Animal Buddies in Donkey Kong Series

In the Donkey Kong Country series and some related games, animal buddies are special animal companions for the Kong characters that can be ridden through levels. Most of them are more powerful and/or have greater mobility than the Kongs along, making them useful for defeating enemies and/or reaching new areas. Animal buddies are most commonly found within crates, although in some games, the Kongs can instead transform into the animal buddies with useage of special barrels. They seem to be inspired by Yoshi from the Super Mario series.

Donkey Kong Country

Rambi

Rambi is a powerful rhino whose horn can destroy most enemies and obstacles, especially when charging forward. He seems to be the strongest of the animal buddies in general. Rambi's only disadvantage was his lack of jumping power, making chasms his greatest enemy.

He appears in the first two Donkey Kong Country and Land games as well as Donkey Kong 64 and the Donkey Kong Country Returns games.

Enguarde

Enguarde is a swordfish who acts as the Kong's aquatic protector. He is almost like an underwater version of Rambi in that Enguarde's sharp bill can cut through nearly any obstacle. He is only ineffective when it comes to spikes. Enguarde is one of the most recurring of the animal buddies, being the only one to appear in all of the Rareware-developed Country games, including Donkey Kong 64.

Squawks

Squawks is a green parrot who serves the Kongs in different ways throughout their adventures. There seems to be more than one Squawks. In some games (including its debut in 'Donkey Kong Country), Squawks is shown as a small parrot, too small to help the Kongs beyond carrying lanterns or delivering messages. A larger Squawks has also appeared, able to transport the Kongs with its talons and spit eggs at enemies. Purple varieties have also appeared.

Expresso

Expresso is a helpful ostrich who is gifted with great speed. His long legs also allow him to step over smaller enemies, and his small wings can give him a boost in the air. However, he has no means to defend himself against the larger enemies and can be beaten much more easily then the other animal buddies. His only appearances as an animal buddy were in the first Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land, but he has made various smaller appearances in other games.

Winky

Winky the Frog is an amphibian with exceptional leaping ability. Not only can he jump very high, but he can harm most enemies by pouncing on them. He only appears in Donkey Kong Country, but he has made several cameo appears in other games.

Donkey Kong Country 2

Rattly

Rattly the Rattlesnake is a reptile with the ability to bounce high in the air with his coiled up tail. He essentially acts as a replacement for Winky, as has the same basic abilities of being capable of leaping high and pouncing on enemies. He seems to be another inhabitant of Crocodile Isle and a possible relative of the Kremlings, as the instruction manual refers to him as rebelling against them. He only appears in Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Land 2.

In the Donkey Konga games, artwork of Rattly could appear while playing in the Freestyle Zone, and images of Rattly were seen carved into a bridge in the background of an area in Donkey Konga 2. In Super Mario Odyssey, he was referenced in the form of a New Donk City street named "Rattley Street". Rattly also appeared in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an Advanced-rank Support Spirit, with the effect of increasing jumping ability. When fought in a Spirit battle, Rattly's Spirit would possess a Yoshi with a boosted leaping ability.

Squitter

Squitter is an orange spider who wears sneakers and whose abilities were based around spitting webs. He could shoot projectile webs to defeat enemies, or special webs that expanded into platforms on command. With web platforms, Squitter could go nearly anywhere he wanted, but the platforms were only temporary. Aside from his web projectiles, there was nothing to protect Squitter from enemy attacks.

Squitter initially appeared in Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Land 2, but he also appeared in both Donkey Kong Country 3 and Donkey Kong Land III. In the former game, he was featured in a K3 level where Squitter had to navigate a large factory while dodging fireballs being launched by a bazooka in the foreground. Squitter also appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, and in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an Advanced-rank Support Spirit that grants immunity to sticky floors. When fought against in a Spirit battle, Squitter's Spirit would possess Diddy Kong in a battle where the player's movement speed is reduced.

Clapper

Clapper is a seal who helps the Kongs without being ridden. Instead, Clapper is found near bodies of water, and bouncing on him will cause him to spray out ice breath into the water that temporarily makes things more manageable for the Kongs. He appears in two levels of Donkey Kong Country 2. In the first level within Crocodile Cauldron, Clapper's breath made the boiling water safe to swim in for a limited amount of time. His next level was in K. Rool's Keep, where he froze over Snapjaw-infested waters so that the Kongs could walk over them.

]Several seals who dress and talk like sailors appear in Donkey Kong 64, but none are conclusively identified as Clapper.

Glimmer

Glimmer is a small anglar fish living in the dark depths of Krem Quay. Like Squawks in the first Donkey Kong Country, he cannot be ridden, and instead he shines a light through murky waters to act as a guide for the Kongs. He is only featured in one level known as Glimmer's Galleon.

In Donkey Kong Land 2, Glimmer was replaced with a series of barrels that temporarily provided light when activated. He may also be the Lightfish that appears in Donkey Kong 64, which looks similar and fills the same role as Glimmer, in addition to being named the same in Japan.

Donkey Kong Country 3

Ellie

Ellie was a young elephant who aided Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong in Donkey Kong Country 3 and Donkey Kong Land III. Her special abilities were based around her trunk's suction ability. With it, she could pull over barrels to lift or collect water that she could then spray out at enemies. Her primary drawback as a fear of mice, as approaching any mice-like enemies will cause her to run wildly away. One level of the extra world Krematoa, Stampede Sprint, is based on the idea of Ellie constantly running due to a prominent presence of Neeks. In Donkey Kong Country 3, Ellie was also featured in one boss battle, where she fought Squirt. The battle revolved around hitting Squirt's eyes with water collected from the waterfall.

Outside of her initial appearances, Ellie also made a cameo appearance as a background spectator in Donkey Konga. She has also appeared in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a Novice-rank Support Spirit that boostsed the power of attacks based on water and ice. When fought in a Spirit battle, Ellie would possess a team of Squirtle that focused on using their water abilities.

Parry

Appearing only in Donkey Kong Country 3, Parry is known as a parallel bird. He follows his name in a literal manner, as once freed from a crate, he will fly in the air directly above Dixie and Kiddy, and he will constantly change his altitude in order to remain parallel to the Kongs. Parry's primary use was for collecting items that were out of reach and defeating Booty Birds. However, Kongs had to be careful with their movements to prevent Parry from running into any enemies that could would defeat him, as Parry had no way of attacking enemies other than Booty Birds. If delivered to the end of a level, Parry would often leave behind some valuable item. In one case, it is a Bonus Barrel.

Nibbla

Nibbla is a carnivorous fish that acts as a pseudo-animal buddy to Dixie and Kiddy in one underwater level of Donkey Kong Country 3, Cotton-Top Cove's Fish Food Frenzy. The Nibbla in question follows Dixie and Kiddy around, and it consumes nearby enemies. Its appetite is indicated by its color; it is blue when his hunger is content, but it slowly turns red as he gets hungrier. If Nibbla gets hungry enough, it will opt to attack the nearest Kong. Thus, the player has to keep it well-fed throughout the level, although eating Lurchins will only make Nibblas hungrier.

Donkey Kong 64

Lightfish

The Lightfish is a small fish found only in the Gloomy Galleon area of Donkey Kong 64. He succeeds the role of Glimmer from Donkey Kong Country 2, as he uses a light attached to his head to guide the Kongs through some of the Gloomy Galleon's darker areas. In Japan and some other regions, he even has the same name as Glimmer, implying that the two may be the same.

Jungle Beat

Hoofer

Hoofer was a fast moving ram that Donkey Kong could ride to clear through enemies and obstacles. This was best put to use by taking down as enemies to gain beats. After eating fruit, Hoofer was capable of making incredibly long jumps which Donkey Kong could use to gain even more beats. However, aside from making Hoofer jump, the player had no way of controlling the creature's direction.

Orco

A killer whale that would allowed Donkey Kong to take a ride. As to be expected, it was found underwater where it generally tended to swim about aimlessly. By grabbing on to the dorsal fin, Donkey Kong could take a high speed ride underwater. Orco's bulky size was excellent for breaking down barriers. In addition the whale could jump out of the water quite high, enabling DK to get more beats or reach places he couldn't normally reach on his own.

Flurl

A flying squirrel often found sleeping, conveniently around a cliff of some sort. Donkey Kong could use Flurl as a way to safely float down a chasm and reach a safe place. Although Flurl only floated downwards due to Donkey Kong's weight, he could gain a slight air boost if a upward air current caught him.

Helibird

A species of flying birds often found among the forests that Donkey Kong could use to reach new heights. As there were often several Helibirds, he could quickly transfer to one Helibird from another (and easily earn Beats this way). However he was not the only one to use the birds, as the small white monkeys did as well as the Ninjapes.

The Helibird appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.