Donkey Kong


 * For other uses see Donkey Kong (disambiguation)

"My bananas and my buddy, Diddy, they are gone! The Kremlings will pay! I'll hunt them down through every corner of my island, until I have every last banana from my hoard back!"

- Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong (or DK for short), is the main character of the Donkey Kong series. He is the protector of Donkey Kong Island and is the original Donkey Kong (Cranky Kong)'s grandson. His grandfather was originally an antagonist with quarrels against Mario until he retired and his grandson then went on to star in his own series, consisting of saving and protecting the things he loves. However, unlike his grandfather, he is friends with Mario and often visits him to participate in sports and festivals.

Donkey Kong is often characterized as a strong and brave gorilla who loves eating Bananas, so much so that he has a Banana Hoard of them. He loves his friends so much that he will help when they are in trouble. Donkey Kong has been on countless adventures, usually with his nephew and best friend Diddy Kong.

The original Donkey Kong's character design was created by Shigeru Miyamoto for the Donkey Kong arcade game. He is currently voiced by Takashi Nagasako in most of the games as of 2004.

Donkey Kong

 * Main article: Cranky_Kong



Cranky Kong, under the name Donkey Kong, appeared in the first game of the series, Donkey Kong. According to the Donkey Kong Country series, Cranky Kong is the old Donkey Kong in this game, and named his son after himself. When Cranky grew frail and cranky, he gained his nickname "Cranky Kong".

In said game, Donkey Kong kidnapped Jumpman's girlfriend, Pauline, seemingly because of rage buildup after being kept in a cage. DK proceeded to climb on top of a local construction site (according to DKCR, taking place on Donkey Kong Island), and tossing down barrels to fend off the pursuing Jumpman. Jumpman eventually made it to the top of the site and caused Donkey's support hinges on the site he was on to fall, making DK fall to his injury.

Donkey Kong tried to kidnap Pauline yet again in the Game Boy game, Donkey Kong '94, this time accompanied by his son Donkey Kong Jr. Donkey Kong's tactics in this game remained virtually the same, he attacked mainly by throwing a variety of objects at the hero.

Donkey Kong Jr.
Donkey Kong (Cranky Kong) was captured in the game Donkey Kong Jr., which is the sequel to the original Donkey Kong. Jumpman captured him after the events of the original game to protect himself and Pauline. However, Donkey Kong Jr. (speculated to be the modern Donkey Kong's father) comes to rescue him. Donkey Kong Jr. climbs on vines and avoids Klaptraps deployed by Jumpman and eventually rescues his father.

Donkey Kong 3
In Donkey Kong 3, Donkey Kong (Cranky Kong) is the villain as he previously was, but not fighting Jumpman, now known as Mario, who had moved onto his own adventures. Stanley the Bugman is the main protagonist of the game. Donkey Kong, likely anxious and enraged by the events in the previous game, had gone on a rampage inside Stanley's greenhouse. Stanley fought off DK to save his greenhouse plants. He could not let Donkey Kong reach the floor or he would finish off the greenhouse. After Stanley sprays Donkey Kong with insecticide three times to keep him off the greenhouse floor, he runs away.

Because Donkey Kong 3 was notably less popular, Donkey Kong, (along with some other characters from the Arcade games) were not seen for a while. Donkey Kong did appear as a sort of host for the game Donkey Kong Jr. Math, where he gave the player math signs so that they would know which operation to perform. He also appeared in some re-makes and made small cameos, but had no large roles.

Donkey Kong Country series
Donkey Kong (Cranky Kong) had disappeared in a brief period of absence as Mario had moved onto his own series and Donkey Kong games were getting less popular. During this period, he had migrated onto the Kongo Jungle area of the island (assuming the events of the Donkey Kong trilogy take place on Donkey Kong Island, according to DKCR). Donkey Kong settled down and started a family, having a son, whom he named after himself, Donkey Kong Jr.

Donkey Kong Sr. eventually grew old, frail and cranky, earning the nickname Cranky Kong.Donkey Kong Jr. has had his own son (the current Donkey Kong aka Donkey Kong III) and disappeared. The current Donkey Kong was made the strong protector of the island. He befriended many of the other inhabitants, such as best friends Diddy Kong and Funky Kong, as well as rumored girlfriend Candy Kong. Much of the gorrila’s time was spent collecting Bananas to add to his Banana Hoard, and he lived a relatively laid back lifestyle as compared to his original appearance.

However, a band of Kremlings known as the Kremling Krew formed during this time. Their acts of violence and thievery put them at odds with Donkey Kong constantly, forcing him to guard his Banana Hoard every night.

Donkey Kong Country


The current Donkey Kong made his mark in the game Donkey Kong Country. In this game, Donkey Kong had to defeat the Kremling Krew army throughout all of Donkey Kong Island and reclaim his stolen Banana Hoard. During the events of the game, DK offers Diddy Kong the chance to guard the Banana Hoard overnight while he catches up on some sleep. However the hoard was attacked that night by the Kremlings and Diddy was no match for them. The Kremlings overpowered the young Kong and stole the entire stash.

Donkey Kong, enraged over the discovery of the loss of his bananas and friend, set out to find them. Donkey rescued Diddy, who was sealed inside a barrel, and traveled through seven worlds of the island in search of the bananas. He was aided by Cranky, Candy, and Funky Kong along the way, not to mention the animal buddies Rambi, Enguarde, Expresso, Winky, and Squawks. The Kongs found more and more of the hoard, until finally confronting King K. Rool and reclaiming the entire hoard back. The two then returned home and relaxed.

Donkey Kong Land
Shortly after the events of Donkey Kong Country, Cranky was upset with what had happened in the game. Cranky thought the successful sales of the first game were all due to the advanced capabilities of the SNES, and thought if the game was on an 8-bit system, the Kongs would be unsuccessful. Cranky makes a bet with Donkey and Diddy that they cannot complete another adventure on an 8-bit system, the Game Boy. The two accept the bet, and thus sets of the events of Donkey Kong Land. Cranky makes arrangements for them to have another adventure. This time around there were only four worlds to explore, and the duo emerged victorious once more.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest / Donkey Kong Land 2


Having completed two adventures, Donkey and Diddy Kong were exhausted. The two had spent their days relaxing and lounging. Diddy Kong even got a girlfriend. Cranky Kong claimed that true heroes never take a break, but Donkey ignores him and continues to lounge. However, the Kremling Krew were not through yet, and were ready for revenge. One day DK was lounging on the beaches of DK Island when the Krew launched a surprise attack while DK's guard was down, tying him in ropes and leaving a letter behind. Donkey Kong was a prisoner of the Krew as the Kong Family back at home began to worry. Cranky reads the note, which reads -


 * Hah-arrrrgyh! We have got the big monkey!
 * If you want him back, you scurvy dogs,
 * you'll have to hand over the Banana Hoard!

Diddy Kong refused to hand over the banana hoard after what he and Donkey Kong had done to keep it safe. Diddy teams up with his girlfriend Dixie Kong to rescue Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. The two, along with new members of the Kong family and animal buddies, traveled through enemy territory, Crocodile Isle. In the end, Donkey Kong is rescued, and uppercuts Kaptain K. Rool.

Donkey Kong Land 2 and DKC2 share the same story.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Donkey Kong goes on vacation in the Northern Kremisphere. Diddy Kong also tags along. However after several weeks pass without their return, Dixie Kong, with cousin Kiddy Kong, set out to find them. As it turns out, Baron K. Roolenstein had taken over the Northern Kremisphere and captured Donkey and Diddy. Dixie and Kiddy venture through the area and save the two. Along the way they made several allies, including the Brothers Bear and Banana Birds.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Donkey Kong is a new edition to the Olympic Winter Games! Donkey Kong has good power and good speed just like his buddy, Funky Kong! Donkey Kong's rival is Knuckles.

Donkey Kong Land III
Donkey Kong, with Diddy Kong, become anxious after their rescue. The two enter a contest which is in the Northern Kremisphere]] to find the Lost World. Dixie and Kiddy soon hear of the contest and they enter as well. However Baron K. Rool had also entered and spread out his Kremling army in search. Dixie and Kiddy defeat them and find the lost world, winning the contest, however where Donkey Kong was during the game is unknown.

Donkey Kong Country Returns


Donkey Kong goes back in action in Donkey Kong Country Returns, where he must reclaim his banana hoard once more, from the evil Tiki Tak Tribe. Donkey Kong wakes up one day when the island's Volcano erupts and the Tribe is freed and begin hypnotizing the inhabitants and stole the Banana Hoard. Donkey appears to be immune to the hypnotism as Kalimba Tiki fails to do so to him.

Donkey Kong travels throughout new areas of the island, against the new tiki menace. Kremlings do not appear at all in this game. He teams up with Diddy Kong once again and eventually defeats Tiki Tong, who used the bananas to make tikis and to activate his more powerful form.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Donkey Kong Island is once again threatened, this time by an evil group of arctic vikings called Snowmads who seek to claim the island for themselves and turn it into an icy paradise. DK, his nephew, the returning Dixie Kong, and his grandfather unite to stop this new menace. However the vikings somehow manage to blast them off to a far away island where they much travel and fight their way back through a chain of islands and return home.

Donkey Kong 64
King K. Rool planned to make a comeback at the Kongs, thus constructing the Blast-O-Matic, which could destroy Donkey Kong Island. However, this plan fell short as K. Rool's minions had accidently crashed his ship offshore. All of the Kong Family did not know about this until Squawks came and informed Donkey Kong. But, in order to buy time, K. Rool kindapped Diddy, Tiny, Lanky, and Chunky Kong as well as raided the Banana Hoard, stealing all 201 of DK's Golden Bananas. Donkey Kong set out to free his friends, get his bananas back once again and save the island.

Donkey Kong had made a Kremling ally, K. Lumsy, in order to help free his friends. With the promise of freeing Lumsy from imprisonment after disobeying K. Rool, he opened up the path to Jungle Japes, where he found Diddy Kong. Diddy and Donkey eventually resued the rest of the DK Crew and making more allies, including Funky Kong, Cranky Kong, Snide, Troff, and Scoff. In a later area, Candy Kong also joined the fight. One of her gifts to Donkey Kong was a set of Bongos, which would be reused in later games.

As Donkey Kong freed his buddies, they in turn helped him find his Golden Bananas and the keys to K. Lumsy’s cage. Eventually, the team was able to take on K. Rool in a boxing match. After his defeat, K. Rool fled the island.

Donkey Kong's special ability is the Strong Kong. When he enters the special barrel with his face on it, he sparkles and is invincible, even able to walk on lava and quicksand freely. He is reverted to normal by pressing the Z button and the left C Button. Donkey Kong is the only one who can pull levers. He uses the Coconut Shooter as his shooter. His instrument is the Bongos, which as mentioned previously, would be reused in later games.

DK: King of Swing
In a time of peace when all of the family was safe, the annual Jungle Jam festival was being held in DK: King of Swing when King K. Rool lands a surprise attack, stealing the medals needed to start the Jam. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong go after him to get there tokens back. In the end, they defeat K. Rool, and the festival is celebrated.

Donkey Konga series


Donkey Kong's bongos, which were previously a weapon in Donkey Kong 64, were later centered around a trilogy of music games centered around them developed by Namco, the Donkey Konga series. The story is that Donkey Kong discovers some magic bongos on the beach one day and tries to play them. Cranky sees some potential and suggests they pursue a bongo music playing career. On their travels, he and Diddy revisited many locales and played popular songs through cooperative performances and musical face-offs. Dixie joined Donkey and Diddy Kong in Konga 2. Shortly after, they set out on another tour which was very similar to Donkey and Diddy Kong's first one. Even later after that, Funky Kong would soon join them as well in the third and final game, Donkey Konga 3.

Donkey Kong Jungle Climber
In Donkey Kong Jungle Climber, Donkey Kong, along with Diddy, Dixie, Cranky, Wrinkly, Funky, and Candy, were resting on the beach, when Diddy noticed a giant Banana. Donkey Kong, Diddy, and Cranky went up to the top to find a Banana Spaceship. Donkey Kong fought this spaceship, and found Xananab. They found that K. Rool and the Kremlings escaped with his five Crystal Bananas and he needs them back. Donkey Kong and friends agree, and the four traveled through the islands, going through wormholes and other lands, such as Glass Labyrinth, Toybox, and Veggie Patch. At the end of each island, Donkey Kong fought one of K. Rool's assistant Kremlings, and eventually when Donkey Kong defeated the third Kremling, K. Rool fled to the King Kruiser IV. Donkey Kong chased them, and eventually reached K. Rool's spaceship. There, they defeated the fourth Kremling, K. Rool went through a wormhole. Donkey Kong followed, and they landed on Xananab's homeplanet. There they fought K. Rool, which was a tough battle. Eventually, though, the DK Crew once again won, and Donkey Kong, Diddy, and Cranky got to eat all the bananas they could eat.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
While it was never clear what compelled Donkey Kong to travel to the Banana Kingdom and its sister lands, the ape set out on a mission to take down the possessed Dread Kong who ruled it. Upon doing so, he set out to the other nearby kingdoms. Utilizing his great strength, Donkey Kong hoofed it alone through sixteen such kingdoms, eventually conquering the evil Cactus King. After the fight, the other kings met Donkey Kong, now free of Cactus King’s curse. Presumably, Donkey Kong allowed them to resume their duties. Donkey Kong may not have had honorable intentions for entering the kingdoms, but rather may have been searching for more Bananas and an improved reputation.

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast


Donkey Kong would make his first appearance in a main series racing game in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, as opposed to Mario-related spinoffs. In Barrel Blast, Donkey teams up with the Kong Family against the Kremling Krew to compete in the Jungle Grand Prix, where everyone rides on jet powered bongos. His rival in this game is a Kritter. Donkey, in a similar fashion to Mario, has all-around stats.

Stats:
 * Boost: ***
 * Speed: ***
 * Agility: ***

Donkey Kong Racing
As seen in the trailer for Donkey Kong Racing, Donkey Kong was to be a playable character. He is seen in the segments where he rides Rambi until Taj rides a miniature Rambi and knocks him over to the side. Donkey Kong also appears in a forest-like area racing Taj with both of them on Zingers.

Diddy Kong Pilot (2001 build)
The twelve minute gameplay video and some screenshots show that Donkey Kong was to be a playable character in the game until the game ended up cancelled. Nothing else is known.

Diddy Kong Pilot (2003 build)
Donkey Kong appears as a playable character in the 2003 build of Diddy Kong Pilot. Here, Donkey Kong is a part of Team Kong and has high weight and speed but medium acceleration. He was later replaced by Mumbo Jumbo in Banjo-Pilot.

Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers
As seen in a gameplay video of Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers, Donkey Kong was going to appear in the game until the game ended up cancelled. It is unknown what purpose Donkey Kong was to serve in the game.

Mario
Due to their past, Donkey Kong appearances in various Mario games, mainly spin offs.

Yoshi ' s Island DS


As an infant, Donkey Kong was kidnapped by Kamek during the events of the Yoshi ' s Island. Yoshi bravely rescued him and in return DK helped Yoshi rescue the others. He can help Yoshi climb vines and charge, though is heavy and limits Yoshi's jumping ability.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong


Mario and Donkey Kong's quarrels with each other were not over for good, as evidenced by the events of the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. One day, while lounging at home, Donkey Kong watching television and saw an ad for the "Mini Mario" toys. Donkey fell in love with the fad and rushed to get a Mini Mario for himself, only to find them all gone at a local store. Enraged, he broke into the Mario Toy Company where he made off with a sack full of Mini Marios.

Mario pursued DK, allied with the Mini Mario toys dropped by Donkey while on his trail. Eventually, Mario caught Donkey Kong and destroyed his robot, but rather than make the same mistake as was made with Cranky Kong, Mario forgave his old friend and they continued their lives.

In the sequel, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, he now works in the Mario Toy Company. Donkey Kong then kidnaps Pauline, the V.I.P. guest, when she chooses Mario's Mini-Mario toy over his Mini-Donkey Kong toy. It is likely that he made the Mini-Donkey Kong toys, and perhaps he created the monkey-like enemies that appear in the game.

Mario Sports

 * Main article: Mario Sports series

Golf



 * NES Open Tournament Golf -- A lookalike monkey wearing clothes made an appearance here. It is presumably based off Donkey Kong, who informs the player of how much money he or she has.
 * Mario Golf -- Donkey's first "official" appearance in Mario Golf, on the Nintendo 64. He is unlockable and has a drive of 275Y.
 * Mario Golf -- DK returns in the series' first handheld release.
 * Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour -- He is a character in the game as well as Diddy Kong.
 * Mario Golf: Advance Tour -- Playable in this game.

Kart Racing



 * Super Mario Kart -- Donkey Kong Jr. is playable.
 * Mario Kart 64 -- Donkey Kong is playable.
 * Mario Kart Super Circuit -- DK is playable.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!! -- DK is playable alongside Diddy who is his parnter. His special item is the Giant Banana and his kart is the DK Jumbo.
 * Mario Kart Arcade GP and GP 2 -- He is playable.
 * Mario Kart DS -- Donkey is playable, and he has two of his own karts: the Rambi Rider and the Wildlife. Ironically, Richard Yearwood, who voiced Donkey Kong in the animated series, voiced him in Double Dash!!
 * Mario Kart Wii -- Donkey is playable alongside Diddy Kong and Funky Kong.
 * Mario Kart 7 -- DK is playable.
 * Mario Kart 8 -- DK is playable yet again.

Tennis

 * Mario ' s Tennis -- Donkey Kong's only Virtual Boy appearance, where he was playable.
 * Mario Tennis 64 -- Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. are playable.
 * Mario Tennis GB -- Donkey is playable, notably purple colored for some reason.
 * Mario Power Tennis -- Donkey is playable alongside Diddy Kong.
 * Mario Tennis: Power Tour -- Donkey is a selectable character.

Partying

 * Donkey Kong is a selectable character in each Mario Party game prior to the fifth one where he from then on hosts his own space. When landed on a good event happens for the player. He also is the third party board in Mario Party DS.

Basketball

 * Mario Hoops 3-on-3 -- Donkey Kong, alongside Diddy and Dixie Kong are playable in this game.

Soccer
Donkey Kong is also playable in the Mario Striker Series. He is a captain in Mario Smash Football, his team number is 55, his captain type is aggressive, and his special strike is the Power Fist Strike. After charging, the screen is surrounded by a green and yellow lightnings (or sprites) halo, which Donkey Kong makes an electrical strike to the goalkeeper. His kicking style is punching the ball with anger.


 * Legend: Donkey Kong's talent can slip even the best players.
 * Entrance Donkey Kong begins to pound his chest and the ground trying to intimidate his opponent.
 * Team Number: 55
 * Captain Type: Aggressive
 * Super Strike: Power Fist Strike

DK is again a playable team Captain in Mario Strikers Charged Football. Here, he takes on the appearance of everyone else, with a new suit design. His Super Ability is the Thunder Wham, in which he will slam the ground, and send a large shock wave across the area. It has a huge radius, and can blast away many players, even if they aren't close to Donkey Kong. It also makes the field tilt for a few seconds. Donkey Kong can then proceed to do a Mega Strike. A similar move is Daisy's Crystal Smash! move, except Thunder Wham! has a larger radius and takes longer to perform. Thunder Wham! was seen briefly in the intro movie.


 * Character Type: Power
 * Mega Strike: Once in the air, he gathers electricity in his arms and claps the ball, hurling towards the goalie.
 * Super Ability: Thunder Wham!
 * Deke: DK pounds his chest, creating small sound waves around him that knock out nearby opponents.
 * Uniform: DK wears golden armor with green and red accents.
 * Alt. Uniform: Purple
 * Team Emblem: Signature “Donkey Kong” emblem but with a lightning bolt in the middle.
 * Team Number: 55
 * Away Entrance: Donkey Kong pounds his chest, then smashes a fist into the ground and then makes Monkey sounds.
 * Home Entrance: Falling from the sky, Donkey Kong shakes the field upon impact and stares down his opponent.
 * Theme: African Drums

Baseball

 * Mario Superstar Baseball -- DK is a "Power captain" in this game. His "special ball" is the Banana Ball.
 * Mario Super Sluggers -- Returns as a Team Captain.

Boxing
Donkey Kong was a secret boss in Punch-Out!! for Wii, by beating at least one opponent in Little Mac's last stand mode. Donkey Kong has a tendency to taunt often and will counter if hit while doing so.

Super Smash Bros. games
Donkey Kong is playable in all of the Super Smash Bros. games. In Super Smash Bros. he is a default character. In one-player mode, the player must fight Giant Donkey Kong. This is the only fight where the player is given two partners to help him, instead of one. Giant DK can stand about 350 damage before being knocked off the stage.

DK was also a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Once again, he was a default character. In the new one-player mode Adventure, the player must first fight two Tiny Donkey Kongs, and then fight Giant Donkey Kong at Jungle Japes. By picking up a Super Mushroom, Donkey Kong can transform into Giant Donkey Kong for a few moments. Donkey Kong is always one of the strongest characters in the game. When he picks up a character, he also has the power to carry them a short distance, something no other characters can do.

Donkey Kong reappears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His move are all the same from Melee and his Final Smash is the Konga Beat, probably inspired from the game Donkey Konga and Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. Diddy Kong is a playable character too. Also an 8-bit Donkey Kong called the 8-bit Donkey Kong appears on the 75M stage (which is based on the 3rd level in the original Donkey Kong).

Special Moves

 * Standard (B)- Giant Punch: Donkey Kong will swing his arms back and forth, getting faster with each swing. The more time the player spends winding up DK's arm, the stronger the punch will be. Donkey Kong can walk with his punch loaded. However, when the B button is pressed again, the move will be released, sending a strong punch to whoever is in front of Donkey Kong.


 * Side (B →)- Headbutt: When executed, Donkey Kong will swing his head forward dealing minor damage to enemies. This move will also plow a character into the ground. The foe will be unable to move once caught, leaving him open for a barrage. The grounded player can get up by rotating the Control Stick (or by just waiting). A good strategy is to plow the foe in the ground with Head butt, and then using a fully charged Giant punch.


 * Up (B ↑)- Spinning Kong: As the name suggests, Donkey Kong is spinning in this attack. He can use this when falling off a ledge, or use it to attack players. As a lot of Donkey Kong's moves take a while to use, and usually hit one player, Spinning Kong can be used as a last minute resort when Donkey Kong is surrounded by foes.


 * Down (B ↓)- Hand Slap: Originating from Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong will slap the ground, severely damaging any characters near him. The attack is very useful in the event of when Donkey Kong is surrounded by opponents. However, the attack takes a while to get put into action, but once used, all the player must do, is hold control stick down and continuously tap the B Button. Donkey Kong will keep using the attack over-and-over, and will not stop until the player stops tapping B, or an opponent hits him. Hand Slap is very useful to use in the Multi-Man Melee challenges. However, the move cannot be executed in mid-air.


 * Final Smash- Konga Beat: Donkey Kong will put out two Bongos and start jamming. The player can make the attack stronger by pressing the buttons with each beat of the song. Donkey Kong is invincible during the move. Unfortunately he is also unable to move, making the move very risky to use on scrolling stages that requires the player to keep on moving (ironically this is a requirement in one of Donkey Kong's very own stages in Brawl, Rumble Falls).

Solid Snake Codec Conversation about Donkey Kong
Remark: They state that Cranky Kong is the original Donkey Kong. This phenomena probably has something to do with the mythical properties surrounding the Mushroom Kingdom.
 * Snake: Otacon, there's a gorilla wearing a tie here. He's huge.
 * Otacon: That's Donkey Kong. As you can tell, he's got strength to spare. He may be king of the jungle, but he lives in a house just like you or me. And he seems pretty smart—well, for an ape, anyway. The Donkey Kong who fought that epic battle with Mario was this guy's grandfather.
 * Snake: That was a long time ago. What about this Donkey Kong? Does he get along with Mario?
 * Otacon: Nope, they're still at it. Seems like they're always competing in something—kart racing, sports, you name it.
 * Snake: A chip off the old block...

Role in the Subspace Emissary
The Koopa Troop and Bowser steal Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard as a Hammer Bros. drives a car which contains all the bananas of Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong watches him from a cliff. Hammer Bros. and the Goombas aboard the car spot Donkey Kong and shoot Bullet Bills at him. However, Diddy Kong comes out from a bush and with his Peanut Popguns, he shoots the Bullet Bills. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong then follow the Hammer Bros. to retrieve the Banana Hoard. After following him, they see Bowser with a strange type of gun called a Dark Cannon, revealing that he is working for the Subspace Army. When Bowser charged the cannon Donkey Kong charges his Giant Punch then launches Diddy to the sky and out of the way sacrificing himself and Bowser shoots him which turns him into a trophy. Later Diddy Kong, Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi met up with a ship which was carrying Donkey Kong as a trophy, taken to a mysterious floating island. Falco then helps Diddy by following it with his Arwing and having the little Kong with him. He then drops him and Diddy gets on his Rocket Barrel and takes out his Popguns and shoots the ship. After seeing this Captain Falcon and Olimar decide to help him and jump to the ship where Diddy frees Donkey Kong then all four fight the Primids and other enemies.

The ship takes them inside a factory producing Subspace Bombs, and encounter various R.O.B.s that happen to live on the island. They later meet up with Pikachu and Samus Aran where they see the Ancient Minister and a whole lot of R.O.B.s. After Ganondorf controls the R.O.B.s into activating all of the Subspace Bombs, the Ancient Minister is shown to be R.O.B., the leader of all the lesser R.O.B.s who were forced to work for the Subspace Army. R.O.B. then fights with the others. When trying to escape Captain Falcon calls for his Falcon Flyer and tries to leave the cave when Meta-Ridley appears and they must fight him. After that they all meet up with the others.

Donkey Kong and the other heroes enter Subspace and meet Tabuu, who turns everyone into trophies with his Off Waves. However, King Dedede had anticipated this and created badges that revived certain fighters back into their original form. With his team consisting of Luigi and Ness, Dedede rescues Donkey Kong and most of the others, although some of them were rescued by Kirby. They also recruit Bowser, Ganondorf, and Wario when they learned about Tabuu. At the end of the Great Maze, Sonic the Hedgehog shows up and helps weaken Tabuu's Off Waves so Donkey Kong and the others would be able to beat him.

Profile Information from Super Smash Bros.
''Donkey Kong and Mario started out as arch-rivals, but they've patched things up in recent years. These days Donkey Kong spends his time searching the jungle for bananas instead of kidnapping beautiful maidens. In the past few years, other members of the Kong family have cashed in on Donkey Kong's fame as well, including his favorite nephew, Diddy.''

Television


Donkey Kong, along with Mario and Pauline appeared in several episodes of the Saturday Supercade. Here Donkey Kong was a gorilla who had escaped from the circus and was now traveling the across country, with Mario and Pauline on his tail. Donkey Kong Jr. was also featured in a few of Saturday Supercade's episodes. On the show DK Jr., along with his pal Bones traveled across the globe searching for Donkey Kong.

Donkey Kong made occasional appearances on Captain N: The Game Master. Here he was, more or less, a giant, bestial, monster. Oftentimes on the show Donkey Kong was manipulated by Mother Brain and her minions to do evil. Donkey Kong also appeared in the Captain N comics.

Donkey Kong was also one of the main characters on the Donkey Kong Country animated series. Here he was the future ruler of Kongo Bongo Island and the guardian of the Crystal Coconut, oftentimes Donkey Kong and his pals would need to defend the Crystal Coconut from the Kremling Krew and Kaptain Skurvy and his minions. On this show Donkey Kong was, like in recent games, somewhat of a slacker who loved bananas above all else.

Donkey Kong made two appearances in The Simpsons TV show. His first appearance was "Marge Not Be Proud", and his second was "The Springfield Files" (pictured). In the former episode, he convinces Bart to steal a video game. In the latter episode he is found at The Noiseland Arcade, where he is meeting people in person. Donkey Kong is seen smoking a cigarette when Wiseguy comes by to say that DK's "just not a draw anymore." To respond, the gorilla tosses a nearby barrel at him, causing him to realize that Donkey Kong's "still got it."

Literature


Donkey Kong appeared in the book Doors to Doom in a recreation of the original game (though Mario and Luigi were trying to reach the top to rescue Princess Peach instead of Pauline). Assuming the Mario Brothers successfully reach the top of the tower, Donkey Kong is ultimately sent plummeting out of sight when Peach jabs in the backside with her crown.

He is also the main character in the Club Nintendo comic "Donkey Kong Country", which tells the story of the game of the same name - together with Diddy Kong, he tries (and manages) to fetch the Banana Hoard back from King K. Rool.

During the events of the comic "Super Mario in Die Nacht des Grauens", published in the same magazine, he lives in a skyscraper in Brooklyn together with many other Nintendo characters. Due to a contract signed by Wario, the skyscraper is invaded by several monsters. One of them, Chuckie, invades the Kongs' room, while Donkey and Diddy are watching TV. They are terrified by the evil doll, but get rescued by Mario, Link and Kirby. Afterwards, however, Donkey claims that Diddy and him defeating the monsters would have taken only "half of the time".

He once again appears as the main character in "Donkey Kong in: Banana Day 24". The Kongs have to save the world from freezing, since a giant ufo is pulling the Earth away from the sun. Together with Diddy, Dixie, Kiddy and Cranky, Donkey enters a space shuttle and flies into space, in order to talk to the aliens. As it turns out, the reason for them pulling away the Earth is that they mistook the planet for a giant coconut. When the Kongs bring them some bananas, they agree to return the Earth to its original position. In the comic, Donkey appears as the bravest of the Kongs, as he is the one to start talking to the aliens.

Gallery

 * Please see Donkey Kong/Gallery for the full gallery.

Trivia

 * Super Mario Strikers is the first game in which Donkey Kong has worn something other than a tie since Donkey Kong Jr.
 * DK appears in Nintendo Monopoly. He replaces Marvin Gardens, and costs $280.
 * In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, a skeleton monkey named Bink bears an uncanny resemblance to Donkey Kong.
 * Donkey Kong's emblem in various games is his DK logo.
 * Donkey Kong's speech is changed throughout many games. During Donkey Kong Country he spoke with good grammar and proper English. In Donkey Kong 64 he used improper grammar and broken English, and spoke in a third person view, for example saying "Donkey all confused....". In both games, he only has 2 lines, and speaks in the very beginning of the game. In all later games, Donkey Kong doesn't speak at all and just makes ape noises. However, in the Mario Party games released after Mario Party 4, he spoke with proper grammar, and all Mario Party games before that, he only made monkey noises.
 * A Monster Truck based on Donkey Kong appeared at Monster Jam 2007.
 * Donkey Kong, along with Birdo and a few others, were originally going to appear as playable characters in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, but were scrapped before the final product was finished for unknown reasons.
 * There has been some confusion over the years as to whether the current Donkey Kong is Donkey Kong Junior or his son. Cranky Kong has been referred to as Donkey Kong's grandfather and Jr. his father in the past, but Rare seems to have entirely retconned this (their statement is now invalid since Rare left Nintendo) while Retro and Nintendo seems to still support the original idea thus making it canon.
 * In the video game, /War of the Monsters/ a parody of Donkey Kong called "Congar" appears as a character. This is hinted due to the fact that Congar throws large boulders exactly like Donkey Kong's way of throwing barrels.