King K. Rool (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

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
Universe	Donkey Kong
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Blast-O-Matic
Character Statistics
Number of Jumps	2
Has a Tether	No

King K. Rool is a newcomer fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was confirmed during the August 8th Smash direct.

When unlocked, he is fought at Jungle Japes.

Attributes

Strengths

• Excellent Super Armor when performing belly attacks.
• Second heaviest character in the game, only behind Bowser.
• Is a combination of a close combat tank and a mid-ranged zoner, making him a flexible fighter.

Weaknesses

• Is vulnerable to punishment.
  • Super Armor is indicated by cracks on K. Rool's belly. If K. Rool does nothing, these cracks will quickly repair itself. However if K. Rool's belly takes too much damage it will stun him, similarly to a shield break.
  • Some moves have significant ending-lag.
• Super Armor does not resist grabs.
• Projectiles are relatively slow: making them ineffective at long ranges.
• Large hitbox.
• Low agility.

Summary

King K. Rool is a heavyweight character, with a lot of super armor on most of his moves. He has a few projectiles, and a very style-focused playstyle, with his meteor-smashing back air and down air, and his "K. Roolicide" where he sucks his opponent into his neutral special and launch them out to the blast zone (even though K. Rool can possibly still recover from it).

Moveset

Certain belly-based moves in King K. Rool's moveset grant armor. However, taking damage with these moves cracks his stomach armor, with K. Rool getting dazed upon it breaking completely after three armored hits. The armor regenerates when not using belly attacks.

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Neutral Attack: A palm strike, then a claw swipe and then a kick.
• Forward Tilt: Claps his hand together. Can be angled and has super armor.
• Up Tilt: An uppercut.
• Down Tilt: Stomps downward. Can bury when sweetspotted.
• Dash Attack: A belly charge with super armor.

Smash Attacks

• Forward Smash: Punches while using his boxing glove from Donkey Kong 64. Can be angled.
• Up Smash: Headbutts up, then falls to the ground. Has super armor.
• Down Smash: Belly-flops on the ground. Has super armor.

Other attacks

• Floor Attack (Front):
• Floor Attack (Back):
• Floor Attack (Trip):
• Ledge Attack: Fast horizontal swipe of his claw.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral aerial: Extends his body, having a hitbox all around. Has super armor. Deals 12% damage.
• Forward aerial: A dropkick with a large amount of knock back. Deals 14% damage.
• Back aerial: A slow arm swing behind him, like Ganondorf's forward air. Can meteor smash if sweetspotted. Deals 19% damage.
• Up aerial: A quick headbutt upwards. Also gains a little height upwards.
• Down aerial: A strong stomp downward which meteor smashes.

Grabs and Throws

• Pummel: Headbutts the enemy.
• Forward Throw: Slams the opponent on the ground.
• Back Throw: K. Rool drags his opponent across the ground and throws them backwards. Deals 11% damage.
• Up Throw: K. Rool heaves the opponent on his back and jumps high and comes back down, sending the enemy with vertical knockback. Deals 16% damage.
• Down Throw: Slams the opponent on the ground so hard it buries them.

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: K. Rool slaps his belly. Has super armor.
• Down Taunt: K. Rool does a sumo-esque stomp.
• Side Taunt: K. Rool viciously snaps forward, similar to Bowser's side taunt.

On-Screen Appearance

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

Victory Poses:

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

  

In competitive play

King K. Rool is currently called a low-skill, powerful character. Despite that, King K. Rool still has not even made top 8 at any A or S-tier tournaments.

Palette Swaps

Gallery

Screenshot featuring two of K. Rool's palette swaps, a purple and blue variation.

King K. Rool using his Up Throw

King K. Rool throwing his Crown then Villager pocketing it.

King K. Rool using his Up Special.

Videos

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - The Rivals - Nintendo Switch

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – King K. Rool gameplay (Nintendo Switch)

67 King K. Rool – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Trivia

• Outside of minor cameos, Ultimate marks King K. Rool's first physical appearance in a decade, as he last appeared in 2008's Mario Super Sluggers.
• King K. Rool is the third playable Smash Bros. character to have been created outside Japan, following Diddy Kong, also created as part of the Donkey Kong Country series by the British developer Rare, and Dark Samus, who was created by the Texas-based Retro Studios.
• According to Masahiro Sakurai, King K. Rool's inclusion in Ultimate was a result of his popularity in the Super Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot.
  • 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.