King K. Rool

General CVG character
width = 250px


name = K. Rool
series = "Donkey Kong series"
firstgame = "Donkey Kong Country" (1994)
creator =
artist =
voiceactor = Kevin Bayliss (Donkey Kong 64)
Ben Campbell ("Donkey Kong Country" TV series)
japanactor= Jūrōta Kosugi ("Donkey Kong Country" TV series, Japanese)
finactor= Heikki Sankari ("Donkey Kong Country" TV series, Finnish)
sweactor= Stefan Ljungqvist ("Donkey Kong Country" TV series, Swedish)
motionactor =
inuniverse =

K. Rool (a pun on the word "cruel") is a fictional villain in the form of an obese anthropomorphic crocodilian, who appears in a number of video games by numerous developers (primarily Rareware and Nintendo) featuring Donkey Kong. He is the primary antagonist of the Donkey Kong Country series of games and acts as the recurring final boss for several of them, making him analogous to Bowser from the Mario series.

K. Rool is the psychotic king of the Kremlings, a massive army of crocodile-like creatures who enjoy causing trouble for Donkey Kong and his friends, and are constantly stealing Donkey Kong's banana hoard. A master of disguise, he assumes many different personas. His most distinguishing features are the tic in his left eye and his golden belly, which may or may not be armor-plated. Considering that his bracers and crown have the same golden metallic sheen, and he cannot be rolled or cartwheeled into, it probably is.

Characteristics

K. Rool is the demented leader of the Kremling Krew, a group of reptilian creatures who live on "Donkey Kong Island"'s neighbor, Crocodile Isle. Over the years since the original "Donkey Kong Country", K. Rool has developed a deep hatred against the Kongs. Initially he just wanted Donkey Kong's banana hoard (which has raised the question among many as to why would crocodiles want bananas to begin with), but his failure to obtain it led him on a revenge campaign to try and hurt the Kongs directly, such as kidnapping Donkey Kong and his friends. King K. Rool also has a tendency to be "down but not out" as seen in "Donkey Kong Country" (falls as if defeated, even fake credits of the game with the names of Kremlings start to roll then gets back up), "Donkey Kong Country 2" (falls several times and gets back up), and "Donkey Kong 64" (once the fights are over, he suddenly becomes conscious and tries to take down Chunky Kong, but was stopped by a joint effort from Candy and Funky). Another characteristic worth noting is his tail, which seems to often change size (along with his body size). In the SNES games, along with the N64 game, his tail is rather long, but in other appearances it is either short or he simply does not possess one. He also seems have a crush on Candy Kong, according to "Donkey Kong 64", though this has been thus far unsubstantiated. In the Donkey Kong Country series, K. Rool has been known to take different roles in each game. In the first installment of the Donkey Kong Country series, he is seen to be the king of the Kremling Krew. In Donkey Kong Country 2, he is depicted as a pirate. And in Donkey Kong Country 3, he is a mad scientist, interestingly named as Baron K. Roolenstein, a reference to the evil scientist Frankenstein.

Abilities

K. Rool has several vehicles he uses for transport. These include the Gangplank Galleon in "Donkey Kong Country", the Flying Krock airship in "Donkey Kong Country 2", the Knautilus in "Donkey Kong Country 3", the Crocodile Isle and an unnamed airship in "Donkey Kong 64", and the K. Kruizer III and a hovering pod in "DK: King of Swing".

During the final boss battle in "Donkey Kong Country", K. Rool attacks Donkey and Diddy Kong directly by jumping repeatedly (he can even jump from one side of the stage to another in a single jump) in an attempt to crush them with his weight, charging at them with tremendous strength and speed, (faster than the Kongs themselves) throwing his crown which comes back as a boomerang, and making cannonballs fall from the sky at the Kongs.

In "Donkey Kong Country 2", K. Rool, with name Kaptain K. Rool, who is now dressed as a pirate, uses a Blunderbuss that can fire cannonballs. He can shoot normal cannonballs, spiked cannonballs, purple clouds that reverse the movements of left and right, blue clouds that temporarily freeze, and red clouds that slow the target's movements. In addition, he has the ability to turn invisible (his location can still be pinpointed by the smoke he makes as he moves). During the fight in The Lost World, his attacks are basically the same, but he only utilizes the spiked cannonballs and purple clouds, which have the same patterns as the cannonballs. A single regular cannonball is fired at the end of the lengthy barrage of attacks, which signals the only chance the Kongs can defeat him.

In "Donkey Kong Country 3", K. Rool, going by the name of Baron K. Roolenstein, who is now depicted as a mad scientist, does not have as many attacks from the previous installments of the DKC trilogy, but he has a remote control that can drop hooks from above and make electricity appear at specific locations. During the fight in The Lost World, where the battle takes place in the Knautilis, (K. Rool's secret submarine) his attacks are basically the same, but he only utilizes the electricity (which, halfway through the boss can attach to the steel barrels that are placed on the ground), and a small machine that fires out fireballs. The only way to defeat K. Rool is by throwing the steel barrel at his jetpack numerus times.

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. The brute strength that he possesses may rival or perhaps even surpass that of Donkey Kong and Chunky Kong.

History

While hardly anything is known about K. Rool's past, there have been some certain rumors about the existence of K. Rool's wife. In fact, in "Donkey Kong Country 3", after Dixie and Kiddy Kong defeat KAOS, K. Rool (or Baron K. Roolenstein, as he is known in this game) mentions that KAOS was constructed by his wife's best pots and pans. However, in 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 Reeves and Mortimer reference". [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20000823214029/http://www.rareware.com/recent/scribes/dec2399.html December 23, 1999 edition of Scribes] ]

In "Donkey Kong Country" (1994), for the SNES, King K. Rool steals Donkey Kong's bananas, but is foiled by Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. "Donkey Kong Land" (1995) for the Game Boy has a similar plot where Cranky Kong bets the two heroes they cannot get the bananas back on an 8-bit system. Cranky even calls K. Rool to help with the bet.

In "Donkey Kong Country 2" (1995), K. Rool kidnaps Donkey Kong and takes him back to his home of Crocodile Isle. He is foiled by Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong. This time around there is a more pronounced pirate setting, and King K. Rool goes under the name Kaptain K. Rool (Though K. Rool's Trophy in Super Smash Bros Brawl claims that this is actually King K. Rool's brother, that information is non-canon). This is also similar to the plot of the Game Boy's "Donkey Kong Land 2", released in 1996.

In "Donkey Kong Country 3" (1996), King K. Rool is going by the name of Baron K. Roolenstein. Working in the shadows, he captures a vacationing Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong in the "Northern Kremisphere" part of the DK Isles, stuffs them in the cybernetic body of what was believed to be the new Kremling king, "KAOS", and uses their brain power to control it behind the scenes. He is foiled by Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong. Baron K. Roolenstein would appear again in 1997 in "Donkey Kong Land III" for the Game Boy, where he attempts to be the first to discover the game's Lost World in a contest that also includes Dixie and Kiddy, and Donkey and Diddy (although the two never appeared in the game).

The following link [http://www.dkvine.com/news/gallery.php?g=dkc3/artwork&n=manyfacesofkrool] shows K. Rool's appearances mentioned above in order from left to right, respectively: King K. Rool, Kaptain K. Rool, Baron K. Roolenstein.

In "Donkey Kong 64" (1999), for the N64, King K. Rool steals Donkey Kong's golden banana hoard as a distraction for the Kongs while he attempts to fix his Blast-O-Matic laser that is going to destroy Donkey Kong Island. Meanwhile, he has his men lock away four Kongs (Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, Lanky Kong, and Chunky Kong, Donkey Kong was not captured). They are freed one by one and in the final battle where they foil K. Rool's plans once again. King K. Rool dresses as a boxer by the name of King Krusha K. Rool; incidentally, the name Krusha was also used for one of the enemies in "Donkey Kong Country" and even as the name of the hidden playable character of the game's multiplayer mode.

King K. Rool appears in "DK King of Swing". In it, he plots to steal the medals from the upcoming Jungle Jam competition to become the jungle hero. Without the medals, there would be no tournament. Donkey Kong set out to recover the medals and defeat K. Rool.

K. Rool's most recent appearance is in "DK Jungle Climber", where he is up to no good again. He first appears on top of Sun Sun Island with five Kremling Advisors, having just recently stolen several Crystal Bananas belonging to an alien named Xananab. The crystals appear to possess unimaginable power, and with it, K. Rool and his Kremlings plan to use them for conquest. He's the game's final boss, in which he is fought twice through.

He also appears in the game "Donkey Kong Barrel Blast" as a secret playable racer.

Other appearances

King K. Rool was also a regular on the "Donkey Kong Country" TV cartoon where he was voiced by Ben Campbell. His appearance was slightly altered, as he did not have an eye tic (although his right eye often would bulge which may be a reference to his eye tic), he had no tail, and the cape was made into a small kerchief. Most of the time, he was attempting to steal the legendary wish-granting Crystal Coconut, which Donkey Kong, whom the Coconut had chosen to be the island's future ruler, guarded. King K. Rool wanted to rule Kongo Bongo Island (as DK Island was called on the show), and he figured that if he had the Coconut, he could rule the island with it. Often, King K. Rool was accompanied by an army of Kritters and his general, Klump (an enemy from the first game), and sometimes his bodyguard, Krusha (also from the first game). Although he was the main villain of the show, and a very evil tyrant at that, K. Rool was sometimes capable of showing his soft side, as seen in episodes such as "Baby Kong Blues" and "Four Weddings and a Coconut". He has a very low tolerance for the incompetence of both Krusha and Klump, to the point where, in one episode, he mutters to himself "Do I really want the Crystal Coconut this badly?" while Krusha and Klump try to decode a message they themselves wrote (and forgot the code to). When not scheming to take the Coconut, he otherwise plans to eliminate Donkey Kong, who is the Coconut's main protector, or to take over the Barrel Works to manufacture exploding barrels. His various other plans varied from episode to episode: for example, during a heatwave, he plotted to take over Donkey Kong's "Coconut Chill" business to keep himself cool.

K. Rool was also featured as the main villain of two obscure Donkey Kong comics. One of these comics, released only in Germany in the now defunct Nintendo Fun Vision magazine has Kaptain K. Rool and his minions steal all the bananas on Donkey Kong Island. The other comic, released in an issue of Disney Adventures was a loose adaptation of "Donkey Kong 64"; the comic had Donkey Kong and his Kong allies from "Donkey Kong 64" tracking down K. Rool and several Kritters who had stolen all their Golden Bananas.

King K. Rool has a cameo in 2004's "Donkey Konga" for the Nintendo GameCube (the game was released in 2003 in Japan). In one mini-game, the player bashes K. Rool in the head with a steel keg as he tries to evade the player, à la Whack-a-mole. He also appears in the Jam Session mode, dancing with Cranky, Diddy, Rambi, Ellie, and the Banana Birds.

King K. Rool also appears as an unlockable trophy in "Super Smash Bros. Melee" and "Super Smash Bros. Brawl". False rumors about his confirmation as a playable character in Brawl recently hit the net prior to the game's release, when he was spotted in a fake roster featured in a video at Gametrailers.com. [ [http://www.gametrailers.com/player/29966.html Gametrailers.com - Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Challenger Approaching Pt. 2 ] ]

King K. Rool (along with Kritter) is also a playable character in Mario Super Sluggers. This marks the first time King K. Rool has appeared in a Mario game. King K Rool has good chemistry with Kritter and King Boo but has bad chemistry with the Kongs. [ [http://gonintendo.com/?p=45300#comments Gonintendo.com - Mario Super Sluggers roster, he is also a main character in a youtube series "klump and krusha", (based on the donkey kong country tv show) ] ]

References