Line #31 Main/GentleGorilla


1	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tarzan_disneyscreencapscom_82.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Their jimmies remain unrustled.]]
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4	Gorillas are often (or rather, [[DiscreditedTrope used to be]]) depicted as [[KillerGorilla ravenous, dangerous beasts]] and stock monsters for heroes to fight. As time has gone on and primatology has advanced, it's been generally understood that gorillas are considerably nicer than many other primates, particularly [[ManiacMonkeys chimpanzees and baboons]], are almost exclusively [[HerbivoresAreFriendly herbivorous]], and generally avoid violence in most circumstances. In response to this, many writers, especially in recent years, have presented gorillas in a more sympathetic light, demonstrating them to be [[GentleGiant placid]] creatures. This being said, they're still usually depicted as [[BewareTheNiceOnes willing to throw down]] in order to protect themselves, their friends, or their family. Often, fictional gorillas initially [[MonsterFacade appear threatening]], but calm down and become this trope after realizing that their percieved opponents mean no harm.
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6	Contrast this trope to KillerGorilla, which it was created to challenge. This trope is also a SubTrope of GentleGiant. See also IntelligentPrimate, since friendly gorillas also have a tendency to be shown as intelligent.
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8	Mostly TruthInTelevision, as gorillas are among the least aggressive primates and will leave humans alone unless they feel directly threatened (though they do find proximity and eye contact threatening, so in RealLife it's better to treat them with caution). Friendlier examples of a KingKongCopy can qualify for this trope. Compare BigHeartedBigfoot, another example of a large but friendly hairy hominid, and EruditeOrangutan, a smart and usually friendly ape. Could dovetail with AbhorrentAdmirer, if it's a female who is ''very'' friendly, and the object of its affection isn't too keen on it, or even [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4933144/ a male of the gorilla species]]. For tropes about other large, gentle herbivores, see also GenialGiraffe, HuggyHuggyHippos and HonorableElephant.
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10	----
11
12	!!Examples:
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14	[[foldercontrol]]
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16	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
17	* Gori from ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}'' is a large and muscular gorilla who looks intimidating at first glance, but she turns out to be very sweet and friendly once Retsuko gets to know her.
18	* ''Anime/KemonoFriends'': Western Lowland Gorilla acts like an intimidating boss in order to keep her underlings behaving, but in reality she is a pacifist who gets stressed from having to act stern.
19	* Dr. Goriki from ''Anime/OddTaxi'' is a large and boisterous gorilla, but also a friendly and benevolent medic who cares for Odokawa both as his patient and his friend.
20	[[/folder]]
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22	[[folder:Comic Books]]
23	* Generally speaking, the inhabitants of Gorilla City in Creator/DCComics are portrayed as this; a peaceful HiddenElfVillage that shields itself from humanity to avoid conflict. However, the most notable resident is the main exception: Gorilla Grodd, a KillerGorilla and enemy of Comicbook/TheFlash.
24	* Aleron from Creator/BoomStudios' ''[[ComicBook/BetrayalOfThePlanetOfTheApes Planet of the Apes]]'' largely averts the standard portrayal of gorillas in the classic films as dimwitted brutes, with him being a stern but friendly general who eventually leads a rebellion against the Ape caste system and treatment of humans.
25	* The plot of ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' comic "[[https://inducks.org/story.php?c=KJZ+270 Gorilla in our Midst]]" (which takes place after the events of ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'') is about Max being afraid of his new neighbour Mr. Kong and thinking that he's a KillerGorilla due to variety of misunderstandings involving him. But Roxanne (having enough of Max cowardly behaviour) broughts him to Mr. Kong's home which leads them to discover that he's actually kind, welcoming and cheerful individual despite his [[FaceOfAThug gruff appearance]].
26	[[/folder]]
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28	[[folder:Fan Works]]
29	* The [[FanFic/TheBridge Amalgamverse]] has King Kong, an evolved kaiju sized descendent of ''Ardipithecus''. While brutal in combat against rivals and the skullcrawlers, he's a GentleGiant unless provoked and specifically protects the Iwi islands. He becomes the MentorArchetype to a young [[BigGood Godzilla Junior]].
30	[[/folder]]
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32	[[folder:Film - Animated]]
33	* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'', where a [[MonsterFacade seemingly aggresive]] gorilla shaking the bars of its circus cage accidentally pulls it out, and it drops its monstrous act and sheepishly puts it back.
34	* Johnny from ''WesternAnimation/{{Sing}}'' is an easygoing, soft-spoken gorilla who wants to be a singer. This puts him in contrast with his KillerGorilla father Marcus, who's a hardened criminal and wants Johnny to join his gang in their heists.
35	* ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} Tarzan (1999)]]'' portrays the eponymous ape foundling's adoptive family as gorillas (the original books depicted them as a fictional ape race known as Mangani, who very much played the KillerGorilla trope straight), and they behave more in line with a modern understanding of what gorillas are like. They're all pretty friendly, for the most part, and Kala, Tarzan's foster mother, was the first to connect with Tarzan after rescuing him as a baby. The only gorilla who's by no means friendly is Kerchak, the silverback leader, and he's more GoodIsNotNice and has understandable reasons not to want Tarzan as a son; in fact, in the opening montage, he's shown to be a caring father to his gorilla child, and was clearly grief-stricken when he realized that the latter had been killed and eaten by [[PredatorsAreMean Sabor]].
36	[[/folder]]
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38	[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]
39	* ''Film/BabysDayOut'': The zoo gorilla is perfectly peaceful and friendly around [[StrayingBaby Baby Bink]], sharing fruit with him. However, when the [[StupidCrooks three crooks]] try to take the baby away from the ape, it gets [[PapaWolf very protective]] and starts acting more like a stereotypical KillerGorilla.
40	* While Franchise/KingKong started off as a KillerGorilla, he gradually became this trope over the years as gorillas became better understood by science. His Franchise/{{Monsterverse}} incarnation has him in an almost completely heroic light, with ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' in particular showing him being close friends with a deaf human girl.
41	-->'''Marlow''': Kong's a pretty good king. Keeps to himself, mostly. This is his home. We're just guests here. But you don't go into someone's house and start dropping bombs unless you're picking a fight.
42	* ''Film/MightyJoeYoung'': In both the 1949 and the 1998 versions, Joe is a gigantic, but friendly gorilla who shares a strong bond with a woman named Jill Young. Similarly to King Kong, he gets captured and exhibited to the public, then escapes and rampages through the city; while people are first terrified of him, he proves himself to be nice in the eyes of the public by rescuing a human child from mortal danger (burning orphanage in the original, ferris wheel in the remake).
43	* ''Film/Rampage2018'': George is a highly intelligent and docile albino silverback who was raised by the human protagonist David Okoye. After exposed to the mutagen he turns into a gigantic rampaging KillerGorilla, [[spoiler:but after the heroes feed him an antidote he becomes friendly and intelligent again, although he remains gigantic in size]].
44	* ''Film/MrGo'', a South Korean movie, stars a friendly circus gorilla named Ling Ling with amazing bat-swinging skills who [[AnimalAthleteLoophole joins a baseball team]].
45	[[/folder]]
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47	[[folder:Literature]]
48	* In Creator/RichardScarry's ''Busytown'' franchise, Bananas Gorilla is usually portrayed as a friend to Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm, though his exact characterization depends on the specific work. Sometimes he's Huckle's BigFun classmate; sometimes he's a petty fruit thief.
49	* In ''Literature/{{Congo}}'' and its [[Film/{{Congo}} film adaptation]], Amy is a tame female gorilla who can communicate with humans through sign language. She acts as a mediator between the humans and the KillerGorilla tribe that dwells in the city of Zinj. The novel also goes to some lengths to note that gorillas are normally not aggressive, and the {{Killer Gorilla}}s of Zinj act that way because the original human inhabitants ''taught them'' to act that way ([[AttackAnimal to be guards]]), and they have been teaching their descendants ever since.
50	* ''Literature/TheFruitOfEvolution'': Saria is first introduced as a pink-furred gorilla who tries to attack Seiichi, but she's quickly revealed to be very motherly and kind after falling in love with him. After evolving into a human girl, she's still capable of transforming into her original gorilla form at will.
51	* Anthony Browne's children's classic ''Gorilla'' features Hannah's toy gorilla that turns into a real one who then takes the girl out for a trip to the zoo and for ice-cream, providing companionship that she's dearly missing from her father. Gorillas feature in a lot of the author's works, and for his part, he finds them fascinating for their contrast between their [[SuperStrength huge strength]] and gentle personalities as detailed in an interview [[https://www.walker.co.uk/contributors/Anthony-Browne-1481.aspx here.]]
52	* The book ''Gorilla! Gorilla!'' ends with this plot twist [[spoiler: when it turns out that the scary-looking gorilla that seemed to be chasing the mouse protagonist has been trying to return her baby all along.]]
53	* ''Literature/Ishmael1992'': The eponymous Ishmael is a wise old gorilla who engages in philosophical conversations with the narrator about the fate of humanity.
54	* ''Literature/TheOneAndOnlyIvan'' is a novel about Ivan, a talented and gentle gorilla in a mini-zoo at a shopping mall. His memories of Africa and his lost mother cause him to start painting pictures. The book is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory and has also been adapted as a motion picture.
55	** Ivan does have a much angrier side, but far from being a KillerGorilla, his deeply-buried impulses are more about expressing his unhappiness and frustration, and a desire to be taken seriously and respected, than any degree of malice or bloodlust. As he says, anger for a silverback is an important thing reserved for protecting someone, as his father tried to protect his troop. Until Ivan starts to feel kinship and responsibility for Ruby, he has no one to protect.
56	* ''[[Literature/TheGreenKnoweChronicles A Stranger at Green Knowe]]'': Hanno, the escaped gorilla who takes refuge in the garden, is a gentle creature who befriends the child protagonist.
57	* ''Literature/LifeOfPi'': While no gorilla itself appears, [[DiscussedTrope Pi does mention one]]; he unfavourably compares a chimpanzee being loaded into the ship he's travelling on to a gorilla by saying the former lacks melencholohy gentleness the latter have.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
61	* A legendary moment in Creator/DavidAttenborough's career as a {{documentary}} maker was the sequence in one program which had him discussing mountain gorillas while sitting close to a gorilla family in Rwanda -- when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeaAZ1On-w8 they drew him into their grooming activity.]] He always emphasizes that they are indeed gentle creatures and the danger to him was low, but given their raw strength, and the fact that he was close to their young while their parents were present, Attenborough's calm was astonishing. Attenborough was accompanied by Dian Fossey, who had habituated this gorilla family for ten years. He always emphasizes that only her presence made it possible to approach the gorillas.
62	* ''[[Series/TheElectricCompany1971 The Electric Company]]'': Paul the Gorilla, who helped Jennifer of the Jungle in reading skits. Sometimes characters would (comically) faint at the sight of him but Paul was harmless and one to make a quick friend with many others.
63	* Smash in Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers is a loveable GentleGiant. Same goes for his Sentai counterpart Gorisaki Banana in ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGobusters''
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67	[[folder:Video Games]]
68	* ''VideoGame/ClayFighter'': The cancelled character from ''C2: Judgment Clay'' was [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lucyjump.jpg Lucy the Gorilla]], a playful female gorilla with TertiarySexualCharacteristics that is shown as a GentleGiant in the first previews of the game in beta state. It was cancelled for schedule reasons.
69	* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'': The Kong clan as of the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' series consists of primates who just want to lead a peaceful existence. While some of them are other species such as orangutans or chimps, they mostly consist of gorillas.
70	** Donkey Kong is one of the most prolific examples of this trope in popular culture. While his initial appearance was villainous (though still sympathetic), all of the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games present him as an easy-going individual who only fights in order to protect his horde of bananas from King K. Rool.
71	** Funky Kong is a gorilla mixed with TotallyRadical, being a very supportive and nice person who helps Donkey Kong and his partners out.
72	** Kiddy Kong is an oversized baby gorilla who faithfully follows Dixie Kong on her rescue mission and has fun through it all.
73	** Chunky Kong, Kiddy's brother, is by far the largest and strongest of the extended Kong clan. He's also extremely timid and such a GentleGiant that one of his idle animations involves a bunch of butterflies landing on him.
74	* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'': Winston is a genetically-augumented, super-intelligent gorilla. While he can go bananas in the midst of combat, outside of battle he is polite and affable to a fault.
75	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Rillaboom is a gorilla-like Pokémon that looks intimidating, but according to its Pokédex entry in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Pokémon Shield]]'', it has a gentle disposition and values harmony among its group.
76	* The Garangolm from ''[[VideoGame/MonsterhunterRise Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak]]'' is a large, gorilla-like Fanged Beast known to normally be calm and peaceful. However, this overlaps with KillerGorilla, as it's known to get angry at things that disturb its peace, and has such massive strength that is considered a member of a trio of legendary monsters known as the Three Lords.
77	[[/folder]]
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79	[[folder:Western Animation]]
80	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'': In "[[Recap/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehogS01E010BigDaddy Big Daddy]]", Boom Boom is a baby gorilla who is sweet, if gullible and ProneToTears. His father Big Daddy is also a kind PapaWolf towards him.
81	* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': Optimus Primal, [[TheLeader leader]] of the heroic Maximals transforms into a gorilla.
82	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainSimianAndTheSpaceMonkeys'': Gor-Illa is a KindheartedSimpleton who, despite his immense strength, resents violence. Averted, however, with his [[HulkingOut Gormongous form]], who's a straightforward KillerGorilla.
83	* ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyKongCountry'': Like his depiction in the game series, Donkey Kong is once again an empathetic NiceGuy, despite his present streak of laziness.
84	* ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle'': [[ADogNamedDog Ape]], George's gorilla brother, is a smart, eloquent and sophisticated person, in contrast to the IdiotHero George. He's a supportive, if somewhat [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] sidekick to George.
85	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatGrapeApe'' is a fifty-foot tall purple gorilla who has a friendly, simple-minded personality. People still think he looks terrifying and run at his sight.
86	* On ''WesternAnimation/TheHairBearBunch'', Bananas the gorilla is friends (and occasional accomplice) with the bears.
87	* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': While Tuba is initially quite dismissive to Grace and Simon, this is completely understandable considering they view her as little more than a robot and initially plan to dispose of her when she's no longer of use. She's also a loving surrogate mother to Hazel, and begins to warm up to the group before [[spoiler: being ruthlessly killed by Simon in episode 5.]]
88	* ''WesternAnimation/TheKingKongShow'': Thanks to AdaptationalHeroism, King Kong is portrayed as a normally friendly ape who only fights to protect his friends.
89	* ''WesternAnimation/KongTheAnimatedSeries'': Following ''The King Kong Show'''s example, Kong is again portrayed as a GentleGiant and a protector of his island. Just don't mess with his friends or the island's animals.
90	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'': Every gorilla in the show are friendly good guys. King Sokwe is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure whose idea of a peace treaty is to playfully dump snow on one's head, and his sons Majinuni and Hafifu are {{Kindhearted Simpleton}}s. In Season 2, the Guard gain an ally in Shujaa, an immensely-strong gorilla who is normally a GentleGiant, despite initially having trouble controlling his strength, and becomes good friends with Beshte.
91	* ''WesternAnimation/LegendsOfChima'': The Gorilla tribe is the most friendly and peaceful out of the animal tribes in Chima. However, they can be [[BewareTheNiceOnes very scary when angered]], [[BerserkButton particularly when their sacred tree gets cut down while in the middle of enlightment]].
92	* ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'': Sunshine Sweetness from the episode "What's So Scary About the Jungle? Everything!" is a gorilla who is as sweet as her name. However, she [[BerserkButton gets quite aggressive if she thinks her stuffed panda Squeezy is in danger]], as Tess found out the hard way.
93	* ''WesternAnimation/MagillaGorilla'' is a sapient, partly-dressed gorilla who's for sale in a pet store. He's generally friendly and well-meaning, though his comical bumbling causes a lot of annoyance for the pet store's owner, Mr. Peebles.
94	* ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'': Contrary to his [[KillerGorilla usual portrayal]], Monsieur Mallah is portrayed as a benevolent (if [[MadScientist a bit unhinged]]) scientist who happens to be an [[UpliftedAnimal uplifted]] gorilla, and is in a [[InterspeciesRomance loving relationship]] with the Brain. Accordingly, he is redesigned to look less threatening, swapping his usual rough features and military beret and sash to gentle, rounded features and a sweater.
95	* ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey'': Windsor the gorilla is loyal to his friends. He's nonthreatening most of the time, [[BerserkButton unless you bring up his mother's romantic life]].
96	* One episode of the British preschool series ''WesternAnimation/SixtyFourZooLane'' titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdNlepXoQB4 "The Story of Georgina the Giraffe"]] involves Georgina the Giraffe ending up getting her own neck tied up after showing off her singing skills. As a result, the animals take her to a friendly and calm Gorilla doctor named Gordon who helps Georgina's neck getting unknotted. He tells her to sing her song in reverse.
97	* ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys'': In "Valley Girls", Eliza and Darwin attempt to replace the Comvee's flat tire by sneaking a wheel-shaped rock from a troop of mountain gorillas. They get caught by the silverback, who turns out to be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who lectures them that they have to ask if they want something from someone. Later, the troop of gorillas help out Eliza and Debbie fix the Comvee.
98	[[/folder]]
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100	[[folder:Real Life]]
101	* From the 1960s onwards to her death in 1985 the primatologist Dian Fossey transformed gorillas' reputation with her pioneering studies of wild mountain gorillas. Fossey discovered that, contrary to popular myths, mountain gorillas were not blood-thirsty beasts, but gentle vegetarians with strong family ties. Her work pioneered gorilla habituation, identification, tracking, range mapping, and gorilla tourism.
102	* Gorilla tourism in Rwanda and Uganda takes advantage of the docility of wild mountain gorillas. The tourists are taken close to wild gorilla troops accompanied by rangers who can read the animals' behaviour. The humans must keep a distance from the gorillas so that they don't stress the apes out, but sometimes the gorillas approach the humans and sit down to feed in their close proximity.
103	* Koko was a female gorilla born at the San Francisco Zoo in the late 1970s. She was the most successful subject in an long-term experiment to teach sign language to primates. She also was unusual in the ability to handle and show affection to kittens, suggesting that pet keeping isn't unique to humans. Koko died in 2018 after teaching us a lot about how gorillas think and communicate.
104	* There are two separate incidents where a child fell into a gorilla habitat and was met with friendly behaviour by the gorillas:
105	** On August 31, 1986, five-year-old Levan Merritt fell into the gorilla enclosure at the Durrell Wildlife Park in Jersey, Channel Islands and was knocked unconscious. The silverback Jambo sat down in-between the child and the rest of the gorillas, and gently and curiously stroked the child's back. When the child woke up and cried, the silverback retreated, leading his family to a small hut in the enclosure, allowing the zookeepers to rescue the child.
106	** On August 16, 1996, a three-year-old boy fell into the gorilla enclosure in Brookfield Zoo, Brookfield, Illinois. The female gorilla Binti Jua (a niece of the aforementioned Koko) picked up the unconscious boy and cradled him in her arms, then laid him down when the zookeepers arrived.

Context Main / GentleGorilla