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{{about|the kings in ''Super Mario Bros. 3''|other uses of the term|[[King]]}} 
{{character-infobox
|image=[[File:SMA4 Mushroom Kings.png|230px]]
|first_appearance=''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' ([[List of games by date#1988|1988]])
|latest_appearance=''[[Ultimate NES Remix]]'' ([[List of games by date#2014|2014]])
|species=[[Human]]}}
{{quote|Oh thank heavens! I’m back to my old self again. Thank you so much. Here is a letter from the princess.|Kings|Super Mario Bros. 3}}

The '''kings'''<ref>''Super Mario Bros. 3'' English instruction booklet, pages 5 & 25</ref> are the monarchs of the various lands of the [[Mushroom World]]. Seven of them are featured in ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'', and each was turned into a different creature by the [[Koopalings]]. The kings are unnamed individually, although ''[[The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' gave some of them unique identities, and ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!]]'' even introduced several similar characters and territories. Like [[Princess Peach|Princess Toadstool]], they have [[Toad (species)|Toad]] helpers.

==History==
===''Super Mario Bros. 3''===
[[File:Air Assault.jpg|left|thumb|The transformed Water Land king pointing at the Koopalings' airship in ''Super Mario Bros. 3''.]]
The Koopalings invaded seven kingdoms of the Mushroom World, stealing the royal [[magic wand]]s and using them to transform their kings into various creatures. With the king in his vulnerable state, the evil Koopaling then ruled over the world in the king's place, with [[Boom Boom]] and the [[Koopa Troop]] forces placed all over the kingdoms. Renowned heroic brothers [[Mario]] and [[Luigi]] of the [[Mushroom Kingdom]] arrived to help them, first starting with [[Grass Land]].

To save a king, the Mario Bros. have to go to his castle, where the Toad pleads the heroes to restore the king by taking the magic wand back from the Koopaling. After that, Mario and Luigi must assault the [[airship]], defeat the Koopaling, and return the king back into his human shape. He thanks the Mario Bros. for saving him, and he delivers a letter from [[Princess Peach|Princess Toadstool]] enclosed with a "jewel" (or [[List of power-ups|power-up]]). If the player manages to restore the kings to their human forms while wearing a special suit, then they get different rescue dialog for each different suit. This continues until the brothers reach the forbidden kingdom of [[Dark Land]], where [[Bowser]] ended up holding the princess hostage.

In ''[[Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3]]'', if the player defeated Bowser before saving the kings, upon selecting the castle, the player is treated to a cutscene where it shows the Koopaling of the respective world invading the castle, snatching the magic wand and using it to transform the king, and then escaping seconds before Mario arrives. In addition, because Princess Toadstool has already been saved beforehand, the king does not give the player a letter from her.
[[File:SMB3_MushroomKing.jpg|thumb|right|The Water Land king, after being turned into a kappa.]]
Each king had been transformed into a creature of some sort by the Koopalings:
*[[Grass Land]] king &ndash; Turned into a dog (a [[Cobrat]] in the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]] and [[Game Boy Advance]] remakes).
*[[Desert Land]] king &ndash; Turned into a spider (a [[Hoopster]] in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
*[[Water Land]] king &ndash; Turned into a kappa, resembling a [[Spike]] (a [[Dino Rhino]] in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
*[[Giant Land]] king &ndash; Turned into a dinosaur ([[Donkey Kong Jr.]] in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
*[[Sky Land]] king &ndash; Turned into a vulture (an [[Albatoss]] in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
*[[Ice Land]] king &ndash; Turned into a seal (a [[Monty Mole]] in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
*[[Pipe Land]] king &ndash; Turned into a [[Fire Piranha Plant|Venus Fire Trap]] ([[Yoshi (species)|Green Yoshi]] in the SNES and Game Boy Advance remakes).
{{br|left}}

===''The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3''===
''The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3'' created personalities for several rulers. Many, if not all, of them also looked different.

*[[Prince Hugo]] &ndash; the new ruler of Giant Land (likely making him different from the king seen in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'')
*The [[Sultan]] &ndash; the ruler of a [[Desert Land#The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3|palace]] that may be in Desert Land
*[[King Mackerel]] &ndash; the ruler of [[Mertropolis]], a domed underwater city
*[[Wizard King of the West]] &ndash; the wizard of an unknown location that resembles Sky Land
*[[King Windbag]] &ndash; the ruler of a domain implied to be Ice Land
*[[Emperor Ed]] &ndash; the ruler of Sky Land

==Gallery==
===Human kings===
<gallery caption="Grass Land king">
GrassLandKing.png|Sprite of the Grass Land king (NES)
SNES King of Grass Land.png|Sprite of the Grass Land king (SNES)
SMAS SMB3 Grass Land King Screenshot.png|In the throne room (SNES)
Grasslandking.png|Sprite of the Grass Land king (GBA)
</gallery>

<gallery caption="Desert Land king">
SMB3-NES-DesertKing.png|Sprite of the Desert Land king (NES)
SNES King of Desert Land.png|Sprite of the Desert Hill king (SNES)
SMAS SMB3 Desert Hill King Screenshot.png|In the throne room (SNES)
</gallery>

<gallery caption="Water Land king">
SMB3-NES-WaterKing.png|Sprite of the Water Land king (NES)
SNES King of Water Land.png|Sprite of the Sea Side king (SNES)
SMAS SMB3 Water Land King Screenshot.png|In the throne room (SNES)
Seasideking.png|Sprite of the Sea Side king (GBA)
</gallery>

<gallery caption="Giant Land king">
SMB3-NES-GiantKing.png|Sprite of the Giant Land king (NES)
SNES King of Giant Land.png|Sprite of the Big Island king (SNES)
</gallery>

<gallery caption="Sky Land king">
SMB3-NES-SkyKing.png|Sprite of the Sky Land king (NES)
SMAS SMB3 The Sky King.png|Sprite of the Sky king (SNES)
</gallery>

<gallery caption="Ice Land king">
SMB3-NES-IceKing.png|Sprite of the Ice Land king (NES)
Ice Land king SNES.png|Sprite of the Iced Land king (SNES)
</gallery>

<gallery caption="Pipe Land king">
SMB3-NES-PipeKing.png|Sprite of the Pipe Land king (NES)
File:SMB3 SNES Pipe Land King.png|Sprite of the Pipe Maze king (SNES)
</gallery>

===Transformed kings===
<gallery>
SMB3Art3.png|''[[Nintendo Power]]'' artwork of the Water Land king
SMB3 Grass Land Dog King Sprite.png|King of [[Grass Land]] (NES version)
SMB3-NES-DesertKingTransformed.png|King of [[Desert Land]] (NES)
SMB3-NES-WaterKingTransformed.png|King of [[Water Land]] (NES)
SMB3-NES-GiantKingTransformed.png|King of [[Giant Land]] (NES)
SMB3-NES-SkyKingTransformed.png|King of [[Sky Land]] (NES)
SMB3-NES-IceKingTransformed.png|King of [[Ice Land]] (NES)
SMB3-NES-PipeKingTransformed.png|King of [[Pipe Land]] (NES)
GrassLandKing-cobrat.png|King of Grass Land (SNES)
SMAS SMB3 Hoopster King Sprite.png|King of Desert Hill (SNES)
SMAS SMB3 Dino Rhino King Sprite.png|King of Sea Side (SNES)
Smas-smb3 king5.png|King of the Sky (SNES)
Smas-smb3 king6.png|King of Iced Land (SNES)
SMA4 Donkey Kong Jr Sprite.png|King of Big Island (GBA)
SMA4 Green Yoshi Sprite.png|King of Pipe Maze (GBA)
</gallery>

==Names in other languages==
{{foreign names
|Jap=<span class="explain" title="おうさま">王様</span><ref>''Super Mario Bros. 3'' Japanese instruction booklet, pages 2 & 24</ref><br>''Ōsama''<br><span class="explain" title="こくおう">国王</span><ref>''Super Mario Bros. 3'' Japanese instruction booklet, page 2 ([[Larry Koopa|Larry's]] speech balloon)</ref><br>''Kokuō''
|JapM=King
|ChiT=國王<ref>[https://www.nintendo.com.hk/switch/mario/history/index.html Official Chinese website for the ''Super Mario Bros.'' 35th Anniversary]. Retrieved February 8, 2021.</ref>
|ChiTR=Guówáng
|ChiTM=King
}}

==Trivia==
*If Mario defeats a Koopaling as [[Frog Mario]], [[Tanooki Mario]], or [[Hammer Mario]], the king says one of the following:
**"Oh me, oh my! You've been transformed! Shall I change you back with this wand?" (to Frog Mario)
**"Thank you, kind raccoon. Please tell me your name." (to Tanooki Mario)
**"Hey you! How about lending me your clothes? No dice?! What a drag." (to Hammer Mario)
*The king of Water Land bears a striking resemblance to Mario. Also, the castle's island resembles Japan, with the castle itself placed where Kyoto, Nintendo's headquarters, would be.
*All of the transformed kings are depicted with generic crowns either on or near them, despite the fact that only four of the non-transformed kings wear crowns.

==References==
<references/>

{{Humans}}
{{SMB3}}
[[Category:Humans]]
[[Category:Kings]]
[[Category:Allies]]
[[Category:Super Mario Bros. 3]]
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