Background
Apes in Narnia are part of the wider company of talking beasts, but Lewis uses them in a very specific way in The Last Battle. Shift is not dangerous because he is physically mighty. He is dangerous because he is manipulative, cynical, and shameless about using another creature for his own advantage.
How the Race Functions in Narnia
With so few major ape characters on the page, the category is small, but it becomes important through Shift’s role in the final collapse of old Narnia. In that story, the ape becomes a picture of shabby but effective corruption.