Donkey Kong (character)

Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong, and Mario character
Donkey Kong, as seen in promotional artwork for Donkey Kong Country Returns.
First appearance	Donkey Kong (1981)
First game	Donkey Kong (1981)
Created by	Shigeru Miyamoto
Voiced by	Grant Kirkhope (1999; 2003–2010) Takashi Nagasako (2004–present) Soupy Sales (Saturday Supercade) Garry Chalk (Captain N: The Game Master) Richard Yearwood (Donkey Kong Country) Sterling Jarvis (Donkey Kong Country, singing voice) Kōichi Yamadera (Japanese dub of Donkey Kong Country cartoon)

Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング, Donkī Kongu^?) (sometimes abbreviated as DK) is a fictional gorilla who appears in games belonging to 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 the game of the same name, 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, such as Mario Kart.

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 1981, Nintendo was pursuing a license to make a game based on the Popeye comic strip. When this fell through, Nintendo decided that it would take the opportunity to create new characters that could then be marketed and used in later games. Miyamoto came up with many characters and plot concepts, but he eventually settled on a gorilla/carpenter/girlfriend love triangle that mirrored the rivalry between Bluto and Popeye for Olive Oyl.