King K. Rool (SSBU)

King K. Rool in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
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. He was announced as a newcomer during the August 8th, 2018 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct. 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.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with King K. Rool being the 16th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Link, being the first character in his unlock tree.
• Have King K. Rool join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, King K. Rool must then be defeated on Jungle Japes.

Attributes

King K. Rool is a character that ostensibly fits the mold of a super-heavyweight, being the second-heaviest character in the game and possessing a large array of powerful attacks, along with below-average mobility. However, he has some characteristics that notably set him apart from his heavyweight peers, such as decent frame data in some of his moves, a great recovery, and other valuable tools with a gameplan that focuses on punishing mistakes and zoning against horizontal approach.

King K. Rool's greatest strength is the immense utility of his moveset. Though many of his attacks are typical of a super-heavyweight for hitting very hard, his attacks that lack brute strength offer many different ways to punish opponents, making his playstyle unique and punish-oriented. 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, as it can grant him an immediate opening during an otherwise vulnerable state (such as while being juggled). Additionally, it affects a large amount of his moves, granting more safety on his forward tilt, up smash, down smash, dash attack, neutral aerial, up aerial, and down aerial. As a result, Belly Super Armor heavily helps his approach and defense.

Alongside the utility of his Belly Super Armor, King K. Rool has effective tools for ground offense. His neutral attack has good range and speed, making it reliable as a quick spacing option. This is especially useful out of a foxtrot, as it is incredibly quick and is in fact faster than his normal dash speed (effectively replacing his dash in most circumstances). His tilts are very effective - his forward tilt has good range, good kill power and uses belly armor. This makes it one of the best pivot cancel options in the game, as not many moves can really challenge it. His up tilt comes out very quickly, has reasonably decent knockback (especially at the beginning) and has good enough range to hit platforms above K. Rool. This can also be used to anti-air or prevent approaches from characters such as Lucina and Marth. It is also the most reliable move out of down throw, becoming true from around 90% and killing at around 130% on most characters. Down tilt is rather fast and can bury opponents or KO airborne ones, making it a potent punishment option. It also works at the ledge as a 2-frame and can send the opponent into a Blunderbuss Kannonball.

All of his smash attacks are incredibly powerful, and coupled with up and down smashes gaining belly armor and also having unique traits. Forward Smash deals monumental knockback on the glove sweetspot, especially if angled upwards. It also confirms out of Down Tilt at 70%, usually killing the opponent. Up smash functions as a quick anti-air, has a small spike hitbox and a third hitbox that punishes ground foes. However, only the first is really useful as the other two are extremely weak. The Belly Armor also means that if it is countered, it will send him catapulting off-stage due to how it raises him off the ground. Down Smash deals massive shield damage and lifts K. Rool's entire body off the stage, beating any mid to low moves making it his best hard punish by a long shot. Overall, his smash attacks are all formidable for hard punishes.

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 and forward aerials also act as sex kicks, making them effective for edgeguarding in a variety of situations. Up aerial has good start-up and decent kill power while also working as niche platform movement out of short hop. This is most effective when platforms are low, such as on Battlefield. Down aerial and back aerial are meteor smashes, with the former coming out relatively fast, while the latter is very slow, but is also one of the strongest meteor smashes in the game. His up and down aerials utilize belly armor, but their utility is minimal due to their hitboxes being separated from K. Rool's belly.

His special moves have a wide array of uses as well, with several efficient projectiles; the Blunderbuss is useful for edgeguarding purposes (such as forcing a situation where the opponent has to recover low, allowing for running off with down aerial to meteor smash) and throws out a Kannonball that can be sucked back in and aimed in a few directions. The suction of the Blunderbuss is an effective ledgetrapping tool, especially on stages with platforms. Since K. Rool can drop platforms while still being able to move slightly, he can limit the opponent's options to get out of the ledge. Crownerang covers a large distance and grants him super armor in the beginning frames of the move, and the late hit can set up combos into numerous moves. The pickup animation also has some ways to be cancelled, such as the normal way with other attacks, or a jumpsquat to use the crown again for significant coverage of a stage (although the latter can be difficult). It can also cause K. Rool to slide a bit if he dash dances into it, which is referred to as Crown Sliding by the playerbase.

Furthermore, King K. Rool has immense survivability: between his gargantuan weight, above-average falling speed, and armor on numerous moves, King K. Rool has some of, if not the best longevity in the game, as it is not uncommon for him to live past 200%. Additionally, his recovery move, Propellerpack, goes a remarkable distance for a heavyweight and is infamously hard to intercept vertically due to its respectable hitbox. This can be used to poke opponents on the ledge, then jump up with a forward aerial to regain advantage. It can also be used to catch opponents near the ceiling to steal a stock, most notably on high recovery routes.

Finally, K. Rool has very strong grab game: his up throw is the most damaging throw in the entire game, can KO at high percents with the help of platforms (especially Battlefield's center platform), and can also lead into up tilt if the opponent doesn't jump. His back throw has reasonably solid KO potential near the ledge or otherwise puts the opponent into a position primed for a Crownerang. This throw can also work with a Crown thrown backwards, hitting the opponent during the animation. At higher percents, his notorious down throw can lead into semi-guaranteed tilts, aerials, or possibly even smash attacks if the opponent doesn't mash out fast enough, with it being borderline guaranteed with an Up Tilt at 125%+ on midweight characters. While his forward throw is his least impressive throw as a whole, it does decent damage, can help put an opponent offstage and in a disadvantageous position, and lead into a dash attack or his forward tilt through pivot cancelling at very low percents. The latter option here can also be used as a tech chase. All of this is made even better by the Roll Cancelled Boost Grab, which combined with his incredible initial dash can allow for a string of grabs that strongly deter shielding.

However, King K. Rool's numerous advantages are met with nearly just as many downsides. His below-average speed spells trouble for him in certain matchups, and can make him easier to zone than others, despite his projectiles: Blunderbuss is laggy, the Kannonball is slow and very easy to avoid, while Crownerang is slow and can backfire very hard when missed, since the picked up crown is a fairly powerful item that can be abused to rack up damage very quickly on King K. Rool. Gut Check is generally inferior to other counters due to having a hitbox only on his stomach, while having significantly higher endlag than most reflectors (around 30 seconds if it fails), making it unreliable for countering projectile camping. This endlag makes it almost meaningless against some projectiles, such as Falco's Lasers.

His massive weight and very large hurtbox size makes him extremely vulnerable to combos, and while his Belly Super Armor can help alleviate this, it is not foolproof: if K. Rool takes approximately 28% 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 recovers at just .3% per second, making abuse quite difficult. Its limited HP punishes abuse of this mechanic if used frequently, and competent opponents can actually take advantage of it by forcing K. Rool to use up his armor so he runs out during more desperate times. However, its effectiveness varies depending on whether clashing against his attacks are worthwhile. Additionally, due to their brief durations, his belly armor attacks are more reliable on quick, single-hit moves than long, multi-hitting attacks.

While K. Rool's ground game is reasonably decent, his overall aerial game is relatively poor. Despite his aerials having interesting attributes, including two meteor-smashes, a lot of his aerials suffer from extreme ending lag, making many of them situational (especially up aerial). His forward and down aerials are weaker than the comparable moves of other super-heavyweights despite their high ending lag. His neutral aerial, which is his only aerial that comes out fast without having high ending lag, has poor range and is very unsafe on shield. It is also unsafe on hit at lower percentages, which restricts his potential in the early game. While his back aerial is very strong and has a lingering hitbox, it has very high start-up lag. Its sourspot is also relatively weak, failing to KO until high percents. K. Rool's low air speed and overall poor aerial mobility further hampers his aerial capacity.

King K. Rool's recovery, while good on paper, is very exploitable by many characters. Propellerpack is very linear, and any player that can deal with it can usually 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 with poor planning can kill him. The hitbox doesn't help him horizontally, and given he cannot cancel the animation he has to hard commit to it. He has to try and recover low almost every time, which is extremely dangerous due to how many characters have meteor smashing aerials. Moves from characters such as Piranha Plant and Villager have projectiles (Ptooie and forward smash respectively in this case) that go at the perfect angles to screw it up. It also leaves him very vulnerable to a stage spike, as running off and simply using a back aerial is enough to stop him from coming back. The move can be angled to try and prevent this, but any player who knows the matchup will have a very easy time stopping him from coming back. K. Rool also has very few ledge options, with only the generic ones available. He has no creative options or anything to ledgesnap - even Crownerang is too laggy to be used through the ledge reliably - and thus characters like Ness, Simon, and Richter can keep him there for a long time before finally killing him.

Though a lot of his moves has fairly solid start-up, especially for a super-heavyweight, an equal amount of them suffer from very high endlag, which means that King K. Rool gets easily punished if he fails to connect his attacks. While his belly armor gives him a lot of safety, it also makes some moves less safe to use, especially against characters with very strong moves that can break his belly armor in just a few hits, such as Ganondorf. This means that if his belly armor is used too much, it effectively removes his moves from the game for a while. Finally, despite the wide array of tools he has at his disposal, K. Rool 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 rather lackluster despite the sheer amount of different attacks he has, as few can keep the pressure up without being exploited, or they reset neutral instead. However, his incredible foxtrot can alleviate this slightly.

If an opponent picks up the Crown after it has been thrown with Crownerang, it leaves him without one of his best tools. The crown can actually be used to edgeguard against Propellerpack, or it can be thrown up to keep it from despawning. This is worsened by the fact that Gut Check - even at maximum throw range - doesn't allow K. Rool to have it picked up: he is completely defenseless against an opponent with the crown. The fact that the pickup animation takes 17 frames to complete also means that it can screw up combos at crucial points, or possibly lead to the opponent getting away and stopping advantage from being attained.

All in all, King K. Rool is an extremely resilient character that excels at keeping opponents in a disadvantaged state while punishing mistakes extremely hard. However, just like how he capitalizes heavily on mistakes, his own openings can be heavily punished as well, requiring him to play patiently. King K. Rool has been a fairly popular character in online play and has seen moderate success in tournaments at the local and regional levels, though his results are fairly poor in the national levels. How he will eventually pan out in future competitive play is currently unknown.

Update History

2.0.0

• Blunderbuss has a shorter windbox duration, being shortened to 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.
• Down throw has less base knockback, but more knockback growth. This allows buried opponents to easily escape at low percentage, but making it more difficult to escape at high percentage. These changes can set up situational mix ups between grounded or aerial attacks, such as up aerial out of down throw at lower %s, while making his kill confirms more consistent.
  • The infinite jab combo that worked at 200%+ has been removed, now having the opponent "bounce" on the 3rd loop.

2.0.1

• Fixed a bug where certain adventure activities could not be completed as King K. Rool.
• Belly Super Armour now recovers health in training mode.

Moveset

• K. Rool has a large and tall hurtbox while standing, walking, and jumping. However, he dashes on all four limbs, akin to real-life alligators and crocodiles, which makes his hurtbox smaller.
• 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) grant super armor. Each move grants varying durations of this Belly Super 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 has 14.01 HP, but since the incoming damage is split 50/50 between K. Rool and his belly, it is practically 28.02 HP. It regenerates at 0.08 every 16 frames (about 0.3 per second) when not using belly attacks. Attacks that hit K. Rool's belly super armor make a loud, distinct clanging sound as an audio cue.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2.5%	A three hit combo consisting of a sumo-esque palm strike (comes out on frame 4), a claw swipe (frame 3), then a front kick (frame 5). The first hit can jab reset on big body characters specifically, allowing for some interesting situations. The second hit resembles King K. Rool's standard attack from Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.
			2.5%
			7%
Forward tilt			13% (sweetspot), 11% (sourspot)	A frontal clap, similar to Donkey Kong's forward smash. Gains Belly Super Armor when he rears back to clap, making it a highly effective approach option with pivot cancelling. Sends at a semi-spike angle and is decently fast for its power (comes out on frame 12), KOing at 107% at the edge of Final Destination.
Up tilt			11.5% (early), 8.1% (middle), 6.8% (late)	An uppercut. Has a wide hitbox, covering the front of K. Rool, and starts low enough to reach prone enemies. Almost as fast as his neutral attack. Loses power the longer it is out, with the sweetspot dealing diagonal knockback, and the sourspot dealing mostly vertical knockback while giving combo opportunities. Like his forward tilt, it is decently fast for its power (comes out on frame 5). This move works well out of down throw.
Down tilt			8% (bury), 13% (non-burying), 7% (quake)	A delayed sumo-esque stomp. K. Rool's foot buries grounded opponents, though it cannot do damage to an already-buried enemy. Much stronger on aerial opponents, and can KO at 104% at the edge of Final Destination. The stomp causes a shockwave near his foot. This deals weak vertical knockback to nearby opponents and allowing for moves like forward aerial to be used out of it. Starts with the non-bury hitbox on Frame 13, before the bury comes out at Frame 14. Forward smash is true out of this from around 70%, and kills a lot of the time as well. The hitboxes can hit some opponents below low platforms (such as the left and right platforms on Battlefield). Due to how buries work in Ultimate, it is possible to "store" knockback on a buried opponent using a weak attack, forcing them to get unburied over time and sent at the angle of the weak attack; this can create long combo strings at low percents.
Dash attack			15%, 11% (late)	A belly-first lunge based on an attack from Donkey Kong Land. It covers a good distance and has incredible start-up (comes out on frame 7) for its power, 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 Instant Dash Attack, as it kills larger characters earlier than forward tilt.
Forward smash	↗		19.9% (sweetspot), 17.3% (close)	Dons a boxing glove, referencing his "King Krusha K. Rool" persona from Donkey Kong 64, and throws a strong, straight punch. The sweetspot is located at the boxing glove, with massive knockback. Can be angled and deals more damage if angled up or down, which gives it some versatility. It is somewhat slow with a short-lasting hitbox (comes out on frame 19), but is extremely powerful, KOing at 53% at the edge of Final Destination.
	→		19% (sweetspot), 16.5% (close)
	↘		19.5% (sweetspot), 16.9% (close)
Up smash			15.3% (headbutt), 8.1% (late headbutt), 10% (plank); 3% (meteor smash)	A quick upward headbutt followed by a comical plank. The headbutt has a small hitbox, but has very fast start-up (frame 6) and can KO from medium to high percents. The plank comes out much later and has a bigger hitbox, but deals less damage and knockback, making it suited for covering the headbutt. It can essentially act as a faster, weaker forward smash. The plank animation weakly meteor smashes opponents, though this is ineffective for edgeguarding due to its low knockback. In fact, it is the weakest meteor smash in the game. It can be used to force tech situations, but these are highly situational and impractical. Each hitbox is situated on K. Rool's head and body respectively, meaning it can miss entirely in certain situations. It can be used for shield pressure on platforms, however. Additionally, the move has extremely high ending lag. The headbutt and plank KO at 100% and 162% at the edge of Final Destination, respectively. This move has Belly Super Armor shortly after K. Rool hops and before he flops onto the ground. There are intangibility frames on K. Rool's head when the sweetspot comes out.
Down smash			18.3%, 4.1% (quake)	A leaping belly flop, which causes a quake. Has Belly Super Armor during the leap, and deals heavy shield damage. As K. Rool physically leaves the ground when using the move, his hitbox gets shifted into the air, allowing it to dodge ground or belly-level attacks to deal a hard punish. It is extremely powerful, being one of the strongest down smashes in the game, KOing at 50% at the edge of Final Destination. However, the move is very laggy overall, with its strongest hitbox coming out on frame 22. This makes it punishable if it is used poorly. The quake is extremely weak, but can occasionally lead to a forward tilt.
Neutral aerial			12%, 8% (late)	Inflates his stomach and performs a splash. Very fast (comes out on frame 7), acts as a sex kick and has Belly Super Armor, making it excellent for contesting with aerials or approaching. This is also his fastest out of shield option next to his neutral attack.
Forward aerial			14% (full hop), 12% (sourspot)	A dropkick, similar to Bowser's back aerial. Its sweetspot is at K. Rool's feet. Also acts as a sex kick, allowing it to be used for approaching or edgeguarding. The sweetspot KOs at around 100% near the edge of Final Destination. Hitbox comes out on frame 11. If King K. Rool's body hits at lower percents, it can lead to combos into neutral attack, or down tilt on big body characters like Donkey Kong. The sourspot on this move lies around the torso, and can be used well with Down Tilt.
Back aerial			19% (sweetspot), 14.5% (sourspot)	Turns around and does a delayed downward punch behind him, similar to Mario's forward aerial. It is very slow (comes out on frame 18), but it powerfully meteor smashes opponents if K. Rool's fist hits. It has noticeable landing lag. It also has a lingering hitbox, making it an important tool in neutral when full hopped.
Up aerial			14%, 10% (late)	A headbutt that goes straight upward. Causes K. Rool to float slightly, giving it more reach. It is one of K. Rool's fastest aerial attacks (comes out on frame 7), and deals less damage if hit slightly later. However, it has extremely high ending lag, preventing K. Rool from acting even if performed out of a double jump, making it risky to use offstage, and unsuitable to use for recovery. The hitbox also doesn't extend beside K. Rool's head. The early hitbox KOs at around 120%. The move has Belly Super Armor while K. Rool stretches his head out, but only for a very limited period of time. When short hopped, this move can allow K. Rool to move onto a platform, allowing for some niche movement options. Like up smash, there intangibility frames on K. Rool's head during the attack.
Down aerial			12% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot)	Does a quick flip before performing a double foot stomp in a Superman pose. The hitbox is situated on K. Rool's legs. Decently fast (comes out on frame 14) and meteor smashes if sweetspotted, although the meteor smash is rather weak. Has Belly Super Armor after K. Rool stretches his feet out. If the opponent "staggers" on-stage against this move, it confirms a wide variety of attacks.
Grab			—	Reaches out quickly with great range. However, his dash and pivot grabs are slower than his standing grab.
Pummel			1.6%	Headbutts the opponent.
Forward throw			10% (throw), 7% (slam)	Lifts the opponent over his head before slamming them into the ground, sending the opponent flying forwards. The slam damages nearby opponents. Decent knockback. This combos into dash attack or a pivot cancelled forward tilt at 0%.
Back throw			11%	Drags the opponent on the ground and throws them behind him. KOs at 124% at the edge of Final Destination.
Up throw			16%	Heaves the opponent over his head, leaps high into the air, and performs an Argentine backbreaker upon landing, blasting the opponent upwards. It is the most damaging up throw and also the most damaging throw in the game, but KOs late at around 180%. Stages with low upper blast lines and/or high platforms help mitigate this issue, as it carries opponents up in a similar fashion to Charizard's up throw. Can follow up with up tilt or aerials at low percents. With the assistance of soft platforms, this throw is notorious for leading into Propellerpack, which is lethal with incorrect DI.
Down throw		Piledriver	5%	Lifts the opponent overhead before slamming them into the ground head-first, burying them. Has the lowest damage output of K. Rool's throws, but this is compensated by its followup potential. K. Rool's most versatile throw overall, as well as one of his most versatile tools in general. Down throw follows up to numerous moves depending on the opponent's percent, including jab, up tilt, and up air at lower to mid percents, as well as forward tilt, forward and down smash at higher percents. However, most followups can be avoided if the opponent mashes out (especially since the throw itself is slow and gives plenty of time to react), making its kill setups unreliable at much higher percents. Only dash attack, forward and up tilts are able to follow up at 125% and kill reliably. However, up smash and up aerial can be used to discourage mashing and create 50/50 situations at lower percents, as the prior kills at 100% a lot of the time.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Swipes his claws from back to front.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Swipes his claws from back to front.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Swipes his claws from back to front.
Edge attack Edge getups			10%	Swipes forward with one claw.
Neutral special		Blunderbuss	13% (kannonball), 12% (throw), 17% (relaunched kannonball)	Pulls out a blunderbuss and fires a Kannonball forward, while donning the pirate hat worn by his alter-ego "Kaptain K. Rool" in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Only one Kannonball can be in play at one time, with another being usable after around 2.5 seconds. After a Kannonball is fired, the special button can be held to use the blunderbuss's vacuum function, sucking in nearby enemies or the Kannonball itself (though the move will eventually cancel after several seconds). K. Rool can drop through soft platforms while vacuuming with his blunderbuss, and he also can move left and right as well while airborne, which is very useful for ledgetrapping. Once it sucks something in, K. Rool will immediately launch it out at a slight angle upward in front or behind him, or directly upwards, depending on the held direction. The blunderbuss "throw" KOs at 100% near the edge of Final Destination, though it deals lower knockback upwards or if reversed. A launched Fighter or re-launched Kannonball is capable of KOing as early as 70%, with the Kannonball lingering while doing minor damage after the first hit.
Side special		Crownerang	9% (projectile), 7% (returning), 10.3% (thrown item), 10.8% (smash thrown item), 7.7% (z-dropped item)	Takes off his crown and flings it forward, similar to Boomerang. Has normal, non-belly armor while K. Rool is throwing his crown. Deals less damage when returning. Unlike Boomerang, it cannot be smash thrown. The crown will attempt to return to K. Rool while flying, though it will slowly lose altitude. Only one crown can be thrown at once. If K. Rool fails to catch it, the crown will drop as an item for anyone else to use, and will reappear on his head after 12 seconds or if K. Rool touches it again (does not count if the crown hits him as a thrown item, or if the crown is from another K. Rool). The pickup animation can be cancelled through using a move or "unavoidable" animations such as jumpsquat when coming into contact. If an initial dash when coming into contact, King K. Rool will "slide" a short distance, giving a minor movement option as well as a 40.8% combo into Down Smash at 0% if the crown hits both times.
Up special		Propellerpack	3% (propellers)	Equips the Propellerpack and flies upward. Even for a heavyweight, this recovery covers an excellent amount of distance, allowing K. Rool to fly from one end of Final Destination to the other, though changing direction is difficult. Upon reaching peak height for a moment, K. Rool will slowly drift down while helpless. The propellers above K. Rool deal multiple weak hits, protecting him from edgeguards while even allowing him to drag opponents to the top blast line, though this can be DI'd out of if it hits more than 3 times.
Down special		Gut Check	1.5× (both counterattack and reflected projectiles), 12-42% (counterattack damage range)	Puffs out his stomach and retaliates against attacks. It works like a counterattack and can also reflect projectiles. However, the counter hitbox is centered on K.Rool's stomach, making the rest of his body vulnerable (most notably his face), much like the Melee and Brawl versions of Toad. It has a damage multiplier of 1.5x, making it tied with Counter Throw for the highest damage multiplier out of any counterattack in Ultimate. When reflecting, the stomach has a lingering hitbox that deals the minimum damage (12%) and can actually land a KO in niche situations. This is usually seen when projectiles are reflected from close range.
Final Smash		Blast-O-Matic	3% (stomp), 10% (tackle), 25% (laser), 10% (throw)	K. Rool stomps, stunning any nearby opponents, and lunges forward while catching those in his path. If at least one opponent was caught, a cutscene plays in which K. Rool sits on his throne on Crocodile Isle before firing a massive laser from his Blast-o-Matic cannon. The laser then fires through Donkey Kong Island, destroying the island and dealing massive damage on the victims.

On-screen appearance

• Drops from the sky with his arms crossed before chuckling. His pose is based on how he appears in Donkey Konga, while him falling from the sky is a reference to Donkey Kong Country.

Taunts

• Viciously snaps forward, similar to Bowser's side taunt.
• Slaps his belly once in amusement. Amusingly, this taunt also uses K. Rool's Belly Super Armor.
• Does a sumo-esque stomp.

Idle poses

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

K. Rool's idle pose resembles his idle from Donkey Kong Country.

Victory poses

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

A flourished orchestration of the first few bars of "Gang-Plank Galleon", his boss theme from the original Donkey Kong Country.

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In competitive play

Notable players

•  Ito - One of the best King K. Rool players in the world. Placed 17th at SoCal Chronicles.
•  KOSSismoss - Currently considered to be the best King K. Rool player in the world. Placed 9th at Don't Park on the Grass 2018.
•  Suntherion - 25th at Valhalla II with K. Rool.

Classic Mode: Super Heavyweight Class

All of King K. Rool's opponents are some of the heaviest characters in the game with most of them being antagonists.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music
1	Charizard	Unova Pokémon League	Victory Road - Pokémon Ruby / Pokémon Sapphire
2	Bowser	Find Mii	King Bowser - Super Mario Bros. 3
3	King Dedede	Boxing Ring	King Dedede's Theme (Brawl)
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
Bonus Stage
Final	Galleom	Base	Boss Battle - Super Smash Bros. Brawl

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.

King K. Rool was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He can be found on a ship in the Mysterious Dimension subarea, guarded by the spirit of fellow pirate, Risky Boots.

Spirits

King K. Rool's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. 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. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, he makes an appearance as a few Primary Spirits under his alter egos from the Donkey Kong Country series.

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  136. King K. Rool

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  162. Kaptain K. Rool

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  163. Baron K. Roolenstein

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  King K. Rool's splash art.

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  King K. Rool's amiibo.

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  King K. Rool's fighter card.

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  On Green Greens.

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  Using his Blunderbuss on Pirate Ship.

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  Posing on Boxing Ring.

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  Villager taking out K. Rool's pocketed Crown on Tortimer Island.

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  Using Gut Check against Snake on Magicant.

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  His purple and blue costumes on Prism Tower.

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  King K. Rool starts the battle on Kongo Falls.

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  His first victory pose.

• King K. Rool Victory Pose.gif

  His second victory pose.

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  His third victory pose.

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  Using Crownerang on Peach, who's standing behind Toad.

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  Using Propellerpack on Yoshi's Island.

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  Using his Final Smash.

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.
• Like King Dedede, Lucina, Simon 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.
• King K. Rool is the only character in the series with a taunt that utilizes armor.
• Pausing and zooming in on and around King K. Rool during his side taunt reveals a gap between his scales and his belly armor.
• King K. Rool is one of three characters whose unlocking battle in World of Light is not on either Final Destination or an Ω form. The other two are Daisy and Mii Gunner.