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This article is about King K. Rool's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see King K. Rool.
With long-distance special moves like the Blunderbuss, and counter moves like Stomach Attack, he is a versatile fighter. His Final Smash, Blast-O-Matic, was apparently a weapon created to destroy DK Island...
—Description from the Super Smash Blog.

King K. Rool is an unlockable newcomer fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was confirmed during the August 8th, 2018 Smash Direct. His Fighter Number is #67.

Instead of being voiced by an actor, King K. Rool uses realistic crocodile and alligator bellows.

Attributes[]

Strengths[]

  • Possesses Belly Super Armor on many of his attacks.
  • Second heaviest character in the game, only behind Bowser, giving him high survivability.
  • High launch power on many attacks.
  • Down aerial and back aerial can meteor smash.
  • Down tilt and down throw can bury opponents in the ground, leaving them open to attack.
  • Has two long range projectiles.
  • Has the best recovery of any Super Heavyweight and Heavyweight character, being able to recover from the edge of the stage all the way to the edge of a platform without any problems. His recovery can also send opponents upwards if the make direct contact with it, giving K. Rool the opportunity to gain an advantage.

Weaknesses[]

  • Tanking enemy attacks with Belly Super Armor too often can break K. Rool's armor. K. Rool's armor health is indicated by cracks on K. Rool's belly. Over time, these cracks will repair themselves, as long as attacks that have Belly Super Armor are not being used. If K. Rool's belly takes too much damage, it will stun him similarly to a shield break.
  • Some of his moves have significant start-up or end lag.
  • Belly Super Armor does not resist grabs.
  • Belly Super Armor only protects the belly portion of King K. Rool.
  • Projectiles are relatively slow, making them ineffective at long ranges.
  • Large hurtbox makes him easy to hit, susceptible to combos and juggling.
  • Has slow mobility on the ground and in the air.
  • Despite an impressive recovery, the propeller blades offer no side protection and disjointed attacks can bypass them.

Summary[]

King K. Rool has many traits of a typical super-heavyweight: powerful attacks, long range, and below average mobility. However, he also has several defining traits that set him apart from other heavyweight characters, including two projectiles, a long distance recovery, and (most notably) Belly Super Armor. This mechanic gives some of King K. Rool's attacks super armor for varying durations, allowing him to block attacks and win more exchanges than normally possible.

King K. Rool's tilts are all quite versatile attacks; up tilt functions as a quick anti-air tool while down tilt can bury opponents. Forward tilt has very high range, good power, and also has Belly Super Armor. All of his smash attacks hit very hard and are formidable options for hard reads. His aerial attacks are also somewhat versatile. Neutral aerial is a good landing option and edgeguarding tool thanks to its Belly Super Armor. Forward aerial is K. Rool's most well-rounded aerial attack as it hits extremely hard and has low landing lag. Down aerial and back aerial are both meteor smashes; the former is quite weak, and while the latter is much slower, it is also one of the strongest meteor smashes in the entire game. Up aerial is an exceedingly strong aerial attack with decent startup and even some recovery potential since it causes K. Rool to rise slightly.

Blunderbuss is a projectile that is useful for edgeguarding and limiting recovery routes. It can also suck up opponents and shot Kannonballs, functioning as a command grab. King K. Rool is able to drop through platforms while vacuuming, making the Blunderbuss a deadly ledge trapping tool. Crownerang travels a long distance and gives K. Rool damage-based armor throughout its duration. It has extremely high priority, beating out most projectiles, and the returning hit can set up for various combos. K. Rool's grab game is also very good, being among the best in the entire game. His grabs have long range and each of his throws have some use. Forward throw has combo potential at low percentages while his back throw is a strong kill throw. Up throw deals an incredible amount of damage and his notorious down throw buries opponents, allowing for various mindgames and combo potential.

However, King K. Rool has some serious flaws. His incredibly high weight and large size make him one of the easiest characters to combo. Both Blunderbuss and Crownerang are slow projectiles and can easily be avoided by faster characters. His smash attacks have extremely high ending lag, even for a super-heavyweight character, making them very punishable. Crownerang can also backfire hard if the opponent gains possession of K. Rool's crown, since it deprives him of one special move while giving the opponent a rather powerful item to use. Gut Check is not a reliable counterattack due to having a hitbox only on K. Rool's belly, and it is a very poor reflector due to its high ending lag. Even his recovery has flaws of its own; Propellorpack is incredibly slow and intelligent players can edgeguard K. Rool for long periods of time. King K. Rool also struggles to get off of the ledge, as he has a limited amount of effective ledge options. Overall, King K. Rool is a resilient horizontal zoner who also has the ability to fight aggressively. He has an immense amount of survivability and damage output, but he must be careful not to be too reckless, as his own mistakes can be punished heavily.

Moveset[]

  • Certain belly-based moves in King K. Rool's moveset grant super armor. However, taking damage with these moves cracks his stomach armor, with K. Rool getting dazed upon it breaking completely after 36.02% worth of damage. The Belly Super Armor regenerates when not using attacks which activate it.
  • K. Rool has a tall hurtbox when standing or walking, but dashes on all four limbs akin to real crocodiles, significantly lowering his hurtbox.

Ground Attacks[]

Normal[]

  • Neutral Attack: A palm strike, then a claw swipe and then a kick.
  • Forward Tilt: Performs a forceful clap. Can be angled and has Belly Super Armor.
  • Up Tilt: An uppercut. Deals less damage and knockback later into the attack. The sweetspot launches opponents diagonally while the sourspot weakly launches opponents vertically.
  • Down Tilt: A slow sumo stomp. Is extremely strong on aerial opponents and can bury grounded opponents when sweetspotted. Also produces an earthquake hitbox around his foot.
  • Dash Attack: A belly-first lunge with Belly Super Armor. Deals 14% damage. Surprisingly fast and strong, but has much less power later into the attack.

Smash Attacks[]

  • Forward Smash: Equips a boxing glove from Donkey Kong 64 and throws a straight punch. Can be angled. Deals 20% uncharged. Has a sweetspot on the boxing glove and a sourspot on K. Rool's arm.
  • Up Smash: Headbutts upward, then falls to the ground in a plank. Has Belly Super Armor. Deals 12% uncharged. The headbutt has a narrow hitbox and the plank portion can very weakly meteor smash opponents.
  • Down Smash: A leaping belly flop. Has Belly Super Armor. Deals 29% uncharged. One of the strongest down smashes in the game and lifts K. Rool's hurtbox a considerable distance, allowing him to potentially avoid low attacks or grabs.

Other attacks[]

  • Floor Attack (Front): Swipes in front of himself with one claw while kicking behind himself with one foot.
  • Floor Attack (Back): Sweeps his claw behind and then in front of himself.
  • Floor Attack (Trip): Swipes on both sides of himself with his claws.
  • Ledge Attack: Quickly swipes forward with one claw. Has incredibly high range.

Aerial Attacks[]

  • Neutral aerial: Expands his belly to perform a splash. Has Belly Super Armor. Deals 12% damage. Has poor range behind him.
  • Forward aerial: A dropkick with a large amount of knock back. Deals 14% damage. Is considered one of K. Rool's best moves.
  • Back aerial: A slow overhead punch behind him, similar to Ganondorf's forward air. A sweetspot is on K. Rool's fist while his arm is a sourspot. Can meteor smash aerial opponents if sweetspotted. Launches grounded opponents diagonally. Deals 19% damage.
  • Up aerial: A quick headbutt upwards. Also causes K. Rool to float slightly. Has Belly Super Armor. Deals 13% damage. Incredibly strong but extremely laggy.
  • Down aerial: Performs a frontflip before stomping downward with both feet. Has Belly Super Armor. Can meteor smash opponents if the early hitbox connects, but the later hitbox launches opponents horizontally. Deals 13% damage.

Grabs and Throws[]

  • Grab: Reaches out with high range. If K. Rool misses, his left eye comically bulges in frustration.
  • Pummel: Headbutts the enemy.
  • Forward Throw: Lifts the opponent over his head and slams them on the ground. Deals 10% damage. Can also hit nearby enemies.
  • Back Throw: K. Rool drags his opponent across the ground and hurls them backwards. Deals 11% damage. Has high horizontal knockback and is his main KO throw.
  • Up Throw: K. Rool heaves the opponent on his back and jumps up high before coming back down, launching the enemy with vertical knockback. Deals 16% damage. This is the strongest up throw damage-wise but has very weak KO potential. Landing on a platform can alleviate this.
  • Down Throw: Picks up the opponent and slams head-first them into the ground. Deals 5% damage. Buries the opponent, giving this throw much versatility.

Special Moves[]

King K. Rool's Special Moves
Ultimate
Standard Special Blunderbuss
Side Special Crownerang
Up Special Propellerpack
Down Special Gut Check
Final Smash Blast-O-Matic

Taunts[]

  • Up Taunt: Viciously snaps forwards four times.
  • Side Taunt: Slaps his belly with amusement. Has Belly Super Armor.
  • Down Taunt: Does a sumo-esque stomp.

On-Screen Appearance[]

  • Falls from the sky with his arms crossed before chuckling.

Idle Poses[]

  • Happily slaps his belly twice.
  • Angrily bites at the air thrice.

Victory Poses:[]

  • Spins around, flips his cape and points forward. This pose is extremely similar to his official artwork.
  • Shifts his eyes left and right cautiously before ending with a triumphant pose.
  • Belly-flops on screen and rebounds with a backflip before successfully landing on his feet and slapping his belly with pride.

In competitive play[]

Due to possessing abilities never seen before on a super-heavyweight character, including two projectiles, a burying down throw, Belly Super Armor, and a long range recovery, many professional players initially considered him to be a top-tier character while K. Rool gained a reputation for being "broken" among casual players. However, it quickly became apparent that King K. Rool wasn't nearly as good as players first thought, possessing some serious downsides. These include a very large hurtbox, high ending lag on certain attacks, slow projectiles, and low mobility. After being nerfed in update 2.0.0, almost all professional players saw him as a contender for the worst character in the game.

However, King K. Rool has been massively buffed by game updates from 2.0.0 onward. Said buffs have made many of K. Rool's attacks stronger and even improved his defensive game. After update 8.0.0, which increased the HP of K. Rool's Belly Super Armor and the amount of armor on Crownerang, many professional players have expressed more positive opinions. Even after all these buffs, however, some of K. Rool's biggest flaws still exist. Thus, his true viability remains to be seen.

Classic Mode: Super Heavyweight Class[]

King K. Rool's opponents are among the heaviest characters in the game. The boss of this route is Galleom, likely as a reference to his hulking proportions and his postures being similar to K. Rool's arch-nemesis, Donkey Kong. Additionally, "Galleom" is spelled similarly to "Galleon", which can be a reference to the song most associated with King K. Rool, Gang-Plank Galleon.

Role in World of Light[]

King K. Rool was among the fighters that were summoned to fight against the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, King K. Rool was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. He was vaporized offscreen and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the other fighters, excluding Kirby.

King K. Rool was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He can be found on a ship in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area, guarded by the spirit of fellow pirate, Risky Boots. To reach his location, the player must first defeat the Scarfy spirit, which is one of the right answers to a quiz question of which spirit Kirby cannot inhale. Then, the player must defeat the spirit of Trevor C. Belmont, the right answer to a quiz question of which spirit assisted Alucard in defeating Dracula.

Palette Swaps[]

King K. Rool Palette (SSBU)

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Trivia[]

  • Outside of minor cameos such as trophies, Ultimate marks King K. Rool's first physical appearance in a decade, as he last appeared in 2008's Mario Super Sluggers.
  • King K. Rool is the third playable Smash Bros. character to have been created outside Japan, following Diddy Kong, also created as part of the Donkey Kong Country series by the British developer Rare, and Dark Samus, who was created by the Texas-based Retro Studios.
  • According to Masahiro Sakurai, King K. Rool's inclusion in Ultimate was a result of his popularity in the Super Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot.[1]
    • This is reflected in K. Rool's trailer; where King Dedede (voiced by Masahiro Sakurai) trolls DK and Diddy (and the audience) with a fake reveal; only to be ambushed by the real K. Rool.
  • In King K. Rool's trailer, King Dedede disguising himself as King K. Rool is similar to the Donkey Kong Country episode "Just Kidding", in which Diddy Kong and Candy Kong make Donkey Kong use a King K. Rool costume to pull a prank on Cranky on All Fool's Day, but backfire when they accidentally bring the real King K. Rool to Cranky's house and the Crystal Coconut.
  • King K. Rool is the second fighter in the series with a Smash attack that can meteor-smash (Up Smash), with the first being Bayonetta (Down Smash)
  • King K. Rool is the second fighter in the series whose back-aerial meteor-smashes the opponent, with the first being Lucas.
  • King K. Rool is the only character who has a taunt that uses super armor.
  • King K. Rool is the heaviest newcomer to Smash Ultimate.

External links[]

King K. Rool Amiibo Training Guide

References[]

Smash Ultimate logo glow  · Fighters
Veterans Bayonetta  · Bowser  · Bowser Jr.  · Captain Falcon  · Cloud  · Corrin  · Dark Pit  · Diddy Kong  · Donkey Kong  · Dr. Mario  · Duck Hunt  · Falco  · Fox  · Ganondorf  · Greninja  · Ice Climbers  · Ike  · Jigglypuff  · King Dedede  · Kirby  · Link  · Little Mac  · Lucas  · Lucario  · Lucina  · Luigi  · Mario  · Marth  · Mega Man  · Meta Knight  · Mewtwo  · Mii Fighters (Mii Brawler  · Mii Gunner  · Mii Swordfighter)  · Mr. Game & Watch  · Ness  · Olimar  · Pac-Man  · Palutena  · Peach  · Pichu  · Pikachu  · Pit  · Pokémon Trainer (Charizard  · Ivysaur  · Squirtle)  · R.O.B.  · Robin  · Rosalina & Luma  · Roy  · Ryu  · Samus  · Sheik  · Shulk  · Snake  · Sonic  · Toon Link  · Villager  · Wario  · Wii Fit Trainer  · Wolf  · Yoshi  · Young Link  · Zelda  · Zero Suit Samus
Newcomers Banjo & Kazooie  · Byleth  · Chrom  · Daisy  · Dark Samus  · Hero  · Incineroar  · Inkling  · Isabelle  · Joker  · Kazuya  · Ken  · King K. Rool  · Min Min  · Piranha Plant  · Pyra/Mythra  · Richter  · Ridley  · Sephiroth  · Simon  · Sora  · Steve  · Terry
DKSymbol Donkey Kong universe
Characters Donkey Kong (64  · Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Diddy Kong (Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
King K. Rool (Ultimate)
Side Characters Boss Giant Donkey Kong
Assist Trophy Klaptrap
Mii Fighter Costumes King K. Rool  · Dixie Kong
Background characters Cranky Kong
Stage Hazards Klaptrap  · Donkey Kong
Enemies Kritter  · Tiki Buzz
Other Funky Kong
Stages Kongo Jungle  · Kongo Falls  · Jungle Japes  · Rumble Falls  · 75m  · Jungle Hijinxs
Items Hammer  · Barrel Cannon  · Spring  · Peanut
Music List List of Music (Donkey Kong series)
Song "Gang-Plank Galleon"
Collectibles Trophies Melee Trophies  · Brawl Trophies  · 3DS Trophies  · Wii U Trophies
Stickers List of Stickers (Donkey Kong series)
Spirits List of spirits (Donkey Kong series)
Masterpiece Donkey Kong
Related universes Mario  · Yoshi  · Wario  · Wrecking Crew
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