User:Son of Suns/Sandbox

A sub-page for my works-in-progress, mostly new proposal ideas and their related "mainspace" content. As always, please feel free to send me feedback.

Banjo and Conker Revisited

This proposal would create only two articles: one compiling content on the Banjo series, the other about the Conker series. Only games and content officially approved by Nintendo would be allowed, meaning information from Conker: Live & Reloaded and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts would not be allowed. Given the connections established by Nintendo between the Donkey Kong series and the Banjo/Conker franchises, the Banjo/Conker series has a recognized official connection to Mario, albeit a small one (and thus Banjo and Conker content is only afforded two articles).

One of the strongest parts of this wikis that distinguishes us from others is our integration of spin-off information, creating a fuller, more complete encyclopedia. This proposal would give recognition to the Banjo and Conker series as spin-offs of a spin-off, and thus a minor, but still relevant, part of the the overall franchise. However, unlike content for spin-offs such as the Wario and Yoshi series, Banjo and Conker content will not be given unlimited article creation status. As many have noted, the connection between Mario and Banjo/Conker is not very strong, as they are separated by a common link, the Donkey Kong series. Instead, this proposal would create only two articles - one for all Banjo content, and one for all Conker content. I believe this is a fair compromise between those who want exclusive focus on Mario, and thus who view Banjo and Conker as part of the greater Mario franchise. This allows the latter to fully explore the Banjo and Conker series (as approved by Nintendo) while keeping the amount of articles to only two, allowing those who do not care for such content to easily avoid it. The two series articles would actually be very similar to the Beta Elements or List of Glitches articles. Both Beta Elements and Glitches are relatively large articles intended to keep certain content in a single location instead of distributed throughout a mass of other articles throughout the wiki. Similarly, this proposal would keep all Banjo and Conker content in two articles, instead of allowing the creation of dozens to hundreds of articles about such content.

The Banjo and Conker series and its various references to other Mario and Donkey Kong games were officially approved by Nintendo, as Rare was owned by Nintendo at the time. As Nintendo has never established an official canon or an official policy on remakes, these strong connections between the series are still official. Nintendo did not have to approve these connections between Mario, Donkey Kong, Banjo and Conker; they chose to establish a continuity between these games, and we should respect that decision made by Nintendo.

The strongest connection between Donkey Kong’s world and the worlds of Banjo and Conker is Diddy Kong Racing. This is made explicit in the story of Diddy Kong Racing (as described by the official instruction booklet). When Wizpig attacks Timber’s Island, Timber sends a letter to Diddy Kong asking for help. Diddy Kong responds by writing letters to his friends Banjo and Conker, asking then to come along on his adventure. Diddy Kong then has Squawks personally deliver the handwritten letters to Banjo and Conker. This establishes a clear historical and geographical connection between Diddy Kong, Banjo and Conker. They don’t simply meet for the first time in this game, they have been friends for a some amount of time before. Also, the parrot Squawks is able to fly to Banjo and Conker, establishing that they all live relatively close together.

Also consider the official profiles for these characters.

Banjo (page 24): "Even before the start of his future partnership with Kazooie, Banjo isn’t one to turn down the chance of an adventure. So when Squawks brings the message from his pal Diddy Kong, the Honey Bear stuffs a few things into his trusty backpack and takes to his heels."

As above, this establishes a connection between Banjo, Diddy Kong, and Squawks. This references also indicates that Diddy Kong Racing chronologically takes place before Banjo-Kazooie, that this part of the Donkey Kong series is a part of the same continuum as Banjo’s timeline.

Conker (page 24): "Another friend made by Diddy Kong on one of his endless adventures with Donkey Kong. Conker is also an exploration nut who’ll jump at any chance to break free of a squirrel’s less than exciting routine. He’s eager to join up with Banjo as the bear passes through."

Conker not only has an explicit connection with Diddy Kong and Banjo, he is also connected to Donkey Kong himself. All four of these characters met before the events of the game, establishing the geographical and historical connections made above.

There are also some more minor references that not only establish links between the worlds of Donkey Kong, Banjo, and Conker, but to Mario’s world as well.

• The character Tiptup is in both Diddy Kong Racing and Diddy Kong Racing DS, as well as Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. Tiptup and Banjo first met in Diddy Kong Racing, and would chronologically later meet up again twice in the Banjo series. His relatively major presence in all these games indicates a strong link between all four titles, even if Banjo and Conker were not included in Diddy Kong Racing DS.
• In Banjo-Kazooie, the character "Gnawty the Beaver" looks exactly like the Gnawty enemy from Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong 64. Gnawty could be considered a representative member of his species, just as Yoshi is to the Yoshis and Toad is to the Toads.
• In Banjo-Kazooie, a picture of Conker’s girlfriend Berri can be found in Rusty Bucket Bay. Gruntilda also mentions Conker the Squirrel in her quiz at the end of the game. Additionally, not only Donkey Kong but the original Donkey Kong Mario battled, Cranky Kong, is mentioned by Gruntilda.
• In Banjo-Tooie, the character Goggles has a Donkey Kong doll.
• In Banjo-Tooie, the toilet character Loggo is clogged up with paper. Kazooie tells him to call a plumber, then suggests that Mario might be free. Loggo then states he doesn’t think Mario is in that line of work anymore. This conversation indicates that it would be possible for Mario to travel to Loggo’s location if needed, and that there is awareness in Banjo’s world that Mario’s profession has changed throughout his many adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom.

The following would form the content basis of these two articles:

Banjo (series)

Games

Diddy Kong Racing

Main article: Diddy Kong Racing

Characters

Big Al

Big Al is a rhinoceros employed by Witchyworld in Banjo-Tooie. He operates the theme park's burger stand. Big Al does not know exactly how he got the job, but according to him he used to clean the park's toilets before his current position. Additionally, he has low standards of hygiene; although he has a terrible cold, he often coughs onto the food he serves to customers. He also states he sells hamburgers that have fallen on the ground.

Big Al's burger stand was closed when Banjo and Kazooie first arrived in Witchyworld. After the duo activated a special switch, the burger stand opened for business. Big Al was then able to offer Banjo and Kazooie a burger. He would only give the pair one burger at a time, saying he has run out if Banjo and Kazooie asked for another.

Items

Extra Life

Extra Lives are golden statuettes of Banjo that appear exclusively in Banjo-Kazooie. They depict Banjo standing with his arms raised in victory. Extra Life trophies, as their name indicates, grant Banjo and Kazooie one extra life. They are the Banjo series counterparts to Mario's 1-Up Mushrooms and Donkey Kong's Extra Life Balloons. Typically one to three Extra Lives can be found in a level, and they are usually very well hidden. It appears Banjo and Kazooie can have an essentially unlimited number of extra lives, although the Extra Life counter only goes up to nine. Since the concept of "lives" was dropped in Banjo-Tooie, Extra Life statues have not been seen since their debut in Banjo-Kazooie.

Conker (series)

Games

Diddy Kong Racing

Main article: Diddy Kong Racing

Characters

Berri

Berri is Conker the Squirrel's somewhat dim, yet loving girlfriend and confidant.

Berri's first appearance was in the game Conker's Pocket Tales. Planning a surprise party for Conker, Berri was kidnapped by the Evil Acorn, who had jumped out of the cake she had made for Conker. After some adventuring, Conker managed to track down the Evil Acorn, defeat him and rescue Berri from his grasp.

Berri next appeared with a drastically altered appearance in Conker's Bad Fur Day. In this game, Conker's goal was to return home to Berri after becoming drunk and lost in the Panther Kingdom. During the Conker's adventure, Berri was kidnapped from their home by a rock monster and forced to dance in a cage at the Rock Solid Nightclub. Later in the game, Conker stumbled upon the nightclub and his girlfriend. He managed to rescue Berri from the club, but she did not recognize Conker due to his caveman disguise. As such, she simply ran off to the club's owner, the mafia boss Don Weaso, while Conker grabbed some cash left behind in the cage. Before he could escape the nightclub, the bouncer intercepted Conker and brought him before Don Weaso for stealing the Don's money. When Conker arrived at the Don's headquarters, he saw Berri, who was giving Don Weaso a back massage. She still did not recognize Conker the "caveman," and eventually left to "powder her nose."

Conker next ran into Berri outside the Federal Reserve Bank. Berri was in the process of robbing the bank for Don Weaso. With help from Conker, Berri managed to clear out all of the bank's guards and make it to the vault. It is there that Berri and Conker were ambushed by Don Weaso, the Panther King and The Professor. The bank heist was actually a set-up planned by the trio – Don Weaso was paid to deliver Conker to the Panther King so that the red squirrel could be installed by The Professor as a replacement leg for the King's table. Before Conker could react, Don Weaso was ordered to gun-down Berri, as the Panther King only needed Conker, not her. A horrified Conker was forced to watch as Berri's body was riddled with bullets. She eventually died in Conker's arms.

It is not elaborated upon as to what happened to Berri's body afterwards, but it can be assumed it was sucked into outer space, along with the Panther King's remains and the still living Professor during Conker's battle with Heinrich.

Physical Appearance

In Conker's Pocket Tales Berri was no taller than Conker and had reddish-brown fur. In Conker's Bad Fur Day, Berri was completely redesigned. She was now at least twice as tall as Conker, had gray fur, as well as a curvaceous body.

Personality

Though little of Berri's personality is shown in Conker's Pocket Tales, she was presumably kind and cheery much like Conker was in this game. In Conker's Bad Fur Day, Berri was portrayed as somewhat naive and ditzy. For example, she does not recognize Conker at the Rock Solid Club or at Don Weaso's headquarters, even though his caveman "disguise" does not conceal Conker's face, body or voice. Additionally, she has a stereotypical "valley girl" accent and all of her possessions are entirely pink. Conker and Berri appear to have had a close relationship when she was alive, although she was frustrated by Conker's regular drinking at The Cock and Plucker. When she was first introduced to Conker's bar friends, they all agreed the two made an "unlikely couple" as Conker is "short, impatient and cute" whereas Berri is "tall, impatient and cute." Because of these differences, Conker's friends thought Conker and Berri's relationship would "end in tears," which indeed it did, but only because Berri was murdered by Don Weaso. Lastly, Berri appears to be a well-known sex symbol in Conker's world, possibly explaining her abduction by the Rock Solid Nightclub.

Trivia

• A poster of Berri can be seen hanging above a bed in Rusty Bucket Bay in the game Banjo-Kazooie.