Donkey Kong is depicted as a large and powerful ape wearing a red necktie sporting the initials “D.K.” in a bright gold font.

[11] Outside of video games, the Donkey Kong character has appeared in film, television shows, merchandise, and his own theme park attraction in Universal Studios Japan.

Donkey Kong’s vocal effects have been performed by Takashi Nagasako since 2004, while Seth Rogen voiced the character in the Illumination Entertainment feature film The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023).

[12][13] Shigeru Miyamoto came up with many characters and plot concepts, but he eventually settled on a love triangle between gorilla, carpenter, and girlfriend, that mirrored the rivalry between Bluto and Popeye for Olive Oyl.

[14] Bluto was replaced by a large enraged ape, which Miyamoto said was "nothing too evil or repulsive", and the pet of the main character.

[18] However, in a 1990 interview with 64Dream, PR head Yoshio Hongo claimed that he came up with the name, knowing full well that "donkey" and "stupid" were not synonymous.

Although the character design has been tweaked over the years, Donkey Kong's appearance remains consistent since the last modification by Bayliss.

Today it makes me smile to see so many products with DK on the front, and that he's pretty much still the same as he looked when I gave him a once-over.

In a match against boxing champion "Krusha" K. Rool in Donkey Kong 64, DK's weight is given at 800 pounds.

As Mario, the player must reach Donkey Kong at the top of each stage, where he is holding Pauline captive.

Donkey Kong attempts to hinder the player's progress by throwing barrels, springs, and other objects towards Mario.

Stanley fights Donkey Kong's attempts to invade a greenhouse along with a horde of killer bees.

Despite his name being in the titles, Donkey Kong is the figurative damsel-in-distress in the two sequels to DKC and those to DKL, where he is captured by K. Rool.

In these sequels, the player controls Diddy, Dixie, and Kiddy as they set out to rescue Donkey Kong.

The modern Donkey Kong made his first appearance in the series with Mario Kart 64, and has been in every game to date since.

Super Mario Maker features Donkey Kong as a Mystery Mushroom costume.

Two minor enemies in Super Mario RPG bear a striking resemblance to Donkey Kong.

Donkey Kong was also featured on the Game & Watch Gallery handheld series and Tetris DS.

First appearing in World 2–1, most of his gameplay reflects Donkey Kong Jr., even featuring the Snapjaw enemies from the game.

The 1983 animated anthology series Saturday Supercade features cartoon segments based on the original Donkey Kong arcade game.

In the segments, Donkey Kong, voiced by Soupy Sales, is an escaped circus gorilla on the run from Mario and Pauline, who seek to recapture him.

A second series of segments based on Donkey Kong Jr. focuses on the title character, voiced by Frank Welker, who seeks to find his missing father after his escape from the circus.

Donkey Kong later appeared as a recurring antagonist in the 1989 animated series Captain N: The Game Master, voiced by Garry Chalk.

Donkey Kong is subtly alluded to in the 1993 film Super Mario Bros. when the character of Anthony Scapelli, portrayed by Gianni Russo, is inadvertently devolved into a chimpanzee by King Koopa.

[41] Donkey Kong was voiced by Seth Rogen in the 2023 film by Illumination Entertainment, in addition to having been given a subtle redesign composed of elements from his contemporary and original arcade appearances.

[7] In November 2021, reports surfaced that Illumination had begun development on a Donkey Kong spin-off film, with Rogen set to reprise his role.

[51] The 2011 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition lists Donkey Kong as the 33rd-most popular video game character.

[54] Gavin Jasper of Den of Geek ranked Donkey Kong in 13th place of Super Smash Bros.

Ultimate characters, stating that "DK is a blast to play as, especially when unleashing his ground-slap move in a match against seven opponents and everyone's bouncing around like ping-pong balls.