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Cranky Kong is a character from the Donkey Kong series of video games. He made his first appearance in Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo as the aging ancestor of the current Donkey Kong. He is known for his scathing, fourth wall-breaking remarks on the state of video games today. Cranky has appeared in a number of Donkey Kong games, primarily as a reluctant advisor to DK and his various simian pals.

Appearances

In Donkey Kong Country on the SNES, Cranky's main purpose was to distribute helpful hints about the game's many stages to Donkey Kong and his sidekick Diddy Kong whenever they dropped by his cabin. These hints could be very useful in finding the game's many secrets, but always came peppered with insults and complaints, as well as a few good raps on the head from Cranky's cane. Cranky also featured prominently in the game's manual, popping up and offering complaints as if he were reading through it with you. This became a running joke in the manuals for subsequent DK games.

Donkey Kong Country 2 saw him play a similar role, although this time his advice came at a price. Whenever Diddy and Dixie Kong stopped by the Monkey Museum, they would have to provide enough banana coins to buy specific hints from the grouchy old ape. In the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country 2, he also hosted the Expresso Racing minigame, where you control Expresso (who did not appear in the SNES version) and race other ostriches.

In Donkey Kong Country 3, however, Cranky took a slightly more active role, serving as Dixie and Kiddy Kong's opponent in the throwing game at Swanky's Sideshow. Later, in the Game Boy Advance remake of Donkey Kong Country 3, Cranky opened up a dojo where players could briefly take control of him in a martial arts themed mini-game.

Donkey Kong 64 saw Cranky turn mad scientist as he dabbled in potion making. These potions granted each of the five playable Kongs (DK, Diddy, Chunky, Lanky, and Tiny) special abilities and could be purchased at Cranky's Lab. He also housed the Jetpac game, and would let you play it after earning 15 Banana Medals. Achieving 5,000 points in Jetpac earned you the Rareware Coin, which was required to beat the game. Cranky also DJ'ed the DK Rap, and apparently enjoyed it.

In DK-King of Swing for Game Boy Advance, Cranky helped explain the new game mechanics in a tutorial that also featured his spectral wife, Wrinkly Kong.

Cranky also made a small cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee, as well as appearing in Donkey Konga and its sequels.

Cranky Kong in other media

Cranky was also a regular on the Donkey Kong Country animated series. He was still as senile as in the games, but without his fourth wall-destroying comments. His cabin was where the Crystal Coconut (not to be confused with the item of the same name in DK64), the mystical bauble that made DK the future ruler of Kongo Bongo Island (as DK Island was called on the show), was kept. Often, Cranky mixed potions, somewhat prefiguring his DK64 role.

Donkey Kong lineage

Cranky is said to be the original Donkey Kong who battled Mario in the arcades back in 1981, and is constantly rambling about how much better things were back in his day. This was the focus of much of the humor surrounding Cranky in the Donkey Kong Country series and Donkey Kong 64, although in more recent titles like Donkey Konga and DK: King of Swing, the idea hasn't been stressed as much. This, paired with several comments from Nintendo about the current Donkey Kong being Mario's old nemesis (notably in relation to Mario vs Donkey Kong for Game Boy Advance and trophy descriptions in the Super Smash Bros. series) has led some to believe that Cranky isn't actually the original Donkey Kong, as he claims to be. It should be noted, however, that Donkey Kong's MVP profile in Mario Superstar Baseball states that "his ancestor, the original Donkey Kong, wore no necktie", which at least suggests that the current Donkey Kong is not the original either. As such, Cranky's actual relationship to Donkey Kong is somewhat unclear. And, to further confuse the issue, Cranky has been identified on separate occasions as both the father and grandfather of Donkey Kong. This has led many to believe that today's Donkey Kong is in fact a grown-up version of Donkey Kong Jr (Rareware apparently supports this idea), while others believe him to be the son of DK Jr.

• Fictional apes
• Kongs