Kamek

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This article is about a specific character. For the generic enemy occasionally called Kamek, see Magikoopa.
Kamek
Artwork of Kamek in Mario Party Superstars
Artwork of Kamek for Mario Party Superstars
Full name Kamek the Magikoopa[1]
Species Magikoopa
First appearance Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)
Latest appearance Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023)
Latest portrayal Kevin Michael Richardson (English, 2023 movie)
“You know, when I think 'little Mario,' I think 'Bowser's perpetual enemy.' Which makes you MY enemy.”
Kamek, Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Kamek (referred to as Magikoopa on occasion) is an old yet powerful Magikoopa, adviser to Bowser[2] and a high-ranking member in the Koopa Troop. He is the arch-enemy of Yoshi and serves as one of the secondary antagonists in the Super Mario franchise, alongside Bowser Jr., and is one of the two main villains of the Yoshi franchise, alongside Baby Bowser. He is also Baby Bowser's primary caretaker, and he continues to look after his master, even in the present day. Kamek's name comes from the name for the Magikoopa species in Japanese:「カメック」(Kamekku), which is derived from「亀」(kame), the Japanese word for "turtle."

There are various unnamed Magikoopas presumed 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 and species are considered a single interchangeable subject in all media. Many appearances of individual Magikoopas, however, specifically call back to Kamek's behavior in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island in having him power up bosses, likely making these the same individual.

History

Main article: History of Kamek

Kamek debuted in the Yoshi franchise as a main antagonist with Baby Bowser, his master. In his later appearances, he appeared as a boss and an antagonist in the core series and spin-offs; sometimes, he is playable in spin-offs.

Concept and creation

Prior to the development of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, singular Magikoopas had already been depicted in important roles as elite members of the Koopa Troop across various media, likely owing to their powerful abilities. Examples of this include Wizenheimer from the Super Mario World cartoon, the Magikoopa boss in Yoshi's Safari, a Magikoopa adviser and a Magikoopa hypnotist from the Super Mario Adventures comic, and a right-hand man Magikoopa from the fourth chapter onwards of Super Mario-kun. These continued even after Kamek's introduction with examples such as Wizakoopa (who is implied to be an iteration of the same character) and Kammy Koopa. However, most singular Magikoopas since have been identified as the character from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, who, in many Japanese materials, is not given any formal distinction from the species whatsoever.

General information

Physical appearance

Kamek is visually identical to Magikoopas; 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, though in earlier appearances the former were also blue. He is never seen without his scepter, which is a golden staff 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. Though never seen, he remarks that the Mario bros. "really chap [his] shell", explaining the hunch in his back.

Kamek's skin, like all Magikoopas and most other Koopa species, is yellow. Despite being elderly, he shows no physical signs of his age, looking very similar in the present as he did in the past - though this may be because he is so old that the past version of him seen in Yoshi's Island DS was still considerably old. However he appeared somewhat smaller in his past appearance in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, though this may be due to the game's differing art style. In the Super Smash Bros. series, Kamek's appearance is mostly unaltered, compared to other Super Mario characters. However, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate gives Kamek a slightly subdued color scheme, while his clothing and broom receive simple detailing.

Speech

Babbling sound effects were used as Kamek's speaking sounds in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and its sequels. In Mario Superstar Baseball and in games that followed this, Kamek has a high screechy voice. Kamek's dialogue is only shown through in-game text; his sound clips are a mixture of yells, grunts, and laughs. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Kamek is also shown to be able to mimic Princess Peach's voice when disguised as her. Throughout all instruction booklets, Kamek also speaks intelligibly.

Powers and abilities

Kamek
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.

Kamek clones himself in Paper Mario: The Origami King.
Kamek clones himself in Paper Mario: The Origami King.

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. However, he also admits that his magic is limited in some areas, such as his proclaimed inability to restore Iggy's memory in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey.

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 by the fact that Kamek can build complicated machines. In Super Mario Party, Kamek is shown to be quite knowledgeable, since he gives articulate advice to the player about modes such as Partner Party. In that game, Kamek is shown to be quite respectful, though he takes clear enjoyment in either conjuring Bad Luck Spaces or transforming them into Extra Bad Luck Spaces (exempting instances where the victim is Bowser or Bowser Jr., in which case he is apologetic to his liege and horrified at having to do so). How genuine his politeness is tends to vary from game to game, ranging from being legitimately civil and reasonable (such as in the Yoshi's Island series where he tries to reason with Yoshi and doesn't seem to have much against Baby Mario himself) to his "politeness" merely being a facade (such as in Paper Mario: Sticker Star where Kamek puts on a condescending, falsely polite demeanor when speaking to Mario and Kersti).

It is hinted that Kamek has a feminine side. 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, and in the Japanese version of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Kamek is referred to as「ばあさん」bāsan or "old woman" by Kylie Koopa, though it is unclear if this is meant to be an insult, an ignorant comment or an actual indication of Kamek's gender in that game.[3][4] However, in the Japanese version of Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Kamek instead uses the standard pronoun 「watashi, and in the Japanese version of Paper Mario: Color Splash Kamek is called「おっさん」ossan or "middle-aged man" by Huey.[5][6]

His personality is expanded upon in Bowser Jr.'s Journey, where he is shown to have acted as a mentor to Bowser Jr., and is very loyal to the Koopa Troop, even making Bowser Jr. swear to aid the minions beyond the sake of personal glory. He is also shown to be very concerned when the Koopalings begin slowly dwindling in numbers. He is also shown to have some foresight, as evidenced by how he developed a freezer to store the Ever Ice, despite knowing it will not ever melt, due to anticipating Bowser Jr. would ultimately need it, and also deciding to act as Bowser Jr.'s first captain due to anticipating that even Morton may ultimately leave Bowser Jr.'s command before long. He also admits that, despite his faithful service to Bowser and his son, he does have a few regrets. He is also shown at times to be sarcastic, such as in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where he sarcastically goes along with a Papercraft Yoshi due to thinking it is a hallucination until his paper counterpart tells him he is indeed seeing a Papercraft Yoshi, and also in Bowser Jr.'s Journey, he "gladly" accepted Bowser Jr.'s ignoring the Ever Ice despite Kamek spending 36 hours trying to find it. In addition to sarcasm, he also has the tendency to be quite condescending, often taunting the Yoshis with pet names such as "baby" and "cutie" in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's New Island, and Yoshi's Woolly World. In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Kamek is shown to have a love for cleaning, at times replacing his trademark broomstick with a rake.

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, and possibly Bowser Jr.'s later on. Although Kamek is of the highest rank in the Koopa Troop, his actual title and role is unknown. He refers himself as Bowser's "number one" in Paper Mario: The Origami King, meaning he might be Bowser's second-in-command or right-hand. 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.

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. While overall being very loyal to his liege, there were three instances when he showed complete fear of Bowser, two of which were immediately before the boss battle against the latter in Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's New Island, when upon discovering that he accidentally woke his master from his slumber, he stumbles backwards and proceeds to sweat profusely and gape in horror at what he had done (and in the latter game, even ponders aloud what he should do to get himself out of the mess he got himself into), and once in Super Mario Party where if Bowser (or Bowser Jr.) lands on a Bad Luck Space, he will be shocked and frightened and apologizes to him saying he is only doing his job. Likewise, Kamek also seems to view Bowser as being like a son to him. 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 his son, Bowser Jr.), and rarely insults him, if not 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, not attacking Kamek (although he does once accidentally knock the latter away after he is turned giant) or being abusive of him in one of his rages. 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.

Aside from his interactions with Bowser, he was also shown to ally with various other henchmen of Bowser, most notably the Koopalings. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, he was shown to aid the Koopalings by enchanting certain aspects of the battlefield to give them more of an advantage against Mario. In addition, in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, Kamek aided the Koopalings alongside Bowser Jr. in trying to find a cure for the blorbs. He also is shown to care for the other minions, as after retrieving the ingredients for the Skeletone Formula:D via the Ever Ice, he made Bowser Jr. swear to aid the minions that had been brainwashed by Fawful. Despite this, however, when any of Bowser's minions lands on a Bad Luck Space in Super Mario Party, he shows no regrets making them spin the roulette wheel like with every other character except Bowser and Bowser Jr.

Owing to Bowser Jr. being Bowser's son, he also serves him as much as he does Bowser, aiding him in his abduction of Princess Peach in New Super Mario Bros. Wii (including ensuring Peach was retrieved and sent to Bowser's main castle in the event that Bowser Jr. was unable to beat Mario a third time). The two even teamed up to aid Bowser by enchanting the latter into becoming large in New Super Mario Bros. U. He also worked alongside the Koopalings to aid Bowser Jr. in the latter's search for the blorb cure in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, with the Japanese site also referring to him as being Bowser Jr.'s caretaker.[7] In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Kamek implies that he also took care of Bowser Jr. while he was a baby, much like he did with his father.

Although Olivia is a close ally of Mario, Kamek quickly befriended her due to her amiable nature. Kamek is shown to care for Olivia, expressing alarm and concern when she faints and loses some of her folds after bathing in the Spa of Creases. He shows a hint of annoyance when Olivia refers to him as a groundskeeper on multiple occasions, but calmly dismisses these instances.

Enemies

Kamek is mostly on negative terms with Mario and Luigi, 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 Paper Mario: The Origami King, although it is 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. In Super Mario Party, Kamek treats the Mario Bros., as well as all of their other friends with politeness and a friendly attitude, but also has no regrets making them spin a Bad Luck Space's roulette wheel; additionally, Kamek is shown to challenge their intellect.

Toadette and Kamek are also enemies; in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Kamek and Fly Guy kidnap Toadette, though it is simply on Bowser's orders, mainly to prevent her from making more Papercrafts for the Mario Bros. and Paper Mario. In Super Mario Party, Toadette is initially bewildered to have Kamek join as the third host, but later on, she accepts this fact and gets along well with him.

Despite his conflict with the Mario Bros., Kamek's main enemy is Yoshi, similar to Mario and Bowser; Luigi and King Boo; and Donkey Kong and King K. Rool. 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.

Profiles and statistics

Main article: List of Kamek profiles and statistics

Super Mario Galaxy trading card

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.

Portrayals

Voice samples

Audio.svg New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Kamek laughing (2009)
File infoMedia:NSMBW Kamek's laugh.oga
Audio.svg The Super Mario Bros. Movie - "Behold, the king of the Koopas!" - Kamek introducing Bowser (Kevin Michael Richardson)
File infoMedia:BeholdKamek.mp3.oga
Help:MediaHaving trouble playing?

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: Partners 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".

List of game appearances by date

Title Role Original release date System/format
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Main Antagonist August 5, 1995 SNES
Tetris Attack Secondary Antagonist, Boss 1996 SNES
Mario Kart: Super Circuit Non-playable character July 21, 2001 Game Boy Advance
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 Main Antagonist September 23, 2002 Game Boy Advance
Mario Party 5 Non-Playable character November 10, 2003 Nintendo GameCube
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Cameo November 17, 2003 Nintendo GameCube
Mario Party 6 Non-playable character December 6, 2004 Nintendo GameCube
Yoshi Touch & Go Main Antagonist March 14, 2005 Nintendo DS
Mario Party Advance Non-playable character March 28, 2005 Game Boy Advance
Mario Party 7 Non-playable character November 7, 2005 Nintendo GameCube
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Minor Antagonist, Boss November 28, 2005 Nintendo DS
Mario Kart DS Cameo November 14, 2005 Nintendo DS
Yoshi's Island DS Main Antagonist November 13, 2006 Nintendo DS
Mario Party DS Major Antagonist, Boss November 8, 2007 Nintendo DS
Mario Party 8 Non-playable character May 29, 2007 Wii
Super Mario Galaxy Minor Antagonist November 1, 2007 Wii
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story Non-playable character February 11, 2009 Nintendo DS
New Super Mario Bros. Wii Major Antagonist, Boss November 12, 2009 Wii
Mario Party 9 Unlockable playable character March 11, 2012 Wii
New Super Mario Bros. U Major Antagonist, Boss November 18, 2012 Wii U
Paper Mario: Sticker Star Secondary Antagonist, Boss November 11, 2012 Nintendo 3DS
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Secondary Antagonist, Boss July 12, 2013 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Party: Island Tour Non-Playable Character November 22, 2013 Nintendo 3DS
Yoshi's New Island Main Antagonist, Boss March 14, 2014 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Party 10 Boss March 20, 2015 Wii U
Yoshi's Woolly World Main Antagonist June 25, 2015 Wii U
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Major Antagonist, Boss December 3, 2015 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Party: Star Rush Boss October 7, 2016 Nintendo 3DS
Paper Mario: Color Splash Minor Antagonist, Boss October 7, 2016 Wii U
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Playable Character April 28, 2017 Nintendo Switch
Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World Main Antagonist February 3, 2017 Nintendo 3DS
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions Non-playable character October 6, 2017 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Party: The Top 100 Non-playable character November 10, 2017 Nintendo 3DS
Super Mario Party Non-Playable Character October 5, 2018 Nintendo Switch
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe Major Antagonist, Boss January 11, 2019 Nintendo Switch
Yoshi’s Crafted World Main Antagonist, Secret boss 2019 Nintendo Switch
Mario Kart Tour Playable Character September 25, 2019 iOS, Android
Paper Mario: The Origami King Ally July 17, 2020 Nintendo Switch
The Super Mario Bros. Movie Major Antagonist April 7, 2023 Film
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Minor Antagonist October 20, 2023 Nintendo Switch
Super Mario Party Jamboree Non-playable character October 17, 2024 Nintendo Switch

Gallery

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

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese カメック[?]
Kamekku
Kamek (same as Magikoopa), sometimes romanized as "Kameck"[8][9]
Chinese 卡美克[?]
Kǎměikè
Transliteration of the Japanese name
Dutch Kamek[?] -
French Kamek[?] -
German Kamek[?] -
Italian Kamek[?] -
Magikoopa[10]
Kamek il Magikoopa[11] Kamek the Magikoopa
Korean 마귀[?]
Magwi
From "마귀할멈" (magwihalmeom, "witch"), highlighting his abilities concerning magic. This name can also be read as "魔龜", meaning "magic turtle".
Portuguese Kamek[?] -
Russian Камек[?]
Kamek
-
Spanish Kamek[?] -
Thai คาเม็ก[12]
Kha-mek
Kamek

Trivia

  • Official artwork for Yoshi Touch & Go depicts Kamek with five fingers, whereas he only has four in every other appearance.
  • In a questionnaire from Nintendo, Kamek was included as a popularly requested character for Super Smash Bros. Melee.[13]

References

  1. ^ January 1996. Nintendo Magazine System (UK) issue 40. Page 18.
  2. ^ "A legendary magician and trusted adviser to Bowser. For some reason he’s recently taken up cleaning as a hobby." – Kamek's description in the Paper Mario: The Origami King official website.[dead link]
  3. ^ 蓮山史樹(はすやましき) (April 13, 2014). 【マリオ&ルイージRPG4ドリームアドベンチャー】実況プレイPART73 (11:21). YouTube (Japanese). Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  4. ^ アイザック(ゲーム実況) (February 16, 2019). マリオ&ルイージRPG2×2 #7 『好き嫌いの多い≪ゲッシー» 登場!! 新エリア突入!!』 (09:45). YouTube (Japanese). Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  5. ^ チームどんぺりのゲーム実況! (July 18, 2014). ペーパーマリオスーパーシールを初見な俺が実況プレイ!#5. YouTube (Japanese). Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  6. ^ aika (October 22, 2016). 【Wii U】ペーパーマリオ カラースプラッシュ ボス戦 カメック (02:08). YouTube (Japanese). Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  7. ^ クッパJr.RPG | マリオ&ルイージRPG3 DX | ニンテンドー3DS | 任天堂. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  8. ^ マリオパーティ9:マリオと仲間たち. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  9. ^ Mario Trump NAP-05 8 of SpadesMedia:NAP-05 Spades 8.png
  10. ^ New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Album ufficiale. Page 6.
  11. ^ Super Mario Bros. il Libro-Gioco Ufficiale
  12. ^ UIP Thailand (November 30, 2022). The Super Mario Bros.Movie | Trailer 2 | Thai Sub | UIP Thailand. YouTube (Thai). Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  13. ^ アンケート集計拳!!. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved May 26, 2024.