King K. Rool (SSBU)
King K. Rool in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | |
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Universe | Donkey Kong |
Availability | Unlockable |
Final Smash | Blast-O-Matic |
“ | King K. Rool Comes Aboard! | ” |
—Introduction Tagline |
“ | With long-distance special moves like the Blunderbuss, and counter moves like Stomach Attack, he is a versatile fighter. His Final Smash, Blast-O-Matic, was apparently a weapon created to destroy DK Island... | ” |
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site |
King K. Rool (キングクルール, King K. Rool) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. A long-running nemesis of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and the rest of the Kong clan, he was the main antagonist of the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy and several subsequent games in the broader Donkey Kong series. He was announced as a newcomer alongside Simon, Richter, Chrom, and Dark Samus in the Ultimate-centric Nintendo Direct on August 8th, 2018. King K. Rool is classified as fighter #67.
Instead of using the voice of Toshihide Tsuchiya, who has voiced the character since 2007's Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, King K. Rool bellows like a real crocodile, similar to how Bowser, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong emit realistic animal sounds.
Attributes
- K. Rool's design is based on his appearance in the original Donkey Kong Country, with his cape going down to his waist instead of stopping at his middle back and his belly being plated in golden armor.[1] His scales are also more pronounced than in any other appearance. However, his smaller crown, shortened tail, blue gem at the front of his cape, lack of a vertical indentation on his stomach, and more expressive eyes come from Donkey Kong spinoff developer Paon's post-Donkey Kong 64 redesign of the character.
- When using his neutral special, he also dons his pirate hat as a reference to Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest akin to his alter ego, Kaptain K. Rool.
- K. Rool's idle pose resembles his idle from Donkey Kong Country.
- K. Rool is a super heavyweight with slow mobility and a fast falling speed
- K. Rool dashes on all four limbs, akin to real-life alligators and crocodiles, thus making him a lot more intimidating, though he performs his walk animation on two legs.
- Certain belly-based moves in King K. Rool's moveset grant armor. However, taking damage with these moves cracks his stomach armor, with K. Rool getting dazed upon it breaking completely after sustaining too much damage. The armor regenerates when not using belly attacks.
- King K. Rool's victory theme is a flourished orchestration of the first few bars of "Gang-Plank Galleon", his boss theme from the original Donkey Kong Country.[2]
Known moveset
Ground attacks
- Neutral attack - A sumo-esque palm strike much like Bowser, followed by a claw swipe, and finishing with a front kick.
- Forward tilt - A frontal clap, similar to Donkey Kong's forward smash.
- Up tilt - A quick uppercut.
- Down tilt - A burying stomp resembling a sumo stance.
- Dash attack - A belly-first lunge. Based on an attack from Donkey Kong Land.
Smash attacks
- Forward smash - A straight punch with a boxing glove, based on his persona from Donkey Kong 64. The boxing glove materializes on the hand that performs the punch.
- Up smash - A headbutt followed by a plank. The plank animation meteor smashes.
- Down smash - A leaping belly flop, somewhat like King Dedede's dash attack
Aerial attacks
- Neutral aerial - Inflates his stomach and performs a splash, very quick move, slightly slower than up aerial.
- Forward aerial - A decently quick aerial dropkick, similar to Bowser's back aerial, also sweetspottable for more damage.
- Back aerial - A slow overhead punch, similar to if Ganondorf or Mario's forward aerial was performed while turning around; it will meteor smash if sweetspotted.
- Up aerial - A headbutt that goes straight upward and also slightly moves him upward, it also has lots of endlag after use for a few seconds, damage is also greater if his crown is on his head, the quickest aerial for him to use.
- Down aerial - A decently quick aerial double foot stomp. It will meteor smash if sweetspotted.
Throws/other attacks
- Grab - Reaches out.
- Pummel - A headbutt.
- Forward throw - Lifts the opponent over his head before slamming them into the ground, sending the opponent flying forwards.
- Back throw - Drags the opponent on the ground and throws them upwards.
- Up throw - Heaves the opponent over his head, leaps past the upper blast line, and performs an Argentine backbreaker upon landing, blasting the opponent upwards. Similar to Kirby's and Charizard's up throws.
- Down throw - Slams the opponent into the ground, burying them.
Special Moves
On-screen appearance
- Drops from the sky with his arms crossed before chuckling. His pose is based on how he appears in Donkey Konga.
Taunts
- Viciously snaps forward, similar to Bowser's side taunt.
- Slaps his belly once in amusement.
- Does a sumo-esque stomp.
Victory poses
- Flips his cape around before ending in a pose similar to his official artwork.
- Shifts his eyes left and right before ending with a triumphant pose.
- Belly flops on screen and rebounds with a backflip before successfully landing on his feet and slapping his belly with pride.
Classic Mode: Super Heavyweight Class
All of King K. Rool's opponents are some of the heaviest characters in the game.
Round | Opponent | Stage |
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1 | Charizard | Spear Pillar |
2 | Bowser | Find Mii |
3 | King Dedede | Boxing Ring |
4 | Ridley | Brinstar Depths (Battlefield form) |
5 | Ganondorf | Bridge of Eldin |
6 | Donkey Kong | Kongo Jungle |
Bonus Stage | ||
Final | Galleom | ? |
Note: When fighting Charizard, its Pokémon Trainer is absent.
Role in World of Light
King K. Rool was among the fighters that were summoned to fight against the army of Master Hands.
During the opening cutscene, King K. Rool was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. He was vaporized offscreen and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the other fighters, excluding Kirby.
Alternate costumes
Reveal trailer
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Gallery
King K. Rool's amiibo.
On Green Greens.
Using his Blunderbuss on Pirate Ship.
Posing on Boxing Ring.
Villager taking out K. Rool's pocketed Crown on Tortimer Island.
His purple and blue costumes on Prism Tower.
King K. Rool starts the battle on Kongo Falls.
- Kroolvictory1.gif
His first victory pose.
- Kroolvictory3.gif
HIs third victory pose.
Using Crownerang on Peach, who's standing behind Toad.
Using Propellerpack on Yoshi's Island.
- KRoolfinalsmash.gif
Using his Final Smash
Character showcase video
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Trivia
- Outside of minor cameos, Ultimate marks King K. Rool's first physical appearance in a decade, as he last appeared in 2008's Mario Super Sluggers.
- King K. Rool is the third playable Smash Bros. character to have been created outside Japan, following Diddy Kong, also created as part of the Donkey Kong Country series by the British developer Rare, and Dark Samus, who was created by the Texas-based Retro Studios.
- King K. Rool is the third of four newcomers to be announced in Ultimate that was previously featured as a Mii Fighter costume in Super Smash Bros. 4. The other three are Inkling, Chrom, and Isabelle.
- One of the poses King K. Rool strikes in his victory animations is the same one he poses in his official artwork.
- According to Masahiro Sakurai, King K. Rool's inclusion in Ultimate was a result of his popularity in the Super Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot.[3]
- Like King Dedede, Lucina, and Richter, K. Rool's name is pronounced differently between the different international versions of Ultimate. It is pronounced "King Kay-Rool" in English and "King Kruel" in Japanese.
- This is the first time that the English name is spoken verbally in a game. The first time it was spoken verbally was in the pilot episode of the Donkey Kong Country animated series, although it was alternated with the pronunciation "King Kuh-Rool" before the pronunciation of "King Kay-Rool" was dropped entirely.
- King K. Rool is the second character in the series whose back aerial meteor smashes opponents, the first being Lucas.
- King K. Rool is the only character who debuted in Ultimate to be shown in multiple character reveal trailers in CGI form: he appeared in both his own and Incineroar and Ken's reveal trailer.
- During early gameplay footage released by Nintendo showing King K. Rool facing off against Snake, the announcer did not say, "wins" after saying King K. Rool's name on the victory screen. This was later fixed.
- King K. Rool is the second character in the series with the ability to counter attacks and to reflect projectiles in his default moveset, the first being Palutena.
References
Donkey Kong universe | |
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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 · Zinger |
Trophies, Stickers and Spirits | Trophies (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4) · Stickers · Spirits |
Music | Brawl · SSB4 · Ultimate |
Masterpiece | Donkey Kong |
Related universe | Mario |