Editing Donkey Kong (SSBU)

'''Donkey Kong''' ({{ja|ドンキーコング|Donkī Kongu}}, ''Donkey Kong'') is a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''. Initially teased in the then-unnamed ''Ultimate''{{'}}s announcement trailer, Donkey Kong was, like all veterans, confirmed on June 12th, 2018. He is classified as [[Fighter number|Fighter #02]].

Donkey Kong retains his gorilla-like grunts and roars from ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', instead of using his voice actor, Takashi Nagasako.

 

 

 

Overall, Donkey Kong is a speedy heavyweight with unique tools and the potential to convert a single throw or edgeguard into early KOs; however, his disadvantage state means a simple mistake can make it hard for him to fight at all. Although historically unpopular in competitive play, dedicated players such as {{Sm|ChunkyKong}}, {{Sm|Rarikkusu}} and {{Sm|HIKARU}} have regularly achieved high placements and great wins with the character, improving his representation and perception as time went on.

Donkey Kong is unsurprisingly a large super-heavy[[weight]], having the same weight value as {{SSBU|King Dedede}}, and is the third-heaviest character in the game behind {{SSBU|Bowser}} and {{SSBU|King K. Rool}}. Despite this, he is one of the fastest heavy characters in the game, both in terms of general mobility and attack speed. He has the 10th fastest [[walk]]ing speed, the 29th fastest [[dash]]ing speed, the 16th highest [[traction]], above average [[falling speed]] and jumping force, and is tied with {{SSBU|Mario}}, {{SSBU|Sonic}}, {{SSBU|Little Mac}}, and {{SSBU|Inkling}} for the 13th fastest [[air speed]]. In contrast, he has below average [[gravity]] and moderately slow [[air acceleration]].

A typical heavyweight is expected to possess moves with high power, and Donkey Kong is no exception to this — it is possibly his greatest attribute. Donkey Kong has no problem with setting up into KOs with moves that have both high power and decent [[range]]: his sweetspotted up tilt, smash attacks, aerials, back throw, [[Giant Punch]], and grounded [[Spinning Kong]] are all prime examples. His ability to take stocks with his powerful attacks is made easier with his decent approach. His mobility and size work together to give him an effective grounded approach and longer range, respectively. All of these attributes combined allow him to have an easier time fighting in close quarters and landing attacks on his opponents. He also has very strong survivability thanks to his aforementioned high weight and above average falling speed, which is also common for his archetype. In total, Donkey Kong's attributes give him some of the best overall endurance in the game, with only {{SSBU|Bowser}} and {{SSBU|King K. Rool}} surpassing him horizontally.

Donkey Kong works well with his grounded moveset. His neutral attack has decent damage and startup. His forward tilt's long range makes it one of his main spacing tools and works better with its intangibility. His up tilt is a safe move to interrupt his opponents, with the move covering Donkey Kong's entire body, acting as an anti-air, and hitting through low platforms such as the ones on {{SSBU|Battlefield}}. His down tilt gives him a long range crouching option and has a chance to [[trip]] opponents. His dash attack works as a combo starter and a situational KO option at low and very high percentages, respectively. All of his smash attacks are notoriously strong and relatively fast, making them his go-to options for hard reads and scoring KOs. His aerial options also have considerable utility. His forward and down aerials are some of his best edgeguarding tools due to both of them being [[meteor smash]]es. His neutral aerial is hard to interrupt, helps him break out of combos, and is one of the strongest of its type in the game when hit clean. His up aerial serves as an effective vertical KO option (if the situation he is in allows for it) thanks to its high knockback, and it is also safe, as his head is intangible during it and it has modest end lag. His back aerial is his fastest aerial and is debatably an even better spacing tool than his forward tilt, being fast, long-ranged, and having a [[sex kick]]-like hitbox, with a long duration and high knockback when hit clean. His air speed allows his aerial moves to be used at their fullest potential and, with the exception of the forward aerial, they are all decently fast.

A well-known part of his playstyle is his grab game, as he has a long grab that allows for setups into the rest of his moves. Although his down throw has little to no use, every other option does to some extent. His [[pummel]] is slower compared to many others in the cast, but deals decent damage. His up throw has combo potential into his aerials, and his back throw is his primary kill throw, but his forward throw is easily his most useful one and possibly the most unique part of his character. During his forward throw, Donkey Kong can move, jump, and walk off the stage while having the opponent in his hands, acting like he usually would outside of a typical grab (aside from being unable to use his other moves and having only one jump). The move also gives Donkey Kong different types of throws based on what direction is pressed, basically giving him eight throws; these are commonly known as the "cargo throws". The cargo forward and down throws both work as niche edgeguarding options, with the cargo down throw even being a [[semi-spike]]. The cargo back throw does good damage and is a very solid kill throw. It also has utility as a [[stage spike]] unless his opponent is able to properly tech it. Finally, the cargo up throw has more combo potential than his vanilla up throw, being able to combo into his aerials at low percents. It also possesses fairly good kill power, since Donkey Kong can jump and then heave his opponents for additional height.

Donkey Kong's special moves are also helpful for his gameplan. [[Giant Punch]] is his surprise KO and punish move, can be used to pressure the opponent, and has [[super armor]] if fully charged. [[Headbutt]] can [[bury]] opponents, which can allow him to setup into KOs, and spikes in the air. It has super armor during the move's startup and deals very high [[shield damage]] while also having deceptively long range, giving him a shield pressure option and the ability to call out poor shield positioning. Grounded [[Hand Slap]] has very long range and allows for stage control, but has no usage for aerial opponents, as it leaves Donkey Kong immobile and its hitbox only deals damage to grounded opponents. The aerial Hand Slap is his last move which can meteor smash and is fast, making it effective and easy to land. His final special move, [[Spinning Kong]], acts similarly to Bowser's [[Whirling Fortress]] as his primary [[out of shield]] option. It is hard to disrupt and is a multi-hit move with high damage. In the air, it works as an incredibly fast horizontal recovery option and deals a lot of damage if all the hits connect. Due to the speed Spinning Kong has in the air, it can work as an effective combo breaker.

However, despite his versatile moveset and high power, Donkey Kong falls into a plethora of problems. His defensive game is very poor, a common issue for characters of his size. While his massive weight gives him very high endurance, and his large frame is the reason his range is better than characters like {{SSBU|Mario}} and {{SSBU|Squirtle}}, it becomes a problem when having to dodge attacks which is hard for him because he is a very large target. His tie hurtbox is also extremely large, further exacerbating the issue. Coincidentally, just like those two previously mentioned fighters, he has frequent trouble dealing with characters that have disjoints due to his lack of projectiles, primarily against swordfighters such as {{SSBU|Shulk}} and {{SSBU|Ike}}, hitboxes on moves such as {{SSBU|Mewtwo}}'s up and back aerials, or fast multi-hits such as {{SSBU|Palutena}}'s neutral air. Donkey Kong's size also makes him vulnerable to combos and [[juggling]], which is worsened by his lack of combo breakers (outside of his neutral aerial and up special). The reintroduction of directional air dodges makes his aerial defense even more linear, and the new air dodge's increased ending lag hurts all characters; it debatably hurts a character such as Donkey Kong the most. Moreover, his otherwise great forward throw (cargo throw) also has certain drawbacks - notably, the risk of trying to slam the opponent into the ledge with a backward cargo throw. Due to Donkey Kong's horrid vertical recovery, if the opponent either DIs fast enough, squat jumps on him or simply has better air reach, this attempt for an easy KO may backfire. The trajectory of both the forward and back cargo throws also possesses a minor challenge. Unlike traditional forward and back throws, Donkey Kong sends the opponent at a high vertical angle instead of horizontal. This makes it more situational if they will KO or not, especially the cargo forward throw. The cargo back throw ironically has more vertical range than his cargo up throw, and therefore has more usage KOing at the top of the screen than the side. Thus, the player may find more reliability in a normal back throw near the edge.

Despite many of his moves having fast startup, Donkey Kong's moveset is made much slower by its ending lag, and most of his moves are not safe on hit at low percents. This forces him to be more careful with the moves he uses, as he can be heavily punished just for putting out one attack (a situation that can rapidly snowball due to his poor defensive options). Unlike the all-around heavyweight Bowser, perhaps Donkey Kong's most glaring weakness is his lack of out-of-shield options. Neither his neutral attack nor his tilts are enough to distance himself from an aggressive opponent if the player forces him to remain in shield. His forward tilt has good range, but lacks the power or perks of other super heavyweights, like Bowser's Tough Guy or King K. Rool's Belly Armour. A lot of his moves are also limited in some way despite their strengths: his smash attacks are slow and have very linear hitboxes; a chunk of his throws, despite their variety, have little utility; Giant Punch forces Donkey Kong to get up-close to the opponent to land the attack and needs to be charged for it to be effective; Headbutt and Hand Slap are both slow, causing them to be difficult to use for their intended purposes; and Spinning Kong, while it has decently long horizontal recovery distance, offers almost no vertical recovery and is prone to edgeguarding against meteor smashes, like {{SSBU|Captain Falcon}} and {{SSBU|Falco}}'s down aerials.

All in all, Donkey Kong's mixture of fast mobility, fairly long range, high weight, decent combo potential, and excellent kill power make him adept and flexible in many different situations, but KOing and pressuring opponents stand out as his biggest strengths. Despite this, DK's high weight, large hurtbox, and lack of good escape tools make him vulnerable to many combos. In addition, his recovery is extremely poor, and his moveset is frequently punishable due to the end lag on many of his moves. As such, Donkey Kong has to capitalize on his power and range to limit opponents' approaches in order to win matches.

Donkey Kong received a mix of buffs and nerfs in his transition from ''SSB4'' to ''Ultimate''. Though he received more buffs than nerfs, the latter are more prominent than the former, as they either weakened or removed some of his best traits from ''SSB4''. Because of this, Donkey Kong has been nerfed overall.

Donkey Kong has received several useful buffs, with those to his special moves being among the most notable. [[Giant Punch]] charges faster and no longer leaves him helpless when used in the air, giving him a new edgeguarding option. [[Headbutt]] now grants him [[super armor]] before the hit comes, and moves also deal their full knockback when opponents are buried, both changes of which improve the moves' versatility. Grounded [[Spinning Kong]] has less difficulty linking its multi-hits and has faster super armor, while the aerial version is now a proper multi-hitting move with a finishing hit, making it safer. [[Hand Slap]] is generally faster and the aerial version has reduced landing lag, which gives Donkey Kong a useful combo starter and allows it to confirm into KOs at high percentages. Particularly, both it and Headbutt alleviate some of DK's difficulty with landing safely.

His biggest buff, however, comes from a vastly improved forward throw (cargo throw), which is much harder to mash out of and has had its cargo throws' properties improved; this grants him much more options and turns it into his most versatile throw, and arguably the best throw in the game overall. His [[dash attack]] also has less ending lag, giving him another combo starter if the late hit is landed and making it much safer if shielded. Donkey Kong's already impressive KO power has been further increased as well, as most of his moves deal more knockback. Further miscellaneous buffs include his [[up smash]]'s previously infamous hitboxes being larger, making the move much easier to land.

Finally, Donkey Kong also benefits from some of the universal changes, as his already great mobility has improved from faster walking and dashing speeds, the universal 3-frame jumpsquat change improves his ground-to-air [[out of shield]] game and allows him for with combo opportunities, and the increased [[shieldstun]] and reduced [[landing lag]] on aerial attacks makes his attacks even safer on shield (despite the reduced shieldstun on aerials).

However, the few direct nerfs Donkey Kong received were severe enough to eclipse his buffs. Like {{SSBU|Bowser}}, his biggest nerf is to his previously infamous combo throw — his cargo up throw now has more knockback, which makes its combo potential more strict and noticeably neuters the effectiveness of its infamous "Ding Dong" KO confirm at high percentages unless it's initiated on a platform, often requiring a specific amount of [[rage]] to work. Although his grab game was overall buffed, Donkey Kong is one of the characters who suffers the most from the universal nerfing of grabs, making them less safe for him to use. His pummel was nerfed as well, making it less reliable for racking up damage. Thus, this makes it less feasible for Donkey Kong to rely on his grab as his main way to rack up damage, forcing him to use other methods to do so.

 

 

In the end, Donkey Kong has potentially received many more options for racking up damage and being less predictable, but the neutering of his KO confirm and grabs means he can no longer close out stocks as reliably as before. Though his strengths and weaknesses are more defined, the gameplay mechanics accentuate his weaknesses more when compared to his strengths, causing his nerfs to overshadow his buffs even despite the numerous buffs he received in game updates. As a result, Donkey Kong fares worse in ''Ultimate'' than he did in ''Smash 4''.

Donkey Kong has been buffed via game updates. Initially, his most noteworthy buffs were to inconsistencies of two moves: his forward aerial now autocancels properly (an issue that had been present since ''Melee''), and [[Giant Punch]]'s hitbox no longer shifts into the Z-axis, which would result in it missing opponents at point-blank range. Donkey Kong also benefits from the universal nerf on projectiles dealing less shield damage in update 3.0.0.

|neutralname=Jab ({{ja|ジャブ|Jyabu}}) / Upper ({{ja|アッパー|Appā}})

|neutraldesc=A hook followed by an uppercut. The second hit has above average power for a neutral attack, although generally speaking, its KO potential is unimpressive. It can chain into itself fairly reliably at low percentages, however.

|ftiltname=Kongo Backhand ({{ja|コンゴバックハンド|Kongo Bakkuhando}})

|utiltname=Spiderweb Sweep ({{ja|くもの巣はらい|Kumo no Su Harai}})

|dtiltname=Slouch Slap ({{ja|ロースラップ|Rō Surappu}}, ''Low Slap'')

|dashname=Rolling Attack ({{ja|ローリングアタック|Rōringu Atakku}})

|fsmashname=Dyna Clap ({{ja|ダイナクラップ|Daina Kurappu}})

|usmashname=Jumbo Press ({{ja|ジャンボプレス|Janbo Puresu}})

|usmashdesc=An overhead clap. It grants intangibility to his head and arms (frames 12-15), effectively giving it disjointed hitboxes. It has immense power, being one of the strongest up smashes in the game, with it KOing Mario from the ground level of FD at 92% with optimal DI and no rage. In practice it will KO a bit sooner as it typically hits opponents in the air. Its startup is additionally rather fast for a move of its power (coming out in 14 frames), though it has a lengthy enough duration to be quite punishable (with the move's lasting 49 frames total). However, it is hard to hit, as its hitboxes are situated straight vertically above DK and are not large in size, while it lacks grounded launching hitboxes to launch grounded opponents into it like other vertically-placed up smashes have (e.g. Marcina's and R.O.B.'s up smashes).

|dsmashname=Twin Beat ({{ja|ツインビート|Tsuin Bīto}})

|nairname=Donkey Lariat ({{ja|ドンキーラリアット|Donkī Rariatto}})

|fairname=Hammer Knuckle ({{ja|ハンマーナックル|Hanmā Nakkuru}})

|bairname=Kong Rocket ({{ja|コングロケット|Kongu Roketto}})

|bairdesc=A back kick. DK's strongest aerial when hit clean, killing Mario at around 130% from center stage. It is an extremely useful move as a whole due to its speed and power, and if used correctly, it can act as a Wall of Pain. One of the best back aerials in the game.

|uairname=Air Headbutt ({{ja|エアヘッドバット|Ea Heddobatto}})

|uairdesc=An upwards arcing headbutt that appears visually similar to his side special, Headbutt. It grants intangibility to his head on frames 5-10 and is one of the more powerful up aerials, KOing Mario at around 140% from ground level. Those features, along with its fast startup and fairly low ending lag, make it a good move for juggling.

|dairname=Air Stampede ({{ja|エアスタンピード|Ea Sutanpīdo}})

|grabname=Grab ({{ja|つかみ|Tsukami}})

|pummelname=Grab Chop ({{ja|つかみチョップ|Tsukami Choppu}})

|pummeldesc=Chops the opponent's body. Slow but strong.

|fthrowname=Kong Karry ({{ja|リフティング|Rifutingu}}, ''Lifting'')

|fthrowdesc=Hauls the opponent on his shoulder, allowing him to move and jump around while still holding the opponent. Appears to be based off of when DK holds an item in ''Donkey Kong Country'', such as a Steel Keg. This gives him access to forward, back, up, and down throws that are distinct from his normal grabs. He also gains Knockback-based Armor when he starts a throw instead of gaining Throw Invulnerability, of which allows him to resist up to 16 Units of Knockback, akin to {{SSBU|Bowser}}'s [[Tough Guy]].

''Down'': A {{iw|wikipedia|bear hug}}. Donkey Kong gets a small boost upwards when using this move in the air, making it his safest throw offstage.

Kong Karry has a unique grab duration, equal to '''((90 + 1.7p) * 11 / 6) - g''', where '''p''' is the opponent's percent at the time of the carry's initiation, and '''g''' is the grab time passed prior to it (including [[button mashing]]). As a result, it lasts longer the earlier it is initiated after grabbing an opponent. As with standard grabs, button mashing reduces this amount by 8 frames per stick input, and 14.4 frames per button input (though they cannot be registered as quickly).

|bthrowname=Reverse Throw ({{ja|反転投げ|Hanten Nage}})

|uthrowname=Coconut Toss ({{ja|ココナッツトス|Kokonattsu Tosu}})

|dthrowname=Bottom Shoot ({{ja|ボトムシュート|Botomu Shūto}})

|nsdesc=A wind-up punch which fully charges after ten wind-ups. When fully charged, the punch deals excellent damage, grants super armor, and is overall faster than if used uncharged. Its charge can be [[charge cancel]]ed and saved, and chosen when to be released after being fully charged. Unlike in ''Melee'', ''Brawl'', and ''Smash 4'', Giant Punch does not induce helplessness in the air, much like in ''Smash 64''.

|ssdesc=A headbutt. The move [[Bury|buries]] the opponent, who will remain trapped longer if the opponent has already been dealt a fair amount of damage. The aerial version will [[meteor smash]] the opponent if they are hit by its [[sweetspot]]. The move has [[super armor]] during startup, but only in the middle of the animation, providing no protection at the very beginning or the end. It has a deceptively large range and tremendous shield damage, so full power shields will barely manage to avoid breaking against this move.

|usdesc=Rapidly spins around, trapping opponents and damaging them with a series of [[Wikipedia:Professional wrestling attacks#Clothesline|discus clotheslines]] and [[Wikipedia:Professional wrestling attacks#Spinning back fist|spinning backfists]] before launching them. It has good horizontal distance, but very little vertical distance. The grounded version grants Donkey Kong super armor on frame 5, making it a reliable tool for powering through many moves. The grounded version is also a potent KO option, especially at ledge, being able to even KO [[Weight|heavy characters]] around 70%-80% when used on Battlefield's ledge. Donkey Kong is immune to most windboxes during the move.

|fsdesc=Punches forward. If the initial hit connects, Donkey Kong will then perform a long series of rapid punches. Has about the same range as his forward smash, but extremely powerful, KOing Mario as low as 24% on Final Destination.

SSBUDonkeyKongIdle1.gif|Donkey Kong's first idle pose.

SSBUDonkeyKongIdle2.gif|Donkey Kong's second idle pose.

|[[File:Donkey Kong Cheer English SSB4 SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Donkey Kong Cheer Japanese SSB4 SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Donkey Kong Cheer Italian SSB4 SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Donkey Kong Cheer Dutch SSBU.ogg|center]]||{{NTSC}} [[File:Donkey Kong Cheer French NTSC SSBU.ogg|center]] <br> {{PAL}} [[File:Donkey Kong Cheer French PAL SSBU.ogg|center]]

|[[File:Donkey Kong Cheer German SSBU.ogg|center]]||{{NTSC}} [[File:Donkey Kong Cheer Spanish NTSC SSB4 SSBU.ogg|center]] <br> {{PAL}} [[File:Donkey Kong Cheer Spanish PAL SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Donkey Kong Cheer Russian SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Donkey Kong Cheer Korean SSBU.ogg|center]]

|Don - key Kong! || Don - key Kong! || Don - key Kong! || Don - key Kong!

*'''Up:''' Holds his hands above his head and shakes them (his animation upon completing a bonus game in ''Donkey Kong Country''). He then continues to shake his hands while constantly looking left to right, as if thanking an offscreen crowd.

==In [[competitive play]]==

===Most historically significant players===

<!--This character has a ten player limit for this section. Before adding and/or removing a player, read these guidelines: https://www.ssbwiki.com/SmashWiki:Notability#%22Most_historically_significant_players%22_guidelines -->

''See also: [[:Category:Donkey Kong players (SSBU)]]''

*{{Sm|ChunkyKong|USA}} - The best Donkey Kong player in North America and the first to find consistent success as a solo-main. Initially a Wi-Fi Warrior, he later became known for his performances in the second half of 2022, including placing 17th at {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2022}} over {{Sm|SHADIC}} and 13th at {{Trn|Let's Make Moves Miami}} over {{Sm|Kola}} and {{Sm|Aaron|p=Florida}}. Since then, he remains Donkey Kong's primary representative in North America, having defeated {{Sm|MuteAce}} at {{Trn|CEO 2023}} and {{Sm|Light|p=Connecticut}} at {{Trn|MomoCon 2024}}.

*{{Sm|HIKARU|Japan}} - Although known for using many characters, he has used Donkey Kong extensively in early-''Ultimate'' and as a secondary and co-main from 2022 onward, and is considered one of the greatest Donkey Kong players of all-time. He is best known for using Donkey Kong for most of {{Trn|Ultimate Fighting Arena 2022}}, placing 3rd while defeating {{Sm|Glutonny}} and {{Sm|Bloom4Eva}} along the way, marking the best performance for the character at a major. He retired in mid-2023, and has only attended a few events since.

*{{Sm|Rarikkusu|Japan}} - One of the best Donkey Kong players in the world since 2023, using him alongside {{SSBU|Falco}}. He was the first of several Japanese Donkey Kong players that made up the Donkey Kong renaissance in 2024 and is best known for defeating {{Sm|Sparg0}} at {{Trn|DELTA 8}}, placing 13th overall. In addition, he has also placed 5th at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 13.5 "U-22"}}, using Donkey Kong to defeat {{Sm|Asimo}}, and 9th at {{Trn|Maesuma'U22}}.

There was some optimism on Donkey Kong prior to the game's release: although he could no longer easily perform most of his throw-based kill confirms from ''Smash 4'', including his infamous "Ding-Dong" combo, many players noted how he received better frame data, speed, damage, and hitboxes in the E3 demo build. However, the optimism faded very quickly upon the game's release. Players pointed out how many of Donkey Kong's moves were punishable on hit at early percents, making his neutral game rather egregious in the early metagame, which favored speed and punish games. In addition, his already poor disadvantage state was also made even worse due to his larger hurtbox and his out of shield options remaining poor. Finally, although Donkey Kong saw some early success from {{Sm|HIKARU}}, he eventually dropped Donkey Kong for other characters, and no other Donkey Kong player was able to match HIKARU's success, leaving him with below-average representation. As such, although Donkey Kong received a few buffs in subsequent patches, he was widely considered unviable, with a few even calling him one of the worst characters in the game.

2022 became a turning point for Donkey Kong. First, HIKARU began playing Donkey Kong again, and although often only used as a secondary or co-main alongside other characters, it nevertheless gave him some of the best results since the early metagame. Most notable among these results was HIKARU's run at {{Trn|Ultimate Fighting Arena 2022}}, which saw him use Donkey Kong extensively in top 64, defeating several of Europe's best players including {{Sm|Glutonny}} and {{Sm|Bloom4Eva}}, before ultimately placing 3rd. In addition, {{Sm|ChunkyKong}}, initially known for his online performances, began having a bigger impact on the offline metagame with his strong performances at majors, most notably 13th at {{Trn|Let's Make Moves Miami}} defeating {{Sm|Kola}} along the way. With both players ranking in [[OrionRank 2022]]'s top 100, among a few others also ranked with Donkey Kong despite minimal usage, many players began seeing Donkey Kong in a more positive light, and he was no longer considered a candidate for one of the worst characters. However, he is still considered to fall short when in comparison to the rest of the cast, and is regarded to be a character that falls on the lower end of the tier list. This was reflected on his placement on the first tier list, where he was ranked 70th as a lower-mid tier character. His results would remain around the same in the following year: although HIKARU eventually retired and ChunkyKong's results saw a dip, {{Sm|Rarikkusu}} would break out onto the Japanese scene and begin placing well at events. As such, Donkey Kong remained around the same on the second tier list, rising slightly to 68th and ranking in the D+ tier.

After the release of the second tier list, Donkey Kong experienced a "Donkey Kong renaissance" similar to what was happening to [[Donkey Kong (SSBM)|his ''Melee'' incarnation]] at that time. This renaissance not only saw many Donkey Kong players succeed at majors, but also saw many top players lose to Donkey Kong players, with notable examples being Rarikkusu defeating {{Sm|Sparg0}} at {{Trn|DELTA 8}}, ChunkyKong defeating {{Sm|Light|p=Connecticut}} at {{Trn|MomoCon 2024}}, {{Sm|MairudonaH.O}} defeating {{Sm|Hurt}} at {{Trn|Seibugeki 17}}, {{Sm|Duplex}} defeating {{Sm|MuteAce}} at {{Trn|S Factor 11}}, and {{Sm|Kuhaku}} defeating {{Sm|Doramigi}} at {{Trn|Maesuma'JAPAN West 24}}. This sudden rise in Donkey Kong's representation improved his standing in the metagame, and many believe that he will rise in the next tier list.

[[File:SSBU Congratulations Donkey Kong.png|thumb|Donkey Kong's congratulations screen.]]

Donkey Kong's path chronicles Donkey Kong traveling via plane (Pilotwings) from the jungle (his home stages) to New Donk City (through urban stages, Onett and Moray Towers). After defeating Diddy Kong, he becomes Donkey Kong's partner for the rest of the mode, referencing the original ''Donkey Kong Country''.

|1||{{CharHead|Diddy Kong|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Kongo Jungle]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Donkey Kong|Jungle Level (64)}}''||

|2||{{CharHead|King K. Rool|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Kongo Falls]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Donkey Kong|Gang-Plank Galleon}}''||rowspan="5"|{{Head|Diddy Kong|g=SSBU|s=20px}} Diddy Kong is a CPU ally.

|5||{{Head|Inkling|g=SSBU|s=24px}}{{Head|Inkling|g=SSBU|s=24px|cl=Blue}} {{SSBU|Inkling}} (x2)||[[Moray Towers]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Donkey Kong|Donkey Kong / Donkey Kong Jr. Medley}}''

|Final||{{SSBU|Master Hand}}||New Donk City Hall ([[Ω form]])||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Super Smash Bros.|Master Hand}}'' <small>(Less than 7.0 intensity)</small><br>''{{SSBUMusicLink|Super Smash Bros.|Master Hand / Crazy Hand}}'' <small>(Intensity 7.0 or higher)</small>|| {{Head|Diddy Kong|g=SSBU|s=20px}} Diddy Kong is a CPU ally.<br>On intensity 7.0 and higher, {{SSBU|Crazy Hand}} fights alongside Master Hand.

During the opening cutscene, Donkey Kong was present on the cliffside when [[Galeem]] unleashed his beams of light. Galeem's light beams vaporized Donkey Kong offscreen, placing him under Galeem's imprisonment along with all the other fighters, excluding {{SSBU|Kirby}}.

He can be rescued in a jungle segment of [[The Light Realm]], on a space that looks like the treehouse where he lives in his series.

|{{SSB|Kongo Jungle}} ([[Ω form]])

{{clr}}

Donkey Kong's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing {{SSBU|Classic Mode}} as Donkey Kong. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold. Unlocking Donkey Kong in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in ''Ultimate''.

==In Spirit Battles==

| Red Sumo Brother (red costume)<br>Blue Sumo Brother (purple costume)

SSBUWebsiteDonkeyKong1.jpg|Donkey Kong [[grabbing]] on [[Kongo Falls]].

SSBUWebsiteDonkeyKong3.jpg|[[Taunting]] with {{SSBU|Diddy Kong}} holding a [[Banana Gun|banana]] on [[Great Bay]].

===Fighter Showcase Video===

*Donkey Kong, {{SSBU|Joker}}, and {{SSBU|Sephiroth}} are the only characters to face Master Hand and Crazy Hand on a stage other than Final Destination, not counting the [[Master Hand glitch]] in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''.

**Donkey Kong is the only one of those three who is not a DLC character.