At some time in the forgotten past, somebody thought it would be a good idea to bring monkeys to Halcyon. Most of them didn’t last a month but one species of hamadryas baboon not only survived, but thrived. Over the centuries, Halcyon’s accelerated natural selection turned them into these horrible little creatures.
They are omnivores, but have a much higher preference for meat than any other known species of monkey. The few Halcyonian zoologists who have studied them in detail still aren’t sure why, but the prevailing hypothesis is that they just like meat and/or hunting.
Devil Monkeys meet the definition of sentience by Alliance standards. All Devil Monkeys are tool users, have complex relationships, language, and a tribal society akin to Stone Age humans. This is widely known among Halcyonians, if not the Alliance at large. If this became common knowledge, it would have serious repercussions for Halcyonians with pet monkeys; sentient lifeforms are not pets, and owners would run afoul of slavery laws.
As nasty as they are alone, they get worse in groups; Devil Monkeys hunt in packs. A pack of enraged Devil Monkeys is a match for nearly any creature on Halcyon, and even Halcyonians will break out the crew-served weapons when confronted with a pack that’s out for blood.
The more deranged Halcyonians have been known to capture them for use as pets or attack animals. This can be a bad idea, as they are smart enough to be trained in the use of tools. Taming a Devil Monkey is an arduous process. Regular training methods don’t really work on them; they’re just too smart and ill-disposed. Instead, the prospective master has to convince the monkey that he is the dominant partner, not the monkey. This usually involves violence, and often results in the death of the Halcyonian in question. Once “tamed,” a Devil Monkey is very protective of its master, and they are most often kept as guards or attack animals. Because they can be trained in the use of tools, many Halcyonians teach their monkeys to use knives. The combination of a knife with a Devil Monkey’s natural grappling ability and fangs makes it a very dangerous critter.
Some bars even feature Devil Monkey knife fights, which are every bit as fucked up as they sound. The monkeys are typically given a Bowie knife and large tumbler of whiskey, and then thrown into a cage together. Most fights are to the death, mainly because the monkeys tend to kill each other without any encouragement from their handlers. And then do terrible, terrible things to the body.
After a good run in bar fights, most trainers will use a monkey for breeding purposes and eventually release them back into the wild. Most trainers see this as doing their part to improve the species so later generations will make even better fighters, and they just assume nature will do its thing. They’re right, but they’re forgetting one important part of the equation; monkey trainers are just as much part of nature as monkeys are.
One bar owner tried giving them guns, and to this day the McCoy’s Tavern Massacre lives in infamy on Halcyon. Two monkeys with machine pistols and knives killed 37 people before they were finally dealt with by having the bar burned to the ground around them.
These little monsters are our mascot, ladies and gentlemen.