Line #21 Main/CuriousAsAMonkey


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/CuriousGeorge2006 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/53_536404_curious_george_movie.jpg]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:Something caught this little monkey's attention...]]
6	->''"Oh, what's that? What is that? Ohh, that thing has numbers on it! Hey, look at that thing. No, that other thing."''
7	-->-- '''The Curiosity Core''', ''VideoGame/Portal1''
8
9	A character, usually a child, who is ''always'' monkeying with things to see how they fit together, or work, what they are made of, or what they can do. (Always in [[ChildrenAreInnocent total innocence.]]) Generally found with assorted parts of a now-out-of-commission machine scattered about his feet. Or attempting to find out [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo what the Big Red Button]] does. Or poking the DisasterDominoes. TruthInTelevision for anyone who's seen the aftermath of a bored six-year-old with any form of tool.
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11	HilarityEnsues.
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13	Even for this person, CuriosityIsACrapshoot, but generally turns out well... [[IdiotHoudini for the monkey, at least]]. TheFool often displays these traits when he isn't an IdiotHero: given their ability to throw a SpannerInTheWorks of even the most well-oiled machine, they can sometimes become an InvincibleIncompetent AccidentalHero throwing the ClockKing's perfectly planned scheme into smoking rubble simply by asking the wrong questions and pulling levers to see what they do. This form of the trope can sometimes be TruthInTelevision for gamers who accidentally discover {{Easy Level Trick}}s by poking at the scenery and AI.
14
15	Usually the CheerfulChild, and often a WideEyedIdealist when given deeper character development. TheSmartGuy, GadgeteerGenius, or WrenchWench can show signs of this in the presence of machinery although they usually do less damage. (She may even improve it!) In more cynical works or when used for plot development, a curious monkey can be an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom, because they ''have'' to know [[SealedEvilInACan what exactly IS in the box they aren't supposed to open]]. An excellent way to justify a NiceJobBreakingItHero moment, and especially common in [[CosmicHorrorStory the cosmic horror genre]].
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17	Compare with the ConstantlyCurious, who ask questions for the same reason. A character Curious As A Monkey tends to be a less persistent nuisance, but makes trouble on a much grander scale. Sometimes, they overlap, when the child has moments of acting like either.
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19	Contrast LittleJimmy, who has no characterization except his ignorance. Compare/contrast LethallyStupid and TooDumbToLive who act out of stupidity rather than curiosity, and are far more likely to get themselves and everyone around them killed. The LethalKlutz does the same thing by accident--God help you if this one overlaps with Curious As A Monkey. For actual monkeys fooling around, see SillySimian and/or MischiefMakingMonkey.
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21	!!Examples:
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23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	%%* ''Manga/{{Yotsubato}}'': Yotsuba.
27	* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', of all people, [[spoiler:Senbonzakura, Byakuya's Zanpakuto]] is revealed to be this, childishly pressing any button in sight. The difference between [[spoiler:Senbonzakura and Byakuya]] is noted, though it was pointed out that [[spoiler:Byakuya]] acts exactly the same! Just hides that side better.
28	* Yokoi from ''Manga/TonariNoSekiKun'' is a teenager who gets involved in every game she has on sight. She wants to be a regular student, but the titular character, Seki, got enough talent to suck her in absolutely every time.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Comic Books]]
32	%%* ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUS''
33	* This is the defining trait of Beastbox in ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'', who lacks a proper robot mode and instead has a gorilla as his primary form. He's naturally curious, like an ape... but he's also easily angered and frustrated. This doesn't help him in his job as an interrogator; there isn't an Autobot who has made it out of a session with Beastbox alive.
34	* Calvin in several ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' strips. He throws water on his dad to test his dad's reflexes, drops an expensive compass out of a tree to study gravity, and considers wetting his pants while wearing winter clothes just so he can know how astronauts feel when they go in their suits.
35	* [[CheerfulChild Bode]] from ''ComicBook/LockeAndKey'' is constantly exploring and messing with things (and, consequently, getting into trouble). This is actually plot-relevant because the Keys seem to be actually attracted to him - he finds more Keys by himself than any other character. And he always promptly starts trying to figure out what kind of cool thing this one does.
36	* Deconstructed by the minor ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' villain Humpty Dumpty, who had an obsession with dismantling and reassembling objects. This included the gears in an active clock tower, and [[{{Squick}} his own abusive grandmother.]]
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
40	* ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' has E.T. himself.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Literature]]
44	* In the ''Beachcomber'' columns, this is the chief characteristic of Charlie Suet. He is invariably sacked from any job he gets because he can't resist taking things apart to see how they work, with disastrous consequences.
45	* ''Franchise/CuriousGeorge'' is the TropeNamer. His sense of curiosity always leads him and his caretaker, The Man in the Yellow Hat, on adventures throughout the city where they live.
46	* The ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Miles Vorkosigan as a child. Cordelia complains at one point that she didn't even know that a certain machine could come apart.
47	* The protagonist of "The Caves and the Cockatrice" by Creator/ENesbit:
48	-->His inquiring mind led him to take clocks to pieces to see what made them go, to take locks off doors to see what made them stick. It was Edmund who cut open the India rubber ball to see what made it bounce, and he never did see, any more than you did when you tried the same experiment.
49	* In ''Please Don't Eat the Daisies'' by Jean Kerr, this is the defining trait of one of the children, a toddler who could "take apart the toaster with a wooden spoon and a drying pan".
50	* Skysong (Kitten), a young dragon, from Tamora Pierce's ''The Immortals'' series can be this. While on one hand Skysong stayed at a political discussion over exploring a capital city (apparently very interested); Skysong has also been known to open locks to see what is behind them, and was describes as "like a bear in your wardrobe, except a bear doesn't have magic to open locks" if her curiosity is not satisfied.
51	* ''Literature/EverythingsBetterWithElves'': Sal has shades of this, especially in the prequel, "If You Give an Elf a Cookie".
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Music]]
55	* ''Monkey See, Monkey Do'', a song by Eddie Turner, an American blues rock guitarist.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
59	* The kender in ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'' want to investigate everything. Since they also don't understand the concept of personal property beyond a very superficial level, "investigating" tends to at best be easily mistaken for and at worst a be a euphemism for "stealing."
60	* The Curious disadvantage in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}''. It overlaps with ConstantlyCurious, but the presence of this trope -- the description explicitly says that a character with the disadvantage will be the one who presses buttons to find out what they do -- is the main reason why it's a disadvantage.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Video Games]]
64	* The 19-year-old magician Owyn from ''VideoGame/BetrayalAtKrondor'', with anything concerning magic.
65	* In ''VideoGame/DiceyDungeons'', the Inventor peppers Lady Luck with questions during her intro, and her gameplay revolves around her taking things apart and making them into new gadgets to play with. Her level select quotes revolve around her asking questions about how the dungeon physically works.
66	* [=GLaDOS=]' Curiosity Core from ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' will constantly ask the player to investigate everything they see.
67	* Sheep from ''VideoGame/SheepDogNWolf'' just ''can't resist'' stepping on a button when they see one, just to see what happens.
68	* In ''VideoGame/StarSweep'', upon hearing Funga tell her to keep out of the jungle, Tia becomes determined to see what's beyond him and challenges him to a match.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Webcomics]]
72	* Rowan from ''Webcomic/BoyAndDog'', being a baby, learns by touching and sucking objects.
73	* ''Webcomic/{{Dissonance}}'': Pandora.
74	* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2300/fc02288.htm Sawtooth knows better than to let Dvorak carry a device]] that is able to remotely disable robot movement.
75	* In ''Webcomic/ImpureBlood'', Mac, the WrenchWench [[http://impurebloodwebcomic.com/comic/chapter-4/page-094/ acts like this around any new machinery.]]
76	* GadgeteerGenius Molly in ''WebComic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' pesters people to let her examine any machines they happen to be using. She seems to have a particular fascination with the workings of firearms, even when they're being pointed at her.
77	* In ''Webcomic/JupiterMen'', Quintin is always trying to find out more about Jupiter-Man and catch a solid picture of him on camera. When he and Jackie encounter a strange glowing ball in a trash yard, Jackie tells him not to touch it because it might [[GenreSavvy activate some alien weapon or vaporize them]]. This just makes Quintin ''more'' excited to touch it, responding with, "Oooh! You think so?" He also thinks nothing of trying to taste the black, starry goop he found in the alleyway, only stopping because of sounds he heard above him.
78	* In ''Webcomic/NipAndTuck'', [[http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00575.html Hortense's niece.]]
79	* In ''Webcomic/WoodenRose'', [[http://www.woodenrosecomic.com/comic/comic.html Lillian deduces that the strange child is this, and not evil.]]
80	* Sausage in ''{{Webcomic/WooHoo}}'' is a very modern version of this, obsessed with looking things up on the Internet while exploring and learning about the city.
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82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Western Animation]]
85	* Dee Dee from ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory''. "OOOOOH! WhatDoesThisButtonDo" Her nearly suicidal behaviour around Dexter's inventions is a constant source of drama in the series.
86	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Violasse is a curious child who keeps getting into dangerous situations because she can't resist the urge to explore, which is made worse by the fact that she [[BornUnlucky has terrible luck]]. In her debut episode she falls into a portal and when Stumpy goes to rescue her, he keeps begging her to just stay where she is so he can go get her and take her home, but she keeps finding new portals to jump into for the sake of exploring and has several near-death experiences from which she is only saved by her GoodLuckCharm.
87	* Entrapta in ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'' is probably only still alive because she's [[DitzyGenius the greatest living expert on First One technology]]. While rescuing Adora in "No Princess Left Behind", she keeps wandering off to look at Fright Zone robots in the middle of the battle, and once that leads to her being left behind, she breaks into Hordak's lab to find the tool she needs to continue her research and only survives because while she's there she fixes a problem Hordak was having with the machine he was working on.
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Real Life]]
91	* Monkeys. Never, ever leave one unattended in your house. Hence the expression, "curious as a monkey".
92	* Many species of parrots and macaws are very curious, but Kea Parrots are particularly (in)famous for investigating everything they see. Known as "Clowns of the Mountains", their ability to solve puzzles and group cooperation, vital when living in a harsh environment, makes them a pest for residents as their curiosity often causes them to take apart cars with their sharp beaks or fly away with someone's passport.
93	%%* Cows are also this way.
94	* This trope is why you should '''NEVER''' let a [[ChildProdigy Gifted child]] get bored. They ''will'' find some way to amuse themselves, often involving expensive appliances and a screwdriver.
95	[[/folder]]
96	----
97	Oh! What's ''that'' trope about?

Context Main / CuriousAsAMonkey