Caesar (Planet of the Apes)

"I did not start this war. I offered you peace. I showed you mercy. And now you are here...to finish us off. For good."

- Caesar Caesar is the deuteragonist-turned-true main protagonist of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the main protagonist of the 2014 sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and the upcoming 2017 second sequel War for the Planet of the Apes.

He is portrayed by English actor Andy Serkis, through full motion capture performance, Serkis also played the villain Gollum of the Lord of the Rings series and the anti-hero King Kong in the 2005 remake both through motion capture.

Information
He is an anthropomorphic chimpanzee that was born into the care of Gensys scientists after his mother was killed trying to protect him from their experiments. Caesar eventually goes on to lead an ape revolution against their human captors eventually leading many of them to freedom in the forests of California.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
After being caught in the African Jungles, Caesar's mother Bright Eyes is brought to the GenSys Labs in San Diego to be a test Chimp. While at GenSys Bright Eyes is given an experimental drug known as ALZ-112 by kindhearted scientist Will Rodman, who seeks to use this drug to possibly cure Alzheimer's disease once and for all, a disease Rodman's own father is suffering from. During the ALZ-112 test trials, Bright Eyes shows great promise, as her intelligence grows far beyond that of a normal Chimp, her improvement is so much so that Will's boss, and GenSys CEO, Steven Jacobs decides to bring the drug, and Bright Eyes, before a group of possible investors in order to put this cure on the market. However unknown to the scientists and chimp handler Robert Franklin, Bright Eyes had given birth to a son while in her cell. When Franklin opened the door to coax her out she reacted in defense of her newborn. and went on a rampage through the facility before being gunned down by GenSys security in front of a shocked Rodman and all the potential investors, effectively ruining their chances of putting ALZ-112 on the market. The greedy and cruel Jacobs orders all test apes to be put down, forcing the reluctant Franklin to carry out the act, in order to scrap the program and begin anew. Franklin unwilling to put down Bright Eyes' infant son, takes the young chimp and hands him off to Will to look after, who takes him home to care for him behind Jacob's back. Rodman introduces the infant to his sick father, Charles, who immediately takes a liking to the chimp and even gives him a name, dubbing him "Caesar".

As he begins to grow over the years Caesar, like his mother, shows extreme signs of intelligence showing that the ALZ-112 had passed on genetically from Bright Eyes to her son. Will, impressed by these results, begins secretly testing the drug on his father and seemingly begins to cure him of his Alzheimer's. Eventually Caesar escapes the house while Will is giving Charles a dose of the 112. Caesar not knowing any better tries to play with the neighbor's child, however he scares the child and is chased by the girls father, Douglas Hunisker, with a baseball bat. The young Caesar is rescued by his adoptive father but not before injuring his leg during the ordeal. Will takes Caesar to the local veterinarian where he meets, Caroline Aranha, who is impressed by Caesar, she also takes a liking to Will and the two begin a relationship. Five years later, After taking Caesar to the Muir woods, along with Caroline, for one of their regular trips Will decides to take Caesar to GenSys and tell him the truth about his mother after Caesar questions his upbringing.Not long after, Charles's Alzheimer's begins to return and he wanders out of the house and into Hunsiker's unattended car, which was left running. In his confusion Charles accidentally hits the gas and runs the car into the rear of another. Hunsiker enraged confronts Charles and angrily shoves him. Caesar, witnessing this, escapes the house and defends Charles by attacking Hunsiker and biting his finger nearly off. Caesar stops the attack and returns to Charles scared and unsure of what is to come next.

Incarcerated
Under a court order Caesar is placed in the San Bruno primate shelter, as a result of his attack on Hunsiker. Will leaves Caesar behind at the shelter after an emotional goodbye, leaving Caesar in the care of Shelter owner John Landon and his cruel son Dodge. Caesar soon learns that the apes are kept in very poor conditions in dirty cages in the back of the facility. During this time Will's father Charles passes away from his disease, and a new cure known as the ALZ-113 is created by Will and tested in the labs on lifetime lab ape Koba. One of these tests results in chimp handler Franklin being exposed to the ALZ-113. in the mean time Caesar is being bullied by a fellow chimp named Rocket who establishes himself as the alpha male of the shelter, while at the same time making friends with circus orangutan Maurice, who can also communicate using sign language. Caesar is also suffering from extreme mistreatment from Dodge who in order to teach Caesar a lesson sprays the unfortunate chimp point blank in the chest with a fire hose sending him violently flying up against the wall of his cell. after constant mistreatment and the realization that his adopted father Will would not be coming to rescue him from the shelter, Caesar begins to take action to improve his situation and that of the other caged apes.

Planning A Rebellion
Caesar first lifts the pocket knife off of a friend of Dodge's who got too close to the chimp's cage. he then secretly uses this knife to pick the lock on his cage and make his way to the cage of a large and intimidating silverback gorilla named Buck. Caesar frees and befriends the gorilla and then uses him to establish dominance over Rocket effectively using his intelligence to become the leader of the apes trapped in the shelter. After this Caesar quietly escapes the shelter and makes his way to his old house. While Will and Caroline sleep, Caesar steals the ALZ-113 from Will's fridge and takes it back to the shelter where he unleashes the cure into all of the ape cages. The next morning it is shown that all the apes are now affected by the ALZ-113 and now all have heightened intelligence. He briefly trains them in sign language, before ordering them to stay quiet.

Rebellion
That night Caesar is once again out of his cage this time Dodge spots him and confronts him with a cattle prod. Eventually Caesar grabs Dodge's arm when he is going to strike him with the prod, this prompts Dodge to yell a command at Caesar to release him, Caesar then responds with his first spoken word: NO!. This surprises everyone present including the other apes, Caesar then knock Dodge unconscious and drags him to the cages. He then sees the other apes attacking Rodney, another caretaker at the shelter, Caesar stops their attack forbidding the apes from killing. During this Dodge wakes up and once again goes to attack Caesar with the cattle prod, however just as Dodge goes to strike Caesar, the chimp acts in self defense and sprays dodge with a nearby fire hose, the water hits the prod and electrifies it which kills Dodge instantly by electrocution. All of the apes, now led by Caesar, escape the shelter through the roof of the facility.

The apes then make their way to GenSys labs where they free all of the test apes, including Koba, who has already been exposed to the ALZ-113 and as such already has higher intelligence. Caesar and his ape army then begin to make their way through San Diego dodging and incapacitating several Law Enforcement patrol vehicles in their attempt to make it to the golden gate bridge so they can cross it to the Muir Woods to freedom. Once at the bridge Caesar and the apes are confronted by a large police force on the other side. Caesar then uses strategy to take the police off-guard by having his ape go over the top side of the bridge and the other half going under, flanking the officers. after a while the apes overpower and defeat the police, with Caesar making sure that none are killed by his ape brothers. Eventually GenSys CEO Jacobs arrives in a tactical police chopper which begins firing on the apes killing several, until Jacobs spots and recognizes Caesar ordering the chopper gunner to kill him. However Caesar's friend Buck gets in the away, taking several bullets before leaping onto the chopper and causing it to crash land on the edge of the bridge. Caesar runs to Buck and shares a final moment with his friend before the silverback succumbs to his grievous wounds. As Buck dies Caesar hears a wounded Jacobs trying to climb out of the wreckage, being the only survivor, however the wrecked chopper is hanging precariously over the edge. Caesar approaches Jacobs who begs for his help, but due to the horrible mistreatment of all the lab apes by Jacobs and Buck's death, Caesar simply turns his back and gives an approving nod to the recently released Koba to take out his revenge on Jacobs. Caesar then coldly walks away as Koba executes Jacobs.

Freedom
Soon after this all the apes follow Caesar into the Muir Woods, but they are followed by Will who witnessed Caesar's rebellion on the bridge. Caesar notices Will and rescues him from an attack by Koba, sending the angry ape off into the forest. Caesar and Will share a final moment with Caesar assuring Will that he has now found his true home and showing a surprised Will that he is fully capable of speech now. The adopted father and son say their goodbyes before Caesar departs into the trees with the other apes he has freed and looks out over the city looking toward an uncertain future.

Unknown to Caesar and the apes, the ALZ-113 is deadly to humans and starting with Chimp handler Franklin begins to spread a virus across the globe when killing a majority of the human race. This disease effectively leaves the apes to live out their life in peace from any retaliation by the police, however it also is responsible for the deaths of Will and Caroline, two of the people Caesar cared for the most.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
10 years have passed and Caesar is now the leader of a colony of 2000 apes, now married to Cornellia and having a son, Blue Eyes. He is first seen leading the apes in a hunting expedition, but during the hunt Blue Eyes gets attacked by a bear and Caesar rushes to help him. After the bear knocks his spear out of his hand, he calls for Koba, who spears the bear in the back of its head and resulting in the corpse falling on him. After pushing himself out from underneath it, he thanks Koba and tries to check Blue Eyes's injury, but he is rebuffed to his frustration.

Rediscovery of Humans
Caesar then returns home to the village the apes have created in their ten years. There he is informed that Cornelia is in labour and has a second son, Milo. He summons Blue Eyes to rejoice at the increase of the family. Afterwards he has a conversation with Maurice and the talk goes towards the humans, who the apes believe are now extinct. Caesar wonders if the humans really are gone. He is later awoken at night by the sound of gunfire and upon entering the forest realizes his honorary nephew, Ash has been shot, along with finding a small band of humans, led by a man named Malcolm. Briefly stunned, Caesar quickly organizes the apes, calms a panicked Rocket and glares at the humans. Malcolm informs the apes that they don't mean any harm, which one of his men Carver, the one who shot Ash, believed they were stupid. Malcolm ordered the party to put their firearms down to show they mean no harm. Caesar briefly ponders the situation, then shouts "GOOOOO!!!" at the humans to their shock, as they had not expected the apes to talk. Caesar jumps down, and Malcolm orders his party to slowly leave, not willing to argue. Caesar briefly looks at the bag Malcolm's son, Alexander dropped in the haste to get away, and then orders Koba to follow them.

Koba informs Caesar that a large amount of humans are living in a tower in the ruins of the city, and the Ape Council angrily debates about what to do. Caesar, showing brief sympathy upon seeing a photo of Alexander's deceased mother, informs the Council they could lose everything if they go to war, and announces his intent to decide by morning. Koba urges Caesar to show the humans the apes will mean by business, and persuaded, Caesar leads an army of a few hundred to the city gates, where he stuns the humans declaring that the apes do not want a war, but if they are forced, the apes will fight. He returns Alexander's bag to Malcolm, before ordering him not to return. Having given his message, he and his army depart.

One Chance for Peace
The following day, Malcolm enters the Ape Village as the humans need power from a nearby dam in order to ensure their survival. Caesar is informed about his intrusion and comes forward to pass judgement. Malcolm pleads for his life, stating he would not disobey Caesar's order if it wasn't so important. He states he needs to show Caesar something, and that if he could see it, he would understand. Caesar is neutral on his presence, but Koba pleads with Caesar to let him kill Malcolm and the other apes gibbered in approvement. Debating, Caesar spares Malcolm and asks to be shown. Malcolm brings Caesar and his followers to the dam, and after quickly explaining it, states that he doesn't want to take the apes's home away from them, but he is asking for permission to work on the dam with his small party. He states he isn't a threat, and that if he is, Caesar can kill him. Believing that the humans are desperate, and that the humans would respond with war if declined, Caesar gives Malcolm and his group permission to work on the dam, on the sole condition that they turn over their firearms.

Koba is furious at Caesar's decision and points out that the humans would simply become more dangerous if given power, and furiously asks why help them. Caesar informs Koba of all the apes that could die in a war with humanity. He informs Blue Eyes, who has been influenced by Koba, that from humans Koba only learned hate and anger, and nothing else.

In the morning, Caesar, his two sons, along with Maurice and Rocket, go to the dam to keep an eye on the humans. He asks where Koba has gone and Maurice informs him that Koba has gone hunting. Everything is quiet until an explosion rips through the air. Caesar and his aides enter the dam to discover that part of the dam collapsed on Malcolm, Foster, and Carver. Caesar orders the apes to get them out, and Malcolm thanks Caesar, asking for a bit more time. At that point his infant son Milo, wanders over to Ellie and Alexander and plays with them. The brief moment is shattered when Carver threatens Milo and Blue Eyes with a concealed shotgun, and Caesar punches Carver to protect his family. Infuriated that he was lied to, he angrily orders the humans to leave.

Upon returning home, he is informed that Cornelia has fallen deathly ill and they do not know what is plaguing her. Malcolm and Ellie arrive to apologize for Carver's actions, promising to make him leave. Caesar is furious that they entered his home, but Ellie offers to treat Cornellia with antibiotics. Caesar informs them that he does not trust them, but Malcolm states that while he does not blame Caesar, they are not all like Carver, causing Caesar to remember Will and how he cared for him like a son. Mulling over the decision, he allows Ellie to treat Cornellia and gives the humans one day more to work on the dam. Malcolm tries to negotiate for more time, but Caesar is adamant, and instead states that the apes will help, but Blue Eyes refuses to, much to Caesar's annoyance.

With Carver out of the picture, Caesar aids in working on the dam. But Koba, having just returned from the city and discovering a large armory, angrily arrives demanding to see Caesar. Having learned of the incident at the dam, Koba furiously accuses Caesar of loving the humans more than the apes and his sons, and in response Caesar beats him to a bloody pulp, but at the last moment stops from killing him. He forgives Koba, but the event destroys their friendship. Caesar later stops by an empty gas station the following night after the humans get the power up, and upon releasing it worked, Caesar says to Malcolm "Trust" and shakes his hand.

Betrayed
Caesar lets the humans into the village where he sees Cornellia healthy. However though, he sees Koba with an assault rifle, and is then shot by Koba in the shoulder. Breifly staring at his old friend in shock, Caesar tumbles from his home. The other apes believe him dead, and Koba takes command, having framed Carver and set the village on fire, he urges the apes to go to war. Koba takes the city by storm, and upon discovering there is still loyalty to Caesar, murders Ash, and imprisons Caesar's friends and allies. Caesar having managed to survive the gunshot wound, is found by Malcolm and his family, and he takes them to his old home. Malcolm then goes to get Caesar medical supplies, believing he is the only one who can stop this.

Recovering
Malcolm returns with medical supplies and Blue Eyes, who is stunned to see his father alive. Caesar asks of his wife and newborn son, and Blue Eyes informs that they are safe for now, much to his relief. Caesar informs Blue Eyes that Koba shot him and that he is to blame, as he believed that an ape would never kill another ape for power, but now knows that apes can be just as violent as humans. He asks for Koba's location and is informed the treacherous bonoboo has made his base on the human tower, and is also informed of the imprisonment of his friends and Ash's death. Blue Eyes is confident that when he returns, they will turn away from Koba, as the other apes are following his commands out of fear, but Caesar knows the apes will go for the strongest ape to lead them. He attempts to rise, but Blue Eyes asks to help, which he concedes to.

Battle for Power
Blue Eyes returns with the ape loyalists as Caesar watches a video of him and Will, informing Malcolm that Will was "A good man. Like you" and is informed by Blue Eyes that Koba has ordered for the females and the young to be moved to the city. Realizing his family is in peril, Caesar knows he has to move. Malcolm takes him through the subway, where they separate due to being fired at by humans. Caesar thanks Malcolm for his help and confronts Koba at the tower. He informs Koba that he is leading the apes into a reckless war and that Koba is weaker since he is relying on a firearm. Koba proves to be a powerful opponent, but Caesar uses psychological warfare to gain the upper hand and strikes Koba repeatedly in his injured side. Just as he is about to win, the human leader Dreyfus tries to blow all the apes up. Caesar is forced to break off the battle to help the injured apes. Koba then tries to kill Caesar with a firearm, and when Blue Eyes tries to stop him by throwing pipes at him, Koba merely changes targets to the loyalists and wounds Maurice in the process. Infuriated that his family and friends are threatened, Caesar furiously tackles Koba, and the bonoboo is left tangling over a massive drop. Koba pleads with Caesar to save him, citing the "Ape not kill ape" rule, but Caesar, knowing he dosent have a choice, informs Koba "You are not ape" and lets him drop to his death, albeit extremely remorsefully.

Reunion with Family and inevitable War
After briefly mourning Koba, Caesar encounters Malcolm, who informs him that the apes aren't safe in the city, as Dreyfus made contact and soldiers are on the way to fight. Malcolm urges Caesar to leave or a war is inevitable. Caesar informs that the war started by Koba has already begun, and the humans will not forgive the apes. He urges Malcolm to leave and take safety, apologizing to his friend. Malcolm states that he believed that they had a chance and Caesar admits that he also believed that as well. The two share an emotional goodbye, and Caesar reunites with his family. Malcolm disappears to take refuge, and Caesar is accepted as the leader again, awaiting the impending war with humanity for the dominant species of Earth.

Personality
As a baby Caesar was originally a hyperactive, energetic and mischievous chimpanzee. He was also adopted by Will Rodman after his mother was killed, whom he saw as his father-figure in his life. However by intelligence standards, Caesar is stunningly unique becuase of adopting the ALZ-112 genes through his experimented mother. He displayed cognitive skills, far exceeding that of a normal primate. Not only was he able to understand Julius Caesar being read to him by Will but also successfully complete The Lucas Towers (something which his mother was also successful at), draw with artistic innovation and even help Will's mentally challenged father. Caesar also has something of a practical sense of humour, such as laughing when he threw his food at his captor Dodge Landon's face.

One of Caesar's traits is his tendency to act with extreme aggression, cynicism and violence whenever his loved ones are attacked or he's being accused of something. He attacked without relent the Rodman's neighbour who yelled at Will's father and actually bit off his finger, probably because he kept pointing at his adoptive grandfather. As well he left the corrupt and greedy CEO of Genysis Labs, Steven Jacobs in the hands of the vengeful Koba, knowing he would kill him because of Jacobs torture against apes and the fact he killed his close friend, Buck. Caesar also became considerably bad-tempered as he put more responsibility on leading the Ape Colony and he grew older. He violently beated Koba to a pulp when he berated him for loving humans more than his family. He was actually prepared to kill him (or just drastically injure) his second-in-command if he had not calmed himself down.

He was extremly brave, passionate, selfless and loyal to those he cared about. Caeser was able to put aside his personal dream of returning to his owner as he couldn't in good conscience allow the treatment of his fellow apes to continue at the hands of Dodge so he decided to stay at the risk of his own freedom despite the painful hardships the latter had endured at the Primate Shelter. He also proves to be an excellent strategist during the Battle At The Golden Gate Bridge, able to successfully lead his apes to victory and was also a clever hunter as he successfully lead a hunting group that caught several deers.

What differs Caesar from the rest of his ape comrades is his capability for mercy and the belief that not all humans are bad. Despite his horrible torments at the hands of humans such as Dodge Landon, Steven Jacobs, Carver and Dreyfus he believed in human compassion and trusted a survivor, Maclolm when he said he wanted to bring power to a human colony. Though he did suffer at the hands of humans he did not share the vicious misanthropy of Koba. However he did perceive apes as much better as humans even though he did not hate them per se which made him slightly naive in the eyes of his beliefs "ape not kill ape" this however diminished when he was shot by his once trusted second in command, Koba. Caesar also could not bring himself to directly kill a human. Even though he would not allow Jacobs to keep living after he had murdered Buck he could not kill the man himself and instead left his fate in the hands of Koba. Caesar's extent of compassion also strikes loyalty into the hearts of others. He spared Rocket from death at his hands once he overpowered him, even though he used to be his tormentor which actually made Rocket tremendously loyal to his leader. However when he spared Will from the wrath of a fanatical Koba, it showed the Bonobo ape of his leader's love for humanity which he perceived as a weakness. This could also be a factor of the latter's betrayal and usurp years later. He does seem to care about human life, he spared Dodge Landon form being lynched and a another human during the Battle At The Golden Gate Bridge when he was about to be killed by Buck.

However Caesar also has a dark side, especially if he's pushed to an edge. He can be vicious, cold, callous, brutal, ruthless, aggressive and stoic. He had a slight breakdown when Will came to see him at the Primate Shelter and told him it wasn't time to go home which caused him to repeatedly screach in despair. Later Caesar slammed his cage door on Will's face when he tried to return the ape to his home and turned his back on. He was also trained to act like a human and becuase this wore clothes. Him tearing off his shirt and pants while stealing the ALZ-112 was a symbol of how he's begun to embrace his ape side and devotion to species. Caesar also became more comfortable with killing opponents as he grew older. He considered sparing Koba when he had the latter at his mercy after he had won their violent fight however when he had him by the arm, he darkly told his former friend "you are not ape" beofre ruthlessly letting him fall to his death.

Caesar matured drastically when he was tasked with leading the Ape Colony. While in the past he has shown to be hyperactive, after taking charge he became incredibly serious, normally reigning completely stoic and rarely smiles, except for when he saw his son being born. He also has a good memory of his life with the Rodman's despite it being years and did respect Will for taking him in, describing him as a "good man" while reviewing his old tapes.