Diddy Kong

Encyclopedia : D : DI : DID : Diddy Kong

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This article is about the video game character. For other senses of this word, see Diddy (disambiguation).

Diddy Kong is a fictional character in the Donkey Kong series of video games. He lives on the fictional Donkey Kong Island in the Kongo Jungle, and is identifiable in his red hat and shirt. It is interesting to note that while Diddy Kong is Donkey Kong's nephew, who is an ape, Diddy is in fact a monkey.

Origins: 1994-1997

Created by Rareware, he first appeared in 1994's Super Nintendo platform video game Donkey Kong Country as Donkey Kong's nephew and sidekick. Diddy looked up to Donkey Kong and wanted to be a video game hero just like him. To humor him, DK put him in charge of guarding his banana hoard at night. However, DK didn't expect a siege by King K. Rool's Kremling Krew. The banana hoard was stolen, and he and Diddy went on an adventure across DK Island to get it back. Diddy's second appearance was on the Game Boy title Donkey Kong Land. In this game, Cranky Kong made a challenge that DK and Diddy couldn't retrieve the banana hoard on an 8-bit system, so they once again set out to retrieve it.

It wasn't until 1995's Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest where Diddy Kong stepped into the starring role. With Donkey Kong kidnapped by K. Rool and taken to the Kremling home of Crocodile Isle, Diddy set out with his new girlfriend Dixie Kong to get his big buddy back. For this game Diddy's look was slightly updated. He gained the now permanent star pattern for his shirt, updated fur, nostrils and even a belly button. At the conclusion of the game, Diddy finally became a full-fledged video game hero. A follow-up was released in September of 1996 for the Game Boy called Donkey Kong Land 2. It featured roughly the same plot as DKC2.

When came out two months later, Diddy wasn't playable for the first time. Instead, the storyline revolved around he and Donkey Kong disappearing while on vacation in the Northern Kremisphere. Meanwhile, an army of Kremlings have appeared in the area under the command of a new leader, the cyborg KAOS. Dixie and her cousin Kiddy Kong went on a mission to find them. As it turned out, K. Rool was manipulating things behind the scenes, with KAOS feeding off the brain power of Diddy and DK (who were inside of the mechanical monster). In 1997's Donkey Kong Land III, Diddy never even put in an appearance, although he was part of the storyline. He and DK took off in a previously unseen part of the Northern Kremisphere in a contest to find the fabled Lost World. Dixie, furious that she wasn't asked along, decided to join forces with Kiddy and find it herself. Of course, K. Rool and the Kremlings also got involved, and while KAOS appeared again, he wasn't being powered by Diddy or DK (presumably, it was two Kremling grunts who had the job).

1997-2000

Two months later, Diddy made his Nintendo 64 debut, and got his first starring role without any other Kong characters appearing. Diddy Kong Racing took the kart racing genre in a new direction with go-karts, planes, and hovercraft as available vehicles. Even more remarkable, instead of a straight-forward racing game like the Mario Kart series, Diddy Kong Racing was a "racing adventure," a mixture between Mario Kart and Super Mario 64. Diddy Kong Racing was the first self-published title by Rare, and marked the first appearance of such characters as Banjo and Tiptup (who would go on to star in the Banjo-Kazooie series), Conker (who would go from kid-friendly titles to the mature-rated hijinx of Conker's Bad Fur Day and the Xbox's ), and Tricky the triceratops (whose origins were later explored in the GameCube game Star Fox Adventures). The storyline revolved around an intergalactic genie by the name of Wizpig attempting to take over Timber's Island, a neighbor to DK Island. Diddy's childhood friend Timber sends him a letter to help liberate the island, and he answers the call in secret while Timber's parents are visiting his own family. Diddy Kong Racing broke records when first released for having the highest number of pre-orders of any video game to date. The game even featured a unique promotion where gamers received a free Diddy Kong beanbag toy with buying the game. Later the toy was offered in stores.

Two years later he would appear in Donkey Kong 64; initially he was imprisoned by K. Rool, but once rescued became a playable character. Joining forces with Donkey Kong, Dixie's little sister Tiny Kong, Kiddy Kong's older brother Chunky Kong, and Lanky Kong, they set off to stop K. Rool from blowing up DK Island with his new mechanical Crocodile Isle and the Blast O'Matic laser. Unlike the DKC games, this was a sprawling 3-D adventure in the vein of Banjo-Kazooie, and it was the first N64 game to require the N64 Expansion Pak to play.

A port of Donkey Kong Country came out a year later for the Game Boy Color. It had new features such as Game Boy Printer connectivity, extra mini-games, and an entirely new stage in Chimp Caverns called Necky's Nutmare. While it had the same plot as the original SNES DKC, some debate that this could be an entirely new adventure set a year after Donkey Kong 64. After DKC GBC, Diddy Kong fell off the gaming radar, not appearing for nearly three years.

2003 - present

Diddy returned in 2003 with a Game Boy Advance port of Donkey Kong Country, which was a retelling of his original adventure with Donkey Kong. It featured new map screens and new modes of play like DK Attack and Hero Mode, where you have to beat the game with Diddy and only Diddy (sporting swank yellow clothes).

Diddy's debut in a Mario and GameCube game was in . This was also the first time he appeared in a non-Rareware game (the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002). His appearance in this and most subsequent non-Rare appearances depicted him with five fingers and toes instead of four. While this may have been changed due to a taboo concerning four-fingered characters in Japanese culture, (Yakuza are known to cut off their fingers, and for this reason a four fingered character might look like a gangster), a popular fanon explanation states that Diddy may have purchased prosthetic glove and foot devices upon his first visit to the Mushroom Kingdom in order to improve his golf game.

Later that year he appeared in a Macromedia Shockwave game called Donkey Kong Country Barrel Maze that was available on the Candystand website. He also turned up in another kart racing game, , where he rode along with Donkey Kong and tossed giant banana peels.

In 2004, the first non-Rare Donkey Kong game with DKC-styled characters was released. Namco's Donkey Konga was a GameCube music title that was packaged with a DK Bongo controller. You used it to keep the rhythm with the beats of covers to famous songs (as well as Nintendo video game music). Diddy appeared along with Donkey Kong and other DKC franchise characters. He would also turn up that year in Mario Power Tennis, where he had a special jetpack he could use to fly around the court, and in a Game Boy Advance port of Donkey Kong Country 2 that was packed with new mini-games and more.

2005 saw him in the sequel to Donkey Konga, Donkey Konga 2, where he once again stood in as the character controlled by a second bongo player. He was then a team sub-captain in Mario Superstar Baseball (his biggest role yet in a Mario game), had a prominent role in DK King of Swing, and would make a cameo in the GBA port of Donkey Kong Country 3.

A remake of Diddy Kong Racing is being developed by Rare for the Nintendo DS, largely based on the N64 one. Diddy will be also playable in DK-King of Swing DS. Diddy will also be a playable character in the up and coming Mario Hoops 3-on-3 for the Nintendo DS and DK Bongo Blast for the Nintendo GameCube.

Other media

Diddy Kong was also in the Donkey Kong Country (TV series). He was voiced by Andrew Sabiston.

 

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