Origins of Hit-Monkey
According to legend, an assassin, fleeing from a failed political coup, made his way through the mountains trying to escape those that would collect the bounty on his head. As his strength waned due to the cold and his injuries, he fell in the snow, high up in the mountains. He awoke in the hidden hot springs within the mountain, saved by indigenous monkeys.
All but one of the monkeys helped heal the assassin with the hot springs and medicinal herbs that the tribe would bring to him. The one dissenter saw that the human would bring nothing but disaster to his tribe. He tried to tell his fellow simians, but they would not listen. One day he watched the assassin train near the hot springs. The assassin was low on ammunition, so he trained his hand-to-hand skills.
The one distrusting monkey had finally had enough and as his tribes-mates brought herbs to the assassin, who’d began to grow ill, the monkey snatched them away from them and again tried to warn them of the impending doom the outsider would bring. He was sick of their naivety and struck several of them with the moves he’d learned from watching the assassin.
The tribe exiled the monkey and as he slowly traveled the mountains alone, cold and hungry, he saw many armed men heading toward his tribe’s home. He ran as fast as he could to warn them, but he’d arrived too late. The men shot down the assassin as he stood in the hot spring. The tribe threw snow and screamed at the men, only to be gunned down themselves. In a rage, the lone monkey attacked the men, putting them down much like he’d seen the assassin train in the woods. He grabbed their guns and took out the remaining murders. With no family and no home, the only thing left for him to do was avenge his fallen brothers.
After the massacre in the moutains, The Monkey finally managed to kill off everyone involve with the murder of his family. Once finished he was greeted by the Ghost of the Assassin who his family healed. The Ghost of the Assassin told the monkey that there were more people out there who played some part in the death of his family, people who paid those who killed them. Mainly a corrupt politician named Hideki.
Hideki is actually working for a evil man named General Kato. Hideki hired the assassin to kill the prime minister, although it wasn’t his idea he was in charge of making the arrangements. Although the Prime Minister found out but didn’t know who was behind it. The Prime Minister hired General Kato to kill the plotters. General Kato told Hideki to make it look like the Assassin was in charge of it all or else he would tell the Prime Minister he was in charge of it.
The Ghost of the Assassin tells the monkey that because he killed all those men, Hideki and General Kato think he is still alive and they can use that to their advantage.
Meanwhile Hideki is scared about General Kato and decides that once they find the Assassin he is going to hire him to kill General Kato. Although the car he is in is hit by a large truck that the monkey is driving. Hideki is seriously wounded and his assistant is desperate to find help. Although when the monkey accidentally shoots the innocent assistant he panics and runs, the Ghost of the Assassin telling him that he “cannot run away from this one” and he “cannot run away from me”.
The next day Hideki is put in the hospital and greeted by General Kato, who tells him that his identity has been compromised and that he now knows that the assassin is in Tokyo. General Kato tells Hideki that he has hired someone to deal with the problem and that someone is the famous killer Bullseye who kills Hideki.
Hit-Monkey later finds an article in the newspaper telling him that General Kato is attending a wedding. The Ghost of the Assassin tells Hit-Monkey that the wedding would be the perfect time to strike and finally kill General Kato.
At the wedding Hit-Monkey steals a suit off of a young toddler (who is the ring bearer) and tapes him up to prevent him from ruining his cover. Hit-Monkey walks down the aisle in the toddler’s suit carrying the ring searching for General Kato. When he finally finds General Kato he attacks, but General Kato gets away. Hit-Monkey manages to escape Bullseye by throwing chocolate cake into his eyes and running off.
General Kato’s men put General Kato in a secure room that can only be open from the inside. Although Hit-Monkey breaks in through the ventilation system and kills General Kato. Once Bullseye and General Kato’s men manage to break into the room, it is too late. Bullseye is furious about being outsmarted by a monkey and kills all of General Kato’s men so they won’t breath a word of it to anyone.
The Ghost of the Assassin later tells Hit-Monkey that he is only seen by Hit-Monkey because Hit-Monkey wants to see him. That he is a figment of Hit-Monkey’s imagination and that HE is Hit-Monkey. This conversation is interrupted by the toddler, but Hit-Monkey is shocked when the Toddler is killed by Bullseye who threw a knife meant for him. Hit-Monkey turns to finally challenge Bullseye to a fight to the death, a fight to avenge all the innocent men, woman, and children that Bullseye has killed.
Bullseye makes a run for it, and Hit-Monkey decides to use Bullseye’s arrogance as his weapon and runs into the city. Hit-Monkey is found by a famous fashion model and goes with her back to her apartment because when he’s with a famous person he practically becomes invisible since all the attention is on her.
Although Bullseye breaks into her apartment and threatens to kill her unless she tells him where the monkey’s trainer is. The fashion model doesn’t know and when Hit-Monkey attacks Bullseye, Bullseye easily takes him down by throwing a lollipop down his throat. Hit-Monkey performs the Heimlech maneuver on himself to get’s the lollipop out.
Bullseye tortures the fashion model until her boyfriend (a very powerful crime boss) arrives asking to make a deal. Although Hit-Monkey intervenes and him and Bullseye get into a fight. The Crime Bosses henchmen fire at the two, but accidentally shoot the innocent fashion model. Hit-Monkey takes down Bullseye and weeps over the dead body of another innocent. This gives time for Bullseye to escape.
The Fashion Model’s Crime Boss Boyfriend isn’t disappointed at all at her death and instead calls her a “whore” and only cares that he is alive. Hit-Monkey hears this and kills the Crime Boss and his henchmen. He picks up the glasses off of one of the dead bodies.
“And thus the legend was born. A killer of killers, forever to be known… as Hit-Monkey“
Hit Monkey Today
For years Hit-Monkey gained a large reputation as a bogeyman to all assassins, he would travel the world moving from city to city. He’d never take down just one assassin per city, but always multiple high profile assassins before disappearing again and moving to the next city. It was when he made his way to New York that he may have faced his toughest target yet, Deadpool.
Deadpool was trying to be Spider-Man’s partner while in New York and when him and Spider-man eventually ran into Hit-Monkey. Hit-Monkey was able to fire a bullet into Spider-Man and scare off Deadpool. However When Hit-Monkey finds that he shot an innocent he goes to help Spider-Man, but Deadpool returns to save Spider-Man but is shot to death by the Hit Monkey.
However Hit-Monkey didn’t count on Deadpool’s healing factor which healed the mercenary who later went out to seek revenge on the primate. Deadpool pretended to be Spider-man and then get shot and killed, when Peter Parker and Hit-Monkey went to Spider-man’s funeral Deadpool jumped out of the coffin and him and the Hit-Monkey fought. Spider-man tried to stop the fight and even convinced Deadpool that him and Hit-Monkey are both killers and share a lot of similarities. Deadpool tries to show Hit-Monkey that he is trying to be a good guy but Hit-Monkey only ends up biting Deadpool’s face. The two enter a “Mexican Standoff” and Deadpool ends up blowing up them both knowing he’d survive the explosion.
Later Deadpool and Spider-Man talk and Spider-Man reveals that police never found the body of Hit-Monkey, hinting that he’s probably still alive.
Alternate Realities
In Marvel Universe Vs. The Punisher he is infected by a cannibalistic virus.
Powers and Abilities
While the Hit-Monkey seems to have no actual powers, it has incredible agility and martial arts skills, and is able to use these in concert to perform an almost bullet-time like effect. The Hit-Monkey has shown the ability to take on groups of assassins despite no previous training with firearms, out maneuver both Spider-Man and Deadpool, and also shows incredible intellect as it can distinguish between who’s a hit-man and who’s not. The monkeys tribe also seems to have had a lot of experience with healing herbs, so it’s conceivable that Hit-Monkey is at least trained in some forms of medical arts.
In Other Media
Television
- In 2021, Hulu launched a Hit-Monkey animated series aimed at an adult audience. The 10-episode series tells the character’s origin in modern Japan, with a cast including Jason Sudekis as the hitman Bryce, George Takei as Shinji Yokohama, Olivia Munn as Akiko Yokohama, Reiko Aylesworth as Lady Bullseye and Yuki, Ally Maki as Detective Haruka, Noshir Dalal as Fat Cobra and Silver Samurai, and Fred Tatasciore as the title character.
Video Games
- A Hit-Monkey video game was supposedly being developed in 2013, but this turned out to be a red herring for the Deadpool game.
- Hit-Monkey appeared as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, where Gwenpool translates his dialogue.
- Hit-Monkey appears as a playable character in the Marvel Contest of Champions fighting game.
Merchandise
- Hit-Monkey was the subject of a Marvel Legends Build-a-Figure wave from Hasbro. The toy could only be assembled by collecting all the figures in the wave (Ultimate Captain America, Red She-Hulk, Hyperion, Protector, Wolverine and Archangel).
- Hit-Monkey was featured in the HeroClix figure game.
- Hit-Monkey was featured in a Marvel Legends two-pack with Deadpool from Hasbro.