He’s the leader of the bunch; you know him well. He’s finally back to show some tail — in Donkey Kong Bananza, that is.
If you’re playing the newest Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, perhaps your eyes have been drawn to a particular area of the brown gorilla’s anatomy. It’s kind of hard to avoid, given that you play Bananza from a third-person perspective where Donkey Kong’s back is constantly facing you. I’m referring, of course, to the bodacious beast’s derriere, which has been lovingly rendered using the latest and greatest Nintendo technology.
During most of the gameplay, Donkey Kong appears somewhat far away, so his behind isn’t at the forefront. But near the start of the game, you unlock the Kong Bananza transformation. It’s a powerful metamorphosis that gives a hint of Super Saiyan as Donkey Kong beefs up into a yellow-haired menace who can eradicate all sorts of terrain. And in this enormous form, every aspect of Donkey Kong’s body is enlarged — including his butt. Once you get this get this power, you’re likely to notice that Donkey Kong is wildly caked up. It doesn’t help that part of the character design includes black markings that almost form an arrow pointing down DK’s crack, almost as if it were a tribal tattoo tramp stamp. On social media, people can’t help but notice the outsized rump.
OK, stick with me here, though. The rabbit hole goes deeper than the idea that people are amazed at Donkey Kong’s butt in Bananza, as impressive as it is. I’m here to point out that, if you look back on previous iterations of Donkey Kong across the years, you’ll notice that his rock-hard posterior has been an ongoing thing.
Folks noticed it during the Super Mario movie, as unfortunate as it is to associate this idea with Seth Rogen. It remains to be seen if Nintendo will pursue a similar design in the apparent future Donkey Kong movie.
Years ago, Nintendo released this as an official screenshot for Super Smash Bros.
Here’s a screengrab from the official trailer for the 1997 Donkey Kong Country TV show:
Nintendo has used Donkey Kong’s ass as marketing on more than one occasion, as evidenced by depictions from the ‘90s. Is it just me, or does the texture they used for his fur during this era look like something that could be used on rocks? Either way, the destructive ape’s tush looks firm.
Another key piece of evidence supporting the idea that the people of Nintendo are actively thinking about Donkey Kong’s butt comes from the recent Ask A Developer interview series on Nintendo.com, where producer Kenta Motokura says, “we were also conscious of how Donkey Kong would look from the back while he’s moving.”
Hilariously, though, Motokura notes that this was the inspiration for giving Donkey Kong outfits so that the player wouldn’t get bored of looking at a “monotonous visual” of his “mass of brown fur.” Sir, we’re out here getting eye strain from looking down so much; there’s little danger of getting bored!
It’s funny to imagine there’s someone at Nintendo who has been carrying a butt agenda for nearly half a decade, much like FromSoftware’s Hidetaka Miyazaki’s love of feet has become a meme. I’m just going to point out that Donkey Kong was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, a known stickler for details who said earlier this year that he takes an “active role” in character creation for the series, including Donkey Kong’s most recent redesign. I’m not saying Miyamoto has been running a long-going psyop involving Donkey Kong’s butt, that would be absurd. But I’m not not saying it.
Speaking seriously though, there’s actually a good reason why Donkey Kong’s heinie might be so prominent in Bananza. The gorilla spends much of the game busting down the environment with his bare hands, and the game makes a big deal over how strong DK is. The same was true in the Mario movie, where DK spends most of his screen time bashing Mario’s mustache in.
I’ve been a boxer for nearly a decade. One thing you learn during the sport is that most of your power comes from your legs, and by extension, your butt. Perhaps Donkey Kong’s ass is always hanging out like that because Nintendo cares deeply about his lore and they’re gunning for 2025 game of the year.
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