Ballboon

The **Ballboon** appeared in 2014 manga called *Toriko*. The Ballboons (キンタマントヒヒ *Kintamantohihi*), also known as the "**Monkey Kings**", are a rare, but powerful and ancient race of monkeys that hail from the Gourmet World continent of Area 7 and members of this species have acted as rulers of Area 7 since ancient times. The Ballboon, Bambina is the current "Monkey King" of Area 7 and one of the powerful Eight Kings.

The race name is a combination of the words "kintama" and "mandrill", with 'kintama' being the Japanese word for testicles. A fitting name as the species is very notable for their rather large testicles. The name Ballboon is a combination of the words 'ball' which is an English slang for the testicle and the 'boon' of the word baboon, which the race of monkeys is based on. The word 'Ballboon' may also be a pun on the word balloon as the Ballboon is known to grow their testicles to a large size, comparable to how a balloon can be inflated and the butt cheeks of the actual baboon.

Ballboons are tall monkeys with rather lanky bodies covered in dark, ruffled fur and web-like coats that wrap around areas of their torso, arms and legs. Their furs are designed to cover certain areas of their bodies; the shoulders, the forearms and their lower leg areas. They have large hands which are seen as brighter toned than the rest of their body with dark colored nails, their feet also share the same description with brighter tones and dark nails. They have rather long and powerful tails which are covered with shorter fur. The face of a Ballboon bears many wrinkles, a dark area around the eyes with blank white eyes and they also have large dark lips with sharp teeth. Their most notable trait which makes them unique are their large pair of testicles which can shine much like high quality jewelry.

Female Ballboons have notably less wild black hair on their bodies and no webbing covering them. Instead they only have black hair on the top of their heads and short, light-colored puffy fur around their pelvis, chest, shins and forearms. Like the males, they have long hairless tails and the exact same pair of hands and feet. Females appear to have a rather feminine figure with a small waist, unlike other known species of monkeys. However the real Bambina's mate, actually has a face resembling that of Zongeh's. It is unknown if other females of the species share the same facial features as Bambina herself, or if it may differ from female to female.

Bambina, the only known Ballboon and one of the Eight Kings is the only Ballboon currently shown to have an alternate form which it normally keeps concealed beneath the layer of organic webbing covering its body. This form resembles a large muscular monkey with traits similar to those of a flying squirrel and its black hair seems to either fall off or become short and the fur becomes light-colored as opposed to a darker color. Whether all Ballboons look like this without their webbing or just Bambina is uncertain.

Males of the species take great pride in their testicles and use them to attract females as part of their mating rituals. The larger and more beautiful their testicles shine, the more they are considered a symbol of strength. Ballboons with a high quality pair gain the right to have many offspring.

It is unknown if a Ballboon's meat is edible or not. The only confirmed edible part of their bodies are their testicles which are the legendary soup, Treasure Food PAIR. However this was not originally the case, as long ago PAIR was a natural soup spring within Area 7 that was dried up by the Ballboons and their gluttonous desire for the soup, but luckily the soup did not cease to be and instead became the Ballboons' prominent testicles. PAIR itself is a high-class soup of rich taste that also possesses special abilities. Those who consume PAIR can automatically switch between genders, and drinking another sip will turn the eater back to their original gender. However the true ability of the soup is its ability to allow eaters to briefly enter the realm between life and death, the Back Channel where they are able to interact with the deceased, such as Food Spirits.

## Powers and Abilities

The common level of strength amongst this species is unknown, however they are regarded as the strongest monkeys in Area 7 and their most notable member, "Monkey King" Bambina is one of the Eight Kings, the strongest beasts in the world, showing that a Ballboon has the potential to become one of the strongest creatures in the world. Ballboons also have the ability to repress their true muscular forms by transforming into a smaller and lankier furry form by covering themselves in an organic webbing produced by their bodies which is then mostly covered by dark patches of fur.

They also seem to have the ability to produce the legendary Flying Nimbutts and can possibly use them as safety monsters. However, the amount of times they can use this ability is unknown.