Armando

From The Sacred Scrolls

Señor Armando

Actor	Ricardo Montalban
Gender	Male
Race	Human
Born	Unknown
Died	1991
Continuity	Movies
Appearances
First Appearance: Escape from the Planet of the Apes Last Appearance: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

Señor Armando was the owner of a circus, a human friend of Cornelius and Zira, and foster-father of Caesar in the Planet of the Apes movie series. He was portrayed by actor Ricardo Montalbán. A believer in Saint Francis of Assisi, "who loved all animals", the jovial, warm-hearted Armando readily came to the aid of Cornelius and his pregnant wife Zira during Escape from the Planet of the Apes, when most of humanity has rejected them, and even the United States Government planned to prevent their ever having children, since they someday "may constitute a threat to the human race." While Armando did his best to help the pair, and conceal their newly-born son Milo (later called Caesar), he couldn't prevent their murder at the hands of Dr. Otto Hasslein. He did, however, take responsibility of Caesar, raising him publicly as a circus chimpanzee, while privately teaching him human knowledge and introducing him to human habits.

In the fourth Apes movie, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Armando brought Caesar to a large city for the first time, after raising him mostly in "the provinces" and remote areas, where Caesar had been unaware of apes' adoption as pets (to replace the dogs and cats lost to a spaceborn plague), which had led gradually to their subsequent enslavement. Armando kept Caesar on a short leash in public, while coaching him on apelike mannerisms when nobody was looking. All the same, fate got the better of them; when Caesar saw an ape (the gorilla Aldo) mistreated, he swore his frustration – bringing himself and Armando to the attention of the police.

Slipping away, Armando and Caesar tried to formulate a plan to prevent further trouble. Armando already claimed to be the one who cried out, and planned to tell the authorities that Caesar was frightened of cities, and ran away because of the public commotion. He told Caesar to wait for him near the docks where shipments of apes arrived nightly for "conditioning" and training as servants, and to infiltrate a shipment if Armando failed to return. Caesar did so, finding himself by degrees sold to Governor Breck, and assigned to Ape Management's command post.

Armando underwent a lengthy, tense interrogation at the hands of the state's authorities, who ultimately believed his alibi, and that Caesar was mute and not the son of "the talking apes". They insisted, though, that he pass a screening by the "Authenticator" – a hypnotic device which compelled its subjects to tell the complete truth – before he was released. Armando first refused to submit on gentlemanly grounds, then when he saw no other way out, he threw himself through a window (falling to his death) rather than reveal what he knew about Caesar.

When Caesar learned of Armando's death, it became the last straw for him, and he began to perpetrate an Ape revolt, executed over the rest of Conquest.

[edit] Notes

Armando and Caesar visit the Modern City

Armando was the owner of 'Armando's Sensational Circus' in Escape. By Conquest it was 'Armando's Old-Time Circus'. ^[1]
An admirer of Saint Francis Of Assisi because of his love and respect for animals, Armando proclaims him Baby Milo’s patron saint. ^[2]