Donkey Kong (character)

Donkey Kong is a powerful Kong who resides on Donkey Kong Island. Although DK is known throughout the Country for his heroics and mastery of the bongos, he has a dark and sinister past. Donkey Kong is a highly skilled simian who can throw barrels down slopes with precision aim, drive a go kart, and play basketball, tennis, baseball, and soccer.

First appearance

Donkey Kong (1981)

Creator

Shigeru Miyamoto

Game Series

Donkey Kong series

Donkey Kong Country series

Mario series

Mario Kart series

Mario Sports series

Mario Party series

Smash Bros. series

Affiliations

Jumpman (enemy)

Pauline (love interest?)

Diddy Kong (sidekick)

Candy Kong (girlfriend)

Cranky Kong (ancestor)

King K. Rool (enemy)

Trivia

Name

For some time it was rumored that the name "Donkey Kong" was a misnomer, a translation mishap of what what was supposed to be "Monkey Kong". However, Donkey Kong's creator Shigeru Miyamoto has repeatedly put to record exactly how DK received his name:

For Donkey Kong I wanted something to do with "Kong" which kind of gives the idea of apes in Japanese and I came up with Donkey Kong because I heard that "donkey" meant "stupid" so I went with Donkey Kong. Unfortunately when I said that name to Nintendo of America nobody liked it and said that it didn't mean "Stupid Ape" and they all laughed at me! But we went ahead with that name anyway.¹²