Donkey Kong: Difference between revisions

|lastappearance= ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Nintendo Switch)}}'' (2024)

For a time, Donkey Kong seemed to be largely forgotten in the video game industry, that is, until former Nintendo partner Rare developed ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Country}}'' for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]], released alongside a new instalment in the classic arcade ''DK'' series for Game Boy. ''Donkey Kong Country'' saw the debut of a new Donkey Kong alongside a new supporting cast including his chimp friend [[Diddy Kong]], loyal rhino steed [[Rambi]], and nemesis [[King K. Rool]]; the new Donkey Kong sports a characteristic tuft of hair and signature tie, and has a somewhat slimmer and muscular physique. This Donkey Kong was said to be the son of Donkey Kong Jr., with the original Donkey Kong taking the title of "[[Cranky Kong]]" and appearing as an elderly character who complained about the modern state of the gaming industry through meta-humor. Compared to his grandfather, Rare's DK is most consistently depicted as a laid-back, simple-minded character who only retaliates when either his friends or prized banana hoard are threatened. In ''Donkey Kong Country 2'', DK would not be playable, and instead would have been kidnapped by Kaptain K. Rool, meaning that players would control Diddy Kong and the new character Dixie Kong instead; a role he would reprise in ''Donkey Kong Country 3'', followed by a complete absence from ''Diddy Kong Racing'', before DK would become the main protagonist of a ''Donkey Kong'' game again in ''Donkey Kong 64'', where he had to rescue the other Kongs and team up to stop King K. Rool from blowing up the DK Islands with his [[Blast-O-Matic]]. Following Microsoft's acquisition of Rare, the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise would exist in a somewhat unusual place, receiving multiple experimental spin-offs, most notably the peripheral-based rhythm series ''Donkey Konga'' where Donkey Kong discovers magic bongos and performs licensed music - this would change with the release of Retro Studios' ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'', a continuation of the ''Donkey Kong Country'' franchise where DK once again has to retrieve his banana hoard, this time from a new organization of villains named the Tiki Tak Tribe, who can hypnotize animals - although the Kongs cannot be affected by it - the ending of the game infamously has Donkey Kong perform a comically exaggerated feat of strength, punching the moon so hard that it falls to the ground and destroys the Tiki Tak Tribe's base. This would be followed by ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze'', where DK Island has been thrown into a state of perpetual winter by the Snowmads, a sea-faring organization of arctic and antarctic animals, such as penguins, walruses, owls and rabbits, based on stereotypical depictions of Vikings, and the Kongs have been exiled, where they must return to the island and save it.

Additionally, Donkey Kong remains a part of the {{uv|Mario}} universe, appearing in many of the ''Mario'' spin-off games since ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Kart 64}}''. Donkey Kong also appears as [[mariowiki:Baby Donkey Kong|baby DK]] in ''{{s|mariowiki|Yoshi's Island DS}}'', the main playable protagonist of the ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Adventure}}'' story expansion of ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle}}'', the primary antagonist of the ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario vs. Donkey Kong|series}}'' series and as an ally to Mario in ''{{s|mariowiki|The Super Mario Bros. Movie}}''. Though relatively unchanged, his design has been slightly changed since Donkey Kong Country. Starting with ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Kart 64}}'', Donkey Kong was given new design, with more detailed fur. His appearance in ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Party 4}}'' onwards mark the first use of the current variation of his modern design, with fur colored a lighter brown, more detailed fur, in addition to more realistic proportions than his prior design.

Donkey Kong makes his first appearance in a fighting game as a starting playable character in the original ''Super Smash Bros.'' His design is based on his appearance from ''Donkey Kong Country''. DK is surprisingly fast for his size and, damage-wise, is one of the strongest and sturdiest characters in the game. His [[neutral special move]] is [[Giant Punch]], which becomes stronger depending on how long the player lets DK charge it before using it. His [[up special]] is [[Spinning Kong]], which causes DK to spin around wildly with his arms striking anyone nearby. His [[down special move]] is [[Hand Slap]], which allows DK to pound the ground with his fists repeatedly creating a small earthquake. While his attacks are powerful when they land, his high weight, lack of projectiles, and slow attack speed result in him being very easily susceptible to combos and struggling to catch up to faster and longer-ranged characters. As a result, he is ranked 9th out of 12 on the current [[tier list]].

On the ''SSB4'' [[tier list]], Donkey Kong ranks 22nd out of 54 characters, placing him in C tier. He has been [[buff]]ed overall, with faster attacks and improved combo ability, especially with his cargo up throw. The new [[rage]] mechanic benefits Donkey Kong very well, which when combined with his heaviness, allows him to deliver greater knockback at higher damage percents. Donkey Kong's trademark power and speed are retained from past games too. Although he is regarded as one of the game's best super heavyweights along with {{SSB4|Bowser}}, he still suffers from common weaknesses that plagued him in the past, such as vulnerability to combos due to his [[weight]] and size, and his recovery in [[Spinning Kong]] still gaining little vertical distance. Nonetheless, Donkey Kong's strengths have allowed him to secure decent tournament representation and above average results.

*Unlike in most modern ''Donkey Kong'' games and ''Mario'' spin-offs, where Donkey Kong has a cartoonish voice provided by {{s|mariowiki|Takashi Nagasako}}, the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series has Donkey Kong using more realistic gorilla grunts. This also applies to [[Bowser]], with realistic roars instead of {{s|mariowiki|Kenneth W. James}}, Bowser's current voice actor in most ''Mario'' games; [[Petey Piranha]], who uses monstrous roars instead of his most recent voice actor in the ''Mario'' games, {{s|mariowiki|Toru Minegishi}}; [[Diddy Kong]], who uses realistic chimpanzee screeches instead of using voice clips from his most recent voice actor, {{s|mariowiki|Katsumi Suzuki}}; and [[King K. Rool]], who uses realistic crocodile grunts instead of his most recent voice actor in the ''Donkey Kong'' games, {{s|mariowiki|Toshihide Tsuchiya}}.

*Despite being able to crawl in their respective home series, Donkey Kong, [[Mario]], [[Pit]], [[Link]], [[Young Link]], [[Toon Link]] and [[Terry]] are unable [[Crawl|to do so]] in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series.

*Donkey Kong himself is the only character in the {{uv|Donkey Kong}} series to be created in Japan. However, his design used in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series has been created in the United Kingdom and is considered in-universe to be a different character from the original Donkey Kong.

*Donkey Kong is the only character who has more than four [[throw]]s.

*Since ''[[SSB4]]'', Donkey Kong has the distinction of being the character with the most attacks that have a [[meteor]] effect, with a total of four attacks.

**Specifically, his forward aerial, down aerial, [[Headbutt]] (side special), and [[Hand Slap]] (down special) all have meteor smash hitboxes.

*Starting with ''SSB4'', the English-language chanting by the [[crowd]] for Donkey Kong when a player performs well is "DK! Donkey Kong!" This is a reference to the popular {{iw|mariowiki|DK Rap}}.