King Hippo

King Hippo was originally created by Punch-Out!! character designer Makoto Wada. His appearance in Punch-Out!! for the Wii was illustrated by art director Eddie Visser. King Hippo's face and girth resemble that of a hippopotamus, hence his name.[1] He is an obese man from the fictional Hippo Island which is located somewhere in the South Pacific. His age, weight, and height are all unknown. He is often depicted wearing a crown and has tanned skin, however in his Captain N: The Game Master appearance he is blue, there it is interpreted by Garry Chalk.[2] His fighting style consists of guarding his belly, and his guard only drops if hit in the mouth, revealing his weak spot. If he is hit in the stomach, he drops his trunks. The Wii version features a second mode where King Hippo has duct-taped a manhole cover over his stomach to protect himself; the player must knock it loose in order to attack that weak point.

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.[3]

King Hippo first appeared in the 1987 NES video game Punch-Out!!. He returned in 2009 for 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.[4] A scrapped commercial for Punch-Out!! on Wii depicted King Hippo showing off his home in an "MTV Cribs-like tour" in a place called Strong Island.[5] King Hippo appears in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a collectible trophy, based on his appearance in Punch-Out!! for Wii. He later appears as a Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a collectible, wearable object that modifies the wearer's stats and/or abilities.

King Hippo has a major role in the animated series Captain N: The Game Master voiced by Garry Chalk 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 Sadness comic book, as part of a guest comic written and illustrated by Girly creator Jackie Lesnick.

Since appearing in the NES video game Punch-Out!!, King Hippo has received positive reception. GameDaily regarded him as one of the best Nintendo characters, noting that he stood out more than the other characters in the game, the latter being a sentiment shared by GamesRadar writer Chris Antista and Wired staff.[6][7][8] He was also regarded as one of the best video game villains by IGN.[9] His role in Captain N was also recognized, being one of the reasons he's popular according to IGN writer Lucas M. Thomas.[10][7] Destructoid's Colette Bennett called King Hippo distinctive and well-designed.[11] Kotaku writer Kevin Wong listed King Hippo as his third favorite boxer in the Punch-Out!! series. He praised his "completely unique" design as a "stroke of brilliance" by Nintendo. He also stated that the tension of having to counterattack King Hippo to win as another aspect of why he ranked so high.[12]

King Hippo had been criticized for being a racial stereotype. The Retronauts podcast discussed how he was a stereotype of Pacific islanders, pointing to King Hippo being fat and lavish as examples of these stereotypes.[13] Brian Shirk, writing in Bit Mob, criticized King Hippo's design as offensive, suggesting that his "subhuman caricature" design was likely based on the savage portrayal of Polynesians in media.[14]

Game Informer writes that the secret to defeating King Hippo was likely more well-known than the 30-life code in the video game Contra".[15] Colette Bennett echoed sentiments of the notability of his weakness and said that "anyone could tell you King Hippo's weak point".[11] 1UP.com editor Bob Mackey called the fight with him an "iconic moment in gaming" and one that was the "talk of the schoolyards during the 80's".[16] Kotaku editor Owen Good mocked Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah for not being able to get past King Hippo in the NES Punch-Out!![17] The method of defeating King Hippo has been used as a metaphor to refer to both literal and figurative gut punches.[18][19][20]