Cranky Kong

Cranky Kong in DK: King of Swing
Cranky Kong
Species	Kong
Hair color	Balding Gray
Eye color	Black
Relatives	Donkey Kong (son)
Debut	Donkey Kong Country

The DK Question

In the English Donkey Kong Country manual, it is mentioned in the Story that Cranky Kong is the original Donkey Kong, presumably making the current Donkey Kong the former Donkey Kong Jr. (or his son). However, with Nintendo reclaiming the Donkey Kong franchise, newer sources have stated that the current Donkey Kong is also the original.

To avoid any argument on the subject, all information about Cranky Kong is listed here, while information about Donkey Kong can be found at his page.

Background

Cranky always complains about the modern games and yearns for his simpler arcade games (he was possibly the first video game character to break the fourth wall). However, he knew many secrets about the Northern Kremisphere and shared them for a price- whether it be enduring his dragging speeches or a more material price in the form of Banana Coins. The Kongs would need all the advice they could get for their series of adventures which flew at them faster then a rolling barrel.

It started when Donkey Kong's banana horde was stolen by the Kremlings in Donkey Kong Country. Donkey and Diddy occasionally visited Cranky's hut for advice, but Cranky still wasn't content with DK chasing off the Kremlings at the end. In fact, he then dared DK and his sidekick Diddy to repeat the feat on the Game Boy, without any fancy graphics to help them. Cranky even called King K. Rool, and asked the tyrant to steal the bananas again, setting the events of Donkey Kong Land into motion. Cranky lost the bet, but he was able to lend the other Kongs his services once again in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's King Quest.

When Donkey Kong was apenapped by the Kremlings and held captive on Crocodile Island, Diddy volunteered to save him with his friend Dixie. Cranky doubted them and so hid 68 DK Hero Coins throughout Crocodile Island for them to collect- quite a feat for one of his age! This game also introduced Cranky's sweet wife, Wrinkly Kong. Cranky also traveled to his own huts on Crocodile Island, from whence he gave advice to the youngsters and used Expresso in ostrich races.

When Dixie was featured in Donkey Kong Country 3, Cranky saw that an adventure starring himself was inevitable. He opened up various dojos across the Northern Kremisphere to train for "Cranky Kong Country". He also allowed Dixie and Kiddy to aid him in his training, but charged them in the form of "those coins with the freaky bear heads on them". But if they did well, Cranky gave them rewards in the form of a Banana Bird or just normal Bananas.

In a bad turn of luck for the Kong family, particularly Cranky, Wrinkly Kong passed away. Cranky tried to fill the void in his life by studying chemistry and developed many potions which gave the Kongs new powers to help them in their Donkey Kong 64 adventure. Cranky also let them play his classic Jetpac game, granting them the Rareware Token if they passed. He hasn't been too busy since that adventure, and has mostly took on a tutorial role in later games- explaining the bongo drums in the Donkey Konga games as well as the art of swinging in DK: King of Swing.

He also followed Donkey Kong in DK: Jungle Climber after they discovered Xananab, an alien banana who had his Crystal Bananas stolen by King K. Rool. Although Cranky himself did not get in on the action, he followed Donkey and Diddy along and provided them with instructions on how to accomplish several things, usually by showing them to Donkey on a Nintendo DS. After K. Rool was defeated, Cranky enjoyed the feast of bananas with DK and Diddy before returning home.

Trivia

• In the original version of Donkey Kong Country 3, he appeared as the rival opponant in Swanky's Sideshow minigames.
• His Donkey Kong 64 potions were inspired by the short-lived Donkey Kong Country cartoon.
• Although he's a part of Donkey Kong Land's instruction manual story, he never appears at all in the game. He's also the only Kong to be left out of Donkey Kong Land 2. In fact, he's the only Kong to never appear in any Donkey Kong Land games.
• Cranky's silhouette is seen in one of the Donkey Kong-based levels of Super Smash Bros. Melee.