At this point in Donkey Kong December, having now drawn all of the Kongs (that I care to) I find myself shifting to a different sect of characters who, while not as iconic as the Kongs are no less important to the overall experience of Donkey Kong Country -- The Animal Buddies.
And of course we can't mention Animal Buddies without the inclusion of easily the most iconic of them all, Rambi the Rhino. Unfortunately when it comes to most of the Animal Buddies, outside of simply existing within the world of Donkey Kong Country, they lack any real distinction. This is epitomized within Rambi as aside from being a cartoon rhino is simply...a rhino. If I didn't know he was from a game, I would never know he was a character which is something that I caught to change, but had extreme issue in doing so. After all, where to you go when you literally have no template to work off of? How do you uphold the spirit of the original when there is no spirit to really uphold?
What resulted was unexpectedly the most difficult experience I've had in all of Donkey Kong December and one I hope never to return to, but I think my design speaks pretty well for itself. I like the concept that Rambi is essentially Donkey Kong's pet dog who just also happens to be a several hundred pound rhinoceros! It's an idea that they toyed with slightly in the original games, but never fully fleshed out and is entirely dropped in recent times, which I feel is a shame. Especially if Rambi is going to be the only remaining Animal Buddy these days (aside from Squawks, but I literally have no ideas for him currently) then I feel he should stand out even more so. Really drive home the big, dopey dog appeal while also making him look accurately tank-y.
In the end, I'm happy with how it came out, but the overall experience was regrettably miserable.
Keywords
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donkey kong country
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1 week, 1 day ago
22 Dec 2025 17:20 CET
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