Donkey Kong (character)

Donkey Kong (DK)
Donkey Kong, as seen in Donkey Kong Country Returns
Series	Donkey Kong/Mario
First game	Donkey Kong (1981)
Created by	Shigeru Miyamoto
Voiced by (English)	Soupy Sales (Saturday Supercade) Gary Chalk (Captain N: The Game Master) Richard Yearwood (TV series) Kevin Bayliss (1994 - 1996 [1]) Grant Kirkhope (1999)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Takashi Nagasako (2004–present) Kōichi Yamadera (TV series)

Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング, Donkī Kongu^?) is a fictional gorilla in the Donkey Kong and Mario series. He is roughly twice the size of a normal gorilla, weighing approximately 800 pounds. Donkey Kong first appeared in Nintendo's popular 1981 video game of the same name. Since then he has appeared in over 20 games in his own series, as well as in some games in the Mario series. Kong debuted at the same time as Mario, and he still spars with Mario on occasion, appearing as playable characters in the Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. series, and is the primary antagonist in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games.^[2]

Concept and creation

In 1981, Nintendo was pursuing a license to make a game based on the Popeye comic strip. When this fell through, Nintendo decided that it would take the opportunity to create new characters that could then be marketed and used in later games.^[3] Miyamoto came up with many characters and plot concepts, but he eventually settled on a gorilla/carpenter/girlfriend love triangle that mirrored the rivalry between Bluto and Popeye for Olive Oyl.^[4] Bluto was replaced by an ape, which Miyamoto said was "nothing too evil or repulsive", and the pet of the main character.^[5] Miyamoto has also named "Beauty and the Beast" and the 1933 film King Kong as influences for the character.^[6]

Miyamoto believed "donkey" meant "stupid" in English, and assumed the name Donkey Kong would convey the sense "stupid ape" to an American audience.^[7][8][9] When he suggested this name to Nintendo of America, he was laughed at, but the name stuck.^[7]

Characteristics

The Donkey Kong Country series introduced the setting, Donkey Kong Island, and backstory for the character. The series introduced Diddy Kong as Donkey's sidekick, and King K. Rool, king of the Kremlings, as his nemesis who steals the banana hoard. While retaining the red necktie, he also donned a distinct physical appearance featuring heavy brows and a peaked lock of hair on top of his head. This would become the standard look for Donkey Kong still used over a decade later. The modern Donkey Kong is portrayed as a powerful yet lazy and laid-back ape, who is interested mainly in his banana hoard.

The new Donkey Kong introduced in "Donkey Kong Country" was initially characterized as the grandson of the original Donkey Kong,^[10] who appears in the game as an elderly ape named Cranky Kong,^[11][12] however later sources following the release of Donkey Kong 64 states that the current Donkey Kong was actually meant to be Cranky Kong's son,^[13][14] with one source implying that he is a grown-up version of Donkey Kong Jr.^[15] In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one character mentions that the current Donkey Kong is Cranky's grandson.^[16] The relation between Pauline and the original Donkey Kong, who was already a husband and father, is vague and can't be a legitimate romance. Also the story designs of the present DK series, which began with Donkey Kong Country, is clearly different, which Nintendo use alteration of generations to explain it, though not mentioned why Mario and Pauline didn't get old, too.

Appearances

Early history

The original Donkey Kong (later established to be a younger version of Cranky Kong from the Donkey Kong Country series) made his first appearance as the titular character of the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong alongside protagonist Mario (then known as "Jumpman") and damsel in distress, the Lady (later renamed Pauline). As Jumpman, the player must reach Donkey Kong at the top of each stage, where he is holding the Lady captive. Donkey Kong attempts to hinder the player's progress by throwing barrels, springs, and other objects towards Jumpman. The ape reappeared the following year in the sequel Donkey Kong Junior, where Donkey Kong is taken captive and locked in a cage by the re-named Mario, while Donkey Kong Junior sets out to rescue him. Donkey Kong resumed his antagonistic role in Donkey Kong 3, this time the character Stanley The Bugman taking Mario's place as the protagonist. Stanley fights Donkey Kong's attempts to invade a greenhouse along with a horde of killer bees.

After Donkey Kong, Mario went on to become Nintendo's primary mascot, while Donkey Kong and his son were relegated to supporting roles and cameos. The 1994 Game Boy version of Donkey Kong marked his re-emergence as a major character. He was redesigned, appearing with a red necktie, which sometimes bears his initials, "DK".

Rare era

The 1994 Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Donkey Kong Country, developed by British game developer Rare was the beginning of a series. Despite his name being in the titles of both games, DK only makes guest appearances (non-playable) in the sequels Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. where he is captured by K. Rool, while the player controls different Kongs who have set out to rescue him. The Donkey Kong Country series also inspired the Donkey Kong Land trilogy and a television series. In Donkey Kong 64, King K. Rool has driven a mechanical island in front of DK island. He steals all of Donkey Kong's bananas and his friends.^{[citation needed]}

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. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was released on March 14, 2005 in North America for the GameCube. It depicted DK as being more violent than his original image and also used the bongo controllers. In October 2007, Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast was released in North America for the Wii.

On handheld consoles, Donkey Kong was reunited with his former rival Mario in the 2004 Game Boy Advance game, Mario vs. Donkey Kong. A throwback to the Donkey Kong game 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. He also once again appeared as the antagonist in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again. Aside from those, Donkey Kong appeared in DK King of Swing on the GBA around the time of Jungle Beat, and in its sequel, DK Jungle Climber, for the Nintendo DS. In the 2010 Wii game, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong get rid of the Tiki Tak Tribe, who appears on Donkey Kong Island and hypnotizes various creatures.

Other appearances

Donkey Kong and his son have supporting roles and cameos in games such as in the arcade version of Punch-Out!!, Super Mario Kart, and the Virtual Boy game Mario's Tennis. Donkey Kong first appears in the Mario Kart series from Mario Kart 64. With this, he became a regular playable character in the Mario sports series and other spin-offs such as Mario Party. Donkey Kong has been a playable fighter in all entries of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series to date. His final smash move in Brawl lets him take out his kongas and the music from it hurts his opponents.

As a baby, he first appeared in Yoshi's Island DS and then in Mario Super Sluggers. Even as an infant, he possesses quite powerful strength; being able to support both Yoshi and himself by swinging on vines in order to navigate the area.

He also appears in the arcade version of Punch-Out!!, and in the Wii game. He made a playable appearance in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. Two minor enemies in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars bear a striking resemblance to Donkey Kong. One of the enemies, named "Guerrilla", says "Don't confuse me with someone else," referring to DK. Both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong, Jr. appear as minor antagonists in the Super Mario Bros.-based adventure book Doors to Doom.

Reception

Since his appearance in the original Donkey Kong video game, Donkey Kong has been described as one of the most iconic mascots for Nintendo.^[17][18] In their 250th issue in January 2010, Nintendo Power ranked him as their eighth favorite Nintendo hero, stating that while he is an unlikely hero, he is an entertaining one. They also ranked him as their eighth favorite Nintendo villain, joking that one should avoid him if he isn't wearing a tie.^[19] IGN criticized his tie, stating "DK needs a fashion makeover". They said that while he "used to be a working icon", "his status is starting to show signs of rust".^[20] 1UP.com listed him as the most "Gracelessly Aging Character", citing the fact that the original Donkey Kong from the arcade game eventually became Cranky Kong.^[21] IGN ranked him 5th in their "Top 100 Videogames Villains" list for his earlier appearances.^[22] UGO.com listed Donkey Kong seventh on their list of "The 25 Awesomest Hidden Characters" for his cameo appearance in Punch-Out!!.^[23]

See also

	Mario portal
	Fictional characters portal

• List of Donkey Kong video games
• Donkey Kong (series)
• Diddy Kong

References

1. ^ Donkey Kong at the Internet Movie Database
2. ^ "Now You're Playing With Power: Top 25 Nintendo Characters of All Time". GameDaily. http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/galleries/now-youre-playing-with-power-top-25-nintendo-characters-of-all-time/?page=15. Retrieved 2009-08-09. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ De Maria, Rusel; Johnny L. Wilson (2004). High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games (2nd ed ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Osborne. p. 238. 
4. ^ Kohler, Chris (2005). Power-up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life. Indianapolis, Indiana: BradyGAMES. p. 39. 
5. ^ Sheff, David (1999). Game Over: Press Start to Continue: The Maturing of Mario. Wilton, Connecticut: GamePress. p. 47. 
6. ^ Kohler, Chris (2005). Power-up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life. Indianapolis, Indiana: BradyGAMES. p. 36. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "Interview with Miyamoto". Miyamoto Shrine. 2001-05-16. http://www.miyamotoshrine.com/theman/interviews/051601.shtml. Retrieved 2007-05-31. 
8. ^ "Miyamoto interview, E3 2001". Quarter To Three. 2001-05-16. http://replay.web.archive.org/20080512170117/http://www.quartertothree.com/features/e3_2001/miyamoto.shtml. Retrieved 2007-05-31. 
9. ^ Fact-checking website Snopes determines that "The bottom line is that no evidence backs up any of the explanations that the name 'Donkey Kong' came about because of a misread fax, mispronunciation, or mistranslation. Shigeru Miyamoto, the game's inventor and the one person who unquestionably knows the origins of the name he chose, has repeatedly affirmed that he used the word 'donkey' to convey a sense of stubbornness and the name 'Kong' to invoke the image of a gorilla." "Donkey Wrong". Snopes.com. 2007-02-19. http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/donkeykong.asp. Retrieved 2008-04-22. 
10. ^ "One swift blow was all that was needed to leave him sprawled on the floor, face down! he groggily rolled over to see the familiar wrinkled, white-bearded, grouchy face of his old granddad 'punky Kong' peering down at him." - Donkey Kong Country instruction manual, pg. 5-6
11. ^ "In his heyday, Cranky was the original Donkey Kong who battled Mario in several of his own games." - Donkey Kong Country instruction manual, pg. 6
12. ^ "なかまたちのプロフィール大紹介　page1" (in Japanese). http://www.nintendo.co.jp/nom/0002/01/family1.html. 
13. ^ "Well, if it isn't my lazy, good-for-nothing son." - Cranky Kong, to Donkey Kong; Donkey Kong 64 in-game dialogue
14. ^ "That darn Donkey has all the luck! His girl Candy waits around in her hut, always willing to offer musical help to that undeserving son of mine and his fancy polygonal friends. Pah!" - Donkey Kong 64 instruction manual (UK), pg. 8
15. ^ "Rare.com Scribes - August 25, 1999 (Waybacked)". Archived from the original on 2002-08-05. http://web.archive.org/web/20020805184158/rareware.com/the_site/talk_to_us/scribes/aug25_99/aug25_99.html. "As far as I know, 'our' DK is the son of Cranky, which does indeed make him the original DK Jr. all grown up: so if you see Cranky referred to as DK's granddad anywhere, just cover your eyes and hum loudly until it goes away.)" 
16. ^ Nintendo. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Level/area: Codec conversation between Snake and Otacon. "Otacon: "The Donkey Kong who fought that epic battle with Mario was this guy's grandfather.""
17. ^ The 12 greatest arcade machines of all time | GamesRadar
18. ^ Complete Digital Illustration: A ... - Google Books
19. ^ (Magazine). 250. South San Francisco, California: Future US. January 2010. pp. 40, 41, 42. http://www.nintendopower.com/images/NP250_250Feature.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-17. 
20. ^ Jesse Schedeen (April 24, 2009). "Top 10 Most Overrated Videogame Characters - Stars Feature at IGN". IGN. http://stars.ign.com/articles/976/976353p1.html. Retrieved 2010-04-25. 
21. ^ Scott Sharkey (2009-10-12). "Top 5 Gracelessly Aging Characters from 1UP.com". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/features/top-5-gracelessly-aging-characters. Retrieved 2010-04-25. 
22. ^ "Donkey Kong is number 5 - IGN". http://www.ign.com/videogame-villains/5.html. Retrieved 2010-12-05. 
23. ^ K. Thor Jensen (December 7, 2010). "The 25 Awesomest Hidden Characters - UGO.com". UGO.com. http://www.ugo.com/games/the-25-awesomest-hidden-characters?page=4. Retrieved 2011-03-22. 

External links

• Donkey Kong Universe
• The History of Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong Wiki