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Monkey Shines, also known by its official name as Enmu (Monkey Dream in English), is an antagonistic creature and an antagonist in the 2017 light novel Otherside Picnic and its 2021 anime adaptation. It serves as one of the two main antagonists (alongside the Face Dogs) of Volume 1, File 3: Station February.
It is one of the Otherside Entities encountered by both Sorawo Kamikoshi and Toriko Nishina, as well as the Palehorse Battalion soldiers, who were mostly residing in the "Meat Train" that always passes by at Kisaragi Station, and were infamous for their murderous tendencies towards the train's passengers.
Appearance[]
Monkey Shines are simian creatures who have a dark, black fur. They also have threatening red eyes, as well as sharp fangs.
Background[]
Lore[]
The Monkey Shines are based on an online story titled "Enmu" (Monkey Dream), which initially appeared in "Shinu Hodo Share ni Naranai Kowai Hanashi wo Atsumete Minai?" (Do You Want to Gather Ridiculously Scary Stories). It tells the tale of a man who wakes up at a lonely, dimly lighted train station and realises that he is dreaming. A train halted in the station after a mysterious announcement.
However, his dream appeared more like a rollercoaster from an entertainment park or a monkey train from a zoo. There were people in the cares, but they had extremely pale faces.
He decided to board the train in the third car out of curiosity regarding his dream. He instantly felt uneasy and started to question whether he was dreaming.
The terror had started as the train moved. He observed four rag-clad, hunchback midgets surrounding their victim. The dwarfs had enormous, razor-sharp blades in their hands and wore monkey masks. They started dismembering the victim, screaming and the blood odour filled the air.
As it came his turn to be ground to a pulp by the dwarfs, the guy pushed himself to awaken from his horrible nightmare. He avoided the horror by waking up in time. Four years later, he had the same dream, but this time, the announcer said he wouldn't escape the next time, and that's when he woke up.
Otherside Picnic[]
Only the trains that sometimes pull into Kisaragi Station carry the Monkey Shines. The US Marines members from the Palehorse Battalion were the first people to come into contact with them. The Marines originally sought refuge at the Station after they arrived there, where they remained until the first train pulled up, from which a number of Monkey Shines emerged and murdered a number of the Marines.
It is claimed that because the Marines had only recently arrived on the Otherside and were so insufficiently "connected" with it, their small-arms fire had no impact on the monkey shines at that moment. Following this occurrence, the Marines began to refer to the trains that arrive at Kisaragi Station as "Meat Trains" and established a camp outside from the station to avoid staying there for lengthy periods of time.
Sorawo Kamikoshi and Toriko Nishina travelled to the Otherside where they came into contact with the Palehorse Battalion and were involved in an incident where Sorawo killed the Face Dogs. When the train arrived, Sorawo realised the train was connected to the urban legend surrounding it and that it travelled between the Otherside and the "normal world." Toriko was able to enter the train by using her power to touch beings from the Otherside, and she saw the Monkey Shines temporarily murdering the passengers inside before departing.
After Sorawo and Toriko had used the train to escape, Sergeant Major Greg of the Palehorse Battalion led a group of Marines in a counterattack against the train before any of the higher-ranking officers could stop him. Greg had become mentally unstable as a result of spending a lot of time in the Otherside. Greg was able to set explosives up on the train tracks, which he then set off as the train passed.
The explosion caused the train to derail, and Sergeant Major Greg presumably killed a number of Monkey Shines in battle, demonstrating that people could become "attuned" to the Otherside after spending a lot of time there (though at the expense of their mental health) and harm Otherside beings with regular weapons. Nonetheless, as the Monkey Shines emerged from the train, they finally overran Greg and murdered him; however, the Marines never again met the Monkey Shines.
When Sorawo and Toriko came to the station to rescue the Palehorse Battalion from the Otherside, they noticed the wrecked remnants of the train and the rails.
Trivia[]
- The Monkey Shines is based on the creepypasta, Monkey Dream.
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 Villains
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Humans Otherside Entities | ||