ANGLO-SIMIAN

Real Name: Joseph Cornelius

Identity/Class: Extradimensional/Alternate reality (Earth-5905) ape, probably magic mutate, probably power enhanced by costume;
   citizen of Great Britain (or local equivalent thereof)

Occupation: Protector of Britain (whatever it is called in his reality), Earth-5905, agent of the Corps

Group Membership: [Captain Britain] Corps (Britanotron-91418, Brother Brit-Man-65/Gilles Weill, Captain Airstrip One-744/George Smith, Captain Albion-523/Katherine Huggens, Captain Angleterre-305/Paul-Henri Spencer, Captain Britain-616/Brian Braddock, Captain Colonies-4103/Stephen Rogers, Captain Commonwealth-920/Doug Andrews, Captain Cymru-1282/Morwen Powell, Captain Empire-741/Robert Doherty, Captain England-522/Henric Lockwood, Captain U.K.-238/Linda McQuillan, Friar Albion-9586/Petros Wisdom, Madam Sussex-4811/Francesca Grace, Major Commonwealth-4904/Bryon Falsworth, Officer Saxon-9108/Peter Hunter, Percy Penfold-81289, Samurai Saxonai-6315/Kendra Matusmoto, others)

Affiliations: Merlyn, Roma, Saturnyne-9

Enemies: Beyonders, Horoam'ce, the Fury, Mad Jim Jaspers-616;
   formerly Captain Britain-616 (Brian Braddock), Captain U.K.-238, Fantastic Four-616 (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Sue Richards, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Fantomex-616 (Charlie Cluster 7), Alyssa Moy-616, Psylocke-616 (Elizabeth Braddock), Franklin Richards-616;
   probably Manchester Gods (Master Wilson), Mastermind, Mastermind's Warpie Army (AC-DC, Fern, Giggles, Lump, Quill, others) (see comments)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Split between Starlight Citadel, Otherworld and Earth-5905

First Appearance: Excalibur I#44 (November, 1991)

Powers/Abilities: Anglo-Simian possesses superhuman abilities similar to and presumably at a similar level to Captain Britain's: superhuman strength (lifting 90 tons), flight (up to 770 mph), enhanced reflexes, stamina and senses. Again like his fellow Corpsman, he presumably is powered by interdimensional frictional energies focused in a matrix centered on the island of Great Britain (or whatever name it goes by in his reality). 

Height: 5'9" (by estimation)
Weight: 530 lbs. (by estimation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Fur: Brown

History:
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Hardcover#2) - Joseph Cornelius was Anglo-Simian, the Corps representative from Earth-5905.

(Excalibur I#44) - When Captain Britain-616 was put on trial by the Corps, Anglo-Simian shared courtroom bailiff duties with robotic Corpsman Britanotron-91418, holding the enraged prisoner as he struggled against his restraints as the trial commenced. Anglo-Simian remained on standby once the prisoner calmed down and had his restraints removed. When the judges subsequently sentenced Captain Britain to death with immediate effect, Anglo-Simian was at the forefront of dozens of Corpsmen who immediately leapt forward to execute the prisoner.

(Excalibur I#45) - Anglo-Simian lay on the floor stunned, while Captain Britain and his defense counsel, Captain U.K.-238, battled ongoing waves of attacking Corpsmen.

(Excalibur I#45 - BTS) - Anglo-Simian was presumably still on the ground recovering a few moments later when Saturnyne halted the battle on the orders of Roma.

(Fantastic Four III#7) - Wearing a slightly modified costume, Anglo-Simian joined other Corpsmen, including Britanotron, Samurai Saxonai-6315, ...

(Fantastic Four III#8) - ...and possibly Captain U.K....

(Fantastic Four III#7) - ...sent by Roma to retrieve Franklin Richards-616 from his family, the Fantastic Four, by force if necessary.

(Fantastic Four III#8) - In the ensuing battle Anglo-Simian was sent flying, apparently by one of the Thing's powerful punches.

(X-Men: Die By The Sword#3) - When Otherworld was again threatened, this time by a resurrected Mad Jim Jaspers, who had begun turning everyone who stood in his way into ersatz versions of the Fury, the Corps was again summoned to the Starlight Citadel's defense. Anglo-Simian joined his fellows sent into battle, charging Jaspers alongside Captain Cymru-1262, Percy Penfold-81289 and others.

(X-Men: Die By The Sword#3-4 - BTS) - He presumably fell in battle like the majority of the Corps.

(Uncanny X-Force I#22 (fb) - BTS) - Detecting an approaching threat to all reality, Merlyn had the reality warping Jamie Braddock restore the slain Corps; if Anglo-Simian had been slain by Jaspers, this was presumably how and when he was revived (see comments).

(Uncanny X-Force I#19) - Anglo-Simian, Brother Brit-Man-65, Captain Albion-523, and other Corpsmen, accompanied Captain Britain from Otherworld to Earth-616 to arrest Fantomex-616 and bring back Psylocke-616.

(Uncanny X-Force I#20-23 - BTS) - Anglo-Simian joined the rest of the Corps in battling the invading undead hordes of Horoam'ce.

(New Avengers III#30 (fb) - BTS) - Anglo-Simian was presumably slain along with the majority of the Corps when the Beyonders launched an all out attack on the Starlight Citadel (see comments).

Comments: Created by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer.

    Appearing only as a background character with no dialogue in a number of Corps gatherings, Anglo-Simian's codename, true name and Earth number were revealed in the Corps entry for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Hardcovers. His secret identity, Joseph Cornelius, is a nod to famous apes Mighty Joe Young and Cornelius from the Planet of the Apes movie series. It's unrevealed if he hails from a world of apes (similar to Earth-8101, where he may well have a counterpart - Brian Brad-ook?), or if he is a sentient ape in a world of humans, though I suspect the former is more likely. I'm unsure what species of ape he is. He looks closer to a gorilla in Fantastic Four III#7 than he does in other appearances. It's entirely feasible that he's from a species that doesn't exist on worlds where humans evolved to be dominant.

    Often in the background, but thankfully less likely to be easily mistaken for another member of the Corps, Anglo-Simian is still a touch hard to spot at times. At first glance he doesn't appear to be on-panel in Fantastic Four III#8, though he was definitely present at the end of the previous issue, mere seconds earlier in-story. However, his face can be spotted on the third page of the story, top right of the panel, as he is sent flying by an attack.

    Anglo-Simian isn't seen in Excalibur vol.2 or New Avengers III#30, but both of these involved the entire Corps being called in to defend Otherworld from a major threat and then being decimated. He was depicted among the corpses scattered around Captain Britain-616's feet on the cover New Avengers III#30, lying alongside Captain U.K., Hauptmann Englande, a Roman-themed Corpsman (maybe Centurion Britannus) and Spider-UK - but the last of these definitely (a) wasn't present for this final battle and (b) didn't die, so this cover is clearly not to be considered solid evidence of any specific individuals' fates. Anglo-Simian nevertheless was likely present and suffered the same fate as all the others, which has been reflected in his history above. Luckily for him, the Corps have a habit of reviving their dead (or at worst replacing them with virtually identical alternate reality counterparts). Similarly he's not visible in Journey Into Mystery IV#639-641, another time when multiple Corps members were called to Otherworld; however, this appeared to involve smaller numbers of Corps members, so while he might have been present off panel I've left those off his history. It is, of course, possible that he was absent for all of these events. Since he was seen in Uncanny X-Force I#19, I've ASSumed he is still hanging around for the subsequent issues of that storyline, off-panel somewhere helping defend Otherworld.

   Why was Anglo-Simian apparently not present at Brian Braddock and Meggan Puceanu's wedding and reception in Excalibur I#125, when so many other Corpsmen, and even foes of Excalibur, were invited and in attendance? We've never been told, but my best guess is that it's simply proof of a statement author Douglas Adams made in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "Earthmen are not proud of their ancestors, and never invite them round to dinner."


    This profile was completed 09/27/2020, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Anglo-Simian has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Excalibur I#44, p22, pan5 (main image)
Excalibur I#44, p2, pan1 (restraining Captain Britain)
Fantastic Four III#7, p22, pan2 (confronting Fantastic Four)
Uncanny X-Force I#19, p20, pan1 (arresting Fantomex)
New Avengers III#30, cover (apparently dead during Beyonders attack)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Episode 1 (ape attending dinner party)

Appearances:
Excalibur I#44-45 (November-December, 1991) - Alan Davis (writer/pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Fantastic Four III#7-8 (July-August, 1998) - Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
X-Men: Die By The Sword#3 (January 2008) - Chris Claremont (writer), Juan Santacruz & Cafu (pencils), Raul Fernandez, Andrew Pepoy and Norberto Fernandez (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Uncanny X-Force I#19 (February 2012) - Rick Remender (writer), Robbi Rodriguez (artist), Jody Leheup (editor)
Uncanny X-Force I#20-24 (March-June 2012) - Rick Remender (writer), Greg Tocchini (artist), Jody Leheup (editor)
New Avengers III#30 (April 2015) - Jonathan Hickman (writer), Dalabor Talajic(pencils), Rick Magyar (inks), Tom Brevoort and Will Moss (editors)

First Posted: 09/04/2021
Last updated: 09/01/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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