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#12 - Detective Chimp
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The talking chimpanzee known as Bobo may in fact be one of the greatest detectives alive. After gaining human-like sentience and longevity from the Fountain of Youth, Detective Chimp spent years trying to get his own ramshackle business going. Ultimately, Chimps commercial enterprise - a detective agency - was doomed to failure. But as the Spectre began to pick off other mystical beings, Chimp saw the value in banding together with others to fight for their survival, helping to initiate a new generations Shadowpact out of his favorite watering hole, Oblivion. Chimp works closely now with many Checkmate agents, including his adopted nephew, Artemis.

Use him right, and Chimp can be your best friend from a gameplay and plot progression standpoint. There's a reason that Waller makes sure there's always a seat at the table for the Simian Sleuth - he gets results. Chimp may be pragmatic to a point of brusque rudeness, and he may be less an ape than a crusty creature that smells of cigarettes and beer, but underneath all of the expected tropes of a noir detective lies a keen, reasoning mind. An aspect of Chimp that I love is the distance he tries to put between himself and anyone he comes to care for, even in a small amount. Chimp is still a chimpanzee, and as such, he yearns to be in awe at inexplicable majesty. The said truth is that, when he drank from the Fountain, the magic went of the world for him - at least in a small amount. He's been trying to wrestle with that revelation ever since.

Chimp is the character that best represents the Data 7 persona. Hats, drinks, quiet monosyllabic utterances. Chimp pulls Artemis into the grown-up world, and I think one of my favorite aspects of this relationship is to see Ermine's own wheels turning when Chimp forces Artemis to confront the difficulty of adulthood and the decisions and consequences that brings. Suddenly, Data 7 is considering tactics and how certain paths of action will affect other opportunities down the line. And with Chimp, of course, there's the quiet physicality of Stranger and Chimp. That's also an extremely interesting relationship that I think helps reinforce Chimp and Data 7. As an adult, there's always something unsaid between Chimp and Artemis. Artemis certainly wishes it could be said, but Chimp is the roadblock that keeps Data 7 a little distant. He has his own baggage to carry, and Data 7 has been slowly working to accept it or change that fact. Overall, a great, oftentimes subtle, story played by Ermine.

Oh thank heaven, we're down to eleven.