Ape, Not Monkey

Ape, Not Monkey is a webcomic by Jeffrey Watson that has been running from July 2008. The three main characters of the strip are Toby, a skeptical atheist ape; Pastor Bear, a fundamentalist and creationist Christian bear; and Wilbur, a dog who swears by alternative medicine and is an environmentalist.

Later, more characters are added: H.R., a confidence trickster who is a mongoose; Thomas, a religious moderate tortoise; Arlen, a pika who is also a paranoid Conspiracy Theorist; Piggy McCarthy, a pig who believes vaccines are dangerous; Clemens, a Hollywood Atheist who treats "every religious claim as a scientific one", and Dee-Quack Chopra, a duck Captain Ersatz of Deepak Chopra.

The strip doesn't pull punches when criticising people's beliefs and is written from a clearly atheist and skeptical perspective.

Tropes used in Ape, Not Monkey include:

• Captain Ersatz:
  • Word of God in this interview says Dee-Quack Chopra is one of Deepak Chopra and Arlen is one of Alex Jones.
  • Glenn Bear, a side character in a few strips, is one of Glenn Beck.
• Deadpan Snarker: Toby. in strip two.

Pastor Bear: "...Now if you excuse me, I'm going to Church." Toby: "Maybe God will favor you with a present for such behaviour."

• Cloudcuckoolander: The strip runs on this. Examples are everything Arlen thinks about the world, Pastor Bear trying to make his own gasoline, and numerous side characters' beliefs.
• Con Man: H.R.
• The Fundamentalist: Pastor Bear, who also preaches of Fire and Brimstone Hell.
• Hitler Ate Sugar: In this strip.

Pastor Bear: "You know who also liked evolution?" "Adolf Hitler!" Toby: "You know who also associated things with Adolf Hitler?" "ADOLF HITLER!"

• Hollywood Atheist: Clemens
• Lethal Chef: Pastor Bear in the third strip.

Toby: "And there's a shoe in it!" Pastor Bear: "Perhaps having faith in my cooking abilities isn't enough."

• Un Entendre: in this strip:

Pastor Bear: "God has planted the seeds of success inside you." Toby: "And he didn't even buy me dinner first!"

• Unexplained Recovery: A man who was clinically dead for 45 minutes, mentioned in the very first strip.