Giant Donkey Kong

Giant Donkey Kong
Universe	Donkey Kong
Smash Bros. appearances	SSB Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo 64
Species	Kong
Gender	Male

Giant Donkey Kong, also referred to as Giant DK, is a recurring minor boss in the Super Smash Bros. series.

In Super Smash Bros.

Giant DK first appeared as a non-playable character in Stage 6 of Super Smash Bros.' 1P Game. Giant DK has a large amount of knockback resistance, while his own attacks have increased knockback capable of KOing opponents more easily on top of having increased range due to his size, making him a formidable opponent; however, the player is given two regular-sized AI partners to help out. On higher difficulties, Giant DK behaves more similarly to a level 9 CPU while the player's partners are lower in level. It is possible to exploit Giant DK's AI, making him walk back and forth on the top platform, similar to Metal Mario along with his size making him a larger target to attacks. However, it is harder due to AI partners jumping into him or attacking him which will often interfere with his pattern.

It is possible to play as Giant DK using a debug menu code. Unlike the other unique boss, Metal Mario, Giant DK is considered to be better than his unchanged counterpart due to his greater jab range. He is, however, prone to being chain grabbed, such as by Captain Falcon or Pikachu. Despite being his own unique, separate character, he has the exact same head icon as Donkey Kong.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

In Melee, Giant DK is essentially regular Donkey Kong with a permanent Super Mushroom upgrade (and can thus be temporarily playable that way or played permanently using Action Replay's Auto-Mushroom cheat). Giant DK appears at the end of the second stage of Adventure Mode, after defeating two tiny Donkey Kongs. Giant DK is also very exploitable; by standing perfectly still or moving slightly towards the edge, depending on character, it is possible to bait him into using an f-air or n-air and falling into the water, resulting in a free win. This is much more likely on higher difficulties due to the more aggressive AI, and is a common speedrunning tactic for this stage. Additionally, in Classic Mode, like all giant characters, Giant DK has a chance of appearing on Stage 5 as a random giant opponent.

Aside from those two appearances, Event 25: Gargantuans features an immensely large Donkey Kong (over twice as large as the normal Super Mushroom Giant DK) as an opponent, while the player is Giant Bowser (also bigger than normal like Giant DK), with a super tiny Mario and Peach also present.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Giant DK returns in Brawl in a similar fashion as in Melee, as a regular Donkey Kong permanently equipped with a Super Mushroom. Giant DK appears in four event matches: in Event 9: The Monster Beneath the Earth, if the player can't KO the two Diddy Kongs in time, they must fight Giant DK; in Event 22: Monkeys Unite, Giant DK appears as Diddy Kong's ally to defeat Sheik and Lucario; in Event 27: Three-Beast Carnage, Giant DK returns with Giant Bowser and Giant Charizard, attacking New Pork City; finally, in Co-Op Event 14: The Dark Guardians, Ganondorf and Wolf must defeat Giant Charizard and Giant DK, again on New Pork City. If counting both events and co-op events in Brawl, these four events (Event 9: The Monster Beneath the Earth, Event 22: Monkeys Unite, Event 27: Three-Beast Carnage, and Co-Op Event 14: The Dark Guardians) are Giant DK's only appearance in Brawl.

Unlike the other playable characters (along with the The Legend of Zelda characters and Diddy Kong), Giant DK does not appear as a giant opponent in Classic Mode; despite his appearances in 1P Game from Super Smash Bros. and from Classic Mode and Adventure Mode in Melee.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Giant DK is once again one of the possible random giant characters in Classic Mode. Giant DK can appear in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U in a giant Special Smash or Special Orders.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Giant DK appears as the boss of Jigglypuff's Super Smash Bros.-themed Classic Mode route, in reference to his original 1P Game role.

Origin

The closest analogue to Giant Donkey Kong in the Donkey Kong series is the final boss battle of Donkey Kong for Game Boy, where the title character used Super Mushrooms to become much larger and fought Mario atop the Tower that comprised World 9. In this appearance, however, Giant Donkey Kong was significantly larger relative to Mario than his depiction in Smash.

Alternatively, Giant Donkey Kong's size may simply be a reference to one of Donkey Kong's inspirations, King Kong.

Gallery

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  Giant Donkey Kong being fought in Super Smash Bros. by human player Mario and CPU allies Jigglypuff and Kirby.

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  Giant Donkey Kong's appearance on the Jungle Japes stage in the Adventure Mode of Super Smash Bros. Melee.

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  Giant Donkey Kong in Event 22: Monkeys Unite in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.