King Cobra

King Cobra was a stand-up coaster formerly located in the Action Zone section of Kings Island, though it originally opened as part of the former Adventure Village area. It operated from 1984 to 2001. The ride was designed by the Toyo Gorakuki Company, a Japanese manufacturer better known as TOGO.

History
Kings Island announced the construction of King Cobra during the fall of the 1983 season. Japanese manufacturer TOGO had constructed and tested the stand-up coaster at their facility before dismantling it to be reconstructed at Kings Island. It would later open the following season on April 22, 1984.

In 2001, TOGO filed for bankruptcy, due to a lawsuit filed the previous year by Kings Island's future parent company Cedar Fair in response to the unreliability of the Windjammer Surf Racers coaster at Knott's Berry Farm. The lawsuit forced TOGO to cease operations in North America, and therefore created difficulties in finding replacement parts for King Cobra. Because of this, Kings Island chose to permanently close the ride later that year. Parts of the ride would later be sent to sister park, Kings Dominion, to be used as spare parts for fellow TOGO stand-up coaster Shockwave.

The pay-per-ride attraction Sling Shot, opened the following season, and now sits on part of the land that the coaster once operated on. Several years later in 2014, the inverted coaster Banshee, would later be constructed, with more of King Cobra 's former operating space being used.

Trivia
Although not officially confirmed by the park, it is possible that fellow coaster Diamondback sharing a snake theme is a tribute to this coaster.