Funky Kong

Funky Kong in DK: King of Swing.
Funky Kong
Species	Kong
Eye color	Unknown
Voiced by	Toshihide Tsuchiya (2008-Present)
Debut	Donkey Kong Country

Funky Kong is a recurring supporting character from the Donkey Kong series. He is known as a good friend of Donkey Kong and often rides or carries around a surfboard. He is more laidback than the other adventurous Kongs and usually sits out on adventures in favor of lending his support on the sidelines. In most games, he acts as a travel agent and/or mechanic for the Kongs, but on other occasions he runs minigames or sells weapons.

Background

Funky Kong first appeared in Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (as well as Donkey Kong Land 2), where he ran Barrelplane flights throughout Donkey Kong Island and Crocodile Isle, and in the latter game he charged Banana Coins for his services. Essentially, he was needed for Kongs to go back and forth from completed worlds. The Game Boy Advance remakes changed his roles, due to new gameplay features making the Barrelplane feature redundant. In the Donkey Kong Country remake, he hosted fishing minigames on his hut, while in Donkey Kong Country 2, he sent Diddy and Dixie on missions in his Gyrocopter.

In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble he ran a vehicle rentals shop. At first, the only available vehicle was a motorboat, but Funky unveiled new vehicles as Dixie and Kiddy progressed through the game and brought him new items. By the end of the game, Funky had repaired his Hovercraft, constructed a Turbo-Ski and brought out the Gyrocopter for the Kongs' adventuring needs. Once again, Funky also assigned Dixie and Kiddy on a series of missions to complete with the vehicles in the Game Boy Advance version, after which he rewarded them with a Banana Bird.

Funky Kong later opened his own armory in Donkey Kong 64 and was dressed differently than his past appearances. At his armory, he sold fruit guns to the Kongs and upgrades for each weapon. In the ending, Funky also sent K. Rool flying with a boot-gun while the Kremling was distracted by Candy Kong.

He was later playable in the Jungle Jam mode of DK: King of Swing and the multiplayer mode of DK: Jungle Climber (with Dixie Kong as his partner). He also returned in his roots in Jungle Climber by running a Funky's Flights service to take the Kongs across the various islands, but he needed to be given Oil Barrels to power his Barrel Plane. In Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze, Funky ran the game's shop, known as Funky's Fly 'n' Buy. In the Nintendo Switch version of the game, he was also playable in a special easier version of the adventure known as Funky Mode. He was equipped with his surfboard that he could use to move over various surfaces, and he could also use the roll and corkcrew abilities perpetually.

Sports

He made an appearance in Donkey Konga 3 as one of the playable drummers. Funky also appeared as a playable racer in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, where he was unlocked by completing the Diamond Cup with a Kong character, and his Kremling rival in this game was Kudge.

Funk made made his first Mario sports appearance as an unlockable playable racer in Mario Kart Wii (unlocked by unlocking 4 Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials) and was also unlockable in Mario Super Sluggers. Within the Challenge Mode of Mario Super Sluggers he was found in the DK Jungle being accosted by a paranoid Fire Bro, who thought he was trying to assemble the stone idol, but Funky was actually searching for treasure. After the Fire Bro was defeated, Funky decided to join the team to help them in their own search. He also acted as the area's shopkeeper.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Funky Kong appeared as a supporting character in the Donkey Kong Country animated series. This version of Funky had fur that was closer to a golden color and spoke with a Jamaican accent. His role was mostly similar to the games, although he also spoke a lot about spiritual concepts such as karma.
• He appeared in one chapter of the Super Mario-Kun manga that was based on Donkey Kong Country, where he let Mario and Donkey Kong's group ride the Funky Barrel.

Trivia

• His original design was made by simply adding accessories onto Donkey Kong's model.
• In the Donkey Kong Country 2 instruction manual, he claimed that he hated adventure, as his reason for not taking a direct role in Diddy's battle with the Kremlings.
• He was absent from Donkey Kong Country Returns, but he was jokingly alluded to when Cranky Kong denied knowing anyone with an airplane and noted how convenient that would be.
• Funky appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as well as in Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS/Wii U. The Wii U game also has a trophy showcasing Funky with the Offroader kart from Mario Kart. In those latter games, Candy Kong's trophy description states that Funky has a crush on her.