Diddy Kong is a fictional character who appears in games belonging to the Donkey Kong and Mariovideo game franchises, debuting in the 1994 Donkey Kong series game, Donkey Kong Country. He is a young monkey or spider monkey who lives with Donkey Kong on Donkey Kong Island in the Kongo Jungle, and is identified by his red hat with the Nintendo logo, and his red shirt with stars. Diddy Kong is Donkey Kong's sidekick, best friend, and is described as his "nephew wannabe" in both the Donkey Kong 64 manual and the Donkey Kong 64Cast List on Rare's official website. He has a girlfriend named Dixie Kong. He was originally created by Donkey Kong Country developer Rare as an updated version of Donkey Kong Jr., but he was renamed, due to Nintendo's response. Diddy Kong has made some appearances in the Donkey Kong series, appearing in every Donkey Kong Country game and Donkey Kong Land game, notably as the lead character in ' with his girlfriend, Dixie Kong, as his sidekick. He received a spin-off called Diddy Kong Racing, and more recently appeared as co-star to Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country Returns and '. Through his relationship with Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong has become a prominent character in the Mario franchise. He has also become a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series. Outside video games, Diddy Kong appeared in the TV showDonkey Kong Country, where he is played by Andrew Sabiston. Since appearing in Donkey Kong Country, Diddy has received mostly positive reception, one strong enough to create a fan following, resulting in Diddy getting his own spin-off. He has been featured in several pieces of merchandise, including plush toys, candies, and two Amiibo figures.
Concept and creation
During the development of Donkey Kong Country, Diddy was originally conceived as an updated version of Donkey Kong Jr.. Not liking the radical changes Rare had made to Donkey Kong Jr., Nintendo told them either create a design that was closer to Donkey Kong Jr.'s original appearance for Donkey Kong Country or make their new version of him an entirely new character. Deciding to simply rename the character, who Rare felt was perfect for their updated version of Donkey Kong's world, Rare decided to name this kong 'Diddy' because in some parts of the UK, the British English slang word 'diddy' means small.
Appearances
He first appears in Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as a young boisterous monkey who had one main goal: To become a video game hero just like his friend, Donkey Kong. He accompanies Donkey Kong throughout Donkey Kong Island to battle King K. Rool and return their banana hoard. He became the main character in the sequel ', teaming up with his girlfriend Dixie Kong, who both set to rescue Donkey Kong from Kaptain K. Rool. He later appeared in Donkey Kong Land, issued a challenge by Cranky Kong that he and Donkey Kong could not retrieve the banana hoard on an 8-bit system. The third and final title in the Donkey Kong Country series is titled ', which stars Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong who must find Diddy and Donkey Kong after they had disappeared, all the while battling a cyborg called KAOS. A follow-up was released in September 1996 for the Game Boy called Donkey Kong Land 2, featuring roughly the same plot as Donkey Kong Country 2. Diddy also makes an appearance in 1997's Donkey Kong Land III, but his appearance in the game is on the Extra Life Balloons. He is also a part of the storyline that appears in the manual. He stars in the spin-off racing gameDiddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64, which only features the eponymous character Diddy Kong as a returning character. It introduces Banjo and Conker the Squirrel, who went on to star in Banjo-Kazooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day, respectively. His title was a success, becoming the fastest-selling video game in US history at the time. In 2007, a remake of Diddy Kong Racing was released for the Nintendo DS. He later appeared as a playable character in Donkey Kong 64, a 3D sequel to the Donkey Kong Country titles, where he, Donkey Kong, and others go through DK Island to defeat King K. Rool yet again. He has a prominent role in DK King of Swing as well as its sequel, DK Jungle Climber. In 2004 was the release of the first non-Rare Donkey Kong game that features characters in the style of Donkey Kong Country. Namco's Donkey Konga is a GameCube music title that was packaged with a DK Bongo controller. The controller is used to keep the rhythm with the beats of covers to famous songs. It was followed by two sequels, Donkey Konga 2 and ', the latter which was only released in Japan. Diddy Kong appears in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast as a playable character. He also appeared in Mario titles, including Mario Power Tennis, Mario Superstar Baseball, ', ', Mario Hoops 3-on-3, ', Mario Kart Wii, Mario Strikers Charged, Mario Super Sluggers, Mario Tennis Open, Mario Tennis Aces, Mario Kart Tour and Mario Sports Mix. Diddy Kong also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in which some of his attacks are based on moves from Donkey Kong 64, such as the Peanut Popguns and Rocketbarrel Boost. Diddy appears in Donkey Kong Country Returns and its 3DS revival, where he serves as the second player's character. He also appeared in ' alongside Dixie, Cranky, Funky and DK. He returns as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He also appeared in ', riding in the side car of Donkey Kong's vehicle, called the Barrel Blaster. His most recent appearance was in Super Mario Party as a playable character for the second time in a Mario Party game, after .
In other media
Diddy Kong was in the Donkey Kong Countryanimated series, where his role as Donkey Kong's sidekick remained relatively the same as in the games. He was voiced by Andrew Sabiston. Diddy Kong has also appeared in various comics featured in official Nintendo magazines. Some of the stories he appeared in include adaptations of Donkey Kong Country, and Donkey Kong 64, as well as original stories. Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Odyssey features Diddy as a costume for Mario to wear, the former as a full costume, the latter as clothes.
Reception
Since appearing in Donkey Kong Country, Diddy Kong has received mostly positive reception. He has gained a fan following, leading to him getting his own spin-off title called Diddy Kong Racing. He has been featured as a plush toy. Kotaku editor Mike Fahey described him as the "Scrappy Doo" of the Donkey Kong series. Ars Technica editor Ben Kuchera criticized the removal of Diddy and Donkey Kong in , commenting that the new characters made the game less appealing. GameDaily listed DK and Diddy as collectively one of the best gaming duo. GameSpy editor Phil Theobald jokingly bemoaned the lack of a mini-game in Donkey Konga that allows players to smack Diddy Kong, criticizing Rare's designs, which he calls horrible. UGO.com listed Diddy Kong on their list of "The Cutest Video Game Characters" stating "Thank God Diddy has Donkey Kong as a role model."
