Jumpman1985
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2018
- Messages
- 12
King Hippo (キング・ヒッポー Kingu Hippō) is a fictional boxer from Nintendo's Punch-Out!! series. King Hippo first appeared on the Nintendo Entertainment System game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, as the second competitor in the Major Circuit. Subsequent reviews have characterized King Hippo as one of the most iconic characters from the game. The character is featured prominently on the NBC Saturday morning cartoon, Captain N: The Game Master. His obese figure and his face both resemble those of a hippopotamus.
King Hippo was originally created by Punch-Out!! character designer M. Wada. His most recent appearance was illustrated by art director Eddie Visser.
King Hippo's face and girth resemble that of a hippopotamus, hence his name. He is an obese man from the fictional Hippo Island (not hailing from the real, sub-Antarctic Hippo Island). His age, weight, and height are all unknown. He is often depicted wearing a crown. He has tanned skin (blue skin in Captain N: The Game Master) and a large mouth.
In the video game, he guards his belly while punching and blocking. When he opens his mouth and pulls one fist back, the player's character, Little Mac, can punch him in the face to stun him briefly and make him drop his guard. Mac can then repeatedly punch Hippo in the belly, causing his trunks to fall down with every hit. Once Hippo is knocked down, he will be unable to stand under his own weight before the referee finishes the ten-count, leading to a win by knockout for the player. In the Wii version of the game, his underpants have starmen on them.
In the Wii version's "Title Defense" mode, Hippo enters the ring with a manhole cover taped to his belly; Mac must knock it loose before he can strike at that weak spot. He speaks English in the cartoon and NES game, but only makes grunting noises in the Wii version.
Promotional merchandise was created for the Wii Punch-Out!!, which included replicas of King Hippo's crown and boxer shorts, as well as a King Hippo desktop punching bag.
King Hippo first appeared in the 1987 NES video game Punch-Out!!. He returned in 2009, in the Wii video game of the same name (voiced by Scott McFadyen). Some advertisements for the Wii game feature the protagonist Little Mac training to reclaim the World Circuit Title from King Hippo.
King Hippo has a featured role in the animated series Captain N: The Game Master voiced by Garry Chalk. He appears as one of Mother Brain's henchmen. He has blue skin, and is often paired in a comedic duo with the Kid Icarus villain Eggplant Wizard. This version of King Hippo also appears in the comic books based on the series. He makes a cameo appearance in the Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadnesscomic book, as part of a guest comic written and illustrated by Girly creator Josh Lesnick. In it, Scott Pilgrim battles him and has to discover his weak point
