History Film / DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes

** Justified in that they're led by an ape who, even at his most reasonable, was willing to risk ape lives if it meant opposing humans; and after his beating from Caesar, [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope cares for nothing but himself and his hate]] and will now gladly ''take'' ape lives for the chance to murder and torment humans. Also serving to contrast his leadership with Caesar's, who always favors a tactical approach over the ZergRush. And, as mentioned above, they do take several losses in the process and almost lose not once, but ''twice'', only managing to push through thanks to Koba's [[VillanousValor unquestionable badassery]].

** Justified in that they're led by an ape who, even at his most reasonable, was willing to risk ape lives if it meant opposing humans; and after his beating from Caesar, [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope cares for nothing but himself and his hate]] and will now gladly ''take'' ape lives for the chance to murder and torment humans. Also serving to contrast his leadership with Caesar's, who always favors a tactical approach over the ZergRush. And, as mentioned above, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome they do take several losses in the process]], and almost lose not once, but ''twice'', only managing to push through thanks to Koba's [[VillanousValor unquestionable badassery]].

** [[spoiler:Surprisingly even ''Malcolm'' is guilty of this. Instead of explaining to Dreyfus that Caesar is trying to regain control from Koba, Malcolm suddenly ''pulls a gun'' on Dreyfus and gives such an incoherent explanation for why Dreyfus literally has to ask who he is talking about. Of course Dreyfus might not have listened anyway (despite being willing to give Malcolm's peace expedition a go in the first place) but Malcolm didn't help his case.]]

** Justified in that they're led by an ape who, even at his most reasonable, was willing to risk ape lives if it meant opposing humans; and after his beating from Caesar, [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope cares for nothing but himself and his hate]] and will now gladly ''take'' ape lives for the chance to murder and torment humans. Also serving to contrast his leadership with Caesar's, who always favors a tactical approach over the ZergRush.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: There's really barely a single wholly unsympathetic character in the movie. Out of the film's main antagonists, Dreyfus is more misguided and ill-informed than malicious and Koba has a solid FreudianExcuse for hating the humans and fearing what they could do if given too much lenience, [[spoiler: until he goes off the deep end later when he doesn't hesitate to kill other apes]]. Even Carver, the {{Jerkass}} who accidentally kicks of the hostilities with his bad behavior, is clearly acting more out of fear and misplaced blame than malice or sadism.

* GunboatDiplomacy: Caesar utilizes this when informing the humans that he doesn't want war. . . with about a couple hundred apes armed to the teeth right behind him, to drive home the "but will fight if we must" follow-up.

** Later, this gets turned on its head. As Koba does the "playful chimp" routine for two gunmen, they laugh it up. However, while they're off guard, Koba grabs a rifle from them, only to continue blithely playing around with it...after which point he guns them both down with a sadistic smile on his face.

** Koba is discussing Caesar's deal with the humans, and when Caesar says to let the people do their "human work", Koba laughs it up and repeats "human work" in a goofy tone of voice. While still smiling, he points to one of his scars and repeats "human work". The audience stops laughing, as does Koba, as he points to more of his scars, repeating "human work" in gradually harsher tones of his voice.

** Later, this gets turned on its head. When Koba was doing the playful chimp routine for the two gunmen, the audience laughed it up just as much as the two men in the movie, but when the men were off guard, allowing Koba to grab a gun and kill them, everybody instantly stopped laughing.

** Koba has also one [[spoiler:when he realizes that Caesar is just about to let him fall to his death.]]

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The apes believe in being led by their strongest. [[spoiler: When Koba sees that the apes are faltering under the humans' gunfire, he charges straight at a tank like a badass and manages to rally them.]]

* CrusadingWidower: Both Malcolm and Dreyfus. The former has a dead wife, while the latter has a dead family. Both caused by the outbreak.

* FiveManBand: Comes in two sets.
** The Apes
*** TheLeader: Caesar, obviously.
*** TheLancer: Blue Eyes, Caesar's son who always questions his decisions. Rocket, Caesar's Lancer in the first film, is DemotedToExtra and doesn't fit any particular role in this film.
*** TheBigGuy: Koba, who only wants to wage war against the humans at all costs.
*** TheSmartGuy: Maurice. While Caesar is more or less one of the more intellectually gifted apes, Maurice is the teacher and the one with curiosity.
*** TheChick: Cornelia, Caesar's wife and Blue Eyes' mother who only serves to give them comfort.
** The Humans
*** TheLeader: Dreyfus, the man who calls the shots at the colony.
*** TheLancer: Malcolm, Dreyfus' NumberTwo.
*** TheBigGuy: Foster, the biggest and toughest member of the group.
*** TheSmartGuy: Alexander, spends his free time reading.
*** TheChick: Ellie, Malcolm's (second) wife and TheMedic of the team.
*** TokenEvilTeammate: Carver, the most unpleasant member of the group.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: By the end of the film, [[spoiler: Koba is now nothing more then a warmongering tyrant while Caesar is the BigGood.]]

* GreyAndGrayMorality: There's really barely a single wholly unsympathetic character in the movie. Out of the film's main antagonists, Dreyfus is more misguided and ill-informed than malicious and Koba has a solid FreudianExcuse for hating the humans and fearing what they could do if given too much lenience, [[spoiler: until his later actions destroy any sympathy for him when he doesn't hesitate to kill other apes]]. Even Carver, the {{Jerkass}} who accidentally kicks of the hostilities with his bad behavior, is clearly acting more out of fear and misplaced blame than malice or sadism.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: In the beginning, when all the apes thought humans were dead or gone, Koba was loyal and friendly -- he had a BigDamnHeroes moment in the beginning of the film, and even reassured Blue Eyes after that scars "make you strong."

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Deconstructed. The apes mostly view humans as this (save for Caesar, though even he admits that he thinks apes are superior). But most of the human characters are good people or just trying to survive, and a big part of Caesar’s CharacterDevelopment is realising that [[NotSoDifferentRemark apes and humans can actually be just as bad as each other]].

* KnightOfCerebus: Koba becomes the most monstrous character in not only this movie, but the ''entire trilogy''.

* MoralityKitchenSink: Initially GoodVersusGood, the humans and apes both want to make sure that they can survive and both have legitimate reasons to fear each other. Koba vs Dreyfus is BlackAndGreyMorality [[spoiler:the former instigating a war solely out his hate for humans and even the lives of his own kind mean little to him, while the latter feels that the apes have crossed the line and need to die for the better of humanity]]. Caesar [[spoiler:vs Koba is BlackAndWhiteMorality]].

!!''Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'' contains examples of:

'''Caesar:''' [[spoiler:…You are not ape.]]

-->[[spoiler:'''Koba:''' Ape not kill ape.]]
-->'''Caesar:''' [[spoiler:…You are not ape.]]

The 2014 sequel to ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' and the second in the new continuity started in that film, directed by Creator/MattReeves. Also a loose remake of ''Film/BattleForThePlanetOfTheApes'', much as ''Rise'' is one of ''Film/ConquestOfThePlanetOfTheApes''.

The film received a novelization; a prequel novel, ''Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm''; a prequel comic mini-series; and a one-shot comic, ''Contagion''. The Simian Flu DownloadableContent was released for ''VideoGame/PlagueInc'' in 2014 to promote the upcoming film.

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Koba]]. Also counts as DeathByIrony since [[spoiler:he died similarly to Jacobs, the man he hates, in the first film; he also killed Blue Eyes' best friend, Ash, in a similar fashion.]]

* NoTrueScotsman: Caesar uses this when [[spoiler:killing Koba]].

** Koba has also one [[spoiler:when he realizes at the end of the film that Caesar is just about to let him fall to his death.]]

* AssholeVictim:
** [[spoiler: Carver is introduced shooting one of the apes in a panic. Reckless and impulsive sure, but still understandable given the context. He then risks all out war by smuggling in a shotgun when it would do little to stop the apes killing him anyway. Once he starts throwing the deaths of Ellie's daughter and Malcolm's wife in their faces, simply to make a point, he's lost all audience sympathy.]]
** [[spoiler:Koba, who tried to asassinate his friend Caesar so he could start a war with the humans, murdered Ash just to prove a point, and killed another ape and injured Maurice while firing blindly in the final battle. You can hardly blame Caesar for dropping him off a tower to his death.]]

** The first shot, a zooming-out shot of Caesar doing a KubrickStare, mirrors that of ''Film/AClockworkOrange'', except it doesn't go for as long.

** The prequel novel ''Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm'' deals with the early days of the plague and explains how the apes started obtaining food. It also reveals the names of Dreyfus' family members, who are characters in the novel.

* {{Misblamed}}: InUniverse. Carver (and as revealed in the prequel novel many other humans) blame the apes for humanity's downfall, despite the known fact that the virus that nearly wiped them out was man-made, and the apes barely had anything to do with its spread.

* TruthInTelevision: Koba is much stronger than a human and his brutal treatment under humans has left him with an anger and aggression that few apes or humans can match. However, in real life, a fully grown adult chimpanzee is still much more powerful than an adult bonobo. And once Koba's taunts go too far with Caesar, Koba gets a taste of that reality as Caesar beats him to an inch of his life and nearly kills him ''within mere seconds''. Very tellingly, [[spoiler:the second time they fight, Koba has to rely on multiple weapons and the fact that Caesar was already injured to be able to even the odds]].

* WhiteAndGreyMorality: Caesar’s initial conflict with [[Spoiler:Koba]] had the latter making several good points while still being far too bloodthirsty about it. Caesar asserted his authority, but still cared for his friend and heeded some of his advice. [[spoiler: This flies out the window when Koba goes off the deep end]].