Not to be confused withKruncha orKrash.

Krunch
Artwork fromDiddy Kong Racing DS
Full name	Krunch the Kremling[citation needed]
Species	Kritter
First appearance	Diddy Kong Racing (1997)
Latest appearance	Diddy Kong Racing DS (2007)
Portrayed by	Chris Sutherland[1] (1997–2002)

“K. Rools!Wizpig stinks!”

—Krunch,Nintendo Power, volume 102 (Diddy Kong Racing section)^[2]

Krunch, generically namedKremling,^[3] is a playable character inDiddy Kong Racing andDiddy Kong Racing DS. He is aKremling who wears a purple leather vest, which is adorned with a skull-and-crossbones design inDiddy Kong Racing, though said design is omitted inDiddy Kong Racing DS. A similar jacket to Krunch's would later be worn byKritters inDonkey Kong 64 as well as the playable one in both cancelled iterations ofDiddy Kong Pilot.

In the 2002Microsoft acquisition ofRare, the rights of many franchises and characters were passed on to Microsoft.Nintendo kept all characters associated with theDonkey Kong franchise, but not the cast ofDiddy Kong Racing. Being a Kremling, a species linked to theSuper Mario franchise, he is the only character inDiddy Kong Racing other thanDiddy Kong who is owned byNintendo.^[4][5]

Character creation

Krunch was not originally designed to be a Kremling.^[6][7] Krunch was designed to be a crocodile who would fulfill the role of a "bad guy" playable character in a game whereTimber is the main protagonist directly. Upon attachingDiddy Kong to the project, Krunch was slightly altered to be a Kremling. He was originally named "Krash."^[8][7] It is unknown why Krunch had been renamed, but a plausible reason is because his name is in use byan enemy inDonkey Kong Country.

History

Diddy Kong Racing /Diddy Kong Racing DS

In the backstory forDiddy Kong Racing, Krunch and another Kremling were spying onDiddy Kong with suspicion.^[9] Krunch decides to follow the Kongs,^[10] whilst the other Kremling retreats.^[11] Krunch ends up helping Diddy and the other playable racers to expelWizpig from Timber's Island, but the other racers remain distrustful of him.^[12]

Krunch is a heavyweight with lower acceleration and handling than the other characters but very high top speed, being the third fastest racer. His top speed withoutbananas is 60 mph. Krunch's theme instrument on the character select menu is an electric guitar.

Krunch conversing with an identical looking, unnamed Kremling inDiddy Kong Racing DS's intro

Krunch's role is retained inDiddy Kong Racing DS, albeit with slightly higher acceleration and turning but lower top speed. Krunch is now depicted with five fingers instead of four. Krunch and a Kremling with an identical model are in the added intro cutscene, spying on Diddy Kong,Tiny Kong andDixie Kong. Krunch informs the other Kremling that he plans to follow the Kongs,^[10] while the other Kremling proceeds to retreat.^[13]

Mario no Bōken Land

Krunch makes a small, non-speaking cameo in theDiddy Kong Racing story segment ofMario no Bōken Land titled "Go Go Diddy!". Krunch is shown in hiscar, competing in a race in last place (12th).

4koma Gag Battle

Krunch appears throughout the4koma Gag Battle manga adaptation ofDiddy Kong Racing, depicted as being on the younger side, as in one scene, he is seen walking throughSnowflake Mountain withhis mother.

Mario Artist: Paint Studio

Artwork of Krunch in his car fromDiddy Kong Racing is one of the character stamps in inMario Artist: Paint Studio.

Unused appearances

Character select from the cancelledDiddy Kong Pilot (2001)

Krunch was intended to make a reappearance in the 2001 iteration ofDiddy Kong Pilot. He is the onlyDiddy Kong Racing character to appear in the cast, besides Diddy Kong.

Krunch would have been included as part of the cast toDiddy Kong Racing Adventure, a rejected video game idea pitch that never came into fruition. It was planned that he would use his jaw to chase down other racers as a special move. "Krunch's den" would have also been a location in the game.

Profiles and statistics

Diddy Kong Racing

• Character stats
  • Weight: Heavy
  • Acceleration: 1/5
  • Handling: 1/5
  • Top Speed: 4/5
  • Vehicle Color: Orange
• Instruction booklet bio: "(Low acceleration, heavy weight, difficult handling, high top speed) Seeing Diddy Kong rush off so suddenly makes the Kremlings very suspicious, so Krunch goes bounding after him to make sure that there aren’t any anti-Kremling plots in the works. Diddy Kong, Timber and company don’t exactly trust him, but Krunch insists he’s only there to lend a hand..."^[14]
• Player's Guide: "The only reason Krunch has joined the resistance is to make sure that Diddy, Timber and the rest aren’t hatching some anti-Kremling plot. The other racers realize that Krunch hasn’t joined out of the goodness of his heart, but as long as he doesn’t sabotage their efforts, they’ll be satisfied. Who knows? He may surprise them yet."^[15]
• Nintendo Power Volume 103: "Krunch may be a Kremling, but he doesn’t like the thought of the Wizpig upstaging Captain K. Rool. So he’s doing his best to free the island from racing tyranny. Krunch, as the heaviest character, has slower acceleration and poor handling, but his top speed is unsurpassed. He’s a good choice for hovercraft courses."^[16]
• Diddy's Drivers Ed: "I don't really know why this Kremling is hanging out with us, but hey, we need all the help we can get to defeat Wizpig. He's the heaviest racer and has the highest top speed. On the downside, his handling in atrocious and he accelerates like he's glued to the track."^[17]
• Krunch's Dirty Tricks: "Arrrh, that's right, I'm a Kremling! So what am I doin' hanging out with these nauseatingly cute and fluffy woodland creatures? Well, when da boss says check it out, ya don't go payin' cash, if you catch my drift. Us Kremlings need to know if there's any truth to this Wizpig story or if it's some kinda critter conspiracy. Now I'm not going to play nice and follow all the rules There's cheatin' to be done, and if you're wise you'll follow my advice!"^[18]
• Nintendo 64 Game Secrets, 1999 Edition: "Krunch is by far the heaviest of the Diddy Kong racers. His acceleration is low and his handling is not very sharp. Krunch’s speed, however, is tops. And with so much weight he will almost always win a shoving match."^[19]
• Rarewhere: "Seeing Diddy rush off so suddenly makes the Kremlings deeply suspicious, so Krunch goes bounding after him to make sure that there aren’t any anti-Kremling plots in the works. Timber and the others don’t exactly trust him, but Krunch insists he’s only come along to lend a hand..."^[20]

Diddy Kong Racing DS

• Character stats
  • Speed: 4/5
  • Acceleration: 2/5
  • Handling: 2/5

Quotes

• "Hi, it's Krunch." -Diddy Kong Racing
• "Hey - where you think he go?" -Diddy Kong Racing, instruction booklet
• "What if he go fetch others? Fight Kremlings?" -Diddy Kong Racing, instruction booklet
• "I go after him. You go tell boss - see what he think of that, huh?" -Diddy Kong Racing, instruction booklet
• "Where thossse Kongsss going? I will follow!!!" -Diddy Kong Racing DS

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, seeGallery:Krunch.

• 

  Diddy Kong Racing

• 

  JapaneseDiddy Kong Racing commercial

• 

  Mario no Bōken Land

• 

  Krunch and his mother, in4koma Gag Battle

• 

  Mario Artist: Paint Studio

Names in other languages

Notes

Internal data ofDiddy Kong Pilot (2001) (named as Krunch)

• The Kritter character in both versions of the cancelledDiddy Kong Pilot appears nearly identically to Krunch. In addition, in the 2001 version ofDiddy Kong Pilot, the internal name for the Kritter when highlighted on the selection screen is "Krash",^[22] which was also Krunch's early name duringDiddy Kong Racing's development, while the internal name for the battle mode HUD portrait is Krunch. The2003 version refers to an identical character as simply "Kritter".

References

• Kritters
• Kremling Krew
• Playable characters
• Donkey Kong allies
• Diddy Kong Racing characters

• Featured articles
• Articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced foreign names