Donkey Kong (SSBU)

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Donkey Kong in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Donkey Kong
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Starter (Unlockable in World of Light)
Final Smash	Jungle Rush

“	His charged punch is one of the strongest attacks in the game! In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, his Final Smash has been updated from Konga Beat to a flurry of punches!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング, Donkey Kong) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Donkey Kong is classified as fighter #02.

Donkey Kong retains his realistic gorilla grunts from Super Smash Bros. 4.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Aesthetics

• As with all veterans returning from Smash 4, Donkey Kong's model features a more subdued color scheme. His fur is less detailed, and his facial proportions have been tweaked.
• Donkey Kong's nose is now based on his design from Mario Party 10 onwards.
• Like most of the returning roster, Donkey Kong has become much more expressive than in the previous games.
• Donkey Kong now always faces the screen regardless of which direction he turns. This makes most of his animations mirrored and alters some of his animations, such as his walk/dash animations.
• Up taunt has a slightly altered animation.
• Donkey Kong now hangs onto the ledge with one hand instead of two.
• Donkey Kong's hand shaking victory pose has an altered animation. He now looks at the camera at the freeze frame and shakes his hands as opposed to his whole body afterwards.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Donkey Kong's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 6).
• Donkey Kong walks slightly faster (1.3 → 1.365).
• Donkey Kong's initial dash speed is faster (1.6 → 2.09).
• Donkey Kong dashes faster (1.7031 → 1.873).
• Donkey Kong's air speed is slightly higher (1.15 → 1.208).
• Donkey Kong is heavier (122 → 127). However, he is no longer the second heaviest character in the game (claimed by King K. Rool) but instead tied with King Dedede for the third heaviest.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack is easier to combo.
• Forward tilt damage: 11% upward/10% forward → 9% upward/8% forward
• Up tilt damage: 11%/10%/9% → 10%/9%/8%
• Down tilt has an altered animation.
• Dash attack damage: 11%/8% → 12%/9%
• Forward smash has an altered animation.
• Forward smash damage: 20% hands/19% arms → 22% hands/21% arms
• Up smash damage: 18% → 19%

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (Neutral: frame 17 → 11, Forward: 29 → 17, Back: 18 → 11, Up: 25 → 15, Down: 24 → 14).
• Donkey Kong spins in the opposite direction when performing his neutral aerial.
• Forward aerial has a slightly altered animation, with Donkey Kong spinning at an angle after performing a downwards punch.
• Back aerial deals more knockback and hits at a lower angle, improving its offensive potential. However, this also makes it less effective at performing combos.

Throws/other attacks

• Pummel animation has slightly changed. Donkey Kong now chops the opponent's body rather than their head.
• Pummel damage: 2.1% → 1.6%
• Up throw's animation has changed. Donkey Kong throws his opponent into the ground, and then into the air with both hands. This animation is considerably faster, making it more difficult for the foe to DI accordingly.
  • Up throw deals more knockback.
• Back throw does more knockback.
• Forward throw (cargo throw):
  • Cargo throw now involves Donkey Kong hauling the opponent over his shoulder, similar to his appearance in the arcade game Donkey Kong.
  • Cargo forward throw damage: 10% → 12%
  • Cargo back throw damage: 12% → 13%
  • Cargo back throw's animation has changed. Donkey Kong holds the opponent with both hands by the legs and hurls them behind himself.
    • Cargo back throw has increased knockback.
  • Cargo up throw deals more damage (10% → 12%) and knockback, which makes it better for KO'ing.
    • Cargo up throw's increased knockback noticeably worsens its combo potential.
  • Cargo down throw damage: 7% → 11%
  • Cargo down throw's motion changed: Donkey Kong now performs a bearhug instead of throwing the opponent downward.
  • Edge attack damage: 8% → 10%

Special Moves

• Giant Punch:
  • Donkey Kong now charges Giant Punch with either arm due to his mirrored stance. Previously, Giant Punch was charged with his right arm in Smash 64 and his left arm in the other games.
  • Donkey Kong now charges up Giant Punch with more circular arm motions. Additionally, his expression slowly gets angrier as he charges (including maintaining the expression throughout other animations after its charge), and he has an altered pose upon using the punch.
  • Trails of electricity now appear on Donkey Kong's arm and fist during the charge up and punch of Giant Punch, reminiscent of Lightning Punch, one of Donkey Kong's custom moves in SSB4.
  • Giant Punch has more ending lag.
  • Aerial Giant Punch no longer causes Donkey Kong to become helpless.
  • A fully charged Giant Punch triggers Special Zoom.
• Headbutt now has super armor.
• Spinning Kong:
  • Donkey Kong now glints and strikes a pose upon ending a grounded Spinning Kong, doing another spin before coming to a full stop.
  • Grounded Spinning Kong's loop hits connect more consistently, now holding the opponent in place rather than knocking them back and fourth.
  • Grounded Spinning Kong hits 2-6 damage: 1% → 1.4%
  • Grounded Spinning Kong initial hit damage: 7% → 5%
  • Aerial Spinning Kong travels a shorter distance horizontally, but also goes slightly higher overall.
  • Aerial Spinning Kong's multiple hits now connect better into a new final hit, giving it more utility.
  • Aerial Spinning Kong appears to have a significantly lower potential damage output.
  • Unlike Grounded Spinning Kong, the aerial version no longer produces a visual "blue ring" effect upon startup.
• Hand Slap:
  • Aerial and grounded Hand Slap have less ending lag.
  • Aerial Hand Slap now autocancels throughout its whole duration, greatly improving its ability to set up combos and tech-chases.
• Final Smash:
  • Donkey Kong now has a new Final Smash called Jungle Rush that comprises of a single punch that, if successfully landed, leads to a series of rapid punches that traps and launches the opponent. The move, alongside the comical bongo noises it produces, are based off Donkey Kong's attacks in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.

Update history

Donkey Kong has been altered via patch 1.2.0. Details are still unknown on his changes.

• He's Bigger, Faster, and Stronger too. And is still the first member of the DK crew.

Classic Mode: Journey to New Donk City

Donkey Kong's path presumably refers to New Donk City Hall being the final stage. After defeating Diddy Kong, he becomes Donkey Kong's partner for the rest of the mode.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music
1	Diddy Kong	Kongo Jungle	Jungle Level (64)
2	King K. Rool	Kongo Falls	Gang-Plank Galleon
3	Wario and Captain Falcon	Pilotwings	Gear Getaway
4	Ness and Lucas	Onett	The Map Page / Bonus Level
5	Male and Female Inklings	Moray Towers	Donkey Kong / Donkey Kong Jr. Medley
6	Mario and Luigi	New Donk City Hall	New Donk City
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand and Crazy Hand	New Donk City Hall (Ω form)	?

Note: Every stage until Round 6 plays a track from the Donkey Kong universe, no matter what universe the stage originates from.

Character unlock tree

Donkey Kong's Classic Mode character unlock tree includes the following characters in order:

• Bowser
• Pokémon Trainer
• Rosalina & Luma
• King Dedede
• Sheik
• Greninja
• Diddy Kong
• Duck Hunt

Each character can be unlocked by clearing Donkey Kong's Classic Mode, or the Classic Mode of any preceding character, if all preceding characters have been unlocked. Once all the above characters are unlocked, clearing Classic Mode with any of them will default to Mario's character unlock tree, starting with Sonic.

Role in World of Light

Donkey Kong was among the fighters that were summoned to fight against the army of Master Hands.

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 the other fighters, excluding Kirby.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Donkey Kong's fighter card.

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  Donkey Kong grabbing on Kongo Falls.

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  Charging Giant Punch before a Banzai Bill on Princess Peach's Castle.

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  Taunting with Diddy Kong on Great Bay.

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  Falling next to Kirby on Gaur Plain.

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  Performing his down smash on Boxing Ring.

• 

  Performing Spinning Kong on Skyworld.

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  Taunting with Diddy on Distant Planet.

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  Headbutting Mario on Gaur Plain.

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  Idling with Ditto on Battlefield.

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  Captured by Kapp'n on Bridge of Eldin.

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  With Mario, Link, Samus, Ice Climbers, Pit, Villager and Inkling on Battlefield.

Character Showcase video

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