Highlights
- Buck sacrificed himself for the apes’ freedom, showing the terrifying power of gorillas in battle.
- Lisa’s iconic “No” moment halted Caesar from killing a human, steering him back from the brink.
- Noa’s journey in the new film highlights the power of friendship in overcoming old feuds between humans and apes.
The Planet of the Apes franchise is roaring onward with the release of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Both heroes and villains are getting new makeovers as the franchise enters unexplored territory. However, the series already has much more history than some fans of recent films might realize. Kingdom will actually be the tenth film in the Planet of the Apes series, and over that time, there have been many great heroic characters, both human and ape.
The apes in the series are often painted as villains, but there are almost always a few exceptions. The great thing about the franchise is that it never shows one side as right. The comments on racism that the series makes mostly prove the point that the apes, after rising up because of how horrible humans are, become just as bad as them.
7 Buck
The First Major Ape Casualty
- Played By Richard Ridings
- Appears In Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
A Western lowland Gorilla, Buck was one of the first warriors recruited by Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. While all apes are stronger, gorillas are a terrifying presence and were considered the soldiers and warmongers in the original Planet of the Apes films. Buck showed why when he joined Caesar and sacrificed himself so the apes could escape across the Golden Gate Bridge.
The apes were able to hold their own against the forces sent by the humans on the bridge, but a helicopter was a real problem for them. Able to gun them down with ease, the only thing that could be done was for Buck to jump at the helicopter to take it down, dying from the wounds he sustained in the process as a hero of the apes.
6 Lisa
Caesar’s Conscience
- Played By Natalie Trundy
- Appears In Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes & Battle For The Planet Of The Apes
The original version of Caesar in the first Planet of the Apes series of films wasn’t the same white knight hero that Caesar was in the prequel trilogy. He was flawed, filled with rage, and ready to destroy all humankind for apes to rise up after being enslaved for so long. However, his girlfriend Lisa was a conscience for him at a truly crucial moment.
Lisa was the first ape to speak other than Caesar in this timeline, and her exclamation “No” was not only an iconic moment for the franchise but halted Caesar as he was about to kill a human in cold blood, bringing him back to Earth and convincing him that apes didn’t have to be like the humans, having already won the battle. Lisa later appears in the final entry of the original series, happily living with Caesar and continuing to support him, but not much is seen of her after the loss of their son.
5 Noa
A New Warrior
- Played By Owen Teague
- Appears In Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes
The latest entry in the Planet of the Apes franchise features an entirely new world and cast. The Earth has now devolved into different tribes of apes, each with their own leadership, but a warmonger named Proximus Caesar attacks the clan of a young chimpanzee named Noa, who goes on an adventure looking for vengeance.
Noa shows that the naivety of either an ape or a human can lead to real friendship between the two races. Befriending Nova, helping her when he didn’t have to, and allowing her to go free after bringing down Proximus showcased what happens when hatred and old feuds aren’t passed down to the next generation. Noa will hopefully now be able to spread the true teachings of Caesar and help relations between humans and apes recover somewhat going forward.
4 Rocket
The Loyal Lieutenant
- Played By Terry Notary
- Appears In Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes & War For The Planet Of The Apes
Many apes remained loyal and steadfast to Caesar throughout their battles together. None more so than his first adversary. Rocket was the alpha chimpanzee in the animal sanctuary to which Caesar was taken, and he bullied Caesar at the beginning of their relationship.
With the help of Maurice and Buck, Caesar gained control and Rocket became his most loyal soldier in the wars to come, being imprisoned in the sequel by Koba for his loyalty to Caesar, and later sacrificing himself to the humans to save Nova in War For The Planet Of The Apes, though he would later manage to escape and live with the colony and other apes such as Bad Ape following Caesar’s demise.
3 Caesar (Original)
The Original Messiah
- Played By Roddy McDowall
- Appears In Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes & Battle For The Planet Of The Apes
The original Caesar was a very different, much more flawed hero than the modern prequel trilogy version of the character. Caesar was born to parents who died trying to protect him, and he grew up watching apes enslaved and treated brutally by humanity. He almost revealed himself as an intelligent ape screaming at humans in a rage, getting his foster father killed as a result.
This Caesar nearly went too far in fighting against the humans, before eventually taking on a more peaceful leadership role for the apes, and helping them grow their society, eventually becoming a Messiah-like figure to them. Caesar led the apes to victory over the humans and more war-like apes, giving them the society that would grow into the Planet of the Apes.
2 Dr. Cornelius & Dr. Zira
Kind & Peaceful Heroes
- Played By Roddy McDowall & Kim Hunter
- Appears In Planet Of The Apes & Escape From The Planet Of The Apes
The ape heroes of the first movie, in which Charlton Heston’s human character was mostly dealing with an unfriendly ape society, were the two scientist apes that helped him as they tried to prove human intelligence was real. Cornelius and his wife Zira were a unit, sticking together through the dangers of facing off with Dr. Zaius and helping humans, showing simple kindness in a world without much of it left.
The pair then escaped Earth before the war between apes and humans led to it being destroyed, and they were brought back to 1970s Earth when humans were still dominant. Here, they had to deal with burgeoning paranoia from the humans, who attempted to experiment on them and kill their baby, whom they switched out to save before they also fell victim to the hatred of the humans. Cornelius and Zira were almost always kind, a rarity in a franchise filled with hatred and war.
1 Caesar (Reboot)
The True Ape Hero
- Played By Andy Serkis
- Appears In Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes & War For The Planet Of The Apes
The greatest of all ape heroes to date was the protagonist of the prequel trilogy. This version of Caesar was different from his counterpart in the original films. Having been born and raised by humans and taught intelligence from a young age, he was the first successful case of an ape with enhanced intelligence, though the research that made that happen later led to the Simian Flu.
Caesar capably took the reins as alpha, leading as many apes as he could into a peaceful tribe that was later forced into war by the machinations of Koba, and distrustful humans. Caesar was capable of peace with humankind, but circumstances wouldn’t allow this to be the case until it was too late. He had lost many friends in the war, and he was the final casualty on the ape side of the deadly conflict.
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