Tiptup is a recurring NPC character in the Banjo-Kazooie series that, along with Banjo, also made his debut in Diddy Kong Racing in 1997. However, Tiptup was originally the name of a turtle in Dream: Land of Giants, the game that would eventually morph into Banjo-Kazooie. Halfway through the development of BK, the development team behind Diddy Kong Racing (or Pro-Am 64 as it was called before Diddy Kong was included later on) were in need of names for their racers, one of which happened to be a turtle, and thus it was given the Tiptup name. Tiptup was then incorporated into future Rare games like Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.

Early in Diddy Kong Racing's development, when it was known as Pro-Am64, Timber was the game's main character.

Diddy Kong Racing wasn't originally going to star Diddy Kong, and was originally a game called Pro AM 64. It wasn't until a demo of the game was presented to Shigeru Miyamoto that he suggested Diddy be the mascot of the game.