Tox Box
Tox Boxes are rare, recurring enemies in the Mario franchise. They resemble metal or stone boxes with multiple faces that roll along set paths. The paths they go on are usually similar to their width, making it nearly impossible for Mario to walk around. Tox Boxes first appear in Super Mario 64.
Tox Boxes have faces on all but one side; the last side is only a square hole. This hole is for Mario to stand in as the Tox Box passes over the tile he's standing on, thus letting him survive without being crushed. However, it is still possible to be crushed by the side with the hole if Mario stands at the side of a tile when the Tox Box rolls over him.
There seem to be two different kinds: the ones of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS, and the ones of Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Mario Party: Island Tour. The newer Super Mario Galaxy incarnation is a species of Thwomp.
Shigeru Miyamoto regards the Tox Box as one of his best design and a "masterpiece", stating they embody his game design philosophy of making gameplay mechanics clear and quickly understood at a first glance. [1]
History
Super Mario series
Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS
Tox Boxes appear in Shifting Sand Land, the 8th course of the game. They attempt to flatten Mario by rolling over him. The path is a small maze of tiles surrounded by darker, faster-moving quicksand that sucks Mario in instantly. The tiled maze that the Tox Boxes travel on has a few Red Coins on it, as well as the course's only cannon. If Mario gets squished by a Tox Box's side, he loses three wedges of health.
In Super Mario 64 DS, if Wario is inside one of them and punches (or jumps), the Tox Box will fly somewhere into the sand and sink, unless it falls in the sand that the characters can normally stand in. If this happens, it simply stays in one spot until the player leaves the level. Tox Boxes also appear in the Super Mario 64 DS minigame Tox Box Shuffle, where three of them each hide a Yoshi or a Light Blue Yoshi and the player must guess which Box the Green or Light Blue Yoshi is in.
Super Mario Galaxy
Tox Boxes reappear in Super Mario Galaxy. These redesigned boxes usually appear alongside Thwomps. They only appear in the Beach Bowl Galaxy and the Toy Time Galaxy. In both Galaxies they appear on small pathways, much like they did in Shifting Sand Land.
Unlike the Tox Boxes in Super Mario 64, these ones resemble Thwomps; instead of having the faces spray-painted on, they are carved in a way resembling a Thwomp's face. These Tox Boxes also lack a face on the side opposite the hole. The hole itself has also been expanded quite a bit, and colored in red to resemble a mouth. Also, coming into contact with any of the Tox Box's sides from the outside is considered as being crushed and thus results in an instant death. Their faces resemble the Thwack's expressions.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Tox Boxes reappear in the Stone Cyclone Galaxy, which is a remake of the Cyclone Stone in Super Mario Galaxy, but they move faster than they did in the previous game.
Mario Party: Island Tour
Tox Boxes appear in the minigame Hide 'n' Splat in Mario Party: Island Tour. Here they try to squish the players using the same methods as in past games, but get faster as the time limit decreases. They retain their appearance from the Super Mario Galaxy games.
Super Mario-Kun
A Tox Box makes an appearance in volume 16 of the Super Mario-Kun. It is an obstacle against Mario's path to retrieve his lost hat from Klepto. Hatless, Mario tries using a Exclamation Mark Block to combat against the Tox Box; he still ends up getting smashed. In the manga, the Tox Box is able to smash Mario, even on the safe side.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | オニマスクン (Super Mario 64) オニマスドン (Super Mario Galaxy)[?] Onimasukun, Onimasudon |
From oni, Japanese "fiends"; masu, meaning "box"; and kun, an honorific suffix. Also interpreted as oni-masked guy. As for the latter, "oni box thwomper" or "oni-masked thwomper". |
|
| German | Cubus Hohlicus (only in Super Mario 64) Tox-Box[?] |
cube and hohl(hollow) in pseudo-latin Tox Box |
|
| Italian | Don Box[?] | Don Box | |
| Korean | 되도깨비[?] Doedokkaebi |
Translation from Japanese name("되" from "升", "도깨비" from "鬼") | |
| Spanish (NOA) | Don Cajuelo[?] | Mr. Cajuelo. Cajuelo is from caja (box) and suelo (floor) | |
| Spanish (NOE) | Cajuelo[?] | From caja (box) and suelo (floor) |
Trivia
- Like Thwomps themselves, the carved faces of the new Tox Boxes in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 resemble the Japanese oni.
- The English name "Tox Box" was given due to their industrial-like appearance in Super Mario 64. In Super Mario Galaxy, the Tox Boxes lost their industrial look as they were redesigned to better resemble Thwomps. Despite the lost meaning, the name "Tox Box" is still used. However, the Japanese name was changed to reflect the new appearance, suggesting that they are meant to be different but related enemies.
Reference
- ^ "Miyamoto sees the Tox Box, a cube that is constantly moving to crush Mario but has a hole on one side he can safely hide in, as one of his best designs. When the hole is on your side, Mario can just get into the cube and you’re safe, but if he doesn’t, you get squashed. And it’s easy to see. It’s very clear and understandable. It’s also easy to predict, he says, smiling. But once you actually start thinking about it, then it becomes complicated. Once you start trying to put that into action, it becomes complicated. I feel like that is probably one of my masterpieces." Interview with IGN. Retrieved June 28, 2017
