“ | KAMPFSTIEFEL!! | „ |
~ Von Kaiser (Wii) |
Von Kaiser is a German veteran boxer and a boxing teacher at the military academy. He made his first appearance on the 1987 Nintendo Entertainment System game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! as Little Mac's second opponent in the minor circuit.
The theme music played for Von Kaiser is the opening of Richard Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries.
Appearances[]
Von Kaiser first appeared in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! in 1987 and after 22 years of absence, he returned in the Wii installment of Punch-Out!! in 2009. Kaiser has also been featured as a Hasbro action figure and in a Topps trading card series.
Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream (1987 & 1990)[]

Von Kaiser made his first appearance on the 1987 Nintendo Entertainment System game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! as the second opponent in the Minor Circuit. His punches are noticeably faster than Glass Joe's and his defenses are much better, along with the fact that his punches do much more damage. His Palette swap is Great Tiger.
Attacks[]
Left Jab: Von Kaiser shakes his head before throwing a left jab, which can be dodged, ducked, or blocked. It can also be countered with a body blow. It takes 11 left jabs to knock Mac down.
Right Uppercut: Ducks down to Mac's left before throwing a devastating uppercut. Can be dodged in either direction or ducked but not blocked. Can also be countered with a left body blow. It takes 7 right uppercuts to knock Mac down.
Damage[]
- Left Jab: 9 damage
- Right Uppercut: 14 damage
Stars (not 100%)[]
- Counter his Left Jab with a left punch.
- Counter his Right Uppercut with a left punch.
Instant Knockdown[]
- Throw an uppercut while Von Kaiser is stunned.
Infinite[]
After he misses a Right Uppercut, alternate left and right punches. The stun will last until he gets knocked down; however, it is much faster to simply counter the uppercut and TKO him with the Instant Knockdown.
Punch-Out!! (2009)[]
Von Kaiser appears in Punch-Out!! as the second opponent in the Minor Circuit. Here it was revealed that he suffers emotional trauma as a result of being defeated by children. During a match, he defends his face fully, but because of his trauma, he'll take a peek and cry "Mami!". When peeking, the player can punch his face to earn a Star. Star Punching him at any moment where he's open will knock him to the ground instantly. Kaiser also regained his previous attacks from his previous appearance. Here, he is voiced by Horst Laxton and speaks legitimate German. During his KO animation in Contender & Title Defense, he will spin momentarily, but stands at attention, twitching, and falls stiffly on the ground. However, if you lose to him, Von Kaiser will say that he punches left and right and then laugh in amazement.
Contender[]
Stars:
- Counter his Left Jab with a right punch while his head is twitching.
- Hit him after he dodges.
- Counter his Right Uppercut with a left hook.
- Jab him when he says "Mami!" after cowering.
- When he shakes his head after being knocked down, punch him when he steps back into the middle of the ring.
Instant KD Tricks:
- Hit Von Kaiser with a Star Punch while he is stunned.
- Hit Von Kaiser with a One- or Two-Star Punch when he says "Mami!".
Instant KO Trick:
- Hit Von Kaiser with a Three-Star Punch when he says "Mami!".
Infinite: It is possible to keep forcing Von Kaiser to dodge by using three punches, waiting a bit, then countering the dodge and repeating the cycle. This method can be used to earn three stars quickly.
Attacks[]
- Left Jab: Von Kaiser's basic move. He twitches his head to let you know it's coming and then he punches. You can duck or block it, like Glass Joe's Left Jab. You can also punch him when he twitches his head to get a Star Punch.
- Right Uppercut: Von Kaiser bends over to his right, says "Weiter jetzt!" while cocking his head, and does an uppercut. This attack is very similar to Glass Joe's Right Uppercut. You can't block this attack; you can only dodge it. You can also hit him when he twitches his head to get a Star Punch.
- Mami!: After you Star Punch him or daze him (at times), Von Kaiser will cover his face, cower, and cry "Wo bist du denn?". You can't punch through his defense. Wait until he pops his head and says "Mami!" before punching him, where jabbing him results in a star. Also, if you have a Three Star Punch, use it on him when he says "Mami!" for an OHKO.
- Dodge and Laugh: Von Kaiser only does this when you try to punch when he is recovering from a punch. He will dodge your punch, crouching towards one side, and laugh at you. If you punch him, you'll earn a star.
Damage[]
- Left Jab: 11.2 damage
- Right Uppercut: 12.5 damage
5-punch KO:
- Counter a jab when Kaiser turns red for a star.
- Counter another jab (or uppercut) for a star.
- Counter one more jab (or uppercut) to finish building up a 3-star punch.
- Dodge the next attack, and punch once. If you finish the stun, this won't work. If performed correctly, Kaiser will recover and immediately perform the "Wo bist du denn??" animation.
- Hit Kaiser during the "Wo bist du denn??" animation and you will complete the challenge.
Stun Limits:
- His Jab (if dodged or ducked): 4
- His Jab (if blocked): 6
- His Right-Uppercut: 6
Title Defense[]
Von Kaiser returns in Title Defense to try to take the title from Mac. His attire changed little, except for a military haircut (specifically a flat top). He also got over his emotional trauma and learned to fake out his opponents. He adds a Spin Attack, which is an OHKD attack (much like Bald Bull's Bull Charge attack), but can be dodged by reading his movements. His uppercuts are accompanied by the sound of a shotgun being fired. He no longer gets knocked down by a One or Two Star Punch when stunned, and it doesn't do much damage like most Title Defense opponents. Additionally, his uppercuts will sometimes be faked and he will dodge some punches. After he is knocked down twice, if he dodges any punch, he will sometimes respond with a fast uppercut. It can be evaded, however, if the player is cautious enough. If the player loses to him, he'll simply look at Mac (who's tired after taking a beating) and then laugh at him in amusement (only the laughing happens if he wins by decision).
Stars:
- Jab him while his head is twitching before his normal jab.
- Hit him after he laughs after dodging a Star Punch.
- Hit him after he laughs when you do a delayed jab after a stun.
- Counter his Fast Right Uppercut with a left punch.
- Counter his Delayed Left Uppercut with a right punch.
- Counter his Fake Right Uppercut with a left hook.
- Counter his Fake Left Uppercut with a right hook.
Infinite: Use a star punch when he's in the middle of the ring. When he dodges it, immediately jab him to the side he's on. Wait till he comes back to the center of the ring (or hook him immediately when he is reeling and delay the star punch slightly), and then repeat. This infinite, although functional, is horribly slow.
Instant KD Tricks:
- Use a Three-Star Punch while Von Kaiser is stunned.
- Use any star uppercut after you have found all the star opportunities.
Attacks:
- Spin Attack: After being knocked down, he stands back up, punches his head multiple times and yells "AAAATTACKE!" and then does a spinning punch in one general direction. He can also do it in the middle of a fight after being knocked down twice (not in one round). It is impossible to counter this attack, and dodging the wrong way or staying in the middle will result in an immediate knockdown. The first time he does this, he will spin to your left, and the second time, he will spin to your right.
- Fast Right Uppercut: Von Kaiser's original move except much faster and stronger. If you punch him quick enough after he talks, you get a Star. If he is going to attack for real, you'll hear a shotgun go off. Can only be dodged to the left and stunned with a right punch.
- Delayed Left Uppercut: Von Kaiser steps to his left and laughs at you, and then punches. If you time it right, hitting him when he finishes speaking will give a star. If he's going to attack for real, you'll hear a shotgun go off. Can only be dodged to the left and stunned with a left punch.
- Fast Right Jab: A cuckoo sounds, Von Kaiser says "Kuckuck!" or "Punsch!", and then immediately punches. Can be blocked, dodged, or ducked.
- Left Jab: Von Kaiser's original twitching of the head and then punching attack except that it is a tad bit faster and stronger. If you hit him with a right punch when he twitches his head, you get a star. Jabs work better for the star. Can be blocked, dodged, or ducked.
- Fake Right Uppercut: Von Kaiser says his line in German and moves to the right but doesn't punch you as a fake. If you punch him quickly after he speaks, you get a star. It is fake if you don't hear a shotgun go off.
- Fake Left Uppercut: Von Kaiser steps to the left and says a line in German but doesn't punch. You can punch him quickly after he speaks for a Star Punch. It is fake if you don't hear a shotgun go off.
- Laugh: Von Kaiser only does this when you use a star punch when he is idle or when you perform a delayed jab as he recovers from a stun. He will dodge your punch, crouching towards one side, laugh at you, and, after he is knocked down twice, he sometimes (but not always) attempts to punch you. If you punch him while he's getting up, you'll earn a Star. (The two sides are considered 2 separate moves, so earning a star for both counts as 2 stars for the 7-star challenge.)
Damage:
- Spin Attack: 100 damage (insta-knockdown)
- Fast Right Uppercut: 19.8 damage
- Delayed Left Uppercut: 24 damage
- Fast Right Jab: 20.1 damage
- Left Jab: 17 damage
- Laugh Punch: Unknown(?)
Stun Limits:
- His Jab: 3
- His (Real) Right-Uppercut: 4
- His Fast Jab: 2
- His (Real) Left-Uppercut: 5
- His Spin Attack: 6
Exhibition Challenges[]
Contender[]
- Win the fight and land EVERY punch thrown!
- TKO Von Kaiser... in under a minute!
- KO Von Kaiser throwing only 5 punches!
Title Defense[]
- Win the fight and evade EVERY Spin Attack!
- Win the fight without dodging or ducking ANY fake uppercuts!
- Find 7 different ways to earn Stars.
Quotes[]
Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream (NES)[]
- "I was a boxing teacher... at the military academy!"
- "I'll teach you a lesson. You will fall down!"
- "Surrender! Or I will conquer you!!"
- "Your punch is soft... just like your heart!"
Punch-Out!! (Wii)[]
- "Bumms!" meaning "Boom!" (Selected in Contender Mode or a Right Jab in Title Defense)
- "Achtung!" meaning "Attention!" (Contender introduction)
- "Ich bin eine Kampfmaschine! Mein Name: Von Kaiser!" meaning "I am a fighting machine! My name: Von Kaiser!" (during intermission in Contender)
- "Kuckuck! Kuckuck! Deine Stunde hat geschlagen!" meaning "Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Your time is up!" [literal translation: "Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Your hour has been struck!"] (during intermission in Contender)
- "Ich geh nach links? Ich geh nach rechts? Ah ha ha ha!" meaning "Am I going to the left? Am I going to the right? Ah ha ha ha!" (Contender winning animation)
- "Weitermachen!" meaning "Keep going!" (After getting up from being knocked down in Contender)
- "Weiter jetzt!" meaning "Continue now!" (Uppercut in Contender Mode)
- "Wo bist du denn? Mami!" meaning "Where are you? Mommy!" (when he cowers)
- "Hilfe!" meaning "Help!" (When Mac throws a Star Punch)
- "Oh nein..." meaning "Oh no..." (When Mac throws a Star Punch in Title Defense after Mac dodges)
- "Oh hilfe!" meaning "Oh help!" (When Mac throws a Star Punch)
- "Ich glaube ich hab 'ne Schraube los!" meaning "I think I've got a screw loose!" (When Mac gets up from a knockdown)
- "KAMPFSTIEFEL!" meaning "COMBAT BOOTS!" (Title Defense intro)
- "Kuckuck!" meaning "Cuckoo!" (Right jab)
- "Haha, reingefallen!" meaning "Haha, fell for it!" (Left uppercut)
- "So nicht!" meaning "Not this way!" (Right uppercut)
- "Ich: Deutsche Präzision. Du: Windmühle!" meaning "Me: German Precision. You: Windmill!" (during Title Defense intermission)
- "Das ist boxen, Little Mac, und kein Tantenkaffee!" meaning "This is boxing, Little Mac, not a tea party!" [Literal translation: "This is boxing, Little Mac, not coffee with your aunt!"] (during Title Defense intermission)
- "AAAAAATTACKEEEE!!!" meaning "AAAAAATTAAAAACK!!!" (before a Spin Attack)
- "Um Gottes willen!" meaning "For God's sake!" (When Mac throws a Star Punch in Title Defense after Mac dodges)
Doc Louis Tips[]
- "Hey, Mac baby. He twitches before he punches. Watch out for his attack!"
- "Hey, Mac baby. Teach Von Kaiser a lesson. Send him back to boot camp!"
- "You gotta butter Kaiser up with your jab. Then toast him with your Star Punch!"
- "Watch out for this sucka's uppercut! Your blocks won't work!"
- "Hey, Mac. Von Kaiser used to be a fighting instructor. Maybe he should have been the student!"
- "Hey, Mac baby. When Kaiser gets all wound up, he's gonna knock everything outta his way! You dodge the wrong way, you're gonna get hit!"
- "This sucka's uppercuts are destructive! Just get outta the way, Mac!"
- "Why is this sucka always yellin'?! Time to teach him some punch-uality!!!"
- "Hey, son! Kaiser's gonna try and fool you with his uppercut! Wait for his fake, and then smoke him while he's busy laughin'!!"
Rule Infractions[]
As per the unified rules of boxing established by the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combat Sports:
- His attire violates 9 (or 10) infractions:
- Instead of boxing shorts, he wears cargo pants, which have no clear line of demarcation for the referee and other boxer to discern low blows.
- His pants go below his knees.
- He tucks his pants into his boots.
- There are also 3 buttons around his cargo pants. Although it's unlikely that they could potentially serve as body armor, they still count as illegal accessories or foreign objects, since they aren't normally parts of the cargo pants themselves.
- Instead of boxing shoes or boxing boots, he wears military boots, though these could be boxing boots used by the military.
- The suspenders he wears in the Wii game count as illegal accessories. This counts as a double infraction as he wears two suspenders.
- His mustache goes below his upper lip. This counts as long facial hair, and it could cushion the upper jaw.
- Instead of boxing shorts, he wears cargo pants, which have no clear line of demarcation for the referee and other boxer to discern low blows.
- In the NES game during his intermission, one of his quotes is "Surrender! Or I'll conquer you!!". This suggests he's convincing Little Mac to throw the fight, which is not allowed, although, due to this same quote, it's hard to determine if Von Kaiser is actually meaning this or it is just him intimidating Little Mac.
- During his spin attack, Von Kaiser tries to hit Mac with the sides of his hands, making this move illegal.
- This move also has him showing his back, which is illegal as well, because it counts as an attempt to give up (throwing the fight) or prolong the fight (as boxers can't hit the back of an opponent).
- Von Kaiser shows signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), meaning he would not be allowed to compete unless his mental state improves, though he gets over it in Title Defense Mode.
- In his Contender and Title Defense match, when he gets back up, he is seen hitting himself. This counts as self harming, which isn't allowed, even though it doesn't affect him at all.
- This counts as 2 infractions as it's also seen as throwing the fight.
- While he could participate in the World Circuit at the age of 42 since there's no age limit in big circuit professional boxing (which therefore makes his Title Defense fight allowed), he also participates in the Minor Circuit. The Minor Circuit is equivalent to independent circuit boxing which has an age limit of 40, meaning Von Kaiser should've moved up to the World Circuit, or he should have retired 2 years ago, although, however, it's possible that he actually moved to the World Circuit sometime after his Contender fight and before his Title Defense fight.
Von Kaiser has 14 infractions, 2 possible infractions, 1 subverted infraction and 1 possibly subverted infraction.
Appearance in Super Smash Bros.[]
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)[]

Von Kaiser makes an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a spirit. In his spirit battle, he possesses the body of a Mario puppet and the battle takes place in the Boxing Ring stage. The battle is a stamina battle and has the puppet's punch and elbow based attacks do more damage, as well as the Mario puppet preferring to use side smash attacks. Upon beating the battle, Von Kaiser's spirit is acquired. Von Kaiser is a novice level primary attack spirit that boosts the damage of all fist based attacks when equipped.
List of game appearances[]
This is a list of game appearances for Von Kaiser. Punch-Out!! titles are in bold.
Title | Year | System | Role |
---|---|---|---|
Punch-Out!! | 1987 | Nintendo Entertainment System | Opponent |
WarioWare: Smooth Moves | 2006 | Wii | Cameo in microgame |
Punch-Out!! | 2009 | Wii | Opponent |
Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! | 2009 | Wii (WiiWare) | Cameo on posters |
NES Remix 2 and Ultimate NES Remix | 2014 | Nintendo 3DS, Wii U | Opponent in mini-games |
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U | 2014 | Wii U | Trophy |
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | 2018 | Nintendo Switch | Spirit |
WarioWare: Move It! | 2023 | Nintendo Switch | Opponent in microgame |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Von Kaiser's theme in all of his appearances (except Punch-Out!! (Wii), shared by Super Macho Man and Great Tiger in Punch Out!! featuring Mr. Dream) is a part of the classical composition "Ride of the Valkyries".
- In every game Von Kaiser appears in, the world record time for defeating him is faster than the world record for defeating Glass Joe.
- It is heavily implied that Von used to be a really good boxer in his prime seeing as his win loss record is one of the better record and he has a job teaching boxing to children.
- Also, he has an instant K.O, the only attack in both minor circuits that can instantly knock Mac down.
- He is the only opponent in the game (only on the Wii edition in Title Defense) that has a KD attack that is impossible to counter, not even with a three-star punch.
- In Title Defense, it is possible to hit Von Kaiser with a star punch without him being in a stun. Dodge any of his attacks, and if a star punch is performed, he gets scared instead of trying to dodge.
- Von Kaiser's design and personality are based off of a German soldier from World War I.
- Von Kaiser could be suffering from shell shock, a form of PTSD that was realized during this time period.
- When he twitches his head, gunshot noises can be heard.
- However, he was born in 1945, the same year World War II ended.
- Of all the challengers in the Minor Circuit, Von Kaiser has come the closest to training for his Contender match. Von Kaiser was at least seen trying to teach his students boxing, which is close to training. Meanwhile, Glass Joe mainly just ate baguettes and drank coffee in Paris, Disco Kid discoed and partied all the time, and King Hippo spent all his time eating and sleeping.
- Von Kaiser is placed below Disco Kid in Punch Out!! for Wii, but he has the second best record in the Minor Circuit in terms of win-loss percentage, having a ~63.8%.
- "Kaiser" is the German word for "emperor" and "Von" translates to "of/from"; thus, his name literally means "Of/From Emperor."
- Von Kaiser, in addition to Don Flamenco, are the only characters with altered win animations when they win the fight by decision. This is due to both the characters' win animations directly involving Mac on the ground knocked out.