Banjo

Banjo is one of the two protagonists of the Banjo-Kazooie franchise, along with his best friend, Kazooie. However, his first appearance is in Diddy Kong Racing, in which he is a playable character. His inclusion was to promote his then-upcoming title, Banjo-Kazooie. Banjo has light-brown fur, and he wears a shark-tooth necklace, yellow shorts, and a blue backpack that houses Kazooie.

Banjo is owned by Rare Ltd., a former second-party developer for Nintendo. In 2002, Rare was sold to, and the rights of both Banjo and Conker were transferred to the company.

Diddy Kong Racing
In Diddy Kong Racing, when Wizpig invaded Timber's Island, Timber calls for Diddy Kong's assistance. In turn, he sends Squawks to contact his friends, one of whom is Banjo. All the characters compete in a variety of racing challenges to liberate the island and decide who would race Wizpig. Eventually, the eight racers, with the help of Taj and T.T., drove Wizpig back to his home planet, Future Fun Land. However, Wizpig returns, and the racers go to his homeworld. At the end of the world, the winning character races Wizpig again, who rides on a rocket missile for the rematch.

On the character selection screen, Banjo's theme instrument is the banjo. The menu's theme is re-composed in a banjo when the player highlights him. Like the other characters, Banjo says his name when he is selected.

As a heavyweight racer, Banjo has slow acceleration, which is compensated for a high top speed (57 MPH without Bananas). His handling is below average, but is nevertheless better than Krunch's.

Since Microsoft had direct ownership over Banjo and Conker, both of them do not appear in Diddy Kong Racing DS. Instead, they were replaced with Tiny Kong and Dixie Kong, respectively. Despite this, Banjo's theme instrument was left intact, and it plays both on the character selection and the game's introduction sequence. Banjo's statistics were also retained for Tiny Kong, who was likely redesigned for Banjo's heavyweight feature.

Donkey Kong 64
Both Banjo and Kazooie made a cameo in early versions of Donkey Kong 64, but were ultimately cut from the final game. Their faces were going to appear on a shower stall in DK's Tree House.

Mario no Bōken Land
Banjo makes a small, non-speaking cameo in the Diddy Kong Racing story segment of Mario no Bōken Land, titled "Go Go Diddy!"

4-koma Gag Battle
Banjo appears throughout the 4-koma Gag Battle manga adaptation of Diddy Kong Racing. A certain four panel comic provides an explanation for what was in his backpack during Diddy Kong Racing, since Kazooie was absent: the backpack was filled with a beehive full of bees.

"Freeze Frame"
Banjo and Kazooie make a brief cameo at the end of the N-Gang comic "Freeze Frame", where they are seen celebrating alongside many other Nintendo characters.

"N-Gang vs. Nintendo"
Banjo appeared in the 2000 N-Gang comic, "N-Gang vs. Nintendo", where he played on the same soccer camp team with Kazooie, Wario, Yoshi, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, and Lanky Kong. Mario refereed the match.

"Die Hexe lacht um Mitternacht"
Banjo makes an appearance in the N-Gang comic "Die Hexe lacht um Mitternacht". After Gruntilda transformed Toni and VIP into hot dogs and leaves to reek havoc into the city, Big B. and Gecko arrives and devise a plan to defeat Gruntilda. They then use VIP's machine to bring Banjo into the real world, and then launches eggs at the witch to defeat her. After that, they all celebrate.

Mario Artist: Paint Studio
Banjo appears in some Banjo-Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing-based artwork in Mario Artist: Paint Studio along with other characters from those games.

Minecraft
Originally exclusive to the and  versions of the game, Banjo and a few other Microsoft-exclusive characters (including Conker) appear as playable skins in the Wii U and Nintendo Switch versions of Minecraft through an update on January 30, 2018. This technically marks Banjo's first appearance on a Nintendo console since Banjo-Pilot on the Game Boy Advance, and additionally, technically his first appearance alongside Diddy Kong since his debut.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Banjo, alongside Kazooie, were announced as playable fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate during the E3 2019 Nintendo Direct on June 11 (PST). Ultimate marks their first non-cameo appearance in a new game since Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing with Banjo-Kazooie, which was released for the in 2010, as well as the duo's first appearance on a Nintendo console since Banjo-Pilot. Banjo & Kazooie were released on September 4, 2019 (PST) as part of Challenger Pack 3.

The reveal trailer for the duo heavily references King K. Rool's original reveal trailer, with Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and King K. Rool looking outside the window of DK's tree house and seeing a silhouette of Banjo & Kazooie. It is then revealed to be Duck Hunt playing a prank, much like how the K. Rool reveal trailer had King Dedede pretending to be King K. Rool. Banjo & Kazooie then appear from the sky and knock Duck Hunt out of frame, with Banjo holding his namesake instrument. The trailer references Banjo's heavy connection and roots to the Donkey Kong franchise, as both were owned by Rareware (now called Rare Ltd.) in the 1990s, and Banjo's first appearance was in Diddy Kong Racing.

Banjo & Kazooie's moveset and appearances are directly pulled from their two Nintendo 64 titles, Banjo-Kazooie and , though they also sport a few original attacks. Spiral Mountain, the location of their home, serves as the representation for their stage. Regarding weight, Banjo & Kazooie are collectively a heavyweight, being heavier than Link, Yoshi, Captain Falcon, and Mii Gunner, but lighter than Wario, Ike, Ridley, Simon, and Richter, while having the same weight as Snake and R.O.B..

Banjo & Kazooie are the first fighters from a Western franchise in the Super Smash Bros. series.

Classic Mode route
Banjo & Kazooie's Classic Mode route pits them against fighters that work as a team.

Egg Firing / Breegull Blaster


Egg Firing is Banjo & Kazooie's standard special move.


 * Names in other languages

Wonderwing


Wonderwing is Banjo & Kazooie's side special move.


 * Names in other languages

Shock Spring Jump


Shock Spring Jump is Banjo & Kazooie's up special move.


 * Names in other languages

Rear Egg


Rear Egg is Banjo & Kazooie's down special move.


 * Names in other languages

The Mighty Jinjonator


The Mighty Jinjonator is Banjo & Kazooie's Final Smash.


 * Names in other languages

Palutena's Guidance
Banjo and Kazooie shares this stock conversation with all other DLC characters except Piranha Plant. It was originally used for Mewtwo, Lucas, Roy, Ryu, Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, who are downloadable fighters in that game.
 * Pit: Who is THAT?
 * Palutena: I have no data on this fighter. I can't believe it!
 * Viridi: It must be an intruder from another dimension!
 * Pit: Whoever it is, the goal remains the same: to fight and win!

Official website

 * The missing piece of the puzzle is found as Banjo & Kazooie join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable fighter! With Banjo’s bare hands to bruise rivals up close and Kazooie’s egg-cellent shooting skills, your rivals will be singing the blues in no time. For their Final Smash, these perfect partners call upon a flock of Jinjos and the Mighty Jinjonator to deal the final blow to any “feeble jerk” that may stand in their way!

Trivia

 * Prior to Banjo's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, him and Kazooie were among the most requested Super Smash Bros. characters of all time. A Rare employee wrote on their website back in 2009, that although they hadn't been considered for Super Smash Bros., many Rare franchise trophies were originally in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Vice President of Microsoft's gaming division,, made a Tweet in 2015, stating "it would be cool" to see Banjo and Kazooie appear as DLC fighters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U. He doubled down on the comments in 2018, a year before Banjo and Kazooie's reveal in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.