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Is Donkey Kong A King?

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Have you ever wondered if Donkey Kong is actually a king? Maybe you are a long time fan of the Donkey Kong game series and are curious if Donkey Kong could be royalty, possibly a king? Well in this article we will go over everything you need to know about if Donkey Kong is a king. 

 So is Donkey Kong a king?

Though Donkey Kong is known as a lead role in many of the Donkey Kong games, he is not an actual king. 

If you want to know more about how Donkey Kong is not a King, you will want to keep reading this article. You can also take a look at this video that has many interesting facts about Donkey Kong.

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Who is Donkey Kong?

Donkey Kong is an imaginary ape in a video game series programmed by video game designer named Shigeru Miyamoto. Donkey Kong first appeared in Nintendo’s popular 1981 video game, which is named after Donkey Kong himself. Since then he has appeared in several other games in his series, as well as in some games in the Mario series. 

Donkey Kong  appears at the same time as Mario in the original Donkey Kong game before moving on to the more complex Donkey Kong Country platformers for the Super Nintendo. He still battles with Mario on occasion, appearing as a playable character in Mario Kart, and also appearing as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. series and the primary rival in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games.

The different roles of Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong is not really seen as a king, but he has been portrayed in various games with different roles. For example, he is a playable character in most Mario Party games. Mario Party 5 is one of the few appearances where he is given a leadership role in which he becomes in charge of all the Donkey Kong spaces. In Mario Party 5 there are actually some Donkey Kong themed minigames. In Mario Party 8 landing on a Donkey Kong space gives an advantage; for example, a chance for a free star. 

Some of the main roles played by Donkey Kong include the following. Donkey Kong has played an abduction role. Donkey Kong made his first appearance as the normative antagonist of the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong alongside his rival Mario referred to as Jumpman and damsel in distress the Lady later was renamed Pauline. As Jumpman, the player must reach Donkey Kong at the top of each stage, where he is holding the last who was later renamed Pauline, captive. Donkey Kong attempts to hinder the player’s progress by throwing barrels, springs, and other objects towards Jumpman.

 Donkey Kong also takes the role of a captive.  Donkey Kong comes up the following year in the series Donkey Kong Jr. Where he is taken captive and locked in a cage by Mario, while Donkey Kong Jr. sets out to rescue him. Donkey Kong resumed his captive role in Donkey Kong 3, only this time the character Stanley the Bagman takes Mario’s place as the rival. Stanley fights Donkey Kong’s attempts to invade a greenhouse along with a swarm of killer bees. Mario went on to become Nintendo’s primary mascot, while Donkey Kong and his son were relegated to supporting roles and cameos. 

Another role Donkey Kong plays is actually the baby version of himself, who is often referred to as Baby DK. He first appeared in Yoshi’s Island DS and then in Mario Super Sluggers. He is not to be confused with Donkey Kong Junior, who is the young version of the second generation in the Donkey Kong family. Even as an infant, he possessed quite powerful strength, being able to support both Yoshi and himself by swinging on vines to navigate the area.

Donkey Kong also plays the role of a Bigwig. Donkey Kong was one of the first to appear in the successful game and eventually series Super Smash Bros. He also returned in the sequel of Super Smash Bros. Donkey Kong made his latest appearance in the series on Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In all of the games, he was classed as a hefty character with great strength, great speed, agility, and low jump. His massive attacks were giant punches, head butting, spinning kong, and hand slaps. His final smash is known as the Konga Beat. This attack lets him start playing his drum, and if you time this right you could K.O the opponent. 

Donkey Kong also takes the role as an antagonistic rival. Donkey Kong was reunited with his former rival Mario in the 2004 Gameboy Advance game, Mario vs. Donkey Kong. This was a recap to the Donkey Kong game for the Gameboy and Donkey Kong resumed his antagonist role from his earlier games. 

He took over the Mario Toy Company since he was upset over the lack of Mini-Mario toys available for purchase. The game was followed by a 2006 series titled Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2; March of the Minis. This is the game where Donkey Kong, who is infatuated with Pauline, kidnaps her and takes her to the roof of the Super Mini-Mario World amusement park when she ignores a Mini Donkey Kong toy in favor of a Mini-Mario one.

He also once again appeared as the antagonist in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again. Aside from those, Donkey Kong appeared in DK King of Swing on the GBA around the time of Jungle Beat, and in its series, DK Jungle Climber for the Nintendo DS which was released in North America on September 10, 2007. Jungle Climber took the gameplay of its former King of Swing and mixed it with the style, locations, and items of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy.

The last role that Donkey Kong plays is the role of being indolent, which means lazy. Yes, that’s right Donkey Kong is often portrayed as a pretty powerful character, but he also is a pretty lazy character as well. The modern Donkey Kong is portrayed as a powerful yet lazy and laid-back ape, who is interested mainly in his banana hoard. The series introduced Diddy Kong as Donkey’s sidekick, and King K. Rool as his nemesis who steals the banana hoard. Despite his name being in the titles of both games, Donkey Kong only makes guest appearances in the series Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest and Trouble! In these games, he is captured by King K. Rool, while the player controls different Kongs who have set out to rescue him. The Donkey Kong Country series also inspired the Donkey Kong Land trilogy and a television series.

Conclusion

So Donkey Kong has played many different roles over the years. He is known as a very powerful character in many of the Donkey Kong games and also in the Mario games. In most of the games he is featured he plays very active roles except a few where he makes perceived appearances like in the series Donkey Kong Country 2, where he is more of a lazy character. It is evident from the various scenarios that Donkey Kong is not a king although in some instances he does play the lead role.

Even though Donkey Kong is not a king in any of the games some people still refer to him as king of the Kong clan. No matter if you count Donkey Kong as a king or not there is no denying that he is still a fun character and all of his games are great!