Krunch

Krunch is a Kremling featured in both Diddy Kong Racing and Diddy Kong Racing DS as a playable character. He wears a purple leather vest, which is adorned with a skull-and-crossbones design in Diddy Kong Racing, though said design is omitted in Diddy Kong Racing DS.

In 2002, when Microsoft finalized their acquisition of Rare Ltd., the rights of many franchises and characters were passed on to Microsoft. Nintendo sought to keep all characters directly linked to the Donkey Kong franchise, with the exception of Diddy Kong Racing's cast. Due to the nature of Krunch being a Kremling, which is a Nintendo-owned fictional species, Krunch was the only Diddy Kong Racing cast member, besides Diddy Kong, whose rights were kept with Nintendo.

Krunch has not made any other appearances within his home series, the Diddy Kong Racing series. However, the Kritters in Donkey Kong 64 and the playable Kritter in both iterations of Diddy Kong Pilot wear a similar jacket. Krunch was featured in various ideas for Climax's rejected video game idea pitch Diddy Kong Racing Adventure; one idea was that Krunch would have a special move of using his jaw to chase down other racers, and "Krunch's den" would have been a location.

Character creation
In a now defunct Facebook page for Rare employees, former Rare artist and employee Kevin Bayliss revealed that Krunch was not originally designed to be a Kremling. His creation predates Diddy Kong Racing being a Donkey Kong series game, as originally, Timber was slated to be the main character. Krunch was designed to fulfill the role of a "bad guy" playable character, and was meant to be a crocodile. Upon attaching Diddy Kong to the project, Krunch was slightly altered to be a Kremling.

Footage of the early pre-release build 1.964 of Diddy Kong Racing, which was shown in the German Nintendo 64 promotional VHS tape "Wieviel 3-D hältst du aus?", reveals that Krunch was named "Krash" earlier in development; this name is corroborated by Bayliss. However, the name "Krash" was already used by a different Kremling in Donkey Kong Country, which may have played a factor in the character being renamed to "Krunch".

Diddy Kong Racing
In the backstory for Diddy Kong Racing, provided in the instruction manual, Krunch was one of two "Kremling spies" sent by King K. Rool to investigate why Diddy Kong and his friends are at Timber's Island, with fears they could be plotting against the Kremlings. According to the game's backstory, the Kremling spies watched Diddy Kong "tearing off at high speed through the jungle" from behind a boulder, before Krunch suggests to the other Kremling that they should follow him. The Kremling declines the suggestion and "bolted into the undergrowth", to which Krunch decided to follow Diddy Kong alone. Instead of antagonizing them, Krunch ends up teaming up alongside Diddy and friends, helping the racers on their journey to expel Wizpig from Timber's Island. The instruction manual states that, despite offering to help Diddy Kong and his friends, the cast of the game does not trust him.

As a playable character, Krunch is a heavyweight with the lowest acceleration and handling of the racers, but has a very high top speed. He is the third-fastest racer in the game. Krunch's top speed without bananas is 60 mph. Krunch's theme instrument on the character selection screen is an electric guitar.

On the defunct Diddy Kong Racing website, there was a web page hosted by Krunch called "Krunch's Dirty Tricks" which told readers how to use the different items. On the "Diddy's Driver Ed" page, Diddy admits that he does not know why Krunch decided to tag along with them (unaware that K. Rool sent Krunch to spy on them) but is nonetheless happy, citing how they need all the help they can get.

In the Rare Scribes posted on October 7, 1998, a user named "J Dean" asked why everyone likes Tiptup (spelled "Tip Tup" on the web page) so much, and goes on to state his opinion that Krunch is the best. The Scribes response stated that Krunch is a baddie and has the "psychological profile of a serial killer."

Diddy Kong Racing DS
In the remake, Diddy Kong Racing DS, Krunch reprises his role from the original version, and received only minor changes. Krunch is featured in intro cutscene, based on the backstory within the original Diddy Kong Racing's manual. In it, Krunch is spying on Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, and Dixie Kong from behind a boulder, with a fellow Kremling spy who shares Krunch's model. As the two Kremlings watch the three characters run by, Krunch informs the other Kremling that he plans to follow after the Kongs to find out what they are doing. The other Kremling flees the scene, as Krunch begins to follow the three Kongs.

As a playable character, Krunch's turning and acceleration were slightly increased, and his top speed was slightly decreased.

Mario no Bōken Land
Krunch makes a small, non-speaking cameo in the Diddy Kong Racing story segment of Mario no Bōken Land, titled "Go Go Diddy!". In it, Krunch is shown driving in his car, competing in a race, although he is in last place (12th).

4koma Gag Battle
Krunch appears throughout the 4koma Gag Battle manga adaptation of Diddy Kong Racing. He is depicted as being on the younger side, as in one scene, he is seen walking through Snowflake Mountain with his mother.

Mario Artist: Paint Studio
Artwork of Krunch in his car from Diddy Kong Racing appears as a stamp in Mario Artist: Paint Studio.

Diddy Kong Racing

 * Diddy Kong Racing instruction manual: "(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..."
 * Diddy Kong Racing Official Nintendo 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."
 * Nintendo Power Volume 103 (page 14): "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."


 * Character stats
 * Weight group: Heavy
 * Acceleration: 1/5
 * Turning: 1/5
 * Top Speed: 4/5
 * Vehicle Color: Orange

Websites

 * Diddy Kong Racing website: "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." - Diddy Kong
 * Rareware website: "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..."
 * #ccaa00 Low
 * #ccaa00 High
 * #ccaa00 Heavy
 * #ccaa00 Difficult

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
 * "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!" - Diddy Kong Racing website
 * "K. Rools! Wizpig stinks!" - Nintendo Power Volume 102 (page 29)
 * "Where thossse Kongsss going? I will follow!!!" - Diddy Kong Racing DS

Trivia

 * The Kritter character in both versions of the cancelled Diddy Kong Pilot bears an almost identical appearance to Krunch. In addition, in the 2001 Diddy Kong Pilot, the internal name for the Kritter when highlighted on the selection screen is "Krash," which was also Krunch's early name during Diddy Kong Racing's development, while the internal name for the battle mode HUD portrait is Krunch. The 2003 version refers to an identical character as simply "Kritter."
 * In Diddy Kong Racing, Krunch has four fingers on each hand, but was later given an extra finger for each hand, totaling to five, in Diddy Kong Racing DS.