Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong (or DK for short or full name Donkey Kong the Third) is the main protagonist of the Donkey Kong series. He is the goofy teenager-like, carefree, laid-back, lazy-bum, simple-minded, mischievous, free-spirited young and hip, peace and quiet-loving beach-comber, yet trustworthy hero (sometimes reluctantly) of Donkey Kong Island that shows pride for his great physical strength.

Though known as Donkey Kong, he is actually a brand-new character and a descendant of both the original Donkey Kong and DK Jr., and successor of the original who retired after his numerous defeats at hands of Mario and Stanley the Bugman.

The first three Donkey Kong Country games and DKLoriginally described Donkey Kong as Cranky's grandson, which has remained the most consistent storyline throughout the games. The DKC manual labeled him as "a brand-new character", separating him from the original DK and DK Jr., and also a "prior video game hero".