Gorilla, The Desperado (Warren Zevon)

NAME/ORIGIN
Character name	Gorilla, The Desperado
Song/Album	"Gorilla"/ Wanted Dead or Alive
Act	Warren Zevon
Writer	Warren Zevon
Release Date	1969
ABILITIES
Powers	Can do pretty much whatever humans can, which for a gorilla is super
Skills	-Drive a car "Snatched the keys to my BMW/ Left me here..." -Can use money and/or tools, handle legal maters "Built a house on an acre of land" -Rent a room at a hotel "Laying low at L'Hermitage" -Engages in sports "Plays racquetball"
Attributes	Has human-like aspirations and reactions
Vulnerabilities	Depression
Formidability	Has the superior strength/agility of a gorilla Is also able to communicate seamlessly with humans
Attractiveness	His being a gorilla still allows him to do business and be in a relationship
Source	A human's  glasses
Goals	Have the freedoms of a human
POSSESSIONS
Weapons	None, but is a gorilla
Amulets	N/A
Objects	A "platinum chain," a racquetball racquet
Clothing	Glasses
Vehicles	A BMW
Dwelling	A house and a luxury hotel room
Milieu	Los Angeles (speculative)
BIOGRAPHY
Gender	Male
Age	Adult
Physique	Healthy; exercises regularly
Ethnicity	Primate?
Origin	Africa
Ancestry	is a gorilla
Profession	Real estate
Education	self-taught
SES	High
Relationships	Divorced from a human
Pets	N/A
PERSONALITY
Morality	Generally good, but selfish
Intro/extrovert	Extrovert, Is a social climber
Intelligence	Above average for a human; extremely high for a gorilla
Emotions	Ambitious, but "depressed." Being human did not make him happy.
Sanity	Sane, but disappointed
Enemies	Divorce lawyers (zookeepers don't seem to be after him)
Narrative Function	Protagonist
Other Notes	A gorilla sees a zoo visitor wearing glasses, and being naturally curious, grabs the glasses and puts them on the way the human did. Suddenly, he can see things from a human viewpoint! And he prefers it! The man comes closer to grab his glasses back, so he grabs the man's keys, too. He has seen zookeepers use keys before, and somehow these keys unlock his cage, too! So he grabs the man and throws him in his cage, which breaks the man's cell phone. He pushes the buttons on the man's key fob, and one car blinks its lights. He has seen humans drive before, so he hops in and drives off. At a light, he begins pushing buttons and somehow activates the car's GPS, which guides him to the man's apartment, which is messy. The man's girlfriend comes over and either doesn't notice that her boyfriend has been replaced by a gorilla or doesn't care. (At the end of the song, we see the man is still in the gorilla cage; this is one gorilla-looking dude for no one at the zoo to notice the switch, either!) They end up getting married, and the gorilla has a house built for them, which he dubs Villa Gorilla. The man had predicted that, just as he had made the girlfriend blue, the gorilla would, too... and yes, they get divorced and sell the house and land. The gorilla decides to take a room at a luxury hotel and plan his next move. Disheartened that he seems only to have traded one cage for another, he gets depressed. But with therapy and exercise, he is learning to accept that life only allows you to choose, somewhat, which responsibilities to have, but not to have none. Everyone lives in a cage of some sort, he realizes. And the man? He had been chasing wealth and love. He now he lacks freedom, but gets free room and board at the zoo. He doesn't seem to be upset about that development, and may have ended up both more content than before, and more content than the gorilla is now.