Rawk Hawk

Rawk Hawk
Artwork from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)
First appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004)
Latest appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024)

“Rawk out, Great Gonzales!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAWK! Listen to me, Gonzales! Anybody who's beat me is not ALLOWED to lose!!!”

—Rawk Hawk, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Rawk Hawk, also known as "The Feral Nuclear Reactor" ("The Golden Grandstander" in the Nintendo Switch remake), is the reigning champion in the Glitz Pit in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, until Mario arrives to take his title. Mario does this in order to obtain the Gold Star, which is supposedly found on the Champ's Belt, which only the champion is allowed to wear. He is a parody of pro wrestlers, particularly Hulk Hogan.

History

Background

Prior to Mario's arrival, Rawk Hawk joined the Glitz Pit, achieved higher ranks and eventually became champion. However, he became champion only by default, since his rival, Prince Mush mysteriously disappeared before their title match could begin.

Paper Mario series

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Rawk Hawk standing next to Grubba, and holding the fake Gold Star on the Champ's Belt.

Rawk Hawk appears in Chapter 3 in Glitzville. When Mario and his partners arrive, they find Rawk Hawk squaring off against The Koopinator, whom he manages to defeat easily. Grubba, the Glitz Pit promoter (and referee) congratulates Rawk Hawk for his victory. Rawk Hawk then holds up the Champ's Belt, which gets the attention of Mario and his partners. Shortly afterwards, Mario and his partners decide to become official fighters in the Glitz Pit in order to win the championship and obtain the Crystal Star. When Mario and his partners make their way into the major league, however, the Crystal Star in Rawk Hawk's belt is revealed to be a fake. Rawk Hawk overheard the comment about it being fake, which incensed him due to misinterpreting their remarks as them implying he was an incompetent fighter.

As Mario and his partners continue climbing their way up the ranks, the audience begins to take their attention away from Rawk Hawk and starts to focus on Mario and his party. Rawk Hawk, jealous, threatens them, though they continue to ignore threats. Rawk Hawk then sends Mario and his partners a Poisoned Cake (after they have received a real cake), which will cause Mario's partner to fall sick and thus not participate in the next round if it is eaten.

Mario and Goombella preparing to fight Rawk Hawk.

Eventually, Mario and his partners challenge Rawk Hawk in a title match. Rawk Hawk, afraid of losing his title, decides to cheat again by having a security guard lock Mario and his partners in an abandoned minor league locker room, which would cause them to forfeit the match. However, they escape by using a toilet, and eventually confront Rawk Hawk. When the match begins, Rawk Hawk reveals himself to be responsible for the several setbacks, so they accuse him of sending that threat about the Crystal Star as well. Rawk Hawk, however, was not the one who was sending them the threatening letters, nor did he care about or was even aware of the existence of the Crystal Star. Mario and his partners then usurp Rawk Hawk's champion status. The group is then awarded with the Champ's Belt, as well as access to the Champion's Room.

Mario using the Power Bounce technique on Rawk Hawk.

After Macho Grubba's defeat, many of the Glitz Pit fighters, including Rawk Hawk, line up to say goodbye to Mario and his partners before they left to continue their adventure. Rawk Hawk then tells Mario that he will fight fairly from then on.

His likeness makes a small cameo in the ending of the Bowser intermission for Chapter 4, as a decoration on Kammy Koopa's hat (implied to be part of souvenirs she got at the Glitz Pit).

During the intermission after Chapter 6, Bowser and Kammy Koopa finds Rawk Hawk's secret training area, which is located somewhere underneath Rogueport. When they arrive, they see the Champ's Belt hanging up on the wall and mistake it for the real Crystal Star. Just when they are about to grab it, however, Rawk Hawk enters the room. He expresses his amusement at how Bowser cleared his "secret training facility", stating that he "imported some super-freaks" to make it more difficult to get through, possibly alluding to the X-Naut soldiers that Bowser encountered in the prior level. During their fight, the false Crystal Star on the belt breaks into two. Kammy realizes that the Star is a fake and questions Rawk Hawk about the real Star's whereabouts. Rawk Hawk tells them that "The Great Gonzales" has it, but Bowser fails to realize that "The Great Gonzales" is Mario.

During the seventh chapter, Rawk Hawk sends Mario an email saying that he has not forgotten about their last battle and that he "feels the rage all over again" on rainy days. He then calls him a coward for giving up the belt and threatens him, saying that if he ever comes back, he will get "Rawked". Rawk Hawk reappears during the cutscene that takes place during Mario's final battle with the Shadow Queen. He, Jolene, and all the other Glitz Pit fighters began cheering Mario on, encouraging him and his partners to defeat the Shadow Queen and save the world.

After Chapter 3, the player can optionally choose to return to the Glitz Pit, where Rawk Hawk is once again the reigning champion (since Mario hands the belt back to him before he left the first time). This makes him the only rematchable boss in the GameCube version.

In the remake, Rawk Hawk mostly has the same role, although Goombella's tattle on Prince Mush during the superboss fight against him implied that he pulled a similar Poisoned Cake trick on the latter for the same reasons, with Mush falling for it to such an extent that he disliked cake as a result.

Email

YOU!!!

An attached image of Rawk Hawk in his email to Mario (GCN)

Attached image (Switch)

Is this the so-called Great Gonzales? Unh! Well, it's me, your worst nightmare! The new and improved Rawk Hawk! Don't think I forgot you, punk!

I'm reborn, you coward! My training regimen would blow your mind! I'm on the fast track back to the top, and ain't NOBODY gonna get in my way! Rawk!

And still...on rainy days, I feel the bruises your hammer of shame left on this bod, and I feel the RAAAAAAGE again!

If you EVER show your face in the ring again, I'll beat you so bad your momma won't even recognize you! Remember the RAAAWK!

Number 1 (GCN)
Number 1, (Switch)

Rawk Hawk

Field Tattle

Outside of battle, Goombella can use Tattle on Rawk Hawk only when he is in the lobby of Glitz Pit surrounded by fans (who can be dispersed by Mario's hammer or Flurrie's ability).

• "Ah! The champ, Rawk Hawk. He sure has the star quality you'd expect from a champ. But know what? Who cares? Everybody knows we're gonna be the next champions!"

Super Paper Mario

In Super Paper Mario, one of the items listed on Francis's to-buy list is Harder Than Bedrawk: The Rawk Hawk Story, which is, apparently, a DVD detailing Rawk Hawk's wrestling career.

Super Mario-kun

Rawk Hawk in Super Mario-kun

Rawk Hawk appears in volume 33 of Super Mario-kun during the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door arc. Just like in the game, he is the champion that Mario must fight to obtain the Crystal Star on his belt. However, the belt in the manga contains the real Gold Star, not a fake, and Grubba takes it from Mario after he defeats Rawk Hawk.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Rawk Hawk also makes a cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as one of the many Stickers. In addition, one of the names that may come up on the name or stage builder entry when the random button is hit is "RAWK", a possible reference to Rawk Hawk.

General information

Personality

A clear demonstration of Rawk Hawk's arrogant attitude.

Rawk Hawk, over the course of the game, proves himself to be extremely arrogant, egotistical, and self-centered. He has a crude, obnoxious personality and frequently barges in out of nowhere to start trash-talking people. He constantly brags about his skill and looks down on the other Glitz Pit fighters, labeling them all as complete wimps. Up until Mario and his partners showed up at the Glitz Pit and made their way up the ranks, he was a hundred percent convinced that no one could defeat him. Rawk Hawk is also willing to cheat if necessary in order to win, portraying the typical wrestling role of a "heel." This is shown when he had a security guard lock Mario and his partners in an old, abandoned minor league locker room before the title match started, as well as sending Mario that poisoned cake, while he honestly denied knowing about Grubba's hate mail and the real Crystal Star. However, after Mario defeats him in battle, Rawk Hawk ends up gaining a lot of respect for him as a fighter (as he demonstrated during the Crystal Star intermission cutscene that took place during the final battle, but even then he was still showing a display of arrogance) and makes a decision to fight fair and square from then on. He also gets enraged whenever people imply that he is weak, as one of the reasons why he wanted to beat Mario no matter the cost was because he felt insulted when he heard them apparently imply that his belt was fake (although they were actually referring to the Gold Star on the belt), and also attempted to do a high kick suplex on Bowser after the latter mockingly called him an "adorable little weakling", while he actually ended up being flattened by Bowser.

Powers and abilities

Rawk Hawk performs one of his aerial attacks.

As it says in his Tattle information, Rawk Hawk mainly specializes in aerial attacks. His attacks consist of a jumping flip attack, a flying elbow attack, and his only ground-based attack, which is a slide kick. For his last attack, he will stomp the ground (which causes a rail to appear), hang on to the ceiling, and start shaking down a bunch of objects very quickly, which all deal 1 HP to Mario and his party, except for Koops, who is immune to the attack. Judging from his attacks, Rawk Hawk seems to use the lucha libre method of wrestling, involving flashy acrobatic moves. In terms of wrestling, he is also considered to be a heel, a villainous wrestler who uses dirty, underhanded methods to win, regardless of popular opinion.

Profiles and statistics

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Rawk Hawk
	Max HP	40	Attack	4	Defense	0
	Location(s)	Glitz Pit	Role	Boss	Level	34
	Sleep?	60%	Dizzy?	60%	Confuse?	60%
	Tiny?	85%	Stop?	50%	Soft?	90%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	40%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	0%	KO?	0%	Moves	Slide Kick (4), Double Flip (4 to Mario and Partner), Superman Slam (6), Prop Drop (1x10, changes to ceiling), Drop 'Shroom (Heals by five), Drop Stomp (3x3)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	N/A	Items	Champ's Belt
Tattle Log #: 102	Log	A Champion Fighter. Battling him requires a certain level of artistry. "You wanna hate me, but you can't help but love the RAAAAAAAWWWWK!"
	Tattle	That's Rawk Hawk! He flips, flaps, and slaps! ...That's what the book says. Max HP is 40, Attack is 3, and Defense is 1[sic]. He's really good at aerial maneuvers, but other than that, he's pretty... meh. One thing you should know is that Rawk Hawk NEVER fights above the board. Carelessness leads to lifelessness, y'know! That's Rawk Hawk! He flips, flaps, and slaps! ...That's what the book says. Max HP is 40, Attack is 4, and Defense is 0. He's really good at aerial maneuvers, but other than that, he's pretty... meh. One thing you should know is that Rawk Hawk NEVER fights above the board. Carelessness leads to lifelessness, y'know!

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Rawk Hawk
	Max HP	40	Attack	4	Defense	0
	Location(s)	Glitz Pit	Role	Boss	Level	34
	Sleep?	60%	Dizzy?	60%	Confuse?	60%
	Tiny?	85%	Stop?	50%	Soft?	90%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	40%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	0%	KO?	0%	Moves	Slide Kick (4), Double Flip (4 to Mario and Partner), Superman Slam (6), Prop Drop (1x10, changes to ceiling), Drop 'Shroom (Heals by five), Drop Stomp (3x3)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	N/A	Items	Champ's Belt
Tattle Log #: 105	Log	A champion fighter. Battling him requires a certain level of artistry. "You wanna hate me, but you can't help but love the RAAAAAAAWWWWK!"
	Tattle	That's Rawk Hawk! He flips, flaps, and slaps! That's what the book says. Max HP is 40, Attack is 4, and Defense is 0. He's really good at aerial maneuvers, but other than that, he's pretty... meh. One thing you should know is that Rawk Hawk NEVER fights above the board. Carelessness leads to lifelessness, y'know!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Sticker Rawk Hawk
	Artwork from: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
	Effects in The Subspace Emissary: [Arm] - Attack +5
	Usable by: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Bowser

Quotes

For a full list of quotes, see List of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door quotes § Rawk Hawk

• "Har har har har har!"
• "Feel the RAAAAAWWWK…"
• "Rawk out, Great Gonzales!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAWK! Listen to me, Gonzales! Anybody who's beat me is not ALLOWED to lose!!!"
• "That's all ancient history! There's only one true champ, and that guy is Rawk Hawk!"
• "One of us is walking out of here with the belt, and the other one's getting RAWKED!"
• "Hey, shut your trap or this Gonzales won't be the only one feeling the RAAAAWK!"
• "Harharharharharharhar! Everyone wants a piece of the Rawk! It's a tough life!"

Gallery

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  Grubba and Rawk Hawk in the Nintendo Switch remake

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  Rawk Hawk and the other Glitz Pit fighters supporting Mario in the final battle in the remake

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  Glitz Pit fighter screen in the remake

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  Rawk Hawk alongside Minor League fighters in the remake credits

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  Concept art of Glitzville characters; Rawk Hawk's beak is not distinguished from the rest of his face.

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  Promotional character introduction

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  Rawk Hawk on the Nintendo Magazine for summer 2024, showing a relationship chart featuring many characters from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Names in other languages

Rawk Hawk

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ゴールド・ホーク[?] Gōrudo Hōku	Gold Hawk
Chinese	金色霍克[?] Jīnsè Huòkè	Gold Hawk
Dutch	De Gouden Havik[?]	The Gold Hawk
French	Gold Hawk[?]	Like the Japanese name
German	Aurelius[?]	Male form of the Roman gens name Aurelii, meaning "the golden"
Italian	Falkoman[?]	Hawkman (Falko being a distortion of falco, "hawk")
Korean	골드호크[?] Goldeu Hokeu	Gold Hawk
Spanish (NOA)	Halcomán[?]	Portmanteau of halcón ("falcon") and -man (suffix used in superhero names)
Spanish (NOE)	Hawk Hogan[?]	Pun on "Hulk Hogan", the ring name of an American professional wrestler.	original
	Halcomán[?]	Portmanteau of halcón ("falcon") and -man (suffix used in superhero names)	remake

The Feral Nuclear Reactor / The Golden Grandstander

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	人間にんげん原子力げんしりょくはつでんしょ Ningen Genshiryoku Hatsudensho	The Human Nuclear Reactor	original
	金色こんじきの　ぼうそうはつでんき Konjikino Bousou Hatsudenki	The Golden Uncontrollable Generator	remake
Chinese (simplified)	金色失控发电机[?] Jīnsè Shīkòng fā Diànjī	The Golden Uncontrollable Generator
Chinese (traditional)	金色失控發電機[?] Jīnsè Shīkòng fā Diànjī	The Golden Uncontrollable Generator
Dutch	De Vliegende Soeverein[?]	The Flying Sovereign
French	Le Guerrier Nucléaire[?]	The Nuclear Warrior
German	Das Wandelnde Kraftwerk[?]	The Walking Powerhouse
Italian	La trebbiatrice di vite umane[?]	The thresher of human lives
Korean	금색의 폭주 발전기[?] Geumsaek-ui Pokju Baljeon'gi	The Golden Uncontrollable Generator
Spanish	Gran campeón[?]	Great champion

Trivia

• After defeating The Koopinator, Rawk Hawk says "You weaklings might as well stick to videogame fighting, OK?" in most languages. In the original version's Spanish localization, he says "The weaklings should stay home playing Super Smash Bros. Melee!". In the remake's Iberian Spanish localization, he instead refers to Super Smash Bros. in general.
• If Rawk Hawk wins the match against Mario, the normal winning tune plays when the match is over rather than the tune that plays when a fighter claims the championship belt.
• When Rawk Hawk appears before Mario in the hallway during Chapter 3, if the player is quick enough to skim through the dialog after he leaves the map and head the same direction he went, they can get a quick glance of him disappearing into air.
• In the original North American version, Rawk Hawk is incorrectly listed as having 3 attack and 1 defense. This error was not present in the original Japanese version and was corrected for the PAL version alongside all versions of the remake.