No relation to The Infraggable Crunk. Probably.
Spear and Fang reach a seemingly peaceful oasis and relax before they are captured by a vicious tribe of ape-men. The ape-men hold a brutal tournament to the death, with one of them (a large gorilla-like warrior) eventually coming out on top. After the champion drinks a drop of an enhancement serum, which mutates and enrages him, Fang is lowered into the arena for him to fight. Helplessly watching as Fang is beaten to near-death, Spear breaks free from his bindings and drinks the rest of the serum, causing him to transform into a hulking monster. After killing the ape-man champion, Spear proceeds to massacre the other ape-men in the arena overnight. When Spear eventually returns to normal under a mountain of ape-man bodies, he runs to Fang's side as she lies unmoving.
Tropes featured in this episode include:
- All There in the Script: According to the end credits, the ape-man champion is named Krog.
- Animals Not to Scale: Justified with the King Kong-sized ape monster Krog turns into, as he is under the effect of a magic potion that increases his size and strength. Without the potion, he's more or less the correct size for a Gigantopithecus.
- Asshole Victim: Even if Spear was horrified by what he had done afterwards, it's hard to shed any tears over the deaths of the ape-men, especially Krog.
- Ax-Crazy: The ape-men. Their champions brutally murder each other over the right to kill a victim. Judging by Krog licking his lips even before drinking the Super Serum, he truly does enjoy the bloodshed.
- Beastly Bloodsports: The ape-men release Fang into an arena to fight their champion one-on-one as the other ape-men cheer him on, which is reminiscent of gladiatoral games.
- Beat Them at Their Own Game: Spear defeats Krog and the other ape-men by drinking the very same black goo that Krog used to turn giant, turning giant himself and massacring the ape-men.
- Behemoth Battle: First, Fang battles the hulked-out Krog in a gladiatoral fight. Then Spear, drinking the serum, turns into a giant and fights Krog.
- Bullying a Dragon: Even after seeing a hulked-out Spear massacre the shaman and Krog, a good number of the ape-men still decide to Zerg Rush him. They only attempt to retreat after he easily destroys a good number.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Fang gravely wounded and on the verge of death, leaving her fate ambiguous.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Fang becomes the victim of this in her fight against the ape-man champion who has been physically enhanced by the black serum. She seemingly dies from the fight.
- The tables then get turned on the gorilla champion in his fight against Spear, who has also been physically enhanced. It is so one-sided in Spear's favour it actually comes across as darkly humorous.
- And then after the death of their champion, the infuriated apes watching try to rush Spear all at once. They die in droves without hurting him at all, and the extent of Spear's wrath against them is nightmarish - several of the apes are ripped apart with a single blow. One attacking ape is hit with a casual swipe with such force that its entire body twists and contorts in a way that suggests (along with the Sickening "Crunch!") the entire skeleton was pulverized.
- Defiant to the End: Despite being heavily outmatched by Spear, the shaman still has the guts to rush him before being killed.
- Disney Villain Death: Spear kills the shaman by hurling him off his perch.
- Evil Is Bigger: The elite warriors of the villainous ape-men are huge gorilla-like people a lot larger than the heroic caveman Spear. The black potion their champion drinks turns him even bigger and even more evil.
- Frazetta Man: The ape-men are perfect examples, looking like bipedal apes and having a culture based around violence.
- Gorn: The last act of the episode takes this up to eleven, when Spear takes a Psycho Serum, turning into a hulking beast that reduces dozens of monkey-men into Ludicrous Gibs with his bare hands onscreen.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Spear does this to several of the ape-men in different ways, up to punching them or throwing some against a rock hard enough.
- Hope Spot: After a long and perilous journey, Spear and Fang find a seemingly safe oasis in Episode 5, where there's plenty of fish to eat and no dangerous predators. Then the ape-men show up and kidnap them.
- Horns of Villainy: Krog, the ape-man champion, wears a Triceratops skull as a helmet.
- Hulking Out: The black potion turns the person drinking it into a larger, more monstrous and furiously bloodthirsty version of themselves. In Spear's case, he literally looks like a prehistoric version of The Incredible Hulk.
- Killer Gorilla: The strongest warriors of the ape-man tribe resemble enormous gorillas. The Super Serum that their champion drinks makes him bigger and more aggressive, turning him into a King Kong-like monster.
- King Kong Copy: What Krog turns into thanks to the Super Serum.
- Knight of Cerebus: Primal wasn't a lighthearted series before, but its antagonists had previously just been predators seeking food. The ape-men however kidnap other creatures, and then murder each other for the right to kill their victim, all for no reason other than their amusement. And the episode ends with Fang seemingly dead.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The ape-men that got such a kick out of torturing and murdering innocent people wind up being ground into pulp by one of their own victims.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The ape-men all react in horror when they see how brutally a mutated Spear is tearing through all of them.
- Mook Horror Show: In the climax, Spear gulps down the mystical elixir that the ape-men created, which turns him into a giant monstrosity comparable to The Incredible Hulk. The ape-men attempt to Zerg Rush Spear, but he is not affected the slightest, and slaughters the ape-men left and right, tearing them in half and crushing their heads with his bare hands. The scene ends with the surviving ape-men running for their lives, with Spear ruthlessly chasing down and killing those that attempt to flee.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Upon seeing the ape-man champion (seemingly) kill Fang, Spear drinks the Psycho Serum and goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, tearing him and the other ape-men to pieces.
- Pretty Butterflies: Spear and Fang encounter a swarm of butterflies in the oasis. They are among the few animals in the show that are not monstrous, and their presence indicates the peaceful nature of the oasis.
- Primal Chest-Pound: The biggest of the gorilla-like ape-man warriors beats his chest before clashing with Krog. Then Krog also does it right after his transformation into a King Kong Copy.
- Primate Versus Reptile: The fight between the ape-man warrior Krog who is under the effect of a strength-inducing serum and the Tyrannosaurus Fang. The roles are very much inverted, as Fang is sympathetic and one of the protagonists, whereas Krog is the cruel champion of the evil ape-men.
- Psycho Serum: The ape-men keep a black goo they use to ritually enhance the strength and ferocity to incredible levels. Krog drinks a single drop and gains enough strength to easily beat Fang in a fight. Spear in turn downs the whole bowl and he turns into a murderous prehistoric version of the Incredible Hulk who can literally rip the apes limb from limb.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: After someone drinks the Psycho Serum, their eyes become completely red (among other changes), signifying that they are now filled with unrelenting bloodlust.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge:
- After the ape-man champion appears to kill Fang, Spear drinks the ape-man shaman's potion, turns into a Hulk-like monstrosity and slaughters not only the champion, but dozens of the smaller ape-men as well, even when they turn around and start fleeing.
- A number of the Ape-men attempt to do this to Spear after he kills both the shaman and Krog. It ends badly for them.
- Scenery Porn: The oasis that Spear and Fang find themselves in at the beginning of the episode is absolutely beautiful.
- Super Serum: The black potion used by the ape-men increases size and strength, as well as induces a bloodthirsty rage.
- Unstoppable Rage: After Spear drinks the potion, he turns into a Hulk-like monster and slaughters the ape-men left and right.
- Villainous Valor: The ape shaman fearlessly charges Spear when the latter makes it to his perch, despite being outmatched. Likewise, the ape-men continously charge Spear in his Hulk form despite him slaughtering them by the dozen.
- Zerg Rush: After Spear kills the ape-man champion, the smaller ape-men attempt to beat up Spear by piling on him. It doesn't faze him the slightest.
