Ruby Rock
| Ruby Rock | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby Rock Artwork from Super Mario Galaxy 2 | |||
| First appearance | Super Mario Galaxy (2007) | ||
| Latest appearance | Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2025) | ||
| Variant of | Boulder | ||
| |||
Ruby Rocks[1] [2] are enemies that appear in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 . They are rocks, each with a red ruby embedded, that roll along predetermined paths. In Super Mario Galaxy, Ruby Rocks are somewhat common and appear in several galaxies, while in Super Mario Galaxy 2, Ruby Rocks' role is highly reduced compared to them in the predecessor, appearing in only one galaxy.
History[edit ]
Super Mario Galaxy[edit ]
In Super Mario Galaxy and its Nintendo Switch port, Ruby Rocks appear in several galaxies all throughout the game, coming in two distinct sizes. Ruby Rocks roll on open or closed circuits, coming out of tunnels infinitely in the former case and falling into an abyss afterwards. If Mario (or Luigi) touches a Ruby Rock, it knocks him backward and takes away a wedge of his life meter, but hitting the red area of a Ruby Rock defeats it. Ruby Rocks can also be destroyed if Rainbow Mario collides with them, a rubbery bulb is knocked into them, or they collide with another Ruby Rock. In the underground section of the Dusty Dune Galaxy, an especially large variant known as Big Ruby Rock appears.
One of Bowser's attacks in the first part of his final battle involves surrounding himself with rock fragments and rolling around the planet much like a Ruby Rock in an attempt to squash Mario. Bowser's head sticks out of the rock in the same area where the red spot would be on an actual Ruby Rock. Mario must spin Bowser's head to break him out of his rock shell.
Ruby Rocks appear in the following list of galaxies and missions. If no mission is stated, Ruby Rocks appear during all missions:
- Larger variant:
- Good Egg Galaxy ("Dino Piranha", "A Snack of Cosmic Proportions", "Purple Coin Omelet")
- Honeyhive Galaxy ("Bee Mario Takes Flight", "Trouble on the Tower", "Big Bad Bugaboom", "Luigi in the Honeyhive Kingdom")
- Gusty Garden Galaxy ("The Dirty Tricks of Major Burrows", "Gusty Garden's Gravity Scramble", "The Golden Chomp")
- Freezeflame Galaxy ("The Frozen Peak of Baron Brrr", "Freezeflame's Blistering Core", "Conquering the Summit")
- Dusty Dune Galaxy ("Blasting through the Sand", "Sandblast Speed Run", "Treasure of the Pyramid")
- Gold Leaf Galaxy ("Cataquack to the Skies", "The Bell on the Big Tree")
- Smaller variant:
Super Mario Galaxy 2[edit ]
In Super Mario Galaxy 2 and its Nintendo Switch port, Ruby Rocks appear only in the Boulder Bowl Galaxy. They can be destroyed by Rock Mario, a form that gives Mario or Luigi a similar shape to a Ruby Rock, except with his head poking out in place of the red spot. Rock Mario rolls around like a Ruby Rock but with more movement control. A boss called Sorbetti includes mechanics very similar to those of Ruby Rocks, as in order to damage it, it must be attacked with a spin on its nose, which shares similarities with how Ruby Rocks are defeated.
Gallery[edit ]
Model from Super Mario Galaxy
Texture from one of Luigi's letters in Super Mario Galaxy, showing a cave that releases Ruby Rocks
Screenshot from Super Mario Galaxy
A small Ruby Rock in Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo Switch)
Screenshot of Bowser resembling a Ruby Rock from Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo Switch)
Screenshot from Super Mario Galaxy 2
Screenshot of the Boulder Bowl Galaxy from the world map in Super Mario Galaxy 2
Names in other languages[edit ]
The contemporaneous name for each language is listed first. Subsequent names are listed in chronological order for each language, from oldest to newest, and have the media with which they are associated in the "Note(s)" column. Names exclusive to localizations of the Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia are not prioritized due to concerns about circular reporting, and are only listed first for their respective languages if they are the only ones available.
| Language | Name | Meaning | Note(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ゴロゴロ岩 Gorogoro Iwa |
Rolling Rock; shared with boulder | [3] [4] [5] | |
| French | Rocher qui roule | Rolling rock | [6] | |
| Rocher | Rock | Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia | [7] | |
| German | Herumrollender Felsbrocken | Rolling Boulder | [8] | |
| Kuller-Fels | Rolling Rock | Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia | [9] | |
| Italian | Macigno | Boulder | [10] | |
| Massoruota | Rock-wheel | Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia (first edition) | [11] | |
| Masso | Boulder | Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia (second edition) | [12] | |
| Spanish | Rocarrueda | From roca ("rock") and rueda ("rolling") | [13] |
References[edit ]
- ^ Super Mario Galaxy entry on the official Mario Portal. Nintendo Co., Ltd. (English). Retrieved May 27, 2026 from nintendo.com (Japan). (Archived July 15, 2024, 07:34:20 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Super Mario Galaxy 2 entry on the official Mario Portal. Nintendo Co., Ltd. (English). Retrieved May 27, 2026 from nintendo.com (Japan). (Archived January 20, 2025, 19:24:09 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Watanabe, Takashi, Noriko Oketani, Geasen Ueno, Kiyotaka Iwaya, Tatsuhiko Mizutani, Kensaku Tanaka, Mizuho Nitta, Junko Fukuda, and Kunio Takayama, editors (2007). 『スーパーマリオギャラクシー: 任天堂公式ガイドブック』. Tokyo: Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 978-4-09-227115-9. Page 401.
- ^ Tachibana, Tadashi, Isamu Horie, Shinji Kutsuzawa, Itaru Nakatani, Seishiro Fuwa, Kimihara Hongo, and Toshimune Suzuki (2010). 『スーパーマリオギャラクシー2 任天堂ゲーム攻略本』. Tokyo: ambit (Japanese). ISBN 978-4-8399-3630-3. Page 19.
- ^ Sakai, Kazuya (ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, and Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), editors (2015). 『スーパーマリオブラザーズ百科: 任天堂公式ガイドブック』. Tokyo: Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 978-4-09-106569-8. Page 127, 159.
- ^ Black, Fletcher (2007). Super Mario Galaxy Le Guide Officiel (French Edition). Translated by Mathieu Daujam and Calude-Olivier Eliçabe. Roseville: Prima Games (French). ISBN 978-1-906064-02-0. Page 42.
- ^ Ardaillon, Joanna, and Victoria Juillard-Huberty, editors (2018). Super Mario Encyclopedia . Translated by Fabien Nabhan. Toulon: Soleil Productions (French). ISBN 978-2-3020-7004-2. Page 127, 159.
- ^ Black, Fletcher (2007). Super Mario Galaxy Der offizielle Spieleberater (German Edition). Translated by Klaus-Dieter Hartwig and Babel Media Limited. Roseville: Prima Games (German). ISBN 978-1-906064-01-3. Page 42.
- ^ Scholz, Sabine, and Benjamin Spinrath, editors (2017). "Super Mario Galaxy" in Super Mario Encyclopedia - Die ersten 30 Jahre : 1985-2015 . Translated by Yamada Hirofumi. Hamburg: Tokyopop (German). ISBN 978-3-8420-3653-6. Page 127.
- ^ Black, Fletcher (2007). Super Mario Galaxy - la Guida Ufficiale (Premiere Edition). Roseville: Prima Games (Italian). ISBN 978-1-906064-03-7. Page 42.
- ^ Sakai, Kazuya (ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), and Marco Figini, editors (2018). Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia . Translated by Marco Amerighi. Milan: Magazzini Salani (Italian). ISBN 889367436X. Page 127, 159.
- ^ Sakai, Kazuya (ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), and Marco Figini, editors (2025). Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia (2nd ed.). Translated by Alessandro Apreda. Milan: Magazzini Salani (Italian). ISBN 979-1259575760. Page 127, 159.
- ^ Scholz, Sabine, and Benjamin Spinrath, editors (2017). "Super Mario Galaxy" in Super Mario Encyclopedia - Die ersten 30 Jahre : 1985-2015 . Translated by Yamada Hirofumi. Hamburg: Tokyopop (German). ISBN 978-3-8420-3653-6. Page 127.