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Post by Sarisa on Sept 5, 2010 22:15:02 GMT -5
Wow, I've been gone a long time - one week away due to business and I have a score of topics to catch up on.
Anyhow, while I've been gone, I did have a thought; despite his dubious common sense, Bowser is very innovative when it comes to government.
When dividing conquered lands among family members didn't work out, Bowser shifted towards a system of ethnarchs - creating kings for different races in the Koopa Troop and letting them lead their races. His first experiments were Big Bomb-omb and the Whomp King, which were successful enough that he created a Goomba King (who has since possibly escaped his control) and, most recently, King Lakitu. This last is noteworthy because King Lakitu is the first Koopa ethnarch, which impinges on Bowser's title of King of the Koopas.
Bowser also has struck alliances with other kings, first King Boo (an alliance presumably still in force) and later King Kaliente of the extraterrestrial Octoomba race.
He hasn't made many new ethnarchs and has been disributing conquered lands to his family again lately; maybe the ethnarch experiment was a failure?
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Post by Koopalmier on Sept 7, 2010 4:33:12 GMT -5
Are they really monarchs ? I think the "king", "boss" and "big" prefixes are simply used to show they are high-ranked soldiers, maybe commanding their species in Bowser's army. I also think Octoombas (and thus King Kaliente and Prince Pikante) are monsters created by Bowser's army (after all, they do have a creature plant in space).
Also Bowser's full title is "Great Demon King" or just "Great King". He's the King of Koopas, and Great King of the whole army. He must have temporarly quited his "king of Koopas" role to leave it to King Lakitu, but it didn't ended too well.
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Post by Sarisa on Sept 7, 2010 16:23:14 GMT -5
Alas, my Japanese sources have deserted me. In the English script of PM Bowser says he made Goomba King a king, and King Boo has a crown to graphically back up his claim; however, the others aren't solid.
Of course these "kings" are all intended to be subordinate to Bowser; that was why I called them ethnarchs. King Lakitu is probably ethnarch of the Lakitus, but not other Koopas; I meant that he was an ethnarch who is also a Koopa. (English makes it hard to distinguish restrictive and non-restrictive adjectives.)
I don't know Octoombas well enough to speculate on their origins.
You are, of course, correct about Bowser's Japanese title. "King of the Koopas" is still in use in NA but I don't know if an equivalent is used in Japan.
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Post by EpicGyllynn on Sept 7, 2010 23:09:32 GMT -5
Well, he hasn't completely abandoned dividing the land among his children(see:New Super Mario Bros. Wii), but I imagine that the Koopalings general lack of interest in world domination, he has resorted to ethnarchs as a safe alternative.
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Post by Koopalmier on Sept 8, 2010 0:23:01 GMT -5
I mean, they aren't really ethnarchs, more like army commanders.
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Post by Vent on Sept 11, 2010 15:01:10 GMT -5
He probably has all of these ethnarchs because it's easier to control all the different factions of minions that way.
Not to mention, it's always good to have a giant version of your minions waiting around to crush the hero. I imagine most of the "mook ethnarchs" were created through magic, evidenced by how Bowser made the Goomba King/Goomboss into a king (presumably with the Star Rod), or how all the YI bosses were just normal enemies made huge via Kamek's spells.
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Post by thedude3445 on Jan 9, 2011 15:29:53 GMT -5
There's also Crystal King, though he might be just a spirit of a former king that haunts the Ice Castle. And Huff N. Puff presumably leads the Puffs. Is Momma Piranha a Queen of the Piranha Plants or just a mook boss, IDR much from M&L.
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Post by Le Mario Bro on Jan 9, 2011 15:47:40 GMT -5
I think that's actually reserved for Petey Pirannha.
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Post by Koopalmier on Jan 9, 2011 15:59:55 GMT -5
Piranha Plants are very primitive (basically just wild creatures), and seem to work for whoever will feed them. They once worked for Waluigi, and you won't find a single Piranha Plant in Bowser's Castle in M&L3. So, as they aren't really part of the army, the boss of Piranha Plants is never the same. It first was Lava Piranha, then Petey Piranha, then Dino Piranha, then Peewee Piranha.
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Post by Le Mario Bro on Jan 9, 2011 17:28:09 GMT -5
Okay, the last two are arguable, seeing as how they only just hatched...
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Post by kingkoopa on Jan 9, 2011 21:39:16 GMT -5
Since when were Dino or Pewee Pirhana leaders of anything? Unless you are saying that they ruled all them plants BEFORE THEY EVEN HATCHED.
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Post by Vent on Jan 9, 2011 22:10:10 GMT -5
Nah, they're probably distant space-based variants of Piranha Plant species, presumably just one branch off whatever type Petey is supposed to be.
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Post by Koopalmier on Jan 10, 2011 0:26:55 GMT -5
Since when were Dino or Pewee Pirhana leaders of anything? Unless you are saying that they ruled all them plants BEFORE THEY EVEN HATCHED. They can still be seen as the "new leader". Until they get their butt kicked, anyway. It doesn't matter, really. Piranha Plants aren't even actually part of the army, you could just say that instead of a leader they just have a stronger member. |
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Post by Vent on Jan 10, 2011 7:29:19 GMT -5
...Since when are they not a part of the army?
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Post by Koopalmier on Jan 10, 2011 7:36:37 GMT -5
Since the only RPG to show them actually being in the army is Paper Mario ?
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Post by Vent on Jan 10, 2011 17:20:00 GMT -5
....Are they not a part of the army in every other Mario game they appear in besides the RPGs?
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Post by kingkoopa on Jan 10, 2011 21:10:40 GMT -5
Well, they really just try to annoy Mario by coming out of pipes. You know, do them plants even have a brain?
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Post by SMBBQ on Jan 10, 2011 22:21:25 GMT -5
Well, I see Pirannah Plants as a cross between plants and animals. They behave like animals in their manner, but genetically they're plants.
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The_Cat
Not as new as the newest
..is not a ninja.
Posts: 47
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Post by The_Cat on Jan 11, 2011 23:36:01 GMT -5
He probably has all of these ethnarchs because it's easier to control all the different factions of minions that way. I very much agree with this. It's fully possible the X Kings are really generals or something; Bowser probably doesn't have the time to elaborately plan and place every individual enemy, after all. |
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Post by thedude3445 on Jan 12, 2011 22:29:32 GMT -5
Does he ever play the factions against each other like Hitler did with his organizations? Then it would make perfect sense.
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