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[[File:DKC_trio_2290.jpg|frame|Diddy, Donkey, and Dixie.]]
{{quote|
Introduced in 1994 for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]], and ported to the [[Game Boy Color]] four years later and to the [[Game Boy Advance]] six years after that, ''Donkey Kong Country'' introduced the groundbreaking technique of using pre-rendered 3D graphics in a 2D console game<ref>It had already been done in arcades.</ref>, and marked the final decisive milestone in the early-to-mid '90s [[Console Wars]] between the [[Sega Genesis]] and [[Super Nintendo]], with the latter emerging in the lead in the west. It also brought the star of ''[[Donkey Kong]]'' back into the limelight (though the game makes it clear that [[Legacy Character|the Donkey Kong you play as is different from the original, and that the original Donkey Kong is the older and aptly named Cranky Kong]]
The original trilogy on the [[Super Nintendo]] features a developed three-part story arc. In the [[Donkey Kong Country (1994 video game)|first game]], Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong must reclaim their stolen banana hoard as well as defend their island from the invading army of [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|reptilian-humanoid Kremlings]], who apparently want to milk the island dry of its myriad natural resources with their monstrous factories. In [[Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest|the second game]], Donkey Kong is ape-napped and held for ransom (a ransom of bananas, of course) by the Kremlings' [[Paper-Thin Disguise|master of disguise]] leader
''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'', from 1999, brought the series onto the third dimension in a big way, and is considered by many to be the last "true" entry (considered by others to be a ''[[Banjo-Kazooie]]'' clone<ref>
Supporting NPCs in the series include:
* Cranky Kong, who [[Nostalgia Filter|reminisces about the old days of video games]] and gives advice.
* Funky Kong, whose jet barrels allow Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong to return to any previously completed level.
* Candy Kong, who had a save point in the original game.
* Wrinkly Kong, Cranky's wife, who in the second game ran a school called Kong College which gave players tips about how to play the game, and where players could also save their game.
* Swanky Kong, who in the second game hosted a quiz game in which players could answer trivia questions in order to win extra lives.
The [[Game Boy Color]] port of ''Donkey Kong Country'' has two extra mini-games: Funky Kong's [[Fishing Minigame]] and Candy's Challenge, where you perform in luck-based tasks similar to the various [[Bonus Stage|Bonus Stages]]. Funky's Fishing Game is also seen in the [[Game Boy Advance]] port, though Candy's Challenge is replaced by [[Rhythm Game|Candy's Dance Studio]]. Also in the GBA port, the player can fill the Kongs' scrapbook by finding cameras and performing in-game feats of varying difficulty. The GBA port of ''Donkey Kong Country 2'' contains the mini-games [[Racing Mini Game|Expresso Racing]] and Funky's Flight Challenges, in addition to bringing back the scrapbook feature. There is also a new boss
Each installment had a [[Game Boy]] counterpart under the name ''Donkey Kong Land''. ''Land'' translated the pre-rendered graphics of its sister series as well as it could to the Game Boy's small, monochrome screen and usually featured new levels.
A [[Racing Game]] [[Spin-Off]] appeared as ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]''. There was to be a sequel to ''Diddy Kong Racing'' called ''Donkey Kong Racing'' (go figure), but Rare's contract with Nintendo for usage of the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise ran out. Then Rare got bought out by Microsoft, demolishing any remaining hope that the contract might be renewed. However, Nintendo did toy with the franchise for a while, producing the ''[[Donkey Konga]]'' trilogy of rhythm games with [[Namco]] as well as ''[[Donkey Kong Jungle Beat]]'', an [[Needs More Love|underrated]] action-platformer that is not set in the
''Donkey Kong Country'' also had a short-lived French CGI-animated series based off it; several elements from this show ended up in ''Donkey Kong 64''. Information on the series can be found [[Donkey Kong Country (animation)|here]].
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{{tropelist}}
* [[100% Completion]]: Played with.
** Strangely, ''Donkey Kong Land III'' also goes up to 103%, but the first two
* [[Abandoned Mine]]: Presumably, where the [[Minecart Madness]] takes place...
* [[Abnormal Ammo]]: The speckled eggs that Squawks the parrot fires from its mouth.
** Not to mention that in ''Donkey Kong 64'', four out of six Kongs use ''[[Edible Ammunition|food]]'' as ammo, another uses feathers, and one uses an all-mighty boot.
* [[Alliteration]]: Almost all the levels in the ''[[Donkey Kong Country (video game)|Donkey Kong Country]]'' series use either this trope or [[Sublime Rhyme]] for the level names ("Hot-head Hop" "Gusty Glades," etc) Most of the rest rely on [[Just for Pun]]; see [[Viewers Are Geniuses]] below.▼
* [[Adipose Rex]]: King K. Rool.
* [[Advancing Boss of Doom]]: King Zing in Rambi Rumble.
▲* [[Alliteration]]: Almost all the levels in the ''[[Donkey Kong Country (video game)|Donkey Kong Country]]'' series use either this trope or [[Sublime Rhyme]] for the level names ("Hot-head Hop" "Gusty Glades," etc) Most of the rest rely on [[Just for Pun]]; see [[Viewers Are Geniuses]] below.
* [[All There in the Manual]]: The level and world names in the first ''Donkey Kong Land'', mostly because of limitations.
* [[Alluring Anglerfish]]: Glimmer from
* [[
* [[Animals Not to Scale]]: Nobody really cares since the games aren't meant to be taken seriously, but there are countless cases of animals that are much bigger than their real life counterparts, most notably giant insects, beavers and birds, and many that are much smaller, probably the most notable case being Rambi, who is about the same size as Donkey Kong, where real rhinos are the size of cars.
* [[Animated Adaptation]]: [[wikipedia:Donkey Kong Country (TV series)|The French CGI cartoon ''Donkey Kong Country'']].
* [[Artistic License: Biology]]: Ellie the Elephant in
** Apes can't swim
*** Especially not in icy or polluted water.
** Crocodiles are not herbivores at all, let alone banana-eaters.
*** Lampshaded in [https://web.archive.org/web/20131012024234/http://brawlinthefamily.keenspot.com/2010/07/23/258-banana-retrieval/ this] [[Brawl in the Family]] strip.
*** Given that you always get back your full banana hoard, it's more likely that K. Rool steals them just to piss the Kong family off.
* [[Ash Face]]: Happens to Kaptain K. Rool in the final boss battle of ''Donkey Kong Country 2'', when his blunderbuss explodes. Multiple times.
* [[Badass in Distress]]: Donkey Kong in ''
* [[Bash Brothers]]: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong.
* [[Battle Couple]]: Diddy and Dixie Kong in ''
* [[Battle Theme Music]]: Each game in the series has one score used for normal boss battles and another for K. Rool.
* [[Behind the Black]]: This concept's used in force to make [[100% Completion]] [[Nintendo Hard|damn near impossible]], especially given how [[Gotta Catch Them All|many collectible items]] are in the [[Updated Rerelease|GBA remakes]]. Fortunately, Rare was merciful enough to give occasional hints of secrets: [[Follow the Money|that banana is visible through those tree leaves
* [[Best Level Ever]]:
* [[BFS]]: Kleever from ''DKC2''. Kutlasses from the same game [[Dual-Wielding|carries two cutlasses]] larger than themselves.▼
** In the first game:
* [[Big Bad]]: King K. Rool▼
*** Both Minecart levels, but particularly Mine Cart Madness, which are extremely fun to play and have just the right balance of difficulty.
*** The factory levels as well, being some of the fastest paced in the game. One of which is also responsible for naming [[Blackout Basement]].
*** The bonus stages, where you get to play as one of the animal helpers and do nothing but run, swim, fly or bounce around, collecting hundreds of little tokens.
▲* [[BFS]]: Kleever from ''
▲* [[Big Bad]]: King K. Rool.
* [[Bleak Level]]: The caverns.
* [[Bonus Stage]]: The 2D games are absolutely loaded with hidden bonus areas of varying kinds. Finding them (and in
* [[Boss Only Level]]: ''Every'' boss.▼
* [[Bootstrapped Theme]]: Simian Segue (also known as the [[Jungle Japes]] theme) is without a doubt the most popular music from the series, and is essentially used as the series' theme.
** Technically, there already was a [[Donkey Kong]] theme (from the original) that is used in the intro of
** Also,
* [[Breakout Character]]: When Diddy proved more popular than Donkey Kong in
* [[Bubblegloop Swamp]]: This series was the previous [[Trope Namer]]. Granted, "Krem Quay" wasn't [[Naming a Trope|the most understandable choice]].
* [[The Caligula]]: King K. Rool.
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* [[Check Point Starvation]]: ''Donkey Kong Country 3'' has a [[Self-Imposed Challenge|code that removes all of the check point barrels]].
* [[Chest Monster]]: In ''Donkey Kong Country 2'', "Klobbers" are Kremlings disguised as barrels until you come close. Ordinary Klobbers merely knock you around non-lethally, but yellow Klobbers knock bananas off of you, and black Klobbers (with their [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]) knock ''extra life balloons'' off of you (still non-lethally). And then there's the [[Action Bomb|TNT Klobbers]]....
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: Chunky and Kiddy Kong haven't been showing up in any recent games, not even a ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Mario]]'' game. This is despite Kiddy Kong being announced to return in ''Donkey Kong Racing'' (which never came to be in the end).
** Don't forget Rattly the Rattlesnake. Winky and Expresso at least got a [[Shout-Out]] here and there...
* [[Cold-Blooded Torture]]: {{spoiler|During the first fight against Kaptain K. Rool in the [[Cool Airship|Flying Krock]], K. Rool is seen beating Donkey Kong with the butt of his blunderbuss, followed by shooting three ([[Lighter and Softer|comically large]]) cannonballs point-blank
* [[Convection, Schmonvection]]: Crocodile Cauldron from
* [[Convenient Weakness Placement]]: Many of the bosses in the ''Donkey Kong Country'' series have barrels or cannonballs that appear in the [[Boss Room]] for no reason, which you then use to damage the otherwise invincible boss. Some of the bosses may even pretty much [[Tennis Boss|hand you a barrel or cannonball]], usually at their end of their attack cycle (after which they would just stand there and wait for you to hit them with it).
* [[Cool Old Guy]]: Cranky Kong. He makes potions that help you in
* [[Cool Old Lady]]: Wrinkly Kong. She saves your game in
* [[Credits Medley]]: The GBA remake of
* [[Crutch Character]]: When you get really good at
▲* [[Crosshair Aware]]: Krack-Shot Kroc, in DKC3.
* [[Damn You, Muscle Memory!]]: Haven't played the game in a decade or so? Just for fun, try replaying some of the bonus levels, especially the ones in the treetop worlds that involve the Kongs having to aim for a moving barrel offscreen. That's right. ''You can still do it
** In the original trilogy, rolling/cartwheeling/ponytail spinning into an enemy would give you a burst of momentum, allowing you to easily take out whole rows of enemies with just one attack. In ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'', the roll goes farther and faster, but does not have this property. In the very first level, almost right away, you'll encounter three basic enemies in a row. If you try to roll through them all like in the old days, your roll will end ''just'' in time for you to slam into the third enemy and get hurt. I have a hard time believing this wasn't done on purpose.
** That damned rocket barrel from Rocket Rush! Left fires the left rocket, which pushes you right, and vice-versa...
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: ''Donkey Kong Country 2'' in comparison to the original. ''Donkey Kong Country 3'' lightened things up a little.
* [[Death Throws]]: In ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'' and ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze''.
* [[Digitized Sprites]]
* [[Down the Drain]]: The pipe levels in
* [[The Dragon]]: KAOS.
* [[Dug Too Deep]]: The mine levels in the first game.
* [[Eek!
* [[Everyone Loves Blondes]]: Donkey Kong for Candy Kong, and Diddy Kong for Dixie Kong.
** Heck, it's practically a [[Tertiary Sexual Characteristics|Tertiary Sexual Characteristic]], though there are exceptions too.
* [[Everything Trying to Kill You]]: Subverted in a rather interesting fashion. There are enemies trying to kill you for no obvious reason (Zingers, Armys), but there are also numerous small animals that can be seen crawling, hopping, flying
* [[Excited Episode Title]]: Was that exclamation mark always there? Nope, they appear when you find all the bonus stages in a level.
* [[Exploding Barrels]]: TNT Barrels. Kabooms, Klasps and Krackas hide in these barrels, and they will blow up upon being touched.
* [[Expy]]: Most enemies introduced in the original game don't appear in the two sequels, but have obvious analogues. In ''Donkey Kong 64'', most of the original enemies from the first game returned, leaving their Expies high and dry (Klobber and Kablam from
* [[Face Ship]]: The [[Gang Plank Galleon]] has K. Rool's head built at the front.
* [[Flunky Boss]]: Dumb Drum. Notably, you don't even harm the boss itself in the original SNES version and its Game Boy Color port. Just kill all the enemies it produces, and it'll destroy itself.
** It does keep smashing itself into the ground to try to squish you, so you might argue that it basically smashed itself to death.
* [[Follow the Money]]: Aside from the usual hints of bonuses, the bananas remind players how or when to use advanced moves in the early levels, and can be a last-second warning on how to avoid a death
** Subverted in a couple of [[Bonus Stage|Bonus Stages]] in
* [[For the Evulz]]: It seems the only reason K. Rool had his troops steal DK's banana hoard, aside from possibly food, was simply to steal it.
* [[Gainax Ending]]: The 103% Completion ending of
* [[Game Breaking Bug]]: There's a bug in the Castle Crush level of
* [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]: Averted in the opening of the GBA version of
* [[Genre Savvy]]: After a short while of playing any of these games, an observant player will be able to ''correctly'' guess where some of the secret areas and items are hidden, even without (entirely) relying on [[Trial and Error Gameplay|checking every possible wall or pit]].
* [[Get on the Boat]]
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: Literally. A few potential answers to Swanky's quizzes in
** Even worse, in the GBA port of
* [[Gimmick Level]]:
** [[Rise to the Challenge]]: [[Grimy Water|Toxic Tower]] and [[Invincible Minor Minion|Slime Climb]] in
** [[Gravity Screw]]: Low-G Labyrinth.
** [[Interface Screw]]: [[Damn You, Muscle Memory!|Poisonous Pipeline]].
** [[Timed Mission]]: Haunted Hall and Riverside Race (and Doorstop Dash, to a lesser extent).
* [[Gotta Catch Em All]]: Grew steadily worse as the series went along. In
* [[Green Aesop]]: Done in a subtle fashion. The Kremlings own grim and polluted factory areas like Kremkroc Industries and Mekanos, and have ruined Crocodile Isle with oil, toxic waste and trash, while the Kongs live happily on Donkey Kong Isle, in harmony with nature. In addition, Frantic Factory is shown as being a dreary and depressing place, with spooky music and a dark atmosphere.
* [[Guide Dang It]]: The locations of some of the bonus rooms.
** One memorable example:
* [[Hailfire Peaks]]: Sunken Spruce from the GBA port of
** Demolition Drain-Pipe, also from ''Donkey Kong Country 3'', combines [[Down the Drain]] with [[Minecart Madness]].
** ''Donkey Kong Land 2'', due to cartridge space reasons, combined both [[Lethal Lava Land|Crocodile Cauldron]] and [[Bubblegloop Swamp|Krem Quay]] into Krem Cauldron.
* [[Hair of Gold]]: Most female Kongs have this.
* [[Hard Levels Easy Bosses]]: The first game, for the most part, with the exception of [[Big Bad|K. Rool]] himself.
* [[The Hedge of Thorns]]: The Bramble levels.
* [[Heli Critter]]/[[Helicopter Hair]]: Dixie Kong, who uses her ponytail as a propeller.
* [[Hijacked by Ganon]]: {{spoiler|1=Baron K. Roolenstein in
* [[Hints Are for Losers]]: The manual for ''Donkey Kong Country 2'' has a section called "Cranky's Hint". There, Cranky just berates you for being so naive and tell you to buy the upcoming [[Nintendo Power]] guide instead.
* [[Hooks and Crooks]]: The Krook enemy throws [[Precision-Guided Boomerang|boomeranging]] hooks at you.
* [[Huge Rider, Tiny Mount]]: Donkey Kong and Winky and Expresso, later Kiddy and Squawks and Squitter. Rattly got off easy...
* [[Humanoid Female Animal]]: Of the Kongs from
* [[Hyperactive Sprite]]: Whichever Kong's following you in ''
▲* [[100% Completion]]: Played with. DKC 1 actually goes up to 101%, DKC 2 goes up to 102%, and DKC3 goes up to 103%. You can even take the last one up to 105% by using a special cheat code which makes the game harder.
▲** Strangely, ''Donkey Kong Land III'' also goes up to 103%, but the first two DKL games only went up to 100%.
▲* [[Hyperactive Sprite]]: Whichever Kong's following you in ''DKC3''. Probably the code to make them stand still got removed to make space in a 32 megabit cartridge.
* [[Improvised Platform]]: Squitter can create spiderwebs in the air as platforms.
** One level of ''Donkey Kong Country 3'' requires throwing barrels in the water as platforms as the water is infested with [[Invincible Minor Minion|a Nibbla]].
* [[Infinite Flashlight]]: Squawks in the first game, and Glimmer in the second.▼
▲* [[Infinite Flashlight]]: Squawks in the first game and Glimmer in the second.
* [[Invincibility Power-Up]]: The exclamation point barrel.▼
* [[Invincible Minor Minion]]:
** Clambos in
** Red Zingers in
** Snapjaw in
** Red Buzzes, Kopters, and the bee swarm in
▲* [[Invincibility Power-Up]]: The exclamation point barrel.
* [[It's a Wonderful Failure]]: In
** In
** In
* [[Justified Extra Lives]]: In the original trilogy, the Extra Life Balloons are just there for you to collect. In ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'', they play a more involving role by carrying Donkey and/or Diddy back into the stage after dying, and during co-op, if one player dies, but the other is still active, one of your balloons will eventually carry in a new DK Barrel for you to break and get the other player back in the game.
* [[Kaizo Trap]]: King K. Rool loves this. There's [[Credits Gag|fake credits]] in the middle of the final fight in the first game, and his last attack can kill you after you beat him in the second game.
** In the GBA version of ''
* [[Killed Off for Real]]: Unfortunately, {{spoiler|poor Wrinkly Kong}} since
* [[King Mook]]: Every boss in ''
** Well, arguably even K. Rool. He's the king of the Kremlings, and Kremlings serve as mooks.
** Lampshaded in
* [[Koosh Bomb]]: Used as an impact effect whenever any character gets hit.
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: Cranky Kong does this a lot by complaining about the generally silly tone amongst other things. See also [[Meta Guy]] below.
* [[Last-Note Nightmare]]: The series' [[Nightmare Fuel]] page cites the death-against-K.-Rool music [[Dummied Out|to have been cut]] (from a game with so much [[Nightmare Fuel]], no less) because it was ''too scary''. The [[Last
* [[Lead the Target]]: It's not done by a gunman, but rather, bolts of lightning in the Lightning Lookout level of ''
* [[Legacy Character]]: Cranky Kong is the DK from the early
** Along those lines, it's mentioned in various sources that the main character of these games was Donkey Kong
* [[Lethal Lava Land]]: Crocodile Cauldron in
* [[Live Item]]: The Banana Birds.
* [[The Lost Woods]]: Vine Valley in
* [[Mad Scientist]]: K. Rool(enstein) in
** Cranky is depicted this way in ''Donkey Kong 64'', providing powerups in the form of potions.
* [[Make My Monster Grow]]: King K. Rool at the end of ''DK: Jungle Climber''.
* [[Mascot Mook]]: While many would be tempted to just say the Kremlings, the enemy who's arguably the most qualified are the Zingers. Not just because they appear in so many games, but they tend to have the most minimal changes between games compared to the other enemies.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: K. Rool.
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* [[Medium Awareness]]: Cranky Kong is constantly complaining about the game's graphics, [[Nostalgia Filter|recalling the "good old days"]] (he was the original ''[[Donkey Kong]]'' from the arcade games).
* [[Meta Guy]]: Cranky Kong is aware that he is in a game and complains of the newer superior graphics as opposed to the single screen gameplay of back in his day.
* [[Misguided Missile]]: One of the steps to beating Barbos' Barrier in
* [[Mono-Gender Monsters]]: The Kremlings, though finally subverted in ''Donkey Kong
* [[Mood Dissonance]]: Possible subjective, but with music like Stickerbush Symphony, you would think that the game had some deep meaning and isn't just about some [[Big Eyes, Little Eyes|cute]] monkeys running around jumping on crocodile [[Pirate|Pirates]] for an [[Excuse Plot]].
** [[True Art Is Angsty]] much? A game doesn't have to be "deep" to be beautiful.
* [[More Teeth Than the Osmond Family]]: Many enemies qualify, but Klaptrap, Klampon, Snapjaw
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: King K. Rool (Cruel AND a Hard K sound in the name), and pretty much every single villain in the entire series.
** It helps that K. Rool is kind of a bumbler, though. With homicidal
* [[Never Say "Die"]]: Klubba in ''Diddy's Kong Quest'' says "Try that again an' it's Davey Jones Locker f' ye! A-harrh!" if you choose to fight him at any Klubba's Kiosk.
* [[Nintendo Hard]]: The whole series is pretty challenging, but ''especially''
** In ''Diddy's Kong Quest'', you've battled your way through <s>King</s> Kaptain K. Rool's castle. You're at the final stage, when the Kaptain suddenly escapes into an '''airship
** Web Woods from the same game. Putting the DK coin in the goal roulette at the end of an incredibly long and tedious level is just downright ''sadistic'', especially when you consider the fact that that DK Coin is there only for, like, 0.1 seconds.
** Mudhole Marsh does something similar, but instead of an easy to time barrel cannon, you have to bounce off one of Kannon's shots. At least the coin is up there a bit longer.
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** Truth be told, the game ratchets the difficulty up to [[Nintendo Hard]] around the end of World 4 (Krazy Kremland). It begins to stray into [[Platform Hell]] as you get into the Lost World.
*** The ''end''?, It arguably gets [[Nintendo Hard]] once you ''reach'' World 4. [[That One Level|Bramble Scramble]] anyone?
** Animal Antics. Most of the level isn't too bad. Until you reach Squawks' stage, however. Take the [[Nintendo Hard]]-ness of the usual Stickerbrush Symphony areas. Now add gusting winds. And extremely narrow passageways. And gusting winds. And hordes upon hordes of wasps. [[Rule of Three|Oh, and did I mention the goddamn gusting winds]]? Those who are lucky to make it through then get introduced to Rattly's area. It's not overly hard, but it's not too hard to miss a jump over a pit of spikes, and since you will likely have one hit left in you after Squawks' area, if you make said-mistake and die, you have to go through Squawks' area all over again.
** Klobber Karnage, especially when you reach the Barrels that you have to take across the spike pits in which you have to also avoid Zingers.
* [[No Fourth Wall]]: The original series derived a lot of humor from this, although it was toned down as the series progressed. Perhaps the most extreme example was ''Donkey Kong Land'''s instruction manual story, where Cranky argued with DK and Diddy that ''Donkey Kong Country'' was only successful because of its graphics, and dared them to defeat K. Rool again on the inferior Game Boy.
** Most game manuals back then had a "notes" page for players to scribble in. Cranky lampshades "Who uses these pages anyway? Waste of paper if you ask me."
* [[Non-Lethal KO]]: Any time you lose a life, they go flying, followed by a short animation of them getting knocked out before being sent back to the map screen.
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** Also the same reaction you'll probably get when you hear DK64's '''"GET OUT!"''' guy.
** Rambi Rumble, anyone? This Troper was scared out of her wits when she turned around and saw that giant bee coming for the first time.
* [[One-Hit-Point Wonder]]: In all three
* [[Orphaned Series]]: Rareware ran away with its mistress [[Microsoft]], so the series had to live with its absentee uncle [[Nintendo]] for a while and was eventually adopted by Paon, then later Retro Studios. Rareware lost custody, but still gets to visit the series on handhelds as Microsoft doesn't have its own.
* [[Palette Swap]]: Klubba and Kudgel in
{{quote|'''Cranky:''' It's just like the old days, reusing the boss, changing its color and pretending it's completely new.}}
* [[Periphery Demographic]]: Invoked with Wrinkly playing on a cutting-edge game system.
* [[Piranha Problem]]: Lockjaw and Snapjaw from
* [[Pirates]]: The Kremlings become pirates for no particular reason (besides the [[Rule of Cool]]) in ''Donkey Kong Country 2''.
** [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]]: They do lots of evil things, but no actual pirating.
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** ''And'' as a helicopter blade, which makes her kind of a [[Game Breaker]].
* [[Previous Player Character Cameo]]: Cranky Kong.
* [[The Psycho Rangers]]: Except for one secret character, ''Donkey Kong Barrel Blast'' paired a Kremling with identical stats against each Kong; some of them were [[Ascended Extra|Ascended]] [[Mooks]], while others were completely new characters.
* [[Recurring Boss]]: Obviously K. Rool, but Krow from the second game is fought twice. Once at its nest, {{spoiler|and once as a ghost
* [[Recycled Soundtrack]]: The Game Boy Color port of
* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]: Kloak and Kackle from the second game.
* [[Regional Bonus]]: The Japanese version of ''Donkey Kong Land III'' was for the Game Boy Color. Unfortunately, it was missing animation frames and your last time displayed at the bottom of the screen during time trials over the Game Boy version.
* [[Remember the New Guy?]]: Cranky Kong's wife Wrinkly appeared out of nowhere in
** In fact, we did. Someone wasn't paying attention to Cranky's rants: http://www.dkc-atlas.com/dkc/resources/text
*** Sure beats a visit from Mrs. Kong! How can I help you?
* [[Retired Badass]]: It's easy to forget that Cranky was the ''original'' Donkey Kong.
* [[Rhino Rampage]]: Rambi.
* [[Ring Out Boss]]: Belcha in
* [[Rolling Attack]]: Donkey Kong and Kiddy Kong have a rolling attack, while Diddy Kong has a cartwheel attack. Armies also do this.
* [[Rule of Three]]: In ''Donkey Kong Country 2'', each "habitat" has three levels dedicated to it (not counting boss stages). For instance, Lockjaw's Locker, Lava Lagoon
* [[Scenery Porn]]: The Rareware games are chock full of it.
* [[Schmuck Bait]]: Yes, some of those bunches of bananas can be grabbed... if you don't mind [[Bottomless Pits|redoing]] the level. Inverted with lone bananas, invariably [[Violation of Common Sense|a bottomless pit with a single banana (or sometimes no bananas!) will leads to a]] [[Bonus Stage]] or something.
** However, in ''
* [[Sealed Good in a Can]]
* [[Second Verse Curse]]: Most versions and remixes of the [[Bootstrapped Theme]], "DK Island Swing," leave out the second, "slower" part entirely, in favor of the more upbeat opening. It's part of the tune, though. Just listen to the ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]
** Averted in ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]'':
* [[Sequel Snark]]: In the GBA remake, after the Kongs jump overboard and King K. Rool sails off, [[Meta Guy|Cranky]] remarks, "Call that an ending? Looks like a cheap stunt setting up the story for the sequel!". In the Hero Mode ending, he tells Diddy, "You have really surpassed yourself! Who knows? Maybe you'll make the sequel."
* [[Sequence Breaking]]: Not so much in ''
* [[Serious Business]]: The Donkey Kong Universe, originally. Though nowadays, they just poke fun at their [[Fan Wank|crazy theories]] and attempts to explain discrepancies, such as the Kongs having extra fingers in ''Mario'' sports titles, two Enguardes in Coral Capers, and changes to the story in the remakes.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Some of the levels were named after music references. "Vulture Culture" is also the name of an album by [[The Alan Parsons Project]], and "[[Fear Factory]]" is the same name of a metal band that popped up at the time of the game's release.
** In
*** ''Donkey Kong Land III'' also features a mill level called "[[Incredibly Lame Pun|Miller Instinct]]".
**
** Also, when you start a bonus stage in
** After you destroy KAOS in ''Donkey Kong Country 3'', K. Rool says "He was my ticket to world domination... and I would have gotten away with it too, [[Scooby Doo|if it wasn't for you meddling kids]]!".
* [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World]]: There's one of these in practically every game. In
* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: Ripsaw Rage from
* [[The Spiny]]: Zingers. Beating them typically requires a thrown barrel, an animal ally
** Red Zingers take it [[Up to Eleven]], being completely invulnerable except to TNT barrels.
**
* [[Strange Secret Entrance]]: Some secret levels are accessed by unintuitively jumping down "bottomless" pits into off-screen barrel cannons.
* [[Super Not-Drowning Skills]]: Played straight in
** Also averted in the Gyrocopter missions in the GBA version of
* [[Super Title 64 Advance]]: In Japan, the series is called ''Super Donkey Kong''.
* [[Tag Team]]:
* [[Take That]]: "Where '''''YOU''''' gonna find it? '''''NOT''''' on [[Sega]]. '''''NOT''''' on [[Sega Genesis|32X adaptors]]. '''''NOT''''' on CD-ROM. It's [[Killer App|only for]] '''''SUPER NES.'''''"
** The whole plot of ''Donkey Kong Land'' is a response to Shigeru Miyamoto verbally trashing
** In ''Donkey Kong Country 2'', Cranky Kong opens a museum for (Nintendo) Video Game Heroes. [[Earthworm Jim (video game)|Earthworm Jim]]'s gun and [[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'s shoes can be seen tossed next to a trash can with a sign that says "NO HOPERS" on it. Heavy.
* [[Ten-Second Flashlight]]: Gleamin' Bream in the third game. Poking him with Enguarde will get him to light the area around him for a few seconds. Also applies to the barrels that temporarily lights up the screen in Glimmer's Galleon in ''Donkey Kong Land 2''.
** There's also Stop And Go Station in the first, featuring the [[Invincible Minor Minion|Rock]] [[Demonic Spiders|Krocs]].
* [[Tertiary Sexual Characteristics]]: The female Kongs have long blonde hair. And Dixie has pink toenails.
** Of course, you'd be forgetting that Candy has, and always had, a decent pair of, ahem, secondaries.
* [[Theme Naming]]: Damn near every species of Kremling has [[Xtreme Kool Letterz|a name which includes "K", usually as the initial
** Kutlass wildly swings 2 long blades.
** Klasp hangs from horizontal ropes and vines; Klinger climbs vertical ropes and chains.
** Kloak wears a huge jacket that conceals his face when he attacks.
** Kackle makes an evil laugh when one of your characters dies in his level.
** Kopter drifts high and low with his blade-spinning.
** Rekoil bounces very high, and very quickly.
** Bazuka fires barrels across chasms; some as stepping stones, others as lethal obstacles.
** Klobber [[Foe-Tossing Charge|is strong enough to bump the Kongs off ledges]]!
** Krackshot is (apparently) the enemy who shoots from offscreen in
** [[Elite Mooks|Krusha, Kruncha
* [[Title Confusion]]: Between the official soundtrack and the GBA version. Which one's "DK Island Swing" and which one's "Simian Segue"?
* [[Totally Radical]]: Funky, natch.
* [[Trademark Favorite Food]]: What else? Bananas!
* [[Trick Shot Puzzle]]: Some [[Exactly What I Aimed At|clever planning]] and [[Awesomeness By Analysis|carefully timed]] [[Boomerang Comeback|steel-keg throws]] will be needed to separate Koin from a DK Coin
* [[Turns Red]]:
** Also the Kruncha enemies in ''
* [[Underground Monkey]]: The GBA port of the first game was particularly plagued with them, although they do show up elsewhere.
* [[Under the Sea]]: The coral reef levels in the first and third games, the ship hold levels in the second.
* [[Unexpected Gameplay Change]]: In Krack Shot Kroc in the third game, one of the bonus levels has you control Krosshair, where you need to shoot down Kremlings.
* [[Unique Enemy]]: Numerous times, especially in
* [[Updated Rerelease]]: The trilogy for the SNES was remade for the [[Game Boy Advance]] with some additional content and some improved sound effects.
* [[Video Game Flight]]: Squawks the Parrot lends wings to the Kongs in certain levels, which tend to be aerial mazes. Also, in ''Donkey Kong 64'', Diddy Kong can fly with Rocketbarrels
* [[Viewers Are Geniuses]]: The K3 boss is a large snowman, decked out in the usual carrot nose and top hat, but also sporting a long scarf and shirt cuffs. Yes, the battle is only [[Gimmick Level|a snowball]] [[Lighter and Softer|fight]], but the wintry boss himself is quite an angry-looking fellow. Rare kept to the [[Just for Pun]] level-naming by calling this one "[[Charles Dickens|Bleak's House]]".
* [["Wake
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: [http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-donkey-kong/700683 This GT interview] with Retro Studios about ''Donkey Kong Country Returns''. It's just so odd watching guys in fancy business suits talk about a game that features an ape and a monkey trying to get their bananas back from a bunch of evil tikis.
** Possible subversion
* [[When I Was Your Age]]: Cranky Kong, in spades.
* [[A Winner Is You]]: Conquering ''Donkey Kong Land'' nets you a single word of congratulations as the plain-text credits roll.
* [[Wrathful Wasps]]: Zingers are something of a mix between wasps and bees, and are a common enemy in the franchise. They're the size of gorillas and can only be killed with barrels thanks to their huge stingers and barbed bodies protecting them from the Kongs.
* [[Xtreme Kool Letterz]]: Everything related to the Kremlings substitutes any hard C with a K, à la ''[[Mortal Kombat]]''. Also appears in the form of including "krem" in other words, such as in the name of
* [[You Wouldn't Hit a Guy with Glasses]]: In the standard ending of ''Donkey Kong 3'', Cranky insults the protagonists' performance, and they surround him, apparently to beat him up. As they close in, Cranky puts on a pair of glasses and says the line.
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[[Category:Game Boy Color]]
[[Category:The Nineties]]
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