Editing Sphinx (monument)

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{{quote|The man-faced lion statue was named the Sphinx by the ancient Greeks. A sphinx is a mythical monster who liked to ask riddles, then kill those unfortunate enough not to know the answer. The great Sphinx was carved from one enormous piece of limestone, 240 feet long and 66 feet high. Later, the Ottoman Turks used the cat for target practice. Its nose and King Tut-style beard were knocked clean off its face. The original name meant "lord," and it is today presumed that the Sphinx was built to guard the great Pyramids that stand behind it.|'''Pamphlet'''|Mario is Missing!}}
The '''Sphinx''', more precisely called the '''[[Wikipedia:Great Sphinx of Giza|Great Sphinx of Giza]]''' (Arabic: '''أبو الهول''', ''Abū al Hūl'', Arabic for "The Terrifying One"), is a monument near [[Cairo]], [[Egypt]] with the head of a human and the body of a lion. One of its most striking features is its missing nose, the reason for which is still [[Wikipedia:Great Sphinx of Giza#Missing_nose|dubious]]. The ''[[Club Nintendo (German magazine)|Club Nintendo]]'' comic "[[Mario's Picross (comic)|Mario's Picross]]" implies that [[Mario]] is accountable for it.

==History==
===''Super Mario Land''===
In ''[[Super Mario Land]]'', [[Gao]] and [[King Totomesu]] are based on the Sphinx.

===''Mario is Missing!''===
The Sphinx makes its first appearance in the [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]] in the game ''[[Mario is Missing! (PC)|Mario is Missing!]]'' as one of three landmarks [[Luigi]] visits is Cairo. In the game, the [[Klaft of the Sphinx]] (its hood) was stolen by [[Koopa Troopa]]s. Luigi's task is to find and return it by answering questions about the Sphinx's name, location, and appearance. The mayor of Cairo offers a prize of 1,750 [[bill|dollar]]s for the one who returns the artifact. In NES version, the curator rewards Luigi 1,400 dollars.

Luigi must prove the klaft's authenticity by answering two of the following trivia questions:
* ''Who gave the Sphinx its name:''/''Who gave the Sphinx its name?'' (NES)
** '''The Greeks'''
** The Ottoman Turks
** Napoleon
** Advertising executives
* ''The Sphinx is located in:''
** '''Giza'''
** Khartoum
** Turkey
** Greece
* ''The Sphinx is half man and half:''
** lynx
** woman
** '''lion'''
** limestone

===''Mario's Time Machine''===
In the NES version of ''[[Mario's Time Machine (Nintendo Entertainment System)|Mario's Time Machine]]'', the Sphinx appears as a background object in the Egypt area of 31 BC.

==="Mario's Picross"===
[[File:Egypt.jpg|thumb|left|[[Mario]] holding the nose of the Sphinx, which he had accidentally broken off]]
The Sphinx appears in "[[Mario's Picross (comic)|Mario's Picross]]", a comic published in the German ''[[Club Nintendo (magazine)|Club Nintendo]]'' magazine. In this story, Mario travels to Egypt, but gets pushed off the plane by [[Bowser]]. Luckily for Mario, he is able to grab onto a rock spur, which however turns out to be the nose of the Sphinx. It breaks off and Mario falls down. Some Egyptians observe this accident and get angry at Mario, calling him a "nose-breaker" and a "philistine" and chasing him. His attempt to escape fails, so he gets arrested.

===''Mario Kart'' series===
A landmark in some desert-themed courses in the [[Mario Kart (series)|''Mario Kart'' series]], named the [[Hammer Bros. Sphinx]], is based on the Sphinx.

===''WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!''===
The microgame [[Sphinx Hijinks]] in ''[[WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!]]'' has the player fit a ''[[Tetris]]''-like block into a nearby pyramid. If the block is correct, the sphinx's face will make an impressed expression and a thought bubble with a light bulb icon above it. If the block is wrong, their face will make a shocked expression as the outside of the pyramid has been cracked.

===''Super Mario Odyssey''===
[[Sphynx]] is a character in ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]'' that is modeled after the Sphinx.
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==See also==
*[[Great Pyramid]]

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[[Category:Statues]]
[[Category:Mario is Missing! landmarks]]
[[Category:Mario's Time Machine]]