DKC Atlas Forum

[Chibisai Kong]

Is Cranky the original Donkey Kong, all aged and bitter? People have wondered and debated so now it's time for us fans here at DKC Atlas to argue!

So there has been some speculation about whether or not DK is Donkey Kong Junior all grown up or his son, if Cranky is Donkey Kong Senior only aged and bitter or if that was actually the DK we know and love today, and that DK is Cranky's son or grandson. I, for one, support that our DK is actually Donkey Kong Junior and that Cranky is his father, the original Donkey Kong. Say what you want Nintendo fans — it's time to take sides.

My brother and I argued one day when we were driving down the road with our dad to dinner about this.

Speculate, my friends. SPECULATE.

[Monkeyshrapnel]

Cranky is the original DK, he says so in some phrases in dkc 1, plus it just makes sense

[Jomingo]

It has never been an issue of whether Cranky is the original DK or not; He is, plain and simple. The opening scene of DKC is pretty clear: Cranky is on an Arcade girder, playing the arcade theme song on his old record player. If that's not clear enough I don't know what is; besides, he flat out says he is during the game.

As for the new DK, nobody really knows who he is. He's either DKJr, and Cranky's son, or he's DKJr's son and Cranky's grandson.

The confusion stems back to Rare initially making a mistake on it. The original DKC flip-flopped on it and called him both at different instances. That initial confusion split people up until DK64, where Cranky called him son. Rare then confirmed through their Scribes section that DK was always supposed to be Cranky's son and that when they said otherwise it was a mistake. Seeing as Rare created the character, anything they said should be taken as the truth, and as such, anything since then that contradicts this (Like Brawl, or DKCR) shouldn't be taken as a Retcon, but instead as a mistake. Just because Retro's game is incredible doesn't mean they know more about DKC than Rare does, and if DK is supposed to be Cranky's son than that's that. Anyone who says otherwise screwed up, which is understandable because if the only thing they were looking at was the first DKC then they wouldn't know which it is because Rare themselves screwed up in that game.

[Chibisai Kong]

I know, Jomingo, but Nintendo has only recently supported the claim that Cranky was the original Donkey Kong. When Rare left, it went back to the grandfather/grandson relationship and has been that way since. We must take sides. Who do you choose, Nintendo or Rare?

I choose whichever one is most believable---AKA the one where Cranky is DK Sr. and DK is DK Jr.

This has nothing to do with this but either way---Wrinkly is Cranky's wife.

[Cosmicman]

The way I see it Rare created the game, so whatever Rare says I'll believe. Now with game sequels for different systems the story is going to get distorted , so I would only look at the original trilogy to find the answers.

Anyways as a little kid I always saw DK as Cranky's grandson even though Rare confirmed he isn't, but in my mind he was due to the fact that Cranky looks really old, lets say like 90 in human years, and DK looks really young, like a 20 year old in human years, unless DK was born when Cranky was 70, and I don't think Wrinkly should be able to give birth at 70 right?

[Jomingo]

Hmmm.... with DK's tie and everything I always got the impression that he was middle aged, which would make sense for Cranky to be his father then.

[Tiptup Jr.]

Oh crap, don't I just love this topic.

First of all, yeah, Cranky being the original Donkey Kong is undisputed fact. Moving on.

The first Donkey Kong Country, and every other game in existence beside Donkey Kong 64, says our DK is Cranky's grandson. This alone should end the debate. But of course DK64 calls him Cranky's son. I think this is a clear case of "Rare didn't know what the f--- they were talking about" as THEY basically made a retcon on their own material and, pressured by some sex-deprived DKUer (can't remember who), were forced to make a decision in a pinch and just went with what was most recently said. So Scribes vs. all DK games, I wonder who wins? Also, Rare hasn't had anything to do with the big ape in years and has no authority over current continuity. DK games nowadays simply default back to the original, true, and intended identity of Donkey Kong: Cranky's grandson.

(Also, I never viewed DKC Donkey Kong as middle-aged.)

[Chibisai Kong]

Even though Rare confirmed he isn't, but in my mind he was due to the fact that Cranky looks really old, lets say like 90 in human years, and DK looks really young, like a 20 year old in human years, unless DK was born when Cranky was 70, and I don't think Wrinkly should be able to give birth at 70 right?

Hm, niiiiiiiiiiiiiice. Thanks for the image, Cosmicman.

NOT.

That would be totally and utterly creepy and also very unimaginable. Even if it were possible, WHAT THE HELL WOULD OLD PEOPLE BE DOING HAVING SEX?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Find me a sponge! Preferrably one with a scratchy side! Or at least an SOS pad! HELP!!!!

So, yeah. That's the reaction you get for saying something like that, Cosmicman. You get a 15-year-old Texas girl screaming her head off.

[Jomingo]

Tiptup, the original DKC called him grandson once in game, and then called him son in the manual. In the game's official story, which is contained in the manual, he is called son. The manual was written by the guy in charge of writing the stories of the DKC trilogy, a little know guy by the name of Loveday. That same guy who wrote the story that called them father and son that later would host the scribes section and finally put to rest that it was intended to be SON the entire time, going all the way back to his original statement in DKC's official story. DKC2 and DKC3 I don't remember referring to him either way, but they might've called him grandson. Either way, the official material called him son, which was later confirmed as the truth and that all other instance's were MISTAKES.


A mistake that is clearly persisting until today when nobody can get it right because Rare themselves had made the mistake so many years ago. Just because everyone notices the mistake and thinks it's fact doesn't mean that it wasn't a mistake to begin with. The DK64 "son" and later Scribes weren't the first instances of DK being the son; it goes all the way back to DKC.

[Chibisai Kong]

This is fun!

*Everyone posting glares.*

O_O Er, maybe not. But anyway, this is what we're trying to across you see! DON'T MAKE ME GO INTO A LAMENT!!!!!! And yes, I know what a lament is. That was the joke.

Anyway, Jomingo I did not know this. That's why I created this topic. So if we've got everything covered...*ducks under desk and comes out with a giant mountain of cupcakes---FROSTED cupcakes* CUPCAKE FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Registered users start throwing cupcakes around.*

[Tiptup Jr.]

DKC2 and DKC3 I don't remember referring to him either way...

Cranky explicitly calls Donkey Kong his grandson in DKC2. And when it comes to continuity matters such as this, in-game text always takes precedence over the manual when a conflict arises. Also, to make myself perfectly clear: I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT LOVEDAY SAID ABOUT THIS ISSUE. I understand that he wrote the stories of Rare's Donkey Kong games, but he is NOT in charge of ANYTHING related to Donkey Kong whatsoever, so let's stop bringing him up. You're telling me every single game made since 1999 is making a mistake, and it's totally not possible that Rare just pulled a nonsense answer out of their ass and doesn't give a damn about continuity. Spoiler alert: To Rare, continuity is a joke. In fact it's the biggest joke of all to them. They might as well just rename Scribes "The Big effing Joke Book That Everyone Still Takes Seriously For Some Reason."

Rare died years ago.

It's Nintendo's call.

The end.

[Chibisai Kong]

...OK, no more cupcake fight.

[Jomingo]

I don't know what you're on about, but back in the day the game's manual was a big effing deal. Games didn't have a lot of in game story, and so the manual printed the official story of the game and is a very important piece of material to the game's canon. Why is it that you think you can just throw the manual out the door? That might be the case these day's when games have a ton of story in them and not a lot in the manual, but DKC's manual is the most important official resource on the game's canon.

Also, not every game since 1999 is making the mistake; most of them aren't mentioning it at all. The only ones off the top of my head (though I know there are others) are Brawl and DKCR, and Brawl also calls Kaptain K. Rool King K. Rool's brother, so it's credibility is out the window. So the only other major mistake was made by Retro, and that's because they went back to the original DKC for the answer, and the original FLIP-FLOPPED on it and used BOTH. While Retro didn't dig deep enough to find out that that was a mistake, it doesn't mean we should just accept that that was real. Also, Loveday wrote the stories for Rare who effing CREATED the character to begin with (Yes, Rare created Donkey Kong, at least the one we're talking about) wasn't just making up new canon out of nowhere as if he's in charge of the series. He was pointing out an issue that occurred years earlier that HE himself made, and he didn't just say out of nowhere that DK was Cranky's son as if he had always been referred to as Grandson, because the VERY FIRST GAME said BOTH of them. Since both of them had equal claim, Rare fixed the issue in DK64, which Loveday pointed out was their intention all along and that it was a MISTAKE.

He's not going back and changing things, he's just pointing out the way things are. It's not that surprising that other people have gotten it wrong if even the fans don't know what's right. But whatever, if you want to take trophy information over the word of the character's creators on a mistake that they themselves made, than fine. You can continue to be wrong all you want, you're still going to be wrong.

[Chibisai Kong]

...MY BRAIN!!!! *dies*

[Chibisai Kong]

Even though Rare confirmed he isn't, but in my mind he was due to the fact that Cranky looks really old, lets say like 90 in human years, and DK looks really young, like a 20 year old in human years, unless DK was born when Cranky was 70, and I don't think Wrinkly should be able to give birth at 70 right?

Hm, niiiiiiiiiiiiiice. Thanks for the image, Cosmicman.

NOT.

That would be totally and utterly creepy and also very unimaginable. Even if it were possible, WHAT THE HELL WOULD OLD PEOPLE BE DOING HAVING SEX?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

OK, so um... I take that back.

Cranky could be a pedophile.

[Master clyde super]

Okay, he's his son AND Grandson.
Canky had a son who cloned himself. The son (DK junio) called him son, so now he's Crankys Son AND Grandson. ase discussed, topic closed.

[Chibisai Kong]

No offense, but that's more confusing than MY theory

[Chibisai Kong]

My brother and I argued one day when we were driving down the road with our dad to dinner about this.

OK, so by that I meant we were confused as anybody and so we settled the matter with---what else would siblings do---an argument and our dad told us to shut up!

[SSBMaster11]

I'm starting to think that the Cranky of DKCR is actually the DK of DKC, from this one line (not sure if it's exactly right, but you get the idea):

"Back in my day, we had to find our own secrets!"

[Chibisai Kong]

*chuckles*Good theory but then how do you explain Diddy looking the same?

[Phyreburnz]

Here's my thoughts. They are two possibilities that, I think, make sense:

1. Cranky is the Original DK. DK Jr is Cranky's son. DK Jr is Donkey's father. DK Jr died/left/gave up Donkey (DK Jr magically disappears and no one know what happened to him). Cranky took Donkey in as his son. So from time-to-time, Cranky calls DK "son." But he also calls him "grandson" because he actually is his grandson.
Here's a little visual:
Cranky
\/
DK Jr
\/
Donkey

2. Cranky is the original DK. DK Jr is Cranky's son. As DK Jr grows up, he makes fun of Cranky's age and calls him "grandpa" or "gramps" just to make fun of him. With Cranky being somewhat senile, he starts to believe that he IS Donkey's grandfather; thus ends up calling Donkey "grandson."

[Chibisai Kong]

Ha ha... Those DO make sense!

[Phyreburnz]

Okay, I have a completely new theory that I came up with as I was trying to sleep. I'm sure it's completely wrong... but it's interesting to think about. And the reason I came up with this is because: If Cranky and Donkey Kong (from the arcade game) are one in the same, then why the name change and the rapid aging?

The Original Donkey Kong is SNES Donkey Kong. Cranky may have battled Jumperman (or Mario, if you prefer) in a time before the arcade DK. Donkey Kong Jr is actually Kiddy Kong. Donkey had a son before he met Candy. Even though DKjr saved DK, Donkey gave him up because either A.) he felt bad for having a kid before he met Candy or B.) he couldn't take care of him because he was always fighting or getting apenapped by K. Rool. So, Donkey gave up Donkey Kong jr to Dixie's family when they moved to DK island.

And this fits well, I think, because Donkey Kong Jr also appeared on the Super Nintendo's Mario Kart, which was released in 93. And Kiddy is about the same age as DKJr. So the timeline fits. And it's unlikely that Donkey Kong would age so much from 81 to 94. And I'm still going with Cranky is senile and Donkey Kong is really his son, but DK just calls Cranky grandpa just because he's old (and Cranky sometimes believes he's Gramps just because he's senile).

I know it's probably horrendously wrong, but I think it's an interesting theory.

[Tiptup Jr.]

Well, that theory is pretty unlikely, but I've found a really good resource for Cranky/DK debates: http://www.themushroomkingdom.net/kongtroversy.shtml

As you can see, Cranky being DK's grandfather wins hands down. The article also neglects to mention that in Mario Superstar Baseball the original Donkey Kong is called the current Donkey Kong's "ancestor"... would they say that if he was just his father? And don't get me started about the bios in MSB being faulty, whipped together randomly or just being in a cameo game: they might make a mistake in the spelling of certain names but they reveal some pretty interesting tidbits, such as Petey Piranha being mutated. Also, I know that the trophies in Super Smash Bros. Brawl made a lot of mistakes, but some of them were actually an effort to clear up continuity: Donkey Kong's first appearance is listed as Donkey Kong Country, which is true if he is Cranky's grandson, as Snake's Donkey Kong codec states.

There is only one video game throughout the course of history where Donkey Kong is referred to as Cranky Kong's son, and that is a fact.

[Phyreburnz]

I don't know... it's so hard to say. I think the best way to come up with a conclusion is to answer this question: Is Kong time the same as our time? Because if we're going off of time that we know of, Cranky would be Donkey Kong's father. If not, then Cranky could be Donkey's grandfather. Personally, I like going with real-time. I like my last theory, because although it's completely insane, it lines up (...I think...). I also like the theory of DK just calling Cranky "Gramps" or "Grandpa" and Cranky being senile enough to think it's true!

Oh! I remember the trophies in Brawl! I was like "What the f---?!?!?!" When I was reading about them!

Also, they could just use nicknames. Because Donkey calls Diddy his nephew, even though they aren't related.

*Edit* And again, the name-change doesn't make sense. If Cranky is indeed the original arcade Donkey Kong, why did his name change?

[SimianSegue]

I truly believe that DK is Cranky's son. I don't care what the games say, besides they're not very story based either. I also want to believe that. And while Wrinkly is a grandmother type of character, I think that she is DK's mother. Either that or there is one theory that I have in which DK is the original DK, and Cranky and Wrinkly are just the parents of this out-of-nowhere famous kid. That is all.

[Jomingo]

Tiptup, the article you list doesn't necessarily prove one way or another. If you're simply going by which of the two options is mentioned the most, then yes, Cranky is called grandfather more often than he's called father. He's also called Diddy's grandfather as well, so that doesn't really prove anything. The point I've tried to make is that if it was a mistake made before and then copied repeatedly, it doesn't matter how many times it shows up it's still a mistake. It's clear that the original intention of the character was for Donkey Kong to be a grown up Jr, rather than having Jr just disappear for no reason. As the scribes quote says, any time you hear them say grandfather just hum loudly and ignore it.

Lastly, perhaps the most useful quote from your article is this:

From the data presented here, it is clear that Rare and Nintendo aren't concerned with keeping DK's story straight, leaving it up to the fans to decide for themselves.

This. Neither Rare nor Nintendo really know the difference between Cranky being the dad or granddad, or whether DK is DKJr or not. Neither of them really care at all about this and it goes completely unnoticed. It doesn't matter to them. Therefore, it's up to the fans to decide for themselves, as the quote says. If you want to believe that Cranky is Dk's granddad that's fine, I won't argue with you about it because it's clear that neither answer can be called the "right" answer. I'm going to continue to believe that DK is DKJr because that makes the most sense to me and seems most consistent with what the intention of the character would be. Live and let live.

[Chibisai Kong]

HOLY CRAP WHAT THE F DID I MISS WHILE I WAS AT CAMP?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[Phyreburnz]

I still have the question about the name change that nobody seems to have the answer to:
If Cranky is Donkey Kong (arcade) then why did his name change?

[Chibisai Kong]

Um, his personality?

[Tiptup Jr.]

@Jomingo, it's not just a mistake that was copied over, and it's not that nobody cares: Nintendo is very adamant about making it clear that Donkey Kong is Cranky's grandson. I can't see why that's so hard for everyone to see. Spoiler alert, Nintendo DOES care about continuity and doesn't try to stifle everything Rare says (despite what you hear from the entire Donkey Kong fandom) it's just that in current continuity Cranky is DK's grandfather. I don't see how that's a mistake. f---. And about them saying Cranky is Diddy's grandfather, well, I call my great-grandpa my grandfather sometimes, so there you go. Also:

It's clear that the original intention of the character was for Donkey Kong to be a grown up Jr, rather than having Jr just disappear for no reason.

If you wanna get technical, Rare's "original intention" for DK was for him to just be the Arcade DK, and Diddy was DK Jr. Obviously this was changed afterwards. DK wouldn't be DK Jr. because Rare is VERY persistent in pre-DK64 material that Cranky is DK's grandfather. I think Loveday was just full of nonsense in that one issue of Scribes; no, I don't always take him seriously. (But he WROTE the manual for DKC, where it says Cranky is DK's grandpa numerous times.)

It's Scribes and one game versus ALL OTHER OFFICIALLY RELEASED DONKEY KONG MATERIAL THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF TIME. I wonder which one is true.

EDIT: And Phyreburnz, Donkey Kong was probably dubbed Cranky by the other Kongs because of his crankiness and old age, and to differentiate him from the other Donkey Kongs.

[Jomingo]

Nintendo has never cared about continuity. Occasionally, development studios within Nintendo at specific points in time have tried to work deep continuity into a specific game, but generally that's not the case and most of Nintendo's games are made to be self contained, ie they have their own story and gameplay and really don't connect to the previous game in a continuity sense. Look at Mario: None of the games have continuity at all except for the RPG games sometimes but those are different studios. Look at Legend of Zelda: the creators have insisted that there is no timeline and that every game is self contained; sometimes they appear to connect to other games but that's just because they felt like being like that game at the time. The only continuity heavy Nintendo franchises are Metroid and Star Fox; Metroid just because the creator handles every game and ties the stories together, and Star Fox has been handled by 3rd parties since the first one in the timeline (SF64). The only two Star Fox games Nintendo made rebooted each other, that's how much they care about continuity.

In the case of Donkey Kong: Why on Earth would anybody at Nintendo care about whether Cranky is DK's grandfather or his father? It's not even an important detail, I highly doubt they even think about that when making a game. You talk about Nintendo like they're going out of there way to make sure grandpa is mentioned every game to make sure everybody knows it, but really, why would it even be that important to them? Every instance of it being used is just that particular developer doing a quick search to find out how they're related, it's not some important message handed down from the company.

I'm only saying that if it were a mistake as Loveday mentioned, then what would happen? Let's imagine for a second that Rare's pre-DK64 efforts (really like 3 games that mention it) were mistaken HYPOTHETICALLY. Then they try to correct in DK64, and then they never make a Donkey Kong game again and thus they don't ever have a chance to push the change (the remakes don't count because they aren't the same teams that made the originals and they are just trying to port the originals over). After Rare's is done with the series, other people handle it. And what are they going to do when the wonder how Cranky is related to DK? They are going to look back and see it in the first few DKC's and then they're going to just go with that. Every developer since then has done this and thus the mistake is more common than the truth HYPOTHETICALLY. I'm just saying that if it were a mistake, this is exactly how it would've went down and we wouldn't know the truth. It's possible. But since we don't know and there is no conclusive reason to believe that either one is definitively right, we have to decide for ourselves and I'm not going to change my mind that it was their intention for him to be his son and that that's who he is. Ever.

[Phyreburnz]

Star Fox has been handled by 3rd parties since the first one in the timeline (SF64)

Just a minor correction: the first Star Fox game was on Super Nintendo.

[Tiptup Jr.]

Show me something that indicates beyond a shadow of a doubt that Nintendo doesn't care about continuity. Please. PLEASE. I'd like to see this magical source of info that you all seem to have. And I have played my fair share of Mario games, and let me tell you, there IS a storyline and universe, continuity, etc. It's just not necessarily the main focus of the games themselves. As for why Nintendo would care about Cranky and DK's relationship, I don't know. Why do dogs walk around in circles before they lie down? Because they just do, and that's their stance and they stick to that (referring to Cranky, not the dogs). But the simple fact is Rare doesn't own Donkey Kong anymore. He has changed a lot since they had their hands on him. Without Rare Donkey Kong would not be what he is today, that's true, but there are other things that have helped shape him over the past couple of years.

Also, I believe Nintendo has spoken out about the Cranky and DK relationship in recent years because of fans endlessly debating it. Yes, another surprise: Nintendo and other video game companies actually do have analysts who keep up with video game forums and communities. I firmly believe that one of these people has seen the DKU at one point or another.

Final point: It's not entirely fair to suggest that the DKC ports (which were GREAT ports, by the way) were made by completely different people. There are some who stayed on, some who didn't. All I'm saying about this whole Cranky and DK issue is that it's not really fair to treat a certain view as undeniable fact when there is so much going against it. Like you said, it's not completely incorrect to believe one possibility over the other, as long as they both have substantial evidence supporting them, but generally speaking, as of July 18, 2011, Cranky Kong is more often than not considered the grandfather of our modern Donkey Kong.

[Jomingo]

@Phyreburnz: I know that, but SF64 is the first in the timeline, which is what I said. SF64 is a reboot of Star Fox, they don't take place in the same universe.

@Tiptup: I'm almost positive that the DKC ports weren't made by the same people that made the originals. Not because those people didn't work at Rare anymore (as I'm sure some of them still did/do), but because Rare is split up into tons of internal teams and I don't think the same ones did the ports. For instance, the team that made Banjo isn't the same as the one that made the DKCs. The team that made DKC didn't even make DK64. The most recent thing that I know the DKC team made was Star Fox adventures. After that I have no idea what they did, but I doubt they're the same team that made the ports.

I don't treat the idea as undeniable fact. I'm saying neither of the two possibilities can be stated as fact, and therefore I can choose to believe whichever of the two I want I believe that Cranky is DK's father, so that's what I'm going to continue to believe. You can't say for a fact that he is his grandfather, otherwise we wouldn't even be debating this. And I already acknowledged before that the grandfather idea may have more references, but that doesn't mean it's undeniably correct. There's enough evidence to believe either way, so I'm going with my way.

And on the issue of Nintendo and continuity: Nintendo as a company doesn't have one ruling party that goes around inserting continuity into every game they publish. Continuity exists within Nintendo because individual developers on an individual basis within Nintendo put continuity within their titles, but the company itself doesn't oversee every single game to make sure they all put in a certain reference or whatever. It's on a game to game basis by whoever is making the game at the time.

[Phyreburnz]

I think it would be kind of neat if every game came up with their own idea of the relationship between Cranky and DK. It would just be for fun. The Traveling Wilburys (a band that I like) has a different story of the creation of the band in each album booklet. They're all bogus, but it's fun. I think it should be up to each person to determine the "real" relationship.

[krematoa]

Here's my thoughts. They are two possibilities that, I think, make sense:

1. Cranky is the Original DK. DK Jr is Cranky's son. DK Jr is Donkey's father. DK Jr died/left/gave up Donkey (DK Jr magically disappears and no one know what happened to him). Cranky took Donkey in as his son. So from time-to-time, Cranky calls DK "son." But he also calls him "grandson" because he actually is his grandson.
Here's a little visual:
Cranky
\/
DK Jr
\/
Donkey

2. Cranky is the original DK. DK Jr is Cranky's son. As DK Jr grows up, he makes fun of Cranky's age and calls him "grandpa" or "gramps" just to make fun of him. With Cranky being somewhat senile, he starts to believe that he IS Donkey's grandfather; thus ends up calling Donkey "grandson."

I know it may be out of place but when DK jr. win a cup in mario tennis he jump in DKs hands as if it was his father. I should not trust mario tennis but it's still interesting to notice. The first theory don't make any senses if they consider DK.jr DK's son. I don't think rare would inlude senility and other nasty stuff that oldies can suffer in the DKC story.

[Kimi Kong]

AAAAAAAAUGH!!!! So confusing!!!!

[Scraps69]

This has always been my theory. Feel free to dissaprove heh.

[Chibisai Kong]

WOW. The "Banged Wrinkly" thing just sounds wrong. It took me, like, an hour to write just those two words in general!

[Tiptup Jr.]

Cranky Kong is original Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. is his son, current Donkey Kong is Donkey Kong Jr.'s son and Cranky Kong's grandson.

[SexyRayman]

I thought Cranky Kong was Donkey's father or grandfather or something ._.

[Glimmer]

I always thought that Cranky is Donkey Kong's father. For me the question was if Diddy had any relation with Cranky and DK.

[Chibisai Kong]

I found something extremely creept on www.tvtropes.org conceerning their relationship and took a screenshot so I could show you what it is:

http://dklover101295.deviantart.com/art ... -305790995

[Katastrophe Kong]

This has always been my theory. Feel free to dissaprove heh.

I have a similar theory, one which involves less instances of the word "banged":

Mario's family had immigrated during the greatest surge of Italian immigration to the U.S. (1880-1920). Sometime during the mid 1900s, Donkey Kong Island had been discovered and was being colonized by humans from the eastern United States. By the year 1980, Mario was working as a Carpenter in a developing city (Big Ape City as it would later be known as by the Kongs) on the southern side of the island.

Mario had always been a very successful entrepreneur and was knowledgeable in many trades. Of those trades he was a great hunter, and even brought back a pet Gorilla he named Donkey Kong, which he used to impress his love Pauline. In the year 1981, after a long history of abuse, Donkey Kong (who would later take the title Cranky Kong) escaped in a fit of rage and stole Pauline away with him. Mario was informed that the Ape had taken her to his work space on an unfinished building and was extremely agitated. When help wasn't arriving quick enough, Mario went to go rescue her himself. After a long scuttle through many dangerous floors, Mario had defeated Donkey Kong and locked him up for good.

After that incident, Mario was more crueller to DK than ever, making him preform in circuses and other humiliating and terrifying acts. Pretty soon, word got back to DK's family. His wife (who would later be known as Wrinkly Kong) and his son, Donkey Kong Jr. (who would later adopt the title, Donkey Kong) were horrified at this news. Determined to make something of himself, Donkey Kong Jr. snuck out into the city ready to free his father. After a long battle with Mario, Donkey Kong Jr. rescued his father and they both escaped back into the Jungle. After that, Mario and Pauline ended their relationship, and Mario went back to America where he would start up his own Plumbing business with his younger brother Luigi. Donkey Kong would later have an awkward struggle with a bugman named Stanley in his greenhouse.

Back in the jungle, Donkey Kong (after being fed up with being humiliated by the humans) ordered his many Jungle companions to siege an attack on Big Ape City and eventually they had driven all the humans off of DK island, and the U.S. government had determined the island it to be unsafe for living and left it alone. This small, obscure colonization experiment would be forever lost in U.S. history.

Over the years Donkey Kong had become old and frail and unfit for adventuring. However, his son Donkey Kong Jr. was becoming stronger everyday. Eventually, in a ceremony of becoming of age, Donkey Kong awarded his son the title of Donkey Kong and adopted the title Cranky Kong due to his new bitter attitude. The new Donkey Kong would later become a greater video game hero than even his father the original Donkey Kong.

When Cranky Kong calls DK his grandson and DK calls Cranky his grandfather, they're simply speaking in terms of endearment.

As for Yoshi's Island and the Baby Mario, I'd like to ignore the ending and say the Stork delivered the Mario Brothers to Brooklyn. Same goes for Yoshi's Island DS, only Baby Donkey Kong is an earlier version of Donkey Kong Jr . (Baby DK being an infant and Donkey Kong Jr. being a child).

I also have an explanation for all the "Babies coexisting with the adult forms" in the newer Mario games. Do you really think all Mario got from Peach was a cake and a kiss on the cheek? I think they had kids together (Baby Mario and Baby Peach). The same thing definitely happened to Luigi and Daisy (Baby Luigi and Baby Daisy). As for Bowser and his son? Bowser must've done HORRIBLE things to Peach when he kidnapped her... I don't believe all that "Son, Peach isn't your mama" sunshine crap. Where else would seven Koopalings and a Jr. come from? These are the facts, people!

Those are my theories and I'm stickin' to 'em!

[Gillbergfan]

Tiptup, the original DKC called him grandson once in game, and then called him son in the manual. In the game's official story, which is contained in the manual, he is called son.

Actually that's incorrect the manual refers to Cranky Kong as DK's grandfather here's the quote "He groggily rolled over to see the familiar wrinkled, white bearded, grouchy face of his old granddad" It also refers to him as the original Donkey kong though

[Katastrophe Kong]

Actually that's incorrect the manual refers to Cranky Kong as DK's grandfather here's the quote "He groggily rolled over to see the familiar wrinkled, white bearded, grouchy face of his old granddad" It also refers to him as the original Donkey kong though

So, you went through the effort of making an account here only to make one post so that you could correct someone?

[Qyzbud]

If so, that's impressive... thanks for making the effort, Gillbergfan!

I'm hoping you'll stick around, though; the Atlas could use a few more members with your attention to detail.


As for your theory, Katastrophe Kong... I like it! Very well written and researched. Seems pretty much air-tight to me. Not too sure about the Bowser/Peach hanky-panky, though...

Surely a 'mini-me' clone, or a case of covert Koopa/Koopa coitus is more likely (and more acceptable!)...

[Chibisai Kong]

Oh my gosh, I never thought I'd see the day someone used the word coitus here. XD

[Gillbergfan]

If so, that's impressive... thanks for making the effort, Gillbergfan!

I'm hoping you'll stick around, though; the Atlas could use a few more members with your attention to detail.

Actually I was only half right while the manual does refer to Cranky Kong as DK's Granddad it also refers to him as DK's pappy on another page