Big Ape

Big Ape is the leader of the Miniknog and supreme glorious ruler of all Apex-kind... as far as the general public (and the Apex society in specific) are aware. An all-knowing and all-seeing uber-ape of incredible intelligence, resolve, and musical skill, whose elaborate surveillance network, ruthless police force and outright scary army of scientists are all there to keep the Apex safe and secure, trust us.

In reality, "Big Ape" is a figurehead, a work of fiction created by the Miniknog to keep a psychological grip on the Apex citizenry. This idealized authoritarian leader can do no wrong and never appear weak, giving a strong voice to the aims of the mysterious Miniknog ruling council, whoever they are at any given time.[1]

With the rise of rebel activity across all of Apex society, the Miniknog have created a lethal mechanical construct of Big Ape, a literal figurehead, which they have begun to sic on captured troublemakers and unlucky test subjects. The tales told by the few survivors of Big Ape's ferocity have helped cement fear of their "leader" in the Apex society and serve as a threat to any who might question Big Ape's rule.

The report from research and development test performed by the Miniknog. The newest iteration of the Big Ape Projection and Ballistic Implementation System is proving highly effective. So far all test subjects have been nullified.

There is still debate amongst the Research and Development team as to the benefits of limiting lethality in the system.

Previous iterations have left some subjects alive, and the experiences of these survivors has had a huge impact upon their psyche.

Their resultant terror of "Big Ape" has inspired levels of loyalty to the figure that are previously unheard of. Proponents for adjustment point out that nurturing this aspect of the system could be beneficial to ongoing promotion of the Big Ape construct.

This school of thought is gaining momentum, and it is likely that changes will soon be implemented to purposefully allow some limited potential for the survival of test subjects.

Notwithstanding this, there has been much celebration within the department as a result of realising a 100% fatality rate using the current version of the system.

A torn page belonging to a crucial Miniknog document. Budget Allocation Proposal

1 Overview 1.1 Civil Review and Security 1.2 Research and Development

2 Societal Unity 2.1 Re-education 2.2 Broadcasting Big Ape

3 Suppressing the Rebels 3.1 Identifying Insurgents 3.2 Military Action 3.3 Retribution

The Miniknog have tried to reverse the physical devolution caused by VEP with the De-Ape programme, but the project has been wrought with issues, making it little more than a way to dispatch political dissenters.

In all likelihood, the pathogen that gave rise to the Miniknog was either never real, or was itself made by the Miniknog. Fabricating this disease would have allowed them to immediately take power, pose themselves as saviors, and enroll the entire race into participating in their experiments. With one simple move, the once-insignificant researchers of the Ministry of Knowledge had grown into an all-powerful regime not limited by ethics or funding, taking the Apex into an age of advancement at the expense of their freedom.

The Miniknog is the oppressive government of Apex civil society and the main antagonist in the quest to fetch the Apex artifact. They are responsible for VEP, which transformed the Apex into the intelligent yet ape-like race seen now.

The player will encounter the Miniknog as the dominant power at Apex test facilities, Apex Miniknog bases, Apex city apartments, and Miniknog base space encounters, as well as the Miniknog stronghold. The Miniknog “leader”, Big Ape, is supposedly an all powerful, godlike Apex being who is constantly lionized by Miniknog propaganda. Despite what most Apex have been lead to believe, Big Ape is actually a fiction perpetuated by the Miniknog. It is not revealed in game to the player who is truly at the top of Apex society, but it appears to be some form of oligarchical ruling council[1].

The Miniknog is neither all-knowing nor all-powerful, as a large number of rebel camps exist across the known universe. As such, the Apex are the only race in the game shown to be engaged in a full-blown internal conflict. Before it came into power, the Miniknog was known as the Ministry of Knowledge and were seemingly responsible for overseeing scientific efforts in Apex society. When the Cultivator bestowed the Apex with an artifact known as The Genesis Coil, it came into the Ministry of Knowledge's possession.

In a major bid for power, the Ministry of Knowledge, now reestablished as the "Miniknog", warned of a deadly waterborne pathogen that their doctors had already discovered a cure for. With the required vaccination of all citizens also came forced enrollment into the Vestigi-Evo Process, which significantly improved mental functions, but had the unintentional side effect of physically devolving the once-human-like species into apes. Within ten years, the entire Apex race had undergone VEP, marking a permanent change in their biology.

Apex villages and dungeons can be found on all planet types that can have surface-level full-sized dungeons except for Lush (aka "starter") planets. They are most likely to appear on Tundra planets over any other type.

Apex structures lean towards "modern" to high-tech styling. Miniknog-controlled areas are covered in Big Ape propaganda and security camera (both obvious and hidden), whether the structure be a beige cookie-cutter "Standard Issue" apartment living space or bright-grey sanitized science lab of dubious intent.

By contrast, Apex rebel camps are grubby affairs of scavenged supplies and hastily-constructed bunkers.

The Apex are one of the seven playable races in Starbound, and one of the six races entrusted with an Ancient artifact.

They were originally a much more human-like race until a mysterious water-borne pathogen of a supposedly unknown origin threatened their survival. The ruling government, known as the Miniknog, had developed a cure that countered the harmful effects of the pathogen, with the side effect of starting VEP (Vestigi-Evo Process). This greatly increased their mental capabilities, with the tradeoff of 'devolving' their bodies to a more ape-like state. In truth, the Miniknog likely created this virus as an excuse to put all Apex through this process.

It took less than 10 years for every member of the race to undergo VEP. During this time, all records of Apex society's prior existence were destroyed, and the Miniknog's leader Big Ape took complete and total control over it. Apex leadership dictates jobs, the economy, fashion trends, food rations, and who is selected for experiments for the advancement of Apex biological science (most notably experiments to reverse the physical devolution of their species). Due to the aforementioned destruction of Apex history, there is no certainty as to how long the Miniknog has actually been in charge.

Apex society has also spawned a number of rebel groups, who have made efforts to combat the Miniknog's oppressive rule. These efforts have yielded limited success — while they have succeeded keeping small groups of Apex safely outside of Miniknog rule, the majority of settlements are still Miniknog-controlled. The Apex Ship is a sleek, ultra-modern craft covered in (nonfunctional) guns. Once upgraded to the Condor Class (the largest Ship class), the Apex ship is a gigantic diamond-shaped arrangements of rooms that is largely symmetrical both vertically and horizontally, bristling with turrets outside.

Apex ship pets are Weasels, coming in one of ten different colors chosen at random.