Editing Special Cup

[[File:MK8 Special Cup Alternate Emblem.svg|thumb|200px|The Special Cup logo in ''[[Mario Kart 8]]'']]

The '''Special Cup''' is a [[cup]] in the ''[[Mario Kart (series)|Mario Kart]]'' series that exclusively features [[new course]]s. It is the fourth and final cup in ''[[Super Mario Kart]]'', ''[[Mario Kart 64]]'', and ''[[Mario Kart: Double Dash!!]]'', and the last nitro cup since ''[[Mario Kart DS]]''. In ''[[Mario Kart: Super Circuit]]'', it is the fifth and last of the standard cups, with the [[Classic course|Extra Cup]]s being unlocked after its completion and the Extra Special Cup being the final cup. The Special Cup's courses tend to be the longest and most difficult in the game, and always finish with a [[Rainbow Road]]; starting in ''Mario Kart: Super Circuit'', [[Bowser's Castle#Mario Kart series|Bowser's Castle]] is always the penultimate course before Rainbow Road (except in ''[[Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit]]'').

Aside from ''Mario Kart 64'' and ''[[Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'' where the cup is available from the start, the criteria to unlock the Special Cup varies by game, although the [[Star Cup]] always must be completed successfully. In ''Super Mario Kart'', the player may unlock it by winning each of the other three cups in 100cc (though it will be unavailable for the 50cc class); in ''Mario Kart: Super Circuit'', it is unlocked by winning the four previous cups, each by class; in ''Mario Kart: Double Dash!!'', it is unlocked after the player finishes first in the Star Cup in 100cc; from ''Mario Kart DS'' onwards, it is unlocked once the player claims a trophy in the Star Cup.

 

The Special Cup's emblem is a smiling golden crown, which was first used in ''Mario Kart: Double Dash!!'' and standardized as the cup's emblem since. Originally the Special Cup's emblem was a stylized "S", which was first used in ''Mario Kart 64'' where it appears as a red "S" in a teal diamond, and carried over into ''Mario Kart: Super Circuit'' as a sparkling green "S" (although the instruction booklet uses the design from ''64''). In ''Super Mario Kart'' the Special Cup lacks a unique emblem entirely, and instead features a [[Super Mushroom]], a [[Fire Flower]], and a [[Super Star]], combining the emblems of the [[Mushroom Cup]], [[Flower Cup]], and Star Cup respectively.  

{|class=wikitable width=100% style="text-align:center"

!colspan="2" width="25%"|Game

!colspan="2"|''[[Super Mario Kart]]''

|[[File:SMK Donut Plains 3 Overhead Map.png|85px]]<br>[[SNES Donut Plains 3|Donut Plains 3]]

|[[File:SMK Koopa Beach 2 Overhead Map.png|85px]]<br>[[SNES Koopa Troopa Beach 2|Koopa Beach 2]]

|[[File:SMK Vanilla Lake 2 Overhead Map.png|85px]]<br>[[SNES Vanilla Lake 2|Vanilla Lake 2]]

|[[File:SMK Rainbow Road Overhead Map.png|85px]]<br>[[SNES Rainbow Road|Rainbow Road]]

!colspan="2"|''[[Mario Kart 64]]''

|[[File:MK64 DK Jungle Parkway Icon.png|125px]]<br>[[N64 DK's Jungle Parkway|DK's Jungle Parkway]]

|[[File:MK64 Yoshi Valley Icon.png|125px]]<br>[[N64 Yoshi Valley|Yoshi Valley]]

|[[File:MK64 Banshee Boardwalk Icon.png|125px]]<br>[[N64 Banshee Boardwalk|Banshee Boardwalk]]

|[[File:MK64 Rainbow Road Icon.png|125px]]<br>[[N64 Rainbow Road|Rainbow Road]]

!rowspan="2" width="13%"|''[[Mario Kart: Super Circuit]]''

|[[File:Lakeside Park MKSC icon.png|85px]]<br>[[GBA Lakeside Park|Lakeside Park]]

|[[File:Bowser's Castle 4 MKSC icon.png|85px]]<br>[[GBA Bowser's Castle 4|Bowser Castle 4]]

|[[File:Rainbow Road MKSC icon.png|85px]]<br>[[Rainbow Road (Mario Kart: Super Circuit)|Rainbow Road]]

|[[File:MKSC SNES Rainbow Road Extra Cup Map.png]]<br>[[SNES Rainbow Road|Rainbow Road]]

!colspan="2"|''[[Mario Kart: Double Dash&#x21;&#x21;]]''

|[[File:DinoDinoJungleIcon-MKDD.png|125px]]<br>[[GCN Dino Dino Jungle|Dino Dino Jungle]]

|[[File:BowserCastleIcon-MKDD.png|125px]]<br>[[Bowser's Castle (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!)|Bowser's Castle]]

|[[File:RainbowRoadIcon-MKDD.png|125px]]<br>[[Rainbow Road (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!)|Rainbow Road]]

!colspan="2"|''[[Mario Kart DS]]''

|[[File:Wario Stadium MKDS preview.png|125px]]<br>[[DS Wario Stadium|Wario Stadium]]

|[[File:Peach GardensDS.png|125px]]<br>[[DS Peach Gardens|Peach Gardens]]

|[[File:Bowser Castle MKDS preview.png|125px]]<br>[[Bowser Castle (Mario Kart DS)|Bowser Castle]]

|[[File:MKDS Rainbow Road Intro.png|125px]]<br>[[Rainbow Road (Mario Kart DS)|Rainbow Road]]

!colspan="2"|''[[Mario Kart Wii]]''

|[[File:Dry Dry Ruins.png|125px]]<br>[[Wii Dry Dry Ruins|Dry Dry Ruins]]

|[[File:Moonviewhighway.png|125px]]<br>[[Wii Moonview Highway|Moonview Highway]]

|[[File:BowsersCastleMKW.png|125px]]<br>[[Bowser's Castle (Mario Kart Wii)|Bowser's Castle]]

|[[File:MKW Rainbow Road Overview.png|125px]]<br>[[Wii Rainbow Road|Rainbow Road]]

!colspan="2"|''[[Mario Kart 7]]''

|[[File:DKJungle.png|125px]]<br>[[3DS DK Jungle|DK Jungle]]

|[[File:RosalinaIceWorld.png|125px]]<br>[[3DS Rosalina's Ice World|Rosalina's Ice World]]

|[[File:BowserCastleMK7.png|125px]]<br>[[3DS Bowser's Castle|Bowser's Castle]]

|[[File:RainbowroadMK7.png|125px]]<br>[[3DS Rainbow Road|Rainbow Road]]

!colspan="2"|''[[Mario Kart 8]]'' / ''[[Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]''

|[[File:MK8-Course-CloudtopCruise.png|125px]]<br>[[Cloudtop Cruise]]

|[[File:MK8-Course-Bone-DryDunes.png|125px]]<br>[[Bone-Dry Dunes|Bone-Dry Dunes<br><small>Bone Dry Dunes</small>]]

|[[File:MK8-Course-Bowser'sCastle.png|125px]]<br>[[Bowser's Castle (Mario Kart 8)|Bowser's Castle]]

|[[File:MK8-Course-RainbowRoad.png|125px]]<br>[[Rainbow Road (Mario Kart 8)|Rainbow Road]]

!colspan="2"|''[[Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit]]''

The Special Cup reappears in ''[[Mario Tennis Open]]''. In this game, it is called the '''Champions Cup'''. It is the fourth cup in the game, and the last cup in the World Open tournament series. It is unlocked after the [[Banana Cup]] is completed. When the player completes the Champions Cup, their character earns a star rank, which boosts their stats and grants them access to the Star Open tournament series. The Champions Cup takes place in [[Mario Stadium (tennis court)|Mario Stadium]], with the hard, clay, and grass courts being used for the starting, semifinal, and final rounds respectively. Matches for this cup have one set for the starting round, three sets for the semifinals, and five sets for the finals.

In ''[[Mario Tennis Aces]]'', the [[trophy]] in online tournaments is based on the Special Cup's trophy.

===''Mario Kart: Double Dash!!''===

*50cc Special Cup: [[Bullet Blaster]]

*100cc Special Cup: [[Toad]], [[Toadette]], [[Toad Kart]]

*150cc Special Cup: [[All-Cup Tour]]

<gallery widths="85px">

SMK Special Cup Emblem.png|''Super Mario Kart''{{class|blackbg}}

MKSCIqueCupIcon.png|''Mario Kart: Super Circuit'' (China)<ref name="iQue">From the iQue localization prototype.</ref>

MKSC Extra iQue Cup Emblem.png|''Mario Kart: Super Circuit'' (Extra, China)<ref name="iQue"/>

MK8 Special Cup Screenshot.png|''[[Mario Kart 8]]'' / ''[[Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]''

|Fre=Coupe Spéciale

|FreM=Special Cup

|JapR=Supesharu Kappu

|ChiS=特别杯

|ChiS2=皇冠杯

|ChiS2N=''Mario Kart 7''

|ChiS2R=Huángguàn Bēi

|ChiS3=神游杯

|ChiS3N=''Mario Kart 64''<ref>[http://imgsrc.baidu.com/forum/pic/item/11236f7f9e2f07084816c9e7ec24b899a801f238.jpg iQue's localization of ''Mario Kart 64'']</ref> and ''Mario Kart: Super Circuit''<ref name="iQue"/>

|ChiS3R=Shényóu Bēi

|ChiSM=Special Cup

|ChiS2M=Crown Cup

|ChiS3M=[[iQue]] Cup

*In the Time Trial and VS modes of ''Super Mario Kart'', the player can access the Special Cup before unlocking it by pressing buttons in this sequence: {{button|snes|l}} {{button|snes|r}} {{button|snes|l}} {{button|snes|r}} {{button|snes|l}} {{button|snes|l}} {{button|snes|r}} {{button|snes|r}} {{button|snes|a}}.

*In the Chinese versions of ''Mario Kart 64'' and ''Mario Kart: Super Circuit'', the Special Cup is called the "iQue Cup", named after the China-exclusive [[wikipedia:iQue Player|iQue Player]] home console.

*If [[Mario Kart (series)#Grand Prix|Grand Prix]] mode in ''Mario Kart Wii'' is highlighted on the menu, the Special Cup [[trophy]] from that game can be seen in the background.

*The Special Cup is the only cup out of the traditional eight cups to not feature a [[Mario Circuit]] course at any point throughout the series.

*''Mario Kart: Super Circuit''{{'}}s Special Cup is the only Special Cup, and cup in the series, that has not seen any of its courses return in any future ''Mario Kart'' game outside of ''Mario Kart Tour''.

[[Category:Mario Kart Wii trading cards]]

[[Category:Super Mario Strikers cups]]