Banjo & Kazooie are a pair of fictional video game characters and the eponymous protagonists of the video game series Banjo-Kazooie, created by British video game developer Rare. Banjo and Kazooie were both introduced as player characters in the original Banjo-Kazooie (1998). Banjo is a honey bear accompanied by Kazooie, a bird who is often seen seeking shelter in Banjo's backpack and emerging to perform various moves and attacks. The pair have gone on numerous adventures together, fighting against the sinister plans of the evil witch Gruntilda. Banjo first made his debut as one of the playable characters in Diddy Kong Racing (1997). Decades after the release of the original game, Banjo and Kazooie gained widespread attention for their playable appearance in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighting game. Concept and design Gregg Mayles served as the head designer for both of the characters. According to Rare, "We wanted the characters to primarily appeal to a younger audience but, at the same time, give them enough humour and attitude not to discourage older players." The early prototype of the characters called ‘Dream’, where players would control a boy through a prehistoric land with a sword, was morphed into Banjo and Kazooie. When making the game, Rare decided to totally focus on Banjo and his abilities. Kazooie was later conceived during the planning of such abilities. According to Mayles, "We came up with the [...] idea that a pair of wings could appear from his backpack to help him perform a second jump. We also wanted Banjo to be able to run very fast when required [so] we added a pair of 'fast-running' legs that appeared from the bottom of the backpack. [And soon after] we came up with the logical conclusion that these could belong to another character, one that actually lived in Banjo's backpack." The character was named after a kazoo, which was considered an annoying instrument, "much like the personality of the bird," Mayles explained. Instead of actual dialogue, all the characters in the game feature "mumbling" voices. This choice was made to convey their personalities without them actually speaking, as Rare felt the actual speech "could ruin the player's perception of the characters," as well as due to the limited development time available to implement the feature. The game's sequel, Banjo-Tooie, introduced the ability for the characters to separate and be controlled independently of one another, with