Rex

Rexes are dinosaur-like dragons who inhabit Dinosaur Land and other places, first appearing in Super Mario World. Their name is a reference to the predatory dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex. They are purple with single horns on their noses, fangs, and small dragon wings with which they can fly. They also wear big red shoes, similar to Yoshi. A recurring trait with all Rexes are their compressive bodies, as their stature becomes flatter when jumped upon.

Super Mario World
Rexes are rare enemies in Super Mario World who, just as Goombas, put no effort into attacking Mario other than walking into his direction. In order to defeat a Rex, Mario would need to jump on it twice. After being jumped on once, a Rex will simply become flattened and move slightly quicker. A Spin Jump would destroy them with one hit. A Rex could also be defeated by shooting a fireball, hitting it with a cape or running into it while using a Starman. Rexes can also be eaten by Yoshi. Rexes can be found in Yoshi's Island 1, Chocolate Island 2 and Awesome.

Super Mario World television series
Rexes, though simply referred to by the generic term Dinosaurs, make several appearances in the Super Mario World animated series. The Rexes of Super Mario World come in different colors, such as green, red and yellow.

"Send in the Clown"
Rexes first appeared in the episode "Send in the Clown", where several are shown disguised as clowns in King Koopa's "Koopaling Bros. Circus". After several misadventures in their circus act, that the clowns are accidentally revealed to be Rexes, who, upon tearing off their costumes, begin to herd all the circus audience members into a large pit.

"King Scoopa Koopa"
In "King Scoopa Koopa", several multi-colored Rexes are shown to be working as employees at King Koopa's fast-food stand. After it is revealed that King Koopa had planned on mutating the inhabitants of Dome City into Chickadactyls, which he plans on deep-frieing and selling to Rexes, King Koopa sends several Rexes to capture Mario and Princess Toadstool. Mario and Princess Toadstool escape using the Star Path, only to return later to defeat the Rexes using a cape. The Rexes that were not defeated by Cape Mario later escaped down a Warp Tube, along with King Koopa.

"Born to Ride"
In the episode "Born to Ride", two Rex bikers named Duke and Rockman appear. Duke and Rockman, along with their ally, Lulu, attempted to manipulate Yoshi into capturing Mario and Luigi for them, only to be beaten in the end.

"Rock TV"
In a later episode entitled "Rock TV", two other Rex characters named the Tyrannosaurus Twins appear. The Tyrannosaurus Twins, who were wrestlers, after pummeling Mario and Luigi for sometime, are eventually defeated by Cape Mario.

Nintendo Adventure Books
In Brain Drain, Mario and Luigi, while looking for Iggy Koopa in his base, pass a Rex that has had its mind switched with a German opera singer's due to the Synapse Switcher.

Super Mario-Kun
A Rex has appeared in volume 3 of Super Mario-Kun. Yoshi invites Mario and Luigi to his friend, who is a Rex, who decided to go against Bowser. He captures the Mario Bros. and attacks Yoshi, thinking they're working for Bowser. After the Mario Bros. demands Yoshi an explanation, Yoshi convinces the Rex that he is a friend by showing his long tongue. The four then go into Rex's house, where Yoshi demands food, and Rex promises to cook. However, Kamek and a Koopa called "Number 3" then use the kamemeka (an enchanted Koopa Shell) to attach to and brainwash Rex. Rex then makes a poisoned soup in attempt to defeat Mario, which Yoshi quickly digests. Rex then smugly asks if Yoshi enjoys the poisoned meal, which shocks Mario. After some groaning, however, Yoshi claims it was "delicious". Mario calls Yoshi an idiot, pointing out Rex's intention to kill them, but Yoshi denies it, saying that Rex is only a harmless friend. Furious that he did not succeed, Rex then uses a flamethrower to burn Mario and Yoshi, while Luigi dodges in time. Kamek then uses his power to make Rex grow. Rex attempts to stomp on Mario, but Mario steals his shoe and tries to use it as a Goomba's Shoe, but gets stopped by the Rex's bad-smelling foot. Yoshi then tries and fails to make Rex remember good memories. Kamek, meanwhile, deciding that it is time to finish off Mario and his friends, gives the Rex bigger wings, transforming him into a Super Rex. During a chase, however, Mario finds a switch and turns it on, letting blocks fall on the Rex's head and removing the magical Koopa Shell. After the kamamaka falls off, Rex and the others put the kamemeka on Kamek instead, and Mario forces Kamek to dance under it, thus ending the chapter.

Super Mario Adventures
Rexes also appear in the Super Mario Adventures comic, where several of them are seen among the attendees at Bowser's wedding to a brainwashed Princess Toadstool. Later on, after Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and a herd of Yoshis crashed Bowser's wedding, a lone Rex is seen among the creatures trying to defeat the Yoshis, only to be trampled by them.

Super Mario Bros. film
In the Super Mario Bros. film, a building with a neon sign displaying the word REXX can be seen in Dinohattan.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga


Rexes reappeared in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga as enemies located on Hoohoo Mountain. Like in Super Mario World, Rexes will attack Mario or Luigi by charging into them; Rexes could also be decreased in size by repeatedly jumping on them in this game as well. When they are at their full size, the Rexes' attacks cannot be dodged or countered. Rexes will drop different items if they were defeated normally or while flattened: they drop Syrups when defeated normally, and either Mushrooms or 1-Up Mushrooms when flattened (they drop Green Peppers instead of 1-Up Mushrooms in the Japanese version). Rexes get healed with fire-based attacks, but take normal damage from thunder attacks.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Though normal Rexes do not appear in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, a Shroobified form of them, called Shroob Rex appears in the game. Shroob Rexes are encountered in the Shroob Castle and have a different appearance, having pincers, purple scales glowing red eyes and being slightly larger. They are never encountered in the overworld and the player will have to engage in battle with enemies to fight them,

Super Princess Peach
Normal Rexes appear in Super Princess Peach, first appearing in Fury Volcano 4-1, behaving much how they do in Super Mario World. When jumped on, they shrink and can be defeated by another stomp, though they can be defeated instantly by any other attack. Rexes who have been affected by the Sad Vibe, called Sad Rexes, also appear. Sad Rexes will not move until Princess Peach approaches, in which case they will charge at her. Jumping on them will turn them into regular, flattened Rexes, however, and they can be defeated using the same methods as the player would on their normal counterpart.

Other appearances
In Mario's FUNdamentals, they appear as a playing card when the player plays Go Fish with Mario. In Minecraft: Wii U Edition, using the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack, replaces the skins of the Zombie Pigmen with skins of Rexes. In the Nintendo Monopoly, Rexes only make a very small cameo. They appear on the background of the board, in a screenshot, where Mario is riding a Green Yoshi that is spitting out fire at the Rex.

They replace Zombie Pigmen in the Super Mario texture pack for Minecraft: Wii U Edition.

Notable Rexes

 * Duke – Super Mario World
 * Rockman – Super Mario World
 * Tyrannosaurus Twins – Super Mario World

Sub-Species

 * Sad Rex – Rexes who are often found sobbing and crying.
 * Shroob Rex – A Rex that has been Shroobified by the Shroob alien race.

Trivia

 * In the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack in Minecraft: Wii U Edition, Zombie Pigmen are replaced by Rexes.