Fake Item Box

Wii
Wii (Blue)
DS
Double Dash!!
64

Information

Description

A red item box with an upside down question mark inside.

Rarity

Common

First Appearance

Mario Kart 64 (1996)

Most Recent Appearance

Mario Kart Wii (2008, main series Mario Kart games)
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (2013, overall)

The Fake Item Box, (also known as the Fake Item, or the Reverse Item Box, and also shorted to as the FIB), is an item in the Mario Kart (series) that debuted in Mario Kart 64. They look very similar to Item Boxes (with differences varying between games), but unlike them, Fake Item Boxes do not give players items. Instead, they act as a land mine-type hazard that flips drivers over as if they were hit by a Green Shell or Red Shell.

Fake Item Boxes are normally obtained by drivers in the top-ranked positions, functioning as traps like the Banana. Unlike Mario Kart 64, the Fake Item Box cannot block incoming shells. These items also have not appeared in recent titles of the main Mario Kart series, with their last console appearance being in Mario Kart Wii, and the item overall last appearing in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, the third installment of the Mario Kart Arcade series.

History[]

Mario Kart 64[]

The Fake Item Box first appeared in Mario Kart 64. Human-controlled drivers can obtain this item if they are in 1st or 2nd place, and CPU drivers can get this item in 3rd to 6th place.

Appearance-wise, Fake Item Boxes look like the Item Boxes found on the tracks, but the question mark inside them is upside-down. Drivers that run into this item are launched into the air, losing all their horizontal momentum. Like Bananas, Fake Item Boxes can also be used to block incoming shells, but they cannot be tossed forward. If placed in the air, the Fake Item Box simply floats, making this the only game where they are unaffected by gravity.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit[]

According to the game's coding, a Fake Item Box was planned to appear in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, but was taken out for reasons unknown. Through hacking, when players use the Fake Item Box, it instead spawns a Banana. Had they appeared, Fake Items would have looked like regular Item Boxes, being rainbow-colored, but would have had upside-down question marks.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!![]

Fake Item Boxes reappear in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! after their absence in Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Unlike their appearance in Mario Kart 64, the Fake Item Box is colored red, making them easier to distinguish from the real Item Boxes. Their victims are now covered in red lightning during the wipeout animation. They cannot be seen from a distance as they appear like real item boxes from afar, but when the player approaches their spot up close, the Fake Items will gain a reddish hue, perhaps as a warning sign as to their true nature. While the other items will pass through the Fake Item Box, the Fake Item can be destroyed by running into them with a Star or being picked up with Hearts.

Mario Kart DS[]

The Fake Item Box appears in Mario Kart DS with a new appearance. Unlike normal Item Boxes in the game, the Fake Item Box lacks a question mark entirely. Fake Items also do not spin around, and when a driver leaves behind a Fake Item Box, the items are shown in red on the Touch Screen Map. They function similarly to their previous appearance, but instead, when a racer runs into a Fake Item Box, the target gets knocked away entirely instead of exploding.

Players can get this item if they are in 1st to 3rd place while CPU drivers can also get it in 4th and 5th place. In Battle Mode, players can also get this item if they have two or more balloons remaining.

Two missions, namely 4-6 and 7-8, involve players breaking a specific number of Item Boxes while avoiding Fake Item Boxes. Running into them only costs the victim time.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2[]

The Fake Item Boxes appear in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, where they are known as Jack-in-the-boxes. Unlike the console Mario Kart series, the Fake Item Box does not flip the kart out, but it instead unleashes a jack-in-the-box clown that covers the screen while decreasing the kart's speed.

Mario Kart Wii[]

800px-Drydryruins4-1- — There is a Fake Item Box behind Yoshi.

The Fake Item Boxes return to their function from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! to Mario Kart Wii, with an uplift in visuals to make them look like the redesigned real Item Boxes, albeit a lot bigger than their previous appearances. Players can get this item from 1st to 5th place while CPU drivers get it in 6th and 7th place. When in 1st, a player has a 17.5% chance of getting it. As in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the item's explosion leaves their victims covered in red lightning for a while.

While the Fake Item Box has the "¿" sign inside their interior like in Double Dash!!, they hide their color from a distance, but turn red as the player drives near their location. In team matches, the Fake Item Box turns blue instead if said team member drops it. This time around, players can only destroy Fake Item Boxes by running into them. A player that hits a Fake Item dropped by an allied player will just destroy it.

In N64 DK's Jungle Parkway, if a Fake Item Box is placed under the ramp leading to the other side of the course, and a heavy character rams into a light character on the Quacker, they will get sent flying to an island in the middle named Quacker Island. This is the Fake Item Box's most recent appearance, as it, the Thunder Cloud, and the POW Block have not reappeared since.

Availability[]

Console games[]

Game	Availability
Super Mario Kart
Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Mario Kart DS
Mario Kart Wii
Mario Kart 7
Mario Kart 8 (including Deluxe)

Blank= Availability was planned, but cancelled.

Arcade games[]

Game	Availability
Mario Kart Arcade GP
Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX