Donkey Kong Country Returns/WMG

Tiki Tong is a Mockingbird
Because the only way to kill a Mockingbird is to

K. Rool built
That's why he wanted the bananas.

K. Rool told
About DK's banana hoard, I mean. It was either part of a plot for revenge or a distraction for the Kongs, so K. Rool could have the time to rebuild his army.

K. Rool summoned
K. Rool heard about the Tikis sleeping in the volcano and, having been a king, a pirate, and a mad scientist, decided to try his hand at being a witchdoctor or something. He woke the Tikis from their slumber expecting them to serve him. However, like any good Sealed Evil in a Can they killed K. Rool and his minions and started their own rampage, hence why there are no more Kremlings.

K. Rool IS
From here.
 * 1. In Donkey Kong: Jungle Climbers, K. Rool is seen strapped to a Banana Spaceship. There is no oxygen in space, so K. Rool may very well have perished in space.
 * 2. The Tikis,, and   Tower emerged from an active volcano. When you think volcanoes, you think fire and brimstone, and when you think fire and brimstone, you think the Underworld. Theoretically speaking, K. Rool could've been sent to Heck when he died (that is, if he died), and that   is just his vengeful spirit trying to take over DK Isle like he had originally intended to do.
 * 3. If you looked at 's eyes and then looked at K. Rool's infected eye in artwork for the games he was in, you'd see that they have the same color irises: the color red.
 * 4. K. Rool had numerous tech-savvy and piratey henchman and used many things related to these motifs. The Tikis were no strangers to technology and pirate ships, or things of that nature, like the airship seen in one of the earlier levels of DKCR. This could imply that not only is  actually King K. Rool, but that his minions were all Kremlings at one point, which could explain how they managed to use the factory to their advantage so quickly, because they were already good with technology, and also explains how they know how to use certain ships. If this ends up being true, then that means K. Rool and   are one in the same.
 * 5. One of 's eyes is bigger than the other, much like King K. Rool.


 * Except in Donkey Kong Barrell Blast, everyone, including K.Rool, could breathe in space just fine.

This game will Retcon a large part of the series' continuity
Fans have long suspected that Miyamoto-san and Nintendo in general weren't happy with the way Rare handled Donkey Kong as a character (hence the huge cast downsizing in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat), and in this article, Kensuke Tanabe says that Miyamoto gave him and Retro specific instructions regarding what to adopt and what not to adopt from the Donkey Kong Country series. Since we have seen no trace of Dixie, Kiddy, or any other Kong besides DK and Diddy, it's possible that this game is a sequel to the original DKC and ignores its three original sequels.
 * Miyamoto actually likes Donkey Kong Country, he actually had a good deal of involvement in the development phase.

The crocodile-like statues in the Ruins are the last remnants of the Kremlings
It supports the other WMG that the game takes place years after the original trilogy.

Brawl in the Family got it right: This game's Cranky Kong is the original DKC's Donkey Kong
Which is why he's not quite as cranky as the original; he had enough of his old man's complaining back in his day and didn't want to become just like him. It would at the very least explain why the current Kongs have different voices from their original-DKC counterparts.
 * It's unlikely, since Diddy is still young.
 * That's easy enough to explain; this game's Diddy is a Legacy Character just like Donkey. Original!Diddy is still around; he's just off-screen since his presence would give the twist away (he and Dixie might even be current!Diddy's parents).
 * Maybe Diddy is this game's Donkey Kong.
 * But Diddy's a monkey and Donkey's a gorilla... unless...

There will be a Donkey Kong Country Returns Trilogy
Like Metroid Prime and the original Donkey Kong Country before it, Retro Studios will eventually make two more DKCR titles.

Tiki Tong is an ancient evil being that terrorised Kong Island long ago.
Using the Tikis, he hypnotised the animals of the island and stole all the bananas to gain power, but was defeated by an ancient Kong leader, possibly Donkey Kong's ancestor, who sealed the Tikis beneath the island's volcano.

The factory levels are remnants of the Kremlings
The Kremlings built the factory then left to their own devices. When the Tikis took over Kong Isle, they took advantage of the factory to further their schemes.
 * So that means its Kremkroc Industries, Inc. from the original.
 * I dunno. These factories seem a little too different from the kremling's. No metal grilles to walk on, no vats of superheated stuff to burn you. These factories are more futuristic, while the kremling's were more industrial. That's just me.

World 9-1 is the homeworld of the tikis
Or at least place of origin. For one, you have tikis already there when donkey kong gets there, despite being a sealed temple. Two, mini Tiki Tongs appear everywhere. This would also explain the tiki tak tribe's reliance on banana based magic/technology. You have to make due with what you have.

The next game will be themed on Donkey Kong Country 2, and called "Donkey Kong Country Forever".

 * Which will be followed by Donkey Kong Country and Robin.
 * So, at that point they'll screw up and re-boot with Donkey Kong Country Begins.
 * And later on, there will be The Kong Knight.  will say "Why so serious?"
 * I'll just settle for Donkey Kong Country Returns 2.
 * I'm going with "The Donkey Kong Strikes".
 * So the third game can be named The Donkey Kong Strikes Back

The sequel will have the Kremlings return as the villains
Knowing that some people didn't like the Kremlings being replaced, Retro Studios will put the Kremlings in a case of Pandering to the Base.
 * Then some people will STILL complain, calling "Rehash", developing into a case of Unpleasable Fanbase.

The DK we play as in this game is the fourth Donkey Kong.
All of Cranky's lines about "the gold old days" in this game sound more like Donkey Kong Country than Donkey Kong, and he heavily implies that he's the DK from DKC in the manual. This combined with his mentions of being DK's grandfather but also having raised him makes me believe that this is the new canon:
 * Arcade Donkey Kong, later seen as Cranky in DKC, has now passed away.
 * Donkey Kong Jr from the arcade is his son, and grew up to become the DK seen in the Donkey Kong Country trilogy and Donkey Kong 64. He is now the current Cranky.
 * The Donkey Kong Jr seen in Mario Tennis was DKC DK's son, and soon grew up into a total toothy-grinned Jerkass, and was banished by the Kong family to the Mushroom Kingdom. The DK face was removed from the island to avoid association with him. After a small villainous phase, Donkey Kong III eventually starred in his own adventures against other banished Kongs. Feeling some sympathy for him, Diddy, Dixie, Tiny and Funky started to visit the Mushroom Kingdom to spend some time with him.
 * DKC Returns DK is the son of Donkey Kong III, taken back to DK Island by Diddy and raised by his grandfather, DKC DK.

This explains the absence of Dixie, Funky, Candy and the other Kongs in Returns; they are now either old and grey or dead. Diddy in Returns is a Legacy Character, presumably the son or grandson of the first Diddy. Squawks and Rambi are also Legacy Characters.

Why DK wasn't affected by the Kalimba Tiki

 * Donkey Kong was never going to be mind controlled to collect bananas for someone else simply because it would be collecting bananas for someone else. Hypnotism involves being persuaded into something you want to do on some level. Donkey Kong is not willing, on any level of reasoning, to collect his beloved fruit just to give it up or hand over his hard earned banana hoard. It's just not something he'd ever do.
 * Makes sense. Donkey Kong's name originates from "stubborn".
 * Perhaps it is because he is already being controlled by another force, the player?
 * Another theory: in order to be eligible for brainwashing, you first need a brain.
 * Isn't he in general pretty smart? Barring Donkey Kong 64 of course.
 * Or maybe its because
 * Another possibility is because Donkey Kong was too smart to be controlled. Apes and monkeys are far more intelligent than the vast majority of animals, so that explains why all the animals save for the apes/monkeys got hypnotized. The Tutorial Pig didn't get hypnotized either since pigs are relatively more intelligent than most other animals (and he seemed rather smart too). However, this does raise the question why local Gadgeteer Genius Colonel Kluck did get hypnotized, so this theory isn't completely sound.

The shipwrecks seen in the first two worlds
...are the remnants of King K. Rool's fleet. (Okay, canonically he only actually had one ship, the Gangplank Galleon, but bear with me.)

The Island has changed a lot
Because of the volcano. DK Island was always a volcano, but it erupted before the game begins, destroyed the Donkey Kong face, melted the snowy areas revealing the fossils and tar pits, the melt water then resulted in flooding of low land areas creating the seaside levels.
 * Perhaps the Tikis were under there the whole time, even during the original trilogy; the reason the volcano has only recently been exposed as one is because the Tikis were gradually pushing their way out, causing all the changes in the process.

King K. Rool will come back in the second game of the trilogy, then the Tiki Taks will come back in the third game, but with a twist
In the third game, Donkey and Diddy will fight their way through the tiki hoards for the second time, albeit with uncanny similarities to the apparently vanquished Kremlings. But at the end of the game, K. Rool will turn out to be the real villain, much like the end of Country 3. In the final battle, K. Rool will fuse with a revived Tiki Tong and become a massive Tiki-Kremling monster that exhibits both the former's swollen eye and crocodile features and the latter's floating hands and wooden composition.

The Kremlings don't appear because they're regrouping and biding their time
In their feuds with the Kongs, the Kremlings have lost their home island, had their leader viciously pummeled numerous times, and have generally failed in stealing the Golden Bananas and destroying the Kongs and their island. Naturally, they aren't really eager to go at it with the Kongs yet again for the time being. Most likely, they're rebuilding their strength in terms of numbers and might, as well as brainstorming more effective ways of getting back at the Kongs. They're probably also keeping note of the Tiki Taks and how the latter have gone about with their own invasion.

The Kremlings don't appear because they're all dead
Remember Squiddicus, the ship-destroying giant octopus from Stormy Shore? It probably attacked the Kremlings while they were out at sea, so they're all probably dead or floating in the ocean.

Retro Studios has cultural bias
The protagonists and the hypnotized animals are of African origin. The Tikis are of Polynesian origin. We can obviously infer from this that Retro loves African culture and hates Polynesian culture.
 * Not to mention that the Tikis themselves are based on African instruments like the kalimba, rather than Polynesian ones.
 * Which probably only means that the Tikis were imitating those instruments. So not only does Retro make the Polynesian characters the villains, they portray Polynesians culture as derivative of other cultures.
 * What about the ukulele?

The Tikis are Reapers
They brainwash people and use a form of organic life for reproduction.

Super Kong is an actual character.
He's this really nice, understanding, badass who's better then anyone at anything. Everyone loves him except Donkey Kong. He basically the DKC equivelent of Ned Flanders.
 * Diddy's probably not too fond of him and especially that sidekick of his either. Nor Cranky, but he hates everything.

Most of DK's animal buddies weren't in the game because they were hypnotized by the Tikis
Notice what some of the enemies are: We have Frogs (Winky is a frog), Spiders (Squitter is a spider) and Snakes (Rattly). Since these animals were under the control of the Tikis, this must have ment that DK's animal buddies were similarly effected. This may apply to Ellie as well, since Elephants were also put under the spell.
 * Rambi must have been immune, since instead of attacking the Kongs, he was boxed instead.
 * Maybe Rambi was too stupid (like DK was too smart) to be hypnotised, so the Tiki Taks Boxed him.

Sequel Predictions
Here are my predictions for the very likely sequel:
 * More Animal Buddies, both old and new, with more of a focus on them.
 * Darker and Edgier design (DKC2 was this to DKC1)
 * Kremlings are the villains
 * Dixie Kong is playable
 * Customizable controls (to accomodate both those who played the original trilogy and this game).
 * David Wise producing the music (he is a freelance composer as of 2009).
 * Being really, freakin' difficult. They've already gotten very difficult now, so the sequel will probably turn into Platform Hell.

Area speculation for a sequel
The next game has a chance of taking place on Kremling territory, so the area will likely take after Donkey Kong Country 2. Now, Retro may not want to use the same types of places they used in the first game, so those are probably out. This would also rule out DKC 2 lookalike areas such as Gang Plank Galleon (unless they do some sort of pirate town area that gets the theme across without being a rehash), Crocodile Cauldron, Gloomy Gulch (except the haunted house level), and the jungle and lava areas of the Lost World. That would leave us with Krem Quay, Krazy Kremland, K. Rool's Keep, and the Flying Kroc. An ice world is likely as well, since that wasn't done in the first game, and there were ice areas in K. Rool's Keep as well. Perhaps a sewer area could be incorporated, such as those seen in Donkey Kong Country 3, as well as an entirely separate world for the Bramble levels. If Retro decided to take after the first game and have a total of 8 worlds, they might split Krazy Kremland into separate amusement park and Zinger hive worlds.

Kongs and/or the other animals long ago once worshiped the Tikis as gods.
Considering that the Tikis, especially, required bananas to survive or become stronger, maybe as a ritual sacrifices the animals were more than happy to give them some share of their board (and the fact that an animal sacrifice would be too darl for a DK game) Throw in the fact that the Tikis can hypnotize the animals, in the past, the Tikis could have easily used this power to gain followers or used it to deal with heretics. Then for whatever reason, the animals decided enough was enough and banned the tikis into the volcano in hopes of them never returning.

Why Checkpoink wasn't hypnotized
He's already been hypnotized by the Kremlings. See, after their last several losses, the Kremlings snuck into DK Island and hid, bidding their time for years. However, out of nowhere come the Tikis. The Kremlings knew that they couldn't defeat them, as they were still getting their army ready, but they did notice the Tikis stealing DK's bananas. Thinking smart for once, they came up with a plan to get DK to defeat the Tikis for them, then strike while he's still recovering. However, they've also taken account that the erupting volcano has messed up the geography, making it more difficult to traverse the Island. So they hypnotize a pig, give him some balloon-recovering technology and a special perfect DK clone and sent him off to follow the Tikis and wait for DK to help him through the levels. So the checkpoints are a Xanatos Gambit to help you to exterminate one enemy so the other can florish. Shaky, but it's clever enough to work.

The Kremlings didn't appear because they are planning for DKCR 2.
Exactly What It Says On The Tin.