koopa Troopas usually walk back and forth without any concerns for pits or other obstacles, and red Koopa Troopas usually walk back and forth without falling off of their platforms. They are common enemies in the Mario franchise, usually displayed as foot soldiers of the Koopa Troop, under the direct leadership of Bowser. Since Super Mario 64, however, many Koopa Troopas have appeared who do not work for Bowser (or any other villain), some of whom even act as allies to Mario during his adventures, and have appeared as playable characters in various spin-off games starting with Super Mario Kart. They are notable for the many uses of their shells in the Mario franchise.

In the Unlikely Heroes Chronicles fics, Toadsworth debuted in Chapter 15.

Appearance and Traits
Koopa Troopas are tortoise-like creatures with removable shells. In general, they have basic appearances compared to other Koopa species. They have elliptical beady eyes, large beak or bill-like noses, short limbs and large heads. Their hands have four pointed/triangular shaped digits and have three pointed toes on their flat-soled feet, which unlike other Koopa species, have no pads at all. In earlier games, Koopa Troopas were quadrupedal (walking on four legs), had flatter noses and detailed leg joints. Starting from Super Mario World onwards, they now stand on two legs, have more rounded noses and wear shoes with beige soles that often match the color of the shells they wear (in the Super Mario Galaxy series, however, they revert back to walking on four legs and have four toes on their back legs). Having beaks, Koopa Troopas have no teeth compared to other species (but may be drawn with them for expression purposes).

Koopa Troopas generally have yellow scales, but in earlier games had orange. Some Koopa Troopas can have olive green, peach and even cyan scales. In Super Mario Strikers, the color of their scales would change depending on with team they were on: salmon for Mario's, chalky yellow for Luigi's, peach for Waluigi's, and orange for Daisy's.

A Koopa Troopa's shell consists of a carapace with colored, hexagon-shaped scutes in a pattern on the top, with smaller, triangular ones at the edges, with dark flesh underneath that appear as "grooves"; a beige colored plaston with several "ribs" on its surface and six holes on it where the Koopa Troopa's head, arms, legs and tail emerge from; all joined by a white bridge that follows along the perimeter of the shell and rises at the spots where the Koopa Troopa's head and tail are. Despite having large heads, Koopa Troopas can pull them into their shells with little effort. Underneath their shells, they wear white undershirts (in Super Mario 64 and its remake Super Mario 64 DS also wear pink or blue shorts, respectively) and have round bodies.

From Super Mario 64 onwards, Koopa Troopas have been given voices created electronically, starting with whooping sounds (which were also shared with Goombas, Big Goombas and King Bob-omb, with varying speeds, until the sounds were exclusive to Koopa Troopas in later games), then other noises such as wheezing, clucking, and gurgling. In Mario Kart 8, they were also given high-pitched whistling sounds whenever performing an antigravity trick or placing first.

Green Koopa Troopas are specifically given an association with water in games such as Mario Power Tennis and Puzzles and Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, since their Offensive and Defensive Power Shots involve water, and their Awoken Skills nullify Fire Orbs. Red Koopa Troopas gain access to fire, yellow gain access to light, and blue gain access to dark.

Personality
As a member of Bowser's army, they try to attack Mario so that one touch can eliminate his power-ups. However, the Koopa troopas are dim-witted and cowardly, quick to hide in their shells or run away and the green shelled variation wander aimlessly. A simple step on them will cause them to hide in their shells. Other times they'll be flipped on their backs or kicked out of their shells.

The red-shelled variation is slightly smarter in that it will never leave the platform it originates from, avoiding to fall down cliffs and kill themselves.

There are also smarter Koopa Troopas. Most of these live in peaceful villages outside of Bowser's rule or lad forces under Bowser. Koopas have been shown to have capability to drive carts, pilot giant robots, play a variety of sports, and run banks.

Trivia

 * Koopa Troopas made a cameo appearance in the NES game Zoda's Revenge: Startropics II. In the game a man delivers a pizza to the protagonist, Mike Jones while riding a Koopa Troopa.
 * Although Koopa Troopas did not appear in the Super Mario Bros. (film), the Goombas in the film were originally going to be called Koopa's Troopas, as shown in official artwork.
 * Golden Koopa Troopas didn't appear until New Super Mario Bros. 2 in 2012, but a golden Koopa shell appeared prior in Super Mario Galaxy (2007).
 * As shown in Super Mario World, Koopa Troopas can not only survive without their shells, but actually wear clothing underneath them.
 * Koopas are really well-known because of their shells, since the shell has appeared as items in Mario Kart.
 * There are some rumors indicating that Koopas are killed of two hits. Actually it only takes one, as seen in World & 64.
 * Its Japanese name, Nokonoko, is an onomatopoeia for a slow moving object.