Specter

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Specter

Information

Name(s)	Specter/Kuuta Spector (AE1)
Height	125 cm
Weight	28 Kg
Age	4 (in )
Voice actor(s)	*Japanese: Chika Sakamoto American: Pete Burrows (AE1) Greg Abbey (AE2) Charlie Schlatter (Ape Escape 3 + Academy) Crispin Freeman (P + P) Dee Bradley Baker (OTL) Greg Ellis (Cartoon) UK: Marc Silk (AE2 + AE3, OTL)

Specter is the main villain of the ape escape series and the focus of all the main series of games. He is an albino spider monkey that used to perform in a juggling act during his stay at Monkey Park. During the events of Ape Escape Specter accidentally gets a hold of an experimental helmet that boosts his intelligence; freeing the rest of the apes from the amusement park and using technology made by the professor (the time machine) to travel back in time. Although he was defeated, Specter quickly took any chances he got (such as Ape Escape 2/3) to retry world domination in various ways, either through mass mind control or chopping the Earth in half. He is best known for his advanced Peak Point Helmet that he created himself off of the original model which also gives him super powers and his mechanized throne that he is rarely seen without.

See: Specter Coins

Personality

Specter is arrogant and typically self-centered most of the time, claiming that humans are a weak species that should be living beneath monkeys and other species of primates. This is a side effect of the helmet, most likely being the source of his aggression and hatred. Or, Specter could finally understand the situation his species is in (being forced to preform, experimented on, kept inside zoos and etc.) and perceive humans as a threat. His typical dark humor is what he is best known for, extremely dark and playful with a sharp tone of sarcasm. In a nut shell he is very cocky and believes no one can stop him. Over the course of the games, this does not change much. Specter was at his most dangerous in the first game simply due to how close his plan was to succeeding in world domination and the countless amounts of resources he had. At first avoiding Spike before actually trying to kill him twice, each time Spike survived Specter’s attempts to off him or break his spirit by sending Jake to compete against him it caused Specter’s mental state to deteriorate slightly. By the time Spike had fully ruined Specter’s plans and damaged the albino’s resources beyond repair Specter had fully lost it, even having a short mental breakdown in front of Spike before teleporting away. When Spike finally caught up to him for the final time, Specter professed that he missed his old trainer, but still had no plans to return to the park and engaged Spike in a final battle. His own over confidence in his abilities proved to be Specter’s own defeat and he was captured finally. After Ape Escape 2, Specter’s temperament was gone, and he planned to do whatever it took so that his plan would succeed. Long term use of the helmet and repeated failures caused Specter to become slightly more sadistic and possibly insane; aiming to chop the world in half without caring for human life. (It is possible that Specter knew the humans would die, and since his TV broadcasts left almost everyone except a slight few brainwashed no one would have been able to survive, with himself and the monkeys possibly living on Saru-3 or possibly the moon. In this case, Specter has also tried to commit genocide of the entire human race.) Specter is rather similar to Hitler in the way that his monkeys follow him without question, raising statues and tributes to their leader as well as planting his iconic logo on anything and everything. Though, this could be due to Specter’s narcissistic tastes rather than the monkey’s own. Over time, Specter became more dictator like than the first game, becoming more and more desperate while losing his sanity to a complete breakdown. Suffice to say while in the first two games Specter showed mercy or at least tried to avoid killing the protagonist, Specter legitimately attempted to kill Kei and Yumi himself during the final battle of Ape Escape 3.

Appearance

Specter is an albino monkey and thus has white hair and red eyes. His hair is spiked and usually has blue coloring at the very tips of each spike, with a bang covering one of his eyes usually. His skin is pale (due to being an albino). In the first game he wore nothing but red shorts and a black, shredded cloth with simple brown boots. He kept this appearance for Ape Escape 2 as well. In Ape Escape 3, he wears a tuxedo that Monkey Pink had knitted for him (oddly Specter accepted this gift rather than throwing it away, this could be contributed to the fact that he possibly just likes suits or a pun of the word “Monkey Suit”). However he kept the same style of boots. In the expanded media such as the anime or Million Monkeys, Specter wears a red cape with black leather boots and a white belt with decals on it followed with an alternate colored helmet. He is usually seen smirking or grinning.

Ape Escape

Specter originally was a white monkey that preformed at the amusement park in a juggling act. Somehow a beta peak point helmet is found inside of his performer’s tent and out of curiosity he puts it on, gaining super intelligence almost instantly. Specter escapes his area before releasing the rest of the monkeys, causing a massive riot that follows all the way to the Professor’s laboratory. Busting in, the monkeys under Specter’s control proceeded to tie up both the Professor and his granddaughter Natalie while inspecting how the time machine works. It was then that Spike and Jake walked in accidentally; Specter ignores their presence and ordered the time machine to be activated. Within moments everyone except for Natalie and the Professor were dragged back in time to different periods. Later, Specter contacted Natalie and the Professor after finding out Spike was trying to damage his plans and that the original creator of the monkey helmet was aiding Spike with gadgets. Introducing himself, Specter told the three of his plans and threatened that if they didn’t back off he would not hesitate to deal with them, showing off his new helmet Specter proceeded to show that he had somehow brought Jake under his control; the brainwashing a manifest of Spike and Jake’s friendly rivalry. When Spike finally caught up with Specter and Jake, the albino ignored the boy’s presence and proceeded to teleport away in his Battle cruiser, leaving a large robot with an ax behind to discard of Spike. The flame-haired child survived and returned to the future, taking out the power reserve and the factory Specter had been using after being instructed by the A.I Casi to do so; the Professor and Natalie having been kidnapped by Specter. Spike once again attempted to face Specter at the T.V tower the apes were using as a base, finally getting on Specter’s nerves he attempted to kill Spike with the large mechanized battle cruiser he possessed but failed. Retreating once more and contacting Spike later on, telling him to come to the remodeled Monkey Park to find his friends before something “terrible” happens. After saving the Professor and Natalie from their death trap filled rides, Spike fought with Jake a final time and freed him of Specter’s control. Knowing now that the ten year old was indeed a threat, Specter urged Spike to come to the castle for a “talk”. Soon after Spike arrived in the castle, the huge fortress had lifted off of the ground and the security system activated (Specter most likely intended to trap and kill Spike this way). However despite the challenging security system and the dangerous passageways outside the castle Spike was forced to take, he eventually reached Specter’s throne room where the albino tried to brainwash Spike the same way he did Jake. This fails and after a desperate battle with Spike, Specter finally caves and has a mental breakdown before teleporting away. Nowhere to be found, Spike goes back to the previous time forces to recapture any monkeys he missed in order to make sure Specter could not muster his forces in retaliation to try anything else. Once that was done, Spike confronted Specter a final time. For once in the entire crisis, the albino admitted his feelings for his old trainer, although he still had no plans to return on his own and entered a final battle with Spike. Losing, he was finally captured and was last seen as a normal monkey being held by his trainer at the park.

Ape Escape 2

After Jimmy accidentally sends a group of Pipo Helmets along with Monkey pants to the Amusement park when Specter (as a normal monkey) comes across the Helmet once more and regains his Evil plans and intelligence.

This time he sends his monkey's around the world to change it to his liking. Real places in fact. He has also been giving special Vita-Z Bananas to a group of five special Ape's called The Freaky Monkey Five.

After Jimmy captures all of the Freaky Monkey Five, except for Yellow, his little friend, Pipotchi is kidnapped as Specter plans to use the data in his Peak Point helmet and transfer it into a device called the 'Lethargy Laser'. He is soon confronted in a monkey controlled Military Base waiting for Jimmy in a hi-tech gunship. Before the two can battle however, Yellow monkey is now a giant due to overdosing on the Vita-Z Bananas and attacks. Specter flees and soon reveals his plans to use the laser to make all the humans in the world lose their will to fight. Making it easier for him and his ape's to take over the world. Jimmy tries to convince him otherwise, much like Spike previously but to no avail. Humans will never give up! and with that he captures Specter.

Shortly afterwards, Specter escapes and goes into hiding until he is found by Jimmy once more and captured.

Ape Escape 3

Specter, through an unexplained accident, recives another Pipo helmet and begins broadcasting hypnotic

television shows to every tv set in the world. When anyone is caught by suprise by the shows, they would be turned into "mindless couch potatoes". Specter also regrouped the Freaky Monkey Five and has a new human accomplice named Dr. Tomoki. Who wants revenge on mankind for laughing at him when his head had been fused with a Monkey Helmet due to an experiment. Kei and Yumi, the younger twin nephew and niece of Aki set out to stop Specter when Spike, Jimmy, and Professor are hypnotized by the mind-controlling television.

Later after Specter laughs at Tomoki's secret (Somehow not aware before) The human male leaves Specter's side and joins forces with them. Later they arrive at Specter's base way in Outer Space to face him. Specter reveals his true plan: To send a giant Karate chopped metal hand and chop the earth directly in half so that he can rule one half of it with his monkey's and let the humans fight over the other half. Which he was going to give to Tomoki, up until his betrayal.

Kei and Yumi race against time to defeat Specter's Gorilla robot after a confrontation, even after Specter is caught its not long that he recovers his helmet from Monkey Pink. Who had escaped capture after her battle and released Specter and the rest of the Freaky Monkey Five.

Signature move ("No Mercy!"): King Gorilliac's head will smash to the middle of where Kei or Yumi is when trying to knock Specter off of his flying chair.

Ape Escape 2001

The storyline is a simpler compared to the original game. Specter has made all the monkeys' pants dirty and Spike has to wash them (by stealing them from the apes)

Ape Quest

Specter doesn't make any direct appearances in this game, though he makes multiple cameos throughout it. Implying that the apes think of him in a god-like manner.

Ape Escape Academy (/Ape Academy 2)

The player stars as an Ape enrolling into the Monkey Academy, raising its grades through a series of Mini-games in order to work for Specter.

In Academy 2, Specter invents a new card game popular among Humans and Monkey alike. He makes a super special card after planning world domination and makes those who wish to own it enter a tournament. The winner will receive the card.

Million Monkeys

The game is composed of two teams with the same gameplay but different storyline. "Team Specter" consist of Specter and a group of Monkeys.

Specter is on vacation and is alerted by the Piposaru that the monkeys have started to take over the world, without his permission. Someone has created a Specter impostor! So Specter goes to save the world before he can be defeated. Once the impostor is defeated it's revealed it was a Pipotron called "Meta" and it can take form of any living creature. The Pipotrons used Meta to take control of the monkeys, and now that he is gone the monkeys have gone wild throughout Tokyo, and mutant creatures have taken over the city. It's now up to Specter and his team to save the world.

SaruSaru Big Mission

Specter kidnaps the Professor, Aki, Yumi, Kei, and Jimmy and shrinks the Laboratory with Spike and Natalie still inside of it.

Playstation Move Ape Escape

Specter is the only previous character from the older games to return. However he is noticeably very different then his usual forms.

It's revealed he was a monkey they planned to send into Space until the time came. His trainer/human that worked with him had become very upset when it came time for him to leave. This in turn had made him very upset but they held her back and refused to let him cancel this mission. Sending him up into space where he spent time developing a hatred for humans.

He was soon rescued by descendants of other monkeys sent into space and taken to a special ship where he remains. Specter is seen to be very bitter and sad about his entire experience.

It's also revealed he dislikes the cold Space air. It's also worth noticing he takes on a more 'emo' appearance compared to before where he could usually be smirking or with a glaring expression.

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Specter appears as a non-playable hazard character in the crossover fighting game, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. He appears in the Time Station stage (which is based on the hub area from the original Ape Escape), where he will constantly summon various creatures from various PlayStation franchises using the time portal, such as a Harpy from God of War III, a Lurker Shark from the Jak and Daxter series and a Vermin truck from Twisted Metal. He can also summon Pipo Monkeys and the main stage hazard, the Satan Chimera from the Resistance series.

Specter also appears in the game as a downloadable minion.

Saru Get You ~On Air~

In the anime, Specter was a little white monkey name Kuuta. Kuuta is Natalie's pet monkey and they have a sister and brother relationship. Kuuta was captured by Pipotron J who brainwashed him with a Peak Point Helmet that made him become Specter. Specter wanted to try and make the world just for monkeys and used many of them for his plans. Though he ultimately failed due to Professor and Spike's meddling. When Spike tried to use the Net on him, it failed due to Specter's strength.

When the Pipotrons took Specter again into a special virtual world, they chained him up, but then Specter became stronger and broke free and escaped. The second time Spike tried, the Net had been upgraded to transform him back into Kuuta but despite capture, failed to change him back. Specter broked out the Paradise Room, then proceeded to tie up Casi and The Professor. He was about to finish them off until seeing how well his monkeys were being treated. Seeing clips of Spike saving them and tending to them, he was very touched by this and before changing back he helped Spike defeat Pipotron J and willingly removed the helmet.

It's revealed that Kuuta was just a host for the real Specter, who modified his form to resemble his own. Then in the final season he pretended to be Pipo Angel.

Trivia

• Specter is the most popular character among fangirls.
• Specter's appearance has changed the most compared to other characters.
• Specter seems to hate the following: Cold, Yellow Monkey, Pink Monkey, and possibly Bananas as seen in the anime when he sent his monkeys to destroy the giant Banana statue Kuuta loved most. Also note, he's never been seen eating them.
• Specter happens to somewhat resemble Near from Death Note in his Playstation Move form.
• The fact he wore a tuxedo could be based on the phrase "Monkey Suit"
• Specter has appeared the most of all characters, having appeared in everything ape Escape related.
• His usual blue highlights appear Pink/violet-colored in Ape Escape Academy.

Gallery

Ape Escape 1

Ape Escape 2

Ape Escape 3

PlayStation Move: Ape Escape

Anime & Other stuff

Remorse...?

Specter's Cartoon self.

Specter's surprised

Specter

A special Specter based Trophy

A monkey offers Specter tea

Special doll

Ape Escape Franchise

PlayStation Move: Ape Escape