A Cyberpunk Tarzan’s guide to nature and spirits

It is pretty much possible that the cyberpunk Disney’s Tarzan reboot may be more expansive than even its source materials would apply. 

The Mayombe rainforest is perhaps the most biodiverse ecoregion in all the Central African nations just south of both Sanaga and Nyong but west of the actual Congo River Basin. Even when it still does exist in the far future, if at all, some of it will mostly consist of various abandoned settlements. 

In a more hopeful note, it’s possible that many of Mayombe’s wild animals are still trying to adapt in the midst of a big change. Even when the Gorillas and Chimps may rebound in terms of population numbers, a few other kinds of plausible great apes and hominids may appear at any time. That includes the DragonFoot Apemen and its nearby offshoots, which are amongst the most dangerous of them all. Other than that, a bunch of other breakaway Mangani clans who live in many Chibungu (Villages of the Dead) and who have their own Chinkumbi, Banchondi, Bamuéné, Banganga, Bampunzi, Bavinji and Bandochi, are just as dangerous, if not much worse than their fellow kin. In a happy twist of irony, there are mud apes and swamp apes, better known as Anglophone Minority World curios, rather than actually being from a mix of both coastal West Central African and Native North American mythologies. 

Other inhabitants include the dreaded AgroPelter. 

There are also south-central chimpanzees, African forest elephants, bay duikers, greater spot nosed guenons, Gabon talapoins, yellow backed duikers, Malbrouck monkeys, black collared lovebirds, Lord Derby’s anomalures, crested Mona guenons, Stanger’s giant squirrels, water chevrotains, Central African linsangs, western lowland gorillas, Side Striped Jackals, African golden cats (aka jungle caracals), Egyptian mongooses, red headed lovebirds, white bellied duikers, greater cane rats, rusty spotted genets, black fronted duikers, white crested (African) tiger herons, African civets, servaline genets, black footed mongooses, straw coloured fruit bats, Sitatungas, Egyptian rousette bats, red tailed African grey parrots, blue duikers, African palm civets, African leopards, Beecroft’s anomalures and mandrills. 

In the villages, the dwarf goats, village dogs and dwarf sheep are often seen flocking around. 

The various kinds of True and False Manganis, living in numerous Chibindu (Valleys), may also be prominently shown in the serial story, perhaps because a few of their plausible inspirations come from both Yombe and Vili mythologies. Tonganis also appear, fully packed with equally brutal behaviour underneath their cheetah like physical appearances. 

What about the Gormanganis, Bolganis and Gomanganis? They are mixed hominid slave soldiers, amongst some of the most horrific results of a successful pillage and destroy program made by a long-gone Empire. 

There are also the usual spirits from the Kongo group of mythologies, which come in the forms of Minchondi, Minchisi, Misimbi and Michinda. Then there are the Chinkokó, mix and match familiars created from various dead nonhumans and humans. There are also the infamous magical pots known as the Nzungu Madungu.