Banjo

Banjo is one of the main protagonists in the Banjo-Kazooie series. He is voiced by Chris Sutherland, lead programmer for Banjo-Kazooie.

Biography
Banjo is a brown honey bear who enjoys to relax at his home at the foot of Spiral Mountain. Tooty, Banjo's sister and Kazooie, a friend of Banjo, often ask Banjo to take them on an adventure, rather than stay at home. Banjo is always seen wearing a blue backpack, which Kazooie is in most of the time, yellow shorts and a shark-tooth necklace.

Personality
Banjo is considered to be the opposite of his feathered friend, Kazooie. He is polite, easygoing and well-mannered in contrast to Kazooie, who is hot-tempered and is quick to insult others. Banjo is often seen as lazy, as he would rather eat or sleep, than adventure.

Diddy Kong Racing
Much like Conker the Squirrel, Banjo was first introduced in Diddy Kong Racing. The game was used for players to recognize the characters before their own game was introduced.

Banjo is called on by Timber, a tiger who protects the island he lives on, to help save the island from the evil Wizpig, a large, intergalactic pig wizard. After the defeat of Wizpig, Banjo decides that he does not enjoy racing and leaves for Spiral Mountain.

Banjo-Kazooie
When Gruntilda, better known as Grunty, the evil witch whom lives in her lair near the top of Spiral Mountain, kidnaps Tooty for being more attractive than she is, Banjo and Kazooie head to her lair to save her. Banjo and Kazooie meet many allies, including Bottles, a mole whom teaches the duo new moves, and Mumbo Jumbo, a shaman who transform the duo into various animals.

At the top of Gruntilda's tower, Banjo and Kazooie are faced with a trivia game, known as "Grunty's Furnace Fun". They save Tooty from the clutches of the evil witch by successfully completing the trivia game and continue home to celebrate. Tooty soon reminds the heroic duo that they had not defeated Grunty and they quickly head back into her lair.

The duo confront Gruntilda with the help of the Jinjos, small magical beings. The Jinjos dispatch a large blue Jinjo, known as the Jinjonator. Grunty falls from the tower and is buried underneath a large boulder. Banjo and Kazooie return home to vacation, while they anticipate their next game.

Banjo-Pilot
Banjo and Kazooie appear alongside many of the characters met in his previous adventures, such as Mumbo Jumbo, Humba Wumba and Bottles.

According to Rare, the developers of the franchise, Banjo-Pilot does not have any story.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing with Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo and Kazooie appear alongside the many Sega characters, such as Sonic the Hedgehog from the Sonic series, AiAi from the Super Monkey Ball series and Amigo from Samba de Amigo.

Etymology
Banjo is named after the musical instrument of the same name. While he is considered an experienced banjo-player, he is seen playing the instrument once, which is in Banjo-Kazooie's introductory scene.