Zinger

"Muck Bee? No one calls Zinger a muck bee and gets away with it! I'll show you!"

- Zinger, DKC comic

Zingers are a persistent enemy in the Donkey Kong series. They are common, pestering enemies in many levels, in one form or another, since their debut in Donkey Kong Country and reappearance in Donkey Kong Country 2.

Enemy Description
Zingers heavily resemble actual bees, though appear much larger, about the size of Diddy. Regular Zingers can only be defeated with the use of Barrels, some Animal Buddies, or weapons introduced in Donkey Kong 64. Zingers come in many different color swaps in the original DKC and even more in it's GBA remake. They all share the traits of the usual yellow Zingers, except for the Red Zingers.

Queen B. and King Zing are even bigger boss variations of them, as most of the bosses in the Donkey Kong Country series tend to be larger versions of regular enemies. The Mecha-Zingers and Buzzes are another variation of these, being very robotic like. The slightest contact with either one will defeat a Kong in the DKC trilogy, though in later games Kongs were given more health to help deal with this problem.

Donkey Kong Country/Land
Zinger's first appearance was in the original Donkey Kong Country. Here, they were annoying, very common enemies found in many levels. Zingers were mostly stationary and could only be defeated with the aid of a Barrel or Animal Buddy. In most cases though, Donkey and Diddy Kong could only avoid these enemies through their quest. Queen B. appears as a boss version in Vine Valley, and could summon fellow Zingers in the Gameboy Advance remake. Most Zingers are yellow, and gained many colors in the GBA remake, though color does not affect the Zinger itself except for its flight pattern.

Zingers were essentially the same in DKC's follow up, Donkey Kong Land, aside from color degrading due to limitations.

Donkey Kong Country 2/Land 2
Zingers would return, slightly designed in Donkey Kong Country's sequel Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. As per the enemies being designed for the sequel, Zinger returns with their bodies slightly altered, but otherwise not much is different from their first appearance. Notable changes include them having a formal hive, found in Krazy Kremland, where many of them dwell, and a new king, King Zing. The hives explain how so many of them appeared in the original game, since Crocodile Isle is not very far from Donkey Kong Island, and why so many are in DKC2. Also, this time there are only two types: yellow and invincible red, with no other color swaps found.

Zingers return in the game's semi-sequel Donkey Kong Land 2, not changed much. They still have their hives and their king, risen above by Kaptain K. Rool, and later sunk again.

Donkey Kong Country 3/Land III

 * Main article: Buzz

Zingers were absent from the 3rd installment in the Donkey Kong Country and Land series, and replaced by the very similar functioning Buzzes. Buzzes retain the Zinger's commonness, annoyance, and even similar functioning colors, with red buzzes being invincible, however the green Buzzes are the "normal" ones.

Donkey Kong 64
Zingers returned in Donkey Kong 64. Zingers here were not as common or annoying, as they can be defeated much easier with the Kongs' new weapons introduced in this game, given by Funky Kong. A new type of Zinger, Mecha-Zinger, appears in the level "Frantic Factory", and are harder to defeat.

Donkey Kong Racing
A trailer for the now canceled Donkey Kong Racing suggested the Zingers were going to be ride-able.



In other spin-offs
Zingers would make various spin-off appearances since. Some appear in Donkey Konga as cameos. In DK: King of Swing and DK Jungle Climber, they return as enemies. In Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, Zingers are basic enemies that fly around, and only take one hit to kill.

"Donkey Kong Country" Comic
In the Club Nintendo comic "Donkey Kong Country", Zingers appear again as an enemy of Donkey and Diddy Kong. Much like in the games, the Zinger is docile and does not rapidly attack the pair until Donkey Kong provokes the wasp. Donkey defeats the Zinger, by doing a special rolling move and then kicking the enemy, despite direct contact with it without getting hurt by it's stingers not possible in other games. The Zinger can talk as well, saying it's stinger is deformed.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Their latest appearance was a sticker cameo in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where it raises resistance to slashing attacks by five points.

Donkey Kong Country

 * Ropey Rampage (yellow)
 * Reptile Rumble (yellow and orange)
 * Barrel Cannon Canyon (yellow and orange)
 * Winky's Walkway (pink)
 * Bouncy Bonanza (green and yellow)
 * Millstone Mayhem (orange)
 * Vulture Culture (orange, yellow and pink)
 * Tree Top Town (orange)
 * Forest Frenzy (orange, yellow and pink)
 * Temple Tempest (orange and yellow)
 * Orang-utan Gang (pink)
 * Snow Barrel Blast (green, yellow, orange and pink)
 * Slipslide Ride (orange)
 * Rope Bridge Rumble (pink and orange)
 * Trick Track Trek (orange, yellow and pink)
 * Elevator Antics (yellow and orange)
 * Mine Cart Madness (orange, pink and yellow)
 * Tanked Up Trouble (orange, pink and yellow)
 * Loopy Lights (orange and yellow)
 * Platform Perils (orange, yellow and pink)

Trivia

 * Zingers are placed in the "Lazy Landlubbers" class enemies in Donkey Kong Country 2. "Lazy Landlubber" in pirate-talk would translate to "Lazy Land Lovers", despite being a flying enemy. Buzzes, however, would later being placed in the "Flying Fiends" class.
 * Zinger is one of the few regular enemies in the Donkey Kong Country series to have more than one boss form: Queen B. and King Zing.
 * Despite having large stingers, contact with any part of it's body will hurt a Kong. Only King Zing actually uses a stinger based attack.
 * Zingers in the first Donkey Kong Country never had a formal hive to live in, despite being a very common enemy and even having a queen. However, nearby Crocodile Isle (specifically Krazy Kremland) had a couple of very large hives.