Diddy Kong is a fictional character who appears in games belonging to the Donkey Kong and Mario video game franchises, debuting in the 1994 Donkey Kong series game, Donkey Kong Country. He is a young monkey who lives on Donkey Kong Island in the Kongo Jungle, and is identified by his red hat with the Nintendo logo on it, and his red shirt with stars on it. Diddy Kong is Donkey Kong’s sidekick, best friend, and is described as his “nephew wannabe” in the Donkey Kong 64 manual. He has a girlfriend named Dixie Kong. He was originally created by Donkey Kong Country developer Rare as an updated version of Donkey Kong Jr., but he was renamed, due to Nintendo’s response.