Lanky Kong

"Cool move, DK! Gotta get some fresh air. I’ll help you by collecting blue bananas."

- Lanky Kong

Lanky Kong is a character from the Donkey Kong series. He is an ally of Donkey Kong and the Kong family. Despite his bizarre appearance and personality, he is a capable fighter thanks to his abnormal body and lengthy arms. His first appearance was in Donkey Kong 64.

Donkey Kong 64
In Donkey Kong 64, Lanky is one of the four Kongs imprisoned by the Kremling Krew at the start of the game. Lanky is found in the Llama's temple in the area Angry Aztec, where Donkey Kong and his Coconut Shooter are needed to release him from his imprisonment by the Kremlings.

Once Lanky is released players become capable of collecting Blue Bananas, coins and Blueprints. Lanky Kong fights the boss of Gloomy Galleon, who is Puftoss, when he defeats him, he gains one of the keys to K. Lumsy cage. Also in this level Lanky can transform himself into Enguarde. In Fungi Forest he has to race against a rabbit twice to gain a Golden Banana. Lanky Kong is the only character needed to enter the door to the boss of Creepy Castle, King Kut Out. Lanky Kong is the first one to try to defeat this boss, as all the Kongs need to be shot out of a barrel cannon to defeat him.

During the final battle against King K. Rool Lanky has to make use of the great reach to activate a switch and then a barrel with a banana appears, Lanky next has to throw the barrel so the banana comes out and make use of the Trombone Tremor to make King K. Rool fall with a banana. In one of the cutscenes Lanky appears at Hideout Helm and starts walking around the walls with two kremlings going after him, at the end a kremling tries to walk in the wall and falls.

Throughout the game Lanky gains a variety of bizarre abilities from drinking Cranky Kong's various potions or buying items from Funky and Candy. His first individual ability is Baboon Balloon, while the second is OrangStand, and the third one is OrangSprint. Lanky's weapon is the Grape Shooter. His instrument is a trombone; with this he can use the Trombone Tremor. Aside from this he can learn Simian Slam, Super Simian Slam and Super Duper Simian Slam, which all Kongs use. Lanky Kong is the only character that can transform into Enguarde, similar to Donkey Kong transforming into Rambi.

Donkey Kong in When the Banana Splits
He appeared in the comic Donkey Kong in When the Banana Splits, were the golden bananas are stolen, again by the kremlings. Unfortunately for King K. Rool, the kremling he sent stole the golden bananas in bad time, as Lanky Kong and the other Kongs were home. Lanky Kong, along all the playable Kongs from Donkey Kong 64, track King K. Rool easily through the jungle and after passing all kremling's traps and beating all the enemies, they have a final showdown against King K. Rool and the Kremling in which the Kongs win and get their golden bananas back.

N-Gang
He also appeared in the N-Gang comic series, but only had minor roles. In the N-Gang comic, N-Gang vs. Nintendo, he teamed up with Banjo, Kazooie, Wario, Yoshi, Peach, and Donkey Kong, to play a soccer match against the N-Gang.

These were his only appearances in comics and were also his only appearances out of games.

Donkey Kong Country 3
Lanky briefly appears in one of Funky Kong's minigames in the Game Boy Advance remake of Donkey Kong Country 3. Here, he appears in the water, along with other Kongs, and has to be protected from being taken away by boats with Kremlings on them.

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
After eight years of not appearing in games, except for remakes, Lanky Kong makes a return as a racer in the Wii game Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. In this game he is an unlockable character, unlocked by winning the Topaz Cup as a Kong character. In the game, he is considerably powerful, and is assigned a Klump as his rival. He has top speed, medium boost and poor agility. As with all playable characters, he has the ability of doing Wild Moves.

In the Single Race cutscene he can be seen, along Donkey, Tiny and Dixie, standing in front of their rivals, Kass, Kalypso, Klump, and Kritter. His bongos are blue with white parts, which resemble the colors of his clothes. This game marks his debut in spin-off games.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
Although he did not appear in Super Smash Bros. Melee, there is a reference to Lanky on the Kongo Jungle stage, as the DK Rap plays, after Tiny Kong's part, Lanky is mentioned.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Lanky Kong appears as trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, his trophy mentions his playable appearance in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast after years of not appearing in games. He also has his own sticker based on his appearance from Donkey Kong 64, it increases a throwing attack by six and can only be used by Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Lanky Kong appears once again as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Character description
Lanky Kong is an orangutan; he has orange fur, a red nose, and blue eyes. He's reported to have no style, no grace and possesses a funny face. His clothing consists of blue overalls, with a white shirt that is too small for him, and on his back he has a red and white patch. The buttons on his overalls are yellow.

In his recent appearance in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, aside from being updated graphically he looks slightly bigger and his hair style was changed. In this game his voice sounds different. Lanky looks very similar to Manky Kongs, but unlike them he is on the good side.

Abilities
Lanky mostly uses his long reach to attack enemies, he can also swing his arms while running to attack enemies. His long arms allow him to run while doing handstands and was shown in a cutscene to be able to 'stand' on a wall with his hands. In his Donkey Kong Barrel Blast appearance he was given more strength and had the ability to perform Wild Moves.

Abilities he had in Donkey Kong 64:
 * From Cranky's potions:
 * Simian Slam: He can press green buttons with his face on them.
 * Super Simian Slam: He can press blue buttons with his face on them.
 * Super Duper Simian Slam: He can press red buttons with his face on them.
 * OrangStand: With this ability, he can stand on his hands and can climb steep slopes.
 * Baboon Balloon: With the help of his Kong Pad, he can inflate like a balloon and can fly a short distance.
 * OrangSprint: With the help of Crystal Coconuts, he can stand on his hands and run extremely fast.
 * From other Kongs:
 * Trombone Tremor: He uses a trombone which can defeat almost every enemy. This can also make special things happen if he uses it on a Music Pad
 * Grape Shooter: He can shoot grapes to damage enemies and to activate switches.

Donkey Kong 64

 * Potions:
 * Pad Move: Baboon Balloon
 * Barrel Move: OrangSprint
 * Special Move: OrangStand
 * Weapon: Grape Shooter
 * Instrument Ability: Trombone Tremor
 * Color: Blue
 * Boss:
 * Name: Puftoss
 * Location: Gloomy Galleon

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast

 * Boost: **
 * Speed: *****
 * Agility: *

Quotes

 * "Cool move, DK! Gotta get some fresh air. I’ll help you by collecting blue bananas." – ''Donkey Kong 64
 * "Come and find me in the Tag Barrel!" – ''Donkey Kong 64

Trivia

 * Lanky Kong is commonly associated with water. In Donkey Kong 64, his color was blue, which is commonly associated with water. He also was the only Kong who could become Enguarde in that game, and his only boss fight by himself was against a fish in a boat. In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, his only cameo is in the water, although most Kongs appeared in the water with him. Ironically, orangutans are known to have one of the worst swimming abilities among mammals.
 * According to Donkey Kong 64, Lanky currently holds the record for the longest reach in the world, and it is shown that Lanky has a remarkable reach during his final battle against K. Rool.
 * In Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, Lanky's voice sounds vaguely similar to Diddy Kong's (especially when he performs a Wild Move).
 * According to Cranky he is a "twisted twig on a distant branch of the family tree".