King K. Rool

For fighter info, see King K. Rool (SSBU).

King K. Rool
File:KRool DK64.png King K. Rool's artwork from Donkey Kong 64.
Universe	Donkey Kong
Debut	Donkey Kong Country (1994)
Smash Bros. appearances	Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Mario Super Sluggers (2008)
Console/platform of origin	Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Species	Kremling
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Crocodile Isle
Created by	Steve Mayles Gregg Mayles
Designed by	Steve Mayles
Article on Super Mario Wiki	King K. Rool

King K. Rool (キングクルール, King K. Rool) is the primary antagonist of the Donkey Kong series. The arch-nemesis of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, King K. Rool usually seeks to pillage the Kong Family's Banana Hoard in order to starve them to death and/or to satiate his own love for bananas.

After making cameos as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. 4, as well as a Mii Costume in SSB4, King K. Rool made his debut as a fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Origin

Official artwork of King K. Rool from DK: Jungle Climber. This appearance inspired his trophy's design in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4.

King K. Rool is the leader of the Kremling Krew, and King of the Kremlings. King K. Rool, like his spiritual predecessor Bowser, is a sinister, boisterous, burly reptile who antagonizes Donkey Kong, much like how Bowser antagonizes Mario. However, while Bowser has frequently wavered between ally and foe for the Mario Bros. and is respectful towards his minions, K. Rool is consistently presented as a threat to the Kong family's safety and way of life aside from one instance where he teams up with them in Mario Super Sluggers due to being impressed with their skills and often mistreats and berates his minions.

K. Rool is the main antagonist of most games in the Donkey Kong series and the archenemy of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, making his debut in Donkey Kong Country as the final boss. In that game, he steals Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's banana hoard for unknown reasons, but two official reasons given are either that he likes bananas, or he stole them in order to starve Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong and occupy their treehouse. He made his return again in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest as pirate captain "Kaptain K. Rool", where he kidnaps Donkey Kong and demands the Kongs' banana hoard for ransom, but Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong instead go to his home island, Crocodile Isle, to rescue him. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! has him assume the alias of mad scientist "Baron K. Roolenstein", as well as kidnap both Donkey and Diddy to power his robot KAOS in a bid to control the Northern Kremisphere. However, Dixie and her younger cousin Kiddy Kong stop these plans and free Donkey and Diddy.

In Donkey Kong 64, he reappears in a new mechanical version of his old island, plotting to destroy DK Island with his Blast-O-Matic, but it gets damaged on arrival. He thus has Diddy, Lanky, Tiny, and Chunky captured, as well as Donkey and Diddy's banana hoard stolen again, to buy time to repair the weapon. Once the Kongs disable it, K. Rool flees, but crashes his airship on DK Island, where the final battle takes place: an extended boxing match where he goes by "King Krusha K. Rool" (with a typical champion boxer getup). He also appears in the Donkey Kong Land series, in similar roles to their SNES counterparts; he also appeared in DK: King of Swing and DK: Jungle Climber, as well as the spin-off racing game Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, which were developed by Paon. In the latter games, his design underwent some changes, the most notable of which were a smaller crown, a much shorter tail, and the removal of his golden breastplate in favor of a tan underbelly. He did not appear in either game of the revived Donkey Kong series, developed by Retro Studios (Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze), and neither do the Kremlings, being replaced by the Tiki Tak Tribe and the Snowmads, respectively.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

King K. Rool appears as a trophy.

Trophy

King K. Rool trophy in Melee.

King K. Rool

The demented head of the Kremlings and big boss in the Donkey Kong series. K. Rool is a giant, greedy glutton with a serious eye tic. While he fits the evil boss mold nicely, he's just enough of a bumbler to have gained a few fans over the years. His plan to blow up the DK Isles with his Blast-o-Matic shows how unbalanced he is.

Donkey Kong Country

11/94

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

King K. Rool appears as both a trophy and a sticker.

Trophy

The King K. Rool trophy is unlocked by clearing Target Smash level 4 with all characters.

King K. Rool trophy in Brawl.

The supreme commander of the Kremling Krew. King K. Rool steals bananas from Donkey Kong and ends up kidnapping Diddy Kong. He is so good at playing dead that sometimes the credits even roll as he lies there, feigning defeat. His brother^[sic], Kaptain K. Rool, made an appearance in the game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest.

: Donkey Kong Country

: Donkey Kong 64

Sticker

Name	Game	Effect	Characters
King K. Rool	Donkey Kong 64	AttackThrowing+029 Attack +29	All characters

King K. Rool (DK64)

In Super Smash Bros. 4

As a costume

Mii Brawlers dressed as King K. Rool.

King K. Rool is the basis for a paid downloadable Mii Costume. Although the King K. Rool Hat can be worn by any type of Mii Fighter, only Mii Brawlers can wear the King K. Rool Outfit. The costume features aesthetics from K. Rool's Rare and Paon designs.

Trophy

The King K. Rool trophy appears in both versions of the game.

King K. Rool trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

King K. Rool trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Whereas Mario often squares off against Bowser, Donkey Kong must fight against King K. Rool. He's a big croc with a big attitude...and a tiny crown. He probably could have been Donkey Kong's most trustworthy animal friend. Think he'll ever have a change of heart? Not likely.
This guy is to Donkey Kong what Bowser is to Mario. This crowned Kremling has a serious attitude problem. If only he could have been one of DK's Animal Friends instead... Maybe with just a little change of heart, he still could be! On second thoughts...nope. Never gonna happen.

: Donkey Kong Country (11/1994)

: Donkey Kong 64 (11/1999)

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As a playable character

King K. Rool, as he appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

King K. Rool appears as a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and was formally announced alongside Simon, Richter, Chrom and Dark Samus during the Super Smash Bros. Direct on August 8th, 2018. According to Super Smash Bros. series creator Masahiro Sakurai, he used the Super Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot as a list of candidates to potentially include in a playable capacity for Ultimate. Due to King K. Rool having "received a ton of votes" on the Fighter Ballot, he was chosen to become a playable character in Ultimate.

King K. Rool has a composite design: his bestial voice, pronounced scales and golden breastplate are from his Rare design, while his clawed fingers, shorter tail, smaller crown and slightly modified cape are from his Paon design. However, Sakurai also admitted that K. Rool's overall size was slightly shrunken compared to his usual depictions, which is humorously referenced at the end of his reveal trailer.

A number of King K. Rool's moves are derived from his various appearances, with most of his special moves being the clearest examples. In addition to the Blast-o-Matic being his Final Smash, K. Rool's side special move involves him throwing his crown like a boomerang as in Donkey Kong Country. His "Kaptain" and "Baron K. Roolenstein" personas are also directly referenced: the blunderbuss from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and the Propellerpack from Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! are his neutral and up special moves, respectively.

Aside from these references, K. Rool's breastplate also functions as more than just an aesthetic throwback: it grants passive protection during certain moves and can function as both a counterattack and reflector via his Gut Check down special move. However, the breastplate has a set amount of durability that slowly regenerates over time and will stun K. Rool once it is fully depleted.

As a costume

The King K. Rool costume for Mii Fighters reappears, albeit as unlockable content instead of downloadable content.

Spirits

• 

  136. King K. Rool

• 

  162. Kaptain K. Rool

• Baron K Roolenstein Spirit.png

  163. Baron K Roolenstein

Gallery

• 

  King K. Rool as a Mii Brawler costume

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	キングクルール, King K. Rool	—
English	King K. Rool	—
French (PAL)	King K. Rool	—
French (NTSC)	Roi K. Rool	King K. Rool
German	King K. Rool	—
Spanish	King K. Rool	—
Italian	King K. Rool	—
Chinese (Simplified)	库鲁鲁王, King K. Rool	—
Chinese (Traditional)	庫魯魯王, King K. Rool	—
Korean	킹크루루, King K. Rool	—
Dutch	King K. Rool	—
Russian	Кинг К. Роль	"К. Роль" is a wordplay with Король (king)

Trivia

• While King K. Rool has a voice actor in his own series, with his current voice actor being Toshihide Tsuchiya, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate does not give King K. Rool a voice actor, instead giving him realistic crocodile grunts, similar to his appearances in some Donkey Kong games, such as DK: King of Swing. The same thing happens to Donkey Kong, who is given realistic gorilla grunts instead of using Takashi Nagasako's voice clips from other games; Diddy Kong, who uses realistic chimpanzee screeches instead of using voice clips from his current voice actor Katsumi Suzuki; Bowser, who uses realistic roars instead of his current voice actor Kenny James; and Petey Piranha, who uses monstrous roars instead of his current voice actor Toru Minegishi.
• King K. Rool is the only Donkey Kong fighter to have made a non-playable appearance in the series prior to his debut as a fighter, as he appeared as a trophy in Melee, a trophy and sticker in Brawl, and a trophy and a downloadable Mii costume in both versions of SSB4.
• Although King K. Rool's name is the same between Japanese and English, the announcer pronounces it differently between regions: the English version pronounces it as "King Kay Rool", while the Japanese version pronounces it "King Cruel", which is the basis of the pun on which his name is built.
• King K. Rool is the only playable Donkey Kong character whose onscreen appearance does not involve him jumping out of a DK Barrel.
• King K. Rool is the third character in the Super Smash Bros. series to be created outside Japan and the second character to originate from Europe.
• Sub-universes applied, King K. Rool is one of the four Mario fighters not to have amiibos based on them in the Super Mario amiibo lineup, the others being Piranha Plant, Bowser Jr. and Dr. Mario.
• While most characters in the Japanese version omit their royal honorifics and titles (such as King or Princess) from their names, K. Rool is an exception, as he keeps the title of King in his name. In the English version he shares this peculiarity with King Dedede.
• Humorously, King K. Rool's trophy description in SSB4 states that he could have been a friend to Donkey Kong with a change of heart, but deems the event not likely. Perhaps coincidentally, during Joker's gameplay reveal trailer, he gets his crown stolen by Joker (who in his home series changes the hearts of people by stealing their treasure) and is afterwards seen sleeping in the Kongs' treehouse during Banjo & Kazooie's reveal trailer.
• Out of all the Mario sub-fighters physically, King K. Rool appeared in the least amount of Mario games, as his only appearance was in Mario Super Sluggers which was also ironically his very last physical appearance for 10 years.