Donkey Kong is one of THE most iconic video game characters of all time, not just one of the most iconic characters of the Mario series! You might be a huge fan of the games, but we bet there’s some surprises waiting for you in these fun facts! Read on to learn all about his debut, the animal his movements are based on – and why exactly he wears a tie! And check out the rest of the site for more video game fun – try our Donkey Kong trivia quiz, find out which Donkey Kong character you are, or have a gorilla-sized giggle with some Donkey Kong jokes!

1. He first appeared in 1981

Donkey Kong made his debut in the 1981 game Donkey Kong, the story of a brave plumber rescuing a woman named Pauline from a villainous ape named Donkey Kong. It was released as an arcade game, and also on the Atari 2600. The game was a huge international success, helping to establish Nintendo’s reputation as a video game giant – but did you know that Nintendo actually started in 1889 as a playing card company? Hard to imagine but totally true! Nintendo hasn’t developed any of the Donkey Kong games since the original 1981 game, though – they’ve been outsourced to various other developers over the years, though Nintendo still publishes them.

2. He was created by Shigeru Miyamoto

Donkey Kong’s “father” is legendary Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto! You’ve definitely heard of at least some of the other franchises he’s created – he’s responsible for The Legend of Zelda, Pikmin, Star Fox, and of course Mario! He’s worked for Nintendo since 1977, and his work has transformed the company into the hugely successful megacorp it is today.

3. Donkey Kong was the first game to tell a story using cutscenes

Cutscenes are the moments in video games where the play stops and the game has non-interactive scenes that move the plot along. If you’re a gamer you’ve definitely come across these – and you’ve got Donkey Kong to thank! While earlier games like Space Invaders and Pac-Man had cutscenes, they weren’t used to tell a story because these games didn’t have a narrative. Donkey Kong was the first game to use these scenes to tell a story, and now you’ll see narrative cutscenes everywhere!

4. The game totally defined the platform genre

Platform games have a simple design – you control the main character across a side-scrolling landscape, where you have to dodge obstacles, fight enemies and collect prizes. Donkey Kong was the first game to use jumping in a platform game – the first platform game, a 1980 arcade game called Space Panic, used ladders to travel between platforms. Donkey Kong made this format extremely popular, and later platform games developed it.

5. Mario made his debut in Donkey Kong’s game

Only he wasn’t called Mario! The Mario that appeared in the 1981 game was called “Jumpman”, and the name Mario came in the second game, Donkey Kong Jr. Mario’s girlfriend Pauline was also replaced in the Super Mario series by Princess Peach, though she did show up in later games.

6. The 1981 game is based on Popeye

If you know a lot about old cartoons, you’re probably already familiar with Popeye – a sailor with a gruff voice who loves spinach and his girlfriend Olive Oyl, and hates the ruffian Bluto who keeps trying to steal Olive from him. Popeye is very popular in Japan, and in 1981 Nintendo were trying to buy a license to make a Popeye game. The game would be about Bluto kidnapping Olive and Popeye trying to rescue her, all while dodging obstacles thrown by Bluto. But when Nintendo couldn’t secure the rights to the Popeye characters, Shigeru Miyamoto produced the idea using original characters. That way, they could make money and sequels without worrying about the Popeye estate interfering.

7. What does his name mean?

The name “Donkey Kong” is pretty strange – “Kong” is after King Kong, of course (more on that later), but where does “Donkey” come from? There are a couple of possibilities behind the name, and Shigeru Miyamoto has talked about both of them. One story is that it’s supposed to suggest stubbornness, something that donkeys are said to be (if you’ve ever spent time around donkeys though, you know this isn’t necessarily true). The other translation comes from Miyamoto thinking the word meant “stupid” (which is sort of true – donkey is sometimes used as an insult). So, the name could either mean “stubborn ape” or “stupid ape”.  Miyamoto said Nintendo laughed when he suggested the name – he’s the one that’s laughing now!

8. There was a lawsuit about King Kong!

The name “Donkey Kong” comes from King Kong, a giant ape who first appeared in a 1933 film of the same title. As you now know Shigeru Miyamoto partially based Donkey Kong’s name on King Kong – and that led to some legal trouble with Universal Studios! In 1982, the film company filed a lawsuit claiming that Nintendo had ripped them off and demanding a cut of the company’s profits. Nintendo won the lawsuit, though, when their lawyer John Kirby Jr. argued that King Kong was in the public domain. Nintendo ended up naming a character after him in thanks – can you guess who?

9. Why does he wear a necktie?

One of Donkey Kong’s most notable features is the tie he wears – but why does he wear it? Well, in the original game he didn’t wear the tie – it made its first appearance in the second game, 1982’s Donkey Kong Jr. Fans theorise it’s there to show that he’s intelligent and sophisticated, not just an ordinary gorilla! It definitely makes his design a lot more memorable, and helps to differentiate himself from other ape characters in later games.

10. The developers of Donkey Kong Country went to look at real apes!

The 1994 platform game Donkey Kong Country took about 18 months to make – and to make the designs extra realistic, the development team at Rare (the British video game company that created several of the games in the franchise) studied actual animals! They visited Twycross Zoo to study the gorillas, spending hours at a time – but described it as “a complete waste of time”! This led to…

11. Donkey Kong’s moves are based on horses!

Real gorillas don’t really move in a way that translates well to a side-scrolling platform game – they’re not fast enough for one thing! So, for Donkey Kong Country, and a few other games afterwards, Donkey Kong’s movements were based on horses in full gallop! In later 3D games, his movements became a little more ape-like, but he still moves a lot quicker than real gorillas do!

12. He has a rap!

1999 Nintendo 64 game Donkey Kong 64 featured a rap song about the main characters for its opening credits. The rap was written as a joke, but it received a LOT of negative feedback. You can listen to it on YouTube and see what you think! It’s still pretty infamous among video game fans, and it actually appeared in the 2023 Super Marios Bros. Movie, as Donkey Kong’s entrance theme. The song was written by Grant Kirkhope, the Scottish composer for the game who has voiced Donkey Kong in several of the games in the series. This also wasn’t the last time Donkey Kong rapped – in the Donkey Kong Country TV series, he got into a rap battle with King K. Rool!

13. “It’s On Like Donkey Kong” is trademarked!

The phrase “It’s on like Donkey Kong!” has a lot of use, whether you’re playing sports, a video game, or even just having an argument. It’s even showed up in a couple of films and TV shows – but did you know it’s under copyright? That’s right, Nintendo owns the phrase! That doesn’t mean you’ll be in trouble if you say it to your friends, but it does mean that production companies have to pay Nintendo if they want to use it in a film, show or advert.

14. He once raised a LOT of money for charity

In 2019, YouTuber hbomberguy did a gaming stream to raise money for UK charity Mermaids, which helps transgender youth. His game of choice was Donkey Kong 64, and his goal was to collect all possible items in the game. He managed to complete the game in 57 hours and 48 minutes, stopping only for a couple of nap breaks. The original goal was to raise $500, but the stream ended up raising $347,000! Hbomberguy picked Donkey Kong 64 because he never managed to finish the game as a kid – some of those items are REALLY hard to get! Several famous people supported the stream, including Grant Kirkhope, the composer and voice of Donkey Kong!

15. You can visit him!

Want to meet the great ape in person? Well, you can! If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in Universal Studios Japan, you’re already having a great day no matter what happens – and if you go after December 2024, you can go to Donkey Kong Country in Super Mario Land! The land is also coming to Universal Resort Orlando in Florida in 2025, so if you’ve ever wanted to ride a mine cart with Donkey Kong and help him protect the Golden Bananas, it’s time to start saving!