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Quote1 His name is Hit-Monkey. He's a hitman. Who's a monkey. You don't believe me. Look around you, dude -- he's real. Quote2
Deadpool[src]

History

The critter that would become Hit-Monkey originally lived in the mountainous wilderness of Japan as part of a clan of other macaques. Members of this clan took in a fugitive assassin and nursed him back to health with herbal remedies and hot springs. A young monkey disagreed with this, fearing that someone would eventually come looking for the hitman. Once the nameless assassin regained his health, he began to hone his skills using snowmen as practise dummies and the young monkey studied him. The assassin's health deteriorated during the continued winter and the monkey tribe did all they could to help him, having accepted him as one of their own. The young monkey resorted to physical violence against the members of his clan over the continued presence of the assassin and was cast away because of this. Days into his exile, the young monkey spotted a group of soldiers in the woods who were looking for the assassin. He rushed to the clain to warn them, but did not make it in time and witnessed as the assassin and the other monkeys were slain. Seeking vengeance, the young monkey picked up the assassin's pistols and killed the soldiers, becoming Hit-Monkey.[1]

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The spirit of the deceased hitman manifested following Hit-Monkey's first murders, and he guided the macaque into finding his killers' patron, a politician named Hideki Hiyashi who was in turn working for General Kato, the duo's ultimate target. Arriving at Tokyo, Hit-Monkey attacked Hiyashi but accidentally killed his innocent assistant. Anguished by having accidentally taken an innocent life, Hit-Monkey forfeited his guns and retreated untiil the assassin's ghost encouraged to keep on going.[2] The next day, Hit-Monkey learned from a newspaper that General Kato's daughter was getting married. He infiltrated the wedding, stealing the suit and tie from a toddler. Chaos broke out after the guests realized Hit-Monkey wasn't a trained animal ring-bearer, and the macaque was confronted by General Kato's newest bodyguard, Bullseye. Evading the hitman, Hit-Monkey inflitrated General Kato's safe room and decapitated him. Ashamed that he had been bested by a monkey, Bullseye murdered the rest of Kato's men. Shocked by this turn of events, Hit-Monkey came to the realization of the dangers of vengeance. The spirit of the assassin also revealed itself to be a fragment of Hit-Monkey's own mind, meaning it was a manifestation of his self-indulgent desire for revenge. The toddler whose suit Hit-Monkey had stolen found and hugged him, unwittingly shielding him from Bullseye's throwing knife and dying. The boy's death motivated Hit-Monkey to now seek revenge for the innocents whose blood had been spilled and not for himself.[3]

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Hit-Monkey and his mentor's hallucination

Believing Hit-Monkey to have been a trained pawn, Bullseye fled to track down his alleged master. In the streets, Hit-Monkey made acquaintances with a fashion model named Misami, who was followed by Bullseye hoping to find answers about Hit-Monkey's non-existent owner. The confrontation was interrupted by a gang targeting Misami. A fight broke out and although Hit-Monkey defeated Bullseye, Misami was killed by a stray bullet. The part of Hit-Monkey that manifested as his mentor's ghost chastised him for his reluctance to use firearms since they could have dealt with Bullseye faster and prevent the bloodbath. After killing the gangsters, Hit-Monkey set out to become a necessary evil and a killer of killers.[4]

The following years, Hit-Monkey became an urban legend among assassins for his modus operandi of targeting hitmen. Travelling around the world, he would take down multiple targets before disappearing. Arriving at New York City, one of Hit-Monkey's targets was a deli owner who was secretly a gun-for-hire. The deli owner was a friend of local hero Spider-Man, and he suspected known hitman Deadpool of being the murderer. Investigating the crime scene, Deadpool recognized Hit-Monkey's work and encouraged Spider-Man to work together.[5] After vistiting another of Hit-Monkey's crime scenes, Spider-Man lured him to his rendez-vous with Deadpool, who was the monkey's next target. During the subsequent fight, Hit-Monkey accidentally injured Spider-Man with a bullet. The macaque fled after leaving Deadpool for dead in a hail of bullets, unaware that his target possessed a healing factor.[6] In order to put down Hit-Monkey for good, Deadpool exploited the remorse he had shown during their fight after injuring Spider-Man. Stealing Spider-Man's costume, Deadpool injured himself and left himself to die publicly. A funeral was held and Hit-Monkey attended it out of remorse, thinking he had caused Spider-Man's death. Deadpool bursted out of the casket and attempted to kill Hit-Monkey, but Spider-Man intervened and convinced him to simply subdue him. Deadpool tried to have a heart-to-heart with Hit-Monkey, but the macaque attacked him and stole one of his firearms. Spider-Man had bent the barrel of Deadpool's guns to prevent him from using them, and the two hitmen decided to fire at each other despite that. This caused an explosion that Hit-Monkey used as a cover to escape.[7]

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Fighting Spider-Man and Deadpool

Deadpool would cross paths with Hit-Monkey again shortly after having lost his healing factor. With his outlook in life changed, Deadpool attempted to talk Hit-Monkey out of his violent lifestyle. Revealing that he could see Hit-Monkey's hallucination of the spectral assassin due to his own insanity, Deadpool convinced him that the ghost was not real and that he didn't need to continue his path in life. The hallucination vanished, and Hit-Monkey ripped off his suit and lept away.[8] Seemingly finding a new purpose in life, Hit-Monkey joined the Howling Commandos of S.T.A.K.E., a sub-division of S.H.I.E.L.D. in charge of dealing with supernatural threats.[9]

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Mercs for Money

When the powerful mutant Negasonic Teenage Warhead joined Deadpool's team venture, the Mercs for Money, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent Hit-Monkey without notice to the Mercs' base and he joined the team.[10] Although Deadpool figured out that Hit-Monkey's presence was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s doing, he was led to believe that Hit-Monkey was meant to serve a role of liaison, when in reality he was monitoring Negasonic.[11] During their takeover of the United States, Hydra absorbed S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Howling Commandos by extent.[12] Hit-Monkey presumably left the Howling Commandos after the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D. following Hydra's defeat. As a result of his own actions with Hydra, Deadpool placed a $20,000,000 bounty on himself for self-punishment and chaos ensued between villains trying to get it. Hit-Monkey and the Mercs for Money were some of Deadpool's many former allies brought together by Maria Hill to stop him.[13]

Attributes

Power Grid[16]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Master: Several Forms of Combat:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/None:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Normal

Powers

Japanese Macaque: Hit-Monkey has no superhuman powers. However he does possess the natural abilities associated with monkey species known as the Japanese Macaque.[14]

Abilities

  • Speculative Existence: Due to both his skill as a hit-man leaving few witnesses and the fact that he is a macaque, his existence sounds too ridiculous to be true. This works to Hit-Monkey's advantage since few are willing to believe that a monkey is a credible threat.[5]
  • Advanced Intelligence: Hit-Monkey has a human or near human intellect, and has been shown interacting with the world at large more like a human than a monkey as well as an understanding of surprise tactics and assassination.[14]
  • Master Martial Artist: As a monkey, Hit-Monkey naturally has above human agility and flexibility, which he incorporates into a nearly unbeatable and unpredictable combat style. Having opposable digits on his feet allows his to grip and wield guns while using his hands.[14] He was skilled enough to overcome Deadpool in combat and easily defeat the infamous Bullseye using a pair of nunchaku with brutal ease.[4]

See Also

Links and References

References

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