The boss will leap high and land in the middle, breaking the main platform and dropping everybody down to a small, wooden bridge. After receiving three hits, Thugly's skin will become orange.

The boss will keep repeating this same pattern and order of attacks constantly. The player must also avoid the boss and the shockwave. After that, Thugly will make a large leap, trying to land over the Kongs and releasing a harmful shockwave across the ground. The player must avoid the boss and the rocks, and try to land a hit by jumping on the creature's belly after he falls. Now Thugly will ram and crash against a wall, making two rocks to fall from the ceiling, while staggering backwards and randomly falling onto his back dizzy. It indicates the plates are hazardous for the heroes. Avoid to touch the backplates when they are incandescent at any costs. Sometimes, if the player fails to landing a hit, the boss will immediately change directions and repeat the same attack. The primates must quickly jump on the exposed back to land a hit. The player must jump over the monster to make him skid and his backplates to retract for short time. Thugly will start by trying to run towards the Kongs and munch them. The boss battle is very similar to Mugly's and it is also composed by three phases. Suddenly the Tiki Tak Tribe will appear in airships, and Xylobone will hypnotize and possess Thugly to fight the primates, starting a battle. Donkey and Diddy Kong will blast up into a lair in the mountains, and soon they will notice Thugly munching their bananas. Jump into the barrel cannon to be shoot upward and start a cutscene. Initially, the player must go right and throw the DK Barrel to summon a second Kong if necessary. Another large factor is his huge, red horns, which are his main means of attacking. Thugly also has a white underbelly, with a small marking underneath. The front part of his head overlaps his jaw. He has large, burly eyebrows, and a small snout. Thugly has markings on his arms and back, that look like thunderbolts. His eyes are also smaller and red, and he has sharper horns. Thugly looks similar to Mugly, an earlier boss from the same games, except he has hot plates on his back (similar to those on an armadillo). His teeth are sharper and he is purple.

Donkey kong country returns mugly