Donkey Kong

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



Donkey Kong (usually shortened to just 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.

Donkey Kong
DK's first appearance was in Donkey Kong - an arcade game named after him, being the lead villain. Though it is accepted by most people that the Donkey Kong in this game is actually Cranky Kong; Donkey Kong's elderly father in his younger days, he still goes by the name 'Donkey Kong'. In this game, the player controls Mario (called 'Jumpman' in this game) to the top of four different construction sites to rescue his girlfriend, Pauline, who is being held captive by DK. The player must guide Mario to the top of the screen, avoiding barrels thrown by the ape and other traps. After the fourth level, DK lies unconscious on a pile of girders, and Mario and Pauline embrace at the top of the screen. Though this is where the arcade game ends and resets to the first level, the Game Boy game released in 1994 sees DK grabbing Pauline again, and running off into the Big City, with Mario giving chase. This arcade game, created by Shigeru Miyamoto, was hugely successful - if it failed, the history of gaming would have been very different.

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. Donkey Kong Jr. is accepted by most people as the real Donkey Kong, saving his father, Cranky Kong. In this game, DK Jr. climbs ropes to guide keys to the cage in which his father is held, whilst avoiding Mario's traps. This game failed to be as successful as its prequel. It was later released for the Game & Watch.

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 blow DK and his insects away before they could destroy the garden. Stanley the Bugman was never seen again after this game, save a small cameo as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

A New Enemy


Finally, DK was given a starring role in his own platforming game - Rare's Donkey Kong Country. In this game, DK - believed to be a grown-up Donkey Kong Jr. - 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 nephew, 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 Rambi the Rhino, Enguarde the Swordfish, Expresso the Ostrich, Winky the Frog and Squawks the Parrot, the Kongs' "animal buddies", who help them in different ways.

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 the bananas back. The game has the same form as the SNES semi-prequel, but the levels are of a different structure.

K. Rool's Revenge
Donkey Kong Country later had a sequel - Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. fter 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's job to save him! Diddy also brings his girlfriend, Dixie Kong along with him, to help him in his quest. 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. There are also new animal buddies - Rattly the Rattlesnake, Clapper the Seal, Glimmer the Anglerfish, Squitter the Spider and Flapper the Parrot.

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 ressurected 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 succeded 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, 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 they're 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, presumebly the pair where exploring a different part of the Northern Kremisphere than 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 incompetant pilots, the ship crashes into Donkey Kong Island, allowing passage between both places. K. Rool steals DK's Golden Bananas, and imprisons the other four Kongs. 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 opprutunity, 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. It is unknown exactly what he is doing there, but while he is 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

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.

Physical Appearance


DK is a large muscular ape with 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 travelling 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 travelled 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.

Donkey Kong also appeared in the Mario Kart series as a plyable character. He appeared as Donkey Kong Jr. in Super Mario Kart though.

Donkey Kong has also appeared in the Mario Party series.

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.