Monkey-men

The **Monkey-Men** were a tribe of vicious humanoid yeti-like primates and minor antagonists in *Primal*.

## Appearance

The Monkey-men were humanoid primates with lean, muscular bodies, white fur, gray skin, blue pupil-less eyes, protruding canines, and tufts of hair on the top of their heads. Despite their common traits, they had some variation in terms of their height, weight and muscle mass as well as the hair on their heads. They are rather tall considering their ape-like nature with most standing as tall as Spear.

## Abilities

* **Strength:** Due to their lean build, they possessed strength substantial enough to match Spear if not greater.
* **Weapon proficiency:** The Monkey-men had the capacity to wield different types of weapons, perhaps in part to both their intelligence and dexterity. They were able to create simple stone weapons such as axes, spears, and hammers and used them quite well in combat. The fact that the Monkey-men could craft such weapons also implies a deeper intelligence and understanding of tools.

## Personalities

Being a collective of individuals, Monkey-men lack a proper personality. From what they have shown, they seem to be determined to complete any task, either of their own free will or being forced by a more powerful group and will go to no end to accomplish it regardless of the amount of their own lost. They are also capable of forming strategic leadership, with the bulk choosing to fight Spear and Fang, giving a smaller group time to ambush Mira and successfully kidnap her.

## History

The Monkey-men first appeared spying on the trio while beginning their descent up the mountain for shelter. Once they settled, the Monkey-men snuck into the cave the trio were sleeping in and manage to grab Mira, but not before waking Spear and Fang, who immediately attacked the group. Despite their superior numbers, they were almost instantly killed by the duo, only for a swarm of others to charge into the cave, although they were also killed. Spear was able to find and use Mira's bow and killed three of the primates at once. Upon seeing this, the remaining Monkey-Men fled in terror, but not before several were crushed by Fang. The group was still able to escape with the exception of a lone straggler, who was flung aside by Spear. The surviving Monkey-men then encountered Mira's slavers, the Vikings, who had the monkey-men to be shot down before they could retaliate. Spear and Fang would find the gruesome aftermath with their arrow-ridden corpses littering the beach. ("Slave of the Scorpion")

## Trivia

* Based on their appearance and dexterous use of weapons, it is possible they either are or inspired by *Homo habilis*, an early human that used the most developed stone tools. This trait is shared with *Australopithecus*, although the species was generally vegetarian while *Homo habilis* is a scavenger.
* It remains unclear why the monkey-men targeted Mira. Various explanations are possible, such as wanting Mira to fulfill important needs (such as food, mating, or servitude), while another possibility is they were collaborating with, or at the very least, instructed by the Vikings to kidnap Mira and to return her to them, but they were betrayed and massacred by the group, although it is also likely the Vikings had ambushed them based on the scattered footprints in the beach.
* They are the third antagonists to accomplish their goals, the first being the Mammoth Matriarch and the second being the Head Witch as they were able to kidnap Mira (though some were killed by presumably the Vikings).
* Unlike other primate humanoids such as the Ape-men, they have been shown to wield weapons.

## References

1. ↑ "Slave of the Scorpion Pitch Animatic". (Video) *Adult Swim*.