Old King Coal

Old King Coal

Game(s)	Banjo-Tooie
World(s)	Glitter Gulch Mine
Speech icon(s)

“Hurrrr! Not me pal. But you'll soon be feeling my merry old sole on the top of your puny heads!”

—Old King Coal, Banjo-Tooie

Old King Coal is a character in Banjo-Tooie.

Biography

Old King Coal is a gigantic living pile of coal who inhabits the boiler of Chuffy, whom he is protective over.

Banjo-Tooie

In Banjo-Tooie, Old King Coal is found in Glitter Gulch Mine, inside his train Chuffy, where he is subtitled "Grubby Boiler Monarch." After the locomotive is lifted back up by Mumbo Jumbo, its boiler can be entered by Banjo and Kazooie. When they first encounter him, they get into a brief exchange, and then the duo are forced to battle the monarch.

During the fight, Old King Coal will lumber around the room in an attempt to hit Banjo and Kazooie. His body has no particular weak points and he can be hit with just about any attack. Old King Coal is invulnerable to Fire Eggs, but can take twice the damage from Ice Eggs.

After taking a certain amount of damage, Old King Coal's left arm crumbles and falls off, making him a bit lighter and quicker. From this moment, Old King Coal periodically turns up the heat inside the boiler, making the floor dangerous to walk on and filling the air with suffocating smoke. Pieces of debris amidst the sea of hot coals allow protection against the heat until it wears off. If the timer runs out, the boiler remain permanently hot, causing Banjo and Kazooie to suffocate and slowly lose their health.

When losing body parts, Old King Coal is initially unfazed, stating that he at least has another arm. Upon losing both arms, losing that, claiming he won't need arms to beat them anyway. However, once his top half is blown off, he starts showing some concern, when he starts verbally considering that he, Banjo, and Kazooie sit down and negotiate. Once Old King Coal is down to his last few body parts, the boiler remains heated indefinitely until he has been defeated, so Banjo and Kazooie must quickly defeat Old King Coal before they suffocate and lose all their health.

Upon defeat, Banjo and Kazooie are rewarded with a Jiggy. Old King Coal also loans Chuffy to them under the condition that they do not hit the train, which he had just polished. Whenever Banjo and Kazooie use Chuffy, Old King Coal speaks on his behalf and even drives the train if he is called from a different Train Station.

His voice is the same as Chief Bloatazin's.

Nuts & Bolts

In Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, a small statue of Old King Coal appears on a pile crates in Banjoland. It has the ability to blink, and its eyes follow Banjo and Kazooie.

Quotes

• "No service - train derailed in Glitter Gulch Mine."
• "Are you blind? Chuffy is right in front of you!"
• "This is my train control pad."
• "Hurrrr! You have to battle me before you'll go anywhere!"
• "Hurrrr! Who dares enter Old King Coal's boiler?"
• "Hurrrr! You would, huh? In that case, I'll fight you for it!"
• "Hurrrr! Not me pal. But you'll soon be feeling my merry old sole on the top of your puny heads!"
• "Back for another roasting?"
• "And why might that be?"
• "Not unless you beat me first!"
• "Hurrrr! Let's see how you cope with a little heat!"
• "Arrrrr! No great loss, I've still got another..."
• "Arrrrr! But I don't need arms to beat you!"
• "Arrrrr! Perhaps we should sit down and talk about this..."
• "Hurrr-hurrr! My boiler’s now at maximum temperature!"
• "Okay, perhaps I'll let you use my train after all. But don't you dare hit anything — I've only just polished."
• "There's no stations for my train to go to."
• "Chuffy is loading ore in Glitter Gulch Mine."
• "Chuffy is enjoying the attractions of Witchyworld."
• "Chuffy is relaxing by the coast of Isle O' Hags."
• "Chuffy is viewing the cave paintings in Terrydactyland."
• "Chuffy is on freight service to Grunty Industries."
• "Chuffy is warming his coals on the lava side of Hailfire Peaks."
• "Chuffy is chilling out on the ice side of Hailfire Peaks."
• "Would you like Chuffy to pick you up?"
• "Sorry, but I can't go there. the sudden drop in temperature would crack my boiler, and it would be curtains for me... However, if you can find a way to cool my boiler a little..."
• "Ahhh... Yes, that seems to have cooled my boiler enough! I'll let you take the chuffin' train to the ice side now..."

Gallery

• 

  In Banjo-Tooie's character parade

Nomenclature

Language	Name	Meaning
German	Briketto Blanko Hämischer Heizkessel-Herrscher	A pun of the german singer and actor "Roberto Blanco" Malicious Boiler Ruler
Italian	Vecchio Re Coke	Old King Coke
Japanese	キング・コウル ボイラーしつのヌシ	King Coal Boiler Room Master
Spanish	Viejo Rey del Carbón Monarca de la Sucia Caldera	Old King Coal Grubby Boiler Monarch

Trivia

• Old King Coal is a reference to the nursery rhyme Old King Cole. Evidence of this can be seen when Kazooie says he's "supposed to be a merry old soul" and the king's sarcastic retort of having his "merry old sole" on top of Banjo and Kazooie's heads. In the Xbox Live Arcade version, this is further evidenced with the "Merry Old Soul" achievement, which is rewarded for defeating Old King Coal.
• In the E3 2000 prototype build, Old King Coal used Gobi's head icon as a placeholder.
• As noted by Gruntilda's Hag 1 boss quiz sections, Old King Coal had the second-highest HP amount of the bosses (surpassed only by the Hag 1 itself).
• In Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, a Nintendo 64 was originally intended to be placed in the spot of Banjoland where the Old King Coal statue is located. This was likely changed due to legal reasons.