What the hell is this

Glad you asked! I'll keep this as neat and koncise as possible.

An Unexpected Reveal

Back in 2018-19ish, I was keeping up with the Nintendo Directs for any news on the upcoming Smash Bros Ultimate. Interested to see what new characters and mechanics they'd brought to the table. Prior to that, I mainly played on the Xbox after falling out of the Wii when Nintendo had stopped making games for it and my parents couldn't afford to buy the Wii U.
Although my interest peaked when the new Smash Bros game was announced. Excited seeing others' reactions and happy to be a part of the hype that was transpiring before my eyes.

That was when I first saw King K. Rool climbing aboard the roster. I had no idea who he was up until that point, least of all had I played a Donkey Kong game. And even then, I'd mostly seen Donkey Kong as a selection in Mario Kart Wii and Smash Bros Brawl. Although, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was what finally pushed me to save money to buy a Switch, this was the first game I had bought with it. I was happily watching the excitement of everyone coming together for these treasured characters added going forward, including the dynamic duo, Banjo and Kazooie. That I was beyond ecstatic for, having played a bit of the game in the past (never finished though, I'm working on it). Even though K. Rool wasn't for me upon first glance, I appreciated the hype that other people experienced.

After the Smash Brothers news and Animal Crossing burnout settled down, I was scrolling on YouTube one day, and found a video on my feed titled, DKC: Curse of the Crystal Coconut. An animated music video to a cover of Pirate's Scorn, a song originally from the Donkey Kong Country TV series. Of course, I didn't know this at the time. I was just admiring the animation that gave each character so much personality, and bobbing my head to the music.

A year or two after that, I was deep into the Kirby games and lore, and loved King Dedede's personality. I even cosplayed as him at one point, and he'll always hold that special place in my heart. And the music, don't even get me started. Every single track is a bop, there's just so much energy there and not to mention the leitmotifs that some have. Happy to give Kirby the title of one of my strongest, most passionate, and long-lasting hyperfixations to date.

I was on YouTube again trying to find something to play in the background while drawing, when I saw another video made by the same person who animated Curse of the Crystal Coconut. DKC: Return to Krocodile Isle, which had King K. Rool in the thumbnail, and I was immediately excited and intrigued to see what Alex had made next.
If I wasn't already blown away by the voice acting within the first two minutes, the buildup and entrance leading to the main attraction fucking enraptured me.

Enter, A Villain Most Kruel

You could say that that Smash reveal was a prophecy because HOLY SHIT. First of all, the animation is just as phenomenal as the last, it basically does just what the song is titled, Tip the Scales of my expectations. Everything that I had previously thought of the kremling king was thrown out the window. I could go on and on about how amazing, and heartfelt, the amount of passion and love that was put into this, but I already made a retrospect dedicated to that! Because of Return to Krocodile Isle, that was when my deep dive into Donkey Kong history, games, and lore got kicked into gear.

I watched every Donkey Kong Country playthrough from Vinesauce, played DKC myself, and just started playing Diddy's Kong Quest. Watched the entire first season of the TV series just so I could hear more from this guy, and I dragged my friend along with me. We're almost through season two and it's been a banana slamma. I need a full dictionary of every insult known to kremling.

Konclusion

Never had I thought that I'd get into playing Donkey Kong, most importantly, one of my favorite characters be King K. Rool. He slithered his way into my heart with his charm and wit. Some people like to view King K. Rool's in-game and cartoon personalities as completely separate, but I think it's a lot more interesting to view them as one. Let's face it, Benedict Campbell is the voice for the kremling king, I wouldn't want it any other way!

Now, I could be putting way too much thought into an underprivileged reptile, but I think we're well past that point. I just want to keep making art and gush about reptilian royalty, which is where this shrine comes into play. I feel like it's become a rite of passage at this point. Whenever I get into a new piece of media that I really like or into a new character in this instance, it fuels my art and creativity, and becomes an outlet for this sparkling ball of energy that makes me feel like if I don't engage or create with this new thing right this fucking second, I'll implode.

What's different with this, however, is now I'm trying to scrape every nook and cranny on the internet for even the smallest crumb of fanart or merch or anything. With King K. Rool, he treads that fine line between obscure and well-known; as people know him by now from playing Smash Bros, but still, it feels like there's never enough content or fanart available out there. Don't get me wrong! I am pleased with what I've found so far, there's been some amazing artists while looking through the tags. This just fuels my want to add more to the grand scheme of it.

To those that have read this far down, I am showering you with coconut cream pies! You cannot stop this. King K. Rool and Donkey Kong have rightfully earned their spots of, "one of the best things to exist in my life for me ever", and I hope that stays a konstant for a long time.