Cranky's Cabin
Cranky's Cabin is the home of Cranky Kong in Donkey Kong Country. Although it appears to be situated in the Kongo Jungle, Cranky appears to have a cabin in each area of Donkey Kong Island, all of which are strangely surrounded by jungle foliage.
Visiting Cranky's Cabin is entirely optional, for all that Cranky has to offer for Donkey and Diddy Kong is advice. He mainly gives hints as to where the Kongs can find hidden Bonus Areas and Animal Tokens, mostly within the Kongo Jungle.
In addition to his advice, Cranky, who doesn't like having visitors, lives up to name by complaining, often breaking the Fourth Wall in the process. He will constantly whine to Donkey and Diddy about how the games from his glory days (such as the original Donkey Kong) are better than the newfangled "easy games" that are coming out. Cranky will also complain about the modern graphics, and how they're too bright and colorful for his old eyes.
Once the Kongs defeat King K. Rool and recover the stolen Bananas, they will take a trip to Cranky's Cabin, where the old ape will congratulate them, and comment on whether or not they found all of the Bonus Areas in the game. Afterwards, he will tell the Kongs to return to the Banana Hoard, so they can see that it's been replenished.
Though Cranky's Cabin doesn't actually appear in Donkey Kong Land, the manual has it as the location where Donkey and Diddy make their bet with Cranky Kong that they wouldn't be able to beat the Kremling Krew again on a handheld system.
In the Donkey Kong Country animated series, Cranky's Cabin, instead of being located on the ground, is high in the trees, possibly in the television series equivalent of Tree Top Town. The appearance of Cranky's Cabin was also altered in the cartoon series; it was made rounded and larger and had a variety of booby traps located near it, which could be activated to ward off enemies.
The cabin is the holding place of the Crystal Coconut in the show, which Donkey Kong spends much of his time guarding. On several occasions, King K. Rool is able to sneak into the cabin and get the Coconut, and other times, he is able to trick, or even use magic, to get someone else to go in and get it for him (such as when he uses the love potion to get Candy Kong to go in and steal it for him in A Thin Line Between Love & Ape). The walkway to the cabin is booby-trapped with barrels that when jumped on, send anyone unfortunate enough to be standing on it flying into an abyss. This is featured in several episodes, and is often used to prevent K. Rool from apprehending the Coconut.
Cranky Kong would later run the Monkey Museum and Cranky's Lab in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong 64 respectively.
Trivia
- In the GBA remake of Donkey Kong Country, Sabre Wulf's head can be seen mounted on the wall of Cranky's Cabin as a sort of hunting trophy. Sabre Wulf is the main antagonist of the Sabre Wulf series by Rare. Although he has been decapitated, Sabre Wulf does not appear to be dead as his eyes continue to blink.
