Kamek

This article is about a specific character. For the generic enemy called Kamek in other regions, see Magikoopa.

“Welcome! It's time to face my magic!”

—Kamek, Mario Party DS

Kamek is an old, yet powerful Magikoopa and apparent advisor to Bowser (or at least a high-ranking member in the Koopa Troop). He serves as the secondary antagonist in the Mario franchise, alongside Bowser Jr.. He is also Baby Bowser's caretaker, and continues to look after Bowser, even in the present day. Because of this, he is generally considered to be Bowser's stepfather or at least his primary parental figure. Kamek's name comes from the name for the Magikoopa species in Japanese: Kamekku (カメック), which is derived from kame, the Japanese word for "turtle". He is also the main villain of the Yoshi franchise.

Various unnamed Magikoopas appearing in the Mario franchise are considered to be Kamek, often due to the parallels between their relationship with Bowser or their position in the Koopa Troop. This relates to confusion with the Japanese games where the character is only given a unique name in Super Mario RPG.

Stuff About this Salty Boi

Kamek was born in 1973 to Luigiayyy and Demented Turtle. His place of birth was Perth, Australia (horrible, I know). He was moved to a town called Ocville at a very early age.

File:Screen Shot 2017-12-31 at 3.57.39 PM

A kamek in his natural habitat

When he was six a time traveler met him. When Kamek fell asleep in a tree after eating a tuna and marshmallow sandwich, the time traveler pushed him off the tree and he fell 40 feet. He landed on his head, and as a result could never walk again. His mother gave him a box with wheels to move around in, and a longer robe to cover the box. His mother had always hated him, and his father had 57 other kids, so he didn't get much attention. When his father did visit however, they bonded quickly and Kamek took after his father in many was because of this. As he grew up Kamek learned to use magic to make up for his lack of talent, intelligence, charisma, and good looks. Even though he had none of those things, Kamek still attempts to flirt and get a, as he calls it "girl mate". Kamek does have a "girl mate", but she's a shovel. Kamek has truly gone insane. At an unknown time in his life, Kamek made a company called Kmark. Kmark is a very low quality store that sells everything from Windex, to toilet seats, to apples. Most of the food there is spoiled, and the company is close to dead. At one time though, Kmark did succ- no, no it didn't. Kmarks have a specific smell, similar to a dying cow.

File:Kmark.png

The Kmark Logo

General information

Physical appearance

In his most recent appearances, Kamek is depicted as being entirely identical to the generic Magikoopas. This means that in most of his appearances, he wears a pair of round spectacles and a set of blue robes, complete with a blue wizard's hat. Both the brim of his hat and the edges of his sleeves are white. He is always seen with his scepter, a golden stick with a red jewel at the end; he is also usually seen with his broom, which is a stereotypical straw-colored broom with no particular quirks about its appearance. He is shown to have legs in Super Mario Galaxy, a feature not seen in any other game. In the past, however, there have been a few attempts to make Kamek look distinct from others of his kind. The first of these was introduced in his debut appearance. His blue hat has a white brim, while regular Magikoopas' hat brims were blue. White trim is also on the end of his robes' sleeves.

Kamek's skin, like all Magikoopas and most other Koopa species, is yellow. Despite being very old, he shows no physical signs of his age, looking very similar in the present as he did in the past. However he appeared somewhat smaller in his past appearance in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

Like other Magikoopas, it is not clear whether Kamek has a shell. Kamek does have a small hunch on his back which might be a shell, and in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, he says at one point that the bros. were "really starting to chap [his] shell"; however, he is never seen ducking into a shell to protect himself when attacked, and neither Kamek nor any other Magikoopa has been seen losing their hypothetical shell like many other members of the Koopa troop (including Bowser himself) do at some point.

Powers and abilities

Kamek, sending out a magical blast from his scepter.

Kamek displays powers commonly associated with Magikoopas, including teleportation, creating beings from inanimate objects, pyrokinesis, firing magical blasts from his scepter, summoning enemies and the ability to create multiple copies of himself. These are assumed to be much more powerful than those of a regular Magikoopa, because of his top rank. The evidence of this is in Mario and Luigi: Dream Team where Kamek created an army of Dry Bones surrounding Mario, creates different colored clones of himself with unique properties, and being able to fire a gigantic magic blast with other Magikoopas at a Giant Dreamy Luigi during the battle against Giant Bowser, despite being fatigued from previous battles with Mario and Dreamy Luigi. Kamek is also capable of flying on a broomstick, being the first ever Magikoopa to display such an ability.

Aside from the aforementioned powers inherent to all Magikoopas, Kamek is portrayed as having powers unique to himself, the most prominent of which is his ability to shrink and grow other creatures (including himself) to extreme proportions. Kamek is also capable of psychic powers, such as divination, brainwashing, foreseeing events in the future, and manipulating objects with his mind. These he does without using his scepter, although he does utilize a crystal ball for precognition and divination. He also has the ability to Paperize.

Kamek also displays some expertise at mechanics, supposedly building the apparent time travel device he and Bowser utilize in Yoshi's Island DS; Kamek's ingenuity at mechanics remains in the Club Nintendo comics, with one story even having him create a vacuum cleaner-like device which can absorb color and emotions. Kamek is also a master at various types of games, pertaining such skills at them that he has been given the coveted title of Game Mage.

Although not usually shown in his appearances, Kamek has been shown to have superhuman strength. This is revealed in Yoshi's New Island, as for many times throughout the game, Kamek has been able to lift and use a giant magical hammer many times his size to power the game's bosses with little to no effort. He also has been shown to have significant levels of durability and is capable of enduring lethal situations as he survived being knocked into lava by Giant Bowser in New Super Mario Bros Wii and Mario and Luigi: Dream Team, even after being weakened in the latter game, and appearing in the ending of Paper Mario: Sticker Star after being dissolved into ashes.

Personality

From Mario Party DS, it would seem that Kamek is academic, as the board that he owns is a library. This is reinforced that Kamek can build complicated machines.

It is hinted that Kamek likes to act feminine. This is notable in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team when he starts talking about how cute the dress based on Princess Peach's is while calling the Magikoopa robes drab. Furthermore, in the Japanese version, Kamek uses the feminine pronoun 「あたし」 atashi to refer to himself. However, in the Japanese version of Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Kamek instead uses the standard pronoun 「私」 watashi.

Role in the Koopa Troop

Kamek's role in the Koopa Troop is yet to be made completely clear. What is certain is that he is Bowser's caretaker. Although Kamek is of the highest rank in the Koopa Troop, his actual title and role is not really known. He does seem to have a certain level of military command; especially back when Bowser was young, when he took almost complete control of the army of the Koopas. This was shown again in Yoshi's Island DS, although this is the present day incarnation of the wizard, confirming that he still maintains a position as one of Bowser's generals. He spends a lot more time actually in the field than Bowser, and may also serve as one of Bowser's individual agents.

There is also a possibility that he is the head of the Magikoopas who serve under Bowser, in the same manner that Goomboss rules the Goombas as a "puppet king". This is evidenced by the Magikoopa bio from Mario Superstar Baseball, which calls him "the best of the Magikoopas", and in Super Princess Peach, where he commands the only legion of them in the entire game.

If Kamek is about the same rank as Kammy Koopa, a fellow main Magikoopa, it is likely that he will be ranked slightly below Bowser and take orders only from the Royal Family themselves.

Relationships

Friends

Kamek interacts far more with Bowser than with any other character. He seems to serve the role of a father figure to Bowser, since it was largely Kamek who raised him since infancy, and is very loyal and protective to the King. Likewise, Kamek also seems to view Bowser as being like a son to him, as evidenced by his English psychopath line in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Much of his time is spent ensuring the welfare and comfort of Bowser, as shown by his errands on Yoshi's Island and his frantic searching after the Koopa Cruiser crash in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time. Bowser seems to show much more respect to his elderly guardian than to any other of his henchmen (except Bowser Jr.), and does not insult him at all; completely contrasting his relationship with Kammy. In two instances, when Bowser was a baby, he attacked Kamek for waking him up from his sleep. These were the only known times Bowser has ever attacked Kamek and once he grew into an adult, Bowser has respected Kamek since then. He has also shown to betray Bowser, as seen in Mario Party Advance, because he was being unfair, though he forgave him later. In the Mario & Luigi series, Bowser has been shown to sometimes be impatient with Kamek and will (albeit very rarely) ignore his advice and simply call him "Minion", which often leaves Kamek annoyed and make a snarky remark. Regardless, as in most other games, Bowser is generally respectful of Kamek and appreciative of his loyalty and efforts. It is also implied throughout Paper Jam that Bowser trusts Kamek with the progression of his plans more than any other of his minions, possibly even more so than Bowser Jr.

Enemies

Mario and Luigi are mostly on negative terms with Kamek, as both adults and babies. This is especially apparent after having endured two attempted kidnappings and having a fair number of battles against him. However, Kamek himself does not really show any interest or hatred towards the brothers, mostly just dismissing them as inferior to Bowser, unless ordered to directly oppose them. In addition, he is willing to aid Mario if needs be, as evidenced by his actions in Super Mario RPG, although its implied that he aided them solely because Bowser was allied with them at the time. After being beaten by Mario in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, he acknowledges that Mario is stronger than him, but maintains that he is no match for Bowser.

Despite his conflict with the Mario Bros., Kamek's true main enemy is Yoshi, similar to Mario and Bowser and Luigi and King Boo. It is clear that Kamek shows a natural hatred for Yoshi, as the pair are arch rivals and are always battling each other, much like Bowser and Mario. Throughout the Yoshi series, Kamek has made numerous attempts to defeat them and prevent them from reuniting the Mario Brothers. Naturally this caused friction between the two. The main cause of this is that their ideals conflict; Kamek wants to ensure the success of the Koopa Troop by preventing the Mario Bros. from becoming heroes, and the Yoshis want to make sure that they are born simply because they are kind and want the best for them. Ever since these events occurred, the Yoshis have had a bad relationship with the Magikoopas, seeing as their chemistry is bad in Mario Super Sluggers, and one kept Yoshi captive in Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Official profiles and statistics

Super Mario Galaxy trading card description

File:KamekTradingCard.PNG

Bowser's evil minion, Kamek, is a powerful wizard who will do anything to please his master. After Bowser hoisted Peach's entire castle out of the ground in a massive laser attack, Mario clung on to the castle walls trying to save her. Kamek saw this and cast a spell on Mario that sent him floating out into the universe.

Mario Party series

Mario Party DS

Name	Image	Description	How to Unlock
Kamek		Everyone knows this mental mage is one of Bowser's harshest henchman! He surely gets Bowser in and out of lots of trouble. What an MVP!	Win 32000 MP Points.
Kamek's Quill		Feather pens are the best! So Kamek thinks, at least. He uses one to jot down the day's nefarious notes in his dastardly diary.	Play on the Kamek's Library board.
Kamek's Inkwell		Kamek writes with magical ink that only the writer can see. Pretty useful for diaries. He squeezed the ink from a Blooper, which is a little yucky.	Place first on the Kamek's Library board.
Kamek's Bottle		What might the liquid in Kamek's bottle be? Ah, it has the potent power to replenish fluids lost during exercise! So...that would make it a sports drink?	Break 500 points in Block Star.
Kamek's Watch		This old pocket watch is Kamek's favorite because it's also a stopwatch. Odd, because Kamek can guess precisely when 30 seconds pass on his own.	Place first in Step It Up four times.
Kamek's Telescope		This is Kamek's magical telescope. It makes farther-than-far things look near. Sometimes they seem so near that he doesn't know what they are!	Place first in Rocket Rascals four times.
Kamek's Bookcase		Kamek's bookcase is full of difficult books about magic, neatly arranged from A to Z starting in the upper left. He's more organized than you'd think!	Place first in Battle Cup four times.
Kamek's Frame		Kamek is self-conscious about photos of himself, so he cursed this frame to make its glass always dusty. Kamek has a panic attack when it's dusted off.	Dust off the picture frame on the Kamek's Library board three times.
Kamek's Warp Book		Kamek happened upon this magic book in a bookstore. it turned out to have space-warping properties. Guess that was a really good buy, then!	Get warped on the Kamek's Library board.
Kamek's Domino Books		Knock these books over, and they'll stand up on their own again. That's some great magic. Kamek bought this with the Warp Book. Good bookstore, eh?	Place first in Score Scuffle four times
Kamek's Star Globe		This globe shows the position of stars in the sky, but Kamek uses it as a piggy bank for some reason. So those coins you get from it? They're Kamek's.	Place first on the Kamek's Library board after earning the Kamek Rival badge
Kamek's Crystal Ball		Ah, an orb of oracular ocularity! In short, this ball sees all. Well, not everything. Which is good, given it belongs to nasty Kamek.	Get hit by Kamek's magic on the Kamek's Library board two times.
Winner's Pen		This pen is your first trophy of victory over Kamek. Now if you could only get into the pages of Kamek Hunter Weekly!	Win the minigame Book Bash.
Enchanted Bookcase		Claiming a whole bookcase mens you're accumulating Kamek-hunting skill! A word to the wise: when searching for magic books, take a whole bookcase!	Win the minigame Book Bash twice.
Kamek's Brown Book		You're an excellent Kamek hunter to recover this brown book that helped you battle Kamek. Just the sight of this book should make Kamek quiver!	Win the minigame Book Bash three times.
Kamek's Blue Dictionary		You must be a special Kamek hunter if you claimed the dictionary that KO'd Kamek! Surely, Kamek will want to look up the word "surrender" next time!	Win the minigame Book Bash four times.
Beaten Kamek		Capturing Kamek makes you the best Kamek hunter of all time! From now on, Kamek is merely a sputtering spellcaster to you!	Win the minigame Book Bash five times.
Kamek Rival		31,000 MPP earns you the rank of Kamek Rival, and this is your badge! Teaches you how to use magic... maybe.

Mario Party 9

File:Magic Shell - Constellation.png

• Partner: Shy Guy
• Bio: Wand-waving Kamek joins the Mario Party roster for the first time and enters the fray with a proven track record for causing mischief and mayhem.
• Magic Shell: A constellation of a turtle mage who often rides the skies on his broom. Despite being great at his job, he always seems so unhappy.

Mario Party: Star Rush

Image	Name	Bio
	Kamek A Koopa mage with terrible magic.	"Kamek has the very-not-nice tendency to make his enemies huge and to cause all manner of magical mayhem."

Trophy description from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U

Name	3DS Image	Wii U Image	Appears in	NTSC-U Description	PAL Description
Kamek			SNES Super Mario World (08/1991) SNES Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (10/1995)	Kamek is a magic-wielding, robed figure usually seen riding on a broomstick in the Mario series. He teleports around the stage, looking for fighters. When he finds one, he'll cast spells at them. If he hits you with one, your stats will drop. That's no good, since you'll need some power to deal with Kamek's high stamina!	Kamek is a magic-wielding, robed figure usually seen riding on a broomstick in the Mario series. He teleports around the stage, looking for fighters. When he finds one, he'll cast spells at them. If he hits you with one, your stats will drop, which, given that Kamek also has high attack power, is the last thing you need.
				This magical menace is one of Bowser's henchmen and shows his face in plenty of titles, even outside of the Mario series. In the Mushroom Kingdom U stage, he swoops onto the screen every so often to transform the stage with his magic. Now and then, though, he'll tease you by not casting any magic at all. He's a sly one, that Kamek.

Red indicates exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS version.
Blue indicates exclusive to the Wii U version.

Who is your Mushroom Kingdom BFF?

• Kamek is an awfully sneaky Magikoopa. But if you get to take a ride on his broom, who cares?

Quotes

Main article: List of Kamek quotes

Kamek's quotations range from stereotypical villain boasting to those of a caring yet haggard parent, and as the child in question is Bowser, the two themes overlap such as this appeal made to Baby Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Partner's in Time: "Oh, here, have some warm milk. It's, uh, from an evil cow." Kamek has also been shown to be snarky, patronizing and condescending at various times, and is clearly taken aback whenever things go awry, the most infamous example being when the player manages to defeat the boss Naval Piranha before the fight even begins, causing Kamek to appear, exclaim "OH MY!" and fly away again without another word. Typically, however, his response to setbacks is a more subdued "Oh dear".

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Kamek.

• 

  Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

• 

  Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (no broom)

• 

  Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

• 

  Paper Mario: Sticker Star

• MP9 Select Kamek.png

  Mario Party 9

• 

  Yoshi Touch & Go

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Chinese	魔法諾庫[?] Template:Nowrap	Transliteration of the Japanese name
French	Kamek[?]	-
German	Kamek[?]	-
Italian	Kamek[?]	-
Korean	마귀[?] Magwi	From 마귀할멈 magwihalmeom, meaning "old witch", highlighting his abilities concerning the magic. This name can also be read as "魔龜", meaning "a turtle who uses magic". The name also sounds similar to "Magi" as in "Magikoopa".
Russian	Камек[?] Kamek	-
Spanish	Kamek[?]	-

Trivia

• Official artwork for Yoshi Touch & Go depicts Kamek with five fingers, whereas he only has four in every other appearance.
• The New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U Prima game guides and the official trading card description call Kamek his species name, "Magikoopa".
• In New Super Mario Bros. U, Kamek has a new laugh that he does before powering up Boom Boom or the Sumo Bro., but when he is about to be fought in his tower, he laughs the same way he did in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
• According to the official website for Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Kamek's nickname is Fang.