Bonk / PC Genjin · Protagonist / Former Console Mascot · Debut: 1989 · PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 · Created by Red Company (published by Hudson Soft)
A bald caveman who fights with his oversized head — the face of NEC's PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 from his 1989 debut.
Bonk first appeared in Bonk's Adventure, known in Japan as PC Genjin, released on 15 December 1989 for the PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16. The series was developed by Red Company and published by Hudson Soft. Bonk is a bald caveman whose weapon is his comically large head: he headbutts enemies, bounces off them and uses his teeth to climb walls. At a time when every console needed a mascot, Bonk became the face of NEC's PC Engine and, in North America, the TurboGrafx-16, appearing in the console's marketing against Mario and Sonic. His games were bright, humorous platformers with power-ups that turned him into a rampaging, fire-breathing version of himself after eating meat. The series continued with Bonk's Revenge (1991) and Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure (1993), and spun off into the Air Zonk shooters, which reimagined the character as a futuristic flying hero. A new game, Bonk: Brink of Extinction, was announced for download platforms and the Nintendo 3DS but was cancelled.
In the early 1990s console makers sold their machines through characters. Bonk was NEC's answer to Mario and Sonic — a deliberately comic, primitive hero — and his fortunes in the West rose and fell with the TurboGrafx-16 itself.