Cranky Kong

“	You young apes wouldn't know a real adventure if it jumped up and bit you on the nose!	„
	~ Cranky Kong, Donkey Kong Country: Rumble in the Jungle.

“	Come on, Cranky, take it to the fridge! Walnuts, peanuts, pineapple smells, grapes, melons, oranges, and coconut shells! (Ahh, yeah!) Walnuts, peanuts, pineapple smells, Grapes, melons, oranges, and coconut shells! (Ahh, yeah!)	„
	~ DK Rap

Donkey Kong I, also known as Cranky Kong, is the titular overarching protagonist of Nintendo's Donkey Kong franchise.

He is Donkey Kong III's grandfather and Donkey Kong Jr.'s father, and was initially the original Donkey Kong who threw barrels at Mario and his original nemesis. However, he is now a widowed, retired old ape, always helping his grandson, and Diddy Kong on their adventures.

He is voiced by Takashi Nagasako in the games. In the 1984 cartoon, he was voiced by the late Aron Tager in English and Ryūsei Nakao in Japanese.

Physical Appearance[]

In his youth, Cranky was a muscular and unkempt Kong. As an elderly, Cranky has a long white beard, small, black-rimmed glasses, and wears a reddish-gray vest. He has also been depicted with bushy white eyebrows in the first Donkey Kong Country and the Donkey Konga games. In Donkey Kong Country 2, Cranky is shown with two canes and wears a green vest. He retains the green vest in Donkey Kong Country 3, but at the end of the game and during Dojo mini-games in its GBA remake, Cranky wears a white karate uniform and black belt. In Donkey Kong 64, Cranky wears an outfit fitting for the role of a professor, consisting of a scientist's coat and head mirror.

Biography[]

Youth[]

Cranky is formerly known as Donkey Kong and was responsible for kidnapping Mario's friend Pauline. Later, his son Donkey Kong Jr. freed him from a cage when Mario managed to capture him. He then fought Stanley the Bugman inside various greenhouses and lost.

Donkey Kong Country[]

Cranky Kong appears at Cranky's Cabin where he will rant to the Kongs and occasionally give advice about certain levels in the game. He also lets the Kongs known if they have found all the bonus areas in the game or not after King K. Rool's defeat.

Donkey Kong Land[]

Annoyed about the success of Donkey Kong Country, Cranky Kong gives Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard back to King K. Rool and challenges DK and Diddy to retrieve it again on the Game Boy system.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong-Quest[]

Cranky Kong reappears at the Monkey Museum to once again provide hints, but this time his information must be purchased with Banana Coins. He also hosts "Cranky's Video Game Heroes", where he decides who is worthy of standing on the winners podium of video game heroes from the amount of DK Coins that are collected.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble![]

Cranky Kong is mostly absent in the game, though he may appear in Swanky's Sideshow as Dixie and Kiddy Kong's opponent. He also appears at the end of the game, where he criticizes the both of them for their victory over KAOS and Baron K. Roolenstein.

Donkey Kong 64[]

Cranky first appears in his lab on DK Island when Donkey Kong goes to visit him at the beginning of the game after being alerted by Squawks the Parrot, where he informs him that K. Rool's cronies have kidnapped the other Kongs and stolen his Golden Banana hoard. He then sends him to complete some basic training in some training barrels he's set up for him, and informs him not to come back until he's completed them all. After Donkey Kong successfully completes them all and returns, he gives him his first potion of the game that grants him the ability to perform the Simian Slam, which allows him to leave the area.

From that point on, Cranky's labs can be found in each of the main levels of the game. DK and the rest of the Kongs, after having been freed, can visit him, and if they've collected enough color-coded Banana Coins, they can pay him to get more potions that allow them to learn new moves that are essential to reaching new areas and retrieving a number of the Golden Bananas, though all the while, he'll often engage in his usual snark and insults towards them by pointing out how undeserving or badly in need they are of some of them. Additionally, when the Kongs have collected 15 Banana Medals (which are earned when any of the Kongs collects 75 out of 100 color-coded regular bananas in a given level), he allows them to play the Jetpac arcade game, and if any of them score at least 5,000 points, he'll reward them with a special Rareware Coin, which is required along with the Nintendo Coin to open the last gate in Hideout Helm that leads to the last Boss Key.

At the end of the game after DK and his crew have defeated K. Rool, he is seen with DK as he returns the last of the Golden Bananas to the hoard, though he takes such a long time getting through the tunnel to the hoard that DK falls asleep waiting for him. After he finally catches up and pokes DK awake with his cane, DK finally adds the last banana to the pile, then offers to give him a piggyback ride. Though Cranky tries to refuse, DK still picks him up and runs with him back through the tunnel and presumably jumps into the pool of water with him.

Donkey Kong Country Returns[]

Cranky runs a shop in each of the game's worlds, and will often make sarcastic quips towards Donkey Kong and Diddy over the items that they buy. He is the only character from the original trilogy besides Donkey Kong and Diddy to appear in the game.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze[]

Cranky returns as a playable partner character in the game, making this the first time he appears as a playable character. At the beginning of the game, he's at Donkey Kong's house celebrating his birthday along with Diddy and Dixie. However, they are abruptly interrupted when the Snowmads, an army of arctic invaders led by a particularly large and intimidating Waldough named Lord Frederik, arrive at their island. Lord Fredrik then blows into a special horn that unleases a dragon made of ice and fierce frozen winds, which blows them off the island, with the Snowmads then conquering the now frozen Donkey Kong Island. However, the Kongs manage to fight their way through five other islands that the Snowmads had conquered before eventually managing to make it back to their home. After fighting through more of the Snowmads on Donkey Kong Island, the Kongs confront Lord Fredrik in the depths of the frozen volcano and engage in a climactic battle with him. Upon defeating him, Donkey Kong uses a final flurry of punches that sends Lord Fredrik flying out of the volcano and crashing down on the rest of Snowmad ships, defeating them for good. DK then gets a hold of Fredrik's horn and blows into it, which creates a warm breeze that restores the island back to its normal state, after which Cranky celebrates the liberation of their home with him, Diddy and Dixie.

Throughout the game, Cranky can be used whenever DK finds a barrel with his initials on it. His primary ability is to use his cane like a pogo stick, which allows DK to jump higher and reach areas he otherwise can't, cross spiky terrain that is unsafe to any of the other Kongs, as well as defeat certain enemies and destroy certain obstacles that can't be touched by anyone else. Additionally, when DK fills up the Kong-POW meter by collecting enough bananas, like Diddy and Dixie, he can perform a special move with him that defeats all the enemies on the screen. When Cranky performs the move with him, all the enemies leave behind Banana Coins.

Donkey Kong Bananza[]

While Donkey Kong was mining for Banadium Gems on Ingot Isle, bandits stole bananas from Donkey Kong Island, forcing Cranky Kong to take Rambi and chase after them. His pursuit takes him to the Underground World where he will give Donkey Kong a single Banadium Gem on each layer every time he listens to his lecture. In the Emerald Rush DLC, Cranky can be found with the other Kongs on Donkey Kong Island nearby DK's Tree House. He call be called upon by Rambi to take part in photo ops at different parts of the island. He will also instruct Donkey Kong on what to do next. After completing Emerald Rush campaign, Cranky agrees to keep an eye on Void Kong should he try to cause any trouble.

Personality[]

As his name suggests, Cranky is a grouchy old man with a bitter disposition. He has a fairly arrogant and egotistical attitude, as he often claims himself superior to his grandsons, and whacks them with his cane when they fail to live up to his high expectations, even going as far as calling Donkey Kong his "lazy good-for-nothing (grand)son". Cranky can be rude and snarky, but he isn't cruel, as he does care for his family, can get fiercely protective if they are in danger, and is even more aggressive towards his enemies. Eventually, he comes to show pride in his grandsons' accomplishments, and even admits that they may have surpassed him.

Abilities[]

Cranky has been shown to be surprising agile for his old age, something which is most evident in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. In Donkey Kong Country 3, he is able to compete with Dixie and Kiddy during Swanky's Sideshow mini-games and perform tricks while waterskiing. Despite these feats however, there have also been times where is shown to be physically frail. In Donkey Kong 64, his joints lock up while demonstrating his fighting prowess, and moves at a very slow pace when going to meet Donkey Kong at his Golden Banana Hoard. Cranky Kong is wise and willing to share his knowledge with others, either for a fee or occasionally during his rants. He is experienced in chemistry, having created various potions to give the Kongs new abilities in Donkey Kong 64.

Equipment[]

In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Cranky can use his cane to reach high areas, avoid hazards and defeat enemies. Cranky can also launch dentures that can temporarily stun enemies.

Other Media[]

Donkey Kong (1984 cartoon)[]

From the Saturday Supercade program, he is the titular protagonist of his own show (voiced by Soupy Sales), who is being chased by Mario and Pauline as they continue chasing and pursuing him everywhere he goes since they're trainers of DK himself and Donkey escaped from a circus. Instead of just wanting to kidnap Pauline and forcing Mario to save her, this time he is now depicted as more of a goofy, rebellious, sneaky, creative, childish, sly, mischievous troublemaker with an anti-heroic/anti-villainous streak and a playful attitude.

He is also shown to be an escape artist and a comical prankster who likes to cause mischief and chaos as a form of his silly shenanigans such as capturing Pauline while roaming everywhere and always challenging Mario by throwing stuff at him like he does with barrels (and otherwise pulling tricks and pranks on him to set him up for disaster and predicaments to foil Mario's plans to capture him and bringing him back to a circus so he could go roaming on his own such as using cannonballs like bowling balls to send at Mario's net), his antics tend to freak everyone out for Donkey being seen as a "giant ape on the loose".

“	DOOONKEY KOOOONG!!	„
	~ Cranky's catchphrase in the Donkey Kong cartoon for Saturday Supercade.

In all of the episodes, he repeatedly exclaims his name "DOOONKEY KOOOONG!!" as his signature catchphrase when he does just about anything, and sometimes gives off devious/silly laughs and chuckles to further enforce his puckish personality.

He also seems to attract several human women as well whenever he does anything heroic or decent, these include Pauline in "New Wave Ape", a lady of General Elm's group being flattered in "Mississippi Madness", and a lady being his girlfriend and wanting to marry her in "Gorilla My Dreams".

He also does some good deeds in the show despite being chaotic neutral, such as freeing a monkey from a cage, being friendly towards kids like a boy named Brian, stopping thieves with a form of bowling (and sometimes helps Mario with getting him out of a predicament) in the episode "How Much Is That Gorilla In The Window?", and saving Pauline from being kidnapped by an orangutan named Clovis as seen in the episode "Movie Mania".

Donkey Konga[]

Cranky also appears in the Donkey Konga series, serving as a playable character in the third game in the series. This marks the first time he's playable in a video game.

DK: King of Swing[]

Cranky and the ghost of his wife Wrinky teach Doneky Kong and Diddy the controls of the game in Cranky's Lectures. He, along with Candy Kong, are the only Kongs in the game that are not playable.

DK: Jungle Climber[]

Cranky Kong accompanies Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Xananab on their quest to get the stolen Crystal Bananas from King K. Rool and the Kremling Gang. Cranky teaches Donkey Kong and Diddy how to play the game, and instructs the both of them on new moves, power-ups, and collectables in various levels.

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast[]

Cranky yet again appears as a playable character, unlocked after the player completes Challenge 24 in Candy's Challenges.

Super Smash Bros.[]

Cranky Kong appears in the stages of Kongo Jungle and 75m as background character. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a collectable trophy and a sticker that increases the user's indirect attacks. Cranky Kong returns in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a collectable trophy. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Cranky Kong appears as a summonable spirit that decreases the user's speed which can be summoned using cores of Cyrus, Reese and Wrinkly Kong. His spirit battle is against Donkey Kong on Jungle Japes with a sleep-inducing floor.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle[]

Cranky Kong himself does not appear in the game, but his Rabbid equivalent is a playable character in Donkey Kong Adventure.

Quotes[]

Donkey Kong Country

“	All this fun can't be good for you!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	Look!...look at this!...as I rock, my beard swings! Waste of frames in my opinion!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	I’m talking about when games were games!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	You wouldn't know a good game if you were in it!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	They can't keep this level of graphics up for much longer!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	I say you can't better the graphics, sounds and playability of a Game & Watch!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	I bet they wasted half the memory already, just on this section alone!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	That's right, 4 shades of gray, in a 2x2 character block, that's all we had...	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	We never had any of this fancy 3-D stuff! Oh no, we had to survive on what we had!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	And what little we did have, we were happy with!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	Bet you thought this was 64-bit eh, boy?!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	We used to play for hours on a single screen game and think we were lucky, and we were!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	And we were much better off in those days as well.	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	You wouldn't last two minutes in a real game!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	3 lives and 3 continues, that's all we had!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	32 meg..? That would be more than 30 games in my day, and they'd be great games, too!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	The old games were much harder when I was a young'un!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

DK: Jungle Climber

“	Brr! It's rather chilly here in the ruins, eh? I’m shaking like a clunky old car!	„
	~ Cranky Kong in DK: Jungle Climber

Donkey Kong Country Returns

“	They stopped paying my pension ages ago. Now I'm reduced to selling junk out of this old shack.	„
	~ Cranky Kong explains why he is running a shop

Donkey Kong Bananza

“	What a rotten crook… How does a fool like that command any respect? In my day, rivals had charisma…even in overvalls! Heh!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	What a rotten crook… I dug all the way down here with just Rambi and my own elbow grease, but… that weak coward flew some kind of newfangled machine to get here! Why, he might as well be using cheat codes!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	Nobody makes bug eyes at me! Nobody, y’hear?!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

“	Well, actually…no! That’s all the advice old Cranky here can give you. Well done, Donkey, m'boy. Now…leave me be! I didn’t even ask to be in this "DLC" nonsense, y'hear?!	„
	~ Cranky Kong

Theme[]

Note: The songs don't work on Internet Explorer

Track	Album
	Donkey Kong
	Donkey Kong Country
	Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Quest
	Donkey Kong Country Returns
	Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
	Mario Tennis
	Mario vs. Donkey Kong
	Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis
	Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
	Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!
	Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars
	Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge
	DK: King of Swing
	DK: Jungle Climber
	Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
	Super Smash Bros. series
	Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Trivia[]

Cranky Kong's family relation with Donkey Kong has been inconsistent in the series. In Donkey Kong Country's instruction manual and in following games developed by Rare Ltd., it is stated that Cranky is Donkey Kong's father. However, in Super Smash Bros Brawl and Donkey Kong Country Returns, he is said to be his grandfather. On the Japanese website for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Donkey Kong's profile mentions that Cranky Kong is his father, although it's unknown if this reflects on the game continuity.