Animal Friends

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Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong with their Animal Friends

Animal Friends, also known as The Good Guys, Animal Buddies, First Class Friends, Jungle Buddies, or Amicable Animals, are friendly creatures that aid Donkey Kong and the other Kongs on their various adventures. Since their first appearance in Donkey Kong Country, Animal Friends have appeared in several subsequent Donkey Kong titles, especially the Donkey Kong Country series and Donkey Kong Land series.

Every Animal Friend has its own abilities, which are sometimes shared between two or more Animal Friends, usually if they do not appear in the same game. Animal Friends generally help by defeating enemies, finding special items, and allowing the Kongs to reach Bonus Levels and other high areas. In some cases, a special item, such as a couple of DK Coins, can be obtained only through the aid of an Animal Friend. A few of the Animal Friends have the sole purpose of allowing the Kongs to navigate an environment, such as by illuminating a dark area, and are found in only a few relevant areas. None of the Animal Friends can use ropes, and most of them cannot carry objects such as barrels.

In most cases, an Animal Friend is contained within an animal crate, which depicts an emblem of its face on the side. The Kongs can release the Animal Friend by breaking open its animal crate. Most of the Animal Friends can be ridden, and when this occurs, the player's control switches over from the Kongs to the Animal Friend. Just like Yoshis in the Super Mario series, if an Animal Friend is injured by an enemy or obstacle, it runs away, continuing in a single direction until it hits a wall, where it starts moving in the opposite direction, or falls down a pit. To continue riding the Animal Friend, the Kongs must jump back onto it. The Kongs can continue riding an Animal Friend until they exit a level or pass a No Animal Sign, which is a signpost that the depicted Animal Friend is incapable of passing. Crossing a No Animal Sign causes the Animal Friend to disappear, and an item, such as an Extra Life Balloon, appears in its place.

Similar to animal crates are Animal Barrels, which transform the Kongs into the depicted Animal Friend. Whenever two Kongs are active, a small icon of the same Animal Friend is shown at the bottom left of the screen to represent the other Kong. The Animal Friend can sustain two hits from an enemy or most obstacles, meaning that it loses a life only if hit a third time. Whenever the Animal Friend takes one hit, its bottom left icon disappears to indicate that only one of the Kongs is presently transformed into it. Touching a DK Barrel causes the second Kong, and therefore the Animal Friend's icon, to reappear. Whenever the Kongs cross a No Animal Sign, they transform back into themselves. In the Donkey Kong Land series, some levels do not have a No Animal Sign near the end, so they can be completed by an Animal Friend, who then turns back into the Kongs afterward.

List of Animal Friends

Image	Name	Description	Game appearance(s)
	Rambi	Rambi is a rhinoceros who has the most appearances out of all the Animal Friends. It uses its horn to attack enemies and break open walls.	Donkey Kong Country (1994) Donkey Kong Land (1995) Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996) Donkey Kong 64 (1999) Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (2007) Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014)
	Expresso	An ostrich who can glide across wide gaps. It has tall legs that short enemies, such as Klaptraps, walk right through.	Donkey Kong Country (1994) Donkey Kong Land (1995) Donkey Kong Country 2 (Game Boy Advance) (2004)
	Enguarde	Enguarde is a blue swordfish who often appears in aquatic levels to assist the Kongs.	Donkey Kong Country (1994) Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996) Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (1996) Donkey Kong Land III (1997) Donkey Kong 64 (1999) Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (2007)
	Winky	Winky is a frog who is capable of bouncing high, allowing Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong to reach higher areas.	Donkey Kong Country (1994)
	Squawks	Squawks is a green parrot whose role has varied throughout the Donkey Kong Country series. In Donkey Kong Country, it carries a flashlight to light the path forward in the level Torchlight Trouble. In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (as well as their respective counterparts, Donkey Kong Land 2 and Donkey Kong Land III), Squawks can fly the Kongs through the level, usually only segments. In Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Squawks helps the Kongs find Puzzle Pieces.	Donkey Kong Country (1994) Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996) Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (1996) Donkey Kong Land III (1997) Donkey Kong 64 (1999) Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (2007) Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014)
	Rattly	Rattly is a green rattlesnake who, like Winky, has a high jumping ability, so Rattly is essentially a replacement for Winky in its appearances.	Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996)
	Squitter	A large, orange spider who has the ability to create webs, either as platforms or to attack enemies.	Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996) Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (1996) Donkey Kong Land III (1997)
	Glimmer	An angler fish who only appears in one level, Glimmer's Galleon, to light the path ahead for Diddy and Dixie. Its role is much like that of Squawks's in Donkey Kong Country albeit underwater.	Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995)
	Clapper	These seals are always found next to a body of water. Whenever Diddy or Dixie jumps on a Clapper, it exhales cold air which cools (or freezes) the water.	Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996)
	Quawks	A purple relative of Squawks with a similar behavior and appearance, but has one characteristic in which it is disadvantaged; in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Land 2, it cannot fly upward, and in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, it cannot spit eggs, picking up barrels instead.	Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996) Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (1996)
	Ellie	An elephant who can store a supply of water in her trunk and shoot bursts of them to attack enemies. Ellie can also use her trunk to carry barrels.	Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (1996) Donkey Kong Land III (1997)
	Parry	A small bird who flies to the side of Dixie and Kiddy, similar to Squawks in Donkey Kong Country. If the Kongs take Parry past a No Animal Sign, it often yields a valuable reward, sometimes even a Bonus Barrel.	Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (1996)
	Lightfish	A tadpole-like fish who illuminates the darker areas of Gloomy Galleon for the Kongs. It is similar to Glimmer from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest.	Donkey Kong 64 (1999)
	Hoofer	A wildebeest whom Donkey Kong can use to quickly ride through areas while defeating enemies and destroying obstacles along the way, much like Rambi in the Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land series.	Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (2004)
	Flurl	A red squirrel whom Donkey Kong can use as a parachute to slowly descend from high areas.	Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (2004)
	Orco	A whale whom Donkey Kong can ride in aquatic areas. Orco has the ability to jump out of the water.	Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (2004)
	Helibird	They are blue birds who carry Donkey Kong to higher areas. There are two levels that involve Helibirds participating in a race, Chopperbird Race and Helibird Dash.	Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (2004)

Similar characters

While not Animal Friends themselves, these characters have a very similar role:

Image	Name	Description	Game appearance(s)
	Helper Monkey	They are small, gray monkeys who hide in bushes and assist Donkey Kong by carrying him from one bush to the next. At the end of each level, they help by counting how many bananas Donkey Kong has obtained.	Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (2004)
	Professor Chops	Bespectacled pigs that give advice and act as checkpoints.	Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014)
	Whale	Whales appear as large moving platforms in the stage Blowhole Bound.	Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010)
	Tawks	A red parrot who substitutes for Funky Kong at Funky's Fly 'n' Buy whenever he is journeying with the other Kongs.	Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo Switch) (2018)

Gallery

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  Donkey Kong Country Returns animals

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  Concept of several Animal Friends for Donkey Kong Country

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	アニマルフレンド[?] Animaru Furendo	Animal Friends
	ジャングルブラザーズ Janguru Burazāzu	Jungle Brothers
French	Amis Animaux[?]	Animal Friends
German	Tierisch Hilfreich[?]	Helpful Animals
Italian	Amici animali[?]	Animal friends

Trivia

Ram Bunkshus

• In Donkey Kong Country Returns, the elephant, zebra, giraffe, and squirrel seen throughout the game are dubbed "Animal Friends" in one of the unlockable concept artworks; however, these animals only have a background role in the game due to being hypnotized into stealing the banana hoard by the Tiki Tak Tribe.
• Donkey Kong Land was originally going to introduce another Animal Friend, a ram named Ram Bunkshus.