Enguarde

Enguarde is a blue swordfish and a recurring Animal Friend who appears in the Donkey Kong franchise, starting with Donkey Kong Country. As an aquatic creature, Enguarde appears in many underwater areas. With his sharp, pointed bill, Enguarde can defeat many underwater enemies, which the Kongs cannot do by themselves. Enguarde is capable of moving around fast while underwater. While usually portrayed as an individual, occasionally multiple Enguardes can be seen at once.

Enguarde and Rambi are tied with having the most playable appearances. Enguarde has appeared in the first three Donkey Kong Country games, the second and third Donkey Kong Land games, Donkey Kong 64, and Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.

His name is taken from the French phrase used in : "En garde" ("on guard", "put your guard up", ie: "be ready"), presumably due to Enguarde's long, sword-shaped bill.

Donkey Kong Country
In Donkey Kong Country, Enguarde appears in all four underwater levels, starting with Coral Capers. He also appears in Clam City, Croctopus Chase, and Poison Pond. Coral Capers has two Enguarde Boxes unlike the other levels, which only have one animal crate.

It is optional for Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong to ride Enguarde in every level, as his main role is helping them defeat underwater enemies. If Enguarde gets hit by an enemy, he swims away, and the Kongs can get back onto Enguarde by swimming on to him. Enguarde cannot defeat Clambos, Croctopuses, and Mincers, which also cause him to swim away.

Like the other Animal Friends, there are animal tokens in the shape of Enguarde. By collecting three Enguarde Tokens, the player is redirected to the Enguarde Bonus!, an underwater area with a red background. Here Enguarde must collect as many mini Enguarde Tokens within the time limit.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Enguarde reappears in many of the underwater levels of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. He appears in five levels, in order from Lockjaw's Locker, Lava Lagoon, Arctic Abyss, Clapper's Cavern and Animal Antics. He does not appear in some underwater levels, such as Glimmer's Galleon, which instead features another aquatic Animal Friend, Glimmer.

The game introduces Enguarde's Superstab maneuver, where he can build up energy and then release to quickly charge into a straight direction. Unlike the previous game, the Kongs are required to use Enguarde, whose Supercharge ability must be used to break open a fragile wall so they can enter a Bonus Level. In Arctic Abyss, Clapper's Cavern and Animal Antics, there is a part where the Kongs must enter an Animal Barrel to transform into Enguarde. Enguarde is the second Animal Friend with a section in Animal Antics.

In the Swanky's Bonus Bonanza of Gloomy Gulch, during the "Gibbon Game" challenge, a question asks what "Enguarde," "Swordy," and "Stabber."

Donkey Kong Land 2
Enguarde reappears in Donkey Kong Land 2 and retains his Superstab ability from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Like the other Animal Friends, Diddy and Dixie can no longer ride Enguarde, whom they must instead transform into via an Animal Barrel.

Enguarde appears in four levels, in order:
 * Lockjaw's Locker
 * Lava Lagoon
 * Glimmer's Galleon (unlike its Donkey Kong Country 2 counterpart)
 * Arctic Abyss

Enguarde does not have his own section in Animal Antics unlike the previous game's counterpart.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
Enguarde makes his fourth game appearance in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, and retains his abilities from the predecessor, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Enguarde is one of the three Animal Friends to fight a boss, specifically the Razor Ridge boss level, Barbos's Barrier, where Enguarde fights the mother of the Lurchins, Barbos. He can attack Barbos and Lurchins alike by performing a Supercharge on the squishy center part of their body. Enguarde cannot defeat a Lurchin or Barbos by stabbing their spiky shell, which injures him instead.

In the Game Boy Advance version, Enguarde appears in two levels of Pacifica, and fights Barbos at the end of Pacifica rather than in Razor Ridge.
 * Levels
 * Tidal Trouble
 * Bazza's Blockade
 * Floodlit Fish
 * Pot Hole Panic
 * Poisonous Pipeline
 * Dingy Drain-Pipe (Game Boy Advance version)
 * Stormy Seas (Game Boy Advance version)

Donkey Kong Land III
Enguarde also appears in Donkey Kong Land III, mostly in the levels from the first world, Cape Codswallop. Enguarde also fights Barbos another time, during the boss level Barbos Bastion, at the end of Cape Codswallop. Unlike Donkey Kong Country 3, Enguarde must attack Barbos by charging a Lurchin into its center. Like Donkey Kong Country, Enguarde cannot perform a Supercharge. Enguarde appears in a riverbank level, which he does not appear in the previous game.
 * Levels
 * Seabed Shanty
 * Ford Knocks
 * Koco Channel
 * Coral Quarrel
 * Deep Reef Grief

Donkey Kong 64
In Donkey Kong 64, Enguarde (also named Enguard the Swordfish or simply Enguard ) only appears in Gloomy Galleon, and Lanky Kong is the only Kong who can enter the Enguarde Box to transform into Enguarde. Enguarde Boxes are present in both the lighthouse and shipwreck areas of the level. Unlike the Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land games, Enguarde cannot defeat underwater enemies, though he can charge into treasure chests to destroy them and reveal hidden items. Enguarde has the ability to jump out of the water, and doing so is necessary in the shipwreck area, where Enguarde must jump through a DK Star three times in order to open the Coin Room.

Enguarde is featured in an unlockable minigame, the Enguarde Arena, which can be unlocked under the Mystery menu once the player captures six Banana Fairies in Adventure mode. The minigame's objective is for Enguarde to jump through as many stars with the DK logo within the time limit.

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
Enguarde appears in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast as a ridable Animal Friend in underwater racetracks once he is released from his crate. In this game, he can ram through anything in his path, including an electrified Chomps. Him and Rambi cannot hurt other racers by ramming into them, but they are unaffected by attacks and Wild Moves from other players as well as all items, except for the reversed control effects and loss of Wild Moves from a Mega TNT Barrel. Enguarde is found in the underwater portions of Salty Sea and Open Ocean.

Donkey Kong Country
Enguarde appeared as Donkey and Diddy's Animal Friend in the third part of Club Nintendo's comic "Donkey Kong Country". Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong ride him through a body of water, while being attacked by several underwater enemies. An exploding TNT Barrel pushes them out of the water and onto King K. Rool's ship Gangplank Galleon, after which Enguarde does not appear again.

Super Mario-Kun
Enguarde appears in issue 14 of Super Mario-Kun. After Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong ride on a fake Enguarde, Mario and Yoshi find a box that contains Enguarde. They meet Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong in ropes. Before Mario can do anything, he gets attacked by a Croctopus. Enguarde saves him, but a Clambo breaks his nose. Mario responds by attaching a drill to his nose. Enguarde then plows through the Croctopus, breaking its arms.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Enguarde makes an appearance as both a Donkey Kong series trophy and a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Both can be obtained when they appear at random in Vs. matches, Adventure Mode or other modes of the game. The sticker can be used on Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong in the Subspace Emissary to boost their attack power by 15 points.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Enguarde reprises its role as a Donkey Kong series trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. It can appear at random in various modes of the game.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Enguarde appears as an Advanced-class Attack-type primary spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. When equipped, it boosts the fighter's power but increases the damage taken by electric attacks. In World of Light, the spirit is encountered in the Coral Capers spot on the DK Island sub-map of the Light Realm. The spirit's puppet fighter is a male Corrin in a low-buoyancy fight on the Great Bay stage.

Picross NP Vol. 8
Enguarde makes a cameo appearance in Picross NP Vol. 8 as one of the images that must be cleared.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
In the Donkey Kong Adventure story of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, one of Rabbid Peach's Sentry weapons, the Trophy Fish Terror, is based on Enguarde's appearance. The weapon's description reassures that Enguarde is "safe and sound" despite the implication in the weapon's name that he was hunted and turned into a trophy.

Diddy Kong Pilot (2003)
In Diddy Kong Pilot's 2003 iteration, a few Enguardes are seen in the course Shore Strife, splashing in and out of the water. In the Cranky Kong Pilot title screen variation, an Enguarde is shown jumping out of the water below every few seconds, at a slower pace than the Enguardes of Shore Strife.

Enguarde was replaced with the dolphins from Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge in the final version of this iteration, Banjo-Pilot.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
The development team of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze wanted to add more Animal Friends to the game, with Enguarde being considered.

Donkey Kong Land 2

 * Virtual Console manual bio: "Press while swimming quickly to perform a dash attack. Hold  to perform a super dash."

Trivia

 * In early screenshots and during the trailer of the canceled Donkey Kong Racing, there is a scene of Diddy and Tiny racing each other on Enguardes while underwater. Diddy is riding a purple Enguarde, which appears slightly larger than the regular Enguarde. It is unknown if the purple Enguarde would have had any distinctive qualities aside from its color.
 * According to Retro Studios employee Vince Joly, Enguarde was almost set to appear in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.