Mushroom Kingdom Geography

[Koopalmier]

Nimbus Land could also be made out of vapor emmiting blocks, except there's so much vapor the blocks aren't visible anymore. The same could be the case for the "clouds" above the Flower Fields.

[cheat-master30]

So basically, like a permanent version of Huff N Puff's machine causing the supposedly solid clouds?

[kingkoopa]

Maybe it is the same type of cloud as in the Yoshi's Island games (you know the ones that make Yoshi bounce when he lands on them

[EpicGyllynn]

But you can't deny that the Nimbus Kingdom's concept evolved from Sky Land! Plus, it is Impossible for either one of them to be in the Same Location all year! As they are Cloud-like structures, they MUST be in an Atmospheric Orbit(i.e. Carried by the Wind) around the Mushroom Kingdom! So they very well may be the same Nation in two different Times of the Year!

[Koopalmier]

You forgot what Japanese folklore says: magic and the Moon are linked. They could be held in the air at the same place because they're very high in the sky and thus somewhat near of the Moon. The same could be said for the "galaxies" in the World 1 of SMG2.

And the concept of Dark Land (originally named Koopa's Castle, so it's not even supposed to be named in the first place) evolved into Bowser's Badlands, the zone in the MK where Bowser's castle is located, and Bowser's Volcano. So... Yeah, it's just a concept being re-used.

And they simply can't be the same nation at two times of the year. Different rulers.

[PDoogan]

If Nimbus Land is floating above the planet, it can be anywhere we want. IT doesn't matter.

As for the Bowser lands, Bowser probably just named all these different locations after himself but there still in the same general area. I just call the island everything is on Darkland out of habit.

[cheat-master30]

I'd say the Bowser areas are likely in the same area, and as others said, named after him out of tradition (you know, like the real life practice of people naming locations after themselves). As for Dark Land... I'd say it's a more plausible name for the continent, because let's face it, the whole thing can't all be Bowser's Castle, and having 'Bowser's Castle the country' and 'Bowser's Castle the building' gets kinda confusing.

[Koopalmier]

It isn't even a country. It's a nameless island Bowser temporaly took over so that there'd be room for the tanks and all. Plus Bowser's Castle is only on an island in SMB3 (and maybe NSMBW, but that's to prove). SMW ? In a valley. SMRPG ? On a mountain. M&L2 ? On ground. M&L3 and the PM series ? In a lava sea, itself located in the Mushroom Kingdom.

[cheat-master30]

Depends on your definition of 'country'. Compared to a Micronation, those places Bowser took over are grrr well near to the idea of a seperate political state or whatever. *Looks at Sealand*

In comparison, even Bowser's Castle as a building is closer to a legitimate country/nation/state whatever. Besides, what are you defining a country as here? Saying it's an island and not one doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. Many real world countries are on islands arguably smaller than that Bowser took over.

[Koopalmier]

I mean, the island itself isn't really owned by anyone. It is simply the grounds of one of Bowser's castles.

And actually I don't think the Koopa clan really owns anything outside of the Bowser Castles.

[cheat-master30]

To be fair, doesn't just taking something over kind of meaning owning it? It's not that simple in the real world now, but it was in the time when it was more like the Mushroom Kingdom. That's how countries do generally start after all (okay, after the old inhabitants are driven away).

[PDoogan]

I don't think anyone else wants it. It's basically just a bunch of lava and barren planes full of rocks. You can kind of see Bowser's reasoning for wanting to take over the Mushroom Kingdom.

[Koopalmier]

You know, Bowser never really owned the place around his castles... He's not even a king, properly talking. The "Koopa Kingdom" was renamed "Koopa Tribe" too.

PDoogan : There's no lava in "Dark Land". There's a lake (either it's full of red water, either it's full of boiling water, either the bottom of the lake is red and thus the water looks red) but no "lava sea".

[cheat-master30]

To be fair, he is called King Koopa by a lot of media, and Yoshi's Island I think did call him King Bowser, at least in English. He also played the evil queen in a few Japanese anime series.

[Koopalmier]

I think he claims himself as being a king, much like King DeDeDe in the Kirby series (except DDD is actually a king, but if he wasn't a king he'd still say the same thing).

But the manual of SMB says that Bowser and his armies come from the Koopa Kingdom. Maybe that there's a kingdom ruled by Bowser but that wasn't shown, while Bowser's (current) castle in the MK is... wait, no, that doesn't work. Due to Bowser loving himself too much, owning a castle and an army, I think he's not really a king, politicaly.

[cheat-master30]

To be fair though, aren't pretty much all royals in the series kinda giving themselves said titles? I mean, Sarasara Land has never been shown to have a population, as Artemendo writes here:

mariothoughts.waluigious.com/2010/07/back-to-sarasaland.html

Nor have the Super Mario Bros 3 kings. Or the royalty from Yoshi's Safari. Or... anyone. The Wario Land series, despite word of kings and rulers doesn't seem to take place anywhere where a friendly population is still alive. Nothing but enemies in those Wario Land 2, 3 and 4 town and building themed levels.

Heck, is Peach a real ruler? Dunno, outside of Toad Town and the Beanbean Kingdom's rulers, nobody really gives a grrr about her or her supposed 'government'. Why else do so many attack Toad Town and kidnap her?

If you say it that way, not a single ruler in the Mario series is remotely good at their 'role', and they're pretty much all self proclaimed kings like Dedede or Bowser.

[kingkoopa]

No Bowser's role isn't self-proclaimed. In the Yoshi'd Island games I remember Kamek or some other soldier calling him the Koopa Prince. And just about every source will say that he is the King of the Koopas. In Paper Mario he must have been called a king by the star spirits and others at least 10 times. Princess Peach isn't self proclaimed either. In every game that she appears in, someone calls her a princess. Doesn't anyone remember " Sorry Mario but )our princess is in another castle." As for Daisy and other rulers, there really is no way of knowing if they really are reoyalty. (Actually I think others referred to the SMB3 kings as the seven Mushroom Kings)

[Meta Black Yoshi]

Well, yea, those are some good points, so I'd say the for all intents and purposes, Bowser is the king of the koopas, and he rules/is the owner of the area in which he and his koopa armies live in.

Also, about there being lava seas and such. PDoogan uses Dark land as a general term for Bowser's area, which apparently includes the Dark Land from SMB3 and possibly a few other Bowser areas. I remember that some of the SMB3 Dark Land stages did have underground lava rivers and I don't think its too unreasonable to think that that lava could make its way above ground and create things like lava seas or even new landmasses.

Also, if Bowser's Badlands are included in that area, then there are definitely seas of lava there, though I'm not sure there's really any indication of the location of Bowser's Badlands, but I just assume that its somewhere in the same area nearby where Bowser lives.

[EpicGyllynn]

Dark Land is OWNED by Bowser, it's where his Castle is! It's not an Island he took over, he Owns it! He IS the King of the Koopas, not some Self-proclaimed King, he was Born into Royalty! Also, I think the Kings from SMB3 where rulers of different Provinces of tMK(Albeit Sky Land), and Princess Peach IS Princess of said Kingdom! And Daisy IS Princess of Sarasa Land!

[cheat-master30]

Keep in mind Dark Land does have fire and skulls and such, as well as lava in the levels, so it's possible the seas of lava are just off the map screen, and you don't go there because there's nothing relevant in that direction.