Kremling
- This article is about the crocodilian species from the Donkey Kong franchise. For other uses, see Kremling (disambiguation).
- "Lizard" redirects here. For the real-world species, see Small animal.
- Not to be confused with Kremlin.
| Kremling | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Kaptain K. Rool along with several Kremlings from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest | |||
| First appearance | Donkey Kong Country (1994) | ||
| Latest appearance | Donkey Kong Bananza (2025) | ||
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- “Good thing these Kremlings are dumber than tree stumps.”
- —Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Country: Rumble in the Jungle
The Kremlings (also known as the Kremlins,[1] Krems,[2] the Krocs, Reptiles,[3] Lizards,[4] and Crocodiles[5] in production literature for the Donkey Kong Country television series) are a race of crocodiles, first appearing in Donkey Kong Country, where they steal Donkey Kong's prized banana hoard. Kremlings come in many different varieties and most of them have names that begin with the letter "K" (to the point where some names use real words beginning with "C" with the initial replaced with "K", such as Kalypso from "calypso"), along with many locations and inventions of theirs also following this naming scheme, such as Kastle Kaos and the King Kruizer IV. Most Kremlings are part of the Kremling Krew (with K. Lumsy being a notable exception). Kremlings also made a few appearances in various sports titles in the Super Mario franchise; they are seen in the background of the DK Jungle Court in Mario Power Tennis and take on the role of goalies in Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged, while in Mario Super Sluggers, they appear as team players.
In the Donkey Kong Country animated series, they are never referred to as "Kremlings"; instead, they are referred by various generic terms, such as "lizards" and "crocs", as well as "Kritters".[6]
The Kremlings originate from a canceled Mac/PC adventure game by Rare named Jonny Blastoff and the Kremling Armada.[7] The idea of Kremlings came from Kevin Bayliss,[8] while Steve Mayles adapted them into the Donkey Kong franchise[citation needed] by removing their high tech weaponry.[9] Most of the Kremling Kreeps in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! were designed by Mark Stevenson.[10]
Origin[edit]
The Kremlings appear to originate from Crocodile Isle, an island close to Donkey Kong Island that disappeared from the map during the events of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. According to that game's manual, it is rumored that the Lost World is the source of the Kremlings.[11] However, various ruins on Donkey Kong Island, such as the ones in Millstone Mayhem, depict Kremling visages, potentially meaning they have some history there as well. Kremlantis is a semi-submerged complex that also features several temples with Kremling visages.
Biology[edit]
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In a similar manner to Koopas, Kremlings are depicted with multiple body shapes and statures, the most common being bipedal and humanoid. Some, however, such as Klaptrap, are quadrupedal, with a tail dragging behind them like real-life crocodiles. Bipedal Kremlings, such as Kritters, often have distinctly humanoid torsos with pectorals, navels and distinct shoulders; some even have external ears and hair among other humanoid traits. Many Kremlings are quite large, rivaling the size of Donkey Kong; still others are much larger, such as K. Lumsy and Kerozene. Kremlings appear in a wide variety of colors, such as blue, red, gray, purple, and orange; however, the most common colors seem to be the various shades of green. Although primarily based on crocodiles, some members of the species, particularly Kalypso, Kass, and to a lesser extent Kasplat and Klump, are depicted with more mammalian traits such as hair, as well as both breasts and nipples. Most humanoid Kremlings have long or bulky arms and short legs, similar to many apes.
The Kremlings are known to enjoy eating bananas, with King K. Rool himself being known to enjoy overripe rotten bananas. Klump is also seen eating oranges;[12][13][14] coincidentally, this trait is shared with real-life crocodiles, which have been shown in more recent research to occasionally eat fruit.
In the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy, the majority of Kremlings shared the same defeat voice clip as Krusha, with varying pitch levels. Klaptraps, Klobbers, Kabooms, Kudgel, Krumples, Bazukas, and Kuff 'n' Klouts do not follow this trend, however.
Society[edit]
The Kremlings seem to have some level of government, as evidenced by King K. Rool as ruling monarch. While certain Kremlings such as Klump have been shown to care about their king,[15] comments made by Klubba about how Kremlings are "miserable" under K. Rool indicate that at least some Kremlings are not happy under his leadership. KAOS apparently acted as a replacement for K. Rool, though he was secretly controlling it. It is unknown how this process came about, or if the Kremlings were aware of K. Rool's plans and went along with it.
Kremlings are known to be rather apathetic regarding industrial safety; this can be seen with Kremkroc Industries, Inc., Krazy Kremland, Mekanos, K3, Frantic Factory, Ghost Island, and Chill 'n' Char Island, the factories making up the first of these being referred to by the Donkey Kong Country manual as "The Kremling's crowning industrial achievements."[16] From this, they tend to cause large amounts of pollution, as seen with Poison Pond, and show general neglect for the environment, as shown in their deforesting in Mekanos for the sole purpose of defeating the Kongs.[17] This contrasts with the Kongs, who are typically shown to be in harmony with nature.
In contrast to other intelligent animal species that are technologically primitive, the Kremlings possess relatively advanced resources, including robots, airships, submarines, warships, spaceships, and powerful weapons.
In Mario Super Sluggers's Challenge mode, the Kritters along with King K. Rool have their dialogue written in regular text unlike the Kongs, who are portrayed as speaking in monkey noises with their speech translated in parentheses, implying the Kremlings speak "normally" (or are at least capable of it). However, in Donkey Kong Bananza, the Kremlings vocalize in generic animal grunting like the game's other animal characters and unlike Pauline.
The Kremlings seem to be a marauding and conquering race, as evidenced by their thievery, kidnapping, take-over of the Northern Kremisphere, and most commonly piracy, as shown in the events of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, by their frequent usage of pirate ships such as Gangplank Galleon, possession of treasure chests and valuables, and the Kremling Krew emblem. It is also possible that they showed similar sides in the unseen Kremean War, which they are assumed to have fought in.
Wrinkly Kong attempted to teach Kremlings at a school in Crocodile Isle; however, they displayed low intelligence, as evidenced by the incorrect sums on the blackboard, while another attempted to bring his sword to class.
Not all Kremlings are bad, as demonstrated by K. Lumsy, and to a lesser extent Krunch and Klubba.
Profiles[edit]
Donkey Kong Country[edit]
- Instruction booklet: Kremlings, Kremlings everywhere! Kremlings are the tribe of reptilian rascals who have ripped off Donkey Kong's banana horde. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and shades:[18]
- GBA Player's Guide: The largest enemies you'll encounter are the Krocs that work for King K. Rool. The Krocs come in many shapes and sizes, but they all have one thing in common-their number-one directive is stop the Kongs. Some of the tough-skinned reptiles can be a bit much for Diddy, so be on your guard.[19]
Individual members[edit]
King K. Rool and aliases[edit]
Other game Kremlings[edit]
Adaptation-only Kremlings[edit]
Sometimes, Kremlings that are normally encountered as multiple-individual enemies are also portrayed as singular characters in other games, adaptations, and even the same games' instruction manuals, with Klump and Krusha being especially common examples.
Types of Kremlings[edit]
Most Kremlings follow one of several body types, which often relates to how they act or how strong they are.
Kritter-like build[edit]
These Kremlings stand upright and have mildly fit human-like proportions. They usually have very basic attack patterns.
Krusha-like build[edit]
These Kremlings are large with top-heavy muscular builds. Typically, they either shrug off normal attacks or are only enraged by them.
Klaptrap-like build[edit]
These are small Kremlings that crawl on all fours but have large jaws to bite anyone that attacks from the front.
Barrel-hiding[edit]
These Kremlings disguise as barrels, usually to take their opponents by surprise.
Kutlass-like build[edit]
These Kremlings are short and typically wield disproportionally large weapons.
Miscellaneous[edit]
Several other Kremlings do not fit into the above categories.
Kackle
Debut:
