King K. Rool inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Donkey Kong
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Blast-O-Matic
Tier	D (78)

King K. Rool (キングクルール,King K. Rool) is a playable character inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was announced as anewcomer during the August 8th, 2018Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct alongsideSimon,Richter,Chrom, andDark Samus. King K. Rool is classified asFighter #67.

Much likeBowser,Donkey Kong, andDiddy Kong,Ultimate forgoes King K. Rool's voice actor (Toshihide Tsuchiya), in favor of realistic crocodilian vocals.

King K. Rool is currently ranked 78th out of 82 on theUltimatetier list, towards the end of the D tier. Typical for a super-heavyweight character, King K. Rool possesses a wide arsenal of very powerful, hard hitting attacks, with many of them also having great range. Complementing this power, King K. Rool has two buries, a very powerfulmeteor smash in form of his back air, and a far-reaching grab with some of the most powerful throws in the game, granting him a multitude of ways to secure early KOs. King K. Rool also boasts some of the best endurance in the game — he is the secondheaviest character behindBowser, which in combination with his unique character-specific perk,Belly Super Armor, high falling speed, and a very long-distanced recovery thanks toPropellerpack, allows him to survive to ludicrously high percentages and utilizerage very well, especially with his aforementioned powerful attacks.

In addition, King K. Rool has a rather versatile moveset. He has two projectiles,Blunderbuss andCrownerang, with the former also functioning as a command grab and the latter having damage-basedarmor, while his down special,Gut Check, functions as a both counter and reflector. King K. Rool's Belly Super Armor gives many of his moves unique utility as well, including a long lasting neutral air that can be an effective landing, walling and edgeguarding tool and a powerful, armored burst option in his dash attack. Thanks to these moves as well as his effective, versatile forward air, King K. Rool has several effective anti-zoning, trapping and walling options.

However, for his many strengths, King K. Rool has several weaknesses. King K. Rool's biggest weaknesses are his slow speed, large hitbox, significant end lag on most of his attacks making him very susceptible to whiff punishes, poor air mobility, and a predictable recovery, which combined with his slow air speed can be easily punished. His massive hurtbox is among the largest in the game, which in combination of his gargantuan weight and high falling speed makes King K. Rool very easy to combo. King K. Rool's mobility also leaves a lot to be desired — while his initial dash speed is above average, his actual run speed is poor, and his air speed is also below average. King K. Rool has serious frame data issues due to almost the entirety of his moveset suffering from extreme starting and ending lag, while having very few attacks that are safe on shield. King K. Rool is also very susceptible to being ledgetrapped due to his massive hurtbox and limited ledgeoptions. Finally, King K. Rool has very lackluster out of shield options, which is further made worse by the fact that King K. Rool is forced to shield relatively often due to his aforementioned large size and poor mobility.

Overall, King K. Rool is a character of extreme strengths and extreme weaknesses. Though his high-level representation remains limited, with only a few notable representatives such asLukewarm andBen Gold in the early metagame, this small playerbase has slowly grown over the course of the game's lifespan, with dedicated players maining him, such asBall andBruho.

How to unlock[edit]

Complete one of the following:

• PlayVS. matches, with King K. Rool being the 16th character to be unlocked.
• ClearClassic Mode withLink or anyone in his unlock tree, being the 1st character unlocked.
• Have King K. Rool join the player's party inWorld of Light.

With the exception of the third method, King K. Rool must then be defeated onJungle Japes. In World of Light, he is fought onPirate Ship.

Attributes[edit]

King K. Rool is a character that ostensibly fits the mold of a superheavyweight, being the 2nd heaviest character in the game behindBowser and possessing a large array of powerful attacks with long range, but with below-average mobility; while hisfalling speed andgravity are noticeably above average, histraction andjumping force are average at best, and he also has the 20th slowestair speed, the 17th slowestwalking speed, the 13th slowestdashing speed, and the 8th slowestair acceleration in the game.

Despite this, King K. Rool's initial dash has above-average speed, which gives him a greatdash dance andfoxtrot, the latter of which partially alleviates his sluggish grounded mobility. However, he has some characteristics that notably set him apart from his heavyweight peers; he has a wide variety of versatile moves, access to two conventional projectiles, a long-distancedrecovery, and other valuable techniques that aid his playstyle in regard to focusing on punishing mistakes and zoning against horizontal approaches.

King K. Rool's greatest strength is the immense utility of his moveset. Though many of his attacks are typical of super-heavyweights, he also has attacks that exchange brute strength (though most of them are still powerful) for unique attributes that contribute to his punish-focused playstyle. This is best shown through his character-specific perk,Belly Super Armor: attacks with this property gain short periods of thissuper armor, which can block incoming attacks during their duration. This mechanic gives him an advantage that allows him to win more exchanges than he would normally. Additionally, it affects a large amount of his moves, granting more safety on moves such as hisforward tilt anddash attack to break through projectiles or difficult to punish attacks. As a result, Belly Super Armor heavily helps his approach and general disadvantage.

Alongside the utility of his Belly Super Armor, King K. Rool has effective grounded attacks. Hisneutral attack has good range and high speed, making it reliable as a quick get-off-me option. It is also tied withIncineroar,Ike, andWario's neutral attacks as the third most damaging non-infinite neutral attack in the game, and leads into a tech situation at low to mid percentages. His tilts are very effective; for example,up tilt comes out very quickly, deals respectable damage and knockback during its initial frames, and has enough range to hit platforms above K. Rool while also being slightly disjointed due to his punching arm being intangible for its duration. This can also be used to anti-air or prevent approaches from characters such asLucina andRoy. It is also the most reliable move out ofdown throw, becoming a true combo from around 120% and reliablyKOing most characters at such percents if near the ledge.

Down tilt canbury grounded opponents or KO airborne ones, making it a potent punishment option. It also works at the ledge as a ledgehang punish or 2-frame option, and has a large shockwave hitbox that notably extends its range. His aforementioned forward tilt grants him Belly Super Armor as early as frame 5, has excellent range, can be angled up or down (with latter capable of being used as a ledge hang punish or 2-frame option), and is among the most powerful of its kind. Finally, his dash attack is also equipped with Belly Super Armor, has fast startup, a long-lasting, large hitbox, and is exceptionally strong, being a very potent, powerful burst option that can go through variety of attacks.

All of hissmash attacks are incredibly powerful, and coupled with their unique traits and the belly armor on his up and down smashes, allow for very effective punishment.Forward smash deals heavy knockback regardless of where it hits, especially if angled upwards. It also confirms out of a down tilt bury at 70%, KOing the opponent provided they are not too far from the ledge.Up smash functions as a quick anti-air, is extremely strong for its speed, and also has a smallmeteor smash hitbox in addition to a third hitbox that punishes grounded foes. However, only the first is really useful as the other two are weak and largely ineffectual.Down smash deals massive shield damage and lifts K. Rool's entire body off the stage from frame 4, allowing it to dodge most ground-hugging moves and makes it his best hard punish option considering its immense strength. Overall, his smash attacks are all formidable for hard punishes. Both up and down smash are equipped with Belly Super Armor, which is especially useful in the case of down smash as it allows it to punish more attacks than similar moves such asRidley and Incineroar's respective down smashes could.

His aerials are also fairly unique in their utility.Neutral aerial grants the longest duration of belly armor in K. Rool's moveset, making it a reliable combo breaker or landing tool to prevent juggling. Neutral aerial also has very low landing lag, allowing it to combo into moves such as neutral attack, up tilt, dash grab, and dash attack, the latter in particular being a KO confirm at certain percentages. The move's long-lasting, lingering hitbox and Belly Super Armor makes it a very effective edgeguarding tool, as it can negate a variety of recovery moves and gimp most opponents with ease. King K. Rool'sforward aerial is arguably his best move overall, being a cornerstone for his neutral game. It has amazing range, hits exceptionally hard, and because of its low landing lag, it is safe on shield and is his best combo starter at low percentages. This gives the move a extreme utility as a neutral tool, KO move, combo starter, decent air-to-air option against some characters, as a potent albeit situational edgeguard option, for catching jumps and even as an occasional punish out of his burying moves. Forward aerial also deals non-tumblehitstun at 0%, allowing him to confirm into a grab.

Up aerial is a very unorthodox move with a surprisingly high amount of utility. It has quick start-up, a very long-lasting hitbox, and excellent KO power, while also working as a good platform movement out of a short hop. This is most effective when platforms are low, such as onBattlefield; it can also be used as a situational third jump while recovering, stalling K. Rool in the air while allowing it to potentially cancel out projectiles thrown at him. Because of the Belly Super Armor, long-lasting hitbox and the fact that K. Rool does not perform the slight jump while in hitstun, it can be used as a situational combo breaker.Down aerial andback aerial aremeteor smashes, with the former coming out relatively fast and being a potent combo starter and 2-frame punish, and while the latter is very slow, it is also one of the strongest meteor smashes in the game. King K. Rool's back aerial also creates a wall of hitboxes behind him as a sourspot (which is also extremely powerful and can KO as early as 75%) covers his entire arm. His up and down aerials utilize belly armor, but their utility is situational due to their hitboxes being separated from K. Rool's belly. His neutral, forward, and back aerials are also relatively safe on shield, which is unusual for a super-heavyweight character. All in all, each of King K. Rool's aerials possess respectable utility and are overall considered to be his best moves.

Hisspecial moves have a wide array of uses as well, with several efficientprojectiles; theBlunderbuss is useful for edgeguarding purposes (such as forcing a situation where the opponent has to recover low, allowing for a down aerial) and throws out a Kannonball that can be sucked back in and aimed in a few directions. The Blunderbuss can also act as a command grab, sucking in opponents and shooting them out in different directions, with the forward reshoot in particular sporting very high knockback. The suction of the Blunderbuss is an effective ledge-trapping tool, especially on stages with platforms. Since K. Rool can drop through platforms while still having slight control over his movement, he can limit the opponent's options to effectively escape the ledge.

The vacuum animation can also be delayed and is very quick to come out if a Kannonball is in play, allowing King K. Rool to easily mix up the timings.Crownerang is a very versatile tool that covers a large distance and grants him damage-basedarmor throughout the majority of its duration, and the late hit can set up combos or even straight up confirm kills into numerous moves. It has high priority that beats out most projectiles, and the armor allows K. Rool to tank numerous attacks, making the move very threatening in some matchups. The pick-up animation also has some ways to be canceled, which can be adapted into the player's gameplan.

Furthermore, King K. Rool has immense durability: between his extreme weight, above-average falling speed, his Belly Super Armor on various moves, and his heavy armor on Crownerang, King K. Rool has some of, if not the best longevity in the game; it is not uncommon for him to sustain more than 200% damage. Additionally, his up special move,Propellerpack, travels a remarkable distance for a heavyweight and is infamously hard to intercept vertically due to its respectably disjointed hitbox. This can be used to poke opponents on the ledge, then jump up with a forward or up aerial to regain advantage. It can also situationally be used to catch opponents near the ceiling to steal a stock, most notably on high recovery routes. However, it is also very slow and predictable, and can be intercepted if the opponent goes around it.

King K. Rool also has one of the best grab games among the entire cast. Each of his grabs have very long ranges and 3 active frames, while his throws boast a mix of high damage outputs and/or respecttable utility. King K. Rool'sup throw is almost identical to Incineroar's equivalent throw aesthetically, but is somewhat different mechanically: it involves him jumping toward the upper blast zone quickly and, as a result, can result in him landing on a platform after he descends. It is the most damaging throw in the entire game, dealing almost 20% if the 1v1 multiplier is enabled, making it a very effective damage racking tool. It also leaves the opponent in a juggling situation. It is also one of the strongest up throws in the game, and with help of platforms it can KO even earlier. King K. Rool'sback throw is a similarly powerful throw with fantastic KO potential near the ledge, which becomes even more potent withrage. It also sends the opponent at asemi-spike angle, setting up for potentially deadly edgeguards even when it fails to KO.

At higher percentages, King K. Rool's notoriousdown throw can lead into various mixups with tilts, up smash or aerials depending on the opponent's mash speed. Most notably, he can create a 50/50 situation at around 80%-100% with the throw - up smash covers mashing, allowing him to hit the opponent before they mash out and net a KO, or if they decide not to mash, forward smash will KO them. In addition to this, dash attack or up tilt are reliable options at higher percentages, allowing K. Rool to straight up KO with the throw starting from 120%-140%.Forward throw does decent damage, can help put an opponent offstage and in a disadvantageous position, and leads into a dash attack for a true combo until around 20%. Once this is out of range, it is great for setting up edgeguards. With all of this, K. Rool is always able to deal significant damage if he lands a grab, and is able to KO with his throws earlier than almost every character in the game to the point where he gets a huge chunk of his KOs with his grabs. All of this is made even more effective with his excellent grab range; combined with his effective initial dash, this can allow for a string of grabs that strongly deters shielding.

King K. Rool has access to a large amount ofadvanced techniques. These techniques assist with movement, mixups, and even enable combos. As a result, he is a rather technical fighter that can be rewarding to a player looking for a simple character with a high learning curve. They are all somewhat practical and reward creative use, allowing players to build interesting playstyles of their own. This makes him easily accessed at a low level, while still being usable on a higher level of play. As long as the player is aware of the options that the design of these techs provide, King K. Rool will reward them for it.

However, King K. Rool's numerous advantages are also met with several weaknesses. His below-average mobility spells trouble for him in certain matchups, and can make him easier to zone. Blunderbuss Kannonballs are slow to set up, and while they can occupy space well, fast characters can easily ignore it if they are even remotely close to him. Crownerang is also somewhat slow, although the crown is a fairly powerful item that opponents can use to rack up damage very quickly.Gut Check is generally inferior to other counterattacks due to having a hitbox only on his stomach, while having significantly higher endlag than most reflectors (around 30 frames if it fails), making it unreliable. This endlag makes it almost meaningless against some projectiles, such asMega Man's neutral attack.

King K. Rool's extreme weight, very large hurtbox, and above-average falling speed make him seriously vulnerable to combos, and while his Belly Super Armor can help alleviate this, it's not completely foolproof: if K. Rool takes 36.02% of total damage to his armor over a short period of time, he will suffer a pseudo-shield break and be rendered immobile until his belly armor recovers. It also replenishes only 0.3% per second, making abuse quite difficult. Its limited HP punishes abuse of this mechanic if used frequently. Although it is hard to break in most matchups, it is certainly possible especially against other heavyweights with strong attacks, such as Bowser andGanondorf.

However, its effectiveness varies depending on whether clashing against his attacks is actually worthwhile. The HP system of Belly Armor makes it quite exploitable and can occasionally act as a liability for survival, forcing him to rely more on non-armored moves when it's about to break. Additionally, due to their brief duration, his belly armor attacks are more reliable on quick, single-hit moves than long, multi-hitting attacks. The utility of Belly Super Armor as a combo breaker is also limited by its relative slowness to come out, being active from frame 6 on neutral and up aerial. K. Rool's other options to escape combos in the air are similarly limited; his air dodge is slower than most of the cast, starting at frame 4, and Gut Check, which also makes him intangible at frame 4 and can heavily punish reckless opponents, is in turn very vulnerable to staggered pressure, especially when used carelessly.

Though a lot of King K. Rool's moves have decent start-up, especially for a super heavyweight, an equal amount of them suffer from very high ending lag, which means that King K. Rool gets easily punished if he fails to connect his attacks. Despite the wide array of tools he has at his disposal, he lacks many moves that can simply be thrown out quickly, as many of his attacks are punishable or force him to use up his belly armor. This ironically makes hisapproach ineffective despite the sheer amount of different, fast attacks he has; few of his attacks can maintain pressure without being exploited, and the lag can make moves like forward tilt a neutral reset at best. King K. Rool is also vulnerable to being pressured and rushed down due to a poor out-of-shield game; his up smash cannot be used out of shield in most matchups, as the headbutt (which comes out on frame 6) only hits directly above him, while the later plank hitboxes are weak and slow to come out and he is wide open if it's shielded.

King K. Rool's neutral aerial, his fastest and most reliable out of shield option, has poor range, especially behind him, only covering his belly, and is unsafe on hit at low percents. As a result, K. Rool is particularly vulnerable to characters that can cross-up his shield easily, since he effectively has no option to punish this kind of approach and has to resort to retreating or jumping away. Finally, even his amazing grab game has some flaws, mainly due to the low knockback scaling of his throws: forward throw is unable to KO at realistic percentages, up throw requires platforms to KO effectively and is too laggy to have true followups, back throw loses a lot of its KO power if used center-stage due to its low knockback growth, and down throw's extensive mixups and KO confirms more often than not require reads to be effective. It is also affected by thebounce glitch, which adds even more inconsistency to the move.

Additionally, King K. Rool's air game can overall be seen as mediocre. Although his aerials are generally very potent moves and have interesting attributes, including two meteor smashes and armor on some of them, all of these moves (apart from his neutral aerial) suffer from one fatal flaw—very high ending lag in the air—making many of them somewhat situational, and forcing K. Rool to land with the moves to minimize the ending lag in the air. His down aerial's meteor smash hitbox only lasts for two frames and the move itself has high ending lag, making the potential punishes off of it very situational. His up aerial has extreme ending lag (the highest of any aerial in the game), preventing King K. Rool from acting even after a jump (though platforms can alleviate this), making it somewhat risky to use high up in the air. While his back aerial is very strong and has a lingering hitbox, it has very high start-up lag, which makes it easy to stuff out especially with its lack of armor or intangibility, and it additionally has a very weak sourspot that doesn't KO at reasonable percents, making it somewhat inconsistent.

Additionally, none of King K. Rool's aerials autocancel in a short hop. His forward and back aerials require a full hop double jump to autocancel, while up aerial does not autocancel without being very high up. The high ending lag of his aerials makes fast-falling them offstage extremely risky, as it is possible to self-destruct before even getting a chance to recover, which depletes edgeguarding options. Due to the high overall lag of his aerials, K. Rool is unable to juggle for extended periods of time, and his aerial game is mostly constrained to a reactive playstyle. K. Rool's slow aerial mobility further hampers his aerial capacity, and his massive hurtbox makes him a very easy target if in the air, giving him a limited air game, making his playstyle generally more grounded.

Crownerang, while a very strong move on its own, is flawed in many ways. If an opponent picks up the crown after it has been thrown, it leaves him without one of his best tools. The crown can actually be used to edgeguard againstPropellerpack, or it can be thrown up to keep it from respawning. It is also very possible for opponents to combo with the crown, or pick it up again after throwing it, with very little counterplay available. The player must adopt an entirely different playstyle while the crown is on the field, or else risk losing a stock. As the pick-up animation takes 17 frames to complete, this also means that it can interrupt crucial combos, leading to the opponent getting away and resetting to neutral. While this is alleviated slightly through tech, it does not help a lot.

King K. Rool's recovery, while effective in theory, is very exploitable by the majority of the roster. Propellerpack is very linear, and a knowledgeable player can edgeguard him for long periods of time. It is immensely slow, and moving around with it reduces the vertical speed and leaves strong momentum, which can lead to a self-destruct if not accounted for. The hitbox does not cover him horizontally at all, and as he cannot cancel the animation, he always has to commit to it. He is usually forced to recover low, which is extremely dangerous due to how many characters have their own unique ways to beat out Propellerpack. Characters such asPiranha Plant andVillager have moves (Ptooie andforward smash respectively in this case) that can also counteract the vertical hitbox.

Propellerpack also leaves him very vulnerable tostage spikes, thoughLSI greatly alleviates this and allows him totech to unreasonable percentages. The move can be angled to try and prevent this, though K. Rool usually will not recover without taking a large amount of damage. K. Rool also has very few ledge options; his only unique one isforward aerial, which requires frame-perfect precision to ledgesnap. Other than this, his ledge options are very limited—even Crownerang is too laggy to be used from the ledge reliably—and thus many characters can keep him there for a long time before finally KOing him.

All in all, King K. Rool has a somewhat hard time compensating his heavy drawbacks, even though his strengths are also very potent. King K. Rool is an extremely resilient character that excels at keeping opponents out while punishing mistakes extremely hard. He enjoys playing a unique bait-and-switch playstyle, being a zoner that can switch to aggression whenever there is an opening and net a substantial punish. His damage output cannot be understated, with him often either getting a stock or leaving an opponent at KO percents. This ability to force reactions from his foe makes him unlike any other character in the cast, and creativity rewards the player with a decently versatile character.

However, just like how he capitalizes heavily on mistakes and confusion, King K. Rool's own openings can be heavily punished as well, requiring him to play patiently. To use the full potential of his moveset, the player needs to balance their gameplay between zoning and up and personal aggression. For while K. Rool does have the advantage of switching between safe distancing via Crownerang and the Blunderbuss or pressuring lighter characters with his strong melee attacks, he does not perform well enough to use one strategy alone.

Update history[edit]

King K. Rool received a mix of buffs, nerfs and glitch fixes via game updates, but was significantly buffed overall. In response to his early metagame perceptions, update 2.0.0 shortenedBlunderbuss' vacuum duration and decreased the horizontal range ofPropellerpack's hitbox, the latter of which would previously hit opponents on the edge from noticeably far away. The most notable change, however, was to down throw: itsbury duration's scaling was changed to be less effective at low percentages, but more effective at high percentages. While the former two are direct nerfs, they did not significantly impact his playstyle. While originally considered to be a significant nerf, King K. Rool proved to benefit from the change to his down throw, as the popularization of forward throw to dash attack made the early percentage usage obsolete, and the higher scaling allowed for down throw to up tilt to be a reliable KO confirm beginning around 130%.

After his metagame relevance dropped, outside of a nerf toCrownerang's shield damage, King K. Rool received his first buffs in updates 3.0.0 and 3.1.0. The most notable among these was the ending lag reduction to up aerial, making it far safer to use offstage and even more reliable for recovery thanks to it functioning as a pseudo-double jump. Forward aerial's hitbox priority would also be tweaked, making the higher-damage hitboxes connect reliably and thus drastically improve K. Rool's combo game. This would be the first of numerous buffs to the move, which would turn it from a mediocre move to among the best in K. Rool's kit.

Update 6.0.0 would reworkBlunderbuss, reducing its lag and increasing the KO power of Kannonballs. A new searchbox would be added specifically for vacuuming Kannonballs, drastically improving the consistency of reshooting them and making it reliable off-stage. K. Rool's aerials all received significant improvements as well; neutral aerial's landing lag was reduced to 9, allowing dash to be buffered consistently and making it easy to combo from, forward aerial's damage was buffed to the point it is -5 on shield, and up aerial's hitbox activity and KO potential was monumentally improved. These changes, coupled with continued tweaks toGut Check, revolutionized K. Rool's game plan and gave him some much-needed identity.

After a minor buff to his shield in update 7.0.0, subsequent updates granted King K. Rool several useful buffs. In update 8.0.0,Belly Super Armor and Crownerang both received damage threshold increases, allowing him to force his way through many situations, notably improving his disadvantage state. Crownerang's buff was of particular note, significantly improving its utility in numerous game states, saving him from edge traps, juggling, or edge-guard situations. Back throw and up smash's changes improved his ability to KO from stray hits as well, with back throw in particular evengimping opponents on its own due to the newknockback angle, making it an option to respect when edge trapping K. Rool.

After manySteve-related bugs being fixed, K. Rool's KO potential was amped up even more in update 13.0.0. Up throw received a knockback growth buff that put it on par withSamus' which, considering its ability to take K. Rool to higher platforms, made it significantly more imposing. Up tilt's damage output received a buff that made it more reliable out of down throw, whereas previously it was middling and mostly outclassed by dash attack, which is 3 frames slower. Finally, forward smash gained slightly more range and an extra active frame, now being slightly easier to land and hitting edge-hanging opponents more reliably.

Overall, King K. Rool fares significantly better than he did at the launch ofUltimate: hisneutral game has improved drastically, he has far more reliable KO options, and his disadvantage state has been considerably reworked. Numerous top professionals, such asRaito,MVD,ESAM, andDabuz, have acknowledged his significant turnaround, which has been reflected by players such asBen Gold,KirbyKid, andRaphy achieving considerable success partially because of his buffs.

2.0.0

A graph demonstrating the differences in the burial duration's scaling between King K. Rool's down throw pre-update (blue) and post-update (red).

• Down throw has a different bury scaling formula (90 frames + 0.5*damage → 60 + 0.75*damage). This allows buried opponents to more easily escape at low percents, but more difficult at high percents. Specifically, it buries opponents for less time below 125%, and buries them longer above 125%.
  • This change makes direct KO followups beyond 125% more consistent, especially against opponents good atmashing.
  • It conversely makes it take longer for followups at low percents to start connecting, as well as makes it easier for opponents bad at mashing to avoid slower KO followups like forward smash below 125%.
  • The infinite jab combo (down throw to jab, repeat) that worked at 200%+ has been removed, now having the opponent "bounce" on the third loop.
• Blunderbuss:
  • Blunderbuss has a shorter windbox duration, (5 seconds → 2.5 seconds).
  • Blunderbuss no longer turns opponents invisible when KOing at their last stock.
• Propellerpack's horizontal hitbox is smaller, making it difficult to KO opponents straight to the upper blast zone and making it less safe when recovering. Most notably, it doesn't snap to the ledge as often as it used to.

3.0.0

• Forward tilt's sweetspot has more range.
• Forward aerial's sweetspot has priority over the sourspot.
• Up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 82 → 72).
• Up throw is no longer affected bywind zones for the duration of the move.
• Crownerang:
  • Crownerang deals less shield damage (0 → -4.5/-3.5 (traveling/returning)).
    • The crown item also deals less shield damage (0 → -3), slightly alleviating the shield pressure against K. Rool when the crown is stolen.
  • Fixed crown duplication withVillager orIsabelle'sPocket.
  • No longer increases the size of the crown while in an egg form fromYoshi'sEgg Lay.
• Gut Check has less ending lag (Fail/Succeed: FAF 68/48 → 63/43).
• Thedesync glitch involvingKing Dedede has been fixed.

3.1.0

• Up aerial grabs the ledge more quickly when using the move (ledge lockout: 102 → 96). As an example of the change, full hop double jump up aerial will now cancel on the ledge during the endlag.
• Fixed an issue with Blunderbuss upon reflect of kannonball resulted King K Rool's windbox becoming stuck.

6.0.0

Blunderbuss' updated vacuum searchbox for Kannonballs in update 6.0.0. Once the vacuum is completely stretched out, it remains as such until the Blunderbuss is put away.

• Neutral aerial has less landing lag (13 frames → 9).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial's clean and mid hits deal more damage (14%/12% → 15.5%/13.5%) with knockback not fully compensated (40 base/78 scaling (clean), 35/80 (mid) → 36/76), improving their KO potential.
  • The clean and mid hits' sweetspot is larger (5.5u → 6.5u) and placed higher (Y offset: 7.5u → 8.5u (clean), 10.5u → 11.5u (mid)), increasing its range.
  • The mid hit lasts longer (frames 11 (clean)/12-13 (mid)/14-17 (late) → 11/12-14/15-17).
• Up aerial has a longer hitbox duration (frames 7-8 (clean)/9-16 (late) → 7-13/14-19), and the clean hit deals more knockback (85 base/56 scaling → 84/60), KOing at around 135% from ground level.
• Blunderbuss:
  • Blunderbuss has less startup (frame 30 → 25), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 70 → 65).
  • The Kannonball is easier to vacuum, and has less base knockback (30 → 18), but much more knockback scaling (70 → 92), improving its KO potential overall.
  • Both the Kannonball and opponents are shot faster after being vacuumed. This makes it much easier for King K. Rool to recover offstage after using the move without self-destructing, increasing its utility as an edgeguarding tool.
• Gut Check:
  • The counter detection hitbox has more range (size: 6u → 7.8u, Y offset: 8.6u → 7.4u, Z offset: 6u → 4.4u), now covering some area below his belly.
  • A successful Gut Check has less ending lag (Normal/Reversed: FAF 42/53 → 38/45).
  • The counter hitbox and the counterattack's sweetspot have more range (size: 10u → 12u, Y offset: 11u → 12.5u, Z offset: 9u → 10.5u).

7.0.0

• Overall shield size has been increased by 1.011×.
  • The shield's center and K. Rool's posture while shielding has been adjusted to match.

8.0.0

• Belly Super Armor has more durability (14.01 HP → 18.01 HP), allowing it to withstand stronger attacks such asFalcon Punch from full durability, and improving its overall reliability. Considering the armor splitting damage between itself and King K. Rool, it's got effectively 36.02 HP.
• Dash attack:
  • The move has more knockback scaling (57 → 61 (clean), 48 → 55 (late)).
  • The clean hit has a longer duration, with the late hit's duration reduced accordingly (frames 7-11 (clean)/12-25 (late) → 7-14/15-25).
• Up smash's first hit deals more damage (15% → 17%) without full compensation on knockback (32 base/95 scaling → 31/90), improving its KO potential.
• Pummel has a larger hitbox (7u → 8u), allowing it to connect more consistently.
• Back throw launches at a lower angle (45° → 35°), allowing it to KO around 20% earlier.
• Crownerang has an increasedarmor threshold (6% → 12%).

9.0.1

• Fixed an issue in which K. Rool could fall though the stage when breakingSteve's blocks.

12.0.0

• Fixed an issue where King K. Rool could float over Steve's blocks using the final hit of up smash or the final hit of his jab.
• Fixed an issue where King K. Rool could bypass the collision of Steve's blocks up close with the final hit of his jab.

13.0.0

• Up tilt deals more damage (11.5% → 12.5% (clean), 6.8%/8.2% → 7.4%/8.9% (late)), improving its KO potential, as its knockback was not compensated.
• Forward smash has a longer hitbox duration (frames 19-20 → 19-21).
• Forward smash's sweetspot has a larger hitbox during its first two active frames (5.2u → 5.8u).
• Forward aerial has less ending lag (FAF 58 → 55).
• Up throw has higher knockback scaling (40 → 44).

Moveset[edit]

• K. Rool has a large and tall hurtbox while standing,walking, andjumping. However, hedashes on all four limbs, akin to real-life alligators and crocodiles, which makes his hurtbox significantly shorter.
• Certain belly-based moves in King K. Rool's moveset (forward tilt, dash attack, up smash, down smash, neutral aerial, up aerial, down aerial, and side taunt) activate health-basedsuper armor around his belly, known asBelly Super Armor. Each of the listed moves has this out for varying frames. However, taking damage with these moves cracks it, with K. Rool gettingdazed upon it breaking completely after sustaining too much damage. The armor has 18.01 HP, but since the incoming damage is split 50/50 between K. Rool and his belly, it is practically 36.02 HP. It regenerates at 0.08 HP every 16 frames (about 0.3 HP per second). Attacks that hit K. Rool's belly super armor make a loud, distinct clanging sound as an audio cue, with a fixed 16 frames of hitlag. It is also possible to estimate the damage it has taken, with small cracks appearing at 11.5 HP (where 23% would break it) and large cracks appearing at 5.02 HP (where 10.04% would break it).

For a gallery of King K. Rool's hitboxes, seehere.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the1v1 multiplier.

Stats[edit]

Announcer call[edit]

This article could use additional or higher-quality audio files. The editor who added this tag suggests:Needs announcer calls from other languages. If you have a good audio file for this article, upload ithere.

• English

• Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance[edit]

• Descends from the sky with his arms crossed before chuckling. His pose is based on how he appears inDonkey Konga, while his descent is a reference toDonkey Kong Country.

• 

  King K. Rool's on-screen appearance

Taunts[edit]

• Up taunt: Viciously bites forward four times. It is similar toBowser's side taunt.
• Side taunt: Slaps his belly once in amusement. Despite being a taunt, it uses K. Rool's Belly Super Armor during the frames before he slaps his belly.
• Down taunt: Performs ashiko, a powerful stomp in sumo that functions as both an exercise and a pre-bout ritual to ward off evil spirits.

• 

  King K. Rool's up taunt.

• 

  King K. Rool's side taunt.

• 

  King K. Rool's down taunt.

Idle poses[edit]

• Angrily bites the air.
• Slaps his belly twice and gloats.

• 

  King K. Rool's first idle pose.

• 

  King K. Rool's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer[edit]

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Krem - ling Krew!	(high voices) Kin - gu! (low voices) Kuru - ru!	King - K. - Rool!	Ro - oo! King - K!	Roi K. Rool, t'es trop cool! King K. Rool, t'es trop cool!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	King K. Rooool *stomp* *clap* *stomps 2 times* *clap*	King - K. - Rool! King - Kah - Rool!	King - Kah - Rool!	King -- Kuru!

Victory poses[edit]

• Left: Shifts his eyes left and right before ending with a triumphant pose.
• Up: Flips his cape around before ending in a pose similar to his official artwork.
• Right: Belly flops on-screen and rebounds with a backflip, before landing on his feet and slapping his belly with his tongue sticking out.

Incompetitive play[edit]

Most historically significant players[edit]

See also:Category:King K. Rool players (SSBU)

•  Ball - One of the best King K. Rool players in the post-pandemic metagame, known for his combos with Crownerang. Originally known for his performances on theSmashmate ladder and his wins on some of the best players in Japan's online metagame, he garnered noteworthy placements at offline events throughout 2023, including placing 25th atSeibugeki 17, 33rd atMaesuma TOP 15 "FINAL", and 49th atKowloon 12 with Kagaribi. This eventually culminated in his breakout performance atGSM, where he notably defeatedSupahsemmie andNaetorU to finish 7th and became the first King K. Rool player to ever place top 8 at a major. Outside of that performance, he has also defeatedKola atKagaribi 13.
•  Ben Gold - The best King K. Rool player in the early metagame. He is best known for winningBattle Arena Melbourne 11, which remains the largest event won by a King K. Rool player and the character's only superregional win. He also has several other noteworthy results in Australia, such as 5th atPhantom 2019 and 9th atBigWinChampionship 2. He has made a few international appearances, notably placing 17th atThunder Smash 3: Clash of the Pandas and 25th at2GG: Nightmare on Smashville. After 2019, he dropped the character in favor of playingWolf and has seldom competed since.
•  Bruho - One of the best King K. Rool players in the post-pandemic metagame, and the best in the world throughout the second half of 2024, known for his brutally unforgiving punish game and edgeguards. He first broke out onto the scene after placing 13th atShine 2022 defeatingMuteAce. Although he eventually picked upKazuya as a co-main, his best performances were still primarily with King K. Rool, garnering multiple regional top 8 finishes. These include his win atMash Harder 10, where he used King K. Rool to defeatZomba, and placing 7th atMax Rez using mostly King K. Rool, particularly defeatingSyrup'sSteve in their first game and ultimately winning the set. Due to these performances, he was ranked 86th onLumiRank 2024.2, becoming the second King K. Rool player to ever be ranked among the global top 100.
•  Lukewarm - The greatest King K. Rool player of all time, having been the best from 2021 to early 2024. He was ranked 78th on theOrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse, the first time a King K. Rool player was ranked in the top 100 globally. He is best known for winningAnime Houston 2021, the largest tournament win from a King K. Rool player in the post-pandemic metagame, and placing 7th atLost Tech City 2022 and 17th atCEO 2021. Although his attendance has been sparse since Lost Tech City, he still remains one of the character's best representatives and a top 150 player, having placed 3rdComicpalooza Fight Club 2024 defeatingLima andLui$ and 49th atLuminosity Makes BIG Moves 2024 defeatingMKBigBoss.

Tier placement and history[edit]

UponUltimate's release, many players noted King K. Rool's numerous strengths that were never seen before on a super-heavyweight character, namely his two projectiles, uniqueBelly Super Armor mechanic, a down throw that — in theory — leads to very early kill confirms, good startup on many moves, and a very long-ranged recovery. This, coupled with the inherent strengths of being a super-heavyweight, had several top players speculate that King K. Rool could be high- or even top-tier on release, especially as less experienced players struggled mightily against him, with some calling him "broken". However, it quickly became apparent that King K. Rool was not nearly as good as players thought, as he has some of the nastiest downsides in the game to counter his strengths. Compounding this, King K. Rool received nerfs in update 2.0.0 that initially worsened his perception, despite being largely irrelevant in retrospect. Because of these factors, King K. Rool's reputation plummeted, with many top players now seeing him as one of the worst characters in the game. This was especially notorious among the Japanese top players, many of whom considered him to be the single-worst character in the game; they believed he was simply too inconsistent to be seen as a viable pick in the high-power metagame thatUltimate's cast brought to the table.

King K. Rool eventually received a significant number of buffs in following updates. The first buffs in update 3.0.0, which while not helpful at a first glance, did help to improve character's performance, withBen Gold's victory atBattle Arena Melbourne 11 being a highlight. After much more significant buffs in 6.0.0, King K. Rool's results and representation improved significantly, thanks toKirbyKid in the US andChirori andDera in Japan, who all maintained consistent success solo-maining King K. Rool. KirbyKid in particular was able to beat several top players and perform well with the character. While these improvements created some discussion regarding King K. Rool's viability, withDabuz going as far as to say that King K. Rool was a high-mid-tier character, these conversations gradually lost steam following the online era, as most of King K. Rool's top players became less active on the national scale. Though King K. Rool received additional buffs in 8.0.0 and had some early success in the online metagame and in the first year of the post-pandemic metagame thanks to KirbyKid, most players continued to disregard King K. Rool as a weak character in competitive play, leading to his initially low placements on Ultimate's first two tier lists, ranking as low as 80th.

2024 and 2025 marked a new beginning for King K. Rool as his results improved thanks to the rise of new dedicated players such asBruho,Moo,Ball, and the returning KirbyKid, now under the moniker Lukewarm. Over these post-pandemic years, Moo and Bruho showcased the character's strongest results yet, with Bruho especially taking wins over multiple top players with primarily King K. Rool, ending the year ranked 86th in the world and marking the character's second proper appearance on the global top 100 as a main. In addition, Ball achieved the character's first major top 8 atGSM, defeating notable European players along the way. This improved representation led to small rise on the tier list, albeit only two placements. However, this improved representation, alongside Ball's victory overKola atKagaribi 13, restarted conversations regarding King K. Rool's viability and tier list placement, as many of his best results were achieved through overcoming some of his widely-agreed worst matchups and popular high tiers, specificallyR.O.B. andMr. Game & Watch. This was soon after followed by the discovery of the Alchemy Crown tech, which allows King K. Rool to duplicate his crown and use it as a normal item, giving him access to a wide array of new combos and even some zero to deaths. Combined with Bruho's consistent success and the rise of new K. Rool players achieving strong results at ranked events, he is expected to rise further on the next tier list.

Classic Mode: Super Heavyweight Class[edit]

King K. Rool'scongratulations screen.

King K. Rool's opponents are among the heaviest characters in the game. The name of the route uses boxing terminology, referencing his boxing-themed final boss fight inDonkey Kong 64. The boss of his route isGalleom, who is the heaviest boss in the game. On an extended note, Galleom's hulking proportions and posture are similar toDonkey Kong's (King K. Rool's arch-nemesis), and his name is spelled similarly to "Galleon", which can be a reference toGang-Plank Galleon (the song associated with King K. Rool).

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Charizard	Unova Pokémon League	Victory Road - Pokémon Ruby / Pokémon Sapphire	Charizard'sPokémon Trainer is absent.
2	Bowser	Find Mii	King Bowser - Super Mario Bros. 3	The stage references Bowser's Castle.
3	King Dedede	Boxing Ring	King Dedede's Theme (Brawl)	The stage references the Dedede Arena, where Kirby fights King Dedede.
4	Ridley	Brinstar Depths (Battlefield form)	Vs. Ridley
5	Ganondorf	Bridge of Eldin	Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form
6	Donkey Kong	Kongo Jungle	Crocodile Cacophony	Items do not appear.
Bonus Stage
Final	Galleom	Base	Boss Battle - Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as King K. Rool hasGang-Plank Galleon accompany the credits.

Role inWorld of Light[edit]

Finding King K. Rool in World of Light

King K. Rool was among the fighters that were summoned to fight against the army ofMaster Hands.

During the opening cutscene, King K. Rool was present on the cliffside whenGaleem unleashed his beams of light. He was vaporized offscreen and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the other fighters, excludingKirby.

King K. Rool was one of the many fighters that fell underDharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He can be found on a ship in theMysterious Dimension sub-area, guarded by the spirit of fellow pirate, Risky Boots. To reach his location, the player must first defeat theScarfy spirit, which is one of the right answers to a quiz question of which spirit Kirby cannot inhale. Then, the player must defeat the spirit ofTrevor C. Belmont, the right answer to a quiz question of which spirit assistedAlucard in defeatingDracula.

Fighter Battle[edit]

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
67		King K. Rool	Attack	10,600	Pirate Ship	Gang-Plank Galleon

Spirits[edit]

King K. Rool's fighter spirit can be obtained by completingClassic Mode as King K. Rool. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after King K. Rool has been unlocked. Unlocking King K. Rool in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork inUltimate.

Additionally, he makes an appearance as a few primary spirits under his alter-egos from theDonkey Kong Country series.

In Spirit Battles[edit]

Conditions in italic aren't listed on the Spirit Battle preview screen.

As the main opponent[edit]

Spirit				Battle parameters
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music
47		Wart	Super Mario Series	•King K. Rool •Peach		4,000	Skyworld (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Slumber Floor	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The floor is sleep-inducing	Boss Theme - Super Mario Bros. 2
159		Kritter	Donkey Kong Series	•King K. Rool		1,700	Kongo Jungle	•Defense ↑	•The enemy has increased defense •The enemy starts the battle with aRocket Belt	Jungle Level (64)
161		Klaptrap	Donkey Kong Series	•TinyKing K. Rool		4,000	Kongo Jungle	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Klaptrap)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	Stickerbush Symphony
162		Kaptain K. Rool	Donkey Kong Series	•King K. Rool (180 HP)		13,500	Halberd	•Invisibility	•The enemy's neutral special has increased power •Stamina battle •The enemy is invisible after a little while	Crocodile Cacophony
166		Lord Fredrik	Donkey Kong Series	•King K. Rool		2,300	Summit (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Ice Floor	•The floor is frozen	Swinger Flinger
229		The Imprisoned	The Legend of Zelda Series	•GiantKing K. Rool (140 HP)		4,600	Gerudo Valley	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Ghirahim)	•The enemy has super armor but moves slower •Timedstamina battle (1:30) •Hostile assist trophies will appear	Ballad of the Goddess (Remix)
244		Bokoblin	The Legend of Zelda Series	•TinyKing K. Rool Team×4		1,400	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form)	N/A	•The enemy starts the battle with anOre Club	Kass's Theme
281		Queen Metroid	Metroid Series	•King K. Rool (180 HP)		13,300	Brinstar (Battlefield form)	•Giant •Attack Power ↑	•The enemy is giant after a little while •Stamina battle •The enemy has increased attack power after a little while	Boss Battle 4 - Metroid: Samus Returns
283		Kraid	Metroid Series	•GiantKing K. Rool (280 HP)		10,000	Brinstar Depths (Ω form)	•Jump Power ↓ •Move Speed ↓	•Stamina battle •The enemy is giant	Brinstar Depths (Melee)
461		Snorlax	Pokémon Series	•GiantKing K. Rool (500 HP)		4,500	Tortimer Island	N/A	•Timedstamina battle (1:00) •The enemy prefers not to move •The enemy heals over time	Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Melee)
474		Wobbuffet	Pokémon Series	•ReflectKing K. Rool×2		4,300	The Great Cave Offensive (Battlefield form)	N/A	•The enemy reflects projectiles •The enemy favors down specials	Pokémon Gold / Pokémon Silver Medley
483		Tyranitar	Pokémon Series	•King K. Rool		3,900	Mushroomy Kingdom (Battlefield form)	•Sudden Damage	•You'll occasionally take sudden damage after a little while	Pokémon Gold / Pokémon Silver Medley
622		Draug	Fire Emblem Series	•King K. Rool (120 HP)		2,400	Castle Siege (hazards off)	•Defense ↑	•The enemy has super armor but moves slower •Stamina battle •The enemy has increased defense	Under This Banner
716		Thanatos	Kid Icarus Series	•King K. Rool		3,800	Kalos Pokémon League (Battlefield form)	•Tiny •Giant	•The enemy is giant •The enemy is tiny after a little while	In the Space-Pirate Ship
748		Shake King	Wario Land Series	•King K. Rool		1,900	Pirate Ship (hazards off)	•Earthquake	•Periodic earthquakes will shake the stage •The enemy favors grabs and throws	Ruins - Wario Land: Shake It!
812		Emperor Bulblax	Pikmin Series	•GiantKing K. Rool (160 HP)		9,700	Distant Planet (Ω form)	N/A	•The enemy has super armor and is hard to launch or make flinch •Stamina battle •The enemy is giant	Main Theme - Pikmin (Remix)
938		Bear Hugger	Punch-Out!! Series	•King K. Rool (140 HP)		3,500	Boxing Ring	N/A	•The enemy's throws have increased power •Stamina battle	World Circuit Theme
943		King Hippo	Punch-Out!! Series	•GiantKing K. Rool (160 HP)		9,500	Boxing Ring	N/A	•Stamina battle •The enemy is giant	Minor Circuit (Remix)
1,267		King Knight	Shovel Knight Series	•King K. Rool		2,000	Mushroom Kingdom U (Slide Lift Tower)	N/A	•The enemy's dash attacks have increased power •The enemy starts the battle with aStar Rod	Flash in the Dark (Dr. Wily Stage 1)
1,329		Cetacea	DRAGON QUEST Series	•GiantKing K. Rool (200 HP) •Hero (70 HP)		9,500	Yggdrasil's Altar (Ω form)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy has super armor but moves slower •Timedstamina battle (1:30) •The enemy favors neutral air attack	The Hero Goes Forth with a Determination
1,420		Max Brass	ARMS	•King K. Rool (180 HP)		12,600	Norfair (Ω form)	•Attack Power ↑ •Giant	•The enemy is giant when the enemy's at high damage •Stamina battle •The enemy has increased attack power when the enemy's at high damage	Sky Arena
1,455		Master Kohga	The Legend of Zelda Series	•King K. Rool •GiantMii Swordfighter (Moveset2133, Yiga Clan Mask, Yiga Clan Outfit)		3,400	Suzaku Castle (Battlefield form)	•Item:Banana Peel	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy favors neutral specials •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Woodlands - The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

As a minion[edit]

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
782		Chaotix	Sonic The Hedgehog Series	•Sonic •Pichu •King K. Rool		1,600	Windy Hill Zone	•Invisibility	•The enemy is invisible	Sonic Heroes	Vector the Crocodile
1,143		Frog & Snake	Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru	•Greninja •King K. Rool		3,600	Dream Land GB (Castle Lololo interior)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Sablé Prince)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	Kirby Retro Medley (Castle Lololo)	Snake
1,271		Allen	Culdcept Series	•Shulk •King K. Rool •Ridley		3,500	Arena Ferox	•Item:Assist Trophy	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Worthy Rival Battle	Werebear

Alternate costumes[edit]

Reveal trailer[edit]

Gallery[edit]

• 

  King K. Rool's splash art.

• 

  King K. Rool'samiibo.

• 

  King K. Rool's fighter card.

• 

  King K. Rool's unlock notice.

• 

  Posing onGreen Greens.

• 

  UsingBlunderbuss onPirate Ship.

• 

  Posing onBoxing Ring.

• 

  Villager taking out K. Rool'sPocketed crown onTortimer Island.

• 

  UsingGut Check againstSnake onMagicant.

• 

  His pink and bluealternate costumes onPrism Tower.

• 

  Steve striking K. Rool with his down tilt onGerudo Valley.

Fighter Showcase Video[edit]

Trivia[edit]

• Ultimate marks King K. Rool's first major video game appearance in over a decade, last appearing inMario Super Sluggers, released in 2008.
• King K. Rool is one of fiveUltimatenewcomers that were previouslyMii Costumes inSuper Smash Bros. 4, alongsideInkling,Daisy,Chrom, andIsabelle.
• According toMasahiro Sakurai, King K. Rool's inclusion inUltimate was a result of his popularity in the Super Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot.^[1]
  • As a result of K. Rool's inclusion, fans of the character issued athank you letter to Masahiro Sakurai and Nintendo of America for including him as a fighter. The letter was signed by fans, and Nintendo of Americaeven wrote back to the fans, expressing gratitude towards them for the fan letter.
• King K. Rool is the second fighter whoseback aerial meteor smashes opponents, with the first beingLucas.
  • King K. Rool is also the second fighter who has a smash attack (his up smash) that is able to meteor smash, with the first beingBayonetta's down smash.
• King K. Rool is also the second fighter to have both acounterattack and areflector in their default moveset, with the first beingPalutena.
  • Despite both having reflecting counterattacks, the Techniques menu does not list King K. Rool's Gut Check in the "Counter and Reflect" technique .
  • The Techniques menu also falsely states that Gut Check uses his Belly Armor.
• King K. Rool makes the most CGI-animated appearances of any newcomer, appearing inWorld of Light's opening cutscene; as well as the reveal trailers for himself,Ken andIncineroar,Banjo & Kazooie,Sephiroth, andSora.
• King K. Rool is the only fighter to have a taunt that utilizesarmor.
• Pausing and zooming in on and around King K. Rool during his side taunt reveals a gap between his scales and his belly armor.^[2]
• If King K. Rool gets caught by a grab that uses a unique animation on capturing characters (Flame Choke, Snake's grab, etc.) while using his forward smash, the boxing glove will remain on his hand until he gets released.
• King K. Rool's animation when using theHome-Run Bat's forward smash utilizes a one-handed swing, similar to his batting stance inMario Super Sluggers.
• In the Canadian French version, the name tag and voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" (le Roi K. Rool).
• King K. Rool'sdescription from the North Americanamiibo website is based on his NTSC trophy description fromSSB4.

References[edit]

v • d • e 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

• Characters (SSBU)
• Donkey Kong universe
• King K. Rool (SSBU)
• Spirits

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