Bowser's Minions, also known as Bowser's army, the Koopa Corps, the Koopa Troop, Minions, or Team Bowser, is an organization of armed forces led by Bowser, who appear as the main antagonists of the Super Mario franchise. The Minions have taken over the Mushroom Kingdom multiple times and has even attempted to take over the universe. Many of their goals are based entirely on Bowser's own interests. Not all members of the Minions are Koopas, although they serve as the majority of the members and also have high-ranking roles. According to official Japanese character books, the army is led by the Turtle Tribe, with older material indicating the members of Bowser's "royal family" as leaders. In both the Super Mario Pia and the Encyclopedia Super Mario Bros., the "royal family" term is missing, and in general, the organization of Bowser's army is no longer explained, with the former reconfirming that the Turtle Tribe still leads it. As proven in New Super Mario Bros., Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, when Bowser is absent, Bowser Jr. takes leadership of the Minions. It is also implied in Paper Mario: The Origami King that Bowser Jr. has his own army within the Minions.
The Koopa forces differ from game to game, though Goombas and Koopa Troopas consistently appear as the most common and basic troops. Goombas almost always appear as the first enemy Mario encounters in the mainline platformers and are his most often confronted foes overall. Koopa Troopas, however, are the most frequently encountered troops in the 2D platformers in general (where Goombas tend to generally predominate in the early game sections and then become less common relative to Koopa Troopas in the middle and late sections). There are also many rarer minion types of the Minions, including seemingly elite troops of the organization, such as Hammer Bros and Magikoopas. Aside from Bowser and Bowser Jr., other notable members have been observed to hold positions of authority and leadership within the organization's hierarchy. The most prominent examples include the Koopalings (particularly common in the case of the 2D platformers) and Kamek (especially in the case of the Yoshi franchise). There is also a trend of species-specific monarchs/chiefs within the Minions who seemingly act as vassals to Bowser, implying a degree of autonomy and sub-hierarchy on a species-level basis; examples of this include Goomboss, King Boo, King Bob-omb, Whomp King, and Petey Piranha.
On some occasions, Bowser has teamed up with others (such as Antasma in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team) to achieve a common goal, but in these instances, these characters are not considered part of the Minions.
100 Acre Wood[]
Some members of the Koopa Troop were after Winnie the Pooh and joined forces with The Koopa King.