King John Koopa IV

* Portrait
* Prologue

**King John Koopa IV,** also known as **John the Usurper,** was the twenty-sixth monarch of the Koopa Kingdom, who reigned from his coronation in the year 1419 up until his death in the year 1442, reigning for a total of twenty-two years. John IV ascended to the throne after overthrowing his unpopular cousin, King Richard Koopa II, whom exiled him for his part in a failed rebellion planned by their uncle Tarquin. His reign faced several rebellions due to the unconventional way he ascended to the throne, both for deposing an anointed king, failing to keep him alive by forgetting to have him fed him while in captivity, and for displacing the people who actually held the bigger claims to the throne, Lord Raymund Kassimeer and his sister Lady Anna Kassimeer, who were mere infants at the time of Richard II's deposition, which people felt went against King Alfred Koopa I's established rules for inheriting the throne in the first place. Despite this, he was successful in keeping his line on the throne. He was succeeded by his eldest son upon his death, who became King John Koopa V.

King John Koopa IV is based on King Henry IV of England.

## History

### Early Life and Exile

John Koopa was born in the year 1388 as the only son and eldest child of Prince Blayne Koopa and his first wife Lady Flannery Koopa, being raised as a prince of the Koopa Kingdom. It is known that Prince John was opposed to the reign of his unpopular and tyrannical cousin King Richard Koopa II, taking part in the failed rebellion his Uncle, Prince Tarquin, to depose Richard of the throne. The rebellion failed however, and Prince Tarquin was sentenced to death by Richard Koopa II alongside his son and heir Prince Joseph, who played no part in the rebellion and was simply executed for Richard's personal amusement. John was meant to meet the same fate as his uncle and cousin, but his father, Prince Blayne, was able to convince Richard II to spare John's life. Richard agreed and instead had John exiled to the Bohnenkraut Kingdom, leaving his three children under Richard's care, and promising to Blayne that John would be able to inherit his land and titles once he died.

### Coup d'état and ascension to the throne

Unfortunately when Prince Blayne died in 1419, King Richard II went back on the promises he made to his uncle, keeping John's lands, holdings and titles for himself, and was also planning on having John's children, whom he held in captivity, executed when he got back from the Frosted Kingdom. John caught wind of the news, and, fearing for his children's safety, returned to the Koopa Kingdom before Richard could return from his Frosted Kingdom campaign, being aided by Lord Birchard Python I and Lord Symon Blackfoot, the grandfathers of Lord Berwick Python and Lord Symon Blackfoot respectively. The lords there instantly submitted to John, and John was able to take the throne for himself, being crowned King John Koopa IV. Richard II later returned, and found his men now bearing red armor and the Fire Flower on their shields and had the former king imprisoned. Lord Raymund Kassimeer was the presumptive heir to Richard due to him being childless, but he and his sister Anna were imprisoned in the Black Tower to prevent rebels from overthrowing John IV and replacing him with either one of them, as the new king saw them as a threat. Richard later died whilst imprisoned, due to John IV forgetting to have him fed to to keep him alive.

### Later reign, rebellions and death

Later in the prologue, a rebellion featuring Sir Robert Kassimeer, the Uncle to the earlier mentioned Raymund and Anna, and the elder Lord Symon Blackfoot and his son Sir Alain Blackfoot, who grew dissatisfied with John IV's reign due to Lord Birchard and the Pythons getting preferential treatment, was showcased. It seems likely the elder Kassimeer was fighting to release his nephew and niece from the Black Tower to control the realm himself. This rebellion was described to have been easily crushed by John IV, with the help of his eldest and heir son Prince John, with Sir Kassimeer, Lord Blackfoot and his heir all being slain in battle. Raymund and Anna were later released from the Black Tower under the condition that they swore an oath to never try to take the throne for themselves.

King John Koopa IV died in the year 1442 at the age of 54 years old. He was succeeded by his son Prince John, who ascended to the throne as King John Koopa V, who would continue expanding upon his father's legacy in spite of his short reign.

## Appearance

He is a Koopa with red skin , He has smooth blonde hair, a dark red head with two sharp horns, large blonde eyebrows, black eyes, and a pale red snout and mouth with several fangs . He has scaly, red skin, sharp claws on his hands and feet, and a spiked tail. He wears black spiked cuffs around his wrists and shoulders, as well as a spiked collar, and a spiked, scaly green shell with a orange casing and orange rings around the spikes.