Clambo

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Not to be confused with Giant Clam, a notable Clambo who appears in Donkey Kong Land, and is alternatively named Clambo as well.
Clambo
Artwork of a Clambo from Donkey Kong Country
Artwork of a Clambo from Donkey Kong Country
First appearance Donkey Kong Country (1994)
Latest appearance Donkey Kong Country (GBA) (2003)
Comparable
Notable members
“Clambo spits pearls at you when you swim past.”
Donkey Kong Country manual, page 30

Clambos, generically named clams,[1] are underwater enemies in the Donkey Kong franchise. They are clams with a pair of eyes and a long tongue. Clambos first appear in Donkey Kong Country.

History[edit]

Donkey Kong Country[edit]

Sprite of a Clambo in Donkey Kong Country.

In Donkey Kong Country, Clambos are found on the seafloor in some of the underwater levels. They repeatedly open and close their shells, and spit out one to five pearls at a time in a fixed direction whenever they open their shell. The number and trajectory of the pearls is different for each Clambo. If Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong touch a pearl, they take damage. Coral Capers is the first level to feature a Clambo, though only one appears near the level exit. Several Clambos appear in the underwater level Clam City, where they are the main obstacle encountered throughout. Clambos are one of the few underwater enemies who cannot be defeated by Enguarde, who even takes damage if it attempts to attack a Clambo.

In the Game Boy Advance version, there is a photograph of a Clambo in Clam City. It is found in a hidden alcove above a Clambo, shortly after the letter O.

During the game's pre-production, Clambo was known as Ms. Clamity.[2]

Donkey Kong Land[edit]

Clambo in Donkey Kong Land

In Donkey Kong Land, Clambos are only featured in one level, Nautilus Chase. They have a different design, as they lack eyes and a tongue, and are facing upward instead of left or right. Clambos still open and close their shell repeatedly, but they do not spit out pearls.

The second boss is a giant Clambo named the Giant Clam, who is fought at Seabed Showdown at the end of Kremlantis. Although it is a boss, the Giant Clam is based on the Clambos from Donkey Kong Country, as it can spit out pearls and has a very similar design to the point of the Clambos' Donkey Kong Country artwork being reused for the Giant Clam. The Giant Clam has the added ability to move around underwater, and it can also aim where it shoots out its pearls.

During the boss fight against Giant Clam, there is a Clambo-like sponge[3] positioned at the corner of the screen. Its only purpose is that its shell can bounce the pearls spit out by the Giant Clam back at it. When the sponge is hit by a pearl, its shell flicks open briefly, revealing two eyes, before it reappears, usually in another corner.

Club Nintendo[edit]

Some Clambos can be seen in the Club Nintendo comic "Donkey Kong Country." One of them bites a Chomps which is trying to attack Diddy and Donkey Kong, in order to attack the Kongs itself.

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese クランボー
Kuranbō
Clambo

Spanish Clambo
-

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Sharks, croctopi and pearl-spitting clams are just a few of an apes[sic] not-so-favourite things!" - Nintendo Magazine System (UK) issue 26 (NMS Special), page 14.
  2. ^ Ghoulyboy (11:56, September 14, 2015). "#DKCrevealed unused stuff - big sheet of names, locked up animals with 'too Zelda' keys and a whole level." Twitter. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  3. ^ Donkey Kong Land, Nintendo Magazine System (UK) WORLD EXCLUSIVE Review booklet, page 15. "Tackling this Boss on the swim places our boys in a more precarious position than they’d like. Clambo fires pearls the size of cannon balls from the safety of its shell. They’re valuable, sure, but the damage they cause is more costly. The only other object in Clambo’s lair is a sponge, which chooses to disappear and reappear in random comers of the room. What folly is this!"