Editing Donkey Kong (character) (section)

===Conception===
{{seealso|Donkey Kong (1981 video game)#Development|l1=Development of ''Donkey Kong'' (1981 video game)}}
[[File:Shigeru Miyamoto at E3 2013 1 (cropped).JPG|thumb|right|upright|alt=Shigeru Miyamoto, a Japanese man wearing a black coat and white shirt with red, yellow, and blue Pikmin characters|Donkey Kong's creator, [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], in 2013]]
In 1980, the [[List of commercial failures in video games|commercial failure]] of Nintendo's arcade game ''[[Radar Scope]]'' put the newly established subsidiary Nintendo of America in a financial crisis. Its founder, [[Minoru Arakawa]], asked his father in-law, the Nintendo CEO [[Hiroshi Yamauchi]], to provide a game that could repurpose the unsold ''Radar Scope'' cabinets.{{sfn|Sheff|1994|pp=103–105}} Most of Nintendo's top developers were preoccupied, so the task went to [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], a first-time game designer.{{sfn|Sheff|1994|p=106}}<ref name="IGN: MarioHistory">{{cite web |last1=Nix |first1=Marc |title=IGN Presents: The History of Super Mario Bros. |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/09/14/ign-presents-the-history-of-super-mario-bros |website=[[IGN]] |access-date=December 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109000531/https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/09/14/ign-presents-the-history-of-super-mario-bros |archive-date=November 9, 2019 |date=September 14, 2010}}</ref> Miyamoto found most arcade games of the time dull and wanted to make one that told a story, drawing from his favorite media such as the Shakespeare play ''[[Macbeth]]'', the fairy tale "[[Beauty and the Beast]]", and the 1933 film ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]''.{{sfn|Sheff|1994|p=47}}

Miyamoto devised a [[love triangle]] with the characters [[Popeye]], [[Olive Oyl]], and [[Bluto]] from the ''[[Popeye (comic strip)|Popeye]]'' franchise, but a licensing deal between Nintendo and [[King Features]] fell through.<ref name="IGN: MarioHistory" />{{sfn|Sheff|1994|p=47}} Miyamoto created original characters to replace the ''Popeye'' ones; Mario and Pauline replaced Popeye and Olive Oyl, and Donkey Kong replaced Bluto.<ref name="IGN: MarioHistory" /> Like Bluto, Donkey Kong was a hairy, brutish character.<ref name="NWR: KingKong">{{cite web |last1=Hernandez |first1=Pedro |title=Nintendo History 101: Donkey Kong vs. King Kong |url=https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/23122/nintendo-history-101-donkey-kong-vs-king-kong |website=Nintendo World Report |access-date=February 23, 2025 |date=May 23, 2010}}</ref> Miyamoto chose a gorilla—an animal he found "nothing too evil or repulsive"{{sfn|Sheff|1994|p=47}}—because he felt it made the scenario more interesting and humorous, and because gorillas are built similarly to humans.<ref name="Shmuplations">{{cite web |last1=Komanome |first1=Hirohisa |title=Donkey Kong: A Record of Struggle |url=https://shmuplations.com/donkeykong/ |website=Shmuplations |date=April 1997 |access-date=March 5, 2025}}</ref> "Beauty and the Beast" and ''King Kong'' influenced the choice.{{sfn|Sheff|1994|p=47}} Concept art that Miyamoto sent to ''Donkey Kong''{{'s}} programmers at [[Ikegami Tsushinki]] indicates that he replaced Bluto with Donkey Kong before removing the other ''Popeye'' characters.<ref name="Shmuplations" />

Nintendo considered around 20 names for the character before settling on Donkey Kong,<ref name="Euro: KongDong">{{cite web |last1=Phillips |first1=Tom |title=Donkey Kong could have been called Kong Dong, Nintendo court documents state |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/donkey-kong-could-have-been-called-kong-dong-nintendo-court-documents-state |website=[[Eurogamer]] |access-date=January 21, 2025 |date=June 27, 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Sheff|1994|pp=48–49}} a name suggested by the export manager Shinichi Todori according to court documents.{{sfn|Universal City Studios, Inc.|1983|p=273}} It is a common misconception that "Donkey Kong" is a mistranslation of "Monkey Kong".<ref name="GRadarHistory">{{cite web |last1=Gilbert |first1=Henry |title=The History of Donkey Kong |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/history-donkey-kong/ |website=[[GamesRadar+]] |access-date=November 14, 2023 |date=February 21, 2014 |pages=1–2 |archive-date=November 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114162921/https://www.gamesradar.com/history-donkey-kong/ |url-status=live}}</ref> ''Donkey'' was meant to convey ''stubborn'',{{sfn|Sheff|1994|pp=48–49}} while ''kong'' is a generic term for ''gorilla'' in Japan.<ref name="PCGamer: 1980sDocs" /> Miyamoto called him "[[King Kong]]" during development, as, in Japan, it was commonly used to refer to any large ape.{{sfn|Sheff|1994|p=124}} One name, "Funky Kong", was later used for [[Funky Kong|a separate character]] in ''Donkey Kong Country''.<ref name="PCGamer: 1980sDocs" /> Other names considered included "Kong Dong" and "Kong Holiday".<ref name="Euro: KongDong" /><ref name="PCGamer: 1980sDocs">{{cite web |last1=Stanton |first1=Rich |title=1980s court documents show Nintendo considered 'Kong Dong' and 'Kong the Kong' before settling on the name Donkey Kong |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/1980s-court-documents-show-nintendo-considered-kong-dong-and-kong-the-kong-before-settling-on-the-name-donkey-kong/ |website=[[PC Gamer]] |access-date=January 21, 2025 |date=June 27, 2024}}</ref> Nintendo of America objected to the name "Donkey Kong" because it did not believe that ''donkey'' could be used to describe an idiot, but Miyamoto liked how it sounded.<ref name="Wired: DK">{{cite web |last1=Kohler |first1=Chris |title=Miyamoto Spills Donkey Kong's Darkest Secrets, 35 Years Later |url=https://www.wired.com/2016/10/miyamoto-donkey-kong-secrets/ |website=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |access-date=January 22, 2025 |date=October 14, 2016}}</ref>