Does the look of the DKC series match the gameplay?

[Kosheh]

I think it's worthy to note that in Japan, the popular aesthetic is still the 'kawaii' - that means, cute characters.

So you're telling me... this DK design would make him a hit in Japan..

id absolutely lose my shit if kisekae DK was in an actual nintendo game

Imagine if Luigi suddenly wasn't a coward and acted exactly like Mario. You might think it was cool at first, but in the long run he'd lose all individuality and appeal. Characterization is really important to cartoon guys like this

I feel like I'm going off-topic here, but that already was kind of a thing already. Prior to Smash 64, when Luigi wasn't given his own extensive set of voice clips, he wasn't a coward and just acted exactly like Mario for the longest time, because he had little to no characterization. A good example of this is the comparison of Mario 64 Luigi to Smash 64 Luigi (it's also probably because Charles Martinet "lost" Luigi's voice forever, lol)

But, I feel like generally with Nintendo games, it's easier to just try to drop any ideas related to characterization, or how "this character" should act in one series or another. They'll have personalities, yes, but even that's subject to change. I think Miyamoto stated it once, and even Koopaul in an argument here: the Mario cast acts more as a "troupe" of actors, kind of like Popeye....and Donkey Kong is no exception. That's why you'll have Mario and Donkey Kong gettin' steamed at one another in MvDK games and then suddenly they're chummy in Mario Kart. It's also probably the reason Bowser doesn't just slam Mario's head into the pavement, either (it'd save him a lot of work in the core series)

In Nintendo's game producers' viewpoint, gameplay generally comes first and its lexicon comes second; what works in one series doesn't necessarily dictate the character's design and intention until the end of time. If that were the case, NoA probably would've been heavily hinting at Mario having an actual position in royalty all of these years post-SMB1 (sort of like since the Indigo League, every time Ash goes to a new region in the Pokemon cartoon, 4kids would always heavily imply that Ash's female travel partner was secretly hot for him that's never existed in the Japanese localization; it's just weird "official speculation")

tl;dr donkey kong's characterization doesn't quite dictate him because every spinoff game in the series sets a different mood for him. it seems like post-Rare he's been all about breaking shit and pre-Rare he's been pretty much Grant Kirkhope's role as him personified: "okay".

...and then you've got DK King of Swing, where he is...a very patient jumper with great occupational (hand) control who enjoys spinning around on a peg with one hand and kindly waits his turn to jump to the next peg


EDIT: also if every appearance of these characters contributed to their actual lexicon, the Amada storybook anime would be considered canon, and so would this

Mario wasn't ever a baby, guys. He was born from a peach and discovered by two elderly Hammer Bros who then adopted him. But he was always a grown-up and had a moustache at birth.
It's all true, guys. The film apes Yoichi Kotabe's artstyle, so everything in the shorts must be canon. Including Mario in his shorts.