Summary
TheDonkey Kongseries began over four decades ago with the popular arcade game that introduced the titular gorilla as well as Nintendo’s future mascot, Mario. Both characters have continued to appear in games together while also having their own series that allow them to showcase their unique abilities and worlds.
Throughout the years, Donkey Kong and his friends have encountered a plethora of fascinating characters, from members of the extended Kong family to memorable villains. WhileDiddy Kong and King K. Roolcontinue to make appearances in games like Super Smash Bros., there is a chance you might have forgotten about these other iconic characters from the Donkey Kong series.
8Wrinkly Kong
Donkey Kong has a massive extended family that can be hard to keep track of, but Wrinkly Kong is a direct relative who played an important role in the series during its legendary streak in the 1990s. Wrinkly is Donkey Kong’s grandmother and Cranky Kong’s wife, and she first appeared in Donkey Kong Country 2 as the NPC you must interact with to save your game.
Wrinkly continued to make appearances in every game after her debut, but things took a turn for the worse after Donkey Kong Country 3, and she canonically passed away. Fortunately, her spirit lives on, and the ghost of Wrinkly Kong continued to help her grandchildren until her last appearance in DK: Jungle Climber in 2007.
7Snide
One of the main things that makes the world of Donkey Kong distinct from the Mushroom Kingdom is that it’s filled with anthropomorphic animals instead of made-up creatures like Toads and Shy Guys. Donkey Kong 64 is overflowing with a unique cast of characters, but the one that we’d love to see return someday is Snide the Weasel.
A former employee of King K. Rool, Snide is a helpful mechanic who helps Donkey Kong and his friends throughout the adventure by giving them Golden Bananas in exchange for blueprints scattered across the world. There are a lot of reasons why you might want to forget about Donkey Kong 64, but Snide certainly isn’t one of them.
6Kalypso
After Donkey Kong 64, the series went into a weird phase and experimented with other genres, like the rhythm-based Donkey Konga that required a bongo-like controller to play. The last title during this odd run was Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, a racing game that relied on the Nintendo Wii’s motion controls to control your character.
Barrel Blast isn’t great, but its large roster features an impressive cast of new and familiar faces. While a few characters are introduced here, Kalypso stands out for being a brand-new take on the Kritter species that was originally introduced in Donkey Kong Country. It’s a shame that Kalypso only appears in Barrel Blast because she looks like she has the potential to be a great villain or ally.
5Wizpig
Diddy Kong Racing has a memorable cast of playable characters, like Pipsy the Mouse and Timber the Tiger, that all deserve another chance in the spotlight one day. The main antagonist of the game, Wizpig, might be the scariest villain in the Donkey Kong series and should be brought up more when talking about characters Nintendo should bring back.
Wizpig has only appeared in Diddy Kong Racing and its remake for the DS, making him fairly unknown by anyone who hasn’t played the kart racer. Like Predator, Wizpig travels between planets to challenge racers in a competition that determines the fate of their home. Despite his unique appearance, Wizpig has simply been forgotten due to the amount of time spent away from him.
4Swanky Kong
Swanky Kong seems like the kind of family member who calls you once a year to ask for an investment in his new and definitely legitimate business. It’s not surprising that he mysteriously disappeared after appearing in only two games, but it’s hard to tell whether that was a request from his family or if he owed someone some bananas that he couldn’t pay back on time.
Swanky is the showman of the Kong family who hosted quizzes and mini-games during his appearances in Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Country 3. While his presence has been missed in the video games for a couple of decades, fans were excited to see the character make a very short appearance in the Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023.
3Glimmer The Anglerfish
One of thedefining elements of every Donkey Kong Country gameis the animal companions that help the protagonists reach new heights and achieve their objectives. Characters like Rambi the Rhinoceros and Expresso the Ostrich are iconic, but some animal buddies don’t get nearly as much attention as they deserve.
Glimmer the Anglerfish only appears in a single stage in the entire series, which is probably why he never comes up when talking about Donkey Kong characters. He uses the light on his head to light an underwater path for Diddy and Dixie Kong during their journey to save Donkey Kong. More animal companions should come back, but especially Glimmer after his sole appearance.
2Donkey Kong Jr.
It’s a shame that Bowser’s son gets so much time to shine while Donkey Kong Jr. has been left aside since Super Mario Kart in 1992. Despite his name, Donkey Kong Jr. is actually Donkey Kong’s father and the son of Cranky and Wrinkly Kong. Thetimeline is a little bananas, so it’s best not to think about it too much.
Donkey Kong Jr. made his first appearance in the 1982 arcade game of the same name, and needed to climb vines and avoid enemies to save his father from Mario’s evil grasp. It’s a fun role reversal to have Mario as the antagonist, and as much as Donkey Kong Jr. seemed like the new mascot for the series, he was eventually left in the dust after Donkey Kong Country became a massive success.
1Stanley
After the exciting cat-and-mouse game between Donkey Kong and Mario on the first two arcade cabinets, Nintendo decided to swap out the plumber with Stanley the Bugman. The exterminator must protect greenhouses from bugs using his spray gun after Donkey Kong breaks into them. It’s very different from its predecessors, which is why it’s not talked about as much as the original Donkey Kong or Donkey Kong Jr.
Despite unconfirmed rumors that Stanley might be Mario’s cousin, the character swap was pretty confusing, and the Bugman was never able to break through as a major character. Though he is still referenced in Super Smash Bros. via trophies and one of Mr. Game & Watch’s special attacks, Stanley is easily the most forgotten character in the Donkey Kong series, and even if he returned, most people wouldn’t know who he is.
