Glitz Pit

The Glitz Pit is an arena located in Glitzville in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. It is where Mario takes on the fighter name the "Great Gonzales" and fights his way through along with his partners in Chapter 3.

Storyline
There are many fighters encountered here, including Rawk Hawk, King K, Bandy Andy, the Armored Harriers, The Koopinator, Hamma, Bamma, and Flare, and even Bowser at one point, who barges into the ring and fights Mario and his teammates after they reach Rank 5. At first, Mario and his partners fight for the Champ's Belt which has the Gold Star on it, which later turns out to be fake. In the meanwhile, they gain a Yoshi partner and the Super Hammer, and begin to learn about the mysterious events happening around the arena.

Grubba, the promoter, used the Gold Star to power his machine that's hidden under the arena. Ever since Jolene's brother, Prince Mush found out about his machine, Prince Mush mysteriously disappeared, so Jolene went undercover and enlisted Mario and his friends' help to defeat Grubba. They eventually fight him as Macho Grubba, the true final boss of the Chapter, and thwart his plans.

After Chapter 3, Jolene takes over Grubba's duties and becomes the arena's manager. Mario and his partners can optionally return to the arena and resume fighting from the minor leagues. Several sidequests in the Trouble Center also require returning to the arena to interact with Jolene.

Description
The Glitz Pit can be accessed by either the first doorway in the main hall, or the second story door, up a flight of stairs. Mario can talk to the many spectators, but will not be able get through the dense crowd. The fighters change whenever Mario enters the arena, but will always fight by jumping onto and bumping into each other.

There are two sets of locker rooms: one blue and one red. The red major league and minor league locker rooms that Mario and his friends are assigned to are all on the left, while the blue ones are on the right. The blue ones are not accessible except for when Mario and Co. are temporarily trapped in the blue minor league room (and by extension the blue major league room) before their fight with Rawk Hawk.

Occasionally, a crowd of Red and Orange Toads and Lakitus appear in the entrance once Mario (as the Great Gonzales) defeated any challenger.

Seven Wonders of the Glitz Pit
According to Bandy Andy, the fighters within the Glitz Pit are said to pass stories of a set of mysteries that surround the arena, at least prior to Mario's interference. Bandy Andy himself sets out to study these mysteries, but is forcibly silenced by Grubba when he learns too much. Throughout the subplot, all seven wonders are encountered and explained.
 * The Sealed Wall - The remains of fallen athletes are rumored to be stored behind a sealed wall in a minor-league locker room. The wall is actually a large yellow block breakable with Mario's new Super Hammer. The room behind it does not contain the remains of fallen fighters, but research about the Crystal Stars in the form of a Dubious Paper.
 * The Man-Eating Toilet - A toilet in a major-league locker room is said to devour anyone that attempts to use it. Mario encounters this toilet while escaping from Rawk Hawk's trap, using the "man-eating" toilet to travel to the toilet in the other major-league locker room for the Championship Match.
 * The Stairs of Mystery - An unknown room in the Glitz Pit has a second floor but no stairs, and groaning voices can be heard coming from above. This room is the Glitz Pit's storage room, which has a hidden switch to reveal the stairs. The groaning voices belong to the fighters that Grubba drained.
 * The Haunted Boudoir - The champion's room is rumored to be haunted. People within the room claim that they hear voices whispering from nowhere, supposedly the voices of athletes who lost to the champion. The voices are actually voices from Grubba's office, which is connected to the Champion's room by an air vent.
 * The Spooky Ring-Lights - Strange lights supposedly leak from under the ring doors when nobody is inside. This light is the light of Grubba's power-draining machine and/or the Gold Star. It is implied that Bandy Andy was caught investigating this secret.
 * The Missing Ones - Sometimes fighters disappear for no reason and never return, including the first champion, Prince Mush. These athletes disappeared as the result of their power being drained by Grubba's machine, and the three known vanished fighters return after Macho Grubba is defeated.
 * Grubba and Jolene - The first part of this wonder is that Grubba is muscular despite being past sixty-years old. This is explained mostly by his use of the power-draining machine. Secondly, Jolene has been known to suddenly vanish. This is explained by Jolene taking up an alternate identity (e-mailing Mario under the pseudonym of "X"), who can frequently be seen in the juice bar outside the arena.

Rankings
In addition, after the disappearance of Bandy Andy and King K, their team, the Hand-It-Overs and the KP Koopas, are temporarily removed from the roster and replaced with two new teams: * = Enemies that can duplicate themselves.
 * Wings of Night (Four Swoopers) (a.k.a. the Sleepy Stealth Scythe)
 * The Destructors (Two Spinias & Two Spanias) (a.k.a. the Flying Bullets)

As Mario rises through the ranks, the rankings between other contenders may shuffle. The only fighters whose positions stay the same are The Goomba Bros., The KP Koopas, The Pokey Triplets, The Dead Bones, The Armored Harriers, The Shellshockers, The Koopinator, and Rawk Hawk.

Fighting orders
Below is a list of the various orders Grubba (Jolene if the Glitz Pit is replayed) gives Mario during his time at the Glitz Pit. Most of the time the order will be chosen at random (and is prone to save & load manipulation). For Mario's first battle, however, the order will always be to appeal to the crowd at least once. At one point Grubba also instructs Sir Swoop to "do a triple flip and meow." And for Mario's final battle (with Rawk Hawk), the order is to use a special move, but it is unnecessary.
 * Use a special move at least once.
 * Don't use any special moves.
 * Don't jump.
 * Don't use the hammer.
 * Don't use items.
 * Appeal to the crowd at least once.
 * Appeal to the crowd at least three times.
 * Only Mario can attack.
 * Only Mario's partner(s) can attack.
 * Take damage at least three times.
 * Take damage at least five times.
 * Wait three turns before attacking.
 * Don't swap partners.
 * Defeat your foe in 5 turns or less.
 * Win before taking 20 HP of damage.
 * Don't use FP.

Partner quotes
Mario's partner says something before Grubba (Jolene after Chapter 3) announces Mario's opponent(s) that the player is about to fight. If the player beats their opponent, they say something after Grubba (Jolene after Chapter 3) announces that Mario won.

Enemies
For a detailed listing of enemy formations in the Glitz Pit, see here.
 * Armored Harriers (Mid-Boss)
 * Bandit
 * Big Bandit
 * Bob-omb
 * Boomerang Bro
 * Bowser (Boss, fought after defeating rank five fighter(s))
 * Bristle
 * Dark Craw
 * Dark Puff
 * Dark Koopatrol
 * Dull Bones
 * Fire Bro
 * Flower Fuzzy
 * Fuzzy
 * Goomba
 * Green Fuzzy
 * Hammer Bro
 * Hyper Bald Cleft
 * Iron Cleft
 * KP Koopa
 * Lakitu
 * Macho Grubba (Chapter 3 Boss)
 * Pale Piranha
 * Pider
 * Pokey
 * Rawk Hawk (Boss, Championship Match)
 * Red Chomp
 * Red Spike Top (R.S. Buzzy)
 * Shady Koopa
 * Spania
 * Spinia
 * Spiny
 * Swooper

Promoters

 * Grubba
 * Jolene

Notable individual fighters

 * Bandy Andy
 * Cleftor
 * Craw-Daddy
 * Hamma Jamma
 * Iron Adonis Twins
 * King K
 * The Koopinator
 * Master Crash
 * Rawk Hawk
 * Shellshock
 * Sir Swoop
 * Spiky Joe

Misc.

 * A red Toad who works part-time in the lobby.
 * An orange Toad girl in love with the red Toad worker.
 * A Lakitu cameraman. Goombella's tattle states, "That's a local cameraman. He seems a little flustered. I think he's new at this and makes lots of mistakes. Just a guess, though."
 * A reporter who looks like a pineapple. Goombella's tattle states, "That's a local reporter. I'm pretty sure he covers the fight scene. He's such a veteran, he even directs the rookie cameraman next to him."
 * A Toad father and son who are fans of Prince Mush
 * Toodles
 * A Lakitu freelancer who can be found on the second floor in the lobby. Goombella's tattle states, "That's a freelancer. He's always angling for the next big scoop. We'd better make sure this guy doesn't shoot us doing anything... incriminating."
 * Glitz Pit Security
 * Mini-Yoshi
 * Ms. Mowz (during Chapter 3)

Area Tattles

 * "This is the Glitz Pit lobby. It's pretty nice, actually! Sturdily built, nice decor. And what can you say about that luxurious chandelier except... FABULOUS!!!"
 * "This is the Glitz Pit itself! That's the ring in the middle. That's where all the magic happens. And by "magic," I mean brutal beatdowns."
 * "This is a backstage corridor. Compared to the Glitz Pit, this is so... businesslike. There's security all OVER, so you can't just wander around wherever you want."
 * "This is a minor-league locker room. It's kind of, uh... Well, it's pretty disgusting. It's totally different from the first room they showed. The old bait-and-switch... You think they make it totally gross so fighters will try harder to advance?"
 * "This is a major-league locker room. Everybody here dreams of reaching the top... You can almost feel the intensity of their ambition in the air... It's weird... Speaking of weirdness, there's ALWAYS someone in the bathroom. Creepy! Y'know, it's kinda necessary to have access to a bathroom now and then..."
 * "This is a minor-league locker room. It's just as gnarly as the one we were in. If you check the lockers or behind the posters, I bet there are stains and graffiti."
 * "This is another locker room for major-league competitors. It's opposite the other one. Why was there a hidden room behind the lockers, anyway? What would it be used for? Mysteries are totally everywhere in the Glitz Pit!"
 * "This is the champ's room. Yeah... This has to be like, the WORST decorating ever! Like that tiger-print bed... I mean, COME ON! Think Rawk Hawk designed it? Or maybe Grubba? It couldn't be...Jolene?"
 * "This is the Glitz Pit storeroom. They must keep props or something in here. There's a second floor, too. If you see anything odd, don't forget your partners..."
 * "This is the storeroom. There are lots of wooden crates here, that's for sure. But it doesn't seem to be in use now, does it? I mean, it's COVERED in dust!"
 * "This is the promoter's room. It's fitting... It has sort of a relaxed authority, y'know? This is where the pairings for each match get decided. Neat!"
 * "We're in the ventilation duct. It's really cramped in here. And musty. And dank."

Trivia

 * If the player chooses to return to the Glitz Pit after completing Chapter 3 and makes it to 1st place, during the Championship Match, the crowd chants "GONZALES! GONZALES!". One spectator will say "JUMPMAN!!! Wait, who?". This is a reference to Mario's alternate name for the classic arcade game Donkey Kong. Should the player also win the championship, there will be a crowd that goes after the champion once in the foyer.
 * The Mario posters that are seen in the foyer do not reappear should Flurrie blow them out.
 * There is a Bob-omb and a Bulky Bob-omb depicted on a poster in the foyer, even though no Bulky Bob-ombs are fought in the Glitz Pit.
 * Glitz Blade, one of the Sammer Guys in Super Paper Mario, references the arena.