Rambi
| Rambi | |
|---|---|
 Rambi, as he appears in Donkey Kong Country Returns. | |
| Full name | Rambi the Rhino[1][2] Rambi the rhinoceros[3] |
| Species | Rhinoceros |
| First appearance | Donkey Kong Country (1994) |
| Latest appearance | The Super Mario Bros. Movie (cameo) (2023) |
Template:Quote2 Rambi is a recurring rhinoceros Animal Friend throughout the Donkey Kong franchise, and he first appears in Donkey Kong Country. Rambi is a strong ally of the Kongs, and has the ability to charge into enemies, use his horn for an attack, and to break open fragile walls leading into a Bonus Level. Rambi only appears in a few select levels in every game that he appears in, or a single location.
Rambi's earliest appearances include the first two titles of both the Donkey Kong Country series and Donkey Kong Land series. Rambi did not return in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! or Donkey Kong Land III, where he was replaced with Ellie the Elephant.
While Rambi is mostly referred to with male pronouns, the Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze: Prima Official Game Guide refers to the character as "her".[4]
History
Donkey Kong Country series
Donkey Kong Country
- “Keep your eyes peeled for Rambi the rhino! He can crash into almost any hidden room.”
- —Cranky Kong
In Donkey Kong Country, Rambi is the first Animal Friend encountered, and he appears in the first level, Jungle Hijinxs, and later appears in Oil Drum Alley and Manic Mincers.
To ride Rambi, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong must free him from his animal crate. Rambi can use his horn to break open fragile walls, much like barrels. He can defeat most enemies by moving into them, including Zingers. Like other Animal Friends, if Rambi gets hit by a level hazard (such as Mincers or flaming oil drums), he runs away.
Rambi is featured on some of the animal tokens. When Donkey Kong and Diddy obtain three Rambi Tokens, the player is redirected to the "Rambi Bonus!"; this area is set in a snowy location, where the player controls Rambi individually and must have him collect mini Rambi Tokens.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Rambi reappears in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Rambi acts mostly the same as in Donkey Kong Country, though his normal speed is slower; however, he can perform a supercharge, which allows him to perform a fast charge to break open some walls (leading into bonus rooms), or plow through enemies easily. Due to the introduction of Animal Barrels, there are a few levels where Diddy and Dixie transform into Rambi, but there are still levels where they ride on him. His gray coloration from Donkey Kong Country is now tinted brown.
Like his two previous appearances, Rambi appears as a mount in the first level, Pirate Panic, where his animal crate appears after the Star Barrel. From there, the Kongs can optionally ride Rambi until reaching his No Animal Sign. In this level, it is possible for two Rambis to be on-screen at the same time.[citation needed] Rambi makes his second level appearance in Red-Hot Ride and his third in Barrel Bayou in the same capacity, though his crate and sign are near the start and Star Barrel, respectively.
Rambi Rumble is Rambi's signature level. During the level's second half, the Kongs must transform into Rambi, who is then chased by King Zing for the second part of that half. The theme that plays during the chase in the original version is even called "Run, Rambi! Run!". Rambi can also be used in the first half Castle Crush and is the first Animal Friend used in Animal Antics (both via Animal Barrel).
At Swanky's Bonus Bonanza in Krem Quay, one of the questions that Swanky Kong asks is Rambi's name, with the incorrect answers being "Bambam" and "Rambus".
Donkey Kong Country Returns / Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D
Rambi reappears in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D as one of the two returning Animal Friends (the other one is Squawks the Parrot). Rambi is the only Animal Friend that Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong can ride; to do so, Donkey Kong must first free Rambi by Ground Pounding or Rolling into his large animal crate. Rambi has the ability to run over spikes and destroy stone objects and blocks showing an emblem of his face. Rambi can instantly defeat most enemies just by running into them. Rambi's only weakness is fire, including the flaming enemies, Flaming Tiki Buzzes and Fireballs. The player loses Rambi if he gets in contact with fire but instead of dying instantly, he will instead walk away aimlessly, giving the Kongs the chance to get him back. Due to Rambi's weight, Diddy can only hover for one second when using his Barrel Jet.
Rambi first appears in the third level, Tree Top Bop. He appears in a total of four levels, the other three being: Temple Topple, Precarious Plateau, and Smokey Peak.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Rambi reappears in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and its Nintendo Switch port, where he mostly retains the same role as in Donkey Kong Country Returns. He is still vulnerable to fire and flaming enemies, such as Blue Hootz. In addition, Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong can make use of their respective ability while riding Rambi: Helicopter Spin and Cane Bounce. Dixie's Helicopter Spin is less effective while she is riding Rambi. In the Nintendo Switch version, Funky Kong is able to perform a Double Jump while riding Rambi: like Cranky's Cane Bounce, the Double Jump is not affected by Rambi's weight.
Like Donkey Kong Country, Rambi only appears in three levels: Mountain Mania, Frantic Fields, and Meltdown Mayhem. Unlike in the previous game, Rambi Crates cannot be broken by rolling into them.
Donkey Kong Land series
In the Donkey Kong Land series, Rambi appears in Donkey Kong Land and Donkey Kong Land 2, with his role being based on his appearances in Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, respectively. In Donkey Kong Land, Rambi is only one of two Animal Friends that appear, the other one being Expresso the Ostrich, and he appears in four levels: Jungle Jaunt, Tricky Temple, Pot Hole Panic, and lastly Mountain Mayhem. In Donkey Kong Land 2, Rambi retains his supercharge abilty from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, although Rambi can no longer break open walls leading to a Bonus Level since all of them are accessible from a Bonus Barrel. Diddy nor Dixie cannot can only transform into Rambi from a Rambi Barrel due to the absence of Animal Crates. Rambi appears in five levels: Gangplank Galley, Redhot Ride, Barrel Bayou, Rambi Rumble, and lastly Animal Antics.
Donkey Kong in: Banana Day 24
In the Club Nintendo comic Donkey Kong in: Banana Day 24, Donkey Kong is briefly seen riding Rambi to an airport.
Donkey Kong 64
In Donkey Kong 64, there is an animal crate of Rambi in Jungle Japes, and it can only be entered by Donkey Kong. By entering it, Donkey Kong transforms into Rambi, which is required for him to obtain a Golden Banana. Rambi can move around quickly and easily defeat enemies just by moving into them. Rambi can destroy the nearby wooden huts and a stone barrier with his face on it. If Rambi goes out of bounds, he transforms back into Donkey Kong. Rambi is also controlled in one of Donkey Kong's Hideout Helm challenges, where the goal is to defeat 18 Kritters while avoiding the electrical pylons. Rambi is featured in his own unlockable mode named Rambi Arena, which, like the Enguarde Arena, can be unlocked after the Kongs have taken photographs of six Banana Fairies.
Rambi is mentioned and criticized by Cranky Kong in the instruction manual: "I just hope they've included poor old Winky and Expresso this time instead of that bone-brained rhino that always seems to get in the games."
By exploiting a glitch to bring Rambi outside of his usual confines, the player can see a normally unused dogpaddling animation whenever he enters water.[5]
Donkey Konga
Rambi reappears in Donkey Konga as a background character in two modes. In "Challenge", he appears at the bottom-left corner of the screen, next to the song number counter. In "Jam Session", he and the other background characters, including King K. Rool, Cranky Kong, Diddy Kong, Ellie and the Banana Birds, appear on the bottom screen while the player performs a "jam session". In this game, Rambi was drastically redesigned, where he was based more on a white rhinoceros.
Mario Kart series
While Rambi himself does not appear in the Mario Kart series, the front of the Rambi Rider, a kart from Mario Kart DS, is designed like Rambi's head. The kart returns in Mario Kart Tour, in the Jungle Tour.
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
In Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, Rambi appears in the course Dynamite Run, where the Kongs and Kremlings can ride Rambi by freeing him from his animal crate. Rambi increases the players' speed and has the ability to charge through barrels and boulders.
Super Smash Bros. series
Rambi has appeared as an item a few times in the Super Smash Bros. series. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Rambi is featured as both a trophy, which can be randomly obtained in one of the single-player modes, and as a sticker, which increases arm-based attacks by 13 points when used by any fighter in The Subspace Emissary. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, another collectible trophy of Rambi appears. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Rambi appears as an Ace-class Attack-type primary spirit with one support slot. The spirit slightly increases movement speed in battle. In World of Light, the spirit is located in the northern part of Forest Hill, a sub-world of the Light Realm. The spirit's puppet fighter is a white Donkey Kong who can deal damage by dashing into the player, and is fought on the omega form of the Kongo Falls stage.
Other appearances
Rambi makes a cameo appearance in Picross NP Vol.8 as one of the images that must be cleared.
In the Donkey Kong Adventure story of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, one of Rabbid Peach's Blaster weapons, the Horn-Nosed Needler, is based on Rambi's appearance. The weapon's description states that it is officially licensed Rambi merchandise.
A street named after Rambi appears in New Donk City in Super Mario Odyssey.
In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Rambi's head is seen in the emblem on some of the karts built by the Great Kong Army.
Unused appearances
Donkey Kong Racing
Rambi was planned to be a rideable Animal Friend in the canceled Nintendo GameCube title, Donkey Kong Racing. Early screenshots and the E3 2001 trailer showed Donkey Kong riding Rambi, Diddy Kong riding a gigantic Rambi, and Taj riding a small, red Rambi.
Profiles and statistics
Donkey Kong Country series
Donkey Kong Country
- Instruction booklet bio (page 24): Rambi always likes to go full speed ahead. If you press and the Y Button, Rambi will take off and run over everything in his path. Just make sure that you keep your eyes open for pits and cliffs. Rambi is a powerful animal and can break his way into most secret doors.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
- Instruction booklet bio (page 24): This powerful Rhinoceros loves to charge. Press and hold Y Button to make him run. He will his horn to butt everything out of his path.
Donkey Kong Land 2
- Instruction booklet bio (page 19): This powerful Rhinoceros loves to use his horn. Press the A Button to butt everything out of his path. Hold SELECT to charge.
- Virtual Console manual bio: Press
+ 
to perform a dash attack. Hold 
to perform a super dash.
Donkey Kong Country Returns
- Prima Games guide (page 23): In some of the levels, you will see wooden crates with a Rambi symbol on them, jump onto these crates and pound them to release Rambi. You can ride Rambi around a level. Rambi is great for busting through blocks, clearing out spikes, and bulldozing through enemies. You can climb off and then back onto a Rambi if you need to dismount for a while. Since you can’t blow while on Rambi, dismount if you need to deal with some flowers or other such objects. While Rambi is tough, stay away from flames and flaming enemies. Hitting these will cause Rambi to throw you off. Rambi will start to walk away, so get back on or you will lose the rhino.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
- Digital manual bio: Set Rambi free by destroying a crate with the Rambi logo on it [icon]. Jump onto him and charge through the level, knocking enemies aside and destroying obstacles.
- Prima Games guide (page 11): When the going gets tough, the tough grow horns and thick leathery skin, while simultaneously turning into the fastest and strongest ally in the game! Rambi is everyone’s favorite rhinoceros and has been since the beginning of Donkey Kong Country. This powerful mammal will plow through just about any obstacle, including spikes, and outrun anything you can encounter. Relief comes in the form of a Rambi box, so once you see one, break it free and keep Rambi from harm. You don’t want to go through a rhino level without Rambi.
Super Smash Bros. series
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- Trophy
- Rambi
- SNES Donkey Kong Country
- SNES Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
- A rhino friend who appears to help the Kongs in their adventures... from a wooden box, even! His destructive power lets his rider plow through enemies and super-dash to break through walls and other obstacles. Know what that means? It means uncovering more hidden bananas and life balloons!
- Sticker
- Name: Rambi
- Artwork from: Donkey Kong Country
- Effects: [Arm] - Attack +13
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
- Trophy
- Rambi
- A longtime and trustworthy animal friend. Even the king of the jungle, the lion, fears Rambi's might. Mario would love a lift from Rambi, but he is all Donkey Kong's! His impressive horn can defeat enemies and smash walls, and since Donkey Kong Country 2, he can super-dash! (American English)
- Donkey Kong's trusty Animal Friend. They say even the mightiest lion would be afraid of him, and with good reason! Since Donkey Kong Country 2, Rambi's had a special move that lets him charge right into enemies at high speed. You don't want to be on the wrong side of that! (British English)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirit
| # | Name | Image | Series / game | Type | Class | Strength / effect(s) | How to obtain | Spirit battle | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent(s) | Battle conditions | Stage | Song | ||||||||
| 150 | Rambi |
|
Donkey Kong Series | Primary (1) | Ace | red Speed ↑ |
World of Light (Forest Hill); Spirit Board | Donkey Kong |
|
Kongo Falls (Ω) | Jungle Level (Brawl) |
List of appearances
Gallery
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Rambi.
Donkey Kong Country
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | サイのランビ[?] Sai no ranbi |
Rambi (the) Rhino | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 兰比[?] Lánbǐ |
Rambi | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 蘭比[?] Lánbǐ |
Rambi | |
| German | Rambi das Nashorn[?] | Rambi the Rhino | |
| Italian | Rambi il rinoceronte[?] | Ranbi the rhino | |
| Korean | 코뿔소 람비[?] Koppulso Rambi |
Rambi (the) Rhinoceros | |
| Russian | Рэмби[?] Rembi |
Rambi | |
| Spanish | Rambi el Rinoceronte[?] | Rambi the Rhinoceros |
Trivia
- While Rambi himself does not appear in the Saturday Supercade episode "Hairy Parent" (due to the show predating Donkey Kong Country by roughly a decade), the climax of said episode involves Donkey Kong riding an ill-tempered rhino in a similar fashion that looks not unlike Rambi.
- Although Rambi never appeared in the animated series, he was featured in a commercial for the Game Boy Color remake of the original Donkey Kong Country video game that featured Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, General Klump, and Krusha in their designs from the show's second season, with Rambi presented in a very similar style.
References
- ^ Nintendo Official Magazine (UK) issue 39. Page 18.
- ^ Nintendo Magazine System (Australia) issue 46. Page 48.
- ^ Donkey Kong Country Returns Instruction Booklet. Page 17.
- ^ von Esmarch, Nick, and Cory van Grier. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze: Prima Official Game Guide. Page 22. "Rambi can destroy just about any object and every enemy without feeling pain. Just make sure an enemy doesn’t hit her from behind, and try to avoid those bottomless pits."
- ^ Donkey Kong 64 § Unused Animations. The Cutting Room Floor.
- ^ a b [1]
- Ungulates
- Animal Friends
- Playable characters
- Donkey Kong 64 characters
- Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
- Donkey Kong Country characters
- Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest characters
- Donkey Kong Country Returns characters
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze characters
- Donkey Kong Land characters
- Donkey Kong Land 2 characters
- LEGO Super Mario characters
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl stickers
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophies
- Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS trophies
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirits
