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. Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Kiddy_Kong
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