Rawk Hawk

"Rawk out, Great Gonzales!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAWK! Listen to me, Gonzales! Anybody who's beat me is not ALLOWED to lose!!!"

- Rawk Hawk

Rawk Hawk, also known as the "Feral Nuclear Reactor", was the reigning champion in the Glitz Pit in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, until Mario arrived to usurp his title. Mario did this in order to obtain the Gold Star, which was supposedly found on the Champ's Belt, which only the champion was allowed to wear.

Background
Prior to the events that took place in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Rawk Hawk joined the Glitz Pit, made his way up the ranks and eventually became champion. However, he only became champion by default, since his rival, Prince Mush mysteriously disappeared before their title match could begin.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Rawk Hawk appeared in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door's third chapter, Of Glitz and Glory. Mario and his partners arrived at the Glitz Pit in hopes of obtaining the third Crystal Star, the Gold Star. When they entered the arena, they found Rawk Hawk squaring off against The Koopinator, whom he managed to defeat with ease. Grubba, the Glitz Pit promoter (and referee) congratulated Rawk Hawk for his victory and asked him about his thoughts on the match. Rawk Hawk, showing off a display of arrogance, said that he hardly even considered it a match. He then started talking down on all other fighters, inviting them to come to the Glitz Pit to challenge him if they have a "bone to pick". After that, he held up the Champ's Belt, which got the attention of Mario and his partners. Shortly afterwards, Mario and his partners decided to become official fighters in the Glitz Pit in order to win the championship and obtain what they thought was the real Crystal Star.

Rawk Hawk was seen again later on, while Mario and his allies were running their errands. During one occasion, he was getting swarmed by tons of his fans in the lobby, and decided to give Mario some "advice", telling him to "try to be [him]", showing yet another display of arrogance. When Mario and his partners made their way into the major league, Rawk Hawk decided to see who this "new rising star" is for himself, and it of course, turns out to be Mario (or "The Great Gonzales" as he is called in the arena). He then scoffed at Mario, called him "skinny", and said that it was a waste of time for him to even bother coming over there. After getting a closer look at his belt, Mario, Yoshi, and the rest of the party found out that the Crystal Star was a fake. Rawk Hawk, misinterpreting that comment as a reference to his belt, felt insulted and got into a little dispute with the Yoshi, and then told him and Mario that the only reason they're still alive is because they're not in the ring right now. After he left, Mario and company began to question the whereabouts of the real Crystal Star.

As Mario and his partners continued climbing their way up the ranks, the audience was beginning to take their attention away from Rawk Hawk, and starting to focus on Mario and his party. Rawk Hawk, in a fit of jealousy, threatened them, telling them to "stop making such a splash" if they value their "puny lives", and then walks away. Because of the anonymous letter Mario received, which threatened him to stop looking for the Gold Star, as well as Rawk Hawk's, Mario and his partners were under the impression that Rawk Hawk was the one who sent them that letter. Regardless, they continued to ignore all threats and resumed looking for the Crystal Star anyway.

Knowing that his threat fell on deaf ears, Rawk Hawk decided to send Mario a poisoned cake. If Mario's partner were to eat it, then the player could only fight in the upcoming match as Mario, since his partner(s) are paralyzed from the cake's effects. If the player chooses not to have them eat it, then Shellshock will eat it instead. When Mario and his partners came back, they found him on the ground, looking dizzy. After that, they quickly came to a realization that the same thing would have happened to them if they had been the ones who'd eaten the cake instead.

Eventually, the time came for Mario and his partners to square off against Rawk Hawk in a title match. Rawk Hawk, afraid of losing his title, decided to cheat again by having a security guard lock Mario and his partners in an abandoned minor league locker room, which would cause them to forfeit the match. By using Flurrie's Gale Force ability, Mario and company were able to blow away the Princess Peach poster, which led them into a locker room that was adjacent to the one they were locked in. Unfortunately for them, that room was locked as well, so in order to find their way out of there, they had to resort to extremes. Knowing that there is no other way to escape, they decide to use the mysterious "Man-Eating Toilet" spoken of in Bandy Andy's "Seven Wonders" stories. After that, Mario and his partners hurried to the ring in order to challenge the champ.

When the match began, Rawk Hawk told them that they were better off staying locked up. From here, they realized that Rawk Hawk was behind that, so they accused him of sending that threat about the Crystal Star, as well. Rawk Hawk then responded by telling them that he doesn't know what they're talking about, and in fact didn't even know or care what a Crystal Star was, meaning he was not the one who was sending them the threatening letters. After that, the match finally began. Mario and his partners engaged Rawk Hawk in combat, and eventually managed to defeat him, thus stripping him of his champion status. Rawk Hawk then expressed disbelief, and was completely shocked that he was defeated by "such losers". After that, they were awarded with the Champ's Belt, as well as access to the Champion's Room.

After Macho Grubba's defeat, many of the Glitz Pit fighters, including Rawk Hawk, lined up to say goodbye to Mario and his partners before they left to continue their adventure. Rawk Hawk then told Mario that he'll fight fair and square from now on, and that he will never cheat again.

During the intermission after Chapter 6, Bowser and Kammy Koopa managed to find Rawk Hawk's secret training area, which was located somewhere underneath Rogueport. According to Kammy, the place wasn't located on any maps, and the rest of the Koopa Troop attempted to get there and failed at every turn. Bowser and Kammy, on the other hand, found it with no problem. When they got there, they saw the Champ's Belt hanging up on the wall, and mistook it for the real Crystal Star. Just when they were about to grab it, however, Rawk Hawk came in and caught them. Bowser taunted him, calling him an "adorable little weakling", prompting Rawk Hawk to attack him with a flying kick. Bowser dodged the kick and jumped on top of Rawk Hawk, squashing him flat. The resulting tremor caused the false Crystal Star on the belt to fall and break into two. Kammy realized that the Star was a fake, and questioned Rawk Hawk about the real Star's whereabouts. Rawk Hawk told them that The Great Gonzales has it, but this information is useless to Bowser, who "doesn't know anybody named Gonzales". Bowser, having once again reached a dead end, throws a fit and storms out of the training room.

During the seventh chapter, Rawk Hawk sent Mario an e-mail saying that he hasn't forgotten about their last battle and that he "feels the rage all over again" on rainy days. He then called him a coward for giving up the belt and threatened him, saying that if he ever comes back, then he will get "Rawked". Rawk Hawk reappeared during the cutscene that took place during Mario's final battle with the Shadow Queen. He, Jolene, and all the other Glitz Pit fighters began cheering Mario on, encouraging him and his partners to defeat the Shadow Queen and save the world.

After Chapter 3, the player can optionally choose to return to the Glitz Pit, where Rawk Hawk is once again the reigning champion (since Mario handed the belt back to him before he left the first time). Mario and his partners once again made their way up the ranks, defeating each and every opponent they were put up against with ease (since none of the fighters get any stronger since their last encounter). It eventually came time for Mario and company to have their rematch against Rawk Hawk. This time, however, Rawk Hawk stayed true to his word by not cheating, just as he said he wouldn't before Mario and company left the Glitz Pit after the events of the third chapter. He does, however, show another display of arrogance while he is being interviewed by Jolene, the new promoter (and referee), before the match begins. When the match started, it was the same outcome as before; Rawk Hawk was defeated and stripped of his championship status once more. Should the player choose to stay at the Glitz Pit and continue fighting, they will have to fight Rawk Hawk continuously until Mario and his partners (somehow) manage to lose to him, and end up having to go back down to the major league.

Super Paper Mario
In Super Paper Mario, one of the items listed on Francis's to-buy list is Harder Than Bedrawk: The Rawk Hawk Story, which is, apparently, a DVD detailing Rawk Hawk's wrestling career.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Rawk Hawk also makes a cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as one of the many Stickers. In addition, one of the names that may come up on the name or stage builder entry when the random button is hit is "RAWK", a reference to Rawk Hawk.

Personality
Rawk Hawk, throughout the course of the game, has proven himself to be extremely arrogant, egotistical, and self-centered. He constantly bragged about his skill, and looked down on the other Glitz Pit fighters, labeling everyone else around him as complete wimps. Up until Mario and his partners showed up at the Glitz Pit and made their way up the ranks, he was a hundred percent convinced that no one could defeat him. Rawk Hawk is also the kind of person who is willing to cheat if necessary in order to win. This was shown when he had a security guard lock Mario and his partners in an old, abandoned minor league locker room before the title match started, as well as sending Mario that poisoned cake, while he honestly denied knowledge about Grubba's hate mail and the real Crystal Star. However, after Mario defeated him in battle, Rawk Hawk ended up gaining a lot of respect for him as a fighter (as he demonstrated during the Crystal Star intermission cutscene that took place during the final battle, but even then he was still showing a display of arrogance), and made a decision to fight fair and square, and to never cheat again. He also gets severely angered whenever people imply that he is weak, as one of the reasons why he wanted to beat Mario no matter the cost was because he felt insulted when he heard them apparently imply that his belt was fake (although they were actually referring to the Gold Star on the belt), and also attempted to do a high kick suplex on Bowser after the latter mockingly called him an "adorable little weakling." (although he ended up being flattened by Bowser).

Powers and Abilities
As it says in his Tattle information, Rawk Hawk mainly specializes in aerial attacks. His attacks consist of a jumping flip attack, a flying elbow attack, and his only ground-based attack, which is a slide kick. For his last attack, he'll stomp the ground (which causes a rail to appear), hang on to the ceiling, and start shaking down a bunch of objects very quickly, which all deal 1 HP to Mario and his party. Koops, on the other hand, is immune to this.

On-Field Tattle Data
"Ah! The champ, Rawk Hawk. He sure has the star quality you'd expect from a champ. But know what? Who cares? Everybody knows we're gonna be the next champions!"

- Goombella

Quotes

 * For a full list of quotes, see here


 * “Har har har har har!”
 * “Feel the RAAAAAWWWK…”
 * “Rawk out, Great Gonzales!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAWK! Listen to me, Gonzales! Anybody who's beat me is not ALLOWED to lose!!!”
 * “That's all ancient history! There's only one true champ, and that guy is Rawk Hawk!”
 * “One of us is walking out of here with the belt, and the other one's getting RAWKED!”
 * “Hey, shut your trap or this Gonzales won't be the only one feeling the RAAAAWK!”

Trivia

 * Rawk Hawk could be a parody of the former wrestler, The Rock.
 * His constant mocking and creative insults suggest he may be inspired by Clubber Lang, the boxer portrayed by Mr. T in Rocky III
 * Judging from his attacks, Rawk Hawk seems to use the Lucha Libre method of wrestling, involving flashy acrobatic moves. In terms of wrestling, he is also considered to be a heel, a villainous wrestler who uses dirty, underhanded methods to win, regardless of popular opinion. On a related note, a real wrestler known as Hawk existed in the '70s, who at first was a heel but became so popular with fans that he eventually turned babyface, or simply face (in other words, became a heroic wrestler who fans are supposed to cheer for) for the rest of his career.
 * The North American version states that his attack power is three and his defense power is one, when in actuality, his attack power is four and his defense power is zero.
 * Rawk Hawk is the only boss who can be fought again anytime.
 * If Mario takes the time to get rid of all of Rawk Hawk's fans in the lobby and Mario talks to him, he gets very angry and tells Mario just because he doesn't have any fans, that he shouldn't be getting rid of his.
 * In the Spanish version, Rawk Hawk said the name of Super Smash Bros. Melee game after having defeated The Koopinator.