Donkey Kong (character)

Lore & Background

Donkey Kong was created by Shigeru Miyamoto after Nintendo could not obtain the license for Popeye characters; he replaced Bluto. Miyamoto designed him as a dumb, humorous antagonist, drawing inspiration from the fairy tale 'Beauty and the Beast' and the 1933 film King Kong. The name 'donkey' conveys stubbornness and 'kong' implies gorilla. In his debut, Donkey Kong is a wild, rampaging gorilla who kidnaps Pauline and climbs a construction site. He later appears imprisoned in a cage by Mario in Donkey Kong Jr. (1982), and is either absent or makes a minor cameo in Donkey Kong 3 (1983), where the main antagonist is a giant insect named Buzz Buzzard.

Reader's Guide

Donkey Kong is one of Nintendo's most enduring characters and a flagship of the company. The Donkey Kong franchise was Nintendo's first major international success, establishing it as a prominent force in the video game industry, and remains one of Nintendo's bestselling franchises. He has been listed among the greatest video game characters. His transition from villain to hero has been a subject of analysis, as have his similarities to King Kong, which sparked the 1983 Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. lawsuit. Donkey Kong appears in various media including animation, comics, children's books, Super Nintendo World theme park attractions, and Lego construction toys. He is playable in the Super Smash Bros. series and makes cameos in other Nintendo franchises. His design evolved from the original 2D sprite to a 3D model by Rare's Kevin Bayliss for Donkey Kong Country (1994), which persisted until a redesign for Donkey Kong Bananza (2025).

Did You Know?

• Donkey Kong was originally designed using Popeye characters before Nintendo created him to replace Bluto.
• The name 'donkey' was chosen to convey stubbornness, and 'kong' to imply gorilla.
• Donkey Kong weighs 800 pounds, a reference to a popular expression.
• The 1983 lawsuit Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. centered on similarities between Donkey Kong and King Kong.

The Foundational Four

When Masahiro Sakurai first conceived what would become Super Smash Bros., the project began as a prototype built entirely around original characters. That initial vision evolved into a second prototype whose roster consisted of just four fighters: Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus, and Fox. Other concepts were floated during early development, including a roster made up exclusively of Kirby characters or one composed entirely of dogs, but none of those alternatives materialized. Donkey Kong's presence in that second prototype placed him among the very first characters to anchor the series' identity. Sakurai has spoken about his commitment to ensuring each character was handled with care and appropriateness, a principle that shaped how the original four were integrated into the gameplay. From that modest starting point, the series would eventually expand to 89 playable fighters drawn from more than 40 franchises, yet DK's role as one of the prototype's core members remains a foundational element of the franchise's history.

Low-Tier Resilience in Melee

In the competitive scene surrounding Super Smash Bros. Melee, the upper echelon of the roster was typically occupied by characters such as Fox, Sheik, Falco, Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Peach, and Marth. Donkey Kong, by contrast, was widely regarded as a low-tier option. Nevertheless, DK was still capable of performing at a higher level than his tier ranking suggested, a fact that resonated with the broader competitive community. This was part of a wider pattern in which underdog picks produced surprising results; most notably, Yoshi—often cited as one of the weakest fighters in Melee—was piloted by player aMSa to victory at the first super-major tournament in the game's history. The combination of DK's above-expectations play and other low-tier successes helped inspire competitors to reach for unconventional roster choices. Sakurai himself acknowledged the balancing challenges of the N64 title, noting that certain characters excelled in four-player matches while others shone in one-on-one settings, a dynamic that affected how players approached tournament play.

One of Eighty-Nine

Across the entire Super Smash Bros. series, 89 playable fighters have appeared, sourced from more than 40 different video game franchises. The majority of these characters originate from Nintendo's own properties, with third-party fighters joining the roster beginning with Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Donkey Kong, as a Nintendo character, sits within that dominant core of the lineup. Each fighter in the series carries multiple alternate costumes, and some—like Villager—come in both male and female variants. Certain characters are locked behind unlockable conditions, and a subset known as model swap characters (officially termed Echo Fighters in Ultimate) share most of their moves and abilities with a base fighter while differing in presentation and minor gameplay details. In Ultimate, these Echo Fighters can be displayed either beside or within the portrait of the character they are based on. Donkey Kong's position among this expansive roster reflects the series' long tradition of assembling a diverse cast while maintaining the Nintendo-centric foundation that defined the original prototype.

Design Philosophy and Roster Evolution

The path from a small prototype to a sprawling crossover roster reveals the careful design thinking behind Super Smash Bros. Sakurai has emphasized that a central goal was to ensure every character was handled appropriately within the game's framework. This concern extended to licensing and image management; he noted that securing permission for Pokémon characters proved especially difficult because their brand image is tightly supervised, and some Nintendo employees raised concerns about the optics of a game where Mario could strike Pikachu. Roster decisions were also shaped by practical constraints. Characters like Bowser and King Dedede were originally planned for the first title but were omitted due to limited development resources, only appearing in Melee and Brawl respectively. During Melee's development, Sakurai explored including protagonists from Balloon Fight, Excitebike, Clu Clu Land, and Urban Champion before settling on Ice Climbers. The series' evolution—from a four-character prototype featuring Donkey Kong alongside Mario, Samus, and Fox, to a roster influenced by open fan ballots and third-party negotiations—reflects a continuous effort to balance ambition with feasibility.