Chunky Kong

"H-Help me! Chunky d-doesn't like heights."

- Chunky Kong

Chunky Kong is one of the Kongs in the Donkey Kong franchise, and he first appears in Donkey Kong 64. Chunky is a big and strong member of the Kong Family but is somewhat meek. He is the cousin of Tiny Kong and Dixie Kong and the older brother of Kiddy Kong.

Donkey Kong 64
In Donkey Kong 64, Chunky and the three other Kongs, Diddy Kong, Tiny, and Lanky, were captured by the Kremlings to distract Donkey Kong while they steal his banana hoard. Chunky is the fourth and final Kong to be rescued, although he can be rescued before Tiny Kong if Lanky is rescued first, then once Donkey Kong goes to Frantic Factory once it is possible to rescue him. Chunky is imprisoned in Frantic Factory's Storage Room, where he is locked in a cage that hangs from the ceiling. Lanky Kong can free Chunky by using OrangStand to walk up a pipe and Simian Slam a Kong Switch on top. This causes Chunky's cage to fall down and break, thus freeing him. This allows the player to select Chunky from a Tag Barrel, and to collect green bananas, Banana Bunch Coins, and green blueprints.

Chunky acts as the game's comedic relief. This is first shown in the DK Rap opening, where he briefly wears a 1970s-era disco outfit, but then quickly changes into his regular outfit after realizing that the other Kongs are in their normal outfit. Another instance is in the Tag Barrel, where he acts the opposite of the other Kongs, who want to be selected: if the player highlights Chunky, he gets scared of being chosen by the player and points to Tiny. If the player highlights the next Kong, Chunky is shown expressing a sigh of relief. Additionally, after Chunky falls to the ground from high up (which makes him lose a Melon of his health), he gets up with a shrunk torso and limbs. Chunky proceeds to inflate those body parts back to normal size. Chunky has a few unique abilities that he can learn from Cranky Kong at his lab. The first move that Chunky learns is Primate Punch, which allows him to activate wall switches depicting his face, and as an attack to defeat stronger enemies such as Robokremlings. The second move that he learns is Hunky Chunky, which makes him grow gigantic. The third and last move is Gorilla Gone, which allows Chunky to become invisible (except his clothes), see invisible objects, and pass by searchlights undetected.

Chunky, along with the other four Kongs, can perform Simian Slam and its two stronger variants, the Super Simian Slam and the Super Duper Simian Slam. These moves allow him to hit Chunky Switches, and the latter two allow him to hit blue and red Chunky Switches respectively. Chunky and the other four Kongs can also perform the Super Slam after Tiny Kong learns the ability from her first visit with the Banana Fairy Princess.

Chunky Kong is the strongest of the Kongs, and has the unique ability to lift and throw boulders. Contrarily, Chunky moves the slowest of the Kongs and also has the lowest jump of them. This is mentioned during his verse in the DK Rap along with his strength.

At Funky's Store, Chunky can pay three Banana Bunch Coins for his personal weapon, the Pineapple Launcher. At Candy's Music Shop, Chunky can purchase a triangle instrument from Candy Kong for three Banana Bunch Coins; from his triangle, Chunky can perform the move, Triangle Trample.

In Fungi Forest, Chunky is selected by the boss door of Troff 'N' Scoff to fight the level boss, which is a rematch against Dogadon. The level also has a Mine Cart Ride that Chunky must complete. During the King Kut Out battle, Chunky can be optionally selected from the Tag Barrel, along with the other Kongs. He is the third Kong to participate by default if the previous two Kongs (Lanky and Tiny) are blasted out the stage.

During the final boss battle against King K. Rool, Chunky is the fifth and final Kong to go against K. Rool. When the fifth round starts, K. Rool turns invisible and Chunky must stand on a Chunky Pad to activate his Gorilla Gone ability, which turn Chunky invisible but makes K. Rool visible. This also causes a Chunky Barrel to float above the center of the stage. Chunky must jump inside it to activate his Hunky Chunky ability, so that he can perform a Primate Punch as K. Rool charges for him. Chunky eventually knocks out K. Rool and wins the boss fight. In the credits, Chunky is seen playing with Tiny Kong, but accidentally throws her up onto a cliff.

Chunky Kong is playable in the Multiplayer mode. Aside from Chunky's regular outfit, there are three different color options for Chunky's vest. This includes a green vest with a light and dark purple pattern, a purple with a blue and light blue pattern, and a red with a yellow and red pattern.

"Donkey Kong in When the Banana Splits"
In the comic Donkey Kong in When the Banana Splits, Chunky helps the other Kongs track down King K. Rool when he steals the Golden Bananas. Chunky is the first one to attack the Kremlings, leading to a large battle between them and all of the Kongs. Chunky and his companions eventually emerge victorious, and return home with the Golden Bananas. In the comic, he is incorrectly drawn with teeth for an unknown reason.

Donkey Kong Country 3 (Game Boy Advance)
In Donkey Kong Country 3 for the Game Boy Advance, Chunky makes a cameo in the "Protect" challenge of the Funky's Rentals minigame. He is one of the Kongs who appear in the water and must be protected from being taken away by speedboats piloted by Kremlings.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Chunky Kong appears as a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It can only be used by Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, and it boosts the strength of throwing attacks by 31.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Chunky later appears as a spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which reuses his artwork from Donkey Kong 64.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Chunky Kong can be seen in art for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, alongside Swanky Kong, Dixie Kong, Diddy Kong, Cranky Kong, and many generic Kongs. He later appears in the final film alongside Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong. Although it is still a minor appearance, this marks Chunky Kong's first physical appearance in over 17 years since the Game Boy Advance remake of Donkey Kong Country 3.

Physical description
Chunky has the typical ape attributes like the other Kongs, and he has a similar build to his younger brother Kiddy Kong, having a big torso with large and long burly arms, showing his strength. By comparison, his legs and feet are quite small. Chunky's head is also fairly big, partly due to his large mouth that is even bigger than Kiddy's. Like Kiddy, Chunky has brown eyes, though his are a darker shade and are also unconnected with each other. His ears are also very small. Chunky is the biggest member of the Kong family, being taller than Candy Kong, and is more than twice as heavy as Donkey Kong, weighing 2000 pounds (907 kg) at his normal size, compared to Donkey Kong, who weighs 800 pounds (363 kg). Additionally, Chunky is described as being quite young, in spite of his huge size and deep voice.

Chunky's clothing consists of a white t-shirt with a vest over it that is blue on the front and has two yellow and orange buttons. The backside is colored yellow and green in a checkerboard pattern. He wears a red cap similarly to Diddy Kong's that is turned backwards, but his does not have the Nintendo logo on it. Chunky also wears a black belt with a golden belt buckle around his waist.

Personality
Chunky is portrayed as a strong character, but also sweet and gentle. He prefers not to fight unless he has to in order to help or protect those he cares about. He is normally cowardly, as if the player highlights him in the Tag Barrel, he will shake his head and point at Tiny to try and get an excuse not to go. He also was afraid of Dogadon, and dropped to his knees to beg him not to hurt him. He is also shown to be somewhat clumsy as he was seen causing accidents and messing up certain parts in the DK Rap.

Quotes

 * "Chunky free now. Thank you friend Lanky. Chunky can collect green bananas. Me wait in tag barrel until you need help." – ''Donkey Kong 64

Donkey Kong 64
Finally, he's here for you It's the last member of the DK crew This Kong's so strong, it isn't funny Can make a Kremling cry out for mummy Can pick up a boulder with relative ease Makes crushing rocks seem such a breeze He may move slow, he can't jump high But this Kong's one hell of a guy!
 * DK Rap segment:
 * Instruction booklet bio from Professor Cranky Kong (page 8): "Let me guess, this one’s the big guy? Sheesh, I don’t know how they come up with these names. Anyway, he’s Kiddy’s older brother and lists crushing, smashing and pounding Kremlings as his hobbies. Hey, perhaps there is a glimmer of hope for these bums after all. I bet he’s really slow though."
 * Rarewhere: "Older brother to DKC3 co-star Kiddy, Chunky demonstrates just what the oversized toddler of the family could grow into. Huge boulders prove no obstacle to him, and neither do most Kremlings, so they'd better watch out if they get his usually cheery nature to take a turn for the worse. He might not be the quickest Kong in the world, but he's definitely handy to have around. "
 * Player's Guide (page 5): "He’s big. He’s bad. He plays the triangle. Chunky is something of a primate paradox: brutal when the situation demands it, yet almost meek at other times. He’s also not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so he’ll need all the help you can give him. If there’s heavy lifting to be done, however, Chunky is the monkey to see."
 * BradyGAMES guide (page 6): "The strongest Kong has the ability to pick up and move rocks and other items that no other Kong can budge. The strength comes at the cost of speed. Chunky is easily the slowest and least agile of the Kongs."
 * VERSUS BOOKS guide (page 3): "Chunky is the staple “slow but strong” character in DK64. But, he’s silly and can knock any enemy cold, so we like him. You should too!"
 * Prima Games guide (page 12): "The biggest of the DK crew (and voted "most likely to smash things"), Chunky Kong isn't the brightest ape, but he can lift heavy things. Chunky is a power machine, with a few soft spots in his heart. Chunky makes up for his slow and lumbering pace by being strong as a...gorilla."

German website

 * Name: Chunky Kong
 * Occupation: Wrestler
 * Hobbies: Beating the triangle Eating (a lot!)
 * Favorite dish: Pineapple Compote
 * Favorite movie: The Karate Kong 3
 * Greatest hero: Kong Hogan

''Although Chunky is young in years, he is nevertheless almost as strong as Donkey. The well-mannered giant gorilla is, in the truest sense of the word, a great guy, and sticks to Lanky, his uncle once-removed, like a leach. Chunky is crazy about toys and sees the Kremlings also as giant play figures whom one can give a good beating.''

The giant ape, who is always in a good mood, feels most comfortable in company, especially when he can take part in a tournament of the best wrestlers.

''Everyone wonders why Chunky, who is always pretty clumsy, always wins the tournaments. Lanky says it's because he beams at his opponents and throws them off their guard in this way.''

Chunky has not been spared from being taken prisoner, either, and the solitude is especially difficult for him to take.

Hopefully, his friends will be at hand soon...

Trivia

 * Some of Chunky Kong's voice clips are reused from the 1952 cartoon .
 * Chunky Kong's voice clips were reused for Kudgel's roars when he jumps down in the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country 2.
 * In the Swanky's Bonus Bonanza in Krem Quay in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, one of the incorrect answers to the question "What is the name of the trendy, surfing Kong, who operates his barrel flights?" is "Chunky".
 * Chunky is the only Kong out of the crew of Donkey Kong 64 to not appear in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast even though it features his Pineapple Launcher. Chunky is also the only Kong from Donkey Kong 64 to not have a trophy in both Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
 * A rumor suggested that Chunky Kong appeared as an Assist Trophy character in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, which was proven to be false upon the game's release.