Rex

Rexes are dinosaur-like dragons who inhabit Dinosaur Land and other places, first appearing in Super Mario World. Their English name is the Latin word for king, and is likely a reference to the predatory dinosaur . 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 needs to jump on it twice. After being jumped on once, a Rex simply becomes flattened and moves slightly quicker. A Spin Jump will destroy them with one hit. A Rex can 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. Unlike in the game, they do not wear shoes, have claws on their hands and feet; some have bird-like wings, their lower jaw doesn't match their belly color, and some have second nasal horns.

"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. In this episode, they more closely resemble their in-game depiction.

"King Scoopa Koopa"
In "King Scoopa Koopa", several multicolored 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 frying 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, a Magikoopa and a Koopa Troopa 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. The Magikoopa 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. The Magikoopa, 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 The Magikoopa instead, and Mario forces The Magikoopa 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 & Wario
Rexes make a small background appearance in Mario & Wario, being encased in blocks of ice in the game's fourth level, Kōri no Dōkutsu.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga / Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions


Rexes reappear in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga as enemies located on Hoohoo Mountain, past the Hoohooros Gate. They do not appear on the overworld, and only appear in battle alongside Dry Bones or Beanies. Like in Super Mario World, Rexes attack Mario or Luigi by charging into them and could be flattened by jumping on them. When they are at their full size, the Rexes' attacks cannot be dodged or countered as they are too tall to jump over. When flattened, the player can counterattack the Rex without getting hit. Jumping on a Rex a second time flattens it even more, but does not decrease in height any further after jumping on it more than twice. Rexes 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 are healed with fire-based attacks, but take normal damage from thunder attacks.

Rexes reappear in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, with the same role as in the original game after a twelve year absence. They are much larger than in the original game, but Mario and Luigi can now counterattack them when they are at their full size. Rexes make high-pitched grunts when jumped on. They also appear as enemies in Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser. They are Melee troopers, and attack by charging into opponents. Their Special Skill, Mega Tackle, allows them to charge quickly into an opponent, inflicting more damage than a regular charge.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Though normal Rexes do not appear in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, a Shroob-like 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, the ability to breath fire, dark magenta scales, glowing red eyes, and being slightly larger.

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.

Mario Family
A Rex appears as a sewing design in Mario Family.

Other appearances
In Mario's FUNdamentals, they appear as a playing card when the player plays Go Fish with Mario. 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.

In the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack in Minecraft, Zombie Pigmen are replaced by Rexes.

Characteristics and traits
Rexes are dinosaur-like dragons with single nasal horns, large fangs, and small dragon wings. They have purplish bodies with an orange pattern that covers their bottom jaw and runs down from the sides of their mouths to underneath their bellies (there is no known orange pattern on the bottom of their tails). The main color of the Rexes' bodies varies between games and official artwork: the official artwork for Super Mario World depicts them having dark blue bodies, but in games the color is often violet or purple (with the exception of Super Princess Peach which is a solid blue). There are three rib patterns on the orange part of their bellies. Their tails have two small spines down the center. Rexes wear big red shoes, similar to Yoshis, but are more simplistic in design and have smaller beige soles underneath. Unlike Yoshis, the backs of the Rexes' heads do not have any distinguishing traits.

Rexes have small wings, but cannot fly. The wings' membranes are often red and have three "fingers", and slightly thick "arms". In official artwork, the color of the wings' arms is a deep orange, and the membranes the same color as the Rex's belly. Starting from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the wings' arms are the same color as the Rex's body, and the membranes are red.

The depiction of the Rexes' eyes between artwork and games vary between always closed or with small pupils when open. In Super Mario World, Mario & Wario, Super Princess Peach, and the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack in Minecraft, their eyes are open, and in the original Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga their pupils can be seen when they're hit. In most other games or artwork, their eyes are shut. A variant of the Rex, the Shroob Rex, are depicted with open eyes.

In the games, Rexes are taller than the Mario Bros., standing a head taller than them while even in Super form, and are even larger in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions. The Rexes in Super Princess Peach are smaller however, standing slightly shorter than Princess Peach herself.

While Shroob Rexes have the ability to breath fire, but it is unknown if regular Rexes can do so. Nevertheless, Rexes seem to have some affinity to fire as they can absorb fire damage in both versions of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and can only be encountered in the stages of Fury Volcano in Super Princess Peach.