History VideoGame / Bonk

* ''Bonk's Adventure'' (1989, [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 TurboGrafx-16]], [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]], [[UsefulNotes/GameBoy Game Boy]], Arcade)

* PutOnABus: Princess Za hasn't been seen in any game after ''Bonk's Revenge'', not counting the Japanese-only remake of the first game. Could be explained by the fact that she's the ruler the of Moon, while majority of Bonk's adventures take place on Earth.

** ''Air Zonk'' (1992, TG-16)

* PutOnABus: Princess Za hasn't been seen in any game after ''Bonk's Revenge'', not counting the Japanese-only remake of the first game.

[[quoteright:179:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bonk_1276_removebg_preview.png]]
[[caption-width-right:179:He's gonna [[IncrediblyLamePun bonk]] you back into the Stone Age!]]

* BaldOfAwesome: Bonk, oh so much.

** Super Bonk 2 has Pink Meat, which not only inverts his gender with the big eyes listed above, but also gives him a ballerina dress.

'''Bonk''', known as '''PC Genjin''' in Japan and '''BC Kid''' in Europe, started life as a comic series in a magazine promoting Creator/HudsonSoft's UsefulNotes/PCEngine (or the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16, as it was sold in North America). Many people liked the comic so much, Hudson decided to make a game based off it and even made Bonk the mascot for the system. The games follow the story of a [[SuperDeformed big headed]] caveman named Bonk as he protects his land from the evil King Drool.

''Bonk's Adventure'' was released in 1990, and is one of the most well known [=TurboGrafx=] games. In the U.S. Bonk was marketed as a MascotWithAttitude against Mario, one year before Sega released VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1.

[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Bonk_1276.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:180:He's gonna [[IncrediblyLamePun bonk]] you back into the Stone Age!]]

This has nothing to do with the Scout's {{catchphrase}} from ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''.

* BinomiumRidiculus: Ostensibly, the "PC" in "PC Genjin" stands for ''Pitecanthropus Computerurus''.

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: The U.S. box art for the first two Bonk games. An in-game example occurs in ''Bonk's Revenge'', where a image of Bonk in the credits was altered to resemble how he looked in the U.S. artwork.

* PowerUpFood: Meat which seems to increase Bonk's rage/[[FireBreathingDiner make him irritated by the spiciness of the meat]], and candy which affects his size from the third game onwards.

* PunnyName: Bonk's Japanese name, ''PC Genjin'' (which is referred to as PC Kid by Japan's [[BlindIdiotTranslation translation]]), is supposed to sound like PC Engine, the name of the system where the series began, combined with "genjin", Japanese for "caveman."
** This was played with in the ports, with his name becoming FC Genjin on the Famicom, and GB Genjin on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy.

* KingKoopaCopy: Bonk's nemesis King Drool is a massive, green, monstrous, TyrannosaurusRex with wings who kidnaps and brainwashes Princess Za in ''Bonk's Adventure''. He just settles for [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]] afterwards, though.

** Punchy Pedro from ''Bonk's Adventure'' is basically a dinosaur [[Manga/AshitaNoJoe Joe Yabuki]]. It becomes blatantly obvious when you destroy the eggshell on his head.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the sequels, Bonk's feminine form was replaced with his angry forms from the first game.
** It wasn't removed from [[MythologyGag Bonk's idle animations]] in Super Bonk though.

* InterspeciesRomance: A weird case involving Bonk and Princess Za. The latter is a non-anthropomorphic (but cute and Bonk-sized) [[{{Squick}} plesiosaur]].
** In the 2003 remake, Princess Za has been given a complete redesign, now she's anthropomorphic and wears a royal dress. YMMV on this being an improvement or not.

** It though was quite a [[ScrappyMechanic confusing and sometimes frustrating mechanic which made the game even harder and could've made you get stuck in some parts by picking up the wrong kind of candy.]] Luckily Super Bonk fixes this by placing candy in more convenient places.

* WidgetSeries: It gets weirder and weirder as the series goes on.

* WombLevel: Poor Bonk can't typically spend a game without becoming dino chow at least once. In ''Bonk's Adventure'', it is an entire level, while in all future games save ''Bonk's Revenge'', a (much) smaller enemy would have to snatch up and swallow Bonk whole, leading to a fleshy MiniDungeon with some bonus pickups for grabs before exiting through its intestines.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In ''Super Bonk'', the second half of Round 2 takes place inside a dinosaur. After going through the stomach, brain, and heart, you fight the boss in an area labeled "Blue Balls".

* BigBad: King Drool the Third, in both series [[FridgeLogic (despite Air Zonk taking place in the future)]].
** [[spoiler:Although at the end of Super Bonk, King Drool gets sent forward into the future, so it's possible that explains his presence in the Air Zonk games]]
** Actually, the King Drool in the Zonk series is most likely a descendant of the one from the Bonk series.

* BattleInTheCentreOfTheMind: In ''Super Bonk'' not only do you enter the brain of a massive dinosaur, dealing with threats and maze obstacles as they come, but you also have to fight his inner demons too.

'''Bonk''', known as '''PC-Genjin''' in Japan and '''BC Kid''' in Europe, started life as a comic series in a magazine promoting Creator/HudsonSoft's UsefulNotes/PCEngine (or the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16, as it was sold in North America). Many people liked the comic so much, Hudson decided to make a game based off it and even made Bonk the mascot for the system. The games follow the story of a [[SuperDeformed big headed]] caveman named Bonk as he protects his land from the evil King Drool.

* DiminishingVillainThreat: King Drool started out as a rather dark and monstrous foe, but beginning with Bonk 3 he was portrayed as a smaller, more cartoony villain who relied on machines to attack Bonk.

* WombLevel: The series is notable for this. In ''Bonk's Adventure'', it is an entire level, while in all future games save ''Bonk's Revenge'', a (much) smaller enemy would have to swallow Bonk whole, requiring the player to escape through it's intestines.

** ''Super Bonk 2'' perhaps has the strangest of all the Womb Levels in the series. The blue pterodactyl that eats you leads to a short bonus room with a slot machine inside it's stomach, before you exit.

''Bonk's Adventure'' was released in 1990, and is one of the most well known [=TurboGrafx=] games. In the U.S. Bonk was marketed as a MascotWithAttitude against Mario, one year before Sega released SonicTheHedgehog.

** In ''Super Bonk 2'', Bonk can now consume eggs [[VideogameFlight which transforms him into a half-bird]], green glasses making him to a [[OverlyLongTongue a pseudo-frog]] and a shovel which gives him a [[ThisIsADrill drill]] on his head for some reason.

** In ''Super Bonk 2'', Bonk can now consume eggs [[VideogameFlight which transforms him into a pseudo-bird]] complete with angry eyebrows in style of his 1st transformation in ''Super Bonk''), green glasses that turn him into a [[OverlyLongTongue pseudo-frog]] and a shovel which oddly enough gives him a [[ThisIsADrill ''drill'' on his head.]]

** In ''Super Bonk 2'', Bonk finds quite [[ExtremeOmnivore many things to eat]]: an [[VideogameFlight egg which transforms him into a bird with the angry eyebrows (from the first ''Super Bonk'')]], a ''pink meat'' which gives him his GenderBender transformation from ''Revenge'' and ''III'' now with a ballerina dress and ''very strong'' feet, ''weird green glasses'' that turn him into a [[OverlyLongTongue pseudo-frog]] and a shovel which oddly enough gives him a [[ThisIsADrill DRILL on his head!]]

The next major title of the series came on the SuperNES. Titled ''Super Bonk'' (''Chō Genjin'' in Japan, ''Super BC Kid'' in Europe), it followed Bonk's attempt to return to the past after King Drool sent him to the future.