Expresso

Expresso as seen in Donkey Kong Country.
Expresso
Species	Ostrich
Eye color	Black
Debut	Donkey Kong Country

Expresso is an ostrich who appeared as an animal friend in Donkey Kong Country and has gone on to make several other appearances throughout the Donkey Kong series.

Background

Expresso was an ostrich who wore sneakers and who acted as an ally to Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong by allowing them to ride on his back whenever they freed him from a crate. Expresso could run around very quickly, and any enemies passing his legs would do him no harm. He could also flap his wings when jumping in the air to hover slightly. His own drawback was that he could not harm any enemies, although he was able to stomp on enemies in his second appearance in Donkey Kong Land. Expresso initially appeared in four levels each of Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land.

He later made a return appearance in the Game Boy Advance remake of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest as the star of a minigame known as Expresso Racing. Cranky Kong had purchased the ostrich (claiming he was worth a great fortune) in hopes of using him to win money at races. However, he was initially too small and weak to be a competent racer. So, Diddy and Dixie Kong were tasked with collecting Golden Feathers that could boost Expresso's stats and make him larger. Thanks to their help, Expresso eventually became fit for racing. There was one race in each world of the game, and each time he competed against three other ostriches (who were identical aside from coloration differences). Completing all of the races would earn a DK Coin and a photograph of Expresso for Wrinkly Kong's scrapbook.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Banjo Pilot, Expresso makes a cameo appearance in the Jinxy's Dune level. This could possibly be a holdover from when the game was originally being developed as Diddy Kong Pilot.
• In the Super Smash Bros. series, Expresso has been represented by a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, as well as a Novice-rank Support Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. As a Spirit, his Support effect was to boost a player character's speed at the cost of them starting a battle with 30% damage. When fought in a Spirit battle, Expresso's Spirit would possess Falco Lombardi with enhanced move speed in a battle featuring a slippery floor.

Canceled Games

• Expresso and other identical ostriches were set to appear as mounts in Donkey Kong Racing prior to its cancellation.

Trivia

• His name is a play on "express" (which refers to raid movement) and "espresso" (which is a type of coffee associated with energy due to higher amounts of caffeine).
• Expresso and Winky have been mentioned by Cranky Kong in the original instruction manuals for Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong 64, where he lumps them together as forgotten allies. He shows pity for them and seems to like them more than Rambi.
• In Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, one of Rabbid Cranky's weapons is the Expresso Atomizer, which has a design based on Expresso and is described as "officially licensed Expresso the Ostrich merch".
• In Super Mario Odyssey, there were two locations in New Donk City named after him: Expresso Espresso and Expresso Street.