Donkey Kong (franchise)

The Donkey Kong series follows the adventures of Donkey Kong and his friends. The first game in the series, Donkey Kong, is also considered the first game of the Mario series, as it actually starred Mario (known as "Jumpman") as the protagonist (while Donkey Kong was the villain).

Like the Mario series, the Donkey Kong series is a media franchise made up of video games, comics and cartoons. After the initial series of arcade and Game & Watch titles (many of which included Mario), the series ended until Rare, Ltd. created Donkey Kong Country, which was drastically different than the earlier Donkey Kong games: it focused solely on Donkey Kong and his kin, and was set in and around their jungle home on Donkey Kong Island. This led to two more games in the Donkey Kong Country series, three similar Donkey Kong Land games, and various other installations and spin-offs. Both the Banjo and Conker series grew out of one of those spin-offs, Diddy Kong Racing.

Two spin-offs to the series, Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers and Diddy Kong Pilot were canceled. The series faced a five year hiatus until Nintendo EAD released Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. Since then, Paon and Retro Studios have taken Rare's place and kept the series alive.

Donkey Kong
Shigeru Miyamoto created Donkey Kong. In this game, Donkey Kong was the antagonist who kidnapped Mario's girlfriend (Pauline). It was later ported to the many home systems including the Atari 2600, the Collecovison and the Nintendo Entertainment System. This is a simple platformer, where the player must control Mario while jumping and avoiding obstacles and making it into Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong was Nintendo's first big success and influenced Nintendo to continue making successful games.
 * Year Released – 1981
 * System – Arcade

Donkey Kong Jr.
The following year, another arcade game was created, Donkey Kong Jr.. This time, the roles were reversed. Mario was the villain, and DK was a damsel in distress. Here, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong's son, had to save his kidnapped father from Mario. The gameplay is the same as the original Donkey Kong; Donkey Kong Jr. must avoid traps set off by Mario to save Donkey Kong by jumping and simply avoiding them.
 * Year Released – 1982
 * System – Arcade

Donkey Kong 3
Donkey Kong 3 was the third installment of the Donkey Kong series, where Stanley the Bugman fought DK. This game differed from its predecessors in that it is a shooter/platformer hybrid and did not include Mario as a character.
 * Year Released – 1983
 * System – Arcade

Donkey Kong 64
Donkey Kong 64 was Donkey Kong's first debut into the 3D world. Here, he takes along other friends, Diddy Kong (who first debuted in Donkey Kong Country), Tiny Kong, Lanky Kong, and Chunky Kong. King K. Rool (who also debuted in Donkey Kong Country) is trying to destroy the DK Isle. The 5 Kongs stop King K. Rool from doing so in this 3D platformer, and they also collect a ton of items to help them on their adventure. This game also features several minigames and even a multiplayer mode.
 * Year Released – 1999
 * System – Nintendo 64

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was the first successful GameCube title that starred Donkey Kong and his friends. This game uses DK Bongos to play, an innovative way to control the characters in the game and also a very simple way to play. This game was developed shortly after Rare left Nintendo, as they were bought out by Microsoft. As a result, no old characters from the previous Donkey Kong games returned. This game was later released on the Wii under the New Play Control! series.
 * Year Released – 2004

DK: King of Swing
DK: King of Swing was released, and it featured the return of King K. Rool and Cranky Kong. It is a puzzle game, similar to that of Clu Clu Land, but has a more "adventure" type feel. Donkey Kong and his friends must swing across boards of pegs, while accumulating items, to clear levels.
 * Year Released – 2005
 * System – Game Boy Advance

DK: Jungle Climber
DK: Jungle Climber is the sequel to DK: King of Swing. Due to it being a direct sequel, it has many similarities regarding gamplay and controls: Donkey Kong and his friends swing in a board of pegs to clear a level. Players can also play with each other in wireless multiplayer.
 * Year Released – 2007
 * System – Nintendo DS

Donkey Kong Country Returns
Donkey Kong Country Returns is a side-scrolling 2.5D platform game developed by Retro Studios for the Wii. It was released on November 21 in North America, and is scheduled to be released on December 2 in Australia, December 3 in Europe, and December 9, 2010 in Japan. It includes Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, who travel across the island to retrieve the Banana Hoard. It is the fourth game from the Super Nintendo game series, Donkey Kong Country.
 * Year Released – 2010
 * System – Wii

Donkey Kong


Donkey Kong is usually the main character of the Donkey Kong series, and more recently the main protagonist. However, in Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong 3, Donkey Kong is the main antagonist. He is also the damsel in distress in Donkey Kong Jr. Donkey Kong, currently, is a powerful ape who lives a carefree jungle, along with his primate friends, with Diddy Kong being the most prominent. He often stops the villain, King K. Rool, from wreaking havoc into his world.

Diddy Kong


Although first debuting in the Donkey Kong Country series, Diddy Kong still serves as a friend and most reliable buddy to Donkey Kong in the Donkey Kong series. Whereas Donkey Kong usually has all the power, Diddy Kong relies on his speed and quickness. Diddy Kong, with Donkey Kong, also helps his friends in the jungle to prevent havoc caused by King K. Rool.

Cranky Kong


Like Diddy Kong, Cranky Kong also first appeared in the Donkey Kong Country series, but later appeared in many Donkey Kong games. He is Donkey Kong's father, and is stated that he was the original Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong, though is not very clear. He first appeared in the Donkey Kong series under "Cranky" in Donkey Kong 64, where he makes potions for the Kongs so that they can learn new abilities. Later on, he helps the Kongs by teaching them how to perform moves and other similar actions.

Donkey Kong Jr.


Donkey Kong Jr. is Donkey Kong's younger self who first appeared in Donkey Kong Jr.. He saved the older Donkey Kong (known as Cranky Kong) from Mario's clutches. Despite the fact that he is Donkey Kong's younger self, they appear together in the game, Mario Tennis. He even has his own line of games, Donkey Kong Jr. Math which was an educational game. He does not make any more appearances in the Donkey Kong series after Donkey Kong Jr..

Stanley the Bugman


Stanley the Bugman, who first appeared in Greenhouse, is the protagonist of Donkey Kong 3. He sprays Donkey Kong (who could be known as Cranky Kong), with his Bug-Spray Gun so that Donkey Kong would get stuck in a beehive and that Donkey Kong wouldn't pester Stanley anymore. He appears in other games, but this is only appearance in the Donkey Kong series.

Mario


Mario, usually a protagonist in the Mario series is an antagonist in Donkey Kong Jr.. However, he is the protagonist in Donkey Kong, as he saves Pauline from Donkey Kong. In Donkey Kong Jr., he kidnaps Donkey Kong Jr.'s father and puts him in a cage. Mario then hinders Donkey Kong Jr.'s attempts to save his father by sending his minions out to attack Donkey Kong Jr. Donkey Kong Jr., nevertheless, still saves Donkey Kong from Mario. Mario would later appear as a protagonist in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series.

King K. Rool


King K. Rool, also the main villain in the Donkey Kong Country series, is the current main antagonist in the Donkey Kong series. He first appears in the series in Donkey Kong 64, where he attempts to destroy Donkey Kong Island. He reappears in Donkey Konga, where he played a minor role in the game by either dancing in the background or in a minigame. In DK: King of Swing and DK: Jungle Climber, he is the main antagonist where he also caused havoc. He sometimes seen as a sinister villain, and other times as a comic-relief character.

Tiki Tong


Tiki Tong created his Tikis to help him take over Donkey Kong Island. He made the Tikis hypnotize the animals to help them steal the Banana Hoard, which is their life source. Tiki Tong set up a plant in the Factory where Colonel Pluck and his robot created more Tikis. However, Tiki Tong's plans were stopped short by Donkey and Diddy. When Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong invade Tiki Tong's lair, he transforms his minions into hands so he can take care of the two once and for all.

Kritters


Kritters first debuted in the Donkey Kong Country series, but they are also fairly common enemies in the Donkey Kong series, where they are part of the Kremling Krew and worked for King K. Rool. They first appeared in Donkey Kong 64 as common enemies that can be easily defeated, and later in DK: King of Swing and DK: Jungle Climber as common enemies that can also be playable.

Snapjaws


Snapjaws first appear in Donkey Kong Jr., where they were the first trap set out by Mario in the first level. They can climb up and down vines, depending on their color, and they can hurt Donkey Kong Jr. if he touches them. They later appear in Donkey Kong for the Game Boy where they can be defeated by a hammer.