Knucklotec

Knucklotec
First appearance	Super Mario Odyssey (2017)
Portrayed by	Go Shinomiya

“Where...ring...go? YOU take ring?!”

—Knucklotec, Super Mario Odyssey

Mario fighting Knucklotec

Knucklotec is the guardian deity and second boss of the Sand Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey. He is based on the real-world Olmec colossal heads, and has several similarities to the Eyerok from Super Mario 64, due to both being ancient stone guardians found underground in desert areas, having giant floating hands, and speaking in broken grammar.

Knucklotec can be first found in the desert, with the top part of his head sticking out from the ground and his Multi Moon plainly visible. Mario can walk on top of him in this state and Ground Pound him, where he will twitch and sometimes make a growling sound.

He is encountered when Mario enters the sand flow to the Underground Temple directly beneath the Inverted Pyramid. When he appears, he is distraught over the disappearance of the kingdom's Binding Band, and starts attacking Mario after erroneously assuming the latter to have stolen it, not realizing Bowser did beforehand.

He is the cause of the ice in the Sand Kingdom, and when he is defeated, all the ice melts away. Defeating him also creates a smaller sand flow where his head stuck out on the desert surface, leading straight down into the arena where he was fought which then becomes inhabited with Chinchos, a lone Coin Coffer, and a Power Moon.

In battle, Knucklotec slams his fists into the ground; if one of his fists hits a sheet of ice on the ground, he briefly writhes in pain. Mario must then capture one of the fists and use it to punch Knucklotec in the face while avoiding the ice shards he fires from his other fist. After being hit once, he will slide his fists across the battlefield one time; the fists travel parallel to each other. He will then slam his hands on the ground, causing icicles to fall down and bury halfway onto the ground. Mario must then repeat the process once more. During the third phase, his fist-slide attack is slightly faster, and he has an additional attack where his hands lock onto Mario before clapping together multiple times. After being defeated, Knucklotec will explode, releasing the Sand Kingdom's second Multi Moon.

In the rematch against him in Peach's Castle, many of Knucklotec's attacks create hordes of Chinchos, which also appear when the ice crystals fall after a hit is scored on the boss.

Gallery

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  The painting from Mushroom Kingdom to Knucklotec's rematch

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	アッチーニャ神[?] Atchīnya Shin	Tostarena God
Chinese	阿炽尼亚神[?] Āchìníyǎ shén	Tostarena God
Chinese (traditional)	阿熾尼亞神[?] Āchìníyǎ shén	Tostarena God
Dutch	Knucklotec[?]	-
French	Grand Caputl[?]	Grand ("big") + caput ("head" in Latin) with -tl (a Nahuatl suffix used for making nouns)
German	Faustezuma[?]	From Faust ("fist") and "Montezuma"
Italian	Sganassotec[?]	From sganasscione (a hard slap in the face) and English name
Korean	아뜨레나신[?] Atteurena Shin	Tostarena God
Russian	Кулакатль[?] Kulakatl	From кулак (kulak, "fist") and "Quetzalcoatl"
Spanish	Katunda[?]	From tunda (a colloquialism for "beating")

Trivia

• When fighting Knucklotec subsequent times in the Mushroom Kingdom, the Multi Moon will appear to be uncollected when it's first revealed before showing to be a collected Multi Moon. This does not happen with any other boss in the game.
• Knucklotec's face seems to be carved into the walls of the Tostarena Ruins, the Inverted Pyramid and many other stone structures in Tosterena.