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Taj
Artwork of Taj fromDiddy Kong Racing DS
Full name	Taj the Genie[citation needed] 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]

“I have something special for you!”

—Taj,Diddy Kong Racing

Taj is a blue elephant and a genie who lives onTimber's Island. Taj appears mainly inDiddy Kong Racing andits Nintendo DS remake, though he has also appeared inSuper Mario publications exclusively published inJapan. Taj could have possibly been inspired from the real-worldIndian elephant, considering his basis from Indian culture. His name may come fromtaj (تاج, from the Arabic word for "crown"), a brimless hat worn by people from Muslim countries, but it could also be a reference to theTaj Mahal, a mausoleum in India.

History[edit]

Diddy Kong Racing /Diddy Kong Racing DS[edit]

Tiptup and Taj starting the Plane Challenge

InDiddy Kong Racing, Taj's role is assistingDiddy Kong and his friends in banishingWizpig 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 aGolden 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 theT.T. amulet if they complete a specific world challenge. Taj also provides a gameplay hint after the player has obtained the first twoWizpig amulet pieces, fromTricky andBluey 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 aCar; the second race involves them using aHovercraft; and lastly, the third race involves the player using aPlane. In the first ending, Taj andT.T. congratulate the player after they beat Wizpig in the courseWizpig'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 inWizpig 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 anunused 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 ofDiddy Kong Racing DS.

InDiddy 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 tenTaj 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 usingCoins they had collected. In the ending cutscene, the replica of Taj's head on the mountain side now sports the same rocky texture.

The MexicanClub Nintendo magazine claims that Taj's magic lamp is namedRub.^[3]

Mario no Bōken Land[edit]

Taj inMario no Bōken Land

In theDiddy Kong Racing story segment ofMario 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 turnMario,Princess Peach andDiddy 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 does not continue to do evil things.

4koma Gag Battle[edit]

Taj also appears throughout the4koma Gag Battle manga adaptation ofDiddy Kong Racing.

Mario Artist: Paint Studio[edit]

Taj'sDiddy Kong Racing artwork is one of the character stamps inMario Artist: Paint Studio.

Unused appearances[edit]

Taj was set to reappear in the canceledNintendo GameCube title,Donkey Kong Racing. At first, he is shown to be riding on a small red Rambi, then a later segment shows him andDonkey Kong racing on aZinger 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 description:
  • English:
    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!^[4]

• 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!^[5]

Diddy Kong Racing DS[edit]

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

Gallery[edit]

For this subject's image gallery, seeGallery:Taj.

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  Diddy Kong Racing

• 

  Diddy Kong Racing

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  Mario no Bōken Land

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  4koma Gag Battle

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  Diddy Kong Racing DS

Names in other languages[edit]

References[edit]

• Elephants
• Genies
• Playable characters
• Third-party Super Mario characters
• Donkey Kong allies
• Diddy Kong Racing characters

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