Once upon a time, the Turtle Tribe that made their home in the desert just outside the Mushroom Kingdom had been small and weak. The human and mushroom majority had banished the reptiles to the harsh outskirts of their territory. The turtles and their friends were scavengers and nomads, barely eking out an existence in the desert. This all changed when the fearsome Koopa Clan came to power. The Koopa dynasty transformed the tiny collection of scattered tribes into a powerful force that was feared and respected throughout the world. Enter Bowser, the latest in an unbroken line of Koopa Kings. At first, it looked as though Bowser would continue his family's proud traditions of ruling through fear and intimidation.

However, it soon became clear that Bowser was not your typical bad to the bone Koopa. He was more laid back than evil, more concerned with having fun than gaining wealth and taking over nations. His wild bachelor days were the stuff of Koopa legends (rumor has it that Bowser and his entourage spent nearly half of the Koopa treasury at various casinos, strip clubs and other houses of ill repute). The Koopa court, worried that the wild king would bring about the end of the Turtle Tribes, hastily arranged a marriage between Bowser and the daughter of a powerful warlord. Although the union produced a handful of children for Bowser, the marriage was loveless and plagued with hostility. Bowser soon divorced his wife and decreed that her very existence be scrubbed from the history books.

Despite it's quick and messy collapse, his ill-fated marriage did succeed in settling Bowser down. He decided it was time to act like a proper Koopa lord and began to harass the neighboring countries. Eventually, Bowser set his sights on the peaceful Mushroom Kingdom and it's young ruler, Princess Peach. Generations of Koopa kings had eyed the lush and expansive Mushroom territory but never had the numbers to conquer it. However, Bowser displayed a suprisingly cunning strategic mind and formulated a plan to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom not from the outside, but instead from the inside.

From the time of it's formation, the Mushroom Kingdom had been home to a number of disparate races. The two most populous being the Toads, an odd humanoid/fungus hybrid, and the Goombas. The Goombas were the peasant class in the Mushroom Kingdom, looked down on by the more prosperous Toads and their human cousins. For untold generations, nearly all Goombas were forced into hard labor by an oppressive feudal system designed by Toadstool property owners. Although the laws of the Kingdom officially forbade discrimination, Goombas were seen as nothing but serfs, undeserving of the privileges of civilized society. The Goombas resented their Toadish overlords but could do nothing to escape their harsh fate. All the while, the upper class lived peaceful lives of luxury, many of them blissfully unaware of what was really happening in the poor areas of the country.

Back in Koopa territory, Bowser saw the plight of the Goombas and sought to bring them over to his side. Bowser began to write a series of treatises on the unfairness of the Mushroom Kingdom class system. The Koopa King wrote and lectured about the plight of the Goomba working class and how they were being exploited by the rich Toads for financial gain. Bowser urged revolution against the upper class Toads and the creation of a worker controlled state where all Goombas were equal.

Bowser's book, Das Koopital, caused an immediate sensation in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mushroom authorities banned the book and harshly punished anyone caught with it. Despite their best efforts, Das Koopital and it's dangerous ideas spread like wildfire throughout the Goomba working class. Goombas began to form unions and organize strikes throughout the country, paralyzing the nation's economy. The Mushroom government cracked down on the revolutionaries in a severe way. The Secret Police, under the direction of Chief Toadsworth, attacked demonstrators and arrested scores of union leaders. The government restricted the Goombas' freedoms even further, banning public gatherings and instituting curfews.

Bowser took advantage of the chaos and marched his troops into Mushroom Kingdom territory. The Mushroom army fought admirably, slowly driving back the fury of the Turtle Tribe forces. Just as it looked as though the Koopas would lose, the entire Goomba population rose up as one against their former overlords and joined Bowser's army. Thanks to the mass defection of their working class, the Mushroom Kingdom quickly folded under the onslaught of the Koopa military.

With victory assured, Bowser marched his forces into the Mushroom capital and took Princess Peach hostage. The King of the Koopas had become smitten with Peach and intended to make her his evil Queen. Unfortunately for Bowser, Peach did not much like the idea of ruling a socialist paradise alongside a gigantic, scary lizard. Peach managed to get a message out to the Mario Brothers, asking for help. With their trademark unrepentant violence, the brothers crushed the entire Koopa army and Bowser by themselves.

The shocked survivors of the Mario Massacre retreated back to Koopa territory to lick their wounds and plot revenge. Fearful of another beating at the hands of the plumbers, Bowser attempted to lure them away from the Mushroom Kingdom and Princess Peach. He sent the Koopa Airship Fleet, commanded by his children, out into the neighboring kingdoms to stir up trouble. The Koopa Kids and their troops overthrew the kings of these tiny states, turning them into animals and ravaging their countries. The plan worked, and the heroic plumbers left Peach's side to save the world from the rampaging Koopalings.

Bowser once again entered the Mushroom Kingdom, but this time by stealth instead of by force. The evil reptile snatched the unprotected Princess and brought her back to his fortress. Bowser spent the entirety of Peach's captivity trying to convince her that she was perfect for him. He was rich, a natural leader, and a great dancer. Unfortunately he also had a habit of getting his butt kicked by a small, fat Italian man with a mushroom addiction. Peach resisted the lizard king's advances and was eventually rescued once again by the Mario Brothers. The Marios rampaged through the Koopa Kingdom in their zeal to save Peach. The Koopa Army was decimated and their once mighty forces were reduced to rubble.

What was once a great and powerful people who had been feared around the world was now reduced to a handful of pathetic, beaten refugees. The Mushroom Kingdom had swallowed up the Koopa's land in their postwar expansion and expelled them out into the uncharted wilderness at the outskirts of the continent. The Turtle Tribes once again became scattered and weak.

Bowser took his children and a handful of his most loyal soldiers and escaped the clutches of Peach and her minions. The remaining Koopas took one of their broken airships and fled the continent, crashing right in the middle of the previously uncharted Yoshi Island. The refugees cannibalized their airship to build shelters and farming equipment, preparing to settle down on their new island for good. The Koopa remnants began a peaceful new life, living in harmony with the land and renouncing their violent ways. The reptiles prospered, growing vast stores of food and building mighty castles. It looked as though finally, there would be a happily ever after for Bowser and his family.

However, their idyllic life will soon come to a crashing halt as some old friends from the Mushroom Kingdom come calling...

Continue to Part 4...

Previous Mario and Peach stuff:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3