King K. Rool

King K. Rool (sometimes shortened as simply K. Rool) who has gone by many aliases, is the malevolent king of the Kremlings and the main antagonist in the Donkey Kong franchise, as well as the archenemy of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and their allies. King K. Rool has repeatedly tried to steal the Kongs' Banana Hoard for unknown reasons, though it has been suggested that he takes the hoard in order to starve the Kongs, in addition to personally liking bananas. He has even kidnapped members of the Kong Family on various occasions.

His name is a pun on the word "cruel", which often describes his actions and his personality, as well as a corruption of "rule" as he is the ruler of the Kremlings. Prior to becoming king, K. Rool was a pirate on a ship that got shipwrecked in Krem Quay.

Donkey Kong Country
King K. Rool makes his first appearance in Donkey Kong Country as the game's main antagonist and the seventh and final boss. K. Rool and the Kremling Krew come to Donkey Kong Island to steal Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard. The Kremlings encountered little resistance, as the only person guarding them was Donkey Kong's friend, Diddy Kong, whom they trap in a DK Barrel, and then they steal DK's Bananas. Later, Cranky tells Donkey Kong that his hoard was stolen, and Donkey Kong starts his adventure.

Finally, Donkey Kong and the released Diddy Kong manage to reach K. Rool's ship, the Gangplank Galleon, where they face him in battle. King K. Rool's attacks involve ramming into the Kongs and throwing his crown at them as a boomerang. If he is hit four times, he makes cannonballs fall from the sky in a straight line. When K. Rool is hit seven times, the fake "kredits" show up on the screen, stating that the game was made by the Kremlings.

After the fake credits are done, King K. Rool jumps and tries to stomp on the Kongs by jumping in a straight line. King K. Rool, after being jumped on ten times, is defeated. The cast of the game appear and the real credits roll in DK's Tree House, or at Gangplank Galleon in the Game Boy Advance remake. In the remake, he also appears after the credits, 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 then calling it a "cheap stunt", setting up the story for the sequel.

Some of King K. Rool's voice clips from Donkey Kong 64 are reused in the Game Boy Advance remake of Donkey Kong Country.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, K. Rool (going by the alias of Kaptain K. Rool in the game) manages to kidnap Donkey Kong and store him away in Crocodile Isle, holding him hostage to gain the Banana Hoard. After discovering that Donkey Kong has been kidnapped, Diddy Kong and his girlfriend, Dixie Kong, rush off to save him from Kaptain K. Rool. When the Kongs find Donkey Kong in his castle, K. Rool whisks him away (in the Game Boy Advance remake of Donkey Kong Country 2, K. Rool also sends the gigantic Kremling Kerozene to battle Diddy and Dixie).

Kaptain K. Rool holds captive Donkey Kong in his airship, the Flying Krock, where the Kongs meet him again during the level K. Rool Duel. K. Rool uses a high-tech blunderbuss that can be used as a vacuum, also allowing K. Rool to move at high-speeds, turn invisible, and fire spiked Kannonballs and poisonous gases that could affect the Kongs in many ways: the blue gas freezes them, the red gas makes the Kongs move slowly, and the purple gas reverses the game's controls. In addition, K. Rool prior to the battle also proceeds to conduct brutal torture on a tied up Donkey Kong in front of Diddy and Dixie by repeatedly slamming his blunderbuss on Donkey Kong and shooting cannonballs at him (this is only seen after first accessing the Flying Krock level, as in various replays, K. Rool immediately starts attacking the two Kongs with Donkey Kong nowhere to be seen).

K. Rool is damaged when Kannonballs are hurled back into his blunderbuss; the fight is won after he takes damage nine times. Donkey Kong then breaks free and uppercuts K. Rool through the roof (the front window in the GBA version) of the Flying Krock. Crashing into Krem Quay, K. Rool gets chomped on by sharks. However, he recovers and manages to swim ashore to the Lost World. In the GBA version, he simply falls into Krem Quay without even encountering sharks, and is shown covered in seaweed while challenging Diddy and Dixie to fight him in the Krocodile Kore.

By collecting enough Kremkoins for Klubba, the Krocodile Kore, an ancient Kremling palace, can be accessed. Here, K. Rool is fought again; this time, K. Rool is defeated when a single Kannonball is hurled into his blunderbuss. Instead of backfiring, the gun explodes, flinging K. Rool into the energy-supplying geyser powering Crocodile Isle. Due to K. Rool clogging the energy geyser, the pressure within it kept building up until it explodes, taking the top of Crocodile Isle with it, while the remains sink below.

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, suggesting that K. Rool survived the explosion, making way for another sequel. The GBA retains this ending to some degree, but K. Rool instead curses out the Kongs and claims he will return while sailing away, but was prevented from escaping by Funky Kong proceeding to bomb his getaway ship. However, K. Rool maintains he will return despite this.

K. Rool's Kaptain persona is referenced in only one other game beside Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest, albeit obscurely; in Donkey Kong 64, inside the sunken ship off to a corner, there is a book entitled "Kaptain K. Rool's Log Book".

Oddly enough, despite his antagonism of the Kongs, K. Rool is apparently enrolled as a student at Kong Kollege, helmed by Donkey Kong's grandmother Wrinkly Kong, although he apparently procrastinates regarding homework assignments, as implied by Wrinkly Kong telling Diddy and Dixie that, should they encounter K. Rool, they remind him that he should do his homework.

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 either a mistake by Nintendo, or a tongue-in-cheek joke in the vein of the Mr. L reference in Paper Luigi's trophy.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, King K. Rool is seemingly replaced as master of the Kremlings by KAOS, a robotic entity. Under KAOS' rule, the Kremling Krew proceeds 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 search for the missing Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong and her cousin Kiddy Kong reach Kastle KAOS. Entering Kastle KAOS, Dixie and Kiddy encounter and begin to battle KAOS.

It is soon discovered that KAOS is a puppet leader controlled by King K. Rool, this time under the alias of Baron K. Roolenstein. After he reveals himself, K. Rool battles the Kongs, using a helicopter pack on his back to fly and a remote control to send blasts of electricity. In order to hurt K. Rool, Dixie and Kiddy need to pull down on a particular pipe on the ceiling of Kastle KAOS. Pulling on this pipe causes a barrel to appear, which needs to be thrown at K. Rool's helicopter pack. It also deals more damage if he gets electrocuted by his own electric beams after being hit by multiple barrels.

After K. Rool's defeat, the body of KAOS crashes into the ground. Once on the ground, KAOS' body releases Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, who had been kidnapped by K. Rool to be used as batteries for KAOS.

If Dixie and Kiddy manage to collect all the cogs in Krematoa and give them to Boomer, his machine awakens a volcano in Krematoa. A submarine, the Knautilus, rises from beneath the volcano's lava. Inside this submarine, K. Rool is fought again. In this battle, K. Rool simply remains in the back of his vessel for sometime, and occasionally enters the front area. He attacks using electric beams and a fireball launching cannon. In order to hurt K. Rool, Dixie and Kiddy need to throw several Steel Kegs at his helicopter pack either directly, or through the use of a chute in the ceiling, depending on his position. After being hit multiple times, K. Rool loses control of his helicopter pack and is left spinning out of control in his submarine.

If the Kongs manage to release the Banana Bird Queen from her imprisonment behind the barrier, a brief cutscene of K. Rool riding away from the Northern Kremisphere in a hovercraft is shown. As K. Rool drives away, a giant egg, laid by the Banana Bird Queen, falls on him, leaving him trapped and perplexed inside.

Donkey Kong 64
King K. Rool returns in Donkey Kong 64, where he appears on a large mechanical island. He plans to blow up Donkey Kong Island with a new weapon called the Blast-o-Matic. However, his new and improved Crocodile Isle ends up crashing due to the incompetence of the ship's drivers. In an attempt to distract Donkey Kong while he has the Blast-O-Matic repaired, K. Rool has Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, Lanky Kong, and Chunky Kong imprisoned, and Donkey Kong's Golden Banana Hoard stolen.

K. Rool appears in several cutscenes with his unnamed pet Klaptrap, who he strokes similarly to the way the  villain strokes his cat, an obvious parody. Also similar to Blofeld, K. Rool largely has his face obscured in the early cutscenes. He also breathes and speaks in a manner similar to from . He is much larger in this game than all other games; as huge as Chunky Kong when he steps into his Hunky Chunky Barrel. Throughout the game, he watches the Kongs' progress and chastises his own minions' failures. A scene shows K. Rool demanding that nobody leaves the Blast-o-Matic until it is repaired, going as far as sending a Purple Klaptrap to attack a fleeing Kasplat (albeit offscreen).

Eventually, K. Rool's henchman succeed in repairing the Blast-o-Matic, just as the Kongs break into Hideout Helm, and K. Rool demands that the weapon be fired, despite the warnings that if it is not fully tested, it could explode. After the Kongs permanently shut down King K. Rool's mechanical island and the Blast-o-Matic, K. Rool tries to escape in a large airship. The ship ends up being knocked to the ground and destroyed by a recently released K. Lumsy. Venturing inside the crashed vessel, the Kongs find a boxing arena filled with spectators and King K. Rool, as his boxer alias King Krusha K. Rool, ready to battle.

After Chunky Kong delivers the final blow to K. Rool, a cut scene is shown in which K. Rool gets back up after the fight. He is about to attack Chunky from behind, but is distracted by Candy Kong. He ends up being blasted over the horizon by Funky Kong. When K. Rool lands, it is in his dungeon, where he meets a very unhappy K. Lumsy who proceeds to beat King K. Rool in retaliation for locking him up before being sent flying again by the giant.

K. Rool's depiction in this game changes as it goes on. He is initially depicted as cruel and merciless, and even menacing in the opening when he has a voice. However, as time goes on, especially towards the end of the game, K. Rool is depicted as far more comical.

Kaptain K. Rool also makes a small cameo appearance in the game. Portraits of him can be found in some of Gloomy Galleon's sunken ships, several log cabins in Crystal Caves and in Creepy Castle's Museum.

Battle
King Krusha K. Rool's battle consists of five rounds, one for each Kong.
 * Round 1 - Donkey Kong is the first Kong to enter the ring. K. Rool attacks by standard punches and by slamming the ground, creating shockwaves Donkey Kong has to dodge. After K. Rool finishes punching or performs a shockwave, he will taunt for the crowd, leaving himself open. During this time, Donkey Kong can use Baboon Blast cannons to launch into K. Rool. After doing this four times, the next round will begin.
 * Round 2 - Diddy Kong is the second Kong to enter the ring. Now K. Rool attacks by throwing his boxing gloves like boomerangs, meaning Diddy Kong has to watch for attacks both in front of and behind him. Diddy Kong can use his Rocketbarrel Barrels and Popguns to attack the light fixture above K. Rool, causing a light to fall onto him. After all four lights fall on him (the last one getting stuck on K. Rool), the next round will begin.
 * Round 3 - Lanky Kong takes advantage of K. Rool's predicament by using his elastic arms to punch number buttons and grab the banana-labeled barrel that appears; it releases a banana peel when thrown. Lanky then has to use his Trombone Tremor to trick K. Rool into following the sound and slipping on the banana peel. After slipping on bananas four times, K. Rool falls and the next round begins.
 * Round 4 - Before the fourth round begins, some Kritters come up to K. Rool to get the light off his head. Once it is off, Tiny Kong enters the ring. K. Rool will again attack by slamming the ground (Tiny can only avoid the resulting shockwaves with her Pony Tail Twirl), but this time, he reacts in pain when he does, rubbing at his rear after doing so a few times. While he is occupied, Tiny Kong can use her shrinking power to enter a hole in K. Rool's left shoe and fire her Feather Bow at his toes until they turn red. Once all four of his toes are red, the final round will begin.
 * Round 5 - For the final round, Chunky Kong enters the ring. K. Rool attacks by running and rebounding off the ropes (which is a wrestling move rather than a boxing one) while invisible. By Simian Slamming a switch in the middle of the ring, Chunky Kong can make Gorilla Gone pads appear to make himself invisible (and K. Rool and a Hunky Chunky barrel visible). To defeat K. Rool, Chunky Kong needs to jump into the barrel and deliver Primate Punches as K. Rool charges to him four times.

Donkey Kong Country novel
King K. Rool appears at the end of the Donkey Kong Country novel, where he announces to his Kremlings that their factory on Donkey Kong Island was destroyed and that he intends to launch a final attack on the Kong's home. Hearing this, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Cranky Kong board the Gangplank Galleon and K. Rool flees the ensuing brawl with his speedboat.

Donkey Kong Country: Rumble in the Jungle
In the second installment of the Donkey Kong Country chapter book series, Donkey Kong Country: Rumble in the Jungle, King K. Rool is managing the reconstruction of a factory within the abandoned Big Ape City. After Funky Kong is captured by the Kremlings, King K. Rool orders them to use a painful "truth machine" on Funky Kong, so that they can find out whether he is a spy. King K. Rool is seen again at the climax of the novel, where he is commanding a large zeppelin which fires rockets at Funky's barrel plane. Donkey Kong has the idea for him and Diddy Kong to jump from Funky's plane, onto the zeppelin to reach the cabin. They briefly encounter King K. Rool, and tell him that they are going to blow up the ship. He responds by saying that he "won't be aboard when that happens" before he pushes past them, escaping. The Kongs successfully destroy King K. Rool's factory after the TNT Barrel-planted zeppelin lands on it.

Donkey Kong Country
King K. Rool appears in the 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. In this comic, K. Rool has noticeably human-like hands with five fingers and nails, while his feet are still clawed and reptilian. 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.

Donkey Kong Land
King K. Rool returns 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, because he was jealous over Donkey Kong, and because he earlier made a bet with Donkey and Diddy that they can't succeed with lesser graphics. In this game, K. Rool is fought in K. Rool's Kingdom, a blimp above Big Ape City, where his attacks are mostly the same as his techniques in Donkey Kong Country: running, jumping, and throwing his crown, although he does use a new, belly flop-like attack once he takes six hits. After 13 hits total, King K. Rool is defeated and Donkey Kong once again reclaims his banana hoard.

Donkey Kong Land 2
Kaptain K. Rool reappears in Donkey Kong Land 2 where he serves the same role in the storyline.

Fought on the Flying Krock in the level K. Rool Duel, 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 Flying Krock, and once Klubba is paid forty-seven Kremkoins, Kaptain K. Rool can be fought once again in Krocodile Kore. Kaptain K. Rool attacks the Kongs by shooting kannonballs, both normal and spiked varieties, at them. Later in the battle, Kaptain K. Rool shoots a barrel, which must be jumped on to claim the kannonball within. This kannonball must then be thrown at Kaptain K. Rool to defeat him and cause his blunderbuss to explode, flinging him into the geyser of Krocodile Kore, causing it to explode.

Donkey Kong Land III
In Donkey Kong Land III, Baron K. Roolenstein and the Kremling Krew, as well as a rebuilt KAOS, appear as the main antagonists of the game. Similar to Donkey Kong Country 3, Baron K. Roolenstein is accessible only after KAOS is destroyed permanently (the two are bosses in different worlds). His first battle takes place in K Rool Duel, where K. Roolenstein tries to attack Dixie and Kiddy by shooting electric beams at them. After a barrel is thrown at K. Roolenstein, he bounces around trying to attack the Kongs. After three hits, he is "defeated".

Baron K. Roolenstein is later fought in Donkey Kong Land III in a stage called K Rools Last Stand [sic], located in the Lost World. In this battle, Baron K. Roolenstein attacks by using electrical beams and by dropping bombs on Dixie and Kiddy Kong. Baron K. Roolenstein needs to be repeatedly hit with barrels in order to be defeated.

Super Mario-Kun
King K. Rool appears in volumes 14-15 of Super Mario-Kun in the arcs based off of the Donkey Kong Country series. Here, his role is the same as the game: he is the main villain and he steals Donkey Kong's banana hoard, but in addition to fighting Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, he also fights Mario and Yoshi, who are also present in said arcs.

Donkey Kong Country television series
K. Rool is one of the main characters and the main antagonist in the Donkey Kong Country animated series, where his name is typically pronounced "Kuh-Rool", "Kay-Rool" is only said once. In the show, his personality is relatively the same as in the games. He is more bossy, loud, megalomaniacal, flamboyant, dramatic, and slightly clumsy; despite this, however, he is not without a soft side, as seen in episodes such as "Baby Kong Blues" and "Four Weddings and a Coconut".

King K. Rool's physical appearance is slightly altered from his video game counterpart. His tail is gone and one eye is not bloodshot, unlike in the games, though it does bulge to large proportions when he is excited or irritated, and it briefly appears bloodshot after DK punches it at the end of Ape Foo Young. His eyes also are not connected as they are in the games, and instead are separated. K. Rool's wrist bands are more detailed, instead of being plain gold, as is his crown. King K. Rool's cape is also much shorter in length in the Donkey Kong Country cartoon. K. Rool also has no combat abilities and thus can easily be defeated by Donkey Kong. K. Rool is a strategist instead of combatant, trying to outsmart the Kongs using his army of loyal, yet dimwitted Kremlings.

His voice, voiced by Ben Campbell, is radically different from the games, such as Donkey Kong 64. He is constantly bragging about his brain and emphasizes this by using more complex jargon. King K. Rool often, with the aid of his henchmen Klump and Krusha, attempts to steal the Crystal Coconut and use its power to rule Kongo Bongo Island and possibly the world. He seems to be always hatching plans to steal the coconut; however, they always lead to complete failure or humiliating defeats due to a combination of the stupidity of his troops and the resourcefulness of the Kongs. K. Rool 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. When not scheming to take the Coconut, he otherwise plans to eliminate Donkey Kong, who is the Coconut's main protector, by incriminating him or to take over the Barrel Works to manufacture exploding barrels. His various other plans vary from episode to episode: for example, during a heatwave, he plots to steal a bunch of Donkey Kong's "Coconut Chill" shakes to keep him and his Kremlings cool.

The series also expands 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 notorious 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 introduces a rival of sorts to King K. Rool, a pirate named Kaptain Skurvy, who also wishes 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, King K. Rool is portrayed as a somewhat timid freedom fighter in a feud with Diddy Kong, who is portrayed as a power-hungry tyrant.

Bumm-Badabumm im Urwald
Kaptain K. Rool is also featured as the main antagonist in an obscure German Donkey Kong comic, Bumm-Badabumm im Urwald; however he is always referred to as King K. Rool. 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 appears only 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 sheer 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.

Donkey Kong in When the Banana Splits
K. Rool is 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 is a failure, as he steals the bananas when the Kongs are home, so the Kongs easily track 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.

Super Smash Bros. series
A trophy of King K. Rool can be obtained in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the names that appears when players press the "Random Name" button when naming their custom stage is "KROOL."

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, K. Rool receives his own Mii Brawler costume released as DLC.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
At the end of the Super Smash Bros. Nintendo Direct broadcast on August 8, 2018, King K. Rool was revealed as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Outside minor cameos, this marks his first physical appearance in a decade since Mario Super Sluggers. This also marks the first time his underbelly has been shown as being gold-plated in 13 years, with the last being the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country 3. King K. Rool now supersedes Donkey Kong as the second heaviest character in the game, weighing 130 units, as opposed to Donkey Kong's weight of 127 units.

His moves are made up of references to his previous boss fights, using his crown as a boomerang, his blunderbuss, Propellerpack, and boxing gloves, while his Final Smash is him firing the Blast-o-Matic. His crown can actually be intercepted after it is thrown, meaning it can fall to the floor and be used as a throwing item or be stolen by Villager's Pocket. He can also use a move known as the Gut Check to counter opponents' attacks with his underbelly. King K. Rool uses realistic crocodile noises instead of voice clips from previous games, similar to Bowser, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong. Unlike the other two Donkey Kong characters, King K. Rool has a unique victory theme, which is a rendition of the first few notes of "Gang-Plank Galleon" from the original Donkey Kong Country. Additionally, Kaptain K. Rool and Baron K. Roolenstein appear in the game as spirits.

In his debut trailer, King Dedede pranks Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong by wearing King K. Rool's cape and mask, only to end up being knocked aside from behind while laughing at the Kongs' expense by the actual King K. Rool, much to the Kongs' horror before being challenged by him. The trailer ends with Donkey Kong knocked back only to rush on all fours at K. Rool, with the latter doing in kind, before proceeding to have their fists make contact and release a shockwave that causes the jungle to sway. In-game footage is then shown of K. Rool, as in Donkey Kong Country, faking defeat only to knock Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong through the floor and proceeding to make snapping noises in response. K. Rool's debut trailer uses a new arrangement of "Gang-Plank Galleon." K. Rool's announcement was foreshadowed towards the end of the Nintendo Direct, as when Sakurai was signing off, the camera began to shake, with the quakes gradually becoming more severe as the main broadcast ended.

King K. Rool makes a cameo in the tail end of Ken and Incineroar's debut trailer, where he, alongside Bowser Jr. and Villager, proceed to challenge it to a bout after it defeats Ken, much to the feline Pokémon's chagrin. His cameo in the trailer indirectly references the final battle with him in Donkey Kong 64, due to the Boxing Ring being the primary setting for the trailer.

In the Adventure mode, King K. Rool is seen when the fighters oppose Galeem for the first time. Like every fighter except Kirby, he is hit by one of Galeem's beams of light and imprisoned in the World of Light, where a Puppet Fighter of him is created. Said Puppet Fighter initially serves Galeem, but is later brought under Dharkon's control. The Dharkon-serving King K. Rool Puppet Fighter is eventually defeated, freeing the real King K. Rool who joins Kirby's team against Galeem and Dharkon.

Classic Mode route
King K. Rool's Classic Mode route has him fight against the game's heaviest characters, including his arch-nemesis, Donkey Kong, and fellow Mario villain, Bowser.

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

DK: King of Swing
King K. Rool appears in DK: King of Swing where he once again appears as the main antagonist. In DK: King of Swing, King K. Rool steals all the medals that are supposed to be rewards in the upcoming Jungle Jam competition and crowns himself king of the jungle in the process. Donkey Kong pursues him to take them back.

Whether by his intent or accident, the medals fall out of K. Rool's hovercraft and scatter in the areas of different worlds.

As the end boss of DK: King of Swing, King K. Rool must be defeated in two battles. First, he summons a huge field of pegs, which Donkey Kong must race him through. If Donkey Kong succeeds in defeating King K. Rool, he promptly stutters "that was practice" and challenges Donkey Kong to a battle on another peg field. If Donkey Kong beats him again, K. Rool is vanquished and the last medal is relinquished. Donkey Kong flies off in the hovercraft and destroys the K. Kruizer III, with K. Rool presumably on it.

King 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 is also the first time King K. Rool is playable in a game.

DK: Jungle Climber
In DK: Jungle Climber, King K. Rool appears as the main antagonist. He is first encountered at the peak of 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 notices Donkey, Diddy and Cranky Kong are heading their way, they quickly flee the scene using a dimensional portal device known as a Spirowarp. After this encounter, King K. Rool is encountered several more times on the various islands and dimensions of the game, usually appearing annoyed at Donkey, Diddy, Cranky and Xananab pursuing him before having one of his Kritter followers power-up with a Crystal Banana and battle them.

After DK claims the fourth Crystal Banana from King K. Rool's completed Mega AMP and final Kritter subordinate on the King Kruiser IV, King K. Rool flees through a wormhole to the Planet Plantaen after feigning a fight. Chased to a dead end on Planet Plantaen, K. Rool battles Donkey Kong, attacking by jumping at him, charging into him, and throwing exploding spiked balls, but is defeated in this battle. Refusing to submit to his enemies, he uses his last Crystal Banana to grow larger and become even more powerful for a true final battle.

In his new form, King K. Rool attacks with exhaling fire and exploding mines, summoning meteors of various sizes and gales of wind, and trying to crush the Kongs with his hands. In this form, King K. Rool's only vulnerable spot is his face, which, once hit five times, depletes King K. Rool's health, depowering him and leaving him unconscious while the expelled Crystal Banana is claimed. King K. Rool is last seen in DK: Jungle Climber being taken back to his and the Kong's home planet, 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
In Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, K. Rool makes an appearance as a secret playable character. Unlike the other racers with barrels attached to them, he rides in a vehicle resembling a rocket-powered barrel with a skull (which possibly doesn't have a steering wheel since his functions are the same) and using his claw as his attack. His slipstream is also different as well. He is unlocked by playing Challenge 31 of Candy's Challenges, and winning. His main rival in the game is Cranky Kong and K. Rool also, like him, boasts high boost, speed and agility.

Mario Super Sluggers
King K. Rool's first appearance in a Mario game is in Mario Super Sluggers. He can only play as a team player, and is, ironically, on Donkey Kong's team, despite the fact he hates DK 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.

King K. Rool is one of the most powerful batters in the entire game (tied with Bowser and Petey Piranha). His pitching is also a bit above average.

King K. Rool, however, has the weakest fielding abilities of all characters (tied with the Purple Toad), and is also one of the slowest runners in the game (tied with the Red Magikoopa). King K. Rool's stamina is also very low, but he takes longer to get exhausted than Petey Piranha.

King K. Rool has great chemistry with all four Kritters and King Boo. He has bad chemistry with the Kongs, as well as Bowser. He uses his 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 the scepter.

In Challenge Mode, King K. Rool tries to stop the baseball heroes in DK Jungle by using his green, red, blue, and brown Kritters to challenge them. When the player wins, he is unlocked, as well as all four Kritters.

Super Mario Odyssey
A minor reference to King K. Rool is made in Super Mario Odyssey, as a street in New Donk City is named "KROOL St."

Creation and development
During early production of Donkey Kong Country, the character that would become King. K Rool was named "Krudd". Later in development, "Kommander K. Rool" was considered as the character's name. This planned name was given a brief nod in the fake credits during his boss fight, which mentioned him as being the "Kommander" of the game.

When asked what the K in "K. Rool" stands for, Gregg Mayles replied "Nothing! It was just a way of making him seem more important, that he'd added it to inflate his ego. In hindsight, it could have been something tonal like 'Kremling', or something deliberately out of character like Keith. What do you reckon it should stand for?"

Physical appearance
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 takes on the alias of Kaptain K. Rool, he trades in the cape for a brown trench coat and the crown for a pirate hat. When he becomes Baron K. Roolenstein, he wears a white lab coat and a tall prosthetic forehead with a small black wig resembling, and has a Propellerpack on his back. In Mario Super Sluggers, K. Rool wears an Ancient Egyptian-style collar and loincloth, much like a pharaoh. Cranky Kong mentions in the Donkey Kong 64 instruction booklet that K. Rool had given up his silly disguises in that game. While he has not seriously gone incognito since Baron K. Roolenstein, for the final fight he goes by the moniker "King Krusha K.Rool" as a boxer. During this fight he sports a stereotypical one-piece as well as boxing gloves with a champion's belt.

K. Rool has three clawed toes on each foot and his hands each have four clawed fingers. His Kaptain K. Rool and Baron K. Roolenstein sprites depict his hands much larger than in his typical appearances. In Donkey Kong 64, he has four toes when entering his left boot, though his regular character model and artworks still depict him with the usual three. K. Rool debuted with a tail, though its length and presence have varied between appearances. His tail was longest in Donkey Kong 64, stubby in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and completely absent in DK: King of Swing and the animated series. He is portrayed with a signature bloodshot eye; in most of his appearances, it is his left eye. K. Rool's skin is light green (though some appearances show it as dark green) and he has muscular arms, as well as usually being shown with jagged teeth. King K. Rool's underbelly was originally golden in texture and color (meant to be a piece of armor according to character designer Steve Mayles ), but since DK: King of Swing his underbelly has been changed to a light flesh tone, and has lost the prominent vertical indentation down the middle. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he regains the gold plate, which now has a sharp ridge along the edges but still lacks the vertical indentation; however, Palutena's guidance instead suggests that it is just a "leathery" belly. His general head and body shape is more akin to the later games, though he has a tail again, albeit a short one, similar to his tail in the cartoon. King K. Rool also has more pronounced scales in this game, akin to his design in the Rare Ltd. games. He is also once again depicted as being distinctly larger than Donkey Kong. His cape also appears to be slightly torn up at the bottom.

King K. Rool has seven other costumes to choose from in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, all of which change his colors. King K. Rool's orange costume either resembles Kerozene from the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, or Re-Koil from Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! It also resembles the red Kritters that appear in the Donkey Kong Country series. King K. Rool's blue costume resembles the armored blue Kritters that appear throughout the Donkey Kong Country series. His yellow costume resembles Kutlass from  Donkey Kong Country 2, or Kopter, as he appeared in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. King K. Rool's pink costume resembles Skidda in Donkey Kong Country 3, and Klump as he appears in Donkey Kong 64. King K. Rool's black costume resembles the armored black Kritters from Donkey Kong Country, while his brown costume resembles Klump's original appearance in Donkey Kong Country. Lastly, King K. Rool has a white costume, which somewhat resembles an albino crocodile.

Personality
K. Rool, as his name, a pun on "cruel," may imply, is brutal, ruling his minions through threats and intimidation, often punishing them severely when they fail. This is mentioned by Klubba in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, who says that K. Rool mistreats his minions. This is also seen 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. Even his most powerful followers seem to fear his wrath, as displayed in Donkey Kong 64, when his subtle display of anger results in Army Dillo fainting on the spot, and Dogadon ends up begging for mercy over his failure when admitting how his wings ended up singed by the Kongs (although K. Rool seems more shocked than angry at the failure regarding the latter). 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". Despite all of this, however, he and the Kritters have good chemistry with each other in Mario Super Sluggers and the trophy bios of Kalypso and Kludge show he respects her leadership skills and is intimidated by Kludge's temper. K. Rool is also somewhat of a dirty fighter. He fakes 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.

K. Rool hates the Kongs, referring to them as "filthy apes" and "monkey brains". 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. He has bad chemistry with all Kongs in Mario Super Sluggers. In spite of his hate for the Kongs, he is impressed by their skills in Mario Super Sluggers and is ironically on their team, though he makes it clear that he is only teaming up with them when playing baseball.

According to Leigh Loveday (writer of the Donkey Kong Country 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 "cosy treehouse pad," or perhaps that he simply likes bananas. The latter explanation is supported in the Donkey Kong Country manual which states the Kremlings coveted the Bananas for their nutritional value, and contradicted in DK: Jungle Climber where K. Rool states that he despises bananas.

Weapons
Throughout his various appearances, King K. Rool uses a variety of weaponry.

In Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land, using his trademark attack, King K. Rool attacks Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong by taking off his crown and throwing it at them, which can boomerang back to him.

In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Land 2, Kaptain K. Rool uses a powerful blunderbuss. He fires different types of ammunition such as Kannonballs, spiked Kannonballs, barrels, and status-afflicting mists, which either freeze, slow, or disorient his targets. K. Rool also uses his blunderbuss as a vacuum to suck the Kongs toward him, whereupon he hits them with the butt of his blunderbuss. In addition to using it as an offensive weapon, he also uses it as his primary form of movement by aiming it in the opposite direction and using the jet propulsion to thrust him forward at high speeds.

In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! and Donkey Kong Land III, Baron K. Roolenstein uses a helicopter-equipped pack on his back to obtain flight. Despite the fact that K. Rool can actually move faster on his feet, and the fact that the helicopter pack is his weakpoint in the game, it is necessary for his trap-based fighting strategy; it allows him to avoid his own electric beams by hovering over them. Through the use of a remote, he can manipulate various objects in his lair, such as altering positions and movements of platforms, and activating pods that send blasts of electricity at Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong. During the battle in Krematoa, Baron K. Roolenstein's remote can also activate a fireball-launching cannon and a moving conveyor belt, in addition to the electric pods.

During the final battle of Donkey Kong 64, in his fight against Diddy Kong, King Krusha K. Rool is capable of throwing his boxing gloves as boomerangs.

Vehicles
King K. Rool also uses a wide variety of vehicles, from his Gangplank Galleon, to large airships, such as the Flying Krock and K. Kruizer III. DK: King of Swing also shows King K. Rool has in his possession a personal hovercraft, which can move quickly. He also uses a type of barrel vehicle in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.

Powers and abilities

 * In combat, King K. Rool usually uses his size and strength, attempting to tackle, crush and even leap onto opponents; considering his physique, 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. Although, in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, King K. Rool's attack is a single claw swipe. Additionally, despite his size, King K. Rool can actually be quite swift and speedy in battle (far more so then Donkey Kong, as shown in Donkey Kong Country where he can leap from one end of the Gangplank Galleon to the other in one jump). In DK: King of Swing, King K. Rool had the highest attack out of all the characters. He is tied with Bowser and Petey Piranha for the best batting abilities in Mario Super Sluggers.
 * In Donkey Kong Country, King K. Rool boasts the ability to summon a barrage of large cannonballs to rain down on Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong.
 * In Donkey Kong Country 2, K. Rool can teleport.
 * In Donkey Kong Country 3, Baron K. Roolenstein simply use a remote control to active the gadgets and weaponry in battle.
 * In Donkey Kong 64, though, King K. Rool displays the ability to create multiple shockwaves by slamming the ground (although as demonstrated with Tiny Kong, doing this too many times will cause him to injure his posterior, leaving an opening for Tiny to inflict damage to his toes). He can also perform a powerful uppercut after charging at the Kongs, which can knock Chunky Kong high into in the air, even when he is the same size as K. Rool.
 * In Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong 64, King K. Rool displays his ability to turn invisible. This is first seen in Donkey Kong Country 2, where his blunderbuss leaves a trail of smoke puffs, revealing where he is, and in Donkey Kong 64, where only his shadow can be seen on the ground when he is invisible.
 * In DK: Jungle Climber, King K. Rool, after being damaged in battle, can turn temporarily invincible (gaining a reddish coloration) and the ability to assume a ball shape and bounce off surfaces rapidly. After being empowered by a Crystal Banana, King K. Rool gains a multitude of different powers, such as manipulating the weather, summoning meteors, breathing a barrage of fireballs and exploding mines.

Family
King K. Rool mentions 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 is telling a joke, or if he actually has a wife. In a December 23, 1999 edition of the Scribes section of Rare's website, Leigh Loveday stated that K. Rool's "my wife is going to kill me" line was merely "a typically throwaway Vic and Bob reference."

In the episode "The Big Switch-A-Roo" of the Donkey Kong Country animated series, King K. Rool mentions his mother, and in "The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights" he mentions his "slithering siblings".

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, K. Rool's trophy information erroneously states that Kaptain K. Rool is the brother of King K. Rool, which lead to some fans theorizing that King K. Rool and Kaptain K. Rool are separate characters in the Japanese script of Donkey Kong Country. However, Japanese material (such as the intro of the Japanese Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country 2) also portray Kaptain K. Rool as a disguise, and thus the trophy description is merely an error.

In the Japanese version of Donkey Kong 64, K. Lumsy is said to be King K. Rool's little brother.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Instruction booklet:
 * "The leader of the pack is back, and this time he's packing a blunderbuss! Ouch!"

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast

 * Unlock method: Win Candy's Challenge 31: Showdown vs. King K. Rool.
 * Rival: Cranky Kong
 * Boost: 4/5
 * Speed: 4/5
 * Agility: 4/5

Portrayals
In the initial versions of Donkey Kong Country as well as its sequels, his voice clips were reused from Krusha. 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 possesses an ominous and low Darth Vader-like voice provided by Chris Sutherland, complete with loud, emphasized breathing similar to Vader's. As of Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, King K. Rool is currently voiced by Toshihide Tsuchiya.

Donkey Kong Country (television series)

 * Because it wouldn't be a surprise, you numbskull! Now, We'll make them think we are participating in the ceasefire, but instead, we are going to be sneaky! Clever. - Kong for a Day
 *  All right, lizards! Today is the day! Today, we will take over Kongo Bongo! At this very moment, Krusha has bravely infiltrated Cranky's cabin under the guise of getting a medical exam! He will seize the Crystal Coconut! Once that beautiful orb is in my possession, Kongo Bongo, will fall at my feet! MEHAHAAA! Hahahahahahaaaa.... - From Zero to Hero

Donkey Kong 64

 * "I want you to do everything in your power to keep Donkey Kong distracted. Steal that hoard of Golden Bananas he treasures so much and take care of his pathetic friends. This time there can be no mistakes."
 * "I hope for your sake, you're right this time."
 * "While you'll be busy looking for your precious golden bananas and flea-bitten friends, I'll be preparing my lizard flavored surprise! MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!"
 * *"Fatso, is it? I'd choose my last words more carefully if I were you."
 * "Yeah, thank you."

Mario Super Sluggers

 * By my toothy grin! Who dares to disturb my rest?
 * You fools know who I am, don't you?
 * You think to oppose my glorious girth?! Graw haw haaa! I love it!
 * You deserve a kingly beating! Come on! Graaaw haw haaaaaaaw!
 * You think it's a good idea to challenge me?
 * King K. Rool doesn't do anything halfway! Hope you've said your good-byes, fools!
 * What a bunch of misfits!
 * Come back if you ever get the courage to challenge me.
 * I see you fools failed to learn your lesson... If you strike at a king, you must finish him!
 * You'll regret the day you ran into me.
 * Great gravyboats! You saps are pretty good!
 * Graw haw haw! I like your style! I'm going to join your lineup!
 * Come on! It's obvious who's better! Listen up, Kritters! From here on, we're allies!
 * Don't get me wrong! This is ONLY while we're playing baseball!

Trivia

 * 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.
 * K. Rool's get up as Baron K. Roolenstein is based on a combination of Frankenstein's Monster as portrayed by Boris Karloff in the Universal Horror movie Frankenstein and the character of Baron Victor von Frankenstein (played by Peter Cushing) from the Hammer Horror Frankenstein series.
 * In the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode "Never Koop a Koopa", King Koopa resembles K. Rool, as he wears a red cape. However, this is mostly coincidental, as King K. Rool debuted four years after the episode aired. Incidentally, aside from the similar appearance, the two characters have a similar habit of assuming thematic identities.
 * Bowser and his Koopa Troop would later take up King K. Rool and his Kremlings' usual role in stealing the Kongs' banana hoard in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * K. Rool's laugh in Donkey Kong 64 uses a pitched-down version of the laugh used for Baron Samedi in Rare's . The unaltered laugh is used for Kloaks and Krocs in the Game Boy Advance remakes of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, respectively.
 * Even though he was 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 an obvious reference to the Kremlings' absence and the theft of the Banana Hoard being done by another party, 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.