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Protagonists
Spike/Kakeru
Voiced by (Japanese): Fujiko Takimoto (game), Shizuka Ishikawa (anime)
Voiced by (North American English): Scott McGregor (Ape Escape), Dan Green (Ape Escape 2), Barbara Goodson (Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed), Richard Steven Horvitz (Ape Escape: On the Loose)
Voiced by (British English): Marc Silk
The hero of the original Ape Escape and a few of the spin-offs.
- Anime Hair: Super spikey and bright red with a yellow tuft up front.
- Badass Adorable: Apparently he's only in the fourth grade.
- Badass Normal: His proficiency with his tools was all he needed to take down Specter the first time. And as of Pumped & Primed and Million Monkeys, he's gotten really good with that Stun Club.
- Kid Hero: He is only ten when the events of the original Ape Escape occurred, but that doesn't stop him from capturing monkeys across multiple time periods.
- Improbable Weapon User: Technically anything that isn't the Stun Club falls into this, though the RC Car takes the cake.
- Meaningful Name: Spike has spiky hair.
- Nice Guy: Occasionally snarky but an overall good kid.
- Secret Character: Beating Ape Escape 2 100% allows you to restart the game and play through it again as Spike.
- Spiky Hair: Most likely his he got his name.
- Utility Belt: In the first game, he has a wide array of tools that he uses in all kinds of inventive ways. Would fall into Fighting Clown if all the uses of his tools weren't 100% intentional.
Jake/Buzz/Hiroki
Voiced by (Japanese): Kazue Ikura (game), Junko Minagawa (anime)
Voiced by: (North American English): Peter Bayham (Ape Escape), Derek Stephen Prince (Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed), Joshua Seth (Ape Escape: On the Loose)
Voiced by (British English): Marc Silk
The rival and friend of Spike who has a bad habit of being brainwashed by Specter.
- All Love Is Unrequited: He has a crush on Natalie in the anime.
- Demoted to Extra: Only appears in concept art and a comic strip in Ape Escape 2 (with his original name, Hiroki, to boot).
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Specter captured him and brainwashes him to serve him and fight Spike on TWO different occasions. The second time gets worse when the game's real BigBad transforms him into Dark Jake.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes turn red whenever Specter brainwashes him.
- The Rival: He and Spike are often very competitive with each other, but getting brainwashed by Specter will turn their friendly competitiveness and make it much less so.
Natalie/Katie/Natsumi
Voiced by (Japanese): Tomoko Kawakami
Voiced by (North American English): Christiane Crawford (Ape Escape), Rachael Lillis (Ape Escape 2), Wendee Lee (Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed), Amber Hood (Ape Escape: On the Loose, Ape Escape 3)
Voiced by (British English): Maria Darling
The daughter of the Professor, Natalie is a Tomboy who follows in her father's footsteps. In the anime, she actually goes out and assists Spike in capturing monkeys, moreso then any other character. Otherwise, she acts like she did in the games.
- Action Girl: In the anime, she's out there helping Spike catch monkeys. In Pumped & Primed, she's a very much able contestant in the tournaments.
- Demoted to Extra: Serves as Mission Control alongside the Professor in the first game and is prominent in many of the story cutscenes. She initally is important in 2, serving the same role for Jimmy while the Professor's away. But once he returns, she takes a backseat for most of the story. 3 is worse for her where she only appears and has lines in the opening and after the first ending, with the role of mission control taken by Aki.
- Expy: The North American English version of Ape Escape 2 gives her the voice of Misty from Pokemon, while Jimmy was voiced by Ash.
- Immune to Mind Control: She's the only one of the original heroes who the Monkeys' television show seems to have no effect on, as Spike, Jimmy, and the Professor are all rendered brainwashed by it. This gives her the opportunity to contact Kei and Yumi and warn them.
- Improbable Weapon User: She uses a staff in Pumped & Primed, but when it comes to projectile battle, she uses a lacrosse stick.
- Mission Control: Shares this role with the Professor in the first game, though the latter is featured more prominently. She initially gets upgraded to holding this on her own in 2, before the Professor returns.
- Only Sane Man: In the games. Subverted midway into the anime's second season, where she is somewhat distraught over the abduction of her father. Averted in the Frederator Studios cartoon, where she's just as zany as the rest of the cast.
- Lethal Chef: Possibly; she likes cooking and she is the only person to like how they taste. The only reason her Sweet Azuki bean porridge turned out well is because a Monkey changed the spice shaker caps. But upon trying it she notes it doesn't taste like how she usually makes it.
- Shorttank: A redheaded girl in a midriff-baring top with a Tsundere streak. She even shares a voice actress with the original Shorttank.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She is a tomboy to Casi's girly girl.
- Town Girls: She is a butch, Casi is a femme, and Yumi is a neither.
- Tsundere: Towards Jake in the anime. She also shows this towards Jimmy in 2, where she's quick (and justified) to scold him but frequently and truly cares for him.
- Ungrateful Bastard: From the first game, she is trapped inside the haunted mansion of Specter's amusement park and Spike comes to her rescue, only for the giant cage she's trapped in to fall without warning. Even after all the trouble he went through to get her out, Natalie instead chastises him for the fall, then rather nastily chides him on not finding Specter and Jake despite all his efforts to do just that. Odds are you won't feel too sorry for her when she must brave the same roller coaster from Hell Spike was on as she takes her leave.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Tends to have this relationship with some characters, noticeably Spike and Jimmy.
The Professor
Voiced by (North American English): Michael Sousa (Ape Escape), Dan Green (Ape Escape 2), Simon Prescott (Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed), Phil Proctor (Ape Escape: On the Loose, Ape Escape 3)
Voiced by (British English): Jonathan Keeble
The creator of the Monkey Helmet that gives the apes their intelligence. He appears in the anime with more or less the same role. He is a bit more zany.
- Absent-Minded Professor: Varies from game to game and adaptation to adaptation. He is described as forgetful in his stats during the Ski minigame in 1.
- Cool Old Guy: Stated to be 60 during the events of the first game.
- Demoted to Extra: Played Mission Control alongside his granddaughter Natalie in the first game, gave info to Spike about each new time period, and had a prominent role in the story. In 2 he spends the first part of the game away on vacation, and while he does come back and serve as mission control again, his importance to the story ends up being far less than the first game. Then in 3, he's a victim of Specter's TV broadcasts and has no role in the story outside of Dr. Tomoki's backstory.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He's the one that makes all the gadgets for the hero to use.
- Inventor of the Mundane: Sometimes his inventions come across as this. There's the slingback shooter, which is really just a slingshot, and the R.C. car, which is Exactly What It Says on the Tin. However, there's often a twist to these seemingly mundane items to make them incredibly useful. For example, a hula hoop that makes you run faster, or a net that teleports whatever it catches away to another location.
- Mission Control: His main role in the first game and after he returns from vacation in 2.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He created the Monkey Helmet (Peak Point Helmet in the North American English version) to increase the intelligence of monkeys, although his prototype helmet was unstable and needed to be finished. He left the prototype at the circus where it was ultimately found by Specter, thus beginning the series.
- It doesn't help that his colleagues also did similar experiments and most of them actually ended up worse for wear. One ( Tomoki) has a helmet permanently grafted to his head, and another (Helga's father) created the Pipotrons, who eventually kidnapped him years later.
- No Mouth: It's obscured by his mustache. Averted in some things, where is mouth is more visible.
- No Name Given: Subverted, as his name in the first game is written on the doors of the training rooms, Dr. Ozel. It's hard to read, though, and he has not once been called that. Though, it is instead "Dr. Zizel" on the 100% certificate in 3.
- Only Sane Man: He tends to take things rather seriously, but not as much as his daughter. Subverted in the cartoon and anime, where he's goofier.
Jimmy/Hikaru
Voiced by (English): Veronica Taylor (Ape Escape 2)
The protagonist of Ape Escape 2, Jimmy is a friend and cousin of Spike.
- Ascended Extra: Has almost no presence in the series outside of Ape Escape 2, but serves as the main character of both of the Western animated cartoons, the Japanese shorts and movie, as well as the manga.
- Expy: The North American English version decided to give him the exact same voice as Ash Ketchum. In a game where you Gotta Catch Them All. There's no way that was a coincidence.
- Idiot Hero
- Kid Hero
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It's his fault the monkeys are going ape in the second game in the first place.
- Nice Guy: Lacks the hot-headedness of Spike and Kei, being portrayed as just a nice young boy. He's notably less antagonistic towards Specter, as shown in their second encounter.
- Pointless Band-Aid: He's always wearing a band-aid on his nose.
- Put on a Bus: Outside of a cameo appearance in Ape Escape 3 alongside Spike and the Professor, and a minor role in Saru Saru Big Mission, Jimmy hasn't appeared in any subsequent games in the series. He didn't even appear in the anime. However, he is given the spotlight in many of the other adaptaions. He was the main character of the various manga, a 76-episode series of shorts made by the game creators in 2002, the short movie Battle For The Golden Pipo Helmet, and a flash cartoon helmed by Doug TenNapel in 2010.
- You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: Suggests this to Specter before the True Final Boss in 2.
Pipotchi
Voiced by (English): Tana Jayne (Ape Escape 2)
A small, baby monkey that accompanies Jimmy on his adventures. He wears a pipo helmet that works as it was originally intended, making him smarter but not evil or out of control. He also has suspenders with wings attached, that allow him to fly.
- The Cameo: Makes a very small appearance on a wall mural alongside dozens of other monkeys in Ape Escape 3. You have to look hard to see him. The mechs used in the game also bare his likeness.
- Expy: By virtue of being alongside Expies of Ash and Misty, Pipotchi distinctly comes off as a Pikachu clone.
- Last Chance Hit Point: Once per extra life, Pipotchi can give Jimmy a Health Cookie when he drops to zero health (played out in a special cutscene). Just remember that healing back up to full does NOT reset this.
- Pokémon Speak: He only ever says "Pipo".
- Put on a Bus: He's only ever appeared in Ape Escape 2, and hasn't showed up in anything since, even the minuscule amount of material where Jimmy is present. However, he does appear in the Japanese movie Battle For The Golden Pipo Helmet and the mechs that can be piloted in Ape Escape 3 are modeled after him.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Bizarrely looks nothing like the cartoony normal monkeys and is instead a small, adorable creature.
Kei & Yumi/Satoru & Sayaka
Kei voiced by (English): Hope Levy (Ape Escape 3)
Yumi voiced by (English): Anndi McAfee (Ape Escape 3)
The protagonists of Ape Escape 3, the player chooses which one of them to play as for the remainder of their game. They made recurring appearances in the anime, with Yumi being a major character in three episodes (two involving the Pipotrons kidnapping her, and the third involving a drawing contest between her and Pink Monkey.)
- Anime Hair: Kei continues the legacy set by Spike by having spiky blue hair.
- Brains and Brawn: Kei is the more athletic of the two but is a bit of a dimwit, causing Yumi to take on a clear leadership role.
- Butt-Monkey: Kei has a bad habit of tripping and getting hit in the face during cutscenes.
- Demoted to Extra: Kei appears less than Yumi in the anime.
- Expy: Yumi briefly becomes one of Chun-Li in an episode of the anime. Her Kung-Fu Wizard costume is basically a copy of this after all.
- Famed In-Story: Yumi is already a famous pop star at the beginning of the game. It actually benefits her in gameplay, as some of the monkeys are even fans of hers, causing them to not put up any resistance to getting caught due to being starstruck.
- Girlish Pigtails: Yumi sports a pair.
- Henshin Hero: Their watches allow them to transform and gain powers.
- Magic Knight: The first transformation given to them, although Yumi's outfit resembles a wizard more, and Kei is more of a Knight.
- Cowboy: Their second transformation allows Kei to become a cowboy and Yumi a cowgirl, with rapid-fire pistols (Kei goes Guns Akimbo, Yumi just has one).
- Ninja: Allows them to run on walls and walk across tightropes.
- Bare-Fisted Monk: Gives them a fiery and fast set of combo attacks and the ability to hit special buttons.
- Toku or Magical Girl: A powerful form that allows them to fire lasers and glide short distances. Kei takes the former (in the vein of, say Kamen Rider or Super Sentai), Yumi the latter (In the vein of, say, Pretty Cure or Sailor Moon).
- Dressing as the Enemy: The final form is a big monkey suit, that allows them to walk amongst monkeys without being noticed, and find secret rooms by following a banana scent, which are filled with more monkeys to capture. They also access these rooms using a secret knock. Unlike other forms, it grants no extra combat prowess, but in exchange lasts MUCH longer than other forms.
- Idol Singer: Yumi is one in both the games and anime. This attracts the wrong attention in both, a rivalry with Pink Monkey in the games and being kidnapped twice by the Pipotron Brothers (as part of an attempt to become famous by performing with her) in the anime.
- Because of this, picking her makes Ape Escape 3 slightly easier, as a handful of the monkeys are part of her fan club. Instead of running away or attacking her, these ones simply fall to the ground and stare at her with hearts in their eyes.
- Informed Ability: Kei is apparently a star baseball player at his school, but we at no point see him show any skill at baseball.
- Kid Hero: Like the others. While stated simply to be in 4th grade in the North American and Japanese versions, they are specifically stated to be 9 years old in the European version.
- Lightning Bruiser: Kei is faster and a better jumper than Yumi while maintaining the same amount of physical strength, but lacks her star power that allows her to effortlessly catch certain monkeys.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Yumi has red hair and a pink vest while Kei has blue hair and shorts. Both also have distinct white parts to their outfits.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: In cutscenes, Yumi comes off as more hot tempered and vocal than the laid-back and quiet Kei.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Yumi.
- Town Girls: Yumi is a neither, Natalie is a butch, and Casi is a femme.
Aki/Akie
Voiced by (English): Julie Nathanson (Ape Escape 3)
Kei and Yumi's aunt. She acts as a replacement for Natalie and the Professor, giving you instructions as well as new gadgets.
- Anime Hair: Like a stack of bubbles.
- Barely-Changed Dub Name: Aside from the removal of the "e" at the end, the difference primarily lies in the pronunciation. It's pronounced Ah-key in North American English, and Ay-key in British English.
- Cool Aunt: Gets on with Kei and Yumi just fine. She even programs their favorite superheroes as personas for the Morph Watches.
- Genius Ditz: Comes off as a bit ditzy (though by how much depends on the region) but is otherwise a competant scientist and inventor, creating the Morph Watch and upgrading the Pipo Mech, among other things.
- Mission Control: Inherits this role from the Professor and Natalie.
- Nice Girl: When Specter and Tomoki confront the heroes, she's mostly just happy to see her old friend again, not even acknowledging him becoming a supervillain.
- Old Friend: Of the Professor. She, the Professor, and Dr. Tomoki used to be lab partners.
- Put on a Bus: She only reappeared as a minor character in Saru Saru Big Mission.
Casey/Casi/Charu
Voiced by (Japanese): Tomoko Kawakami (game), Rina Sato (anime)
Voiced by (English): Peggy Small (Ape Escape), Amanda Winn-Lee (Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed), Jennifer Hale (Ape Escape: On the Loose)
An AI created by the Professor.
- Ascended Extra: Casi plays a bigger role overall in the anime. She is given an android body in order to save Spike and his friends from shapeshifting monkeys. She later plays a key role in breaking Specter's control over Kohta towards the end of the first season, and is ultimately the one who stops Specter in the season two mid-finale.
- For Pumped & Primed, where she gets a playable role and becomes a third Action Girl alongside Natalie and Helga.
- Demoted to Extra: Casi never really did much to begin with, but outside of Pumped & Primed and Million Monkeys, she never appeared outside of the first game. Interestingly, concept art and even an in-game photo of her and Natalie appear in the second game, despite Casi herself not being in it.
- Dub Name Change: She is called Casey in the original game's credits (though Casi in its instruction booklet), then is given her Japanese name in Ape Escape 2 artwork, then called Casi again in Pumped & Primed. Most English fans usually refer to her P&P name.
- Evil Knockoff: Million Monkeys had Virus Casis, which were Evil Twins that were murderous, used machine guns, and could multiply and overwrite Casi herself.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: See Super-Powered Robot Meter Maid below.
- Leitmotif: Oddly enough, a rather Indian sounding tune with drums and chanting.
- Minor Major Character: In the first game, Casi mostly appeared on-screen showing you how many monkeys the player had to catch. The only time she plays an important role in the game is when Spike returns to the present time finding it overrun with monkeys causing havoc. She informs Spike of what happened to the Professor and Natalie and gives him the penultimate gadget, the RC Car.
- Ms. Fanservice: Casi is this in the anime, almost always wearing a maid outfit from the second season onwards. There's even a scene in one episode where it appears that she's stripping.
- Ninja Maid: Sometimes becomes this in the anime, namely when taking on Red and Pink.
- Robot Girl: Becomes this in Million Monkeys and shortly after her debut in the anime.
- Super-Powered Robot Meter Maid: Quite possibly the strongest character in the anime, even stronger then Ukki Red! She spends the majority of the anime on the sidelines though.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She is a girly girl to Natalie's tomboy.
- Town Girls: She is a femme, Natalie is a butch, and Yumi is a neither.
- You Don't Look Like You: She gets a ponytail in Pumped & Primed onwards, and later has giant "ear bolts" sticking out of her head in Million Monkeys and the anime.
PlayStation Move Hero (No Name Given, seriously)
There's really not much to say about this guy.
- The Faceless: Other then a brief glance at his mouth, you never see the front of his face.
- Flat Character: Possibly one of the flattest in video game history.
- Heroic Mime: He doesn't say a single thing during gameplay.
- The Voiceless: Exaggerated in the cutscenes. There are moments where he says something, but it is always in text, despite everyone else actually having VAs.
Tohko & Tsukushi
Tohko and Tsukushi are sisters who aid the protagonist in the PlayStation Move game.
- Expy: They appear to be that of Natalie. Tohko in terms of personality, Tsukushi is terms of appearance.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tohko and Tsukushi.
- Tsundere: Tohko comes off as this.
Grandma Haru
The grandmother of Tohko and Tsukushi in the PlayStation Move reboot. She went missing after trying to build a machine to find her pet monkey Specter.
- Distaff Counterpart: Of the Professor from the original series.
- I Was Quite a Looker: She was a cute scientist who was responsible for raising Specter.
Antagonists
Specter
Voiced by (North American English): Pete Burrows (Ape Escape), Greg Abbey (Ape Escape 2), Charlie Shattler (Ape Escape 3, Ape Escape Academy), Crispin Freeman (Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed), Dee Bradley Baker (Ape Escape: On the Loose)
Voiced by (British English): Marc Silk
Specter was a famous circus monkey loved and adored by thousands. One day he found the prototype Peak Point Helmet and put it on, increasing his intelligence but also twisting his mind. He quickly escapes the amusement park, after giving all of the other monkeys in the zoo peak point helmets of their own, and leads them to try and take over the world.
He is the only character returning for the new storyline of the PlayStation Move reboot. Here, he is a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds who was forcibly separated from his owner Haru and shot up into space, in a constant state of discomfort and fear due to his dislike of cold.
Specter's portrayal in the anime is a little different. In this version of the story, he is actually a sentient Pipo Helmet that controls whatever unfortunate monkey wears it. Otherwise, he's basically the same as he is in the games.
- Anti-Villain: His backstory in the PlayStation Move reboot makes him much a more sympathetic character.
- The Assimilator: Specter does this quite often in the anime. The first time, the helmet transforms the baby monkey Kohta's body into Specter's form. During the first season finale Kohta's emotions overwhelm the helmet and frees him from it's control. During the second season, he does it again to Pipo Angel, only this time he uses a machine to slowly morph it into a host body that the helmet itself has permanent control over. Lastly, Specter's Evil Plan in the first half of the second season involved turning every human on Earth into monkeys. He almost succeeds.
- Ax-Crazy: Increasingly so in the anime. By the end he was willing to blow up the entire Earth after being fed up with just about everyone.
- Badass Adorable: Subverted, as he is not usually both badass and adorable at the same time. With the helmet, he's a threatening figure, oftentimes with a deep voice in the english dubs. Without the helmet, however, he's just a cute little white monkey.
- Badass Cape: His default appearance has him wearing a red one.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Doubles with He Cleans Up Nicely, as he looks pretty swag in his tuxedo. He also fights you in it in 3. After that, he switches between this and his cape whenever the mood strikes him.
- Big Bad: For most of the series, excluding Pumped & Primed, where the story is hijacked by a Giant Computer Core From Nowhere, and Million Monkeys, where he is playable and fights against that game's Big Bad. Subverted in the Playstation Move game.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: In the first season of the anime, Kohta was the host for Specter.
- Butt-Monkey: In the Frederator cartoon, usually due to the stupidity of the monkeys themselves.
- Dumb Is Good: Specter's very pleasant when he's a regular monkey. It's only when he's got the Peak Point Helmet on that he becomes an intelligent villain.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Implied in the first game. Before his battle with Spike, he asks how the man who raised him is doing, that being the trainer at the amusement park. He quickly goes back to being villainous after Spike points out that he might be thinking about going back to the amusement park and that all they need from him is an apology.
- Evil Plan: Specter pulls a huge one in the second season of the anime. As nothing more then a mere helmet, he had a mutated monkey called Pipo Angel trick the Pipotrons by promising them a wish should they grab five feathers from it. After they do so, Specter gave them a car and had them enter a race, which regardless of who would win (ultimately it was a normal monkey), helped him assimilate the body of Pipo Angel into that of his own. Afterwards, he made the Pipotron Brothers his Terrible Trios with hundreds of monkeys at their disposal and had them do odd tasks. Regardless of whether or not Spike and his friends stopped them, the monkeys' activities powered up a machine that was capable of turning every human on Earth into monkeys. He left Earth to make sure that the Pipotron Brothers (who pulled a Heel–Face Turn) couldn't lead Spike to him, and when the Professor made a device to repel the monkey conversion, Specter was able to hack it anyway, making it futile. When Spike finally got up to Specter's base, he proved to be too powerful for Spike to attack, and was only defeated because Casi hijacked his space station and tossed him out into deep space.
- And after that, he STILL had a backup plan, which resulted in creating the Freaky Monkey Five, partially disabling Casi and destroying the teleporter Spike and his friends had been using, freeing all of the monkeys they captured, disabled the Monkey Net, making it useless in capturing them again, and kidnapping the Professor and Kohta. His winning streak more or less stopped there, especially after the Professor was rescued.
- Final Boss: Sans Pumped & Primped, Million Monkeys, and the PlayStation Move game, Specter usually plays this role.
- True Final Boss: And he usually comes back for round two after 100% Completion.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Before the original game, Specter was just a popular monkey at the zoo. Once he found the Peak Point helmet, his intelligence went through the roof and he masterminded an invasion of time to replace humans with monkeys as the dominant species, and he almost succeeds.
- Grand Theft Me: Did this to Kohta at first (as a form of Brainwashed and Crazy), then Pipo Angel (by permanently assimilating it) in the anime.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Averted quite nicely in the games. While absolutely a funny character, it doesn't make Specter any less cunning and dangerous.
- Played straight in Pumped & Primed however, partly due to the plot being negligible, partly due to a more pressing threat at the time.
- When it isn't a season finale, Specter in the anime is very much this trope. When it isn't a season finale. When it is a season finale, it's a blunt reminder to the cast why he's the Big Bad.
- I Surrender, Suckers: When Kei and Yumi go to fight him a second time, they fall for this trope and get trapped in electrified cages.
- Kick the Dog: When Specter finds out that Dr. Tomoki has a Pipo Helmet permanently grafted to his head, his response is to have a laughing fit. Kei and Yumi are both appalled by this.
- Large Ham: Specter's British actor in the first game hammed it up big time. Even more so when Marc Silk took over from the second game onwards.
- Exaggerated in the Frederator cartoon.
- Made of Iron: The punishment he can take in each successive game gets more and more absurd.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In the first game, it is activating the Time Station after Spike and Jake charge into the room that sucks them, along with himself and his army back in time. He's able to bring Jake under his control, but Spike proves himself to be a far more potent threat to his plans than he could've ever anticipated, and his failure to take Spike seriously proves a costly mistake in the long-term.
- Nonstandard Character Design: He's far more humanlike than the rest of his monkey minions, with only his white hair to distract from his even more distractingly humanlike face.
- Only Sane Man: Ironically, Specter is this in the Frederator cartoon. He's the only character in it who isn't a Cloudcuckoolander.
- The comic strips in Ape Escape 2 feature Specter as the most down-to-earth of all of them (if only because Natalie is more hot-headed than he is).
- Plot Hole: It's almost never explained how Specter keeps coming back after he is caught by the heroes. Only Ape Escape 2 and the anime give explanations to his return.
- Space Is Cold: In the PlayStation Move reboot, Specter is shown to greatly dislike the cold. It doesn't help that he's up in space for most of the game, and it's hinted that this was a partial reason for his Face–Heel Turn decades earlier.
- Took a Level in Badass: In each successive game of the main series.
- In the first Ape Escape, Specter's Psychic Powers are limited to basic shields and energy blasts, though said energy blasts have enough AOE to cover the whole arena, and he has a lot more health than previous bosses by far. He can also teleport, but this is actually a built-in function of his hoverchair rather an ability of his own.
- Ape Escape 2 turns Specter into a beast. In addition to the above he now has a Fantastic Nuke, a salvo of energy rings, telekinesis, mental projections of himself and energy-powered ramming. He doesn't always have his shield up now, but it's indestructible to make up for that. This is all on top of being faster and more durable.
- Ape Escape 3 cranks it up even further. The mental projections can now attack on their own, he can concentrate his psychic power into a laser, and his telekinesis has evolved to the point where he can lift a massive robot head with his mind and drop it on you. He spams the Fantastic Nuke with wild abandonnote and is even more durable then in the last game. His hoverchair has also been upgraded with a seemingly endless supply of missiles to bombard you with.
- Villainous Breakdown: In the original game. After noticing Spike's power and strength, he becomes hellbent on bringing him over to his side, eventually resorting to brainwash and torture when his many persuasions fail. When Spike resists and overpowers him, Specter panics and tries to outright destroy him before finally being driven into exile.
- Villain Protagonist: In Million Monkeys. After Specter discovers that most of his monkey army is under the command of an imposter of him (actually a shift-shaping monkey mutant who is actually working for a human dictator), he and what little remains of his monkeys decide to take action against them. He doesn't team up with Spike and his friends however, and even fights them at one point.
- He also acts as this in the western made cartoon shorts, being the main character of a number of episodes.
- Worthy Opponent: In both the games and the anime, he sees Spike as this.
- Your Size May Vary: When he's a normal monkey, he's apparently small enough to be held in the arms of a human. But when he wears the peak point helmet, he looks to be around the same height as Spike or Jake. Granted, they're ten and not very tall, but there's still a pretty significant difference in size that's never acknowledged.
Pipo Apes/Monkeys/Pipo Saru
The mascots of the series itself, the Pipo Apes are Specter's minions that cause havoc.
The cartoons and anime discarded the multicolored pants in favor of more uniquely dressed monkeys.
- Adorable Evil Minions: They're really cute monkeys.
- Banana Peel: No matter what kind of monkey you're dealing with, you can expect them to throw down banana peels as you chase them.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Yes, they're a bunch of monkeys that tend to do typical monkey things, but remember that these guys can be potentially armed with rocket firing backpacks, lasers and machine guns. They act goofy, but are capable of pulling an invasion of Earth off, and in the PlayStation Move continuity, they even go so far as to kidnap Specter, who had a Heel–Face Turn at the end.
- The Cameo: The monkeys are so popular in Japan that they frequently appear in other games. Sadly, most of their cameos are removed from the North American versions:
- Monster Rancher 4 would let you unlock three Pipo Apes if the player inserted the original Ape Escape', Ape Escape 2, and the first Splinter Cell''.
- Hot Shots Golf 4 had the Pipo Ape as an caddy (European and Japanese versions only).
- Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal and Ratchet: Deadlocked had a Pipo Ape as a unlockable skin (Japan only).
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater had a AE-styled minigame called "Snake vs. Monkey", involving Snake catching the Pipo Monkeys.
- A Pipo Ape costume can be bought for a Sackboy in LittleBigPlanet.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience:
- The shorts that the monkeys wear lets you know what kind of monkey you're dealing with.
- Yellow: Your average, run of the mill monkey. Nothing special about these guys, though they may tend to throw down more banana peels than the others, since they have nothing else going for them.
- Red: These monkeys are short-tempered powerhouses. In the first game, they use machine guns, rockets, and bombs. Later installments give them boxing gloves instead.
- Dark Blue: These monkeys run really fast, sometimes to the point of needing a gadget like the dash hoop to keep up with them.
- Light Blue: Sad, cowardly monkeys that just really don't want to be caught. They're rather docile, and won't attack the player. They tend to stand still and panic if they're ever cornered. They also tend to hide in obscure places, sometimes necessitating the need for the Monkey Radar to find them.
- Green: These monkeys wear special goggles that allow them to see you coming more easily, unless you're standing still or crawling/curling up. Often carry homing rocket-firing backpacks.
- White: Depending on the game, they're either the most alert monkeys around, or they have poor eyesight and won't see you coming as well as other monkeys, but make up for it by lobbing bombs around.
- Black: These monkeys sport Sinister Shades and tote machine guns. Think the monkeys wearing red pants are bad? These guys are much worse.
- The siren lights on their helmets also flash different colours to reflect a monkey's alarm level.
- Blue: relaxed.
- Blue and flashing: suspicious; they won't go back to their relaxed state for a few seconds and are more likely to go red faster if alerted.
- Yellow: alert.
- Red: fully alarmed.
- The shorts that the monkeys wear lets you know what kind of monkey you're dealing with.
- Fingerless Hands: Very weirdly flip-flopped between games. They were portrayed this way in the first game, though that was likely just due to graphical limitations of the time, as they had fingers on the box art. The second game gave them actual fingers and toes, but the trope was played straight on that game's box art. Then, from the third game onward, they're shown with no fingers or toes, only flesh colored mitten hands with only a thumb.
- Harmless Villain: The monkeys' actions seem to mostly harmless for the most part, consisting of dancing, goofing about, etc. If it weren't for Specter commanding them, most of these monkeys might not be a threat at all.
- They become Not So Harmless Villains in Million Monkeys. Due to being ordered around by a human dictator and his four mutated monkeys, the monkeys dress up in military garb and act rather seriously and use hi-tech gear, realistic mechs. Only the six or so monkeys remaining under Specter's command still act this way, although since they are playable, it can become a case of Beware the Silly Ones.
- The Hat Makes the Man: The apes were granted super-intelligence by the Peak Point/Pipo helmets.
- This appears to be averted in the PlayStation Move reboot, where the helmets seem to be purely cosmetic. Specter himself isn't even under the influence of one.
- Mascot Mook: They are the mascot of the series.
- Tareme Eyes: The ones with light blue pants have them.
- Tsurime Eyes: The ones with red pants have them.
- The Unintelligible: They make typical monkey screeching noises throughout the majority of the games. In Pumped & Primed's Pipo Ape/Team Monkey cutscenes, Ape Escape 3 (in Mesal Gear Solid and Monkey Theater only), and all three animated adaptations, they "Ukki".
Freaky Monkey Five/Ukki Five
The Freaky Monkey five are Specter's Quirky Miniboss Squad from the second games onward. They are monkeys mutated by Vita-Z Bananas and are usually fought in between levels.
- Affably Evil: Blue, Yellow, and Pink Monkey are all rather affable. Blue is a Well-Intentioned Extremist who has no personal grudge against Jimmy, Yellow is very polite when Jimmy arrives and isn't even that cocky, wondering out-loud which one of them will win their fight, and Pink initially mistakes Jimmy for a fan and tells him she's happy to see him at her concert.
- Dub Name Change: A odd case in that all the members had their names changed three times in North American English. In Ape Escape 2, they were referred to as their color first, then "Monkey" last, in Ape Escape 3, this was swapped around, and in Ape Escape Academy, they were referred to by their Japanese names (example: Blue Monkey in 2, Monkey Blue in 3, and Ukki Blue in Academy).
- Life Meter: They don't have one in the usual sense but, with some exceptions, their helmet lights change colour to tell you how close you are to beating them (in a similar manner to how the helmet lights on the regular monkeys' helmets change to reflect their alarm level).
Monkey Blue/Blue Monkey/Ukki Blue
Voiced by (English): Greg Abbey (Ape Escape 2), Michael J. Gough (Ape Escape 3)
The tall, aloof, and cool member of the group. He often uses a unicycle to get around, and can go at incredibly fast speeds on it.
- All Love Is Unrequited: In Ape Escape 3, Blue is shown to have a crush on Monkey Pink, and swears that after he defeats either Yumi or Kei that he will go on a date with her.Monkey Blue: Then I'll... I'll ask Pink out for a date! And then... (sinister laughter)
- Badass Biker: More like a Badass Unicycler, but still.
- Gratuitous English: In the anime, he often says a few short lines in English. To be fair, what he says actually fits in context, and some of his lines are done quite well.
- King Mook: He is basically a boss version of the monkeys that wear blue shorts, as both are faster then the other types.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: In the anime, his clothes and actions are a Shout-Out to Indiana Jones.
- Second Love: To Aki in SaruSaru Big Mission.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: As much as he can be in a kids game, at least.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Before his fight against Jimmy, Blue Monkey states he holds nothing against him and claims to be doing it for a good cause:Monkey Blue: Don't take this personally. I'm doing this for all the little monkeys out there!
Monkey Yellow/Yellow Monkey/Ukki Yellow
Voiced by (English): Jimmy Zoppi (Ape Escape 2), Steve Blum (Ape Escape 3)
The fat, goofy, and Ambiguously Gay member of the group. He often utilizes sumo techniques in battle.
- Acrofatic: He moves surprisingly fast, especially in 3 where he's not just a sumo, but a ninja sumo.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: His fur is actually yellow.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The second battle with him in 2.
- British Teeth: The second battle with him as a giant involves knocking out his rotten looking teeth one by one. Granted, he isn't normally British, but if you're playing the British English version of the game where everyone has a British accent, then it's played straight.
- Camp Gay: He's extremely effeminate, and clearly makes Jimmy and Kei feel uncomfortable. This is to the point where he actually blows a kiss to Kei.
- Crossdresser: His sumo outfit includes fishnet stockings, feminine looking sandals and a geisha wig. Not even real female sumos would wear that.
- Exposed Animal Bellybutton: He has a prominent, spherical bellybutton that jiggles even more than his stomach does.
- Fat Bastard: Notably the fattest member of the Freaky Monkey Five and the series itself. It's especially prominent in Ape Escape 2 where he's larger than Jimmy. Monkey Pink lampshades this in Ape Escape 3 after she discovers from Spector that he was defeated by Yumi/Kei.
- Jiggle Physics: His stomach wobbles like crazy, and so do his breasts and bellybutton.
- King Mook: In his own odd way towards the default monkeys in yellow shorts. Their only defining feature is throwing down more banana peels than monkeys of other colors, and Yellow Monkey is fat and banana obsessed, to the point of becoming a giant after overdosing on Vita-Z Bananas in 2.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: In the American dub of Ape Escape 3, his voice is based on Ed Wynn.
- Sissy Villain: He's extremely effeminate and acts like a Camp Gay.
- Stout Strength: He's basically a sumo wrestler, after all.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Knock him out in the story mission, and he'll just run away before you can catch him in the net. This doesn't happen in Time Attack Mode, so keep that net equipped.
Monkey Pink/Pink Monkey/Ukki Pink
Voiced by (English): Veronica Taylor (Ape Escape 2), Debi Derryberry (Ape Escape 3), Anndi McAfee (Ape Escape 3, singing)
Although her pop idol status remains the same throughout the series, her clothes change like the rest of the group. She resembles a typical pop singer in 2, a princess in 3, and a schoolgirl in Saru Saru Big Mission and the anime.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Her fur is actually pink.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Some players have compared her to a monkey version of Carrie White for a reason. As soon as she feels slighted, people get hurt.
- Evil Diva: Possibly the crowning example. The cuteness is a facade; when she gets angry, she will destroy anything she blames for said anger.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: She starts off cute, but her temper is very short and she Turns Red when she's mad enough.
- Idol Singer: Pink desires to be a famous singer, and even sings a song in two of the games. Averted in the anime.
- King Mook: Averted in her case. There are no monkeys with pink shorts, except in the PlayStation Move game that has none of the previous cast except for Specter, and even then, they don't have anything in common with Pink Monkey.
- Mind over Matter: Her primary form of attack is telekinesis, and she's also able to levitate. In the third game, she almost never touches the ground.
- Pink Means Feminine: She's the only female of the group, and the only one who wears pink. It's notable in that none of the regular monkeys in the series wear pink, either, and they're all gender-neutral in appearance. Pink is thus the most feminine monkey in all the games, and the pinkest, too.
- Psycho Electro: In the second game, her main attack is launching fields of electricity.
- Psycho Pink: It's right there in the name. She's probably the most unstable of the whole Freaky Monkey Five.
- The Smurfette Principle: The lone female of the Freaky Monkey Five.
- Averted with the monkeys as a whole. Whilst most are gender-neutral, some (especially in the third game) have female names and wear women's clothes, heavily implying there are many females amongst the "common" monkeys. note
- Turns Red: How her battles play out. She'll begin the fight appearing very innocent and singing a cute song, and after she gets hit a couple of times, she essentially goes Super Saiyan and begins attacking the player much more aggressively. This is also part of her battle in 3 as she'll do this trope after some time passes even without being provoked.
- Yandere: The song Banana Heartbreak implies this, especially the last few lines:Don't you see I love you, don't you see I love you
I can't spend the rest of my life, I can't spend the rest of my life CRYING
So I'll spend the rest of my life, so I'll spend my entire life chasing you! HERE I COME! - Unstoppable Rage: Happens inevitably during her boss battles.
Monkey White/White Monkey/Ukki White
Voiced by (English): Marc Silk (Ape Escape), Phil Proctor (Ape Escape 3)
The oldest and most intelligent of the group, he uses robots to fight against the heroes.
-
Badass Decay: From the fourth boss of 2 to the first boss of 3. Even more so with Kei and Yumi's Magic Knight transformation having an automatic shield if you're not attacking, which Jimmy didn't have when he fought White. - Evil Genius: His battles always involve one of his own creations.
- Evil Old Folks: He's quit clearly the oldest of the Freaky Monkey Five, and he's no less evil than the rest of them.
- Exposed Animal Bellybutton: He has one like Yellow Monkey, but it's not as prominent, and only visible in Ape Escape 3.
- Flying Saucer: He has one in the anime.
- Humongous Mecha: He pilots a giant robotic dragon in his boss battle in Ape Escape 3.
- King Mook: Although there are white shorted monkeys in the series, he's actually closer to the green shorts monkeys, as both have goggles and use machinery to attack.
- Robot Me: He uses one of Jimmy in Ape Escape 2 for his boss battle.
- Time Master: He has a ray gun that can control time in the anime.
Monkey Red/Red Monkey/Ukki Red
Voiced by (English): Greg Abbey (Ape Escape 2), Gregg Berger (Ape Escape 3)
The leader of the Freaky Monkey Five (aside from Specter, that is). He's very muscular and uses a combination of wrestling, kung-fu, and flatulence in his attacks.
- Arrogant Kung Fu Monkey
- Fartillery: One of his attacks in Ape Escape 2 was a fart-based counter-attack. In Ape Escape 3, he uses an entire fart-based martial art.
- Flanderization: Between the second and third games. In 2, his flatulence was referenced in just one rarely-used attack. Come the next game, it's a much more prominent part of his character.
- King Mook: The monkeys in red shorts attack the player more aggressively, and Red is the powerhouse of the Freaky Monkey Five.
- Playing with Fire: He also uses two flaming torches in Ape Escape 3.
- Real Men Wear Pink: He's forced into this situation in the anime. Due to his multiple losses at the hands of the female protagonists (Casi, Helga, and Natalie), Specter makes Red wear a dress and act as girly as possible. He warms up to it and even knits a quilt with Hegla and Natalie, but afterwards he reverts back to his old self.
- Wrestler in All of Us: He can suplex a T-Rex onto you in Ape Escape 2.
Dr. Tomoki
Voiced by (English): Nolan North (Ape Escape 3)
An eccentric scientist who teams up with Specter in Ape Escape 3 with a plan to split the Earth in two. Turns out, years ago, he was a colleague of Aki and the Professor. After a disastrous experiment which left a helmet permanently grafted to his head, he became an outcast to society and hid.
- Affably Evil: Even as an antagonist, Tomoki is one of the most personable characters in the series. Always unfailingly polite, whether to his allies, or his enemies.
- Ambiguously Gay
- Because You Were Nice to Me: His Heel–Face Turn is prompted after Kei and Yumi refuse to laugh at him after learning of his Start of Darkness, and Kei sticks up for him in front of Specter.Kei: It's not a good laugh if someone's feelings are hurt!
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With Specter until The Reveal.
- Blessed with Suck: The helmet that was left permanently stuck to his head increased his intelligence exponentially, but made him ridiculous to look at. His life took a turn for the worse because of it.
- Distracted by My Own Sexy: Doesn't listen to a word Specter says during one of their conversations, and instead chooses to admire himself in a mirror.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He stays behind on Specter's space station in Ape Escape 3 to activate the self-destruct sequence. He somehow survives.
- Mini-Mecha: Pilots one shaped like his own head (complete with afro) in his boss battle.
- Villain Respect: He excuses needing a huge robot to attack the children as a sign of respect. It just becomes regular respect after his Heel–Face Turn.
- Would Hurt a Child: Has no issues attacking the heroes in his mech. He claims to be levelling the playing field.
- Tragic Villain: He only became a villain because he thought all of society would shun him because of the monkey helmet grafted onto his head.
Mysterious Man/Nazo no Otoko/Nazo/Grid Core
Voiced by (English): Beau Billingslea (Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed - As Grid Core)
An evil scientist with one goal in mind: world domination.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Not him, but a separate Grid Core that he created that serves as a boss in Million Monkeys.
- Bad Boss: Treats his own creations like garbage, especially when they fail at their job. Just ask Meta, Krack and G.
- Big Bad: Of Pumped & Primed and Million Monkeys. At first.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With the aliens.
- Evil Laugh: Does this a lot during Pumped & Primed, especially after getting Helga's father's disk.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: Strangled and electrocuted to death by Pipotron J.
- Final Boss: As Grid Core in Pumped & Primed.
- Gory Discretion Shot: After J starts to strangle and electrocute him, the scene quickly cuts to their shadows as Nazo screams in pain while the screen is covered by smoke.
- Karmic Death: He's killed by Pipotron J, one of the Pipotrons he created after he killed his own creations and after he tried to kill his own creations.
- Knight of Cerebus: Things gets dark whenever he or his creations are involved. Hell, the whole reason why Million Monkeys is so dark compared to the rest of the series is because of him.
- Load-Bearing Boss: Played straight at first, but quickly averted. After his defeat in Pumped & Primed, the virtual world starts to fall apart due to the damage inflicted at the core during the final battle. However Casi uses her skills to bring the virtual world back to normal and warping everyone out.
- The Man Behind the Man: The scientist behind the Pipotrons.
- No Name Given: His true name is never mentioned during Million Monkeys, and even the official guidebook only refers to him as Nazo no Otoko, which literally translates to "Mysterious Man" or "Man of Mystery". Because of this, many fans refers to him as Nazo.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: Whenever Specter tries to take over the world, his monkeys are usually goofing around and doing whatever they please. Nazo on the other hand wastes no time turning them into competent soldiers armed with guns, tanks, stun clubs and even robots.
- Sinister Shades: Wears one in Million Monkeys.
- Take Over the World: Tries to take over the virtual world in Pumped & Primed. He fails.
- This is his main goal in Million Monkeys.
- The Voice: His physical appearance is never shown during "Pumped & Primed" outside of the Pipotrons' Intermission. It wasn't until Million Monkeys that he finally shows himself.
- Time for Plan B: After Spike and Specter stops his plans of conquering the world with the monkeys, he deploys the aliens as a backup plan in order to continue with his objective.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: In a quirky series filled with cartoony monkeys, silly villains and lighthearted protagonists, he really stands out.
- Would Hurt a Child: He has no problems trying to kill a 9 year old boy and his friends.
The New Pipotrons
L-to-R: Pipotron Meta, Pipotron Krack, Pipotron J, and Pipotron G
After his plan of conquering the virtual world ended in failure, Nazo decided to strike again and captured four primates, turning them into his new Pipotrons to aid in his plan of conquering the world.
They appear in the anime as the main antagonists of the first season, hijacking the plot from Specter and capturing him for their own purposes.
- Adaptation Expansion: The anime expands their role greatly.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Of the anime's first season.
- Decoy Leader: Meta acts as this to the monkeys while posing as Specter in Million Monkeys.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Meta and Krack are liquified into a slime-like substance by Nazo.
- Evil Genius: Krack, as he's the one responsible for creating Virus Casi.
- Heroic Sacrifice: After Nazo detaches one of the rooms from his battleship, G sacrifices himself in order to save Natalie and Casi from the falling debris.
- Killer Gorilla: Pipotron G.
- Neck Lift: J does this to Nazo after he kills Krack.
- Never Found the Body: It's unknown whether J survived or not being electrocuted or after Nazo's battleship crashed into the ocean.
- The Unfought: J and Krack are the only Pipotrons that aren't fought in Million Monkeys.
- The Unintelligible: Krack in Million Monkeys has a distorted voice, just like the original Pipotrons.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Meta can shapeshift into anything, including Specter.
- Verbal Tic: Meta ends his sentences with "gari" in the anime.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: After the boss fight with Meta, all four of them are quickly killed and shoved aside alongside Nazo.
- You Have Failed Me: Nazo kills Meta after he fails to kill Specter. Krack also gets killed by him after Spike/Specter destroys the Virus Casi and Grid Core.
Other Characters
The Pipotrons/Apetrons/Pipotron Brothers
Three experimental monkeys made for unknown purposes that escaped the lab in which they were created. The trio includes Red, the calm but strong leader, Blue, the talkative speedster, and Yellow, the unintelligible marksman.
The anime portrays them as goofy klutzes with the goal of becoming "big". They started out as the Big Bads of season two, demoted to the Quirky Mini Boss Squad once Specter hijacks the plot.
- Attention Whore: In the anime. All of their schemes are wacky attempts to become famous (or "big", as they frequently put it).
- Big Bad: In the first eight episodes of season two and in Ape Quest.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Big time, although it's still downplayed due to their near Animalistic Abomination appearances and abilities.
- Even Yellow is treated as such: in their second intermission when encountering the dog guard robot, he's first running around like a scared kid trying to find cover. Next scene has him handstand kicking a missile right into the ceiling.
- Depending on the Writer: The Pipotrons in the anime are very different to the ones in the games; in the anime, they're completely goofy. In Pumped & Primed, they were mysterious, threatening, and also really creepy.
- Goldfish Poop Gang: In the anime.
- Heel–Face Turn: In Pumped & Primed.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Twice in the anime. The first time they had to detach a piece of a rocket in order to get Spike to Specter's base, and later in the series finale where Specter tries to shoot the heroes' Humongous Mecha only for the Pipotrons' mecha to take it instead. Both are Disney Deaths.
- Humongous Mecha: The Pipotrons use a mecha the size of Earth itself in the finale of the anime. It's crudely made in comparison to the equally huge mechas the heroes and villains are using though.
- No Mouth: Yellow, or so it seems.
- Scary Teeth: Blue has these, although Red gets them too during their intermissions in Pumped & Prime or in the anime, when he gets mad.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: Red's reaction to being cornered in a room with a menacing guard robot? Take two (already lit) cartoon bombs out of his pockets and shows them off before throwing them, transitioning to a shit-eating grin on his face.
- The Unintelligible: In Pumped & Primed, they speak odd sounding gibberish with distorted voices. Red speaks in a deep murmer, Blue speaks with a higher pitched voiced of mostly vowels, and Yellow speaks only in beep noises. In Ape Escape 3, they sound much like any other monkey. Subverted in Academy and the anime, where Pipotron Red and Blue can speak perfect English or Japanese (still distorted in the games), whereas Pipotron Yellow talks in beeps in the games and Pokémon Speak in the anime.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Happens to them in both Pumped & Primed and the anime.
Helga/Haruka
Voiced by (Japanese): Tomoe Hanba
Voiced by (English): Sandy Fox
A young girl around Spike's age. She first appeared in Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed, where she was the previous champion of the tournament that Spike and company enter. Her father mysteriously went missing, and she's determined to find him.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Her home was broken into and her father was taken away in the process.
- Disappeared Dad: He was kidnapped and she's still searching for him. The culprits were the Pipotrons.
- Leitmotif: A depressing piano tune that lets you know about her dark and troubled past.
