Donkey Kong^[a] is a series of video games published by Nintendo since 1981 and created by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.

Donkey Kong and Mario have both had the roles of protagonist and antagonist in the series. Other characters have included other Kongs, the crocodilian villain King K. Rool, and supporting animal characters. This article lists the characters that have appeared in titles that revolve around Donkey Kong and/or the Kong family.

Kongs

Kongs^[1] are a group of various primates (particularly apes and monkeys) that live on Donkey Kong Island. In ancient times, the Kongs provoked a rebellion against the Tiki tyranny with the advantage of being immune to their hypnotic power and took over the island which was named Kong Island.^[2]

The Kong Family^[3][4] (also known as the Kong Klan^[5] and the DK Crew^[6]) is a group led by Donkey Kong comprising his family and friends. They have numerous non-Kong allies who appear throughout the series, and are commonly antagonized by the Kremling Krew, who steal their valuables (and sometimes kidnap members of the Kong family) to further their nefarious goals.^[7][8][9]

Donkey Kong's family

Original Donkey Kong/Cranky Kong

Game appearances of Original Donkey Kong/Cranky Kong

Donkey Kong, also known as DK, is a male gorilla. The first character named Donkey Kong is introduced in the original 1981 arcade game as the computer-controlled antagonist who abducts Pauline.^[10] The player must take the role of Mario and rescue her. Donkey Kong is held captive by Mario in Donkey Kong Jr. In Donkey Kong 3, he terrorises a greenhouse. In the Game & Watch game Donkey Kong Hockey, he served as a playable character for the first time.

In 1994's Donkey Kong Country, a new, different-looking Donkey Kong was introduced, said to be the son of the original arcade character, who is now the elderly Cranky Kong^[b] (also known as Donkey Kong Sr.)^[11] a grumpy elderly gorilla, known for his scathing fourth wall-breaking commentary. He has appeared as Cranky Kong in a number of Donkey Kong games, primarily as a boastful adviser to Donkey Kong and his various simian friends (in-game and in the instruction manuals), as well as running mini-games and tutorials. His main purpose in Donkey Kong Country is to distribute helpful hints about the game's many stages to the modern Donkey Kong and his sidekick Diddy Kong whenever they drop by his cabin. Donkey Kong Country 2 saw him play a similar role, although this time the player would have to provide enough banana coins to buy specific hints. In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, he is the player's opponent in a throwing mini game at Swanky's Sideshow; in the GBA versions of Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Country 3, he hosts several mini-games, and is briefly playable in the Dojo mini-game of the latter. Donkey Kong 64 sees Cranky deal out potions that grant each of the five playable Kongs special abilities and can be purchased at Cranky's Lab. He also hosts the Jetpac game, and will grant the player access to it in exchange for 15 Banana Medals. Cranky has also made cameo appearances in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Jungle Japes stage, as well as appearing in Donkey Konga and its sequels. He made appearances dispensing tips in DK: King of Swing and DK: Jungle Climber. He is playable in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. In Donkey Kong Country Returns and its 3DS remake, he runs various shops that sell items and helps the player by giving hints and tips when they leave his shop. In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Cranky becomes playable in the main campaign of a Donkey Kong platformer for the first time. His moveset is based around his cane, which allows him to bounce on spikes.^[12]

Characteristics of Original Donkey Kong/Cranky Kong

The original Donkey Kong is a large, enraged gorilla, which Miyamoto said was "nothing too evil or repulsive", and Mario's pet.^[13] Miyamoto has also named "Beauty and the Beast" and the 1933 film King Kong as influences for the character.^[14] The name was derived by Miyamoto from "stubborn ape": Miyamoto used "donkey" to convey "stubborn" in English, while "Kong" was simply to imply him being a "large ape".^[15][16][17]

Donkey Kong Country portrays Cranky as the original Donkey Kong character featured in the 1981 arcade game.^[18] The character retains his stubborn nature and has become an aged, sharp-minded, and disparaging video game veteran who throughout the games distributes advice and useful items. 64 portrays him as an alchemist. He is currently voiced by Takashi Nagasako.^[19] As his name implies, Cranky is perpetually bitter about many things and complains about them to anyone who gives him even the slightest acknowledgment. He is mostly angry about the state of modern video games, once going so far as to complain about how many bits and bytes are used up to simply animate his swinging beard. Every time he sees any such thing he seems to fondly recall his heyday in which he was an 8-bit character.

Original Donkey Kong/Kranky Kong in other media

The Saturday Supercade is the character's first role in a television series. In it, Donkey Kong (voiced by Soupy Sales) has escaped from the circus and Mario (voiced by Peter Cullen) and Pauline (voiced by Judy Strangis) are chasing the ape. As with the original game, Donkey Kong will often grab Pauline and Mario has to save her.

Cranky was a regular on the Donkey Kong Country animated series. He is still as bitter as in the games, but without his fourth wall-breaking comments. His cabin is where the Crystal Coconut, a mystical artifact that predicted DK would become the future ruler of Kongo Bongo Island (as DK Island was called on the series), is kept. Often, Cranky mixes potions, somewhat prefiguring his Donkey Kong 64 role. He was voiced by Aron Tager, and by Ryūsei Nakao in the Japanese dub of the TV series.^[20]

A 2007 documentary, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, chronicles the competitive following for the arcade version of Donkey Kong.^[21]

The original arcade version of Donkey Kong is the last villain of the 2015 film Pixels.^[22]

Cranky Kong appears in the animated film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, voiced by Fred Armisen. In the film, he is depicted as the ruler of the Jungle Kingdom and leader of the Kong Army. Like in Donkey Kong 64, he is depicted as Donkey Kong's father instead of his grandfather. He is also shown to be very disappointed with Donkey Kong as a person.

Donkey Kong Jr.

Donkey Kong Jr.,^[c] also known as DK Jr. or simply Junior, is the protagonist of the 1982 arcade game of the same name and the son of the original Donkey Kong. Junior wears a white singlet with a red letter "J" on it. His objective in the game is to save his father, who was locked by Mario in a cage. He returns in the 1994 Game Boy game Donkey Kong, where he teams up with his father, who has kidnapped Pauline, against Mario. Junior also appeared as a playable character in Super Mario Kart, but was absent in later installments until he returned in the "Super Mario Kart Tour" in Mario Kart Tour, he also appeared in the Virtual Boy game Mario's Tennis, and as a hidden character in the Nintendo 64 version of the similarly named Mario Tennis. He also has his own educational video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System: Donkey Kong Jr. Math. Other appearances by Junior include the Game & Watch games Donkey Kong Jr. (in wide-screen, tabletop and panorama versions) and Donkey Kong II, as well as the Game & Watch Gallery series compilations for Game Boy. He also appears as the physical appearance of the transformed king of World 4 in the Super NES and Game Boy Advance versions of Super Mario Bros. 3. Donkey Kong Junior had his own segment in the first season of Saturday Supercade and was voiced by Frank Welker.^[23] Like his father, he had his own cereal brand in the 1980s.

Donkey Kong Jr. Math features a character with pink fur named "Junior (II)".^[24] This character's nature as metafictional or otherwise is not stated.

Shortly before the release of Donkey Kong 64 in 1999, Leigh Loveday, the writer of Donkey Kong Country 2, stated that, as far as he knew, the modern Donkey Kong who appears in Donkey Kong Country onward is a grown-up version of Junior himself.^[25] Cranky Kong refers to Donkey Kong as his son in Donkey Kong 64^[26] and in the manual.^[27] However, the manual for Donkey Kong Country,^[28][29] the manual for Donkey Kong Land,^[30] and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest^[31] state that Cranky is the original Donkey Kong and grandfather of the game's titular character.^[32] More recently, Super Smash Bros. Brawl,^[33] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,^[34] Donkey Kong Country Returns,^[35] Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze^[36] and Gregg Mayles of Rare^[37] have stated that the current Donkey Kong is the original Donkey Kong's grandson. In the 2023 Super Mario Bros. film adaptation, Donkey Kong is stated as being Cranky's son.

The character Diddy Kong was going to be an updated version of Donkey Kong Junior, but Nintendo did not like this idea, suggesting either to give him his old look or make him a new character. Rare chose the latter and Diddy Kong was made.^[38]

Donkey Kong (modern)

The new, redesigned Donkey Kong introduced as the main player character in 1994's Donkey Kong Country was said to be the grandson of the original arcade character, who was now the elderly Cranky Kong, Cranky having relinquished his name to him.^[39][40] However, in Donkey Kong 64, Cranky repeatedly refers to the current Donkey Kong as his son (he was senile in that game).^[41] This was reverted to the original grandson relationship in subsequent games such as the Game Boy Advance versions of Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Donkey Kong Country Returns. In Yoshi's Island DS, Mario and DK are both babies and two of the Seven Star Children. While Candy Kong is his girlfriend, in the manual for Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, he is described as falling in love with Pauline at first sight.^[42]

The modern Donkey Kong is used for the antagonist role typical of the original Donkey Kong in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series and a playable character in many Mario spin-off games

Donkey Kong appears in the animated film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, voiced by Seth Rogen. In November 2021, there were reports that Illumination had begun development on a Donkey Kong spin-off film, with Rogen set to reprise his role.^[43]

Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong^[d] is the secondary main protagonist of the franchise, who also appears in games belonging to the Mario franchise. He debuted in Donkey Kong Country. Rare designer Kevin Bayliss commented Diddy was "penciled in" as a spider monkey or a chimpanzee, although he is not specifically referenced as belonging to a particular species.^[44] He lives with Donkey Kong on Donkey Kong Island in the Kongo Jungle, and is identified by his red hat with the Nintendo logo, and his red shirt with stars.

Diddy is Donkey Kong's sidekick and best friend. Rare first referred to him as DK's nephew in September 1999 on their website.^[45] This was followed in November 1999 where the manual for Donkey Kong 64 called him "Donkey's little nephew wannabe".^[46] The official cast for the game in 2002 listed him as "DK's nephew" as well.^[47] He was originally created by Rare as an updated version of Donkey Kong Jr., but he was renamed, due to Nintendo's response. In the second game, Dixie Kong was introduced and they were described as "inseparable friends", with Cranky referring to Dixie as "that girlfriend of his".^[48]

Diddy has appeared in all of the Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land games, notably as the lead character in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest with his inseparable friend Dixie Kong as his partner. He received a spin-off called Diddy Kong Racing, and more recently appeared as co-star to Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Through his relationship with Donkey Kong, Diddy has become a prominent character in the Mario franchise. He has also become a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series. Outside video games, Diddy appeared in the TV show Donkey Kong Country, where he is played by Andrew Sabiston.

Since appearing in Donkey Kong Country, Diddy has received mostly positive reception, one strong enough to create a fan following, resulting in Diddy getting his own spin-off.^[49] He has been featured in several pieces of merchandise, including stuffed toys, candies, and two Amiibo figures. Kotaku editor Mike Fahey described him as the "Scrappy Doo" of the Donkey Kong series.^[50] GamesRadar has listed Diddy Kong along with Donkey Kong as the best video game duos,^[51] and The Guardian and GameRevolution have both described Diddy Kong as one of the best video game sidekicks.^[52][53]

Concept and creation of Diddy Kong

During the development of Donkey Kong Country, Diddy was originally conceived as an updated version of Donkey Kong Jr. (Donkey Kong's son). Not liking the radical changes Rare had made to Donkey Kong Jr., Nintendo told them either create a design that was closer to Donkey Kong Jr.'s original appearance or make their design an entirely new character. Deciding to simply rename the character, who Rare felt was perfect for their updated version of Donkey Kong's world, Rare decided to name this Kong 'Diddy' because in some parts of the UK, the British English slang word 'diddy' means small.^[54]

Game appearances of Diddy Kong

His first appearance was in Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as a boisterous monkey who had one main goal: to become a video game hero just like his friend, Donkey Kong. He accompanies Donkey Kong throughout Donkey Kong Island to battle King K. Rool and return their banana hoard.^[55] He became the main character in the sequel Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, teaming up with his inseparable friend Dixie Kong, who both set to rescue Donkey Kong from Kaptain K. Rool.^[56] He later appeared in Donkey Kong Land, issued a challenge by Cranky Kong that he and Donkey Kong could not retrieve the banana hoard on an 8-bit system.^[57] The third and final title in the Donkey Kong Country series is titled Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, which stars Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong who must find Diddy and Donkey Kong after they had disappeared, all the while battling a cyborg called KAOS.^[58] A follow-up was released in September 1996 for the Game Boy called Donkey Kong Land 2, featuring roughly the same plot as Donkey Kong Country 2.^[57] Diddy also makes an appearance in 1997's Donkey Kong Land III, but his only appearance is on the Extra Life Balloons. He is also a part of the storyline that appears in the manual.^[59]

He stars in the spin-off racing game Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64, which only features the eponymous character Diddy Kong as a returning character. It introduces Banjo and Conker the Squirrel, who went on to star in Banjo-Kazooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day, respectively. His title was a success, becoming the fastest-selling video game in US history at the time.^[60] In 2007, a remake of Diddy Kong Racing was released for the Nintendo DS. He later appeared as a playable character in Donkey Kong 64, a 3D sequel to the Donkey Kong Country titles, where he, Donkey Kong, and others go through DK Island to defeat King K. Rool yet again. He has a prominent role in DK King of Swing as well as its sequel, DK Jungle Climber.

2003 marked the release of the first post-Rare Donkey Kong game that features characters presented in Donkey Kong Country. Namco's Donkey Konga is a GameCube music title that was packaged with a DK Bongo controller. The controller is used to keep the rhythm with the beats of covers to famous songs (as well as Nintendo video game music). It was followed by two sequels, Donkey Konga 2 and Donkey Konga 3, the latter which was only released in Japan. Diddy Kong appears in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast as a playable character. He also appeared in Mario titles, including Mario Power Tennis, Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Golf: World Tour, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Strikers Charged, Mario Super Sluggers, Mario Tennis Open, Mario Tennis Aces, Mario Kart Tour and Mario Sports Mix. Diddy Kong also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in which some of his attacks are based on moves from Donkey Kong 64, such as the Peanut Popguns and Rocketbarrel Boost.^[61] He appears as a playable DLC character in Mario Strikers: Battle League and in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.^[62] Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=List_of_Donkey_Kong_characters
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