Cranky Kong is the original Donkey Kong, who appears in the DK arcade games, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, and in Donkey Kong 64. It is in these last four games that he is referred to as "Cranky Kong". He is so called because he complains a lot, usually about how he misses the simpler days of video games. (He's the type of character who breaks the fourth wall with reckless abandon.)

In the original Donkey Kong, he kidnapped the girl Pauline. Not about to take this, Mario saved her. In the 1982 follow-up, Donkey Kong Jr., it was Donkey Sr. who was kidnapped, and who else would have it been but Mario! Donkey Jr. made sure his old dad came out safely. In Donkey Kong 3, Stanley the Bugman tried to get rid of Donkey Kong, for whatever reason.

Starting in Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Sr. was called Cranky Kong. Because of this, Donkey Jr. dropped the "Jr." and started going by just plain "Donkey". Right around this time (1994, specifically), King K. Rool of the Kremling Krew sent his Kremling army to steal Donkey Kong's banana hoard. Donkey Kong, with his little buddy Diddy Kong, went to reclaim it. Cranky, meanwhile, gave them hints when they dropped by his cabin.

Donkey Kong Country 2 saw him play a similar role. This time, though, he let Diddy and Dixie Kong ask about specific levels in area instead of giving a hint about any random level.

In Donkey Kong Country 3, he served as Dixie and Kiddy Kong's opponent in the throwing game at Swanky's Sideshow.

In Donkey Kong 64, Cranky sold potions to the five playable Kongs (Donkey, Diddy, Chunky, Lanky, Tiny). Cranky also housed the Jetpac game, and would let you play it upon earning 15 Banana Medals (about three worlds' worth). Beating Jetpac earned you the Rareware Coin , which was required to beat the game.

Cranky made a small cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and danced alongside Diddy Kong and King K. Rool in Donkey Konga. Cranky is set to re-appear in the Game Boy Advance game DK King of Swing , where he and his deceased wife Wrinkly Kong teach Donkey how to play the game.

Cranky was also a regular on the Donkey Kong Country animated series. He was still as senile as in the games, but without his fourth wall-destroying comments. His cabin was where the Crystal Coconut (not to be confused with the item of the same name in DK64), the mystical bauble that made DK the future ruler of Donkey Kong Island (called Kongo Bongo Island on the show), was kept. Often, Cranky mixed potions, somewhat prefiguring his DK64 role.

Quotations

• "You're only reading this because you're bored!"
• "Donkey, I've had enough! That tie - turn it down!"
• "Get out of my tent now, you cheeky ape!! Wait till I tell your parents."
• "They can't keep this level of graphics up for much longer! We used to be lucky if we only got three shades of grey, let alone any real colors!"
• "What am I doing here? I could ask you what you're doing here, all of you! But I know - wrecking my vacation, that's what! First bees, then ants, now you and those overstuffed alligators are the icing on the cake!"
• "Troff's a pig, Scoff's a hippo, and both are big, slow, and useless."
• "Ah, the rare flora-dora orchid. And today's the one day a year you bloom for five seconds, when the sun is in exactly... that position. Say cheese! I've only got five seconds. Work with me here. Hey, how come you're still here? The sun should've shifted. Great jumpin' bananas! The sun's not moving! That can't be good..."
• "It sounds crazy, but so is everything else that's happened today!"
• "I can't believe you're still reading this! What you need is a good trashing!"
• "Does anyone ever actually use these memo pages? Waste of paper if you ask me!"
• "Tired of me? You're lucky I'm here to brighten up this boring manual!"
• "Err... Nope! None of these baddies are in! They must have slipped in the wrong instruction manual or something!"
• "Copy?! Who'd want to copy this game?"
• "Someone sure has a vivid imagination! I've been everywhere and I can tell you that none of these places actually exist!"
• "What's going on here? [Dixie] should be the damsel in distress, not one of the stars!"
• "Look!...look at this!...as I rock, my beard swings! Waste of frames in my opinion!"
• "I wouldn't believe a word of this! I've been everywhere and I found only two locations, bad ones at that!"
• "Look at the fancy box. Look at the size of this instruction manual. You don't think they would have gone to all this trouble if the game was any good, do you?!"
• "GO HOME AND LET ME GET SOME SLEEP!"
• Cranky: "Business? You've got no business to go into business! You'll lose your shirt!" DK: "That's OK. I don't wear a shirt." Cranky: "Then you'll lose your tie."
• Cranky: "You're supposed to be at my place keeping an eye on the Crystal Coconut!" DK: "Don't worry, Cranky, I took it for safe keeping. It's right over... Uh oh! It was right here a minute ago!" Cranky: "Safe keeping, eh?"
• Cranky: "Now zip your lip and listen! I've got something that'll snap Eddie the Mean Old Yeti out of his mean old mood!" DK: "Eddie's not the only one who could use some of that." Cranky: "I heard that!"
• Cranky: "Stop moving ya moron! I'm taking an X-ray of the inside of your head." Funky: "Cool! I'll take an 8x7 and 3 wallet size!" Cranky: "The brain's already wallet size."
• Cranky: "[Bluster] thought we were talking about him and not the X-Ray machine, and now he's trying to weasel his way into the history book by killing all of us with his good deeds. Fat chance." Diddy: "How do we make him stop?" Cranky: "With the cherry soda! Right there on the shelf, next to the Super-Sonic Vitapunch pack." DK: "Cherry soda?" Cranky: "He thinks he has a fatal disease?" DK: "Yeah." Cranky: "All we have to do is convince him that this cherry soda is some new miracle drug that will cure him." Diddy: "Cherry soda's a miracle drug?" Cranky: "Of course not! But he'll think so and stop trying to destroy Kongo Bongo by being a hero. Besides, I've been trying to unload that stuff for ages."
• Bluster: "The BarrelCopter! Mummy'll be livid!" Cranky: "Tell her to take a number - I was livid first!" Candy: "What about me?" Bluster: "What about you?" Candy: "I'm livid!" Cranky: "You can be livid later; now get this thing out of my house!"
• Cranky: "'Who built the ancient and mysterious temple of Inka-Dinka Doo?' Now why do you knuckleheads suppose it's called mysterious?" DK: "We don't know?" Cranky: "Exactly! It's a mystery! No one knows who built it! The end!"
• DK: "It's an invasion!" DK + Diddy: "They're gonna zomibify us!" Cranky: "I'll smackify the both of ya unless you knock off the Science-Fictional nonsense."
• DK: "Do your zombie worst! No interplanetary visitor dude mind vibe can control my mind!" Cranky: "No kidding! They'll never be able to find it!"
• Diddy: "Uh-oh, I think you goofed, DK... and when Cranky finds out-" DK: "No sweat, little buddy. I'm gonna be ruler! (laughs) What can Cranky say?" (Some time later...) Cranky: "You did WHAT?!?"