Ape enemy line

The Ape, Killer Ape, and Dirty Ape are species of monsters randomly battled in Golden Sun. These monsters, resembling bipedal primeates with hunched shoulders, are palette-swapped variants of each other that have differing levels of power and defense and are fought in different locations in the games. This is a monster line that makes no in-game appearance in The Lost Age whatsoever. It also includes one boss.

Full details on each monster's programmed statistics can be found in the raw data.

Ape
An Ape is a normal-sized variant with orange fur. Statistically, this monster has 290 HP, 128 Attack, 29 Defense, 49 Agility, and 2 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Jupiter Resistance rating of 72, Venus and Mercury Resistance ratings of 48, and a Mars Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Venus-based attacks with a power rating of 100.

The Ape uses these battle commands:
 * Attack: Used 5 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
 * Ransack: Used 3 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill where the monster charges towards a targeted Adept and unleashes 5 red glowing claw swipes in rapid, brutal succession, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 35 damage points.

Felling an Ape yields 96 Experience Points and 160 Coins, and there is a 1/4 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Vial. If it is felled by the attack effect of an offensive Mars Djinni, its rewards increase to 124 EXP and 208 Coins, and the chance to drop its item becomes 1/1 - in other words, guaranteed. In Golden Sun it is first battled in limited, scripted quantities throughout Mogall Forest, battled one at a time whenever you use Force on the (im)proper tree trunks. It is subsequently battled in the southeast overworld region of Angara encompassing the exit to Mogall forest, as well as inside Altin Peak.

An Ape, though battled one at a time, can be pretty damaging to a low-level party. However, once you are able to battle it at random in the overworld following Mogall Forest, it becomes a very interesting enemy to kill repeatedly; you get a guaranteed, powerful healing item every time you fell an Ape with a Mars Djinni, so in that portion of the game you can amass large quantities of vials in short amounts of time, which can make upcoming boss battles much easier. Even in Mogall Forest itself, if you specifically seek out all the Apes and get Vials off them, you have more restorative flexibility in the Killer Ape boss battle at the end of the forest.

Killer Ape
The Killer Ape is a giant-sized variant with light-blue fur, and is a boss in Golden Sun. Statistically, this monster has 1000 HP, 45 PP, 156 Attack, 49 Defense, 94 Agility, and 26 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Jupiter Resistance rating of 127, Venus and Mercury Resistance ratings of 72, and a Mars Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Venus-based attacks with a power rating of 100 and its available Jupiter and Mercury-based attacks with a power rating of 80 each.

The Killer Ape uses these battle commands:
 * Ransack: Used 53 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill where the monster charges towards a targeted Adept and unleashes 5 red glowing claw swipes in rapid, brutal succession, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 35 damage points.
 * Bind: Used 52 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that displays a holographic symbol onto a targeted Adept, attempting to Seal that Adept's Psynergy capabilities. It consumes 4 of its user's PP.
 * War Cry: Used 47 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill that launches rings of light blue energy through a targeted Adept, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 45 and with a chance to Paralyze that Adept for 1 turn.
 * Douse: Used 41 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that drops several orbs of water onto the Adepts, dealing a Mercury-based attack with a power rating of 25 and a range of 3. It consumes 5 of its user's PP. This is mainly a weak "joke" attack meant to reflect that the monster is in possession of the Douse Drop, which you will get at the end of the battle.
 * Debilitate: Used 35 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that targets up to 3 Adepts, for each one attempting to temporarily lower that Adept's current Defense rating by 12.5%. It consumes 6 of its user's PP.
 * Attack: Used 28 out of 256 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.

Felling the Killer Ape yields 460 Experience Points and 1500 Coins, and the boss is guaranteed to drop the Douse Drop, a Utility Psynergy item that always ensures the party from then on can cast Douse on the field. If the player manages to land the finishing blow on the Boss an offensive Mars Djinni, its rewards increase to 598 EXP and 1950 Coins. In Golden Sun it is a mandatory battle that automatically occurs at the bottom exit of the dungeon-style Mogall Forest location - as you approach a large empty tree stump, a smaller green ape is seen jumping out of it, essentially warning the player that now would be a good time to save. Then as you try to pass the stump, the Killer Ape jumps out and begins the boss fight.

Since this boss has "only" 1000 HP (Saturos, an earlier boss, has 1200 HP), you could probably win just through typical battlefield conduct over a period of time. The most Djinn of specific elements you can have at this point are 3 Venus and 3 Jupiter Djinn, so you could summon Cybele and Procne once each in the battle. However, the Killer Ape is most weak to Mars (and sharply so), so having Garet use Heat Wave or unleash Mars Djinni Fever is a pretty good attack, and the 2-Mars Djinni summon Kirin does about as much damage as the other two summons.

Dirty Ape
A Dirty Ape is a normal-sized variant with violet fur. Statistically, this monster has 230 HP, 236 Attack, 57 Defense, 132 Agility, and 2 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Jupiter Resistance rating of 127, Venus and Mercury Resistance ratings of 72, and a Mars Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Venus-based attacks with a power rating of 100 and its available of Jupiter-based attacks with a power rating of 80.

The Dirty Ape uses these battle commands:
 * Attack: Used 5 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
 * War Cry: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill that launches rings of light blue energy through a targeted Adept, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 45 and with a chance to Paralyze that Adept for 1 turn.
 * Freebite Rush: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill where the monster charges towards a targeted Adept and unleashes 9 light-blue glowing claw swipes in rapid, brutal succession, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 40 damage points, and having a chance to lower the targeted Adept's current Attack rating by 12.5%.

Felling a Dirty Ape yields 114 Experience Points and 149 Coins, and there is a 1/16 chance that the monster will randomly drop an Antidote. If it is felled by the attack effect of an offensive Mars Djinni, its rewards increase to 148 EXP and 193 Coins, and the chance to drop its item becomes 1/4. In Golden Sun it is first battled in Gondowan Cave, and subsequently battled throughout the overworld region of Gondowan that extends between Gondowan Passage and Lalivero.

The Dirty Ape is the toughest of the monsters in Gondowan Cave, but is not as strong comparatively to the monsters in the Gondowan overworld region, especially to the Brutal Troll. However, it has the highest Agility rating of any of those monsters. Note that it has less HP than the standard Ape from a long while back, so it's no longer a high-HP "target" enemy in your battles like the previous variants.

Extended gallery