Buck was an extremely powerful gorilla housed in a specially-built cage at the San Bruno Primate Shelter. He was the only ape never harassed by Dodge Landon. He was bad tempered, strong and brave, and was seen trying to get out and banging his cage. He was freed by Caesar and at first refused to go out, but after a few seconds Buck quickly dashed through the play area and begin playing with the toys the other apes played with. He respected Caesar and became his friend and his "muscle", even helping Caesar to make Rocket respect him.
After the ape uprising at the facility, Buck was ordered by Caesar, with a group of chimps, to free the apes held at the San Francisco Zoo. In the climactic battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Buck set his target on a nearby policeman on horseback. He ran up under the horse, lifting it up. This caused the officer to fall off. Buck approached the policeman and prepared to kill him, but Caeser stopped him. He later led some other gorillas in a charge to push an overturned bus along the bridge, to shield them against police bullets. He also helped throw off a policeman who drove his car in reverse to the sideline of the bridge into the ocean from shooting off the apes with his pistol. As Caesar was about to get shot down by Steven Jacobs and a sharpshooter in a helicopter, Buck sacrificed his life to take down the helicopter, which crashed onto the bridge, killing the occupants, but got repeatedly shot in the process. Caesar was saddened to lose his friend and his death was avenged by letting Koba finish off Jacobs.
History
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
More to Come...
Personality
Buck, at first, appeared reclusive, antisocial and depressed by his terms of incarceration. He constantly ignored the attempts by the other apes and even Dodge Landon to socialise with him. He also shows reluctance to break free when Caesar confronts him, but then bursts into the enclosure. He is enigmatic and powerful, and undoubtedly became a magnificent ally to Caesar.
He is then shown to have a terrifying bad temper, and appears to have a limit of self-control. He was the only known ape in Caesar's colony that risked everything for his Alpha.
He was terrifyingly brave and incredibly selfless. This was shown when, at the climax of the Battle of the Golden Gate Bridge when Caesar was attacked by a helicopter, commandeered by Steven Jacobs, and Buck broke through the firing line, smashing through the helicopter, killing all but one of the passengers and, in the process, killing himself. Buck's courage showed that he had very much grown to care for and admire Caesar, despite not knowing him that well.
His death was the primary subject of Caesar's vengeance.
Abilities
- Animal Strength: Like all gorillas Buck was extremely powerful and strong. He was amongst the advanced guard that Maurice set up around Caesar and displayed frightening strength during the Ape Rebellion, and at the climax the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge; he smashed through the helicopter, killing all but one of the passengers.
- Animal Speed: Despite his size Buck was much faster than he appeared to be. After Caesar unlock his cage, Buck bursts into the enclosure with formidable speed, at the climax the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge; when Caesar was attacked by a helicopter, commandeered by Steven Jacobs, and Buck broke through the firing line, moving with unbelievable speed.
- Skilled Combatant: Buck was a skilled combatant. During the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Buck was able to go head-on with a police officer, who was riding a horse despite the fact that the police officer repeatedly hit him in the face with a baton, he most definitely would have killed the police officer, if Caesar had not told Buck to let him live.
- Advanced Intelligence: Due to his eyes being green in one scene it can be said that Caesar may have administered the ALZ-113 drug to Buck (off-screen) which gave the gorilla increased intelligence. Even before he was exposed to the ALZ-113, he had some level of intelligence as shown with his loyalty towards Caesar. After he was exposed to the ALZ-113, Buck became much more intelligent than before, it was unknown how much his advanced intelligence and IQ had increased. During the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Buck was about to kill a police officer, but Caesar told him no (in english), Buck clearly understood what he said and spared the human.
- Speech: Having inhaled the ALZ-113, Buck had gained the ability of speech. At the climax the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge; after Buck sacrifice himself to save Caesar from a helicopter, commandeered by Steven Jacobs, in his final moments it appeared that he was trying to say thank you to Caesar.
Relationships
Caesar
Caesar, Buck's good friend and alpha.
Caesar was Buck's good friend. When Caesar freed him from his cage, though hesitant, he was thankful to be free of his cage prison. Buck is the first ape to acknowledge Caesar as Alpha and helps him overthrow the brutish Rocket. As time goes on, the two apes become close and Caesar chooses Buck to serve as the "muscle" of the ape army during the battle of the Golden Gate Bridge as well as becoming his fourth-in-command. When Caesar is being shot at, Buck jumps in, taking the bullets for him before leaping at the Helicopter, bringing it crashing down onto the bridge. This final act of courage from Buck saddened Caesar when his friend died in front of him. Caesar now on the verge of revenge, has Koba push the mangled mess of a helicopter with a protesting Jacobs inside down over the bridge to avenge Buck's heroic death.
Rocket
Rocket, Buck's fellow inmate.
Rocket was Buck's fellow inmate. Despite not having a lot of interaction, Buck had a opinion about Rocket. Like Maurice, Buck saw Rocket as brutish and as a bully, having seen what he was doing to Caesar. When Caesar lured Rocket out of his cage and into the play area, Rocket suddenly felt afraid as Buck was likely to beat him up if he didn't step down as Alpha. When the apes escaped from San Bruno and ended up on the streets of San Franscisco, Rocket and Buck joined Maurice and Caesar on the top of a cable car that going along the road showing that he was now loyal to Caesar, thanks to Buck.
Notes
- Buck was named in tribute to Buck Kartalian, who played gorilla characters in both Planet of the Apes and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and who remains very active at Apes fan conventions to this day.
- An earlier version of the script has Buck survive the battle at Golden Gate Bridge, throwing Dodge off the bridge to his death after Dodge has killed Rocket.
- In his final moments he appears to say something along the lines of "Thank you" to Caesar.
- In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, he does not appear as he died in the previous movie but he will be replaced by Stone
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