Donkey Kong


 * 105

Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング, Donkī Kongu) is a brown gorilla and a recurring antagonist character in the Mario series but is the main protagonist in his own series. He originally debut as a villain in the titles Donkey Kong, where he kidnapped Mario's (formerly Jumpman) girlfriend, Pauline (formerly The Lady), but that Donkey Kong has been said to be the character known as Cranky Kong while the son of this, passed to be the actual Donkey Kong. In his series, he protects DK Island and his banana hoard alongside his nephew and best friend Diddy Kong from the evil Kremling leader King K. Rool. He is a playable newcomer character in Super Smash Flash 2.

Character description
Donkey Kong as his father made his first debut in the Donkey Kong for the arcade in 1981. Here, he was the antagonist who held Mario's girlfriend, Pauline, captive over a construction building. 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.

After this, Donkey Kong seemed to be largely forgotten in the video game industry aside from remakes of the arcade classic, until 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. which marked 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 a 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.

In Super Smash Flash
Even though Donkey Kong is a main stay in the main Smash Bros. games, he did not appear in Super Smash Flash. The reason was due to not having sprites available online at the time the game was being created. He shares this with Falco, Marth, Peach, Ness and Yoshi.

In Super Smash Flash 2
Donkey Kong makes his debut in the Super Smash Flash series. He was the last newcomer announced in the original trailer, and could only be seen at the very end, after the credits, though his appearance is now different from the one seen in the trailer. He presents several moves from the Smash Bros. series and many new ones. His sprite design is based on his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is ranked 24th on the current tier list.