| King K. Rool | |
 King K. Rool as he appeared in DK: Jungle Climber | |
| Full Name | King K. Rool |
| Alias(es) | Kaptain K. Rool, Baron K. Roolenstein, King Krusha K. Rool |
| Residence(s) | Formerly: Crocodile Isle Now: A newly constructed Crocodile Island |
| Family | K. Lumsy (younger brother) Unnamed Wife |
| Species | Kremling |
| Sub-Species | N/A |
| Gender | Male |
| Affiliates | Kremling Krew |
| Powers/Abilities | Tremendous Strength, Technological Prowess, Above average speed, Extremely agile, Unlimited supply of Kannon balls, Creating shockwaves through ground pounding, Invisibility, Can turn temporarily invincible when enraged, Can shape himself into a ball and bounce off surfaces rapidly Pointy Crown as King K. Rool, making it impossible to jump on him without him taking the crown off. |
| Enemies | Kong Family |
| Game(s) | Antagonist for most of the Donkey Kong games. Notable exception: Donkey Kong Country Returns and "Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze." |
| First Appearance | Donkey Kong Country (1994) |
| Latest Appearance | Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U (as trophy) (2014) |
King K. Rool is the main antagonist of the Donkey Kong series. He is the malevolent ruler of the Kremling race, the head of the Kremling Krew, and the arch-nemesis of Donkey Kong. K. Rool has repeatedly tried to steal Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard for reasons that aren't fully understood. To reach his goal, he has even gone as far as kidnapping some Kongs on various occasions just to get his way.
Appearances
Donkey Kong Country
King K. Rool.
K. Rool first appeared in 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 with the intention to steal Donkey Kong's fabled Banana Hoard. Sending several Kremlings to Donkey's tree-house to steal the precious bananas, the Kremlings encountered little resistance, as the only person guarding them was Diddy Kong. Knocking Diddy aside and sealing him in a Barrel, the Kremlings stole the banana hoard.
After venturing through the many regions of Donkey Kong Island, Donkey Kong and the released Diddy Kong defeated many of K. Rool's operatives and reclaimed Donkey Kong's bananas, which were guarded by these lieutenants of the Kremling Krew. Finally, the Kongs managed to reach the Gangplank Galleon, K. Rool's ship, where they faced the tyrannical crocodile in battle. K. Rool 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. In the end, Donkey Kong finally managed to beat K. Rool after a long, difficult battle.
Donkey Kong Land
K. Rool returned in 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 Diddy and Donkey Kong that they couldn't reclaim the bananas on a handheld system. In this game, 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). Eventually, K. Rool is defeated again.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Kaptain K. Rool.
In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, 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 demands the Banana Hoard in return for Donkey Kong. After discovering that Donkey Kong has been kidnapped, Diddy Kong and his girlfriend, Dixie Kong, rush off to save him from Kaptain K. Rool. After venturing through the swampy Crocodile Isle, Diddy and Dixie managed to reach K. Rool's Keep, where Donkey Kong was supposedly being held. Finding Donkey Kong in a tower, the Kongs were about to rescue him when he was whisked away by K. Rool (in the Game Boy Advance remake of Donkey Kong Country 2, K. Rool also sends the gigantic Kremling Kerozene to battle Diddy and Dixie).
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. Engaging K. Rool in battle, the Kremling king used a high-tech blunderbuss that could be used as a vacuum, also allowing K. Rool to move at high-speeds, turn invisible, fire spiked Kannonballs and strange gases that could effect the Kongs in bizarre ways (e.g. reversing the game's controls, making the Kongs move extremely slow, and freezing them in place, etc.).
After a long battle, in which Diddy managed to do damage to K. Rool by hurling Kannonballs back into his blunderbuss (which would explode when clogged), Donkey Kong managed to break free of the bonds that held him and uppercut K. Rool out the front window of the Flying Krock. Crashing into the swampy water of Krem Quay, K. Rool managed to swim ashore to the Lost World.
By collecting enough Kremkoins for Klubba, Diddy and Dixie manage to follow K. Rool into the bowels of the Lost World and into 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 gun 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 the island and an ominous laugh can be heard as the ship sails over the horizon, telling the player that K. Rool survived the explosion, making way for another sequel.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, King K. Rool's trophy states that Kaptain K. Rool is actually King K. Rool's brother; however, this is regarded as a mistake by Nintendo.
Donkey Kong Land 2
In Donkey Kong Land 2 for the Game Boy, Kaptain K. Rool, having risen Crocodile Isle from the sea, rebuilt parts of it and repopulated 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.
Fought on the Flying Krock, Kaptain K. Rool's attack pattern in Donkey Kong Land 2 is a simplified version of his battle strategy in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest; instead of shooting status-afflicting gas or using a vacuum attack, Kaptain K. Rool would simply shoot gusts of wind from his blunderbuss.
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, Kaptain K. Rool would attack Diddy and Dixie Kong by blasting them with Kannonballs, both normal and spiked varieties. Eventually, Kaptain K. Rool would shoot a barrel, which must be jumped on to claim the Kannonball within. This Kannonball must be thrown at Kaptain K. Rool to defeat him and cause his blunderbuss to explode, flinging him into the geyser of Crocodile Kore, once again causing it to explode and send the entire island back down to the bottom of the ocean.
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
Baron K. Roolenstein.
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, King K. Rool was seemingly replaced as Master of the Kremlings by KAOS: a robotic entity, created by Rool. He captures Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, using their brainpower to control KAOS. Under KAOS' rule, the Kremling Krew proceeded to take over the Northern Kremisphere and imprison 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 began to battle KAOS, who was determined to destroy them.
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, Roolenstein began to battle the Kongs, using a helicopter pack on his back to fly and a remote control to send blasts of electricity across the floor of Kastle KAOS. In order to injure Roolenstein, Dixie and Kiddy would need to pull down on a particular pipe on the ceiling of Kastle KAOS, while avoiding Roolenstein and his electric beams. Pulling on this pipe would cause a barrel to appear, which would need to be thrown at Roolenstein; after being hit by multiple barrels by Dixie, Roolenstein would be defeated. But not before being zapped a few times by his electricity.
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 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, Roolenstein can be fought again. After Boomer's machine awakens the ancient volcano in Krematoa, a submarine, the Knautilus, will rise from beneath the volcano's lava. Inside this submarine, Roolenstein can be found and battled. In this battle, Roolenstein would 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 Roolenstein, Dixie and Kiddy would need to throw several Steel Kegs at him through the use of a teleportation device. After being hit multiple times by Dixie, Roolenstein would lose control of his helicopter pack and be left spinning out of control in his submarine.
If players manage to release the Banana Bird Queen from her imprisonment behind the Banana Bird Barrier, a brief cut-scene of Roolenstein riding away from the Northern Kremisphere in a hovercraft will be shown. As Roolenstein drives away, a giant egg, laid by the Banana Bird Queen and being ridden by Kiddy and Dixie, will fall on the Kremling king, trapping a perplexed Roolenstein inside.
Donkey Kong Land III
In 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: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Baron K. Roolenstein can be fought by Dixie and Kiddy Kong in Kastle KAOS after KAOS is destroyed permanently. In battle, Baron K. Roolenstein would try to attack Dixie and Kiddy Kong by frying them with electric beams and by trying to fly into them using his helicopter pack. In order to harm Roolenstein, barrels would need to be thrown at his back by Dixie and Kiddy multiple times.
Baron K. Roolenstein could later be fought in Donkey Kong Land III in the Lost World. In this battle, he would attack by using electrical beams and by dropping bombs on Dixie and Kiddy Kong. Baron K. Roolenstein would need to be repeatedly hit with barrels in order to be defeated.
Donkey Kong 64
King K. Rool, in Donkey Kong 64.
K. Rool returns in Donkey Kong 64, where K. Rool (said to have become "somewhat unstable") randomly appears one day on a large mechanical island. King K. Rool had planned to blow up Donkey Kong Island with a weapon called the Blast-O-Matic. Fortunately, K. Rool's Ship ends up crashing because of the incompetence of the ship's drivers. In an attempt to distract Donkey Kong while he has his ship repaired, 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 cut scenes, 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's repaired.
Eventually, King K. Rool's henchmen succeed in repairing the Blast-O-Matic, just as the Kongs break into Hideout Helm. K. Rool demands that the weapon be fired, despite the warnings that, if it isn't 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 a large airship. Unfortunately for K. Rool, the ship ends up being knocked to the ground and destroyed by a recently-released K. Lumsy. Venturing inside the crashed vessel, the Kongs found a boxing arena filled with spectators and King 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.
Donkey Kong 64 also revealed that King K. Rool truly is a tyrant, even striking fear into his own Kremlings and other types of his goons such as Armydillo 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 appearence he makes having a tail).
After Chunky Kong delivers the final blow to K. Rool, a humorous cut scene 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, ending up being blasted over the horizon by Funky Kong and a bazooka that shoots out a boot. When King K. Rool lands, it is in K. Lumsy Island where he meets a very unhappy K. Lumsy, who proceeds to beat the Kremling king senseless in retaliation for locking him up.
King 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 from the Star Wars franchise. However, as time goes on (especially towards the end of the game), K. Rool is depicted as far more comical, dim-witted, and insane.
DK: King of Swing
K. Rool as seen in DK: King of Swing.
One of K. Rool's more recent appearances was in DK: King of Swing, where he once again appears as the main antagonist. In DK: King of Swing, K. Rool steals all the medals that were supposed to be rewards in the upcoming Jungle Jam competition and crowns himself king of the jungle in the process.
As the end boss of DK: King of Swing, K. Rool must be defeated in two battles. First, he summons a huge field of pegs, which Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong must race him through. If the two kongs succeeds in defeating King K. Rool, he will promptly stutter that "that was practice" and challenge the Kongs to a battle on another peg field. If Donkey Kong beats him again, K. Rool will be vanquished and the medals relinquished as Donkey Kong flies off in K. Rool's hovercraft and destroys the K. Kruizer III. It is likely K. Rool got launched far away in the crash, but it is unknown where he landed, he either landed in the ocean, blizzard, ranch, or the jungle.
K. Rool is also playable in DK: King of Swing's Jungle Jam mode, where he is the largest playable character and the most powerful. His partner is, oddly, Bubbles, the hero of the game Clu Clu Land. This was the first time K. Rool was playable in a game.
DK Jungle Climber
In DK Jungle Climber, K. Rool appears as the main antagonist. He is first encountered atop Sun Sun Island, where he and his entourage of four Kritters steal the five Crystal Bananas from the banana alien Xananab. When King K. Rool and his henchmen are discovered by Donkey, Diddy and Cranky Kong, they quickly flee the scene using a dimensional portal device known as a Spirowarp. After this encounter, K. Rool is encountered several more times on the various islands and dimensions of the game, usually appearing to tease Donkey, Diddy, Cranky and Xananab before having one of his Kritter followers power-up with a Crystal Banana and battle them.
After King K. Rool's Mega AMP robot and final Kritter subordinate is defeated on his ship the King Kruiser IV and the fourth Crystal Banana is claimed by Donkey, Diddy, Cranky and Xananab, K. Rool flees through a wormhole to the Planet Plantaen. Chased to a dead end on Planet Plantaen, 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, he will, refusing to give up, use the last Crystal Banana in his possession to turn monstrous in size and become even more powerful.
In his new form, King K. Rool will attack by doing such things as exhaling fire and exploding mines, summoning meteors and gales of wind 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. 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. Some people theorize that he died during the trip back home (this ties in with a theory about Tiki Tong), but this is currently just speculation at best.
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
King K. Rool in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.
In Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, K. Rool makes an appearance as a secret playable character, riding in a vehicle resembling a rocket-powered barrel and using his claw as his attack. He is unlocked by playing Challenge 31 of Candy's Challenges, and winning; his main rival in the game is Cranky Kong.
Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Trophy Information
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
Trophy Information
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/ Wii U
Trophy Information
K. Rool's trophy
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
A Mii Brawler costume based on King K. Rool was announced on July 19, 2015, on the official Super Smash Bros. Twitter account. It was released on July 31, 2015, as DLC on the Nintendo eShop for purchase. The design of the costume is based on his original RareWare design. But 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 his chances of King 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 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. Since K. Rool appeared to be a fairly popular requested fighter, many fans view his Mii Bralwer costume as a "consolation prize" for those who wanted him in the game, but there is still a chance he will appear in a future Super Smash Bros installment.
Other Appearances
Though King K. Rool doesn't actually appear in Diddy Kong Racing, he is presumably the one who sent the Kremling Krew member Krunch to 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.
King K. Rool appears in one of Donkey Konga's mini-games, where the player must bash King K. Rool on the head with a Steel Keg while he tries to evade them. King K. Rool will also sometimes appear dancing to the beat of music during certain songs in Donkey Konga.
King K. Rool appears in Mario Super Sluggers for his first giant step in a Mario game. He is on Donkey Kong's team even though he and Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and their friends are arch eniemies and that he hates the apes. In Challenge Mode, he will try to stop Mario, Donkey Kong, and the gang in Donkey Kong's stage by using his green, red, blue, and brown Kritters to challenge them. The Kritters reported their failure to their king, blue and green Kritter activated the switch to the waterfall, when about to enter a pipe a red Kritter will appear and challenge them after the player defeated brown Kritter he tells the gang he is going to awaken K. Rool and activates the switch. King K. Rool, enraged how DK and Diddy and the others defeated his Kritters that challenges them himself. K. Rool is humilated how he was defeated at baseball then laughs and says he is going to join their roster but only while their playing baseball. When the player wins, the player will unlock him, as well as all four Kritters. He 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 despite that he is on DK's team. He also sports a new original Egyptian look not seen in any other game. He even uses a Scepter with a large gem to bat with to show of his kingly stature. This is only game he doesn't appear as an angainst along wih the Kritters probably since Bowser and and Bowser Jr. are(this is unclear why he joined them and how he is on Donkey Kong's team).
Other Information
Physical Appearance
King K. Rool, in his most common appearance, wearing a crown, gold wrist bands and a red cape.
In King K. Rool's most common appearance, he wears a red cape and a gold crown, 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 brown trench 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. K. Rool's skin is light green (though some appearances show it as dark green), he has a large bloodshot eye and he is usually shown with jagged teeth. King K. Rool's under-belly is golden in texture and color, but in DK: King of Swing his underbelly was changed to plain skin color. In Mario Super Sluggers, he didn't have a cape, but had an Egyptian outfit.
At a cursory glance, king k.rool appears to be morbidly obese, with an outie belly button(which is weird, considering crocodiles hatch from eggs.), lower abdominal obesity, gynecomastia. But also very muscular, toned limbs and broad shoulders.
Taking into consideration his physique, as his body may be composed of more muscle than fat, his attacks and athletic abilities from the first Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong 64, he is capable of inflicting considerable damage with physical strength alone. In DK: King of Swing King K. Rool had the highest attack out of all the characters. Although he is overwhieght, he has brute strengh that can rival Donkey Kong and Chunky Kong's strength.
Personality
K. Rool, as his name, a pun on "cruel", may imply, is often extremely brutal, ruling his minions through threats and intimidation, often punishing them severely when they fail. Even his most powerful followers seem to fear his wrath, as displayed in Donkey Kong 64, when his subtle display of anger results in Armydillo fainting on the spot. K. Rool is also somewhat 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 persistant in DK: Jungle Climber, he refused to surrender and handover the remaining Crystal Bananas.
K. Rool seems to hate the Kongs, referring to them as "filthy apes" and "monkey brains", though he doesn't treat his own soldiers much better either, whom sometimes appear to be loyal to him regardless. Both Donkey Kong 64 and Super Smash Bros. Melee imply that K. Rool is somewhat insane and demented. The final battle of Donkey Kong 64 also showed him to be somewhat of showboater, constantly showing-off and making taunting gestures.
K. Rool's greatest weakness is his own incompetence. It's very common for him to be defeated simply because he keeps making the same mistake in a fight, such as in 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 showing himself off in DK's fight, allowing DK blast him in the face.
King K. Rool is the ruthless, heartless, and mentally unstable ruler of the Kremling race, who has on numerous occasions tried to steal Donky Kong's Banana Hoard and kidnap the big ape himself. He rules the Kremlings with an iron fist and shows no mercy to any of his subjects, the reason they follow him seems to be of the deep fear they have of him and his tremendous power and not even his strongest underlings dare challenge him. He possesses a great hatred towards the Kongs and he will do whatever it takes to destroy them and their island once and for all.
In the DK series, he did other things besides stealing the Kongs' bananas. He took the DK medals that were for the winner of the Jungle Jam Contest in DK: King of Swing and stole the five Crystal Bananas from a banana-like alien named Xananab to take over the universe in DK: Jungle Climber (this the only time he's interested in taking over the world). This shows he likes to take what he wants and has gone on to conquer the world. This is the only time he steals something other than the banana hoard or interested in world domination.
The reasons for stealing DK's Banana Hoard and kidnapping him are not fully understood since he is a reptile and they don't eat fruit, but official sources state that the reason is that he wants to starve Donkey Kong to death so he can occupy his tree house; why he wishes to do so is even less fully understood, since a small tree house is nothing in comparison to his numerous lairs and hideouts (although it could be an example of his deep insanity), the true reason could be is that he wishes to occupy the tree house as an example of his conquest over Donkey Kong (the current ruler of Donkey Kong Island) and he now considers himself its new ruler by residing in the tree house, or he likes bananas and is starving. But as of yet, Nintendo has made no new comments on the subject. Since Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, he seems to be motivated to destroy all Kongs and their island as revenge for what they did to his island kingdom of Crocodile Isle. It is also possible that k.rool wanted to starve the Kong's to death.
Family
King K. Rool mentioned having a wife in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. Specifically, after KAOS is defeated a second time, Baron K. Roolenstein appears, stating he built KAOS from his wife's best pots and pans. It is unknown if K. Rool was telling a joke, or if he actually has a wife.If K. Rool does in fact have a wife, her real name may be "Queen K. Rool" or, in the style of the games, "Kueen K. Rool". 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".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 Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights, 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.
Weapons and Vehicles
Throughout his various appearances, King K. Rool has used a variety of weaponry. In Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land, King K. Rool would attack Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong by throwing his crown at them, which could boomerang back to him.
In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Land 2, Kaptain K. Rool would use a powerful blunderbluss that, along with firing Kannonballs and status afflicting mists, could propel Kaptain K. Rool forward and make him invisible. In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! and Donkey Kong Land III, Baron K. Roolenstein would use a helicopter-equipped pack on his back to obtain flight (though ironically, the helicopter serves as more of a liability since it's his weak point in the game; he can actually move faster on his feet then with the helicopter), and also, through the use of a remote, he could send blasts of electricity at Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong. During the battle in Krematoa, Baron K. Roolenstein would also use a fireball-launching cannon to attack.
During the final battle of Donkey Kong 64, in his fight against Diddy Kong, King Krusha K. Rool was capable of throwing his boxing gloves like boomerangs.
King K. Rool has also used a wide variety of vehicles, from his currently ruined ship, the Gangplank Galleon, to large airships, such as the Flying Krock and K. Kruizer III. DK: King of Swing also showed King K. Rool had in his possession a personal hovercraft, which could move quickly and was green in color. He also uses a type of barrel vehicle in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.
Powers and Abilities
Despite his overweight appearance King K. Rool is in fact pure muscle as shown on numerous occasions, such as in Donkey Kong 64 where he easily sent Chunky Kong (In his giant form also the strongest Kong in the Kong Family) flying with a single punch, and he can create powerful earthquakes and shock waves from simply ground pounding the floor once, his strength is so grand that he might even be an equal to Donkey Kong himself if not maybe even stronger.
Along with strength, K. Rool is also shown to be very swift and agile even surpassing Diddy Kong. He can jump high into the air as shown in Donkey Kong Country where he can jump from one end of the Gangplank Galleon to the other in a single jump.
In Donkey Kong Country, King K. Rool boasted the ability to summon a barrage of large cannonballs to rain down on Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong.
Along with his incredible strength and mechanical brilliance, K. Rool also possesses a few powerful abilities that make him very dangerous in battle, an example is in Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong 64, where he could turn temporarily invisible, and in DK: Jungle Climber, where, after being damaged in battle, he could turn temporarily invincible (similar to a Kruncha) and he had the ability to roll up into a ball and bounce off surfaces rapidly.
His most impressive feat of power was in the final battle of DK: Jungle Climber, where after he ate the Crystal Banana, King K. Rool gained numerous powerful abilities, such as breathing fireballs (which could turn into exploding mines), summoning meteors and even manipulating the weather.
Apart from his sheer power, his most notable ability is his great endurance, as in all the past games he was attacked with cannonballs, with explosions (Donkey Kong Country 2), fall from a cliff, being eaten by piranhas (same game), severe electrocution (Donkey Kong Country 3) barrel shot, heavy lighters on his head, punches from an enlarged Chunky, among others and is despite all of that, capable of more fighting. In fact a recurrent phenomenon during his many boss fights, is the fact that after being severely beaten and thought for defeated, he stands up for more fight which can happen many times in a same boss fight, and grow stronger and become more difficult to defeat.
Appearances in Other Media
Television
King K. Rool, sitting on his "throne" in the Donkey Kong Country television series
K. Rool was one of the main characters and antagonists on the Donkey Kong Country animated series. In the show, his personality was relatively the same as in the games: bossy, megalomaniac, and slightly clumsy. He is constantly bragging about his brain and he does use big words a lot. King K. Rool would often, with the aid of his henchmen General Klump and Krusha, attempt to steal the mystical Crystal Coconut and use its power to rule Kongo Bongo Island (which was what Donkey Kong Island was called in the show) and possibly the world. He seems to be always hatching diabolical plans to steal the mystical coconut, and although his plans are works of evil genius, a combination of the stupidity of his troops and the resourcefulness of the apes always lead to failure. King K. Rool would also enact other schemes, such as trying to steal the legendary Golden Banana of Inka Dinka Doo and framing Donkey Kong for several crimes he himself had committed such as making Candy slip on a banana peel, stealing Funky's surfboard, making Dixie believe DK called Diddy a loser and he had feelings for her, trashing Cranky's cabin and leaving a banana peel to show evidence DK was the culprit, and stole the Crystal Coconut and framed DK did it (but later after everyone relizes DK didn't do those crimes).
In the animated series, King K. Rool's physical appearance was slightly altered from his video game counterpart. His tail was shorter and his eye was not bloodshot like in the games, though it did bulge to large proportions when he was excited or irritated (which was often). His eyes also weren't 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. King K. Rool's cape was also much shorter in length in the Donkey Kong Country cartoon. Also, he didn't fight DK himself.
The series also expanded King 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 King K. Rool mentioning both his mother and various, unnamed siblings. The Donkey Kong Country cartoon also introduced a Kremling rival of sorts to King 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 didn't exist, King 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 and tries to steal the mocay lilypad. Also, he is less cruel to his soldiers. It is unknown whether it's true or not since it was a dream by DK.
It shows K. Rool's greed for power overshadows his life seen in "The Curse of Kongo Bongo", when he comes across the Curse of the Double Bluebeard Baboon, he decides to read it when he finds out if read twice, the island sinks into the ocean. K. Rool said if he was given the Crystal Coconut, he wouldn't read it, despite Cranky Kong saying the coconut doesn't work and he would sink down, as well. After K. Rool read the letter, the island began to sink and became frightened.
King K. Rool is shown to be dimwited, as shown when DK played some pranks on him, when he beileved the Crystal Coconut was cursed, DK and Diddy had a magical amulet even powerful than the Crystal Coconut, and drinking a bottle full of bees and got stung. K. Rool tried playing pranks on the Kongs, such as trying to drop barrels on them, but ended up having getting some dropped on him.
Literature
King K. Rool appeared in German Club Nintendo's comic adaptation of 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 Gangplank 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 Kongs 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.
Other
King K. Rool was featured as the villain of Nintendo's 2003 version of Camp Hyrule. King K. Rool caused chaos in Camp Hyrule by creating a massive earthquake.
A large amount of Donkey Kong merchandise depicting King K. Rool has also been released. This includes plush dolls, action figures and miniatures, often based on King K. Rool's appearance in either Donkey Kong 64 or the Donkey Kong Country animated series.
Portrayals
In the Donkey Kong Country animated series, King K. Rool was voiced by Ben Campbell, while in the Japanese dub of the television series he was voiced by Jūrōta Kosugi. In Donkey Kong 64, King K. Rool possessed an ominous and low Darth Vader-like voice provided by Chris Peil.
Game Appearances
Gallery
Artwork
Screenshots
Sprites
Trivia
- In the Bumm-Badabumm Im Urwald comic, King K. Rool, despite being dressed as Kaptain K. Rool, is never referred to as such; instead he is always called King K. Rool.
- In several of the sunken ships in Gloomy Galleon in Donkey Kong 64, portraits of Kaptain K. Rool can be found hanging on the ship walls.
- According to Gregg Mayles (designer of Donkey Kong Country and the Banjo-Kazooie 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 simply just the fact that he likes bananas [1]. The latter explanation is contradicted in DK: Jungle Climber though, in which K. Rool states he despises bananas.
- 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: Diddy Kong's Quest, 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: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, he is fought inside a castle as Baron K. Roolenstein although it would make more sense for a King to rule it.
- In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the names that appears when the player presses the "Random Name" button when naming their custom stage is KROOL, a reference to him.
- 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 DKC.
- In all of K. Rool's artwork he has an imperfect left eye, but on Baron K. Roolstein it's his right eye that's imperfect.
- In DK: Barrel Blast, K. Rool's rival is Cranky Kong, but they are revealed to have been good friends in an episode of the Donkey Kong Country TV series.
- The Trophy information in Super Smash Brothers Brawl states that Kaptain K. Rool is his brother, but Kaptain K. Rool is King K. Rool himself.
- K. Rool's name is a reference to the word Cruel.
- The flying vehicle he uses in King of Swing is similar to the Egg Mobile, Dr. Eggman/Robotnik's iconic flying vehicle, from the Sonic franchise.
- K. Rool might possibly want to steal the banana hoard as bait to get DK so he can eliminate him, as this would make him the new king of the jungle.
- K.Rool's full Japanese name roughly translates to Kingu Kura-sa Kurūeru.
- In Mario Super Sluggers, King K. Rool pitches with his left and bats with his right, meaning he's actually ambidextrous.
- K. Rool may suffer from multi-personality disorder, as seen in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest when he is a pirate, and in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! when he is a mad scientist.
- K. Rool did not appear in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.
- There might be a reason why K. Rool wanted to destroy Donkey Kong Island in Donkey Kong 64. In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong destroyed Crocodile Isle at the true end of the game. This is a viable reason for K. Rool to get angry, and wish for revenge. He starts his revenge in Donkey Kong 64, by preparing to destroy Donkey Kong Island.
- In the Donkey Kong Country animated series, K. Rool stated the Kremlings are superior to the Kong's, and given that he often stood in front of an army on a podeum, comparisons between K. Rool and Adolf Hitler can be made.
| Kremlings | |
|---|---|
| Bazuka | Big Klaptrap | Congazuma | Draglinger | General Klump | Green Kroc | Junior the Giant Klaptrap | Junklomp | K. Lumsy | Kaboing | Kaboom | Kackle | Kannon | Kasplat | Kalypso | Kaptain Skurvy | Kass | Kerozene | King K. Rool (Kaptain K. Rool | Baron K. Roolenstein | King Krusha K. Rool) | King Kut Out | Kip | Klampon | Klank | Klaptrap | Klasp | Klinger | Kloak | Klobber | Klomp | Klump | Klubba | Kludge | Knocka | Kobble | Koin | Koindozer | Kopter | Kosha | Kracka | Krash | Krimp | Kritter | Kritter-in-a-Sheet | Krobot | Krochead/Krockhead | Krook | Krossbones | Kroc | Krumple | Krunch | Kruncha | Krusha | Kuchuka | Kudgel | Kuff 'n' Klout | Kutlass (DKC 2) | Kutlass (DKC TV series) | Mega Amp | "Mr. X" | Re-Koil | Resident Demon | Robo-Kritter | Rockkroc | Shroom Kritter | Skidda | TNT Knocka | |
| DK: King of Swing Characters | |
|---|---|
| Playable Characters | |
| Donkey Kong | Diddy Kong | Dixie Kong | Funky Kong | Wrinkly Kong | Kritter | King K. Rool | Bubbles | |
| Non-Playable | |
| Candy Kong | Cranky Kong | |
| DK: Jungle Climber Characters | |
|---|---|
| Playable Characters | |
| Donkey Kong | Diddy Kong | Dixie Kong | Funky Kong | |
| Non-Playable | |
| Candy Kong | Cranky Kong | Wrinkly Kong | King K. Rool | Xananab | |
| Donkey Kong Barrel Blast Characters | |
|---|---|
| Kongs | |
| Donkey Kong | Diddy Kong | Dixie Kong | Lanky Kong | Tiny Kong | Funky Kong | Wrinkly Kong | Cranky Kong | |
| Kremlings | |
| Kritter | Kip | Kass | Klump | Kalypso | Kludge | Kopter | King K. Rool | |
| Non-Playable | |
| Candy Kong | |