Donkey Kong (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


 * This article is about Donkey Kong's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Donkey Kong.

Donkey Kong (, Donkī Kongu) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He was first shown very briefly at the E3 2007 press conference. Like most other characters in Brawl, has been graphically updated to match his more recent appearances. His fur is more brightly colored, and he also appears furrier, especially around his head. DK ranks in the B tier, 18th overall, due to his well rounded attacks and good mobility; however, being a perfect candidate for chain grabs as well as having poor vertical recovery keeps him from being a high tier character.

Attributes
Donkey Kong is a very heavy character with very powerful attacks, great attack range and high knockback capabilities. However, he is one of the fastest heavyweight characters. His movement speed is above average: fast running, fast walking, fast air speed, and very high initial jump. Donkey Kong's weight helps him stay alive longer, though he is a big target and has very poor vertical recovery, but extremely long horizontal recovery. He can even use Spinning Kong to cancel knockback from an attack that would even KO Bowser, Snake or King Dedede. Combining his impressive weight and good recovery with good Directional Influence, he will be extremely hard to KO. His Headbutt attack allows him to get a free attack on the opponent, as many of his follow-up attacks have low startup time, but it also does very high damage to shields. His fully charged Giant Punch also heavily damages shields, and the super armor it grants may allow him to trade KO moves with an opponent and survive. Even his grounded Spinning Kong does high damage to opponents or shields. Having three high shield damage attacks he can give high shield pressure. Donkey Kong has absolutely no problems killing: all his smashes are powerful, with up smash and down smash coming out very fast; up air can compensate for a missed edge guard, three reliable spikes, back air, back throw, Giant Punch (9 charges is actually more powerful than fully charged, but without Super Armor), and the cargo stage spike. He can counter any ground grab releases because of his unique extremely short grab release animation, making him escape from release lag 10 frames earlier than any other character does. Donkey Kong is unique to be able to carry crates, barrels and Bonsly without a reduction in speed, but small items have unusual long end animation (though he has one of the best Glide Tosses in the game). DK also has a large grab range with powerful throws, and he is even able to chain-grab some characters. Donkey Kong can also perform Kongocide, although it's not the most useful of the sacrificial KOs. One problem (though it is a common problem for heavy characters) is being the second-largest (and second-heaviest) character is hit-and-miss: he can take a lot of damage before dying, but he gets hit very easily. His large size and heavy weight also leaves him open to many chain grabs, except Bowser's ground releases. His horizontal recovery is extremely long, but it is vulnerable to spikes and has poor vertical height. Donkey Kong also lacks projectiles and a reliable way to deal with them, which makes his moveset and style of approach unvaried. Another problem is that Donkey Kong's small shield size invites shield stabbing.

What really hurts Donkey Kong is that his size leaves him open to King Dedede's infinite chaingrab, and Dedede is one of the most prevalent characters at tournaments. Having a hard counter at such a high level is truly problematic.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

 * Giant Punch has shorter range and has less knockback when fully charged but grants Super Armor if fully charged and he can now also reverse it. The 9 charge is much stronger but doesn't have super armor. In addition, it also charges faster.
 * Landing on the ground from his Spinning Kong leaves him vulnerable as he lands on his back and has to get up. However, it gives slightly more horizontal distance and higher vertical height.
 * Headbutt comes out faster and deals more damage.
 * Hand Slap covers more range, deals 14% instead of 11% and is a better move in general.
 * Running speed has slightly increased.
 * Increased priority in most of his moves.
 * Much slower falling speed, no longer among the fastest, which makes him much less vulnerable to combos against fast fallers.
 * Much better shield cover.
 * Spinning Kong does less knockback but grants super armor just before it's released.
 * Carry throw gives Super Armor.
 * Forward carry throw has more vertical knockback and less horizontal knockback.
 * Down tilt now trips foes, leaving them vulnerable.
 * His costume is lighter and very different from Melee.
 * Black costume now has yellow tie instead of blue tie.
 * Headbutt can now dig if Donkey Kong uses it in the air and the opponent is in the ground rather than just Donkey Kong in the ground as well.
 * More realistic gorilla roars.
 * Improved approach due his back air buff and the new super armor on his grounded Spinning Kong.
 * Dash attack knocks back horizontally instead of vertically.
 * His up smash can now hit grounded characters.
 * People escape out of his carry throw automatically, even without touching the control stick. Additionally, only the opponent takes damage if released.
 * Back air has highly increased in knockback.
 * Down smash has much higher knockback.
 * Forward smash has higher knockback and now fully charged side smash has higher knockback than fully charged Giant Punch.
 * Overall an even faster, stronger and longer ranged character.

Normal

 * Neutral attack - Does a quick cross punch and follows up with an uppercut. 4% first hit, 6% second hit
 * Dash attack - Skids to a halt doing a side-kick. High lag. 11% damage
 * Strong Side - Swats in front. Large range and fast but low knockback. 10% damage, 12% angled up, 9% and trips angled down
 * Strong Up - Swats above his head. 9-11% damage depending on where it connects.
 * Strong Down - Swats at his opponent's feet. This move causes opponents to trip. A great lock move at low percentages and a trip can be combined with his Hand Slap. 8% damage

Smash

 * Side Smash - Claps hands together in front of him. Has somewhat lower knockback when hit where the two hands meet. Extremely high knockback when fully charged. Great priority. Fairly quick for a heavyweight. 20%-21% damage uncharged, 28-29 fully charged
 * Up Smash - Claps hands above his head. This move sweetspots when it hits foes above him, and becomes weaker when it hits right beside Donkey Kong. Another move with great knockback when fully charged. Good hitting from below a platform and great running up smash. 18% damage
 * Down Smash - Does a double back-handed punch by bringing his closed fists down 90 degrees at both sides. Very fast, great vertical knockback, and one of the strongest down smashes in the game, but low priority. 17%/25% damage when hit with his fists, 14% up close.

Other

 * Ledge attack - Throws his back at the opponent. 8% damage
 * 100% Ledge attack - Climbs onto stage and swats forward. 10% damage
 * Floor attack - Swats with his hand in a wide arch. 6% damage
 * Trip attack - Spins with his fists as he stands. 5% damage

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Spins with arms extended. Low priority. 8-11% damage
 * Forward Aerial - Puts fists together above his head, then does a powerful Axe-handle Smash. A powerful Meteor Smash. Great for catching edge guarders while recovering. 16% damage
 * Back Aerial - Back-kicks behind him. Very fast, high priority, long ranged and strong. 8% or 13% damage based on hit box
 * Up Aerial - Headbutts above. Extremely quick, can Star KO at high percentages. 14% damage
 * Down Aerial - Stomps down, arching his body forward. When this move hits, it will always spike similar to Ganondorf's d-air, and it is his strongest spike. Has Star KO potential. Can be used on many characters by carry down throwing, then jumping and dair. 14-16% damage.

Grabs & Throws

 * Standing grab - One of the longest non-tether grab ranges and high vertical range
 * Running grab - Much worse than standing grab range: Much shorter range and a lot of ending lag
 * Pivot grab - Slightly longer range than his standing grab range
 * Pummel - Does a slight karate chop at the enemy's neck. 3% damage
 * Forward Throw - Heaves the opponent on his back, causing minor damage. He can carry around the opponent (regardless of size) as if the opponent were a heavy item. Can be released and regrabbed if he can react quicker, being an infinite on Lucas and Ness when turn releasing and turn grabbing. Forward + Forward : 8% damage Forward + Up: 7% damage Forward + Down: 6% damage Forward + Back:  release:6% (set damage).
 * Back Throw - Swings his arm back and throws the opponent. A very good KO throw and it has fast start-up. 11% damage
 * Up Throw - Grabs the enemy and throws them in the air with his right hand. 9% damage
 * Down Throw - Slams the opponent down with his hand. Can chain grab characters like Snake and Fox. 7% damage

Role in the Subspace Emissary
The Koopa Troopas and Bowser steal Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard. As a Hammer Bro. drives off in a car which contains all the bananas, Donkey Kong watches him from a cliff. The Hammer Bro. and the Goomba aboard the car spot Donkey Kong and shoot Bullet Bills at him. However, Diddy Kong comes out from a bush and expertly shoots the Bullet Bills with his Peanut Popguns. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong then follow the Hammer Bro. to retrieve the Banana Hoard. After following him, they see Bowser with a strange type of gun called a Dark Cannon, revealing that he is working for the Subspace Army. When Bowser charges the cannon, Donkey Kong quickly charges his Giant Punch and launches Diddy into the sky and out of the way, sacrificing himself. Bowser shoots Donkey Kong and turns him into a trophy. Later in the story, Diddy Kong, Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi see a ship which is carrying Donkey Kong as a trophy to a mysterious floating island. Falco then helps Diddy by following it with his Arwing and having the little Kong with him. Falco then does a barrel roll and drops Diddy out. Diddy fires up his Rocket Barrels and takes out his Popguns and shoots the ship. After seeing this, Captain Falcon and Olimar decide to help him and jump to the ship, where Diddy frees Donkey Kong. All four then fight the Primids and other enemies on the ship. The ship takes them inside a factory producing Subspace Bombs, and encounter various R.O.B.s that happen to live on the island. They later meet up with Pikachu and Samus Aran where they see the Ancient Minister and a whole lot of R.O.B.s. After Ganondorf controls the R.O.B.s into activating all of the Subspace Bombs, the Ancient Minister is shown to be R.O.B., the leader of all the lesser R.O.B.s who were forced to work for the Subspace Army. R.O.B. then fights with the others. When trying to escape Captain Falcon calls for his Falcon Flyer and tries to leave the cave when Meta-Ridley appears and they must fight him. After that they all meet up with the others.

Donkey Kong and the other heroes enter Subspace and meet Tabuu, who turns everyone into trophies with his Off Waves. However, King Dedede had anticipated this and created badges that revived certain fighters back into their original form. With his team consisting of Luigi and Ness, Dedede rescues Donkey Kong and most of the others, although some of them were rescued by Kirby. They also recruit Bowser, Ganondorf, and Wario when they learned about Tabuu. At the end of the Great Maze, Sonic the Hedgehog shows up and helps weaken Tabuu's Off Waves so Donkey Kong and the others would be able to beat him.

Exclusive stickers
These stickers can only be used by Donkey Kong or a select few including him.
 * Chunky Kong: [Throwing] attack +31
 * Diddy Kong (Donkey Kong 64): Launch power +20
 * Diddy Kong (Mario Hoops 3-on-3!): [Leg] attack +28
 * Diddy Kong (Mario Superstar Baseball): [Leg] attack +12
 * Dixie Kong: Launch resistance +39
 * DK: [Head] attack +27
 * DK Barrel: Launch power +53
 * Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Jungle Beat): [Arm] attack +22
 * Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Country): [Electric] resistance +10
 * Donkey Kong Jr.: [Arm] attack +14
 * Enguarde: [Body, Spin] attack +15
 * Funky Kong: [Leg] attack +13
 * Karate Kong: [Battering] resistance +25
 * Lanky Kong: [Throwing] attack +6
 * Party Monkey: [Head] attack +6
 * Pauline & Donkey Kong: [Arm] attack +18
 * Tiny Kong: [Arm] attack +4
 * Wrinkly Kong: [Battering] resistance +4

Trivia

 * DK is one of two characters (other being R.O.B.) that have fallen down the tier list the same number with each tier list. DK has fallen 4 spots every Tier List.
 * DK's down B is the strongest attack against Bosses but only works on certain ground bosses.
 * DK might be left handed (or ambidextrous) due to the fact he uses his left hand for his Giant Punch, though he uses the right for Super Smash Bros. In Mario Superstar Baseball, Donkey Kong uses his right to pitch and left to bat (or rather, punches the ball). Donkey Kong used his right to punch in previous games.
 * DK is one of the only characters that can't use his down special in midair. Others include Peach and the Pokémon Trainer.
 * DK is the only character who can pick up Snake's box and walk around with it.
 * When DK jumps and lands, like Bowser and King Dedede, the screen will shake slightly.
 * Unlike in most DK games and Mario spinoffs, where Donkey Kong has a cartoonish voice, SSBB has him using gorilla-like roars, most likely for intimidation, with Super Smash Bros. being a fighting game. This is also to make Donkey Kong look more realistic since he's not the only animalistic character to use more realistic voices rather than their usual cartoonish voice in their own games (Bowser being a prime example).
 * As in the other games in the series, Donkey Kong is the only character who can walk at a normal speed when carrying a crate, Rolling Crate, Barrel, or Bonsly. He is also the only character who can jump while doing so, as well as the only character who doesn't drop a heavy item when walking off of a ledge. Judging by this, he can be considered to literally be the "strongest" character. However, in Mario spin-off games, such as Mario Golf, Bowser is more powerful than DK, so it might just be DK's build that allows him to lift heavy objects (Bowser has short arms, so he can't lift things like DK can).
 * Interestingly, even though Donkey Kong has teeth, he only shows them when performing certain attacks or taunts. He may occasionally open his mouth with no teeth showing. Diddy Kong is exactly the same as well as, at a different angle, Ness and Lucas in the Subspace Emissary.
 * DK has the second strongest Up Special in the game if all hits connect, following Lucas in first with PK Thunder 2 which can do 43% and Spinning Kong, which does 36%.
 * Donkey Kong's appearance in Brawl is comparable to his appearance in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat with his furrier appearance.
 * Donkey Kong, Sonic, Link, and Snake are the only characters to be playable in a different (official) fighting game other than the Smash Bros. series. Donkey Kong was a secret character in Punch-Out!! for the Wii, Sonic appeared in Sonic the Fighters and Sonic Battle, Link appeared in the Gamecube version of Soulcalibur II, and Snake appeared in Dream Mix TV: World Fighters.