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Banjo
Bknew
Banjo and Kazooie's artwork from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
Powers Moves
Species Honey bear
Affiliation(s) Kazooie, Mumbo Jumbo
Enemies Gruntilda
Game(s) Diddy Kong Racing
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge
Banjo-Pilot
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

First appearance Diddy Kong Racing (1997)
Latest appearance Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2019)

Banjo is an anthropomorphic brown Malayan Sun Bear, also known as the Honey Bear, and one of the stars of Rare's Banjo-Kazooie series alongside Kazooie. He lives in Spiral Mountain on the Isle of Hags with his sister Tooty and best friend Kazooie (though Tooty disappears from the series with no explanation after the first game). Banjo has appeared in six games. His first appearance was in Diddy Kong Racing.

Physical Appearance[]

Banjo appearance has virtually unchanged since the first game in the series (though Banjo's shorts mysteriously get shorter between Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie). He has light-Brown fur, light-Blue eyes, Yellow shorts with a black belt, a shark tooth necklace, and a Blue Backpack that usually contains his friend Kazooie.

Oddly, he always keeps the shorts and backpack, when he is transformed into one of Mumbo Jumbo or Humba Wumba's forms.

In Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Banjo has been redesigned with a slightly blocking-like appearance and rendered fur. Rare states the redesign makes more sense.

Personality[]

Banjo is usually portrayed as an easy-going character. He would rather sleep than go on an adventure and is much more polite then his sidekick Kazooie, though the trouble she attracts usually ends up coming for him as well. He can also play the banjo and loves to swim and dance.

Games[]

Diddy Kong Racing[]

Banjo first appears in Diddy Kong Racing as one of the playable characters. He is contacted by Diddy and Timber asking him to help free Timber's Island from the evil Wizpig. He is also a friend of the two. Compared to other racers, Banjo has high top speed, but also has below average handling and low acceleration.

In Diddy Kong Racing DS, Banjo and Conker have been replaced by Tiny Kong and Dixie Kong respectively.

Banjo-Kazooie[]

Banjo got his own adventure in Banjo-Kazooie. In this game he lives in a house in Spiral Mountain with his little sister Tooty, and friend Kazooie who lives inside his backpack. He also has a neighbor named Bottles the Mole.

Gruntilda, who lives in her lair on the other side of spiral mountain, is jealous of Tooty because she is "The Fairest Of All", so she swoops in on her Broomstick and kidnaps her. Banjo and Kazooie head off and are able to save Tooty, with the help of numerous friends they met along the way. They push Gruntilda off the mountain, and she falls to the ground creating a Grunty shaped hole. A rock then falls in the hole, supposedly sealing her in forever.

Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge[]

Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge is the third game in the series but the second chronologically. Kazooie is kidnapped by Gruntilda Winkybunion, whose soul now inhabits a robotic body ("Mecha-Grunty"). Gruntilda travels back in time hoping to undo the events of Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo has to chase the duo back through time to get his pal back and stop Grunty from mucking around with history.

In the end Grunty is defeated once again when her robotic body is destroyed and she is forced back underground. After beating they're archenemy once again, Banjo and Kazooie head home for some relaxation.

Banjo-Tooie[]

In the beginning of Banjo Tooie, Banjo is playing cards with Kazooie, Mumbo Jumbo, and Bottles the Mole. Unknown to them, Gruntilda's sisters had arrived and had revived his arch-enemy. Gruntilda is quick to take her Revenge, destroying Banjo's house and killing Bottles. Banjo and Kazooie set out to avenge him, and meet the King Jingaling, who tells them that he will help them defeat the witch. He shows them the way to Jiggywiggy's Temple, but is turned into a zombie by the witches for this deed. Meanwhile, Banjo and Kazooie reach the temple and talk to Jiggywiggy. He tells them that if they bring him Jiggies, he can activate the power of the Crystal Jiggy, and open pathways for them. Thus the duo start out on a quest to collect Jiggy's. Eventually Banjo collects enough to reach Gruntilda's castle, and make their way to the top. He takes control of the witches' Big 'O' Blaster (or BOB), and restore true life to Bottles and the Jinjo King. He then preceded to the roof for the final stand-off with Gruntilda. She is defeated yet again, and Banjo returns to Bottles House to celebrate with his friends.

During the adventure, Banjo learns the ability Split-Up allowing him to go away from Kazooie. In his lone form he can learn the ability Pack-Whack, but cannot glide or shoot eggs.

Banjo-Pilot[]

Banjo gets his own racing title, Banjo Pilot, a game originally called Diddy Kong Pilot. Banjo is the main character and default racer of this game.

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts[]

Banjo is again the main character in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts which is on the Xbox 360. Here he is competing with Gruntilda over who is the rightful owner of Spiral Mountain. Unlike the Nintendo 64 games, Banjo now builds different vehicles to help him get Jiggies (as they forgotten their abilities over the eight years distance, and since L.O.G. won't let them remember their moves). L.O.G. or the Lord of Games, is the one who introduced the vehicle deal, and he was the one to set up the match to determine who is to be the rightful owner of Spiral Mountain.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]

At E3 2019, it was revealed that Banjo and Kazooie are coming to join the Smash Bros. Ultimate roster as the third dlc fighter. Little other is known about his appearance in Smash Ultimate.

Other Games[]

  • Early beta screenshots of Donkey Kong 64 showed a shower stall in Donkey Kong's Treehouse with a poster of Banjo and Kazooie on it but it was removed from the final game.
  • In the beginning of the games Conker's Bad Fur Day and its remake Conker: Live & Reloaded Banjo cameos as a stuffed head mounted over a fireplace and Kazooie's on the back of an umbrella.
  • In the game Viva Piñata, a mountain with Banjo and Kazooie's faces can be seen. Also, a statue of Banjo and even Banjo's backpack can be purchased in the game.
  • A large amount of memorabilia depicting Banjo and several other Banjo-Kazooie series characters can be found in the game Grabbed by the Ghoulies. This memorabilia includes action figures, a Banjo-Kazooie game box and an Xbox box with depicting Banjo-Tooie can be found, even Banjo's pet fish, Roysten can be found in the game.
  • Banjo and Kazooie are playable in the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing.
  • Banjo and Kazooie are confirmed as fighter no. 73 for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and was released on September 4, 2019.

Gallery[]

Artwork[]

Sprites[]

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