Eel Family
- "Eel" redirects here. For other eels in the Super Mario franchise, see Category:Eels.
| Eel Family | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Group artwork of the Eel Family | |||
| Appears in | Donkey Kong Bananza (2025) | ||
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- “There is something strange about the ground here… We looked closer and made a surprising discovery. Small scraps of debris seem to have settled into the layer here creating an unusual sediment. Strange, wiggly creatures spend their days swimming through these odds and ends. They have long, undulating bodies. When we asked, they told us that they are underground eels. There was no sinkhole, so we didn't know where to go from here. But the eels dug a hole for us, opening a way forward. Thanks to them, our quest to find the origin of Us continues!”
- —Saga of Exploritone, Verse 18
The Eel Family is a family of eel-like creatures known as underground eels, also referred to as subterranean eels or simply eels, that appear as allies to Donkey Kong and Pauline in Donkey Kong Bananza. The most seen members of the family, Li'l Eelevators, can hold Donkey Kong in their mouths to "Teeleport" him between sublayers within the same layer via the map. The Eelevator is the mother of the Li'l Eelevators and can transport Donkey Kong and Pauline between layers after hitting the Warp Gong. The Eelings are also implied to be young Eelevators.[1] During the game's story, the father of the Li'l Eelevators, the Great Harmoneel, was mind-controlled to serve Void Kong when he was forced to wear the Mind-Bender Mask, managing to swallow Pauline after she and Donkey Kong beat Grumpy Kong in the Radiance Layer. He is eventually freed from Void's control in the Groove Layer when Donkey Kong plays his favorite song.
The underground eels appear to have originated in the Landfill Layer of the Underground World. Statues of the Li'l Eelevators and the Great Harmoneel made out of debris can be found in the layer. From a stone tablet in the Groove Layer, the eels are described to be music-loving and are friends with the Fractones. A stone tablet in the Landfill Layer also compares the stone blue feathers of the Singing Blusterwing with the scales of the Eelevator.
Profiles[edit]
- Eel Family
Subterranean eels who burrow and play throughout the Underground World.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch | Alen[2] | Eels | |
| Italian | Famiglia di murene[3] | Moray eel family | |
| Spanish | Familia de anguilas[4] | Eel Family |
References[edit]
- ^ "Do you think all
Eelings become 
Eelevators when they get big enough? No wonder they grow so much, the way they gobble everything down."
- ^ Imgur album of Dutch Donkey Kong Bananza screenshots
- ^ Mariuigi Khed (July 24, 2025). Donkey Kong Bananza ITA [Live 5]. Italian. Retrieved from YouTube.
- ^ DarkPlayer GamingTV (July 20, 2025). DONKEY KONG BANANZA Juego Completo - Gameplay Español (Nintendo Switch 2) 4K (6:54:26). Spanish. Retrieved from YouTube.
