King K. Rool

King K. Rool is the main antagonist in the Donkey Kong series and ringleader of the Kremlings. He has bothered the Kong Family on multiple occasions, be it stealing Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard to as far as kidnapping members of the Kong Family.

K. Rool has gone under other aliases, including Kaptain K. Rool and Baron K. Roolenstein.

Donkey Kong Country


King K. Rool first appeared in Donkey Kong Country. He made the order to invade Donkey Kong Island and steal the Banana Hoard. His Kremling minions carried out the orders, attacking at night. Diddy Kong failed to protect the Hoard and Krusha put him a DK Barrel, tossing the barrel into a bush. Donkey Kong awoke the next day to find the hoard and his buddy gone. DK vowed to rescue his pal, get his hoard back and restore peace to the island.

The duo proved to be too strong for K. Rool's minions; eventually, K. Rool returned to the island and had a battle with Donkey and Diddy Kong on his own ship, the Gangplank Galleon. The battle was quite long, and K. Rool used many tactics to fend off the Kongs. He used his crown boomerang, ramming, stomping and cannonballs, even faked death, but ultimately lost to them. This was not the last of him. According to the Game Boy Advance remake of DKC, after the battle the Kong Family started to celebrate, only to get kicked off the ship by K. Rool himself, and the King sailed off.

Donkey Kong Land


King K. Rool returned in Donkey Kong Land, the Game Boy successor to Donkey Kong Country. His involvement is the result of a bet between Cranky Kong, Donkey and Diddy. Cranky claimed DK and Diddy couldn't pull off a successful adventure on the 8-bit Game Boy handheld system, and so he calls up K. Rool and demands he return to Donkey Kong Island and re-steal Donkey Kong's banana hoard.

Once again, the Kongs prove their strength and defeat the Kremling Krew. K. Rool himself is not fought on his ship this time around, rather on a blimp above the Big Ape City. His attacks were for the most part the same as before, with the addition of a belly-flop attack. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong overpower him once more and win their bet.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest


In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, K. Rool is once again the main antagonist. In this game, to accommodate the new pirate theme, he goes under the alias of Kaptain K. Rool. Kaptain K. Rool invades DK Island once again, arriving via his airship, The Flying Krock. The Kremlings kidnap Donkey Kong while DK was taking a nap, leaving a ransom note demanding the Banana Hoard, and return home to Crocodile Isle.

After discovering that Donkey Kong has been kidnapped, Diddy Kong,his girlfriend Dixie Kong and the Kong Family rush off to Crocodile Isle. Diddy and Dixie explore the island, triumphing over K. Rool's minions and search for DK, eventually reaching K. Rool's Keep. They finally find the big ape at the top floor, only to have the Kaptain bring DK away and retreat to his airship. In the Game Boy Advance version of DKC2, K. Rool also sends the gigantic Kremling Kerozene to battle Diddy and Dixie. The Kongs manage to reach K. Rool's airship with the help of Squawks. K. Rool was not expecting them, and was torturing DK.

Kaptain K. Rool is ready for battle, however, with his new blunderbuss weapon. This strange firearm can function not only as a gun that fires spiky Kannonballs in different fashions, but can also fire colored gases that when touched will disturb the Kongs' movement. The gas can make the Kongs move very slowly, freeze them in place, or even reverse the game controls. It also has a strong built-in vacuum and the gun itself helps K. Rool glide fast across the floor. The Kaptain can also turn invisible. Diddy and Dixie manage to defeat the Kaptain by tossing kannonballs back into his gun. Donkey Kong breaks free of the rope that held him and uppercuts K. Rool out the front window of the Flying Krock, sending him crashing into the swampy waters of Krem Quay.

However, the Kremling leader manages to retreat to the Lost World, inside the Krocodile Kore. Diddy and Dixie bribe Klubba, the guardian of the Lost World, with Kremkoins and they get in. Soon enough, they reach the Kore and duel with K. Rool once again. The Kaptain again attacks with his blunderbuss, and the heroes once more toss a Kannonball into the gun. The gun exploded instead of backfiring this time around, and sent the Kaptain into the ominous geyser in the background which supplied power to the Isle. K. Rool clogged the geyser to the point where the pressure build up caused it to explode, taking the top of Crocodile Isle with it. The rest of the island sunk into the sea.

The Kong Family escape, and watch the Isle sink from DK Island. However, just before the island sinks, a ship is seen sailing away and K. Rool's laughter is heard. He sails off into the horizon.

Donkey Kong Land 2
Donkey Kong Land 2 is a retelling of DKC2 for the Game Boy. Kaptain K. Rool captures Donkey Kong and demands the Banana Hoard. Dixie and Diddy travel through the water-downed Crocodile Isle to find their pal and confront Kaptain K. Rool once more on the Flying Krock. Kaptain K. Rool's attack pattern is a simplified version of his battle strategy in Donkey Kong Country 2; his blunderbuss now shoots gusts of wind instead of the kannonballs or gases.

Lost World is also featured in DKL2, and thus so is the secret boss battle with K. Rool. Klubba is now harder to bribe, requiring all 47 Kremkoins to proceed, but once that is met, he allows entry to the World. In the ruins of Krocodile Kore, Kaptain K. Rool's battle is like the DKC2 one; his gun launches kannonballs, both normal and spiked varieties, and after a while a Wooden Barrel with a Kannonball. When that Kannonball is tossed inside the gun, it will cause his blunderbuss to explode, launching him into the geyser, make it explode and sink the isle.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble


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. 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 King K. Rool, this time under the alias of Baron K. Roolenstein. After Dixie and Kiddy discovered him, Baron K. 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 Baron K. Roolenstein, Dixie and Kiddy would need to pull down on a particular pipe on the ceiling of Kastle KAOS, while avoiding Baron K. Roolenstein and his electric beams. Pulling on this pipe would cause a barrel to appear, which would need to be thrown at Baron K. Roolenstein; after being hit by multiple barrels by Dixie, Baron K. Roolenstein would be defeated.

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 Baron K. 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, Baron K. 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, Baron K. Roolenstein can be found and battled. In this battle, Baron K. 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 Baron K. 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, Baron K. 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 Baron K. Roolenstein riding away from the Northern Kremisphere in a hovercraft will be shown. As Baron K. 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 Baron K. Roolenstein inside.

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. 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 Baron K. 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, Baron K. Roolenstein 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 later returns in the N64 game, Donkey Kong 64 as the villain once again. Unlike his past appearances, he decides to blow up Donkey Kong Island as revenge for his previous defeats. King K. Rool had planned to blow up Donkey Kong Island with a weapon called the Blast-O-Matic. Fortunately for the island's inhabitants, K. Rool's Ship ends up crashing due to 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' failures. A notable scene shows K. Rool demand that nobody leaves the Blast-O-Matic until its repaired.

Eventually, K. Rool's henchman succeed in repairing the 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 isn't fully tested then it could explode. After the Kongs permanently shut down King 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 battle. King 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. Rools face, dropping spot-lights on the villain, causing him to slip on banana peels, shrinking down and blasting his toes, and generally pummeling him - the Kongs manage to claim victory.

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 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.

K. Rool's depiction in this game changed as it goes on. He's 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.

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, King 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, 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 will promptly stutter that "that was practice" and challenge Donkey Kong 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 King K. Rool's hovercraft and destroys the K. Kruizer III.

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 was the first time King K. Rool was playable in a game.

DK Jungle Climber
In DK Jungle Climber, King K. Rool appears as the main villain and 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, King K. Rool is encountered several more times on the various islands and dimensions of the game, usually appearing to taunt 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 forth Crystal Banana is claimed by Donkey, Diddy, Cranky and Xananab, King K. Rool flees through a wormhole to the Planet Plantaen. Chased to a dead end on Planet Plantaen, King K. Rool will battle Donkey Kong, attacking by jumping at him, charging into him and throwing exploding spiked balls. Once King 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, King K. Rool's only vulnerable spot is his face, which, once hit five times, will deplete King K. Rool's health, turning him back to normal and leaving him unconscious. King 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.

Barrel Blasting
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. 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.''

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. Ironically, he is on Donkey Kong's team. In Challenge Mode he will try to stop Mario and the gang in Donkey Kong's stage, by using his green, red, blue, and brown Kritters to challenge them. 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. 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.

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 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 he took on the alias of Baron K. Roolenstein, he changed into a white lab coat and a helicopter pack with a propellor on it. When under the alias of King Krusha K. Rool, he 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.

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

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.

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, who 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.

King K. Rool is the 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.

The reasons for stealing DK's Banana Hoard and kidnapping him are not fully understood, 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), or 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. 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.

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, "Kween 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 (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 leap 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, implying that he may be a chameleon instead of a crocodile. In DK: Jungle Climber, 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.

Television
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.

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.

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 is portrayed as a somewhat timid freedom fighter in a feud with Diddy Kong, who is portrayed as a power-hungry tyrant.

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 Kevin Bayliss.

Trivia

 * 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.
 * 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. The latter explanation is contradicted in DK: Jungle Climber though, in which K. Rool states he despises bananas.
 * 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 eye infection on his left eye, but on Baron K. Roolstein it's his right eye that's infected.
 * 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.
 * K. Rool's name is a reference to the word Cruel.
 * In the Donkey Kong Country TV series, King K. Rool's name is pronouced "Kuh-Rool" instead of "Kay-Rool".