Name(s) | ハカセ (Hakase) Professor Professor Doctor Zizel (Ape Escape 1 & 3) Doctor Ozel (On the Loose) |
Gender | Male |
Family | Natalie (Granddaughter) |
Height | 170 cm |
Weight | 80 Kg |
Age | 60 (during Ape Escape 1) |
Appears in | Saru Get You CoroCoro Comics Ape Escape (Comics) Ape Escape (Shorts) Ape Escape (Cartoon Series) |
Voice actor(s) | Joji Yanami (Games) Hideyuki Umezu (Anime) Michael Sousa (AE1) Dan Green (AE2) Chris Wiggins (P + P) Phil Proctor (OTL + AE3) Eric Bauza (Cartoon)
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The Professor, (Hakase in Japan ハカセ, literally meaning "Professor") is a well-known scientist and a recurring supporting character in the Ape Escape series. He is also Natalie's grandfather. He is the creator of the Time Station, the Peak Point Helmet, and Casi, among many other things.
Appearance[]
The Professor is portrayed as an senior-aged man. He has a grayish-white mustache fair skin for his respective age. He is rather pudgy and is recognized for his balloon-shaped nose. He has smaller eyes that are blue-gray in color. He wears a plain, open lab coat over a yellowish shirt and a red tie.
He has changed his usual attire on rare occasions, such as when he was on vacation in Ape Escape 2, in which he wore a tropical orange shirt with red flowers.
Personality[]
The Professor is a very odd man who creates and makes the gadgets responsible for saving the world. The Professor has a good heart and only has everyone's best interests in mind. He envisions a safe and happy world, and only tends to be serious when it is of the utmost importance, such as protecting the people he cares about. Besides creating gadgets, the Professor also sets up training rooms, mailbox messages, and other little things in order to help Spike in Ape Escape 1.
However, the Professor also happens to be somewhat of a klutz and airhead in terms of personality. He can be goofy or absent-minded at the rarest of times. He has admitted that Natalie is a better choice than him for certain duties due to her navigational skills. This also led to him accidentally leaving behind the Pipo Helmet, allowing Specter to find it.
In the anime, he is shown to be very dramatic with his emotions, often overplaying his actions. However, he also showcases moments of being intelligent and knowledgeable.
Biography[]
Ape Escape 1/Ape Escape: On the Loose[]
The Professor was preparing to show Spike and Jake his newest invention: a true, working time machine. Before he had a chance to showcase it, Specter showed up and used it to travel back in time, inadvertently throwing the boys into the past with him and his monkeys. It was then the Professor decided that Spike must stop the evil apes from taking over the world and rewriting history.
Later on, the Professor and Natalie were kidnapped by Specter and taken to a bizarre theme park called Specter Land. The Professor was being held captive at Specter Circus, a place in Specter Land with a very large spiraled cage, guarded by a twisted clown that Spike had to defeat in order to free him.
Ape Escape 2[]
In Ape Escape 2, The Professor leaves on a vacation. He tells Jimmy and Natalie to watch over the lab and to deliver Monkey Pants to Monkey Park. Jimmy not only delivered Monkey Pants but also Pipo Helmets, leading to the lab breaking. While the Professor is out, Jimmy runs into him by accident. He informs that he was at Casino City as part of his vacation. After Jimmy explains what happened, he quickly returns to the lab to help Jimmy capture the monkeys.
Ape Escape 3[]
In Ape Escape 3 ,the Professor makes a cameo appearance in the main story with Spike and Jimmy. The three of them have all been taken over by the hypnosis of Specter TV. With the broadcast threatening to spread across the world, Natalie reaches out to Aki for help. Thus, Aki takes on the Professor's role by providing gadgets to the new protagonists, Kei and Yumi.
Mesal Gear Solid[]
The Professor returns with a bigger role in one of Ape Escape 3's unlockable minigames, Mesal Gear Solid, in which he sends a Pipo Monkey loaded up with the battle data of Solid Snake to destroy Mesal Gear.
Ape Escape: Million Monkeys[]
The Professor is a member of Team Spike. In this game, he uses a mech to aid Spike similarly to how he did in Pumped & Primed.
Ape Escape: SaruSaru Big Mission[]
Specter kidnaps the Professor, Aki, Yumi, Kei and Jimmy and shrinks the Laboratory with Spike and Natalie inside of it. The two of them work together in order to save the others. The Professor is held captive by White Monkey.
Other Appearances[]
Saru Get You ~On Air~[]
Since The Professor is an important character, he appears in nearly every episode. He consistently works on making improvements to gadgets and items as evident by the many different Time Nets showcased throughout the series. However, he has more of a goofy demeanor, similar to the personality of Spike.
Gallery[]
See Professor/Gallery.
Trivia[]
- The Professor's Japanese title, Hakase, means Professor.
- In Ape Escape, the Gadget Training levels have exit doors that label his name as Dr. Zizel. However, due to the low texture resolution, it was mistakenly changed to Ozel in Ape Escape: On the Loose, combing the Z and I to make a strange O. On the Ape Escape 3 100% certificate, both the North American and Europeans versions have his signature, which more clearly reads Zizel. See Professor/Gallery.
- The Professor and Aki's signatures on the North American certificate are labeled "Philosophy of Doctor", a translation error leftover from the Japanese certificate. The term Ph.D. stands for "Philosophiae Doctor", which is Latin for Doctor of Philosophy.
- The European dub of Ape Escape has the Professor speak with a German accent. All subsequent European dubs have him speak with a regular British accent instead.
- The Professor’s birthday is celebrated in the 48th episode of Saru Getchu ~On Air~ season 2. Some fans believe that the release date of this episode, August 18th, is the Professor’s birthday. This is not officially stated within any games, however.
Characters | Casi · Jake · Natalie · Professor · Specter · Spike |
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Gadgets | Dash Hoop · Magic Punch · Monkey Radar · R.C. Car · Sky Flyer · Slingback Shooter · Stun Club · Time Net · Water Net |
Prehistoric Era/ The Lost Land | Fossil Field · Primordial Ooze · Molten Lava |
Cenozoic Era/ Mysterious Age | Thick Jungle · Dark Ruins · Cryptic Relics |
Dimension/Dimension X | Stadium Attack |
Primitive Age/Oceana | Crabby beach · Coral Cave · Dexter's Island |
Ice age/New Freezeland | Snowy Mammoth · Frosty Retreat · Hot Springs |
Dimension/Dimension X | Gladiator Attack |
Recent Past/Medieval Mayhem | Sushi Temple · Wabi Sabi Wall · Crumbling Castle |
Present-Day/Futurama | City Park · Specter's Factory · TV Tower |
Present-Day 2/Specter Land | Monkey Madness |
Dimension/Dimension X | Peak Point Matrix |
Characters | Haru · Hero · Specter · Tohko · Tsukushi |
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Gadgets | Ape Vacuum · Banannerizer · Monkey Net · Slingback Shooter · Smasher |
Levels | Wobbly Home · Mysterious Ruins · Monkey Carousel · Monkey Road · The Hot Springs · Dinosaur Glacier · Haunted House · Asian Town · Spa Gardens · Food City · Skull Volcano · Monkeyland · Steam Castle · Battery Tower · Monkey Station |