Editing Mole Miner

{{species infobox
|image=[[File:Mole MinerDKCR.png|250px]]
|first_appearance=''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]'' ([[List of games by date#2010|2010]])
|latest_appearance=''[[Mario Kart Arcade GP DX]]'' (December 12, 2018 update) ([[List of games by date#2018|2018]])
|variants=[[Mole Guard]]
|notable=[[Mole Miner Max]]
}}
{{Quote2|And remember, just because it can't see you doesn't mean it can't hurl a pickaxe right at your head.|[[Cranky Kong]]|[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]}}
'''Mole Miners''' are enemies that appear in ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]'' and ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D]]''. 

As their name suggests, Mole Miners are based on real world {{wp|mole}}s. Every Mole Miner is brown, has pink paws, and wear a headlamp which covers their eyes. They appear to have freckles on the sides of their faces. Mole Miners have a stubby tail and a large bucktooth sticking out of their mouth. One of Cranky Kong's lines in the game suggests that they're blind, much like real-life moles. They also have a [[Bomb (object)|bomb]]-throwing variant, [[Mole Guard]]s.

==History==
===''Donkey Kong Country Returns'' / ''Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D''===
In ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'', Mole Miners only appear in [[Crazy Cart]] and the [[Cave]] area of [[Donkey Kong Island]], but they are very common in this area. Mole Miners are the ones who constructed all of the rails and [[Mine Cart|mine cart]]s in the Cave.{{ref needed}} Mole Miners frequently ride around in a mine cart, often on a separate track from [[Donkey Kong]] and [[Diddy Kong]].

Mole Miners are weak enemies and are easy to avoid. The mine cart-riding Mole Miners do not attack the Kongs directly except for attempting to drive into them. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong can avoid the Mole Miner by either jumping over or onto it. The only two mine cart levels that Mole Miners are not in are [[Roasting Rails]] and [[Prehistoric Path]]. Mole Miners often carry around an axe as its weapon.

In [[Mole Patrol]], there are Mole Miners who attach balloons to themselves to move around in the air. Their only attack is swinging a pickaxe at the Kongs. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong can pop their balloon by touching it.

Mole Miners appear during the boss level [[The Mole Train]], where they assist the boss [[Mole Miner Max]]. In a cutscene at the start, the Mole Miners are loading bananas into the Mole Train, and one is eating a sandwich that it pulled from its lunchbox. During the battle, Mole Miners throw either pickaxes or bombs at the Kongs until reaching the train, where the Mole Miners dig into the bananas and later emerge to swipe their claws around the Kongs. After doing so, the Kongs must quickly stomp on the Mole Miner to defeat it, although sometimes the Mole Miner fakes out the Kongs and immediately disappears back into the bananas. A Mole Miner sometimes drops a [[Heart (item)|Heart]] upon being defeated.

===''Mario Kart Arcade GP DX''===
[[File:Mole Miners MKAGPDX.png|150px|thumb|Mole Miners in ''Mario Kart Arcade GP DX'']]
Mole Miners reappear in ''[[Mario Kart Arcade GP DX]]'' in the track [[Bananan Labyrinth]], where they are seen riding mine carts in the cave section of the track.<ref>NinjaGaijin (January 17, 2019). [https://youtu.be/XufrWTaV45w?t=85 Mario Kart Arcade GP DX Donkey Kong Cup 100cc マリオカート アーケードグランプリDX ドンキーコングカップ]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved January 24, 2019.</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
MoleMiner3.png|A Mole Miner, holding a pickaxe while strapped to a balloon.
MoleMiner2.png|A Mole Miner, using its pickaxe as a weapon.
MoleMiners.png|The Mole Miners pouring the bananas into the mine carts.
MoleMiner1.png|Concept art of two Mole Miners and Mole Miner Max on the Mole Train.
Diorama4-DKCR.png|Cave diorama
Mole Miner (emblem).png|Emblem
LEGO SM-71425 Diddy Kong's Mine Cart Ride.png|[[LEGO Super Mario|LEGO ''Super Mario'']]
</gallery>

==Names in other languages==
{{foreign names
|Jap=モグリャー<ref>「ドンキーコングリターンズ任天堂公式ガイドブック」 (''Donkey Kong Returns Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook''), [[media:DKR Shogakukan P21.jpg|page 21]].</ref>
|JapR=Moguryā
|JapM=Corruption of「モグラ」(''mogura'', mole); same as [[Mole Guard]]
|ChiS=鼹鼠矿工<ref>[https://www.lego.com/zh-cn/product/diddy-kong-s-mine-cart-ride-expansion-set-71425 迪迪刚的矿车之旅扩展关卡 71425 | 乐高®超级马力欧 | LEGO.com CN] ''LEGO.com''. Retrieved May 8, 2023.</ref>
|ChiSR=Yǎnshǔ Kuànɡɡōnɡ
|ChiSM=Mole Miner
|ChiT=土撥礦工<ref>[https://www.lego.com/zh-tw/product/diddy-kong-s-mine-cart-ride-expansion-set-71425 狄狄剛的採礦車之旅 71425 | 樂高® 超級瑪利歐™ | LEGO®台灣官方網站] ''LEGO.com''. Retrieved May 8, 2023.</ref>
|ChiTR=Tǔbō Kuànggōng
|ChiTM=From「土撥鼠」(''tǔbōshǔ'', marmot) and「礦工」(''kuànggōng'', miner)
|Ger=Maulwurfkumpel
|GerM=Mole Miner
|Fre=Taupe Mineur<br>Taupe Minière<ref>[https://www.lego.com/fr-fr/product/diddy-kong-s-mine-cart-ride-expansion-set-71425]</ref>
|FreM=Mole Miner<br>Mole Miner
|Ita=Minatore Grottalpa
|ItaM=Cave-mole Miner
|PorA=Toupeira Mineira<ref>https://www.lego.com/pt-br/kids/sets/super-mario/diddy-kongs-mine-cart-ride-expansion-set-93b4d5ec8317a9f81f31025d9273e27a</ref>
|PorAM=Mole Miner
|SpaE=Topo Minero
|SpaEM=Mole Miner
}}

==References==
<references/>

{{DKCR}}
{{MKAGPDX}}
[[Category:Moles]]
[[Category:Donkey Kong Country Returns enemies]]
[[Category:LEGO Super Mario characters]]
[[Category:Mario Kart Arcade GP DX]]
[[de:Maulwurfkumpel]]