Diddy Kong is DK's loyal Luigi. First showing up in Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo, Diddy has followed his uncle Donkey for nearly two decades, blowing away Kremlings in the Donkey Kong franchise and crossing over to race karts and play a little ball with Mario and the gang. The cheerful chimp has even starred in at least two of his own adventures, rescuing his favorite uncle in Donkey Kong Country 2 and saving Timber's Island from a hostile invasion in Diddy Kong Racing. Diddy's climb to stardom was almost instant, and he's hopped in the hearts of gamers for 18 years.
Yet, there's something just a little odd about this simian superstar. He's just a little bit different from the apes... oh right, he isn't one! While Nintendo would love us all to believe that Diddy's a chimpanzee, there's one tiny detail that tells us that isn't the case. And it's this detail that sets him apart from all the other Kongs. Let's take a look, shall we?
Do you see it yet? No? How about this?
How about now? That's right, I'm talking about his tail! Diddy Kong has a long, prehensile tail protruding past his posterior. When was the last time you heard of a chimp having a tail? That's right, never. Because chimps don't have them. That's part of what separates apes from monkeys. I'm on to your lies, Nintendo. You'll be found out soon enough!
"So what?" I hear you say. "It's a video game, they get things wrong all the time. Besides, all of the apes in the Donkey Kong games are from the same family, they're all Kongs. They're some kind of hybrid of whatever ape features Nintendo likes smashed together."
Hybridized primates creating one singular species with vast differences? A blog for another day, dear chap! But what I'm getting at is a little deeper than that.
None of the other Kongs have tails. None of them. Not even Diddy's glorious girlfriend Dixie Kong. Despite the two having similar frames and builds, Dixie Kong has absolutely no tail. This makes her a chimp, just as the claim stands. Diddy, however, is no ape. He is the only Kong with a tail for a reason: because he isn't really a Kong.
But what else can he be? Well, I have a theory. See, Donkey Kong Island is basically neighbors with Yoshi's Island, which is how Yoshi meets up with Baby Donkey Kong in Yoshi's Island DS. There's another primate species that inhabits this island:
That little guy's called a Grinder. They're a species of monkeys that inhabit Yoshi's Island and cause general mischief for the island's other inhabitants. They toss bombs, spit watermelon seeds, and snatch eggs and babies. These guys are real trouble. They're also real familiar looking, if you can squint between styles. They've got a prehensile tail, a weird peach-colored snout, and they live in the crossover vicinity between the Yoshi and Kong territories.
Could Diddy Kong be a Grinder that was adopted into the Kong family? If this were the case, it would explain why Diddy could be considered Donkey Kong's nephew when the big man is never shown to have any direct siblings (who would have the offspring being DK's nephew or niece.)
The real answer is: Nintendo hasn't thought about it, and they probably never will.
But that's okay, because I'm here to do it for them!
