Editing X-Nauts (organization)

|image=[[File:XNautInsignia.png]]<br>Insignia of the X-Nauts

|first_appearance=''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' ([[List of games by date#2004|2004]])

|latest_appearance=''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)|Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' ([[Nintendo Switch]]) ([[List of games by date#2024|2024]])

{{quote|We {{color|red|X-Nauts}} aren't all rainbows and lollipops. I could assure you, we could be quite nasty.|Grodus|Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door}}

The '''X-Nauts''' is an evil organization led by [[Grodus]] that serves as the main antagonists in ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' and its [[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)|Nintendo Switch remake]]. The majority of the operatives are also called [[X-Naut]]s, though there are other classes of soldiers and creatures in Grodus' employ. Many of the footsoldiers are part of the [[X-Nauts (platoon)|X-Naut platoon]]. Their base of operations is the [[X-Naut Fortress]], which is located on the [[moon]].

[[File:PMTTYD Twilight Town battle.png|thumb|left|[[X-Nauts (platoon)|X-Naut platoon]] vs. [[Bowser's Minions|Koopa Clan]].]]

[[File:PMTTYD Grodus Artwork.png|200px|thumb|[[Grodus]], leader of the X-Nauts]]

All that is known about the X-Nauts stems from their failed plan to conquer the world using a 1,000-year-old demon known as the [[Shadow Queen]]. Grodus somehow came in contact with a trio of sisters known collectively as the [[Three Shadows]], who told him that the Shadow Queen could only be released from her prison if the seven [[Crystal Stars]] were collected, and a vessel provided for her disembodied soul to possess. The X-Nauts kidnapped [[Princess Peach]] to use as the vessel, and [[Mario]] was manipulated into gathering the Crystal Stars in an attempt to save her from her captors.

However, Grodus had been misled by the Three Shadows, and when he tried to command the resurrected Shadow Queen to do his bidding, she destroyed his body. Grodus' robotic head, his second-in-command, [[Lord Crump]], and two regular [[X-Naut|X-Naut soldier]]s and two [[Elite X-Naut]]s were last seen in [[Poshley Heights]], as [[TEC]] destroyed their fortress earlier, and reportedly reformed for the better.

*[[Teleporter (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)|Teleporter]]

*[[X-Naut ship]]

==Pronunciation==

It is unclear whether the organization's name is supposed to be pronounced "ecks-naughts" or "cross-naughts", as there is evidence for both sides.

*Some dialogue only makes sense if "ecks" is used, such as Koops comparing them to "tissues...to the extreme".<!--when meeting Punio just before chapter 2-->

*The [[Tattle]] for most X-Naut soldiers goes "''an'' X-Naut" rather than "''a'' X-Naut", implying "ecks".

*The [[X-Yux]]'s Tattle specifies that it's pronounced "cross-yux".

*"Cross-naughts" would be a reference to Naughts and Crosses (i.e. [[wikipedia:tic-tac-toe|tic-tac-toe]]).

*[[TEC|TEC-XX]]'s name would be a suitable piece of foreshadowing to be pronounced "double cross".

*Other languages call the group by a name based on "cross".

==Names in other languages==

{{foreign names

|JapR=Megabatten

|JapM=From「眼鏡」(''megane'', "eyeglasses") and「罰点」(''batten'', "X mark")

|ChiT=X軍團<ref>{{cite|title=紙片瑪利歐RPG <nowiki>|</nowiki> Nintendo Switch <nowiki>|</nowiki> 任天堂|url=https://www.nintendo.com.hk/switch/a9qda|publisher=www.nintendo.com.hk|accessdate=April 10, 2024}}</ref>

|DutM=From ''kruis'' ("cross") and ''astronaut''

|Fre=Mégacruxis

|FreM=From Japanese name and ''crux'' (Latin word for "cross"), with French suffix ''-is''

|GerM=From ''crux'' (Latin word for "cross") and possibly the Finnish diminutive ''-onen''

|ItaM=Possibly from ''incrociare'' ("to cross") and ''crociati'' (plural of ''crociato'', meaning "crusader")

}}

 

==References==

<references />

 

{{PMTTYD}}

[[Category:Enemy groups]]

[[Category:Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door characters]]

[[it:Incrociati]]