Gut Check
| Gut Check | |
|---|---|
 King K. Rool using Gut Check in Ultimate. | |
| User | King K. Rool |
| Universe | Donkey Kong |
| “ | Counterattacks with his belly. Cannot be used continuously, and does not protect from behind. | ” |
| —Description from Ultimate's Move List | ||
Gut Check (ボディカウンター, Body Counter) is King K. Rool's down special move.
Overview
When used, K. Rool will puff out his stomach whilst a green visual effect is displayed on the armor, and reflect any damage onto the opponent. It works like a counterattack and can also reflect projectiles. However, the counter hitbox is centered on K. Rool's stomach, making the rest of his body vulnerable, much like the Melee and Brawl versions of Toad.
Despite its appearance, the move does not interact with K. Rool's Belly Super Armor in any way; countering an attack does not deal any damage to his armor, and he can counter attacks that would normally break his armor in one hit (such as a Falcon Punch) even if the armor has already been damaged. Another notable benefit is the fact that there are surprisingly long periods of intangibility on the counter, being Frames 4-15. This means that occasionally, Grabs can miss K. Rool entirely. Gut Check has a damage multiplier of 1.5× for both counterattacks and reflected projectiles, making it second after Joker's Rebel's Guard for the highest damage multiplier of any counterattack, thus being a rather strong counter. It is also possible to reverse the counterattack, making it a useful tech choice in Team Battles, or for gimping opponents going too deep into King K. Rool's hurtbox. Upon use, it grants a short period of complete intangibility, and the hitbox upon countering also lingers for a bit, being especially useful against projectiles, possibly preventing attempts to punish reflects.
As a consequence however, the move has around 30 frames of endlag on whiff, making it one of the slowest and most punishable in the game. It also halts all aerial momentum, making its usage debatable off-stage as it can hinder horizontal recovery. The move doesn't do very well against projectiles with low cooldown either: even after countering, Gut Check possesses notable endlag. This allows for a punish should the opponent dodge the reflected projectile, making fast opponents very difficult to deal with. By far the biggest issue with Gut Check is the fact that the activation hitbox is exclusively on K. Rool's belly. This means opponents hitting his head or feet - despite facing him - will not trigger the counter. This means that the move is punishable not only in endlag, but when starting up as well. A K. Rool player will usually have to try and use Gut Check as a combo breaker, or on reaction, for it to work properly.
Origin
This move is likely inspired by several instances of Kremling resilience. K. Rool himself is seen using his big frame to attack by bouncing on his stomach in Donkey Kong Land; this also inspired his dash attack. It could also draw inspiration from King K. Rool's immunity to front attacks in Donkey Kong Country, which is due to his belly being plated in armor.[1] Throughout many games in the Donkey Kong Country series, Kremlings other than K. Rool who took attacks to protected areas of their bodies (or were attacked with insufficient force) could shrug off the blow, and in some cases damage their assailant. In Donkey Kong 64, Klump was a tough enemy who damaged Kongs who made contact with him by bulging out his belly in a manner most similar to Gut Check.
Gallery
Gut Check as shown by a Skill Preview in Ultimate.
Trivia
- The Smash Blog on the Ultimate website refers to this move as “Stomach Attack” (お腹を突き出, Stomach Protruding).[2]
- While Gut Check does not utilize Belly Super Armor, the Techniques menu claims it does.
