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Line 12: A chimp with a diaper—Ha ha... Wait, we didn't imagine that until just now. Ha ha ha! This trope is named for [https://web.archive.org/web/20120502182413/http://www.superdickery.com/index.php?view=category&id=31%3Amonkeys-index&option=com_content&Itemid=34 this] [[Super Dickery]].com subpage. And yes, we know it ought to be "Everything's Better With Non-Human Primates" too. After all, everything's also better with ''apes'', who are technically not monkeys. The difference is actually very simple - Monkeys have tails, while apes (including chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans) don't. [[Rule of Funny\|On the other hand the word "monkey" is simply funnier]] (unless you're adressing a certain [[Discworld\|librarian]]...) The actual editor of the site explains [https://web.archive.org/web/20120502182050/http://superdickery.com/index.php?view=article&catid=31%3Amonkeys-index&id=621%3Aworst-contest-prize-ever&option=com_content&Itemid=24 here] how untrue this trope is. Speaking from personal experience, "Monkeys are not cute in real life, they are ''evil'' little bastards. On top of that, they carry the Hepatitis B virus." (And HIV came from a virus in monkeys called SIV.) In fiction, baboons are often used if Everything Is ''Worse'' With Monkeys, probably because they're on the large size for primates and are more than willing to display their formidable canine teeth on camera. Gorillas can work either way, because everybody knows gorillas are [[Badass]], so it depends on whether the gorilla in question is good or evil. Line 48: * Let's not leave ''[[Speed Racer]]'' out of the mix, with their [[Team Pet]] Chim-Chim. ** [[The Movie]] had not one but two chimps taking turns playing Chim-Chim. Whenever any one of them was on screen,they quite literally [[Getting Crap Past the Radar\|threw crap past the radar]], and also [[Hilarity Ensues\|got behind the wheel of a vehicle]]. * ''[[~~Sakigake Cromartie Koukou\|~~Cromartie High School]]'' has a gorilla who frequently shows up at the school, and is said to be smarter than many of the [[Delinquents]] who go there (which isn't that hard to believe when you see the rest of the cast). * ''[[Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan\|Bludgeoning Angel Dokurochan]]'' has a student transformed into a recurring monkey. Said monkey's head was made using stock real life photos. * ''[[Fireball]]'' has the appearance of Schadenfreude, a ''robotic'' monkey. Line 152: A few [[Disney Animated Canon]] geeks have a theory: this trope is the ''only'' acceptable reason why there are "[[Misplaced Wildlife\|lemurs]]" in the Late Cretaceous period in ''[[Dinosaur]]''. [[We Named the Monkey "Jack"\|Jack the undead monkey]] from the ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' movies. The Barrel Full of Monkeys game monkeys make brief appearances in each [[Toy Story (franchise)\|Toy Story]] film (sometimes only during the credits), and they're usually used for quick, silly gags. * Taken [[Up to Eleven]] in ''Toy Story 3'' with '''[[Crazy Awesome\|DEATH BY MONKEYS]]'''. Gorillas actually appear as background characters in ''[[Dumbo]]''. One tries to escape from its cage during a parade, and a whole family of them can be seen during the [[Tear Jerker\|"Baby Mine" number.]] Line 167: And the musical thereof on ''[[The Simpsons (animation)\|The Simpsons]]''. * ''[[28 Days Later\|Twenty Eight Days Later]]'' combines this with the [[Uncanny Valley]]-esque effect of a humanoid animal to make one scary-ass scene. Test animals unnerve us, monkeys amuse us, but-"The chimps are infected". * A scene of ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'' has Mutt Williams getting stuck in a tree, and being discovered by monkeys that due to having the same "hair" as his, decide to show Mutt vine-swinging and then help him attack the [[Dirty Communists]]. Opinions were divided between "it's stupid" ("[https://web.archive.org/web/20131101213429/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/reviewsnews.php?id=45198 I used to joke that you could make any movie better by adding monkeys or explosions to it. I take back the part about the monkeys.]") and "it's fun" ("[https://web.archive.org/web/20130310214431/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=~~/20080518/REVIEWS/969461084~~%2F20080518%2FREVIEWS%2F969461084 What I want is goofy action--lots of it. (...) And throw in lots of monkeys.]"). Third opinion: [[Rule of Funny\|friggin hilarious]]. Of course, a monkey appears in several scenes of ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' until its greed gets the better of it. Line 237: * The sitcom ''BJ And The Bear'' was essentially a ripoff of ''Every Which Way But Loose''; it was about a long-haul trucker and his pet ''chimpanzee''. * Subverted in an episode of ''[[Boston Legal]]'', in which a lawyer attempted to use a case study involving a monkey in one of his closing arguments, but the judge was not impressed. * The entire premise of ''[[Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp]]''. ("Get that Ape!") Which was apparently based on a series of British commercials for PG Tips Tea—see '''Advertising'''. * A more recent example could be TBS's "Monkeyed Movies" shorts (featuring chimps doing parodies of popular movies) and it's 30-minute follow-up/spin-off The Chimp Channel from the 1990s. Line 295: * Placebo's "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKC7RCb1H_o Space Monkey]" ("Space monkey in the place to be") ** And John Prine's song of that title. * The punk/alternative band Sprung Monkey.[~~http~~https://web.archive.org/web/20170212171404/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprung_Monkey\] * [[Jonathan Coulton]]'s "Code Monkey", a sympathetic take on the slang term referring to software developers whose work involves no creativity. Also "My Monkey," about the narrator [http://www.jonathancoulton.com/wiki/index.php/My_Monkey projecting thoughts and feelings onto his monkey butler]. Line 357: ''Who smoke cigars''. * ''[[Feng Shui]]'' includes among its factions the Jammers, which are intelligent cybernetic monkeys and apes working in concert with the few humans immune to the influence of Chi. Their aim is to destroy every feng shui site in existence so humanity can be "free" from the "tyranny" of Chi, something which may have very bad consequences for the world. * The ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' joke set ''Unhinged'' featured monkeys, alongside donkeys, as the two major creature types featured. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090114022722/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=74233 Monkey Monkey Monkey]! * The ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' design team for ''Alliances'' thought that continuity's idea for a race of sentient gorillas was silly, so they made fun of it by putting the word gorilla in every card's name. For example, Force of Will was originally called "Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla (Stop That)." As an homage to this, the card Sol Grail's name is an anagram of "gorillas". ** Of course, some of the gorillas (and references to them) still made it into the set as actual cards. In all, nineteen distinct Ape cards have been printed to date (most recently four reprints in the ninth edition of the main set)...not counting those which simply have ''all'' creature types. * Kroot from the ''[[Warhammer ~~40000~~40,000\|Warhammer 40k]]'' use a species called the "Krootox" as a battle and pack animal, it is essentially a big beaked gorilla. More interestingly, the Krootox were once a normal kroot Kindred ("tribe") that used the [[Lego Genetics\|kroot ability to absorb genes from food]] to bulk up, eventually becoming non-sentient and stuck in that form. There's also the Jokaero, who are intelligent orangutans...[[Recycled in Space\|In SPACE]]. Though not as prevalent as they once were, they are still important due to their feats of engineering. * And now, thanks to the new Grey Knights codex, it's possible to field ''an entire army'' consisting of them (plus one Inquisitor). * ''[[Rifts]]'' features Ape-Boys (genetically-enhanced apes and monkeys) as a playable race. * The fourth set of ''[[Monsterpocalypse]]'', "Monsterpocalypse Now", introduced the faction "Empire of the Apes". * ''[[Dungeons ~~and~~& Dragons]]'' has the [[Mix-and-Match Critters\|howler wasps]], more popularly known as [https://web.archive.org/web/20171120000914/http://www.headinjurytheater.com/images/d&d%26d%20beasts%20monkey%20bees.jpg Monkey Bees] [[Memetic Mutation\|Monkey bees... my God.]] Monkey Bees DO NOT make everything better. Line 371: *** There have actually been lots of monkey- and ape-based creatures in D&D over the years. Listing all of them could probably double this page's length. * Doctor Silverback, from the [[Champions]] Universe (and brought over to ''[[Champions Online]]''), is a superhumanly-intelligent gorilla. * [http://evilhat.com/ Evil Hat Productions] games frequently feature Gorillas, in particular the pulp styled game [https://web.archive.org/web/20120729061228/http://www.evilhat.com/home/sotc/ Spirit of the Century] has Gorilla Khan, a sentient gorilla mastermind with many gorilla minions, and the upcoming [http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com/ Dresden Files RPG]. A spin off company 'One Bad Egg' produced a whole setting seed and race of intelligent apes for Dungeons and Dragons 4e. * Meta example for ''[[Exalted]]'': The team of freelance writers calling themselves the Ink Monkeys, who [[Broken Base\|nearly]] everyone agrees make everything they touch a thousand times better. ** Keep in mind however, that some fans (some more rational [[Unpleasable Fanbase\|than]] [[Fan Dumb\|others]]) think they dialed down the brokenness ''too'' much, and now the game is a ''little'' underpowered. Most of those admit that the game is more playable, now (and the official boards [[Fandom Heresy\|won't like you very much]] if you bring up that criticism). Line 398: * The reason why Crunch wouldn't take off his NV Helmet in ''[[Crash Bandicoot\|Crash: Mind over Mutant]]''. "Sooo ''awesome!'' Monkeys!" * ''[[Deus Ex]]'' describes {{spoiler\|the Grays}} as (possibly) being genetically engineered hairless monkeys. This doesn't stop them from being the most annoying enemies in the game. Note that these are ''psychic'' monkeys. * The ''[[~~Earthbound~~EarthBound]]'' series has more than a barrel full of monkeys factoring into the plot. In the part of the game where you control Jeff, a bubblegum-chewing monkey is the key to getting across the river; another point in the game requires the party to give and receive gifts from several monkeys to proceed. And in the sequel, ''[[Mother 3]]'', the third chapter of the game is played ''entirely'' by a monkey. ** [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?\|His name is Salsa]]. Fassad makes him his slave by threatening his girlfriend (whom Kumatora dubs the "love monkey") and then fitting him with an [[Shock and Awe\|electric collar]]. * One of the main villains in ''[[Earthworm Jim (video game)\|Earthworm Jim]]'' is Professor Monkeyforahead, a mad scientist who shares his head with an upside-down monkey. The monkey's name is Monkey Professorforahead. Line 427: ** There's also the robot monkey Coconuts featured in both Sonic 2 for the Genesis and a cartoon series that was (somewhat) based on it, as well as some of the Sonic-based comics. * ''[[System Shock]] 2'' had monkeys with [[Psychic Powers\|cryokinesis and pyrokinesis]]. * The Eliminators from ''[[Resident Evil 0Zero]]'' are zombified lab monkeys. [[Subverted Trope\|However]], everything is ''not'' better when these [[Demonic Spiders\|little assholes]] are around. * Zombie monkeys also showed up in the original ''[[The House of the Dead (series)\|House of the Dead]]''. * ''[[Thief]]: The Dark Project'' and ''[[Thief]] 2: The Metal Age'' include ApeBeasts among the Trickster's minions. In the second game, some of them have blowpipes. Line 447: * Monkeys and apes are very well-represented in the roster of species available for ''[[Zoo Tycoon]] 2'', especially if you include the Endangered Species and African Adventure expansion packs. * Jep, a monkey you can befriend in ''Return to Mysterious Island'', is an implausibly-clever helper that uses inventory items for you. * ''[[Aladdin (Virgin Games)\|Aladdin]]'' has bonus levels that actually let you play as Abu the monkey. * [[Doubly Subverted]] in ''[[~~Runescape~~RuneScape]]''. There's an island populated by intelligent monkeys but it's a [[Death World]] to humans. Things get better when you get an item that turns you into a monkey. * Subverted in ''[[Asura's Wrath]]'', with Gohma Howlers, which are anything but nice, as they kill humans without hesitation in packs. * Averted in ''[[Star Fox (series)\|Star FOX]]'' - with the exception of a single specimen all simians are evil. And at least [[Mad Scientist\|one]] is [[One-Winged Angel\|creepy]]. Line 460: ** According to [[Word of God]], Judy is the proud possessor of one of the few immutable laws of the universe: {{quote\|[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/17p52 Gorilla + rocket launcher > giant ninja]. Seriously.}} * Some children have a monster in their closet. Max, from ''[[Bitmap World]]'', has a [http://www.bitmapworld.com/smcomic2.cgi?a=61 monkey in his closet.]{{Dead link}} Later in the comic, there's a whole storyline involving monkeys. * In ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', ~~various~~there's ~~Terran~~a ~~species~~lot ~~have~~of ~~been~~Terran ~~ascended~~[[Uplifted ~~to sapience~~Animal]]. Of these, apes are prominently featured. ~~Also~~(also, elephants). And the Vhorwed are gorilla-like, but ''huge''. When the crew are going undercover in a circus, the ringmaster wants to know what a sentient elephant and an ape could do that would be impressive. [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/~~d/20090524.html~~2009-05-24 Isn't it obvious?] And now, we have a [http://schlockmercenary.com/~~d/20100805.html~~2010-08-05 headless monkey]. Originally meant to be used for torture, it turns out to be [http://schlockmercenary.com/~~d/20100817.html~~2010-08-17 more important than that]. It's a [[Chekhov's Gun\|Chekhov's Monkey]]! ** [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2010-10-31 "One of the best uses for a monkey is to make everyone pay attention to the monkey."] * ''[[El Goonish Shive~~\|EGS~~]]'': [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2008-06-02 Everything's better with monster gremlin monkeys!] ** [http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=954 An] evil monkey-[[Political Correctness Gone Mad\|~~An evil monkey-~~American!]] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110617005310/http://www.kismetropolis.com/view.php?date=2005-11-24 Kismetropolis]: featured a [[Mushroom Samba\|tryptophane trip]] involving a recipe for Monkey Bread. {{quote\|'''Jamie:''' There's NO monkey in the monkey bread. Swear. Guys? Seriously! No monkey!}} * In ''[[Dominic Deegan]]'', Everything's Better With [[Incendiary Exponent\|Fire]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20140921125948/http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2007-03-18 Monkeys]. * Gwynn from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' owns several monkeys who are enchanted to attack and humiliate anyone who irritates her. The monkeys themselves don't appear that often, but a lot of mileage is gotten out of the gag that the other characters pretend "monkeys" is Gwynn's nickname for her breasts. "I've done something bad with my monkeys (...) If we don't do something my monkeys are going to be ''all over her'' in front of ''everyone'' (...) be on the lookout for my monkeys and grab them if you see them. They could pop up anywhere." ** Eventually, Bun-bun tried to weaponize monkeys by training them to viciously attack anyone holding exactly 11 items. And when his plan didn't work, [http://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=51#2007-01-19 used them] to [[Asshole Victim\|attack jerks]] clogging "ten items or less" lane. Speaking of which, "Gwynn's monkey are touching my cruller!" is not an euphemism, either. * ''[[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]]'' uses [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1713 a monkey dressed as Hitler] as part of a proof that fiction is stranger than truth. * ''[[The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage]]'' features lots and lots of monkeys in "Lovelace and Babbage vs The Organist." In [https://web.archive.org/web/20130905145837/http://sydneypadua.com/2dgoggles/lovelace-and-babbage-vs-the-organist-part-9/ part nine], Ada Lovelace has to negotiate a room full of sleeping monkeys belonging to the titular organist and his minions. It's a subversion for the protagonist, though - everything is [[Maniac Monkeys\|far worse with monkeys]]. * In [[Balderduck]]'s Single Panel [https://web.archive.org/web/20130515022003/http://www.balderduck.com/2010/12/20/single-panel-8/ #8], monkeys seem to have played a huge part in making Shakespeare's works better. * ''[[My Roommate Is an Elf]]''. Griswold's familiar, Glen, is a talking monkey. == Web Original == Line 491: * In [[The Nostalgia Chick]]'s list of top villainesses, she places [[The Wizard of Oz (film)\|The Wicked Witch Of The West]] as #2, but admits that other than the flying monkeys, there's not much to say about her. So instead, the Chick just says "here's some monkeys" and shows videos of chimps dancing to "Yakety Sax" for the next ten to fifteen seconds. * Subverted by [[The Nostalgia Critic]] in his ''Dunston Checks In'' review, who actually interrupts his own opening catchphrase to say "MONKEYS AREN'T FUNNY!" * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140710022343/http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/nash/wtfiwwy/28928-monkeys An episode] of [[What The Fuck Is Wrong With You?]] regarding weird news with monkeys had Nash discussing this trope, specially on how monkeys turn anything funny. * The Monkey King certainly thinks so in the [[Whateley Universe]]. Some of the people he decides need a little pranking, like Phase, may disagree. * [[The League of STEAM]] often have to deal with invisible ghost monkeys. Line 509: * Let's not forget the "Dial M For Monkey" shorts on ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'', where one of Dexter's test animals is secretly a super-powered crime fighter. * ''[[Dora the Explorer]]'' has a monkey, Boots, as a [[Sidekick]]. * ''[[The Fairly ~~Odd Parents~~OddParents]]'', "Abra-Catastrophe" flips the entire cartoon's universe into one populated with monkeys as the dominant species, complete with an alternate, monkey-and-banana-centric credits sequence. "You know, if it weren't for the fact that all of this is historically accurate, I would think that someone was making up incredibly lame puns." * This is specifically in response to a history lesson about how the "Founding Alpha Males" signed the "Declar''ape''tion of Independance" to create "The United Apes of America", but there are more ape related puns. [[A Worldwide Punomenon\|Many, many more]]. Line 521: ''[[The Herculoids]]'' had a rock ape named Igoo, and "The Beaked People" had flying monkeys. ''[[Space Ghost]]'''s [[sidekick]]s, Jan and Jayce, had a monkey named Blip as ''their'' sidekick. * ''[[The Fairly ~~Odd Parents~~OddParents]]'' paid [[Homage]] to this in "Channel Chasers," when Cosmo turned into The Monkey. ''[[Magilla Gorilla]]'', which, in addition to its own primate star, had a secondary cartoon called ''The Adventures of Peter Potamus and So-So''. So-So, Peter's [[Sidekick]], was—you guessed it - a monkey. ** ''Beagley Beagley and The Great Grape Ape'' Line 560: * ''[[Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars\|Bucky O Hare and The Toad Wars]]'': B-B-B-BERSERKER B-B-B-BABOON! The only thing Toads fear. With good reason. * ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'' had the Baboon as a recurring character. * A monkey participated in many of the Prometheus and Bob shorts on ''[[~~Ka Blam~~KaBlam!]]''. * Spidermonkey from ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force\|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'' is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin\|just what he sounds like]]; a monkey with [[Spider-Man]] powers. Though his species is called "Arachni''chimp''". His [[Super Mode]] in ''[[Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\|Ben 10 Ultimate Alien]]'' is apparently a gorilla with [[Spider Limbs\|spider legs]]. * Monsieur Mallah, mentioned up in Comics, also appeared in the fifth season of ''[[Teen Titans (animation)\|Teen Titans]]'' as [[The Dragon]]. Considering that the show was aimed at kids, no mention of his sexuality was made. Line 582: ** Monkeys are a fairly common theme in Ross Noble's comedy as well, particularly on his 'Unrealtime' DVD. * As they're all improvised it gets hard to really pin it down, but around 30% of Ross Nobles shows will involve monkeys. * The Penn Jillette radio show had a regular feature called "Monkey Tuesday", in which monkey news and monkey-related discussion would open the show, and callers would call in with stories of their personal encounters with primates. It all started with a story about a monkey and a dwarf ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140829030027/http://www.pennfans.net/view/Audio_Archive/PennRadio/The.Penn.Jillette.Radio.Show.2006.04.11/ part 1 near the end], [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828204751/http://www.pennfans.net/view/Audio_Archive/PennRadio/The.Penn.Jillette.Radio.Show.2006.04.12/ part 2], and [https://web.archive.org/web/20150430183407/http://www.pennfans.net/view/Audio_Archive/PennRadio/The.Penn.Jillette.Radio.Show.2006.04.18/ next week it was a trend]. * Freeware 3D program Blender has the head of a monkey (named "Suzanne," as a [[Shout-Out]] to Kevin Smith) as one of its basic models. It's often used for test renders. * Plans for ''[[The Haunted Mansion\|The Mystic Manor]]'' at [[Disney Theme Parks\|Hong Kong Disneyland]] involve a mischevious monkey among the supernatural stuff.