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. However, Rawk Hawk proved to not be above cheating. As Mario climbed the ranks, he sent Mario a poisonous cake. If eaten, it would result in Mario having to fight solo in the next match, as his partner would be paralysed. As the fight against Mario began, Rawk Hawk enlisted the help of a security guard to lock him up in a room to prevent him from battling. However, Mario emerged from the locked room through the toilet and arrived at the stage in time. After Mario's victory, he swore never to cheat again.

Rawk Hawk has a secret training room in the underground, apparently in the Rogueport Sewers. Bowser finds it in his event after Chapter 6.

At the end of the game, Rawk Hawk joins the Glitz Pit fighters to encourage Mario for his fight against the Shadow Queen. He says that after Mario has beaten him, he can beat anyone.

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, looking 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 would do whatever it takes to win, even if he has to cheat to do so. This was shown when he had a security guard lock Mario and his parnters in an old, abandoned minor league locker room before the title match started. 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), and made a decision to fight fair and square, and to never cheat again.

Cameos
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.

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.

Trivia

 * Rawk calls himself "The Rawk". This (and Rawk Hawk overall) could be a parody of the wrestler The Rock.
 * It is unknown if Rawk Hawk is really a stage name like Mario's "The Great Gonzales" instead of his real name.
 * Judging from his attacks, Rawk Hawk seems to use the Lucha method of wrestling, involving flashy acrobatic moves. In terms of wrestling, he is also considered to be a Heel, a more villainous wrestler who would use dirtier underhanded methods regardless of popularity. 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 face for the rest of his career.
 * The North American version states that he has three attack and one defense, when he really has four attack and no defense.