Is King K. Rool Coming To Smash Brothers? Nintendo Might Have Accidentally Revealed New DLC Character

Following the huge success of the latest installment of the Super Smash Brothers fighting game franchise, Nintendo has been releasing a slew of new downloadable characters for both versions of the game. So far, this has included Roy, Lucas, Mewtwo, and Ryu. But Nintendo has been taking a poll from its fans to determine who should be the next Nintendo character to appear on the Smash Brothers roster. King K. Rool, one of the villains in the Donkey Kong games, has been rumored as a popular choice among fans for awhile now, but Nintendo may have accidentally hinted that the crocodile baddie is coming to Smash Brothers soon.

According to Gamenesia, Nintendo fans with keen eyes have noted that the name King K. Rool has a trademark symbol in the Virtual Console release of DK: Jungle Climber. The character has been a staple in the Donkey Kong games, but hasn’t appeared in a Nintendo title since 2008’s Mario Super Sluggers for the Wii. And previously, King K. Rool was not trademarked anywhere else that Nintendo listed him. This could be a clue that Nintendo is considering him for the next Smash Brothers DLC pack, possibly as a playable character.

Nintendo has filed trademarks before that have given accurate insight into their future plans, namely the Amiibo cards that they would later announce. While a simple trademark is not an explicit reveal that King K. Rool will be arriving on the Smash Brothers roster, it is very suspicious that the company would suddenly feel the need to protect the intellectual property of an otherwise minor Donkey Kong character.

A post on Reddit revealed that King K. Rool is one of the highest ranked characters in a Smash Brothers poll designed to represent the data from the official Nintendo poll, and the number one character that is actually owned by Nintendo (second to Shovel Knight). According to Attack of the Fanboy, many other surveys around the web asking people for their preferred Smash Brothers downloadable character rank King K. Rool as one of the most popular choices–which would mean Nintendo would have no good reason not to feature the overwhelmingly requested character.

What do you think? Is King K. Rool likely to show up in the new Smash Brothers games? And who would be your top picks for the next Smash Brothers DLC cameo?

For more on Nintendo, read about the New 3DS and find out if it’s worth the upgrade.

[Image credit: Zesiul on DeviantArt]