Kremling

A Kritter, the most generic type of Kremling.
Kremling
Origin	Crocodile Island
Debut	Donkey Kong Country

The Kremlings are a race of reptilian creatures that appear as the primary enemies in the Donkey Kong series.

Information

The Kremlings hail from Crocodile Island. It was said that they originated from the Lost World that was hidden within the island. However, Crocodile Island was destroyed at the end of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, from which point the Kremlings began operating out of mobile bases. They have been ruled by King K. Rool for the entire series except for Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, when they took orders from the robot KAOS.

The Kremlings, like the Koopa, are a race of variety, and thus their ranks contain a large amount of creatures big and small with varying strengths and weaknesses. The basic and most common type is the Kritter, alternately known as the Klomp in Donkey Kong Country 2 (due to having a pegleg to match the game's pirate theme) and Kobble in Donkey Kong Country 3.

These creatures are malevolent in nature and are known for frequently stealing the Kongs' banana horde, usually under the orders of King K. Rool. The only known good-willed Kremling was the colossal K. Lumsy, who was good-hearted and naive, and K. Rool imprisoned him for that. Another notable Kremling was the Kritter named Krunch, who aided Diddy Kong in liberating Timber's Island from Wizpig, although he had originally joined them to ensure that they weren't brewing any anti-Kremling plots.

Within Mario games, Kritters originally made background appearances at the DK Jungle Court in Mario Power Tennis, and they went on to make playable appearances in other sports games. Kritters appeared in Super Mario Strikers and Mario Super Strikers as the goalies, and three different color variations (red, brown and blue) of Kremlings appeared as unlockable team members in Mario Super Sluggers. Also, a single Kritter appeared as one of the starting playable racers in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast and a rival to Donkey Kong, along with other named Kremlings appearing as playable racers.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Kritters appeared as enemies in Smash Run mode, with this appearance being accompanied by a trophy. Previously, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Kritters had two trophies (based on their appearances in Super Mario Strikers and Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, respectively) and two stickers using art from Super Mario Strikers and DK: King of Swing.

Other Media

• Various types of Kremlings appeared in the Donkey Kong Country animated series, where they also lived on Congo Bongo Island (the equivalent of Donkey Kong Island). The term "Kremling" was not used in this version, and instead they were all referred to as lizards.

Trivia

• Kremling names typically begin with the letter 'k', often in place of a 'c'.
• The name "Kremling" is likely derived from "gremlin", which were creatures said to be responsible for sabotaging aircrafts. Alternatively it could come from "Kremlin", which is the Russian word for castle or citadel.
• The concept of the Kremlings apparently originates from a canceled computer game that Rare had made called Jonny Blastoff and the Kremling Armada.