Banjo and Kazooie

Banjo and Kazooie are a pair of characters who collectively act as the main character of the Banjo-Kazooie series. Banjo is a good-natured bear, while Kazooie is a cranky breegull who lives in Banjo's backpack. Banjo was initially introduced in Diddy Kong Racing, which implied that his games were connected to the Donkey Kong canon. However, after Rare was bought by Microsoft in 2002, Banjo and Kazooie became third party characters. Banjo was replaced in Diddy Kong Racing DS, and they are no longer considered to be part of the same canon. Banjo and Kazooie would later revisit Nintendo as a DLC character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Background

Banjo originally appeared in Diddy Kong Racing as a playable racer. He was a heavyweight racer with low acceleration, good handling and low top speed. In the instruction manual, it was mentioned that he and Conker were both friends of Diddy Kong, and they joined the adventure after he sent them messages through Squawks. It was also implied that he had not yet met Kazooie.

Within Banjo's own games, Banjo was shown to live at Spiral Mountain, located on the Isle O' Hags, with Kazooie and his little sister Tooty. Kazooie was described as having 'adopted' Banjo. Banjo was said to have a love for "sleeping, swimming, and even dancing when the mood takes him". As for Kazooie, she was described as a loudmouth who had a propensity for getting into trouble.

In the original Banjo-Kazooie, Tooty was kidnapped by the evil witch Gruntilda, who wanted to use a machine to transfer Tooty's beauty to himself. Banjo and Kazooie embarked on a quest to rescue her. They collected puzzle pieces known as Jiggies to unlock different areas, and they received help from allies such as Bottles the Mole (who taught them moves), Mumbo Jumbo (who could temporarily transform them into different forms) and Gruntilda's good sister Brentilda (who taught them trivia about Gruntilda). Along the way, they also saved various Jinjos. They eventually rescued Tooty by beating Gruntilda's game show, but they still had to deal with Gruntilda herself. With the help of the Jinjos and the Jinjonator, Gruntilda was defeated and buried under a rock.

Two months later, the events of the Game Boy Advance midquel Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge occurred. Gruntilda's spirit was transferred into a robotic form known as Mecha-Gruntilda. She captured Kazooie and traveled back in time to prevent Banjo and Kazooie from ever meeting, and to ultimately undo her defeat at their hands. Mumbo Jumbo was able to send Banjo back in time, where he saved Kazooie and defeated Gruntilda.

Banjo-Tooie took place two years after the first game. Gruntilda's two evil sisters revived her in a skeletal form. She proceeded to ravage Spiral Mountain and destroyed Banjo's house. Bottles was killed in her attack and became a ghost. She also used a new machine to drain the lifeforce from King Jingaling, the leader of the Jinjos, and to restore her own vitality. Banjo and Kazooie embarked on a new quest across the Isle O' Hags. This time, Mumbo joined them as a temporarily playable character. They also received help from Drill Sergeant Jamjars (Bottles' brother, who taught moves) and Humba Wumba (who took Mumbo's place), as well as Master Jiggywiggy and Honey B. They were ultimately able to restore Bottles and Jingaling to life by reversing Gruntilda's machine, and Gruntilda herself was destroyed in the following battle. Although they missed the celebration party, Banjo and Kazooie made due with making a game of kicking Gruntilda's head around.

Banjo and Kazooie were also featured in their own racing game Banjo-Pilot. They had one more adventure on the X-Box 360, known as Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Set eight years later, Banjo and Kazooie had gotten out of a shape after going several years without adventures. They went on a new adventure which consisted of competing against Gruntilda to determine the true owner of Spiral Mountain. This challenge was overseen by the Lord of Games. Ultimately, Banjo and Kazooie won.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Banjo and Kazooie have also made cameos in other Rare games, some of which employ dark humor. In Conkey's Bad Fur Day, Banjo's head could be seen mounted above a fireplace and Kazooie's head could be seen on the end of an umbrella within the Clock and Plucker tavern. In Grabbed by the Ghoules, monstrous versions of both of their heads could be seen mounted on a wall, and pictures of them could also be found in the game. In Viva Piñata, they appeared as statues and with their faces carved into a mountain. Banjo's backpack, referred to as a Breegull Carrier, also appeared as an item. Banjo's shorts also appeared as a Rarewear accessory available in Killer Instinct.
• Banjo and Kazooie were included as a playable racer in the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.
• Skins of Banjo and other characters from the Banjo-Kazooie series were made available in versions of Minecraft on Microsoft systems.
• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Banjo and Kazooie were made available as a playable fighter as part of the game's DLC starting in September 2019. They had moves based on their attacks from the games and summoned the Jinjonator as their Final Smash. Their inclusion was accompanied by a Spiral Mountain stage, which had cameo appearances by Gruntilda, Tooty, Mumbo Jumbo, Bottles, Jinjos and a Buzzbomb. Banjo and Kazooie's appearance was accompanied by a Fighter Spirit of the two of them. There were also Spirits for each of the characters/creatures that made cameo appearances (with the Jinjo Spirit being capable of being enhanced into a Spirit of The Mighty Jinjonator) along with a Spirit of Jiggy.
  • Banjo and Kazooie's Classic Mode route was called Perfect Partners. It was themed around fighting other characters who consisted of pairs as well as individual characters who fought in pairs. The final boss of the route was Master Hand and Crazy Hand.

Trivia

• They are named after the family of former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi: his grandson Banjo and his son Katsuhito (known as "Katsuhi", which sounds close to "kazoo" or "Kazooie", for short). The characters are also seen playing the banjo and kazoo, respectively.
• Banjo was initially conceived as a minor character for an attempt at a Super NES game known as Project Dream.
• In Diddy Kong Racing DS, Banjo and Conker were replaced by Dixie Kong and Tiny Kong.