About

The Donkey Kong Redesign refers to a redesign of the Nintendo character Donkey Kong that was first seen in the trailer for the Switch 2 in January 2025, which also seemed to tease Mario Kart 9. The redesign more closely resembles Donkey Kong as seen in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Following the release of the trailer, social media users took note of Donkey Kong's new design and began sharing it online, inspiring discourse, memes and fan art depicting Donkey Kong in his new style.

Origin

On January 16th, 2025, the Nintendo Switch 2 handheld console was announced via a teaser trailer. In the trailer, footage of what appears to be a new Mario Kart game plays. During the trailer, Donkey Kong can be seen with a design that greatly departs from his usual design, which was solidified by Rare with the release of Donkey Kong Country in 1994.

That day, people noticed Donkey Kong's new design and began sharing it online. For example, that morning, X^[1] user @saltydkdan posted two screenshots of the new Donkey Kong, writing, "NEW DONKEY KONG DESIGN??? HUH?" garnering over 17,000 likes in a day.

Spread

The redesign inspired discourse, fan art and memes online. On January 16th, 2025, X^[2] user @turntip_ posted a piece of artwork drawing Donkey Kong in his new design, garnering over 13,000 likes in a day.

Later that same day, X^[3] user @henryvargasart posted a piece of artwork based on Donkey Kong's new design, garnering over 27,000 likes in the same span of time.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References