Thugly
Thugly
First appearance Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010)
Latest appearance Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (trophy cameo) (2014)

Thugly is the sixth boss in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, who is fought in the Cliff world and a stronger relative of Mugly.[1] Thugly bears a striking resemblance to Mugly; however, he has a shell of hot iron plates attached to his back and is purple in color. He has a more rounded snout and sharper horns and teeth. He also has a black tongue instead of a pink one. His name is a portmanteau of the words "thug" and "ugly."

Thugly appears in the level Thugly's Highrise, where he is hypnotized by Xylobone. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong meet Thugly when they rocket up into a cave in the mountains. When they arrive they notice Thugly eating up their bananas. Suddenly, without warning, the Tiki Tak Tribe shows up, and Xylobone puts Thugly in a hypnotic trance and forces him to battle the Kongs. Thugly has several battle states. He will sprint and try to eat the Kongs, curling up his iron plates with each skid after the Kongs jump over him. When his back plates remain open, the Kongs are compelled to jump on his back. However, sometimes Thugly leaves his back exposed for a second before quickly flicking his iron plates back over his back, quickly turning around to face the Kongs and sprint at them again. Thugly has an attack where he scrapes his back paws over the ground and jumps high into the air, which can be dodged by rolling under him and jumping over the shockwave that is created after Thugly lands. After the second or third charge, Thugly looks around for a few seconds before covering his back. In addition, in each state, he'll dash at the duo and make boulders fall, thus soon succumbing to dizziness, and falls on his back. The Kongs must seize the opportunity to pounce on his stomach. After three hits, he will turn to orange. During this stage of the battle, he will blast streams of flame, under which the Kongs must duck. Also when he dashes at the duo, he reaches the other side in only 1 to 2 seconds, giving the Kongs less than a second to jump over him. After he is hit some more, he will turn red and spit out a fireball which splits into 3 fireballs, with fireball spliting into 3 more fireballs. After Thugly's defeat, DK will wallop Xylobone, and move on with his adventure. Whenever Thugly sprints, dashes, lifts his back plates, uses his fire breath, and during the fireball, his plates start glowing orange with fire. Touching the plates during this state causes the Kongs to lose a heart, making it difficult to jump on his back. Just like Mugly, when Thugly eats enough peanuts, he stops to eat the peanuts, leaving his back exposed.

Profiles and statisticsEdit

Super Smash Bros. for Wii UEdit

Trophy
Thugly
 
Category: Series Related
( ) Appears in:
Wii Donkey Kong Country Returns (11/2010)
3DS Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (05/2013)
( ) Trophy Box: 19: Donkey Kong Country Returns
How to unlock:
Purchase at the Trophy Shop
Thugly charges at you after being hypnotized by Xylophone Tiki. The weak spot on his back is well protected by an opposite-of-a-weak-spot shell. When he comes to an abrupt halt, his shell will flip forward. At last, the time to strike! Thugly should really get bungee cords or something to hold that in place. (American English)
A charging monster controlled by a Tiki called Xylobone. There's a weak point on his large back, but it's covered by a thick shell, so can it even be called a weakness at all? Well, it doesn't protect him all the time – when he brakes suddenly, the shell flips open! Someone should tell Thugly to glue that thing down... (British English)

GalleryEdit

Names in other languagesEdit

Language Name Meaning
Japanese サグリー
Sagurī
Thugly

French (NOA) Gromalin
From "gros malin", lit. "big smarty"
French (NOE) Mauvy
From mauve (purple)
German Garstli
From garstig (nasty)
Italian Trucebroncio
Grim-Bout
Spanish Mumalo
Possible contraction of "muy" (very) and "malo" (bad).

TriviaEdit

  • In 2 player co-op mode, if Diddy Kong fires enough peanuts at Thugly, it retracts its armor and eat the peanuts (like Mugly). This exposes Thugly's weak spot, making him vulnerable to attack. As Thugly chews on the nuts, hearts surround its head. After a while or if the Kongs hit Thugly, it will burp loudly before continuing to fight Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong.
  • Thugly's aesthetic similarities with Mugly may reference the original Donkey Kong Country, where Really Gnawty was a palette swap of Very Gnawty, and (to a lesser extent) Master Necky Senior was a palette swap of Master Necky.

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ "Thugly is related to Mugly, the boss from the first area in the Jungle. Therefore, many of the tactics you used to defeat Mugly will come in handy here." – Knight, Michael. Donkey Kong Country Returns Prima Official Game Guide. Prima Games. Page 120.