Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong is the secondary main protagonist of the franchise, who also appears in games belonging to the Mario franchise. He debuted in Donkey Kong Country. Rare designer Kevin Bayliss commented Diddy was "penciled in" as a spider monkey, although he is not specifically referenced as belonging to a particular species. He lives with Donkey Kong on Donkey Kong Island in the Kongo Jungle, and is identified by his red hat with the Nintendo logo, and his red shirt with stars.
Diddy is Donkey Kong's sidekick and best friend. Rare first referred to him as DK's nephew in September 1999 on their website. This was followed in November 1999 where the manual for Donkey Kong 64 called him "Donkey's little nephew wannabe". The official cast for the game in 2002 listed him as "DK's nephew" as well. He was originally created by Rare as an updated version of Donkey Kong Jr., but he was renamed, due to Nintendo's response. In the second game, Dixie Kong was introduced and they were described as "inseparable friends", with Cranky referring to Dixie as "that girlfriend of his".
Diddy has appeared in all of the Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land games, notably as the lead character in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest with his inseparable friend Dixie Kong as his partner. He received a spin-off called Diddy Kong Racing, and more recently appeared as co-star to Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Through his relationship with Donkey Kong, Diddy has become a prominent character in the Mario franchise. He has also become a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series. Outside video games, Diddy appeared in the TV show Donkey Kong Country, where he is played by Andrew Sabiston.
Since appearing in Donkey Kong Country, Diddy has received mostly positive reception, one strong enough to create a fan following, resulting in Diddy getting his own spin-off. He has been featured in several pieces of merchandise, including stuffed toys, candies, and two Amiibo figures. Kotaku editor Mike Fahey described him as the "Scrappy Doo" of the Donkey Kong series. GamesRadar has listed Diddy Kong along with Donkey Kong as the best video game duos, and The Guardian and GameRevolution have both described Diddy Kong as one of the best video game sidekicks.
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