Krusha

"It's the end of the line for you, Kong. I'm taking you to King K. Rool."

- Krusha

Krushas are muscular, blue Kremlings and are among the elite soldiers of the Kremling Krew. They first appear in Donkey Kong Country. All Krushas wear clothing with a camouflage pattern and a silver arm band on each forearm. They also have four yellow spikes on their head, three clawed toes, and four fingers.

Donkey Kong Country
In Donkey Kong Country Krushas are uncommon enemies who appear during the later levels.

Like most enemies, Krushas simply walk forward, and injure Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong upon contact with them. Because they are muscular, Krushas are resistant to some of the Kongs' attacks. They can only be defeated with a barrel, Donkey Kong jumping on them, or Rambi the Rhino charging into them. Krushas laugh off any other attack that the Kongs attempt. Although it does not harm them, Donkey Kong can Hand Slap a Krusha, causing it to drop a single banana each time it is Hand Slapped.

Krushas have an even more uncommon gray variant, which wears orange wristbands, a purple camouflage suit, and has orange head spikes. Gray Krushas are stronger than regular ones, and are also immune to Donkey Kong's jump attack. Gray Krushas can only be defeated with a barrel. They only appear in Platform Perils, the last level of Chimp Caverns and the last regular level of Donkey Kong Country. Here, the Kongs must crucially use barrels on the gray Krushas in order to knock them off the arrow platforms.

In the Game Boy Color version, gray Krushas also appear in Necky Nutmare, an earlier level in Chimp Caverns. Gray Krushas also laugh off Donkey Kong's jump attack and can only be defeated from a barrel. They also do not release a banana when Hand Slapped.

In the Game Boy Advance version, a Krusha appears in the opening cutscene. Here, the Kremlings try to steal the Banana Hoard, and Diddy successfully fends off some Kritters but is then subdued by a Krusha. Originally, the Super Nintendo release's instruction booklet states that Diddy was instead overpowered by a Klump. A photograph of a blue Krusha can be found floating in mid-air in Platform Perils.

Donkey Kong Land
Krushas are one of the three Kremlings who appear in Donkey Kong Land, along with Kritters and Klaptraps. They act the same as the blue Krushas from Donkey Kong Country, and no gray Krusha equivalent appears in the game. Krushas are featured in more levels than in Donkey Kong Country.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
While not pointed out in the manual, Krunchas appear to be Krushas in pirate gear in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. This was later confirmed to be true by character designer Steve Mayles in a Twitter post. Despite being the same thing, Krunchas appear to be shorter and wider than Krushas, probably stemming from having a different base model.

Two other muscular Kremlings, Krumples and Kasplats, would later appear in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! and Donkey Kong 64 respectively, acting as the successors of both Krushas and Krunchas.

Donkey Kong 64
Krusha is an unlockable character in Multiplayer Mode of Donkey Kong 64. The player can unlock Krusha after photographing fifteen Banana Fairies in the main mode. Oddly, he does not appear as an enemy in the game.

Krusha is a large character like Chunky Kong, and has unique moves such as a fast sliding attack. He also utilizes an orange grenade launcher in combat. Both attacks deal 1½ times as much damage compared to Chunky, the strongest Kong. Aside from his default blue appearance, Krusha also has three alternate costumes, each being a different skin color: yellow, green, and purple.

By playing as Krusha in the main game via a GameShark code, Krusha is referred to by name from other characters. It also has some unused animations, some of which are taken from Chunky's.

Donkey Kong Country novel
An individual Krusha (referred to as "the strongest commander") appears as the final antagonist of the Donkey Kong Country novelization. After the Kongs board the Gangplank Galleon and defeat most of King K. Rool's commanders, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong attempt to attack Krusha, but the reptile shrugs off their assault and punches them both. The Kongs then propel themselves using coiled ropes found at opposites of the ship, knocking Krusha unconscious.

Donkey Kong Country: Rumble in the Jungle
In the novel Donkey Kong Country: Rumble in the Jungle, Donkey Kong encounters an individual Krusha on the eighth floor of the Kremling's factory, within Big Ape City. Holding Donkey Kong in a bear hug, Krusha says that he will bring him straight to King K. Rool, the leader of the Kremlings. Krusha is described as "the biggest and strongest of all the Kremlings", although not the "brightest". And Donkey Kong tricks Krusha into thinking that in his backpack, he has a list of the locations of all the Kongs on Donkey Kong Island. Krusha, who desires to make his boss happy by kidnapping all of the Kongs, loosens his grip on Donkey Kong to allow him to reach into his backpack. However, Donkey Kong pulls out a barrel instead, tossing it at Krusha which causes him to stumble and lose his balance. Donkey Kong then uses a barrel roll and double jump to knock Krusha "out cold". He then continues his journey to the factory's defense-system.

The Donkey Kong Country comic
In the German Club Nintendo's comic adaptation of Donkey Kong Country, a Krusha makes a small cameo appearance, on the background of King K. Rool's Gangplank Galleon.

The Donkey Kong Country animated series
In the Donkey Kong Country animated series, a dimwitted Krusha appears as a recurring villain alongside King K. Rool and General Klump.

Donkey Kong Country

 * Millstone Mayhem (blue)
 * Snow Barrel Blast (blue)
 * Torchlight Trouble (blue)
 * Trick Track Trek (blue, absent in Game Boy Color version)
 * Manic Mincers (blue)
 * Necky Nutmare (gray) (Game Boy Color only)
 * Platform Perils (gray)

Donkey Kong Land

 * Tricky Temple
 * Pot Hole Panic
 * Mountain Mayhem
 * Landslide Leap
 * Construction Site Fight
 * Fast Barrel Blast
 * Skyscraper Caper
 * Oil Drum Slum

Trivia

 * The pre-release version of Donkey Kong Country had blue Krushas being resistant to Donkey Kong's jump attacks. In the final game, this trait was given to the gray Krushas instead.
 * Krusha shares the same voice clips as King K. Rool in Donkey Kong 64, only higher pitched. Similarly, Krusha and K. Rool also share voice clips in Donkey Kong Country.
 * A Knocka is erroneously titled "Krusha" during the Donkey Kong Land III end credits.
 * Kasplat is mistakenly called Krusha in the Prima guide to Donkey Kong 64.