LogFAQs > #980100280

Necronmon posted...

I mean the Donkey Kong that is the lead in the Country games IS suppose to be Jr and the one from the first game was suppose to be Cranky Kong I guess.

Rareware initially created Cranky Kong for a game featuring the original Donkey Kong from the earlier Donkey Kong games, then-named "Grandpa Kong", being the grandfather of the original Donkey Kong. As Rare's game got reworked into Donkey Kong Country, featuring a more distinctly different Donkey Kong, Grandpa Kong was then established as the original Donkey Kong at an elderly age. Due to this, his exact relation to the current Donkey Kong has been inconsistent. Before the release of Donkey Kong Country, footage from a promotional video titled Donkey Kong Country: Exposed called Cranky Kong his "dad or grandfather", and Cranky Kong refers to Donkey Kong as "Junior" in the review of Donkey Kong Country by the Nintendo Magazine System. Upon release, Cranky Kong being Donkey Kong's grandfather was the consistent backstory throughout the SNES series. While their relation was not explicitly stated in the television series, Cranky acted as a father figure to Donkey Kong and once said that he considered him like a son. Rare seemingly started to retcon their relationship in Donkey Kong 64, in which Cranky Kong consistently addresses Donkey Kong as "son", implying a more direct parental role. Leigh Loveday stated in a 1999 online Q&A that the current Donkey Kong was intended to be Cranky Kong's son and thus an adult Donkey Kong Jr. as far as he was aware, and requested fans to completely ignore instances claiming Cranky to be his grandfather. Whether or not this statement was intended to be taken seriously, the Nintendo of Europe website for the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country supported this notion. According to Gregg Mayles in 2017, Cranky Kong is Donkey Kong's grandfather and called him "son" during the events of Donkey Kong 64 because he was so senile by then that he could not remember their actual relationship. The Italian Club Nintendo magazine also states that Cranky is the father of Donkey Kong, despite the Italian instruction booklet stating that he is the grandfather.

After Rare left Nintendo, the issue was left open for some time. Official bios for both Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee imply that the Donkey Kong from the arcade games is the same as the current Donkey Kong, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong describes Donkey Kong as Mario's "original foe". However, this is contradicted by Mario Superstar Baseball, which distinguishes "his ancestor, the original Donkey Kong". Subsequently, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis implies that Donkey Kong had never seen Pauline beforehand, suggesting him to be distinct from the original Donkey Kong. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (and, consequently, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) sticks with the story that the original Donkey Kong is the current Donkey Kong's grandfather. Donkey Kong Country Returns reaffirms the portrayal of Cranky Kong as the grandfather of the modern Donkey Kong. This would be contradicted again in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, in which Donkey Kong is referred to as Cranky Kong's son and, according to the Japanese website, successor.

The 2017 book Playing With Super Power: Nintendo Super NES Classics by Prima Games contains two contradictory notes. In one section, it is explained that Donkey Kong Jr. is a separate character from both Cranky Kong and Donkey Kong and is actually the father of the current Donkey Kong and the son of Cranky Kong (who is further explained to be the original Donkey Kong, "Donkey Kong Sr."). Another section, however, notes that the current Donkey Kong is in fact a grown-up Donkey Kong Jr. The Prima Games Twitter account clarified and elaborated upon the apparent contradiction, stating that the latter is meant to be taken as a metaphor for the original design process, whereas the former is the official interpretation of the characters' familial ties. This is the only published piece of media that has directly stated that Donkey Kong Jr. is the father of the current Donkey Kong.