Donkey Kong: Difference between revisions

Official artwork of Donkey Kong from ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Party Superstars}}''.

|lastappearance= ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Strikers: Battle League}}'' (2022)

Donkey Kong was created by Shigeru Miyamoto as the titular character of the [[mariowiki:Donkey Kong (game)|arcade game of the same name]]. According to Miyamoto, he chose the name "Donkey" to reflect the character's stubbornness,<ref name=Wired>Kohler, Chris (October 14, 2016). "[https://www.wired.com/2016/10/miyamoto-donkey-kong-secrets/ Miyamoto Spills Donkey Kong’s Darkest Secrets, 35 Years Later]. ''Wired''. Retrieved October 14, 2016</ref> while "Kong" was chosen as a surname due to being considered a generic term for large apes in Japan.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/donkeykong.asp "Donkey Wrong" - An article about the origin of Donkey Kong's name]. Snopes.com. 2011. (Retrieved June 28, 2012)</ref> Although Miyamoto was informed by Nintendo of America staff that the word "donkey" is not a synonym for "idiot" in English despite what the dictionary he consulted had said, he nevertheless decided to ignore this particular suggestion because he liked the name "Donkey Kong".<ref name=Wired/>

In ''Donkey Kong'', the titular ape is [[Mario]]'s first enemy who held his girlfriend, Lady (later known as [[Pauline]]), captive over a {{s|mariowiki|construction site}}. Mario had to make his way to the top of the site to rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong, the latter of whom would impede Mario's progress by easily throwing countless {{s|mariowiki|barrel}}s and stomping the construction site with such force that the girders would bend. Donkey Kong would later return in ''{{iw|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Jr.|game}}'', which saw his [[mariowiki:Donkey Kong Jr.|young son]] rescuing him from Mario's captivity. He would once again be featured in ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong 3}}'', which saw him go up against {{s|mariowiki|Stanley the Bugman}}.

[[File:Donkey Kong (64).jpg|thumb|left|125px|Official artwork of Donkey Kong from ''Donkey Kong 64''.]]

For a time, Donkey Kong seemed to be largely forgotten in the video game industry aside from ports of the arcade classics to home consoles, with a notable entry being a remake of the original for {{s|nintendowiki|Game Boy}} in 1994 that would later inspire the ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario Vs. Donkey Kong}}'' series&mdash;that is, until Rareware released ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Country}}'' for the {{s|nintendowiki|Super Nintendo Entertainment System}}. ''Donkey Kong Country'' saw the debut of a new Donkey Kong alongside a new supporting cast; the new Donkey Kong is more muscular and with more realistic gorilla proportions, and sports a characteristic tuft of hair. His only article of clothing is a red tie with his initials printed on, a detail that was first seen in the Game Boy ''Donkey Kong'' remake. This design was subsequently used in nearly every appearance of Donkey Kong since then. He is joined by characters such as his "little buddy" [[Diddy Kong]] and his grandfather {{s|mariowiki|Cranky Kong}}, the latter of whom is said to be the original Donkey Kong from the ''Donkey Kong'' arcade games, thus establishing the current Donkey Kong as a separate character. This Donkey Kong was originally supposed to be the same one as the arcade games with what eventually became Diddy being Donkey Kong Jr. However, Nintendo intervened by saying the modernized designs were too different from the original and told Rare to either revert them to the classic designs or make them new characters. Rare chose the latter and created Cranky as a way to keep the original in the game. ''Donkey Kong Country'' depicted the current DK's first battle with his arch-enemy [[King K. Rool]], and was such a massive success that it helped the SNES take the lead in the 16-bit console war.

 

 

Additionally, Donkey Kong remains a part of the {{uv|Mario}} universe, appearing in many of the ''Mario'' spin-off games since ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Kart 64}}''. DK also appears as a [[mariowiki:Baby Donkey Kong|baby]] in ''{{s|mariowiki|Yoshi's Island DS}}'', the main playable protagonist of the ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Adventure}}'' story expansion of ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle}}'', the antagonist in the ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario vs. Donkey Kong|series}}'' series, and as an ally to Mario in ''{{s|mariowiki|The Super Mario Bros. Movie}}''.

 

Like his grandfather, Donkey Kong has also been shown throwing barrels with ease. His strength, however, is even greater in comparison, as shown by his ability to generate [[mariowiki:Sound Wave Attack|damaging sound waves]] by clapping with sufficient force and, most notably, punching the moon out of orbit during the climax of ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Country Returns}}''.

 

Unlike his grandfather, Donkey Kong also boasts potent hand-to-hand combat skills, as shown in ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Jungle Beat}}'' and when he is destroying a {{s|mariowiki|Slot Machine Barrel}}. Compared to his grandfather, he is most consistently depicted as a laid-back, simple-minded character who only retaliates when his friends or banana hoard are threatened. While Donkey Kong varies between protagonist and antagonist depending on the game, his intentions are rarely portrayed as truly malevolent. Even in his antagonistic roles, such as ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'', he is generally depicted as more of a friendly rival to Mario instead of a true nemesis nowadays.

Donkey Kong makes his first appearance in a fighting game as a starting playable character in the original ''Super Smash Bros.'' His design is based on his appearance from ''Donkey Kong Country''. DK is surprisingly fast for his size and is one of the strongest characters in the game. His [[neutral special move]] is [[Giant Punch]], which becomes stronger depending on how long the player lets DK charge it before using it. His [[up special]] is [[Spinning Kong]], which causes DK to spin around wildly with his arms striking anyone nearby. His [[down special move]] is [[Hand Slap]], which allows DK to pound the ground with his fists repeatedly creating a small earthquake. He is ranked 9th out of 12 on the current [[tier list]].

On the ''SSB4'' [[tier list]], Donkey Kong ranks 22nd out of 55 characters, placing him in C tier. He has been [[buff]]ed overall, with faster attacks and improved combo ability, especially with his cargo up throw. The new [[rage]] mechanic benefits Donkey Kong very well, which when combined with his heaviness, allows him to deliver greater knockback at higher damage percents. Donkey Kong's trademark power and speed are retained from past games too. Although he is regarded as one of the game's best super heavyweights along with {{SSB4|Bowser}}, he still suffers from common weaknesses that plagued him in the past, such as vulnerability to combos due to his [[weight]] and size, and his recovery in [[Spinning Kong]] still gaining little vertical distance. Nonetheless, Donkey Kong's strengths have allowed him to secure decent tournament representation and above average results.

*Unlike in most ''Donkey Kong'' games and ''Mario'' spin-offs, where Donkey Kong has a cartoonish voice, voiced by {{s|mariowiki|Takashi Nagasako}}, the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series has Donkey Kong using more realistic gorilla grunts. This also applies to [[Bowser]], with realistic roars instead of {{s|mariowiki|Kenneth W. James}}, Bowser's current voice actor in most ''Mario'' games, [[Petey Piranha]], who uses monstrous roars instead of his current voice actor in the ''Mario'' games, {{s|mariowiki|Toru Minegishi}}, [[Diddy Kong]], who uses realistic chimpanzee screeches instead of using voice clips from his current voice actor {{s|mariowiki|Katsumi Suzuki}}, and [[King K. Rool]], who uses realistic crocodile grunts instead of his current voice actor in the ''Donkey Kong'' games, {{s|mariowiki|Toshihide Tsuchiya}}.

*Despite being able to crawl in their respective home series, Donkey Kong, [[Mario]], [[Pit]], [[Young Link]], and [[Toon Link]] are unable [[Crawl|to do so]] in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series.

*Donkey Kong himself is the only character in the {{uv|Donkey Kong}} series to be created in Japan. However his design used in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series has been created in the United Kingdom and is considered in-universe to be a different character from the original Donkey Kong.

*Donkey Kong is the only character who has more than four [[Throw]]s.

*Since ''[[Smash 4]]'', Donkey Kong has the distinction of being the character with the most attacks that have a [[meteor]] effect, at a total of four attacks.

**Specifically, his Forward aerial, Down aerial, [[Headbutt]] (side special), and [[Hand Slap]] (down special) all have meteor smash hitboxes.

*Starting with ''Smash 4'', the chanting by the [[crowd]] for Donkey Kong when a player performs well is "DK! Donkey Kong!" This is a reference to the popular {{iw|mariowiki|DK Rap}}.