Editing King K. Rool (SSBU)

{{Cquote|''King K. Rool Comes Aboard!''|cite=Introduction tagline}}

Much like {{SSBU|Bowser}}, {{SSBU|Donkey Kong}}, and {{SSBU|Diddy Kong}}, ''Ultimate'' forgoes King K. Rool's voice actor ({{iw|mariowiki|Toshihide Tsuchiya}}), in favor of realistic animal vocals.

 

 

 

 

 

While King K. Rool is a fairly popular character in lower level and casual play, his high-level representation is quite limited due to his significant flaws and a small playerbase. However, thanks to efforts of dedicated players such as {{Sm|Ben Gold}}, {{Sm|Raphy}}, and most notably, {{Sm|KirbyKid}}, and significant buffs via game updates, King K. Rool has nevertheless gathered a couple of decent results during ''Ultimate's'' lifespan, in spite of his aforementioned issues and low placement on the tier list.

*Clear {{SSBU|Classic Mode}} with {{SSBU|Link}} or anyone in his unlock tree, being the 1st character unlocked.

Despite this, King K. Rool's initial dash has above-average speed, which gives him a great [[dash dance]] and [[foxtrot]], 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-distanced [[recovery]], 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 this [[super 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 his {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|forward tilt}} and {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|dash 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. His {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|neutral attack}} has good range and high speed, making it reliable as a quick get-off-me option. It is also tied with {{SSBU|Incineroar}}, {{SSBU|Ike}}, and {{SSBU|Wario}}'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, {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|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 as {{SSBU|Lucina}} and {{SSBU|Roy}}. It is also the most reliable move out of {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|down throw}}, becoming a true combo from around 120% and reliably [[KO]]ing most characters at such percents if near the ledge.

{{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|Down tilt}} can [[bury]] 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 his [[smash 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. {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|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. {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|Up smash}} functions as a quick anti-air, is extremely strong for its speed, and also has a small [[meteor 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. {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|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 as {{SSBU|Ridley}} and Incineroar's respective down smashes could.

His aerials are also fairly unique in their utility. {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|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's {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|forward 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-[[tumble]] [[hitstun]] at 0%, allowing him to confirm into a grab.

{{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|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 on {{SSBU|Battlefield}}; 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. {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|Down aerial}} and {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|back aerial}} are [[meteor smash]]es, 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.

His [[special move]]s have a wide array of uses as well, with several efficient [[projectile]]s; the [[Blunderbuss]] 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.

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.

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's {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|up 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's {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|back throw}} is a similarly powerful throw with fantastic KO potential near the ledge, which becomes even more potent with [[rage]]. It also sends the opponent at a [[semi-spike]] angle, setting up for potentially deadly edgeguards even when it fails to KO.

At higher percentages, King K. Rool's notorious {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|down 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%. {{Mvsub|King K. Rool|SSBU|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.

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 as {{Mvsub|Mega Man|SSBU|neutral attack|poss=y}}.

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 and {{SSBU|Ganondorf}}.

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 his [[approach]] 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 the [[bounce 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.

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 as {{SSBU|Piranha Plant}} and {{SSBU|Villager}} have moves ([[Ptooie]] and {{Mvsub|Villager|SSBU|forward smash}} respectively in this case) that can also counteract the vertical hitbox.

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 shortened [[Blunderbuss]]' vacuum duration and decreased the horizontal range of [[Propellerpack]]'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: its [[bury]] 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%.   

Overall, King K. Rool fares significantly better than he did at the launch of ''Ultimate'': his [[neutral game]] has improved drastically, he has far more reliable KO options, and his disadvantage state has been considerably reworked. Numerous top professionals, such as {{Sm|Raito}}, {{Sm|MVD}}, {{Sm|ESAM}}, and {{Sm|Dabuz}}, have acknowledged his significant turnaround, which has been reflected by players such as {{Sm|Ben Gold}}, {{Sm|KirbyKid}}, and {{Sm|Raphy}} achieving considerable success partially because of his buffs.

[[File:KingkrooldthrowSSBUgraph.png|thumb|300px|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).]]

[[File:KingKRoolNSpecialSearchSSBU.gif|thumb|200px|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.]]

|neutraldesc=A sumo-esque palm thrust (comes out on frame 3), followed by a claw swipe (frame 4), followed a front kick (frame 5). The first hit can be repeated by holding the attack button, and can [[jab reset]] large characters specifically, allowing for some interesting situations. The second hit resembles King K. Rool's standard attack from ''{{iw|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Barrel Blast}}''.

|dashdesc=A [[wikipedia:Professional wrestling strikes#Body avalanche|body avalanche]]. It covers a good distance and has incredibly fast start-up for its power (comes out on frame 7), but has very high ending lag. It also deals much less damage later into the attack. Has Belly Super Armor and can KO, allowing it to tank opposing hits (especially projectiles) as a risky [[approach]]. KOs at 102% at the edge of Final Destination, making it a very good move to use out of [[down throw]] through [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-mWaJuVdlo Instant Dash Attack], as it KOs larger characters earlier than forward tilt. It resembles the body avalanche he used in ''{{iw|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Land}}''.

|nairdesc=A [[wikipedia:Professional wrestling aerial techniques#Diving splash|splash]]. Decently fast (comes out on frame 7), acts as a [[sex kick]] and has Belly Super Armor. In addition, it has very little lag in comparison to most of King K. Rool's moveset, and is his safest move on shield. Finally, it is also his fastest out-of-shield option that is somewhat practical, next to his neutral attack. Because of all of this, it is one of the safest and most versatile moves to use in K. Rool's kit. It can be used for landing, contesting aerials, approaching, and even gimping, as it beats out most recovery moves, even ones with hitboxes. In addition, due to its safety, it can be used to pressure, and it can also combo into several moves, such as his neutral attack, up tilt, forward tilt, dash attack, grab, and even situationally into down tilt, which can lead to devastating early KOs. However, it has poor range, only covering his belly, and is unsafe on hit at low percents. It is similar to an attack he uses in ''Donkey Kong Land''.

|uairdesc=An upward battering ram. It causes K. Rool to float slightly, giving it more reach. It has extremely high ending lag due to King K. Rool laughing after the move, preventing him from acting even if performed out of a double jumìp, making it risky to use offstage and making it the laggiest aerial in the game. However, is one of K. Rool's fastest aerial attacks (comes out on frame 7), and deals less damage if hit later. In addition to this, the early hitbox is among the strongest up aerials in the game, being able to KO at around 100% and even earlier if used near the upper blast zone, giving K. Rool a possibility to pick up very early KOs with the move, especially with rage. The early hit has a large, disjointed hitbox much larger than K. Rool's head, which also lingers for a disproportionately long time. The move has Belly Super Armor while K. Rool stretches his head out, ending after the hitboxes are over. When short-hopped, this move can allow K. Rool to move onto a platform, allowing for some movement options, and significantly helps with the issue of the move having high ending lag. Like up smash, there are intangibility frames on K. Rool's head during the attack, making it disjointed and allowing it to beat projectiles or some other even reasonably disjointed moves, such as {{SSBU|Mr. Game & Watch}}'s down aerial. This move can also be used for recovering from high to mid-levels, as K. Rool can be moved from side to side while using the move. <!--K. Rool's crown does not increase this move's damage, this has been tested. Remember that short hop attacks have a damage penalty in ''Ultimate''.-->

|dairname=Meteor Stomp ({{ja|メテオスタンプ|Meteo Sutanpu}})

|uthrowdesc=Heaves the opponent over his head, leaps high into the air, and then descends to perform an {{h2|wikipedia:Backbreaker|Argentine backbreaker rack}} [[wikipedia:Backbreaker#Backbreaker drop|drop]]. This is the most damaging throw in the entire game, and it's powerful enough to KO at around 160%, or even earlier if he lands on a raised platform.  

|dsdmg= 1.5× (gut counter, reflected projectiles) (minimum 12%, maximum 50%)<br/>{{rollover|1.05×|0.7× of the counter/reflection|?}} (shockwave) (minimum 8.4%, maximum 35%)

|dsdesc=Puffs out his stomach and retaliates against attacks. It works like a [[counterattack]] and can also [[reflect]] [[projectile]]s. However, the counter hitbox is centered on K. Rool's stomach, making the rest of his body vulnerable (most notably his face), much like how [[Toad]] functioned in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl''. Its sweetspot has a damage multiplier of 1.5×, tying it with [[Slip Counter]] and [[Counter Throw]] for the second-highest damage multiplier out of any counterattack in ''Ultimate'', surpassed only by [[Tetrakarn]]. It is possible for the opponent to get hit by both the reflected projectile and the counterattack if the opponent is close enough, causing them to receive double the amount of damage and resulting in KOs from moves like a fully charged [[Charge Shot]] at extremely low percents. The shockwave has a hitbox further away that deals 0.7× of the counter's damage (resulting in a multiplier of 1.05×).

*'''Up taunt''': Viciously bites forward four times. It is similar to {{SSBU|Bowser}}'s side taunt.

SSBUKingKRoolIdle1.gif|King K. Rool's first idle pose.

SSBUKingKRoolIdle2.gif|King K. Rool's second idle pose.

|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! <br> {{NTSC}} <br> King K. Rool, t'es trop cool! <br> {{PAL}}

===Most historically significant players===

<!--This character has a ten player limit for this section. Before adding and/or removing a player, read these guidelines: https://www.ssbwiki.com/SmashWiki:Notability#%22Most_historically_significant_players%22_guidelines -->

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

*{{Sm|Ben Gold|Australia}} - The best King K. Rool player in the world as well as one of the best Australian players during the early metagame. He is notable for being the first King K. Rool player to win a notable regional event with {{Trn|Battle Arena Melbourne 11}} and he continued to have notable results in Australia with 5th at {{Trn|Phantom 2019}} and a notable major placement with 17th at {{Trn|Thunder Smash 3: Clash of the Pandas}}. After 2019, he dropped the character in favor of playing {{SSBU|Wolf}} and makes rare appearances regionally.

*{{Sm|Lukewarm|USA}} - Currently the best King K. Rool player in the world. While was notable during the early metagame, he gained recognition in online tournaments where he beat top players such as {{Sm|Sonix}} and ranked 17th on the [[Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v7]]. At offline tournaments, he became the second King K. Rool player to win a regional in {{Trn|Anime Houston 2021}} and holds some of the best King K. Rool results at majors such as 17th at {{Trn|CEO 2021}} and 25th at {{Trn|Rise 'N Grind}}. His current attendance has been sparce, but he still headlines the character in the meta, seen with his 49th place finish at {{Trn|Luminosity Makes BIG Moves 2024}} defeating {{Sm|MKBigBoss}}, and his 3rd place finish at {{Trn|Comicpalooza Fight Club 2024}}, defeating {{Sm|Lima}}, {{Sm|Ploopy}}, and {{Sm|Lui$}}, marking the best wins and performance of the character in the current metagame.

===Tier placement and history===

Upon ''Ultimate''{{'}}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, unique [[Belly 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 top professionals speculating that King K. Rool could be high- or even top-tier on release. Additionally, less experienced players struggled mightily against him, with some calling him "broken". In the first few weeks of the game's release, King K. Rool picked up multiple strong early tournament results, primarily in the US, such as {{Sm|Vikerkaar}} placing 9th at {{Trn|Don't Park on the Grass 2018}}, {{Sm|Ito}} placing 13th at {{Trn|Super Splat Bros}}, and {{Sm|WAR}} placing 4th at {{Trn|Poi Poundaz 2}}.

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 made his already negative perception even worse, despite being largely irrelevant in retrospect. Because of these factors, almost every top professional saw him as one of the worst characters in the game within months, which was especially notorious among the Japanese top players, many of whom considered him to be the single-worst character in the game. He was simply too inconsistent to be seen as a viable pick in the high-power metagame that ''Ultimate''{{'}}s cast brought to the table.

King K. Rool later received a small number of helpful buffs in update 3.0.0 in 2019, although they were not significant enough to address his significant flaws, and his competitive reputation remained poor. Nevertheless, it improved his representation, with {{Sm|Dera}} getting a win against {{Sm|Somé}} during {{Trn|Obasuma OST 4}} and placing 3rd, which was the first glimmer of hope for K. Rool in spite of his then-bottom tier perception. While still typically ranked very low, players such as {{Sm|Ben Gold}}, {{Sm|KirbyKid}}, and {{Sm|Muk}} began to earn cosmopolitan results that made people question King K. Rool's reputation as a low tier character. This was especially evident when Ben Gold managed to win {{Trn|Battle Arena Melbourne 11}}, an Australian B-tier tournament, with King K. Rool as his solo main. While still revied rather lowly by top players, 2019 proved to be a decent year for the Kremling King, with players like {{Sm|ESAM}} and {{Sm|MVD}} arguing that he could be mid-tier.

Ben Gold would continue achieving astounding results at PGR-level events well into 2020, such as 17th at {{Trn|Phantom 2020}}, which was the event to truly bring King K. Rool's low-tier status into question. During this period, western players began connecting with the Japanese playerbase, where they learned some of King K. Rool's more nuanced gameplay lines, and as resources continued to improve, the skill floor for King K. Rool began to increase as well. Thus, by the time Ben Gold dropped King K. Rool, {{Sm|KirbyKid}} carried the torch, going on to on to place 13th at {{Trn|InfinityCON Tally 2021}}. Additionally, Raphy, a German player, placed 5th at {{Trn|Smash Contest: DoKomi 2021}}. While Ben Gold dropped the character, his, Raphy, and KirbyKid's success solo maining King K. Rool from 2020 through 2022, along with repeated significant buffs in hand, led to further conversations about King K. Rool's viability. {{Sm|Dabuz}} went as far as to say that King K. Rool is a high-mid-tier character, and some Japanese players — such as {{Sm|Raito}}, who considered him to be the worst character in the game — stated that K. Rool might be a lot more threatening than initially perceived.

More recently, many of King K. Rool's top players have either decreased in tournament attendance or moved towards different characters. Many of his buffs, while accentuating his strengths, failed to answer many of his weaknesses, such as a poor [[out of shield]] game and lack of non-committal anti-airs. With multiple periods of competitive viability, his staying power at top level can be called questionable, with him fading in and out of top cut lists over months. King K. Rool's true viability is hotly contested, with some arguing his national-level top cut placements prove his potential, while others will call it a fluke. King K. Rool would end up ranking 74th on the first tier list, near the top of the low tier. With a lack of top level representation throughout 2023, alongside his inherent flaws and inconsistent top level results, he would fall even further to 80th on the second and current tier list, in the newly created E+ Tier, ranking him among the worst characters in the game.

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 in ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong 64}}''. The boss of his route is [[Galleom]], who is the heaviest boss in the game. On an extended note, Galleom's hulking proportions and posture are similar to {{SSBU|Donkey Kong}}'s (King K. Rool's arch-nemesis), and his name is spelled similarly to "Galleon", which can be a reference to ''{{SSBUMusicLink|Donkey Kong|Gang-Plank Galleon}}'' (the song associated with King K. Rool).

!Round!!Opponent!!Stage!!Music!!Notes

|1||{{CharHead|Charizard|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Unova Pokémon League]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Pokémon|Victory Road - Pokémon Ruby / Pokémon Sapphire}}''||Charizard's {{SSBU|Pokémon Trainer}} is absent.

|2||{{CharHead|Bowser|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Find Mii]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Super Mario Bros.|King Bowser - Super Mario Bros. 3}}''||The stage references Bowser's Castle.

|3||{{CharHead|King Dedede|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Boxing Ring]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Kirby|King Dedede's Theme (Brawl)}}''||The stage references the Dedede Arena, where Kirby fights King Dedede.

|4||{{CharHead|Ridley|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Brinstar Depths]] ([[Battlefield form]])||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Metroid|Vs. Ridley}}''||

|5||{{CharHead|Ganondorf|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Bridge of Eldin]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|The Legend of Zelda|Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form}}''||

|6||{{CharHead|Donkey Kong|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||{{SSB|Kongo Jungle}}||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Donkey Kong|Crocodile Cacophony}}''||Items do not appear.

|colspan="5"|[[Bonus Stage]]

{{clr}}

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

==In Spirit Battles==

SSBUWebsiteKingKRool1.jpg|Posing on [[Green Greens]].

SSBUWebsiteSteve2.jpg|{{SSBU|Steve}} striking K. Rool with his down tilt on [[Gerudo Valley]].

*''Ultimate'' marks King K. Rool's first major video game appearance in over a decade, last appearing in ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario Super Sluggers}}'', released in 2008.

*King K. Rool is one of five ''Ultimate'' [[newcomer]]s that were previously [[Mii Costume]]s in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', alongside {{SSBU|Inkling}}, {{SSBU|Daisy}}, {{SSBU|Chrom}}, and {{SSBU|Isabelle}}.

*King K. Rool is the second fighter to have both a [[counterattack]] and a [[reflection|reflector]] in his default moveset, with the first being {{SSBU|Palutena}}.