Horn (object)

Lord Fredrik, posing with his signature horn

In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and its Nintendo Switch port, Lord Fredrik uses a magic, icy horn in various instances. It is made out of wood and is bound by two metal rings encrusted with glowing blue gemstones.

In the game's opening cutscene, the horn is brought to Lord Fredrik by several Pointy Tucks after Donkey Kong Island is spotted on the horizon by the Snowmads. He blows into the horn to summon an ice dragon, which blows away the Kongs, its main locals, to a foreign island and throws the island into a state of perpetual winter.

The horn is seen again during the final battle, where it is shown to have the capability to change the size of its owner. In its normal state, the horn is small enough that Lord Fredrik wears it on a string around his neck, but Lord Fredrik can increase its size considerably, along with his own size. The horn is used in most of his attacks, such as shooting small ice globes that contain enemies onto the arena and sending out ice dragons similar to the one in the opening cutscene.

Donkey Kong assumes control over the horn in the game's ending.

After Lord Fredrik and the Snowmads are defeated, Donkey Kong claims the horn, which shrinks down to fit his size, and he uses it to produce a breeze of flowers that restore Donkey Kong Island to its former climate. Moments later, he uses the horn again as a saxophone when the Kongs form themselves in a band to celebrate their victory.

The horn displays similarities to Kaptain K. Rool's blunderbuss from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, as both harness abnormal qualities and are wielded by major villains in the Donkey Kong Country series. The horn also alludes to Mjölnir, the legendary hammer wielded by the Norse god of thunder Thor; amulets modelled after the hammer were widely worn as pendants during the Viking Age, much like Lord Fredrik dons the horn.