Editing Jr. Troopa

|image=[[File:JrTroopaPM.png]]<br>Sprite from ''Paper Mario''

|latest_appearance=''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)|Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' ([[Nintendo Switch]]) (cameo) ([[List of games by date#2024|2024]])}}

'''Jr. Troopa''' (or '''Master Jr. Troopa''', as he calls himself) is a character and recurring boss in ''[[Paper Mario]]''. He is a young [[Koopa Troopa|Koopa]] who never left his egg after he was born. He lives near [[Goomba Village (location)|Goomba Village]] and enjoys picking on the other kids there. He has his own piece of territory he calls "Jr. Troopa's Playground." At the beginning of the game, [[Goompa]] states that Jr. Troopa is the boss of a "neighborhood gang," but none of its other members are ever seen. Throughout the game, Jr. Troopa trails [[Mario]] and his allies during their adventure and returns in stronger form after each defeat. Mario battles him a total of six times throughout the game.

[[File:PM Jr Troopa Multiple Sprites.png|thumb|250px|Jr. Troopa's forms for each successive fight]]

After Mario rescues the [[Eldstar|first Star Spirit]] from the [[Koopa Bros.]], Jr. Troopa ambushes him on his way back to [[Toad Town]], having apparently hidden in the bushes for some time. As he dashes toward Mario, he accidentally slips and falls into the water nearby, though manages to get back up to Mario and his partner, who then comments on Jr. Troopa.

Following this, Jr. Troopa asks Mario whether he remembers him. Regardless of how Mario answers, he commences a second battle with him, during which he is able to hide in his shell to raise his defense. Despite this, Mario is still able to defeat him. Rather than leave immediately this time, however, Jr. Troopa instead remains in this spot for some time, visibly disoriented. In this state, Mario can attack Jr. Troopa and cause him to grunt in pain.

Jr. Troopa is encountered a third time while Mario is traversing [[Forever Forest]] after obtaining the [[Super Boots]]. He is so lost and scared he is initially glad to see Mario, though quickly remembers that they are rivals. This prompts another line of dialogue, which varies depending on who Mario's partner is at the time.

This angers Jr. Troopa to the point he challenges Mario to a duel for a third time. This time, he is able to fly during battle, preventing Mario from using certain attacks to damage him. During this battle, the music plays at a slower tempo. After he is defeated this time, Jr. Troopa flees immediately. When Mario exits the forest, Jr. Troopa is spotted being extremely grateful he has made it out.

Having not given up on pursuing Mario, Jr. Troopa trails him to [[Lavalava Island]], swimming all the way across the ocean after [[Sushie]] has been recruited. However, just as he arrives, Mario leaves on the back of a [[Whale (character)|Whale]], forcing Jr. Troopa to turn around and swim back across the ocean. Jr. Troopa arrives at the harbor in Toad Town just after Mario and challenges him yet again. As the battle begins, he breaks the [[fourth wall]] and sees his [[Heart Point|HP]] decrease by 20 points as a result of his continuous swimming and consequential exhaustion. To make up for this, Jr. Troopa places a spike on top of his head to use in addition to his wings. After he is defeated, Jr. Troopa realizes that he should have just flown across the ocean instead, blaming this on this defeat. Like after his second defeat, Jr. Troopa remains in this spot for some time before disappearing and Mario can attack him in this state.

While exploring [[Shiver Snowfield]], Mario encounters Jr. Troopa a fifth time. Though he is desperate to leave the cold climate, he is determined to defeat Mario first, this time using magic during battle with the help of a wand. Regardless, he is defeated once again, offering hardly any commentary afterwards this time. Like the previous battle, he remains in this spot and can be attacked by Mario. Leaving and returning to this area reveals he has become frozen in a block of ice.

Jr. Troopa makes his sixth and final appearance in [[Bowser's Castle]], appearing just as Mario is preparing to face the Koopa Bros. - he defeats the Koopa Bros. himself and proceeds to challenge Mario. In this fight, Jr. Troopa starts in his normal form, later switches into his flying and spiked form, and finally goes back on the ground with his magic wand. Like the battle in Forever Forest, the music plays at a slower tempo. After Mario defeats him, Jr. Troopa runs away, shouting that he will never give up and will defeat Mario next time.

===''Super Mario-kun''===

[[File:JrTroopa SuperMarioKun.jpg|thumb|left|Jr. Troopa as he appears in the manga]]

Jr. Troopa makes an additional appearance in the ''Paper Mario'' arcs of ''[[Super Mario-kun]]''. He plays the same role as he does in the game by interfering with Mario's progress. As in the games, he uses various power-ups to aid him in the fight, but he is always defeated in the end.

{{:Paper Mario bestiary|transcludesection=Jr. Troopa (6)|image=[[File:PM Jr Troopa A idle.gif]] [[File:PM Jr Troopa D idle.gif]] [[File:PM Jr Troopa E idle.gif]]|align=horizontal}}

 

|JapM=Katakana spelling of「小童」(brat); possibly following the format of「クッパ」(''Kuppa'', [[Bowser]])

|Chi=喏库蛋仔

|Spa={{nw|Troopa Junior}}

*In one of his conversations with Mario, Jr. Troopa erroneously calls himself Jr. Koopa in the NTSC-U version. This error was corrected in the PAL version.

*In the Player's Guide for ''Paper Mario'', the attack power for Jr. Troopa's sixth encounter is incorrectly listed as 5-9 instead of 8-9.

[[Category:Babies]]