As the elitist Manipravala Champoo school is to disappear later in the next century, it may be disccussed first. The language of the later Champoos reads more like modern Malayalam than that of the earlier Champoos and Sandesakavyas. Perhaps it can also be said that there is an improvement in poetic quality and craftsmanship too. The greatest Manipravala Champoos of the 15th century is Punam Nambudiri's Ramayanam, a close rival to Mahishamangalam's Naishadha of the 17th century. It is believed that Punam was responsible for using Puranic themes and episodes in Champoos for the first time, unlike the 14th century Champoos which were tales of the courtesans.
The later Champoos came to be used for dramatic oral narration by performing artists in their Koothu and Pathakam. Their diction like their themes, seems to be more refined than that of the earlier Champoos showing a self-conscious effort on the part of their authors. Ramayanam Champoos consists of 20 Prabandhas viz., Ravana's birth, Rama's incarnation, the killing of Thataka, the deliverance of Ahalya, the marriage of Sita, the truimph over parasurama, the foiled coronation, the killing of Khara, the treaty with Sugriva, the killing of Bali, the entry into the garden, the scene of the ring, the entry into Lanka, the killing of Ravana, the ordeal by fire, the entry into Ayodhya, the coronation, the repudiation of Sita, the Aswamedha and the Swargarohana.
A recurring feature of some of these Champoos is that several passags are common to many of them. It would appear as though the performing artists, the Chakyars or the Nambiars, appropriated passages from other Champoos and introduced them into any given Champoos chosen for presentation. A remarkable feature of Ramayanam Champoo is the sense of humour that sparkles in many passages. Punam also wrote a Bharatam Champoos. There are also many others, the authorship of which is ascribed to him.
Mahishamangalam (or Mazhamangalam) Narayanan Nambudiri is the author of some of the best Champoos of all time. The most widely known of these is Naishadham followed by Rajaratnavaliyam and Kodia Viraham. Like Punam, Mahishamangalam also reveals in humour. This aspect of the work must have specially appealed to the performing artists who used the text for public performance. It may be this sense of the comic that eventually percolated into the Thullal poems of Kunchan Nambiar, centuries later.