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Okay, so maybe the title is a little vague, but I thought it was a little more eye catching than the more specific question. Yes, I know it is an arcade game, and the name of the character in the game who went on to appear in other games. However, I am not sure as to what species Donkey Kong is. I mean I know he is an ape of some sort, but which kind of ape is he really?

He is supposed to be a Gorilla, but there is one problem with that: His coloration. Donkey Kong's hair is brown and he has peachy skin, whereas actual gorillas are mostly black and grey, possibly with a slight int of brown near the crown of their head.

In terms of coloration, Donkey Kong looks more like an Orangutan than a gorilla and even then it seems rather rare for an orangutan to have such peachy skin. It is possible, but it is more common among chimpanzees than orangutans.

From a production viewpoint this makes some amount of sense. Arcade games of old were often set against pitch black backgrounds, perhaps due to technological limitations. A black gorilla against a black background would probably be rather hard to see, so the chose to use an alternative color, and hey, monkeys can be brown, right?

However, just because a production decision is understandable does not necessarily mean that it is believable, and there are also certain impacts that it has on the implications and details of a story. You know how I wrote that Donkey Kong's coloration is closer to that of an orangutan? Well, we actually see orangutans in Donkey Kong, and the D.K. Krew even has an orangutan in the form of Lanky Kong. Just what is the name of that orangutan enemy we see anyway? Well, the name is Manky Kong, and like Donkey Kong, Manky Kong has a habit of throwing barrels

I would suggest that Donkey Kong is really an orangutan, but while. While Donkey Kong's coloration is most similar to an orangutan, his form actually is closer to that of the gorilla he is supposed to be. Lanky Kong's name is rather fitting for an orangutan, at least when compared to that of a gorilla. Donky Kong is too bulky to be an orangutan.

However, we know that the Kong Klan consists of more than one species of animal. Diddy Kong's tail signifies that unlike most of the other Kongs, that he is not even an ape, but rather an actual Monkey. Now I do not know Diddy Kong's actual relationship to Donkey Kong, but it seems possible that interspecies mingling is not entirely out of the question here, as impossible as it may be in real life.

So I ask you this: Is it possible that the Kong Klan has some Orangutan ancestery in its bloodline that somehow led to this unusual coloration and that Donkey Kong some sort of Orangutan/Gorilla Hybrid, or am I just madder than Hojo?

This post has been edited by Tonepoet on 10th November 2020 06:55

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Role reversal at its finest.

Quote (Tonepoet)

He is supposed to be a Gorilla [...]

Says who? If it's Nintendo, then that's that, really. Otherwise, then sure, it's open to interpretation. However, if you're goin' by coloration, lets keep in mind, for instance, that hedgehogs aren't blue, either .

This post has been edited by Galsic on 10th November 2020 15:42

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Console RPG Cliches

Well, some people may argue for a death of the author type interpretation, and even if we do go strictly by what Nintendo says they do not always keep their story straight. It was not so long ago that Nintendo was claiming that Mario is no longer a plumber, only to refer to him as a plumber again for example, and there are a few other examples of retcons which suggest that the author's word perhaps should not always be taken at face value. More relevantly there has also some confusion as to the exact relationship between Cranky Kong and Donkey Kong. Perhaps there is a familial kongpsiracy behind that discrepency? Also, at this point in time I'd think Rareware's input is just as important as Nintendo's, although as of yet both companies seem to be in agreement regarding Donkey Kong's species.

However for those of you who place your faith with Nintendo, Nintendo has thus so far always referred to as Donkey Kong as a Gorilla. Here's a direct quotation from the N.E.S. Classic Edition Developer Interview: Donkey Kongâ„¢ with Mr. Miyamoto on Nintendo's Website:

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[Interviewer:] Since you were making a game geared toward America, it was necessary to value NOA's input.

Miyamoto: Yes. I tried to hear as many opinions as possible. But not everything was like that. For example, we wanted to give the game a name that would suggest a silly gorilla, so we called it Donkey Kong. Donkey is the name of an animal, but looking it up in the dictionary, we found it can also mean someone stupid. So we suggested that to NOA, and they said no. They said donkey just didn't say stupid to them.

Aside from that there was a copyright infringement lawsuit between Nintendo and Universal Studios over whether or not Donkey Kong was infringing upon the King Kong movie because both works featured Gorillas that kidnapped women and climbed towers.

I figured that the fact that Donkey Kong is supposed to be a Gorilla was pretty much common knowledge by this point, which is why I did not bother to cite it the first time, but since you insist on having it, there is the source.

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However, if you're goin' by coloration, lets keep in mind, for instance, that hedgehogs aren't blue, either.

Aye, they aren't… or at least not naturally. A few of the comics have explained that Sonic was originally brown though, until he ran so fast that he broke the speed barrier. Observe the experiment with repeatable results!

Well, actually, there may be one other possible explanation for how Sonic became blue, but I must warn you, I do not think you want to know it!

This post has been edited by Tonepoet on 11th November 2020 02:34

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Role reversal at its finest.

Frankly, it's possible that Donkey Kong is brown to distinguish him from King Kong.

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current games (2024-02-19):
Fairy Fencer F ADF
Pokémon Perfect Crystal

finished so far this year:
Gato Roboto
drowning, drowning
New Super Mario Bros.
TMNT 3: Radical Rescue

tabled: Lost Ruins