Gorilla
A great forest ape — physical power held with deliberate restraint inside a family.
A gorilla in a dream is the dream's image of strength that spends most of its time choosing not to be used. Gorillas are vastly stronger than they need to be for the life they live; the display is theatre, the actual violence is rare. The dream brings the animal when there is a force in your life — a parental figure, an older sibling, your own anger — that is sized like a weapon and is being held back as a matter of character. A gorilla sitting calmly with its family is the dream affirming that the restraint is the main work and is being done. A gorilla beating its chest is the dream noting that the display is being used deliberately to avoid the worse thing that the body could still do.