Krunch

Krunch is a Kremling and a playable character in Diddy Kong Racing and Diddy Kong Racing DS. He wears a skull-and-crossbones leather jacket, which is also used on the Kritters' jacket in Donkey Kong 64 and the Kritter in both versions of the cancelled game,Diddy Kong Pilot.

In the acquisition of Rare Ltd., the rights of many franchises and characters were passed on from Nintendo to Microsoft. Nintendo sought to keep all characters directly linked to the Donkey Kong series, with the exception of the cast of Donkey Kong Racing. Due to the nature of Krunch being a Kremling, which is a Nintendo-owned fictional species, Krunch was the only Diddy Kong Racing cast member, besides Diddy Kong, whose rights were kept with Nintendo.

Diddy Kong Racing / Diddy Kong Racing DS
In the backstory for Diddy Kong Racing, Krunch was sent by King K. Rool to investigate why Diddy Kong and his friends are at Timber's Island, and to see if they were plotting against the Kremlings. Instead of antagonizing them, Krunch ends up helping the racers on their journey to expel Wizpig from Timber's Island. Krunch has the worst acceleration and handling of the racers, but has a very high top speed, making him the third-fastest racer. Krunch's top speed without bananas is 60 mph.

In Diddy Kong Racing DS, Krunch's turning and acceleration were slightly increased, although his top speed was slightly decreased a slight decrease in top speed. In the intro cutscene, Krunch is seen with another Kremling (who has the same model as Krunch). As they watch Diddy, Dixie and Tiny run by, Krunch tells the other Kremling, "Where are thosssssssse Kongssssssss going? I will follow!". The other Kremling then leaves.

Trivia

 * Footage of the early pre-release build 1.964 of Diddy Kong Racing shown in the German Nintendo 64 promotional VHS tape "Wieviel 3-D hältst du aus?" reveals that Krunch was named "Krash" at some point in development, though this name was already taken by another Kremling in Donkey Kong Country. Coincidentally, the 2001 version of Diddy Kong Pilot the internal name for the Kritter is "Krash".