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| “ | Yoshi-dear, that baby is going to cause disaster to befall the Koopas. So give him here before you accidentally get hurt! | „ |
| ~ Kamek threatening Yoshi in Yoshi's Island. |
| “ | EEEEEEEEK! That's quite enough! I've had it with you annoying Yoshis! | „ |
| ~ Kamek yelling at Yoshi. |
| “ | Welcome! It's time to face my magic! | „ |
| ~ Kamek |
Kamek is one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Bowser Jr.) of Nintendo's Super Mario franchise and the main antagonist of its spin-off series Yoshi's Island.
He is an old, yet powerful Magikoopa and apparent advisor to Bowser as well as a father figure to Bowser in his youth. He is the second highest-ranking member in the Koopa Troop, of course counting Bowser himself (as well as possibly Bowser Jr. due to royalty blessing). He's also the leader of his species known as the Magikoopas, and is sometimes simply referred to by his species' name.
He first appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: wherein he was shown to be Baby Bowser's caretaker. Nevertheless, Kamek maintains his loyalty to his boss and continues to look after Bowser, even into adulthood. He is also Yoshi's archenemy, which mirrors the dynamic between adult versions of Bowser and Mario, and clarifies where it comes from.
He is voiced by Atsushi Masaki.
Biography
Super Mario
Super Mario Galaxy
Kamek only appears during one of the opening cutscenes. When Mario attempts to enter Peach's Castle while Bowser lifts it into space, Kamek appears and taunts him to enjoy his flight before blasting Mario away with magic by destroying the chunk of ground he's standing on.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Kamek appears during each boss battle within the first seven worlds where he uses magic to alter the terrain of the Koopalings' arenas. He is later fought in the tower of World 8, using his magic to create blocks and summon enemies. After Mario defeats him, Kamek retreats to the airship. After Bowser jr. is beaten for the last time, he takes Peach from Bowser's airship to his castle. In Bowser's Castle, after Mario defeats Bowser, the princess inside the cage turns around to reveal Kamek, having fooled Mario. He then uses his magic to turn Bowser gigantic, only to be knocked aside when the Koopa King emerges from the lava.
New Super Mario Bros. U/New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
Kamek empowers Boom Boom during his boss fights starting from Layer-Cake Desert and empowers Boss Sumo Bro. at Screwtop Tower. Kamek himself is the boss of Slide Lift Tower, where he creates magical blocks to crush the player and turn the block floor into donut blocks. In The Final Battle, after Bowser's first phase is defeated, Bowser Jr. convinces Kamek to turn Bowser into Super Bowser.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Kamek appears in the Flower Kingdom, where he assists Bowser in stealing Prince Florian's Wonder Flower and merging with the kingdom's castle, transforming him into Castle Bowser. As Bowser concentrates on expanding his power, Kamek travels throughout the Flower Kingdom to keep Mario and his friends from collecting Royal Seeds by summoning Airships.
At the end of the game, Bowser Jr. attempts to defeat Mario using a Wonder Flower, only to accidentally fling himself off the stage, causing a panicked Kamek to dive down and catch him. In a post-credits scene, Kamek is seen trying to carry Bowser and Bowser Jr. on his broomstick, only for his strength to give out, causing all of them to crash into the ground.
Yoshi's Island
Kamek appears as the main antagonist of the Yoshi's Island series, first appearing as one of two main antagonists in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's New Island and the future Kamek appears alongside Bowser, serving as the secondary antagonist next to him (the game is set in the past) in Yoshi's Island DS.
One of his most recent appearances has been Yoshi's Wooly World, in which he turns nearly all the Yoshis into bundles of yarn, scattering them across different worlds. However, two Yoshis manage to avoid being transformed themselves, and they set off to pursue Kamek and rescue their woolly friends.
Kamek is also one of the two main antagonists in Yoshi's Crafted World. In this game, Kamek, along with Baby Bowser, tries to steal the Sundream Stone from the Yoshis; however, it loses all of its gems, making it useless, so Yoshi has to find them before Kamek and Baby Bowser do. After the Yoshis find most of the gems, Kamek and Baby Bowser decide to ambush them when they get the last one. Surely enough, just as they find the last gem, and try to put it in the Stone, Kamek swipes it and Baby Bowser uses its wish-granting power to create a giant robot named The Great King Bowser. However, after one of the Yoshis defeats it, Kamek then uses the Stone's power to empower the defeated Baby Bowser himself, turning him enormous, which triggers the final boss fight against the newly dubbed Mega Baby Bowser. However, he is still defeated by Yoshi, and in the aftermath, the Yoshis reattach the gems (which were detached again in the aftermath of the fight), restore the Sundream Stone for good, and use its power to create an airship to get them home. Later on, you can fight Kamek as a bonus boss in the Hidden Hills, where he expresses his desire for vengeance against the Yoshis roughing up Baby Bowser and uses noticeably harder variations of the techniques previous bosses used.
Mario Kart
Kamek was originally going to appear in Mario Kart 64 as a playable driver as seen in early screenshots, but was replaced with Donkey Kong. In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Kamek can be seen observing the race on the Bowser Castle 3 track. In Mario Kart: Double Dash and Mario Kart DS, a sign advertising Kamek's magic show is seen in Baby Park. Kamek makes his playable debut in Mario Kart Tour and will be added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe through Wave 5 of the Booster Course Pass DLC.
Mario Party
Kamek appears as a non-playable character in almost all Mario Party installments since Mario Party 2. In Mario Party 5, Mario Party 6, and Mario Party 7, Kamek can be summoned in the Kamek orb. When someone lands on the space where the orb was used, Kamek appears and shuffles everyone's orbs. In Mario Party DS, Kamek hosts the board Kamek's Library, where he trapped Koopa's grandfather Koopa Krag in one of his library books.
Mario Tennis Aces
Kamek is an unlockable character obtained by participating in the April 2019 online tournament and became DLC on May 1, 2019. He is labeled under the Tricky type.
Mario Golf: World Tour
Kamek can be unlocked by collecting 45 Star Coins in Challenge Mode.
Mario & Luigi
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Kamek appears as a minor antagonist in the game. He first appears in Baby Bowser's Castle, where he confronts both sets of Mario Bros. while looking for Baby Bowser. Thinking that they are threats and recognizing the Babies from the past, Kamek summons enemies to defeat them.
Later, after the Mario Bros. defeat Swiggler at the Vim Factory, Kamek appears to escort Baby Bowser after he steals the two Cobalt Star Shards from them. The two flee to Yoshi's Island. There, Kamek is forced to steal Yoshi Cookies for Baby Bowser. Eventually, he runs into the Mario Bros. after they come searching for the Cobalt Star Shards. Kamek attempts to halt their progress by setting fire to various parts of the Island, but the Bros are ultimately able to climb the mountain and find Baby Bowser. Cornered, Kamek decides to fight the Bros. himself, although he is defeated.
He does not appear again until the end of the game, where he is seen traveling back to Baby Bowser's Castle with Baby Bowser.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story/Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
Kamek is seen resuscitating Bowser at the beginning of the game following his defeat from Mario, flying away after Bowser swallows a Vacuum Shroom he obtains from a cloaked figure. He is not seen again until the end credits where he nurses Bowser back to health.
Kamek plays a far bigger role in the Bowser Jr.'s Journey mode in the remake, where he serves as Bowser Jr.'s aide during his quest to obtain a cure for the blorbs. He is a flying type unit and when classed as First Officer, he increases the team's power and defenses by 10%.
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Kamek comes with Bowser to Pi'illo Island. Following Mario and Luigi scaling Mount Pajamaja, Kamek secretly abducts Princess Peach back at Pi'illo Castle and disguises himself as her. In his plan to sneak enemies into the Dream World, "Peach" requests Mario and Luigi to escort her into the Dream World of Driftwood Shore to hide from Bowser and Antasma after they build Neo Bowser Castle.
After the Mario Bros. use the Dream Eggs released by the dream genies to expand the Dream World, Kamek reveals himself to the Bros. and has the Elite Trio battle them, but they lose. Angered, Kamek demotes them to janitors, much to their chagrin before evacuating. The Bros. later encounter Kamek again in Neo Bowser Castle where he mixes up the doorways and has to be fought three times. Before the first fight, he once again disguises himself as Peach, but the Bros. don't fall for it. In his first fight, Kamek creates four clones, a swarm of Dry Bones in the second, and a green, white, and red copies of himself in the third, all with different battle patterns.
Following his defeat, Kamek aids Bowser in the Dream World by increasing his size to become Giant Bowser. During the fight, Kamek commands a squad of Magikoopas to fire energy balls at giant Dreamy Luigi. Following Giant Bowser's defeat, Kamek and the Magikoopas use more magic to make Bowser massive, unintentionally causing him to be flung into the distance. After Dreamy Bowser is defeated, Kamek retreats from the collapsing Neo Bowser Castle on the Koopa Clown Car with the Elite Trio and Bowser. When the Zeekeeper breaks the Dream Coin causing thousands of coins to scatter, Private Goomp and Sergeant Guy cause the car to shake so much while collecting the raining coins that it plummets into the ocean, prompting Kamek and Corporal Paraplonk to fly down and rescue them.
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Kamek meets his paper counterpart, and like Bowser Jr., gets along with him. In Sunbeam Plains, the Kameks block off the entrance to Bowser's Castle using a Papercraft Goomba. Later on in Doop Doop Dunes, the Kameks create a Papercraft Kamek to crush the Mario Bros. and Paper Mario, but are foiled when Paper Toads bring out the Papercraft Luigi. Using it, the Mario Bros. destroy the Papercraft Kamek, forcing the two to retreat.
Later on, the Kameks place cardboard debris to block the path through Gloomy Woods, but the Mario Bros. get through with the help of Wiggler. Kamek attempts to stop them with a magic barrier, but the Bros. destroy it with Bob-ombs. At the end of Gloomy Woods, Paper Kamek uses his magic to brainwash Wiggler to battle the Bros. They defeat him, releasing his control on Wiggler.
In Mount Brr, the Kameks advise Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr. to leave as Mario was approaching, but they refuse as they wanted to play with their new Papercraft. After the Mario Bros. use Papercraft Peach to destroy Papercraft Bowser Jr., the Kameks fly off with the Juniors. Once the Mario Bros. finally reach Bowser's Castle, the Kameks unleash the Papercraft King Boo piloted by Morton and Lemmy. They taunt the Bros. for lacking anymore Papercraft, only to literally fall from their brooms in dismay upon seeing Papercraft Yoshi.
After defeating Papercraft King Boo, the Kameks kidnap Toadette to prevent any more Papercrafts from being developed and later blast off the Mario Bros. when Bowser's Castle takes flight to become Neo Bowser Castle. After the Mario Bros. reach Neo Bowser Castle using Paper Toads from the summit of Mount Brrr, the Kameks assist the Bowsers in rebuilding the previous Papercraft bosses. After destroying them, the Kameks take one last stand to stop the Mario Bros. themselves, but are defeated. As they lie wounded, the Kameks admit it was fun working together, but eventually begin insulting each other. Annoyed, the Mario Bros. jump on their heads to silence them, causing them to burst into stars.
Other Media
Dr. Mario World
Kamek was added to Dr. Mario World as Dr. Kamek in the December 2019 update. His ability eliminates four of the most common virus color in the stage.
Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Kamek appears as two stickers. One is based on his appearance in Yoshi Touch & Go, which increases projectile attacks for any character. The other sticker, based on his appearance from Yoshi's Island, boosts magic attacks for Peach and Zelda.
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Kamek appears in both Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a trophy, as part of the Yoshi's Island Trophy Box. In the Wii U version, he appears on the Mushroom Kingdom U stage, in which he will transverse the stage into one of four layouts. In Smash Tour, he can appear randomly to change the position of the checkpoints. In the 3DS version, Kamek appeared as an enemy in Smash Run, attacking with magic that reduces the player's stats.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Kamek reprises his role in the Mushroom Kingdom U stage, and as a primary grab type spirit. His ability increases magic based attacks. His spirit battle is against four Inklings equipped with Star Rods on the Slide Lift Tower portion of the Mushroom Kingdom U stage, where everyone (including the player) is easy to launch.
Mario & Sonic
Kamek appears as a rival for the BMX event in the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games and a rival for the Legends Showdown mode of Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition
Despite being one of the antagonists of the game and the one behind casting orbs around the Mushroom Kingdom, Kamek only appears during cutscenes when Bowser Jr. is defeated and never fought or recruited.
Club Nintendo
In the German comic "Mario in Mariozilla", Kamek attempts to shrink Mario only for the spell to backfire and Mario grows massive. Kamek enlarges himself and the two clash in New York City. During their fight, Mario breaks Kamek's broom, causing them to shrink down to ant size, with only Dr. Light able to transform them back. Upon returning to their normal size, the two apologize and makeup with a hug.
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 was once the caretaker of the previous Koopa king. Although Kamek is of the highest rank in the Koopa Troop, his actual title and role are 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 (although this Magikoopa is only assumed be Kamek due to his important role of guarding Luigi and his magical abilities).
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.
Powers and Abilities
The Koopa Wands, magical arsenal of both the royal Koopa family and the Magikoopas.
Kamek is an extremely powerful sorcerer and is proficient in black magic, knowing lots of spells. He also has many magical powers: flying on a broom, teleporting, divination, creation of pink geometric magic projectiles, change of sizes of living beings or objects, pyrokinesis, duplication, mental projection, and many more. He also appears to have superhuman strength, as shown in Yoshi's New Island, where he was capable of lifting a giant magical hammer many times his size to power up the game's bosses with no effort.
He also has access to a large library of magic books, and has some mechanical skills.
Quotes
| “ | Magikoopa magic! Turn the train spastic! Make this ticket tragic! | „ |
| ~ Kamek's infamous line in Mario Party 8. |
Vocals
Trivia
- It could be possible that Bowser is the way he is because Kamek raised him to have the attitude of a dictator.
- If one were to keep listening to Kamek's theme in Yoshi's Island, you would discover that his theme is just a loop of a 7-second tune.
- To date, the only Yoshi game he has not appeared in is Yoshi's Story. In this game, Baby Bowser was the main antagonist.
- All Magikoopas are called Kamek in Japan. However, the one named Kamek internationally is assumed to be the same one who took care of Bowser as an infant.
- The name difference for the Magikoopa species across regions has occasionally led to naming errors within games. The international versions of Super Princess Peach call all the Magikoopas Kamek and there are instances within the Mario Party series where Toadies are referred to as Magikoopas.
- He is one of the few bosses in the Mario & Luigi series that's capable of preventing the heroes from using certain attacks in battle.
 Villains
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Marioverse Sour Bunch Zok Troops Others Movies Television Books Pakkun Mogura |
Chō Dossun |
Poko-tachi no sensuikan |
Ultra Pukupuku |
Battra Hanachan |
Kāmenētā |
Bowser (KC Mario) |
Wario (KC Mario) See Also | ||
