Kremling Theme Question (DKC3)

[Mandolin]

Since I haven't got much to do lately, I decided to quench my boredom by reading information about the Donkey Kong Country franchise. While doing so, I came upon certain things that I can't say I quite understand and I'd like to know your opinions on them.

We all know that the kremlings from DKC2 had an obvious pirate theme to them, right? As for the ones in DKC, I've never been able to find any source that clearly explains their theme, though I've always felt there is some sort of military motif there, especially when you consider the outfits on Klump and Krusha, the camouflage/ambush behavior of Rock Croc, and the name of the armadillo characters: Army. (the only kremling that kind of goes against the theme is Kritter, who seems sort of "Amazonian Warrior" to me). But what really puzzled me was the supposed theme in DKC3. Wikipedia mentions two different themes in different articles: sci-fi and "cartoony", but in my opinion neither of those themes really apply to the game. Any thoughts?

One article states that the sci-fi theme is present in the mechanical and robot characters (or something like that) featured in the game. As far as I know (and I do fancy I know quite a bit), the only mechanical robot character in the entire game is KAOS, and one boss is not enough to set the theme for an entire game, don't you think? Supposedly, the legs and spikes on the Buzz enemy are mechanical, but I don't know if that is official information because it doesn't say so in the instruction manual. After thinking this 'sci-fi motif' thing some more, I deduced that Bazuka's bazooka may actually be part of his arm, which would make him a cyborg, but I don't think this is very likely, and it would still not be enough to set the theme. In fact, I think that if a DKC game does have such a motif, it's most likely DK64, but that's just a random and unrelated thought. :D

The other idea was that DKC3 has a cartoon theme. According to the article, this is visible in that the appearance and behavior of many characters was changed or altered to give the game a less realistic feel than its prequels. Taking everything into consideration, this seems far more likely, especially when you stop to think about Ellie's reaction to mice (and what the mice are seen doing in the "Stampede Sprint" scene) and several other little details like the Swoopy woodpeckers getting stuck to the wood after attacking. However, I don't think any of these things really help establish a particular motif, and I doubt that if Rare was purposely trying to attach a cartoon theme to the game, it would have turned out to be this understated. About the kremlings, I think Knocka and Re-Koil might be viewed as reminiscent of a certain style of golden-era cartoon characters, but nothing particularly special. (though some bosses, like Belcha and Bleak, are ludicrously unrealistic)

Having said all of this, I'd like to ask you all: did you notice any particular theme in the kremlings of DKC3, or do you think one of the two I mentioned above is the bona fide theme of the game? What I read left me baffled and I'd like to know what you think.

[Mr.Patch]

you bring up a good point , in DKC you had the whole jungle theme , then the pirate theme , i think that in DKC3 is more of modern theme you have boats ,cabins , chairlifts , factorys , mills , docks and other thing that werent present in the other DKC. but for me i think the real theme was like may sound stupid but , a nationnal park of some sort. you have the boating hiking in the forest and mountains ,waterfalls , skiing , the good old factory and the historical monuments (the castel)
but for the kremlins , most of them are naked in this game...

[Princess J]

Well, I have actually thought about the different DKC games a lot, and especially about the Kremlings, as soon as I saw this topic, I had to jump to it. XD Let me tell you how I always viewed it. There are basically three types of Kremlings that we've seen so far. First, you've got your land Kremlings, who choose to live and stay on land, be it DK Isle or Crocodile Isle. These include basic, natural Kremlings like Klaptraps and Kritters, which pretty much go about their lives and only fight if need be, but aren't more than lowly recruits, if anything. (In fact, Klaptraps are more like unevolved, simple-minded Kremlings if anything, but they still rock.) This also includes the higher-ranked ones in the army, Krusha and Klump, etc., who command the lesser land Kremlings. So the Kremlings of DKC have a militaristic theme, like you stated. K. Rool is also just your basic king. Makes sense.

The ones of DKC2 have, of course, the most obvious theme. They do what comes naturally to a crocodilian, go out to water. A lot of Kremlings devote their lives to seafaring. Some are higher-ranked than others, but they're all pirates. K. Rool is a pirate kaptain. That makes sense too.

Now, DKC3. Here's where it gets a bit harder to define. The third type of Kremlings live apart from the other two groups, up in the Northern Kremisphere. It's a very beautiful, natural place, but it's polluted by their factories. One of the bears (gah, forget his name... the one with the cannon...) speaks of how he fought "The Kremling War" back in his day... so we can assume that quite some time ago, the Kremlings invaded the land and fought the bears and anyone else who lived there. They ended up estabishing their place there and setting up factories. Now, we've seen from DKC and DKC2 that the Kremlings are very dependent on technology, but I think DKC3 drives that point home stronger than any of the other games. Technology and industry seem to be the themes of the game- and also, on a darker note, how it can ruin the beauty of the natural world. Factories, mills, and pipelines make up a good amount of the levels, but there's also plenty of lovely nature levels as well, to show that the industry hasn't touched every part of this world yet.

As for the actual appearance of the enemies themselves. Buzzes are actually cyborgs or robots; they have actual buzz saws embedded in their backs and their legs are exhaust pipes. Character art shows this, even if it's never officially stated. Also, there's KAOS, obviously a robot. But to consider the Kremlings themselves, you've got Bazuka, who uses a massive gun, and while I don't believe it's part of his body, he still has a technological theme. Not to mention K. Rool's alter-ego in this game, Baron K. Roolenstein, has a mad scientist theme. And if anything is a good judge of the theme of the rest of the Kremlings, it's their king.

But, here's how the cartoony theme ties into the technology theme. I do really agree with the "cartoony" theory, because the character designs for DKC3 are just plain different from the past two games, and the colors used and such kind of reminds you of a Saturday morning 'toon. The Kremlings look a lot different. A lot of them seem to be... uglier (and this coming from a Kremling lover like me!) and have their features, especially facial features, exaggerated. Now, why would these Kremlings look so different from their relatives? Well, more than any of the others, they are in love with technology, and depend on it. They are devoted to their factories. I think that they've been living apart from the others for at least a couple decades, and they spend so much time around their factories that the pollution and waste have taken a hold of them, mutating them slightly. The pollution has probably also got to certain other wildlife in the area. So that's why they look strange, and how it's because of the technology theme.

One final point to enforce the technology theory. As you played through DKC, you may never have realized that the Kremlings had a strong pirate side to their race, until you got to the last battle. A pirate ship? Awesome. And guess what, the next game was completely themed around pirates. Similarly, the final battle of DKC2 took place on a massive airship, which just screams technology to me, setting the stage for the next game's theme. (And the final battle of DKC3... this is really debatable, but I think it hints at DK64's storyline. You see, it centers around those electric orbs charging up and shooting out beams, and you must avoid them. In DK64, the Blast-o-Matic has to charge up so it can shoot a beam and destroy DK Island. Once again, that's kind of a stretch, but it sounds logical to me.)

Anyway, I've got lots more theories and such, but I think this explains my ideas. XD Oh dear... I just can't stop myself when I get started on certain subjects...