With Donkey Kong Country turning 25 last week and soaking up the lion's share of the anniversary headlines, we thought we'd give its younger sibling a chance to shine. Donkey Kong 64 celebrated its 20th birthday on 22nd November and we caught up with Mark Stevenson and Chris Sutherland of Playtonic Games, both Rare veterans and involved in the development of DK 64 (Mark was Lead Artist and Chris lent his dulcet tones to video gaming's most beloved rap).
Obviously, we highly recommend checking out the feature for some behind-the-scenes insights into the development of the collectathon-to-end-all-collectathons (or 'collectakong', if you will... Hello?). There was, however, a tidbit from our interview which didn't really fit in anywhere despite being utterly intriguing to DK fans.
You see, as the DK faithful will already know, old-ape Cranky Kong from the DKC games is actually the original Donkey Kong from the arcade game, which means his given name was once 'Donkey' before he got old and changed it. As a result, we've always wondered about the fluid first names of the Kong clan. Is it a personal choice? Are you forced to relinquish your name to your offspring when you develop a particular personality trait or the passage of time ravages your once-youthful visage?
Having spent far too much time contemplating how this all works, we posed Mark and Chris the following question:
Nintendo Life: Seeing as Cranky Kong was the original Donkey Kong, it seems first names in the Kong clan can change according to appearance or disposition. What was Wrinkly Kong’s name before she got old? What will we call Funky Kong when one day he inevitably loses his cool?
Having obviously considered this many times before (or perhaps just humouring us in a thoroughly gentlemanly manner), Stevenson responded thusly:
Mark: Your guess is as good as mine, I’ll stick with the idea that if Cranky was originally Donkey then maybe Wrinkly would have been more like Candy Kong, maybe she was the original Candy Kong, or maybe she had a similar sweet sounding name like Cookie Kong or Caramel Kong. Maybe Funky Kong will become Clunky Kong, riding around in his pimped-up mobility scooter.
Sutherland went on to cast doubt on all the truths we cling to:
Chris: I always thought Cranky was the original Donkey Kong, but I think there are fan theories that suggest otherwise (and if there aren’t any such theories, they will be now be created that I’ve said this).
Head canon at the ready, people! Before Wrinkly turned all old and well, wrinkly, she just might have been the original Candy Kong (or Cookie, or Caramel Kong) before passing the torch to the next generation. It seems a little unfair to rename somebody because of their changing appearance, but who are we to judge the ways of the Kong?
Perhaps best of all, Funky is destined to become Clunky Kong, burning around the jungle on a mobility scooter once his knees have given out after all that surfing in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. This pleases us immensely.
Caramel Kong, eh? We'll leave you with that.
Comments 39
Retired surfing legend?
Clunky Kong is the best thing I've heard all day
Oh my word, yes, we need a game with Clunky Kong.
WE NEED A FUNKY KONG POINT AND CLICK EMOTIONAL STORY EXPERIENCE FEATURING HIS COOL YEARS LEADING INTO HIS YEARS DEALING WITH THE DEPRESSING FACT OF GROWING UP
Boomer Kong - cool for his time, only to be ridiculed by the youth later in his lifetime.
Creepy uncle Kong, obviously.
A barrel of whiskey and a few awkward glances at his niece will get him banned from family gatherings.
What about Donkey Kong JR?
What is he called now since he was supposedly the second Donkey Kong.
Clunky Kong is Fighter Pass character number 5.
Maybe he'll turn out like Bret Michaels or Vince Neil, wrinkled features hidden beneath an extremely outdated bandana.
I see funky Kong and always remember mario kart Wii.
These affirmations are comforting. I would be sad if they turned around and said Cranky was not the original Donkey.
Much like when Nintendo said Mario's last name was not Mario
God, I wish there was a new Rare-in-spirit Donkey Kong game on the Switch.
When he lays off the sports and just leans back, his metabolism likely forces him to become Chubby Kong.
Eventually, his destiny is Kitschy Kong, or even Cringy Kong.
Oh, Nintendo fans... Is there any franchise whose deep lore we won't over-analyze?
@Averagewriter Agree, and it's been years since I played, but doesn't Cranky Kong complain about too many pixels in Donkey Kong Country? Like "back in his day" you had the limitations of the original arcade board and the Atari, Colecovision, and Intellivision "and you liked it."
@Majora101 Closest you will probably get for right now is Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair, which is fantastic if you haven't played it yet!
@Averagewriter I'm still a little bummed about the retconning of the Koopalings. It just seemed really unnecessary
@Averagewriter I personally couldn’t attest to how outdated their bananas are
He becomes Janky Kong and stars in a game of the same name, a 3D platformer developed by Sonic Team.
I think funky Kong may transition into Dixie Kong
Kong specific names aside, it never occurred to me until this article how incredibly...er...awesome(?) a parent must be to name their son "Donkey." Miyamoto has quite a dark streak...
@Xaessya Wouldn't current adult DK then be DK Jr. from the 90's?
Asking the real questions.
Cookie Kong sounds good.
And I like the idea of Clunky Kong.
@NEStalgia
From what I remember DK JR is Cranky's son and the current DK is the son of him.
I always thought he was the current DK's brother.
He'll just take the name Ricardo Kong.
@Xaessya So.......whatever happened to Jr?
I see a gritty sequel about child celebrity, and a van down by the river happening here.....
@NEStalgia
That, I do not know. He hasn't been around for a long time. (I think since Mario Tennis on N64)
There was a pink Donkey Kong Jr in Math. Maybe that was young Candy!
Why wasn't Funky Kong a guest character in Mario Vs Sonic 2020. Such a wasted opportunity
This doesn't make ANY sense and all. If Cranky was the original Donkey Kong that challenged Mario, how he aged till to be on a weelchair and the mustached one is still in his 40's 25 years later?
Ah, the messed up Nintendo's timeline. No one really cares but it's still funny how they look to pretend to know
Seeing people try to make sense of Nintendo lore is cute.
If anyone needs some retro Funky-themed sportswear — https://thrillakrewgear.com/ ;P
There's only one Donkey Kong, and that's Donkey Kong. The rest are relations or whatever. If we weren't living in a world of gender fluidity and political correctness against typecasting, Cranky would be his father. Since we are living in such a world, Cranky Kong is Mario.
So really Donkey Kong is Donkey Kong Jr
I need:
1. A new Donkey Kong Country game.
2. A port/remaster of Donkey Kong Country Returns.
3. SNES Trilogy on the SNES app.
4. The soundtracks on streaming services, at least Tropical Freeze, considering the copyrights/licences being fairly recent.
5. A huge coffee table book with the continuity and lore sorted out.
The Kongs don't get the love they deserve. Period.
Oh, and since we are living in these times, hashtags are needed to close a plea.
#justiceforthekongs
Cookie and Clunky’s Bananightmare, out on Switch 3 in 2029.
@Averagewriter The real kerfuffle is with DK himself, as one source say he’s DK Jr grown up and the other that he is Cranky’s grandson, which means DK Jr disappeared.
@Averagewriter I remember that! Why did they need to specify such a thing! I am so sure that they were his children! It was in the manual of Mario 3. Or, maybe I just imagined that.....
Oh, Nintendo. Let me believe!
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