Snapjaw

Snapjaws resemble small crocodiles that attack with gnashing teeth. Oddly the appearance of Snapjaws seems to alter in every game they appear in.

Snapjaws first appeared in the game Donkey Kong Jr.. Here they were thrown by Mario at Donkey Kong Jr. in an attempt to defeat the ape. Like Donkey Kong Jr., Snapjaws can climb vines. Though whereas regular blue Snapjaws simply fall off a vine when they reach the end of it, the red variety can continually climb up and down a vine. In this game Snapjaws can only be defeated by dropping fruits on top of them. The Snapjaws of this game are quite robotic in appearance.

In Donkey Kong, Snapjaws appear in level 2-4 and several other levels after this one. In this game Snapjaws have a more dragon-like appearance. In this game Snapjaws can be defeated by using a hammer.

The next appearance of Snapjaws was in Mario vs. Donkey Kong. Here they were plant-like beings with thorn-like spines covering their body. Along with appearing in various of the game's levels Donkey Kong throws differently-colored Snapjaws as weapons in his and Mario's final battle, similar to what Mario did with them in Donkey Kong Jr. Like in Donkey Kong '94 Snapjaws can be defeated in this game using a hammer.

Snapjaws appeared in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis level, Jungle Hijinks. Here they looked green and looked like Mini toys. They eat vines, and if a Mini Mario touches one, the Mini Mario will be defeated.

The Snapjaw returned in Yoshi's Island DS under the name Snap Jaw. These crocodiles were much more organic-looking than their mechanical cousins. In this game, Snap Jaws were usually found in levels where vines were abundant, and where Baby DK was the primary baby (such as in World 3). Snap Jaws usually climbed up and down on short vines, apparently clinging to them with their huge jaws. They would sometimes fall from their vines, attempting to knock Baby DK from the Yoshi's back.

Trivia

 * The appearance of Snapjaws in Donkey Kong Jr., that of a large fanged monster with a chain dragging behind it, are similar to a creature encountered the Mario series of games, which are Chain Chomps.
 * Klaptraps, small crocodilians from various of the later Donkey Kong games may be based off Snapjaws.
 * A Snapjaw makes a cameo appearance in the Game Boy Camera accessory for the Game Boy handheld system. In the SHOW option a Snapjaw is this options cursor, this seems to make a Snapjaw "quasi-playable".
 * A Snapjaw appears in Wii Fit in the tightrope walk game, attempting to knock the player off the rope.