Donkey Kong (character)
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| Donkey Kong | |
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 Donkey Kong as seen in Super Smash Bros. Brawl |
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| Game series | Donkey Kong series |
| First game | Donkey Kong (1981) |
| Created by | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| Voiced by (English) | Soupy Sales (Saturday Supercade) Gary Chalk (Captain N: The Game Master) Richard Yearwood (TV series) Kevin Bayliss (1994-2001) Isaac Marshall |
| Voiced by (Japanese) | Takashi Nagasako (2004-present) Kōichi Yamadera (TV series) |
Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング Donkī Kongu?) is a fictional ape who first appeared in Nintendo's popular 1981 video game bearing the same name.
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[edit] Creation and conception
Donkey Kong was created by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He believed "donkey" meant "stupid" or "stubborn" in English, and assumed the name would convey the sense "stupid ape" to an American audience.[1][2] When he suggested this name to Nintendo of America, he was laughed at, but the name stuck.[1] The validity of this story, however, has been disputed. [3]
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Early history
Donkey Kong made his first appearance as the titular character of the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong alongside protagonist Mario (then known as "Jumpman") and damsel in distress Pauline. As Jumpman, the player must reach Donkey Kong at the top of each stage, where he is holding Pauline captive. Donkey Kong attempts to hinder the player's progress by throwing barrels and other obstacles towards Jumpman. The ape reappeared the following year in the sequel Donkey Kong Junior, where Donkey Kong is taken captive and locked in a cage by the re-named Mario, while Donkey Kong Junior sets out to rescue him. Donkey Kong resumed his antagonistic role in Donkey Kong 3, this time the character Stanley the Bugman taking Mario's place as the protagonist (Mario was given his own spin-off game, Mario Bros.). Stanley fights Donkey Kong's attempts to invade a greenhouse along with a horde of killer bees.
After Donkey Kong, Mario went on to become Nintendo's primary mascot, while Donkey Kong and his son were relegated to supporting roles and cameos such as in the arcade version of Punch-Out!!, Super Mario Kart, and the Virtual Boy game Mario's Tennis. The 1994 Game Boy version of Donkey Kong marked his re-emergence as a major character. He was redesigned, sporting a necktie as his sole article of clothing.
[edit] Rare era
The 1994 Super NES game Donkey Kong Country made by British game developer Rare marked a turning point for Donkey Kong by creating a new setting, Donkey Kong Island, and backstory for the character.
The character is reintroduced in Donkey Kong Country as the grandson of the original Donkey Kong[4], who appears in the game as an elderly ape named Cranky Kong.[5] A representative of Rare stated shortly after the release of Donkey Kong 64 that the current Donkey Kong was meant to be an adult version of Donkey Kong Junior.[6] In the Rare games, Donkey Kong is portrayed as a powerful yet lazy and laid-back ape, who is interested mainly in his banana hoard. The series introduced Diddy Kong as Donkey's sidekick, and King K. Rool as his nemesis who steals the banana hoard.
Despite his name being in the titles of both games, DK is not the protagonist in the sequel Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest nor Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. Instead he is captured by K. Rool, while the player controls different Kongs who have set out to rescue him. The Donkey Kong Country series also inspired the Donkey Kong Land trilogy and a television series.
Donkey Kong 64 for the Nintendo 64 was the last platform game developed by Rare starring Donkey Kong. The modern Donkey Kong supplanted Junior's role in the Mario Kart series from Mario Kart 64. With this, DK became a regular playable character in the Mario sports series and other spin-offs such as Mario Party and Super Smash Bros.
[edit] Post-Rare era
Following Rare's departure from the series, Nintendo co-produced a trilogy of rhythm games with Namco for the Nintendo GameCube known as the Donkey Konga series, which were based on Namco's own Taiko: Drum Master, though only two of the series' games made it to America. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was released on March 14, 2005 in North America for the GameCube. It depicted DK as being more violent than his original image and also used the bongo controllers. In October 2007, Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast was released in North America for the Wii. It has been suggested that this is Nintendo's way of reviving the canceled Gamecube racing game for Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Racing, which was lost after Rare's departure.[citation needed]
On handheld consoles, Donkey Kong was reunited with his former rival Mario in the 2004 Game Boy Advance game, Mario vs. Donkey Kong. A throwback to the Donkey Kong title for the Game Boy, Donkey Kong resumed his antagonist role from his earlier games by taking over the Mario Toy Company, upset over the lack of Mini-Mario toys available for purchase. The game was followed by a 2006 sequel titled Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, where Donkey Kong, who is infatuated with Pauline, kidnaps her and takes her to the roof of the Super Mini-Mario World amusement park when she ignores a Mini Donkey Kong toy in favor of a Mini-Mario. Aside from those, Donkey Kong appeared in DK King of Swing on the GBA around the time of Jungle Beat, and in its sequel, DK Jungle Climber for the Nintendo DS, which was released in North America on September 10, 2007. Jungle Climber took the gameplay of its predecessor, KoS, and mixed it with the style, locations, and items of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy.
[edit] Other appearances
In 1999, he was one of the first to appear in the successful game and eventually series Super Smash Bros. He also returned in the sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee, along with the other original twelve, plus 14 new characters. His latest appearance in the series is in Super Smash Bros. Brawl with a new stage based on the look of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. Donkey Kong's "Final Smash" (a powerful super-move) is "Konga Beat" which is based on the DK Bongos.[7] In all of the games thus far, he has been classed as a heavyweight, a character with great strength and weight, but with low speed and jump. He also has a stage named "75m", based on a level of the original arcade game, where the original arcade version of DK stands in the background and poses as a hazard.
DK is a playable character in most Mario Party games, until Mario Party 5, in which he becomes in charge of DK spaces. In Mario Party 5 these bring a DK related mini-game, but in Mario Party 8 landing on a DK space gives an advantage (ie. a chance for a free star).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Interview with Miyamoto. Miyamoto Shrine (2001-05-16). Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
- ^ Miyamoto interview, E3 2001. Quarter To Three (2001-05-16). Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
- ^ Donkey Wrong. Snopes.com (2007-02-19). Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
- ^ "One swift blow was all that was needed to leave him sprawled on the floor, face down! he groggily rolled over to see the familiar wrinkled, white-bearded, grouchy face of his old granddad "Cranky Kong" peering down at him. - Donkey Kong Country instruction manual, pg. 5-6
- ^ "In his heyday, Cranky was the original Donkey Kong who battled Mario in several of his own games." - Donkey Kong Country instruction manual, pg. 6
- ^ Scribes - August 25, 1999 (Wayback. “As far as I know, 'our' DK is the son of Cranky, which does indeed make him the original DK Jr. all grown up: so if you see Cranky referred to as DK's granddad anywhere, just cover your eyes and hum loudly until it goes away.)”
- ^ Rumble Falls. Smash Bros. DOJO!!. Smashbros.com (2007-07-23). Retrieved on 2007-08-02.
[edit] External links
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