Giant Donkey Kong (SSB)

Giant Donkey Kong in Super Smash Bros.
Universe	Donkey Kong
A boss in	SSB
Availability	Hacking
Tier	Banned

Giant Donkey Kong (ジャイアント ドンキーコング, Giant Donkey Kong), stylised as Giant DK in 1P Game, is an unplayable character in Super Smash Bros. and is only playable via hacking. He is a clone of Donkey Kong, keeping all of his moves and animations, though differing significantly in physics and having a larger appearance. He uses the same voice clips as Donkey Kong.

He can be played as with the Gameshark code 800A4B3B 001A or via accessing debug mode. If Giant Donkey Kong wins a game in VS Mode, without additional modifications, the game will crash, due to him lacking a victory animation.

Attributes

Giant Donkey Kong has most of the traits that make Donkey Kong succeed: He has an excellent grab game, large hitboxes, a fantastic up aerial, multiple meteor smashes, and a strong "get off me" tool in Spinning Kong. Naturally, this also means he can combo from Hand Slap and utilise the infinite throw trap. Giant Donkey Kong's improved reach does provide new opportunities in some areas, such as a forward throw combo into forward tilt, as well as increasing the reach of his grounded attacks to the point that he can edgeguard opponents without committing off-stage. In fact, his down aerial meteor smashes are made more efficient, being able to hit the ledge from a short hop incredibly easily, and even hit through platforms. Conversely, his ledge game is also improved, with his ledge attack often going through opponents and his rolls putting him roughly to centre-stage. Thus, it is much more difficult to keep Giant Donkey Kong at the ledge.

However, Giant Donkey Kong is, functionally, Donkey Kong with a significantly larger model and a worse jumpsquat; 8 frames compared to 6. While he possesses minor knockback-based armor, it isn't nearly enough to save him from combo starters like Kirby's up tilt, as he lacks the handicap used in 1P Game when he's played in VS Mode. Additionally, paradoxically he is actually lighter than regular Donkey Kong, likely to compensate for the knockback handicap from 1P Game, making him easier to KO horizontally than regular Donkey Kong, though his higher fall speed improves his vertical survivability to an extent. The fact that he can be grabbed unlike other giant characters in later games means many characters can chain grab him. His larger size also causes his hitboxes to not quite match his size — just being regular Donkey Kong's attached to larger bones — causing moves like his own grab to straight up miss up-close. Furthermore, this large frame makes Giant Donkey Kong's combos far more unorthodox, causing him to hit the ground earlier than one would expect, for example. Giant Donkey Kong's new weaknesses also tend to compound regular Donkey Kong's existing problems: His size makes him extremely easy to hit, which makes approaching Fox a nightmare, not to mention his otherwise linear approach tools. Ergo, Giant Donkey Kong is arguably an outright downgrade from the original.

Differences from Donkey Kong

Giant Donkey Kong is effectively just a larger Donkey Kong, with differing physics to ensure they befit his size.

Attributes

• Giant Donkey Kong is significantly larger than Donkey Kong (Body Size Multiplier 1.25× → 2×), giving him a much bigger hurtbox.
• Giant Donkey Kong's Walking Speed Multiplier is higher (0.32× → 0.5×)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Brake Force is lower (1.7× → 1.6×)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Initial Dash Speed is higher (60 → 90)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Dash Deceleration is higher (3.5 → 5.5)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Max Running Speed is higher (48 → 90)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Jumpsquat is 2 frames higher (6 → 8), making any aerial more easily intercepted.
• Giant Donkey Kong's Jump Height Multiplier is much higher (0.47× → 0.85×)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Base Jumping Height is higher (55 → 65)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Jump Height Multiplier for his double jump is slightly higher (0.91× → 1×), making it identical to his first.
• Giant Donkey Kong's Fall Speed Acceleration is higher (3 → 4)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Maximum Fall Speed is higher (56 → 72)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Maximum Fast Fall Speed is higher (89 → 100)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Weight Multiplier is higher (0.83× → 0.93×), making him lighter and thus easier to KO, while still being easier to combo due to his size and higher fall speed.
• Giant Donkey Kong's Dash Traveling Connection F is higher (18 → 19)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Shield Radius is larger (330 → 350)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Y-Velocity after a shield break is higher (70 → 120)
• Giant Donkey Kong's Jostling Range is shorter (175 → 140)
• Giant Donkey Kong's damage when spat out by Kirby's Inhale is higher (30% → 50%)

Moveset

For all intents and purposes, Giant Donkey Kong's attacks are the same as Donkey Kong's, down to the hitboxes, though their positioning will differ due to the larger model they are attached to. For visualizations on Giant Donkey Kong's hitboxes, which are the same as Donkey Kong's, click here.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Jab, Upper	4%	Giant Donkey Kong performs a jab with the first hit, followed by an uppercut for the second hit. It is one of Giant Donkey Kong's faster ground moves but is relatively slow for a jab. The first hit can lead into a grab at higher percents although it is unsafe on shield and it fails to lead into the second hit in various situations. The second hit is no stronger than the first hit and it is very laggy, making it very unsafe and not very effective overall. Jab is overall a situational move for Giant Donkey Kong, with his grab being a far better option overall.
			4%
Forward tilt	↗	Kong Straight	13%	Giant Donkey Kong punches forwards. The move is slow and not particularly powerful either, but it can be angled up or down and it does have long range (although its range doesn't quite match Donkey Kong's hand). It is unsafe on shield but it can be spaced to be made safe. It is overall a very situational move, with a dash grab being the superior option in most situations, although forward tilt can be used to edgeguard in certain situations due to its ability to be angled. For Giant Donkey Kong specifically, it can be followed up from a forward throw for some minor damage, usually resetting to a neutral game thereafter.
	→		12%
	↘		11%
Up tilt		Spider Web Clearing	13%	Giant Donkey Kong swings his hand in an arch above him, with the move having strong vertical knockback. It comes out on frame 4, making it tied with Kirby's up tilt for the fastest in the game in terms of startup. It also has great range above and behind Donkey Kong although its range in front of him is lacking. It is also the strongest up tilt in the game, KOing Mario at 118% on Dream Land. However, it has a lot of ending lag, having the highest ending lag out of any tilt in the game. The move is not only very punishable on whiff and even on shield but it is also unsafe on hit at lower percents, making it very risky to use. At mid percents, the move does not reliably combo into anything if hit from the front, although Giant Donkey Kong does get followups if it hits from the back. However, for Giant Donkey Kong, due to his size, there is a blindspot towards the ground as the move ends, which can make it miss when it's otherwise unexpected. Up tilt is overall a very situational move for Giant Donkey Kong as while it hits hard, it is far too risky to use, and the reward for landing it usually isn't particularly high, especially at lower percents.
Down tilt		Slouch Slap	8%	Giant Donkey Kong performs a quick hand swipe while crouching. It comes out slowly on frame 11 but it has very little ending lag and it has decent range. It can combo into grab at lower percents and at higher percents, it can set up tech chases and edgeguards. It is also very safe on shield, with Giant Donkey Kong having just enough time to get a guaranteed grab on shield from a fresh down tilt. Down tilt is overall Giant Donkey Kong's most useful tilt thanks to its low ending lag.
Dash attack		Iron Kick	12%	Giant Donkey Kong sticks his foot out and slowly advances forward before stopping completely. The move launches opponents up and towards Donkey Kong with set knockback. It comes out very quickly on on frame 3 although this is the only positive with the move. Dash attack has incredibly high ending lag, it covers a short amount of distance and while it technically has a lot of active frames, its hitboxes end before Donkey Kong stops moving, giving it a deceptively short amount of range, especially during the later parts of the animation. These factors make the move difficult to land and incredibly unsafe if it does not connect. It can even be unsafe on hit in some cases, especially if the opponent crouch cancels the move and even when it is safe on hit, it is too laggy to lead into anything (although it can lead into followups if it is interrupted by a weaker attack). It can set up tech chases on Dream Land platforms but even in this case, Giant Donkey Kong might not have a significant enough frame advantage to punish the opponent's tech options. It can also be used to clang with other attacks due to its quick speed but this is overall very risky and not reliable, as a mistimed dash attack can be fatal for Giant Donkey Kong. Dash attack is overall considered to be one of the worst moves in the game, as it is far too laggy, hard to land and the reward for landing it is not high at all, regardless of the opponent's percent. It is a move which is almost never used intentionally at high levels of play.
Forward smash	↗	Power Slap	21%	Giant Donkey Kong reels his hand back and thrusts it forward. It comes out very slowly, not coming out until frame 27, which makes it very difficult to land in neutral or as a followup. Forward smash does have good range, damage and knockback however, being one of the strongest forward smashes in the game. It can be angled up or down, with the up angled version being the strongest forward smash in the game (barring Link's forward smash in the European version). Donkey Kong can set up into his forward smash with certain moves and it can be used to edgeguard some characters. It is also very safe on shield, with the up angled version even being able to lead into a guaranteed grab if the opponent is close enough. Thanks to Giant Donkey Kong's size, forward smash can hit opponents who are recovering towards the stage, giving it edgeguarding utility that Donkey Kong lacks. Forward smash is overall a situational yet rewarding move for Giant Donkey Kong when used in the right situations.
	→		20%
	↘		19%
Up smash		Jumbo Press	21%	Giant Donkey Kong claps directly above him. The move deals 21% and very high vertical knockback, being one of the strongest up smashes in the game. It has a very large hitbox, easily hitting opponents on Dream Land platforms and Giant Donkey Kong's head and arms are intangible while the hitboxes are out, making it a powerful anti-air. Giant Donkey Kong can also combo into it using an up or down aerial for a KO, or even combo into a forward aerial out of it at specific percent ranges, though his size can make it a bit unorthodox. With Giant Donkey Kong's increased frame, up smash can hit far above platforms, even catching some characters that are jumping. The move comes out slowly on frame 16 however, it has high ending lag and it has limited horizontal range. It also cannot hit shorter characters on the ground, if Giant Donkey Kong is at ground level as well. The move is safe on shield against most characters but it does leave Giant Donkey Kong at a frame disadvantage. Up smash is overall a situational yet powerful move for Giant Donkey Kong when used in the right situations.
Down smash		Ground Roll	19%	Giant Donkey Kong performs a 360° spin while doing a split. It deals 19% and high diagonal knockback, having above average KO power for a down smash. It also has a long hitbox duration and hits on both sides of Giant Donkey Kong, making it effective at catching rolls. The move does come out slowly on frame 12 but it is Giant Donkey Kong's fastest smash attack. It also has very high ending lag, which makes it very unsafe and easily punishable. It also has an unfavorable launch angle which makes it ineffective at both edgeguarding and setting up combos, especially when combined with its ending lag. Down smash is overall a situational move for Giant Donkey Kong as while it has utility in some areas, the move is often too risky for the reward it can give.
Neutral aerial		DK Lariat	15% (clean), 12% (late)	Giant Donkey Kong spins around with his arms out. It starts off dealing 15% but after its first four active frames, it deals less damage and knockback. It comes out quickly on frame 4 and it has a somewhat long hitbox duration, making it a decent defensive move. It has above average damage for a neutral aerial although its knockback is below average. It can lead into followups at lower percents but its utility is limited at higher percents and it does not hit below Giant Donkey Kong very well, making him easy to hit from below. It also has high ending lag which can make it quite unsafe to use off stage.
Forward aerial		Hammer Knuckle	16%	Giant Donkey Kong does a front flip with his fists clasped together, smashing them into opponents. It is a powerful meteor smash although it does also have strong horizontal knockback if Giant Donkey Kong's arms connect rather than his hand, which naturally makes it a strong edgeguarding tool. This move inspired Giant Donkey Kong's air attack in Donkey Kong 64. It comes out fairly quickly on frame 8 and lasts until frame 16, and while it does have a considerable amount of ending lag, it does have the shortest total duration out of all of Giant Donkey Kong's aerials. The move can easily be used as a combo starter, extender or ender at a wide variety of percent ranges, with Giant Donkey Kong having multiple followups out of the move against grounded opponents and he has multiple ways to combo into it for a KO at fairly low percents. It is Giant Donkey Kong's most damaging aerial which also makes it his safest aerial on shield, giving him slightly more time to punish shielding opponents than his other aerials. Interestingly, the move has a very long initial auto-cancel window, with the move auto-canceling for the first 19 frames of the animation. As the move's hitboxes are active from frames 8-15, this means that if the player lands while the hitboxes are active, they will auto-cancel, removing the need to Z-cancel. The move will go into its landing lag animation from frames 20-35 of its animation although the move is generally used in situations where it will automatically auto-cancel. This is the only aerial in the entire series where its initial auto-cancel outlasts the hitbox, while still not auto-canceling for the entire animation. Forward aerial is overall a very strong and useful aerial for Giant Donkey Kong due to its speed, arching range, combo and edgeguarding potential.
Back aerial		Kong Rocket	15% (clean), 10% (late)	Giant Donkey Kong puts his feet together and thrusts them out behind him, his body moving sideways with them. It deals 15% with the clean hitbox but during its later active frames, it deals 10%. It comes out on frame 8 and the hitboxes are fairly large and have a long duration. It has combo potential at lower percents and is highly effective on shield, but is burdened by considerable ending lag and has below average KO potential for a back aerial, making it one of the less effective back aerials overall. Nevertheless, it is still a solid and useful move overall. In the Japanese version, back aerial dealt less knockback, having the same power as neutral aerial. This made it a worse KO move but this did also allow it to combo into other moves for longer.
Up aerial		Mid-air Spider Web Clearing	12%	Giant Donkey Kong swings his hands in an arch, similarly to his up tilt. The move deals 12% and launches opponents up and towards Giant Donkey Kong with below average vertical knockback for an up aerial. It typically cannot KO and has very high ending lag and landing lag, which can make it quite unsafe and punishable (although the landing lag can be mostly eliminated with Z-canceling, which also makes the move very safe on landing). It has extremely low startup on frame 3 however, and it has a long hitbox duration, with the move covering both in front and behind Giant Donkey Kong, in addition to above him. When combined with its weak vertical knockback and Z-canceling, this makes the move a useful juggling tool. It can be awkward to utilize in some situations, but it can be a strong combo tool when used in the right scenarios, with the move being able to lead into itself multiple times as well as Giant Donkey Kong's up smash, forward aerial, and Giant Punch for KOs at certain percentages.
Down aerial		Air Stampede	13% (clean), 10% (late)	Giant Donkey Kong thrusts his feet down, with the move meteor smashing opponents. It comes out on frame 6 and its hitboxes last for a very long time while retaining its meteor angle for its entire duration, although it does become weaker during its later frames. It is naturally effective for edgeguarding and against grounded opponents, it can lead into many followups, with up smash working in some scenarios for a KO. In scenarios where up smash will not work, forward aerial will typically be strong enough for a KO and Giant Punch is a viable followup at a wide percent range as well. The move does have high ending lag and landing lag however so it can be unsafe to use off stage depending on Giant Donkey Kong's position and the move is very unsafe if the player fails to Z-cancel the move. Nevertheless, down aerial is a very useful aerial for Giant Donkey Kong if he can land it. In the Japanese version, down aerial dealt less knockback, which can be beneficial or detrimental depending on when it is used.
Grab			—	Giant Donkey Kong clenches his hands forwards. While his grab range is long, it doesn't hit opponents right next to him, due to the grab being attached to his now-much-longer arms. Ergo, while Donkey Kong's is one of the strongest in the game, Giant Donkey Kong's requires much more precise spacing to land consistently.
Forward throw		Kong Karry	8% (carry), 8% (throw)	Giant Donkey Kong picks up his opponent and holds them on his back. He can then move around and jump before throwing them forward or backwards, although it is possible for the opponent to mash out of the throw. This throw is based on his ability in Donkey Kong Country to effortlessly carry barrels on his back. After throwing the opponent, Giant Donkey Kong can go for a punish attempt to try and catch the opponent's recovery attempt. If the opponent breaks out of the grab, they receive some knockback and they end up close to Giant Donkey Kong. This can lead into followups/mixups for Giant Donkey Kong, with his most powerful option being another grab to reset the situation. This is not guaranteed at lower percents but it is difficult for some characters to avoid and it does become guaranteed at higher percents. It is overall a unique yet useful throw for Giant Donkey Kong. In the Japanese version, forward throw required more inputs to break out of, which made it a more useful throw overall.
Back throw		Direct Throw	18%	Giant Donkey Kong turns around and tosses the opponent backwards. The throw is very fast and very strong, dealing very high damage and knockback. It is overall the strongest throw in the game, KOing Mario under 100% from the middle of Dream Land, although some throws are stronger at the ledge. At lower percents, it can put opponents onto one of Dream Land's side platforms for a tech chase scenario and if the opponent ends up off stage, they can end up getting KOed if Giant Donkey Kong successfully edgeguards them. At slightly higher percents, it either sends the opponent very far off stage where Giant Donkey Kong can go for an edgeguard for a KO or it just flat out KOes the opponent. Giant Donkey Kong's back throw is overall one of the best in the game due to its incredible strength and speed.
Forward roll Back roll		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Giant Donkey Kong kicks while on his back, forcing his body down, then picks himself up and kicks on the other side.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Giant Donkey Kong kicks while on his back, forcing his body down, then picks himself up and kicks on the other side.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			6%	Giant Donkey Kong hoists himself onto the stage back-first, ramming into opponents. It comes out on frame 9, making it the fastest edge attack in the game by quite a margin and it has long range, making it practical to land. Giant Donkey Kong is also intangible for the first 10 frames of the edge attack, making it impossible to intercept during its startup. The move does whiff against characters close to the edge however and while it does have a decent amount of active frames, its hitboxes do end before Donkey Kong finishes advancing forward, giving it less range than its animation suggests. It also has very high ending lag for a fast edge attack, making it easily punishable. It's notable that with his increased size, Giant Donkey Kong's ledge attack goes much further than the original's, even passing through opponents and putting him into a more advantageous position, akin to Bowser's ledge attack in Melee. Giant Donkey Kong's fast, long-ranged edge attack is overall considered to be one of the best edge attacks in the game.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			6%	Giant Donkey Kong climbs back onto the stage slowly, slapping opponents in front of him. It comes out very slowly on frame 49, although Donkey Kong is intangible for the move's first 50 frames. It also has high ending lag, low damage and very short range, with the move even whiffing against opponents close to the edge. In quite a contrast to his fast edge attack, Giant Donkey Kong's slow edge attack is considered to be one of the worst in the game, especially in comparison to his fast edge attack.
Neutral special		Giant Punch	14% (uncharged), 36% (fully charged)	When B is pressed, Giant Donkey Kong starts winding up a punch. This works in stages: For each winding up of the punch, the move's power increases, up to a maximum of 36% at 11 wind-ups, which can KO at percentages as low as 48%. Pressing Z stores the charge, which can then be continued by pressing B again; by using a turnaround special, this also allows Giant Donkey Kong to "turn around" in the air. Given Giant Donkey Kong's size, the punch itself can very easily hit opponents off-stage, making it a powerful edgeguarding tool.
Up special		Spinning Kong	12% (startup), 8% (loop), 3% (final hit)	A recovery move that gains very little vertical recovery height, but gives quite a large amount of horizontal distance. Contains many hits that can do high damage, but it is very difficult to land all the hits. He is invincible for the first 5 frames. Has very high set knockback at the edge of the fists as well as invincibility in the same region which makes it quite useful at gimping.
Down special		Hand Slap	10%	Delivers an earth-shaking blow to the ground, sending nearby enemies skyward. It has considerable power, consistent and repetitive damage, and a large hitbox. Cannot be used in midair. It is possible to combo this move by only using one hit of it (and then moving the stick back to neutral) into a giant punch vs. everyone other than fast fallers.

Announcer call

• English/Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Breaks out of a Donkey Kong Country-style DK Barrel.

Taunt

• Turns to his right, raises his arms so that his palms are facing upwards, shrugs, and makes a confused growl while shaking his head. Oddly causes his head to become invincible to projectiles (as it turns it on its Z-axis as if it was a roll.)

Crowd cheer

Giant Donkey Kong will use Donkey Kong's crowd cheers.

	English	Japanese
Cheer	File:Donkey Kong Cheer NTSC SSB.ogg	File:Donkey Kong Cheer JP SSB.ogg
Description	*clap* Donk- *clap* -ey *clap* Kong	Donk-ey Kong
Pitch	Crowd Chant	Crowd Chant

In competitive play

Due to being a boss character only playable through hacking, Giant Donkey Kong has been banned in tournaments since Smash 64's inception. Hacking the game presents logistical issues to tournaments, requiring every setup to be running the correct modded version of the game, which alone can have effects on integrity. Even this has limits: Simple Gameshark cheats require the game to be reset after every win due to the results screen crashing the game without further modifications, delaying tournaments by affecting mid-set processes like counterpicking, online or offline. Thus, it is considered more practical to keep Giant Donkey Kong banned.

However, arguments have been made to legalise Giant Donkey Kong due to his attributes arguably making him worse than the regular Donkey Kong, as well as mods like 19XXTE and Smash Remix making him much easier to access, which sometimes see use over the original game for their quality of life enhancements. Notably, they fix the results screen for unplayable characters like Giant Donkey Kong, making tournaments run more smoothly; in the past, this was problematic due to requiring resets, and thus reloading the chests to make him playable, delaying tournament sets. Due to his changes arguably making him worse than the regular character, it's argued that the metagame impact of Giant Donkey Kong's unbanning would be minimal, making the ban irrational. Due to a lack of novelty resulting from the very traits that make the argument, though, Giant Donkey Kong has seen very little competitive experimentation, and thus, few campaign for an unban.

In 1P Game

Giant Donkey Kong in 1P Game.

In 1P Game, Giant Donkey Kong is fought as a boss on Kongo Jungle, where he has a handicap that allows him to sustain up to around 300% before being possible to launch, while having buffed knockback himself. The player is given two CPU allies to assist them in the fight.

Alternate costumes

Giant Donkey Kong's alternate costumes.

Giant Donkey Kong has a set of unused costumes which are never seen in 1P Game, but are regardless available via hacking. They are identical to Donkey Kong's.

Gallery

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  Giant Donkey Kong on Kongo Jungle