Taj: Difference between revisions

Taj
	; Artwork of Taj from Diddy Kong Racing DS
Full name	Taj the Genie; Taj the Elephant
Species	Genie/Elephant
First appearance	Diddy Kong Racing (1997)
Latest appearance	Diddy Kong Racing DS (2007)
Portrayed by	Lee Ray (1997)

Latest revision as of 18:41, January 11, 2024

It has been requested that this article be rewritten and expanded to include more information. Reason: add more 4-koma Gag Battle information

“I have something special for you!”

—Taj, Diddy Kong Racing

Taj is a blue elephant and a genie who lives on Timber's Island. Taj appears mainly in Diddy Kong Racing and its Nintendo DS remake, though he has also appeared in Super Mario publications exclusively published in Japan. Taj could have possibly been inspired from the real-world Indian elephant, considering his basis from Indian culture. His name may come from taj (تاج, from the Arabic word for "crown"), a brimless hat worn by people from Muslim countries, but it could also be a reference to the Taj Mahal, a palace in India.

History[edit]

Diddy Kong Racing / Diddy Kong Racing DS[edit]

Tiptup and Taj starting the Plane Challenge.

In Diddy Kong Racing, Taj's role is assisting Diddy Kong and his friends in banishing Wizpig from Timber's Island. In the opening, Taj begins by introducing himself as the "genie of the island". Taj is always seen walking around a grassy patch in the center of Timber's Island. The player can get his attention by either bumping into him or honking their horn nearby. By getting Taj's attention, he offers to change the player's current vehicle on Timber's Island, or to retry one of his vehicle challenges, which are unlocked later on. Taj offers to further assist the player after they have selected an option from his menu, and when the player exits the option menu, Taj says goodbye, vanishes in a puff of smoke, and returns to roaming the area. Taj gives the player a Golden Balloon whenever they clear a course, a Silver Coin Challenge, or one of his own vehicle challenges for the first time. Taj additionally gives the player a piece of the T.T. amulet if they complete a specific world challenge. Taj also provides a gameplay hint after the player has obtained the first two Wizpig amulet pieces, from Tricky and Bluey respectively. Taj uses a magic red carpet for transportation as well as in his vehicle races: the first race involves the player racing him while driving a Car; the second race involves them using a Hovercraft; and lastly, the third race involves the player using a Plane. In the first ending, Taj and T.T. congratulate the player after they beat Wizpig in the course Wizpig's First Strike. Following this, Taj and the playable characters all party in the beach portion of Timber's Island, only for Wizpig abruptly end it. In the second ending, after the player wins in Wizpig Strikes Back, Taj celebrates again, this time not only with the playable characters but also the four bosses. Additionally, the carving of Wizpig's head on the frontward mountain of Timber's Island is replaced with a gold replica of Taj's head. The game has an unused music file featuring a variation of the character select played on Indian instruments, suggesting that Taj was originally planned to appear as a playable character.

Taj's head replaces Wizpig's on the mountain in the ending of Diddy Kong Racing DS.

In Diddy Kong Racing DS, aside from his usual role, Taj was made a newly unlockable character, and to unlock him, the player has to complete the first Adventure Mode. As a playable character, Taj has maximum top speed, but minimal acceleration and turning; his stats are shared with Wizpig, another unlockable character who was not playable in the original game. If the player talks to Taj as the playable equivalent, Taj gets confused, believing that he is going crazy from talking to himself, but decides to offer assistance regardless. Both the playable and non-playable Taj had their accent changed to British. However, Taj has fewer dialogue, because he does not have lines when introducing himself at the start or when he awards a Golden Balloon to the player. Additionally, Taj also only allows the player to select one option before vanishing, no longer offering further assistance. Taj hosts two more challenges, one in which he and the player compete to obtain ten Taj Tokens, while the other involves the player having to blow out every torch on Timber's Island in under a minute. Taj additionally hosts the Wishes Menu, where the player can purchase unlockable features using Coins they had collected. In the ending cutscene, the replica of Taj's head on the mountain side now sports the same rocky texture.

Mario no Bōken Land[edit]

Taj in Mario no Bōken Land

In the Diddy Kong Racing story segment of Mario no Bōken Land, titled "Go Go Diddy!". He is shown competing in a race with various other racers, riding his carpet in fourth place. The race is interrupted when Wizpig appears, hurts Taj, and rips up his carpet, which strips Taj of his magical powers. Taj casts a spell to turn Mario, Princess Peach and Diddy Kong's cars into airplanes so they can follow Wizpig as he flies away. Diddy defeats Wizpig, and knocks a pile of rocks from a cliffside onto him. The racers award Diddy Kong with a crown for his heroic efforts, and declare him victor of the race; Taj can be seen celebrating this occasion. The last panel of the comic segment shows Taj telling Wizpig that he will help him out of the rock pile up, as long as he doesn't continue to do evil things.

4-koma Gag Battle[edit]

Taj also appears throughout the 4-koma Gag Battle manga adaptation of Diddy Kong Racing.

This section is a stub. You can help the Super Mario Wiki by expanding it.

Mario Artist: Paint Studio[edit]

Taj's Diddy Kong Racing artwork is one of the character stamps in Mario Artist: Paint Studio.

Unused appearances[edit]

Taj was set to reappear in the canceled Nintendo GameCube title, Donkey Kong Racing. At first, he is shown to be riding on a small red Rambi, then a later segment shows him and Donkey Kong racing on a Zinger through the forest. At the end of the trailer, the slogan "Let's Ride" displays, which Taj flies past on a Zinger.

Profile and statistics[edit]

Diddy Kong Racing[edit]

Instruction booklet bio (page 26): "Evicted from his mountain home and cut off from his lamp, this ancient Genie isn’t exactly pleased with the despicable Wizpig. Now, he’s in a search of a champion racer to go up against the uninvited guest and hopefully teach him a lesson in manners!"
Rarewhere: "This ancient Genie, traditional guardian of Timber's island, isn’t exactly pleased at being evicted from his mountain home. With Wizpig's magic keeping him cut off from his lamp and trapped in the outside world, Taj goes in search of a champion racer to challenge the uninvited guest and teach him a lesson in manners!"

Diddy Kong Racing DS[edit]

Character stats
- Speed: 5/5
- Acceleration: 1/5
- Handling: 1/5

Gallery[edit]

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Taj.

Diddy Kong Racing
Diddy Kong Racing
Mario no Bōken Land
4-koma Gag Battle
Diddy Kong Racing DS

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	魔人タージ Majin Tāji	Genie Taj
Italian	Taj	-

References[edit]

^ Nintendo Power Volume 103. Page 10.
^ Twitter confirmation by former Rare employee Graeme Norgate

[1] Nintendo Power Volume 103. Page 10.

[2] Twitter confirmation by former Rare employee Graeme Norgate

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-__NOTOC__
+{{rewrite-expand|add more ''4-koma Gag Battle'' information}}
-{{Character-infobox
+{{character infobox
-|image=[[File:Taj DKRDS art.png|200px]]<br>Artwork of Taj from ''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]''
+|image=[[File:Taj DKRDS art.png|250px]]<br>Artwork of Taj from ''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]''
+|full_name=Taj the Genie<br>Taj the Elephant<ref>''Nintendo Power'' Volume 103. Page 10.</ref>
+|species=[[Genie]]/Elephant
 |first_appearance=''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]'' ([[List of games by date#1997|1997]])
-|species=Elephant/[[Genie]]
+|latest_appearance=''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'' ([[List of games by date#2007|2007]])
-|latest_appearance= ''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'' ([[List of games by date#2007|2007]])}}
+|portrayed_by=Lee Ray ([[List of games by date#1997|1997]])<ref>[[Media:DKR_Taj_voice_confirmation.PNG|Twitter confirmation by former Rare employee Graeme Norgate]]</ref>}}
-{{quote|I have something special for you!|Taj the Genie|Diddy Kong Racing}}
+{{quote|I have something special for you!|Taj|Diddy Kong Racing}}
-'''Taj the Genie''' is a blue elephant and a genie who lives on [[Timber's Island]]. He only appears in ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]'' and its [[Nintendo DS]] remake, ''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]''.
+'''Taj''' is a blue elephant and a genie who lives on [[Timber's Island]]. Taj appears mainly in ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]'' and its [[Diddy Kong Racing DS|Nintendo DS remake]], though he has also appeared in ''[[Super Mario (franchise)|Super Mario]]'' publications exclusively published in [[Japan]]. Taj could have possibly been inspired from the real-world {{wp|Indian elephant}}, considering his basis from Indian culture. His name may come from ''taj'' (تاج, from the Arabic word for "crown"), a brimless hat worn by people from Muslim countries, but it could also be a reference to the {{wp|Taj Mahal}}, a palace in India.
 ==History==
-===''Diddy Kong Racing''===
+===''Diddy Kong Racing'' / ''Diddy Kong Racing DS''===
 [[File:DKR TajRace.png|thumb|left|220px|[[Tiptup]] and Taj starting the Plane Challenge.]]
-In ''Diddy Kong Racing'', Taj's role is assisting [[Diddy Kong]] and his friends in banishing [[Wizpig]] from Timber's Island. At the start of the game, Taj introduces himself to the player as the "genie of the island". His main purpose is providing the player with a [[Golden Balloon]] after clearing a course, a Silver Coin Challenge, or one of his own vehicle challenges for the first time. He also rewards the player with a [[T.T. Amulet]] piece if they complete a specific world challenge. He also provides a hint to the player after obtaining the first two [[Wizpig Amulet]] pieces, from [[Tricky]] and [[Bluey]] respectively.
+In ''Diddy Kong Racing'', Taj's role is assisting [[Diddy Kong]] and his friends in banishing [[Wizpig]] from Timber's Island. In the opening, Taj begins by introducing himself as the "genie of the island". Taj is always seen walking around a grassy patch in the center of Timber's Island. The player can get his attention by either bumping into him or honking their horn nearby. By getting Taj's attention, he offers to change the player's current vehicle on Timber's Island, or to retry one of his vehicle challenges, which are unlocked later on. Taj offers to further assist the player after they have selected an option from his menu, and when the player exits the option menu, Taj says goodbye, vanishes in a puff of smoke, and returns to roaming the area. Taj gives the player a [[Golden Balloon]] whenever they clear a course, a Silver Coin Challenge, or one of his own vehicle challenges for the first time. Taj additionally gives the player a piece of the [[T.T. amulet]] if they complete a specific world challenge. Taj also provides a gameplay hint after the player has obtained the first two [[Wizpig amulet]] pieces, from [[Tricky]] and [[Bluey]] respectively. Taj uses a magic red carpet for transportation as well as in his vehicle races: the first race involves the player racing him while driving a [[Car]]; the second race involves them using a [[Hovercraft]]; and lastly, the third race involves the player using a [[Plane]]. In the first ending, Taj and [[T.T.]] congratulate the player after they beat Wizpig in the course [[Wizpig's First Strike]]. Following this, Taj and the playable characters all party in the beach portion of Timber's Island, only for Wizpig abruptly end it. In the second ending, after the player wins in [[Wizpig Strikes Back]], Taj celebrates again, this time not only with the playable characters but also the four bosses. Additionally, the carving of Wizpig's head on the frontward mountain of Timber's Island is replaced with a gold replica of Taj's head. The game has an [[List of Diddy Kong Racing pre-release and unused content|unused music file]] featuring a variation of the character select played on Indian instruments, suggesting that Taj was originally planned to appear as a playable character.
-Each of Taj's vehicle races occur later in the adventure. The first challenge involves the player racing him in a [[Car]], then in a [[Hovercraft]] and lastly in a [[Plane]]. Taj uses a magic red carpet for transportation.
+[[File:Taj head DKRDS ending.png|thumb|Taj's head replaces Wizpig's on the mountain in the ending of ''Diddy Kong Racing DS''.]]
+In ''Diddy Kong Racing DS'', aside from his usual role, Taj was made a newly unlockable character, and to unlock him, the player has to complete the first Adventure Mode. As a playable character, Taj has maximum top speed, but minimal acceleration and turning; his stats are shared with Wizpig, another unlockable character who was not playable in the original game. If the player talks to Taj as the playable equivalent, Taj gets confused, believing that he is going crazy from talking to himself, but decides to offer assistance regardless. Both the playable and non-playable Taj had their accent changed to British. However, Taj has fewer dialogue, because he does not have lines when introducing himself at the start or when he awards a Golden Balloon to the player. Additionally, Taj also only allows the player to select one option before vanishing, no longer offering further assistance. Taj hosts two more challenges, one in which he and the player compete to obtain ten [[Taj Token]]s, while the other involves the player having to blow out every torch on Timber's Island in under a minute. Taj additionally hosts the Wishes Menu, where the player can purchase unlockable features using [[Coin (Diddy Kong Racing DS)|Coin]]s they had collected. In the ending cutscene, the replica of Taj's head on the mountain side now sports the same rocky texture.
-Taj is always seen walking around a grassy patch in the center of Timber's Island. The player can get his attention by either bumping into him or honking their horn nearby. By getting Taj's attention, he gives two options on a menu: changing the current vehicle on Timber's Island or retrying one of his vehicle challenges. Taj offers to further assist the player after they selected an option from his menu; when the player exits the option menu, Taj says bye to them, and vanishes in a puff of smoke. He returns to roaming around the grassy field of the world map.
+===''Mario no Bōken Land''===
+[[File:TajBoken.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Taj in ''Mario no Bōken Land'']]
+In the ''Diddy Kong Racing'' story segment of ''[[Mario no Bōken Land]]'', titled "Go Go Diddy!". He is shown competing in a race with various other racers, riding his carpet in fourth place. The race is interrupted when Wizpig appears, hurts Taj, and rips up his carpet, which strips Taj of his magical powers. Taj casts a spell to turn [[Mario]], [[Princess Peach]] and [[Diddy Kong]]'s cars into airplanes so they can follow Wizpig as he flies away. Diddy defeats Wizpig, and knocks a pile of rocks from a cliffside onto him. The racers award Diddy Kong with a crown for his heroic efforts, and declare him victor of the race; Taj can be seen celebrating this occasion. The last panel of the comic segment shows Taj telling Wizpig that he will help him out of the rock pile up, as long as he doesn't continue to do evil things.
-After beating Wizpig in the first race, Taj and [[T.T.]] congratulate the player. Taj and the playable characters all party in the beach portion of Timber's Island, before being interrupted by Wizpig. Taj also appears in the second ending, after Wizpig's second defeat. He is also seen celebrating with the playable characters and the four bosses. The carving of Wizpig's head on the frontward mountain of Timber Island was replaced by a gold replica of Taj's head.
+===''4-koma Gag Battle''===
+Taj also appears throughout the ''[[4-koma Gag Battle]]'' manga adaptation of ''Diddy Kong Racing''.
+{{stub|section=yes}}
-===''Diddy Kong Racing DS''===
+===''Mario Artist: Paint Studio''===
-[[File:Taj head DKRDS ending.png|thumb|left|Taj's head replaces Wizpig's on the mountain in the ending of ''Diddy Kong Racing DS''.]]
+Taj's ''Diddy Kong Racing'' artwork is one of the character stamps in ''[[Mario Artist: Paint Studio]]''.
-Taj also appears in the remake, ''Diddy Kong Racing DS''. Aside from his usual role, Taj also appears as a newly unlockable character, and can be obtained after the player completes the first Adventure Mode. Taj has maximum top speed, but minimal acceleration and turning; his stats are shared with Wizpig, who is also unlockable in the remake. If the player talks to Taj as the playable equivalent, Taj gets confused, believing that he is going crazy from talking to himself, but decides to offer assistance regardless.
-Taj originally had an Indian accent, which was changed to British in the remake. Taj does not have as much dialogue, since he does not have lines when introducing himself at the start, or in the sequence where he awards a Golden Balloon to the player. He also only allows them to select one option before vanishing.
+===Unused appearances===
+Taj was set to reappear in the canceled [[Nintendo GameCube]] title, ''[[Donkey Kong Racing]]''. At first, he is shown to be riding on a small red Rambi, then a later segment shows him and [[Donkey Kong]] racing on a [[Zinger]] through the forest. At the end of the trailer, the slogan "Let's Ride" displays, which Taj flies past on a Zinger.
-Taj hosts two additional challenges in the remake: a challenge where he competes against the player to obtain ten [[Taj Token]]s, and a challenge where the player must blow out every torch in under a minute. Taj also hosts the newly-added Wishes Menu, where the player can purchase unlockable features with their collected [[Coin (Diddy Kong Racing DS)|Coin]]s.
+==Profile and statistics==
+===''Diddy Kong Racing''===
+*'''Instruction booklet bio''' (page 26): "''Evicted from his mountain home and cut off from his lamp, this ancient Genie isn’t exactly pleased with the despicable Wizpig. Now, he’s in a search of a champion racer to go up against the uninvited guest and hopefully teach him a lesson in manners!''"
+*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/19990902225546/http://rareware.com/recent/games/racing/castlist/cast_taj.html Rarewhere]''': "''This ancient Genie, traditional guardian of Timber's island, isn’t exactly pleased at being evicted from his mountain home. With Wizpig's magic keeping him cut off from his lamp and trapped in the outside world, Taj goes in search of a champion racer to challenge the uninvited guest and teach him a lesson in manners!''"
-In the game ending, the gold replica of Taj's head was altered to have the same rocky texture as the mountain side.
+===''Diddy Kong Racing DS''===
-{{br}}
+*'''Character stats'''
-===''Donkey Kong Racing'' (canceled)===
+**'''Speed:''' 5/5
-[[File:Taj on Red Rambi Donkey Kong Racing.jpg|thumb|Taj riding a red Rambi in the cancelled ''Donkey Kong Racing'']]
+**'''Acceleration:''' 1/5
-Taj was set to reappear in the canceled [[Nintendo GameCube]] title, ''[[Donkey Kong Racing]]''. At first, he is shown to be riding on a small red Rambi, then a later segment shows him and [[Donkey Kong]] racing on a [[Zinger]] through the forest. At the end of the trailer, the slogan "Let's Ride" displays, which Taj flies past on a Zinger.
+**'''Handling:''' 1/5
 ==Gallery==
-{{Main-gallery}}
+{{main-gallery}}
 <gallery>
-Taj the Genie.png|''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]
+Taj the Genie.png|''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]''
-Taj Walking.png|''Diddy Kong Racing
+Taj introduction DKR.png|''Diddy Kong Racing''
-Taj Balloon.png|''Diddy Kong Racing
+BoukenLand5.jpg|''[[Mario no Bōken Land]]''
-DKRScene2.jpg|''Diddy Kong Racing
+Taj4koma.jpg|''[[4-koma Gag Battle]]''
+Taj playable character DKRDS.png|''Diddy Kong Racing DS''
 </gallery>
-==Trivia==
+==Names in other languages==
-*Taj could have possibly have been inspired from the real world {{wp|Indian elephant}}, considering his basis from Indian culture.
+{{foreign names
-*A ''taj'' (تاج, from the Arabic word for "crown") is a brimless hat worn by people from Muslim countries. However, it may be a reference to the [[Wikipedia:Taj Mahal|Taj Mahal]], a palace in India.
+|Jap=魔人タージ
-*An unused music file in the data for ''Diddy Kong Racing'' features the player select theme played on Indian instruments. This could mean that Taj was planned to be a playable character at one point in development.
+|JapR=Majin Tāji
+|JapM=Genie Taj
+|Ita=Taj
+|ItaM=-
+}}
+==References==
+<references/>
 {{DKR}}
 [[Category:Elephants]]
 [[Category:Genies]]
-[[Category:Playable Characters]]
+[[Category:Playable characters]]
-[[Category:Unlockable Characters]]
+[[Category:Third-party characters]]
-[[Category:3rd Party Characters]]
+[[Category:Donkey Kong allies]]
-[[Category:Donkey Kong Allies]]
+[[Category:Diddy Kong Racing characters]]
-[[Category:Diddy Kong Racing Characters]]
 [[de:Taj]]

Taj
Artwork of Taj from Diddy Kong Racing DS
Full name	Taj the Genie Taj the Elephant^[1]
Species	Genie/Elephant
First appearance	Diddy Kong Racing (1997)
Latest appearance	Diddy Kong Racing DS (2007)
Portrayed by	Lee Ray (1997)^[2]

[Edit] Diddy Kong Racing / Diddy Kong Racing DS
Playable characters	Diddy Kong • Krunch • Drumstick • Bumper • Tiptup • T.T. • Pipsy • Timber • Banjo† • Conker† • Tiny Kong‡ • Dixie Kong‡ • Taj‡ • Wizpig‡
Vehicles	Car • Plane • Hovercraft
Bosses	Tricky the Triceratops • Bluey the Walrus • Bubbler the Octopus • Smokey the Dragon • Wizpig
Worlds	Dino Domain • Snowflake Mountain • Sherbet Island • Dragon Forest • Future Fun Land • DK Island‡
Tracks	Ancient Lake • Fossil Canyon • Jungle Falls • Hot Top Volcano • Everfrost Peak • Walrus Cove • Snowball Valley • Frosty Village • Whale Bay • Crescent Island • Pirate Lagoon • Treasure Caves • Windmill Plains • Greenwood Village • Boulder Canyon • Haunted Woods • Spacedust Alley • Darkmoon Caverns • Spaceport Alpha • Star City • Thunder Cove‡ • Meandering Mount‡ • Splashdown Pass‡ • Strangled Shrine‡
Boss tracks	Tricky's Course • Bluey's Course • Bubbler's Course • Smokey's Course • Wizpig's First Strike • Wizpig Strikes Back
Challenge levels	Fire Mountain • Icicle Pyramid • Darkwater Beach • Smokey Castle
Items & objects	Banana† • Coin‡ • Golden Balloon • Power-Up Token‡ • Silver Coin • Taj Token‡ • T.T. amulet • Weapon Balloon • Wish Key • Wizpig amulet • Zipper
Other	Gallery (N64 · DS) • Media • Timber's Balloon Pop • Trophy Race • Wish Race
† Diddy Kong Racing ‡ Diddy Kong Racing DS

Taj: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 18:41, January 11, 2024

Contents

History[edit]

Diddy Kong Racing / Diddy Kong Racing DS[edit]

Mario no Bōken Land[edit]

4-koma Gag Battle[edit]

Mario Artist: Paint Studio[edit]

Unused appearances[edit]

Profile and statistics[edit]

Diddy Kong Racing[edit]

Diddy Kong Racing DS[edit]

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

References[edit]

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