Gnawty

Gnawties are lazy-eyed beavers and basic enemies who first appear in Donkey Kong Country. Their name is a pun on the words "naughty" and "gnaw". In Donkey Kong Country, Gnawties had a green fur color, and would later be recolored to light blue starting in Donkey Kong 64. However, the Gnawty appearing on the original box art of Donkey Kong Country is an off-blue gray color.

Neeks and Sneeks from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, respectively, display the same behavior and weaknesses as Gnawties. This is also the case for Awks from Donkey Kong Country Returns and Dozies from Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

Donkey Kong Country
In Donkey Kong Country, Gnawties (called Gnawty Beaver in-game by Cranky Kong) are among the most common and weakest enemies, along with Kritter. They walk from side to side and can hurt Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong if they come into contact. The Kongs can defeat a Gnawty by using any attack, including jumping on it, rolling into it, or throwing a Barrel at it.

Gnawties have a brown-fur variant that moves around on a millstone, somewhat similar to the functionality of a. They stand in the center hole of the millstone, although in the Game Boy Color version, they stand on top of it. They appear in two temple-themed levels, Millstone Mayhem and Temple Tempest. In contrast to regular Gnawties, this type cannot be defeated due to their millstone being indestructible. Some millstone-riding Gnawties chase the Kongs down a path until they hit into a dead-end wall, while others move back and forth on a set path.

Very Gnawty and Really Gnawty, two bosses from the game, are notable members of the Gnawty species. Both of them take more hits to defeat than a regular Gnawty and move around by hopping instead of walking. The former boss is colored green while the latter one is brown, which reflects the colors of both types of Gnawties. In the Game Boy Color version, the green Gnawties are gray (though one appears green in the credits) and the brown ones are red. In the Game Boy Advance version, all Gnawties were recolored to blue, including the millstone variant, and the colors of Very Gnawty and Really Gnawty were swapped, with the latter taking on a blue color.

Donkey Kong Land
Gnawties, called Batty Rats, make their second appearance in Donkey Kong Land, which only features the walking variant. They are still vulnerable to any of the Kongs' attacks. They are very common and are encountered in almost every level.

Donkey Kong 64
Gnawties (referred to as Beavers by the Prima Games guide and the Banana Guide ) make a third appearance in Donkey Kong 64. They are common in Jungle Japes and the surrounding shore of DK Isles, and a few also appear in Crystal Caves. They are the primary enemy in Jungle Japes's Battle Arena stage, Beaver Brawl. Like their two previous appearances, Gnawties can be defeated from any attack, including the new abilities introduced in the game. In an area surrounding the Cranky's Lab of Jungle Japes, Gnawties appear in increasingly large sizes and rival the size of Very Gnawty and Really Gnawty.

Gnawties are featured in the Beaver Bother minigame, where the objective is for a Klaptrap to herd a certain number of Gnawties into a pit before the timer runs out. They also appear in the unlockable Rambi Arena, where Rambi's objective is simply to defeat as many Gnawties before the time limit runs out; defeating a Gnawty would reward a point to Rambi. Sometimes a gold Gnawty appears in the arena, and defeating it rewards ten points.

In one segment of the secret ending, Dogadon scares Diddy Kong, and shortly after, a gold Gnawty appears behind Dogadon and scares him.

Donkey Kong Country

 * Jungle Hijinxs
 * Winky's Walkway
 * Millstone Mayhem (on millstone)
 * Tree Top Town
 * Temple Tempest (normal and on millstone)
 * Snow Barrel Blast
 * Oil Drum Alley
 * Trick Track Trek
 * Mine Cart Madness
 * Tanked Up Trouble
 * Manic Mincers
 * Misty Mine
 * Platform Perils

Donkey Kong Land

 * Freezing Fun
 * Simian Swing
 * Deck Trek
 * Rope Ravine
 * Congo Carnage
 * Arctic Barrel Arsenal
 * Tricky Temple
 * Snake Charmer's Challenge
 * Mountain Mayhem
 * Track Attack
 * Sky High Caper
 * Landslide Leap
 * Collapsing Clouds
 * Balloon Barrage
 * Kong Krazy
 * Construction Site Fight
 * Fast Barrel Blast
 * Skyscraper Caper
 * Button Barrel Blast
 * Oil Drum Slum

Trivia

 * One of the discarded Millstones Gnawties sometimes ride in Donkey Kong Country can be seen in Donkey Kong's field in the game Mario Superstar Baseball.
 * Gnawty is also the name of a large brown beaver who appears in the Banjo-Kazooie level, Click Clock Wood. Banjo and Kazooie can help Gnawty by destroying a large boulder that is blocking the entrance to his home. He appears to resemble Really Gnawty from Donkey Kong Country (or Very Gnawty in the later Game Boy Advance remake) in terms of size, height, and color.