Everything's Better with Monkeys: Difference between revisions
Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.2
(Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead. #IABot (v2.0beta15)) |
(Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.2) |
||
| (5 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
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 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=
** 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 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.
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 473:
** 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.
| |||