Rambi

Rambi
Artwork of Rambi for Donkey Kong Country Returns
Franchise	Donkey Kong
First appearance	Donkey Kong Country (1994, overall) Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (2007, Wii)
Latest appearance	Mario Kart Tour (Jungle Tour, cameo) (2020) Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010, Wii)
Created by	Rare Ltd.
Full name	Rambi the Rhino Rambi the rhinoceros
Species origin	Rhino

Rambi is a rhino featured in the Donkey Kong franchise. He is one of the main Animal Friends, and a strong ally of the Kongs who can charge into enemies, use his horn as an attack, and break open fragile walls leading into a Bonus Level. The first Wii game that Rambi appeared in is Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. His first overall appearance is in Donkey Kong Country, which was ported as a Virtual Console title prior to Donkey Kong Barrel Blast's release.

Wii game appearances

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast

In Donkey Kong Barrel Blast Rambi appears in the course Dynamite Run, where the Kongs and Kremlings can ride Rambi by freeing him from his animal crate. Rambi increases the players' speed and has the ability to charge through barrels and boulders.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Rambi makes a cameo appearance as a trophy and a sticker. Like most other trophies, the Rambi one appears at random in one of the single-player modes. The Rambi sticker increases arm-based attacks by 13 points when used by any fighter in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary.

The Rambi trophy depicts his appearance from Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, and his sticker depicts his main Donkey Kong Country artwork. The Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS trophy also depicts Rambi's appearance from Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Rambi breaking blocks depicting his face in Donkey Kong Country Returns

Rambi reappears in Donkey Kong Country Returns as one of the two returning Animal Friends, the other being Squawks. Rambi is the only Animal Friend whom Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong can ride; to do so, Donkey Kong must first free Rambi by Ground Pounding or Rolling into his large animal crate. Rambi has the ability to run over spikes and destroy stone objects and blocks showing an emblem of his face. Rambi can instantly defeat most enemies just by running into them. Rambi's only weakness is fire, including the flaming enemies, Flaming Tiki Buzzes and Fireballs. The player loses Rambi if he gets in contact with fire but instead of dying instantly, he will instead walk away aimlessly, giving the Kongs the chance to get him back. Due to Rambi's weight, Diddy can only hover for one second when using his Barrel Jet.

Rambi appears in a total of four levels: Tree Top Bop, Temple Topple, Precarious Plateau, and Smokey Peak.

Backward-compatible appearances

Virtual Console

Donkey Kong Country

“Keep your eyes peeled for Rambi the rhino! He can crash into almost any hidden room.”

– Cranky Kong

Rambi as he appears in Donkey Kong Country.

In Donkey Kong Country, Rambi is the first Animal Friend encountered, and he appears in the first level, Jungle Hijinxs, and later appears in Oil Drum Alley and Manic Mincers.

To ride Rambi, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong must free him from his animal crate. Rambi can use his horn to break open fragile walls, much like barrels. He can defeat most enemies by moving into them, including Zingers. Like other Animal Friends, if Rambi gets hit by a level hazard (such as Mincers or flaming oil drums), he runs away.

Rambi is featured on some of the Animal Tokens. When Donkey Kong and Diddy obtain three Rambi Tokens, the player is redirected to the "Rambi Bonus!"; this area is set in a snowy location, where the player controls Rambi individually and must have him collect mini Rambi Tokens.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Rambi in his titular level, Rambi Rumble, in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Rambi reappears in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Rambi acts mostly the same as in Donkey Kong Country, though his normal speed is slower; however, he can perform a supercharge, which allows him to perform a fast charge to break open some walls (leading into bonus rooms), or plow through enemies easily. Due to the introduction of Animal Barrels, there are a few levels where Diddy and Dixie transform into Rambi, but there are still levels where they ride on him. His gray coloration from Donkey Kong Country is now tinted brown.

Like his two previous appearances, Rambi appears as a mount in the first level, Pirate Panic, where his animal crate appears after the Star Barrel. From there, the Kongs can optionally ride Rambi until reaching his No Animal Sign. Rambi makes his second level appearance in Red-Hot Ride and his third in Barrel Bayou in the same capacity, though his crate and sign are near the start and Star Barrel, respectively.

Rambi Rumble is Rambi's signature level. During the level's second half, the Kongs must transform into Rambi, who is then chased by King Zing for the second part of that half. The theme that plays during the chase in the original version is even called "Run, Rambi! Run!". Rambi can also be used in the first half Castle Crush and is the first Animal Friend used in Animal Antics (both via Animal Barrel).

At Swanky's Bonus Bonanza in Krem Quay, one of the questions that Swanky Kong asks is Rambi's name, with the incorrect answers being "Bambam" and "Rambus".

Nintendo GameCube

Donkey Kong Racing (canceled)

Donkey Kong riding a Rambi in the canceled Donkey Kong Racing

Rambi was planned to be a rideable Animal Friend in the canceled Nintendo GameCube title, Donkey Kong Racing. Early screenshots and the E3 2001 trailer showed Donkey Kong riding Rambi, Diddy Kong riding a gigantic Rambi, and Taj riding a small, red Rambi.

Donkey Konga

Rambi in the "Jam Session" mode of Donkey Konga (bottom-left)

In Donkey Konga, Rambi is a background character in two modes, Challenge and Jam Session. In Challenge, he appears at the bottom-left corner of the screen, next to the song number counter. In Jam Session, he and the other background characters, including King K. Rool, Cranky Kong, Diddy Kong, Ellie and the Banana Birds, appear on the bottom screen while the player performs a "jam session". In this game, Rambi was drastically redesigned, where he was based more on a white rhinoceros.

Profiles

Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophy

Name	Image	Game	Description
Rambi		SNES Donkey Kong Country SNES Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest	A rhino friend who appears to help the Kongs in their adventures... from a wooden box, even! His destructive power lets his rider plow through enemies and super-dash to break through walls and other obstacles. Know what that means? It means uncovering more hidden bananas and life balloons!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl sticker

Name	Image	Game	Effect
Rambi		Donkey Kong Country	[Arm] - Attack +13

List of Wii-related appearances

Title	Year of release	Release medium	Role
Donkey Kong Country	2006 (Virtual Console) 1994 (original release)	Virtual Console (port) Super Nintendo Entertainment System (original release)	Animal Friend
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest	2007 (Virtual Console) 1995 (original release)	Virtual Console (port) Super Nintendo Entertainment System (original release)	Animal Friend
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast	2007	Wii	Rideable in Dynamite Run
Super Smash Bros. Brawl	2008	Wii	Cameo as a trophy and a sticker
Donkey Kong Country Returns	2010	Wii	Animal Friend

Gallery

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  Donkey Kong Country artwork*

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  Donkey Kong Country sprite

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  Donkey Konga sprite

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  Donkey Kong Barrel Blast artwork

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	サイのランビ Sai no ranbi	Rambi (the) Rhino
Chinese (Simplified)	兰比 Lánbǐ	Rambi
German	Rambi das Nashorn	Rambi the Rhino
Italian	Rambi il rinoceronte	Ranbi the rhino
Korean	코뿔소 람비 Koppulso Rambi	Rambi (the) Rhinoceros
Russian	Рэмби Rembi	Rambi
Spanish	Rambi el Rinoceronte	Rambi the Rhinoceros