Super Mario Bros. Wonder Might Be Turning the Koopalings Into Wild New Boss Monsters

If you have been keeping an eye on Super Mario Bros. Wonder, you already know that new boss battles are on the way, and not just the usual stomp-three-times-and-win kind. With the Switch 2 edition bringing the Koopalings back into the main adventure, you are likely going to be tracking each one of them down across the seven worlds. But here is where things get interesting: they are not just returning, they appear to be transforming. 

From what you can already see, at least one of these fights is not playing by the old rules. Wendy, for example, is shown turning into a giant Cheep-like form and teleporting around the stage using golden rings.  

That alone tells you these are no longer standard boss encounters. They look more like moving stage hazards mixed with boss mechanics, shaped by Wonder effects. And once you see that, you cannot help but start guessing what the rest of the Koopalings might turn into. 

You should not assume every transformation has to be a direct enemy form. Wonder effects in the game do not always convert characters into straight-up enemies. Still, if you go by past boss themes and recurring gimmicks, you can make some educated guesses.  

Wendy’s history is filled with water-themed encounters and Cheep Cheep elements, so her transformation lines up with her past patterns more than with the world she appears in. That suggests these new forms may be inspired more by classic boss identity than by the specific stage theme. 

If you think back to older Super Mario Bros. titles, each Koopaling usually had a signature style.  

That gives you a starting point. You cannot predict anything with certainty because so little is officially confirmed, but you can sketch out possibilities based on what each one was known for before. 

Take Iggy, for example. You probably remember how often he is paired with Chain Chomps. In multiple past games, he fights alongside them or even rides contraptions powered by them. The problem is that Chain Chomps are not currently standard enemies in Wonder.  

Still, that does not mean they could not appear in special Mario DLC-style content. You can easily imagine a Wonder-style sequence where a giant Chain Chomp chases you through a level like those old high-pressure chase stages.

If the developers want something that already exists in Wonder, though, the closest match might be the Pokeipede, a segmented, path-following creature with boxing gloves.  

You could picture Iggy transforming into a giant version of that, forcing you to knock off exposed body segments while it runs a fixed track across the stage. That gives you the same pressure and motion as a Chain Chomp fight, just with a different skin. 

Then you have Lemmy, who is probably the easiest to predict because his identity is tied so tightly to bouncy balls. Nearly every one of his past fights leans on that gimmick. In Wonder, you already see enemies like Hoppos that behave like big bouncing balls.  You can picture Lemmy turning into a huge version of one, rolling and bouncing around the arena while you try to figure out how to hit him safely.  

You might have to bounce on a safe top point, hit a switch, or avoid sudden spikes that pop up in the middle of a jump. Another idea is to have a big balloon-like enemy that slowly loses air as you hit it. In either case, it would feel wrong to you if Lemmy showed up without a bouncing mechanic. 

Morton is trickier, but you still have clues. He is often linked with hammers and heavy attacks. The issue is that Wonder does not lean heavily on hammer-based enemies right now. You could default to a Hammer Bro-style transformation, but that feels too close to a regular troop enemy and not special enough for a Koopaling boss.  

Looking back instead at specific Morton encounters, you might remember moments where he interacts with spiked balls or Pokey enemies. That opens the door to a desert-style transformation where he becomes a giant Pokey-like creature. You could be forced to throw objects to break off body segments until only his head remains. That kind of layered damage system would fit Wonder’s interactive style pretty well. 

Roy gives you a much clearer path.  

You likely associate him with Bullet Bill launchers. Wonder already expands Bullet Bill types, including wall-sticking variants and rideable missile platforms. So you could see Roy either becoming a giant launcher that fires multiple special Bullet Bills at you or transforming into one himself.

The more creative version would be a segmented, serpent-like Bullet Bill chain, similar in structure to a Pokeipede but flying. You would chase it through the air, breaking it piece by piece. Given how Wendy already gets a full enemy-style transformation, Roy turning directly into a Bullet Bill feels like the most consistent guess. 

Ludwig pushes you into more abstract territory. His past fights usually put you high in the sky, often in cloud-heavy arenas. While one of his stranger appearances gave him a submarine, that does not really match his usual theme. If you focus on the sky angle, you could see him becoming a living storm cloud or smog-like mass.  

Super Mario Bros. Wonder already has animated clouds and gas-like dangers, so a giant cloud boss that floats around and shrinks every time you hit it makes sense. While it chases you, you might be riding on moving tracks or conveyors. This makes the whole stage into a moving escape-and-counterattack scene. 

And then you get to Larry, who is honestly the hardest one to pin down. You probably struggle to name a defining gimmick for him. He uses a wand sometimes, stands on moving platforms often, and in one case just rides a train. That does not give you a strong transformation hook.  

When that happens, visual similarity might guide the choice instead.

Enemies like Mecha Koopas share his look, so a giant mechanical Koopaling-style boss could work. Another candidate is Spike, who has similar hair and a throwing-based attack style. A giant Spike-style transformation where Larry hurls objects that you must throw back at him would at least give you a clear gameplay loop. 

All of this comes down to a simple pattern you can see forming: these possible boss forms are not just tougher enemies; they are stage mechanics blended with character identity. Instead of standing in one arena trading hits, you are likely going to be running, dodging, climbing, and using Wonder effects while the Koopaling transformation acts as both the boss and the hazard. 

When you look at the whole enemy list in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, then you can see how many different ways these changes could go. That's what makes it both fun and almost impossible to guess what they'll do. You can connect lines between past games, signature weapons, recurring themes, and enemies that are similar to each other, but the Wonder system is made to break these connections. 

So if you are trying to guess every Koopaling form right now, you are basically solving a puzzle with half the pieces missing.  

Still, that is part of the fun. You look at their history, match it to Wonder’s enemy types and mechanics, and build your best theory. When the fights finally show up, you will get to see how close—or completely off—those predictions were. And if these transformations are anywhere near as creative as Wendy’s, you are probably in for some very strange boss battles.