Donkey Kong Bananza is the perfect time to bring back an AWOL villain, and I'm already uncovering conspiracies that say our favorite crocodile will turn up

Donkey Kong Bananza feels like somewhat of a watershed moment for DK, as well as the series’ biggest celebration in… well, ever? There’s a bunch of callbacks to the original 1981 Donkey Kong game, with his new design and Pauline being a major player in the plot. But equally there’s a lot of love being shown to the first major turning point of DK’s career, with Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Cranky Kong, and returning music stings like the DK Rap being pulled from the 1990s Rareware era.

But for a game that seems so much like a celebration of the series, there doesn't seem to be any returning villains. Rather than a familiar face returning, the Void Co. Kongs are the enemy this time around. Donkey Kong Country Returns’ Tiki Tak Tribe (the lame ones) are big enough that they appear in Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Country area at Universal Studios. Meanwhile, Tropical Freeze’s Snowmads are pretty well liked, but neither made it past one game. However, Donkey Kong does have a nemesis: it just so happens to be one he hasn’t fought since 1999 (in a mainline game at least).

Long live the king

King K. Rool was the central antagonist of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy and the sole previous 3D game in the series, Donkey Kong 64 (not to mention the musical animated series; can’t forget that). But outside of minor spinoffs, he didn’t do a whole bunch after that. The king went on hiatus for a good ten years until Super Smash Bros. Ultimate brought him back (with the sickest character trailer for that game, I might add) after being one of the most requested characters.

And sure, the Void Co. bosses look pretty cool. But none of them have the aura of the big dummy-thicc crocodile – after all, apes and crocodiles are natural enemies in the wild (probably). And after 10 years without a new Donkey Kong game, and the big boy's grand return with Smash Bros, seeing the series’ most iconic villain – barring Mario, obviously – revealed to be the big bad in Bananza would be the perfect cherry on top of what already is my most anticipated game of 2025.

If Nintendo is treating Bananza as a big new moment for the series after years of build-up (with the prominent Mario movie role and theme park expansion); and part of that moment is bridging the gap between Nintendo and Rare’s iterations of the character, then having a surprise third-act villain drop from DK’s greatest nemesis feels like the perfect move. In Mario Odyssey you had the Broodals be the hired goons Mario scrapped with throughout the game, with Bowser being the overall villain, so having that dynamic with Void Co. and the surprise addition of K. Rool could be the natural extension of that.

Void Co. pium

Obviously, this is just a wishlist item for me in relation to a game I’m going to love regardless. But since Donkey Kong Bananza was announced, the sleuths have been looking for any signs of K. Rool, and I’ll admit some evidence is compelling for sure. The most obvious of which being the Crockoids, which are big stone crocodile enemies, with their hard outer shell having boxing gloves, just like a certain DK64 boss fight. And then once you break those rocks open, there are very Kremling-looking skeletons inside. Plus, there are 2D sections ripped straight out of Donkey Kong Country.

Not to mention in the list of compatible Amiibo features the Smash Bros. K. Rool amiibo, which, granted, could be taken as a negative because surely Nintendo wouldn’t ruin the surprise this way, but it’s also an acknowledgement of the character.

But it’s not just me. Take one look at the Donkey Kong subreddit and it's filled with posts and theories about how King K. Rool could be in the game; with a fairly common theory being that that tiny marmoset Void Kong is actually somehow a massive chunky croc in disguise. This is such a big point of discussion that we’re getting joke theory posts and full-blown video essays. There’s another big theory about a suspicious boulder…

Ultimately, will it matter if King K. Rool comes back in the end? Probably not, the game looks absolutely phenomenal even without him. But at the same time, after seeing the massive reaction to his return in Super Smash Bros, it’d be a big shame to let the character stagnate. And even without a non-spinoff appearance in over 25 years, the Kremlings and their king are still synonymous with Donkey Kong in the post-Rare era in a way the other villainous groups never really reached – no one was asking for Lord Fredrik in Smash, after all.

If you need one last bit of convincing, it would give Nintendo an excuse to bring back the greatest sound effect in gaming history – and isn't that reason enough?

We've rounded up the best Switch 2 games to keep you busy until Donkey Kong Bananza arrives