Representations of gorillas are common in popular culture in the Western world[1] with the full range of electronic media having gorillas as mascots, gorillas behaving like humans, and humans behaving like gorillas.
Art
The French sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet won a medal of honour at the Salon of 1887 for his masterly Gorilla Carrying off a Woman ("Gorille enlevant une Femme"). The sculpture depicts a gorilla abducting a woman, something totally alien to actual gorilla behaviour.[2] The Frémiet sculpture had somehow caught the public's imagination, as witnessed by the repeated popularity of the King Kong theme.
In the Dragon Ball franchise, the protagonist Goku and several other characters belong to an extraterrestrial species known as Saiyans that can transform into gigantic gorilla-like beings called Great Apes.
In the Tarzan-parody animated TV series George of the Jungle, George's best friend is an erudite talking gorilla named Ape. In the Disney 1997 film adaptation, Ape is voiced by John Cleese.
Windsor, a supporting character in the animated Cartoon Network series, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, is a gorilla.
In the anime series Cromartie High School, a gorilla is one of the more powerful delinquents at Cromartie High. He (she?) also plays backup guitar for "Freddie", a fellow student who may or may not be Freddie Mercury.
In the Beast Wars and Beast Machines TV series, the leader of the Maximals, Optimus Primal, adopted an organic-skinned "beast mode" of a gorilla; and later in the series a TransMetal gorilla, and then (Beast Machines) he became a techno-organic gorilla.
In the animated television series Ben 10, the future version of Dr. Animo has a detachable human head and the body of a gorilla as seen in the episode "Ben 10,000".
Marvel Apes, a Marvel Comics mini-series in which The Gibbon is transported into an alternate earth where all the Superheroes have simian counterparts (Captain Apemerica).
Grease Monkey is a science fiction series centered around intelligent gorillas.
In the space opera webcomic Schlock Mercenary, one of the recurring characters is an uplifted gorilla (i.e. a gorilla that has genetically enhanced, human-level sentience). This gorilla also bears the name Kerchak.
Various non-human apes dominate the world in the Planet of the Apes novel and film series, among them gorillas, who act as the soldiers and laborers in ape society. Notable characters include General Ursus and Aldo.
George the white gorilla from Rampage (2018), film directed by Brad Peyton.
A monstrous German gorilla in a World War I propaganda poster (Harry R. Hopps; 1917)
Fester Bestertester, the protagonist of Don Martin's Mad strip National Gorilla-Suit Day is beset by gorillas (or persons dressed as gorillas). "National Gorilla-Suit Day" is celebrated every year on January 31.
In the award-winning novel Ishmael, written by Daniel Quinn, a gorilla teaches the protagonist about the history of humanity and the effect "civilized" culture has had on other species.
In The Uplift War, a science-fiction novel by David Brin, gorillas transported to the planet Garth for experiments in uplift play a significant role in the plot.
In the North American Confederacyalternate history series by L. Neil Smith, gorillas (along with other greater primates) are recognized as sentient beings and are granted full citizenship in the eponymous political entity. In the first novel in the series, The Probability Broach, a gorilla, Olongo Featherstone-Haugh (pronounced "Fanshaw"), is mentioned as having served as the largely ceremonial Vice-President of the NAC. The second novel, The Venus Belt, states that he was then elected as the equally ceremonial President of the NAC from 1996 to 2000, retiring after one term.
In the Animorphs book series, one of the main characters, Marco, shapeshifts into the form of a gorilla as his main 'battle morph'.
Georges Brassens' song Le Gorille describes how an escaped gorilla mistakes a judge for a woman and rapes him. The song was very controversial upon its release and banned for a few years in France.
The Rolling Stones' compilation album, GRRR!, features cover artwork of a gorilla with their tongue-and-lips logo.
Rubicon features a track called "Vanilla Gorilla" on their self-titled debut album, Rubicon.
Online games
Gorillas are also Beasts in the popular fantasy MMO World of Warcraft some can be tamed and used by the Hunter Class in the game though they are not nearly as commonly used as other potential pets.
In the popular superhero-themed MMO Champions Online, Dr. Silverback is one of the most important heroes of the setting and a contact for the players.
The team-based multiplayer shooter Overwatch features a hero named Winston, a gorilla who was born and raised on a futuristic lunar colony and received an education in science, enabling him to become an advanced engineer and scientist himself.
Multiple episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants contain Gorillas as characters. In the episode "I Had an Accident", Patrick dresses up as a Gorilla while pretending to attack Sandy to lure SpongeBob back outside. Another starfish that looks like him comes up, turning out to be a real Gorilla, who attacks Patrick and Sandy by throwing them into a bag. When SpongeBob comes out to save them, the Gorilla rips him in half and leaves. Other episodes include "Friend or Foe" and "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout".
Several episodes of The Three Stooges include a gorilla in the plot, which is really a person in a costume.
In the Oct. 31, 2002, Halloween episode of the NBC series Scrubs, chief of staff Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins) wears a gorilla suit, unbeknownst to the doctors.
The Gorilla chief of security, General Urko, served as the primary antagonist of the live-action television series Planet of the Apes while another version of the character was the primary antagonist of the animated series Return to the Planet of the Apes. Numerous other Gorilla characters also served as one-off antagonists in both series.
The talking gorilla super-villain King Gorilla appeared in several episodes of The Venture Bros.
In Rogue Galaxy, there are three gorilla-like species. A gorra is a simple gorilla found in Juraika.
The Pokémon Slaking is based on a gorilla mixed loosely with a sloth. Rillaboom, the final evolution of the Grass-type starter Pokémon from Pokémon Sword and Shield, Grookey, also greatly resembles a gorilla with elements of drummers. The region where Sword/Shield is set is intended as reference to England, making this likely a reference to the Cadbury's advert.
A zombified gorilla, the Cosmic Silverback, appears as a boss antagonist in Call of Duty: Black Ops minigame, Dead Ops Arcade.
Several types of gorillas appear in Everquest 2, anywhere there is jungle, or in the Shard of Fear.
Winston, a genetically engineered Gorilla scientist, from Overwatch.
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