King Morton, more specifically Morton II, was the king of the Dark Land and father of Bowser and Doug Koopa. Seemingly bold, arrogant, boastful and prideful, yet also level-headed and clever, King Morton was a ruthless and merciless military commander who openly took great pleasure in ending his opponents, traits that he was more than happy to pass along to his son Bowser as he personally took him on at least one such battle. Like his son, King Morton was a proud Koopa warrior, and he takes pride in his Koopa heritage, also a trait which he passed on to his eldest son along with his elitist views. However, unlike Bowser who is somewhat more patient with his subordinates, if annoyed by their incompetence, King Morton was known to be merciless with them, so much so that he was prone to off any messenger who delivers the bad news. He had no tolerance for disobedience, though this may be to maintain control over the Koopa Klan.

Despite his ruthless disposition, King Morton genuinely cared for his son Bowser and even though he was deeply shamed and embarrassed over his youngest son Doug's weakness and lack of drive to fight, he chose to banish him rather than kill him. It could also be thanks to his wife Queen Kairel that he developed such rare occurrence of mercy. Either way, King Morton had shown that even ruthlessness has its limits. In fact, it is common knowledge that weaker Koopas of Bowser's class are sent off to conquer weaker worlds not only to put them out of harm's way but to presumably put them in environments where they can grow stronger and gain experience, so while King Morton is an elitist, he is not completely heartless towards any Koopa who is weaker or of lower classes, even acknowledging that by placing them in the right environments they are capable of growing stronger. King Morton was the only one Bowser truly loved in his childhood, for everything him taught, and also Queen Kairel for teaching him compassion, even though he himself hardly shows his own kindness openly.

King Morton would meet his end along with his wife Queen Kairel when his highly-esteemed adviser Kamek the Magikoopa revealed his treachery and killed them with his magic spells so that he can have full control of the young Bowser to himself. Although the Koopa prince was given to Kamek under unknown circumstances, it was clear that the offer was one King Morton begrudgingly accepted, and while Doug's gentle nature was considered an embarrassment to the royal Koopa family by King Morton, the banishment had saved his son's life and prevented him from being taken by Kamek as the Magikoopa had previously done with his firstborn son.

This is basically a concept art of my interpretation of Bowser's father. As you can see, King Morton bears a close resemblance to Bowser, except for beard (inspired by Lysandre from the Pokemon series) and that he has blond hair. Not to mention that King Morton is also taller than Bowser. I gave him a cape which fits him pretty well, and I think I made a really good yet brief biography on who King Morton is. Additionally, Bowser would also name Morton of the Koopalings, half of whom are his biological children, after his father, hence Morton Koopa Jr.

Lineart drawn by yours truly, colouring and background was done by  lokifan50 on Procreate.

Concept art of King Morton © yours truly.

Super Mario Bros © Nintendo

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