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7''Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys'' (1996-1997) is an animated sci-fi series focusing on the exploits of a rag-tag crew of an interplanetary ship composed entirely of monkeys from Earth. They have been transformed into anthropomorphic, intelligent versions of themselves by the AppliedPhlebotinum of the " ", a mysterious race of benevolent aliens whose name can't be spoken or written, only thought. The sworn enemy of the " " and the Space Monkeys is Lord Nebula, an immensely powerful being who wants to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the universe]] and recreate it in his own image. Nebula's second-in-command is Rhesus-2, a rhesus monkey whom he turned into a {{Cyborg}} with several interchangeable brains. Sadly, it was canceled after one season.
8
9----
10!!Tropes:
11
12* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Inside of the Primate Avenger, as seen in episode 14, "Apes of Wrath".
13* ActionGirl: Shao Lin is a woman who can fight remarkably well.
14* AffectionateParody: The series lovingly satirizes various ScienceFiction tropes and franchises.
15* ApesInSpace: Captain Simian himself was an ordinary monkey shot into space before the '   ' found him and evolved him into a more humanoid form.
16* ArsonMurderAndLifesaving: In "Ape-lien", the other Space Monkeys chew out Spydor for his usual character flaws, but commend him for saving the day.
17* AssimilationPlot: "Invasion of the Banana Snatchers" involved a bureaucracy trying to trap people inside bananas in order to replace them with clones sharing a hive mind.
18* AttackPatternAlpha: Used almost to the point of ridiculousness (which was probably intended).
19* BadassCrew: The Space Monkeys.
20* [[BeingHumanSucks Being Half-Human Sucks]]: For Nebula, at least. After being dropped down a few levels in power after the two part opener, he is now susceptible to human maladies, from the common cold to [[{{Gasshole}} indigestion]].
21* BerserkButton: Gor's not fond of needles. All Spydor had to do was imply that Gor would get a shot and he went crazy.
22* BetweenMyLegs: "Felonious Monks" features a shot where Apax is seen between Shao Lin's legs.
23* BigBad: Lord Nebula is the show's main villain.
24* BodyHorror: Rhesus-2, whose body is an awkward-looking patchwork of fleshy components and angular mechanical pieces, topped with a grotesquely organic brain. We actually get to see his conversion from an unevolved monkey into a KillerSpaceMonkey {{cyborg}} in episode 4 ("The Ape Has Landed"), and even in silhouette it's... not pretty.
25* BrainInAJar: Rhesus-2 is a cyborg with exposed, removable brains.
26* BroughtDownToNormal: Lord Nebula is nigh-omnipotent in the first episode and about to carry out his grand plan, only to lose most of his powers thanks to the apes and spend the rest of the show trying to get them back.
27* CloudCuckooLander: Orbitron becomes quite an eccentric artificial intelligence, after Gor accidentally crushed him.
28* CompositeCharacter: Holoboon #3462-83B, in "Apes of Wrath", is basically a mixture of [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Captain James T. Kirk]] and ''UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler''.
29* CatchPhrase:
30** [[SarcasmMode "It just keeps getting better and better..."]]
31** "Gotta get that thing fixed..."
32** "The '   '."
33** "The who?"
34* CombiningMecha: Their ship, the ''Primate Avenger'', can split up into five smaller ships, each piloted by one of the crew.
35* CreditsGag: The end credits always feature a monkey-related quote, sometimes spoken by a person with a monkey-related name.
36* DangerDeadpan: Captain Simian.
37* DeadpanSnarker: Spydor, and especially the Captain himself, are prone to sarcastic remarks.
38* DistractedByTheSexy: More of a straight and deliberate example here. In "Apes of Wrath", Shao Lin purposefully uses the fact she is a female to distract a bunch of rogue Holoboons, before [[PreAssKickingOneLiner going]] [[WhatMeasureIsAMook wild on them]].
39* TheDragon: Rhesus-2 is Lord Nebula's main underling.
40* DreamApocalypse: Played with. The crew and some villains find a crack in a wall where you can whisper anything you want and it will appear, but are warned by a guardian that it is really the ear of a sleeping giant who dreams the universe. Not believing this, they end up wishing for bigger and better weapons as they fight, only to actually wake the giant up, which causes the universe to start to disintegrate until they manage to make him sleep again with a TechnoBabble 'lullaby'. However, in the end, appropriately enough, the whole episode is implied to be AllJustADream.
41* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In "Gorilla My Dreams", Gor dreams of his Gormungus self destroying the ''Primate Avenger'' (this was a few episodes before he gained the ability to become Gormungus).
42* DumbMuscle: Gor, who broke the intelligence amplifier partway through his amplification, so his tremendous strength comes with the setback of being much less intelligent than the other Space Monkeys.
43* EvilCounterpart: Rhesus-2 to the Space Monkeys, especially Captain Simian. He shares Captain Simian's origin of being an ordinary monkey launched into space as a test pilot for an experimental rocket (though from the Earth-paralleling world of Terrestria) and being upgraded by an alien that intercepted him on his one way trip. He shares Dr. Splitz/Splitzy's combination of high intelligence & techno-wizardry with a less than conventional approach to science. He shares Spydor's love of fast-talking, albeit in the form of bad puns and cheesy action liners. And, like Shao Lin and Gor, he's a deadly combatant, if focused on blasting stuff over fisticuffs.
44* ExpospeakGag: Dr. Splitz/Splitzy ''is'' this trope. Quite often, Dr. Splitz would say something in an overly complicated manner, with his Splitzy persona then describing the same thing in much simpler vernacular.
45* FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome: Episode "Lawnmower Ape" has Gor getting his brain enhanced leading to him becoming a genius. He gets so detached all he cares about is uncovering scientific mysteries even when their lives are in danger.
46* FreakyFridayFlip: Captain Simian and Shao Lin switch minds in "Escape from the Plant of the Apes".
47* FutureSelfReveal: [[spoiler:Towards the series' end, the crew encounter a powerful time-traveller named Mandrax the Mandrill, who takes it upon himself to become something of a TricksterMentor, much to the annoyance of the Monkeys. However, his vague hints and riddles do help inspire Captain Simian to come up with a plan that ultimately stops Nebula's evil plan and [[SealedEvilInACan finally captures him.]] As the Space Monkeys [[AndTheAdventureContinues fly off in search of more adventures]], the now wiser Captain Simian explains Mandrax needed to be obtuse to prevent Nebula from figuring out what was happening and stopping it. Simian then laments that he won't get a chance to thank Mandrax. Cue a final shot of Mandrax standing out in space watching the Primate Avenger blast off, only to suddenly transform from a mandrill into an older Captain Simian, smiling wistfully [[BreakingTheFourthWall before winking at the camera.]]]]
48* GentleGiant: Gor is large, but good-natured. Unless he becomes Gormungous or his BerserkButton is pushed, that is.
49* AGodAmI: Lord Nebula is trying to achieve godhood by destroying the universe and remaking it as he sees fit.
50* GoryDiscretionShot: Averted fiercely in a flashback in "Rhesus Pieces" that showcases Rhesus-2's predecessor being disintegrated by Nebula, complete with full on lingering shots of the bloody aftermath. And this was a ''kid's show''.
51* GrandFinale: The last three episodes "The Mandrill Who Knew Too Much", "Ape-pocalypse Now", and "Ape-pocalypse...A Little Later", where Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys put a permanent stop to Lord Nebula's plans with help from a new ally named Mandrax, [[spoiler:who is actually a future version of Captain Simian]].
52* HalfHumanHybrid: Lord Nebula is half-human, half-''black hole''.
53* HowWeGotHere: The first episode begins InMediasRes, with the BackStory revealed through a series of {{Flash Back}}s.
54* HulkingOut:
55** After Gor receives the ability to become Gormungus.
56** In the same episode, a skinny bird-alien can turn into a monstrous skinned ape-looking thing. It does this by [[BodyHorror turning itself inside out]]...
57* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Spydor, Gor, and Dr Splitz/Splitzy hold this view, due to varying levels of cruelty they received from humans in the past. Captain Simian and Shao Lin, who had far more pleasant experiences with humans, don't share this mindset.
58* HumongousMecha: Rhesus-2's "Lobe-iathan," which has a giant brain inside a clear glass dome.
59* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each episode title features some kind of monkey-based pun.
60* InsufferableGenius: Orbitron was pretty condescending about his intelligence before Gor-illa accidentally crushed him.
61* {{Irony}}: In "Little House on the Primate", Gor asks Spydor what patience means and Spydor answers that he'll tell him later. Gor then starts to get impatient on learning what patient means.
62-->'''Gor''': I want to know what patience means now!
63* KillerSpaceMonkey: Without the "killer" part, of course. Unless you count Rhesus-2...
64* LadyOfWar: Shao Lin is a female warrior who manages to still be graceful.
65* LastSecondWordSwap: In "Plan Ape from Outer Space", Shao Lin makes a remark about Captain Simian being "full of...stuff."
66* MindRape: At one point, Rhesus-2 is punished for failure by being given back his original brain... which has the memory of his conversion. The last shot of the episode [[ScreamDiscretionShot cuts away to a starfield as he screams]].
67** Gets worse if you consider the implied BodyHorror of said conversion.
68* MyFutureSelfAndMe: At the end of the GrandFinale, TheReveal is that [[spoiler: Mandrax, "a mysterious mandrill with unimaginable powers" who has been helping the heroes, is actually a much older Captain Simian from a BadFuture.]]
69* TheNameIsBondJamesBond: Captain Simian introduces himself in this manner while being interrogated in the beginning of the episode "The Maltese Monkey".
70-->'''Captain Simian''': The name is Simian. Chuck Simian.
71* NoNameGiven: The " ", as their name can't be pronounced. [[RunningGag The who?]]
72* NonIndicativeName: Despite the show's title, only two of the crew are actual monkeys, the other three being apes.
73* NonLethalWarfare: The " " give the Space Monkeys non-lethal weaponry.
74** ThouShaltNotKill: The implicit reason for this is so that the Space Monkeys aren't tempted to kill their enemies.
75** NeverSayDie: Not that they were afraid of including mentions of the possibility. Hence, subverted.
76* ParentalBonus:
77** In "Little House on the Primate", Shao Lin talks to Captain Simian about how play is useful in relieving tension and states that she doesn't play before swinging off. Simian then remarks that Shao Lin can use some tension relief in a way clearly referring to lovemaking.
78** The subplot of the Orbitron falling in love with the Bananatron has the Orbitron give a couple of suggestive lines. When Captain Simian asks about making contact with the sentient plants, the Orbitron answers that he's trying before Simian clarifies that's not the kind of contact he meant. Later, when Captain Simian says his recurring line of having to remember to get the Orbitron fixed, the Orbitron replies with "Don't even think about it".
79* ParentheticalSwearing: Spydor frequently uses the intensifiers "monkey-loving" and "monkey-flipping", which are blatantly family-friendly alternatives to saying "motherfucking".
80* PhysicalGod: Nebula. After his ship was destroyed in the two-part opener, he was able to rebuild it (and Rhesus-2) completely, by sheer force of will.
81* PungeonMaster: Rhesus-2 loves spouting off puns with a brain/mind related theme, drawing attention to his interchangeable brains.
82* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The Space Monkeys. We have a captain who is basically [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries James T. Kirk]] as a chimpanzee, a scheming kleptomaniacal spider-monkey prone to get-rich-quick schemes, a golden monkey who never quite grows entirely out of the arrogance that comes from being a martial arts master who used to be considered an incarnate goddess, an orangutan with a split personality that sets him between a stuffy professor and a [[SouthernFriedGenius Southern US-accented hick]] [[IncrediblyLamePun grease-monkey]], and a simple-minded gorilla with a massively destructive temper.
83* RedShirts: The holo-boons, HardLight baboons in red jumpsuits who exist to both get destroyed so that none of the main characters have to die and [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman avoid angering the censors]].
84* RedEyesTakeWarning: Gor's eyes turn red whenever he gets angry.
85* RoboticReveal: In "The Monkey Has Landed", Lilith is revealed to be a robot when she leaps in front of a laser blast meant for Captain Simian, exposing her robotic insides.
86* RoyalWe: Shao Lin was fond of referring to herself with plural pronouns at first.
87* RunningGag:
88** Because the " " are always referred to with abrupt silence taking place of where their species' name would have been spoken, nearly every mention of them is met with another character saying "The who?"
89** Every time the Orbitron goes into an odd ramble, Captain Simian remarks, "Gotta get that thing fixed."
90** Simian tends to say, "Check. It's a ______ thing," in response to another character explaining why they're doing what they're doing.
91** Characters frequently refer to something, most commonly music playing, as "Strangely soothing."
92** "And of course, cheese."
93** Nebula suffers from a different ailment every time he appears.
94** During the separation sequence for the ''Primate Avenger'', Spydor's lack of thumbs results in many a VisualPun, from him holding up a picture of a thumb to wearing a metal thumb that rises up when he turns a little crank.
95* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: A peculiar variation, where Captain Simian says that they have to risk their lives to save someone because of a rule in the ship's manual...the ship's manual turns out to be nonexistent, but if it did exist, it ''should'' have that rule!
96* ShoutOut: The series references many famous ScienceFiction films and series, including:
97** ''Franchise/{{Alien}}''
98** ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace''
99** And, inevitably, ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes''.
100** The holo-boons also parody many famous characters and people. "Gormongus", in particular, features a holo-boon who impersonates Creator/JerryLewis, while "Lawnmower Ape" features a pair of holo-boons who resemble and act like the title characters of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead''.
101** In the first episode, when Gor accidentally crushes him, Orbitron garbles a few lines of "Bicycle Built For Two," a la [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL]].
102** When Simian was trying to convince Shao Lin to take the portal to Earth, he paraphrased the "hill of beans" speech from ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''.
103** Then there's this little gem from the episode "The Monkey Has Landed":
104--->'''Captain Simian:''' [[Film/BladeRunner I've seen things you wouldn't believe. Holographic baboons on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched radioactive gorillas glitter in the darkness of Tannhäuser Gate.]]
105** In "[[Film/SurfNazisMustDie Surf Monkeys Must Dive]]" (one of many ShoutOut titles), Splitzy says the planet they're on "is gonna [[Series/{{SCTV}} blow up real good]]!"
106** "Invasion of the Banana Snatchers"
107*** Orbitron at one point exclaims "[[Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream I have no mouth and I must scream]]!"
108*** When freed from the banana-thing imprisoning him, Spydor comments that he dreamed of asking people to help him get home and all they did was [[Film/TheWizardOfOz give him ruby slippers]].
109* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Shao Lin is the only female primate of the group. Then again, she's also arguably the most capable combatant, so it levels out.
110* TheStarscream: Rhesus-2 sometimes shows a rebellious attitude towards Nebula. [[spoiler:When Nebula is incapacitated in the series finale, he doesn't hesitate to take control for himself]]. When he uploads his brain patterns into the Holo-boon generator, turning them evil, he mentions superseding Nebula with their help... but [[DidntThinkThisThrough gave them the same idea]], and [[GoneHorriblyRight they turn against him]] after driving off the Space Monkeys.
111* SouthernFriedGenius: Splitzy shares his other self Dr. Splitz' intelligence, but also gains a Southern accent.
112* SplitPersonality: Dr. Splitz/Splitzy exemplifies the trope of having two personalities, with Dr. Splitz being a stoic scientific genius and Splitzy being a redneck mechanic.
113* StrangeSalute:
114** The Space Monkeys routinely congratulate each other by high-fiving with their feet.
115** The corrupted holoboons in "Apes of Wrath" make armpit farts to salute their supreme leader, Holoboon #3462-83B.
116* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: The " ", a race of aliens who are responsible for evolving Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys to their current state. [[OverlyLongGag The who?]]
117* ToiletPaperTrail: Lord Nebula at one point is seen with some toilet paper stuck to his foot in "The Apes of Wrath".
118* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: A multi-level one in "Apes of Wrath": [[spoiler: Rhesus-2 sabotages the Holoboon Generator aboard the Primate Avenger in order to slip the Space Monkeys a device imprinted with his brainwave engrams, causing the holoboons to turn on the Space Monkeys. He did so in order to use the holoboons as an invincible army to help him turn against Lord Nebula. But the holoboons then turn on ''him'' under the command of Holoboon #3462-83B. And then Captain Simian manages to slip his brainwave engrams into the holoboon generator, allowing him to subvert the holoboons ''back'' from Holoboon #3462-83B's command.]]
119* TransformationTrauma: Quite literally so; Rhesus-2's memories of actually ''undergoing'' his cyber-conversion are so traumatic, due to [[PainfulTransformation the intense agony they involved]], that they render him nearly catatonic should he be unfortunate enough to plug-in his original brain. Even with his other brains, he retains enough subconscious recollections to make the memories his worst nightmare.
120* TrueCompanions: The crew of the ''Primate Avenger'' are all shown to be near and dear friends.
121* UnresolvedSexualTension: It was vaguely implied that the Captain and Shao Lin may have had some feelings for each other (when they weren't verbally assaulting each other, of course).
122* UnstoppableRage: When Gor gets mad... well, he's a gorilla. It gets even more dangerous when he's hit with alien technology that causes him to go OneWingedAngel ("Gormungous") when he gets mad. And they don't COMPLETELY reverse it...so he still does it for the rest of the series.
123* VaderBreath: Parodied in "Ape-pocalypse Now", where Lord Nebula breathes heavily while wearing a paper bag over his head.
124* VoicesAreMental: Averted in "Escape from the Plant of the Apes". Captain Simian and Shao Lin swap minds in the episode, but are still played by their regular voice actors, who imitate each other's vocal mannerisms.
125* WeCanRebuildHim: [[spoiler: In the pilot, Rhesus-1 is shown as a puddle of gore after evidently [[YouHaveFailedMe failing]] Nebula. But "Rhesus Pieces" shows that, after his remains were spaced, someone else retrieved them and revived him.]]
126* WhatDoTheyFearEpisode: The main point of the episode "Mind Over Monkey", where Rhesus-2 sends a bomb to the ''Primate Avenger'' and delays the Space Monkeys' efforts to stop it from exploding by distracting them with illusions of their worst fears. Spydor is afraid of pit bulls, Gor-illa is afraid of forest fires, Splitzy is afraid of being locked in a cage, Shao Lin is afraid of being forcefully taken from those she cares about, and Captain Simian's worst fear is letting his team down by being killed in action.
127* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Since the [[RedShirt Holoboons]] are, well, [[HardLight holographic]], no one is concerned that they seem to exist just to die at the hands of the MonsterOfTheWeek, even if they are shown to have independent thoughts and personalities.
128* WhereNoParodyHasGoneBefore: ''Franchise/StarTrek'' lampoons are all over the place in the series.
129* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: Any time the Captain was placed in real mortal danger, Shao Lin would drop her normally calm, professional demeanor and blurt out, "Charlie!"
130* YouHaveFailedMe: Rhesus-2 occasionally pulls this on his ''own brain'' by admonishing it for being ineffectual and shooting it before replacing it with a new brain. It's also done ''to'' him at one point, when Lord Nebula forcibly plugs his original brain (containing the agonizing memories of his cybernetic conversion) into his skull when he botches a mission.

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