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King K. Rool
KingKRoolDKJC
King K. Rool's artwork from the game DK: Jungle Climber for DS.
Full Name K. Rool
Alias(es) "Krudd"
Kommander K. Rool
Kaptain K. Rool
Baron K. Roolenstein
King Krusha K. Rool
K. Fool[1][2]
King Scaleface[3]
Homeland Crocodile Isle
Residence(s) His keep (home)
Mobile Island Fortress
Family K. Lumsy (younger brother),
KAOS (invention)
Unnamed Wife
Species Kremling
Sub-Species Kritter
Gender Male
Affiliates Kremling Kuthroats (remnant)[4][5]
Kremling Krew
Powers/Abilities Tremendous Strength,
Technological Prowess,
Above average speed,
Extremely agile,
Unlimited supply of Kannonballs,
Creating shockwaves through ground-pounding,
Invisibility,
Can turn temporarily invincible when enraged,
Can shape himself into a ball and bounce off surfaces rapidly
Wearing a pointy crown as King K. Rool, making it impossible to jump on him without him taking the crown off
Enemies Kong Family,
Donkey Kong,
Diddy Kong,
Dixie Kong,
Kiddy Kong,
Cranky Kong
Wrinkly Kong (former teacher)[6]
Game(s) Antagonist for most of the Donkey Kong series games.
Notable exceptions:
Diddy Kong Racing,
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat,
Diddy Kong Racing DS,
Donkey Kong Country Returns,
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D,
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
First Appearance Donkey Kong Country (for SFC/SNES) (1994)
Latest Appearance Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)
Voice Actor/Actress Chris Sutherland (1994-2005)[7],
Benedict Campbell[8] (in the DKC TV series) (1997-2000),
Toshihide Tsuchiya (2007-2008)
"And then, the world--no, the whole universe will be mine!"
King K. Rool in the game DK: Jungle Climber for Nintendo DS

King K. Rool is the demented and unbalanced main antagonist of the Donkey Kong series. He is the malevolent ruler of the Kremling race (despite Klubba's statement about the Kremlings hating K. Rool because he is always abusing them), the head of the Kremling Krew who constantly terrorize the Kongs, and the archenemy of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. K. Rool has repeatedly tried to steal Donkey and Diddy Kong's Banana Hoard for reasons that are not fully understood, but may involve starving the primates to death and occupying DK's Treehouse (effectively making him King of the Donkey Kong Island). To reach his goal, he has even gone as far as kidnapping members of the Kong Family such as DK and Diddy.

Biography

Past

K. Rool is a descendant of Kremlantis' former residents.[9] Originally, K. Rool was Kackle's crew member during the time of the Kremlings Kuthroats.[5][4] He participated in the Kremean War along with his fellow crew Kloak and pirate Kritters against Bazooka's squad.[5] After Kackle's death along with his fellow pirates, K. Rool immediately had to escape with his deceased pirate master's ship until it crashed into Krem Quay.[5][10][11][12] With the pirate society in fall during the Kremean War, K. Rool installed a monarchy in his own home island, declaring himself king and bringing the beginning of oppression with his bad attitude.[5][13][4][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Stealing the Banana Hoard

KroolDKC

King K. Rool's artwork from the game Donkey Kong Country.

K. Rool first appeared in the game Donkey Kong Country as the main antagonist and final boss. In the game, he and the Kremling Krew came to Donkey Kong Island one stormy night intending to steal Donkey Kong's fabled banana hoard. Sending several Kremlings to Donkey and Diddy Kong's treehouse to steal the precious bananas, the Kremlings encountered little resistance, as the only person guarding them was Diddy Kong. Diddy was able to defeat a handful of Kremlings, it was not until Klump and Krusha arrived that he was overpowered. Klump and Krusha knocked Diddy aside and sealed him in a barrel, leaving the rest of the Kremlings to steal the Banana Hoard.

K. Rool's loss to DK.

K. Rool "loses" to DK in the final battle.

Venturing through the many regions of Donkey Kong Island, Donkey Kong and the released Diddy Kong defeated many of K. Rool's allies until finally, they managed to reach the Gang-Plank Galleon, K. Rool's ship, where they faced the tyrannical crocodile in battle. In the end, Donkey and Diddy successfully beat K. Rool and reclaimed their Banana Hoard.

K. Rool also appears after the character credits cutscene of the the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country, where he forces Donkey, Diddy, Candy and Cranky Kong off the ship by threatening to blow up Kong Island with his onboard cannons, with Cranky calling it a "cheap stunt". This sets up the story for the sequel, Donkey Kong Country 2.

The Rematch

K. Rool returned in the Donkey Kong Country's semi-sequel on the Game Boy, Donkey Kong Land. In this game, Cranky Kong calls up K. Rool and demands he return to Donkey Kong Island and re-steal Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard. Cranky had made a bet earlier with Donkey and Diddy Kong that they could not reclaim the bananas on a handheld system. In this game, K. Rool is fought in a blimp above Big Ape City and is defeated again.

Abducting Donkey Kong

Kaptain K Rool

Kaptain K. Rool's artwork from the game Donkey Kong Country 2.

In the game Donkey Kong Country 2, K. Rool (under the alias of Kaptain K. Rool) manages to kidnap Donkey Kong and speeds him away to the home of the Kremlings, Crocodile Isle. He left a ransom note to the Kong family, where he demanded the Banana Hoard in return for Donkey Kong. Upon discovering that DK has been kidnapped, Diddy Kong and his girlfriend, Dixie Kong, rush off to save him. After venturing through the swampy Crocodile Isle, Diddy and Dixie manage to reach K. Rool's Keep, where DK was supposedly being held. Finding DK in the tower, the two Kongs were about to rescue him when he was whisked away by K. Rool. In the GBA version of Donkey Kong Country 2, K. Rool also sends the gigantic Kremling Kerozene to battle Diddy and Dixie Kong. After facing a few more obstacles, the Kongs managed to reach K. Rool's airship, The Flying Krock. Here, Diddy and Dixie saw K. Rool in the midst of torturing Donkey Kong and engaged him in battle. After two phases, Donkey Kong managed to break free of the bonds that held him and uppercut K. Rool out of the Flying Krock. Crashing into the swampy water of Krem Quay, K. Rool managed to swim ashore to the Kremling's Lost World.

Lost World

By collecting enough Kremkoins for Klubba, Diddy and Dixie manage to follow K. Rool into the bowels of the Lost World and Krocodile Kore. Here, they battled K. Rool in an ancient palace and, once again, K. Rool is defeated when a Kannonball is hurled into his blunderbuss. This time, however, instead of backfiring, the blunderbuss explodes, flinging K. Rool into a nearby geyser that supplied energy to Crocodile Isle. Due to K. Rool clogging the energy geyser, the pressure within it kept building up more and more until it exploded, taking the top of Crocodile Isle with it. The rest of the island sunk into the sea.

At the end of the game, a ship can be seen sailing away from the remains of Crocodile Isle and an ominous laugh can be heard as the ship sails over the horizon, confirming that K. Rool survived the explosion.

Another Kidnapping Attempt

In the game Donkey Kong Land 2 for the Game Boy, Kaptain K. Rool, having risen Crocodile Isle from the sea, rebuilt parts of it and re-populated it, succeeds in capturing Donkey Kong again and demanded the Banana Hoard... again. With Donkey Kong once again kidnapped, Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong had to travel to the now-ravaged Crocodile Isle once again to save him and defeat the Kremling Krew.

Once Kaptain K. Rool is defeated on the rebuilt Flying Krock and once Klubba is paid forty-seven Kremkoins, Kaptain K. Rool could be fought again in the Lost World. In the ruins of Krocodile Kore, Diddy and Dixie confront Kaptain K. Rool once more. Eventually, they defeat K. Rool and Crocodile Isle sinks for good.

The Puppetmaster

Baron K Roolenstein

Baron K. Roolenstein's artwork from the game Donkey Kong Country 3.

In the game Donkey Kong Country 3, K. Rool was seemingly replaced as master of the Kremlings by KAOS: a robotic entity. The Kremlings capture Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, proceeded to take over the Northern Kremisphere, and imprisoned the Banana Bird Queen, as well as several of her children, the Banana Birds.

Eventually, after a long search for the recently vanished Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong and her cousin, Kiddy Kong, reached KAOS' base-of-operations, Kastle KAOS. Entering Kastle KAOS, Dixie and Kiddy encountered and fought KAOS, who was determined to destroy them for good.

It was only after their battle against KAOS that Dixie and Kiddy discovered that KAOS was nothing but a puppet leader controlled by K. Rool, who was under the moniker of Baron K. Roolenstein. After Dixie and Kiddy discovered him, K. Roolenstein began to battle the Kongs, using a helicopter pack on his back to fly.

After Baron K. Roolenstein's defeat, the body of KAOS would drop from the ceiling of Kastle KAOS and crash into the ground. Once on the ground, KAOS' body would release Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, who had been kidnapped by K. Roolenstein to be used as living batteries for KAOS.

If Dixie and Kiddy manage to collect all the cogs in Krematoa and give them to Boomer, K. Roolenstein can be fought again. After Boomer's machine in Krematoa forces a submarine, the Knautilus, to reveal itself from the bottom of the lake of the world map, K. Roolenstein can be found and battled again inside the vehicle.

If players manage to release the Banana Bird Queen from her imprisonment behind the Banana Bird Barrier, a brief cutscene of K. Roolenstein riding away from the Northern Kremisphere in a hovercraft will be shown. As K. Roolenstein drives away, a giant egg, laid by the Banana Bird Queen and being ridden by Dixie and Kiddy, will fall on the Kremling king, trapping a perplexed K. Roolenstein inside.

Race to the Lost World

In the game Donkey Kong Land III, Baron K. Roolenstein appears as the main antagonist and the Kremling Krew (as well as a rebuilt KAOS) as the secondary antagonists. Like in Donkey Kong Country 3, Baron K. Roolenstein can be fought by Dixie and Kiddy Kong in Kastle KAOS after KAOS is destroyed permanently. K. Roolenstein could later be fought in The Lost World. Once again he is beaten. After defeating K. Rool, as the two are crowned the winners of the contest, he admits to being surprised that Dixie and Kiddy defeated him again. K. Rool then awards the six Watches to the Kongs and challenges them to beat the Time Attack mode.

The Ultimate Revenge

Kingkrool

King K. Rool's artwork from the game Donkey Kong 64 for Nintendo 64.

K. Rool having become more unstable returns in the game Donkey Kong 64, where he randomly appears one day on a Mobile Island Fortress. K. Rool had planned to blow up Donkey Kong Island with a weapon called the Blast-O-Matic. Fortunately, the mobile fortress ends up crashing because of the incompetence of the drivers. In an attempt to distract Donkey Kong while the Blast-O-Matic gets prepared to shoot, K. Rool has several Kongs imprisoned. These are: Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, Lanky Kong and Chunky Kong. He also steals Donkey Kong's Golden Banana Hoard.

K. Rool, along with his unnamed pet Klaptrap, appear in several of the game's cutscenes, watching the Kongs progress and chastising his own minions' (the bosses of the game) failures. A notable scene shows K. Rool demand that nobody leaves the Blast-O-Matic until it is repaired.

Eventually, K. Rool's henchmen succeed in repairing the Blast-O-Matic, just as the Kongs enter Hideout Helm. K. Rool demands that the weapon be fired, despite the warnings that, if it is not fully tested, then it could explode. After the Kongs permanently shut down K. Rool's mechanical island and the Blast-O-Matic laser weapon, K. Rool tries to escape in an airship, the King Kruiser II. Unfortunately for K. Rool, the airship ends up being knocked to the ground and destroyed by a freed K. Lumsy. Venturing inside the crashed vessel, the Kongs found a boxing arena filled with spectators and K. Rool, as his boxer alias King Krusha K. Rool, ready to fight. K. Rool will create multiple shockwaves by slamming the ground, throw his gloves as a boomerang, and uppercut the Kongs after charging at them. Engaging K. Rool in a bizarre series of battles – which include blasting out of barrels into K. Rool's face, dropping spot-lights on K. Rool, making him slip on banana peels, shrinking down and blasting his toes and (generally) pummeling him – the Kongs manage to claim victory.

After Chunky Kong delivers the final blow to K. Rool, a humorous cutscene is shown in which K. Rool gets back up after the fight and is about to attack Chunky from behind, but is distracted by Candy Kong. Funky Kong comes into the scene with a bazooka and shoots a boot at K. Rool, sending him flying. When K. Rool lands, it is in K. Lumsy's Island where he meets a very unhappy K. Lumsy, who proceeds to beat the Kremling king senseless in retaliation for locking him up.

K rool in his boxing uniform

King Krusha K. Rool as seen in the game Donkey Kong 64 for Nintendo 64.

Donkey Kong 64 also revealed that K. Rool truly is or had become a tyrant, even striking fear into his own Kremlings and other types of his goons such as Army Dillo and Dogadon when they feared what he would do to them if he found out they lost to DK, Diddy, and Chunky. A Kasplat even tried to flee from K. Rool's island in fear of what he might do when he finds out that the Kongs and Snide are conspiring against him. He is shown also to have a really long tail (this is the first appearance he makes having a tail). K. Rool's depiction in this game changed as it goes on. He is initially depicted as cruel, merciless, and even menacing in the opening when he has a voice. In the cutscenes, his breath strongly bears a similarity to Darth Vader[20] from the Star Wars[21] franchise. However, as time goes on (especially towards the end of the game), K. Rool is depicted as far more comical and dim-witted.

being mentioned

Even though he is absent in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D alongside the rest of the Kremlings, he and his usual role was indirectly alluded to by Cranky Kong, where the latter, in reference to the Kremlings' absence and the theft of the banana hoard being done by the Tiki Tak Tribe, said to Donkey Kong "who hasn't stolen [his] bananas at this point?". Similarly, his species, alongside that of the Kremlings, was also referenced by Cranky Kong dismissing Donkey Kong with "See you later, alligator" before chuckling to himself.

K. Rool's Gold

He starred in the third chapter of the canceled game Diddy Kong Pilot.

Spin-Off Appearances

DK: King of Swing

KingSwingK Rool

Artwork of K. Rool with the DK Medals from the game DK: King of Swing for GBA.

One of K. Rool's more recent appearances was in the game DK: King of Swing, where he once again appears as the main antagonist. During the game, K. Rool steals all the DK Medals that were supposed to be rewards in the upcoming Jungle Jam competition and crowns himself king of the jungle in the process.

After his defeat, K. Rool reliquishes a gold medal, finally vanquished. Donkey Kong/Diddy Kong takes K. Rool's hovercraft as the K. Kruizer III is destroyed and falls from the sky.

K. Rool is also playable in DK: King of Swing's Jungle Jam modes, where he is the largest playable character and the most powerful. His match in power is, oddly, Bubbles, the heroine of the game Clu Clu Land[22]. This was the first time K. Rool was playable in a game.

DK: Jungle Climber

In the game DK: Jungle Climber, K. Rool once again takes the role as the main antagonist. He is first encountered atop Sun Sun Island, where he and his entourage of four (at first five) Kritters steal the five Crystal Bananas from the banana alien Xananab with plans to take over the world. When King K. Rool and his henchmen see Donkey, Diddy, and Cranky Kong heading their way, they quickly flee the scene using a dimensional portal device known as a Spirowarp.

On the Lost Island, K. Rool is shocked to see Donkey Kong confronting him for the Crystal Bananas with Xananab before having one of his Kritters deal with them using one of the stolen Crystal Bananas to turn into Junklomp as he escapes from Toybox and depart to the Ghost Island. In the Panic Factory, K. Rool is met again by his pursuing enemies and has another Kritter battle them using a Crystal Banana along with his incomplete Mega Amp before fleeing to Kremling Dock on Chill 'n' Char Island. Anticipating another confrontation, K. Rool lays a trap for the Donkey Kong, Diddy, Cranky, and Xananab. Once they fall into the chasm, a third Kritter enters after them, powering up with the Crystal Banana and morphing into Draglinger. Just as Donkey Kong escapes the caverns, King K. Rool unveils the King Kruizer IV. The king reveals how he intends to use the spaceship and the Crystal Bananas to conquer the universe, starting with Xananab's home planet, Planet Plantaen, before flying away.

K. Rool is stunned to see the heroes managed to board the ship before having his fiinal Kritter subordinate use a fully completed Mega Amp to destroy them. Donkey still triumphs and claims the fourth Crystal Banana. Cornered, K. Rool feigns an attempt to fight, abandoning the King Kruizer IV and flees through a wormhole. Traversing through the dimensions of the Glass Labyrinth and Toybox, K. Rool arrives on Planet Plantaen though the quartet are not far behind and search the village for him.

K. Rool is last seen in DK: Jungle Climber being taken back to his and the Kong's home planet, being dragged through space by a rope attached to the back of a Banana Spaceship. It is unknown what the Kongs did with him once they returned home.

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast

KroolBarrel

King K. Rool's artwork from the game Donkey Kong Barrel Blast for Wii.

In the racing game Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, K. Rool makes an appearance as a secret playable character. Unlike the other racers, who use strapped-on barrel rockets, K. Rool rides in a vehicle resembling a rocket-powered barrel (though he controls it similarly by banging on the sides). He uses his claw as an attack. He is unlocked by clearing Challenge 31 of Candy Kong's Challenges. His main rival in the game is Cranky Kong, who has the same high boost, speed, and agility as him.

  • Stats:
    • Boost: ☆☆☆☆
    • Speed: ☆☆☆☆
    • Agility: ☆☆☆☆

Boss Battles

Donkey Kong Country

K. Rool's first boss appearance was in the original Donkey Kong Country. He tried many tricks to defeat Donkey Kong and Diddy, such as using his crown as a boomerang, trying to ram them, stomp them, summoning a barrage of large cannonballs at them, and even faking his own death and displaying fake credits.

Donkey Kong Land

In Donkey Kong Land, K. Rool is fought in a blimp above Big Ape City, where his attacks were mostly the same as his techniques in Donkey Kong Country: running, jumping and throwing his crown (although he did use a new, belly flop-like attack).

Donkey Kong Country 2

In Donkey Kong Country 2, K. Rool used a high-tech blunderbuss that could fire Kannonballs. He also used the blunderbuss to give himself speed boosts, turn invisible, and shoot strange gases that could affect the Kongs in bizarre ways (e.g. reversing the game's controls, making the Kongs move extremely slow, freezing them in place, etc.). Diddy and Dixie can do damage to K. Rool by hurling his Kannonballs back into his blunderbuss, which would explode when clogged.

Donkey Kong Country 3

In Donkey Kong Country 3, K. Rool used a helicopter pack to fly left and right. In the first phase, Dixie/Kiddy must grab a barrel and throw it at the helicopter pack to cause it damage. In phase 2, K. Rool activates an electric beam that prevents the Kongs from staying on the ground. In order to deal damage, Dixie/Kiddy needs to pull down on a particular rope hanging from the ceiling, while avoiding K. Rool and the electric beams. Pulling on the rope will cause a barrel to appear, which will need to be thrown at K. Rool's pack, and will cause him to fall into the electric beam and get electrocuted. After getting electrocuted multiple times, K. Rool will be defeated.

Battle in the Knautilus

For his second fight in Donkey Kong Country 3, K. Roolenstein will simply remain in the back of his vessel, using electric beams and a fireball-launching cannon to attack Dixie and Kiddy from a distance. In order to hurt K. Roolenstein, Dixie/Kiddy needs to throw several Steel Kegs at him through the use of a teleportation device. After being hit multiple times, K. Roolenstein will lose control of his helicopter pack and be left spinning out of control in his submarine.

Donkey Kong 64

In Donkey Kong 64, K. Rool's boss fight takes place in a boxing ring and consists of 5 phases, one for each playable Kong.

Phase 1 (Donkey Kong)

For the first phase, four barrels will appear at each corner of the boxing ring, in which DK must jump into them to blast himself at K. Rool and deal damage. K. Rool himself only ground-pounds to do damage to DK. The procedure must be repeated four times to proceed.

Phase 2 (Diddy Kong)

For the second phase, Diddy must acquire his rocketbarrels (a barrel containing them appears at the center of the ring) to fly up into the air and shoot down the lamps above the ring with his Peanut Popguns. K. Rool will attempt to throw a boxing glove at Diddy to knock him out of the air, but will position himself directly under the lamps doing so. Once K. Rool is beneath a lamp, Diddy will shoot at it so it falls on top of K. Rool, dealing damage. This procedure must be repeated four times to proceed.

Phase 3 (Lanky Kong)

For the third phase, four switches will appear outside the ring, and K. Rool, now blinded by a lamp atop his head from the last phase, will run around aimlessly in hopes of hitting Lanky. Lanky must press the switches with his long reach to summon a barrel containing an oversized banana peel. Throwing the barrel into the ring, the banana peel will spawn; afterwards, a music pad will spawn at a corner of ring, which Lanky must step on to play his trombone and get K. Rool's attention. K. Rool will hear the music and run in its direction, only to slip on the banana peel and take damage.

Phase 4 (Tiny Kong)

For the fourth phase, K. Rool will have a stronger ground-pound, which Tiny must avoid. Eventually, a barrel will summon in the center of the ring that will allow Tiny to shrink and enter the hole in one K. Rool's boots. Once inside his boot, Tiny will shoot at K. Rool's toes with her Feather Bow. This procedure must be repeated until all of K. Rool's toes go red.

Phase 5 (Chunky Kong)

For the fifth and final phase, K. Rool will run all over the ring to attempt to hit Chunky. By stepping on a pad in a corner of the ring, Chunky can turn invisible, making it harder for K. Rool to strike him. At another corner is a button that Chunky must press to become giant; at this point, K. Rool will charge at Chunky, and Chunky must time a big punch to knock K. Rool back. This procedure must be repeated three times to finally end the fight.

DK: King of Swing

As the final boss of DK: King of Swing, K. Rool must be defeated in two phases.

Phase 1

In the first phase, K. Rool will summon a huge field of pegs, which Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong must race him through. K. Rool himself is quite fast, so climb as fast as you can.

Phase 2

In the second phase, if Donkey/Diddy succeeds in defeating K. Rool, he will promptly stutter by saying "Wait, Wait... That was just practice!" and challenge them to a battle on another peg field. In this part of the battle, K. Rool will attack in a similar fashing to the way the Kongs battle, he will charge up and rush at the Kong. The Kongs have to hit K. Rool four times to win, and can disrupt K. Rool/s charge attack by charging at him.

DK: Jungle Climber

Phase 1

Confronted for the final time, K. Rool will battle Donkey Kong, attacking by jumping at him, charging into him and throwing exploding, spiked balls. Once K. Rool is defeated in this battle by hitting him four times, he will refuse to give up, and use the last Crystal Banana in his possession to turn monstrous in size and become even more powerful.

Phase 2

In his new form, K. Rool will gain a new set of attacks. He can exhale fireballs and exploding mines from his mouth, summoning meteors to crush the Kongs, unleash gales of wind to blow the Kongs and trying to crush the Kongs with his claws. In this form, K. Rool's only vulnerable spot is his face, which, when hit five times, will deplete K. Rool's health, turning him back to normal and leaving him unconscious, expelling the Crystal Banana from him.

Super Smash Bros. series

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Trophy218

King K. Rool's trophy from the game Super Smash Bros. Melee for Gamecube.

Trophy description: "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."

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

150px-King K

King K. Rool's trophy from the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii.

Trophy description: "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, Kaptain K. Rool, made an appearance in the game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest."

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

Trophy Description

K

King K. Rool's trophy from the game Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

"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."

Mii Brawler Costume

King K

Mii Brawler's King K. Rool costume from the game Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

A Mii Brawler costume based on K. Rool was announced on July 29, 2015, on the official Super Smash Bros. Twitter Japanese account.[23] It was released on July 31, 2015, as DLC[24] on the Nintendo eShop[25] for purchase. The design of the costume is based on his original Rareware design, although the color of the gem on his chest is colored blue instead green. This is a reference to his newer design by Paon.

After the costume's unveiling, many fans debated on whether or not it hurt the chances of K. Rool being in the game as a playable DLC character. It was officially revealed on December 15, 2015, in the "Final Presentation Broadcast" that Super Smash Bros. DLC was coming to a close, and the Super Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot winner was Bayonetta from the Bayonetta series, and not K. Rool. The results of the fighter ballot have not been released thus far, so it is unknown where K. Rool placed at in the ballot, but after K. Rool's inclusion in the next game, Sakurai has confirmed K. Rool received a ton of votes on the in ballot in the West. Since K. Rool appeared to be a fairly popular Western fighter request, many fans view his Mii Brawler costume as a "consolation prize" for those who wanted him in the game.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Switch SuperSmashBrosUltimate char KingKRool

King K. Rool's artwork from the game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Switch.

On August 8, 2018, the announcement of the Nintendo Direct concerning Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was that K. Rool will be joining as a new fighter. Outside minor cameos, this marks his first physical appearance in a decade since Mario Super Sluggers. His design is a composition of his designs from Donkey Kong Country and DK: Jungle Climber. Many of his revealed attacks call back to his appearances in his early games, such as using his crown as a boomerang, his blunderbuss as Kaptain K. Rool, which can suck in and shoot out fighters and projectiles, his helicopter jetpack as Baron K. Roolenstein, a boxing glove on his fist, and the Blast-O-Matic machine as his Final Smash, showing the laser cannon destroying the DK Island. Other shown attacks reference alligator wrestling, rely on his natural bulk and physical strength including a counterattack that relies on his golden scale-armored torso. K. Rool's size in the game is also notably smaller than in his home series, as he is only slightly bigger than DK, when he was originally twice DK's size.

King Dedede Smacked

King K. Rool bats King Dedede aside from behind, as seen in his reveal trailer for the game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Humorously, the reveal trailer for him (see Videos section below) begins with his silhouette approaching Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong in their treehouse, only for the said silhouette to throw off his K. Rool Mii costume headwear and cloak to reveal King Dedede in disguise. The two Kongs gawk as Dedede jumps around cackling at his joke... only for the real K. Rool to spring up behind him and bat him aside before approaching the now shocked Kongs smugly. After a showcase of his moves, K. Rool and Donkey Kong charge for each other in the jungle, Diddy Kong with his Rocket Barrel jumping in as well to add a kick as all three fighters trade boxing blows, creating a shockwave that blows through the jungle.

K. Rool appeared again in the final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate direct two times. K. Rool appeared at the end of the Incineroar reveal trailer first, ready to fight the Pokémon with his boxing gloves along with Bowser Jr. and the Villager. He was also one of the fighters present in the World of Light cutscene, ready to fight the Master Hands. However, when Galeem unleashed its beams of light he got vaporized and transformed into a spirit along with the other fighters, except Kirby.

Later, in a deliberate reenactment of K. Rool's reveal trailer, he was sleeping in Donkey Kong's treehouse alongside the reclining Donkey Kong and Diddy. When a Jiggy bounced by, Diddy roused K. Rool by popping his snot bubble and the three of them looked around, eventually breaking out the window to see outside. A familiar silhouette appeared but threw off the disguise to reveal Duck Hunt. The trio gaped while the duo laughed, but a few moments later, Banjo & Kazooie dropped down, while knocking Duck Hunt away, and struck and blew their respective instruments to announce their triumphant return. The two Kongs and even King K. Rool starts to cheer at their arrival. At the end of the trailer, however, K. Rool falls from a cliff and a boulder drops down atop the hole he created, reminiscent of Gruntilda's defeat at the end of the game Banjo-Kazooie. In the Adventure Mode, King K. Rool is among the fighters seen during the cutscene when they oppose Galeem for the first time. Although he is not shown to be hit by Galeem's beams directly, he is nevertheless vaporized off-screen and subsequently imprisoned alongside every other fighter except Kirby, where Puppet Fighters of him are created. Said Puppet Fighters, as well as the real K. Rool, initially serve Galeem, but are later brought under Dharkon's control. The real King K. Rool is eventually defeated in the Mysterious Dimension, freeing him. He then joins the fighters against Galeem and Dharkon.

On a side note, King K. Rool's name is announced differently in the Japanese and Korean versions to reflect the pronunciation in those languages, similarly to King Dedede in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Lucina in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. This trait is also shared with Simon and Richter Belmont and Lucina.

The King K. Rool Mii Fighter costume from the previous game also returns, now available in the base game and with a slightly different appearance to reflect his Super Smash Bros. Ultimate design.

Other Game Appearances

Though K. Rool does not actually appear in the game Diddy Kong Racing, he is presumably the one who sent the Kremling Krew member Krunch to the Timber's Island. Krunch was ordered to spy on Diddy Kong and his allies, who were believed to be hatching some sort of anti-Kremling plot. K. Rool was set to appear as a playable character in the now-canceled sequel to Diddy Kong Racing, Diddy Kong Pilot, where he was dressed as a stereotypical pilot, complete with a fur coat and aviator goggles.

K. Rool appears in one of Donkey Konga's minigames, where the player must bash K. Rool on the head with a Steel Keg while he tries to evade them. K. Rool will also sometimes appear dancing to the beat of music during certain songs of the same game.

K. Rool appears as an unlockable character in the game Mario Super Sluggers, making his first giant step in a Mario game. He is on Donkey Kong's team, the DK Wilds, even though he despises him and the Kongs. The explanation for this is that he was impressed with their skills, and said he was only going to team up when playing baseball. King K. Rool bats with his right hand, and fields with his left hand.

In Challenge Mode, he will try to impede Mario, Donkey Kong, and the gang in the DK Jungle area by having his four Kritters challenge them. The Kritters report their failure, with Blue Kritter activating the first switch to the waterfall.

After raising the stone bridge, Red Kritter will appear and challenge them when they attempt use the pipe. After the player defeats Brown Kritter, he activates the second switch, revealing K. Rool to be hiding behind the waterfall. Amused by their tenacity, K. Rool challenges them himself.

After successfully defeating him, K. Rool is humiliated how he was defeated at baseball, before laughing and saying he, along with the Kritters, are going to join their roster, saying they are only allies while playing baseball. The player then unlocks K. Rool, as well as all four Kritters.

K. Rool is one of the most powerful batters in the entire game, but having just below average pitching and bottom of the barrel running and fielding.

He has great chemistry with all four Kritters and King Boo, but bad chemistry with Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and the other Kongs, even though they are on the same team, as well as Bowser (possibly because they consider themselves rival kings). . He uses a scepter with a large gem to bat, and has a different, pharaoh-like clothing style that is exclusive to this game. His sweetspot is the red area on his scepter. K. Rool also sports a new original Egyptian look not seen in any other game, instead of his usual red cape. He even uses a scepter with a large gem to bat with to show of his regal-like stature.

This is only game he does not appear as an antagonist along with the Kritters, likely since Bowser and Bowser Jr. are the antagonists, making this the first game to have him as an ally. The artwork of King K. Rool shows him striking the same pose as in his DK: Jungle Climber artwork. Additionally, unlike the Kongs, he and his Kritter minions do not speak in animal noises in Challenge Mode.

Appearances in Other Media

Television

K. Rool was one of the main characters and antagonists on the Donkey Kong Country animated series. In the series, his personality was different from the games: bossy, megalomaniac, sophisticated, and flamboyant. He is eccentric and egotistical, constantly bragging about his intelligence and he does use big words a lot. K. Rool would often, with the aid of his henchmen General Klump and Krusha (whose dim-witted and bumbling nature often portraying the trio as comical villains), attempt to steal the mystical Crystal Coconut and use its power to rule the Kongo Bongo Island, the main setting of the animated series. K. Rool does not have the same combat prowess as he does in the games, which leaves him at the much stronger DK's mercy most of the time. Rather than a combatant, K. Rool is the strategist who comes up with tactics for his troops to execute. Though his plans are often works of genius, a combination of his minions' incompetence, his enemies' resourcefulness, and sometimes even his own arrogance always lead to failure and often making K. Rool a victim of slapstick. K. Rool would also enact other schemes to obtain the Crystal Coconut and/or take over the island, such as trying to steal the legendary Golden Banana of Inka Dinka Doo and getting Donkey Kong blamed for crimes he himself committed, such as making Candy Kong slip on a banana peel, trashing Cranky's Cabin and leaving a banana peel to show evidence DK was the culprit, and even stealing the Crystal Coconut.

In the animated series, K. Rool's physical appearance was slightly altered from his video game counterpart. He lacks his bloodshot eye, though one does bulge to large proportions when he is excited, surprised, or irritated. His eyes also were not connected as they are in the games, and instead are separated. K. Rool's wrist bands were more detailed instead of being plain gold, as is his crown. K. Rool's cape was also much shorter in length in the Donkey Kong Country animated series, reaching his upper back instead of his whole body.

The series also expanded K. Rool's backstory slightly, with the episode "Best of Enemies" revealing that he was once friends with Cranky Kong and that the two were nefarious pranksters. Another episode entitled "The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights" also has K. Rool mentioning both his mother and various, unnamed siblings. The Donkey Kong Country animated series also introduced a Kremling rival of sorts to K. Rool, a pirate named Kaptain Skurvy, who also wished to obtain the Crystal Coconut.

In a possible alternate timeline seen in the episode "It's a Wonderful Life", in which Donkey Kong sees what Kongo Bongo Island would be like if he did not exist, K. Rool and his army are portrayed as somewhat timid freedom fighters in a feud with Kongs led by Diddy Kong, who is portrayed as a power-hungry tyrant.

Literature

K. Rool appeared in German Club Nintendo's comic Donkey Kong Country, first appearing to attack Diddy Kong and seal him within a DK Barrel before stealing Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard. King K. Rool later appears on his ship, the Gang-Plank Galleon, and battles both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, only to be defeated by them. King K. Rool, under the guise of Kaptain K. Rool, was also featured in the magazine's Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest comic special, appearing at the beginning of it to taunt a captured Donkey Kong.

Kaptain K. Rool was also featured as the main antagonist in an obscure German Donkey Kong comic, "Bumm-Badabumm Im Urwald". In this story, K. Rool sends several members of the Kremling Krew to steal all the bananas on Donkey Kong Island, apparently hoping to starve the Kongs to make them weaker. K. Rool himself only appears near the end of the comic in the "Lost Land". When K. Rool notices that the Kongs are in the Lost Land he, at first, sends several dozen Kremlings at Donkey, Diddy and Dixie Kong, thinking the shear number of Kremlings would defeat the Kongs. Unfortunately for K. Rool, the Kongs managed to pulverize his Kremling warriors. Taking matters into his own hands, K. Rool tries to blast the Kongs with a pineapple-launching blunderbuss. At first, it seems the Kongs are overpowered, until Donkey Kong finds and throws a nearby TNT Barrel into the pile of bananas K. Rool is standing on. The resulting explosion buries K. Rool under the huge pile of bananas. King K. Rool is last seen having made a deal with Donkey Kong, in exchange for digging K. Rool out of the giant pile of fruit, K. Rool would have all the bananas returned to the Kongs.

K. Rool was also featured as the villain of another Donkey Kong comic called "Donkey Kong in When the Banana Splits". Here K. Rool, along with several Kritters, manage to steal all of the Kong's Golden Bananas. Unfortunately for K. Rool, his heist was a failure, as he stole the bananas when the Kongs were home, so the Kongs easily tracked down K. Rool and his Kritter minions. In the end, K. Rool is defeated by Donkey Kong's Super Duper Simian Slam and the Kongs reclaim their stolen bananas.

Uho'uho Daishizen Gag: Donkey Kong

In Uho'uho Daishizen Gag: Donkey Kong, K. Rool, just like in the TV series, has his mind set on taking the Crystal Coconut from the Kongs and becoming the DK Isle ruler. Most of his plans parallels the one from the episodes (even if only three chapters are directly based off them). Like in the cartoon, he is followed by General Klump and Krusha.

Other

K. Rool was featured as the villain of Nintendo's 2003 version of Camp Hyrule. K. Rool caused chaos in Camp Hyrule by creating a massive earthquake.

A large amount of Donkey Kong merchandise depicting K. Rool has also been released. This includes plush dolls, action figures and miniatures, often based on K. Rool's appearance in either the game Donkey Kong 64 or the Donkey Kong Country animated series.

Profiles

See also: King K. Rool/Profiles

Physical Appearance

At the base, King K. Rool is a morbidly obese Kritter with rough green scales. He has a large bloodshot eye and jagged teeth. His belly is golden in texture and color (meant to be a piece of armor according to character designer Steve Mayles[26]), but in the game DK: King of Swing his underbelly was changed to plain skin color. He also has an outie belly button (a peculiar detail, considering crocodiles hatch from eggs) In his most common appearance, he wears a red cape and a gold crown, as well as a jewel for his cape, which was originally green, but as of DK: Jungle Climber, it is light blue, but he is fond of adopting many other looks and costumes as well. When he took on the alias of Kaptain K. Rool, he traded in the cape for a red coat and the crown for a pirate hat. When under that alias he carries a giant musket. When he becomes Baron K. Roolenstein, he wears a white lab coat and has a propeller on his back. As King Krusha K. Rool, K. Rool wore a pair of large overalls and boxing gloves. He also had a pair of pink shoes with a hole in one of them. Strangely enough, his tail appears to be longer and has four toes instead of three as shown in artworks.

How big K. Rool is varies on the game; in most Donkey Kong games, he is around two or three times DK's and Kiddy's size, (but is slightly smaller in Donkey Kong Country 2) while in Donkey Kong 64, he is much larger, being three times Chunky's size. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, K. Rool is smaller than in his home games, being only slightly taller than Donkey Kong, rather than being a lot bigger than him.

Personality

Krool19

King K. Rool, in his most common appearance, wearing a crown, gold wrist bands and a red cape.

K. Rool, as his name, a pun on "cruel", may imply, is the ruthless and mentally unstable ruler of the Kremling race, who has on numerous occasions tried to steal Donkey Kong's banana hoard and kidnap many members of the Kong family. He rules the Kremlings with an iron fist and usually shows no mercy to his subjects. The reason they follow him seems to be of the deep fear they have of him and his tremendous power as shown by how bosses and even minor enemies interact with him. This is mentioned by Klubba in Donkey Kong Country 2, who explicitly states that K. Rool mistreats his minions. K. Rool's ruthlessness is shown in Donkey Kong 64, when he presumably executes a purple haired Kasplat via a giant Klaptrap for calling him "fatso" not realizing that K. Rool was listening. He does not seem to respect his henchmen, the Kritters, much better either. In Mario Super Sluggers, he refers to brown Kritter as "the dirty under-belly of the Kremling Krew". Not even his strongest underlings dare challenge him as K. Rool is the strongest of the Kremlings, he used his strength and intimidation to rise in power and seize the position of king since he does not actually have royal blood nor is he an heir that inherited a sovereign state/region/nation, as shown by statements pointing out how he is not even a real king. Despite all of this, however, K. Rool and the Kritters have good chemistry with each other in Mario Super Sluggers and the trophy bios of Kalypso and Kludge show he respects and trusts the former as a capable leader and is intimidated by latter's ferocious temper. He's been portrayed as a power-hungry tyrant, and games like Donkey Kong 64 and Super Smash Bros. Melee imply that he is also somewhat insane and demented.

K. Rool has the tendencies of a dirty fighter. He feigns defeat, often collapsing in the middle of combat and making it seem like he has been defeated, only to rise seconds later and begin fighting again. He is shown to be persistent and unrelenting in the game DK: King of Swing, where he refused to handover the remaining DK Medals after he loses a race against Donkey Kong, and DK: Jungle Climber, in which he used any tactic to gain an advantage over the Kongs as they pursued for the Crystal Bananas. The final battle of Donkey Kong 64 also showed him to be somewhat of a showboater, constantly showing-off and making taunting gestures. K. Rool's greatest weakness is his own incompetence. It is very common for him to be defeated simply because he keeps making the same mistake in a fight, such as in the game Donkey Kong Country when he keeps throwing his crown allowing Donkey and Diddy to jump on his head and Donkey Kong 64 when he kept showboating, allowing DK blast him in the face.

K. Rool hates the Kongs with a passion, referring to them as "filthy apes" and "monkey brains", and obsesses over getting revenge on them whenever they defeat him, and he will do whatever it takes to destroy them once and for all. The reasons for stealing DK's banana hoard and kidnapping him are not fully understood since he is a reptile and they do not eat fruit, but official sources state that the reason is that he wants to starve Donkey Kong to death so he can occupy his treehouse. Why he wishes to do so is even less fully understood, since a small treehouse is nothing in comparison to his numerous lairs and hideouts (although it could be an example of his deep insanity).

The true reason he wishes to occupy the treehouse could be that as an example of his conquest over Donkey Kong (the current ruler of Donkey Kong Island), he now considers himself its new ruler by residing in the treehouse, or he just likes bananas. The latter is not actually the case as in the game DK: Jungle Climber, where K. Rool confirms that he hates bananas. It can speculated that he wants to prevent scurvy.

Since the games Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Land 2, he seems to be motivated to destroy all Kongs and their island as revenge for what they did to his homeland of Crocodile Isle. Strangely enough, K. Kool has occasionally shown respect to the Kongs, saying their baseball skills are impressive and he is also willing to team up or play with them in spin-offs.

Relationships

Relatives

Supposed Wife

Baron K. Roolenstein mentioned having a wife in the game Donkey Kong Country 3. Specifically, after KAOS is defeated a second time, Baron K. Roolenstein appears, stating he built KAOS from his wife's best pots and pans. However, in a December 23, 1999 edition of the Scribes section of Rare's website, Leigh Loveday revealed that K. Rool's "my wife is going to kill me" line was merely "a typically throwaway Vic and Bob reference"[27] meaning he does not actually have a wife.

K. Lumsy

The game Donkey Kong 64 revealed that K. Rool has a younger brother named K. Lumsy.[28] However, this relation was only confirmed in the Japanese character guide for the game, and is never explicitly stated in any version of the game, thus there is no real relationship between them, other than K. Lumsy being against K. Rool.

Other Familial Mentions

In the animated series, K. Rool makes a passing comment about his mother after he made some cupcakes saying that it was his mother's recipe, and in the episode "The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights" from the Donkey Kong Country animated series, K. Rool mentions that he was planning to go back to the swamplands for the holidays to play games with his "slithering siblings" and gorge on some of his mommy's mud pies.

Allies

Kremlings

K. Rool is leader of the Kremlings and rules over them with an iron fist. The reason they follow him seems to be of the deep fear they have of him and his tremendous power as shown by how bosses and even minor enemies interact with him. Klubba mentions in Donkey Kong Country 2 that K. Rool mistreats his minions. K. Rool is also merciless to his subjects, as in Donkey Kong 64, he presumably executes a purple-haired Kasplat via a giant Klaptrap for calling him "fatso", not realizing that K. Rool was listening. He does not seem to respect his henchmen much better either. In Mario Super Sluggers, he refers to brown Kritter as "the dirty underbelly of the Kremling Krew". Not even his strongest underlings dare challenge him as K. Rool is the strongest of the Kremlings. He used his strength and intimidation to rise in power and seize the position of king since he does not actually have royal blood nor is he an heir that inherited a sovereign state/region/nation, as shown by statements pointing out how he is not even a real king. Despite all of this, however, K. Rool and the Kritters have good chemistry with each other in Mario Super Sluggers and the trophy bios of Kalypso and Kludge show he has a respect and trust in the former as a capable leader figure and is intimidated by latter's ferocious temper.

Enemies

Kong Family

The Kong Family, especially Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, are K. Rool's archenemies. He hates the Kongs with a passion, referring to them as "filthy apes" and "monkey brains", and obsesses over getting revenge on them whenever they defeat him, and he will do whatever it takes to destroy them once and for all. The reasons for stealing DK's banana hoard are not fully understood since he is a reptile and they do not eat fruit, but official sources state that the reason is that he wants to starve Donkey Kong to death so he can occupy his treehouse. Why he wishes to do so is even less fully understood, since a small treehouse is nothing in comparison to his numerous lairs and hideouts (although it could be an example of his deep insanity). Though it could be he simply loves causing trouble for the group whom he loathes.

The true reason he wishes to occupy the treehouse could be that as an example of his conquest over Donkey Kong (the current ruler of Donkey Kong Island), he now considers himself its new ruler by residing in the treehouse, or he just likes bananas. The latter is not actually the case as in the game DK: Jungle Climber, where K. Rool confirms that he hates bananas, though Palutena's Guidance in Smash Bros. Ultimate contradicts this statement. It can speculated that he wants to prevent scurvy.

Since the games Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Land 2, he seems to be motivated to destroy the Kongs and their island as revenge for what they did to his homeland of Crocodile Isle. Strangely enough, K. Kool has occasionally shown respect to the Kongs, saying their baseball skills are impressive and he is also willing to team up or play with them in spin-offs, though the animosity is always present.

Powers and Abilities

  • Superhuman strength: K. Rool has a vast superhuman strength, which he often uses to hit or tackle his opponents. Its strength is so great that it can generate shock waves by jumping.
  • Superhuman durability: K. Rool has great resistance, he was able to resist multiple blows, defeats and was even able to survive being eaten by sharks.
  • Superhuman speed: Despite his size, K. Rool turns out to be fast enough in battle.
  • Superhuman agility: K. Rool despite his strength and imposing size is very agile, capable of jumping very high.
  • Magic: K. Rool is qualified in magic and capable of appealing to many powers.
    • Invisibility: In the games Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong 64, King K. Rool is able to make himself invisible.
    • Teleporting: In the game Donkey Kong Country, K. Rool can teleport his crown on his head, and in the game Donkey Kong Country 2, K. Rool can teleport himself.
  • Genius-level intelligence: K. Rool proved to be very intelligent. He was able to build a very sophisticated robot from pots, KAOS, in the games Donkey Kong Country 3 and Donkey Kong Land III.

Portrayals

Chris Sutherland, former member of Rare, and developer on the earlier Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land games, provided the voice for K. Rool in the same games. In the game Donkey Kong 64, King K. Rool possessed an ominous and low Darth Vader-like voice also provided by Chris Sutherland, and his voice samples were later used in the GBA versions of the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy.

In the English version of the Donkey Kong Country animated series, King K. Rool was voiced by Benedict Campbell[8].

King K. Rool was voiced by Toshihide Tsuchiya in the games DK: Jungle Climber, Donkey Kong Barrel Blast and Mario Super Sluggers.

In the game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, K. Rool was given realistic crocodilian roars instead of the respective voice actors from the Donkey Kong main game series.

Quotes

See also: King K. Rool/Quotes

Game Appearances

Title Description Release Date System/Format
Donkey Kong Country Boss 1994 Super Family Computer/
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Donkey Kong Land Boss 1995 Game Boy
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Boss as Kaptain K. Rool 1995 Super Family Computer/
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Donkey Kong Land 2 Boss as Kaptain K. Rool 1996 Game Boy
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! Boss as Baron K. Roolenstein 1996 Super Family Computer/
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Donkey Kong Land III Boss as Baron K. Roolenstein 1997 Game Boy
Donkey Kong 64 Boss as King Krusha K. Rool 1999 Nintendo 64
Donkey Kong Country Boss 2000-2001 Game Boy Color
Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong Boss as Baron K. Roolenstein 2000 Game Boy Color
Super Smash Bros. Melee Cameo as a trophy 2001 Nintendo GameCube
Diddy Kong Pilot Playable character as aviator-outfit K. Rool 2002 (unreleased) Game Boy Advance
Donkey Konga Enemy 2003 Nintendo GameCube
Donkey Kong Country Boss 2003 Game Boy Advance
Donkey Kong Country 2 Boss as Kaptain K. Rool 2004 Game Boy Advance
DK: King of Swing Boss, and unlockable playable character in the Jungle Jam modes 2005 Game Boy Advance
Donkey Kong Country 3 Boss as Baron K. Roolenstein 2005 Game Boy Advance
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast Unlockable playable character 2007-2008 Nintendo Wii
DK: Jungle Climber Boss 2007 Nintendo DS
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Cameo as a trophy and a sticker 2008 Nintendo Wii
Mario Super Sluggers Unlockable playable character 2008 Nintendo Wii
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Cameo as a rock formation 2014 Nintendo Wii U
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Cameo as trophies in both versions and Mii Brawler costume 2014 Nintendo 3DS/
Nintendo Wii U
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Cameo as a rock formation 2018 Nintendo Switch
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Unlockable playable character 2018 Nintendo Switch

Gallery

Screenshots

Sprites

Early concept art

Videos

See Also

Trivia

  • The "K" in "K. Rool" does not have any meaning, it was simply added by K. Rool due to his egotistical character.
  • K. Rool's name could be a reference to the word "cruel" as well as a corruption of "rule" as he is the ruler of the Kremlings.
  • The character's full Japanese name roughly translates to "Kingu Kura-sa Kurūeru", it sounds like "King Crusher Cruel".
  • During the early production of the game Donkey Kong Country, when it was originally going to be called Monkey Mayhem, K. Rool was originally going to be named "Krudd" and was going to be more serious and tough-looking than how he actually turned out.[29] He was also almost called Kommander K. Rool before the final name was decided.[32]
    • The fake credits cutscene of the original Donkey Kong Country game allude to his second name, listing K. Rool as the "Kommander" of the game.
  • In all of King K. Rool's artworks, he has an oversized left eye, but on Baron K. Roolenstein's artwork, his right eye is the one that is oversized.
    • King K. Rool also seems to have an eye tic in his left eye. Tics[33] are usually a result of an involuntary motor movement disorder.
  • According to Gregg Mayles, designer of the game Donkey Kong Country and the Banjo-Kazooie game series, on Rareware.com's former "scribes" column, K. Rool's motivation for stealing the banana hoard is either that he wants Donkey Kong to starve to death so that he can occupy his treehouse, or suggested that perhaps he likes bananas.[34] The latter explanation is not the case as in the game DK: Jungle Climber, K. Rool states he despises bananas. However, Palutena states in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that he and the Kremlings do like bananas. It can be speculated that he wants to prevent the scurvy disease[35].
    • The Tiki Tak Tribe had clearer reasons to steal the bananas of the Donkey Kong Island, in the games Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, where they want them for generate new tikis.
  • K. Rool's gold belly is confirmed by Steve Mayles to be armor.[26]
  • Apparently, Kaptain K. Rool used to be a student of Wrinkly Kong. During a visit to the Kong Kollege of the game Donkey Kong Country 2, Wrinkly can ask if Diddy and Dixie Kong could ask Kaptain K. Rool if he has done his homework, when they see him.[6]
  • Inside several of the sunken ships in the Gloomy Galleon level of the game Donkey Kong 64, portraits of Kaptain K. Rool can be found hanging on the walls.
  • Some of King K. Rool's voice clips from the game Donkey Kong 64 are reused in the Game Boy Advance version of the game Donkey Kong Country.
  • In the Bumm-Badabumm Im Urwald comic, K. Rool, despite being dressed as Kaptain K. Rool, is never referred to as such. Instead he is always called King K. Rool.
  • It appears that K. Rool was somewhat prepared in switching his "job" between each of the Donkey Kong Country games. In Donkey Kong Country, he is fought on a pirate ship while he is known as "King K. Rool" although it would make more sense for a captain to own a ship. In Donkey Kong Country 2, he is fought inside The Flying Krock, a huge drivable air base, as Kaptain K. Rool although it would make more sense for a more tech savvy person to be using it. Lastly, in Donkey Kong Country 3, he is fought inside a castle as Baron K. Roolenstein although it would make more sense for a king to rule it (though many mad scientists have labs in castles).
    • It can be speculated that K. Rool may have multiple personality disorder and that all of his aliases are not literal, and are just roles he likes to role-play as because they make him feel powerful.
  • Considering how Diddy and Dixie Kong have sunken the Crocodile Isle twice at the true endings of the games Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Land 2, it is safe to assume that being the reason why K. Rool wanted to destroy the DK Island during the game Donkey Kong 64.
  • The flying vehicle King K. Rool uses in the game DK: King of Swing is similar to the Koopa Clown Car, Bowser's iconic flying vehicle from the Super Mario Bros. game series, and the Egg Mobile, Doctor Eggman's iconic flying vehicle from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
  • In the game Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, K. Rool's rival is Cranky Kong. This could be a possible nod to both of them having been good friends during the episode "Best of Enemies" from the Donkey Kong Country animated series.
  • K. Rool did not appear as an antagonist in the games Donkey Kong Country Returns, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. However, there is a rock formation resembling King K. Rool's face, seen in the background of the Bright Savannah level Grassland Groove of the game Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (see Screenshots in the Gallery section above). At the same location, between two shaking platforms and just after the first checkpoint of the level, there is also a big banana bunch, floating over the same plane of the Kongs in the game, positionated in order to resemble King K. Rool's crown.
  • In the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the names that appears when the player picks the option "Random Name" when naming their custom stage is "KROOL", a possible reference to King K. Rool.
    • Also, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, his trophy information says he can be so good at playing dead sometimes the credits roll by as he lies there, a reference to the original Donkey Kong Country game.
  • King K. Rool's trophy in the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl erroneously claims that he and Kaptain K. Rool are "brothers". They are actually the same character, but with different roles.
    • The real brother of K. Rool is actually his younger sibling K. Lumsy, who is against him and on the Kong's side, during the events of the game Donkey Kong 64.
  • In the game Mario Super Sluggers, K. Rool pitches with his left and bats with his right, meaning he is likely ambidextrous.
  • K. Rool is really similar to Bowser the main antagonist of the Super Mario Bros. series. They are both bulky and tough reptiles (Bowser a turtle, K. Rool a crocodile), both tyrants which rule with authority and kings of a reptilian race (however Bowser is an actual king descended from royal blood and while they are fearful of his wrath, he is more benevolent with whereas K. Rool's title is simply a role that he likes to play and is usually merciless to his underlings). Both of them are main antagonists and always kidnap someone who has a good relationship (love, friendship or relative, etc.) with the protagonist, both defeated in a lot of games but always return alive in following sequels.
    • In the game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the redesign of K. Rool also wears two gold armlets on his arms, which is likely also a reference to Bowser, who also wears spiked armlets on both of his arms.
    • Unlike Bowser who appears to treat his minions with respect, K. Rool treats his minions though fear and many are afraid of him.
  • King K. Rool's laugh in the game Donkey Kong 64 is a pitched-down version of stock sound effect "Evil Laugh" from Cartoon Trax Volume 1 album.[36] This same sound effect is also used for the enemies Kloak and Krosshair in the GBA versions of the games Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Country 3, respectively.
  • Cranky Kong mentions in the instruction booklet to the game Donkey Kong 64 that K. Rool had given up his silly disguises. This proved to be true, as he has not gone incognito since Baron K. Roolenstein.
  • Surprisingly, in the episode "Baby Kong Blues" of the Donkey Kong Country cartoon series, King K. Rool has a soft spot for children and babies, particularly Baby Kong. He calls him "Prince Junior Croc" much to Baby Kong's accepting delight, laughs at Baby Kong wreaking havoc in his lair, frightening Klump and Krusha and reads to him bedtime stories of K. Rool's memoirs. He even sings the lullaby to Baby Kong while he sleeps called "My Wittle Evil One".

References

  1. "I'll be King K. Fool to future generations thanks to Cranky and that film!"
    King K. Rool in the episode "To the Moon Baboon" from the Donkey Kong Country animated series
  2. "Say good-bye, King K. Fool."
    Diddy Kong in the game DK: Jungle Climber for Nintendo DS
  3. "You oughta be able to catch up to ol' King Scaleface now..."
    Cranky Kong in the game DK: Jungle Climber for Nintendo DS
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Gregg Mayles on Twitter (retrieved on May 24, 2018)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Adrian Smith's like on Twitter (retrieved on February 9, 2024)
  6. 6.0 6.1 "When you see Kaptain K. Rool, can you ask him if he has done his homework?"
    —Wrinkly Kong in the game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest for SNES
  7. David Wise on Twitter (retrieved on January 10, 2019)
  8. 8.0 8.1 Benedict Campbell on Wikipedia
  9. "KREMLANTIS: Rock hewn and rock solid is Kremlantis, ancient home of K. Rool's masterfull predecessors."
    Donkey Kong Land Nintendo Magazine System, page 13 on DKC Atlas]
  10. KREM QUAY: "K. Rool proves he's pirate and not a sailor with yet another wrecked ship. Be careful or you'll get sunk in this swamp along with it!"
    —M. Arakawa. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Player's Guide, Nintendo, page 20 on Wayback Machine
  11. "KREM QUAY: "Yet another Kremling Galleon has sunk here in Krem Quay. Once the port of Crocodile Isle (as if anyone would really want to visit), the place is now a swamp, crawling with rats and other vile vermin. Some of the underwater action here is particularly gloomy, so you'll need a friend with a light to show you the way."
    Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Instruction Booklet, Nintendo, 1995, page 21 on Games Database
  12. CAPTURED: "They're the same, but not the same. They're deranged, estranged, and subtly changed. K. Rool's Kremling crew show its true colors in DKC2. No longer are they merely repulsive reptiles."
    Nintendo Power vol. 76, page 26 on Wayback Machine
  13. Kevin Bayliss' like in Twitter as acceptance of the idea about the Kremean War
  14. K. ROOL'S KEEP: "The Kaptain's home is on the highest peak Crocodile Isle. You'll feel on top of the world if you ever manage to get through his Kremling army and reach castle!"
    —M. Arakawa. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Player's Guide, Nintendo, page 20 on Wayback Machine
  15. K. ROOL'S KEEP: "Kaptain K. Rool is no fool; he's saved the most dastardly traps for use in his own fortress lair. None has entered K. Rool's Keep and lived to tell the tale. Will Diddy or Dixie be the first?"
    Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Instruction Booklet, Nintendo, 1995, page 23 on Games Database
  16. KRAZY KREMLAND: "What do the Kremlings do for fun when they aren't making the Kong Family's life miserable? They go to Krazy Kremland, the island amusement park! This area features roller coasters that not only are in extreme states of disrepair, they are also haunted!"
    Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Instruction Booklet, Nintendo, 1995, page 21 on Games Database
  17. JUNGLE JINX: "It look like K. Rool hasn't heard about preserving the rain forests. Here he's dumping bunches of giant tires in Diddy and Dixie's path! You can time you leap over the cascading tires with Diddy, but Dixie's helicopter spin is better for bypassing the bees and barrels."
    —M. Arakawa. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Player's Guide, Nintendo, 1995, page 46 on Wayback Machine
  18. "Klubba: Kap'n K. Rool treats us rotten. I hope yer scupper his plans!" - Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
  19. "K. Lumsy: SNIFF... K. Rool says I'm too soft to be a Kremling and I'm to stay in here until I've toughened up.." - Donkey Kong 64
  20. Darth Vader on Wikipedia
  21. Star Wars on Wikipedia
  22. Clu Clu Land on Wikipedia
  23. Super Smash Bros. Japan on Twitter (retrieved on July 29, 2015)
  24. Downloadable content on Wikipedia
  25. Nintendo eShop on Wikipedia
  26. 26.0 26.1 Steve Mayles on Twitter (retrieved on July 6, 2015)
  27. Vic and Bob on Wikipedia
  28. Donkey Kong 64 Character Page 2 on Nintendo Japan (retrieved on April 22, 2012)
  29. 29.0 29.1 Gregg Mayles on Twitter (retrieved on August 13, 2018)
  30. Gregg Mayles on Twitter (retrieved on August 14, 2018)
  31. Gregg Mayles on Twitter (retrieved on August 19, 2018)
  32. Gregg Mayles on Twitter (retrieved on August 10, 2018)
  33. Tic on Wikipedia
  34. August 25, 1999 edition of Scribes on Rareware (saved on Wayback Machine)
  35. Scurvy on Wikipedia
  36. Cartoon, Laugh on Sound Ideas
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