Background/History: A.P.E.—also known as Algernon Patrick Emerson (he gets his name from the three men who initially discovered him)—was found nearly twenty years ago in the abandoned ruins of a supervillain's laboratories. Intrigued, the three men brought the young gorilla back with them when they returned to the Miles Institute,with the intent of examining the young ape for any signs of biological enchainment or tampering. One can only imagine their surprise when A.P.E. began to speak English words and form sentences! A.P.E. quickly became a favorite of the Institute, and as he grew older showed remarkable intellectual development, mastering the English language and eventually immersing himself in various scientific studies. Dr. Quentin Miles himself "adopted" the young gorilla, instructing A.P.E. both in the ways of the human world, and various science disciplines (such as biology and genetics). Now, having achieved as much as he can in the lab (A.P.E. is an acknowledged expert in the field of primateology), A.P.E. has decided to follow in his father/mentor's footsteps and experience life as a costumed adventurer before eventually returning to life in the lab.
Personality/Motivation: A.P.E. is a highly curious individual. He is interested in how things work and why (thus he is more of a "Why does this button do that?" person, as opposed to a "What does this button do?"), and spends a great deal of time tinkering about with various experiments in his lab. This curiosity also extends to the outside world, of course, and he will gladly spend his time examining captured foci and other items taken from a supervillain or other individuals. This curiosity also makes A.P.E. prone to distraction, and he is known to switch from subject to subject quickly, without exactly mastering any one completely (however, A.P.E. is also a quick study, which helps).
Aside from his curiosity, A.P.E. is also driven by a desire to see the world and experience new things. He feels the more he can experience first hand, the better he will understand the world around him, and a better scientist (and person) he will be.
A.P.E. realizes he is a virtually unique individual, but he also realizes in a world such as his, where men can fly unaided, lift immense weights, and read minds, he's actually fairly mundane. Thus, he tries to ignore any strange looks or reactions he gets as gorilla in human society. However, he has a low tolerance for personal insults, and tends to react badly to verbal abuse.
Quote: "Isn't this fascinating? See, look, it shows that chimpanzees will not only use tools, but actually modify their tools. This makes them not only tool users, but toolmakers! And... I'm not boring you am I? Oh, okay. And, the use of tools depends on the chimpanzee's environment and needs. Gorillas—myself excluded of course—on the other hand, use virtually no tools. A shame really."
Powers/Tactics: A.P.E. is a full-sized, adult male gorilla, which means he is far stronger than the average human. He is also quite fast, and can move quickly on all fours if he needs to. Physically, A.P.E. is strong, durable, and hard to injure. Mentally, he is quick of wit and mind, and rather adept at figuring out logic puzzles (a favored hobby). A.P.E. has also developed his own unique fighting style, by modifying the behavior of both chimpanzees and gorillas.
Although he is quite large and powerful, A.P.E. is not a violent person, and prefers to talk than fight. However, he does realize the value of his appearance and will use it do his advantage if needed (One of his favorite tricks is to display loudly and energetically in the manner of an alpha male chimpanzee. Afterwards he usually remark "Did you like that? I saw it last night on the Discovery Channel.").
Appearance: A.P.E. is roughly twenty years old (he seems to age at about the same rate as a human), stands well over six feet in height, and weighs close to 400 pounds. His fur is black, speckled with silver across his back and his chin. He tends to dress in normal human clothing (made to fit his frame), usually with a white lab coat. When acting as a "costumed adventurer" A.P.E. dresses in a green jumpsuit with white gloves and belt and black "boots."
Designer's Notes: A.P.E. is pure 1960s-ish four-color comic superhero. He's meant for universes of that sort, and is of limited use in more serious (i.e. graphic novel) campaigns and certainly wouldn't work in a Dark Champions campaign. He could be used (with a little adjustment) in various science fiction campaigns (especially those using the idea of genetically altered and/or modified animals).
A lot of A.P.E.'s character sheet is left fairly vague and open-ended. Such elements as who created him and why are left to the GM to decide (these points were never settled in the original campaign). Likewise his villain hunted is left open. The general idea would for him (or her) to be someone like Kraven the Hunter from Marvel Comic's Spider-Man.
(Character sheet created by Michael Surbrook)