Analyzing Yet Another Underrated Donkey Kong Villain
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Not all the video game villains can be winners, as we have seen many times. But some video game villains get swept under the rug and don't quite get the appreciation and recognition that they deserve. Tiki Tong and the Tiki Tak Tribe is one of those villains!
#gaming #nintendo #videoessay #donkeykong #animalcrossing #videogames #brothership #donkeykongcountry #marioandluigi #dkc2
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I like how DK was immune to the hypnosis because he was genuinely too stupid to be hypnotized
Nah its because in donkey kong country 3 he was hypnotize which gave him that immunity in returns.
My favorite thing about the tiki-tac tribe has to be their design, they are weird living instruments that use music and sounds to hypnotize and control people, something about donkey Kong jumping on a living bongo and that beautiful sound that is the enemy defeated sound is just so good.
I also like that the Tiki Tak tribe actually shows you WHY they stole the banana hoard, which is to use as a source of power.
Except the bananas are… just bananas. If they had some significance like the Crystal Coconut from the tv show, or a mystical golden banana then I’d be able to quell my disbelief. “Sometimes less is more” echoes back to DKC with King K Rool more than it does the tiki tribe.
They have potassium
@@Just_Shaun They did announce in the Dkc theme park overview that the ride there focuses on Tiki Tong attempting to steal the Golden Temples Golden Banana, which is possibly whatnthey could've been doing in Dkcr
Same, always liked that
@@Just_Shauneh, I attribute that to some holy attribute all bananas as a whole might have. Must be the potassium.
The Colonel Pluck scene is so perfect of a lore scene. It explains the factories, the masks' armies, banana theft, and the whole fight is perfectly synced with the music when watching the cutscene, even flowing seamlessly into the fight.
Listen to that music as you watch the cutscene, hear the BANG of the robot's feet landing on the conveyor belt in rhythm with the music pacing, the timing of each robot step along with the music rhythm, and all of it is so well done.
Best fight i'd say, it's got so much harmony with the carnage, and still packs humour in how you beat the scientist upwards into the roof of his own egg dome.
In a way, the tikis were probably best as a one-off villain group anyways. It worked with the foundation, and didn't rely on other characters in the previous games, while still letting DK return again in 2d. To drag it out any further like with the recurrence of the kremlings, would more quickly run it dry into the dust.
To me it kinda ruins the ancient vibe of the tikis since gives off the vibe that they are just mindless robots being manufactured in a factory, but that's just me
@ChasonVanAllen-st3pc but they aren't robots? They are created through some kind of magic ritual
One of the best soundtrack's in the history of nintendo
@TheRealSuperKirby I know but the factory just gives off the robot vibe I wasn't being literal
When Mario gets more villains than just Bowser everyone is Happy
But when DK fights someone else than K Rool everyone looses their minds!
The difference is that Bowser hasn't been missing for almost two decades...
Geez I wonder why
One franchise has game(s) every year where the historic villain makes at least an appearance.
The other doesn't
Cause we havent seen krool since 64 outside of crossivers or spin offs. Hell we havent had an actually new dk game in a DECADE
Honestly, the Tiki's are easily my favourite DKC villain. Just this unhinged force of nature that's not just stealing DK's banana hoard, but actually making use of the bananas and showcasing that they might have some magical properties
Valid!!
I've always liked how the Tiki Tak Tribe folk looked as a whole. Fun designs, their instruments are usually very well incorporated in their them songs, they actually have a reason for stealing the buhnanas, and all the background mysticism associated with them (just look at the inside spirit murals of their volcano base) just adds a unique flair to them.
The "ritual" they do at the end, where all the Tiki generals sacrifice themselves to empower Tiki Tong with the power of bananas, further emphasizes that. It's the kinda thing you don't really understand why they do it, like they have a culture that is so different from ours, it's vastly incompatible with our notions and values, and that estrangement plays to their favor in my opinion.
I would love to see a game where King. K. Rule, Lord Fredrick, and Tiki Tong team up to get their revenge on Donkey Kong.
Same🙌🏻🙌🏻
Is anyone gonna talk about how cult like the tiki taks are? The smaller ones go through so much work to gather bananas just to feed to their leader, and literally sacrifice themselves for Tiki Tang just so that he get’s hands.
I always loved the tiki tak tribe, even more when I got older. I love their simple yet unique designs and their puzzling, tricky, yet fun boss fights. These antagonist truly did conquered my life 😁
The Tiki Tak tribe were always some of my favourite villains, with their designs and music always making them so appealing to me
IMO
Tikis-most fabulous design wise
Snowmads-most threatening
Kremlins-most iconic
All three are equally great and if they make a comeback I want k rool to either work with the Kongs or the other villains
Also fun fact this game introduced me to dk in general
Fair!!
Tiki Tong is personally my favourite villain in Donkey Kong franchise, because as you said, he is practically a Badass primordial fire god, who we can say is the most serious final boss we met.
The Kremlings and Snowmads have their own characteristics that made them unique, but also Tiki Tong really outstands too, for his abilities, minions, design and been a serious threat.
He's my favorite boss to.
@ agree
Me to! I even have some headcannons
I started off on donkey Kong tropical freeze. I had no clue who King K rule was until I rented the show on a DVD.
i love DKCR's story because it feel natural. You were saying how the tiki tribe are like animals, acting off of instinct. I think that adds to them because donkey kong and the tikis are both acting on instict. King K Rool was a humanoid villian who speaks and makes the scenario a human conflict. Same for Fredrick, the story in that game was a human conflict because it was a human action of conquest and war. But DKCR's story is a natural conflict in nature. It feels like a story that could have just happened without humanity ever knowing about it or being documented. It's almost feels like a mythical story made up by tribal people told by story of the stars or something. I especially feel this when DK punches the moon out of the sky as the final blow to the tikis, it feels so cartoony and out of modern logic. When I was a kid I remember loving this story. My first time playing through it, I felt like a primal apex character fighting other primal animals which I believe is the right feeling to have for a game that is centered around you being a strong ass gorilla that destroys things just because he can. Idk, it's hard to explain how it feel, but i enjoy it.
I am going to be honest, this was the first dk game i ever played. I knee nothing about the franchise prior to this, so i was completely on board with the tikis. This is my nostalgia, not the kremless
Valid!!
Same, I loved the Tikis too.
This was one of my favorite games when I was younger, I am so happy that they decided to remake the game. In my opinion the Tikis are my favorite set of antagonists in Nintendo history. The boss battles are one of my favorite aspects of a video game and I can’t wait to replay it!
I'm so excited too!!
I think the Tiki Tak tribe works because unlike the Kremlings and the Snowmads they feel more ancient. Like they've lived on this island for way longer then we think. I mean when we first see them they emerge from a volcano, either they use cartoon magic to travel via volcanos or more likely they've been in that volcano waiting for their time to strike.
Tiki Tong himself feels like a forgotten god or lost idol that's trying to reclaim it's power, that's probably why they stole DK's banana hoard because it would make him whole again. Perhaps if he gathered more bananas or something he'd eventually grow a whole body.
Also a very specific detail I noticed is that Tiki Tong looks like he has a black eye. There's a story behind that detail I'm sure.
That black eye reminds me of K Rool's bloodshot one
I really like how game franchises like Kirby and Donkey Kong has a different villain for each installment of their games and doesn’t just always have the same villain over and over again
I agree!
At least Dedede and the Waddle Dees are reoccurring allies/antagonists. Imagine if there were just no mainline Kirby games for over a decade, and then when it finally returns, all the iconic antagonists fans grew to love were just completely absent and replaced with some instrument guys
Bro K Rool is the villain for the first 4 DK games
another cool thing throughout the levels in the ruins you can see what seems to be statues of both the tikis as well as DK's ancestors which means there might have been an ancient war between the KONG's and the tiki tribe for control of the island just something cool I noticed
Yes!! The lore and theories really are so cool
The tiki's are productive and very efficient. They use kong islands natural defenses and caves.
They dont want to destroy it, they use it like its their island
Exactly
I think it would have been neat for one of the bosses to be a group of hypnotized kremlings, not K. Rool himself, but ones tough enough to demonstrate the Tiki's power and ability to control others theough song.
Since pre-teenhood, I never understood the hate at the time for the Tikis online. They look really cool, creative and is a more unexpected appearance for villainous characters.
For me, King K. Roll is less scary than the tiki tribe because King K. Roll is strong thanks to him be a King (money, power through technology) but Tiki Tak and the tiki’s that can hypnosis are magical being which is a power than both the Kong and the player cannot comprehend. Which, is more threatening.
I was 11 when DKCR came out, and while I remember being vehemently pissed that King K. Rool wasn't in the game that was supposed to be a return to form for the series (hated the game, refused to buy it), I never remember actually hating Tiki Tong personally as a villain. I didn't *like* him, but I didn't outright hate him like I hated Lord Fredrik, and that was probably because he's actually pretty cool. I have a strong feeling that all the hate for Tiki Tong is just because he wasn't K. Rool.
I just wanna mention though that K. Rool is King in the first place because he's by far the biggest and strongest out of all the Kremlings. He's not even actual royalty iirc, he was just a high ranking military leader who seized control and declared himself King because there was no one else left who could remotely challenge him. That combined with the way he treats his own minions on screen makes him a true tyrant in every sense of the word. His own minions are probably more afraid of him than the Kongs.
He also sacrificed his minions just to make hands. For someone who lived in a volcano, he sure is pretty cold.
the tiki tak tribe are interesting to me because they managed to draw out a feeling i've otherwise only gotten from ruins in games
whenever mysterious ancient stuff pops up in games i'll often find myself really wanting to know more, even if realistically i know there's not more and the designers just wanted to throw in a ruins level or something
i just really want to know what's up with these little musical masks
why were they in the volcano? were they imprisoned in it? hibernating? the volcano got a metro station inside it that they just rode in on from elsewhere?
what are they? tropical fae? possessed instruments? cursed masks?
how long have they been there? a week? centuries? millennia?
and why do bananas fuse them together as an extension of their boss? was the plan to fuse the whole tribe into a complete body for tiki tong or something?
there's so much i want to know about these things, which makes me sad they're probably long gone and not being used again
Exactly !!!!It's absolutely the same for me!
I’ve played the game (it was so long ago I can’t even remember the name) and all I remember was the tiki tak tribe. Sometimes I still see there silly goober faces and body shapes in my popcorn for some reason. Great Video!
Thank you!! :)
I myself actually got introduced to the DK country series by DK country returns and got some mild interest in the game BECAUSE OF the tiki tak tribe.
This was a brilliant insight, I love how the tiki tak tribe don’t contradict Donkey Kong as directly as the Kremlings do, the kremlings are brute force like Donkey Kong himself but as you said, the tikis go about things through manipulation, getting into the animals heads, but my favorite part is that Donkey Kong isn’t manipulatable, this is because hes already almost as evil as the tikis are and he is not a being who second guesses, i mean this is the same game where his first solution to being launched into the moon is to punch it out of the way, hes a menace who rescues his island without even realizing it, and Tiki Tong is a pretty good representation of an oppressor who even manipulates and controls his very own goons
I am definitely going to be subscribing as this was a great video!
So well said my man, and thanks for this comment! I'm having a blast playing through Returns HD again, and the Tiki's are just so great.
This was my first donkey kong game and I always thought that these villains were more interesting than clasic comedic villain so for me are one of the best villains and I will always remember them
As a person Who saw the dk country return before all other dk games, I always loved ticky take tribe, especially the first little tikie
Fair!!
Is it just me or does the soundtrack for Tiki Tong’s fight slap
It absolutely does!
The tiki tak's are the donkey Kong equivalent of majora
Valid!!
Donkey Kong country returns was one of my favorite childhood games, still play it on my 3ds, the boss fights were also really fun!
honestly I love how the tikis use their musical theme in a creative way by having a recurring "hypnosis" motif throughout the game that makes the bulk of the FINAL BOSS THEME which is just epic.
I will say all of the squished bananas and banana juice grossed me out as a kid though.
I completely agree!!!
I think the banana juice looks delicious
I want Tiki Tong to feed me like a baby bird 🤤
@ freaky kong country returns
I do like that each boss is also different like other boss games but these bosses are based on musical instruments
Now you gotta talk about the cactus/ghastly king from the funny bongo game.
For me personally, the Tikis are easily the coolest Donkey Kong villains, I like everything, the idea, the design, the music. Hopefully they will get a bit more attention with DKCR HD. Apart from that, there is only one type of Tiki in DKCTF, namely the burning screaming pillar, which again appears on a separate island. This could mean that not all Tikis come from the volcano, or maybe that they have spread to several islands? Yes, they are probably meant to be mysterious, but I would like more lore, where did they come from, how did they end up in the volcano and what happened to them? I can't quite believe that these ancient magical masks are now just splinters of wood, hopefully they will return, maybe other instruments too
So fair, I'm really glad there are WAY more people out there who love the Tikis!
As someone who never got to play a game with the Kremlings I enjoy the mystique that came with the Tiki tak tribe. As you played there was a sense of discovery even if the motivations were really simple.
I'm not really a huge fan of the tiki tak tribe but I do actually like Tiki Tong himself. He rocks a pretty damn cool design and is actually genuinely menacing- I'll even go out on a limb and say he's MORE menacing than K. Rool in a lot of his appearances. Only time K. Rool was more menacing was in the DK64 cutscenes and as Kaptain K. Rool. I still prefer K. Rool as a whole, but I do genuinely like Tiki Tong and vastly prefer him over Lord Fredrik. I do hope Tiki Tong makes some sort of comeback in the future, either after or alongside K. Rool himself.
Also the thing he did with the bananas was really cool. It made the Kongs' conflict with him feel way more personal than it otherwise would have been.
I’ve been consuming every bit of DKCR content I can in the lead up to the port, so of course I had to watch this the moment I saw it.
Thank you for standing up for these lovely characters!!
Thank you for commenting! I appreciate it :)
@TheJustintendo
I personally think they're some of the best the series has to offer, since-Their ideas is just so open-ended.
Who created them? Going off their weathering, splinters, & coordination, they must have been at this for-*Centuries.*
What woke them up? Why do they do what they do?
The greatest strength of the Tiki Tak Tribe *is* their lack of story, because it leaves you, the player, to ponder the details of their existence.
To me the Tiki Tak Tribe, and Tiki Tong in particular, always felt so... ancient. Like they've awoken from a long slumber possibly spanning centuries after being somehow sealed away.
Yes!
Tiki tong: hey andross. I got a annoying gorilla i gotta fight. Got any pointers?
Andross: yeah. Use hands to attack. Works well for me when im fighting a certain pesky fox in aircraft.
I absolutely loved the Tiki's just like others here their own Melodies and different ways their Music matched their Instruments was so cool especially my Favorite coming between The Panflute and The Accordion
I like villains who just don't say anything and prefer to let their actions speak for themselves and look so alien.
I find that threatening and scary.
Yes, I like the Tikis.
I love these little guys and their unigue sounds of hypnotising, also colonel pluck theme, do i need to say more?
Experiences I'm excited for new players to Donkey Kong Country Returns to have are:
1.) Learning through death
2.) Learning through death
3.) Learning through death
How many cart levels should we have?
Retro Studios: Yes.
How many levels should suddenly switch to rocket barrel?
Retro Studios: Yes.
A classically frustrating game that is better experienced a second time (and more) around.
Some things i'd like to add:
Tiki Tong's design is actually the most nuanced of all the Tiki's: His head is clearly a drum, which was one of if not the first instrument ever created, his human-shaped hands are could be seen as symbolic over his rule over the tribe as he could play every single instrument that the others are based off of, and he is the only boss Tiki to have an actual mouth, meaning that he can also be a vocalist: mankind's oldest method of making music!
The Tiki-Tak's, more so then any other character's has the most omnipotent feel in all of DK history, they almost feel like they are made up of the very essence of music itself, maybe the trance is the song that make's their very being, maybe it could be the first song to have ever been composed...
Thank you for following our requests, i cant believe you actually did this
🫱🏻🫲🏼🫱🏻🫲🏼
The tikis are my favorite group of dk series, mostly because its the first dk game i got. But man they are fun lil designs
Do you think the reason the "tutorial pig" wasn't hypnotised because of the glasses he wears? (The reason DK is also immune because he has a brain - he's a primate after all)
Oooohhhhh maybe??
I think DK was just too dumb or something like that?
I’ve always liked the tikis and this game
If DKCR gets a 3rd installment. I hope the main villain is a combo of K rool AND tiki tong.
Imagine a Ressurected K rool with a Puppet Master Tong replacing his Crown and Hands.
Putting the ruthless together with the mystical.
K. Tool is dead???
Now that you mentioned it, I did think about a villain with a more desert aesthetic if there was a third installment, which could be a good parallel to Tropical Freeze maybe.
Favorite hands down one of my favorite underrated Nintendo villains right next to Andross
Real!!
honestly i like the tiki tribe better than the kremlins, there's just something about them that makes them so fun to fight
The tikis were always so interesting to me! THANK TOU FOR THIS VIDEO
Glad you enjoyed!
They made their grand return on the new ride.
personally i find them fun, their designs are cute and fun and help them stand apart from the kremlins.
I jsut wish they got actual boss fights rather than having hypnotised animals as the bosses.
i played this game on the wii when i was 6, mr tiki tong scared the actual fucking shit out of me, the last levels rocket flight was harder than the actual bossfight lol
My favorite thing about tiki tong terror is i love his look and his music and his attacks.
The Tikis were decent villains in Donkey Kong Country Returns. I always wondered why the Kremlings didn't really make a comeback.
I think Retro Studios just wanted to do their own thing and put their own spin on the series.
Yeah I agree with dude above me... Retro probably wanted to established there own villains instead of taking the easy route and reusing the Kremlins..
This was the only donkey Kong game I've ever played, I loved this game as a kid
As someone who grew up with returns and played with tropical freeze, the kremlin nostalgia doesn't affect me, and I don't really like them that much compared to the tikis and snowmads
Valid!
@@TheJustintendo
Thanks !!
Great videos btw !!!
I feel like between these three villains, K. Rool, Lord Fredrick, and Tiki Tong, it's Tiki that is the most intimedating, naturally stemming from his aura of being an ancient evil entity with little to nothing funny about him. In that way he kinda stands out from the other DK villains
Fair!!
babe wake up! my favorite nintendo youtuber posted again!
Ah thank you man, that means a lot
As someone who fixated on these guys like years and years ago, this video is very much appreciated haha.
genuinely hope returns bring back these guys into the spotlight cause i genuinely love the tribe.
fav has gotta be cordian.
Glad you enjoyed the video, I love the Tikis too
finaly someone aknowledge the tiki tak tribe
Okay, here’s my evaluation
Tiki tong is not underrated, nor is he overrated. He’s just mid. Definitely the worst DK villain though.
The tikis are interesting because of the hypnosis, but as standalone villains they are kinds just boring. I don’t think you fight a single tiki until the end of the game.
That being said, tiki tong is a good contrast to his underlings, because you fight him, not some random animal. However, his boss fight is kinda just boring. He lacks a clear motivation as well, like what is he doing this for? Control? Sure, but why?
His theme is a banger, and Tiki Tong’s design is fire.
Overall, has good qualities, but I just don’t think they can compare to the kremlings or snowmads.
Also, it’s funny watching him sacrifice the other tiki leaders to make HANDS! and like 3 minutes later donkey Kong Destroied both of them.
My Pros and Cons of Tiki Tong
Pros:
* Interesting design
* Great fight music
* The Barrel Rocket segment before the fight
Cons:
* Very easy and short fight
* They shouldnt had tease them in the Lose a Life animation
* Not an Outstanding villain
* Not explanation on why bananas are magical and can create minions and hands
When you haven't faced tiki tong it shows a question mark on the life lost animation on volcano levels wich adds to the suspense
A thing i notice is the Tiki tak tribe often take inspiration from musical instruments, when i first seen them i often imagined they where created to store powerful spirits, the way there music is often the sole use of hypnotism.
The fact bannas are there primary fuel source seem to hint there a level of spiritual power within them. Even them bieng seal in the volcano indicates they are part of the island.
Yes it’s tiki tong and the tikis there so good I remember when I looked at an image in donkey Kong country tropical freeze and I saw the dead body’s of the tikis and they have no light in them anymore and the 1st boss is stuck under the ice
I hope we get a new donkey Kong country game one day where k rool is the villain again
Same
I don't know that tiki tong is as good as the video states but all the other bosses were awesome and intimidating not to mention their mysterious remergence as ancient inhabitants of the island
I dont care what anyone says i love the tikis and dk country returns is my favorite dk game
Respect!!
I love the tiki tak tribe but the reason why most people don't like them because they are not the kremlins.
Valid!
A question i still have in my head is why are there screaming pillars in tropical freeze, they are part of the tiki and are suddenly in the savanna.
I came across a very interesting thing, there is (in the bonus images) a House in the desert.If you pay attention, in front of the house on the side, you can see tiki skulls, maybe they are from the desert?There must be a connection
We need the kremlings back in the next Donkey Kong Country game along with King K.Rool
It'd be an awesome full-circle moment
While Tiki Tong is rather boring (there’s only one way to fight him with big ol’ honking’ buttons on his weak points), I will say he’s not just “diet K. Rool” like Fredrik was. You don’t have to make up traits to differentiate him from K. Rool like people do with Fredrik. “Oh Fredrik is serious and calculated”, are you talking about when he’s doing ballerina pirouettes or when he’s having temper tantrums during his battle?. Also K. Rool was completely cold and calculated in DK64 until you got close to him…just like Fred. That said, Tiki Tong is the only villain Nintendo will acknowledge without being begged. If you want to really talk underrated, the Jungle Beat villain Ghastly King takes the cake.
The ideo of the lack in personality is stupid cuz of one thing, bro, WE are fighting instruments, why should they talk? Besides their are comming in one DKC. They simple don't have to show some own personality. In my opinion. Hopefully it's understandable, have a great day Swaggers.
Edit: you can see the Tiki Tribe in the Final Boss Fight background
In my opinion the tikis are great villains. Of course not as iconic as the kremlings, but for example the mario franchise has great villains beside bowser too.
They were a nice and needed change for the franchise.
And who knows: maybe the kremlings will come back one day.
Finally, someone standing up for these guys! Listen, K. Rool and the Kremlings are wonderful, I have nothing against them. However, I really dislike fans not giving these guys a chance because they can’t fill in their predecessors’ shoes. I agree with your points and personally I find them really unique! If we ever get a new game (I’m saying if since we haven’t gotten a new game in ten years), I’d love to see all three main villain leagues make a return, maybe they can all come back and we get more on the tikis’ and snowmads’ stories. That’s asking for a lot, I know, but it’d be interesting if we got some more about them.
Exactly!!
@TheJustintendo I also think that growing up with this DK game in particular helped me appreciate the tikis. I also think they have some personality to them, too! Banjo Botton and Wacky Pipes both respond to Donkey Kong’s presence with surprise, Tiki Tong trolls Donkey Kong when it seems like he’s going to smash into him, the tiki torch gets spooked after its fire is put out, even when the other tikis possess the bosses, they show some personality in the way they move. Remember, when we fight the bosses, we are fighting the tikis controlling them.
@RaptorTheWild1312 The Kalimba (I don’t remember if he had a name too lol) also seemed to be quite the aggressive and egotistical type, as he glares at DK and Diddy when they enter the arena.
@@vivianaquintero7084 its full name is Krazy Kalimba, but I like to refer to them as Kalimba
Love this series, and while they arent Donkey Kong Country Villlains, ever consider doing a video like this for the Dark Kongs of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat?
Got a Heart that's gotta mean something good-
This is my favorite Nintendo game of all time (and not only cus I grew up with it ):
🙌🏻
I think Tiki Tong himself has a better reputation than Fredrik, although the biggest problem he has is his boss fight. My main problem is that each part of him goes down in one hit which makes him feel like a glass cannon
Each of his hands take 2 hits and his head takes 3 hits
These guys remind of something I’d see in a game called Zuma deluxe. Speaking of that, I wish more games have this kind of setting and style. It’s why DK country returns has a special place in my heart
🙌🏻🙌🏻
Theming the Tiki Tak Tribe after bongos and other musical instruments was an inspired choice after the whole GameCube Bongo era of DK.
I also appreciate how much they differ from the Kremlings and Snowmads. The Tikis aren't another anthropomorphic animal group, there's something otherworldy and sinister about them, and they strike me as angry volcano deities.
I think there was a missed opportunity in the story as they use their musical hypnosis to control all the animals on DK Island, to make Animal Buddies into bosses that DK and Diddy need to defeat to free them from the Tikis' control.
But other than that, I actually loved the Tiki Tak Tribe.
Glad to finally see someone stick up for the Tikis because years of people complaining about "no K. Rool" has gotten quite grating.
The complaint about them having no personality especially, because yes they aren't as energetic as K. Rool....after years of being the main antagonist. The Kremlins had years of building character, hell K. Rools own habit of dressing up arguably didn't really become a motive until he did it in the third game (with the second game you could still reason that the pirate outfit was appropriate, if switched, with his appearance in the original). So yeah of course the Tikis who are brand new aren't as fleshed out and even so, theres clear hints of a personality between the Tiki leaders' interactions with DK, Tiki Tong tricking the player at times in the final boss fight, hell even the Fire Tikis when blown out. Could there have been more? Sure, and the Snowmads definitely work as an improvement with a more cohesive army (I think its fair to say that DKC:R does mix Tikis with random wildlife a bit much) with more personality, but also people very much didn't even give them a chance before lamenting how their beloved K. Rool didn't return for yet another game. So I for one am glad that they chose to expand on DK's rogues gallery beyond the enemies we've seen a million times over, even if just for a game.
Now a second thing I think is quite enjoyable and is slightly alluded to by you in the video is that they feel otherworldly and ancient, very much focused and locked in. To mee they always felt like an almost primordial force, one that predates the Kong's dominion over the island. I mean they literally emerge from the depths of a dormant volcano with an enormous living tower at the ready as their fortress and when you go through the level you consistently encounter ruins and other structures that feel connected to the Tikis, especially in the later forest world. Hell theres points in Forest Folly in Tropical Freeze where you see countless of Tiki based totems across the landscape. Or take the screaming pillars, which lets be honest did not come out of the volcano with the others, are present on different islands in Tropical Freeze and even have very obviously ancient equivalents in the bonus levels. And of course the fact that Tiki Tong's boss fight starts with what appears to be cave paintings projected against the walls of his chamber, invoking the ancient past. It all makes it feel like the Tikis are some old evil that long predates the Kongs and is now trying to take back what was theirs, a genuine part of the islands history. Which is helped by the fact that they also have an actual reason to steal the bananas, given that they use it to magically create more Tikis (don't think they built the factory tho, seems more likely they just took advantage of that region that was built after they went dormant).
I was a tiki hater, and I still think it was criminal to revive this dormant series with new villains rather than returning the beloved K. Rool, I feel like experimenting with new villains is what you do when your series is kind of active and needs a shake up, not when it's dormant and being revived. But I have come around on them. I think being so different from the Kremlings is exactly why I prefer them over the Snowmads, which really just come off as an attempt to appease Kremling fans without actually giving them what they want. Snowmads are just Kremlings with an artic skin, but Tikis are not at all like anything Donkey Kong has faced.
Donkey Kong Country Returns Returns
😂
Should bring all 3 of the villains together
Agreed
If the rumours of a donkey kong odyssey is true. They could be the major threats in each world with all three trying to fight for competition to rule. The Kremling being the main and strongest threat would also make sense because the other two are recovering from their losses from donkey Kong.
Imo, people who say that the tikis dont show personality are kinda wrong. Especially when it comes to tiki tong. Tiki tong doing stuff like getting pissed off when you hit him. And dont forget the sheer silliness in the taunt.
Completely agree, I'm glad this video found the right audience haha
Great insight! Excellent video 🔥
Thank you!
People gotta understand that this is a different company... this is not rare.. Retro Studios probably wanted to establish there own villains from Scratch and avoid using the Kremlins.. you gotta respect them for that... I didn't mind the Tikis honestly they were a new fresh idea and this is coming from a guy who was born in 91 that grew up with the games
Exactly!
I just think they’re neat.
🫱🏻🫲🏼
My favorite underling is the Accirdian tiki from the factory world
Which Donkey Kong Country Villain would win in a fight? King K Rool or Tiki Tong or Lord Fredrik?
Tbh, probably Fredrik
Let's see.
K. Rool has an army with thousands of Kremlings, all of whom are quite strong. He does his conquest of Donkey Kong Island through sheer brute force. Rool himself is strong, clever, and cunning.
Tiki Tong and his minions have the power of hypnosis, and they use this power to get others to do their bidding. They are not particularly strong like the Kremlings, as they are all made out of wood, but they have remarkable phychic powers. As for Tiki Tong himself, he is an absolute beast of an opponent possessing a large body and large hands as well as the ability of regeneration and pyrokinesis. He was able to generate an entire army of wooded enemies just by using the energy from DK's Banana horde.
Lord Fredrik possesses a magical horn that has the ability to change the weather and climate of an entire island. He also has a giant army filled with arctic animals ranging from novices to beastly warriors. Fredrik himself is a large walrus, with the ability to make himself even larger using his horn. The horn allows him to summon the power of ice at will in order to do his bidding. He is the only DK villain to actually SUCCEED in taking over DK Island. The other two guys got very close, but in the end, DK defeated them. Though DK did eventually take back his island, its still remarkable that Fredrik was able to set up a colony in such a short time with little effort, unlike the other two villains.
Now, let's consider what an actual fight between them would look like. Tiki Tong is the largest by himself, and with his hands, he would at least be able to greatly harm both Fredrik and K. Rool, if not completely flattening them at first. But Fredrik could probably make himself larger than both K. Rool and Tiki Tong. And since he posesses the power of ice, he should be able to freeze both K. Rool and Tiki Tong quite easily. Without his horn, however, he would probably be smashed by Tiki Tong. K. Rool could also proabably beat up Fredrik pretty bad if it wasn't for that horn. Overall, I'd say Fredrik would win just because of the magic horn's abilities. Otherwise, the victory would go to Tiki Tong. K. Rool simply doesn't have as much power as the other two by himself. He still probably has the strongest army out of the three, so if it was a world war we were talking about, I wouldn't be too surprised if the Kremlings could defeat both the Tiki Taks and the Snowmads.
Idk why I typed this essay of a comment, I just found your idea interesting.
Then again. The kremlings are stupid, so the tiki tak tribe would turn them against k rool
EVERYONE WAKE UP! The Donkey Kong Guy made a new vid!
AHHHH
I never grew up playing the original Donkey Kong games, so I never actually saw the full potential of K Rool. I did, however, grow up playing Country Returnes and Tropical Freeze. Tiki Tong and Lord Fredrick WERE the main villains of the series to me, so it was weird not to hear more people talk about them.
(My only exposure to King K Rool was Mario Super Sluggers)
Completely fair!!
FINALLY, someone remembers Tiki Tong exists!!!
🙌🏻🙌🏻