Not to be a try-hard, but my choice after Dixie and Cranky would be BASHMASTER THE UNBREAKABLE.
Love that boss fight, and Retro's contribuitions deserve some acknowledgement. Lord Frederick is lame.
Pompy the Persumptious (Big Top Bop) was my favorite boss fight and Bashmaster was my 2nd favorite not just because of their designs, But also their boss music too.
Though Tropical Freeze in my opinion is the best in the DKC series and my favorite, I was dissapointed with Lord Fredrick not just because he was very similar to King K. Rool, But because they decided to go with an oversized Walrus for the leader/final boss of the Snomads and not the APEX predator/Top of the food chain of Arctic animals the Polar Bear, Which of course turned out to be the 2nd to last boss (Bashmaster).
I remember when Tropical Freeze was 1st unveiled, I was dissapointed briefly that the Kremlings didn't return, But was really happy when they showed off the Snomads and that they were arctic animals and a massive improvement over the Tiki Tak Tribe, When I saw that the faction consisted of Penguins, Walruses and Snow Owl's I instantly thought that Polar Bears had to be in there as well and that they could be a boss or even the final boss/leader considering they are the most intimidating and fitting for the main role as antagonist.
It feels like a miss oppurtunity that Bashmaster wasn't the main antagonist for Tropical Freeze and the leader of the Snomads, But at the same time if I was Retro I would have made him look much more intimidating and threatening because while I do like him, He mainly looks like a generic polar bear with a slight cartoonish flair, If they would have given him a much more exaggerated and meaner look while still being cartoony, bigger teeth, bigger claws, maybe even a beard and given him a vikings helmet with big horns and other abilities like Frost Breath than that would have been much better finale for this masterpiece of a game.
