King Candy (real name Turbo) is the main antagonist of Disney's 2012 animated feature film Wreck-It Ralph. He was the self-proclaimed ruler of Sugar Rush, a kart-racing video game set in a candy-themed kingdom. Originating from TurboTime, Turbo was once the most beloved character in the arcade, until his popularity was superseded by newer games. Mad with jealousy, Turbo sought to reclaim the spotlight by "game-jumping" into other games and taking them over, coining the term "going Turbo". He eventually seized control of Sugar Rush by reprogramming the world in his image and installing himself as sovereign, under the guise of a kindly king.

Many years before the movie's main events, Turbo was the star of a classic racing game called TurboTime. It was the most popular game in Litwak's Arcade, and Turbo loved the attention that entailed. When a new racing game called RoadBlasters got plugged in, TurboTime's popularity dwindled and Turbo became extremely jealous; so much so that he abandoned his own game and tried to take over the new one, only to end up crashing it. As a result, both games were put out of order permanently, and Turbo was presumed to have been deleted along with the game. His actions spawned the popular terms "going Turbo" and "game jumping", and his story became a cautionary tale for video game characters to keep them from messing with the program.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Turbo survived the displacement of his game and remained in hiding for a long time. Some years later, Sugar Rush, a new racing game set in a candy-themed kingdom ruled by Princess Vanellope von Schweetz, was plugged in. Turbo invaded Sugar Rush, hacked into the game's codes and transformed himself into a figure known as King Candy. He then tried to destroy Princess Vanellope by deleting her code, but his attempt was unsuccessful, as his tampering only managed to turn her into a glitch, so King Candy manipulated the game's inhabitants into believing that he was the rightful sovereign and locked away all their memories of Princess Vanellope. But King Candy's control over the game was not secure. If Vanellope were to ever race and cross the finish line, the game would reset, and King Candy's machinations would be undone. To prevent this, King Candy forbade Vanellope from racing on account of being a glitch. He then came up with a story by saying that if she glitched during the game, people would think it was broken and the game would be unplugged. All the residents would be homeless and because Vanellope cannot leave the game, she would die with it.

As ruler of Sugar Rush, King Candy's domain was a sugar-coated castle guarded by strong-armed Oreo guardsmen. Beneath his castle lied a dungeon, which King Candy affectionately referred to as his "fungeon". King Candy's personal kart was the prized Royal Racer, which was equipped with powerful abilities and doubled as his throne. With the Royal Racer at his command, King Candy was renowned as the most popular racer in the game.

When governing the kingdom after hours, King Candy was ably assisted by a posse of edible henchmen, the most notable of which were his security doughnuts, Wynnchel and Duncan. The king's most trusted assistant was a doleful sour jawbreaker named Sour Bill, who aided King Candy in his schemes to keep Vanellope from racing.

All hail King Candy, ruler of the race track, captain of confectionery, sovereign of sugar. Not surprisingly, the most powerful figure in the Sugar Rush game is also the best racer on the track. He may look noble enough, but don't be fooled. This mysterious monarch rules his kingdom with a sugary fist and he is determined to keep his kingdom safe from glitches, rabble-rousers, and outsiders. Don't expect him to go easy on Ralph and Vanellope. The King is ably assisted by his strong-arming security donuts, Wynnchel and Duncan, and his diminutive henchman Sour Bill, a tiny little ball of un-sweetness.

In the earliest scripts of the film, the first villain of Sugar Rush was a truant officer character that captured wayward children, like Vanellope. According to Head of Story, Jim Reardon, the character wasn't working, prompting the filmmakers to create something new. They looked to comedic Disney villains of the past for inspiration, and while spitballing ideas, eventually came up with a cross between Ed Wynn and a mob boss figure like Tony Soprano.^[2]

Animator Zach Parrish worked as King Candy's supervising animator, while Mike Gabriel came up with his early design. The character went through a number of iterations, some of which were based on real-life figures like Elvis Presley and Joe Biden.^[3] Other designs had a more fantastical approach, giving King Candy the appearance of a candy-themed creature. The final look of the character takes inspiration from Ward Kimball's Mad Hatter character in Alice in Wonderland, who was famously voiced by Ed Wynn.

From early on, King Candy was conceived as a usurper to Vanellope's throne, with a goal to keep her from racing as a means to retain his position as king. In these versions of the story, King Candy had no connection to Turbo, and was even going to reform by the end of the film.^[4] Things changed when it was decided that King Candy and Turbo would become one character. In talking about Turbo's role in the story, director Rich Moore explained that they wanted a villain that paralleled Wreck-It Ralph, as a way to show what the bad-guy would become should his selfish ways persist.^[5] Over the course of development, not only was it decided that King Candy would remain a villain throughout the entire story, but his character became increasingly twisted and evil—evolving from an Ed Wynn-inspired obstacle, to a psychopathic murderer. King Candy's voice actor, Alan Tudyk, was noted to have been surprised by this dark evolution of the character.^[6] Consequently, Candy would also be killed as a comeuppance, a fate uncommon for most (initially) comedic Disney villains.

From the beginning, Turbo was an arrogant and conceited character. He adored the attention that came with being the star of a popular console; so much so that he was unwilling to share the spotlight with his cohorts. Having adopted an inflated ego, Turbo became obsessed with preserving his popularity and was deathly determined to remain "the greatest racer ever"—even if it meant taking over another game and eliminating the innocent in the process.

Turbo spent the latter half of his life as King Candy—the exuberant ruler of Sugar Rush, whose over-the-top mannerisms are reminiscent of cartoon characters of the 1940s and 1950s. With a penchant for giggling and the color salmon, King Candy carried himself with a bubbly, yet posh conduct. He genuinely enjoyed his job as king, which gave off the impression that he was a benevolent and fun-loving ruler (his favorite pastime—apart from racing—included throwing candy to his adoring fans while shouting, "Have some candy!").

Underneath his jovial front, however, King Candy remained vain and corrupt. He was extremely possessive of Sugar Rush—demanding that he be addressed as the "rightful ruler" when being introduced by Sour Bill. He also flaunted his status as king by having his insignia and likeness plastered throughout the game. He was particularly fond of locking people in his "fungeon", which would initially appear that he was merciful towards troublemakers in his kingdom, but later reveal signs of sadism. When threatened, King Candy's normally cheerful demeanor would become ruthless and violent. This, coupled with his dangerously short temper, hinted at the king's underlying nature.

King Candy's most essential attributes were his intelligence and deception. By labeling Vanellope as a threat to the game, King Candy established an oppressive regime that turned all of Sugar Rush against the only person who could foil his plans. This not only prevented Vanellope from racing, but also made King Candy out to be a good-hearted leader looking out for the well-being of his subjects (even if his lengths to do so came off as antagonistic). With this, King Candy was able to remain in power for a total of fifteen years.

King Candy developed throughout the film, both in appearance and motives. Having gone from a racer, to a king, to a virus, his motives elevated from a mere lust for fame and attention, to an additional lust for power and authority. After becoming a Cy-Bug, King Candy sought to not only rule Sugar Rush, but the entire arcade. Traits like these are what ultimately made King Candy a virus—what video game characters christen as dangerous threats that can spread and control. In relation to this, he proved to be a difficult force to defeat, having endured two supposed "deaths" prior to his final demise—each time he resurfaced, King Candy was more powerful and sinister than his previous incarnation.

In the end, King Candy can be considered as a complete sociopath. Beneath the mirage of a pleasant comedic relief lies a wicked and psychopathic malefactor. With a total lack of boundaries or remorse for his enemies, King Candy would go to any length to satisfy his obsessions—a level of determination that ultimately led to his demise.

King Candy is a diminutive, elderly, half-bald man with a cartoonish design. He has gray hair styled into side-burns, thick, darker gray eyebrows, fair skin, brown eyes, rosy pink cheeks, slightly purple eyelids, and a cartoonishly large, bulbous nose. Like the other characters of Sugar Rush, Candy has four digits as opposed to five.

King Candy wears a purple tailcoat with a white dress shirt and vest, covered in glitter. He also wears a matching white lace collar and cuffs, and there are two golden buttons on the back of the tailcoat. A notable feature is his large, red bow-tie, which resembles a candy wrapper. He also wears poofy golden-and-caramel striped pants and purple slippers with red gumdrops at the tips that jingle (possibly bells like jester shoes) whenever he moves frantically. The king's other notable feature is his tiny, golden crown that is usually slanted atop his large head. During the races, the king dons a racing outfit that consists of his prominent outfit, but with the addition of brown gloves, a large, golden helmet, which also has his tiny crown on top, and brown racing goggles with red lenses. He also owns a miniature, red-and-white striped cane tipped with velvet wrapping, resembling a candy-cane.

As Turbo, he is still short in stature, but has dull, grayish/white skin, giving him a ghoulish appearance. Turbo's bagged-eyes (as well as his teeth), are a gleaming yellow, reminiscent of the headlights of a car. They also don't reflect light, making them appear soulless. Unlike King Candy, Turbo's nose is small and more realistic. Turbo's outfit, meanwhile, is extremely simple. He wears a white and red jumpsuit and helmet with the letter "T" on its front and back and red and white sneakers.

As a Cy-Bug, King Candy is about 30 feet long, and his face repeatedly switches between King Candy and Turbo, though King Candy is apparently the default face. He has an insectoid and vaguely draconic body structure akin to a silverfish and a mayfly that can curl into a ball for protection and has a neck that can expand in length, resembling that of a jack-in-the-box. His colors consist of mostly purple, orange, and pink, and the tip of his claws are a darker tone of purple. He also gains four orange striped legs, with two similarly-colored pincers located on his chest. His head also sports jagged purple markings, which were also seen under his mouth, similar the mechanical lower jaw of a ventriloquist dummy. Candy's crown also changes, now having a spiky appearance and apparently becoming a permanent part of his body. His hair become feral and unkempt, his purple eyelids and gray eyebrows darken more in color and hue, and his teeth form into large canines, adding to his menacing Cy-Bug complexion. With his transformation, he gains sugarcoated, hot pink wings for a flight that can fold in at will. Whenever his Cy-Bug programming occurred, King Candy's eyes turn blue and pixelated while the Turbo persona remains unchanged. Candy also retains his cuffs, lace collar, and red bow-tie with the transformation.

King Candy is first seen at the race track in Sugar Rush, kicking off the daily Random Roster Race (the race that determines which nine racers will be featured on the game's roster for the day). After explaining the rules and regulations, King Candy and the other racers begin to deposit their coins, which act as their entry fees into the race. In during which, the king notices a mysterious, hooded figure among the lineup, who is revealed to be Vanellope. King Candy furiously orders Wynnchel and Duncan to arrest her. Vanellope tries to escape in her makeshift kart, but a giant, taffy-covered "monster" arrives on the raceway and confronts her, causing mayhem and destruction in its wake. All the while, King Candy tries to both calm the panicking crowd and demand the "monster" to stop its rampage, but to no avail. Eventually, the taffy monster ends up trapped in a giant cupcake, preventing it from moving, and allowing Vanellope to escape.

An exasperated King Candy watches as she does, telling Sour Bill that she mustn't be allowed to race. He then orders Wynnchel and Duncan to bring the captured taffy monster to his castle to receive punishment, which they oblige to. The "monster" reveals to be Wreck-It Ralph, the villain from the game Fix-It Felix Jr.. Ralph explains that the "coin" Vanellope has inserted is actually his gold medal, and that he will leave Sugar Rush as soon as he gets it back. The King, however, tells Ralph that the medal has been inserted into the game's code and can only be returned when someone earns it back by winning the race. Ralph openly plans to steal the medal back when it's won, angering the King to the point of banishing Ralph from Sugar Rush. He then leaves Wynnchel and Duncan to escort the bad-guy home, threatening to lock Ralph in the fungeon should he ever return. In the king's absence, Ralph escapes the guards and eventually comes across Vanellope. Vanellope proposes that she and Ralph team up so that she can win the race, and earn back his medal. Ralph reluctantly agrees.

King Candy is later alerted by his security of a break-in at his kart-baking factory. He ambushes the facility with Wynnchel, Duncan, and a team of elite henchmen, but Ralph and Vanellope manage to escape with Vanellope's newly-built kart. An infuriated King Candy orders Wynnchel and Duncan to find Vanellope and destroy her kart. Back at the castle, the king fearfully paces back and forth in his throne room, while Sour Bill fans him. When Wynnchel and Duncan return, it is learned that their efforts were futile. With no other choice, King Candy and Sour Bill violate the arcade's bylaws by heading to the lowest part of the castle, where they use a cheat code to access Sugar Rush's code. Through hacking and manipulation, King Candy is able to recover Ralph's medal. He then heads out to find the bad guy, placing Sour Bill in charge during his absence.

When King Candy finds Ralph, he gladly returns the medal and only asks for a chance to explain himself in return. As Ralph listens intently, King Candy claims that Vanellope's glitching would have the players think the game was broken, putting the cabinet in danger of being unplugged. Not only would Sugar Rush's populace be left homeless, but Vanellope would be trapped and die alongside the cabinet, as glitches are unable to leave their games. King Candy asks Ralph to keep Vanellope out of the race for her own safety; unwilling to take the risk, Ralph agrees and keeps to his promise by destroying Vanellope's kart. He then leaves Sugar Rush and returns to his own game. Sometime after Ralph's departure, King Candy captures a now vulnerable Vanellope and imprisons her in the fungeon, locking her in "glitch proof" chains. Back in Fix-It Felix Jr., Ralph is able to spot the Sugar Rush console, and notices a picture of Vanellope being prominently displayed along the side, despite being a character that was "never meant to exist".

Suspicious, Ralph returns to Sugar Rush and interrogates Sour Bill into revealing that Vanellope was once an actual racer until King Candy tried to delete her code, turning her into a glitch. Sour Bill goes on to explain that Vanellope can reset the game and restore her code by crossing the finish line. Ralph breaks Vanellope out of the fungeon and asks Fix-It Felix Jr. (who was trapped in the fungeon by Sour Bill) to repair her kart. Meanwhile, the Random Roster Race has begun, and Vanellope is considered a no-show, much to the king's delight. Upon entering, however, Vanellope quickly makes it to second place, only behind King Candy. Suddenly, a swarm of Cy-Bugs originating from the game Hero's Duty, invade Sugar Rush and ravage through the kingdom. As citizens of the game evacuate, the crisis remains unbeknownst to King Candy and Vanellope, who continue on with the race. Soon enough, Vanellope manages to pass King Candy, shocking and infuriating the monarch.

Using one of the track's secret routes, King Candy ambushes Vanellope and viciously tries to ram her off the track. Determined to stop the glitch from crossing the finish line, King Candy uses his kart's antenna and brutally attacks Vanellope with it, destroying portions of her kart in the process. Vanellope attempts to disarm the king, and direct contact with her glitching suddenly—though briefly—undoes King Candy’s disguise, revealing the king to actually be Turbo. Ralph and Felix witness the whole thing from the monitor, horrified by the revelation. With his secret revealed, Turbo confesses his crime of reprogramming the world, and vows that he won't let Vanellope or Ralph take it back from him. Turbo then tries to kill Vanellope by ramming her into an oncoming stalagmite, but she is able to save herself by glitching out of Turbo's grasp. As Turbo pursues Vanellope, the original Cy-Bug that spawned the invasion blocks his path and devours him alive.

Meanwhile, the Cy-Bugs have multiplied and ravaged through Sugar Rush, turning it into an apocalyptic wasteland with seemingly no chance of survival. Fortunately for the heroes, Ralph formulates a plan to erupt Diet Cola Mountain and create a beacon of lava that will attract the bugs to their destruction. On the mountain's summit, Ralph is confronted by Turbo, who fused with the Cy-Bug that devoured him during the race. Turbo declares that, because of Ralph, he is now the most powerful virus in the arcade and can take over any game he wants. Before doing so, the vengeful Turbo attacks Ralph in attempt to kill him, though Ralph is more preoccupied with trying to set off the volcano. Eventually, Turbo gets the upper hand and flies into the air, where he forces Ralph to watch helplessly as Vanellope is cornered by a swarm of Cy-Bugs.

Turbo declares it's "game over" for both Ralph and Vanellope, but Ralph retorts by breaking free of Turbo's grasp and plummeting towards the mountain. The impact of Ralph's fall successfully erupts the volcano and produces a bright beacon of lava. As the lava towers over the kingdom, the Cy-Bugs mindlessly fly into the light and are vaporized upon contact. Though initially unaffected, Turbo gradually succumbs to his Cy-Bug programming and makes a panicked attempt to overcome it. His efforts are unsuccessful, however, resulting in the horrified Turbo flying into the light and inadvertently killing himself. As characters who die outside their own games are unable to regenerate, he is ultimately gone for good.

Following Turbo's death, Vanellope safely makes it across the finish line, thus finishing the race and resetting the game. This restores Vanellope's code and position as sovereign, while King Candy's hold over the citizens' memories is obliterated, freeing them from their binds.

King Candy appears at the end of the centennial short Once Upon a Studio, first seen outside in the studio courtyard as Mickey gathers the Disney characters for a group photo. King Candy is last seen singing along to "When You Wish Upon a Star" alongside Ralph, Vanellope, and Taffyta in the final shot.

In the junior novelization for Wreck-It Ralph, King Candy's actions during the climax were slightly different. After Vanellope escaped Candy's clutches following the Turbo reveal, the King escaped the tunnel, unharmed, and witnessed the Cy-Bug invasion with his own eyes as he drove out and towards the finish line, pursuing Vanellope. Furious at the sight of "his" game in ruins, Candy began to rant, swearing revenge on Ralph for the destruction he's caused. His cries were cut off, however, when a Cy-Bug swooped down and grabbed the King in his pincers, carrying him into the air before devouring him.

After the final battle with Ralph and Diet Cola Mountain erupted, Cy-Bug King Candy would grab onto a candy cane tree branch, frantically trying to prevent his oncoming destruction. However, the branch he grabbed was a double-stripe, which are known to dissolve into oblivion upon physical contact, resulting in King Candy losing his only chance of survival (echoing Vanellope's comments on the matter during her introduction in the film), flying into the lava and to his death.

King Candy, in his Cy-Bug form, appears as a silent, non-playable character in the game, first appearing as part of the Sugar Rush-themed circuit in the Toy Box Speedway. He is first seen hovering over the tracks during the race's second lap, and again for the remaining laps, on ground level.

King Candy can additionally be unlocked for the Toy Box, to appear as a decorative, animated set piece.^[7] He is unlocked after receiving a required amount of tokens in the Sugar Rush circuit of the Toy Box Speedway.

In Disney Crossy Road, King Candy, Turbo, and Cy-Bug King Candy appear as unlockable playable characters, along with a holiday variant called Christmas Grouch King Candy. King Candy is in the 'Rare' class, and sometimes throws candy when he walks, Turbo appears in the 'Enchanted' class, Cy-Bug King Candy appears in the 'Rare' class, and Christmas Grouch King Candy appears in the 'Rare' class as well. King Candy also has a special ability in this game, where cherries can randomly spawn throughout the level. Collecting a cherry will allow King Candy to interact with obstacles and corrupt them, giving the player bonus points.

King Candy appears in Kingdom Hearts Union χ as an antagonist in his homeworld, "Candy Kingdom" inside Game Central Station. His role is largely the same as it was in the film but with a few minor changes. He and Sour Bill are first seen running away from Heartless, who are causing trouble on the race track. King Candy blames Vanellope for the Heartless’ sudden appearance, but she escapes before she can be apprehended. The Heartless, meanwhile, are dealt with by the Keyblade wielder. Having witnessed their talent, King Candy manipulates the Keyblade wielder into finding and capturing Vanellope for him.

King Candy is later revealed to be responsible for the Heartless’ arrival in the world, as he harnesses their code in Sugar Rush's code room. When the wielder becomes involved with Ralph and Vanellope, King Candy uses the Heartless to attack them though the heroes ultimately escape.

It is eventually revealed that King Candy is a fraud named Turbo, who usurped the game. The Keyblade wielder aids Ralph and Vanellope in undoing Turbo’s machinations, alongside Fix-It Felix, Jr. During the Random Roster Race, King Candy is eaten by a Cy-Bug and becomes a virus bent on taking over the arcade. He confronts Ralph and the Keyblade wielder atop Diet Cola Mountain, where they are attempting to end the Cy-Bug invasion. Believing the Keyblade wielder to also be a virus due to their outsider status, Turbo urges them to join his side so that they may rule the world together. When the Keyblade wielder rebukes his offer, Turbo declares them useless and subjects them to death alongside Ralph. Turbo orders his Cy-Bug henchmen to kill the wielder, while he battles Ralph. Eventually, the Keyblade wielder eliminates the Cy-Bugs, and joins forces with Ralph to defeat Turbo once and for all. After a battle, Turbo gains the upper hand and flies a captive Ralph into the air. Ralph manages to break free and plummet to the volcano, causing an eruption. Per their programming, Turbo and his Cy-Bugs are all drawn into the beacon of lava, and are vaporized alive.

In the online, multiplayer version of Disney Magical World (named Disney Magic Castle in Japan), King Candy was once among the characters seen in Castleton. By approaching him, players were able to unlock Wreck-It Ralph-themed costumes for their avatars.

In Disney Emoji Blitz, King Candy was the main antagonist of the "King Candy Villain Event" that ran from July 23 to July 27, 2020. In during which, players must battle King Candy on multiple maps for a chance to unlock King Candy as a playable emoji. His emoji has the ability to "go Turbo" and litter the map with glitchy power-ups. There was also a special one-day "King Candy Event" on January 18, 2021, in which King Candy invaded the map and needed to be defeated by players before the event’s expiration.

In the 2015 rendition of World of Color in Disney California Adventure, King Candy (as a Cy-Bug) appears during the montage celebrating villains.

Inside Vanellope's Sweet and Treats aboard the Disney Dream, a statue of King Candy standing atop a podium is displayed. As the cabana is modeled after Sugar Rush as ruled by Candy, he is referenced in other areas such as stickers plastered on the winner's cup. The Sour Bill audio-animatronic mentions King Candy, as it explains that those who disrupt the king's laws will be sent to the fungeon. Additionally, one of the desserts served at the cabana is called "King Candy Cotton Candy Crunch".

The floral depiction of King Candy on the Sugar Rush speedway greatly resembles the floral arrangement of Mickey Mouse at the entrance to Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland.

Concept art for the Dark Web area in Ralph Breaks the Internet has an advertisement for "Turbo Torrent" which features a foreboding depiction of Turbo's smiling face.^[11]

In Disney Heroes: Battle Mode, King Candy is brought up in a conversation with Ralph and Vanellope while discussing who the villain of the game might be. Ralph comments, "I'm startin' to think there's some kind of evil genius — like King Candy — behind this." to which Vanellope responds with, "Yeah! Who else could manipulate the world like this?"

It's ambiguous as to how Turbo managed to be undiscovered alive for 10 years as the Game Central Station doesn't look like it's a good hiding place for anyone (though it's possible that he was hiding in areas of other games), however, according to a 2013 Reddit AMA, Rich Moore (director of Wreck-It Ralph) stated that, in regards to how Turbo survived the unplugging of TurboTime and RoadBlasters, the filmmakers intended that Turbo escaped from the latter game prior to its unplugging and went on to live bitterly at the bowels of Game Central Station, where he learned one or two things about coding, and when Sugar Rush was plugged, Turbo immediately sneaked into the game, took it over and erased everyone's memories before any players had a chance to play it.^[12]

The final showdown between Ralph and Cy-Bug King Candy was inspired by "boss battles" or "boss fights" in video games—the climax of a game where the hero must confront the villain in their most powerful form in order to proceed to the ending. This is made obvious by King Candy's line, "Welcome to the boss level!"