Bumper (character)

"Badgers don't stink, no matter what anyone else says."

- Bumper Bumper is a badger playable character in Diddy Kong Racing and its Nintendo DS remake, Diddy Kong Racing DS. He is described across multiple supplemental material to Diddy Kong Racing as a lover of speed, thrills and races. After purchased Rare Ltd., in 2004, the rights of Bumper were given wholly to Microsoft.

A promotional e-mail by Rare Ltd. in 2004 to promote the release of Conker: Live & Reloaded implied that one of the racers from Diddy Kong Racing had been jailed. An instance on the Rare Ltd. website in 2012 further confirmed that the imprisoned individual in question had been "Bumper the badger". A later tweet, made in 2021 in response to a joke made by the Super Mario Wiki Twitter account, further added that Bumper at some point in time was put on parole, and that he was superficially apologetic for his actions.

Character development
An early design of Bumper was shared online by Kevin Bayliss, former Rare graphic and character designer that worked on Diddy Kong Racing. This early incarnation of Bumper was seemingly colored blue.

Diddy Kong Racing
Bumper was one of many characters contacted by Timber in Diddy Kong Racing, in order to prevent Wizpig from taking over Timber's Island. Bumper's theme instrument on the character selection menu is a.

Bumper has average speed, acceleration, and turning abilities. His top speed without bananas is 56.5 mph, like with Conker and Timber. His vehicle color is yellow.

Diddy Kong Racing DS
Bumper returns for the remake, Diddy Kong Racing DS, with very slight changes, including having a more mature voice.

Mario no Bōken Land
Bumper makes a small non-speaking cameo in the Diddy Kong Racing segment of, Mario no Bōken Land, titled "Go Go Diddy!". He is shown competing in a race, in his car, in second place.

4-koma Gag Battle
Bumper appears throughout the 4-koma Gag Battle manga adaptation of Diddy Kong Racing.

Mario Artist: Paint Studio
His Diddy Kong Racing artwork appears as a stamp in Mario Artist: Paint Studio.

Diddy Kong Racing

 * Character stats
 * Weight: Middle
 * Acceleration: 2.5/5
 * Handling: 2.5/5
 * Top Speed: 3/5
 * Vehicle Color: Yellow
 * Instruction booklet bio (page 24): "(Medium acceleration, medium weight, good handling, medium top speed) Unlike most of his kind, Bumper the badger prefers speed and thrills to a quiet nocturnal lifestyle. He gets even more worked up than his friends when he realizes how much racing and excitement will be involved in the crusade to get rid of Wizpig..."
 * Player's Guide (page 6): "Recruited by Timber to join the resistance against Wizpig, this burly badger is ready to take on all comers. It’s not just his sense of justice that’s spurring him on, though. He’s in it as much for the sheer thrill of racing as anything else."
 * Nintendo Power Volume 103 (page 15): "Bumper the badger breaks from the time-honored badger traditions of burrowing and sleeping twenty hours a day. This fellow lives for speed. Although all his starts put him in the middle range, he has good handling in every vehicle. With Bumper, you may never need to choose another driver."
 * Diddy's Drivers Ed: "Bumper's a light-heavyweight who does well on courses where there isn't a lot of turning required. His handling is slightly better than Conker's, but his acceleration is not as good."
 * Nintendo 64 Game Secrets, 1999 Edition Prima's Official Strategy Guide (page 36): "Trending toward the heavy end of the weight spectrum, Bumper suffers from slightly sluggish handling and lower-than-average acceleration (but not by much). On the plus side, he’s got a higher top speed than any animal but Banjo or Krunch. His added weight and relatively midground attributes make him a good candidate for any Hover race, especially as long as there are no extremely tight corners."
 * Rarewhere: "Unlike most of his kind, Bumper the badger prefers speed and thrills to a quiet nocturnal lifestyle, and he gets even more worked up than his friends when he realises how much racing and excitement will be involved in the crusade to get rid of old snout-face Wizpig!"

Diddy Kong Racing DS

 * Character stats
 * Speed: 3/5
 * Acceleration: 2/5
 * Handling: 3/5

Trivia

 * A "Dark" version of Bumper would have appeared in Diddy Kong Racing Adventure, which was a rejected pitch for a Diddy Kong Racing sequel. He would have used mud tornados as his special move.