Donkey Kong


 * For fighter info, see Donkey Kong (SR).

Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング) is the former antagonist of Mario (Jumpman) in the Donkey Kong series (1981), later becoming the protagonist of the Donkey Kong Country series (1994).

Character description
Donkey Kong's franchise began as his grandfather made his first appearance in the arcade game of the same name. Here, he was the antagonist who held Mario's girlfriend, Pauline, captive over a construction building and was Mario's rival. Mario had to make his way to the top of the tower to rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong Sr. Donkey Kong Sr. would later return in Donkey Kong Jr. which saw his young son rescuing him from the now antagonist Mario. He would once again be featured in Donkey Kong 3 which saw him go up against Stanley the Bugman. At some point between Donkey Kong 3 and Donkey Kong Country, the original Donkey Kong would take the name Cranky Kong and allow the title of Donkey Kong to pass to his grandson.

Donkey Kong Jr. would make another appearance in the 1992 game Super Mario Kart, but the Donkey Kong franchise would not see its own direct game until 1994 Rareware released Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo, which depicted Donkey Kong's first battle with his arch-enemy King K. Rool. Donkey Kong Country was such a massive success that it helped the SNES take the lead in the 16-bit console war. The series was followed by two sequels in which Donkey Kong was, surprisingly, not playable due to being replaced by Dixie Kong.

However, Donkey Kong would be featured in Super Smash Bros., marking his first appearance in a fighting game. He would then finally be featured once again as a playable character in Donkey Kong 64 for the Nintendo 64. He would then be featured in Super Smash Bros. Melee before starring in the Donkey Konga series and Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat.

While he has switched between appearing as a protagonist and as an antagonist, Donkey Kong has never truly been "evil" and he remains a part of the Mario universe appearing in many of the Mario spinoff games. Donkey Kong also appeared as a baby in Yoshi's Island DS; and in the Mario vs Donkey Kong games, which brings back Mario and Donkey Kong's rivalry from the original Donkey Kong.

As a playable character
Donkey Kong, along with the rest of the original 12 characters from Super Smash Bros. reappears in Smash Remix.

Just like in Smash 64, DK is surprisingly fast for his size and is one of the strongest characters in the game. His Neutral B move is the Giant Punch which becomes stronger depending on how long the player lets DK charge it before using it. His Up B is the Spinning Kong which causes DK to spin around wildly with his arms striking anyone nearby. His Down B move is the Hand Slap which allows DK to pound the ground with his fists repeatedly creating a small earthquake.

His in-game description is as follows:


 * Donkey Kong


 * Donkey Kong and Mario started out as arch-rivals, but they've patched things up in recent years. These days DK spends his time searching the jungle for bananas instead of kidnapping beautiful maidens. In the past few years, other members of the Kong family have cashed in on DK's fame as well, including his favorite nephew, Diddy.


 * Works:
 * Donkey Kong (NES),
 * Donkey Kong Country (SNES),
 * Mario Kart 64 (N64)