Monkey Business

True to his name, Professor Monkey-For-a-Head has… well, he has a monkey for a head. I’m sure this arrangement makes for awkward bathroom visits. The whole situation is made worse by the fact that the monkey seems to have a mind of his own. The monkey often pesters the Professor with his jabbering and throws proverbial monkey wrenches into his plans. The Professor invented the ultra-high-tech indestructible super-space-cyber-suit for Queen Slug-for-a-Butt, but it accidentally found its way to Earthworm Jim instead. Unfortunately, the Professor was unable to create a new suit because the monkey ate the plans. The Professor and his conjoined simian associate live together in a space station laboratory where they spend their time making cool weaponry and giant death machines.

Charles is a peculiar monkey who often finds himself in strange predicaments. When Tomba first meets him, Charles is hanging out in a tree looking for food. When they next meet, Charles finds himself without pants after having lost them in the stormy mountains. At various points in the sequel, Charles finds himself starving, itchy, and trapped in a pile of leaves. While Charles often requires the help of Tomba, he always offers something in return. After being given a bunch of bananas, Charles teaches Tomba how to run. Charles also gives Tomba useful life potions, saves him from a collapsing bridge, and teaches him how to swim. You could even say that he teaches Tomba how to love, but that would be overkill. Tomba meets many characters on his adventures, but none are more interesting than Charles.

Monkeys are awesome and adorable. It’s just a scientific fact. It’s hard to believe that they weren’t a part Animal Crossing from the very beginning, but it wasn’t until Wild World was released on the Nintendo DS that the loveable creatures began populating the villages of Animal Crossing. We have been introduced to many monkeys since that time, but it’s a well-established fact that Deli is the best one. Deli’s laidback personality makes it easy for him to get along with everyone, and he seems to form strong friendships with all of his neighbors. He’s lives a relaxed lifestyle and is always friendly when you speak with him. He is usually to find since he stays awake for long periods, and he is always oh-so-sociable. If you are lucky enough to have him as a neighbor, you’ll want him to stay in your village forever.

SonSon was the titular character from a 1984 arcade game that was loosely based on the Chinese classic, Journey to the West. Like Sun Wukong from the legendary story, SonSon was a monkey boy who was equipped with a magical pole and frequently rode around on a magical cloud. His game was a moderate hit and he went on to appear in a number of other games. The SonSon that is being recognized on this list is actually the granddaughter of the original SonSon. In addition to her name, SonSon inherited her magical pole and her flying cloud from her grandfather. She puts both of them to good use in Marvel vs. Capcom 2. She never had the opportunity to star in her own game, but she’s more playful than her grandfather and easier on the eyes. She also gets to rub shoulders with the likes of Chun-Li and Spider-Man.

Data is a mysterious robotic monkey who speaks in gibberish that only MegaMan himself can understand. Data was by MegaMan’s side when he was discovered as a baby, and has been his loyal companion ever since. He’s curious, energetic, and absolutely adorable. He also has the ability to hold vast amounts of knowledge and serves as MegaMan’s guide throughout his adventure. It is eventually revealed that Data contains MegaMan’s previous memories and has been protecting them from being tampered with. When the time is right, Data restores MegaMan’s memories and helps him become the hero that he was destined to be. Everyone should have a friend like Data. If my memories are ever in danger of being tampered with, I sure hope I’ll have a robotic monkey sidekick to protect them for me.

In contrast to most of the characters on this list, the Ape Escape monkeys have a knack for troublemaking. After an evil albino monkey named Specter obtained a helmet that increased his intelligence, countless monkeys were recruited to assist him in his plan for world domination. To achieve this goal, these monkeys were sent back in time in order to create a monkey utopia. Specter was not successful in his bid to make monkeys the dominant species on the planet. However, the monkeys did become the dominant species on the Sony PlayStation for a while. In fact, the Ape Escape monkeys were unofficial mascots of the PlayStation, and even made cameo appearances in Metal Gear Solid, Hot Shots Golf, and Monster Rancher games. The also got to test their skills against the likes of emo Dante and Big Daddy in PlayStation All-Stars!

Amigo is a sombrero-wearing monkey who wields maracas and has an affinity for popular Latin music. Amigo shares his name with the Spanish word for friend. This is quite appropriate given that Amigo the monkey is a friend to all. Samba de Amigo doesn’t have much of a story and the game basically consists of Amigo dancing around and shaking maracas with his animal friends. Sonic the Hedgehog and Ulala (from Space Channel 5) even show up to party with him. Amigo has a distinctive look, an infectious smile, and is the most lovable musical video game mascot this side of PaRappa the Rapper. Samba de Amigo is one of the most underappreciated rhythm games out there, but those with an open mind are in store for an incredible fiesta filled with wonderful shades of red, green, and yellow.

Wiki is a lovable shape-shifting monkey who is helping an ambitious young adventurer named Zack reach his lofty goal of becoming the greatest pirate of all time. Wiki is most notable for his ability to transform himself into an enchanted bell that can turn enemies into bizarre items for Zack to use to solve puzzles. For example, frogs can be turned into bombs, centipedes can become saws, and bats can transform into umbrellas. Unfortunately, Wiki’s past is shrouded in mystery and he suffers from amnesia. This makes him somewhat naive and particularly vulnerable to deception and trickery. Wiki finds himself in dire straits at several points during the course of the game, but he always demonstrates unshakable loyalty toward Zack and is willing to follow him anywhere. Zack and Wiki make one heck of a team.

Super Monkey Ball features four monkeys who run around in giant hamster balls. I’m giving AiAi the nod here over his co-stars because he is the most well-rounded monkey of the bunch and arguably the most recognizable. AiAi is a carefree and high-spirited monkey who just can’t get enough bananas. When the evil Dr. Bad-Boon steals all the bananas from Jungle Island, AiAi refuses to let him get away with it and follows him into a volcano, a pirate ship, and even into the mouth of a whale in order to stop him. When he’s not trying to starve AiAi to death, Bad-Boon attempts to steal his girlfriend and also constructs robot thieves that look like AiAi in an effort to frame him for the banana thefts. None of these plans are successful, however, and AiAi is eventually able to stop his notorious rival.

Rare originally intended Diddy Kong to be an updated version of Donkey Kong Jr., but Nintendo saw him as a completely different character. Given the choice to redesign his appearance or simply rename the character, Rare took the latter option and Diddy Kong was born. Diddy made his first appearance in Donkey Kong Country as the sidekick and best friend of Donkey Kong himself. The following year, Diddy had an even brighter spotlight when he was given the task of rescuing a kidnapped Donkey Kong in the sequel. In following years, Diddy’s star continued to grow with the release of Diddy Kong Racing on the Nintendo 64. Diddy is now a recurring character in Mario spinoffs. He has appeared in various Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. games and a handful of Mario sports titles. I, for one, welcome our new Diddy Kong overlords.