Editing Banjo

{{ArticleIcons|ssbu=y}}
{{forfighter|Banjo & Kazooie|SSBU=y}}
:''For the Canadian smasher, see {{Sm|Banjo}}.''
{{Infobox Character General
|name=Banjo
|image=[[File:Banjo.png|250px]]
|caption=[[File:BanjoKazooieSymbol.svg|50px|class=invert-dark]]
Official artwork of Banjo from ''Banjo-Tooie''.
|universe={{uv|Banjo-Kazooie}}
|firstgame=''{{s|mariowiki|Diddy Kong Racing}}'' (1997, video game debut)<br>''{{iw|wikipedia|Banjo-Kazooie|video game}}'' (1998, home series debut)
|games=''[[Ultimate]]''
|lastappearance=''{{s|wikipedia|Rare Replay}}'' (2015)
|console= [[Nintendo 64]]
|gender       = Male
|species      = {{s|wikipedia|Brown bear}}
|placeoforigin= [[Spiral Mountain]]
|artist        = Steve Mayles
|voiceactor = Chris Sutherland
|interwiki    = wikipedia
|interwikiname= Wikipedia
|interwikipage= Banjo & Kazooie
}}
'''Banjo''' ({{ja|バンジョー|Banjō}}, ''Banjo'') is one of the co-stars of the eponymous {{uv|Banjo-Kazooie}} series, alongside [[Kazooie]].

==Origin==
Banjo is a laid-back, well-mannered brown bear who loves honey and, as his name suggests, playing his banjo. He is generally non-confrontational, desiring peace and quiet, and he often helps those in need, but he is strong enough to defend himself if need be. He is a foil to the sarcastic and loudmouthed [[Kazooie]], his best friend whom he (often unwittingly) goes on adventures with. He lives with Kazooie and his younger sister Tooty in a small house near the foot of [[Spiral Mountain]].

Banjo chronologically debuted in ''{{s|mariowiki|Diddy Kong Racing}}'' as one of the eight starter characters, which takes place before his partnership with Kazooie. He and {{s|mariowiki|Conker the Squirrel}} were recruited by [[Diddy Kong]] to help defeat the intergalactic pig wizard {{s|mariowiki|Wizpig}}. He is the second-heaviest character and races in aqua-colored vehicles. Although Kazooie does not appear, she is mentioned within the game's instruction manual.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/diddy-kong-racing-n64-manual-nus-ndye-usa/page/n12/mode/1up ''Diddy Kong Racing'' instruction manual] (archive)</ref>

Banjo's first proper adventure, however, occurrs in ''Banjo-Kazooie''. The evil witch Gruntilda, upon hearing that Tooty is the prettiest girl of all, kidnaps her and attempts to use a machine to steal her youth and beauty. Banjo oversleeps while this is happening, but soon awakens and begins his journey to rescue his sister. With the help of Bottles, the move-teaching mole, Banjo and Kazooie navigate through Gruntilda's Lair, a complex cavern in Spiral Mountain with links to many disparate worlds.

Throughout the lair, Banjo primarily runs, swims underwater, and talks to the various inhabitants of each world. Although Kazooie performs most of the duo's abilities, Banjo is nevertheless capable of performing a few attacks, such as the Claw Swipe and Forward Roll, while the friendly shaman Mumbo Jumbo can also transform him into various creatures and objects that allow him to bypass certain obstacles. After the pair get through the lair and confront Grunty at its peak, they ultimately summon [[The Mighty Jinjonator]] to push her off the tower to her doom; she crashes into the ground and is buried by the ensuing debris.

Two months later in ''Grunty's Revenge'', Gruntilda's ogre-like minion Klungo creates a robotic body for her spirit to possess while her body remains underground. This newly-built "Mecha-Grunty" kidnaps Kazooie and travels 20 years into the past to stop the two from meeting, thus preventing her defeat. Mumbo uses his magic to send Banjo back in time and stop her. Banjo is necessarily more of an independent character in this adventure, able to defend himself alone until he manages to rescue Kazooie. The duo eventually send Grunty's spirit back to the future into her real body, restoring the timeline mostly back to normal.

Two years later in ''Banjo-Tooie'', Gruntilda's sisters appear to rescue the now-skeletal witch, who promptly attacks Banjo's house and kills Bottles. Banjo and Kazooie set out again to chase down the witches, who are attempting to restore Grunty's flesh by using a Big-O-Blaster to suck the life out of the entire Isle O' Hags. Bottles' brother Jamjars helps the duo learn to work independently, giving Banjo several Kazooie-free moves that utilize his backpack to attack, relocate unwilling cargo, sleep to regain energy, and protect him from dangerous liquids. Banjo and Kazooie triumph over Grunty once again, and use the B.O.B. to revive Bottles.

Eight years later in ''Nuts & Bolts'', the duo has become lazy and out of shape from their lack of exercise, having forgotten their moves from the previous games. Grunty reappears as just a skull and attempts to start a fight, but before they can, they are interrupted by the Lord of Games (L.O.G.), the supposed creator of all video games. He creates a robotic body for Grunty and a series of vehicular challenges for Banjo and Kazooie to go through. Banjo acts as the driver for all vehicles and can train at Boggy's Gym to improve his physical attributes, though with the game being vehicle-based, this is of dubious usefulness. After eventually having been defeated in a battle against the pair, Grunty is forced to work in L.O.G.'s video game factory. In the end, the duo have earned back their powers.

==In ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]''==
Although Banjo & Kazooie do not make any sort of appearance in ''Super Smash Bros.'', the game's Japanese website included them in a poll to gauge interest for potential playable characters in a sequel.<ref>[http://sourcegaming.info/2015/03/23/if-there-were-a-smash-2-poll/ If there was a Smash 2 Poll]</ref> They ranked eighth in a poll on ''[[Smabura-Ken]]'', with 33 votes.<ref>https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/PostResult2.html</ref>

==In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''==
In the Japanese version of ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', Banjo's name, as well as Kazooie's, can be randomly generated on the [[Name Entry]] screen.<ref>[https://twitter.com/Facts_About_BK/status/1358466829434449920 BK's names in Melee]</ref>

Despite Banjo & Kazooie collectively being the second-most requested [[Rare Ltd.|Rare]] characters in the aforementioned ''SSB'' sequel poll (surpassed only by the [[wikipedia:GoldenEye 007 (video game)|''GoldenEye 007'']] version of [[wikipedia:Portrayal of James Bond in film|James Bond]]), they were not included as playable characters.<ref>[https://sourcegaming.info/2015/09/07/smashfacts2/ Characters ALMOST in Smash 64 and Melee! - Super Smash Facts!]</ref> ''{{b|Super Smash Bros.|series}}'' series creator [[Masahiro Sakurai]] stated the following: "Incidentally, including a character from Rare in Smash would be difficult for various reasons. I know there are some people who think that Banjo & Kazooie are an obvious inclusion, but that's unlikely for a variety of legal and financial reasons."<ref>[https://sourcegaming.info/2016/04/29/duflupdate/ The Definitive List of Unused Fighters in Smash]</ref>

==In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''==
===As a playable character===
{{Main|Banjo & Kazooie (SSBU)}}
[[File:Banjo & Kazooie SSBU.png|thumb|x200px|Banjo & Kazooie, as they appear in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''.]]
Banjo & Kazooie make their debut as [[newcomer]]s in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', with their and the {{SSBU|Hero}}'s inclusions being announced during the E3 2019 [[Nintendo Direct]] on June 11, 2019.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr9eAtwcYlo Nintendo Direct for E3 2019]</ref> He and Kazooie are collectively the third [[DLC]] characters of [[Downloadable content (SSBU)#Fighters Pass Vol. 1|Fighters Pass Vol. 1]], and were released on September 4, 2019.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TVE44feo_I Nintendo Direct 9.4.2019]</ref>

Like in ''Banjo-Kazooie'' and ''Banjo-Tooie'', Banjo provides the duo's basic movement and uses his Claw Swipe and Forward Roll, the latter of which function as his neutral attack and dash attack, respectively. However, he also performs a few maneuvers by himself that are unique to ''Ultimate'', with the most notable examples being his forward aerial, down throw, and back throw.

According to [[Masahiro Sakurai]], Banjo & Kazooie were heavily requested characters for a long time even leading up to ''Ultimate''{{'}}s launch, particularly in the West. Even after character reveals like {{SSBU|Ridley}} and {{SSBU|King K. Rool}}, requests for Banjo & Kazooie still kept coming in.<ref>[https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1143913069044588545 PushDustIn's translations regarding Banjo & Kazooie (part 1)]</ref> Sakurai later mentions that the duo placed closely behind [[Sora]] in the ''Smash 4'' Fighter Ballot (with the latter being the overall winner).<ref>[https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1455931229564387332 PushDustIn's translation of Sakurai's final Famitsu column]</ref><ref>[https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1455942349909991424 PushDustIn clarifies his translation of Sakurai's statement]</ref> While their inclusion would have been a natural one in the past, this was complicated by [[Microsoft]]'s purchase of [[Rare Ltd.]] in 2002, during which it was originally thought that Nintendo shouldn't collaborate with their console competitors.<ref>[https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1143913435278635008 PushDustIn's translations regarding Banjo & Kazooie (part 2)]</ref><ref>[https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1143914430003961861 PushDustIn's translations regarding Banjo & Kazooie (part 3)]</ref>

However, thanks to Rare and Microsoft's cooperation, the rights to Banjo & Kazooie were easily secured, as Microsoft had developed a strong third-party relationship with Nintendo leading up to their reveal in ''Ultimate''.<ref>[https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1143915250447597569 PushDustIn's translations regarding Banjo & Kazooie (part 4)]</ref> Phil Spencer, the head executive of Microsoft's Xbox division, had actually voiced his support for their inclusion in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series in 2015 around the introduction of the Fighter Ballot and again in 2018 following ''Ultimate'''s teaser announcement.<ref>[https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/04/xbox_boss_phil_spencer_reckons_it_would_be_cool_if_rares_banjo_was_voted_in_as_super_smash_bros_dlc Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Reckons "It Would Be Cool" if Rare's Banjo Was Voted in as Super Smash Bros. DLC]</ref><ref>[https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/03/xboxs_phil_spencer_is_still_open_to_banjo_and_kazooie_appearing_in_super_smash_bros Xbox's Phil Spencer Is Still Open To Banjo And Kazooie Appearing In Super Smash Bros.]</ref> Soon after their official reveal, Spencer said, "There wasn't anything kind of CEO-to-CEO that had to happen" in order for Banjo & Kazooie to join ''Ultimate'', courtesy of Microsoft's increasingly positive relationship with Nintendo's third-party team.<ref>[https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/06/phil_spencer_says_microsoft_had_no_problem_with_banjo-kazooie_appearing_in_smash_bros_ultimate Phil Spencer Says Microsoft Had No Problem With Banjo-Kazooie Appearing In Smash Bros. Ultimate]</ref>

In their gameplay showcase on September 4th, 2019, Sakurai openly acknowledges the fact that the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' intellectual property is completely owned by Microsoft. He also acknowledges Rare and Microsoft's cooperation in bringing the franchise into ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', as they were happy to see the duo in the game and saying Rare welcomed Nintendo with open arms. He even notes that if those interested in the series want to play the original titles today, they should do so in ''{{s|wikipedia|Rare Replay}}'' on the {{s|wikipedia|Xbox One}}.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPh3HM6ofWU Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Mr. Sakurai Presents "Banjo & Kazooie"]</ref>

===Spirit===
<center>
<gallery>
SSBU spirit Banjo & Kazooie.png|1,337. '''''Banjo & Kazooie'''''
</gallery>
</center>
{{clrl}}

==In other languages==
{{Langtable
|ja={{ja|バンジョー|Banjō}}, ''Banjo''
|en=Banjo
|fr=Banjo
|es=Banjo
|de=Banjo
|it=Banjo
|nl=Banjo
|zh={{rollover|阿邦|Ābāng|?}}, ''Banjo''
|ko={{rollover|반조|Banjo|?}}, ''Banjo''
|ru={{rollover|Банджо|Bandzho|?}}
}}

==Trivia==
{{shared Banjo and Kazooie trivia}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://banjokazooiewiki.com/wiki/Banjo Banjo] on Jiggywikki

{{Characters}}
{{Banjo-Kazooie universe}}
[[Category:Banjo-Kazooie universe]]
[[Category:Banjo & Kazooie| ]]
[[Category:Third-party characters]]
[[Category:Microsoft]]
[[es:Banjo]]
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