>... argument mostly derives from the question of whether or not Donkey Kong, the character in modern Nintendo games who is rivals with Mario, is the ORIGINAL Donkey Kong from the arcade, or if that's Cranky
>In DKC for the SNES, Cranky Kong repeatedly says that the original Donkey Kong who fought Mario on the girders is himself, and the current Donkey Kong is just his son
>However, in Smash Brothers, Donkey Kong's original appearance date is clearly given as 1981, the year the original Donkey Kong released, starring the character now known as Cranky Kong
>This also raises the question of whether the modern Donkey Kong is DK Jr., who also fought Mario, or if DK Jr. is his own character
>And let's not even raise the question of why Cranky is now old while Mario and Pauline are the same age

>>713264539 (OP)
The sports and spin-off party games exist outside of time, which is why Mario and Baby Mario can go go-karting and play tennis together.
The DK we see in the arcade games and Mario VS. DK is Cranky, but the DK we see in Country and the sports and party games is DK III, unless he is paired with DK Jr, in which case he is Cranky.

>>713264539 (OP)
Animals generally age much faster. I personally barely changed from 20 to 30. The only thing to take a hit was my neck, and maybe my face sunk a bit.

>>713264539 (OP)
Ah! Forgot this. DK Jr has already been portrayed as a sperate character to DK. Look at Mario Tennis and Mario Kart Tour. The prevailing theory should be that Cranky is the last DK's grandfather.