Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Planet Of The Apes Original Series

Go To

Character page for the original Planet of the Apes film series.

    open/close all folders 

Humans

    George Taylor 

Colonel George Taylor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/taylor_1.jpg
"Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"

Portrayed by: Charlton Heston

Dubbed by: Georges Aminel (European French)

Appears in: Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes

"I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be."

A 20th Century astronaut commanding an experimental space exploration project, Colonel Taylor was a cynical misfit who was happy to leave his life behind forever in the belief that he could find something more humane and civilized in another place or another time. He awakens in the 40th Century, completely unprepared for what awaits him.

  • Ace Pilot: Was one during World War II and The Korean War.
  • Anti-Hero: Taylor is a misanthropic, rather vicious Jerkass. However, he is not without sympathetic traits, such as his affection for Nova and his disgust with Landon's lobotomy. He also seems disappointed that the apes are no better than humans (or vice versa).
  • Captain's Log: Taylor records one at the beginning of the first film.
    Taylor: "And that completes my final report until we reach touchdown. We're now on full automatic, in the hands of the computers. I have tucked my crew in for the long sleep and I'll be joining them soon. In less than an hour, we'll finish our sixth month out of Cape Kennedy. Six months in deep space - by our time, that is. According to Dr. Hasslein's theory of time, in a vehicle travelling nearly the speed of light, the Earth has aged nearly 700 years since we left it, while we've aged hardly at all. Maybe so. This much is probably true - the men who sent us on this journey are long since dead and gone. You who are reading me now are a different breed - I hope a better one."
  • Composite Character: Taylor is a sort of mixture of two characters from Pierre Boule's original novel: protagonist Ulysse Merou, who tries to prove to Zira that he's intelligent, and the misanthropic Professor Antelle who's grown contemptuous of humanity.
  • Cynicism Catalyst: His wartime experiences are implied to be one.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Even when he's temporarily lost his voice.
  • Decoy Protagonist: From a certain perspective, he, possibly along with Brent in the second film, Nova and even Cornelius and Zira in the third film, is considered to be this of the entire franchise, while Caesar who appears in the fourth and fifth films is the true protagonist.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Taylor might not've liked Landon much, but seeing Landon's lobotomized husk still fills him with righeous indignation.
    Taylor: You cut up his brain, you bloody baboon!
  • Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen: Happens to him and his fellow astronauts when they go skinnydipping.
  • Heroic BSoD: At the end of the first film.
  • Humiliation Conga: Spends the bulk of first film enduring one.
  • Large Ham: "Apes! Apes wearing clothes! It's a madhouse!!! A MAAAAAAADHOOOOUSE!!!"
  • Last-Name Basis: His first name is never used in the film, appearing only in the end credits and press materials.
  • Mr. Fanservice: He goes Skinny Dipping along with the other astronauts during the above-mentioned Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen scene, and his state of dress doesn't really change from there on out. We also get to see his naked ass on at least two separate occasions.
  • Skyward Scream: "YOU MANIACS!!! YOU BLEW IT UP!!! AGH, DAMN YOU!!! GOD DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!!"
  • Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Semi-averted. Taylor disappears at the beginning of the second film, before returning toward the end (and getting killed in the final scene thereof).
  • Taking You with Me: In his dying breath, he chooses to blow up the Earth to kill the apes to avenge Nova's and Brent's deaths.

    Nova 

Nova

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nova1968.jpg

Portrayed by: Linda Harrison

Appears in: Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes

A primitive human woman who was captured in the same hunting expedition where Taylor was caught. After her blood was used in a transfusion to save the critically wounded Taylor, Nova was put in a cell with Taylor, and a mutual attraction developed between the two of them.

    John Landon 

Lieutenant John Landon

Played By: Robert Gunner

Appears In: Planet of the Apes (1968)

One of Taylor's crew mates.
  • Due to the Dead: Takes the time to bury his fallen comrade, Lt. Stewart, before leaving the crash site.
    Taylor: She died in her sleep.
    Landon: You don't seem too cut up about it.
    Taylor: Well it's too late for a wake, she's been dead for nearly a year.
  • Glory Seeker: Taylor accuses him of volunteering for the mission because he wanted to be remembered forever, which Landon acknowledges .
  • Lobotomy: Doctor Zaius has Landon lobotomized and reduced to a mindless creature to discredit Taylor's claims of the existence of intelligent humans.
  • Patriotic Fervor: Landon plants an American flag on Stewart's grave and, of the three astronauts, is the one most concerned about the world they left behind.

    Thomas Dodge 

Lieutenant Thomas Dodge

Played By: Jeff Burton

Dubbed by: Med Hondo (European French)

Appears In: Planet of the Apes (1968)

"The question is not so much where we are as when we are."
The third astronaut from the Icarus.
  • Black Dude Dies First: Several uncredited Caucasian characters die before Dodge, but he's the first named character in the franchise to die after getting any dialogue.
  • Dead Guy on Display: Dodge's corpse is skinned to make a diorama in an ape museum. In an early draft of the script, this was because black humans are unheard of in this ape society and he's a curiosity, though this reasoning didn't make it into the final film.
  • For Science!: Taylor suggests he's come along on the mission because of his desire to learn, regardless of the dangers to himself.
  • Only Sane Man: Of the three astronauts, Dodge is the most focused on practical means of survival, and he tries to keep Taylor and Landon from fighting each other.
  • Seeker Archetype: Dodge makes several keen observations about the planet the crew finds themselves on. Landon even calls Dodge a seeker and comments that he'd walk through an active volcano "If he could learn something no other man knew."

    John Brent 

Major John Brent

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/john_brent.jpg
"What the hell would I have to say to a gorilla?"

Portrayed by: James Franciscus

Appears in: Beneath the Planet of the Apes

"Are you what we were? Before we learned how to talk and made a mess of everything?"
Major John Christopher Brent was an astronaut piloting a reconnaissance ship tracing the trajectory of Colonel Taylor, after it was discovered that the calculations utilized by Taylor's ship were incorrect. Ten months after Taylor's crash landing, Brent's own ship crashes, leaving him the only survivor, and he begins to search for Taylor.

    Lewis Dixon 

Doctor Lewis Dixon

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pota_lewis.png
"In a democracy, we do not shoot unarmed suspects on sight...for a murder in which their participation is still legally unproven."

Portrayed by: Bradford Dillman

Appears in: Escape from the Planet of the Apes

"Uh, well, I mean that in our, um... primitive civilization, apes just don't talk. I mean, I think it's important that when our primitive security precautions are lifted, that the first time you say anything in public, you should talk to what we primitively call... 'the right people.'"

Doctor of Animal Psychology at Los Angeles Zoo, Lewis Dixon and Dr. Stephanie "Stevie" Branton were put in charge of the study of the ape astronauts, Cornelius, Zira, and Dr. Milo, who mysteriously appeared from space. Over time, he later becomes a close friend and ally of said apes. Horrified at the plot to wipe out the talking apes, he assisted their escape and arranged for circus owner Armando to look after their infant son in the event of their deaths.

  • Expy: As Cornelius gets an arc similar to Ulysse Merou, Lewis essentially gets Cornelius' old job (with more influences from the novel worked in). He is also one of two prototypes for Will Rodman, the other being Armando.
  • Nice Guy: On screen, he has shown nothing but kindness to both human and animals, especially the apes. He's so nice, Cornelius and Zira both expressed how they thought about him.
    Zira: May I say something personal please? [smiles] I like you.
    Cornelius: I have from the beginning."

    Stephanie Branton 

Doctor Stephanie Branton

Portrayed by: Natalie Trundy

Appears in: Escape from the Planet of the Apes

Dr. Stephanie "Stevie" Branton is a colleague of Dr. Lewis Dixon who was startled to discover the Ape visitors had the power of speech.

    Otto Hasslein 

Doctor Otto Hasslein

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hasslein.jpg
"I think time can only be fully understood by an observer with a god-like gift of infinite regression."

Portrayed by: Eric Braeden

Appears in: Escape from the Planet of the Apes

"They must be killed... it has to be done and done quickly, before they start a stone rolling that'll gather enough poison moss to kill us all!"

A prominent physicist and scientific adviser to the President of the United States, Dr. Otto Hasslein theorized the time dilation curve that sent Colonel Taylor and Major Brent to the 40th Century. When Cornelius and Zira arrived in the 20th Century in Taylor's shuttle, Hasslein became disturbed by their revelations about the future of humanity, and took it upon himself to prevent the bad end for his species.

  • Alas, Poor Villain: Not as much as Colonel McCullough in his final moments, but the comics painted him, his goals in vain and his death in this light.
  • A Nazi by Any Other Name: He is played by a German American actor, has a German name and the first thing he can think of to avert the Bad Future for humanity is to kill and even Would Hurt a Child, eerily similar to Adolf Hitler's Final Solution against the Jewish race to purify the Aryan race. This is a likely reason why his actor viewed this role as a caricature, as Hasslein is not that different from his past WWII Nazi television roles in The '60s, which he tried to put behind.
  • Anti-Villain: His goal is saving humanity, and he's painfully aware that it is perfectly capable of destroying itself without the apes.
    Soldier: Don't worry. We'll catch them, sooner or later.
    Hasslein: That's what I'm worried about. Later. Later we'll do something about pollution. Later we'll do something about the population explosion. Later we'll do something about the nuclear war. We think we've got all the time in the world, but how much time has the world got?! Somebody has to begin to care."
  • Asshole Victim: While his intentions were noble and understandable, especially what has been seen in the past two films that contributes to his fears, he's still a Dr. Jerk who is killed for killing a mother and her infant child.
  • The Atoner: A dark example, as in the comics he believed he was the cause of the Bad Future (and by extension the deaths of Taylor and Brent and their space exploration teams due to having sent them into space in the first place) and attempts to redeem himself by killing the apes and their child to prevent it.
  • Big Bad: Of Escape.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Hasslein is mentioned in passing in both of the earlier films. In the third, we finally get to meet the man, who turns out to be the film's Big Bad which in turn makes him the earlier films' Greater-Scope Villain.
  • Clash of Evolutionary Levels: If Cornelius and Zira were to have any offspring, their descendants will eventually replace humanity. Or so he believes.
  • The Comically Serious: He seemed genuinely confused when Zira asked him to fetch for her "Grape Juice Plus" when appearing to tend to her.
  • Dr. Jerk: Overly paranoid about the apes (his first line, when asked by a reporter what they should expect from the hearing? A very pompously blunt "Fear") and looking to find out about their society (by making Zira drunk) and when the truth of the apes' history is known, the first thing he can think of is to wipe them out (with killing a defenseless baby at his worst and neutering at his most benevolent — at the climactic confrontation, he even wastes all of his ammo shooting the poor baby rather than deal with his parents, one of whom has a gun of his own). It's because of these faults why his portrayer Eric Braeden in a recent interview had looked down at his role as Hasslein for being a typical one-dimensional caricature bad guy.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: While he doesn't appear until the third film, he is mentioned in Taylor's Captain's Log at the beginning of the very first film.
  • Expy: He is essentially a human version of Dr. Zaius, and arguably an early prototype for Colonel McCullough. He could also be considered an Evil Counterpart of his actor's past role as Dr. Charles Forbin from Colossus: The Forbin Project, which could be why his portrayer disliked his character of Hasslein because he was a rehash of Forbin, but as the one-dimensional Big Bad.
  • The Extremist Was Right: His fears of the apes replacing humans are ultimately correct.
  • Faux Affably Evil: He was a polite gentleman towards the apes and initially appeared to them as their supporter for being interested in their Time Travel story, in contrast to others' skepticism, even though underneath the facade is a paranoid and ruthless individual.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Of the original film and Beneath, due to the Time Travel worm hole Taylor and his team went through into the future was called the "Hasslein Time Curve", named after him and how the scientist himself was responsible for sending Taylor and the five other astronauts in the space.
  • Herr Doktor: He is a doctor with a German name and accent, and, as mentioned above, some Nazi coding.
  • Hero Antagonist: From a certain perspective, he is the Inspector Javert kind towards Cornelius and Zira, as he is trying to prevent the Bad Future that was shown in the previous two films.
  • In Vino Veritas: Obtains all of the information regarding the Planet of the Apes and how it came to be by making Zira drunk and talking to her while using a hidden tape recorder.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Dr. Jerk he may be, however, he was correct about humanity meeting its downfall at the hands of the apes in the future. Also, his listings that is quoted under the Anti-Villain trope of the other potential concerns for Earth and its society outside of the ape problem that should be taken seriously are completely valid and relatable to current events.
  • Mad Scientist: He is a scientist and mad in a sense of deciding to just kill the apes and their baby to prevent the Bad Future.
  • Misplaced Retribution: Next to trying to avert the Bad Future, Hasslein's bonus in trying to kill the apes is also to avenge the deaths of his astronaut associates Taylor and Brent and their teams at the hands of their ape kind. However, the apes targeted, Cornelius and Zira, played no part in their deaths, nor Taylor's teammates Dodge getting stuffed and mounted or Landon being lobotomized. In fact, Cornelius and Zira had actually tried to save Taylor and Brent from death and the other apes' wrath. Those atrocities were all Hasslein's ape counterpart Zaius' and the gorilla soldiers' doing.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Herod: Hasslein's obsession with killing Zira's baby merely ensures that nobody notices Zira had switched babies with another chimp mother at Armando's circus.
  • Properly Paranoid: Sure, he is paranoid about the apes, but it's justified due to Bad Future caused by them as shown in the previous two films.
  • Revenge Before Reason: While his main goal is to prevent the Bad Future for humanity, as an inadvertent bonus he would also try avenge the deaths of his astronaut associates Taylor and Brent and their teams he had sent into space in the first place at the hands of the apes.
  • Set Right What Once Went Wrong: In the comics, Hasslein realized the ape-ruled future was his fault. He created the space-drive for the mission led by Taylor in hopes of a better future, but it has created a Predestination Paradox which caused the end of human civilization, the rise of the apes, and the destruction of the world. He took it upon himself to prevent the dark future he caused, by killing Zira's baby and the apes themselves to prevent them from having another child.
  • Slimeball: Don't let his gentlemanly supportive demeanor fool you, he'll get his ape of interest drunk to catch them off-guard to gather any confidential information that would be beneficial for him. Another possible aspect why his actor viewed his character as an Old Shame caricature.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He believes the only way to prevent the fall of mankind (and by extension, the destruction of Earth) is to kill the apes and their child.

    Armando 

Armando

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/590603b2_46df_4caa_a575_cffc582413c8.jpeg
"The mere fact of your existence would be regarded as a great threat to mankind".

Portrayed by: Ricardo Montalbán

Appears In: Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

"You're asking me to risk imprisonment for the sake of two fugitive apes? The answer is: a thousand times, yes."

A kind circus owner, a human friend of Cornelius and Zira, and foster-father of Caesar.

    The American President 

President Wyndham

Portrayed by: William Windom

Appears in: Escape from the Planet of the Apes

The President of the United States when Zira and her husband travel back in time.
  • Alliterative Name: According to the novel, his name is Willard Wyndham.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: The President extends a great deal of courtesy to the apes. He opposes a motion to abort Zira's pregnancy and then sterilize her, only going along with it when he's forced to by the democratic process. When the apes go on the run after accidentally killing a civilian, he also orders that they be taken alive and allowed to tell their side of what happened.

    General Winthrop 

General Winthrop

Portrayed By: Harry Lauter

Appears in: Escape from the Planet of the Apes

The military officer sent to investigate the appearance of the rocket Zira, Cornelius, and Milo take to Earth.
  • Decoy Protagonist: Winthrop is the main human character for the first several minutes of the movie, but then disappears after sending the apes to the zoo.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Winthrop is quick to recognize that the apes have some kind of humanlike intelligence and treats them respectfully as a result.

    Harvey Breck 

Governor Harvey Breck III

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/breck.jpg
"It seems the little fella's not quite so bright after all."

Portrayed By: Don Murray

Appears In: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

"Man was born of apes, and there's still an ape curled up inside of every man. You're the beast in us that we have to whip into submission. You're the savage that we need to shackle in chains. You taint us, Caesar. You poison our guts. When we hate you, we're hating the dark side of ourselves."

The Governor of an unnamed city in a dystopian fascist United States of 1991. Breck's regime has Apes, previously pets after a mysterious virus killed several species of domestic animal, perform slave labor. When the chimpanzee Caesar mobilizes the enslaved Apes in revolution, Breck becomes determined to crush the rebellion and preserve the status quo.

    Vernon Kolp 

Vernon Kolp

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kolp2.jpg
"Every Caesar has its Brutus."

Portrayed By: Severn Darden

Appears In: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes

"We're all radiated but at least we're active."
The chief inspector for Governor Breck's regime, after the fall of human civilization, Kolp becomes the leader of a society of mutated human survivors in the aftermath of World War III, seeking revenge on the Apes he blames for humanity's downfall.

  • Arch-Enemy: Considers himself one to Caesar.
  • Asshole Victim: Aldo murders him in cold blood. But he was also a cruel enforcer for Governor Breck's regime, and as leader of The Remnant, he breaks the peace between Apes and Humans, and wanted his potential death avenged via planet-killing nuke. The Director's Cut of Battle makes it clear that even his own subjects are glad to be rid of him.
  • Ax-Crazy: After he becomes a mutant, he loses the rationality and self-restraint he had as an ordinary human.
    Mendez I: If we shoot, we'll break twelve years of peace.
    Kolp: Yes, it has been rather boring hasn't it?
  • Big Bad Wannabe: He's Caesar's most visible opponent in Battle, but Aldo usurps his position to become the Final Boss.
  • Cool Shades: His Battle gear (no pun intended) includes motorcross goggles with red lenses.
  • The Dragon: To Breck in Conquest.
    • Dragon Ascendant: In Battle he has taken charge of the remaining humans after Breck's death.
  • Evil Wears Black: Something he carries over from Breck's regime.
  • High Collar of Doom: His duster in Battle has an elevated collar that creates this effect.
  • Revolvers Are Just Better: His sidearm of choice is a Colt Model 1909 Army revolver, which he uses in his final showdown with Caesar.
  • Taking You with Me: Orders the Alpha-Omega Bomb to be used on Ape City in the event of his death. Fortunately for the rest of the world, his followers are sane enough to ignore this order.
  • Torture Technician: Uses Electric Torture on Caesar to get him to speak.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Rediscovers the Alpha-Omega Bomb, which future generations will foolishly keep around until it blows up the planet.
  • Villainous Valor: Kolp is a Torture Technician turned Wasteland Warlord, but he personally leads his army into the field and exchanges fire with the Apes from an exposed position.
  • Wasteland Warlord: In his second appearance, Kolp has been mutated by the radiation from World War III. His wardrobe and convoy of vehicles would be right at home in a Mad Max movie. He declares war on the immensely stronger and more prosperous Ape City out of jealousy and boredom.
  • You Killed My Father: Is the most directly responsible for Armando's death, though Caesar targets his boss instead.

    Bruce MacDonald 

Bruce MacDonald

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/48ee3463f753341693e34fc305f6b942.jpg
"I, a descendant of slaves, am asking you to show humanity".

Portrayed By: Hari Rhodes

Appears In: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

"Violence prolongs hate, hate prolongs violence. By what right are you spilling blood?"
Governor Breck's personal assistant, who winds up becoming one of Caesar's allies.

  • Oppose What You Suffered: Is African-American and willing to protect Caesar, likely because he personally knows all about dehumanisation, oppression and exploitation by dint of his own racial background.
    MacDonald: I, as a descendant of slaves, am asking you to show humanity.
  • Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: He died sometime between Conquest and Battle.

    Ms. Riley 

Ms. Riley

Played by: Asa Maynor

Appears in: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

A socialite in Governor Breck's city and the owner of Caesar's future wife Lisa.
  • Hidden Depths: Shallow Jerkass or not, Mrs. Riley hints that she disapproves of how Breck uses his political power to favor his financial supporters.
  • Rich Bitch: Ms. Riley is a wealthy woman who treats the apes poorly and mocks a friend for giving one of them too much food as a tip.

    Malcolm MacDonald 

Malcolm MacDonald

Portrayed By: Austin Stoker

Appears In: Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Bruce MacDonald's younger brother, who serves as a human confidant for Caesar.

  • Honest Advisor: MacDonald speaks frankly to Ceasar, offering him intelligent and practical advice, but making it known when he disagrees with his leader.
  • Sherlock Scan: MacDonald is the first person to figure out that Cornelius II's fall wasn't an accident when he examines the scene of the "accident" and notices signs of a recent campfire and a tree branch that's been partially cut through.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He replaced his older brother as Caesar's main human confidant. The two brothers are basically interchangeable, and were likely originally envisioned as a single character.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Zigzagged. He criticizes Caesar for expecting gratitude instead of fear from the humans after they are locked up and threatened partially because of his policies. However, Caesar has been working to give them more rights and just shielded them with his own body when Aldo tried to kill them.
    MacDonald: If we appear to be lacking in gratitude, Caesar, what have we to be grateful for? If you mean to set us free, then free us completely.

    Abe the Teacher 

Abe

Portrayed by: Noah Keen

Appears In: Battle for the Planet of the Apes

A middle-aged man in Caesar's settlement who teaches apes to read and write.
  • Big "NO!": Abe yells "No, Aldo, no!" when Aldo tries to tear up something Cornelius II wrote. Since humans are banned from saying "no" to apes, this nearly gets him beaten.
  • Cool Teacher: Abe is encouraging toward his brighter and kinder students, and firm but considerate toward the less bright ones.
  • Decoy Protagonist: The opening scene implies that Abe will be the main human character, but he quickly fades into the background while MacDonald fills that role.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": When Cornelius gives Abe a piece of paper with his name on it, he comments that everyone has called him teacher for so long that he'd almost forgotten his name.

    The Doctor 

The Doctor

Portrayed by: Heather Lowe

Appears In: Battle for the Planet of the Apes

An unnamed former doctor in Ape City.

  • Hospital Hottie: She is the settlement's only doctor, and is arguably the most attractive human in the village.
  • Nice Girl: She's very polite and kindhearted.
  • Trying Not to Cry: She's visibly distraught and on the verge of tears while discussing how there's no way for her to keep Caesar's son from dying of his injuries.

    Jake and his friend 

Jake and his friend

Portrayed by: Michael Stearns and John Landis

Appears In: Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Two humans who live in Ape City and perform a lot of hard labor.
  • Friend to All Children: Jake's friend is seen giving an Ape child a ride on his shoulders.
  • Manly Facial Hair: Jake does a lot of the physical labor around the settlement and has a prominent mustache and stubble on his chin.
  • Nice Guy: Jake thanks Aldo for helping him with some work and his friend is happy with entertaining children.
  • No Name Given: Jake's friend never gets a name.
  • Recurring Extra: They only appear a few times, but barely speak or interact with anyone else beside being bossed around and locked up by Aldo and the gorillas.
  • Those Two Guys: They constantly appear together, being pushed around by the gorillas.
  • The Worf Effect: No fight is involved, but Jake, the burliest human in Ape City, is unable to lift up a loaded wagon to replace a broken wheel, while a sinister gorilla does so with no trouble at all, emphasizing the physical superiority of the gorillas.

Apes

    Zira 

Zira

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zira.jpg
"Just relax. Among other things, I'm a trained vet."

Portrayed By: Kim Hunter

Appears In: Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes

"A marriage bed is made for two. But every damn morning, it's the woman who has to make it. We have heads as well as hands. I call upon men to let us use them!"

A chimpanzee psychologist and veterinarian who specialized in the study of humans. Zira treated Taylor's injuries when he was first captured by the Apes, and was impressed by his displays of intelligence. After numerous clashes with the Ministry of Science, she eventually helps Taylor escape from Ape City.

  • Actual Pacifist: Despises war and militancy, and is mildly contemptuous of the gorillas' Blood Knight tendencies.
  • Berserk Button: Don't call her a monkey.
  • Can't Hold His Liquor: Has a particular weakness for "Grape juice plus."
  • Does Not Like Spam: "I loathe bananas."
  • Fantastic Racism: Implied to harbor some against gorillas:
    Zira: Gorillas are cruel because they're stupid! All bone and no brain!
  • I Come in Peace: "We are peaceful creatures. We are happy to be here. May we be unchained?"
  • Internal Reformist: Zira and Cornelius urge the leaders of Ape Society to recognize that some of their preconceived notions about humanity are wrong but have absolutely no success in the matter.
    Zira: What about your theory? The existence of someone like Taylor might prove it.
    Cornelius: Zira, do you want to get my head chopped off?
    Zira: Oh, don't be foolish. If it's true, they'll have to accept it.
    Cornelius: No, they won't.
  • Meaningful Appearance: Has hazel eyes, as opposed to the dark brown eyes seen in other apes.
  • Motherly Scientist: She calls Taylor "Bright Eyes", at least until he manages to write his own name, to her surprise. She ends up kissing him goodbye - even though, as she tells him, "You're so damned ugly."
  • Sympathy for the Devil: Protests when Taylor ties up Zaius as revenge for his mistreatment.
    Zira: Taylor! Don't treat him that way!
    Taylor: Why not?
    Zira: It's humiliating.
    Taylor: The way you humiliated me? All of you? You led me around on a LEASH!
  • Together in Death: Her and Cornelius.

    Cornelius 

Cornelius I

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/corneliusi.jpg
"They will dissect you and they will kill you. ...In That Order."

Portrayed By: Roddy McDowall, David Watson

Appears In: Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes

"I do know this: One of the reasons for man's original downfall was your peculiar habit of murdering one another. Man destroys man. Apes do not destroy apes."

A chimpanzee scientist and fiance (later husband) of Dr. Zira. Though skeptical of Zira's views on humans, he reluctantly supports her and attempts to smooth over her confrontations with the Ministry of Science. When his own research comes under fire from the Ministry, he reluctantly helps Taylor escape from Ape City.

    Zaius 

Doctor Zaius

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zaius_1.jpg
"All my life I've awaited your coming and dreaded it."

Portrayed By: Maurice Evans

Appears In: Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes

"Man is a nuisance. He eats up his food supply in the forest, then migrates to our green belts and ravages our crops. The sooner he is exterminated, the better."

An orangutan politician who serves as the Minister of Science for the Ape Civilization, advancing the knowledge of Ape society while also maintaining the sacred traditions of the Ape religion. Secretly, he is aware of the true origins of simian society, and will stop at nothing to ensure that secret never gets out.

  • Aliens of London: Speaks with Received Pronunciation.
  • Anti-Villain: Can be ruthless when pressed, though he has fundamentally good intentions as he seeks to prevent humanity from causing another apocalypse, and is at least reasonable enough to try and talk Taylor into making a false confession in exchange for his safety. His refusal to go back on his word at the film's end implies it was sincere.
  • Arch-Enemy: To Colonel Taylor, an intelligent human.
  • Asshole Victim: Killed Off for Real when the Alpha-Omega Bomb detonates at the end of the second movie. But if he hadn't been such a dick to Taylor in his final moments, the destruction of the planet might have been avoided altogether.
    Dr. Zaius: You want me to help you? Man is EVIL! Capable of nothing but destruction!
    Taylor: You bloody bastard!
  • Big Bad: Of the first film.
  • Blue Blood: Ape society's caste system places orangutans at the top of the pecking order.
  • Destroy the Evidence: Aside from his obviously frightened reaction at seeing Taylor's apparent intelligence, he is the first ape in the film to spot Taylor's writing, scratched in the dirt of his cage... and he destroys it with a swish of his walking stick, proving to the audience that he knows more than he lets on. Later, he applies the same logic to a thinking human, one of Taylor's crew members who was captured separately, lobotomizing him, and to the cave in which Cornelius found proof of a pre-ape civilization, with evidence it was human.
  • Entertainingly Wrong: Zaius believes that Taylor is a mutant from a fringe tribe who is lying about being a space explorer. He believes that Taylor's story of coming from Fort Wayne is a Line-of-Sight Name and goes onto a pretentious tirade about how Taylor immediately thought of a place with the word "fort", proving that he has a belligerent subconscious.
  • Erudite Orangutan: He is a shrewd and a calculating orangutan.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Zaius isn't too evil, but he has plenty of Kick the Dog moments, and he mentions having a granddaughter who plays with dolls modeled after humans.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: While overall he's also a vile asshole, he admits he takes no pleasure in destroying Cornelius's life's work and lets both him and Zira off the hook for their heresy conviction. Zaius also isn't that thrilled about Ursus' extremism in Beneath.
  • Expy: Of the Grand Inquisitor; he doesn't really believe in the religion he's tasked with defending, but enforces it anyway because he does believe society will fall apart without it.
  • False Reassurance: Zaius says that if there's any evidence of human civilization in the cave, then he'll acquit Cornelius and Zira. When he finds such evidence, he proceeds to completely ignore or dismiss it; when faced with evidence to which he has no other response he has the cave dynamited.
  • Fantastic Racism: In addition to his hatred of humans, he is also mentioned to "look down his nose at chimpanzees."
  • Freudian Threat: His first reaction upon realizing Taylor can write is to try to have him castrated. During his Grand Inquisitor Scene with Taylor, he repeats the threat, and is obsessed with the idea of Taylor and other intelligent humans breeding more of themselves.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Zaius spitefully berates a mortally wounded Taylor one last time out by calling him out on humans' inherently violent and self-destructive tendencies. Unfortunately for him and everyone else on the planet, Taylor is (barely) standing right next to the active and armed Alpha-Omega bomb and just as spitefully proves Zaius correct by setting it off. Had Zaius said something a little more comforting, or maybe even nothing at all, he and the planet might have survived.
  • Humans Are Bastards: Firmly believes this:
    Taylor: I've terrified you from the first, Doctor. I still do. You're afraid of me and you hate me. Why?
    Dr. Zaius: Because you're a man. And you are right, I have always known about man. From the evidence, I believe his wisdom must walk hand and hand with his idiocy. His emotions must rule his brain. He must be a warlike creature who gives battle to everything around him, even himself.
  • I Lied: After Dr. Zaius is captured, he and Taylor reach an agreement: If they can find any evidence of a precursor human civilization at Cornelius' old archaeological dig site, then Zaius will 1) Allow Taylor and Nova to leave in peace and 2) Dismiss the scientific heresy charges that Cornelius and Zira are facing. When said evidence is found, this trope is half averted and half played straight. He honors Condition #1, even going so far as to order troops that were preparing to shoot Taylor to stand down. But once Taylor and Nova have left, he reneges on Condition #2, destroying all the evidence they found and having Cornelius and Zira arrested for heresy (though he is more apologetic than most villains who invoke this trope). Downplayed in the second film, where it's revealed that after Cornelius and Zira were convicted, Zaius successfully convinced the Senate to grant them pardons.
  • In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves: Dr. Zaius explains to Taylor that his bigotry against humans is because they ultimately destroy any environment they settle in. Towards the end Dr. Cornelius (who is actually sympathetic to Taylor) even reads from a religious scroll that warns of "that harbinger of doom — man". The ending reveals that Zaius was completely right, since it's really a post-apocalyptic future.
    Dr. Zaius: The Forbidden Zone was once a paradise. Your breed made a desert of it, ages ago.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: His assertions that Humans Are Bastards and it is in their nature to destroy themselves are completely spot-on, even without the Bad Future that the setting of the first film really is.
  • Kick the Dog:
    • When Zira pretends that Cornelius hit her Zaius coldly tells her she brought it on herself by embarrassing him.
    • At the end of the second film, he taunts Taylor with one more rant about humans. A dying and emotionally exhausted Taylor nihilistically responds by activating a bomb and exterminating all life on Earth.
  • Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: He routinely performs lethal experiments on those inferior humans, although he later explains why he's so wary of man.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: In sharp contrast to the Blood Knight warrior apes of later installments, Zaius is quite physically unintimidating for a human-sized orangutan and never directly attacks the protagonists; when Taylor physically confronts him Zaius is easily overpowered. Everything dangerous about him comes from his influential philosophy and high social standing.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • His final warning when Taylor sets off to find more about the planet. Even calling Taylor by name, acknowledging him as his equal.
      Taylor: A planet where apes evolved from men? There's got to be an answer.
      Dr. Zaius: Don't look for it, Taylor. You may not like what you find.
    • Shortly afterwards, when he has the opportunity to go back on his word with Taylor and have him shot, he lets him leave with Nova in tow, especially remarkable given his terrified obsession with the idea of Taylor breeding a race of other intelligent humans. The sequel reveals he has Zira and Cornelius convicted of heresy, but then pushes for clemency on their behalf.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons: He believes that Taylor's story of being an astronaut from another world is impossible, and that he is more likely a member of some mutant tribe of humans. While he is wrong about the triple, he is correct in believing that Taylor is not from another world.
  • Shut Up, Kirk!: This exchange with Taylor:
    Taylor: Man preceded you here. You owe him your science, your language, whatever knowledge you have.
    Dr. Zaius: Then answer me this: If man was superior, why didn't he survive?
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
    • In the first film, he figures out that Taylor obviously isn't from Ape City, but dismisses the prospect of him being an alien (or time traveler) as sheer nonsense. Logically, Taylor must be a mutant, and there are more like him in the Forbidden Zone. While he apparently does eventually realize that Taylor was telling the truth, he cannot share this with the senior Ape leadership without betraying the cover-up surrounding the downfall of human society. By the start of the second film, the more hawkish Ape Senators, going with Zaius' original hypothesis, send numerous military expeditions into the Forbidden Zone, provoking the actual mutants and leading to a conflict that proves to be the final undoing of the Earth.
    • Picks up the Idiot Ball with both hands at the end of the second film, deciding that it's a good idea to berate the dying man standing next to the controls of a bomb capable of incinerating all life on Earth as belonging to a species that is "evil" and "capable of nothing but destruction." In fairness, Zaius didn't know about the bomb's destructive capabilities, but all life on the planet ends up paying the price for his Kick the Dog moment.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Dr. Zaius is not incorrect that the human civilization that predated his own destroyed itself. However, he is incorrect in believing that the faults of that civilization were uniquely human, and is blind to the ironically-very-human faults that exist within himself and the ape civilization that replaced theirs. At any rate, he is willing to do horrible things to other sapient creatures and suspend ape science with the aim of preventing his culture from advancing towards self-destruction.
    Lucius: What about the future?
    Dr. Zaius: I may have just saved it for you.

    Julius 

Played By: Buck Kartalian

Appears In: Planet of the Apes (1968)

A gorilla worker at the animal psychology lab.
  • Cigar Chomper: Julius is constantly seen puffing on a cigar.
  • Jerkass to One: Julius is rude and brutal to Taylor, but is constantly polite and loyal to Zira and is respectful to other gorilla guards.
  • Wardens Are Evil: Julius is in charge of guarding the human prisoners and delights in roughing Taylor up while calling him a freak.

    Honorious 

Senator Honorious

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/honorius.png

Played By: James Daly

Appears In: Planet of the Apes (1968)

An Ape Senator who serves as a senior member of the Ministry of Justice. Honorious serves as prosecutor for the Science Counsel during Taylor's trial.

    Lucius 

Plortrayed By: Lou Wagner

Appears In: Planet of the Apes (1968)

"It's like I said, you can't trust the older generation."
Zira's nephew.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Lucius breaks Taylor out of the zoo after he's scheduled to be castrated.
  • Broken Pedestal: He has a hard time shutting up about how dishonorable and disillusioning he finds the actions of Zaius throughout the climax.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He's neither seen nor mentioned in the sequels.
  • Tag Along Kid: He's a younger Ape who is constantly critiquing the older generation and accompanies Taylor, Nova, Cornelius, and Zira on their quest in the final act, acting as a lookout during the climax.

    Ursus 

General Ursus

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ursus.jpg
"The only good human is a DEAD human."

Portrayed By: James Gregory

Appears In: Beneath the Planet of the Apes

"The only thing that counts in the end is power! Naked merciless force!"
A high ranking military commander answering only to the Ministry of Science. When a scouting expedition in the Forbidden Zone goes missing, Ursus sees this as evidence that something within the Zone is a threat to simian survival and presses for a full fledged invasion. Although the Ape leadership believes Ursus to have an insane vision of conquest, they support the campaign for pragmatic reasons.

    Milo 

Doctor Milo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/42877cfa_0941_44c6_ae9c_3f4e4fe1d244.jpeg

Portrayed By: Sal Mineo

Appears In: Escape from the Planet of the Apes

"We have returned to Earth nearly 2,000 years before its destruction. And there's another reason for us to keep silent: our human captors will not be edified to learn that one day their world will crack like an egg and burn to a cinder because of an ape war of aggression. Apes, at this instance in time, cannot yet talk. For the moment, we should follow their example."

A chimpanzee scientist who traveled to 20th Century Earth with Cornelius and Zira. He briefly served as the tertiary protagonist of Escape from the Planet of the Apes.

  • Adventurer Archaeologist: Accompanied Cornelius on a few of his expeditions in the Forbidden Zone.
  • Decoy Protagonist: At first it appears that he is going to form a team of three with Cornelius and Zira, but he is killed off before Escape reaches its ten-minute mark.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: A primitive gorilla strangles him to death. Cornelius and Zira refuse to address whether this counts as ape killing ape.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Helped Cornelius and Zira fish Taylor's ship out of the lake it sunk into, got it working again, and used it to escape the final destruction of the Earth.
  • Remember the New Guy?: An old acquaintance of Cornelius and Zira, who is not mentioned in either of the first two films.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Dies mere minutes into Escape.

    Caesar 

Caesar

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/17364268_5a1e_426c_a4b2_9b9a65651fc9.jpeg
"Lousy Human bastard!"

Portrayed By: Roddy McDowall

Appears In: Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes

"Where there is fire, there is smoke. And in that smoke, from this day forward, my people will crouch and conspire and plot and plan for the inevitable day of Man's downfall - the day when he finally and self-destructively turns his weapons against his own kind. The day of the writing in the sky, when your cities lie buried under radioactive rubble! When the sea is a dead sea, and the land is a wasteland out of which I will lead my people from their captivity! And we will build our own cities in which there will be no place for humans except to serve our ends! And we shall found our own armies, our own religion, our own dynasty! And that day is upon you... now!"
The son of Cornelius and Zira, Caesar is raised by the kindly circus owner Armando, who keeps his heritage a secret. When a totalitarian regime begins using Apes as slaves, circumstances eventually force Caesar to come out of hiding and become a leader for his species.

    Aldo 

General Aldo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/battlealdo.jpg
"You will call me by my proper rank... General!"

Portrayed By: Claude Akins

Appears In: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes

"We shall do with them what we will!"
A gorilla who fought in Caesar's revolution, Aldo becomes a commander of the military in the Ape-Human civilization formed by Caesar in the aftermath of World War III. However, Aldo is unable to let go of his resentment of humans, and plots to overthrow Caesar and establish a new Ape society where he rules with an iron fist.
  • Ascended Extra: Was literally a background character in Conquest, part of this was because it took a while for them to decide what species of Ape he would be. He was originally going to be the chimpanzee protester being assaulted by the cops at the beginningnote , before being changed to the gorilla janitor who briefly looks at Caesar as if he is sizing him up, before following his lead. Either way, he's only in Conquest for about thirty seconds.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Is a firm believer of this principle in Battle. He temporarily usurps Caesar and becomes a very violent leader.
  • Asshole Victim: As he had already broken Ape society's most sacred law by murdering his sovereign's only child, his own death is seen as Laser-Guided Karma.
  • Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Massacres Kolp and his mutant followers near the end of Battle. In the original ending for Conquest, he would have bludgeoned Breck to death with the butt of his rifle.
  • Being Tortured Makes You Evil: His treatment in human captivity is not given as much detail as his reboot continuity counterpart, but it is implied to have been bad. See Berserk Button below.
  • Berserk Button: Being told "No!" by a human. We're told this is kind of a psychological trigger for all apes, but he seems the most upset by it.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: With Kolp in Battle.
  • Blood Knight: Disturbingly gleeful when he gets to shoot humans.
    Aldo: No prisoners!
  • Book Dumb: Considers "book learning" to be a complete waste of time.
  • The Chosen Wannabe: He never realizes it, but it was nearly his destiny to lead the ape revolt we see in Conquest. In the
  • Dirty Coward: Exposed as a murderer and shunned by Ape society, Aldo immediately attempts to flee. Caesar doesn't let him get very far.
  • Disney Villain Death: Gets dropped to his doom following a Final Battle with Caesar.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Caesar. He's more violent and loves killing humans and will not hesitate to murder his fellow apes. He's also The Chosen Wannabe, as noted above, and his parallel-timeline revolution leads to the Bad Future of the first two films.
  • Evil Is Petty: A human schoolteacher calls Aldo out on his disruptive behavior, so he trashes the school. And since Caesar wouldn't let Aldo give the teacher a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, he is too weak to lead the apes. The teacher is, naturally, one of the first thrown into the cages during Aldo's coup.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Once he learns how to talk, he takes full advantage of gorillas' deeper vocal cords.
  • Expy: Of Napoleon from Animal Farm. He gets his own Expies in later Apes films: Thade in the 2001 remake and Koba in the New '10s reboot.
  • Fantastic Racism: Against humans. To the point that seeing Ape children being educated by a human teacher pisses him off.
  • Foil: Again, to Caesar — Caesar was lovingly raised by humans before being forced to see how some humans are monstrous, but still recognizes there are good ones and he verges on being an All-Loving Hero, tries not to kill when he can, and cares for his kind; Aldo was mistreated by humans causing him to view all of them as scum, has a desire to kill anything and despite his claims, the only being he cares about is himself.
  • General Ripper: Slaughters retreating attackers and attempts to overthrow a peaceful regime that is too softhearted for his tastes.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Of the first four films before his official debut in Battle, being mentioned to be the original leader of the Ape revolt that led to humanity's downfall that Taylor had to go through in its Bad Future until Caesar enters the picture.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: In the opening scene, Aldo is introduced as a brash and swaggering gorilla, but when he sees two human workers struggling to change a broken wheel on a cart, he stops to lift it up for them. Then, when one of the men thanks him, Aldo harshly threatens and insults the guy for not calling him by his full title. He then proceeds to go to the school and make a complete Jerkass of himself.
  • Karmic Death: His Final Battle with Caesar ends with him meeting the same demise he inflicted upon Caesar's young son, Cornelius. See Disney Villain Death above.
  • Kick the Dog: After seizing power, he immediately locks all the humans in cages.
  • Killer Gorilla: One murderous bastard, and a gorilla.
  • Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Claims to fight for apes, but his motives are petty and self-serving.
  • Slouch of Villainy: When he assumes Caesar's throne.
  • Token Evil Teammate: In Conquest.
  • Villain Ball: He tries to frame the humans for Cornelius's eventual death but didn't count on the boy living long enough to tell Caesar it wasn't humans who hurt him, or on Virgil and MacDonald's forensic deduction about how that tree branch really broke.
  • Villain Has a Point: Aldo is a scheming, hotheaded bigot, but he does make a valid point when he gets confused and irritated about how Caesar went to explore the mutant city (which is forbidden) without telling anyone.
  • Villain Opening Scene: After the recap prologue, he is the first character in Battle to debut during the main titles, horseback riding his way to the village for school.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Murders Caesar's son, and tries to frame humans for it.

    Lisa 

Lisa

Portrayed by: Natalie Trundy

Appears In: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Caesar's wife, and one of the first recruits in his revolution.
  • Nice Girl: Lisa is very insightful and compassionate, and isn't afraid to question her husband's treatment of the humans.
  • Outliving One's Offspring: The loss of her son hits her pretty hard.

    Virgil 

Virgil

Portrayed by: Paul Williams

Appears In: Battle for the Planet of the Apes

An orangutan scientist and advisor of Caesar.
  • Badass Bookworm: Virgil is a gifted scientist who takes up a rifle and guns down several mutated invaders in the climax.
  • Erudite Orangutan: He is an organturan just as intelligent as all the other evolved apes, if not more so.
  • Meaningful Name: Much like in The Divine Comedy, this Virgil leads a tour through the underworld.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Virgil is sympathetic when Abe utters a forbidden word in a moment of anger, trying to comfort him and helping explain the story to Caesar in a polite and reasonable way.
  • The Smart Guy: Virgil is a brilliant quantum theorist who is also politically savvy and knows about radiation sickness. Before a Gilligan Cut featuring Virgil, MacDonald rhetorically asks "Who knows everything about everything?"

    Mandemus 

Mandemus

Portrayed by: Lew Ayres

Appears In: Battle for the Planet of the Apes

The armorer for Caesar's village. In addition to the technical side of his career, he also serves as the keeper of "Caesar's conscience", with the legal authority to deny the loan of weapons to anyone (even Caesar) who cannot logically justify the need.
  • Cool Old Guy: He has gray hair and is a former teacher of the other ape leaders. He only hands out weapons when he's given a good reason to, and backs up his decisions with logical arguments.
  • Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Mandemus isn't afraid to defy the powerful (both physically and in terms of supporters) Aldo.
    Mandemus: There is a law that weapons from this armory may only be issued under direct orders from Caesar, and not under threats from of his thicker-headed subordinates for whom war means only personal glory.
  • Meaningful Name: His name is a play on "mandamus", a type of court order that can compel another public body to comply with an existing legal obligation. Similarly, Mandemus has the legal authority to overrule Caesar on certain matters.

    The Lawgiver 

The Lawgiver

Portrayed By: John Huston

Appears In: Planet of the Apes (1968) (mentioned), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (mentioned), Battle for the Planet of the Apes

A near mythical figure in Ape culture, who, as his title suggests, decreed several of the Apes' laws.

    Cornelius II 

Portrayed by:' Bobby Porter

Appears in: ''Battle for the Planet of the Apes

The son of Caesar and Lisa.
  • Kill the Cutie: He's a kind boy who enjoys playing with his pet squirrel and writes "Ape shall not kill Abe " instead of "Ape shall not kill Ape" in class as a sign of affection for his teacher, Abe. He's mortally wounded by Aldo after overhearing the gorillas plot against Caesar.

Mutants

    Mendez 

Grand Inquisitor Mendez XXVI

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mendez_xxvi.jpg
"The heavens declare the glory of the Bomb, and the firmament showeth His handiwork."

Portrayed By: Paul Richards

Appears In: Beneath the Planet of the Apes

"May the Blessings of the Bomb Almighty, and the Fellowship of the Holy Fallout, descend upon us all. This day and forever more."

The dynastic leader of the Fellowship of the Holy Fallout - a society of subterranean mutants living within the ruins of St. Patrick's Cathedral in 40th Century New York, Grand Inquisitor Mendez oversees the mutant communities religious services, and is also the caretaker of the Alpha-Omega Bomb, a prototype cobalt shielded nuclear warhead, which his people have come to revere as a god.

  • Agony Beam: Mendez's telepathic powers enable him to generate a piercing sonic hum inside a target's mind.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: With Dr. Zaius and General Ursus in the second film.
  • Body Horror: His "inmost self" which is only revealed at religious services, featuring scarred, discolored skin and distended veins.
  • The Chains of Commanding: Mendez leads a Cargo Cult and is willing to torture and mistreat Brent and Taylor. He's also never without a sad and weary expression on his face that suggests that he's unhappy about having to engage in such cruelty while constantly facing an ape invasion that his people have little hope of withstanding.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Wears a purple robe, matching the color of his thought projection abilities, and also symbolizing his status as leader, as purple is frequently associated with royalty and nobility in many cultures.
  • Faux Affably Evil: He attempts to convince Brent that he is a pacifist with honorable intentions, but this is betrayed by his annoyance and impatience at Brent not giving him what he wants. When Brent calls him out on his hypocrisy, he drops the pretense of civility.
  • Latex Perfection: Like all the Mutants, he disguises his scarred visage in a lifelike mask.note 
  • Legacy Character: Comes from a long line of rulers who have all bore the name Mendez.
  • Master of Illusion: His primary means of attack and defense.
  • Properly Paranoid: Mendez ruthlessly interrogates humans and apes alike due to his desperation to find out whether the apes are planning to attack him and his people. They are.
  • Sinister Minister: The leader of a bomb-worshipping cult and the director of all their liturgical services. He's also not above using his powers to effectively Mind Rape disarmed prisoners who pose no threat to him.
  • Taking You with Me: When the apes invade his city and overwhelm the defenses, Mendez activates a device capable of an Earth-Shattering Kaboom to wipe out everyone.
  • Your Mind Makes It Real: His illusions, although Dr. Zaius is strong willed enough to resist.

    Ongaro 

Inquisitor Ongaro

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ongaro_2.jpg
"We don't kill our enemies. We get our enemies to kill each other."

Portrayed By: Don Pedro Colley

Appears In: Beneath the Planet of the Apes

"We are a patient people, Mister Brent. We can repeat this little lesson as often as you want, because we are determined to know what the apes want: war, or peace."

The jailer and executioner for the Fellowship of the Holy Fallout, Ongaro is the cruelest and most sadistic of the Mutant Inquisitors, taking a perverse delight in using his telepathic powers to get his prisoners to kill each other with their bare hands. His projections were always filtered through a haze of yellow light, oftentimes overlapping psychic impressions created by his fellow mutants.

    The Fat Man 

Inquisitor Adiposo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fat_man_7.jpg
"You don't understand, Mr. Brent. The Bomb is a holy weapon for peace."

Portrayed By: Victor Buono

Appears In: Beneath the Planet of the Apes

One of Mendez's lieutenants.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Wears a red stole over his robes, and his psychic powers are filtered through a haze of red light.
  • Fat Bastard: He's quite portly, and while less ruthless than the other Inquisitors, he still participates in their Cargo Cult and mistreatment of their prisoners.
  • Meaningful Name: Adiposo is derived from Adipose, the Latin word for fat. Also, "Fat Man" was the code name for one of the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki near the end of World War II.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: His exact fate during the climactic battle isn't shown.

    Albina 

Inquisitor Albina

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/albina_2jpg.jpg
"Traumatic hypnosis is a weapon of peace."

Portrayed By: Natalie Trundy

Appears In: Beneath the Planet of the Apes

A ruthless mutant Inquisitor.

    Caspay 

Inquisitor Caspay

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/caspay.jpg

Portrayed By: Jeff Corey

Appears In: Beneath the Planet of the Apes

The Minister of External Affairs for the Fellowship of the Holy Fallout.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Wears a green stole over his robe, matching the color of his psychic impressions.
  • Fantastic Racism: Caspay derides the apes as "monstrous and materialistic" and also seems to view mutants as superior to humans due to their ability to use telepathy instead of "primitive" speech.
  • Faux Affably Evil: While he might be a genuine Well-Intentioned Extremist under a lot of stress, he mostly comes as well-spoken but cruel. He's willing to talk to Brent as an equal and tries to sound sympathetic to his situation, but he's also a ruthless and unapologetic torturer who is primarily concerned about his own interests and that of his Cargo Cult. This is best exemplified by how he tells Brent "not to make us" keep hurting him when mostly they've been inflicting pain just to demonstrate their powers.
  • Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He's bespectacled, ruthless, and mocking.
    John Brent: When may we hope to be set free?
    Caspay: You may hope whenever you please, Mr. Brent.
  • Master of Illusion: Caspay engages in more mental telepathy to inflict illusions of threats and pain than his comrades and gets a decent amount of dialogue explaining how their powers work.
  • Number Two: Caspay is Mendez's second-in-command and is always making authoritative statements or asking intelligent questions.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: His exact fate during the climactic battle isn't shown.

    Mendez I 

Mendez I

Portrayed By: Paul Stevens

Appears in: Battle for the Planet of the Apes

A mutant who is part of Kolp's faction and inherits leadership of it at the end of the movie.
  • Ambiguous Situation: It is unclear whether Mendez is an ancestor of the mutant from the second movie or merely has the same surname as a Continuity Nod. It all depends on whether the fifth film is meant to be viewed as forming a Stable Time Loop or not.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mendez talks about venerating his faction's nuke in the future, as the fact that it still exists and wasn't detonated is proof that they've avoided perpetuating The Chain of Harm and have something to be optimistic about. In at least one future timeline, this leads to the birth of a sinister Cargo Cult and The End of the World as We Know It.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: In contrast to both Kolp and Mendez XXVI, Mendez recognizes that fighting the apes will bring needless death and destruction to both of their people. After Kolp's death, he refuses his leader's final order to use their superweapon.
  • Token Good Teammate: To the villainous Kolp. Once Kolp is killed in his disastrous campaign against the apes, Mendez claims power and is implied to rule with a lot more kindness and decency.

    Alma 

Alma

Portrayed by: France Nuyen

Appears in: Battle for the Planet of the Apes

A member of Kolp's staff.
  • Face Death with Dignity: She's quite calm while preparing to destroy herself and the apes with a nuclear bomb.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: Alma assists Kolp in his attempts to trap Caesar and prepare for war, but she does so out of duty and not enthusiasm. In her first scene, she's seen lounging around and checking her reflection in a compact mirror, and later she plays checkers with Mendez while waiting for news of the battle. While she's initially willing to follow Kolp's orders to blow up the whole world, Mendez is able to talk her out of it.
  • Sinister Surveillance: Alma operates the security cameras that follow Caesar and his companions as they explore the abandoned parts of the city.

    Mutant Captain 

Captain

Portrayed by: Richard Eastham

Appears in: Battle for the Planet of the Apes

The head of Kolp's army.

    York 

Sergeant York

Portrayed by: Cal Wilson (possibly) note 

Appears in: Battle for the Planet of the Apes

A member of Kolp's army who relays the news of his defeat to Alma and Mendez.
  • Bearer of Bad News: Kolp has him keep away from the battlefield so that in case he loses, someone can go back to the city with word of their defeat. Kolp loses, and York promptly complies with his orders.
  • Death by Adaptation: York collapses after delivering his message in the film, but doesn't seem to be dead. In the Novelization his role is carried out by two wounded soldiers who die shortly after making it back to the city.
  • Sole Survivor: He's the only member of Kolp's invasion force to make it back home (although the ultimate fates of the men captured in nets are unclear). He does collapse afterward, but this seems to be from mere exhaustion, as he doesn't look wounded, and Mendez and Alma don't act like he's dead.

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top