History NightmareFuel / WarForThePlanetOfTheApes

----
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/war_for_the_planet_of_the_apes_nightmare_fuel.jpg]]

* Just the very fact that [[ThePlague Simian Flu]], the human-made virus that killed almost entire population of Earth, '''is back'''. As if that wasn't bad enough, that virus has mutated too - any human infected with its strain will lose ability to speak. And, if the Colonel is right about its effects, then this new plague may eventually cause ''mental regression'' of its host, reducing him or her to a feral animal.

* The setting of the film in general has become a hellhole for both apes ''and'' humans alike. On one hand, apes are hunted down by a militia led by a delusional military officer and almost every human they meet reacts to them with hostility (barring Nova). As for humans, things couldn't get any worse for them - almost everyone in the world is either dead or rendered mute thanks to a new strain, and because of how much the society has regressed, it has become all but impossible to find a proper cure to it. Even the eponymous "war" is not between humans and apes, but between humans and other humans over clashing ideologies. It really gives the feeling that human race as we know it is '''doomed''', and the ape dominance of Earth will be absolute.

* Another story the Colonel tells is how much the Northern Army believes that there is still a cure to the new virus and how much he despises there claims (so much in fact that in one prequel comic he orders the mass execution of the entire science facility personnel [[DisproportionateRetribution simply because they were keeping the apes for study instead of killing them right there and then]]). When the Northern Army sent a delegation group to talk things out, the Colonel had most of them killed via ''decapitation'', and yet one was spared - solely to deliver the message that the Colonel wouldn't be going down that easy.

* In the prequel novel, ''Revelations'', Ray the orangutan is captured by another surviving faction of humans and briefly becomes a lab ape. While sedated for painful experimentation, he has a gruesome nightmare in which he sees many apes, including himself, strapped down on tables with needles stuck in them and their bellies cut wide open, showing their ''cuts hanging out''. One of these apes is Koba, who has a needle stuck in each of his eyes, and stares at Ray in silent accusation of not understanding the horrors he went through.

** Know what makes it worse? Nova is perfectly fine. She just can't talk. The Colonel killed 'em for no reason

** And what makes it even more disturbing? Assuming the Colonel was right, based on Simian Flu's effects, this is exactly what would happen. It would essentially be stimulating neurogenesis in the few surviving humans, like it did to make the apes smarter. We tend to assume that [[MyBrainIsBig a bigger brain means more intelligence]], but for humans it's actually the reverse; if our brains were slightly bigger, it would take more time and energy to send signals from one area to another. Everything from speech to intellect would be hampered as a result. For the humans that are left, the virus is doing exactly what it was designed for: permanently stimulating neurogenesis, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero just like Will wanted all those years ago.]]

* The scene that results in Caesar's descent into ruthlessness above is AdultFear at its finest. The night before the apes plan to move, they lay asleep in their CaveBehindTheFalls. Caesar is woken up by bright green lights that zip down past the cave. He finds ropes where the lights were, realizing that the soldiers are inside the cave. He wakes up Blue Eyes, telling him to protect his mother and brother, before venturing into the cave with some troops to attack the soldiers. After taking out one of them, he hears the Colonel's voice.

** And what makes it even more disturbing? Assuming the Colonel was right, based on Simian Flu's effects, this is exactly what would happen. It would essentially be stimulating neurogenesis in the few surviving humans, like it did to make the apes smarter. We tend to assume that [[MyBrainIsBig a bigger brain means more intelligence]], but for humans it's actually the reverse; if our brains were slightly bigger, it would take more time and energy to send signals from one area to another. Everything from speech to intellect would be hampered as a result (which is logical, when you think about the fact that this is believed to be the cause of Autism). For the humans that are left, the virus is doing exactly what it was designed for: permanently stimulating neurogenesis, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero just like Will wanted all those years ago.]]

** And what makes it even more disturbing? Assuming the Colonel was right, based on Simian Flu's effects, this is exactly what would happen. It would essentially be stimulating neurogenesis in the few surviving humans, like it did to make the apes smarter. We tend to assume that [[MyBrainIsBig a bigger brain means more intelligence]], but for humans it's actually the reverse; if our brains were slightly bigger, it would take more time and energy to send signals from one area to another. Everything from speech to intellect would be hampered as a result. For the humans that are left, the virus is doing exactly what it was designed for: permanently stimulating neurogenesis, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero just like Will wanted all those years ago.]]

* The scene that results in Caesar's descent into ruthlessness above is AdultFear at its finest. [[spoiler:The night before the apes plan to move, they lay asleep in their CaveBehindTheFalls. Caesar is woken up by bright green lights that zip down past the cave. He finds ropes where the lights were, realizing that the soldiers are inside the cave. He wakes up Blue Eyes, telling him to protect his mother and brother, before venturing into the cave with some troops to attack the soldiers. After taking out one of them, he hears the Colonel's voice]]
-->'''Colonel''': Soldier, do you copy? [[spoiler:King Kong is down. I repeat. King Kong is down!]]
** [[spoiler:Caesar then returns to the upper level, seeing the Colonel in dark warpaint preparing to leave. After a long stare-off between them, Caesar turns to his left, seeing the bloodied corpses of his wife and eldest son. It isn't long before his shocked staring turns into an unnerving DeathGlare]].
** [[spoiler:When Caesar leaves Blue Eyes to stand guard, you see him leave the exit opposite to the camera. The shot is revealed to be the perspective of a soldier (presumably the Colonel) and the audience sees a bright green light pointing [[BoomHeadshot directly at the back of Blue Eyes' head]]]].
* [[spoiler:When group of soldiers searching the woods for Caesar is losing the skirmish with the apes and Preacher radios in the Colonel his order is to [[TakingYouWithMe kill as many apes as he can]]. Sets up just what type of villain the Colonel is going to be.]]
* [[spoiler:The Auschwitz-esque work camp for the apes, established in the remnants of a "human zoo"[[note]]A quarantine area used for people infected by the Simian Flu[[/note]] is just as horrifying as Bad Ape said it was. Unlike most of the action scenes in this film, which are fast paced and kill dozens of characters a second, the suffering in the work camp is slow and painful, bringing disturbingly strong parallels to UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust]].

* Despite claiming that he was "not ape" due to the actions Koba committed in ''Dawn'', his death still haunts Caesar. [[spoiler:He sees hallucinations of Koba twice in the film, and for the first time in the series we are treated to a first-person perspective of Koba's hideously scarred (with blood dripping across) face, coupled with the eerily sinister voice of Creator/TobyKebbell.]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Koba''']]: [[IronicEcho Ape not kill ape...]]
** [[spoiler: His second appearance is especially unnerving, as he appears to Caesar when the latter is [[CrucifiedHeroShot tied to the post and close to suffocating]]. In this scene, Koba's usual HulkSpeak is downplayed slightly to the point where his voice sounds almost ''comforting'' to Caesar, as he tries to pull his consciousness from the living.]]
--> [[spoiler: '''Koba''']]: ''[[SoftspokenSadist Sleeeeeeeep....]]'' You cannot save them. Apes all die here. '''''Join me'''''...
* When Caesar and his group are interrogating [[spoiler:Winter at one of the soldier camps, they notice humans approaching outside and forcefully cover Winter's mouth and hold him down to keep him quiet so that he can't warn the humans. When the humans leave, Winter is revealed to have died, either from being choked/suffocated to death by Caesar (who was in turn angry at the gorilla for spoiling to the soldiers where the ape settlement was - leading to his wife and son's deaths) or heart attack]]. The way Caesar reacts as [[spoiler:Winter's head droops down]] shows that he may not have intended to do this. [[spoiler:And then the first Koba nightmare listed above happens.]]
** Not to mention that all throughout the interrogation, [[spoiler:Winter is absolutely positively '''terrified''' of Caesar. Keep in mind that Winter is a gorilla, and is twice the size of Caesar.]]
* Nova [[spoiler:entering the Colonel's camp on her own to help Caesar,]] while awesomely brave and also critical in helping Caesar to survive and to plan the escape, would have gotten killed in cold blood had she been caught and brought before [=McCullough=], [[spoiler:as anyone shown infected by the mutated virus are immediately killed; apparently even little children, as her father is shown to have been one of the Colonel's soldiers who deserted to save her from this.]]
** This is all perfectly displayed in Maurice and the others fear for her safety [[spoiler: as soon as they see soldiers coming her way.]] Rocket even walks into the camp, completely alone and unarmed, to [[spoiler:distract them from her, knowing very well he could have been killed instantly instead of taken prisoner.]]
* The Colonel telling the story [[spoiler: of how he killed his own son who was infected with a more advanced form of the simian flu which takes away humans ability to speak and after that killing those who disagreed with his methods]] Caesar himself is genuinely shocked and horrified at the same time.
** [[spoiler: Now imagine that from the son's perspective: You've just been stricken by a mutated form of the virus that killed your mother. Turns out that it has been in you the entire time, and you were NOT immune to it after all. It's robbed you of speech and given you what, for all you know, could be {{Deadly Nosebleed}}s. In this [[AndIMustScream moment]] of BodyHorror, you turn to the only family you have left, your father, for comfort. And ''he shoots you in the head''.]]
** Know what makes it worse? [[spoiler:Nova is perfectly fine. She just can't talk. The Colonel killed 'em for no reason]]
*** The prequel comic hints that [[spoiler: the Colonel may be ''right'' about the virus' effects. A poor scientist who is infected with its strain eventually goes feral due to the virus changing the victim's mind completely.]]
* [[spoiler: Just the very fact that [[ThePlague Simian Flu]], the human-made virus that killed almost entire population of Earth, '''is back'''. As if that wasn't bad enough, that virus has mutated too - any human infected with its strain will lose ability to speak. And, if the Colonel is right about its effects, then this new plague may eventually cause ''mental regression'' of its host, reducing him or her to a feral animal.]]

* The scene that results in Caesar's descent into ruthlessness above is AdultFear at its finest. [[spoiler:The night before the apes plan to move, they lay asleep in their CaveBehindTheFalls. Caesar is woken up by bright green lights that zip down past the cave. He finds ropes where the lights were, realizing that the soldiers are inside the cave. He wakes up Blue Eyes, telling him to protect his mother and brother, before venturing into the cave with some troops to attack the soldiers. After killing one of them, he hears the Colonel's voice]]