Shift


 * See also: The Last Battle: Plot summary

Shift was a talking ape who lived near his friend/servant Puzzle the donkey at the base of the Great Waterfall, next to the Cauldron Pool where the Great River starts its course to the sea, at the western bourder of Narnia. He was "the cleverest, ugliest, most wrinkled Ape you can imagine."

Prior story
Nothing is known of Shift's history before he and Puzzle discovered a lion's skin in the Great Waterfall. He was so old, that no one remembered when he came to live there.

Character development
Shift's greed served as his primary motivation. Shift's actions to satisfy his greed increased his vileness over time. From lying to his "friend" Puzzle, he moved to manipulating the other talking animals of Narnia. In the end he had no problem murdering them and selling them into slavery to increase his own wealth and power. As Shift's actions became increasingly evil, he also became increasingly human in his appearance and in the way he presented himself. He doned human clothing and explained that he was not an ape, and that if he appeared as one, it was only because he was "so very old: hundreds and hundreds of years old."

Shift gained the power to pursue these actions by tricking Puzzle into impersonating Aslan, the true leader of Narnia. Later, to secure the assistance of the neighboring country Calorman, he insisted that their god Tash and Aslan are one and the same. Shift met his end when he was forced to confront Tash and was eaten.