Primate

"Do you think he's Catholic?"
"Not that I know of, why?"
"Well, he'll never make Pope then will he?"
"Uh … no, probably not. Why…"
"Which is sad, because he definitely looks like some kind of primate…"

Basic Information

When used as a job description (rather than a zoological term) a primate refers to the spiritual leader of a given religion or religious sect.

Of course, not all religions have a primate, but if they do the person in question will normally be a priest and/or a king. It is unlikely for a religion with no concept of priesthood to possess a primate as these religions tend to lack the necessary hierarchy but even a religion in which every man is a priest¹ might invest some kind of authority in a spiritual leader, perhaps in the form of a sacred king.

Depending on the setting and the religion the primate may live in the capital city, in a monastary up a mountain somewhere or even in a hut in the wilderness. Some are more likely than others. There is also the distinct possibility of a religious capital separate from the secular one².

Where a primate leads a sect of a given religion, rather than the religion as a whole, expect conflict with the primates of other sects. Likewise, where a religion has a number of nominally equal leaders who are close to primacy, expect sects to form as they conflict with one another³.

In the right sort of campaign a primate may be divine or semi-divine … or at the very least the mortal descendant of a deity.

Sources

Some examples of real world primates might include:

• The Pope (Primate to the Roman sect of Christianity)
• The Dalai Llama (Primate of the Tibetan branch of Buddhism)
• The Emperor of Japan (Primate of the Shinto religion)
• The Aga Khan (Primate of the Ismaili sect of Islam)

Bibliography

1. full source reference

Game and Story Use

• One way or another the primate of any religion worth considering is likely to be an extremely significant person in your campaign world.
  • How much power he actually has will vary depending on the setting but his influence will typically be huge.
• Likewise a change of primate is likely to be an epochal event in the politics of his religion - and quite possibly in the politics of one or more secular states as well.
• In a silly setting, especially one where reincarnation is a big feature, it might well be possible to have a religious primate who is also the other sort…⁴

Footnotes

1. True of Protestant Christianity, amongst others - and true to some degree with Roman paganism.

2. An obvious example would be Romanist Christians paying homage to Rome, no matter where their temporal loyalties lie

3. As, for example in the early years of the Christian Church when rival patriarchs in Alexandria, Constantinople, Rome and Antioch (amongst others) vied for primacy … in the end, Islamic conquest eliminated most of them and Rome and Constantinople then split into rival sects.

4. Actually, given that Homonidae are also primates, it's sort of hard to get one that isn't without some radically divergent sapient species kicking about, but in general use the term "primates" assumes "non-human".