Banjo

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Template:Character-infobox

“I'm Banjo!”
Banjo, Diddy Kong Racing

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 Microsoft, and the rights of both Banjo and Conker were transferred to the company.

History

Donkey Kong franchise

Diddy Kong Racing

Banjo races in the Snowflake Mountain stage, Walrus Cove, in Diddy Kong Racing.
Banjo races in Walrus Cove of 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. His handling lies below average, but it remains an improvement over Krunch's. Banjo has a top speed of 57mph without Bananas.

Since Microsoft had direct ownership over Banjo and Conker, both of them do not appear in Diddy Kong Racing DS. Instead, they were respectively replaced with Tiny Kong and Dixie Kong. 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

The Banjo and Kazooie poster originally found in DK's Tree House in Donkey Kong 64.
Banjo and Kazooie's cameo in an early build of 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.

N-Gang

Banjo and Kazooie's appearance in "N-Gang vs. Nintendo"

"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 Xbox 360 and Xbox One 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

Template:SSB Infobox

SmashWiki article: Banjo & Kazooie (SSBU)

Banjo and Kazooie appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the third downloadable fighter for the Fighters Pass (and the fourth downloadable fighter overall), marking their first non-cameo appearance in a new game since Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing with Banjo-Kazooie, which was released for the Xbox 360 in 2010 as well as the duo's first appearance in a Nintendo console since Banjo-Pilot. They were announced in the E3 2019 Nintendo Direct broadcast on June 11 (PST), and 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 Treehouse and seeing a silhouette of Banjo and 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 and 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.

Their moveset and appearance is directly pulled from their two Nintendo 64 titles, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, 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 a heavyweight fighter, 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..

Classic Mode route

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

Perfect Partners
Round Opponent(s) Stage Song
1 Duck Hunt (brown/red costume) Spiral Mountain Main Theme - Banjo-Kazooie
2 Rosalina & Luma Tortimer Island Treasure Trove Cove
3 Ice Climbers Summit Freezeezy Peak
4 Link, Zelda Mushroomy Kingdom Gobi's Valley
5 Fox (dark costume), Falco (dark costume) Luigi's Mansion Mad Monster Mansion
6 Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong Jungle Japes Donkey Kong Country Returns
Final Master Hand, Crazy Hand (intensity 7.0 or higher) Final Destination Master Hand
Master Hand / Crazy Hand (intensity 7.0 or higher)

Profiles and statistics

Palutena's Guidance

The following dialogue also applies to Joker, Hero, and Terry. 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!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirit

Name Image Series / game Type Class Strength / effect(s) How to obtain Spirit battle
Opponent(s) Battle conditions Stage Song
Banjo & Kazooie Banjo & Kazooie spirit from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Banjo-Kazooie Series Fighter N/A N/A Classic Mode as Banjo & Kazooie N/A N/A N/A N/A

Game appearances

Title Description Release Date System/Format
Diddy Kong Racing Playable character 1997 Nintendo 64
Mario Artist: Paint Studio Cameo in artworks from Banjo-Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing 1999 Nintendo 64DD
Minecraft: Wii U Edition Playable skin via update 2018 Wii U
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition Playable skin via update 2018 Nintendo Switch
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Playable character via DLC 2019 Nintendo Switch

Gallery

Diddy Kong Racing

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Japanese バンジョー
Banjō
Banjo

Chinese 班卓
Bānzhuō
阿邦 (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)
Ābāng

Banjo

-

German Banjo
-
Korean 반조
Banjo
Banjo

Russian Банджо
Bandzho
Banjo

External links