Ninjape

Ninjapes are enemies appearing in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and the enhanced remake, New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. They are colorful though hostile variants of regular Helper Monkeys, attacking or threatening Donkey Kong in the levels they appear in. In the ending of New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, the Ninjapes appear to gain a much higher respect for him and can even be seen clapping and chanting for Donkey Kong at the end of the game. Despite their name, Ninjapes are actually monkeys. With the exception of red ones, which appear much sooner, they first appear in the Durian Kingdom and are raced against in the Ninjape Rally level of the Star Fruit Kingdom.

Variants
There are four different types of Ninjapes, in the colors black, green, blue and red. Each variant has its own attacks and traits.

Black Ninjapes
The first type of Ninjapes to be encountered, black Ninjapes rush toward Donkey Kong with katana and jump high into the air, flinging themselves Donkey Kong and inflicting damage if the attack is not avoided. Before the black Ninjapes do fling themselves at Donkey Kong, however, they momentarily pause midair, giving Donkey Kong a chance to hit them with his Sound Wave Attack. If done correctly, the black Ninjapes become struck by lightning and stunned, allowing Donkey Kong to defeat them.

Green Ninjapes
Green Ninjapes attempt to keep a distance from Donkey Kong and attack by throwing shuriken horizontally, though they can follow the contour of the ground. If Donkey Kong gets too close to one, they back away from him, though they can easily be caught up with and defeated with a Sound Wave Attack.

Blue Ninjapes
Blue Ninjapes are most common in levels involving Donkey Kong having to use a Helibird to float to higher parts of the stage. They throw shuriken in straight lines of any direction at Donkey Kong to damage him and hide when he gets too close. A blue Ninjape sometimes assists a Tusk boss during battle. They are able to stand on ceilings.

Red Ninjapes
Red Ninjapes are the least common or involved of the Ninjapes and can be seen sitting atop Kiba Pig Poppos, Mini Elephant Cannons, and Fire Pig Poppos. They cannot hurt Donkey Kong, and when he gets too close to them, they disappear. Likewise, if Donkey Kong attacks an enemy with a red Ninjape on top of it, the red Ninjape simply disappears.