The Monkey Bomb was created by Dr. Edward Richtofen as shown by a document from vbush on the Call of Duty: Black Ops terminal, referring to to an easter egg in Der Riese and The Giant in which it screams on fire. According to Primis Richtofen, the monkey bomb started out as a toy for Samantha, but she could never get to play with it.
The Monkey bomb lures zombies to it while playing a jingle, then explodes. While active, zombies do not pursue the players. Up to three can be carried at a time. The Monkey Bomb is used by pressing the tactical grenade button. When thrown, the player will first wind the monkey and then fix its hat. This extends the period before throwing which can be lethal if the player gets cornered. If a grenade explodes next to the Monkey Bomb, it will not cause the Monkey Bomb to detonate prematurely. It attracts all zombies to the bomb for around seven seconds, and explodes. Monkey Bombs are also replenished by a Max Ammopower-up.
Call of Duty: World at War[]
The Cymbal Monkey appears in the map, Der Riese and can only be obtained through the Mystery Box.
The Monkey Bomb also has two achievements. The first is Acquire Waffle Weapons which is given to the player when the player has the Ray Gun, Wunderwaffe DG-2, and the Monkey Bomb at once. The other achievement is The Might of the Monkey which requires the player to use the Monkey Bomb once.
The Monkey Bomb's origin is unknown, although evidence that the Monkey Bomb is made from a real monkey can be found in the character biography of Dr. Richtofen where it says, "He has a collection of stuffed animals, most of them posed in positions of terror at the instant of their death." Since Richtofen worked at the Der Riese facility, it is highly possible that he had something to do with their creation, and that they are in fact stuffed monkeys which he had cruelly killed.
It is also hinted that the Monkey Bomb was once one of Samantha Maxis' toys and is now possessed. This is strengthened by the fact that it says, "Here I come, Sam" or "You're not Sam!" and after a Monkey Bomb explodes, the surviving zombies will sometimes say "Sam", "Monkey" and sometimes even "Play time!" This is further backed up by an easter egg in Der Riese. If the Monkey Bomb is thrown into the furnace, it will not play its normal polka music. Instead, it will hop around inside of the furnace and scream out in pain. After the monkey explodes, a female voice, presumably Samantha, yells at the player: "Why are you so cruel to Mister Monkey!? Mister Monkey just wanted to play!". A similar Easter also returns in The Giant.
Acquire Waffle Weapons (25 / Silver Trophy ) - Obtain the Ray Gun, Wunderwaffe DG-2 and the Monkey Bomb at the same time in one game.
Call of Duty: Zombies[]
The Monkey Bomb returns in Call of Duty: Zombies where it will attract Zombies and Hellhounds alike. In this version, the player can only carry a max of 2, and the Monkey Bomb will instead be dropped instead of thrown.
Call of Duty: Black Ops[]
The Monkey Bomb appears unchanged in Kino der Toten, Five, Shangri-La and the returning maps from Call of Duty: World at War.
It also appears as a power-up in Dead Ops Arcade. When obtained, a large Monkey Bomb is placed and zombies run towards it, like in the other maps. This monkey will lie on its back. This only happens in Dead Ops Arcade. The Monkey Bomb is considered to be a human in Dead Ops Arcade, so Zombies will only go after it if they closer to the Monkey Bomb than a player (as their AI is programmed to do).
The Monkey Bomb appears the same as it did in Call of Duty: Black Ops. It is featured in Green Run and all its sub-maps (Town, Farm, Bus Depot), as well as Nuketown Zombies, Die Rise, Buried and Origins. The only real difference is that the song plays on a different tune than the previous games. Richtofen, interestingly does not remark about the Monkey Bomb, despite it having been his creation. It also appears in the game mode Turned as a power-up for the human. It spawns a dummy human that stands still and makes the human player invisible. If the dummy is attacked, it will blow up.
In Gorod Krovi specifically, it can be upgraded by performing the following steps:
This step can be done even before any players obtain the Monkey Bomb. There are four candles and four flower vases scattered around the map, each of which is visible to one specific player only. Players that wish to upgrade must find their respective vase and candle, and pick them up. For the candle, they must first be lit up using the fireball attack of the Guard of Fafnir/Tiamat's Maw before it can be picked up.
Candle Locations:
Supply Depot, on the table with 3 small wooden boxes atop it, to the left of the GobbleGum Machine. This is always the location for solo/the host in co-op.
Department Store 2nd Floor, halfway between the mannequin that holds the Mangler Helmet and the door leading to the outside balcony with the Mystery Box spawn, on top of some cabinets and in front of the line of books, on the right side. This is always the location for the second player in co-op.
Infirmary, on the bunk bed with the metal canteen touching the stairs leading up to the top level.
Tank Factory, on the metal desk to the left of Double Tap.
Flower Vase Locations:
Dragon Command, on the desk in the small room with the Mystery Box spawn. This is always the location for solo/the host in co-op.
Supply Depot, upstairs in the library, on the small desk in the corner. This is always the location for the second player in co-op.
Supply Depot, on the desk in front of the Map next to where the Bomb on the wall for the Easter Egg is located.
Department Store 2nd Floor, on the small white table directly next to the L-CAR9 wall buy.
Kill 50 zombies in total with Monkey Bombs. After getting said amount of kills, a zombie will drop a metal flask which will be floating a glowing light blue which can be picked up at any time by pressing the Interact button. In co-op, these kills are shared between all players.
The flask will not drop if the Easter Egg Love and War is already fully completed in the same match. This step must be done before fighting the boss.
The best way to accomplish this objective is only throwing Monkey Bombs when Insta-Kill is active, as the damage it causes falls off sharply by Round 15-20 and onwards.
The Mega GobbleGums Cache Back and Kill Joy will also grant the respective powerups if used.
Alternatively for ammo, one can purposefully fail the Draconite Controller Lockdown by not using Dragon Strike during this event, causing the Lockdown to release at the end and prompt players to try again. This will spawn a Max Ammo by the Pack-a-Punch Machine every time, additionally replenishing ammo lost on normal weaponry with each attempt, however this will take close to
With all 3 items collected, return to Belinski Square where the Trials tombstones are is located. Each player with the Monkey Bomb wishing to upgrade must throw one Monkey Bomb on their respective grave, then press the Interact button on the green flame on top of their tombstone. The collected items from the first 2 steps shall then be placed in front of the grave, and the upgraded Monkey Bomb will rise from the grave, which can then be collected.
Stand directly on the grave and look straight down to toss the Monkey Bomb. The Monkey Bomb must land on the clearly shifted ground of the grave itself in front of the tombstone.
Looking up at the green flame will give a prompt "Press (Interact Button) to ???". The prompt will only be available while the Monkey Bomb is active.
The upgraded Monkey Bomb will pulse red when deployed, instantly killing any zombies touching it while it is still attracting them, also dealing more damage than its predecessor. The weapon's voice when priming is also changed, sounding more demonic, and the music is electronic instead of an accordion.
The Mega GobbleGum Crate Power can be used to upgrade the Monkey Bomb for individual players, bypassing all of the above steps.
According to Marlton, the explosive material in the Monkey Bomb is C4.
Sometimes the Monkey Bomb will say "You're not Sam!"
The Monkey Bomb may also sometimes say "Hi! I'm Monkey. Wanna play?" This is a reference to a similar quote by the character Chucky in the Child's Play horror film series.
Richtofen, before the events of Zombies, gave Samantha a Monkey Bomb, which she seemed to like.
On the Monkey Bomb's hat there is the Group 935 logo. However, in Black Ops III, the logo has been removed, except for the Monkey Bomb needed to complete the Fly Trap quest in The Giant.
If the "give all"command is used via the console (in the PC version), the player will get 12 special grenades. Nine will be Molotov Cocktails thrown like normal grenades and the three will be Monkey Bombs that will not make any sounds and will not attract zombies. However, if the player has already received Monkey Bombs before using the "give all" command the three Monkeys Bombs received from the command will attract zombies and make sound.
In Samantha's intact room in Kino der Toten, a monkey can be found lying on the pillow facing up, right next to the Film Reel. Instead of a bomb strapped to its back, it has a basket with drawing tools.
The Monkey Bomb screams if the player throws it into the furnace in Der Riese and The Giant or the lava cracks in Green Run. This will render the Monkey useless, as it does not attract zombies.
If thrown into an inaccessible area, the zombies may either stop still (not attacking the player for the duration the Monkey is active), or the Demonic Announcer may laugh at the player, similarly to getting a Teddy Bear from the Mystery Box, in which case the Monkey does not attract zombies.
In the iOS version of Zombies, the player does not throw the Monkey Bomb. They prime it and drop it on the ground instead.
In the iOS version, the Monkey Bomb attracts Hellhounds.
In the iOS version, the Monkey Bomb will down the user regardless if they have Juggernog or not.
In Call of Duty: Zombies, it is possible to have the Monkey Bombs, the Molotov Cocktail and the Bouncing Betties at the same time.
If the Monkey Bomb bounces before becoming stable and attracting zombies, it will grunt on each bounce.
If one throws an EMP Grenade at the Monkey Bomb, it will instantly explode.
Zombies killed by the Monkey Bomb will not drop power-ups.
The Monkey Bomb has a different appearance and a different HUD icon in Buried as well as Origins, showing the entire monkey's head instead of just its hat.
If the player throws the Monkey Bomb and dies before it explodes, the character who threw it will make a comment about its explosion on the post-game score screen.
Xbox LIVE players could purchase the Cymbal Monkey as an item for their avatar.
In The Giant, if all teleporters are linked, using each teleporter while a monkey bomb is placed inside will cause a button next to the Pack-a-Punch machine (in the spawn area) to blink red. If the player holds the "use" button while looking at it, the Giant Robot will fire a laser revealing a Perk-a-Cola machine that was previously covered in snow. The perk can be either Stamin-Up or Deadshot Daiquiri.