Donkey Kong (universe)

The Donkey Kong universe refers to the Smash Flash. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from the sub-franchise of the famous Mario series that deals with the character Donkey Kong. It is generally agreed on that Donkey Kong and related items count as Mario properties, but DK has appeared in enough of his own games alongside enough original characters, created by second-party developer Rareware instead of Nintendo itself, that many consider him as holding sway over a "sub-universe" of Mario. Donkey Kong is also considered part of his own universe because his smasher's icon consists of the letters DK rather than the iconic image of a Super Mushroom held by other Mario characters.

Franquise description
Nintendo had an arcade game called Radar Scope that was successful in Japan but not very much so in the United States. The Nintendo president of the time, Hiroshi Yamauchi, turned to the young game developer Shigeru Miyamoto and entrusted him with the development of a new game, which would be built from units of the Radar Scope game. Miyamoto came up with the game Donkey Kong, the game that would be the debut for the characters Donkey Kong as the titular antagonist and Mario, then called "Jumpman," as the hero to rescue DK's damsel-in-distress hostage Pauline. The game was a breakthrough hit for Nintendo and helped put the company on the map. Both DK and Mario reappeared in Donkey Kong Junior, but this time the former was held captive by the latter and it falls to DK's titular son Donkey Kong Jr. to save him. And in Donkey Kong 3, DK breaks into a greenhouse to again assume the role of villain, and the player controls Stanley the Bugman to oust DK and his insect minions. In addition, throughout the 1980s, eight Donkey Kong games were released for the Game & Watch platform. Afterwards in 1994, Nintendo produced a Game Boy sequel simply titled Donkey Kong, which was a restructuring and expansion to the first two games.

Donkey Kong was established as its own spin-off franchise when the British company Rareware designed and released Donkey Kong Country for Super NES; the new, main premise of Donkey Kong and the accompanying fictional world were introduced and made specific to the Donkey Kong name. The game itself was a 2-D platformer and a major financial success because it demonstrated then-revolutionary CGI-graphics on the console. Notable introduced elements include DK's homeland, DK Island, of which his home is in the region known as Kongo Jungle; DK's nephew and sidekick Diddy Kong and other Kong cohorts Cranky Kong, Candy Kong, and Funky Kong; and Barrel Cannons are found throughout levels and are used as modes of being transported through stages. The series' villains, the Kremlings, who are mostly reptilians, are introduced and led by the obese, arrogant Kremling King K. Rool.

Rareware expanded its Donkey Kong Country franchise with two SNES sequels. In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest, DK is kidnapped by K. Rool and it is up to Diddy Kong and a new character, his girlfriend Dixie Kong, to rescue him; here, other introduced members of the Kong family tree are the grandmotherly Wrinkly Kong and the showbiz Swanky Kong. In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, both DK and Diddy have been kidnapped, and it is up to Dixie and her newly introduced cousin, Kiddy Kong, to rescue them. Then, sometime after DK's appearance in Super Smash Bros., Rare created the 3D adventure platformer Donkey Kong 64, in which K.Rool attempts to annihilate DK Island with his own mechanical island, but DK, Diddy, and three more introduced Kongs, the clown-like Lanky Kong, Dixie's younger sister Tiny Kong, and Kiddie's older brother Chunky Kong, thwart the plan. Though DK 64 generally received high marks, it has been criticized for being an example of an overt "collect-a-thon". All of these games, like other Rare titles, have a large degree of self-referential humor, contrary to Mario games.

In the meantime, DK has appeared frequently as a character, main and otherwise, in many Mario game series such as Mario Kart, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, and Mario Party, and also was featured as a main character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. The Donkey Kong Country franchise by Rare seemed to be put on hold, however, when Rare was sold to Microsoft in 2002. All subsequent games that are Donkey Kong-centric are either made by other developers (such as Donkey Konga for GameCube, which was made by Namco) or by Nintendo itself (such as the recent Mario vs Donkey Kong game series for GBA and DS) and conform to a much more Mario style of mannerisms. DK remains an indelible part of the Mario universe.

In Super Smash Flash 2
This universe enters in SSF2 as one of the newcomers characters, items, and stages since it wasn't present in Super Smash Flash.

Characters
The following characters are considered both part of their own universe and part of the "Marioverse."


 * Donkey Kong: An ape clad in a monogrammed red necktie, "DK" is a sometimes fearsome character, originally taking a maiden as a hostage for his enemy Mario to rescue. For his appearance alongside Mario in a seminal game named after him, DK comes close to Mario as one of the most famous videogame characters in the world. In his appearances in Mario games in the years afterward, he and Mario have become more like friendly rivals and are often seen competing in kart racing and sports games, though they occasionally flare up in conflict, such as in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis. In many of the Mario games he is a selectable character who conforms to the "big, strong, and slow" archetype, and this tradition is carried over into his role as a Smash Bros. fighter. He has strong attacks which also have rather large reach, and this is meant to offset his general lack of swiftness and his easy-to-strike-as-a-target size.


 * Diddy Kong: Donkey Kong's nephew and best friend since Donkey Kong Country,appears as a playable character. He apparently has a very unique style of movement. He also brings a couple of weapons from Donkey Kong 64 to the fray with him, in the form of the Rocketbarrel Boost and his Peanut Popgun. His final smash is currently unknown. It was originally confirmed that it would be the Guitar Guzamp, which would be very similar to DK's FS, although it would have been a little different. Diddy would have pulled out an electric guitar and started playing, damaging opponents by the sound waves bouncing the opponents around, gaining percentage. This Final Smash will most likely not be used in the game, however.

Assist Trophies
No Assist Trophies from the DK universe has been confirmed, a rumor states that Cranky Kong would appear as one (with a unknow effect), however, the rumor was never proven to be true.

Common Enemies
The following enemies were told to appear in the The Flash Of Shadows in the second DOJO!! before its closure, their status is unknown.


 * Kritter: This is a type of mega muscled, body builder Kremling with enormous pecs,found in almost all games in the Donkey Kong series.


 * Gnawty: This lazy-eyed beaver who is considered by some to be the Goombas of the Donkey Kong Universe, though less common.
 * Mini-Necky: Is a small, black, hostile bird encountered throughout the Donkey Kong series that usually spits rocks at the incoming Kongs. As the name suggests, they are miniature versions of Neckies. They also appear flying in the background of the Jungle Hijinx stage as but as non-hostile enemies.

Stages
Only one, the first, of the three following stages is officially confirmed, the others are in pending re-confirmation.


 * Jungle Hijinx: A custom stage based on the first level with the same name from the game Donkey Kong Country, a very simplistic stage with two hills on each side of the stage, one of them, the right, can be passed under it by players. Barrle Cannons are located on the sides too, player can hop into them and depending on the direction the arrow is pointing, they will be shoot in said direction but they may be careful. They can harm other opponents in this way too.


 * Congo Jungle: Based off on the Super Smash Bros. stage. Is made up of a big platform with a couple of small platforms on it. The top left and right sides of the stage are small and can be used to battle on. In the middle of the stage, there are two platforms that move in a clockwise motion. Under the stage, there is a single Barrel Cannon, that work in a similar way to Jungle Hijinx.


 * Jungle Japes: Based off on the Melee's stage. It is divided into three parts. The right and left sections are about equal in length and are a little taller then the middle section. The middle section is the longest, with a smaller platform suspended above it. This stage may sound simple, but is actually rather dangerous. Getting caught in the current under the stage is likely to result in a KO as it is hard to get back on the stage

Item
Likewise, only one item can be said to represent the Donkey Kong universe.


 * Hammer: The giant mallet from the original Donkey Kong could be picked up by Mario and he would swing it uncontrollably for the next period of time to the tune of a "super" melody, pulverizing any obstacles in his way. The Hammer is featured just as that sort of item; the character becomes a pulverizing swinging force for the next ten seconds as the classic melody plays, and any character unlucky enough to be bludgeoned by it will probably be KO'd. The wielder is unable to throw away the hammer, use any other moves, or do any double jump during that time. The wielder can be easily punished by projectiles, or if a character spawns from the KO and uses the invincibility to grab the wielder.