Donkey Kong (character)

Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング Donkī Kongu) is an anthropomorphic gorilla appearing in the Donkey Kong and Mario video game franchises. A popular character, he has appeared in many video games. Donkey Kong was Mario's first opponent in Nintendo's popular 1981 arcade game, Donkey Kong. Since then he has starred in his own series of games, starting with 1994's Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and remains an important character in the spin-off games of the Mario series. DK debuted at the same time as Mario, and he still appears with Mario on occasion, appearing as a playable character in the Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. series, and is the primary antagonist in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games.

In the Super Smash Bros. series
Like Link and Fox, Donkey Kong has been a playable character is the Super Smash Bros. series since the original Super Smash Bros. For Wii U / Nintendo 3DS for Nintendo 64.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
Donkey Kong is a character for Super Smash Bros. For Wii U / Nintendo 3DS  He was first shown in the Pre-E3 2013 Nintendo Direct. Like most other characters in Wii U / 3DS, has been graphically updated to match his more recent appearances. This means, his fur color is more brightly colored, and he also appears furrier, especially around his head.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
DK ranks in the C tier, 14th overall, due to his great matchups, range, power, priority, as well as reasonable attack and movement speed. He could be higher if he wasn't a candidate for infinite chain grabs. He is also a very good counter to Snake, and is only at a slight disadvantage to Meta Knight, the two most prominent tourney threats, which has aided his placements in tournaments. His impressive strength and good speed make him a good option against lightweights.

Smash Attributes
Donkey Kong is a very heavy, slow character (but his movement speed is everything above average) with powerful attacks and high knockback capabilities. However, he is one of the fastest heavyweight characters. His weight helps him stay alive longer, though he is a big target and has very poor vertical recovery. His Headbutt attack allows him to get a free attack on the opponent, and many of his attacks have low startup time. Donkey Kong is able to carry crates, barrels and Bonsly without a reduction in speed. Donkey Kong's attacks give him an arsenal of three spike attacks and two stage spikes. DK also has a large grab range with powerful throws, and he is even able to chain-grab some characters. Donkey Kong can also perform Kongocide.

The major problem Donkey Kong has stems from no ranged game. His physical moves all have good reach, but he is vulnerable to projectiles and needs to approach opponents. Being the second-largest (and second-heaviest) character is hit-and-miss: he can take a lot of damage before dying, but he gets hit very easily. His recovery is decent, but it is vulnerable to gimping and lacking in vertical height. Donkey Kong has no real weakness when a game is played non-skilled players.

What really hurts Donkey Kong is that his size leaves him open to King Dedede's infinite chaingrab, and Dedede is one of the most prevalent characters at tournaments. Having a hard counter at such a high level is truly problematic.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

 * Giant Punch has shorter range and has less knockback but grants Super Armor if fully charged and he can now also reverse it. In addition, it also charges faster.
 * Landing on the ground from his Spinning Kong leaves him vulnerable as he lands on his back and has to get up.
 * Attacks became slightly faster and stronger, and range has increased on nearly all moves.
 * Headbutt comes out faster and deals more damage.
 * Hand Slap covers more range.
 * Running speed has slightly increased.
 * Increased priority in most of his moves.
 * Spinning Kong does less knockback but grants super armor just before it's released.
 * Carry throw gives Super armor.
 * Forward carry throw has more vertical knockback and less horizontal knockback.
 * Down tilt now trips foes, leaving them vulnerable.
 * His costume is lighter and very different from Melee.
 * Dash attack knocks back horizontally instead of vertically
 * His up smash can hit grounded characters.
 * People escape out of his carry throw automatically, even without touching the control stick. Additionally, only the opponent takes damage if released.
 * Forward smash has higher knockback and now fully charged side smash has higher knockback than fully charged Giant Punch.

Normal

 * Neutral attack - Does a quick cross punch and follows up with an uppercut. 4% first hit, 6% second hit
 * Dash attack - Skids to a halt doing a side-kick. 11% damage
 * Strong Side - Swats in front. 10% damage, 12% angled up, 9% and trips angled down
 * Strong Up - Swats above his head. 9-11% damage depending on where it connects.
 * Strong Down - Swats at his opponent's feet. This move causes opponents to trip. 8% damage

Smash

 * Side Smash - Claps hands together in front of him. Has somewhat lower knockback when hit where the two hands meet. Extremely high knockback when fully charged. Great priority. Fairly quick for a heavyweight. 20%-21% damage uncharged, 28-29 fully charged
 * Up Smash - Claps hands above his head. This move sweetspots when it hits foes above him, and becomes weaker when it hits right beside Donkey Kong. Another move with great knockback when fully charged. 18% damage
 * Down Smash - Does a double back-handed punch by bringing his closed fists down 90 degrees at both sides. Very fast, great vertical knockback, one of the strongest down smashes in the game and high priority. 17%/25% damage when hit with his fists, 14% up close.

Other

 * Ledge attack - Throws his back at the opponent. 8% damage
 * 100% Ledge attack - Climbs onto stage and swats forward. 10% damage
 * Floor attack - Swats with his hand in a wide arch. 6% damage
 * Trip attack - Spins with his fists as he stands. 5% damage

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Spins with arms extended. 8-11% damage
 * Forward Aerial - Puts fists together above his head, then does a powerful Axe-handle Smash. A powerful Meteor Smash. 16% damage
 * Back Aerial - Back-kicks behind him. This attack is quick. 8% or 13% damage based on hit box
 * Up Aerial - Headbutts above. Extremely quick, can Star KO at high percentages. 14% damage
 * Down Aerial - Stomps down, arching his body forward. When this move hits, it will always spike similar to Ganondorf's d-air. Has Star KO potential. 14-16% damage.

Grabs & Throws

 * Pummel - Does a slight karate chop at the enemy's neck. 3% damage
 * Forward Throw - Heaves the opponent on his back, causing minor damage. He can carry around the opponent (regardless of size) as if the opponent were a heavy item. Forward + Forward : 8% damage Forward + Up: 7% damage Forward + Down: 6% damage Forward + Back:
 * Back Throw - Swings his arm back and throws the opponent. 11% damage
 * Up Throw - Grabs the enemy and throws them in the air with his right hand. 9% damage
 * Down Throw - Slams the opponent down with his hand. Can chain grab. 7% damage

Role in the Subspace Emissary in Brawl
The Koopa Troopas and Bowser steal Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard- as Hammer Bro. drives a car which contains all the bananas of Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong watches him from a cliff. Hammer Bro. and the Goombas aboard the car spot Donkey Kong and shoot Bullet Bills at him. However, Diddy Kong comes out from a bush and with his Peanut Popguns, he shoots the Bullet Bills. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong then follow the Hammer Bro. to retrieve the Banana Hoard. After following him, they see Bowser with a strange type of gun called a Dark Cannon, revealing that he is working for the Subspace Army. When Bowser charged the cannon Donkey Kong charges his Giant Punch then launches Diddy to the sky and out of the way sacrificing himself and Bowser shoots him which turns him into a trophy. Later Diddy Kong, Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi met up with a ship which was carrying Donkey Kong as a trophy, taken to a mysterious floating island. Falco then helps Diddy by following it with his Arwing and having the little Kong with him. He then drops him and Diddy gets on his Rocket Barrel and takes out his Popguns and shoots the ship. After seeing this Captain Falcon and Olimar decide to help him and jump to the ship where Diddy frees Donkey Kong then all four fight the Primids and other enemies. The ship takes them inside a factory producing Subspace Bombs, and encounter various R.O.B.s that happen to live on the island. They later meet up with Pikachu and Samus Aran where they see the Ancient Minister and a whole lot of R.O.B.s. After Ganondorf controls the R.O.B.s into activating all of the Subspace Bombs, the Ancient Minister is shown to be R.O.B., the leader of all the lesser R.O.B.s who were forced to work for the Subspace Army. R.O.B. then fights with the others. When trying to escape Captain Falcon calls for his Falcon Flyer and tries to leave the cave when Meta-Ridley appears and they must fight him. After that they all meet up with the others.

Donkey Kong and the other heroes enter Subspace and meet Tabuu, who turns everyone into trophies with his Off Waves. However, King Dedede had anticipated this and created badges that revived certain fighters back into their original form. With his team consisting of Luigi and Ness, Dedede rescues Donkey Kong and most of the others, although some of them were rescued by Kirby. They also recruit Bowser, Ganondorf, and Wario when they learned about Tabuu. At the end of the Great Maze, Sonic the Hedgehog shows up and helps weaken Tabuu's Off Waves so Donkey Kong and the others would be able to beat him.

Exclusive stickers
These stickers can only be used by Donkey Kong or a select few including him.
 * Chunky Kong: [Throwing] attack +31
 * Diddy Kong (Donkey Kong 64): Launch power +20
 * Diddy Kong (Mario Hoops 3-on-3!): [Leg] attack +28
 * Diddy Kong (Mario Superstar Baseball): [Leg] attack +12
 * Dixie Kong: Launch resistance +39
 * DK: [Head] attack +27
 * DK Barrel: Launch power +53
 * Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Jungle Beat): [Arm] attack +22
 * Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Country): [Electric] resistance +10
 * Donkey Kong Jr.: [Arm] attack +14
 * Enguarde: [Body, Spin] attack +15
 * Funky Kong: [Leg] attack +13
 * Karate Kong: [Battering] resistance +25
 * Lanky Kong: [Throwing] attack +6
 * Party Monkey: [Head] attack +6
 * Pauline & Donkey Kong: [Arm] attack +18
 * Tiny Kong: [Arm] attack +4
 * Wrinkly Kong: [Battering] resistance +4

Trivia

 * DK's down B is the strongest attack against Bosses but only works on certain ground bosses.
 * DK might be left-handed (or ambidextrous) due to the fact he uses his left hand for his Giant Punch, though he uses the right for Super Smash Bros. In Mario Superstar Baseball, Donkey Kong uses his right to pitch and left to bat (or rather, punches the ball). Donkey Kong used his right to punch in previous games.
 * DK is one of the only characters that can't use his down special in midair. Others include Peach, and Pokémon Trainer.
 * DK is the only character who can pick up Snake's box and walk around with it.
 * When DK jumps and lands, like Bowser and King Dedede, the screen will shake slightly.
 * Unlike in most DK games and Mario spinoffs, where Donkey Kong has a cartoonish voice, SSBB has him using gorilla-like roars, most likely for intimidation, with Super Smash Bros. being a fighting game.
 * As in the other games in the series, Donkey Kong is the only character who can walk at a normal speed when carrying a crate, Rolling Crate, Barrel, or Bonsly. He is also the only character who can jump while doing so, as well as the only character who doesn't drop a heavy item when walking off of a ledge. Judging by this, he can be considered to literally be the "strongest" character.
 * Interestingly, even though Donkey Kong has teeth, he only shows them when performing certain attacks or taunts. He may occasionally open his mouth with no teeth showing. Diddy Kong is exactly the same as well as, at a different angle, Ness and Lucas in the Subspace Emissary.
 * DK has the second strongest Up Special in the game if all hits connect, following Lucas in first with PK Thunder 2 which can do 43% and Spinning Kong, which does 36%.
 * In each Super Smash Bros. game, Donkey Kong has gone up one tier on each game's tier list (For example, he was Low Tier in SSB, Middle Tier in SSBM, and High Tier (before the format change) in SSBB).