Jinjo

Jinjos are small creatures found in every game in the Banjo-Kazooie series. Jinjos appear in many colors and have long snouts. They are a very hardy species, appearing in many hostile environments without harm. However, they are not invincible, as seen by the Grey Jinjo family being killed by the Hag 1 destroying their house. Whether the Jinjos are designed after any preexisting species is unknown, though a hyperbolic sign in Witchyworld calls one a "Weird Killer Alien."

In Banjo-Tooie Jinjos are depicted as living in a small village ruled by King Jingaling, a yellow Jinjo much larger in size than a normal Jinjo. The game also introduces evil versions of Jinjos, known as Minjos, who disguise themselves as Jinjos and attack Banjo when he tries to collect them.

Banjo-Kazooie
Jinjos first appear in Banjo-Kazooie, where five Jinjos of different colors (blue, green, orange, purple, and yellow) are scattered around each world due to Gruntilda kidnapping them. The first one collected tells Banjo and Kazooie of their plight. They stand still, shouting for help and whistling, before flying away while shouting "Jinjo! Whoopee!" upon being rescued; rescuing all five in a world will grant the duo one of the world's ten Jiggies, or an Extra Life if they have rescued them previously. In the original version, leaving a world causes the Jinjos to return to their original spots, meaning that leaving without collecting them all will force the player to start over. However, this is changed in the XBox Live Arcade version, so they instead stay collected no matter what.

In the final battle against Gruntilda, Jinjos appear in the fourth phase to help the duo as thanks. They are the only way to destroy the magical barrier Grunty has created around herself in this phase, but to do so, the duo must fire eggs into each of the four Jinjo statues found in the corners of the arena, causing a Jinjo to emerge from each. Each of the Jinjos them attacks Grunty's shield, weakening it and eventually destroying her broomstick. However, the shield remains, leading to the fifth phase, in which a giant Jinjo statue appears in the middle, introducing itself as the Mighty Jinjonator. After firing enough eggs in all four sides of his pedestal, the Mighty Jinjonator emerges, showing itself to be a shiny blue Jinjo with red eyes. It then repeatedly bashes into Grunty, before finally knocking her over the edge and defeating her. After this, the only appearance of a Jinjo is a yellow one appearing in the beach scene at the end.

Collecting Jinjos
The Jinjos of Jinjo Village were scared away when the Hag 1 drilling machine plowed through their village, killing the grey jinjos. King Jingaling begs the pair to return the Jinjos to their homes in time for the upcoming kickball tournament with the moles, but finding them isn't quite as easy as in Banjo-Kazooie; rather than five Jinjos in every world, Jinjos of nine differently colored families are scattered throughout all of the game's worlds including Spiral Mountain and the Isle o' Hags. Only once all of a certain color's family members are returned will Banjo and Kazooie be rewarded with the family's Jiggy heirloom. Furthermore, where certain colors appear is totally random and changes with every save file, meaning that where one Jinjo of a certain color was found on one file, any other color could be in its place on another. This means that there is a slight chance of completing certain families very early, and is in fact possible for the sole White Jinjo to be the first found, though this is an extremely rare occurrence.

Once a Jinjo has been rescued, rather than resetting once the player leaves the area, it returns to its family house in the Jinjo Village. If any Jinjos are still missing, a slow, sad variation of Jinjo Village's theme will play inside the house, whereas completed families have a happier, more upbeat tune.

The White Jinjo family contains only one member. The Orange Jinjo family has two, the Yellow Jinjo family three, the Brown Jinjo family four, the Green Jinjo family has five, the Red Jinjo family six, the Blue Jinjo family has seven, the Purple Jinjo family has eight, and the Black Jinjo family, the largest one, has nine members. There is also a tenth house in the village which apparently belonged to the Grey Jinjo family, but it was demolished by Hag 1 on its way to the Cauldron Keep, and thus Grey Jinjos do not make an appearance in the game. It is presumed that the Grey Jinjos were a family of ten.

An easy way to distinguish Jinjos from Minjos is to remember which Jinjo families were completed. That way players can know which are impostors. Another way is hit a Jinjo from distance. If the egg hits it, it will be a Minjo.

Multiplayer Mode
Once Kazooie learns the Hatch ability, she can use it to hatch the yellow egg inside Heggy's Egg Shed. Once it has been hatched, Heggy will announce that a Jinjo is now an available character for the FPS-style Breegull Blaster shootout matches in Multiplayer Mode. The Jinjo is the smallest and fastest character, but also the most vulnerable, having only four health - a single hit from an explosive egg such as Grenade or Proximity Eggs that instantly defeat Banjo and Kazooie.

Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge
In Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge, the Jinjos have been scared away by Gruntilda, and they have left the Jinjo Oracle by herself. The Jinjo Oracle is a large stone statue that resembles a Jinjo. She needs the Jinjos to give her gossip because she can't get around. Banjo and Kazooie must find five Jinjos in each of the different worlds. After a Jinjo is collected the Jinjo Oracle will give a hint about finding a Jinjo or how to obtain a Jiggy in that specific world. When all five Jinjos are collected the Oracle will give Banjo and Kazooie a Jiggy and tell them information about the next world.

Each world's five Jinjos are a different color. Spiral Mountain's Jinjos are pink, Cliff Farm's Jinjos are orange, Breegull Beach's Jinjos are yellow, Bad Magic Bayou's Jinjos are green, Spiller's Harbor's Jinjos are grey, and Freezing Furnace's Jinjos are blue.

This is the only time in which Grey Jinjos need to be rescued.

Banjo-Pilot
A Purple Jinjo is a playable character in Banjo-Pilot. It only has one point of top speed, but four points of acceleration and five points of handling, making him best for courses where a lot of weaving is required, but ill suited to courses with long straight ways. The player also races against seven Jinjos in the unlockable Jinjo Grand Prix.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Jinjos reappear in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, and have a similar task of collection as in the previous games. Instead of Banjo simply locating Jinjos and collecting them, he must find them and complete a challenge, which varies from going over a set speed to making them roll a certain distance. Completing a Jinjo's challenge earns him a Jinjo Token, which can be used in Showdown Town for King Jingaling's Bingo Palace. Also in Showdown Town, there are six Jinjos locked up in cages around town. Banjo must free them with a Wrench Switch and take them to their homes. When a Jinjo is freed, a Minjo must be found and carried to an open cage to replace a Jinjo that has been freed.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Jinjos are set to reappear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate during Banjo & Kazooie's Final Smash. Similarly to their role during the final boss fight in the first game, four Jinjos and the Mighty Jinjonator continuously attack any opponent caught in the attack before the Jinjonator deals one final blow.

Black
Black Jinjos are one of the ten Jinjo families in Banjo-Tooie. There are nine members in their family, making them the largest family from Jinjo Village.

Blue
Blue Jinjos are a recurring type of Jinjo. They first appear in Banjo-Kazooie as one of the five Jinjos that Banjo and Kazooie must rescue in every world. Unlike the other Jinjos, the blue ones have orange bellies, instead of the usual tan. The Mighty Jinjonator shares a speech icon with Blue Jinjos.

Seven Blue Jinjos appear in Banjo-Tooie, and their home is located behind King Jingaling's Throne Room. They are the third largest family of Jinjos. In Grunty's Revenge, there are five Blue Jinjos that are indigenous to Freezing Furnace.

Brown
Brown Jinjos only appear in Banjo-Tooie as one of the ten Jinjo families. They have four members in total.

Green
Green Jinjos first appear in Banjo-Kazooie as one of the five colored Jinjos to collect in every world. They are light green and white-chested. In Banjo-Tooie, the green Jinjos consist of a family of five, and they became a lighter shade of green and received a yellow chest. In Grunty's Revenge, the green Jinjos are indigenous to Bad Magic Bayou.

Grey
The Grey Jinjos were only mentioned in Banjo-Tooie, as one of the ten Jinjo families from Jinjo Village. Every one of them died after the Hag 1 demolished their house on its route back to Cauldron Keep. Neither the Grey Jinjos nor their house directly appear in the game; however, there is unused data of their house in the game's files, with the tag "SHOULDN'T BE HERE".

Grey Jinjos later appear in Grunty's Revenge as the indigenous color of Spiller's Harbor.

Orange


Orange Jinjos are among the five Jinjos to be found in every world from Banjo-Kazooie. They also appear in Banjo-Tooie, as the second smallest Jinjo family (only having two members). In Grunty's Revenge, Orange Jinjos are the indigenous color of Cliff Farm.

Purple
Purple Jinjos make their debut in the original Banjo-Kazooie as one of the five Jinjos needed to be collected in each world. Despite their name, Purple Jinjos look more pink than purple. Banjo is shown holding a Jinjo on the cover art for the game.

In Banjo-Tooie, the Purple Jinjos have the second largest family, with a total of eight members. A purple Jinjo is one of the playable characters in Banjo-Pilot.

In Nuts & Bolts, the Purple Jinjos are among the Jinjos that can be found in certain worlds and with a unique challenge for Banjo.

Red
The Red Jinjos only appear in Banjo-Tooie as one of the ten Jinjo families from Jinjo Village. There are six members in their family, and their house was slightly damaged from the Hag 1. A Treble Clef appears on top of their house, which is hinted by a Signpost behind Jiggywiggy's Temple.

White
White Jinjos are one of the ten Jinjo families residing in Jinjo Village in Banjo-Tooie. Only a single White Jinjo appears in the game, making them the smallest family.

Yellow
Yellow Jinjos are one of the five collectible Jinjos in every world of Banjo-Kazooie. They reappear in as one of the ten Jinjo families from Jinjo Village in Banjo-Tooie. They originally had darker bellies, but it became a brighter color for the game. In Grunty's Revenge, Yellow Jinjos are the indigenous color of Breegull Beach.

Trivia

 * In artwork and icons for the first game, Jinjos are depicted as having somewhat-prominent eyebrows, which are absent in materials related to later games, including the icons in the game's own enhanced port.


 * Their name is based on a nickname that Grant Kirkhope used to call artist Ed Bryan during development of Banjo-Kazooie.