RARE’s Donkey/Diddy Kong artist reveals how Battletoads and Coco Puffs influenced his designs

While Nintendo certainly made Donkey Kong a household name with his titular arcade game, there’s no denying that Donkey Kong Country gave the character his most iconic look. That design, along with Diddy as well, came from former RARE artist Kevin Bayliss, and now he’s sharing some interesting insight into the look of both characters.

While Donkey Kong may be getting a visual overhaul from Nintendo with Mario Kart on Switch 2, Bayliss came up with character’s look that we’ve all known and love since the mid-90s. In series of posts on social media, Bayliss looked back on some of the character’s visual traits and how they actually came from his own limitations.

While Donkey Kong may be known for his necktie, it’s pretty funny to note that the character doesn’t have a neck. That’s not by accident either, as it comes from Bayliss self-professed shortcomings. Bayliss revealed that DK didn’t have a neck simply because he wasn’t good at drawing them, so he went with the head-and-stomach design. Turns out that’s not the only area where Bayliss struggled, and it’s a design choice present in some of his other works as well.

Bayliss said it was hard to give DK any other expression than annoyed, and it’s all because of his eyes. The artist revealed that Donkey Kong basically has the same eye design as the Battletoads, which were another of Bayliss’ creations. Obviously Bayliss has come a very long way since those early days of his career, and he says expressions and eyes are areas where he puts a lot more consideration into nowadays.

Last but not least, Bayliss also revealed what inspired him to come up with his design for Diddy Kong. Turns out his motivation came from an old Coco Puffs cereal mascot, which is a character he loved but a cereal his parents wouldn’t let him have! You can see Bayliss’ comments on the character in the social media post below.