Donkey Kong could have been called “Kong Dong”, plus other proposed names

Donkey Kong is one of Nintendo’s most-recognized characters and franchises, but it turns out that the name could have gone in a different direction.

You may recall that in 1983, Nintendo and Universal were going head to head in court over the IP. Universal wasn’t happy with “Donkey Kong”, feeling that it was based on King Kong. Nintendo won in the end, and the final name stuck after a judge determined that it was  “at best” a parody.

Here’s what the judge said at the time:

“Donkey Kong creates a humourous impression by jumping up and down and strutting back and forth to tease Mario. The Donkey Kong gorilla is thus quite different from King Kong, a ferocious gorilla in quest of a beautiful woman who goes on rampages, chases people, crushes them underfoot, or throws them to the ground, and fights with dinosaurs, giant snakes, airplanes and helicopters, all culminating in his tragic and bloody death.”

Gaming historian Norman Caruso published court documents online in 2020. It’s now receiving attention from Super Mario Broth, which is where the proposed names for Donkey Kong come from. Outside of Kong Dong, other potential names included Funny Kong, Kong the Kong, Jack Kong, Bill Kong, Steel Kong, Giant Kong, Big Kong, Kong Down, Mr Kong, Custom Kong, Kong Chase, Kong Boy, Kong Man, Kong Fighter, Wild Kong, Rookie Kong, and Kong Holiday.

There’s one other tidbit from the documents as well. The judge said that Donkey Kong was “farcical and nonsexual” in contrast to King Kong.

Nintendo still uses the Donkey Kong IP to this day. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, a new version of the Wii game, comes to Switch at the start of 2025 – read about it here.