Donkey Kong (SSBM)

Donkey Kong in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Donkey Kong
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Tier	C- (16) (North America) F (17) (Europe)

Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング, Donkey Kong), shortened as DK on the victory screen and character select screen, is a default character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He returns from the original Super Smash Bros., but with faster moves and agility, as well as an improved recovery.

Like Bowser, Donkey Kong has no voice actor and instead of being voiced by Grant Kirkhope, he uses modified stock animal grunts and roars, similarly to his sounds in Super Smash Bros.

He is currently 16th out of 26 on the tier list, placing him in the C- tier. This is a slight improvement to his previous placement in Smash 64 where he was ranked 9th out of 12. Donkey Kong, true to being a heavyweight, is difficult to KO, and this is aided by his fast falling speed. Donkey Kong also has powerful attacks, and he has excellent range to boot. For a heavyweight, Donkey Kong is unusually agile; most of his attacks are executed swiftly, he has high air speed, and his jumping prowess is solid. His mobility facilitates combos, and this is further aided by his remarkable grab range. However, Donkey Kong himself is vulnerable to combos due to his large size and high falling speed, and his recovery, while covering a significant amount of horizontal distance, fails to cover much vertical distance.

Attributes

Contrary to what his archetype might suggest, Donkey Kong has surprisingly high speed for a character of his power and weight class. In raw characteristics, Donkey Kong boasts a fast walking speed, above-average running speed, high air speed, and high falling speed (though unlike other high-fallers, Donkey Kong's gravity is average as opposed to above-average, with him having the lowest gravity value amongst the high-fallers; he shares the same fall speed as the significantly lighter Roy), aspects that lead to a short wavedash, but an average SHFFL, and long, safe dash dance.

Owing to his relatively high speed, Donkey Kong possesses a decently versatile comboing game. On the ground, Donkey Kong's various tilts are all fast and can be used to start aerial combos, and in the air, Donkey Kong's fast, low-lag neutral, up, and back aerial attacks can allow him to continue attacking enemies with little penalty against him; adding to this, his high air speed can allow him to pursue enemies that have been popped up into the air. Arguably his most important combo tool, however, consists of his throwing game; despite a below-average grab range, Donkey Kong's various throws have low-knockback and low ending lag, making them excellent combo starting tools. His forward throw, known as the "cargo throw" or "cradle", is especially useful, due to its ability to easily combo into his practical air options. While carrying his opponent, Donkey Kong is free to move around the stage, allowing him to move to areas where he can more easily combo his opponents without interference from platforms or other hazards. He can also use this feature of the cargo throw to either perform a sacrificial KO by walking off the edge of the stage after cradling an enemy or throwing the enemy underneath the stage to stage spike them.

As expected for a character of his weight class, Donkey Kong also has a plethora of powerful attack options in addition to his faster, weaker offerings. All of his smash attacks can cover significant distances away from him, as well as packing significant power in order to KO opponents. Three of his aerials (back, down and forward) can be potent finishers to complement his aerial game, and his Giant Punch can easily be one of the most powerful attacks in the game if landed, though it does require a particularly good read or combo in order to be most effective.

Due to being a heavyweight with a high falling speed, Donkey Kong owns a below-average recovery. While these traits make Donkey Kong highly resilient to the upper blast line, Donkey Kong's survivability on all other blast lines is poor. Spinning Kong grants above average horizontal distance, but poor vertical distance, making meteor smashes and spikes extremely powerful against him. Owing to a lack of other options concerning his recovery, this also means that he has very poor recovery options compared to other characters; none of his specials can reduce his falling speed, and he cannot wall-jump or use any other tactics in conjunction with Spinning Kong, and as such, he is simple to edgeguard.

Much like fellow heavyweight Bowser, Donkey Kong's various attributes also make him very easy to combo. In addition to having among the largest raw hurtbox sizes in the game, Donkey Kong's high falling speed and weight make it easy for characters to chain throw him, as well as combo him in the air. Compounding this is Donkey Kong's poor defensive game; a large hurtbox causes him to have a small shield that can easily make him vulnerable to shield stabbing, and his lack of a projectile can discourage him from approaching enemies that own one.

Changes from Super Smash Bros.

Donkey Kong has received a large mix of buffs and nerfs in his transition from Smash 64 to Melee. However, whether he was buffed or nerfed overall is debatable since the nerfs and buffs he received were both significant. While he has lost his previously abusable grab release, the generally faster falling speeds have given DK a new type of chaingrab against fast-falling opponents, particularly with his newly buffed cargo throw, and his new up and down throws. However, his reach has been reduced (though it remains among the best) and his power is lower as well, but many of his attacks are faster to execute. He is also more vulnerable to combos due to his faster falling speed and his overall endurance is much worse due to him being much lighter.

Regardless, Donkey Kong ranks better relative to the cast in Melee than he does in SSB64, now ranking 16th out of 26 characters rather than 9th out of 12. Due to the faster mechanics, however, other characters have been given buffs in varying degrees, which results in Donkey Kong still struggling to make a presence in high-level tournaments.

Aesthetics

• The graphical upgrades of the Nintendo GameCube give Donkey Kong a more proportionate build. His fur is more detailed and has a more pronounced muscular physique.
• Donkey Kong's hair color on his default costume is now a darker shade of brown.
• His other costumes have different ties to them (black has blue; red has a slightly darker blue than the black costume; blue has purple; and green has a red tie that is very similar to the original costume, but is a little darker).
• The voice clips when Donkey Kong taunts and is KO'd in Smash 64 are switched in Melee. His voice clips are also retained from the previous game, though with better quality.
• Donkey Kong always faces the screen when he taunts, regardless of which direction he is currently facing.
  • Donkey Kong does not move as far into the Z axis when taunting removing his head's ability to avoid projectiles.
• Donkey Kong's green alternate costume is now available for Free-for-all, instead of being exclusive to Team Battle. The costume also uses his normal skin color, as opposed to being green like in Smash 64.
• Donkey Kong has a new helpless animation.

Attributes

• Donkey Kong walks much faster (0.8533 (25.6) → 1.2), going from the 3rd slowest out of 12 characters to the 6th fastest out of 26.
• Donkey Kong's initial dash is much slower (2 (60) → 1.6) and covers less distance.
• Donkey Kong's traction is higher (0.0567 (1.7) → 0.08), making it easier for him to punish out of shield.
• Donkey Kong's jumpsquat is shorter (6 frames → 5).
• Donkey Kong's air speed has been unchanged (1 (30) → 1). Compared with the returning veterans, however, his air speed is faster, going from the 5th slowest (JPN/US/EUR) / median (AUS) out of 12 characters to the 6th fastest out of 26.
• Donkey Kong's air acceleration is lower (0.0667 (2) → 0.04), although no longer being the slowest.
• Donkey Kong jumps significantly lower (46.1 (1383) → 37.8), although going from the 5th highest out of 12 characters to the 4th highest out of 26.
  • Donkey Kong's short hop is catastrophically lower (34.15533 (1024.66) → 13.6), improves his ability to hit opponents low on the ground with short hop aerials, as well as his ability to quickly land and continue aerial pressure, but also hinders his ability to auto-cancel his aerials.
• Donkey Kong falls significantly faster (1.867 (56) → 2.4). This improves his vertical endurance and with the introduction of the SHFFL technique, he can make strong use of the technique due to his falling speed, but also makes him considerably more vulnerable to combos and worsens his already poor vertical recovery.
  • However, Donkey Kong's fast falling speed has been unchanged (2.967 (89) → 2.96). However, the difference between his falling speed and fast falling speed is much lower (increase: 58.9% → 23.3%), which makes it more predictable when landing and gives him fewer options in the air.
  • Considering that Donkey Kong's vertical endurance hasn't significantly improved from Smash 64 due to his significantly lighter weight in Melee, this falling speed increase hurts him overall.
• Donkey Kong's landing animation is longer (4 frames → 5).
  • However, his hard landing animation is shorter (8 frames → 5).
• Donkey Kong is catastrophically lighter (138.095238 (0.84, JPN) / 140.963855 (0.83, NA/AUS/EUR) → 114), which drastically hinders his endurance, while still being just as vulnerable to combos as before due to his increased falling speed.
• Donkey Kong can throw heavy items (Crates, Barrels, Barrel Cannons and Party Balls) above and below him, which he could not do in Smash 64. He also walks slightly faster and gains small amounts of armor when carrying them.
• Donkey Kong's new ground release animation is 10 frames shorter compared to the rest of the cast giving him a 10 frame advantage when being grab released on the ground.
• Donkey Kong can now glide toss although his glide toss is fairly short.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Both hits of neutral attack have gained an additional hitbox; increasing their range.
  • The second hit has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 6-11 → 5-11).
  • The second hit deals more damage (4% → 6%).
  • The first hit of neutral attack has a shorter duration (frames 5-8 → 5-7).
  • The second hit has slightly higher ending lag (FAF 34 → 35).
• Forward tilt:
  • Donkey Kong has a new forward tilt: an open outward hand swat. It has less startup (frame 12 → 8) and ending lag (FAF 43 → 34) compared to the previous forward tilt.
  • Forward tilt deals less damage (13% (up)/12% (forward)/11% (down) → 11%/10%/9%) without full compensation on its base knockback (0 → 10) hindering its KO potential.
    • The move's higher base knockback combined with its lower ending lag makes it slightly less punishable on hit at lower percents.
  • Forward tilt has a shorter duration (frames 12-17 → 8-11).
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has significantly reduced ending lag (FAF 60 → 40).
  • Up tilt has more startup lag with a much shorter duration (frames 4-23 → 6-11).
  • Up tilt deals less damage (13% → 11%/10%/9%) and knockback (10 (base), 130 (scaling) → 40/(105/110/115)).
    • Up tilt's higher base knockback combined with its lower ending lag makes the move much safer on hit at lower percents no longer being dangerously punishable.
  • Up tilt has less range.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has less startup lag (frame 11 → 6).
  • Down tilt has a shorter duration (frames 11-16 → 6-9).
  • Down tilt has more ending lag (FAF 22 → 23) now having 13 frames of cooldown (as opposed to 5).
  • Down tilt deals less damage (8% → 7%) and has decreased base knockback (30 → 10).
    • When combined with its increased ending lag (and the changes to shields), this means that the move no longer gives DK frame advantage on shield or even on hit at lower percents; making it more punishable and greatly hindering its setup potential.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has less ending lag (FAF 71 → 55).
  • Dash attack now has a clean hit and a late hit with the clean hit dealing more knockback (120 (set), 100 (scaling) → 115 (base)/15).
  • Dash attack has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 3-26 → 9-12 (clean)/13-20 (late)).
  • Dash attack deals less damage (12% → 11% (clean), 9% (late).
• Forward smash:
  • Donkey Kong has a new forward smash: Donkey Kong performs a powerful clap in front of him. It has less startup (frame 27 → 22) and a shorter total duration (FAF 60 → 55) compared to the previous forward smash.
  • Forward smash no longer deals consistent damage (20% → 20%/21% (hands/arms), 19%/18% (body)).
    • This makes the sweetspot on his arms slightly stronger.
    • However, this makes the near hitboxes weaker.
  • New forward smash has less range.
  • Forward smash deals less knockback (20 (base), 100 (scaling) → 22/94 (hands/arms), 18/100 (body)).
  • Forward smash has a shorter duration (frames 27-32 → 22-23) giving it more ending lag.
  • Forward smash can no longer be angled.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash has less startup lag (frame 16 → 14), ending lag (FAF 60 → 54) and DK's hands gain intangibility sooner (frame 14 → 12).
  • Up smash has less range.
  • Up smash deals less damage (21% → 18%) and has decreased knockback scaling (100 → 93) hindering its KO potential.
• Down smash:
  • Donkey Kong has a new down smash: He holds up his arms and punches downwards in a 90° angle, with a sweetspot hitbox located in his hands. It has less startup (frame 12 → 10) and ending lag (FAF 70 → 56) compared to his old down smash.
  • Down smash sends opponents at a more favorable angle (60° → 115° (hands)/98° (arms)).
  • Down smash has a much shorter duration (frames 12-31 → 10-13).
  • Down smash deals less damage (19% → 16% (hands)/14% (arms) with only a slight increase to its base knockback (30 → 35).

Aerial attacks

• Neutral, forward and down aerials all auto-cancel later (frame 30 → 39 (neutral), frame 36 → 60 (forward), frame 30 → 50 (down)) and can no longer auto-cancel in a short hop.
  • When combined with the weakening of L-canceling and the changes to shields, this considerably hinders the combo and shield pressuring potential of all of DK's aerials.
• Back and up aerials auto-cancel earlier (frame 36 → 20 (back), frame 21 → 13 (up)).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has less ending lag (FAF 60 → 39).
  • Neutral aerial has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 4-29 → 10-26).
  • Neutral aerial has more landing lag (16 frames → 20).
  • Neutral aerial deals less damage (15% → 12% (clean), 12% → 10% (late)) hindering its KO potential.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial now has an early hit and a late hit. The early hit functions identically to the previous arm hitboxes while the late hit is a meteor smash like the previous hand hitbox albeit with some changes.
  • The late hit has altered knockback compared to the previous meteor smash hitbox (0 (base), 100 (scaling) → 50/80) making it stronger overall especially at lower percents.
  • Forward aerial has significantly increased startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 8-15 → 25-26 (clean)/27-29 (late)).
  • Forward aerial has a new animation which is longer than the previous one (49 frames → 59). This increases the move's total duration (FAF 50 → 60) as well as the amount of time the move cannot auto-cancel and the amount of time DK cannot grab the ledge after using the move.
    • However, the move has less ending lag overall due to its increased startup lag (now having 30 frames of cooldown instead of 34).
  • Forward aerial has double the amount of landing lag (15 frames → 30).
  • Forward aerial no longer has an initial or a late auto-cancel window. As a result, the move will not auto-cancel until its animation has finished which removes the move's ability to auto-cancel while the hitboxes are out and generally makes the move much worse upon landing when combined with its higher landing lag.
  • Forward aerial has less range.
  • The late hit's angle has been altered, now sending opponents straight down (-70° → 270°). When combined with the aforementioned changes to its landing lag as well as the weakening of L-canceling and the introduction of meteor canceling; this significantly hinders the move's utility on stage as well as its reliability off stage.
• Back aerial:
  • Donkey Kong has a new back aerial, he kicks backwards with his right foot. It has slightly reduced startup lag (frame 8 → 7), and much less ending lag (FAF 60 → 32).
  • Back aerial has a much shorter duration (frames 8-13 (clean)/14-35 (late) → 7-8/9-15).
  • Back aerial has less range especially vertically.
  • Back aerial deals less damage (15% → 13% (clean), 10% → 9% (late)).
• Up aerial:
  • Donkey Kong has a new up aerial: a swinging headbutt similar to Ness' up aerial. This new up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 60 → 38).
  • Up aerial has less landing lag (41 frames → 25).
  • Up aerial hits above DK sooner.
  • Up aerial deals more damage (12% → 14%) and has increased knockback (0 (base), 100 (scaling) → 32/90), making it much more useful at lower percents as well as improving its KO potential.
  • Up aerial's angle has been altered (110° → 90°).
    • This improves its KO potential as well as its ability to lead into itself.
    • However, this hinders its combo potential into DK's horizontal moves as well as its set up potential.
  • Up aerial has significantly reduced range.
  • Up aerial has more startup lag with a much shorter duration (frames 3-20 → 6-8).
• Down aerial:
  • Donkey Kong has a new down aerial: he slams down his right foot.
  • Down aerial deals more damage (13% (clean), 10% (late) → 16% (foot), 13% (body)) and has increased base knockback (15 → 38/20).
  • Down aerial has less ending lag (FAF 60 → 55) and landing lag (41 frames → 31).
  • Down aerial has significantly increased startup lag (frame 6 → 18).
    • Down aerial has a much shorter duration due to no longer having a late hit (frames 6-29 → 18-23).
    • Despite the removal of the late hit, down aerial still has a weaker sourspot which is situated on Donkey Kong's body.
  • Down aerial's angle has been altered (-90° → 270°) which along with the introduction of meteor-canceling; significantly hinders its reliability.
  • Down aerial has less range.

Throws/other attacks

• Grabs:
  • As with all returning veterans, DK now has a pummel, up throw and down throw giving him more options out of a grab.
  • DK's grab range was reduced, going from the longest non-tether grab in Smash 64 to below average in Melee. His grabs also have more startup lag (frame 6 → 8 (standing), 10 (dash)) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 31 (standing), 41 (dash)).
• Forward throw (cargo throw):
  • DK's opponent will no longer take damage when he picks them up with forward throw (6% → 0%).
  • DK's opponent will now take 10% if they escape from his forward throw.
    • However, Donkey Kong himself will also take 10% damage if the opponent escapes from his forward throw.
  • Due to DK's worse grab combined with the universally increased falling speeds, DK's grab release chain grab from forward throw has effectively been removed.
  • DK has received a (separate) back throw, an up throw and a down throw from his forward throw, giving DK more options to combo or KO.
  • The introduction of wall teching has significantly hindered forward throw's stage spiking capabilities.
    • Additionally due to DK's increased falling speed and worse vertical recovery, he can no longer recover from stage spiking his opponent unless they hit him.
  • Cargo forward throw:
    • DK releases opponents earlier from Cargo forward throw (frame 18 → 15).
    • Cargo forward throw deals less knockback (70 (base), 80 (scaling) → 80/50) and sends opponents at a less favorable angle (45° → 55°).
• Back throw:
  • Back throw is now weight dependent.
  • Back throw deals less damage (18% → 10%) and knockback (80 (base), 70 (scaling) → 60/65) drastically hindering its KO potential (no longer being the strongest back throw).
  • DK releases opponents later from back throw (frame 9 → 14) and it has much more ending lag (FAF 22 → 40).
• Edge attacks:
  • Under 100% edge attack has a new animation. This animation decreases its ending lag (FAF 60 → 55) and allows the move to hit opponents that are standing directly near the ledge.
  • Under 100% edge attack deals 2% more damage (6% → 8%).
  • Under 100% edge attack has less intangibility (frames 1-10 → 1-5), a shorter duration (frames 9-18 → 9-16) and slightly less range.
  • Over 100% edge attack has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 49-54 → 37-50), less ending lag (FAF 90 → 70), more range and deals 4% more damage (6% → 10%).
  • Over 100% edge attack has less intangibility (frames 1-50 → 1-34).
  • Edge attacks have less set knockback (100 → 90).

Special moves

• Giant Punch:
  • Giant Punch now has a new animation: Donkey Kong winds up his fist back instead of merely behind himself, and now performs the attack with his left arm.
  • Giant Punch charges faster (139 frames → 127) as DK reaches full charge with one less wind.
  • DK can now immediately perform uncharged Giant Punch without winding it up reducing its startup lag (frame 29 → 25).
  • Giant Punch has a longer duration when uncharged (frames 10-12 → 17 (back hit)/18-21 (front hit)).
  • Uncharged Giant Punch has a new hitbox behind DK's arm which deals vertical knockback (361° → 80°).
  • Giant Punch has much less ending lag regardless of charge (FAF 81 → 45).
  • DK no longer has to windup his fully charged Giant Punch decreasing its startup lag (frame 23 → 17).
    • However, this means that DK can no longer shield before using his fully charged Giant Punch to protect himself and still maintain the charge.
  • Giant Punch has less range.
  • Uncharged Giant Punch has more startup lag when released (frame 10 → 17).
  • Giant Punch deals less damage when uncharged (14%-32% → 10%-30%) without full compensation on its base knockback (0 → 15).
  • Fully charged Giant Punch now has a vertical hitting sourspot (361° → 80°) behind DK's arm which deals drastically lower damage (36% → 18% (grounded), 16% (aerial), and its knockback was barely increased (0 (base), 100 (scaling) → 40/90). This drastically hinders its KO potential.
  • Fully charged Giant Punch deals much less damage (36% → 30% (grounded), 27% (aerial), and knockback (0 (base), 100 (scaling) → 10/90) hindering its KO potential to the point where DK's nine wind Punch is now stronger than the fully charged variant.
  • Fully charged Giant Punch no longer deals extra shield damage (12 → 0).
  • Fully charged Giant Punch has a shorter duration (frames 23-30 → 17 (early)/18-21 (clean)).
  • Giant Punch now leaves DK helpless when used in the air making it much riskier to use off stage despite its decreased ending lag.
• Headbutt:
  • Donkey Kong now has a side special: Headbutt. It can bury grounded opponents, meteor smash aerial opponents and also does very high amounts of shield damage.
• Spinning Kong:
  • Spinning Kong's grounded clean hit no longer has set knockback (100 (set), 120 (scaling) → 60 (base)/100) now being an effective KO move.
  • Late grounded Spinning Kong has altered knockback (0 (base), 100 (scaling) → 10/90) making it connect slightly more reliably.
  • Spinning Kong has less ending lag (FAF 100 → 85).
  • Aerial Spinning Kong has less startup lag (frame 3 → 2).
  • Donkey Kong can now grab ledges from behind after using Spinning Kong in the air.
  • Spinning Kong has less landing lag once DK enters free fall (14 frames → 7).
  • Mid Spinning Kong has altered knockback (100 (set), 120 (scaling) → 50 (base)/70).
    • This improves its ability to lead into the late hit.
    • However, this significantly hinders its edgeguarding potential unless at high percents and generally makes the move much more punishable if it connects.
  • Aerial Spinning Kong has altered knockback (100 (set), 120 (scaling) → 40 (base)/80).
    • This improves its ability to lead into the late hit.
    • However, this significantly hinders its edgeguarding potential at lower percents and generally makes the move much more punishable if it connects.
  • Aerial Spinning Kong's mid hits deals much less knockback (100 (set), 120 (scaling) → 20 (base)/70) and it has received late hits which deals extremely low damage and knockback.
    • This significantly increases aerial Spinning Kong's maximum damage potential (20% → 33%).
    • However, this significantly hinders its edgeguarding potential and the late hits can be escaped and punished very easily.
  • Spinning Kong travels less distance both horizontally and vertically.
  • Spinning Kong has less intangibility (frames 1-5 (both) → 3-5 (grounded), 2-5 (aerial)) and aerial Spinning Kong grants less intangibility to DK's arms (frames 9-48 → 11-42).
  • Aerial Spinning Kong deals less damage (12% (clean), 8% (late) → 10%/5%/2%).
  • Mid Spinning Kong has more startup lag (frame 9 → 19 (grounded), 11 (aerial)).
  • If DK is hit out of Spinning Kong, he will now lose the charge for his Giant Punch. This only applies in NTSC versions of the game.
• Hand Slap:
  • Hand Slap has a new animation: Donkey Kong now alternates slapping the ground with each hand without hopping, instead of slightly hopping and successively slapping both hands onto the ground as he did in Smash 64.
  • Hand Slap deals more damage (10% → 11%) and shield damage (-4 → 1).
  • Hand Slap's first slap has less startup lag (frame 17 → 6) making the move loop significantly faster despite the loop starting later (frame 37 → 41).
    • However, the move's startup animation is longer (2 frames → 13), giving it the same amount of startup lag when initiated.
  • Hand Slap has altered knockback (0 (base), 150 (set), 100 (scaling) → 20/110/100 (hit 1), 30/110/100 (hit 2)).
  • Hand Slap's angle has been altered (90° → 84°).
  • There is a slightly longer gap between the two hand slaps (8 frames → 9).
  • Hand Slap has lost its intangibility frames during its startup animation.
  • Hand Slap has decreased range, especially behind DK.
  • Hand Slap has has a much longer ending animation (5 frames → 20) which along with it looping later, gives it much more ending lag (FAF 42 → 61).
    • When combined with the introduction of DI and the universal decrease to hitstun, this significantly hinders Hand Slap's combo potential, removing its ability to set up for easy and consistent KO confirms.

Version history

Like some other characters, Donkey Kong was slightly altered in the PAL version of Melee. Donkey Kong received one beneficial change although it is not enough to drastically improve his competitive viability.

PAL

• If Donkey Kong is hit out of Spinning Kong, he will no longer lose the charge for his Giant Punch.

Moveset

For a gallery of Donkey Kong's hitboxes, see here.

Donkey Kong's aerial attacks

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			4%	Performs a quick cross punch followed by an uppercut.
			6%
Forward tilt	↗		11%	Quickly swats his outstretched hand. A good move for spacing. Can be aimed up or down.
	→		10%
	↘		9%
Up tilt			9-11%	Quickly swipes his hand in the air. A decent juggling move.
Down tilt		Slouch Slap	7%	Quickly swats his hand across the ground. Very fast with long range.
Dash attack			11% (clean), 9% (late)	Skids to a halt and does a side-kick. Has high ending lag and surprisingly short range.
Forward smash			20% (hands), 21% (arms), 19% (upper body), 18% (lower body)	Performs a very forceful clap that deals high knockback. Somewhat fast.
Up smash			18%	Claps both his hands above his head, dealing good knockback. Somewhat slow, not to mention this will not hit a grounded foe at all. DK's head and both of his arms are intangible while the hitboxes are active.
Down smash			16% (hands), 14% (arms)	Does a double back-handed punch by bringing both his fists down 90˚ at both sides. Very fast and deals great vertical knockback.
Neutral aerial			12% (clean), 10% (late)	Quickly spins in the air with both of his arms extended. Has quick startup and small ending lag.
Forward aerial			16%	Puts his fists together above his head, then does a powerful ax-handle swing downwards. This move can meteor smash opponents the moment Donkey Kong swings his hands in front of his face. Resembles his midair attack from Donkey Kong 64.
Back aerial			13% (clean), 9% (late)	Performs a quick kick directed behind him that lingers briefly. A good edgeguarding move.
Up aerial			14%	Performs a quick headbutt upwards. Combos into another up aerial. Has a large autocancel window.
Down aerial			16% (foot), 13% (body)	Performs a downward stomp whilst holding his arms up in a macho pose. A meteor smash.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Karate chops the foe.
Forward throw		Kong Karry	10% (breakout), 8% (forward/backward), 7% (up), 6% (down)	Regardless of the opponent's size, DK heaves the opponent onto his back. Then, he can perform any of the following throws listed below. One side note is that Donkey Kong will receive 10% damage if the opponents breaks free of his grab by button mashing. Forward: Tosses opponent forward. Back: Tosses opponent behind him. Up: Tosses opponent upwards. Can chain grab fastfallers. Down: Tosses opponent like a bowling ball.
Back throw			11%	Swings his arm back and throws the opponent behind him.
Up throw			9%	Throws foe upwards with one hand. Can chaingrab fastfallers, much like his cargo up throw.
Down throw			7%	Violently slams the opponent into the ground with one hand. Can chaingrab.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up and swats both sides of himself.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Jumps on both his hands and kicks backwards then forwards while getting up.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			8%	Throws his rear at the opponent. Has huge range for a ledge attack.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			10%	Climbs onto the stage and swats forward.
Neutral special		Giant Punch	12% (uncharged), 18%/30% (fully charged ground), 16%/27% (fully charged air)	Donkey Kong winds up and thrusts out his arm as a potentially powerful attack. He can swing his arm up to 11 times, with each swing adding 2% damage. The attack itself has good range and decent speed. Donkey Kong will become helpless whenever he unleashes the punch in the air.
Side special		Headbutt	5% (ground), 10% (air)	Donkey Kong slams his head downward. When performed on the ground, the opponent is buried and will remain submerged the more damage the opponent has taken. When performed in the air, this attack becomes a meteor smash. This attack can also be used to quickly break shields.
Up special		Spinning Kong	Ground: 12% (startup), 8% (loop early), 3% (loop late) Air: 10% (startup), 4-5% (loop early), 2% (loop late)	Donkey Kong twirls around like a helicopter, hitting multiple times. Has great horizontal coverage, lacking vertical distance. DK's arms are intangible during the first half of the move when used in the air.
Down special		Hand Slap	11%	Donkey Kong delivers an earth-shaking blow to the ground, sending nearby enemies skyward. It has considerable power, consistent and repetitive damage, and a large quake hitbox. This attack has transcendent priority and will only hit grounded opponents.

Taunt

• Looks at the camera, shrugs his shoulders, and then makes a confused noise.

Idle pose

• Rocks body.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Don-key Kong!	Don-key Kong!
Pitch	Female	Female

Victory poses

A flourish originating from Donkey Kong Country that played whenever a Kong defeated a boss or completed a bonus level.

• Does a backflip, flexes his biceps and roars.
• Waves his hands in a fist over his head.
• Beats his chest and grunts.

In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Donkey Kong professionals (SSBM)

•  Bum - Gathered notoriety as one of the first strong Donkey Kong players. Placed 4th at MLG Long Island 2007 and has wins over Isai and ChuDat.
•  Green Ranger - Previously considered the best DK in the world. Placed 9th at Fight Pitt V and 49th at Royal Flush. Has wins over Duck, Juggleguy, and Reeve.
•  K-12 - One of the best Donkey Kong players in Europe, using him and Samus. Placed 9th at Epita Smash Arena 3 and 25th at B.E.A.S.T 7. Currently ranked 4th at Spanish Power Rankings.
•  Moe - Placed 9th at The Upset, 13th at Phoenix Blue 2, and 17th at both Valhalla and Valhalla III. Currently ranked #1 player in Denmark, took a set off Professor Pro.
•  Nedech - Considered the best DK in Europe around the 2007-2013 era. Placed 17th at Smashers Reunion where he notably beat Overtriforce.
•  Phish-It - Previously considered the best DK in the world. Placed 9th at Zenith 2014, 13th at Zenith 2012, and 33rd at both EVO 2013 and The Big House 4.
•  Ringler - Currently the best DK player in the world. Placed 25th at both Mainstage and Mainstage 2021, as well as 49th at Shine 2019.
•  Rishi - Placed 2nd at Defend the North 2019 and 17th at The Big House 9 as a secondary to his Marth.

Tier placement and history

Donkey Kong is currently ranked as 16th on the tier list in the C- tier, making him a situational character in high-level tournament play. This tier placing, however, is significantly better than his initial tier placings; Donkey Kong was initially viewed as a low-to-bottom tiered character in the early Melee metagame, placing at 20th/21st with Roy on the first tier list. In future tier lists, Donkey Kong would frequently appear at this rank, with his lowest ranking being 22nd on the sixth tier list. Much like Bowser, Donkey Kong was often derided for his large hurtbox and high falling speed, making him an easy target for combos and attacks in general, and despite his slightly better base speed than Bowser, he was regarded as too slow to keep up with many characters that were higher-tiered than him.

Devoted Donkey Kong mains, however, began to immediately improve Donkey Kong's metagame, notably by demonstrating that Donkey Kong's supposed speed issues were skewed; players have demonstrated Donkey Kong had a surprisingly fast and powerful aerial game, and that his dash-dance was also effective, especially when compounded with his throwing game. As a result of these improvements, Donkey Kong immediately jumped to the 16th place on the seventh tier list, and he ultimately peaked at the 13th position on the ninth tier list. His tier ranking, however, slightly fell following this, leading to his current tier placing. However, Donkey Kong’s lacking defensive prowess and inconsistent neutral game has led him to being a niche character in the metagame, which makes him a rare sight at high-level tournaments.

In 1-P Mode

Classic Mode

Donkey Kong appears in a one-on-one, as an ally, on a team with Fox, in a giant battle, in a multi-man battle, or in the metal battle. Donkey Kong appears in Kongo Jungle or Jungle Japes except the metal battle, where he appears in Battlefield instead.

Adventure Mode

Donkey Kong appears in Stage 2 of Melee's Adventure Mode, Kongo Jungle, in two parts. In the first part, the player battles two tiny Donkey Kongs on Kongo Jungle stage and after they are beaten, the player will battle a giant Donkey Kong on Jungle Japes.

All-Star Mode

Donkey Kong and his allies are fought on Kongo Jungle.

Event Matches

Donkey Kong is featured in the following event matches:

• Event 2: Lord of the Jungle: As a giant DK, the player must defeat a tiny DK in a two-stock match on Kongo Jungle.
• Event 10: All-Star Match 1: Donkey Kong is the second opponent to be fought in this series of staged battles. The player battles him on Jungle Japes, which will transition to the next stage if Donkey Kong gets defeated. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him along with Mario, Yoshi, Peach, and Bowser.
• Event 13: Yoshi's Egg: As Yoshi, the player must protect a Yoshi Egg from Fox, Pikachu, and Donkey Kong for 55 seconds on Rainbow Cruise. If the egg breaks, the match will result in a failure.
• Event 25: Gargantuans: A scenario designed as a homage to kaiju movies and their various tropes. On the Fourside stage with unlimited time, the player plays as a giant-sized Bowser (symbolically representing Godzilla, a movie monster from Japan) with 1 stock against a giant-sized Donkey Kong (symbolically representing King Kong, a movie monster from the United States) with two stock. Two other characters on the match are a tiny Mario and a tiny Peach, who can be KOed within seconds by either Donkey Kong or Bowser.

Ending Images

• 

  Classic Mode

• 

  Adventure Mode

• 

  All-Star Mode

Trophies

In addition to the normal trophy about Donkey Kong as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing both Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Donkey Kong on any difficulty:

Donkey Kong

While he now prefers the laid-back jungle lifestyle to construction site mischief, DK is often forced back into action by the Kremling Krew. The great ape is quite fast despite his burly physique, and he keeps his strength up with a steady diet of his favorite food: bananas. His one extravagance (and only piece of clothing) is a monogrammed necktie.

• Donkey Kong Arcade 1981

Donkey Kong [Smash]

Donkey Kong is a huge target in a fight, so he hates crowds. When he's in the fray, his Giant Punch deals serious damage to multiple opponents. The big ape's Headbutt hits so hard that it temporarily buries opponent's in the ground. DK is a lot faster than he looks, and he's lethal in the hands of a master.

• B: Giant Punch
• Smash B: Headbutt

Donkey Kong [Smash]

Being the strongest simian around, DK has the upper hand once he grabs an opponent. He can even lift his foe up and make him or her an unwilling traveling companion; if DK grabs you, shake your Control Stick as fast as you can to break his grip. His Spinning Kong covers more lateral distance than vertical, so use it quickly to recover.

• Up & B: Spinning Kong
• Down & B: Hand Slap

• 

  Classic

• 

  [Smash]

• 

  [Smash]

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Official artwork of Donkey Kong

• 

  Donkey Kong jumping on Jungle Japes.

• 

  Donkey Kong attacking Fox on Temple with Spinning Kong.

• 

  Donkey Kong attacking Link on Brinstar with Giant Punch.

• 

  Donkey Kong carrying Nana off the stage on Temple.

• 

  Donkey Kong burying Samus on Temple with his Headbutt.

• 

  Donkey Kong taunting alongside Bowser and Captain Falcon on Yoshi's Story.

• 

  Crouching on Peach's Castle

• 

  Performing an up smash on Great Bay

• 

  Battling a giant Yoshi on Fourside

• 

  Posing with Kirby on Kongo Jungle

• 

  Sleeping with Jigglypuff on Great Bay

Trivia

Donkey Kong abusing Pikachu's AI.

• DK has a hurtbox attached to his necktie, which may have been placed to prevent thin projectiles or other similar attacks from missing hits due to their chances of slipping between DK's arms and ending in the empty space of his standing animation. However, it also artificially inflates his overall hurtbox in many other animations.
• Donkey Kong is the only character in the game to have an aerial attack that cannot be auto-canceled, being his forward aerial (auto-cancels on frame 85, but only has 60 frames in its entire attack duration). However, the coding of the move shows that it was intended to be able to, but it cannot due to a minor error caused by using the wrong type of timing function. Likewise, his up smash was supposed to interrupt on frame 40, but due to using the wrong type of timing function, it lacks IASA frames. Both of these errors were carried over in Brawl and SSB4, though in SSB4, his up smash now has IASA frames (interrupts on frame 50).
• Donkey Kong's Headbutt and the Poké Ball Pokémon Togepi's Magnitude are the only attacks in Melee that can bury opponents.
• Donkey Kong has 3 meteor smashes, tied with Roy and Falco for most spikes and meteors in Melee.
• Donkey Kong and Peach are the only characters in Melee who cannot use their down special in the air.
• Whenever Donkey Kong enters the stage on certain modes in 1-P Mode (excluding Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, Event matches, and the first stage in All-Star Mode), he can be seen briefly in his bind pose position.
• If the damage ratio of a match is 0.5, and DK grabs, throws, and quickly re-grabs, and cargo carries a CPU before it touches the ground, the CPU will never break free by itself, even if it becomes invincible; they can only break free when DK decides to throw them or the CPU is affected by something (getting attacked, changing size, and so on).
• Melee is the first game where the Donkey Kong from Donkey Kong Country has visible teeth in his 3D model in-game.
• In the NTSC versions of the game, Donkey Kong is one of four characters (alongside Sheik, Samus, and Kirby) whose neutral special charge is lost if hit out of at least one specific special move.
  • Of these characters, only Donkey Kong received a fix addressing this issue in the PAL version.