Donkey Kong (character)

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For the original arcade game called Donkey Kong see Donkey Kong (arcade game).

Donkey Kong (Japanese:ドンキーコング) is a gorilla character from Nintendo that appeared in many video games since 1981. Like many Nintendo franchises, Donkey Kong was created by Shigeru Miyamoto.

File:Donkey Kong.JPG
Donkey Kong experienced a redesign for the SNES Donkey Kong Country series.

Overview

The most common explanation of the name "Donkey Kong" is that it was created by Miyamoto as a combination of the word "Kong" from King Kong, and "Donkey", a word which Miyamoto (with his loose understanding of English) believed was a general synonym for "stupid" (another version of the story said that he used the word Donkey to represent the stubborn aspect of the ape's personality). It is believed by many that the name "Donkey Kong" was the result of a typo on the original cabinet's art work for "Monkey Kong", but this has been denied by Miyamoto and others.

In the original Donkey Kong game, the player's character "Jumpman" (later: "Mario") must jump over barrels thrown by Donkey Kong while climbing ladders up a crooked construction site to reach the top of the screen to rescue his girlfriend Pauline (who was originally called Lady in Japan). Each screen is a game stage, with stages grouping to form levels. Each successive level is progressively harder.

This game was first released in the arcades, but was ported to home video game consoles and home computers.

The game was quite revolutionary for its time, featuring multiple, distinct levels, large colorful graphics, and a unique form of play control.

Sequels and spin-offs

Donkey Kong spawned two sequels, neither of which were as popular as the original arcade hit. In Donkey Kong Junior Donkey Kong was kidnapped by Mario and players had to control his son Donkey Kong Jr. to rescue him. In Donkey Kong 3 DK broke into a greenhouse and got chased out by Stanley the Bugman (who carried a spray can to protect his greenhouse from Donkey Kong's insects). In 1994, Nintendo produced a remake of the original game for the Game Boy (often dubbed "Donkey Kong '94" to distinguish it from the original) which contained 96 new stages (most which were puzzle-oriented) in addition to the original four from the Arcade game. Donkey Kong's and Pauline's respective appearances were updated for this game (DK now had a tie and Pauline was made into a brunette to set herself apart from Peach)..

After that he went on hiatus until he appeared in Donkey Kong Country (in Japan, Super Donkey Kong). Donkey Kong Country was an entirely new DK franchise established by the British company Rareware which took the Donkey Kong premise in an entire new direction. Severing DK's ties to the Mario world (until Mario vs. Donkey Kong), Donkey Kong Country established a whole new world for DK, and became a showcase title to show-off then-revolutionary 3D CGI graphics.

In Donkey Kong Country, DK was the hero and he and his sidekick Diddy Kong had to save his hoard of bananas from the theiving King K. Rool. The game was an action sidescrolling title similar to the Mario games and was enormously popular for its graphics music and gameplay. Some sources, such as Nintendo Power, suggest that the Donkey Kong in the Country series was the son of Cranky Kong, the original Donkey Kong from the arcade game, which would equate him with Donkey Kong Junior. Other sources, including the manual of Donkey Kong Country1 and in-game dialogue from other games in the series, suggest that the Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country is Cranky's grandson and the son of Donkey Kong Junior. This is also contridicted by the in-game dialogue from Donkey Kong 64, as Cranky specifically calls DK his son.

Sequels soon followed. In Donkey Kong Country 2 (Super Donkey Kong 2) Donkey got kidnapped by King K. Rool (now Kaptain K Rool) and had to get rescued by Diddy Kong and his girlfriend Dixie Kong, in a less cheery and a more dark themed game. In Donkey Kong Country 3 (in Japan, Super Donkey Kong 3) he and Diddy both got kidnapped and Dixie and her cousin Kiddy Kong had to save them in the final game of the series for the SNES. The Donkey Kong Land series for the Game Boy were smaller and slightly modified versions of the "Country" games.

A successful N64 sequel was also developed. In Donkey Kong 64 DK once again had the starring role and he had to join forces with Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, Lanky Kong, and Chunky Kong to save Donkey Kong Island from destruction at the hand of the Kremlings.

The Donkey Kong Country series died after Rareware split with Nintendo to develop games for the Xbox. Though the DKC series were always solely developed by Rare, they featured Nintendo's trademarked characters and as a result are not allowed to appear on any other system.

Nintendo's first title after Rare was Mario vs. Donkey Kong, a return to the earlier arcade-style games. Clearly, Nintendo intends to not carry on with Rareware's work.

Donkey Kong also appears in a number of other games such as Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the Mario Party series, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, and the two crossover games Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee. In nearly all of these games, Donkey Kong is presented as a powerful but slow and cumbersome character (for example, in the Mario Kart games, he has a high top speed, but poor acceleration), as opposed to Yoshi. Donkey Kong is slated for several games on the Nintendo GameCube and the Game Boy Advance.

Playable characters in Donkey Kong games

Mario (originally called Jumpman) is the Italian star of many Nintendo games, created for Donkey Kong, where he must rescue his girlfriend, Pauline.

Donkey Kong Jr. was Donkey Kong's son, who rescues DK in "Donkey Kong Jr.".

Stanley the Bugman the mysterious "second hero" against Donkey Kong appeared in the lesser known 1983 sequel to Donkey Kong Jr.: Donkey Kong 3. Throughout the game, Stanley continuously fights against Donkey Kong in a Greenhouse with his trusty bug sprayer, while Donkey Kong sends his vast army of swarming insects in Stanley's direction to hinder his progress.

Donkey Kong in the Donkey Kong Country games is not the original Donkey Kong, but his grandson or son (Donkey Kong Jr.). He is playable and the star in Donkey Kong Country, and Donkey Kong 64. In Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3, he is kidnapped for the duration of the game, and the objective of the game is to save him.

Diddy Kong first appeared in Donkey Kong Country as Donkey's sidekick. In that game and its sequels he is smaller and weaker than Donkey. He returned as the star of Donkey Kong Country 2. In Donkey Kong Country 3, he appeared as a non-playable hostage alongside Donkey, and starred in Diddy Kong Racing. He reappeared in Donkey Kong 64 as one of five playable characters, where he possessed a rocket pack perhaps reminiscent of Rare's game Jetpac, which appears in that game. Most recently, he's started appearing alongside Donkey Kong in Mario sports titles, such as Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Dixie Kong is Diddy Kong's girlfriend. She first appeared in Donkey Kong Country 2 as Diddy's sidekick who helped him save Donkey Kong. She also appeared in Donkey Kong Country 3 as the star with her cousin Kiddy Kong as her sidekick.

Tiny Kong is Dixie Kong's little sister and was playable only in Donkey Kong 64. Most recently, she had a cameo in the Game Boy Advance port of Donkey Kong Country 2. Her talents include the ability to shrink and hover with her pig tails.

Lanky Kong is one of Donkey Kong's friends who appeared in only Donkey Kong 64, and is an orangutan. His persona is described as wacky and his specific skills in that game are generally due to his long arms.

Kiddy Kong is Chunky Kong's little brother. Kiddy appears only in Donkey Kong Country 3 and Donkey Kong Land III as Dixie's sidekick. His uniqueness derives from his size. Some sources suggest that he's actually the adopted brother of Chunky Kong, as he's clearly not a monkey like the other members in the family.

Chunky Kong is Kiddy Kong's Big Brother and is playable so far only in Donkey Kong 64, in which he is the fourth and final character that Donkey Kong has to rescue. Like his brother, his size is a major factor in his importance.

Supporting characters

Cranky Kong is an older Kong who refers to the "good old days" of videogames, typically breaking the fourth wall. Through his dialogue, it is implied that he was the original 8-bit Donkey Kong, and the current Donkey Kong is his son, Donkey Kong Jr. In DKC3, he is your opponent in Swanky's game. In the cartoon show, he played the role of a potion concocting scientist. While the cartoon has no revelance whatsoever to the games, for some strange reason, Cranky provided this EXACT same role in DK64 in which he would sell you potions that served as the method of teaching DK & crew new moves.

Wrinkly Kong is Cranky Kong's wife, and is a schoolteacher for the younger Kongs in DKC2 and also took over Candy's role of saving your game progress. She retired from school teaching in DKC3 to life of leisure, exercising, playing Mario 64, napping in her chair, and again saving your game. She also took care of the Banana Birds that you obtained in trades with the Brothers Bear or freeing from a crystal prison by playing a Simon-esque memory game. By DK64, she passed away but was able to appear in ghostly form to provide hints for Kongs who wandered up to the doorways with her face on them in each lobby of the game's worlds.

Funky Kong is a Kong of the same generation as Donkey Kong, but is not as heroic. He is a surfer, who lives a more mellowed out life style. He also runs a travel service on the islands. His first two appearances had him run an airline service but in DKC3 he would build you different boats for you to travel around the North Kremisphere. In DK64, Funky moved to weapons and gave each Kong a projectile weapon.

Swanky Kong is a Kong who has a taste for glitz and glamour. In DKC2, he is a game show host, who hosts a trivia challenge where the player can earn extras. In DKC3, he runs a carnival game where the player throws balls at cardboard cut-outs of Kremlings to earn extras. Some suggest he's actually Cranky and Wrinkly Kong's younger son.

Candy Kong is DK's girlfriend, and in the DKC1, she allowed DK and Diddy's game to be saved. She also provided instruments for the playable characters of DK64 to use against the Kremlings.

Bluster Kong is DK's snobbish rival for Candy's affections, and he runs the barrel factory owned by his mother. He did not appear in the games, but was a regular on the DKC cartoon show.

Eddie the Yeti, like Bluster, only appeared in the French produced cartoon. He lives high in the mountains of Kongo Bongo Island (NOT to be confused with DK Isle. DK's homeland's REAL name.) in seclusion. This is due to being quite plainly stupid as well as loud, rude, obnoxious, and mean. Hence his nickname "The mean ol' Yeti". Very rarely does he portray kindness but he didn't really make that many appearances from the start.

Full Donkey Kong Game list

External links

Notes

1. Donkey Kong Country Instruction Booklet p. 6, Nintendo, 1994.

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