Character from Plague Inc. by Ndemic Creations
The ape uprising — a cross-species pathogen that boosts simian intelligence while devastating human populations, straight from the Planet of the Apes.
Simian Flu is a licensed crossover with the Planet of the Apes reboot films, and it's the most narratively complex pathogen in the game. You're not just spreading a disease — you're managing an interspecies revolution. The virus makes apes smarter while making humans sick, and you need to balance both fronts. Ape colonies appear on the world map — communities of intelligence-enhanced primates that can be directed to migrate, establish new colonies, and eventually wage war against human settlements. The ape management layer adds genuine strategic depth: you're choosing between investing DNA points in the virus's spread through humans or in your ape army's capabilities. The thematic resonance with the films is strong. Caesar's journey from lab subject to revolutionary leader maps onto the player's experience of building scattered ape colonies into a coordinated civilization. The endgame isn't just 'all humans dead' — it's 'apes inherit the earth,' complete with the melancholy that implies.
A modified retrovirus with dual-species tropism — one configuration enhances simian neural development, the other destroys human immune function. On the evolution screen, the pathways branch into separate human and ape trees, reflecting the dual-front strategy. Ape colony markers appear on the world map as orange dots alongside infection red.
Also known as: ALZ-113, Ape Flu, Simian Plague