is a series of video games published by Nintendo since 1981 and created by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Donkey Kong and Mario have both had the roles of protagonist and antagonist in the series. Other characters have included other Kongs, the crocodilian villain King K. Rool, and supporting animal characters. This article lists the characters that have appeared in titles that revolve around Donkey Kong and the Kong family.

Kongs KongsDiddy's words: "I am the king of the Kong, the simian Don Juan". - Kong for a Day from Donkey Kong Country TV series are a group of various simian primates that live on Donkey Kong Island. Members of the Kong Family (also known as the Kong Klan and the DK CrewDK Rap singer: "He's the first member of the DK crew!" - Donkey Kong 64), a group led by Donkey Kong comprising his family and friends, are the central characters or at least appear in all games in the series.

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong, also known as DK, is a male gorilla. Donkey Kong was introduced in the original 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong as the computer-controlled antagonist who abducts Pauline. Citing in part: The player must take the role of Jumpman (Mario) and rescue her. Donkey Kong returned in Donkey Kong Jr., where he is held captive by Mario. Playing as Donkey Kong's son, Donkey Kong Jr., the player must rescue Donkey Kong. In Donkey Kong 3 (1983), Donkey Kong is once again the antagonist as he terrorises a greenhouse. In the Game & Watch game Donkey Kong Hockey, he served as a playable character for the first time.

The original Donkey Kong is a large, brown, angry gorilla, which Shigeru Miyamoto said was "nothing too evil or repulsive", and he's Mario's pet. Miyamoto has named "Beauty and the Beast" and King Kong as influences for the character. The name was derived by Miyamoto from "stubborn ape": Miyamoto used "donkey" to convey "stubborn" in English, while "Kong" was simply to imply him being a "large ape".

Donkey Kong's appearance has evolved over time. The character was redesigned for 1994's Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Country, where he has darker brown hair and wears a red necktie with the letters "DK" on it. He subsequently appears at the end of DKC 2 and DKC 3. DK returns as a playable character in Donkey Kong 64, Jungle Beat, the Donkey Konga games, King of Swing, Jungle Climber, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Tropical Freeze. He further appears in the Super Smash Bros., Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, Mario Party, and Mario sports games. The character was redesigned in 2025 with the release of Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza.

Donkey Kong has also appeared in a wide variety of related media and more generally in Western popular culture. In Saturday Supercade, Donkey Kong (voiced by Soupy Sales) has escaped from the circus and Mario (voiced by Peter Cullen) and Pauline (voiced by Judy Strangis) are chasing the ape. As with the original game, Donkey Kong will often grab Pauline and Mario has to save her. The original arcade version of Donkey Kong is the final villain in the 2015 film Pixels. Donkey Kong appears as a protagonist in the 2023 animated film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, where he is voiced by Seth Rogen. In November 2021, there were reports that Illumination had begun development on a Donkey Kong spin-off film, with Rogen set to reprise his role. The character makes a small cameo appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Cranky Kong Cranky is a grumpy, elderly gorilla, known for his scathing fourth-wall-breaking commentary. The name "Donkey Kong" has been shared by several characters who in the in-game universe are shown to be distinct individuals. In particular, the Donkey Kong introduced as the main player character in 1994's Donkey Kong Country was said to be the grandson of the original arcade character, who is now the elderly (also known as Donkey Kong Sr.), Cranky having relinquished his name to him.Mentioned by Otacon in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Confusingly, in Donkey Kong 64, Cranky repeatedly refers to the current Donkey Kong as his son rather than his grandson."I'm pretty sure when I made this stuff up nearly 25 years ago that he was his grandson. By DK64 he was so senile that he couldn't remember - Gregg Mayles of Rareware on Twitter

His main purpose in Donkey Kong Country is to give helpful hints to Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong whenever they drop by his cabin. He runs the Monkey Museum in Donkey Kong Country 2, although this time the player has to provide enough banana coins to buy specific hints. In Donkey Kong Country 3, he is the player's opponent in a throwing mini-game at Swanky's Sideshow; in the GBA versions of DKC 2 and DKC 3, he hosts several mini-games and is briefly playable in the Dojo mini-game of the latter. In Donkey Kong 64, Cranky deals out potions that grant each of the five playable Kongs special abilities. He also hosts the Jetpac game.

Cranky appears in Donkey Konga and its sequels. He dispenses tips in DK: King of Swing and DK: Jungle Climber. He is also playable in the latter game's multiplayer mode. He is playable in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. In Donkey Kong Country Returns and its 3DS remake, he runs various shops that sell items and helps the player by giving hints and tips when they leave his shop. In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014), Cranky becomes playable in the main campaign of a Donkey Kong platformer for the first time. His moveset is based around his cane, which allows him to bounce on spikes. Cranky is also in Donkey Kong Bananza. Cranky has also made a small cameo appearance on the Jungle Japes stage in the in Super Smash Bros. series.

Cranky Kong was a regular on the Donkey Kong Country animated series, where he was voiced by Aron Tager, and by Ryūsei Nakao in the Japanese dub of the TV series. Cranky Kong also appears in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, where he is voiced by Fred Armisen and depicted as the ruler of the Jungle Kingdom and Donkey Kong's father.

Donkey Kong Jr.

also known as DK Jr. or simply Junior, is the protagonist of the 1982 arcade game of the same name and the son of the original Donkey Kong. Junior wears a white singlet with a red letter "J" on it. His objective in the game is to save his father, who is imprisoned by Mario. He returns in the 1994 Game Boy game Donkey Kong, where he teams up with his father (who has kidnapped Pauline) against Mario. Junior also appeared as a playable character in Super Mario Kart, but was replaced by Donkey Kong in later installments. He was again playable in Mario Kart Tour. He also appeared in the Virtual Boy game Mario's Tennis (1995), and as an unlockable character in the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Tennis (2000).

Other appearances by Junior include the educational video game Donkey Kong Jr. Math (1983), Game & Watch games Donkey Kong Jr. (in wide-screen, tabletop and panorama versions) and Donkey Kong II, as well as the Game & Watch Gallery series compilations for Game Boy. He also appears as the physical appearance of the transformed king of World 4 in the Super NES version (1993) and Game Boy Advance version (2003) of Super Mario Bros. 3. Donkey Kong Junior had his own segment in the first season of Saturday Supercade and was voiced by Frank Welker.

Shortly before the release of Donkey Kong 64 in 1999, Leigh Loveday, the writer of Donkey Kong Country 2, stated that, as far as he knew, the modern Donkey Kong who appears in Donkey Kong Country onward is a grown-up version of Junior himself. In Donkey Kong Bananza, the description for the 8-Bit DK fossil alludes to Cranky in his prime and passing his name and barrel-handling skills down to his multiple descendants, implying that DK Junior and modern DK are two different family members."A certain Kong in the prime of his youth. His amazing skill at handling barrels has been passed down to his descendants." - 8-Bit DK fossil description in Donkey Kong Bananza

Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong is Donkey Kong's sidekick and nephew (or cousin) who first appeared in Donkey Kong Country (1994). He is also the main character in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest after Donkey Kong is captured. He and Donkey Kong are captured in Donkey Kong Country 3, but he returns as a playable character in Donkey Kong 64, DK: King of Swing, Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber, the Donkey Konga series, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Tropical Freeze. He makes an appearance in Donkey Kong Bananza alongside Dixie Kong.

He was given his own spin-off game Diddy Kong Racing and was playable in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. He has been a playable character in several Mario Party, Mario Kart, and Mario sports games. Diddy was included as playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. 4, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

The character was originally intended to be an updated version of Donkey Kong Jr., but Nintendo did not like this idea, suggesting either to give Junior his old look or else make Diddy Kong an entirely new character. Rare chose the latter and Diddy Kong was made.Retro Gamer, The Making of Donkey Kong Country, p. 69, Vol. #43

Wrinkly Kong Wrinkly Kong is an elderly gorilla, the wife of Cranky Kong. Wrinkly first appeared in the game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest for the SNES, where she ran Kong Kollege. She gave the player advice and allowed the player to save their game. She appeared again in Donkey Kong Land 2. In Donkey Kong Country 3, she resided in 'Wrinkly's Save Cave', where the player could both save their game and deposit Banana Birds found throughout the game. This concept remained sans birds in Donkey Kong Land III, where she resided in 'Wrinkly Refuge'. In the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country 3, Wrinkly was portrayed as a spiritual follower of the Banana Birds.

Wrinkly next appeared in Donkey Kong 64 as a ghost, having died since the events of Donkey Kong Country 3. She can be found behind the doors with her face on them.

Despite her death, Wrinkly's ghost has continued to appear in several games, including as an unlockable playable character in DK: King of Swing, Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber, and Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. She is voiced by Miho Yamada. She also appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Dixie Kong is a young female chimpanzee with a ponytail that allows her to grasp objects, swing, and glide. Her first appearance is Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, where she and Diddy Kong partner as "inseparable friends" to rescue DK. Cranky refers to her as "that girlfriend of his." She was also playable in Donkey Kong Land 2.

Dixie later appeared as the protagonist of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! and Donkey Kong Land III, with Kiddy Kong as her sidekick. Her next playable appearance was in Donkey Konga 2 on the GameCube, a bongo rhythm game. She appeared once again in the Japan-only Donkey Konga 3. She is a playable character in DK King of Swing for the Game Boy Advance, Diddy Kong Racing DS and Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber for the Nintendo DS, and Donkey Kong Barrel Blast for the Wii.

Dixie Kong has been playable in Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, and Mario Super Sluggers. Additionally, she made her debut appearance in the Mario Kart series in Mario Kart Tour for mobile devices. Dixie Kong returned in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for the Wii U and Nintendo Switch. She also makes an appearance in Donkey Kong Bananza as one of the racers in the Rambi Rumble at the Racing Layer along with Diddy Kong.

Dixie Kong has also featured in the Donkey Kong Country TV series, where she was voiced by actress Louise Vallance. She is currently voiced by Kahoru Sasajima. She has a cameo appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Kiddy Kong