Super Smash Bros. Ultimate features a roster consisting of 86 characters after the developers finished releasing DLC for the game. Of course, most of the roster was made up of returning veterans due to the game’s “Everyone Is Here” theme, but there are also plenty of highly requested newcomers that also made the newest installment feel fresh.
Just recently, a legendary villain made an epic return in one of the newest Nintendo releases. It feels like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s existence may have played a huge role in this character’s long-awaited return. From this point onward, we’ll be talking about spoilers for Donkey Kong Bananza.
For most of the game, the “Void Company” — made up of Grumpy Kong, Poppy Kong and Void Kong — serve as the main antagonists to Donkey Kong and Pauline. Throughout Donkey Kong Bananza, the player has multiple run ins with Void Company in the form of various boss fights.
Grumpy Kong and Poppy Kong actually tend to be fairly friendly (or at least neutral) towards Donkey Kong and Pauline when they aren’t directly fighting against them. Near the conclusion of the game’s main story mode, Grumpy and Poppy end up deserting Void Company after failing enough times to thwart the player’s efforts.
By that point, Void Kong seemingly remains as the final obstacle to the protagonists and their efforts. Of the three, Void Kong tended to be the most antagonistic towards the heroes. Void Kong also came across more as a real sore loser while Grump and Poppy tended to be better sports with regards to their failed attempts.
In what felt like the final chapter of the game, Void Kong pulled out all the stops in order to best Donkey Kong and Pauline, but he’s eventually defeated. However, it was quite a surprise to see King K. Rool suddenly appear to deal the final blow against Void Kong.
It turns out that, in pursuit of the “Banandium Root,” which has the power to grant any wish, King K. Rool had become entrapped and sealed away. Following the lore leading up to the big reveal that King K. Rool would serve as the game’s final boss, it is implied that King K. Rool had actually been trapped this way for years, potentially even a full decade or more.
The developers even went out of their way to include King K. Rool’s signature “fake out credits” leading up to the grand finale of the game’s main story. King K. Rool is able to show why he’s such a unique villain in that he just refuses to throw in the towel just when it seems like it’s all over — a quality typically seen from more heroic characters rather than villains.
This provides an interesting in-game explanation as to why King K. Rool had been absent from the mainline Donkey Kong series for about 18 years now. Due to the events of Donkey Kong Bananza, King K. Rool is now out and about, implying that he will likely return in future games going forward.
In many ways, it feels like King K. Rool fans probably have Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to thank for this epic return. After all, the inclusion of King K. Rool as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate felt like a momentous occasion.
“We knew that there was a lot of demand for King K. Rool to join Super Smash Bros., so we decided to tease the viewers, making them think he was coming, before revealing it was a fake – and then showing that he is actually coming,” said Super Smash Bros. series director Masahiro Sakurai with regards to King K. Rool’s big reveal trailer.
“We knew that there was a lot of demand for King K. Rool to join Super Smash Bros., so we decided to tease the viewers, making them think he was coming, before revealing it was a fake – and then showing that he is actually coming.” — Masahiro Sakurai
By this point, it’s been well established that the Smash Ballot that was originally held during the era of Super Smash Bros. 4 was largely used for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. According to Sakurai, King K. Rool received a ton of votes.
While this wasn’t enough to get him into Super Smash Bros. 4 immediately, it did result in the developers giving the fans a little nod with the King K. Rool Mii costume pieces. This would then pave the way for King K. Rool finally joining as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. with the next game in the series.
It’s funny to note that plenty of fans actually sent Sakurai “thank you” letters for including King K. Rool. There’s no doubt that Nintendo became very aware of just how popular King K. Rool had become despite being absent from the gaming space for so long.
Leading up to the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns, fans actually theorized that King K. Rool was the true mastermind of the Tiki Tak Tribe’s actions, but this turned out to not be the case. In many ways, it also feels like the developers of Donkey Kong Bananza are bringing this fan theory to life with how events played out with King K. Rool’s sudden resurrection at the game’s climax.
Regardless, it would seem that King K. Rool is going to have more of an appropriate presence in gaming going forward, and it likely all started with Nintendo’s apparent newfound awareness of the character’s popularity thanks to that Smash Ballot from so many years ago.
