Talk:Donkey Kong (character)/GA1

GA review

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Nominator: TheJoebro64 (talk · contribs) 15:00, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

Reviewer: Cukie Gherkin (talk · contribs) 21:18, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

Lead

1. Rewrite "throws barrels to attack or uncover power-ups" as "attacks using barrels," as this allows it to be inclusive of DK's villain and hero roles

   Done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 14:45, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

2. The final line of the first paragraph feels a little out of place. I would suggest perhaps moving it after DKC is introduced as a thing and making it all about DKC, while moving the mention of Mario to the sentence about DK 81.

   I don't think it's out of place—the paragraph is giving an overview of who DK is, and I think that includes who his main supporting cast is. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 01:05, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

3. The discussion of DK's gender role vs. Mario and Pauline is an interesting one, but I feel it may be too few sources discussing it to be something for the lead to include.

   It's mentioned in two sources in the body. It's just a passing mention so I don't see why it should be removed. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 14:45, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

Images

1. I wonder if the rational for the Cranky Kong image is strong enough. I feel like the actual design of the character and how he differs from a typical design for DK is not given much, if any, commentary. Personally, I think that there is a stronger rationale to include an image of Bananza DK than Cranky Kong.

   I updated the image in development to show the Bananza design. I'm on the fence about removing the Cranky image as I think it's important to underscore that an incarnation of DK persists as an alternate character. I'll definitely strengthen the FUR if I bring this to FAC at some point. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:12, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

Character

1. Might be worth adding Skylanders, since he was notably one of only two Nintendo characters to appear (along with Bowser).

   Added it to the Appearances section in Development JOEBRO⁶⁴ 22:31, 12 May 2025 (UTC)

2. Are there any primary sources describing his personality? I wouldn't ask to have non-primary summaries of his personality removed, but the fact that Nintendo World Report is the only source used to cite his personality does give me pause. I'm not inherently against a single source being used for something like a character's personality, but for such a big character, I would imagine official sources exist to verify the kind of person he is.

   From my looking, not really—just a few mentions that he's dumb, and that's not even super consistent across his appearances. I get the sense Nintendo treats him as sort of a blank slate a la Mario, so official sources don't get into the nitty gritty. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 01:05, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

3. "Nintendo World Report's Pedro Hernandez noted" should tweak that to make clearer that this is Hernandez's perspective on the character, as "noted" can imply that this is something to be accepted as fact.

   Done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 01:05, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

4. I feel like you should be mindful of what's included here; for example, Donkey Kong Country Returns is mentioned in Reception, but nowhere else. If I may make a suggestion, it may be worthwhile to mention that DK is kidnapped in DKC2 and 3, is playable in DK64, and returns in a starring role in both Returns and Tropical Freeze. I understand that you may want to avoid adding too many games, but I think these three are worth mentioning, especially since they are all discussed later.

   All mentioned in the Appearances section in Development JOEBRO⁶⁴ 22:31, 12 May 2025 (UTC)

5. Another game I think may be worthwhile to mention is to say that DK has been in every Mario Kart since Mario Kart 64, and perhaps mention that he was originally not planned for inclusion in it. Same as mentioning his appearance in all Smash titles.

   Done, added to the Appearances section in Development JOEBRO⁶⁴ 22:31, 12 May 2025 (UTC)

In other media

1. "Visitors may take pictures with a Donkey Kong mascot." I feel this could be better incorporated into the previous section by mentioning that there is a DK mascot at the park, as photos are implied

   Looks like this was done by another editor JOEBRO⁶⁴ 01:05, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

Conception

1. "the Nintendo CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi" Feels like it should be "then Nintendo CEO," not sure if typo or not.

   WP:FALSETITLE JOEBRO⁶⁴ 22:31, 12 May 2025 (UTC)

2. I wonder if "according to court documents" is necessary, if only because a reader may wonder why court's involved since it's not been evoked yet. Minor nitpick tbh

   I think it's necessary as court documents are a bit complex when it comes to citing them. Since contentious statements can be made in filings/affidavits/etc, it should probably be mentioned for the sake of qualification. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 22:31, 12 May 2025 (UTC)

Appearances

1. "Donkey Kong has appeared in dozens of games.[70] Donkey Kong's popularity quickly led to the production of a sequel, Donkey Kong Jr." I feel like these two sentences could reasonably be made into one
2. Is there any commentary on DK Jr.'s success, or it leading into Donkey Kong 3? I feel like DK3's failure comes up rather abruptly is all.

   I removed mention of DK3's failure, checked and it's not mentioned in that source and also seems more suited for the franchise article than here. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 01:05, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

Design

1. "Miyamoto designed Donkey Kong to appear dumb,[6] as he saw him as a humorous rather than evil antagonist." Antagonist feels unnecessary given the context of the sentence; instead, you could say "saw him as humorous rather than evil."

   Done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 22:31, 12 May 2025 (UTC)

2. I feel like some of the comments here about DK's Bananza design would work better in the last paragraph of Commentary, Scullion's comment could be kept to provide a description of his design, but I think it would be nice if multiple sources could be found that also describe it like this.

   Moved Bayliss's commentary down. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 01:05, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

Voice

1. I feel like the first and second paragraphs should swap, especially since it deals with the same thing as the third (non-VG VA)

   Done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:09, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

Commentary

1. Could another source be found on the game's success being attributed to the character? I think that would be helpful.

   I haven't had time to look so I added attribution. Should suffice for now. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:09, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

2. I feel like Donkey Kong's popularity fading is a good stopping point for the paragraph, and Reeve's comment on DKC reviving its popularity could be included in the next paragraph.

   Done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:09, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

3. "The Country games received criticism" feels a little unnecessary for this section, as the articles cited for this line doesn't really cover the character as part of this criticism. I feel like some restructuring would help, like maybe take commentary from these articles about how the visuals were seen as elevating a game that the cited critics felt was otherwise poor or overrated.

   Did some rewriting, let me know what you think JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:09, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

Analysis

1. "Games featuring Donkey Kong as a protagonist depict melodramatic adventures that emphasize action over characterization." The way this is phrased, I feel like it's stating as fact in how it's written, and should be tweaked due to it being only supported by a single reference.

   I personally think this is an uncontroversial statement that's unlikely to be challenged—Donkey Kong games aren't particularly known for having complex characters and storytelling: "(Donkey Kong is) Nintendo's oldest major franchise and perhaps its least narratively-driven"

2. I feel like the analyses by PopMatters staff and Wesp should be clarified sooner as being their analyses.
3. Attribute it to "PopMatters staff"

   Done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:09, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

In popular culture

1. I feel like "Considered Nintendo's second-biggest character" ought to be connected to the first sentence.

   Done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:09, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

2. "The director, Rich Moore, said Ralph was conceived as an animal similar to Donkey Kong before becoming more distinct" 'before becoming more distinct' can be dropped, as being human implies that he became more distinct

   Done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:09, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

Sources

1. I noticed that there were ref ideas on the talk page; have these been included or otherwise determined to not be useful?

   Forgot to clean it up as I rewrote, I removed all the used/unnecessary ones. I left two that I may incorporate later. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:09, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

Spotcheck

1. Checked
2. Checked
3. Article does not mention Gregg or Cranky's senility
4. Checked; side note: I noticed this sentence "He is stubborn, buffoonish, and innocent, and strives to help others and be accepted." It's not technically incorrect, but it does read a little awkwardly with three ands in close succession; could you rephrase it?

General comments

1. Make sure to be consistent between ". and ." (only a couple instances I noticed)

Comments

Apologize for the delay in resolving all this—been chaotic these past few weeks! Will finish up this week. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 00:48, 28 May 2025 (UTC)

No problem, take your time. Once you're done responding to comments, I'll double check the changes (and non-changes) and finish the spotcheck Cukie Gherkin (talk) 04:35, 28 May 2025 (UTC)

@Cukie Gherkin: well it's been a bit longer than a week eh? Done lol JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:09, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

Spotcheck done @Joebro64:, just needs one issue dealt with (and a small side issue I caught). I'm still skeptical about the Cranky Kong image; for FAC, I would definitely try to look for any sources that discuss Cranky's design in context to DK. - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 01:05, 23 June 2025 (UTC)

@Joebro64: - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 16:26, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

ah, didn't get the ping! Will resolve once I'm home from work JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:40, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

@Cukie Gherkin: done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 01:10, 1 July 2025 (UTC)

Sorry about the delay. Nice job, I'm comfortable passing this. - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 17:54, 4 July 2025 (UTC)