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.

Of Glitz and Glory
Mario and his partners arrived at the Glitz Pit during the third chapter, in hopes that they would obtain the third Crystal Star, the Gold Star. When they entered the arena, they find Rawk Hawk squaring off against The Koopinator, whom he managed to defeat with ease. Grubba, the Glitz Pit promotor (and referee) comes to congratulate Rawk Hawk for his victory, and asks him about his thoughts on the match. Rawk Hawk, showing off a display of arrogance, saying 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 had a "bone to pick". After that, he holds up the Champ's Belt, which gets 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 was called in the arena). He then scoffs at Mario, calls him "skinny", and says 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, insulted by that comment, gets into a little dispute with the Yoshi, and then tells 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 focusing on Mario and his party. Rawk Hawk, in a fit of jealousy, decides to threaten 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, threatening 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 didn't work, Rawk Hawk decided to send Mario a poisoned cake. If Mario's partner were to eat it, then the player, would only be able to fight in the upcoming match as Mario, since his partner(s) would be paralized from the cake's effects. Should the player choose not to have them eat it, then Shellshock would eat it instead. When Mario and his partners come back, they'll find him on the ground, looking dizzy.

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, decides to cheat again by having a security guard lock Mario and his partners in an abandoned minior league locker room, which would cause them to forfit 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 was no other way to escape, they decided 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 begins, Rawk Hawk tells them that they were better off staying locked up. It was here that they realized that Rawk Hawk was behind that, so they accused him of sending that threat about the Crysal Star, as well. Rawk Hawk then responds by telling them that he doesn't know what they're talking about. 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 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 tells Mario that he'll fight fair and square from now on, and that he will never cheat again.

Secret Training Area, Threats, and Positive Energy
During the intermission that took place 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, however, managed to get through it with no problem. When they got there, they saw the Champ's Belt hanging up on the wall, and ended up mistaking it for the real Crystal Star. Just when they were about to grab it, Rawk Hawk comes in and catches them. Bowser then taunts him, calling him an "adorable little weakling", but Rawk Hawk tries to prove him wrong by attacking him with a flying kick. Bowser managed to jump over Rawk Hawk and landed on him, squashing him flat. Because of the tremor that Bowser caused, the "Crystal Star" on the belt ended up falling off and breaking, and splitting in two. Kammy started to panic, but quickly realized that it was fake. Rawk Hawk then told them that The Great Gonzales has it, but Bowser responded by saying that he "doesn't know anybody named Gonzales", and begins throwing a tantrum.

By the time the seventh chapter takes place, Rawk Hawk sends Mario an e-mail, saying that he hasn't forgotten about their last battle and that he "feels the rage all over again". He then calls him a coward for giving up the belt, and threatens him, saying that if he ever comes back, then he's getting "Rawked". Rawk Hawk was seen again during the intermission cutscene that took place during Mario and company'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.

The Great Gonzales' Return
After the player has beaten the game, he or she 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 fighers got 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 stays 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 was being interviewed by Jolene, the new promotor, before the match began. 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, then he or she would have to fight Rawk Hawk continuously until Mario and his partners somehow manage to lose to him, and end up having to go back 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. It probably shows Rawk Hawk's history.

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 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, as well as sending Mario that poisoned cake. 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.

Powers and Abilities
As it says in his Tattle information, Rawk Hawk mainly specializes in arial 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

Trivia

 * Rawk calls himself "The Rawk". This (and Rawk Hawk overall) could be a parody of the former 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 his attack power is four and his defense power is zero, when in actuality, his attack power is three and his defense power is zero.