2. Donkey Kong
Cranky Kong:"All this fun can't be good for you!" Having acted as the villain in the first ever
Mario title, Donkey Kong is sometimes seen as a
Mario character. However, hes much more than that. The main ape we think of now when we say
Donkey Kong is the grandson of that original gorilla (who is now named Cranky Kong). Hes easily lumbered out of Marios shadow, and can slouch tall and proud as one of Nintendos most famous characters and protagonists.
Donkey Kong Country 1 and
2 are, in my opinion, the strongest platforming titles on the SNES, and similarly
Donkey Kong Country Returns is the best the Wii has to offer. And lets not forget the N64 title
Diddy Kong Racing, which saw Donkey Kongs sidekick Diddy get his own racing title which can easily survive a comparision with
Mario Kart 64. As with our last two characters, both Kongs also make an appearance in
Super Smash Bros, as well. Donkey Kong Games are consistently of excellent quality, and his fame by now must be almost approaching that of his namesake, King Kong. The jungle setting and tribal music give the Donkey Kong games their own individual atmosphere, and personally I find it refreshing to play as a somewhat lazy hero motivated into action by having his bananas stolen. It actually makes for a more entertaining game experience than the generic Princess Whats-her-name has been kidnapped, a trope so common in video games that
Earthworm Jim actually used it as the name of the heroine Jim had to rescue. The Kremlings make for great baddies, too crocodiles and apes, one imagines, have a natural animosity. All in all, Donkey Kong (and Diddy, Dixie, the aptly named Cranky and all the others) deserve their high placing on the list, but theres another animal hero whos achieved even more success. Click Next to find out who...