Banjo

Banjo is a brown honey bear created by Rareware and one of two protagonists on which the Banjo-Kazooie series centers. He is always seen wearing a pair of yellow shorts, a shark tooth necklace, and a blue backpack.

Banjo made his debut appearance in Diddy Kong Racing alongside Tiptup as a heavy racer with a high top speed and low acceleration before starring in his own game several months later, and has since been the main character of every Banjo-Kazooie game yet. He has returned in the series's latest installment for the Xbox 360. A while back, Banjo adopted a breegull named Kazooie, who is often seen seeking shelter in his backpack. The pair has gone on numerous adventures together, the purpose of most of them being to stop the sinister plans of the evil witch Gruntilda. Banjo also has a younger sister named Tooty, who lives with him and Kazooie in a house at the bottom of Spiral Mountain. He also plays his namesake instrument.

However, Banjo was not born a Rare icon, despite being quickly loved by millions. He was originally planned to be a small time character in a Super Nintendo video game titled Project Dream. After the Nintendo 64 was released, the game was moved to the new console. However, it was found to be too generic, and a rabbit was planned to become the new main character. However, this too was unsuccessful, so Rare tried a game based around Banjo himself, which ultimately became Banjo-Kazooie.

Name origin
Banjo's name is based on a musical instrument: the banjo. Incidentally, Banjo himself is known to be an experienced banjo-player, although the only time Banjo was ever seen playing his banjo was during the introduction theme in Banjo-Kazooie.

Personality
Banjo's personality is very different from that of Kazooie's. Banjo is a well-mannered, easygoing guy. He uses "Mr." or "Mrs." when speaking to people and generally likes to help people out - which means a lot of damage control when Kazooie opens her beak. While he always means well, he sometimes comes off as a bit slow. He tries to say something witty every now and again, but he usually isn't any good at it. Banjo flip-flops a bit when it comes to his bravery - at times he will jump into a situation quickly, but other times he acts timid and doesn't want to commit. In all cases, however, he would much rather sit down and have either honey, pizza, or a nap. Throughout the series (mostly in Nuts &amp; Bolts), many characters including Banjo's allies have referred to Banjo as "stupid" and "crazy", but this is a trait not shown in other games in the series.

Abilities
Banjo cannot run very fast and his jumping often requires some bird-enabled help. When Kazooie leaves the safety of his backpack, Banjo can use it in a variety of ways, such as an impromptu sleeping bag or a potato sack, not to mention as his sole offensive weapon. The backpack also seems to have an infinite storage capacity, containing most any items with ease. Banjo, being a bear, is an excellent swimmer, and has learned how to paddle faster and hold his breath longer. Unlike Kazooie, Banjo has the ability to climb structures and grasp ledges with his fingers, allowing access to difficult to reach spots on the duo's adventures.

When Banjo is paired with Kazooie, he has a lot more skills at his disposal. The duo can perform a Forward Roll while running to attack enemies; Kazooie can use Banjo as leverage to perform the Rat-a-tat Rap; they can fly through the use of flight pads; and utilize Kazooie's ability to fire different types of eggs.

Banjo also has access to the powerful magical abilities of his allies, Mumbo Jumbo and Humba Wumba. Depending on the game, one of the two will grant Banjo and Kazooie the ability to transform into different creatures, each with its own unique skills and powers.

In Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, the Bear and Bird have forgotten their abilities and instead must battle their arch-nemesis Gruntilda the Witch by creating awe-inspiring vehicles for all sorts of terrain and conditions. With an almost unlimited assortment of weaponry and gadgets to add to these machines, Banjo and Kazooie will no doubt be ready for whatever challenges their new adventures may bring. Kazooie is also given a magical wrench used to smack enemies, as well as magically carry objects and turn pipes. She attacks with it from the safety of Banjo's backpack.

In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing with Banjo-Kazooie, Kazooie pecks Banjo on the back of the head and then drops Jiggies on their opponents with her magical wrench.

Career
Banjo's first event of any significance in his life is when he first met Kazooie. Banjo made his home in Spiral Mountain with Kazooie and his sister Tooty. He was content to live in his small neck of the woods, but the other two bugged him to go on an adventure sometime.

In 1997, just before Banjo was convinced to have an adventure, he got a phone call from a distressed Timber, asking for help in driving Wizpig off his island. Banjo gladly helped, but didn't think that racing really agreed with him.

A year later, Banjo finally caved in and planned an adventure with Kazooie and Tooty. The day they were to go on an adventure, Tooty was kidnapped by Gruntilda for her beauty, leading to a rescue operation. Normally Banjo wouldn't bravely storm into a witch's lair full of bear-smiting traps, but the capture of Tooty and the prodding of Kazooie lead him to go. Using teamwork and a series of moves taught by Bottles, Banjo saved his sister and buried the witch.

However, two months later, the witch's minion Klungo transplanted Grunty's spirit into a time-altering suit. Gruntilda proceeded to capture Kazooie and mess up time, preventing the duo from meeting in the first place. But with the help of some Mumbo magic, Banjo was able to give chase, rescue his friend, and beat down Grunty a second time.

In the peaceful period that followed, Banjo mostly enjoyed life. However, two years later, the witch returned in Banjo-Tooie when she was set free by her sisters and Banjo's house was destroyed, killing Bottles. Banjo sets out with Kazooie once more to stop the witch and her two sisters from zapping the whole island of its life-force to give Gruntilda a new body, and hopeful to find a way of reviving Bottles, and the now undead Jinjo king. Using Bottles' brother Jamjars as a teacher, Banjo learned how to operate with an empty backpack and use Kazooie as a handgun - which was the definitive moment in stopping Grunty for the third time.

With no witch to worry about any more, Banjo started to fix up his house (but gave up halfway through) and live the carefree life. He ate pizza all day and slept all night, leading to him becoming temporarily obese.

After a while, in 2008, Grunty came back again. But this time, she was followed by a mysterious being called L.O.G., who devised a competition to see who will own Spiral Mountain. With his quadruple-chins and obesity magically removed, Banjo was anxious to earn the rights to his home and got to work. After a long test of vehicular combat, he won the challenge and Spiral Mountain's deeds.

Then in 2010, Banjo got word of a racing tournament of some sort. He and Kazooie fixed up the 'Bolt Bucket' and went out racing with Sonic and friends.

Voice actor

 * Banjo is voiced by Chris Sutherland, lead programmer of Banjo-Kazooie, in the Banjo-Kazooie games. His original voice is Kenny Baker in Diddy Kong Racing.