King K. Rool
- For fighter info, seeKing K. Rool (SSBU).
| King K. Rool | |
|---|---|
   Official artworks of King K. Rool fromDonkey Kong 64 andDK: Jungle Climber, respectively. | |
| Universe | Donkey Kong |
| Debut | Donkey Kong Country (1994) |
| Smash Bros. appearances | Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate |
| Most recent non-Smash appearance | Donkey Kong Bananza (2025) |
| Console/platform of origin | Super Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Species | Kremling |
| Gender | Male |
| Place of origin | Crocodile Isle |
| Created by | Steve Mayles Gregg Mayles |
| Designed by | Steve Mayles |
| Article on Super Mario Wiki | King K. Rool |
King K. Rool (キングクルール,King K. Rool) is the main antagonist of theDonkey Kong series. The arch-nemesis ofDonkey Kong andDiddy Kong, King K. Rool usually seeks to plunder theKong Family'sBanana Hoard in order to satisfy his own love of overripe and rottenbananas.
After making cameos as atrophy inSuper Smash Bros. Melee,Super Smash Bros. Brawl, andSuper Smash Bros. 4, as well as aMii Costume inSSB4, King K. Rool made his debut as afighter inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Origin[edit]
King K. Rool is the leader of theKremling Krew and King of theKremlings. He is a crazy, sinister, boisterous, burly crocodile who antagonizesDonkey Kong, much like howBowser antagonizesMario. Much like Bowser, K. Rool alternates between a genuine threat to the Kong family's safety and way of life or a goofy and cartoonish character. Also like Bowser, he has occasionally teamed up with the Kongs or competed with them in competitions. Unlike Bowser, K. Rool has various alter-egos, whom each act a little differently from one another.
K. Rool is the main antagonist of most games in theDonkey Kong Country series and the archenemy of Donkey Kong andDiddy Kong, making his debut inDonkey Kong Country as the final boss. In that game, he steals Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's banana hoard for unknown reasons. Two official reasons given are either that he likes bananas, or he stole them in order to starve Donkey Kong and occupy his treehouse.[1] Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong must traverse through from the jungle they call home to K. Rool's factories, and then finally challenge him on his pirate ship, the Gangplank Galleon.
King K. Rool made his return inDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, albeit under his pirate alter-ego "Kaptain K. Rool", where he kidnaps Donkey Kong and demands the Kongs' banana hoard for ransom. In response, Diddy Kong andDixie Kong travel to his home island, Crocodile Isle, in order to rescue Donkey Kong. Upon being freed, Donkey Kong uppercuts him into the ocean where he is attacked by piranhas.Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! has K. Rool assume the alias of a mad scientist named "Baron K. Roolenstein", as well as kidnap both Donkey and Diddy in order to use them to power his robot,KAOS, in his bid to control the Northern Kremisphere. However, Dixie and her younger cousinKiddy Kong stop these plans. Both of these games have secret worlds where K. Rool is fought a second time - The Lost World inKong Quest, which hosts the Krocodile Core, the power source of Crocodile Isle, and is sunk into the sea and presumably destroyed alongside Crocodile Isle when K. Rool is launched into the Core, and Krematoa inDouble Trouble, where you fight him in his sub Knautilus, before chasing his hovercraft down with the Banana Queen, who will trap him in an egg.
In theDonkey Kong Land games, his alter-egos correlate to theDonkey Kong Country trilogy, owing to them being rough handheld counterparts to the series. However onlyDonkey Kong Land 2 has the same plot and levels as itsCountry counterpart.
InDonkey Kong Land,Cranky Kong makes a bet with Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong that they could not complete an adventure on an 8-bit console and hires K. Rool to steal the banana hoard to win the bet. King K. Rool is fought in the final level on a blimp, fighting similarly to hisCountry counterpart, but with a new bellyflop attack.
InDonkey Kong Land III, K. Roolenstein competes with Dixie and Kiddy Kong in the contest to find the legendary Lost World. K. Roolenstein is first battled in Tin Can Valley and attacks by flying around whilst shooting various electrical beams and trying to stomp the Kongs. K. Rool is battled again in the games hidden Lost World, with new bomb attacks. After being defeated by the Dixie and Kiddy, K. Rool attends the award ceremony and rewards the Kongs with access to the time trial mode.
InDonkey Kong 64, he reappears in a new mechanical version of his old island, plotting to destroy DK Island with hisBlast-O-Matic, but it gets damaged on arrival. He thus has Diddy, Lanky, Tiny, and Chunky captured, as well as Donkey and Diddy's banana hoard stolen again, to buy time to repair the weapon. Once the Kongs disable it, K. Rool flees, but crashes his airship on DK Island, where the final battle takes place: an extended boxing match where he adopts "King Krusha K. Rool" alterego (with a typical champion boxer getup). While64 has an even more comedic tone than the already-wittyCountry games, K. Rool acts as an intimidating mastermind in this game, with a deep, bestial voice, foreboding theme song for the cutscenes where he appears (most of which are parodies of theJames Bond villain Blofeld) and a game over cutscene where his Blast-O-Matic is implied to have destroyed Donkey Kong Island — however, his final boss fight is in key with the irreverent tone of the rest of the game, with K. Rool engaging in wacky antics, the player having to outsmart him by covering his head with the boxing ring's lights then placing banana peels for him to trip over and shrinking down to tickle his toes, followed by his ultimate defeat from Funky Kong firing a giant boot at him while Candy Kong distracts him by flirting.
He also appears in thePaon-developed titlesDK: King of Swing,DK: Jungle Climber, andDonkey Kong Barrel Blast. In these games, his design underwent some changes, the most notable of which were a smaller crown, his tail being removed entirely, and the removal of his golden breastplate in favor of a tan underbelly. InMario Super Sluggers, his only appearance to date in aMario title and his last physical appearance prior toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, he dons an Egyptian inspired outfit. InDonkey Konga, he appears as a cameo, both in the main rhythm mode where dances to Donkey Kong's music, and in a whack-a-mole-style mini-game known as "Bash K.Rool"[sic]. He does not appear in either game of the revivedDonkey Kong Country series developed byRetro Studios (Donkey Kong Country Returns andDonkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze), alongside the Kremlings. Instead, they have been succeeded by theTiki Tak Tribe and theSnowmads, respectively.
After an 18 year absence, King K. Rool makes his return to theDonkey Kong series as the surprise final boss inDonkey Kong Bananza. Prior to the game's events, King K. Rool and his Kremlings journeyed to the planet's core in search of the wish-fulfillingBanandium Root. However he was unsuccessful and subsequently trapped in the core for an unspecified amount of time, until he was released in the scuffle between Donkey Kong, Pauline, and the new villain Void Kong, due to being mistaken for the Root itself. Much like his appearance inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, King K. Rool inBananza features a composite design, being a combination of his Rare and Paon designs, although he also now has the long tail from his Rare design and his bulgy left eye is now more visibly bloodshot. His cape is no longer in pristine condition and now has a frayed hem, a design element first introduced inUltimate, but does not have the large tears visible in itsSuper Smash Bros. design, putting it between its conditions withinUltimate and King K. Rool's other prior appearances.
InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
Trophy[edit]
King K. Rool appears as atrophy, and can be obtained through theLottery after unlocking every character.
- King K. Rool
- The demented head of the Kremlings and big boss in the Donkey Kong series, K. Rool is a giant, greedy glutton with a serious eye tic. While he fits the evil boss mold nicely, he's just enough of a bumbler to have gained a few fans over the years. His plan to blow up the DK Isles with his Blast-o-Matic shows how unbalanced he is.
- Donkey Kong Country (11/94)
InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
King K. Rool appears as both a trophy and asticker.
Trophy[edit]
The King K. Rool trophy is unlocked by clearingTarget Smash level 4 with all characters.
- King K. Rool
- The supreme commander of the Kremling Krew. King K. Rool steals bananas from Donkey Kong and ends up kidnapping Diddy Kong. He is so good at playing dead that sometimes the credits even roll as he lies there, feigning defeat. His brother, Kaptain K. Rool, made an appearance in the game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest.
:Donkey Kong Country
:Donkey Kong 64
Sticker[edit]
| Name | Game | Effect | Fighter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| King K. Rool | Donkey Kong 64 | AttackThrowing+029 Attack +29 | All characters |
.png) King K. Rool (DK64) |
InSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]
As a costume[edit]
King K. Rool is the basis for a paiddownloadableMii Costume. Although the King K. Rool Hat can be worn by any type ofMii Fighter, onlyMii Brawlers can wear the King K. Rool Outfit. The costume features aesthetics from K. Rool'sRare andPaon designs, much like his later design inUltimate.
Trophy[edit]
The King K. Rool trophy appears in both versions of the game. InSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U, his trophy is unlocked by hitting theSandbag at least 1,000m in SoloHome-Run Contest withGanondorf.
- King K. Rool
Whereas Mario often squares off against Bowser, Donkey Kong must fight against King K. Rool. He's a big croc with a big attitude...and a tiny crown. He probably could have been Donkey Kong's most trustworthy animal friend. Think he'll ever have a change of heart? Not likely.- :Donkey Kong Country (11/1994)
- :Donkey Kong 64 (11/1999)
This guy is to Donkey Kong what Bowser is to Mario. This crowned Kremling has a serious attitude problem. If only he could have been one of DK's Animal Friends instead... Maybe with just a little change of heart, he still could be! On second thoughts...nope. Never gonna happen.- :Donkey Kong Country (11/1994)
- :Donkey Kong 64 (12/1999)
InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
As a playable character[edit]
King K. Rool appears as anewcomer inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, and was formally announced alongsideSimon,Richter,Chrom andDark Samus during theSuper Smash Bros.Direct on August 8th, 2018.[2] According toSuper Smash Bros. series creatorMasahiro Sakurai, he used theSuper Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot as a list of candidates to potentially include in a playable role forUltimate. Due to King K. Rool having "received a ton of votes" on the Fighter Ballot, he was chosen to become a playable character inUltimate.[3] As the first character unlocked inLink's unlock tree, King K. Rool can potentially be the first character unlocked.
King K. Rool has a composite design: his bestial voice, more pronounced scales and golden breastplate[4] are from hisRare design, while his clawed fingers, smaller crown and slightly modified cape are from hisPaon design. In addition to this, King K. Rool has a short tail, which can be seen as a composite between the long tail from his Rare design and the complete absence of it from his Paon design. However, Sakurai also admitted that K. Rool's overall size was slightly shrunken compared to his usual depictions (similarly toRidley),[3] which is humorously referenced at the end of his reveal trailer.[2]
A number of King K. Rool's moves are derived from his various appearances, with most of his special moves being the prominent examples. In addition to theBlast-o-Maticbeing hisFinal Smash, K. Rool's side special move involves himthrowing his crown like a boomerang as inDonkey Kong Country. His "Kaptain" and "Baron K. Roolenstein" personas are also directly referenced: theblunderbuss fromDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is hisneutral special move, whereas thePropellerpack fromDonkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! is hisup special move.[2][3]
Aside from these references, K. Rool's breastplate also functions as more than just an aesthetic throwback: it grantspassive protection during certain moves, and can function as both acounterattack andreflector via hisGut Check down special move.[3][5] However, the breastplate has a set amount of durability that slowly regenerates over time and willstun K. Rool once it is fully depleted.[3]
As a costume[edit]
The King K. Rool costume forMii Fighters reappears, albeit as unlockable content instead of downloadable content.
Spirits[edit]
Fighter spirit[edit]
136.King K. Rool
Primary spirits[edit]
| No. | Image | Name | Type | Class | Slots | Base | Max | Base | Max | Base | Max | Ability | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 162 |  | Kaptain K. Rool |  | ★★★★ | 2 | 4232 | 10583 | 2243 | 5609 | 1989 | 4974 | No Effect | Donkey Kong Series |
| 163 |  | Baron K. Roolenstein |  | ★★★ | 3 | 2933 | 8826 | 1584 | 4766 | 1349 | 4060 | No Effect | Donkey Kong Series |
Gallery[edit]
Costume of King K. Rool for the Mii Brawler
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese | キングクルール,King K. Rool | — |
 English | King K. Rool | — |
 French (PAL) | King K. Rool | — |
 French (NTSC) | Roi K. Rool | King K. Rool |
 German | King K. Rool | — |
 Spanish | King K. Rool | — |
 Italian | King K. Rool | — |
 Chinese (Simplified) | 库鲁鲁王,King K. Rool | — |
 Chinese (Traditional) | 庫魯魯王,King K. Rool | — |
 Korean | 킹크루루,King K. Rool | — |
 Dutch | King K. Rool | — |
 Russian | Кинг К. Роль | "К. Роль" is a wordplay withКороль (king) |
Trivia[edit]
- While King K. Rool has a voice actor in his own series, with his voice actor beingToshihide Tsuchiya at the time of game's release,Super Smash Bros. Ultimate does not give King K. Rool a voice actor. Instead,Ultimate gives him realistic crocodile bellows and grunts, similar to his appearances in someDonkey Kong games, such asDK: King of Swing. The same thing happens toDonkey Kong, who is given realistic gorilla grunts instead of reusingTakashi Nagasako's voice clips from other games;Diddy Kong, who uses realistic chimpanzee screeches instead of reusing voice clips from his current voice actorKatsumi Suzuki;Bowser, who uses realistic roars instead of reusing voice clips from his current voice actorKenny James; andPetey Piranha, who uses monstrous roars instead of reusing voice clips from his current voice actorToru Minegishi.
- Although King K. Rool's name is the same between Japanese and English, the announcer pronounces it differently between regions: the English version pronounces it as "KingKay Rool", while the Japanese version pronounces it "King Cruel", which is the basis of the pun on which his name is built.
- Ultimate is the first game in which his name is spoken verbally; the only other media where it can be heard is theDonkey Kong Country television series, where it was primarily pronounced "KingKuh Rool".
- King K. Rool is the third character in theSuper Smash Bros. series to be created outside Japan, and the second character to originate from Europe.
- While most characters in the Japanese version omit their royal honorifics and titles (such as King or Princess) from their names, K. Rool is an exception, as he keeps the title of King in his name. This is most likely because the "King" in his Japanese name is transliterated in katakana, rather than being a kanji-based title like other characters (キングクルール, as opposed to something likeクルール王). In the English version, he shares this peculiarity with King Dedede.
- King K. Rool's trophy inBrawl erroneously states that Kaptain K. Rool is his brother, rather than his alter-ego.
References[edit]
| Playable characters | |
|---|---|
| Super Smash Bros. | Captain Falcon ·Donkey Kong ·Fox ·Jigglypuff ·Kirby ·Link ·Luigi ·Mario ·Ness ·Pikachu ·Samus ·Yoshi |
| New inMelee | Bowser ·Dr. Mario ·Falco ·Ganondorf ·Ice Climbers ·Marth ·Mewtwo ·Mr. Game & Watch ·Peach ·Pichu ·Roy ·Sheik ·Young Link ·Zelda |
| New inBrawl | Diddy Kong ·Ike ·King Dedede ·Lucario ·Lucas ·Meta Knight ·Olimar (Pikmin) ·Pit ·Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle ·Ivysaur ·Charizard) ·R.O.B. ·Snake ·Sonic ·Toon Link ·Wario ·Wolf ·Zero Suit Samus |
| New inSmash 4 | (Alph) ·Bayonetta ·Bowser Jr. (Koopalings) ·Cloud ·Corrin ·Dark Pit ·Duck Hunt ·Greninja ·Little Mac ·Lucina ·Mega Man ·Mii Brawler ·Mii Gunner ·Mii Swordfighter ·Pac-Man ·Palutena ·Robin ·Rosalina &Luma ·Ryu ·Shulk ·Villager ·Wii Fit Trainer |
| New inUltimate | Banjo &Kazooie ·Byleth ·Chrom ·Daisy ·Dark Samus ·Hero ·Incineroar ·Inkling ·Isabelle ·Joker ·Kazuya ·Ken ·King K. Rool ·Min Min ·Mythra ·Piranha Plant ·Pyra ·Richter ·Ridley ·Sephiroth ·Simon ·Sora ·Steve (Alex,Zombie,Enderman) ·Terry |
| Character Inspirations forMii FighterCostumes inSuper Smash Bros. 4 | |
|---|---|
 Mii Brawler | Akira ·Captain Falcon ·Flying Man ·Heihachi ·Jacky ·King K. Rool ·Knuckles ·Toad |
 Mii Swordfighter | Ashley ·Black Knight ·Chrom ·Dunban ·Gil ·Link ·Lloyd ·Monster Hunter ·Takamaru ·Viridi ·Zero |
 Mii Gunner | Fox ·Geno ·Inkling ·Isabelle ·K.K. Slider ·MegaMan.EXE ·Proto Man ·Samus ·Tails ·X |
| Headgear only | Barbara ·Chain Chomp ·Chocobo ·Daisy ·Inkling Squid ·Luigi ·Majora's Mask ·Mario ·Meta Knight ·Peach ·Red Shell ·Sheik ·Shy Guy ·Spiny ·Super Mushroom ·Waluigi ·Wario ·Zelda |
 Donkey Kong universe | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | Donkey Kong (SSB ·SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Diddy Kong (SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·King K. Rool (SSBU) |
| Assist Trophy | Klaptrap |
| Boss | Giant Donkey Kong |
| Stages | Kongo Jungle ·Kongo Falls ·Jungle Japes ·Rumble Falls ·75m ·Jungle Hijinxs |
| Items | Hammer ·Barrel Cannon ·Peanut ·Spring |
| Enemies | Kritter ·Tiki Buzz |
| Other | Dixie Kong ·DK Barrel ·DK Island ·Pauline ·Stanley ·Zinger |
| Trophies,Stickers andSpirits | Trophies (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4) ·Stickers ·Spirits |
| Music | Brawl ·SSB4 ·Ultimate |
| Masterpiece | Donkey Kong |
| Related content | Mario (universe) ·Banjo ·Barrel |
