Nintendo reveals its ‘Kong Dong’ in court filing

Did you know that one of Nintendo’s cornerstone characters is Donkey Kong, who, in addition to a number of video games, also stars in DK’s rap. In fact, many names were suggested for him before the company settled on the iconic monkey moniker we all know. One of those names was “Kong Dong.”

Don’t laugh, this is serious business. A poor video game character could end up being That Throughout their virtual lives. Millions of young people are probably growing up talking openly about their love of dong, creating millions of ridiculous and embarrassing situations for their already depressed and overworked parents who are trying to defuse the situation out of sheer fear that their kids might get bullied for saying something that sounds funny. Actually, I’ve changed my mind. They should call him Kong Dong.

Where did the revelation about “dong” come from? First discovered in 2020 by gaming historian Norman Caruso, some old court documents from the ’80s are now getting attention again (thanks, Eurogamer) because people love to make fun of the word “dong.”

The documents come from some legal disputes between Nintendo and Universal Pictures, with both parties arguing that the DK name might have borrowed too much from King Kong, the copyright of which was owned by the film company. Naturally, since the former ape kept the name, the judge ultimately concluded that the two names were different enough for Nintendo to continue using.

However, Nintendo had to come up with a long list of possible DK names, which included: Funny Kong, Kong the Kong, Jack Kong, Funky Kong, Bill Kong, Steel Kong, Giant Kong, Big Kong, Kong Down, Mr Kong, Custom Kong, Kong Chase, Kong Boy, Kong Man, Kong Fighter, Wild Kong, Rookie Kong and Kong Holiday. Oh, and of course Kong Dong.

Personally, I think “Custom Kong” and “Kong Down” are worth a look, as the former sounds like he’s hosting a series of “Pimp My Ride,” while the latter sounds like something you’d yell if – god forbid – Donkey Kong were assassinated by a sniper.

Now that you know about this forgotten old Nintendo product, what do you think? Let us know below.