| King Hippo | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Series |
Punch-Out!! |
|
Debut |
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (1987) |
|
Console of origin |
Nintendo Entertainment System |
|
Species |
Human |
|
Gender |
Male |
Nicknamed "Tropical Chief", King Hippo first appeared on the 1987 Nintendo Entertainment System game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! as the second competitor in the Major Circuit.
History[]
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!![]
In Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!. King Hippo is truly the most different character of the Video Boxing Association, also noting that he is the only character that does not have a palette swap; however, it should be noted that his body type resembles Bear Hugger's from the arcade and SNES versions of Super Punch-Out!!. His defense is impenetrable until he opens his mouth. When his mouth is hit, Hippo reveals his one weakness: his too-large trunks start falling down, and he has to keep pulling them up whilst trying to fend off Little Mac's body blows. Once Little Mac floors King Hippo, he does not get up. This is physically because he is obese, but was probably done as an excuse to make defeating him possible, because he has so much HP and so little vulnerability that it would be impossible to fight 3 rounds with him without running out of time.
Punch-Out!! (2009)[]
In the Wii version, King Hippo's only dialogue consists of bellows akin to that of an actual hippopotamus, provided by Scott McFadyen. He also wears his crown when fighting. A similarity is that his shorts still fall down. He uses powerful jabs and a form of double hook, which must be ducked. This punch is similar to Bear Hugger's, except that Hippo's is weaker. His punches do massive damage, but when defeated, he does not get up. It is shown that he lives on the island of Hippo Island, somewhere in the South Pacific. Although not stated, it seems to imply his title of "King" and the fact he wears a crown suggests he is the head of state of Hippo Island. King Hippo spends his days eating enormous quantities of food and then sleeps in a hammock. This is shown in the intro montage when King Hippo is shown eating as the sun changes position in the sky, then snoozing in his hammock when the sun has set. When punched, pineapples fly off of his face. When KOed, he falls out of the ring, making him one of the few characters that have a special KO animation every time they fall. You only need to knock him down once to defeat him, since he's too big to get back up. His underwear now has multiple small pictures of the Starman from the Mario series of games. Before challenging him for the Minor Circuit title, selecting King Hippo will make him speak with a foghorn like noise while his crown flies in mid-air off his head. It is also worth noting that he wears the title on his shoulder. When King Hippo sees Mac before the fight, he looks at him in surprise but laughs possibly because he doesn't see Mac as much of a challenge. If you lose to him, he will hit his stomach in happiness, then his pants fall down, and he is embarrassed.
Title Defense mode[]
King Hippo returns as a challenger in Title Defense in World B. He sports a bigger crown (probably to stop it from being knocked off like in Contender Mode) and a manhole cover over his stomach to protect himself from body blows (his Title Defense bio shows him wandering around New York City, looking for different items to protect his belly, including a frying pan and a strainer). The only way to punch off his manhole cover is to punch away all the pieces of tape that keep the manhole cover from falling off. When his manhole cover is knocked off, it falls onto his foot, causing a slightly comical scene where it falls on his foot and he hops on his other foot before getting enraged. After the cover is knocked off, King Hippo opens his mouth less often; his double hook gains a second hammer punch-like attack that can be easily dodged. Hitting him while his mouth is closed results in a quick jab that can't be blocked or countered. However, any mouth-closed overhead smashes or delayed jabs can be countered with a hook, which gives Mac a star. If you lose to the TD version of him, he will stand back, and laugh evilly.