Banjo

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Banjo
Banjo with Kazooie in Nuts & Bolts.
Game(s)	Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge, Banjo-Pilot, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Home	Banjo's house, Spiral Mountain
Talking head icon(s)
Additional Info

“I'm Banjo, and this here's my buddy, Kazooie!”
—Banjo, Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo is one of the two eponymous stars of the Banjo-Kazooie series. The other is Kazooie.

1 Biography
- 1.1 History and development
2 In the Games
3 Relations with other characters
4 Quotes
5 Gallery

Biography

Banjo is a brown honey bear who tends to get into a lot of adventures, although he has been known to stop and race in planes, cars, and hovercrafts. He lives in his house in Spiral Mountain. Usually, his time is spent fighting Gruntilda the witch. He is always to be seen wearing his trademark tight yellow shorts, blue backpack and shark-tooth necklace. He is notably lazy, and always carries around his best friend, Kazooie the Red-Crested Breegull, in his backpack. According to Banjo-Kazooie's manual, he enjoys sleeping, swimming and occasionally, even dancing.

History and development

Early conceptual artwork of Banjo.

According to an interview in RetroGamer magazine, in Banjo-Kazooie's original version, Project Dream, the hero was not Banjo, but a young boy named Edison. However, the development team decided this character was too generic. They changed him to a bipedal rabbit and then finally a bear, the latter of which was the best-received and was the first version of Banjo as he's known today. Banjo was named so simply because he plays the banjo and they felt it suited him as a name. Originally, Banjo's backpack was purely for keeping items in during his adventures. As the game developed, they decided they needed a way to make a workable double jump. They then decided that he would have magic wings in his backpack that could carry him short distances for just such a purpose. They also needed a way for him to move around more quickly, at which point they added fast feet which would come out of the backpack and carry him around. Eventually, these ideas developed into Banjo's best friend and constant companion, Kazooie. Mark Betteridge of Rare stated during the 2008 Tokyo Game Show that Banjo's backpack was inspired by backpacks used by Japanese schoolchildren.^[1]

In the Games

Diddy Kong Racing

Diddy Kong Racing was Banjo's first appearance in a video game, although this was largely done as a form of advertisement for Banjo-Kazooie (same case as with Conker for the unreleased Twelve Tales), so it is not counted as part of Banjo-Kazooie canon.

Banjo-Kazooie

In his first adventure; Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo and Kazooie set off to save Banjo's sister, Tooty, from the evil Gruntilda. With the help of the Jinjos and their Jinjonator, they succeed in knocking her off her tower and burying her deep into the ground under a large boulder.

Banjo-Tooie

In Banjo-Tooie, taking place two years after Banjo-Kazooie, Gruntilda is resurrected by Mingella and Blobbelda and plans to destroy the entire Isle o' Hags to restore her self to flesh. Banjo succeeds in killing her two sisters and reducing Grunty to a head.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

Banjo returns once more as a primary protagonist in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, the series' third installment. In this game, Banjo is brought out of his eight-year retirement after Tooie when Gruntilda attempts to have Spiral Mountain built over with tower blocks and malls. The Lord of Games, sick of the constant squabbling between the duo and Gruntilda, creates a showdown between them, the winner getting Spiral Mountain's deeds, and the loser toiling in LOG's video game factory for all eternity. Gruntilda also manages to rid Banjo and Kazooie of their moves from the first two games.

Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge

Banjo returns as the main playable protagonist, although initially on his own, he is soon reunited with Kazooie

Banjo-Pilot

Banjo appears as a playable racer in Banjo-Pilot. His stats are as follows:

Top Speed: 3/5
Acceleration: 3/5
Handling: 2/5

Conker's Bad Fur Day/Live & Reloaded (Cameo)

In Conker's Bad Fur Day and its remake, Conker: Live & Reloaded, Banjo's head can be seen as a trophy above the fireplace in The Cock and Plucker on the game selection screen.

Relations with other characters

Kazooie: She and Banjo are best friends, rarely seen apart. It is unknown how they first met. Banjo seems to be held in a high respect by Kazooie, as chiding her for being rude will usually make her stop or apologize, and he is not often the butt of her jokes. She does sometimes purposefully annoy him, however, and if pushed far enough, he'll get her back.
Bottles: He and Banjo are very good friends. They seem to have great respect for each other, and Banjo seems appreciative of Bottles' willingness to help. Banjo has a picture of Bottles above the fireplace in his house. Bottles seems to be one of the characters Banjo invites over frequently. He appears upset when Bottles dies during the beginning of Banjo-Tooie, getting onto Kazooie for saying he "wasn't the favorite character anyway," and when talking to Bottles' wife and kids, seems reluctant to talk about his death.
Mumbo: He and Banjo also seem to be good friends. They don't speak ill of each other, although Mumbo does joke about eating or skinning Banjo during certain transformations in Banjo-Kazooie. Banjo seems to invite Mumbo over frequently, as with Bottles.
Tooty: Banjo is Tooty's older brother, and seems to care for her greatly. When he awakens at the beginning of Banjo-Kazooie, he walks outside and asks Bottles what happened, and where she was. After learning about her kidnapping, he sets out with Kazooie to rescue her from Gruntilda. As usual, when Kazooie insults Tooty near the end of the game, he makes her stop.
Gruntilda: Banjo and Gruntilda are, of course, enemies. Banjo greatly dislikes Gruntilda for her evil nature and constant trouble-making. He seems most affected by the things she does, such as kidnapping his sister Tooty, killing Bottles, and even destroying his own house. Banjo also seems to fear Gruntilda somewhat, due to her magical prowess.