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Donkey Kong (character)

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Donkey Kong (DK)
'Donkey Kong/Mario' character
Donkey Kong as seen in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
Donkey Kong, as seen in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
First gameDonkey Kong (1981)
Created byShigeru Miyamoto

Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング, Donkī Kongu) is a fictional ape which first appeared in Nintendo's popular 1981 video game of the same name.

Creation

Donkey Kong was created by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, along with two other characters, as an original property of Nintendo once their licensing of Popeye fell through. The three characters were supposed to mirror the love triangle that exists in the Popeye comics. Donkey Kong was cast as the antagonist, with the creator explaining that a gorilla is not "too evil or repulsive". Shigeru believed "donkey" meant "stupid" in English, and assumed the name Donkey Kong would convey the sense "stupid ape" to an American audience.[1][2][3] When he suggested this name to Nintendo of America, he was laughed at, but the name stuck.[1]

Appearances

File:Donkey Kong flier cropped.png
Front of Donkey Kong promotional flier from 1981, showing Mario (Jumpman), Donkey Kong, and Pauline

Early history

Donkey Kong made his first appearance as the titular character of the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong alongside protagonist Mario (then known as "Jumpman") and damsel in distress, the Lady (later renamed Pauline). As Jumpman, the player must reach Donkey Kong at the top of each stage, where he is holding the Lady captive. Donkey Kong attempts to hinder the player's progress by throwing barrels, springs, and other objects towards Jumpman. The ape reappeared the following year in the sequel Donkey Kong Junior, where Donkey Kong is taken captive and locked in a cage by the re-named Mario, while Donkey Kong Junior sets out to rescue him. Donkey Kong resumed his antagonistic role in Donkey Kong 3, this time the character Stanley The Bugman taking Mario's place as the protagonist. Stanley fights Donkey Kong's attempts to invade a greenhouse along with a horde of killer bees.

After Donkey Kong, Mario went on to become Nintendo's primary mascot, while Donkey Kong and his son were relegated to supporting roles and cameos such as in the arcade version of Punch-Out!!, Super Mario Kart, and the Virtual Boy game Mario's Tennis. The 1994 Game Boy version of Donkey Kong marked his re-emergence as a major character. He was redesigned, appearing with a red necktie, which sometimes bears his initials, "DK".

Rare era

File:Dkc snes boxart.jpg
Donkey Kong, with a red necktie, on the cover of Donkey Kong Country

The 1994 Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Donkey Kong Country, developed by British game developer Rare, marked a turning point for Donkey Kong by creating a new setting, Donkey Kong Island, and backstory for the character. While retaining the red necktie, he also donned a distinct physical appearance featuring heavy brows and a peaked lock of hair on top of his head. This would become the standard look for Donkey Kong still used over a decade later.

The character is reintroduced in Donkey Kong Country as the grandson of the original Donkey Kong[4], who appears in the game as an elderly ape named Cranky Kong.[5] A representative of Rare stated shortly after the release of Donkey Kong 64, however, that the current Donkey Kong was meant to be an adult version of Donkey Kong Junior[6] (indeed, Cranky's reference to Donkey as his "son" in the game (and associated materials) seems to indicate this to be the case[7][8]). In the Rare revamp, Donkey Kong is portrayed as a powerful yet lazy and laid-back ape, who is interested mainly in his banana hoard. The series introduced Diddy Kong as Donkey's sidekick, and King K. Rool as his nemesis who steals the banana hoard.

Despite his name being in the titles of both games, DK is not the protagonist in the sequel Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest nor Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. Instead he is captured by K. Rool, while the player controls different Kongs who have set out to rescue him. The Donkey Kong Country series also inspired the Donkey Kong Land trilogy and a television series.

DK also appears in Donkey Kong 64 for the Nintendo 64 and the Mario Kart series from Mario Kart 64. With this, he became a regular playable character in the Mario sports series and other spin-offs such as Mario Party and Super Smash Bros..

Post-Rare era

Following Rare's departure from the series, Nintendo co-produced a trilogy of rhythm games with Namco for the Nintendo GameCube known as the Donkey Konga series, which were based on Namco's own Taiko: Drum Master, though only two of the series' games made it to America. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was released on March 14, 2005 in North America for the GameCube. It depicted DK as being more violent than his original image and also used the bongo controllers. In October 2007, Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast was released in North America for the Wii.

On handheld consoles, Donkey Kong was reunited with his former rival Mario in the 2004 Game Boy Advance game, Mario vs. Donkey Kong. A throwback to the Donkey Kong game for the Game Boy, Donkey Kong resumed his antagonist role from his earlier games by taking over the Mario Toy Company, upset over the lack of Mini-Mario toys available for purchase. The game was followed by a 2006 sequel titled Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, where Donkey Kong, who is infatuated with Pauline, kidnaps her and takes her to the roof of the Super Mini-Mario World amusement park when she ignores a Mini Donkey Kong toy in favor of a Mini-Mario. Aside from those, Donkey Kong appeared in DK King of Swing on the GBA around the time of Jungle Beat, and in its sequel, DK Jungle Climber, for the Nintendo DS, which was released in North America on September 10, 2007. Jungle Climber took the gameplay of its predecessor, KoS, and mixed it with the style, locations, and items of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy.

Baby Donkey Kong

Baby DK is a baby version of Donkey Kong. He first appeared in Yoshi's Island DS and then in Mario Super Sluggers. He is not to be confused with Donkey Kong Junior, who is the young version of the second generation in the Donkey Kong family. Even as an infant, he possessed quite powerful strength; being able to support both Yoshi and himself by swinging on vines in order to navigate the area.

Other appearances

In 1999, he was one of the first to appear in the successful game and eventually series Super Smash Bros. He also returned in the sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee. His latest appearance in the series is in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.[9] In all of the games thus far, he has been classed as a heavyweight, a character with great strength and weight, good speed, surprising agility, and low jump. His B attacks are Giant Punch, Head Butt, Spinning Kong, and Hand Slap. His final smash is Konga Beat, which lets him bring out his drums and start playing. If you time this right, you could K.O the opponent.

Donkey Kong is a playable character in most Mario Party games, until Mario Party 5, in which he becomes in charge of Donkey Kong spaces. In Mario Party 5 these bring a Donkey Kong related minigame, but in Mario Party 8, landing on a Donkey Kong space gives an advantage (i.e. a chance for a free star).

Donkey Kong appears in Mario Super Sluggers and Mario Kart Wii, both games released for the Wii in 2008. Donkey Kong is also one of the playable team captains in the Wii soccer game Mario Strikers Charged. He also appears as a superboss in the Wii game, Punch-Out!!. Donkey Kong is also set to appear in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.

Donkey Kong also appears in Punch Out!! Wii as a secret challenger.

While not officially Donkey Kong, two minor enemies in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars bear a striking resemblance to him. One of the enemies, named "Guerrilla", says "Don't confuse me with someone else." referring to DK, while the other is named the "Chained Kong."

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Interview with Miyamoto". Miyamoto Shrine. 2001-05-16. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
  2. ^ "Miyamoto interview, E3 2001". Quarter To Three. 2001-05-16. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
  3. ^ Fact-checking website Snopes determines that "The bottom line is that no evidence backs up any of the explanations that the name 'Donkey Kong' came about because of a misread fax, mispronunciation, or mistranslation. Shigeru Miyamoto, the game's inventor and the one person who unquestionably knows the origins of the name he chose, has repeatedly affirmed that he used the word 'donkey' to convey a sense of stubbornness and the name 'Kong' to invoke the image of a gorilla." "Donkey Wrong". Snopes.com. 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  4. ^ "One swift blow was all that was needed to leave him sprawled on the floor, face down! he groggily rolled over to see the familiar wrinkled, white-bearded, grouchy face of his old granddad "punky Kong" peering down at him. - Donkey Kong Country instruction manual, pg. 5-6
  5. ^ "In his heyday, Cranky was the original Donkey Kong who battled Mario in several of his own games." - Donkey Kong Country instruction manual, pg. 6
  6. ^ "Scribes - August 25, 1999 (Wayback". As far as I know, 'our' DK is the son of Cranky, which does indeed make him the original DK Jr. all grown up: so if you see Cranky referred to as DK's granddad anywhere, just cover your eyes and hum loudly until it goes away.)
  7. ^ "Well, if it isn't my lazy, good-for-nothing son." - Cranky Kong, to Donkey Kong; Donkey Kong 64 in-game dialogue
  8. ^ "That darn Donkey has all the luck! His girl Candy waits around in her hut, always willing to offer musical help to that undeserving son of mine and his fancy polygonal friends. Pah!" - Donkey Kong 64 instruction manual (UK), pg. 8
  9. ^ "Rumble Falls". Smash Bros. DOJO!!. Smashbros.com. 2007-07-23. Retrieved 2007-08-02.

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