Once a normal rhesus macaque, Necro Monkey grew up as an experiment test subject. After years of crackpot mad science, curses, spells, and many unspeakable things, he was thought dead and tossed in the trash. Being undead and not dead dead, he set out to live his dream of being a writer.
Why an undead monkey? How did Necro Monkey come to be? There are two aspects to the origin of Necro Monkey: the creation of Necro Monkey and his origin story.
The seeds of Necro Monkey started when I was stationed in Tokyo while in the Air Force. One of the things I did while in Japan was collect gashapon or capsule toys. These are the toys you get from coin machines. Nakano Broadway was one of the best places to buy them and complete your collection. There, I came across my first urban vinyl toys, which I added to my toy collection.
Years later, and after I was out of the military, I decided to learn more about these urban vinyl toys and see if I could pick some more up. This led to the discovery of the dunny and the munny by Kidrobot and the customizer scene.
People would buy vinyl figures like the dunny and strip off the paint, alter them with clay and resin, and repaint them into something new. There was a whole community of these customizers. I joined them and I was hooked, but something felt missing.
Many of the artists didn’t go by their own names. They used a moniker that they went by. Rusted Halo. Rsin. DrilOne. I wanted one to go by as well, but wasn’t sure what to call myself.
I was at work one day waiting for some scripts to finish running and passing the time just doodling. I drew the head of a cartoon zombie monkey. It just clicked. I had my moniker. I was going to go by Undead Monkey. Nope. Zombie Monkey. Closer. Necro Monkey.
The character of Necro Monkey has a past that isn’t the best. He was used up and tossed away. His origin is inspired by my short military career and subsequent discharge from active duty.
I grew up in the military. My dad retired from the Air Force. My grandfather spent a couple years in the Army at the end of WW2. I have uncles and an aunt that were in the various branches. And teenaged me would tell you it would be a cold day in Hell before I joined the military. If you didn’t realize it, Hell got very cold in May of 2000.
From the start, it was an uphill struggle. Despite being over 6ft, I was very skinny and I had to get a waiver to join because I didn’t meet the minimum weight requirement. Then once I joined I had trouble with breathing while doing physical training. I probably should have been booted then but I spent extra time in basic training and did make it out of basic.
To just give you an idea, we had to run 1.5 miles in 18 minutes or less. I wasn’t going to make it. I was approaching the end of the run but couldn’t breathe. A guy from my flight that had already passed appeared behind me and just kept pushing me to go. Around the last hundred feet or so, my visual went black. I passed the finish though. My time was 18 minutes flat.
I passed the physical requirements needed to get past basic training and become an airman. I spent the next five years enjoying my time in the service. I really loved my last duty station in Tokyo. I was just past year five of my six year contract and planned on re-enlisting and requesting an extension to stay in Japan. I wanted to put in 20 years and was thinking of ways to stay in Japan or keep coming back. I had a plan but it didn’t go that way.
They finally gave me a diagnosis of exertion-induced asthma. No big deal. I was in the Air Force after all and a computer guy at that. I was told that they were going to let me stay in but take away my worldwide availability. I could re-enlist and try to extend my time in Japan but after that, it would be stateside for me. Not the end of the world.
Again, things didn’t go that way. The medical board in Japan didn’t do stuff properly and didn’t file stuff on time. This meant that the case that was decided in Japan was going to be reviewed and decided back in the states. What they decided was to boot me. When they finally told me this, they let me know that I could try and fight it. They gave me a few hours to decide. I chose not to fight it.
I felt that if the Air Force didn’t want me then I didn’t want it anymore. I was angry and bitter and felt rejected it. Less than a month later I was no longer in the military. The worst part about this is after I got out, I got copies of my records. I felt like I wasn’t wanted and I was wrong. I saw the letter my former commander wrote requesting I be kept in the Air Force because he felt he would need four people to replace me. Knowing that when I was asked if I wanted to fight the decision would have had me fighting to stay in.
My discharge from the military is the inspiration for Necro Monkey’s origins. Being a test subject until one day he is tossed out with the trash.
Let me say this though. While many days I miss the military and the family I had with it, I would not have the life I have now if I didn’t leave. I have the family I have now because of the things that led up to this point in my life. I would not change anything.
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