Apes

The **Apes** (エイプ, *Eipu*) are mercenary soldiers in service of the Dark Master, Malefor. According to Ignitus and King Warfang, because of said services, they were also dubbed as the 'Dark Armies'. Strangely, although they are known as apes, they actually bear a resemblance to mandrills and baboons.

## Appearances

They have a different fur color depending on their location, but they are functionally still the same.

* In the Swamp, their fur color is darkish gray in *A New Beginning,* and bluish gray in *The Eternal Night*.
* On Dante's Freezer, their fur color is vanilla white.
* On Tall Plains, their fur color is red.
* In Munitions Forge, their fur color is gold.
* In Concurrent Skies, their fur color is pure white.
* In the Mountain of Malefor, their fur color is darkish lavender, which appears to be rather their main color.

## Ranks

### Notable Officers

The Apes have ranks in their army, but the Ape King, Gaul, rules the Apes of all ranks. When Cynder was under the influence of Malefor, she served as the general for the Apes. Amongst Gaul's forces is another Ape called the Assassin. He wears a mask like his underlings who pilot the Dreadwings or man the elemental cannons, but his is thick and heavy, muffling his words whenever he speaks. It is possible that he is Gaul's second in command.

* Gaul (King)
* Cynder (General, formerly)
* Assassin/Advisor (Gaul's possible second-in-command)
* Conductor (Possible chief of security as well as head distributor)

### Henchmen

The Ape army consists of soldiers, leaders and commanders, etc., each with their own different attack methods.

* Ape Soldiers
* Ape Leaders
* Ape Commanders
* Disciples
* Ape Gunners
* Ape Cannons

### Additional Forces of the Apes

The Apes have recruited numbers of different varieties of beasts to support their brutal causes. They mainly mount on the bat-like Dreadwings for aerial transport or assaults. On the ground, they rely on gigantic creatures resembling scorpions and snails. The two varieties of Death Hounds also serve as the Apes' attack dogs but, along with the snails, only appear in Legend of Mystical Heroes: The Eternal Night.

* Dreadwings
* Buffalo Beetles
* Conduits
* Death Hounds
* Snail Riders
* Electric King (Cynder's personal bodyguard)

## Abilities and Powers

### Skills

* Swipe
* Tackle
* Teleportation
* Punch
* Ram
* Shockwave Pound

## History

### Past

#### Service to the Dark Master

After Malefor was cast out of the Dragon Realms, he built an army of Apes and taught them how to artificially harness the power of the Spirit Gems, the dragons' life source. It was then that the Apes served as the perfect army for the Dark Master (for the time being). The ruler and king of the Apes was Gaul, a loyal servant of the Malefor. The duties of his army were to fight wars against the Dragons, win battles in order to gain ground, and occupy the Dragon Realms. Years afterwards, Malefor was defeated by the Ancestors, who sealed his essence in Convexity and his spirit in the very mountain he created, the Well of Souls. Despite this setback, the Apes were still able to carry out Malefor's orders.

#### Attack on the Dragon Temple

Under Malefor's orders, Gaul led the raid on the Temple Dojo of the Dragons under orders to destroy the dragon eggs in order to prevent the birth of the next purple dragon, but Spyro's egg, along the other dragon eggs, was saved and evacuated early under King Warfang's orders. Malefor also needed a dragon who was born on the Year of the Dragon Ceremony to open the portal in Convexity that served as his prison, and Cynder's egg was captured by the Apes. Cynder would later be poisoned by the Dark Master's powers, turning her into an evil dark dragon to help him spread destruction throughout the world and becoming a general to the Apes.