Today is Koopaling Ludwig Von Koopa, also known as Kooky Von Koopa in the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 cartoon. While the story goes that the animation team and Nintendo of America’s group that both came up with names for the bosses who were unnamed from the Japanese version of SMB3, there must have been SOME level of coordination, because it’s weird that both teams would have added “Von” to the level 7 boss’s name.
NOA’s adding “Von” makes sense, as this character’s hair mildly resembles that of Ludwig Von Beethoven, and all the Nintendo of America names for the Koopalings were based on musicians. The personality for this guy in the cartoon, however, was that of a mad scientist; “Kooky” certainly fit, but where would the “Von” have come from otherwise?
We may never know.
Also, fun trivia: It’s confirmed that Ludwig/Kooky is the eldest of the Koopa kids.