History Franchise / DonkeyKong

Rare was later bought out by Microsoft, leaving the franchise in a state of limbo. Nintendo still kept the rights to all elements of the ''DKC'' games introduced by Rare. During this period, they collaborated with [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] to produce the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKonga'' series of {{Rhythm Game}}s, which used elements of the DKC trilogy, and the platform game ''Videogame/DonkeyKongJungleBeat'', which was set outside the continuity and used no elements from the Rare games. The franchise was eventually given to Paon, who produced ''DK King of Swing'' and ''DK Jungle Climber'', two games reminiscient of ''VideoGame/CluCluLand'' set in the Rare continuity, as well as the RacingGame ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongBarrelBlast''. The American subsidiary Nintendo Software Technology also produced ''VideoGame/MarioVsDonkeyKong'', which reunited Mario with his former rival (or probably the son/grandson of his former rival). The limbo came to an end when Creator/RetroStudios released ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', which marked a return to the 2D platforming style, and its success led to the production of [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze a sequel]].

Donkey Kong was completely reinvented by the British studio Creator/{{Rare}} with the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games on the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem. The trilogy breathed a new life for the Donkey Kong character, giving him a supporting cast of other Kongs such as Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong as well as giving him an established group of enemies to fight called the Kremlings, an army of anthropomorphic crocodilians lead by a constantly name-changing king called King K. Rool. It was also established that the Donkey Kong of the arcade games was now old and retired, going by the name of Cranky Kong, while the playable Donkey Kong was either his son (and therefore the old Donkey Kong Jr.) or his grandson. These games were massively popular for their highly detailed digitized graphics that took full advantage of the {{UsefulNotes/SNES}}' color rendering capabilities. It also paved the way for Creator/{{Rare}} to become one of Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s most acclaimed development studios.

** ''Donkey Kong Land 2''
** ''Donkey Kong Land III''

** ''Donkey Kong 3''

* KingKoopaCopy: Many of the villains are highly reminiscient of the Koopa King:
** King K. Rool is often seen as the series' answer to Bowser. He is an overweight yet muscular crocodile who is green, has sharp teeth, menacing claws, and is the leader of an army of crocodiles known as the Kremlings. Throughout the series, he and the Kremlings have often stolen Donkey Kong's banana hoard, captured Donkey Kong and/or his friends, or any combination of the two.
** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' gives us [[spoiler:Tiki Tong]], leader of the villainous Tiki Tak Tribe. He's get RedEyesTakeWarning, a JaggedMouth, and a scary roar.
** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'''s main villain, Lord Frederik, is a powerful warlord who leads the vikings known as Snowmads. Like K. Rool, he too is pretty tubby, but still able to put up a fight. Interestingly, he's AnIcePerson, while Bowser is PlayingWithFire.

* BlindIdiotTranslation: How "[[ADogNamedCat Donkey]] Kong" got his name. Miyamoto was looking for a word in English that meant "stubborn" or "foolish" to match the character's personality, hence "Donkey." And he assumed from ''Film/KingKong'' that "Kong" was the English word for "big ape." Hence "Donkey Kong"— "big stubborn ape."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'': Donkey Kong will be voiced by Creator/SethRogen in the film.

** ''Donkey Kong Junior''

After ''DK Jr.'', Mario would later go on to establish [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros his own franchise]] separate from DK. First, he would star in ''VideoGame/MarioBros'', where he and his brother Luigi (who made his debut there) had to deal with the creatures in the New York sewers. Afterwards, he and Luigi starred in the landmark ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'', which [[TropeCodifier codified]] the standards for the PlatformGame genre and made Mario the mascot of Nintendo and the centerpiece of their gaming empire.

[[/index]]

* Donkey Kong will be voiced by Creator/SethRogen in ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie''.

** ''Donkey Kong Land''

* WordSaladTitle: A downplayed example: while the games don't have any donkeys, the name was chosen because donkeys are known to be stubborn and so is Jumpman/Mario.(granted, donkey is a noun and not an adjective, but it's still not a total non-sequitur)