Whomp King (Battan King in Japan) is a giant Whomp who serves as the king of all Whomps and Thwomps. He has appeared in a couple of 3D Mario platforming video games, initially in Super Mario 64 as the boss of the Whomp's Fortress world. 

When encountered by Mario, he expresses disgust at the red plumber for his lack of respect towards Whomps with his apparent claim that they've been "building houses, castles and paving roads," and therefore seeks to crush him.


The Whomp King is based upon the image of a regular Whomp, just with a simple addition of a crown on the top of his block face to signify his grand status as the king and leader of all Whomps in his fortress; this is also reflected by his extra strength and bigger size, requiring three ground-pound attacks to be beaten during the fight.

Super Mario series

Super Mario 64 

King Whomp 64

Mario about to pound the king (64)

The Whomp King is encountered at the top of the fortress that Mario has to climb and navigate through; before the battle commences, the king will make his rant about Mario's lack of respect for Whomps, and then proceeds to crush him in the typical Whomp style of toppling over and flattening the plumber. The player needs to avoid his attacks by standing in front of him to attract his attention then quickly step out of the way; whilst the king's flat on the floor, take the opportunity to jump and ground-pound upon his back. Doing this three times will defeat the king, prompting him to surrender and give away his Power Star to Mario.

His words after the defeat are: 

  • "No! Crushed again! I'm just a stepping stone, after all. I won't gravel, er, grovel. Here, you win. Take this [Power Star] with you!"

After his defeat, a tall white/orange tower with moving stair-like steps is built over the empty platform in his place.

Super Mario 64 DS

King Whomp DS

From a king to a cracked stepping stone... (DS)

In the DS remake of the game, the Whomp King receives updated graphics, and as damage is dealt large cracks develop on his back. Otherwise, he serves exactly the same function and gameplay.

That being said, to fight him ensure that you are controlling Mario, whether it be the real plumber himself or a magic disguise obtained from wearing a red cap as Yoshi, since the latter cannot fight due to his inability to deal damage by ground-pounding.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

King Whomp Galaxy

Whomp King returns, stronger than before

A remake of Whomp's Fortress was produced for this game entitled 'Throwback Galaxy', and naturally the Whomp King returned too - with a similar fashion of gameplay. There are a number of differences though in the latest remake; the king himself is not standing at the top of the fortress, with a regular Whomp in his original place instead - defeating it will cause a Bowser trapdoor to open, dropping Mario to a different platform where the king would drop from the sky. 

Whilst the principles of gameplay remain largely the same, the Whomp King has been updated with more powerful attacks. Along with the standard Whomps' ability to instantly kill Mario in this game, the king combines this with his own set of abilities, such as emitting shockwaves and sprouting mini Whomps - the player has to contend with all three. As the king attacks, the ground underneath will glow red as a warning signal to the player to move out of the way; additionally, his back features a mark instead of a cross plaster, and he will also glow red upon dealing damage from Mario. 

During the battle, the king utters the same lines recited from Super Mario 64 (with the addition of "Dang it!"  after defeat). However, if Mario loses a life and returns for a second attempt, the king would remark that he had enough of his own long-winded speeches.
