Donkey Kong

''This article is about the character Donkey Kong. Also see the arcade game Donkey Kong (disambiguation)''

"Smacking the ball a mile is great. Now let me show you what I mean!"

- Donkey Kong



Donkey Kong (usually shortened to DK) is an ape character created by Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo. His first appearance was in the arcade game named after him, Donkey Kong. This game was also the first appearance of Nintendo's world-famous mascot, Mario (then called Jumpman).

Life as a Baby
Main article: Baby Donkey Kong In Yoshi's Island DS, who might be Donkey or Cranky Kong as a baby joins Baby Mario and Baby Peach on a quest to save kidnapped babies from their school. The infant gave Yoshi many special abilities, including the ability to climb vines, perform a shoulder charge, throw explosive eggs, and do a super ground-pound.

Monkey Love


Donkey Kongs first appearance (un-chronologically) was in the Arcade game of the same name, where he was the main villain. In the game Donkey Kong made off with Mario's girlfriend Pauline, and carried her to the top of a high construction site. He was pursued by Mario, and attacked him by throwing Barrels and creating living Fireball (Donkey Kong). He was eventually pursued to the top of the construction site, where Mario caused the bars supporting him to crash, sending him to the ground.

Donkey Kong tried to kidnap Pauline yet again in the Gameboy game Donkey Kong '94, this time accompanied by his son Donkey Kong Jr.. Donkey Kong's tactics in this game remained virtually the same, he attacked mainly by throwing a variety of objects at the hero.

It is still speculated exactly WHY Donkey Kong tried to kidnap Pauline: while some sources say that he took her in revenge against Mario (who had abused him) others (perhaps trying to show Mario in a more favorable light) say that Donkey Kong fell in love with the damsel-in-distress.

Donkey Kong Jr.


With the success of Donkey Kong, a second arcade game - Donkey Kong Jr. - was later released, in which the player took control of the title character, in his mission to save his father from Mario. In this game, DK Jr. climbs ropes to guide keys to the cage in which his father is held, while avoiding Mario's traps. It was later released for the Game & Watch. Many suspect that Donkey Kong Jr. would eventually grow up to become the current Donkey Kong, but others suspect that today's DK is actually Donkey Kong the Third. Further adding to the confusion is Donkey Kong Jr.'s later reappearance in Mario Tennis, a paradox only equalled by Mario and Baby Mario appearing in the same game on more than one occasion.

Donkey Kong 3


A final arcade game was later released - Donkey Kong 3. Mario was not present in this game - instead, the player controlled Stanley the Bugman, a very similar character to Mario, considered by many to be either the cousin, brother or rival of Mario. Donkey Kong was once again the antagonist in this game, trying to attack a garden. Stanley's job was to protect the garden, so he had to spray Donkey Kong with insecticide repeatedly. After a long fight, Donkey Kong runs away.

A Brief Disappearance


For a while, Donkey Kong wasn't seen. Mario had since found himself living in the Mushroom Kingdom, with Bowser taking the place as Mario's new arch-enemy, and Princess Peach replacing Pauline as his 'damsel in distress'. Donkey Kong Jr. was a playable character in Super Mario Kart, but he wasn't given a starring role for a while, except in the lesser known Nintendo game, Donkey Kong Jr. Math.

A New Enemy


Finally, DK was given a starring role in his own platforming game - Rare's Donkey Kong Country. In this game, the current, tie-wearing Donkey Kong lives in peace on Donkey Kong Island with a large family - including Cranky Kong, an old ape believed to be the original Donkey Kong. In this game, DK and his sidekick, Diddy Kong, were on a quest to reclaim his stolen Banana Hoard from King K. Rool and his Kremling Krew. This game introduces some new long-term friends for DK; Funky Kong - a close friend of DK who can fly the Kongs to any place they've already been, and Candy Kong - DK's girlfriend, who saves the game for you. It also introduces us to DK's animal friends, all of whom (except for Squawks) were ridable, somewhat akin to how Mario rode Yoshi. The animal friends consisted of: The Kongs' "animal buddies", would become a trademark of all future DK games.
 * Rambi the Rhino, whose horn could ram foes,
 * Enguarde the Swordfish, the underwater equivalent of Rambi,
 * Expresso the Ostrich, who was faster than the Kongs and slowed down falls with its wings,
 * Winky the Frog, whose jumping prowess helped the Kongs reach previously inaccessible platforms, and
 * Squawks the Parrot, who carried a flashlight in darkened levels.

The Bet
Not long after the events of Donkey Kong Country, Cranky Kong gets K. Rool to steal DK's Banana Hoard again, after making a bet that DK and Diddy couldn't do it on a hand held system - the Game Boy. This marked the beginning of Donkey Kong Land, in which DK and Diddy must again defeat K. Rool and his Kremlings to get their bananas back.

K. Rool's Revenge
Donkey Kong Country later had a sequel - Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest.



After defeating K. Rool and getting his Banana Hoard back, DK relaxes back on Donkey Kong Island with his friends. When it gets dark, and all the Kongs have gone home, DK still relaxes on the beach. Diddy comes back in the morning to find that the K. Rool (known as Kaptain K. Rool in this game) and his Kremlings have returned, and kidnapped DK! DK himself doesn't play a starring role in this game, since he is being held captive on Crocodile Isle, the home of the Kremlings - it is Diddy and his girlfriend, Dixie Kong who have to save him! Diddy and Dixie fight through Crocodile Isle to K. Rool's Keep, where they find DK. However, he is whisked away again (and in the Game Boy version, left to fight the giant Kremling, Kerozene). Diddy and Dixie chase K. Rool up to the Flying Krock, where they engage him. When the time is right, they release DK, who sends K. Rool flying into the swamps of Krem Quay. Diddy and Dixie chase him to the Lost World for a final showdown. This game introduces Wrinkly Kong - Cranky's wife and DK's supposed mother - and Swanky Kong - thought by some to be DK's brother.

Return to Crocodile Isle
A small time after the events of Donkey Kong Country 2 Donkey Kong ended up being kidnapped by Kaptain K. Rool and, once again DK was carted off to a recently resurrected Crocodile Isle. This set off the events of Donkey Kong Land 2. It was up to Diddy and Dixie to once again save Donkey Kong. The Kongs succeeded in defeating Kaptain K. Rool, Crocodile Isle was also re-sunken, this time, for good.

A New Quest
The final game in the Donkey Kong Country trilogy is Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble. The game stars Dixie Kong and her cousin, Kiddy Kong, in their own quest to rescue DK and Diddy from the new Kremling leader, KAOS. At the end of the game, it is revealed that KAOS is just a robot, who is being controlled by none other than King K. Rool (now called Baron K. Roolenstein) himself. It is also revealed that the Kremling leader had kidnapped Donkey and Diddy, and was using their brains to power KAOS.

Search for the Lost World
Some time after Donkey and Diddy were rescued from Baron K. Roolenstein a contest to discover the sunken Lost World opens up. DK and Diddy, hungry for adventure decide to enter and scour the Northern Kremisphere for the Lost World; leaving Dixie and Kiddy behind. Despite being apart of the storyline of Donkey Kong Land III Donkey and Diddy do not actually appear in the game: the pair were probably exploring a different part of the Northern Kremisphere instead of the part Dixie and Kiddy were exploring.

Back in The Spotlight


Donkey Kong finally gets his starring role back in Donkey Kong 64, his first true 3D outing. This game also sees the return of Diddy. Both are playable characters, along with three new Kongs; Lanky Kong, Tiny Kong (Dixie's younger sister) and Chunky Kong (Kiddy's older brother). In this game, K. Rool (returning to his old title of 'King' K. Rool from Donkey Kong Country) attacks Donkey Kong Island with a huge battleship, shaped in likeness of K. Rool himself. However, due to incompetent pilots, the ship crashes into Donkey Kong Island, allowing passage between both places. K. Rool's henchmen steals DK's Golden Bananas, and imprisons the other four Kongs as a distraction to power up the battleship's Blast-O-Matic that was going to destroy DK Island. Squawks informs DK of the disaster, and he sets out immediately to save the other Kongs and retrieve his Golden Bananas.

A Musical Adventure
During the events of Donkey Konga, Donkey Konga 2 and Donkey Konga 3, Donkey, Diddy and Dixie have found a special bongo set. Seeing an opportunity, they use the drums to become musical stars, earning them plenty of money to buy bananas with.

The Quest For Crests


In Donkey Kong Jungle Beat Donkey Kong travels to a new land. There, he defeats a bunch of new enemies, including the deadly Ghastly King. He leaves the new world and returns to Donkey Kong Island with hundreds of bananas, and a few rare trinkets called Crests.

Fighting Again


Mario and Donkey Kong duel again in Mario vs. Donkey Kong, it was almost identically similar to the original, though it had better graphics and the newer Donkey Kong. While watching T.V. one day, Donkey Kong sees a commercial for a new toy, the Mini-Mario Toy. He instantly falls in love with the little toys, and is determined to get one. But when he gets to the store, they're sold out. In a fit of rage, Donkey Kong steals a whole sack full of the toys from the Mario Toy Company. However, little does he know that Mario, the old foe of the Kong Family, is equally determined to get them back. Donkey Kong sets many traps for Mario, but in the end he is caught and forced to give the toys back (but out of pity, Mario lets him keep one of them).

In the sequel, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, he now works in the Mario Toy Company. Donkey Kong then kidnaps Pauline, the V.I.P. guest, when she chooses Mario's Mini-Mario toy over his Mini-DK toy. It is likely that he made the Mini-Donkey Kong toys, and perhaps he created the monkey-like enemies that appear in the game.

The Festival Ruined
Donkey Kong had more work to do during DK: King of Swing. It was time for the annual Jungle Jam, a festival for the Kongs. However King. K. Rool returns and steals all of the medals needed to have the festival. Donkey and Diddy go after him to get there tokens back. In the end, they defeat K. Rool, and the festival is celebrated.

Speculation
Donkey Kong's exact role in the Marioverse is somewhat sketchy. His original appearance portrayed him as a villainous (or maybe simply stupid) ape with unequaled strength. In these games, Donkey Kong was naked (like most real-life gorillas.

However, with the release of Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong was given a new personality, a new home, and a single piece of clothing (a tie with the letters DK printed on them). Donkey Kong Country also saw the appearance of Cranky Kong, who claimed to be the original Donkey Kong from the old Arcade games. It was confirmed that the tie wearing DK was a different character from the original DK in Donkey Kong's Mario Superstar Baseball bio, where it makes a reference to "his ancestor (the original Donkey Kong)....". Thus, it is widely believed now that Cranky Kong is an older version of Mario age-old nemesis, while the current Donkey Kong (who inherited his ancestors name) is the older version of Donkey Kong Jr.. This argument still goes on today.

Powers and Abilities
Unlike most characters, who have some kind of special power, DK relies mainly on his brute strength to get his way through. In the original Donkey Kong he had a seemingly unlimited supply of Barrels, and could throw them easily. This carried on to the Donkey Kong Country games, where he can pick up and throw Barrels with ease. Also in Donkey Kong Country, he can destroy certain enemies that Diddy Kong cannot hurt with a single jump. In Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, his strength is shown yet again, it makes him so strong that when he Claps, a sound-wave is produced. This is his main attack throughout the game.

Other Appearances
Donkey Kong appears in various Mario sub-series. He was playable in all of the the Mario Kart games except Super Mario Kart (this game instead had Donkey Kong Jr. as a playable character). In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Donkey Kong is partners with Diddy Kong. His special item is the Giant Banana and his kart is the DK Jumbo. He also gets his own course, DK Mountain. In Mario Kart DS he has two of his own karts: the Rambi Rider and the Wildlife. He was also playable in Mario Kart Super Circuit, and Mario Kart Arcade GP. It is presumed he will be playable in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2. In all of these games he was a heavyweight driver.

He is also playable in all of the golf, tennis and other sports titles. He is usually portrayed as a slow but powerful character.

He was playable in all of the Mario Party games, up until Mario Party 5, here he leaves and starts hosting his own space. He is basically the opposite of Bowser, since when a character lands on his space, something good happens.

He was going to appear in the now-canceled Diddy Kong Pilot and Donkey Kong Racing. He is now going to appear playable in DK Bongo Blast.

Super Smash Bros. Games


Donkey Kong has been playable in both of the Super Smash Brothers games, and will possibly be playable in the third. In Super Smash Bros. he is a default character. In one-player mode, the player must fight a giant Donkey Kong. This is the only fight where the player is given two partners to help him, instead of one. Giant DK can stand about 350 damage before being knocked off the stage.

DK was also a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Once again, he was a default character. In the new one-player mode Adventure the player must first fight two mini-DK's, and then fight another huge Donkey Kong at Jungle Japes.

Moves
Donkey Kong is always one of the strongest characters in the game. When he picks up a character, he also has the power to carry them a short distance, something no other characters can do. He also has a charge attack: he can swing his fist until it glows (in the original Super Smash Bros) or is smoking (in Super Smash Bros Melee) and then unleash a powerful punch on his opponents. Donkey Kong can slam his hands into the ground, creating minor shock-waves. Finally, he can twirl his arms like a helicopter to reach high ledges and damage enemies.

Physical Appearance


DK has some muscular pecs, a slim stomach, and humongous triceps and biceps; all surrounded in chocolate brown fur. The fur on his head gives off the appearance of a human hairstyle. He wears a single item of clothing, a red necktie with the 'DK' logo printed on it in yellow.

Appearances in Other Media
Donkey Kong, along with Mario and Pauline appeared in several episodes of the Saturday Supercade. Here Donkey Kong was a gorilla who had escaped from the circus and was now traveling the across country, with Mario and Pauline on his tail. Donkey Kong Jr. was also featured in a few of Saturday supercade's episodes. On the show DK Jr., along with his pal Bones traveled across the globe searching for Donkey Kong.

Donkey Kong made occasional appearances on Captain N: The Game Master. Here he was, more or less, a giant, bestial, monster. Often times on the show DK was manipulated by Mother Brain and her minions to do evil. Donkey Kong also appeared in the Captain N comics.

DK was also one of the main characters on the Donkey Kong Country animated series. Here he was the future ruler of Kongo Bongo Island and the guardian of the Crystal Coconut, often times Donkey Kong and his pals would need to defend the Crystal Coconut from the Kremling Krew and Kaptain Skurvy and his minions. On this show Donkey Kong was, like in recent games, somewhat of a slacker who loved bananas above all else.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3 info

 * Baller Name: Dunky Monkey
 * Type: Powerful
 * Special Shot: Konga Dunk
 * Letter to Tap: M

Mario Superstar Baseball Bio
"A gorilla known for raw power, DK lives a carefree jungle life... unless someone messes with his bananas, in which case he just loses it. His ancestor, Cranky Kong (the original Donkey Kong) wore no necktie. His talents lead in beating on primate foes and kart-racing. Fear his Banana Ball.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Information

 * Partner: Diddy Kong
 * Class: Heavy
 * Personal Kart: DK Jumbo
 * Special Item: Giant Banana

Trivia
When Donkey Kong does his Mega Strike in Mario Strikers Charged, he shoots himself into the air like a rocket. Once he's suspended in midair next to the ball, he widens his armspan, his eyes go blank, and electricity forms in his hands. Once the transformation is complete, he will clasp hands together with immense force, sending the ball down the field, at the goalie, with terrifying speed.

Super Mario Strikers is the first game in which Donkey Kong has worn something other than a tie since Donkey Kong Jr.