During today’s Donkey Kong Bananza Direct, it was officially revealed that DK’s sidekick throughout the adventure is a young version of Pauline. That’s fun! Now let’s check the internet to see how people are reacting to the Direct… oh…oh no. Way too many of you care about Donkey Kong/Mario lore! That’s weird, because Nintendo don’t give a shit about any of that stuff and that’s wonderful.
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Donkey Kong Bananza launches next month. On Wednesday, Nintendo shared a 15-minute Direct all about the game. As a result, I’m very excited to play Bananza. It looks awesome, letting DK punch and destroy everything. It also co-stars a young Pauline, who is DK’s companion in the game, riding on his shoulder and using her singing ability to help the big ape solve puzzles and destroy more stuff. I think that inclusion alone wouldn’t have broken too many people’s brains, but at one point in the Direct we briefly see Donkey Kong and young Pauline interact with Cranky Kong. And that has caused chaos among Nintendo lore nerds.
YouTube comments debating DK Bananza’s place in the lore. Screenshot: YouTube / Kotaku
The “problem” is that in past games, Cranky Kong has been implied to be the original Donkey Kong who kidnapped an adult Pauline during the events of 1981’s Donkey Kong arcade game. So seeing Pauline as a child hanging out with an aged Cranky Kong makes it hard for wiki editors and super fans to figure out how to connect Bananza to the other Mario and Donkey Kong games.
Over on YouTube, there are literally hundreds of comments from many people debating how to make the lore work.
Some speculate that Bananza is retconning the original game. Others hypothesize there might be some time travel. Gamespot postulates it could be a multiverse situation (though the writer acknowledges they might be overthinking all of this). Some DK / Mario purists are denouncing the game as non-canonical. Some think Pauline is actually Pauline’s daughter. Still others are expecting this to be a prequel to Super Mario Odyssey, and it will reveal the origins of New Donk City, where we meet an adult Mayor Pauline.
A huge YouTube comment about DK lore. Screenshot: YouTube / Kotaku
I found one YouTube comment that was over 1,300 words long and dug deep into the canonical Mario and Donkey Kong games and Bananza’s place in that timeline and the problems it creates.
How A Young Pauline Can Meet Cranky Kong In Bananza
I want to help you all. So, here’s the answer you’ve been looking for. Here’s why and how Pauline, as a kid, is talking to Cranky Kong. You ready? Here you go: Nintendo doesn’t care about lore and just wants to make fun games. That’s it. Simple as that.
And honestly, that’s so nice. I love it so much. Truly, Nintendo devs couldn’t care less about canon, timelines, and Donkey Kong lore. They just make great games that make you smile. The company doesn’t let decades of backstory impede its ability to be creative and do new things. Pauline is a kid in this game because the people making Bananza thought it would be a fun idea, and Nintendo agreed.
Besides, the Donkey Kong lore is a mess anyway. Cranky Kong’s appearance in the Direct is seen by many as a smoking gun that reveals Bananza to be a reboot or a time travel story. But on the Mario Wiki page for Cranky, you’ll find a nearly 800-word section about how his connection to Donkey Kong has never been consistent. Sometimes he’s DK’s grandpa, sometimes he’s DK’s dad, sometimes he might not even be related. Sometimes Nintendo has acknowledged this nonsense; other times, they just treat the current Donkey Kong as the sole big ape that long ago kidnapped Pauline. None of this has ever been nailed down consistently, and acting like it has is silly!
Look, I get it. I love Star Wars lore. I get nerdy about it, too. I’m not trying to say people can’t have fun. But far too many of the comments I’ve seen about this Bananza lore debate seem to be taking it far too seriously, as if Nintendo is vindictively shitting on Rare’s legacy. That doesn’t make sense considering all the references to Rare’s DK Country games included in the Direct.
The thing about lore is that it’s fun to ponder and discuss, but it should never be allowed to completely derail anyone’s ability to tell a new story or make something cool with classic characters. Donkey Kong Bananza seems like a blast. Don’t let the lore get in the way of that.
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