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, after Mario Kart 64, Fake Item Boxes cannot block incoming shells, a trade-off for their better disguise.

Mario Kart 64
The Fake Item Box's first appearance is 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; this is the only game where it acts like this.

Mario Kart Double Dash!!
Fake Item Boxes are absent in Mario Kart Super Circuit, but they return 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. Any item, including Red Shells and Chain Chomps, will go through them.

Mario Kart DS
The Fake Item Box's next appearance is 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 behavior is much the same as the previous game, though they do not bounce when thrown.

Missions 4-6 and 7-8 involve collecting a number of Item Boxes while avoiding a plethora of Fake Item Boxes.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
Fake Item Boxes 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.

Mario Kart Wii
The Fake Item Boxes return 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. Much like in Mario Kart Double Dash!!, Fake Item Boxes can be destroyed only by colliding into them.

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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.
 * A Fake Item Box was going to appear in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, but was taken out for unknown reasons.
 * Not counting Battle Mode (Coin Runners) or Mission Mode, the Fake Item Box and Gold Coins have never appeared together in a mainstream Mario Kart game. However, every mainstream installment in the Mario Kart series contains at least one or the other as items/collectibles in the normal racing modes.
 * The instruction booklets for Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart DS erroneously state that the Fake Item Box can be used to block incoming shells, when they were relieved of this trait after Mario Kart 64.

Schwindel-Box