| “ | I did not start this war. I offered you peace. I showed you mercy. I fight only to protect Apes | „ |
| ~ Caesar |
| “ | Don't worry, Maurice. You are all home now. Apes are strong. With or without me | „ |
| ~ Caesar dying, reassuring Maurice that even without him, the apes will still strong, as well as his last words. |
Caesar is the main protagonist of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, it's sequels Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes.
He was portrayed by 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, and Captain Archibald Haddock in The Adventures of Tintin.
Biography
Background
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. 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. 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 a talk about the apes' intelligence with Maurice, 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 inhales increasing his intelligence. Realizing this is what he needs, he takes it back to the shelter where he unleashes the cure into all of the ape cages increasing the intelligence of himself and his fellow apes. The next morning, he examines the apes who are shown to have been affected by the ALZ-113 and now all have heightened intelligence. He briefly trains them in sign language, before ordering them to stay quiet. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 doesn't have a choice, informs Koba "You are not ape" and lets him drop to his death, albeit extremely remorsefully. 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.
War of the Planet of the Apes
Caesar is a lot more serious in this movie than before, he has always been serious, but not this serious. He is this time around less kind than before, but it is understandable after everything that happened. In the beginning of the movie, the human military is seen attacking the Apes secretly, but after the Apes notice this, they take the military members up and confront them, the military leaves, but the Apes are paranoid.
Caesar orders the Apes to search and find out where the humans are, turns out they are very near the Apes. They find out quite fast that the humans are mainly trying to shoot Caesar, the strongest member.
Colonel shoots two Apes that are very similar to Caesar, which happens to be his wife and child, Colonel screams "KING KONG IS DOWN!" (King Kong being Caesar), and Caesar sees this and stares at Colonel, Colonel stares at Caesar in a strange way, and then he notices what he did, Caesar becomes furious.
The Apes plan on what they should do, they are obviously the underdog species currently, but they can't simply give up, Caesar suggests the other Apes go to a place where the humans can't find them, like a desert, while Caesar fights the humans, his kids get to stay with them. The Apes look at him as if he is crazy.
Caesar walks away and gets angry on his biggest followers for following him, but ultimately, Caesar accepts the Apes that follow him. Along the way to the human military, Caesar is almost nihilistic. He doesn't really care if he dies, as long as the Apes survive.
When they finally are where the humans are, they instantly get tortured, but Caesar gets tortured especially much. For example, Red pours ice-cold water on him while every other Ape gets water. But at the end of the movie, Caesar wins, Red redeems himself and feels remorseful, Red kills the humans and help the Apes win. The Apes survive and live on, but Caesar and Red die.
Personality
Caesar was an immensely intelligent chimpanzee who commands respect and loyalty from all those that encounter him. From his various ages, Caesar's personality changes.
As an infant, Caesar was very curious, his curiosity grows as he gets older and sometimes gets him into trouble.
As a young chimpanzee, Caesar was very playful, adventurous and carefree.
However, as a teenager, Caesar was much more mature, displaying human emotions, such as happiness, anger and independence. He also displays a resentment for most humans after he learns the truth about his origins and his mother's death. At the beginning, Caesar had a good relationship with humans due to being raised by Will and Caroline, but by the end, Caesar had grown to despise most humans mainly because of their behavior towards his fellow apes. His relationship with his people is much better. He is devoted and protective of his fellow apes. Caesar had proven on several occasions to be a great leader, displaying charisma during the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, and willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of his army.
Caesar was also compassionate, these emotions, however, can cause him to attack anyone who dares to try and harm the people he loves, this was proven on several occasions usually involving humans and apes, on the first occasion, he viciously attacks Hunsiker who assaults a confused Charles, during the incident, Caesar bites off of Hunsiker's right index finger by accident, a trait that all apes share when it comes to humans, but becomes horrified by his actions and is consoled by Charles. On the second occasion, Caesar refuses to return to his cage and is confronted by Dodge, growing more and more furious at the man's insults, he shocks everyone by speaking for the first time and by unintentionally killing Dodge. Although Caesar hated the man, he did not intend to cause his death. His death causes Caesar to experience survivor's guilt, but it also leads him to vow to kill only the humans that did wrong to him and his people, not those that did no wrong. He also begins to teach his people to do the same.
Although he loves and adores his adoptive father, Will. Their relationship eventually becomes strained to the point where Caesar starts to feel abandoned by Will and when Will attempts to reclaim him, Caesar refuses to go home with him, no longer wishing to be treated as a pet and preferring to stay with his fellow apes. During the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Caesar witnesses the deaths of many of his fellow apes, including his loyal friend, Buck, who sacrifices himself in order to protect Caesar. Caesar experiences sorrow and pain over Buck's death and also displays ruthlessness and cruelty when he refuses to save Jacobs who was, although indirectly, responsible for Buck's death. Instead of killing the man himself, Caesar chooses to allow Koba to kill Jacobs, which also displays that Caesar can be merciless but also vengeful. Although Caesar could have returned to the only home he has ever known, he ultimately chooses to live in the redwood forest with his fellow apes, choosing a life of freedom over a life of solitude. During the early days of the Ape Colony, initially, Caesar became slightly arrogant, impulsive and a control freak, however, by the time of the events of Dawn, he had become mature to the point where he was no longer the arrogant, impulsive and control freak chimpanzee he once was. As a middle-age chimpanzee, Caesar was wise and well-respected by his people who see him as more of the all-father than the king. He was the ultimate leader. He combines intellect and ability, confidence and humility, strength and compassion. It's this unique mix of rare qualities that inspires others to follow. At the same time though, he was not afraid to assert dominance if another ape defies him, seeing it as a challenge to his authority (such as when he nearly strangled Koba after the latter accused Caesar of caring for humans more than apes and his own family, in front of his fellow apes including his son, Blue Eyes).
As a husband, he loved his wife, Cornelia, and shares an affectionate relationship with her. As a father, he loved both of his sons, Blue Eyes and Cornelius, sharing a strong bond with and sometimes having problems with his eldest son, but also becoming a counterbalance to Blue Eyes' recklessness. Caesar was fiercely protective of his family and will never hesitate to protect them when they are threatened, he will even go as far as to attempt to kill to protect his loved ones. This was proven when he almost kills Carver who threatened the lives of both of his sons.
As the king of a growing empire, Caesar had many responsibilities that can be very stressful since he had to try and juggle between being a husband, a father and a king. However, he had Cornelia's constant support; her presence also helps keep him grounded and calm in important situations. He had since developed a strong moral code and principle, apes do not kill apes. He was fiercely loyal to the moral code, proven when he almost kills Koba after the latter accuses him of loving humans more than his people and his family, but ultimately spares his life. Caesar was also very forgiving even if he had been deceived or disrespected, proven when he forgives Koba twice for his indolence. Despite his resentment for most humans, Caesar still possesses compassion and sympathy for the humans, proven by his friendship with Malcolm, but also because he was raised by the Rodman family who showered him with nothing but love and kindness.
Caesar was once naïve, believing that apes were better than humans, but after Koba's betrayal, Caesar realizes that there is no difference between the two species. Caesar still possesses some of the personality traits when he was a teenager, such as violent mood swings, although he had learned to control himself. He was a terrifying spectacle when he was enraged. Ultimately, Caesar still displays a dark side, as he can be vicious, cold, cruel, callous, brutal, ruthless, aggressive and stoic towards his enemies; evidenced by the fact when he chooses to let Koba fall to his death, after declaring that he was no longer an ape and because he has destroyed any chance for peace between the apes and the humans, forcing Caesar to have to prepare his people for war. Over the next two years throughout the final human-ape war, Caesar preferred to use speech to communicate, and struggles to maintain his compassion and sympathy for humans as his fellow apes suffer. When his peace offer was met with the assassination of his own son, Caesar became full of vengeance, going on a vendetta to kill McCullough, even abandoning his apes to do so. He (apparently) became uncaring towards humans, killing one without a second thought and would have left Nova to die had Maurice not convinced him otherwise. Caesar eventually warmed towards Nova, but his hatred of McCullough kept him from getting closer to her. When his group found a dying soldier, Caesar showed some of his former compassion and sympathy, and upon learning the soldier wouldn't live, mercifully killed him. Still, Caesar admitted to Maurice and Rocket that he had grown to be like Koba, struggling to escape the darkness in his heart. This elevated further when Luca died protecting him, Caesar ordering Maurice and Rocket away to finish the mission alone. However, when it came down to it, he was unable to shoot McCullough, displaying he hadn't truly been consumed by utter hatred.
Caesar also maintained his love for his apes, defying Red's treatment of one, standing against him and McCullough, enough to inspire his group to do likewise. Caesar was also disturbed by McCullough's murder of his own fellow humans, believing the man was cruel and disturbed. Ultimately, Caesar still maintained his compassion and sympathy for humans while leading his apes to freedom.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Animal Strength: Caesar possessed incredible feats of strength, even for a chimpanzee. He was capable of overpowering several police officers during the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, he was also stronger than most chimpanzees, most gorillas and any human. He easily overpowered Koba during their first confrontation. Caesar was able to overpower and knock over adult humans effortlessly. He used it to successfully grapple and hold Winter down, an albino gorilla. He even (unknowingly) suffocate the treacherous gorilla to death. He also used his strength to hold back other apes who tried to harm others, even Rocket and Luca.
- Animal Speed: Caesar was incredibly fast even for a chimpanzee, escaping from and returning to the shelter without being seen. During the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, he was able to speedily attack enemies without be seen. He was capable of dodging McCullough's shots at him from a distance and nearly caught up to the man as they fled, only losing him when he cut the rope. He also managed to climb a tree fast enough to avoid an avalanche and avoided mortar fire that engulfed his position.
- Animal Reflexes: Caesar possessed incredible reflexes, even for a chimpanzee, he was also an expert acrobat, possessing incredible climbing abilities, which were constantly displayed throughout his life and his countless battles with both apes and humans alike.
- Animal Stamina: Caesar possessed very high stamina, rarely ever growing exhausted from daily activities or the necessaries of survival. He survived not going without food or water for days and the beatings McCullough had him dealt as well. He had a high pain tolerance, able to be shot by an arrow and not succumb to the wound until days later.
- Animal Endurance: Caesar possessed incredible feats of endurance, capable of enduring powerful attacks from other apes or humans. He manages to survive a non-fatal gunshot wound and a dangerous, massive fall from his home until the next morning where he is found and treated by Malcolm's group. He was able to survive the destruction of the human camp until days later before succumbing to his mortal wounds.
- Speech: Due to his enhanced intelligence, Caesar had become the first apes in history to speak. In Rise, Caesar was shown to speak loudly his first word to Dodge and whispered to Will too. He later passed this on to his two sons, Blue Eyes and Cornelius. In Dawn, Caesar could speak partial sentences. By the events of War, Caesar was capable of fluently speaking english and could form complete sentences; something he was previously unable to do.
Abilities
- Expert Leader: Caesar was a natural born leader, possessing great feats of charisma; he was capable of earning the respect and loyalty of every ape under his command, including Maurice, Buck, Rocket, Luca, Ash and even Koba. Nearly all of them remained loyal to Caesar during the battle of San Francisco. Caesar later displayed his leadership skills as he amassed an army of apes and lead them throughout the city, into the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge and to the redwood forest. He also stood against the Colonel's mistreatment of his companions, inspiring them to also resist the soldiers, leading them in an escape from entrapment.
- Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Caesar was a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant. He overpowered several police officers during the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge and he severely beat Koba within seconds in their first fight. In their second fight, they were more evenly matched, Caesar using scrap metal as an effective melee weapon. However, ultimately, Caesar proved to be the superior combatant, defeating Koba and letting him fall to his death. He also (unknowingly) suffocated Winter to death, despite the albino gorilla weighing more than him.
- Expert Marksman: Over the next two years throughout the final human-ape war, Caesar became very proficient in the use of firearms. He shot on a soldier in seconds before he could fire. He also threw a grenade into an oil tank from a distance.
- Expert Tactician: Due to his enhanced intelligence, Caesar was a highly skilled tactician; this was proven during the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, where he succeeded, leading the apes to defeat the police and to escape into the redwood forest. He also orchestrated their escape from McCullough's captivity in conjunction with Rocket and Maurice.
- Expert Horse Rider: During the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Caesar became the first ape to ever ride a horse and was a very skilled rider.
- Genius-Level Intellect: Inheriting the ALZ-112 from his late mother, Caesar was highly intelligent and excels at everything; as he grew older, Caesar's intelligence further increased, far exceeding that of a human counterpart, his intelligence increased even further due to inhaling the ALZ-113 in the shelter; he was the most evolved ape in the colony, as his intellect is surpassed only by his two sons. Because of his advanced intelligence, he became the first ape to ever speak and later passed the gene onto his two sons, Blue Eyes and Cornelius. In War, Caesar also worked out why McCullough was really having them build a wall, causing the man to remark over how intelligent he was.
- Sign Language: Growing up alongside humans, Caesar was taught American Sign Language in order to communicate with others. It was his native language. By the events of War, Caesar rarely used sign language; as preferred to use speech to communicate with others, humans and apes alike.
- Psychological Warfare: Caesar was capable of using psychological warfare to his advantage; this was proven during the battle of San Francisco when he berated Koba for his treachery, leading an enraged Koba to attack Caesar more ferociously, but still ended with Caesar's victory and Koba's death. He also played similar mind games with Red, the gorilla eventually choosing to side with him due to such.
Gallery
