Banjo & Kazooie

For fighter info, see Banjo & Kazooie (SSBU)

Banjo
Universe	Banjo-Kazooie
Debut	Diddy Kong Racing (1997)
Appears in
Console of origin	Nintendo 64
Species	Bear
Gender	Male
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Blue
Homeworld	Spiral Mountain
Created by	Steve Mayles Greg Mayles
Designed by	Steve Mayles
Voice actor	Chris Sutherland

Banjo is one of the main protagonists of the Banjo-Kazooie series from Rare and Xbox Game Studios, alongside his best friend Kazooie.

He and Kazooie joined Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the third fighter in Fighters Pass Volume 1 and the fourth downloadable character overall.

Character Description

Banjo is depicted as an easy-going and well-mannered bear who loves to eat honey and play his banjo. He is typically nonviolent, preferring peace and quiet and will help anyone in need, though he is strong enough to defend himself when the necessity arises. Its due to this peaceful nature that makes him the foil to his best friend Kazooie, with whom he lives with alongside his younger sister Tooty in their home located at the base of Spiral Mountain.

Banjo made his first appearance on the 1997 Nintendo 64 game Diddy Kong Racing alongside fellow Rare mascot Conker. Banjo is one of the game's eight default racers and is the second-heaviest racer. While Kazooie doesn't make a physical appearance, she is mentioned in the instruction manual.

Banjo wouldn't have a proper starring role until a year later with the release of Banjo-Kazooie on the Nintendo 64. The game begins with the evil witch Gruntilda kidnapping Tooty, upon hearing that she is the prettiest girl in the land, and plans to steal her youth and beauty for herself. Banjo, who slept through Gruntilda's kidnapping, begins his journey with Kazooie upon realizing Tooty's disappearance as they navigate their way through Gruntilda's Lair and its connections to different worlds. While the player controls Banjo, he is merely a platform for Kazooie to perform her various abilities and attacks, while all Banjo can do is run, walk, swim, and talk to the inhabitants of each world. As the game progresses, the duo meet several helpful characters including Bottles (a mole who teaches moves) and Mumbo Jumbo (a shaman that can magically transform Banjo into various objects to get past obstacles). Eventually, Banjo and Kazooie confront Gruntilda at the peak of her Lair and are able to defeat her by summoning the Jinjos and The Mighty Jinjonator, who push her off the peak to her doom below.

Set two months later, in Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge on the Game Boy Advance, Gruntilda is "revived" with her soul possessing a robot created by her ogre minion, Klungo, and assumes the identity of Mecha-Grunty. She returns to kidnap Kazooie, time travel 20 years into the past, and prevent the two from meeting, thus altering her fate. Banjo goes in pursuit of her, with the help of Mumbo Jumbo's magic, to try and stop her. Compared to the first game, Banjo has a lot more to do in this title due to Kazooie's brief absence, being able to defend himself a lot better. The two eventually reunite, send Gruntilda's spirit back to the present, and restore the timeline.

Set two years later, in Banjo-Tooie on the Nintendo 64, Gruntilda's sisters arrive to exact revenge on the duo, attacking their home and killing Bottles. Banjo and Kazooie then set out on their new adventure to prevent the witches from reviving skeleton-Gruntilda's flesh by quite literally sucking the life out of the Isle O' Hags. The pair are this time assisted by Bottles' brother Jamjars, who instructs them in techniques they can do independently; in Banjo's case, his now empty backpack gains some utility such as attacking with it, lifting cargo, and protecting him from poisonous waters, as well as gaining the ability to sleep to regain energy. The duo eventually prevail against Gruntilda and the witches again, and use the B.O.B. device to revive Bottles.

Eight years later, in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts for the Xbox 360, the duo are now lazy and overweight, having now forgotten all of their moves. Gruntilda also returns, now as just a skull, to once again start conflict with the two when they are stopped by the sudden appearance of the Lord of Games (or L.O.G.), the supposed creator of video games. L.O.G. sets Banjo and Kazooie on a set of vehicle-based challenges and levels while he puts Gruntilda in a new robot body. In Banjo's case, he serves as the driver of the vehicles and can also improve his physical attributes through training. The duo triumph over Gruntilda once more, now doomed to work in L.O.G.'s game factory, and earn back their old moves.

Appearances in Smash Bros.

In Super Smash Bros.

While neither Banjo or Kazooie appear, they were included in a poll on the Japanese website to gauge interest for potential newcomers in a sequel.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

The results of the poll revealed that Banjo & Kazooie were the second most-wanted characters to represent Rare (surpassed by Jame Bond as he appeared in GoldenEye 007), though despite this were not included in Melee's roster; according to Masahiro Sakurai, they couldn't get in due to "a variety of legal and financial reasons."

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Banjo & Kazooie were announced to be included in Ultimate at the E3 2019 Nintendo Direct on June 11, 2019, confirming them to be the third fighter in Fighters Pass Volume 1.

They were released on September 4, 2019, alongside the stage Spiral Mountain, 10 music tracks, and a Banjo-Kazooie-themed Spirit Board as a part of Challenger Pack 3.

Trivia

• Ultimate marks the first physical appearance Banjo and Kazooie have had in almost a decade, as they last appeared in the Xbox 360-port of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. It's also the first time they have appeared on a Nintendo console in 15 years, last appearing in Banjo-Pilot for the Game Boy Advance.
• Banjo and Kazooie are the first third-party characters:
  • To originate from a Western-made franchise, as Rare is localized in United Kingdom
  • To be owned by a Western company, being Microsoft
  • To be owned by one of Nintendo's rivals in the console and publishing markets
  • To previously have been second-party
  • To fight as a team
• Banjo and Kazooie are the fourth characters to be made outside of Japan, following Diddy Kong, King K. Rool, and Dark Samus
• According to Masahiro Sakurai, fan requests for Banjo and Kazooie have consistently been very high throughout the years especially among Western fans. The duo would've been a natural inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Melee due to their popularity in the official website poll, but Microsoft's impending purchase of Rare in 2002 might've complicated plans.
  • During the initial announcement of the Fighter Ballot for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Phil Spencer (the current head of Microsoft's Xbox division) expressed his support for Banjo and Kazooie's inclusion, something he would reiterate three years later following the announcement for Ultimate.
    • After the announcement of Banjo & Kazooie's inclusion at E3 2019, Spencer noted that this was in part due to the strong relationship Microsoft has with Nintendo's third-party team, stating “There wasn’t anything kind of CEO-to-CEO that had to happen[...]the reason it’s not some interesting, deep conversation is because with us owning Rare and the history between those two things, there are a lot of conversations over the years about, ‘Hey, we want to do “X” is that okay?’"
    • During their presentation, Sakurai acknowledges the collaboration between Nintendo, Microsoft, and Rare that resulted in bringing Banjo & Kazooie to Ultimate. He also openly mentions that the only way to play Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and Nuts and Bolts is through Rare Replay on the Xbox One. This resulted in "Xbox One" being a trending topic among Japanese users on Twitter.
• Banjo and Kazooie, Terry, and Min Min are currently the only fighters in the Fighters Pass to have given names, as Ren Amamiya, Hero, and Byleth's names can be altered by the player.