Fake Item Box

A Fake Item Box is an item found in the Mario Kart series. They resemble regular Item Boxes, but they do not bestow items to karts that pass through them - instead, the kart will crash. Fake Item Boxes are generally obtained by racers near the front of the race, being used as traps similarly to Bananas - however, Fake Item Boxes usually cannot block incoming Red Shells, a trade-off for their better disguise.

Mario Kart 64
The Fake Item Box's first appearance was in Mario Kart 64. They appear identical to regular Item Boxes with a key difference: the question mark inside is upside-down (a ¿ instead of a ?). Karts that collide with one are blasted into the air. Like Bananas, they can be used to block incoming shells, though unlike Bananas they can only be dropped, not tossed forwards.

If placed in an area with no safe ground below, the Fake Item Box will float in the air; this is the only game where it acts like this.

Mario Kart Double Dash!!
Fake item boxes were absent in Mario Kart Super Circuit, but they returned in Mario Kart Double Dash!!. Here, not only do they have a ¿ symbol, but are also red, making them more obvious than the ones in Mario Kart 64. They no longer block shells, so they cannot be used as a defensive tool. They can, however, be thrown forward, tending to bounce more than Bananas. They are one of the few items a Chain Chomp cannot destroy, as it also passes through the box.

Mario Kart DS
The Fake Item Box's next appearance was in Mario Kart DS. They have a new set of differences from a real Item Box: they lack a "?" entirely, they do not spin around, and they show up as red on the bottom screen's map. Their overall behaviour is much the same as the previous game, though they do not bounce when thrown.

Some missions involve collecting a number of Item Boxes while avoiding a plethora of Fake Item Boxes. While the real isn't exceptionally difficult to spot amongst the fakes, they are still a danger when lined up in rows.

Mario Kart Wii
The Fake Item Boxes returned to their Mario Kart Double Dash!! look in Mario Kart Wii, with a style change to match the new style of the real ones. While they still have a ¿ sign inside, they can hide their red colour at a distance - only on approaching do they turn red. Fake Item Boxes become blue instead if they belong to the blue team in team play. If a player hits a Fake Item Box that belongs to their team, it will vanish without causing any damage.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
Strangely, fake item boxes don't make an appearance in Mario Kart Arcade GP. Rather, they appear in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2. They look exactly like regular item boxes, except they have a ¿ symbol rather than a ? symbol. This makes them similar to the Mario Kart 64 appearance.

Gallery
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Trivia

 * In Mario Kart Wii if the player chooses battle mode first and chooses the blue team, then exits and plays Grand Prix or Vs. mode, the Fake Item Boxes will be blue instead of red.
 * Strangely, the instruction booklets for every game that contains Fake Item Boxes from Double Dash!! to Wii state that Fake Item Boxes can be used to block shells as they could in 64, which is untrue, as shells fly right through them.