Rambi



Rambi the Rhinoceros (or simply Rambi) is grey colored rhinoceros and an inhabitant of Donkey Kong Island. Rambi is also an Animal Buddy ally of the Kong Family. In all his appearances Rambi's main method of attack is using his horn. Oddly enough, he can even jump on enemies that Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Dixie Kong wouldn't be able to jump on (such as Zingers and Spinies). That trait is shared with Winky and Rattly.

Rambi makes his debut appearance in the game Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo, as the first Animal Buddy found by the Kongs. In this game, Rambi could aid Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong by defeating foes with his horn. Rambi returns in the Game Boy game Donkey Kong Land, playing the same role he does in Donkey Kong Country.

In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest for Super Nintendo and Donkey Kong Land 2 for the Game Boy, Rambi aids Diddy and Dixie Kong in their adventure to save Donkey Kong from Kaptain K. Rool and is given the ability to perform a Supercharge attack, which can be used to smash through doors and walls to uncover hidden bonuses.

Despite appearing in all of the previous installments, Rambi curiously did not appear in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. Instead, he was apparently replaced by a different pachyderm named Ellie the Elephant. Similar to how Rambi uses his horn, Ellie used her trunk and could suck up water and pull barrels toward her with it. However, Ellie lacked the ability to jump on Sneeks, because of the stereotype about elephants being afraid of mice and similar rodents.

In the Nintendo 64 game Donkey Kong 64, Rambi appears solely in the areas Jungle Japes and Hideout Helm, and can only played as if Donkey Kong jumps into an Animal Crate with Rambi's face on it. Rambi is also usuable in a minigame in Donkey Kong 64, unlocked after taking pictures of a certain number of Banana Fairies.

Rambi was going to be a ridable Animal Buddy in the now canceled game Donkey Kong Racing for the Nintendo GameCube. Early screenshots of this game also showed that other Rambis, some gigantic in size and some extremely small were going to be ridable. Rambi makes cameo appearance in the Nintendo DS game Mario Kart DS, where a kart called the Rambi Rider appears as one of Donkey Kong's main karts.

In Donkey Kong Barrel Blast for the Wii, Rambi can be found in the track Mt. Dynamite. In this game, the Kongs and Kremlings can ride him after releasing him from an Animal Crate. Rambi's most recent appearance has been in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, in which a trophy and sticker of him can be obtained.

In the Club Nintendo comic "Donkey Kong in: Banana Day 24", Donkey Kong is briefly seen riding Rambi to an airport.