Bonk, known as in Japan and as PC Kid or BC Kid in

PAL territories The PAL region is a television publication territory that covers most of Europe and Africa, alongside parts of Asia, South America and Oceania. It is named PAL because of the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) television standard traditionally used in ...

, is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

character and former

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

for

NEC is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It prov ...

PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, though ...

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally placed i ...

. Three

platform games Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

featuring the character appeared on the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16, as well as two spin-offs featuring Air Zonk. The protagonist is a bald

caveman The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian" or "ape-like" by Marcellin ...

named Bonk who attacks using his comically large head. His Japanese name PC-Genjin is a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

on the PC Engine, with his European name PC Kid similarly referencing the system's name (the console is also called PC Engine in Europe). The "PC" part of his Japanese and European names also stands for "

Pithecanthropus The terms ''Anthropopithecus'' ( Blainville, 1839) and ''Pithecanthropus'' (Haeckel, 1868) are obsolete taxa describing either chimpanzees or archaic humans. Both are derived from Greek ἄνθρωπος (anthropos, "man") and πίθηκος (p ...

Computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

urus", a fictitious

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

name for the character. The American title ''Bonk'' is also not used in the European versions due to the word "

bonk Bonk may refer to: People * Bonk (surname) Arts and entertainment * ''Bonk'' (video game series), a caveman character and video game series *Bonk!, a soft drink company in the first-person shooting game ''Team Fortress 2'' * ''Bonk'' (alb ...

" being inappropriate slang in

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

now owns the rights to the Bonk series as a result of its absorption of the series' publisher

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company that released numerous games for video game consoles, home computers and mobile phones, mainly from the 1980s to the 2000s. It was headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo ...

in 2012.

Origin

As stated on Hudson Soft's website, in their "The Definitive Bonk" article, Bonk was originally created as a comic character, PC Caveman (Genjin), in a magazine for the PC Engine. So many people liked the character that there were talks held on giving him a game of his own. In addition to this, many people even mistook him for an upcoming game character even before his game was in development, because the magazine frequently featured comics of upcoming games.

Games

Bonk's Adventure ''Bonk's Adventure'', known as in Japan and ''PC Kid'' in Europe, is a scrolling platform game developed by Red Company and Atlus and released in 1989 in Japan and 1990 in North America for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16. The Japanese title ''PC G ...

'' (''PC-Genjin'' in Japan, ''PC Kid'' in Europe) was the first game starring Bonk and was released for the

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC, NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth genera ...

in 1989. A variation of the TG-16 original eventually appeared on the

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

with fewer colors and reduced graphic quality. Another variation was released for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

under the name ''BC Kid''. A completely new game, with 2-player co-op, was released for the arcades, while another new game utilizing the same name was released for the

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

. A

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of the original was released in Japan many years later on the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

and the

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

. ''

Bonk's Revenge ''Bonk's Revenge'', known as in Japan and ''PC Kid 2'' in Europe, is a 2D platformer set in prehistory, originally for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 console, created in 1991 by the Red Company for Hudson Soft, and licensed by NEC. This is the sec ...

'' (''PC-Genjin 2'' in Japan, ''PC Kid 2'' in Europe) was released for the

in 1991, while a completely different game using the same name made it to the

, the TurboGrafx-16 version was re-released for Windows on December 13, 2013, and the Wii U Virtual Console on March 12, 2014, in Japan. '' Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure'' (''PC-Genjin 3'') was released for the TurboGrafx-16 as 2 versions in 1993: a TurboChip (cartridge) version and a Super CD-ROM version, the latter of which featured an updated redbook audio soundtrack. ''

Super Bonk ''Super Bonk'' (released in Europe as ''Super B.C. Kid'' and in Japan as ''Super Genjin'') is a 1994 platform video game developed by A.I. Co, Ltd. and published by Hudson Soft for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the fourth game ...

'' (''Super Genjin'', ''Super B.C. Kid'') was the 4th game in the series and was released for the

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...

in 1994. It was the first entry in the ''Bonk'' series to not be released for the TurboGrafx-16. ''Super Bonk'' was later re-released for Nintendo's

Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

in Japan on November 16, 2010, the PAL region on December 10, 2010, and in North America on April 4, 2011. ''

Super Genjin 2 is a 1995 2D platform video game by Hudson Soft for Super Famicom. It is the sequel to ''Super Bonk ''Super Bonk'' (released in Europe as ''Super B.C. Kid'' and in Japan as ''Super Genjin'') is a 1994 platform video game developed by A.I. Co ...

'' was the 5th and final console game in the series. It was the follow-up to ''Super Bonk'', and was released in 1995 only in Japan on the

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...

(Super NES). '' GB Genjin Land: Viva! Chikkun Kingdom'' was a collection of mini games starring Bonk, released for the

. ''Genjin Collection'', a collection of the 3 Game Boy titles, was released for the

. '' Bonk's Return'' was released for mobile phones. It features gameplay similar to that of the first two ''Bonk'' games. , released on iPhone OS on 2008 in Japan, is part of ''Do the Hudson!!''. , released on iPhone OS on 2008 in Japan, is part of ''Do the Hudson!!''. , released on iPhone OS on 2008 in Japan, is part of ''Do the Hudson!!''. , released on iPhone OS on 2008 in Japan, is part of ''Do the Hudson!!''. The TurboGrafx-16 version of ''Bonk's Adventure'' was released for the Virtual Console service at its launch on November 21, 2006. ''Bonk's Revenge'' was released on April 16, 2007, and ''Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure'' was released on September 3, 2007, in the United States.

Unreleased games

A conversion of ''PC Genjin'' titled ''Genjin Show - Tobidase! VB Genjin'' was planned for the

Virtual Boy The Virtual Boy is a 32-bit tabletop portable video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. Released in 1995, it was marketed as the first console capable of displaying stereoscopic "3D" graphics. The player uses the console like ...

, with a former Hudson Soft employee stating that he played ''Virtual Bomberman'' as reference during development but the adaptation was scrapped due to the commercial and critical failure of the platform. ''PC Alajin'', ''Bonk Strategy'' (''Uesugi Genjin'' in Japan), ''PC Genjin no Te-to-Risu'', ''Bonk IV: The Role-Playing Game/Bonk's Quest'' (''RPG Genjin'' in Japan), ''Ultra Genjin'' and ''Bonk 3D'' were planned for the TurboGrafx-16, Nintendo 64 and Nintendo 3DS respectively, but were never released. ''Ultra Genjin'' eventually became ''

Bomberman Hero is a platforming video game and the second ''Bomberman'' game for the Nintendo 64. It was originally planned as a ''Bonk''/''PC Kid'' game known as ''Ultra Genjin'', but became a Bomberman game during development. A further departure from the ...

'' for the Nintendo 64. A new Bonk game developed by

Pi Studios Pi Studios was a computer game software developer founded in 2002 by Robert Erwin, John Faulkenbury, Rob Heironimus, Dan Kramer and Peter Mack whose first commercial work can be found in Activision's '' Call of Duty: United Offensive''. The co ...

, ''Bonk: Brink of Extinction'', had been announced for the

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...

, and

WiiWare WiiWare was a service that allowed Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications could only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii S ...

. The title would have included cooperative play but it was cancelled.

Other media

Manga

* ''PC Genjin-kun'' (PC原人くん), was a manga that was released in February 1992 to April 1994, and published by Shogakukan and Author Hikawa Hirokazu. * The event of ''Bonk's Revenge'', featuring Bonk, was adapted into a manga featuring the Hudson characters titled ''Hudson Makyou'' (ハドソン魔境) by Minori Shobo on 1992. * In the 2010 manga titled ''High-Score Girl'' (ハイスコアガール ''Haisukoagāru''), Bonk makes a cameo in the cartridge for the PC Engine.

Notes

References

External links

The Bonk Compendium
(Covering all games and references to Bonk)
''The Definitive Bonk''
an article at Hudson Entertainment on the history of Bonk and his various appearances, spin-offs, and names.
Hudson Selection Vol. 3: PC Genjin
(Bonk's Adventure remake for Nintendo GameCube and Sony PlayStation 2) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonk Bonk Konami franchises Platform games Prehistoric people in popular culture Red Entertainment games Video games about shapeshifting Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1989