12 Most Iconic Monkey Characters in Pop Culture

Timothy Philipp Gan·Follow10 min read·Feb 8, 2016--The Lunar Year of 2016 is, according to the Chinese zodiac, the Year of the Monkey. From the time when the evolutionist Charles Darwin and his ilk argued that we evolved from prehistoric ape-like humanoids, we have always been fascinated by these creatures from the animal kingdom that is most humanlike in its social structure, behaviour and characteristics. Whether we called it apes, or chimpanzees or monkeys or gorillas, the simian species had made its mark in the myths and folklore of various cultures - from the Hindu epic Ramayana’s Hanuman to Sun Wukong from Wu Cheng’en’s 16th century novel Journey to the West; and even in the Mayan and Aztec legends. Often depicted in these stories and legends for its mischievous nature as well as for wisdom, resourcefulness, playfulness and fun-loving, I thought it’d be a great way to celebrate the Year of the Monkey by looking at how the various monkey characters from legends and literature had...