The monkey in Nope is a character meant to represent Zelgadis Greywords, a half-human, half-demon character from the anime TV series Slayers. Zelgadis is a powerful warrior, but he is cursed with a body made from a mixture of rock and human cells, giving the appearance of a stone-like being. The fact that Zelgadis looks like a monkey, combined with the silly and whimsical plot of Nope, makes him a great fit for the story.
