Enguarde
| Enguarde | |
|---|---|
 Enguarde inDonkey Kong: Barrel Blast | |
| Full name | Enguarde the Swordfish[1] |
| Species | Swordfish |
| First appearance | Donkey Kong Country (1994) |
| Latest appearance | Donkey Kong Bananza (cameo) (2025) |
- “Enguarde the swordfish will help you get straight to the point!”
- —Cranky Kong,Donkey Kong Country
Enguarde is a blue swordfish and anAnimal Friend who appears mostly in theDonkey Kong Country series. His name is taken from the French phrase used infencing: "En garde" ("on guard", "put your guard up", ie: "be ready"), due to Enguarde's long, sword-shaped bill. As an aquatic creature, Enguarde appears in many underwater areas. With his sharp, pointed bill, he can defeat many underwater enemies, which theKongs cannot do by themselves. Enguarde is capable of moving around fast while underwater. While usually portrayed as an individual, occasionally multiple Enguardes can be seen at once.
History[edit]
Donkey Kong Country series[edit]
Donkey Kong Country[edit]
Enguarde first appears inDonkey Kong Country, where he appears in all four underwater levels, starting withCoral Capers. He also appears inClam City,Croctopus Chase, andPoison Pond. Coral Capers and Poison Pond have two Enguarde Boxes unlike the other levels, which only have oneanimal crate. It is optional forDonkey Kong andDiddy Kong to ride Enguarde in every level, as his main role is helping them defeat underwater enemies, except forClambos andCroctopuses, or evenMincers. However, if Enguarde gets hit by an enemy, he swims away, but the Kongs can swim back on to Enguarde to continue riding him. Enguarde hasanimal tokens in his likeness, just like the other Animal Friends exceptSquawks. Collecting three Enguarde Tokens takes the player character to the Enguarde Bonus!, an underwater area with a red background, where Enguarde has to collect as manymini Enguarde Tokens within the time limit.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest[edit]
Enguarde reappears in many of the underwater levels ofDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. He appears in five levels, in order fromLockjaw's Locker,Lava Lagoon,Arctic Abyss,Clapper's Cavern andAnimal Antics. He does not appear in some underwater levels, such asGlimmer's Galleon, which instead features another aquatic Animal Friend,Glimmer.
The game introduces Enguarde'sSuperstab maneuver, where he can build up energy and then release to quickly charge into a straight direction. Unlike the previous game, the Kongs are required to use Enguarde, whose Supercharge ability must be used to break open a fragile wall so they can enter aBonus Level. In Arctic Abyss, Clapper's Cavern and Animal Antics, there is a part where the Kongs must enter anAnimal Barrel to transform into Enguarde. Enguarde is the second Animal Friend with a section in Animal Antics.
In theSwanky's Bonus Bonanza ofGloomy Gulch, during the "Gibbon Game" challenge, a question asks what "Enguarde," "Swordy," and "Stabber."
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble![edit]
Enguarde makes his fourth game appearance inDonkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, and retains his abilities from the predecessor,Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Enguarde appears in the following five levels, in order of:Tidal Trouble,Bazza's Blockade,Floodlit Fish,Pot Hole Panic, and lastlyPoisonous Pipeline. In addition, Enguarde fightsBarbos in theRazor Ridge boss level,Barbos's Barrier, where he can attack Barbos and Lurchins alike by performing a Supercharge on the squishy center part of their body, but if Enguarde stabs their spiky shell, he becomes hurt instead. In theGame Boy Advanceversion, Enguarde instead fights Barbos inPacifica, where he was also added in two of the world's levels:Dingy Drain-Pipe andStormy Seas.
Donkey Kong Land series[edit]
Enguarde's appearances in theDonkey Kong Land series are based on his appearances from theDonkey Kong Country series. InDonkey Kong Land 2, like the other Animal Friends, Enguarde can only be transformed into via an Animal Barrel, but he still retains his Superstab ability fromDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. InDonkey Kong Land III, Enguarde can no longer use his Superstab attack, unlikeDonkey Kong Land 2, and just like inDonkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Enguarde is transformed into for the duration of the boss fight againstBarbos, taking place atBarbos Bastion. A difference with the boss fight is that Enguarde instead attacks Barbos by charging a Lurchin into its center.
ForDonkey Kong Land 2, Enguarde appears in only a few levels, in order of:Lockjaw's Locker,Lava Lagoon,Glimmer's Galleon, and lastlyArctic Abyss. InDonkey Kong Land III, Enguarde appears commonly in water-based levels:Seabed Shanty,Ford Knocks,Koco Channel,Coral Quarrel, andDeep Reef Grief.
Club Nintendo[edit]
Enguarde appeared as Donkey and Diddy's Animal Friend in the third part ofClub Nintendo's comic "Donkey Kong Country".Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong ride him through a body of water, while being attacked by several underwater enemies. An explodingTNT Barrel pushes them out of the water and ontoKing K. Rool's shipGangplank Galleon, after which Enguarde does not appear again.
Super Mario-kun[edit]
Enguarde appears in volume 14 ofSuper Mario-kun. After Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong ride on a fake Enguarde,Mario andYoshi find a box that contains Enguarde. They meet Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong in ropes. Before Mario can do anything, he gets attacked by aCroctopus. Enguarde saves him, but aClambo breaks his nose. Mario responds by attaching a drill to his nose. Enguarde then plows through the Croctopus, breaking its arms.
Donkey Kong 64[edit]
InDonkey Kong 64, Enguarde (also namedEnguard the Swordfish[2] or simplyEnguard[3]) only appears inGloomy Galleon, andLanky Kong is the only Kong who can enter the Enguarde Box to transform into Enguarde. Enguarde Boxes are present in both the lighthouse and shipwreck areas of the level. Unlike games in theDonkey Kong Country series andDonkey Kong Land series, Enguarde cannot defeat underwater enemies, though he is invulnerable to all harm. Instead of attacking, Enguarde can charge into treasure chests to destroy them and reveal hidden items. Enguarde has the ability to jump out of the water, and doing so is necessary in the shipwreck area, where Enguarde must jump through a star with a DK symbol three times to open the Coin Room.
Enguarde is the star of his own unlockable minigame,Enguarde Arena, which can be unlocked after catching sixBanana Fairies. The minigame's objective is for Enguarde to jump through as many stars with the DK logo within the time limit.
Donkey Konga series[edit]
Enguarde makes a cameo appearance inDonkey Konga 2 as one of the characters whose artwork appears inFreestyle Zone while the player plays theDK Bongos.
InDonkey Konga 3, several Enguardes are seen in the water in the Vacation (Natsu) background. Artwork of Enguarde appears above a window in the Snowman (Fuyu) background, and his artwork can appear again in Freestyle Zone.
Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast[edit]
Enguarde appears inDonkey Kong: Barrel Blast as a ridable Animal Friend in underwater racetracks once he is released from his crate. In this game, he can ram through anything in his path, including an electrifiedChomps. Enguarde andRambi cannot hurt other racers by ramming into them, but they are unaffected by attacks andWild Moves from other players as well as all items, except for the reversed control effects and loss of Wild Moves from aMega TNT Barrel. Enguarde is found in the underwater portions ofSalty Sea andOpen Ocean.
Super Smash Bros. series[edit]
In theSuper Smash Bros. series, there are a few items of Enguarde. InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl, Enguarde has both atrophy and asticker, both of which can be unlocked by playing through various modes at random, and the sticker can be used on Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong inThe Subspace Emissary to boost their attack power by 15 points. InSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U, there is another obtainable trophy of Enguarde, also obtained as a random drop. InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, there is an Advanced-class Attack-typeprimary spirit that boosts the fighter's power but leaves them more vulnerable to electric attacks. In the game'sWorld of Light, thespirit is encountered in theCoral Capers spot on theDK Island sub-map ofThe Light Realm. The spirit'spuppet fighter is a maleCorrin in a low-buoyancy fight on theGreat Bay.
Picross NP Vol. 8[edit]
Enguarde makes a cameo appearance inPicross NP Vol. 8 as one of the images that must be cleared.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle[edit]
In theDonkey Kong Adventure story ofMario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, one ofRabbid Peach'sSentry weapons, theTrophy Fish Terror, is based on Enguarde's appearance. The weapon's description reassures that Enguarde is "safe and sound" despite the implication in the weapon's name that he was hunted and turned into a trophy.
Donkey Kong Bananza[edit]
Enguarde appears inDonkey Kong Bananza on one of the billboards inNew Donk City, which reads "Enguarde Eatery".
The extra-rare fossil in the Tempest Layer is afossil of Enguarde.
In theDK Island & Emerald Rush DLC, astatue based off of Enguarde could be unlocked during theEmerald RusheventChip Fever, taking place onDK Island, by collecting 80,000emeralds in a single run. His design is based of hisDonkey Kong: Barrel Blast appearance with eyelids reminiscent of hisDonkey Kong 64 model.
Unused appearances[edit]
Donkey Kong Racing[edit]
Enguarde appears while being ridden byTiny Kong underwater in early screenshots and during the trailer of the canceledDonkey Kong Racing, along with a slightly larger purple Enguarde ridden by Diddy Kong. It is unknown if the purple Enguarde would have had any distinctive qualities aside from its color.
Diddy Kong Pilot (2003)[edit]
InDiddy Kong Pilot's 2003 iteration, a few Enguardes are seen in the course Shore Strife, splashing in and out of the water. In theCranky Kong Pilot title screen variation, an Enguarde is shown jumping out of the water below every few seconds, at a slower pace than the Enguardes of Shore Strife. Enguarde was replaced with the dolphins fromjiggywikki:Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge in the final version of this iteration,Banjo-Pilot.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze[edit]
The development team ofDonkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze wanted to add more Animal Friends to the game, with Enguarde being considered.[4]
Profiles and statistics[edit]
Donkey Kong Country[edit]
- Instruction booklet:For aquatic adventuring, Enguarde is essential. While riding him, you do not need to press the
Button to swim; the Control Pad directional arrows are enough. By pressing the
or Button, you can get a burst of speed during which Enguarde's sword nose becomes a deadly weapon. Needless to say, you won't find Enguarde anywhere but underwater.[5]
Donkey Kong Land series[edit]
Donkey Kong Land 2[edit]
- Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console manual description:
- English:
Press
while swimming quickly to perform a dash attack. Hold
to perform a super dash. - Other languages:
- French (European):
Appuyez sur en nageant rapidement pour effectuer une attaque rapide. Maintenez enfoncé pour effectuer une super attaque rapide. - German:
Drücke, während du schnell schwimmst, um einen Vorstoß auszuführen. Halte gedrückt, um einen Supervorstoß auszuführen. - Italian:
Premi mentre nuoti a tutta velocità per effettuare un attacco sprint. Tieni premuto per un super sprint. - Spanish (European):
Pulsa mientras nadas para realizar una embestida. Mantén pulsado si quieres efectuar una superembestida.
- French (European):
- English:
Donkey Kong Land III[edit]
- Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console manual description:
- English (United Kingdom):
Press while swimming quickly to perform a dash attack. - Other languages:
- French (European):
Appuyez sur en nageant rapidement pour effectuer une attaque rapide. - German:
Drücke, während du schnell schwimmst, um einen Vorstoß auszuführen. - Italian:
Premi mentre nuoti a tutta velocità per effettuare un attacco sprint. - Spanish (European):
Pulsa mientras nadas para realizar una embestida.
- French (European):
- English (United Kingdom):
Super Smash Bros. series[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
| Trophy Enguarde | ||
 | ||
| Appears in: SNESDonkey Kong Country SNESDonkey Kong Country 2 | ||
| How to unlock: Random | ||
| A swordfish animal buddy. Enguarde always appears on water levels where he can loyally help Donkey Kong get around. Much appreciated, right, DK? Complementing his cute, round eyes, Enguarde's pointed bill proves to be a powerful weapon. One thrust from it will easily down most underwater opponents. | ||
| Sticker Enguarde | ||
 | ||
| Artwork from: Donkey Kong Country | ||
| Effects inThe Subspace Emissary: [Body, Spin] - Attack +15 | ||
| Usable by: Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong | ||
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[edit]
| Trophy Enguarde | ||
 | ||
| Category: Series Related | ||
( )Appears in:Donkey Kong Country (11/1994) SNESDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (11/1995) | ||
| ()Trophy Box: 18: Animal Friends and Items | ||
| How to unlock: Random | ||
| If you combine this swordsman of the sea with the king of the jungle, you'll get an aquatic duo no enemy can hope to overcome. Like Rambi the Rhinoceros, Enguarde can dash to blast through foes. Does that mean we should call him the Rhino of the Sea? Or maybe Rambi is the Swordfish of the Shores? Hmmm...(American English) | ||
| When this swordsman of the sea and the king of the jungle team up, you get an aquatic duo no enemy can hope to overcome. Like Rambi the Rhinoceros, Enguarde can dash to blast through foes. Does that make Enguarde the rhino of the sea, or is Rambi the swordfish of the shores? Hmmm...(British English) | ||
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
| Spirit #151 Enguarde | ||
 | Series/game | Donkey Kong Series |
| Type | Primary | |
| Slots | 1 | |
| Class | Advanced | |
| Strength / effect(s) | Attack Electric Weakness | |
| How to obtain | World of Light (DK Island) | |
| Spirit battle | Opponent(s) | Corrin ♂ |
| Conditions | Rule: Buoyancy Reduced
| |
| Stage | Great Bay | |
| Song | Ice Cave Chant |
Gallery[edit]
- For this subject's image gallery, seeGallery:Enguarde.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | エンガード[6] Engādo | Enguarde | |
| Chinese(Traditional) | 恩加德[7] Ēnjiādé(Mandarin) Yān'gādāk(Cantonese) | Enguarde | |
| Finnish | Teränokka[8] | Portmanteau ofterä ("blade, sharp point") andnokka ("beak/nose")[8] | Donkey Kong Land 2 manual |
| Korean | 청새치 앤가드[9] Chungsaechi Engadeu | Enguarde the Marlin | |
| Portuguese(Brazilian) | Emguarda[10] | Enguarde | |
| Portuguese(European) | Enguarde[11] | - | |
| Russian | Ангард[?] Angard | Enguarde | |
| Spanish | Enguarde[?] | - |
References[edit]
- ^1995.Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest instruction booklet.Nintendo of America (American English). Page 24.
- ^"Grab Lanky from the underwater Tag Barrel next to the Animal Crate. Then pop him inside to become Enguard the Swordfish." – Barton, Jeff et al. (1999).Donkey Kong 64 Prima's Official Strategy Guide.Prima Games. ISBN9780761522799. Page 82.
- ^"Maneuver Enguard to jump through the DK Star three times." – Barton et al..Donkey Kong 64 Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Page 82.
- ^NE_Brian (January 21, 2023).Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze almost brought back Enguarde.Nintendo Everything. Retrieved January 22, 2023. (Archived January 21, 2023, 05:04:00 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^1994.Donkey Kong Country instruction booklet.Nintendo of America (American English). Page 25.
- ^「カジキのエンガード」("Enguarde [the] Swordfish"). 2000.ドンキーコング2001 (Donkey Kong 2001).
取扱説明書 (instruction booklet).Nintendo Co., Ltd (Japanese). Page 24. - ^https://www.nintendo.com/hk/topics/article/1el30k72GC4Naisl2g1Gng
- ^abHannu “TheHande” Mäkinen (June 4, 2022).TheHande talks about More Manuals & Finnish DK Names (5:09). Retrieved April 12, 2025 from YouTube.
- ^동키콩 컨트리 2 (Wii Virtual Console listing, Nintendo of Korea’s website). Korean. (Archived April 4, 2015 via Wayback Machine.)
- ^Donkey Kong Bananzastatue
- ^Trophy list (2014).Super Smash Bros. for Wii U by Sora Ltd. and Bandai Namco Games.Nintendo.
- Fish
- Animal Friends
- Playable characters
- Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast
- Donkey Kong Bananza statues
- Donkey Kong Country characters
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- Donkey Kong Land 2 characters
- Donkey Kong Land III characters
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