Initially, I was going to just do one of these, as a companion post to my DK Dream Friend-esque characters post, but as I was thinking of ideas for villains, new ideas just kept coming to me, and I've decided to make it a recurring series. I might make more lists for heroes (mainly revising the existing movesets), but designing them for villains was so much fun, that it's going to be what I do the most. This one is going to follow the same formula as the first, designing one moveset for each game, but after this, I'll mostly drop that formula and post my most fleshed out ideas at the time.
Starter Characters: King K. Rool, unlike Smash Bros, moves from his alter egos will not be included, as I intend to make alternate movesets for those. Leaving only attacks he had as the King. Standard move is the crown throw, working the same way it did in DKC1. His side move is his fire breath from Jungle Climber, it has short range, and acts as sort of a shield. His aerial move is his belly flop from DKL1, which can damage enemies, and bounce him off hazards. His down move drops a cannonball in front of him, which can be charged into a meteor from his Jungle Climber fight. His crown throw remains while swimming, but nothing else.
Klump, his standard move is blasting a barrel out of his cannon, which can be charged into a kannonball (not to be confused with a cannonball). his down move is essentially K. Rool's down special from Smash Bros. His side move throws an unripe orange grenade, unlike Krusha's orange grenades (we'll get to him later), it bounces around for a while. He creates soundwaves by screaming for his aerial move.
Kritter, For this list, he's based off the SNES Kritter, right down to his outfit just being shoulder pads and kneepads, but I have it in me to make movesets for the 64 and Paon Kritter. His normal move shoots swarms of microscopic Klaptraps from a Klap Blaster (that's right I'm using ideas from the cartoon), his side move puts him in a mine cart. it's fast and powerful, but you have limited control as a trade off. He swings his claws around for his down move, and his aerial move gives him spring loaded peg legs, it works like Cranky's cane bounce.
Klaptrap, His standard move is a powerful bite, that can hurt any enemy, he can also use it underwater. For his side move, he sprints forward with his mouth open, he can pick up barrels while doing this, and they act as a shield. He'll spit out his dentures for his down move, they break upon contact with anything, and Klaptrap's teeth will return afterward. His aerial move has him swing his tail like a whip, which slows his descent.
DKC1: Dumb Drum/Oil Drum, no I'm not joking. His standard brings out flames, and he can rotate himself while doing this. His side move has him send Slippas to hurt enemies, his down move sends out Armies, which are stronger, but he can only have one onscreen at a time, whereas he can have up to 3 Slippas onscreen at a time. His aerial move is his ground pound.
DKL1: Boss team, Hard Hat is the standard form. he can throw his helmet for his normal move, burrow underground for his down move defending himself from enemies, releasing down + y, has him pop back out, flinging enemies who were above him. His side and aerial moves turn him into Wild Sting, who works the way he did in his boss fight. Entering water turns either of them into Clambo, who swims freely, and shoots a pearl in the direction of the nearest enemy.
DKC2: Kutlass, his normal move is a basic sword swing (which works underwater), his side move has him leap forward and slam his swords into the ground, like in DKC2. His down move puts him on a skull cart, which can move forward, and throw barrels. His aerial move has him float down like a Kopter.
DKL2: Kleever. His normal move shoots a fireball, which goes in the direction of the nearest enemy. His side move is his sideways stab attack, he spins around for his aerial move, and his down move is his swing attack.
DKC3: KAOS (scaled down to his DKLIII size), His down move switches which layer of his head you use. The top layer's standard move is the laser eyes, middle layer uses the boxing gloves, and the bottom layer launches bombs. His side move blasts him forward spinning his blades, and his aerial move has him blast fire onto the ground, at the cost of slower movement.
DKLIII: Bazuka and Karbine, The standard move shoots a steel keg, te side move launches Bazuka out of his bazooka, his aerial and down moves switch him with Karbine, he fires a fireball in the direction you have the stick/d-pad in.
DKR: Krunch, his normal move shoots a red balloon missile, which can be charged into a homing missile, his side move lets him home in on enemies with a rainbow balloon magnet and kick them, his down move drops a green balloon mine, and his aerial move puts a yellow balloon shield around him.
DK64: Krusha, his normal move pulls out his orange grenade launcher, with the grenades exploding upon contact. His side move makes him angry, and he becomes faster and invincible, as the cost of being harder to control. His down move has him create a shockwave like a Kasplat. His Aerial move shoots his orange grenade gun down, adding height to his jump.
DKJB: The Evil Kings. They all have the same attacks, normal attack is a punch (from Dread Kong), side attack is a kick (from Ninja Kong), the down attack is a palm slam (from Sumo Kong), and the air attack is a hand swipe (from Karate Kong). Each kong's strongest attack is the one they used in Jungle Beat. You can switch between them with the shoulder buttons
Pegboard Duology: Davy Bones, his standard move has him breath fire, his side move has him use his tail as a whip, his down move is a biting attack, and his aerial move has him lunge forward at nearby enemies. He is the only character who is unchanged while swimming. If both players use Davy Bones in multiplayer, the second player will use the Dragon Kremling, who is simply a reskin.
DKBB: Kopter, he uses his Barrel Blast design, and has a floating move similar to Dixie in Tropical Freeze. His standard move spins his propellers, hurting enemies they touch, his down move places a blazing banana in front of him, his side move has him create a whirlwind with his propellers, and can both hurt enemies and pick up bananas, his aerial move uses the barrel jetpack, and his propellors spin, giving him a way to defend himself.
DKCR: Tiki Tong (head only), he can fly briefly, and mainly attacks by summoning his fellow tikis. His standard move summons a Tiki Goon, it goes down in one hit, but can be charged into a Tiki Tank, which is slower but stronger, his side move places a Tiki Zing in front of him, which goes away after you stop moving. His aerial move launches him off a Tiki Buzz, which stays in the air until you go offscreen. His down move uses the Screaming Pillar, I don't think that needs elaboration.
DKCTF: Bashmaster, His standard move has him slam his hammer down his side attacks has him kick ice blocks forward, his down attack has him swing his hammer, an ice block will appear in front of him if you charge the attack, and it works the way it does in his boss fight. His aerial attack has him ground pound, creating earthquakes by doing so. If both players choose Bashmaster in Co-Op, Kudgel will be the second character.
That's it for the basic list, there will be more on the way