Funky Kong

Funky Kong is a recurring Kong in the Donkey Kong franchise. He first appears in Donkey Kong Country. While portrayed as an easygoing surfer, Funky is a very skilled mechanic, creating many vehicles and other inventions from limited materials, namely barrels. In most of his appearances, Funky operates a transportation service for the Kongs using one or more of his vehicles.

Funky's first appearance outside the Donkey Kong franchise, and in media not produced by Rare, is as a cameo in Picross NP Vol. 8. Donkey Konga 2 is Funky's first physical appearance in a game not developed by Rare. Funky has made a few appearances in the Mario franchise, the first time being as an unlockable racer in Mario Kart Wii.

Donkey Kong Country
In Donkey Kong Country, Funky is the owner of Funky's Flights, a rental service where he allows Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong to use his Funky Barrel to travel between worlds that they have either accessed or completed.

In both the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance remakes, Funky hosts the Funky's Fishing mini-game, where the Kongs' objective is to catch as many fish within the time limit. In the Game Boy Color version, Funky's Fishing is only playable from the main menu. Funky does not appear in the mini-game itself, and is only suggested as its host.

In the Game Boy Advance version, Funky hosts the mini-game along with his flight service during the main game. Donkey Kong and Diddy are no longer required to visit Funky to use his Funky Barrel, as the player can select the "CALL FUNKY" option from the Start menu. In each world, Funky provides a different objective for each Funky's Fishing challenge, such as in Kremkroc Industries, Inc., where Donkey Kong and Diddy must fish out ten bottles. In the same version, Funky is shown during the ending cutscene with the other Kongs.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Funky Kong returns in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. He hosts another flight service, Funky's Flights II, in every world except the Lost World. Funky allows Diddy and Dixie to use the Biplane Barrel if they pay two Banana Coins, although every trip after the first one are free. In the original Super Nintendo version, Funky is shown to surf in midair with his hoverboard.

In the Game Boy Advance version, Funky hosts a bonus game, Funky's Flights, in each world of the game. The Biplane Barrel is replaced with the Gyrocopter, which Funky allows Diddy and Dixie to freely use from the world map after they complete the Aerial Loop challenge. Funky hosts a different challenge in each world, and if Diddy and Dixie complete a challenge, Funky rewards a DK Coin to them. In the same version, Funky also appears with the Gyrocopter in the ending, and he rescues Diddy, Dixie, Donkey Kong, and Cranky from The Flying Krock before it crashes onto the ground. In the 102% ending, Funky drops a bomb onto Kaptain K. Rool from the Gyrocopter to stop him from escaping.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Funky has a larger role than in the previous two games. He operates Funky's Rentals from the Northern Kremisphere, where he allows Dixie and Kiddy to rent various watercraft to travel across the waters of the Northern Kremisphere. At first, the Motor Boat is the only vehicle that Funky has available. As the Kongs obtain certain items along the way, Funky can use them to construct a few more vehicles, each one having more capabilities than its predecessor.

At the start of the game, Dixie must visit Funky, who gives Kiddy to her, and use 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. After completing Kremwood Forest, the Kongs obtain the patch, which they can take to Funky for him to create the Hover Craft. After completing Cotton Top Cove and Mekanos, the Kongs can return the skis to Funky for him to create the Turbo Ski.

Throughout the game, the Brothers Bear reference a "secret project" that Funky is working on; if Dixie and Kiddy ask Funky about the project, he acknowledges it but requires the Kongs to obtain every DK Coin to let them use it. If the Kongs bring every DK Coin to Funky, he allows them to use the Gyrocopter.

In the Game Boy Advance remake, Funky hosts a series of four minigames. If the Kongs complete all of them, Funky rewards them with a Banana Bird.

Donkey Kong Land 2
In Donkey Kong Land 2, Funky has the same role as in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. If Diddy or Dixie pay Funky two Banana Coins, he allows them to use the Biplane Barrel to travel between worlds from the world map.

Donkey Kong 64
In Donkey Kong 64, Funky operates a weapons store, Funky's Store, in every level except Hideout Helm. He first sells a shooter to each respective Kong when they first visit. In later levels, Funky also sells two ammo belt upgrades, a sniper scope, and the ability to pick up homing ammo. Each time the Kongs are low on ammo, right before a Kong leaves the store, Funky refills their ammo supply entirely.

After defeating King Krusha K. Rool at the boxing arena, Candy walks in and distracts him. Meanwhile, Funky walks in and fires a boot at K. Rool, knocking him up through the ceiling of the arena. During the end credits, Funky mimics the sounds of some weapons such as aerial bombs and machine guns on a cliff, then does some acrobatics.

Appearances in related media
Funky appears in some media that is heavily based on the Donkey Kong games developed by Rare.

Donkey Kong Country: Rumble in the Jungle
In the 1995 novel Donkey Kong Country: Rumble in the Jungle, Funky Kong owns a custom-built plane made from a Barrel, which he uses to transport clients around Donkey Kong Island. He promises Diddy Kong an exciting ride as a passenger while he performs tricks in the air. During their flight, they notice smoke coming from the long abandoned Big Ape City, which Funky prefers not to investigate because he doesn't enjoy looking for trouble. After Diddy's flight, Funky gets attacked by a swarm of flying pigs near Big Ape City, causing his plane to crash. Donkey Kong, Cranky Kong, and Diddy cross the jungle on foot, to where he has been held captive by the Kremlings within Big Ape City. The Kremlings believe that Funky Kong is a spy, and they intend to use a painful "truth machine" on him, as ordered by King K. Rool.

After breaking out of his cell, Funky involves himself in defeating a group of Kremlings, although he is normally "too laid back" to fight. He later inspects his plane in the cargo room, and finds that he is able to easily repair most of the damage, although he requires a new water pump for the engine. He draws a map of the factory so that the other Kongs can find a replacement, due to having seen most of the factory while the Kremlings were deciding where to take him. After Funky successfully repairs the engine, all of the Kongs board the plane and Funky flies out from the factory through a hole in the wall. The plane is attacked by the flying pigs a second time, however Funky has the idea to pour the plane's entire banana milkshake supply onto the pigs so that they are no longer able to fly. Funky then maneuvers his plane over King K. Rool's zeppelin, which allows Donkey Kong and Diddy to plant it with TNT Barrels. After destroying the Factory, Funky Kong flies the others back to their tree house in the jungle.

Donkey Kong Country television series
In the Donkey Kong Country television series, Funky Kong appears as a major character, with his character being relatively the same as in the Donkey Kong Country series, being the adventure-loving owner of Funky's Flights and one of Donkey Kong's best friends. As well as enjoying surfing and dancing, Funky is portrayed as exceptionally spiritual in the show, known to talk about subjects such as quite often. On the show, Funky is portrayed as having golden colored fur instead of brown, wears more goggle-like glasses and speaks with a Jamaican accent, provided by voice actor Damon D'Oliveira.

Bumm-Badabumm im Urwald
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.

Club Nintendo
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.

Super Smash Bros. series
A trophy of Funky Kong is obtainable in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. He also appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a master spirit. He runs a shop called Funky Kong's Shack, where he sells snacks, skill spheres, support items, and spirits that are themed around transportation.

Other appearances and references
Funky Kong's face appears in Picross NP Vol. 8 as one of the images that must be cleared. After solving the puzzle, he shows his eyes to the player.

Funky Kong also appears in volume 14 of Super Mario-kun. He allows Mario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong to ride the Funky Barrel.

Additionally, some merchandise based on Funky Kong has been released, most of it based on his appearance in Donkey Kong Country or the television series; this includes objects such as statuettes, plush dolls, mini figures, and keychains.

Physical appearance
Funky Kong has the same general build as fellow Kongs such as Donkey and Kiddy Kong, being both large and muscular. Funky's fur is generally light brown in color, though the shade of it varies in his appearances and artwork, being either light or dark. In all of his appearances, Funky wears a pair of sunglasses which conceal what his true eyes look like; however, in Donkey Kong Country, Funky could be seen lifting his sunglasses and revealing a pair of eyes just like Donkey Kong's, and in Donkey Kong 64, his sunglasses were transparent and tinted red, so his eyes were still visible. Funky's sunglasses were originally black in color in Donkey Kong Country, but virtually all subsequent appearances depict as being purple tinted.

In Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, and Donkey Kong Land 2, Funky Kong's attire is essentially the same, with him wearing a red bandanna with white polka-dots, medals around his neck (""), a purple swimsuit, and sandals.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! radically alters Funky's appearance, having him discard his medals and replace them with tools slung from a tool belt; Funky also wears a white muscle shirt, blue shorts and black boots in this game. Additionally he has an upright posture and is taller than his last appearance.

Donkey Kong 64 has Funky radically change his attire once again, with him wearing a navy blue camouflage print attire and army hat, black combat boots and red teashades. He is noticeably more muscular then DK, though not as burly as Chunky Kong.

In recent appearances, Funky's appearance has remained consistent, being identical to his attire from Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, with his tool belt being replaced by a regular one and no boots.

While Funky's bandanna has always been red with white polka dots in official artwork, in-game sprites depicted it as purple in the first two Donkey Kong Country games and solid red in the third. DK: King of Swing introduced Funky's modern design, and it is the first game where he has a polka-dot bandanna.

Personality
Funky Kong is a laid-back primate like Donkey Kong. According to his guide bio from Mario Kart Wii and as he himself states in the story from the manual of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Funky Kong abhors adventuring, preferring to aid his friends through other means, such as through his shops and flight services. Despite this, in the Nintendo Switch version of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Funky is introduced as a playable character, and adventures alongside the Kongs.

Funky is portrayed as bold and energetic, and often uses casual phrases in his speech. His hobbies include such things as surfing and tinkering with and building various machinery such as vehicles and weapons.

German Donkey Kong 64 website
"The coolest ape in the world has once again changed his occupation. Some time ago he discovered his predilection for weapons technology. He has succeeded in transforming harmless tropical fruit and colorful feathers into effective projectiles. Switches that are located outside the range of the Kongs or that cannot be activated even using all of one's body strength no longer pose a problem due to the use of these special weapons. The integrated target functions and the add-on target-searching-ammunition make the weapons an indispensable aid in the search for the golden bananas. Funky also offers, as a further service, refilling of the ammunition supply. The weapons and their extensions, however, cannot be had for nothing. But Funky always has especially low prices for his friends."

Donkey Kong Country: Rumble in the Jungle

 * "Just surfing the wind currents, dudes. Nothing to get uptight about. Stay mellow, stay cool."
 * "That used to be the biggest city on Donkey Kong Island. It's called Big Ape City."
 * "I don't go looking for trouble, and most of the time it doesn't come looking for me."

Portrayals

 * Damon D'Oliveira - Donkey Kong Country television series
 * Unknown voice actor (1999) - Donkey Kong 64
 * Toshihide Tsuchiya (2007-present)

Trivia

 * "Funky Kong" was one of the proposed names for Donkey Kong that was rejected during the eponymous game's development.
 * In Issue #261 of Nintendo Power's "The Score," a page listing the results of online polls, Funky Kong was voted the most wanted Kong who is not present in Donkey Kong Country Returns.
 * Funky Kong's Mario Super Sluggers baseball card listed his Rookie Year as 1999, even though his first appearance was in Donkey Kong Country, which was released in 1994.