Funky Kong

Funky Kong (ファンキーコング Fankī Kongu) is a recurring character in the Donkey Kong series. Funky often serves as an ally to the Kong Family by offering services such as his transportation and weaponry. He has also recently been appearing in most DK spin-offs and even Mario spin-offs. He is also in the Mario Kart Series. He acts as role-model for DK to look up to, learn from, and strive to be, as even if DK is the big main hero, the even more laid-back Funky exemplifies the idea of: "there will always be someone better".

Cranky is Donkey Kong's grandfather and speculated to be Funky Kong's grandfather as Funky takes over the Item Shop/family business in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. In Donkey Kong 64, Funky wears an army outfit he found and owns a weapon shop.

According to his guide biography from Mario Kart Wii as well as he himself stating in the story from the manual of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Funky Kong does not like adventuring, preferring to aid his friends through other means, such as through his shops and flight services. Funky is portrayed as bold and energetic, and often uses casual phrases in his speech (e.g. "This. Stuff. Is. Awesome. I have no idea what it is, dude, but it tastes radical!"). Also, despite his dislike for adventuring, it seems that he is willing to adventure to help his friends, as he is a playable character in the Nintendo Switch version of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Funky's hobbies include such things as surfing and tinkering with and building various machinery such as vehicles and weapons (such as repairing a crashed plane with a Barrel).

Donkey Kong series
Donkey Kong Country Funky Kong makes his debut in the original Donkey Kong Country. Funky serves as the owner of Funky's Flights, which is available in every area of Donkey Kong Island. He will allow Donkey and Diddy Kong to use his Jumbo Barrel to travel to areas of the island the player has beaten. In Donkey Kong Country' ' s two remakes, Funky also hosts Funky's Fishing, which is a combo-based fishing minigame.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest/Land 2
Funky Kong returns inevitably in the sequel to Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. His role is largely unchanged, hosting Funky's Flights II, the most major changes being cosmetic. Funky Kong actually owns two different aircraft in this game; in the original release, he has the Biplane Barrel, but in the Game Boy Advance remake he owns a Gyrocopter. Also in the remake he runs several mission based mini-games requiring the Gyrocopter that reward DK Coins. Lastly, he, in the Game Boy Advance remake, bombs the Flying Krock after Diddy and Dixie defeat Kaptain K. Rool and escape via Gyrocopter away from Crocodile Isle.

In the instruction manual Funky claims he hates adventure as his reason for not taking a direct role in Diddy's battle with the Kremlings, though he's also aware of Diddy's hero training and him wanting redemption for failing to protect the Banana Hoard in the first game, so Funky decided he wanted Diddy to rise to stardom.

In Donkey Kong Land 2 for the Game Boy, Funky Kong's role is exactly the same as in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest, with him allowing Diddy and Dixie to use his Funky Barrel to travel to areas they've previously been to, for a price.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Funky Kong runs Funky's Rentals in the Northern Kremisphere, near Bazaar's General Store; at the beginning of the game, Dixie Kong must visit Funky in order to pick up her cousin and partner throughout the game, Kiddy Kong, as well as the Motor Boat. As Dixie and Kiddy progress through the game, they can gain various items and give them to Funky, who will use them to create new, more powerful vehicles for them to use and reach new locations.

Throughout Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, references to Funky working on a "secret project" are made by the Brothers Bear; if Dixie and Kiddy confront Funky about this, he will acknowledge that he is working on something, also saying that for a down payment of every DK Coin in the game, he will let the Kongs see what it is and let them use it. If the Kongs do bring Funky all the DK Coins obtainable, he will give them his Gyrocopter, which they can use to locate the Banana Bird Queen and her last three children.

In the Game Boy Advance port of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Funky Kong's role is essentially the same as in the original, with the only difference being that he will allow Dixie and Kiddy to play various mini-games in his shop; if the Kongs beat all these minigames, Funky will reward them with a Banana Bird.

In the Brazilian commercial for DKC3, it can be seen that Funky's sprite from Donkey Kong Country 2 was still being in use at the time.

Donkey Kong 64
In Donkey Kong 64, Funky runs Funky's Armory, which, as its name implies, is a weapons shop from which the Kongs can buy weapons and accessories. Funky Kong will also give away free ammunition if the Kongs visit him and he has nothing available for sale. In this game, Funky is located in every world except Hideout Helm. Each Kong has a unique gun. Donkey has the Coconut Shooter, Diddy has the Peanut Popguns, Lanky has the Grape Shooter, Tiny has the Feather Bow, and Chunky has the Pineapple Launcher.

During the ending cut scene of Donkey Kong 64, it is Funky who delivers the final blow (after Chunky Kong in the actual fight) to King Krusha K. Rool; as the Kremling King is distracted by Candy Kong, Funky, equipped with a rocket launcher, fires a boot at him, which knocks King Krusha K. Rool through the ceiling of his arena and on to K. Lumsy Island.

Donkey Kong Country Returns
While Funky Kong is absent in DKCR he is jokingly alluded to by Cranky who says he doesn't know anybody with an airplane that using one would be convenient.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Funky Kong appears in this game, replacing Cranky Kong as the owner of the Item Shop and taking over the family business. The shop name is called "Funky's Fly 'N' Buy." In the Nintendo Switch port of this game, Funky also becomes a playable character for the first time in a main Donkey Kong game via 'Funky Mode'.

Diddy Kong Pilot
Funky was going to appear as a playable character, as seen on the character selection screen in Diddy Kong Pilot, but had turned out as vaporware, due to Rare's buyout.

DK: King of Swing
Funky Kong's role in DK: King of Swing is largely minimal, with him appearing only in the opening cut scene, after King K. Rool steals all the Jungle Jam Medals. Funky makes his first playable appearance in the game's Jungle Jam mode, where his partner is Dixie Kong. He has a very high strength, like most of his other appearances, but lacks the ability to jump high and far.

DK Jungle Climber
In DK Jungle Climber, Funky, along with the bulk of the Kong Family, goes on vacation to Sun Sun Island; when Donkey, Diddy, Cranky meet the banana alien Xananab and decide to help in his quest to reclaim his Crystal Bananas, which were stolen by the Kremling Gang, Funky will reopen Funky's Flights. If the Kongs and Xananab collect a certain amount of Oil Barrels, they can give them to Funky to power his Barrel Plane, which can fly them to a smaller version of the island they're on. It is likely Funky Kong flies DK, Diddy, Cranky, and Xananab to the next island, but doesn't go with the gang through the wormhole to chase King K. Rool. It is possible he flew back to Sun Sun Island after that. Funky Kong is also playable in the game's VS. Mode.

Donkey Konga 3
Funky Kong appears as a playable character in the Japan-exclusive game Donkey Konga 3, showing that he can play music like the other Kongs.

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
He also appears as an unlockable character in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, where he is one the most physically powerful characters in the game, but so-so in other stats; his main rival in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast is the Kremling Kludge.

Mario Kart Wii
In the Wii game Mario Kart Wii Funky Kong makes his very first playable appearance in an official Mario game. He is an unlockable Large-sized character, unlocked by obtaining four Expert Staff Ghost Data on Time Trial mode. While he does not have his own race course, he does have his own battle track, the Funky Stadium. Though it is not stated so on the official website, it is widely believed that Funky Kong is the fastest character in the game, as every world champ uses him, specifically on the Flame Runner or the Spear, the two fastest Large bikes. If the player watch closely to the stats of Large-sized karts and bikes, the player can see Funky Kong is indeed a (little) bit faster in some karts and bikes than other Large-sized characters (except Rosalina who appears to be as fast as Funky Kong). He made his second playable appearance in a Mario game in the Wii title Mario Super Sluggers.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Funky cameos as a collectible trophy: ''A sunglassed surfer and friend of the Kongs. Funky Kong is indeed funky, from his looks to his lingo. Funky provides different services to the Kongs throughout the different games, be it a barrel-transport system or ammunition expertise. He may have tired of business dealings, as he's been a barrel-race participant more recently.''

Television
In the Donkey Kong Country television series, Funky Kong appears as a major character, with his character being relatively the same as in the games - the adventure loathing owner of Funky's Flights and one of Donkey Kong's best friends. Like his video game conterpart, he still calls DK "Donkey-Dude". As well as enjoying surfing and dancing, Funky is portrayed as exceptionally spiritual in the show, known to talk about subjects such as karma quite often. On the show, Funky is portrayed as having golden colored fur instead of brown, wore more goggle-like glasses and spoke with a Jamaican accent, provided by voice actor Damon D’Oliveira.

He is revealed to have water in his head and a tiny brain. Also, it's revealed that if DK never existed he is shown to be one of Diddy's lackeys and lonely.

Literature
In the novel Donkey Kong: Rumble in the Jungle, Funky Kong takes Diddy Kong for a flight. While above the jungle, Diddy points out that the deserted Big Ape City is strangely active again. After dropping Diddy Kong off, Funky investigates, but is captured by the Kremlings. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong go into the city to save him.

In the German edition Club Nintendo, Funky Kong appears in a somewhat minor role in the comic "Donkey Kong in: Banana Day 24", where he appears at the celebration the Kong Family has at its end. In Club Nintendo's comic book length adaptation of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Funky makes a brief appearance in the scene where Cranky explains Banana Coins and Kremkoins to Diddy and Dixie.

In the Donkey Kong comic "Bumm-Badabumm im Urwald", Funky (being called "Funky-Kong", with a hyphen in his name) despite not actually appearing in the story, does play a crucial role in it. In the comic, Funky is the one who alerts Donkey, Diddy and Dixie Kong, through drumming, that the Kremling Krew has plundered all the bananas on Donkey Kong Island.

Other
There is a large amount of merchandise of Funky Kong, most of it based off his appearance in Donkey Kong Country or the television series, has been released; this includes objects such as statuettes, plush dolls, mini figures and key-chains.

Trivia

 * Without his bandanna and shades, Funky Kong looks identical to DK due to using the same character model, except for the shade of his fur being lighter.
 * It is speculated that, due to their identical appearance, Funky Kong and Donkey Kong are likely brothers.
 * Cranky is Donkey Kong's grandfather and speculated to be Funky Kong's grandfather as he takes over the Item Shop/family business in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.
 * Funky on multiple occasions calls himself a monkey like "Funky the main monkey" or "Funky's the Monkey" hinting that it's his catchphrase or nickname possibly for monkey rhyming with his name.
 * Diddy Kong is shown mimicking Funky's surfing pose when he riding on the flower pedals in the final scenes of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze or when he is on Funky's surfboard during an idle animation.
 * According to the DKC series and the Candy Kong trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Funky Kong has a crush on Candy Kong.
 * Funky Kong in video games and other media has showcased and achieved many feats.
 * Funky's Biplane Barrel has a reference to the Royal Air Force via the symbol and circular paint job, implying that Funky represents and was part of the Royal Air Force.
 * Funky's surfboard in DKC has the brand name Nintendo on it.
 * Funky's tank top/singlet/wife beater/leotard resembles Donkey Kong Junior's.
 * In Tropical Freeze, Funky actually uses a skimboard rather than a surfboard.
 * Donkey Kong's head is shaped like a coconut, while his eyes/eyebrow shape was inspired by Zitz's eyes/eyebrow shape from the Battletoads series, Funky Kong's sunglasses are possibly taken from Rash.
 * Funky Kong's appearance closely resembles to Thrilla Gorilla, a mascot who debuted in the 1980s to Town & Country Surf Designs, who appeared in two NES games called T & C Surf Designs: Wood & Water Rage & T & C II: Thrilla's Surfari. There was a fan theory that Rare got the inspiration of Funky Kong from Thrilla Gorilla's design, though this was disproven by tweets by Steve and Gregg Mayles since they never saw Thrilla Gorilla before, and they both come from the UK, meaning they didn't know much about the games for the NES that came out in NA. Gregg says back in 1994 he wanted one of the Kongs to be cool, and for surfing is pretty cool with that Funky was born. In 2018 Funky would probably be some kind of bearded hipster Kong.
 * His appearances in the Stephen Squirrelsky and Friends' Movie Spoof Travels are Animal Story 2 and will hopefully be in more.