"I Am NOT a Monkey"- An Opinion
I think every player who wants to play an interesting character can learn a lot from Overwatch's scientist and inventor, who happens to be a gorilla, Winston.
(Who doesn't like bananas? They're delicious. Blizzard Entertainment)
I will be honest with you guys, I generally, 99% of the time, hate awakened creature characters in D&D. Thanks to stories like that of Sir Bearington of internet fame, the idea of playing a goofy animal character has grown pretty prevalent. However, I am convinced that every time a player thinks that playing this sort of character sounds fun, I immediately and drastically consider shutting down my blog and and throwing my Dungeon Master's Guide in the fire. When a player says, "I'm going to play an awakened horse barbarian character" and they are in a campaign with a serious tone or a less than goofy tone, I immediately perceive it as the player is disrespecting the tone of the game by creating an outlandish character because they think it is funny. It's not. It's annoying. Because you're a jackass who thinks that playing a talking badger sorcerer sounds like a good time, you have cheapened the game that your GM and your fellow players put such hard work into when that is not the game they have come to play. Why? Because you think it would be funny. There is no depth into this character that suddenly you have decided to bring to the table. The only backstory he has is that he was awakened by some irresponsible druid and now is intelligent enough to have ambitions. The rest of the setting around the party is still the normal gritty world around them, and then there is the damned badger whose only shtick is that he's a badger who can use spells. End of story. You look like a jackass, Mr. Badger. You look like a jackass.
(Sir Bearington's Tale, Thanks for inspiring a bunch of idiocy, Anon)
Now consider Winston. Winston has a backstory, a wonderful backstory at that. He is a genetically modified ape, who learned to love science and the humans around him, and was told to see the Earth for what it could be, rather than what it is. Characters like Winston, easily fill in the space of what makes the new Planet of the Apes movies interesting. These themes don't explore the shallow idea of an ape gaining sentience, they explore what it means to be sentient. Winston and characters like him have relationships, conflict, and emotions. You can hear snippets of his relationships when he has voice lines with other characters. Any of the comics will give you an even clearer idea of who Winston is as a character. Winston is not a character that is a gorilla. He's a gorilla that is a character. Of course, the design process behind Winston started with the idea that he's a "gorilla scientist". It is what the team behind Overwatch did with Winston that sets him apart.
(Rocket Raccoon, our favorite talking "trash monkey", Marvel)
The same applies to characters like Rocket Raccoon. In the first Guardians of the Galaxy, we see Rocket is subject to his own insecurities. He isn't just a raccoon. In fact, the fact that he's a raccoon is the source of his insecurities. The script brings enough life into the character that by the end of a Guardians movie, you may forget as your watching that Rocket is a CGI raccoon. There are aspects of Rocket you can relate to, the same applies to Winston. If your DM dreams up a way to play an "awakened animal", I hope you make the character interesting. If your character is only a culmination of jokes, then you have already failed. Use the Zootopia method, make your animals people. Happy gaming everyone!