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- Not to be confused with Cranky Kong.This article is about the character, for other uses, see Donkey Kong.
- "My Bananas and my buddy Diddy Kong, they're gone! The Kremlings will pay!"
- —Donkey Kong swears to save his Banana Hoard and Diddy Kong after the Kremlings strike in Donkey Kong Country.
- "He's the leader of the bunch, you know him well
He's finally back to kick some tail!
His Coconut Gun can fire in spurts
If he shoots ya, it's gonna hurt!
He's bigger, faster, and stronger too,
He's the first member of the DK crew!"
Donkey Kong III (also commonly referred to as DK) is the main and titular protagonist of the Donkey Kong franchise and a recurring Mario character. Throughout his adventures, Donkey Kong tries to stop King K. Rool from stealing his Banana Hoard alongside his friends, and has protected his home from other threats like Lord Frederik and the Tiki Tak Tribe. He is the grandson of Cranky Kong, who originally bore the "Donkey Kong" title in releases prior to Donkey Kong Country before he and the current Donkey Kong were created by Rare in 1994. As a title, Donkey Kong was first used in the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong, but Rare's Donkey Kong, along with Cranky Kong, were introduced in Donkey Kong Country.
Donkey Kong, more specifically Cranky Kong who bore the title at the time, is the first Mario antagonist, predating even Bowser. After Donkey Kong 3, Donkey Kong has become a supporting character, but the current Donkey Kong is the main antagonist of the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series.
Profile[]
Physical description[]
He is a brown gorilla, with some skin areas, and wear's a red tie that say "DK" in yellow coloring. in the original Donkey Kong Country game trilogy, the original DK seemed to have aged to become the new DK's grandfather, Cranky Kong. Due to this confirmation, the present day DK's true and actual first appearance was in Donkey Kong Country. His first chronological appearance as a baby was in Yoshi's Island DS. In Donkey Kong Country, DK heavily resembles his former, having brown fur and a bulky build, and his signature red tie with his initials on it. Only occasionally does DK change his looks, such as in the Mario Strikers series, where he wears a green numbered shirt, with added armor in Charged. For his cameo appearance in the Wii version of Punch Out!!, he is given red gloves with his initials on them, and in Skylanders Superchargers, Donkey Kong wears a yellow jump suit with his tie. In Yoshi's Island DS, he appeared wearing a red bib with yellow edges and his initials on it. Mario Strikers: Battle League marks the first time that DK wears full clothing, which includes a shirt, shorts, and even shoes. Armor can also be added to his look. Throughout the development of several titles Donkey Kong has changed his physical appearance slowly, at first, he was shown savage, slow, and muscular, much like his grandfather, however, he has been shown to be more agile, such as in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat where he is faster in movement and more athletic able to perform backflips, aerial kicks and dodge at high speed. DK has remained the powerhouse in other games such as Mario & Sonic Olympic games and Super Smash Bros. Brawl where he is stated to be a "balanced" character. DK's size also seems to change slightly from game to game; for example, DK seems much larger compared to Diddy Kong in Donkey Kong Country Returns and later games as compared with past titles, like the original Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land trilogies.
Speech[]
In the Donkey Kong arcade game, the original Donkey Kong only spoke in growls as he took Lady (or Pauline) on top of a construction site (which sounded like "heh heh heh"), as well as when ascending further up the structure upon Mario completing a level (except for 100m). Saturday Supercade depicted him with the ability to speak broken English in contrast to Donkey Kong Jr., his son. While he mainly verbalized realistic ape noises in-game, the instruction manuals for the Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Land and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest showed that the current Donkey Kong has the ability to speak rather intelligently, which was also seen during the ending of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. Donkey Kong later spoke intelligibly in a few Club Nintendo comics as well as Super Mario-kun. Donkey Kong first received voice acting in the 1998 computer-animated Donkey Kong Country television series, where he was portrayed by Richard Yearwood. Donkey Kong next received voice acting in Donkey Kong 64, where he was portrayed by Grant Kirkhope, a composer for Rare Ltd. and the Donkey Kong franchise. Here, Donkey Kong had a few lines where he spoke broken English while referring to himself in the third person. Grant Kirkhope would continue to portray Donkey Kong until 2006; unlike in Donkey Kong 64, Mr. Kirkhope would provide a mixture of cartoonish gorilla noises and actual words/phrases (though in fluent English). After 2006, Takashi Nagasako took over as Donkey Kong's voice actor, first heard in Mario Power Tennis, though he mainly provided him with cartoonish gorilla noises, although he is able to say his name, "Let's go!", and "Yeah, hey!" In current games where Donkey Kong is intended to speak in full sentences, there is in-game text to signify what he is saying. In the early Mario Party games, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart Super Circuit, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, as well as the Super Smash Bros. series, Donkey Kong is instead given chimpanzee screams and realistic gorilla roars, respectively, instead of a voice actor; Donkey Kong's voice clips from the N64 era use the Chimpanzee Screeches and Vocalizes from The Hollywood Edge Sound Effects Library.
Personality traits[]
n the games, despite his carefree lifestyle, Donkey Kong is a brave and friendly hero who highly cares for his friends and banana hoard, and becomes enraged if either are threatened. He is always keen to be helpful and use his strength whenever possible. The Mario vs. Donkey Kong series portray him as prone to temper tantrums if he doesn't get what he wants, which leads to him and Mario clashing when he steals the Mini Mario Toys and even kidnaps Pauline, though he does show remorse once Mario resolves the matter. Donkey Kong is also shown as more aggressive and willing to fight in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.
Donkey Kong is inconsistently depicted as somewhat dim-witted; in Fortune Street, Toad remarks that Donkey Kong is the brawn while Diddy Kong is the brains, and he speaks in broken, third-person English for his few lines in Donkey Kong 64; however, in other appearances, particularly during the Donkey Kong Country series, DK speaks fluent English much like the other Kongs. In The Subspace Emissary, Donkey Kong is shown to be more cautious, sensing the danger of the Dark Cannon Bowser wielded and electing to get the impulsive Diddy Kong to safety. In Snake's codec conversation on Donkey Kong in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Otacon claims that Donkey Kong seems "pretty smart" for an ape.
In the TV series, Donkey Kong's personality is largely the same, albeit depicting him as lazy instead of carefree. Donkey Kong is shown to have a somewhat stronger moral back bone, as shown in I Spy with My Hairy Eye with his reluctance to use the Crystal Coconut to wish for more bananas until Diddy manipulated him into doing it. Donkey Kong also seems easier to startle and more sensitive overall, but maintains an aggressive wariness of King K. Rool, Kaptain Skurvy and their goons.
Powers and abilities[]
- Superhuman Strength: Donkey Kong can break through and destroy most objects smaller or bigger than him. He has Super Strength since he is an ape. He can also climb trees and mountains and can swing from vine to vine.
In the Donkey Kong franchise[]
Donkey Kong[]
Donkey Kong took the role of antagonist in his first appearance Donkey Kong he had kidnapped Mario’s girlfriend Pauline, and carried her to the top of a high construction site. He was pursued by Mario who he by throwing Barrels and creating living Fireballs. He was eventually pursued to the top of the construction site, where Mario caused the bars supporting him to crash, sending him to the ground.
Donkey Kong Jr.[]
Donkey Kong took the role of damsel-in-distress during Donkey Kong Jr.. In this game, Mario actually kidnapped Donkey Kong perhaps to keep him from from kidnapping Pauline and stood guard next to his cage with a whip. In the end, Donkey Kong Jr. arrived and defeated Mario to free Donkey Kong.
Donkey Kong 3[]
In Donkey Kong 3 Donkey Kong was a main villain once again, although this time he did not fight Mario (who had gone on to star in his own series, and would not meet with Donkey Kong again until much later). In this game, Donkey Kong has gone on a rampage inside a greenhouse and a local exterminator called Stanley the Bugman was called in to defeat him (along with other bugs destroying plants in the greenhouse). Donkey Kong would use a system of ropes to lower himself to the greenhouse floor. When he reaches the floor, the game ends and Donkey Kong is able to destroy the rest of the greenhouse. After Stanley sprays Donkey Kong with insecticide three times to keep him off the greenhouse floor, he runs away.
Post-Arcade, Pre-Rare[]
All the DK arcade games were ported to the NES, but Donkey Kong and DK Junior were thrown back into supporting roles for a long time, most notably, Super Mario Kart. However, in 1994, Nintendo released a Game Boy re-make of Donkey Kong, The only notable difference between the versions is Donkey Kong's now famous necktie he sports.
Rareware era[]
The 1994 Super NES game Donkey Kong Country made by British game developer Rare marked a turning point for Donkey Kong by creating a new setting (Donkey Kong Island) and back-story for the character.
In the Donkey Kong Country series, Donkey Kong is portrayed as a powerful yet lazy ape. Despite his name being in the titles of both games, DK is not the protagonist in the sequel Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest nor Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. Instead he is captured by K. Rool, while the player controls Diddy, Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong who have set out to rescue him. The Donkey Kong Country series also inspired the Donkey Kong Land trilogy and a television series.
Donkey Kong 64 for the Nintendo 64 would be the last platform game developed by Rare starring Donkey Kong. The modern Donkey Kong supplanted Junior's role in the Mario Kart series from Mario Kart 64. In addition, DK became a regular playable character in the Mario sports series and other spinoffs such as Mario Party Mario Tennis and Super Smash Bros.
Post-Rare era[]
Following Rare's departure from the series, Nintendo co-produced a trilogy of rhythm games with Namco for the Nintendo GameCube known as the Donkey Konga series, which were based on Namco's own Taiko: Drum Master, though only two of the series' games made it to America. DK Jungle Beat was released on March 14, 2005 in North America for the Gamecube. DKJB served as his main platforming adventure on the GCN and depicted DK as being more violent than his original image. It also used the bongos. In October 2007, Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast was released in North America for the Wii. However, the game was going to be on the GameCube. The game was panned by critics but was loved by fans of the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy due to its inclusion of characters, art, locations, and items from the trilogy. Many believe Barrel Blast to be the equivalent of the Donkey Kong Racing, a game that was planned but never came out due to restrictions of the Rare departure. Donkey Kong also has had a space in every console version of Mario Party since Mario Party 5, as well as being playable in some of the earlier games of the series.
Meanwhile, on the handhelds, Donkey Kong was reunited with his former rival Mario in the 2004 Game Boy Advance game titled Mario vs. Donkey Kong. A throwback to the Donkey Kong title for the Game Boy, Donkey Kong resumed his antagonist role from his earlier games by taking over the Mario Toy Company, upset over the lack of Mini-Mario toys available for purchase. The game was followed by a 2006 sequel titled Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, where Donkey Kong, who is infatuated with Pauline, kidnaps her and takes her to the roof of the Super Mini-Mario World amusement park when she ignores a Mini-Donkey Kong toy in favor of a Mini-Mario. Aside from those, DK King of Swing on the GBA was released by Paon around the time of DKJB, and its sequel, Donkey Kong Jungle Climber for the DS, was released in America on the 10th of September. Jungle Climber took the gameplay of its predecessor, KoS, and mixed it with the style, locations, and items of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy.
In the Mario franchise[]
Mario Kart series[]
Donkey Kong has appeared in most of the Mario Kart games, excluding Super Mario Kart, which instead features Donkey Kong Jr. as a playable racer. He is a heavy weight in every installment as well.
Mario Kart 64[]
Donkey Kong, along with Wario, were first introduced as playable racers in Mario Kart 64. In Donkey Kong's case, he replaced Donkey Kong Jr. from Super Mario Kart. Donkey Kong is classified as a heavyweight character, along with Bowser and Wario. His personal track is DK's Jungle Parkway.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit[]
Donkey Kong reappears as a playable heavyweight racer, alongside Wario and Bowser. Donkey Kong does not star within his own course.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!![]
Donkey Kong returns as a playable character, and his partner is Diddy Kong, who made his Mario Kart debut within the game. Donkey Kong, like Bowser and Wario, retain their heavyweight classification, which is now also shared with two newcomers, Petey Piranha and King Boo. Donkey Kong's personal course is DK Mountain, while his personal kart is DK Jumbo. Both he and Diddy share a special item, the Giant Banana.
Mario Kart DS[]
Donkey Kong retains his status as a heavyweight character, but for Mario Kart DS, he is the lightest heavyweight; the other heavyweight racers include Wario, Bowser, and R.O.B.. Donkey Kong has three personal karts, the Standard DK, the Rambi Rider, and the Wildlife, and he has one personal course, DK Pass.
Mario Kart Wii[]
Donkey Kong is classified as a large-sized character, along with Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, King Boo, Rosalina, Funky Kong, and Dry Bowser. He has three courses in this game (with two of them being retro courses): DK Summit, N64 DK's Jungle Parkway, and GCN DK Mountain. Donkey Kong receives a small boost of weight, acceleration, and handling, along with a small mini-turbo boost in this game.
Mario Kart 7[]
Donkey Kong appears as a racer again in the Nintendo 3DS title, Mario Kart 7, and has his own personal course, DK Jungle based of Returns. He is classified as a Cruiser-type character in this game, and his speed, weight, and off-road stats are given a slightly above average boost.
Mario Kart 8[]
Donkey Kong appears in Mario Kart 8, where he is once again a playable character. His fur has a similar texture as in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. While the official website states that he is a heavyweight, Donkey Kong is actually a lighter heavyweight, sacrificing some speed and weight to boost acceleration, handling, and traction. He shares this trait with Waluigi, Rosalina, Roy Koopa and Link.
He is the Staff Ghost for Thwomp Ruins and 3DS DK Jungle.
Donkey Kong also owns a brand of sports drink which appears as a sponsor in the game, called Burning DK.
Donkey Kong returns in the Nintendo Switch port Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, where he now shares stats with only Waluigi and Roy.
Vehicles[]
- DK Jumbo
- Rambi Rider
- Standard DK
- Wildlife
- Standard Kart L
- Offroader
- Flame Flyer
- Piranha Prowler
- Jetsetter
- Honeycoupe
- Wario Bike
- Standard Bike L
- Flame Runner
- Shooting Star
- Spear
- Phantom
Staff Ghost Tracks[]
- Moo Moo Farm
- DK's Jungle Parkway
- DK Mountain
- Cheep Cheep Beach
- DK Pass
- DK Summit
- DK Jungle
- Thwomp Ruins
- GBA Cheese Land
Mario Party series[]
Donkey Kong has played a major role in the Mario Party series. He has appeared as a playable character in the early Mario Party titles. However, with the debut of Mario Party 5, Donkey Kong became a supporting character. He usually hosted his own space on the boards that gave the characters extra coins and stars. However, in Mario Party 8, his role increased on the board maps.
Mario Party 1-4[]
Donkey Kong was one of the original six playable characters to appear in Mario Party. In this game, he gets his own board map called DK's Jungle Adventure, which requires the characters to travel around the board map and collect stars by paying Toad twenty coins. Donkey Kong appeared with the original six characters again in Mario Party 2. In this game, his favorite item is the Bowser Bomb. If an item mini-game was initiated, the computer-controlled version of Donkey Kong would try to go for this item. Donkey Kong appears again in Mario Party 3 as a playable character and an opponent in Story Mode. He was often associated with the Strength Stamp (unless he was the one being used in the story, in which case Luigi was), and battled the player on the Pipesqueak board map. His beginning partner for Duel Mode is Whomp. Donkey Kong made his final appearance in Mario Party 4 as a playable character.
Mario Party 5-7[]
Starting with Mario Party 5, Donkey Kong was removed from the playable character line-up, which caused some controversy among the fanbase. He then became a host of the DK Space on the boards in this game. At the start of the game before the players start their turns, one of the Star Spirits would reveal the location of the DK Space. When a character landed on this space, they would be able to collect coins or stars through different events. They also had a small chance of engaging in a DK Mini-game, where they would collect bananas and trade them in for coins. Before the DK Mini-game starts, a roulette wheel would be spun to determine the number of coins each banana was worth. DK would also appear to fend off Bowser when a player landed on a Bowser Space. When DK appears, Bowser would only take ten coins from the player. DK also appeared in Super Duel Mode as an unlockable playable character. In order to unlock him, the player must beat him in the hard difficulty of the tournament mode.
In Mario Party 6, DK continued his role of hosting a space on the board maps. He once again gives out coins, stars, or starts a DK mini-game when a character lands on a space. During day time it is a DK space while when it's nighttime DK space is replaced by Bowser space. His bigger role in this game is in Castaway Bay, where he will give a star to the characters that meet him at the boat. He will switch positions with Bowser on this board map when a character visits him. His position can also be altered with the help of a happening space. DK reprises his role as a board space host again in Mario Party 7. This time, he appears with a whole new set of mini-games for the characters to play.
Mario Party 8[]
Donkey Kong's role as a helping character increased in Mario Party 8. In this game, he hosted his own board map called DK's Treetop Temple. This board took place on top of a giant Donkey Kong statue and is full of barrels, vines, and Ukikis. The method of collecting stars on this board map is similar to collecting stars on other board maps in past Mario Party games, in which the characters must chase a star and pay twenty coins in order to gain it. The Donkey Kong space appears in this game again. However, it will change into a Bowser Space the moment another character steps on this space. When the DK Space is activated, Donkey Kong would usually perform an event that would benefit the players. The type of event that he performed differ from each board. After the event is complete, Donkey Kong will disappear until another character lands on the DK Space again. Donkey Kong also appears as a computer-controlled racer in Moped Mayhem.
Board map appearances[]
The following list below describes Donkey Kong's appearance in each of the board maps that appear in Mario Party 8. The events that DK performs on this board was positive, in contrast with Bowser's evil antics.
- DK's Treetop Temple - When a player lands on the DK space, Donkey Kong will appear and toss the player to the star space, granting them the star.This then turned to a Bowser space.
- Goomba's Booty Boardwalk - Donkey Kong will require the player to place five coins in a barrel. The player will then shake the Wiimote to shake the barrel, causing them to earn more coins depending on the intensity of the shake. The maximum amount of coins a character can earn is twenty five.
- King Boo's Haunted Hideaway - Donkey Kong will place a platform over one of the pitfalls when a character lands on his space. When a player comes across his platform, he will reward them with a free star, and the haunted house becomes randomized again.
- Shy Guy's Perplex Express - Donkey Kong will replace the front car of the train with a car of his own. When a character reaches his car, he will reward them with a free star. The car will then be replaced with the regular one after he gives the star away.
- Koopa's Tycoon Town - Donkey Kong will appear at one of the character's hotel and invest a bundle of coins into it, increasing the star rate of the hotel. The coin amount ranges from twenty to thirty coins.
- Bowser's Warped Orbit - Donkey Kong will appear on his own satellite and reward the player with a free star when they land on his space.
Mario Party DS[]
In Mario Party DS, Donkey Kong has his own board, titled DK's Stone Statue. In the opening cutscene for Story mode, Donkey and Diddy Kong are invited to Bowser's feast, unaware that it was a trick. Donkey Kong was petrified into stone by Bowser and his minions. Diddy Kong pleaded for the shrunken heroes to revive him. They later accidentally step on the scepter that shrunk the heroes, returning them to normal size.
Mario Party 9[]
Donkey Kong is the "boss" of his own board, DK's Jungle Ruins, while Diddy serves as the mid-boss. His boss minigame is called DK's Banana Bonus. During the minigame, Donkey Kong tosses Golden Barrel Cannons into the area, allowing the players to access banana bunches that are higher up.
Mario Party 10[]
Donkey Kong returns as a playable character for the first time since Mario Party 4. He has since remained playable in most subsequent Mario Party installments.
Mario Party: Star Rush[]
Donkey Kong is also playable in Mario Party: Star Rush, marking his first appearance as an unlockable playable character (not counting Super Duel Mode in Mario Party 5) and his second appearance as a playable character in the series since Mario Party 5. He can be unlocked if players earn enough part points to reach level 8 or if they scan a Donkey Kong amiibo. In Toad Scramble, he can break barrels to earn coins. His Brawny Dice Block has a 1 out of 3 chance to roll a 10, but other than that it will return a 0.
Mario Party: The Top 100[]
Donkey Kong appears in Mario Party: The Top 100 as a non-playable opponent in Jump, Man and Vine Country, both minigames returning from Mario Party 7.
Super Mario Party[]
Donkey Kong was made an unlockable playable character, unlocked by completing three different courses in River Survival, then talking to him in the Party Plaza. Every playable character has their own unique Dice Block; in Donkey Kong's case, three of its faces display a 0, two of its faces display a 10, and one face gives him five coins (without moving).
Mario Party Superstars[]
Donkey Kong reappears as a playable character in Mario Party Superstars having the same role as before.
Mario Golf series[]
Mario Golf (Nintendo 64)[]
Donkey Kong is one of the fourteen playable characters. He drives about 275 yards, and his shot type is low fade.
Mario Golf (Game Boy Color)[]
Donkey Kong is a non-playable character.
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Mario Tennis series[]
In the Mario Tennis series, Donkey Kong appears as a playable Power-type character in most titles, the only exception being Mario's Tennis where Donkey Kong Jr. is playable.
Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64)[]
In the intro, Donkey Kong participates in the tournament, where he loses to Mario (allowing the latter to advance to a semi-finals match against Yoshi). His doubles partner is Donkey Kong Jr., but if he isn't unlocked yet, Donkey Kong's doubles partner is Yoshi instead.
Mario Tennis (Game Boy Color)[]
Donkey Kong is one of the playable characters available from the start.
Mario Power Tennis[]
Donkey Kong is once again a playable character. His Offensive Power Shot is the Barrel Cannon Blast, while his Defensive Power Shot is the Boomerang Banana Return. When Donkey Kong wins the championship, Toad brings him the trophy, and he grabs it with Toad still holding on. He waves it around, shaking up Toad in the process. When he finally stops, Toad faints, and Donkey Kong scratches his head. Donkey Kong's taunt is showing muscles and his doubles partner is Diddy Kong.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash[]
Donkey Kong makes a reappearance as a power character once again.
Mario Tennis Aces[]
In Mario Tennis Aces, Donkey Kong reappears as a playable character. He also appears in the adventure mode, where he blocks the entrance to Piranha Plant Forest until the player completes the tutorials at Bask Ruins. When the player beats the tutorials, he challenges Mario to a match of tennis. When the player beats him then, he allows the player to pass.
Mario Baseball series[]
Mario Superstar Baseball[]
Donkey Kong is a playable character in Mario Superstar Baseball.
During the intro, Donkey Kong uses his climbing ability to catch the ball until he realizes that he is above the chain chomp. It almost eats him alive as the ball on his glove goes flying. He later survives this, as he is shown playing for Wario's Team. His team has Diddy, Dixie, Goombas, and Koopa Troopas. He is the team captain of the DK Wilds with Diddy Kong as subcaptain and his home stadium is the Donkey Kong Jungle. Unlike most batters, Donkey Kong uses a boxing glove to punch the ball. There is a small contact point between the ball and the glove, making it more difficult for Donkey Kong to land a hit, but Donkey Kong has great hitting power. Donkey Kong has also above-average pitching. Donkey Kong has below average running and fielding stats, however. In this game, DK has good chemistry with Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and Petey Piranha.
Donkey Kong's special ball and bat is known as the Banana Ball. This makes the pitched or hit ball have a banana-like trajectory. Donkey Kong's player abilities include Clamber, which allows him to climb walls and catch high-flying balls that would otherwise be fair or home-runs. He also has Laser Beam, which makes his throws from outfield to home quick, potentially preventing runners from scoring a point.
Mario Super Sluggers[]
In Mario Super Sluggers, Donkey Kong is mostly unchanged. He still uses a boxing glove to bat. His Star Pitch and Star Swing are also altered to Barrel Ball and Barrel Swing, which involve him throwing a barrel. He has also lost his Laser Ball ability. As for his stats, Donkey Kong has better batting, but with worse fielding and even worse running. His pitching also lost one point, but it remains above-average. In this game, DK has good chemistry with Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Tiny Kong and Funky Kong and his chemistry with Kritter and King K. Rool is bad, which is odd considering that they are on DK's team. Donkey Kong has the second highest batting stat in this game, only surpassed by Bowser, King K. Rool, and Petey Piranha. In Challenge Mode he appears in DK Jungle helping Dixie battle a Dark bones he then decides to test Mario to see how good he is. After passing the test Donkey Kong joins the group to stop Bowser.
Mario Hoops 3-on-3[]
Donkey Kong is a playable character, available from the start, and is a part of the Power class. His Special Shot is the Konga Dunk, which allows Donkey Kong to slam on the ball so that it makes its way into the hoop.
Mario Sports Mix[]
Here, Donkey Kong is classified as a Powerful type character. While his technique is average, along with a very high power stat, Donkey Kong's speed is quite slow. His stage court is DK Dock.
Donkey Kong's special shot involves slamming the ground (which would briefly stun opponents) and then aiming the ball/puck at the goal, or at an opposing player. In Dodgeball, Donkey Kong can repel dodgeball attacks by spinning his body while having his arms stretched out. However, this defensive maneuver is rendered useless when the dodgeball is equipped with an item. He, Bowser, and Wario make up the power class.
Mario Sports Superstars[]
Donkey Kong appears as a playable captain character in Mario Sports Superstars. In most sports, he is classified as a Power type character, giving his shots more power (and thus speed), as well as giving him more stamina in horse racing. In golf, DK's default drive is 224 yards, and his shots travel slightly low in a draw trajectory.
Crossover appearances[]
Super Smash Bros. series[]
Super Smash Bros.[]
In 1999, he was one of the first to appear in the successful game and eventually the Super Smash Bros. series. He has been an obvious candidate to return to all games in the Smash Bros. series for almost 10 years. The stories of these games never really meant anything so therefore his involvement was nothing special but that was about to change.
Super Smash Bros. Melee[]
Donkey Kong is also a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Once again, he is a default character.
In the new one-player mode, Adventure, the player must first fight two Tiny Donkey Kongs and then fight Giant Donkey Kong at Jungle Japes. By picking up a Super Mushroom, Donkey Kong can become larger briefly, before reverting to normal. In Giant Melee, the player can play as Giant Donkey Kong or fight against him. Similar to Super Smash Bros., Donkey Kong is one of the possible giant opponents who appears in stage 5 of Classic Mode, and is fought at Jungle Japes.
Giant Donkey Kong appears in two events of Event Mode:
- In Event 2, the player plays as Giant Donkey Kong, whose objective is defeating Tiny Donkey Kong.
- In Event 25, the player must defeat Giant Donkey Kong using Giant Bowser.
Donkey Kong's weight is decreased from 141 units to 114, no longer making him the heaviest character in the game; instead, that title goes to fellow heavyweight Bowser. As compensation, however, Donkey Kong's movement and attack speed are both much faster, while his moveset receives a mix of buffs and nerfs. Starting from Super Smash Bros. Melee, Donkey Kong is a speedy heavyweight with decent combo ability.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]
Donkey as seen in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Donkey Kong returned to the Super Smash Bros. series in Super Smash Bros. Brawl with a new stage based on the look of Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat and Donkey Kong's Final Smash is Konga Beat which is based on the DK Bongos most likely inspired by the games Donkey Konga and Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. Some even go as far to say Donkey Kong's Final Smash is based on his instrumental attack from Donkey Kong 64, in which he uses a pair of bongos to create a shock-wave that can defeat any enemy on which it is used, except bosses (mainly because they cannot be used in any boss battles). Donkey Kong also gets a new white recolor. Donkey Kong's weight is slightly increased to 116 units from 114.
An 8-bit Donkey Kong appears on the 75 m stage (which is based on the third level of the original Donkey Kong). Touching him will harm the player.
Donkey Kong appears in several events, usually in giant form.
The seventh event match, Diddy Kong Panic, has multiple Diddy Kongs as opponents, and Donkey Kong has to defeat them. In Event 9: "The Monster beneath the Earth", Giant DK is a hidden opponent. If the player does not KO the two Diddy Kongs fast enough, Giant DK must be fought as well. In Event 22: "Monkeys Unite", Giant Donkey Kong is Diddy Kong's partner in a fight against Sheik and Lucario. In Event 27: "Three-Beast Carnage", Giant Donkey Kong is among the three giant opponents fought by R.O.B., along with Giant Bowser and Giant Charizard. Like Super Smash Bros. Melee, Donkey Kong briefly turns larger from using a Super Mushroom. In Giant Brawl, the successor to Giant Melee, the player can either play as Giant Donkey Kong or fight against one.
Ironically, despite his common appearances in Super Smash Bros.'s 1P Game as well as Super Smash Bros. Melee's Classic Mode, Donkey Kong does not appear in Classic Mode as a giant opponent. He shares this trait with the Zelda characters and Diddy Kong.
Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary[]
In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, Donkey Kong, along with Diddy, are chasing after the Koopas and Goombas that stole their bananas in an attempt to retrieve them. A surprisingly violent side of Donkey Kong is shown in the opening cutscene in a brief scene where DK pounds a Koopa Troopa into the ground(making it appear he crushes its shell). Hammer Bro and the Goombas aboard the car spot Donkey Kong and shoot Bullet Bills at him. However, Diddy Kong comes out from a bush, and, with his Peanut Popguns, shoots the Bullet Bills. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong then follow the Hammer Bro to retrieve the banana hoard. After finding their bananas, Bowser appears from behind with a Dark Cannon. As Bowser charges the cannon, Donkey Kong, realizing the danger, charges his Giant Punch. He then launches Diddy to the sky and out of harm's way, sacrificing himself in the process as Bowser shoots him with the Dark Cannon and turns him into a trophy. Later, Diddy Kong, who (forcefully) enlisted the help of Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi, sees a ship carrying Donkey Kong's trophy form to a mysterious floating island. Falco then follows it with his Arwing and takes the little Kong with him. He then drops him, and Diddy gets on his Rocket Barrel, takes out his Popguns, and shoots the ship. After seeing this, Captain Falcon and Captain Olimar decide to help him and jump to the ship. Diddy frees Donkey Kong, and all four fight the Primids and other enemies.
The ship takes them inside a factory producing Subspace Bombs, and they encounter various R.O.B.s that live on the island. They later meet up with Pikachu and Samus Aran and see the Ancient Minister and a plethora of R.O.B.s. After Ganondorf manipulates the R.O.B.s into activating all of the Subspace Bombs, the Ancient Minister is shown to be R.O.B., the leader of all the lesser R.O.B.s who were forced to work for the Subspace Army. R.O.B. then fights alongside the others. Donkey Kong carries R.O.B., who refuses to leave his kind behind to perish, as they all flee to escape the doomed island on Captain Falcon's summoned Falcon Flyer. Meta Ridley then appears and follows behind to impede group's escape, forcing DK and his group to fight him. After that, they all meet up with the other heroes.
Donkey Kong and the other smashers enter Subspace and meet Tabuu, who turns everyone into trophies with his Off Waves. However, King Dedede had anticipated this and created badges that revived certain fighters back into their original forms without having to touch them. With his team, consisting of Luigi and Ness, Dedede rescues Donkey Kong and most of the others, although some of them are rescued by Kirby. They also recruit Bowser, Ganondorf, and Wario after they are informed about Tabuu. At the end of the Great Maze, Sonic the Hedgehog shows up and helps weaken Tabuu's Off Waves so that Donkey Kong and the others are able to beat him.
Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U[]
Donkey Kong returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. His moveset has remained largely intact, but has nevertheless received a few noticeable changes, most notably his unique forward throw and Final Smash; Donkey Kong's weight is also increased from 116 units to 122. Like the majority of the cast (DLC fighters notwithstanding), each of Donkey Kong's special moves now possess two variants. Giant Punch has Lightning Punch (a fast-charging variation that deals less damage and deals electrical damage) and Storm Punch (which has more reach due to generating wind from Donkey Kong's fist but deals less damage); Headbutt has Jumping Headbutt (in which Donkey Kong jumps but his foes are buried for a shorter time) and Stubborn Headbutt (which is slower but cannot be stopped); Spinning Kong has Chopper Kong (which grants better vertical recovery but deals no damage) and Kong Cyclone (which sucks enemies in à la Twisting Fox); and Hand Slap has Focused Slap (which stuns opponents at the cost of reach) and Hot Slap (which creates fiery pillars).
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]
Donkey Kong appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. His moveset is largely the same, but he has a new Final Smash, Jungle Rush, which involves him rapidly punching an opponent, as a reference to his attack method in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. Donkey Kong is more expressive; when he charges his Standard Special move, Giant Punch, he starts having a scowl form on his face, and using it in the air no longer makes him helpless. He is heavier, tying with King Dedede in weight, and his Headbutt now gives him super armor for a short time. His recovery is also extended by the reintroduction of directional air dodge, he can use any ground attack out of a run, and he can also use any aerial attack while holding on the ladders officially called a "ladder attack". However, his Giant Punch has more ending lag and Aerial Spinning Kong is weaker. His Classic Mode is titled "Journey to New Donk City". Donkey Kong's down tilt is officially nicknamed the Slouch Slap while his forward throw is referred to as Kong Carry. His weight has been further increased; however, he is no longer the second heaviest fighter in the game, instead giving up that title to his arch-nemesis, King K. Rool. Donkey Kong is tied with King Dedede for the third heaviest fighter.
Owing to King K. Rool's ties to Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong appears alongside Diddy Kong in K. Rool's debut trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Specifically, Donkey Kong lounges lazily in his tree house after eating some bananas while watching various video game heroes confronting their respective nemeses on his TV, only to be startled by quakes before looking outside with Diddy to investigate. They then see an ominous and familiar shadow, only for it to be revealed to be King Dedede wearing a cape and King K. Rool's mask, to their surprise. King Dedede then proceeds to laugh at the practical joke he played on them, only for him to be smacked upside the head and knocked away by the actual King K. Rool, much to Donkey and Diddy Kong's horror, with King K. Rool roaring. In the ending of the trailer, Donkey Kong is knocked backwards, only to proceed to charge at his arch-nemesis on all fours, with King K. Rool doing the same in kind before proceeding to have their fists make contact with each other with enough force as to cause a shockwave to be emitted throughout the jungle.
Similarly, Donkey Kong also appears in Banjo & Kazooie's reveal trailer. Much like the King K. Rool trailer, Donkey Kong lounges around in his tree house eating bananas and watching TV, with Diddy Kong and a sleeping King K. Rool also present. A Jiggy bounces past the three, catching the Kongs' attention. After Diddy wakes King K. Rool up, the three look outside and see what appear to be the silhouettes of Banjo and Kazooie, but turn out to be Duck Hunt playing a prank on them, to their surprise. Duck Hunt proceed to laugh at this joke played on the Kongs and Kremling, only for the dog and duck to be knocked away from above by the real Banjo and Kazooie, holding their respective namesake instruments. This causes the Kongs and King K. Rool to celebrate. Near the end of the trailer, Donkey Kong can be seen in the background as Banjo and Kazooie perform a victory pose.
In the Adventure Mode, World of Light, Donkey Kong is present when he and other fighters oppose their ultimate enemy, Galeem. Although Donkey Kong is not shown to be hit by Galeem's beams directly, he, like many other fighters, except Kirby, is imprisoned in the World of Light. Donkey Kong is found in the jungle segment of the Light Realm, on a space that looks like the treehouse he lives in. Donkey Kong, upon being defeated, joins the party and fight Galeem.
A giant Donkey Kong based on the one from the original Super Smash Bros. also appears as the final opponent of Jigglypuff's route, due to its route being a callback to the original game.
By completing Donkey Kong's Classic Mode route, it is possible to unlock Bowser, Pokémon Trainer, Rosalina & Luma, King Dedede, Sheik, Greninja, Diddy Kong, and Duck Hunt.
Donkey Kong's Classic Mode route initially has him fight Diddy Kong, who joins him as a partner in all subsequent battles. Together, they fight opponents who live in urban settings, with their penultimate battle (not counting the Black Hole run challenge) pitting them against the Mario Bros. The penultimate battle alludes to the rivalry between Donkey Kong and Mario. During the last round of his route, Donkey Kong faces the Master Hand himself.
On a side note, before the version 3.0.0 update, Donkey Kong was the only character to face Master Hand and Crazy Hand as their Classic Mode route's final boss on the Ω form of a stage different from Final Destination. As of version 3.0.0, however, this trait is now shared with Joker and Sephiroth, as their final rounds take place in the Ω form of Mementos and Northern Cave.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie[]
- "Ha! He got the Cat Box! (Starts laughing as Mario just sits there with a bored look on his face.) Oh my-- I'm sorry!"
- —Donkey Kong when Mario gets his hands on the Cat suit in The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Donkey Kong appears in the animated film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, where Seth Rogen provides his voice work. In the trailer, Donkey Kong is shown giving Mario a hard time during his fight with the plumber, easily catching Mario, slamming him on the floor, and pummeling him. Mario then gets the idea to get power-ups to give himself the edge, resulting in his obtainment of the Cat suit. Mario is only able to extend his claws before Donkey Kong mocks the power-up while he says the above quote before recovering and saying, "Now you die!," concluding the trailer with a punch.
List of Mario appearances[]
Mario Kart series[]
- Mario Kart 64
- Mario Kart: Super Circuit
- Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
- Mario Kart DS
- Mario Kart Arcade GP
- Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
- Mario Kart Wii
- Mario Kart 7
- Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
- Mario Kart 8
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Mario Kart Tour
Mario Golf series[]
- Mario Golf (Nintendo 64)
- Mario Golf (Game Boy Color)*
- Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
- Mario Golf: Advance Tour
- Mario Golf: World Tour
- Mario Golf: Super Rush
Mario Tennis series[]
- Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64)
- Mario Tennis (Game Boy Color)
- Mario Power Tennis
- Mario Tennis: Power Tour
- Mario Tennis Open
- Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash
- Mario Tennis Aces
Other sports titles[]
- Mario Superstar Baseball
- Super Mario Strikers
- Mario Hoops 3-on-3
- Mario Strikers Charged
- Mario Super Sluggers
- Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
- Mario Sports Mix
- Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
- Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games
- Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
- Mario Sports Superstars
- Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
- Mario Strikers: Battle League
Mario Party series[]
- Mario Party
- Mario Party 2
- Mario Party 3
- Mario Party 4
- Mario Party 5**
- Mario Party 6*
- Mario Party 7*
- Mario Party 8*
- Mario Party-e*
- Mario Party DS*
- Mario Party 9*
- Mario Party 10
- Mario Party: Star Rush
- Mario Party: The Top 100*
- Super Mario Party
- Mario Party Superstars
Others[]
Behind the scenes[]
Creation and development[]
Donkey Kong's name came from the his creator Shigeru Miyamoto who believed "donkey" meant "stupid" in English and assumed the name would show the sense "Stupid Ape" to the American audience. Some say, that the Donkey Kong story may be based on King Kong, adding Mario as the hero.
Donkey Kong's first chronological appearance was in the Arcade game of the same name, where he was the main villain. In the game Donkey Kong made off with Mario's girlfriend Pauline, and carried her to the top of a high construction site. He was pursued by Mario, and attacked him by throwing Barrels and creating living Fireballs. He was eventually pursued to the top of the construction site, where Mario caused the bars supporting him to crash, sending him to the ground.
Donkey Kong tried to kidnap Pauline yet again in the Game Boy game Donkey Kong, this time accompanied by his son Donkey Kong Jr.. Donkey Kong's tactics in this game remained virtually the same, he attacked mainly by throwing a variety of objects at the hero.
It is still speculated exactly why Donkey Kong tried to kidnap Pauline, while some sources say that he took her in revenge against Mario (who had abused him) others (perhaps trying to show Mario in a more favorable light) say that Donkey Kong fell in love with the damsel-in-distress.
Real-world influences[]
In pop culture[]
Controversy[]
There has been controversy involving the background of Donkey Kong, Cranky Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Baby Donkey Kong. The controversy started with Donkey Kong Country in 1994 when the character Cranky Kong whom is said by Rare (the company that was developing the Donkey Kong series at the time) to be the star of the original Donkey Kong games and grandfather of the current Donkey Kong. This would also make Jr. his father. Years later during the release of Donkey Kong 64 Cranky Kong calls Donkey Kong his son which then created the connection making it seem that the current Donkey Kong is a grown up version of Donkey Kong Jr. and the original Donkey Kong is grown old into becoming Cranky Kong. This also explained Donkey Kong Junior's absence in games after Donkey Kong Country but contradicts the original idea. Donkey Kong Junior did make an appearance in Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64 alongside the current Donkey Kong but this is likely not meant to be considered canon due to Mario appearing alongside Baby Mario in that game as well. When Yoshi's Island DS was released a few new baby versions of characters debuted in this title which one was Baby Donkey Kong. Baby Donkey Kong is likely to be the baby version of Donkey Kong instead of Cranky Kong due to him being younger than Mario and his strong resemblance to the current Donkey Kong. Since Rare originally created this fact and they are no longer in control of the Donkey Kong series it was unknown if Nintendo keeps this fact in consideration of what there view on the situation is. But since 2010 and the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns Nintendo and Retro Studios support the original idea of the current Donkey Kong being the son of Donkey Kong Jr. and, by extension, the grandson of Cranky Kong.
Trivia[]
- In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the current Donkey Kong is revealed to be the original one's grandson in a conversation by CODEC between Solid Snake and Otacon.
- The conversation also demonises his relationship with Mario; in canon, it's positive, but Snake and Otacon lcaim that the two are still rivals.
- Donkey Kong was mentioned in Lego City Undercover, where the player hoped that it wasn't a "giant ape" which could be a reference to Donkey Kong from 1981.
- According to the Ring Announcer in the game Donkey Kong 64, Donkey Kong weighs 800 pounds. His height is 6 feet and 1 inch when on his knuckles (7 ft. and 10 inches when standing fully upright).
Gallery[]
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