Donkey Kong was designed and created by Shigeru Miyamoto as the main antagonist in the original Donkey Kong arcade game. In that game, he kidnaps Mario's (known as Jumpman then) girlfriend, Pauline, and continually throws barrels at him to stop him from rescuing her. As for the name, Miyamoto chose "Donkey" for the character's stubborness, and "Kong" was picked because it was a term used for scary, large apes in Japan.
At first, Donkey Kong didn't have a tie, which made its debut in the Game Boy version of the Donkey Kong game and was the only difference between the two Donkey Kongs. It wasn't until Donkey Kong Country that the Donkey Kong character underwent a big change, as he was given a new personality, as well as a new home. It was also revealed that the DK in the arcade games was actually Cranky Kong.
