Caesar (CE)

For the character from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes, see Caesar (APJ)

War has already begun. Ape started war. Human...human will not forgive. You must go before fighting begins. I am sorry...my friend.

Caesar warns Malcolm to seek refuge

Caesar is an evolved chimpanzee who is the biological son of the late Alpha and the late Bright Eyes, wild chimpanzees from the jungles of the Congo. After the death of his mother, Caesar became the adoptive son of Will Rodman and the later Caroline Aranha. Through Will, Caesar became the adoptive grandson of the late Charles Rodman. Later in life, Caesar goes on to lead an Ape Rebellion before going on to rule as a king/leader over the newly formed Ape Colony. As a king, he becomes the husband of fellow San Bruno Primate Shelter inmate, Cornelia, and the father of two sons, Blue Eyes and Milo. Because he is the king of the ape colony, he is the patriarch of the the Royal Ape Family. When humans are rediscovered, Caesar becomes the ape counterpart of Malcolm. He is also the main protagonist of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

History

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Birth

Dr. Will Rodman, under the employment of Gen-Sys Laboratories, had been working with apes using "ALZ-112" - a genetically engineered retrovirus that allows the brain to repair damaged cells through neurogenesis - in the hopes of curing Alzheimer's. A female chimpanzee named Bright Eyes was given the ALZ-112 drug which not only repaired brain cells, but increased her mental capabilities as well. Two months into her trial, while being forcibly removed from her cage, Bright Eyes went on a rampage through the facility before security was forced to kill her in front of board members. Believing the outburst to have been caused by the drug, head of Gen-Sys Laboratories Steven Jacobs ordered all remaining lab apes euthanized, destroying any chance of developing ALZ-112 further. It was discovered, however, that Bright Eyes' aggression was not due to the drug, but to her maternal instinct to protect her newborn baby, whom she had secretly given birth to a day or two earlier. Robert Franklin, the chimp handler responsible for carrying out the euthanasia order, couldn't bring himself to kill the chimpanzee baby, and instead gave it to Will, who managed to smuggle the infant out of the lab and take it home with him.

Childhood

The baby chimpanzee was given the name Caesar by Charles Rodman, Will's Alzheimer's-afflicted father, who, upon holding the infant, quoted Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, "But as for Caesar, Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder". Bearing the same white shooting star birthmark his father Alpha had, Caesar was incredibly intelligent for an ape of his age, immediately learning how to nurse from a bottle on his own at only two days old. This quick learning, and the flecks of green present in his irises, a side effect of ALZ-112 treatment, made Will decide to keep Caesar and raise him as his own, monitoring the ape and continuing to work on the ALZ-112 drug in secret. Right away Caesar displayed signs of heightened intelligence, learning up to twenty-four words in sign language by eighteen months of age, completing puzzles and models designed for human children eight years and up at age two, and able to play chess and complete a Lucas' Tower puzzle with a perfect score of fifteen moves at age three, continuing to show cognitive skills far exceeding a human counterpart. Will hypothesized that Caesar's heightened intelligence was a result of the ALZ-112 virus being passed down genetically from Bright Eyes to Caesar in utero, as indicated by his eyes changing to a green color, and that in the absence of damaged brain cells that needed replacing, the drug instead radically boosted healthy brain functions.

When Caesar was three years old, he wanted to join the human children riding bicycles outside and escaped out a window while Will was busy assessing his father's improvement, having treated him with the ALZ-112. When Caesar was caught playing with a bicycle in his neighbour's garage, Alice Hunsiker alerted her father, irate neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, who tried to beat Caesar with a bat until Will and Charles arrived to defend him. Caesar's leg is injured in the scuffle, so Will snuck him into the San Francisco Zoo where he is treated by veterinarian and primatologist Caroline Aranha. Surprised that Caesar had been taught how to sign, Caroline checks up on Caesar at the Rodman House, impressed by the home Will has made for Caesar and his skills in language and acrobatics. She says that despite her love of chimpanzees, she is also appropriately afraid of them, noting that Caesar will soon grow into a large, powerful ape and should have some more space. This prompts will to take Caesar to the Muir Woods Park, and for the next five years Will and Caroline, now in a relationship, take Caesar here frequently, where he plays and spends time in a more natural habitat, climbing the towering redwood trees. On one such outing, Caesar, now eight years old, is being led on a leash by Will when he sees a family with their dog on a leash as well and begins to question his identity. To answer his questions, Will takes Caesar to see the Gen-Sys Laboratories where he works, and explains that it is where Caesar was born, where his mother was kept with other chimps, but that she is dead. He goes on to reveal to both Caesar and Caroline that Caesar's intelligence is the result of his mother having been treated with the ALZ-112 and passing it onto him. Caesar, agitated, doubts his identity now more than ever, unsure if he is human or ape.

Imprisonment

Worse, Charles' immune system developed antibodies that fight off the ALZ-112 virus and his dementia returns. In his state of dementia, Charles got into Hunsiker's car and turned it on, the key carelessly left in the ignition. He pressed the gas and hit the cars in front of and behind him, getting the attention of Hunsiker, who threatened and pushed Charles. Caesar was alerted to the situation and jumped out of a window, attacking and biting the neighbor's finger in Charles's defense. After the incident, Caesar was ordered by the courts to leave Will's house and to be sent to the San Bruno Primate Shelter run by John Landon, where the apes were held in cages with the exception of intermissions where they were released into a jungle-themed play area. The apes inside the facility were treated cruelly by Landon's son, Dodge, who worked as a guard there.

Rebellion

At the San Bruno Primate Shelter, Caesar started out being treated poorly by both the staff and by most of his ape companions. In the exercise area, he was beaten down by the dominant chimpanzee, Rocket. Despite all this Caesar was able to form a friendship with Maurice, a friendly former circus orangutan who knows learned sign language as well. Later, Dodge brought his friends into the facility, who teased the apes. Without caution his male friend moved too close to Caesar's cage and was grabbed by Caesar, having his pocket knife unknowingly stolen. Caesar tied the pocket knife to a stick and used it to unlock the door and free himself. The first thing he did while free was break out Buck, the isolated gorilla whom he took an interest in after seeing him trying to escape from his cage. After a small celebration of freedom, Buck showed his respect and gratitude for Caesar. Caesar, with Buck at his side, lured Rocket into the exercise area where he hit Rocket over the head with a metal gasoline canister (one of the toys given to the apes) but did no more harm, establishing his dominance over the ape and proving he was the new leader. During this encounter, Caesar gained the respect from the other sheltered apes.

Caesar then stole cookies that belong to Dodge and gave them to Rocket who while the ape was tempted to eat all the cookies he ultimately shared with the others which earned him the respect from Rocket. The next day, Maurice asked Caesar why he gave the cookie to Rocket and Caesar using sign language said that apes must stand together to be strong. As this was happening the pair noticed a pair of apes playing in the water acting foolish, this prompted Maurice to say "Apes stupid". This statement had gave Caesar an idea and he decided to escape from the primate shelter in order to make the other apes smarter so at night he traveled to Will's house. Caesar entered the house through Will and Caroline's bedroom and after looking upon his sleeping adoptive parents he went into the kitchen where he stole some canisters of "ALZ-113" and after inhaling some of the gas he gained more intelligence with his eyes turning more green in the process. Realizing this is what he needed to enhance the intelligence of the other apes he returned to the facility where he punctured the canisters and released the gas throughout the cage area which further enhanced the intelligence and mental capabilities of himself and his fellow apes. The next day when all the apes were being sent to the play area Caesar examined the apes and saw that they now possess green eyes, a sign that they have gained intelligence and are now Evolved Apes like him. Caesar then organized the apes and told them of his plan of leading them to freedom in the Muir Woods Park. Dodge, the sadistic caretaker noticed Caesar in the play area when he was not supposed to be with the other apes watching this act. A brief scuffle ensued with Dodge hitting Caesar with the electrical cattle prod multiple times but soon ended with Caesar catching the prod. Dodge angered stated "Take your stinking paw off me, you damn dirty ape!". Caesar then showed his first capability of speech by shouting "NO"! at Dodge, leaving him, Rodney and Buck shocked, after which Caesar knocked Dodge out by hitting him with the prod. He then took the incapacitated Dodge to the cages where he freed the other apes however, the surviving watchman Rodney entered the scene but seeing he was outnumbered he tried to escape however, he was grabbed and the apes proceeded to beat him until Caesar stopped them. Knowing that Rodney was a more kinder human than Dodge instead calmly locked Rodney in a cage. As he did so Dodge regained conscious and got out his cage this didn't go unnoticed by the apes who began moving in on him. Dodge then tried to get the water hose, Caesar pulled it back, making Dodge grabbed his electric cattle prod saying he will skin every one of them before running at Caesar, who killed Dodge by spraying him with the hose while his electric cattle prod was in his hand, electrocuting him. Horrified at what he had done Caesar grieves before looking upon an ape tag and deciding to move ahead with his plans and free all the other captive apes in the city. He frees Buck from his cage and all the apes at the facility then escaped into the city by breaking the windows above the play area and climbing through them. Caesar then divided the ape forces into two groups with one faction led by Buck and Rocket and the other by himself and Maurice which headed to the Gen-Sys Laboratories, as he knew some of the sheltered apes - such as Cornelia and Lucky who had been there for experimentation. Caesar's group released all the apes there (including Koba) while Buck and Rocket's group broke into the San Francisco Zoo not only liberating countless apes but the bars from the ape cage's at the Zoo gave the apes new weapons to combat the humans. Caesar successfully led an army of hundreds of apes through the streets of San Francisco putting the city to a massive panic. The apes battled through multiple police and animal control threats of the city and using a trolley they headed to Golden Gate Bridge, as their next stop to freedom.

Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge

Caesar and his army battled their way through the bridge terrifying all the humans there and rushed their way to the end of the bridge. The police setting up a blockade evacuated all the people as they prepared to end the ape threat. Caesar, anticipating this strategy launched a three pronged attack with the orangutans and some of the chimps led by Maurice attacking from the bottom supports, most of the chimpanzees guided by Koba attacking from the high-wire supports using the fog as cover, and the gorillas and several other chimpanzees headed by Caesar, Buck, and Rocket leading the charge straight down the bridge. When the police shot one of the chimpanzees, he slipped and fell to his death, causing an angered Maurice to lead the orangutans to the center of the bridge. Caesar then had Buck and the gorillas push a bus in the range of the police bullets and riding a police horse he gave his army the order to attack. After a long battle, the apes finally defeated the police and were celebrating their victory. As this happened will called out to Caesar which shocked the ape leader but this was quickly subsided as Steven Jacobs (director of Gen-Sys Laboratories) and a few officers arrived in a helicopter and began gunning down a large group of the apes. Jacobs had identified Caesar as the leader and attempted to have him gunned down but Buck witnessing this pushed his friend to safety and leapt off the bridge towards the helicopter (while being shot multiple times) and landed inside. He caused the helicopter to crash onto the bridge, killing all people inside except Jacobs. Caesar rushed to a fatally wounded Buck and tried his best to help him survive, but failed in doing so. Buck then died, severely angering Caesar and the rest of the apes. Caesar walked over to the helicopter and saw a bloodied Jacobs inside. Jacobs begged Caesar to help him out, but Caesar angered at humans like jacobs and sad over the lost of his friend walked away and gave Koba permission to kill Jacobs once and for all. Koba putting his foot on the helicopter, caused it to tip over the edge of the bridge plummeting into, killing Jacobs.

Freedom At Last

Caesar then led all of the apes to freedom in the Muir Woods Park. Will followed them and arrived at the forest where he was attacked by Koba, who prepared to kill him. However, Caesar stopped the angry bonobo before he could do any harm, and threw Koba to the ground. Angry, he ran off into the woods. Caesar helped Will up, then Will begged Caesar to come home with him and warned Caesar that he knew what humans are capable of doing to the ape population. He guaranteed Caesar that he would be protected if he would just came back home with him. Caesar looking upon his ape followers hugged Will, and now being capable of basic human speech, informed him "Caesar is home". Will, shocked and amazed that Caesar talked and seeing that he and the other apes are better off in the woods accepted this and allowed his adoptive son to be free with his own kind. Caesar then walked up to the tree he climbed when he was three, turned to see the apes rising to their hind legs like him, accepting him as their leader and moved out of his way as he climbed the up his favorite tree with Maurice and Rocket joining him on the adjacent trees. The trio then looked out upon the destruction they had caused in San Francisco, wondering what the future holds in store for ape kind, unaware the ALZ-113 pandemic that struck mankind.

A New Beginning For Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm

Caesar is first seen scouting the trees as helicopters fly over the canopy of trees and is joined by his friend, Rocket. Caesar suddenly finds himself remembering his childhood when Will bought him out into the forest. Shaking the memories off, Rocket alerts him to the helicopter coming straight at them.

Signalling to Rocket that he wants six apes to come to him, Caesar tells him to be quick and quiet. Caesar then takes off attempting to calm the apes down. He finds his orangutan friend, Maurice and tells him to get the apes to be quiet and to lead them away from the helicopters.

Moving down the trees, Caesar finds his new wife Cornelia, tending to the injured apes. She spots him and approaches him almost reluctantly before extending her hand out to him. He sees that she is agitated but remembers she's like this a lot. He tells her that they need to get moving before the humans find them. She defiantly tells him no, explaining that if the apes that are injured move it hurts too much and that they require rest. Caesar then threatens her before she finally steps aside and goes to help the injured to their feet.

Satisfied, Caesar returns to the trees and is rejoined by Rocket who has recruited three orangutans, two chimpanzees and the bonobo, Koba whom they rescued from Gen-Sys Laboratories. The eight apes climb up into the canopy and towards the sound of the helicopters but the machines have seemed to disappear. Caesar is fearful that they might be too late. Reaching the top of the canopy his worst fears are realised as he sees that a helicopter is already lined up and is heading straight for the troop. He finds a dead tree branch and launches it at the helicopter and screams at the top of his lungs with Rocket and the assembled apes joining in.

Caesar stops one of the younger apes from throwing themselves at the machine which doesn't seem to be affected by the branch's blow. Caesar hears the familiar hiss of a tranquillizer dart and sees a shooter in the aircraft getting ready to take another shot. Caesar calls the other apes down from the trees and tells them to wait for the helicopters to leave. When they don't, Rocket asks what they're going to do it and Caesar tells he doesn't know and they should keep waiting.

The new Alpha begins to realize that he hasn't thought his escape plan out far enough and that now he is relying on the troop's willingness to survive. He knows he doesn't want the humans to die out and just wants them to leave them alone. Suddenly, his thoughts are penetrated when he hears the sound of gunfire. He tells the apes to keep moving. He has them moving until dawn the next morning, fully aware that everyone is tired and sore. He hopes that they have evaded the humans for at least a day or so.

More to come...

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Ape King

After 10 years of living in peace and safety, Caesar still reigns strongly over the apes whose population have grown into thousands living in large village in Muir Woods Park. Now middle-aged and raising a teenage son, Caesar leads his apes on a hunting expedition. He attempts to teach his son, Blue Eyes how to hunt without getting hurt but this doesn't go to plan. Blue Eyes, who continuously ignores his father's orders, wanders off and is attacked by a bear. Caesar, seeing his son in trouble rushes to help him but he too struggles with the bear. He calls for his friend Koba who spears the bear in the back of the head, killing it. Caesar emerges from under the bear's corpse and attempts to check Blue Eyes' injuries only to be brushed off.

Arriving back in the village, Caesar is summoned home by his wife Cornelia's midwives. Hurrying home, the Ape king joins his wife just as she gives birth to their second son. Overjoyed by the reality of having a second son, Caesar summons Blue Eyes over, telling him, "Come meet your new brother." Together, the family celebrates the birth.

Later, Caesar sits looking out over the village with his long-time friend Maurice. Maurice congratulates Caesar over the birth of his new son. Caesar, taking his best friend's comments in stride, smiles. The conversation steers away from the boys and turns to the humans. Maurice asks if Caesar misses the humans in which Caesar replies that he does sometimes. Maurice then recounts everything that has happened in the last ten years as the human appearances have become less and less.

Finding Humans in the Woods

Caesar awakens early in the morning by the sound of gunfire. Hurrying outside, he sees that the entire colony has heard it. Rushing out into the forest with Rocket and Maurice and various others, Caesar sees that his honorary nephew, Ash, the son of Rocket has been shot by humans. Rocket begins to panic over his son's condition. Caesar tells Rocket to calm down and shouts in English at the humans to leave before ordering Koba to follow them to see how many humans there are now.

Back in the village, Caesar sits listening as his council argues over what is to be done about the humans. Koba and Blue Eyes argue with Ash and Rocket about Ash's shooting while Maurice sits silently, looking through the bag one of the humans dropped in the rush. Caesar shouts to make the council go silent. Caesar tells them that he will have a decision by morning. Afterwards, Koba approaches Caesar and tells him the apes need to make a show of strength to the humans.

Apes' Warning

The next morning, the apes heavy in number march into the remnants of San Francisco, on horseback an armed with spears. It is there, to the shock of most humans present, that Caesar speaks and states that the apes have no interest in a war, but they will fight to protect themselves. He then warns the humans to not come back into the ape's territory and has his son Blue Eyes give Malcolm his son's satchel before personally telling Malcolm to not come back with that said and done, the ape army leaves back to their homes having given their message to the humans.

When Malcolm comes to the Ape Village disobeying Caesar's order to never come back, he is captured by gorillas and is brought to Caesar for judgment. Malcolm tells Caesar that he has to show him something and he knows that if he does he will understand. Despite the protests of several apes, including Koba who intended to kill him with a spear, Caesar allows Malcolm to live and to show him the dam that the humans need to power the city. Caesar then allows Malcolm and his group to stay and work on the dam, proven that they surrender all their guns to them.

While Rocket is busy destroying the guns Koba goes to Caesar about why he is helping the humans, despite the possibility of them becoming more dangerous if they get power. Caesar sees how desperate they are and tells him that if they make them leave they will attack the Ape Village. Koba suggests the apes should let them attack them and that they can destroy the humans while they are weak, but Caesar points out how many apes could die. He says that the humans and apes have only one chance for peace, he tells Koba that he will let the humans do thier work then they will go. Koba chuckles and reminds Caesar of the work humans did to him in the labs to the point of yelling. Caesar stands up over Koba for talking back at him and Koba immediately backs down. Caesar forgives him and Koba leaves in shame and anger. His son Blue Eyes, talks to his father that Koba says apes should hate humans. Caesar orders him to be quiet and tells him that Koba learned nothing but hatred from the humans.

Aiding Humans

Later, Caesar is in the village at his home when his followers come with a captured Malcolm the human states he remembers Caesar's threat about not staying out of the ape's territory but he had a reason to and he just has to show it to Caesar. However, koba accuses Malcolm of lying and asks for permission to kill him on the spot as the other apes present roar in agreement. Caesar, neutral on Malcolm's presence calms his subjects down and tells Malcolm to show him what's important with that he and his follower journey to the dam at the edge of the woods. Once there Malcolm shows the apes the thing which the humans need help with restoring the power to the city in order to contact any remaining human survivors and bringing them to San Francisco. He then reveals that he has other humans with him to accomplish the task and says that if he's a threat to the ape's home they have the right to kill him. Caesar agrees to let the humans work on the dam but on the condition that they give up their guns as a way to avoid any danger on both sides. The humans proceed to work and while some of his followers are mistrusting of them Caesar remains at ease with their presence in the territory.

Aiding the Humans

Later, Caesar, his sons and his most trusted followers visit the dam to monitor the humans progress as they arrive Caesar asks where Koba after noticing his absence to which the other reply they do not know. When the humans were in danger after an explosion went off in the Dam the apes came to their aid and pulled them to safety which briefly put their past tense differences aside. As the humans were resting Caesar's son Milo crawled over to the humans having grown curious about them. Caesar was shown smiling as the humans and his son enjoyed the other's company and didn't mind the fact that his son was being playful but this ended as soon as milo scurried over to the human Carver's pack discovering a concealed weapon. Carver quickly grabbed his gun and pointed at Milo threatening to kill him only for Blue Eyes to strike him down and be threatened as well. However, Caesar came to his sons' aid and hit carver with the gun before pointing at him though Malcolm quickly calms him down and tells Caesar to not do it. Caesar, throwing the gun away is deeply angered the humans broke his rules about no guns which they used to threaten the lives of both his children throws the weapon away. He picks up Milo, while holding him in a protective grip he orders the humans to leave the Ape Territory immediately. He and his followers return home while the humans are begging for him to reconsider as they did not know about the weapon Carver had on him. Caesar ignores their pleas and is quickly called by his village doctors to tend to his wife who is shown to be really sick and the doctors tell him they do not know what is plaguing her. This news begins to worry Caesar as he can't believe he will lose his wife to an unknown disease. His worries are soon pushed to the side as Malcolm and Ellie who followed him to his home say they have medicine that might cure Cornelia but they will only administer it with his permission. Caesar weighing his options of either losing his wife or permitting the humans help ultimately relents and allows the humans to aid him and his family. Ellie gives Cornelia medicine and her condition starts to improve after taking the medicine. Seeing their generosity Caesar allows Malcolm's group to stay for one more day but Malcolm tells him they might need more than that but Caesar is adamant about his decision as Malcolm promises to get rid of Carver as a way to return the favor to Caesar.

Koba's Usurpation

Later on Caesar is at the dam with the humans while having the other apes aid the humans to restore power to the city. As some time goes on the apes and humans begin to get along that is until an angry Koba arrives yelling for Caesar while attacking the humans at the dam before Caesar arrives. Koba angry that Caesar would let the humans work after they threaten his sons and accuses him of loving humans more than apes and more than his own sons. This angers Caesar and he lashes out at Koba and begins to beat the bonobo for his insolence but after seeing him on the verge on death he stops. Citing the "Ape not kill Ape" law he calms down and Koba begs for his forgiveness which Caesar allows and continues to the humans in restoring power which succeeds in giving San Francisco back it's power. At night, the apes and humans would later celebrate at the village after seeing the city with it's power back on. Caesar happy that his followers have managed to work with humans has his spirits lifted when out of nowhere Cornelia arrives and joins the celebration her illness cured due to the humans kindness. This makes Caesar more happy and he and his family celebrate even more with their new human friends. After the celebration, Caesar is watching his son and wife sleep before he notices a noise and goes to check it out where he spots Koba standing on a branch awaiting him. The two apes lock eyes with one another before Koba pulls out an assault rifle and shoots Caesar causing him to fall from his home to the ground below with his followers reacting in horror as he falls. Koba would then set the village on fire forcing the apes to flee out their homes with their lives intact. Koba would show the humans Carver's items and tells them it was humans that attack their home and killed their beloved leader. He takes mantle of Alpha for himself and using his new power convinces the apes to attack the city to get revenge on those responsible for their home's destruction and Caesar's death.

Return to his Old Home

Malcolm and his family who barely escaped the Ape's rampage hide out in the forest where they find a wounded but barely alive Caesar on the ground. They quickly gather him up and place him in their truck where they apologize for Carver's supposed attack on him but Caesar tells them it was Koba that shot him and he just framed humans for the incident. Caesar says he used to think that apes were better than humans but after seeing Koba's actions he realizes how alike they truly are. Malcolm's family then ponder on where to take Caesar only for him to say he knows a place: his old family home the Rodman's Residence which was a place for him to truly be at rest.

Reunion With His Son

As he rests his condition begins to take a turn for the worst which makes his new friend worry but because they have no medicine on them and the apes have taken control of the city they are forced to sneak out. Caesar would then await their return and when they do they bring medicine and a surprise with them it is his son Blue Eyes who is overjoyed to see his father but worries about his condition. The young ape apologizes to his father for his actions while his father say that everything that has happened is because of him he tells his son that it was Koba that shot him not humans. He then asks over the condition of Cornelia and Milo to which Blue Eyes reveals they are okay but tells Caesar that Koba has killed Ash and turned the apes into ruthless killing machines. Upset about his nephew's death he says he should of been more vigilant of Koba as the events that followed were due to naively trusting Koba because he is an ape. Afterwards, Caesar is back on his feet and walks around his family home becoming nostalgic over his past and though sadden at what has happened to it in the ten years that he's been gone he feels great to be back. He would then spot a charging Camcorder and after turning it on he find out it is an old video of him as an infant being taught by his adoptive human father Will Rodman. He would then tell the observing Malcolm who ask about who the man in the video was that he was a good man like him.

Battle With an Old Friend

After fully recovering, Caesar is told by Blue Eyes that Koba is going after the female apes and their infants. Worrying over his family's safety he tells Blue Eyes that he's going after Koba to end this madness before it get worse. His son begs to come as well but Caesar forbids this but his son (in broken English) begs again to come along which forces him to concede. Blue Eyes would leave the house and would return with Caesar's remaining loyal followers Maurice, Rocket, Luca and many others who are overjoyed to see their true leader and close friend still alive. Malcolm then tells Caesar he knows of a place to enter the city without being detected and the apes follow him down the subway where they are forced to separate due to hostile humans being there. Caesar and his followers would then head to the Human Hideout Tower where they personally confront Koba who along with the other apes is deeply surprised to see Caesar still alive. Koba tells Caesar he has no place there as the apes follow him now but Caesar replies they follow him to war, koba says the apes are strong and will win war with him as leader. He calls Caesar weak but unhurt and defiant Caesar replies "Koba... Weaker" which angers Koba who lashes out at Caesar resulting in a fierce battle. The two apes would use their fists and melee weapons to aid them in their fight while the other apes can only watch as the battle for supremacy commences. As they battle Caesar berates Koba for his actions against him saying he loved and trusted Koba liked a brother only to be told by koba that he is a brother to humans while he fights to free apes from human tyranny. Caesar state Koba only fights for himself and he belongs in cage which has koba tackle him to the ground and pummel Caesar even more. But Caesar quickly gets back to his feet and punches Koba in the ribs before knocking him back and continuing their battle. The battle would then be interrupted as an explosion caused by Dreyfus detonating C4 causes them to lose their balance and nearly destroys the tower. Caesar seeing many of his people dead or injured has his followers get them to safety before it is too late. As they helped their people a gunshot is heard and an ape helped by Caesar is shot dead, the apes turn and see Koba holding gun shooting the other apes. One stray bullet hits and scars Maurice who is pulled to safety by the other apes. Caesar seeing this chaos has gone on long enough tackles Koba causing both to fall but while Caesar lands on a platform Koba is left dangling from a ledge holding on for dear life. Koba barely managing to pull himself up begs for Caesar to save him citing the "Ape not kill Ape" law. Caesar then grabs Koba's hand and pulls him up which relieves Koba until he sees the dark look in Caesar's eyes and hears him say "You are not ape" before letting go of his hand causing Koba to fall to the ground below presumably to his death. The apes would then mourn koba's death as he had been like a brother to them but feel it was for the best to end the chaos he began.

Restoration to Power

The apes then leave the tower to check on the other apes imprisoned and tend to their wounded as they do Caesar is reunited his wife and infant son who are overjoyed to see him alive and healthy. Caesar embraces his wife and both his sons after having been away from them too long in the chaos that followed. Afterwards the sound of growling apes is heard Caesar turns and sees Malcolm being threatened by Stone and other apes with guns he tells them to leave him alone. Malcolm then informs him that Dreyfus had made contact with humans up at military base and they're on the way to battle against the apes he begs Caesar to leave while he still can. Caesar, on the other hand asks where should he go as this is his home and says the apes started the war and humans will not forgive them for what has transpired. Both lament the fact that peace between their races could have been achieved if there wasn't too much animosity existing. Caesar apologizes to Malcolm and tells him too take his family somewhere safe before the fighting begins and the two sadly embrace as friends. Malcolm then slips into the shadows as Caesar turns to see the other apes who begin bow to down him signifying they once again accept him as their real leader. Caesar embraces his family again and looks onto the horizon knowing that things will never be the same after the battle started by his own people will do some unspeakable things.

Personality

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Caesar is marvelously unique by intellectual means. Due to his inheriting the drugs used on his mother, he is incredibly intelligent, dangerously cunning and viciously callous. He developed quick relationships with humans, unlike the other apes, and seemed to be almost mutually connected with them. He is unusually cynical and attacked one of his neighbours with malicious intent when the latter threatened his adoptive human grandfather. Incredibly, he is capable of leading vast armies of delusional, deranged apes into battle, showing charisma, loyalty, cerebrality, social mastery and dedication to his kin. Also, he is shown to be quite vengeful; He would strike out the moment he or a close friend/relative of his is threatened and would sometimes try and kill them. He is a brilliant tactician, shown in the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, and used strategic excellence in the skirmish and used all of the advantages he had at his disposal. Caesar has several human emotions that his other apes didn't share; fear, happiness, triumph, concern, sympathy, compassion and independence. He is bound by his loyalty to his human companions and his ape fellows. His true colours are shown in the climax of the battle, the one thing that all of his warriors shared that day; Revenge. He was distraught and angry at Buck's death and was about to take his revenge on Steven Jacobs for his friend's death. Then he showed a malicious and sadistic side to him when he walked away and left Koba, twice as angry and vengeful and vindictive as Caesar, to deal with the man. At the end of the film, he shows his true connection to mother nature when he says to his former owner, and adoptive human father Will, indicating his dedication to his fellow comrades; "Caesar is home!".

From the very beginning, it was extremely difficult to deny that Caesar had great potential. From the moment Charles Rodman recited from Julius Caesar to him as an infant, Caesar was bound for greatness even if it cost him greatly in the sacrifices that Will made to protect him from harm. At one to two days old, Caesar showed great signs of intelligence for a chimpanzee of his age. The morning after Will takes him home, Caesar surprises Will and Charles when he bottle-feeds himself. This is when it is seen that he has green-irises like that of his late mother, Bright Eyes, backing up Will’s later theory that Caesar’s intelligence and strange eye color was developed while in utero. By the time he was eighteen months old, Caesar had learned to use sign language and could sign up to twenty-four words and could, by the time he was three years old, complete puzzles and models designed for children aged eight and up. Because his intelligence was so high, he could even outsmart Will at chess along with completing the Lucas Tower with a perfect score of fifteen.

By the age of three, Caesar became a carefree, adventurous, playful, mischievous and energetic young chimpanzee who adored his adoptive human father, Will who was raising him single-handedly with the help of his own father, Charles. Because of his energetic and playful nature, Caesar certainly kept Will and Charles on their toes. The young chimpanzee’s mischievous exploits often got him into trouble which was often a concern to both Will and Charles as they saw Caesar injured, especially if he was attacked by the family’s vile, ape-hating neighbor Douglas Hunsiker. After one such attack, Caesar was injured and required stitches and was taken by Will to the San Francisco Zoo, where the pair meets Caroline Aranha. While Caesar’s main interaction was solely with Will and Charles, he took an immediate liking to her. Using his skills of sign language, he sets Will and Caroline up on a date, which greatly embarrasses Will. His show of affection towards Will in front of his new human friend showed that Caesar had very human like emotions. Upon Caroline’s first visit to the Rodman house, Caesar enjoyed the attention that the humans were showing him. After some encouragement from Caroline, Caesar was granted the one thing he had never really had; freedom. The Rodmans and Caroline took him to the Muir Woods Park where Caesar, having not been outside a lot, hesitates before running off into the forest. He asks Will’s permission showing a sign of respect towards his adoptive human father.

For the next five years, the redwoods become Caesar’s single favorite place other then the house. It is also over this time that Caesar’s personality changes. As a teenager, Caesar is no longer the mischievous, energetic and carefree young chimpanzee he once was. He begins to display a tint of jealousy towards his adoptive human parents who are now dating and very much in love. He is able to hide it, as he still adored them and loved them. Upon seeing a dog on a leash, Caesar begins to ask Will who and what he really is. Upon discovering from Will how he came to be in his care, and why he is so intelligent, Caesar begins defying Will but makes an exception for Charles who is beginning to show signs once more of his Alzheimer’s returning. After witnessing the family neighbor verbally assaulting Charles, Caesar begins to show a defensive and protective side to himself in regards to his sick adoptive human grandfather and those he cared about, he is violent and aggressive towards anyone, who is a threat to the people he cares about, like Will and Charles, however he soon becomes horrified, when he accidentally bites Hunsiker's finger off.

Arriving at the San Bruno Primate Shelter that would later prove to be his worse nightmare, Caesar showed vulnerability and was consistently picked on by then alpha ape, Rocket and by Dodge Landon, the son of the shelter’s boss, (this is because he didn't know how to defend himself at the time). During this time, Caesar began to build a resistance and forms a bond with the friendly orangutan, Maurice and the isolated and lonely gorilla Buck. It was through Maurice that Caesar came up with the belief that "Apes together, strong. Apes alone, weak". This was a belief that he would instill in the other apes years later. Able to outsmart Rocket using his intelligence, Caesar adapted quickly to being a leader with a little help from Maurice and was given the idea to break into his adoptive human parents’ house and steal the ALZ-113 to make the other apes, including Maurice more intelligent. With the apes more intelligent, Caesar influenced them to break out of the shelter but not before they started beating Rodney to a bloody pulp. Caesar, (correctly) seeing that Rodney had done nothing wrong, stops the apes from hurting him and locks him in a cage for his safety. After accidentally killing Dodge Landon, Caesar immediately shows guilt and remorse for his accidental slaughter. Though he did not mourn the death of his human tormentor for long, Caesar made a silent vow to only hurt humans that did him and his fellow primates harm while still showing his sympathy and compassion towards humans, but not harming those who weren’t doing anything wrong, he does not like the idea of killing innocent humans, he tries to prevent other Evolved Apes from killing them.

He once displayed a cold site to his personality, after Will bribes John Landon into letting Caesar return home he shuts his cage door coldly in Will's face after he sees the leash in his hand. This was mainly due to the fact, that Caesar had made friends and was secretly plotting his escape with the other apes in tow and that he no longer needed to lean on Will to live and had no desire to be treated as a pet again. Caesar also has a sense of humor, after he accidentally throws his food on Dodge's face, he found it very amusing.

During the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Caesar proved that he was capable of being a warrior as well as a leader. Using sign language, he instructed Maurice to lead the orangutans down to under the bridge while he instructed Rocket and Koba to take the bridge from above while Buck and the gorillas rampaged across the main part of the bridge. During the battle, Caesar used the fog to his advantage. He was able to tame one of the police horses and rides it out of the fog, screaming an order to pounce before the apes earned a victory and fled the scene. His love and dedication for Will was what helped him decide on how he wanted to live his life which was in freedom with his own kind. Upon seeing that Koba was about to hurt his adoptive human father, Caesar leapt in to help, pushing Koba away, warning him to stay away from Will. Hearing Will’s pleas to come home, Caesar kindly declined, whispering "Caesar is home" in his ear.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm

During his early reign Caesar's character exhibited the adverse traits of his own insecurities as a new leader, manifesting in arrogance, impulsiveness and an intractable need to control. These are evidenced in his rigid demand of obedience from his troops and his initial dismissiveness of the valuable insights put forward by his would-be wife, Cornelia, such as when the apes were struggling to find food and Cornelia offers her knowledge of the difference between forest food and jungle food in an attempt to help the situation only to be dismissed by Caesar or his prompting her to know her place and do as she is told when she argues the case of their injured subjects after the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

As an adult, Caesar’s colony of apes rises from those that survived the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge to a grand mass of 2,000. Among those apes are Caesar's own growing family containing his wife, Cornelia and his two sons. As a husband, Caesar loves his wife Cornelia dearly and is extremely loving towards her as he remains at her side as she gives birth to presumably both their sons. As a father, Caesar loves both his sons and has a strong bond with his eldest son, Blue Eyes, becoming the counter-balance to Blue Eyes' recklessness.

As a king, Caesar takes his role as the ruler of his ape colony very seriously, but it is also very stressful, it is because of his wife, Cornelia's constant support and presence, that he is grounded, Caesar tries to juggle his responsibilities as a husband, a father and a king. Despite his leadership and responsibilities, he is still known to be kind and polite as proven when he offers Ellie his hand when he invites the humans to view their handiwork from the village.

Caesar develops an extremely strong moral code and principle; Apes do not kill apes. It is this that motivates him as a leader, but it is also something that can be used against him, exploited by Koba. In terms of leadership, he is charismatic, noble, benevolent, intelligent, wise, calculating, selfless, capable, passionate, merciful, levelheaded and independent. Everybody in his ape colony (except for Koba and Grey) respects his authority, showing that he is an exceptionally admirable leader. He is also motivated by giving people a second chance, shown in his decision to help the humans despite the animosity between the ape colony and the humans.

Caesar used to be naïve, he believe that apes were better than humans, this changed after he was betrayed and almost killed by Koba, Caesar now realizes that apes and humans are not so different after all.

Much like he was during the first film, Caesar was capable of violent mood swings, which he appeared to have obtained a better control of later in his life. He was a terrifying spectacle when he was angry.

Abilities

Animal Strength: Like all chimpanzees Caesar is very powerful and strong as he was able to take countless police officers on the Golden Gate Bridge. Not only this but in top shape he is able to tackle and nearly kill Koba within seconds.
Animal Speed: Caesar is amazingly fast. After he escape from the San Bruno Primate Shelter, he was able to get from the facility he was being held at to the Rodman House without being seen or noticed, after Caesar stole the ALZ-113 from his adopted human parents home, at back to the facility without being seen or noticed by any humans, and before sunrise. Caesar was also able to catch a police officer off-guard with his speed and get the drop on Koba while defending his adoptive human father.
Animal Reflexes: Caesar has incredible reflexes, shown in his feats of tree-climbing and how he moved around Will's house as a child, but also during his fight scenes against Rocket, the police officers at the Golden Gate Bridge, a grizzly bear at the ape Hunting Grounds and Koba.
Skilled Combatant: Caesar learns to defend himself while in captivity due to being continuously picked on by both Rocket and Dodge Landon. He uses these new-found skills to his advantage during the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge. Caesar was also skilled enough to overpower Koba, a skilled combatant in his own right, on two separate occasions. The first time was when he easily swat him away to protect Will from the enraged bonobo, the second time when both of them use nearby debris as melee weapons, and though the latter put up an incredible fight, Caesar proves to be the superior warrior and easily defeats his rival.
Sign Language: Growing up amongst humans, Caesar was taught American Sign Language as a ways of communication. During his time in captivity, Caesar used sign language to communicate with Maurice. During the Ape Rebellion he used sign to command his troops. As his empire grows, Caesar with the help of Maurice teaches the other apes how sign as another way of communicating.
Advanced Intelligence: As the son of the late test subject chimpanzee Bright Eyes, Caesar inherited the ALZ-112 through his mother. As he grew older, Caesar's IQ and advanced intelligence had become so high that it outdid that of a human. Because of his intelligence, he was able to teach himself how to defend himself, to pick locks, etc as a way of survival. His intelligence sky-rocketed after being exposed to the ALZ-113 this allowed him to evolve faster than the other apes in the shelter and allowed him to be the first to gain the ability to speak. Caesar was even able to teach himself how to ride a horse during the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge. Because he inherited his intelligence from his mother, Caesar passed the gene down to his own sons, Blue Eyes, and Milo.
Leadership: Caesar is a natural leader. He has shown this ability on multiple occasions as he was able to bring the isolated Buck (a large gorilla) to his side and use his strength to bring down Rocket, the former alpha of his shelter. Caesar then used his more advanced intelligence to unite all the apes in the shelter to launch a successful escape. This trait is shown again where Caesar had brought countless apes from the Gen-Sys Laboratories and the San Francisco Zoo to build up an ape army which was able to bring the city into complete chaos in mere hours. As the king of the ape colony, Caesar has been able to gain the loyalty of his fellow apes as many of the powerful apes such as Maurice, Rocket, Luca and Ash showed only their faith in him during Koba's usurpation. This is also evident how Koba does not agree with Caesar, but simultaneously respects him.
Skilled Tactician: Due to his advanced intelligence and IQ, Caesar is a brilliant tactician. This is proven during the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge; as he knows that there are police officers on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge, when he commands the chimpanzees part of his army to climb the bridge, the orangutans to traverse to the bottom of the bridge, the gorillas to push an overturned bus along the bridge, to shield them against police bullets, and when Caesar literally rides a horse to signal his troops to attack, overwhelming the police from all sides and forcing them to retreat. This strategy not only resulted in Caesar's victory, but also resulted in the death of two members of his army, Wolfie and Buck.
Speech: Because of his increasing IQ and advanced intelligence from both the ALZ-112 and ALZ-113 drugs, Caesar gained the ability of speech, being the first ape to gain this ability. This ability is later passed on to Caesar's two sons, Blue Eyes, and Milo. In Dawn, Caesar can speak English, almost completely clearly, but he cannot form complete sentences.

Relationships

Will Rodman

Will was Caesar's adoptive human father. Will and Caesar had a close bond very similar to Will's relationship with his own father, Charles. Caesar adored Will and thought of him as his father. When Caesar started to question who he was after seeing a dog on a leash, Will was quick to reassure him that he wasn't a pet but his and Caroline's son. Caesar's trust in Will started to diminish when Caesar was forced to move to the San Bruno Primate Shelter after attacking the Rodman family's neighbor while defending Charles. Every time he asked Will if they were going home, Will

Will & Caesar — Caesar and his adoptive human father Will, during happier times.

would tell him that he wasn't going home with him, which greatly upset the chimpanzees. Finally, Caesar's dependence on Will faded completely after Will attempts to bribe Landon with money to get Caesar out. Will tries to get Caesar to go with him but after seeing the leash in his hand, Caesar shuts his cage door in Will's face and goes on ignoring him. This was mainly due to the fact, that Caesar had made friends and was secretly plotting his escape with the other apes in tow and that he no longer needed to lean on Will to live. The next time Caesar sees Will is on the Golden Gate Bridge after Will calls for him. Caesar turns to look at him in surprise. Caesar's last known interaction with Will is in the Muir Woods Park where Caesar saves him from being attacked by the vengeful Koba and Will begs him to come home. Caesar, now understanding who he is declines Will's offer and speaks to him for the first and last time saying, "Caesar is Home" which greatly surprises Will who sees that Caesar and the other apes are better off in the woods. Will gives him his blessing and watches as caesar walks up and ascends into the trees followed by his new-found ape family. The look on Will's face while this happens shows that he was incredibly proud of his adoptive son who has finally found a place for himself.

It is unknown whether Will and Caesar ever saw each other again after this. Will died during the virus outburst as he and Caroline were "ground zero" of the virus. It is currently unknown if Caesar witnessed his death.

As Caesar struggles to keep his colony alive in the early days after the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Caesar has constant flashbacks of his time with Will and the time they were together in the forest while Caesar was growing up. During this time, Caesar also wonders where Will is and what he might be doing with his life now that he isn't with him.

After Caesar is shot by Koba and taken by Malcolm and his family to the Rodman House, Caesar relishes in his childhood memories of Will and spies his son, Blue Eyes looking at a photo of the young Caesar and Will and realizing that in a lot of ways, Will was his grandfather because he raised Caesar.

Caesar remembers Will — Caesar remembers his old life and Will

Returning to his room in the attic, Caesar finds a video camera of Will's still charging at the wall. Disconnecting the camera from the charger, he views a video of himself and Will practising sign. Smiling at the memory, Caesar is hit with the reality that his father died from something he created and that there could have been more to Caesar's future if Will had not died. The reality of Will not getting the chance to meet his grandsons also hit Caesar hard from seeing his son looking at the photo and him seeing the video.

Charles Rodman

Charles was Caesar's first human friend as well as his adoptive human grandfather. When Will first brought Caesar home as a baby, Charles took an immediate liking to him and began to quote from the Shakespearean text, Julius Caesar; the quote a direct link to Caesar's role as leader of the ape colony later in life. Charles was the one who named him. The two had an unusual bond. Irena, the nurse who had been caring for Charles while Will was at work, said that Caesar (unknown to her was an ape) would be good for him. Charles loved Caesar and was quick to defend him when the neighbor attacked the then three year old. He (Charles) was greatly concerned when he and Will checked Caesar over for injuries, revealing a cut. Charles was also very encouraging of Caesar and was able to get him to climb the trees in the Muir Woods Park for the first time. Caesar repaid Charles for his kindness five years later when the neighbor had a go at Charles, whose Alzheimer's had returned. In Charles' defence, Caesar bit the neighbor's finger off by accident. Because of this, Caesar, by court order, was sent to the San Bruno Primate Shelter. It is likely that Caesar never saw Charles again as Will didn't take Charles with him when he and Caroline went to visit Caesar. It is unknown whether Will ever told Caesar of Charles' death.

Caroline Aranha

Caroline Aranha was Caesar's adoptive human mother. Caesar meets Caroline at the age of three when Will takes him to the San Francisco Zoo for treatment after the neighbor's attack on him. Caesar takes an immediate liking to her and sets her and Will up on a date by embarrassing Will.

Over time, Caesar's relationship with Caroline strengthens and he begins to consider her as his mother. Caroline is present when Will takes Caesar to Gen-Sys Laboratories and explains how he came to be in Will's care. Back at the house, Caroline demands that Will tell her the full truth and he does. Appalled, Caroline tells him that things aren't meant to be controlled, ultimately defending Caesar, who is listening from his room in the attic. Caroline, along with Will travel to the San Bruno Primate Shelter. After Caesar arrives in the animal control van and doesn't want to go inside, Caroline gently tells him that they'll go in and see what it's like inside. Caroline offers him her hand and he takes it, happy to know that he has her support. Caroline and Will visit Caesar several times during the course of his stay at the shelter. After Caesar is injured, Caroline checks him over and comments on how awfully he has been treated. After Caesar and the other apes have escaped from the shelter, Caroline finds Rodney, the only surviving human from the attack locked in a cage. Terrified, the softly spoken man tells Caroline and Will that he heard Caesar speak. Will, having pieced together where Caesar and the apes are heading, the couple head towards the forest but become stuck on the Golden Gate Bridge where Caesar has ordered a full scale attack. This is the last known time Caroline sees Caesar.

Dodge Landon

Dodge Landon was Caesar's human tormentor. Right from the start, Caesar and Dodge had an antagonistic relationship. When Caesar wanted to escape the San Bruno Primate Shelter on his first day, Dodge promised a way out only to trap him in his cage. Caesar then throws "Grade A Primate Chow" in Dodge's face by accident and hoots in amusement. Dodge hoses him and continues to bully him throughout his time at the shelter. When Caesar and the other apes rebel, Dodge is their first casualty when he is electrocuted by accident. Caesar is horrified by what he has done but doesn't mourn for long.

Maurice

Maurice is Caesar's first ape best friend. From the moment he stepped foot into the San Bruno Primate Shelter, Caesar always had former circus orangutan, Maurice watching over him. Maurice watched from the sidelines when Caesar found himself in an unnecessary fight with the alpha chimpanzee Rocket. After seeing Caesar's potential, Maurice took it upon himself to befriend the chimpanzee, showing him that he too could use sign language. Caesar happily took the orangutan's companionship and never once questioned him except over his ability to use sign on their first encounter. From that moment on, the two apes stuck together and Caesar finally made his first friend at the shelter. It was Maurice who unknowingly gave Caesar the idea to break into Will's house and steal the ALZ-113 drug and using it to make the other apes intelligent. Maurice was one of the apes first seen with the green irises and silently nods at Caesar for his new intelligence. During the Ape Rebellion, Caesar commanded Maurice to lead a group of orangutans and chimpanzees under the Golden Gate Bridge supports. They reunited in the forest after the fight where the two along with the other apes embraced each other as brothers living in real freedom.

In the early days, Maurice served as Caesar's third-in-command as the apes struggled to survive when hunters began to hunt them. Caesar commands Maurice to lead the apes away from the helicopters that were circling above the trees and to keep the apes quiet. Maurice also acts as an anchor in the early days of Caesar's marriage to Cornelia despite almost always siding with Cornelia which greatly displeases Caesar.

As the years go on, Maurice and Caesar still remain best friends with Maurice becoming a teacher to Caesar's eldest son, Blue Eyes. Maurice also serves as a member of Caesar's council and is still his main confidante. After Cornelia has given birth to a second son, Maurice is one of the first to congratulate Caesar on the birth. Caesar, taking his friend's comment in stride, smiles. The subject steers away from Caesar's sons to the humans. Maurice asks whether Caesar misses them, in which the Alpha admits sometimes, thinking about his adoptive parents, Will and Caroline. Maurice then mentions that over the last ten years the human sightings have become less and less until the last two years in which there hasn't been any sighting of any. When Alexander drops his bag in the forest, Maurice retrieves it on Caesar's orders and looks through it while the council argues on what to do about Ash's shooting. After Caesar agrees to allow to the humans to work on the dam, Maurice accompanies him and comments when Caesar asks about Koba's whereabouts, that Koba is too angry to want to help them.

Maurice is one of the few apes who embraced Caesar's new human friends, showing that his belief with the humans is very similar to Caesar's. After Caesar is shot by Koba, Maurice is locked up for his loyalty to Caesar. After being freed by Blue Eyes on Caesar's orders, Maurice reunites with Caesar at the Rodman House and watches with concern as the Alpha takes on Koba.

Buck

Buck was Caesar's second ape best friend. After befriending Maurice, Caesar took it upon himself to befriend the lonely gorilla known as Buck who he took an interest in after seeing him trying to break out of his cage. Caesar, who had just learned to pick locks freed himself had snuck into the play den and opened a sleeping Buck's cage. Though the Gorilla nearly attacked Caesar he stopped upon seeing his cage door was opened by the chimpanzee. Buck showed some reluctance, but then dashed out the cage and enjoyed himself by playing around in the den for the first time in years. Truly happy and grateful to be free, Buck turned to thanked the smiling and observing Caesar whom he came to respect and see as a friend. After this encounter, Caesar, with Buck's help had managed to lure and overthrow Rocket as the Alpha of the shelter. Buck ultimately becomes Caesar's good friend and serves as one of Caesar's most loyal allies during the Ape Rebellion. Due to his loyalty towards Caesar, Buck sacrificed himself to save him when Caesar was being shot at during the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, which leaves Caesar devastated by the loss of his good friend. Buck dies with Caesar at his side.

Rocket

Rocket is Caesar's third ape best friend. Caesar's relationship with Rocket didn't have the humblest of beginnings. In the beginning Caesar tries to befriend Rocket but the hairless chimpanzee who was also the Alpha male started to bully him for no apparent reason. After befriending Buck the gorilla, Caesar is able to lure Rocket out of his cage to the play area, and is able to overthrow him as Rocket is no match for Buck. Caesar and Rocket are able to settle their differences and they become the most unlikeliest of friends with Rocket serving as one of Caesar's key lieutenants during the Ape Rebellion and Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge. Rocket ends up becoming Caesar's third best friend and loyal follower.

After ten years, Caesar and Rocket are still close and have become even closer as both are now fathers to teenage sons. Rocket serves as an uncle to Caesar's two boys while Caesar serves the same purpose to Ash. Rocket is a member of Caesar's council and is greatly valued for his input and strength. After his son is accidentally shot by Carver, Caesar attempts to calm Rocket down as a panicked Rocket lingers over an injured Ash. Later, Rocket and Ash agree to follow Caesar in whatever he decides is to be done. After Caesar is shot and almost killed by Koba, Rocket is caged for his loyalty to Caesar. The friends are reunited later at the Rodman House.

Cornelia

Cornelia is Caesar's wife and queen. Very little of the early days of Caesar's relationship with Cornelia is seen but according to the prequel novel, Firestorm, they didn't exactly fall in love straight away. Just days after the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Caesar and Cornelia get into an argument regarding the injured apes. When she attempts to stand her

ground on the issue, Caesar threatens her prompting her to do as she is told.

Later, when the apes are struggling to find food, Cornelia offers her knowledge of the difference between forest food and jungle food but Caesar dismisses her. After talking to Maurice, Caesar reveals he finds her annoying but can see her point at times.

When humans begin capturing apes, Cornelia tells Caesar that she knows where they are and she can lead him to them. Not long after, the forest is engulfed in fire to flush the apes out of hiding, Caesar pushes Cornelia into the river in order to protect her from the flames. Later, Caesar once again sits alone in a tree overlooking the city, Cornelia joins him and silently grooms him.

As time passes, Caesar and Cornelia developed feelings for each other and eventually marry. This union produces two sons, Blue Eyes and a newborn son named Milo. When Cornelia goes into labor with their second son, Caesar stays with her as the baby is brought into the world. With the pressure of raising a rebellious son as well as a baby who is curious about the world around him and ruling over an ape colony, Caesar has Cornelia's constant support and is grounded by her presence. At some point in time, Caesar shares a quiet moment with Cornelia and their newborn son and is devastated when he learns from her that she is sick and possibly dying. When she awakens he is greatly relieved to see her alive and well as she joins the other apes and the humans in a celebration. After the celebration, Cornelia and her son milo sleep with Caesar watching over them with a big smile on his face happy that his family is okay. But this moment ends when he is shot and presumably killed by Koba who takes over the ape colony after burning down their village. Moreover Cornelia is left devastated by her husband's supposed death but it isn't shown how much she grieves for Caesar. Caesar would later ask Blue Eyes the status of his mother and brother to which the teenager tells him they are safe for the moment which relieved Caesar. Later Blue Eyes returned to Caesar and told him that Koba was planning to go after the infants and females which worried Caesar who realized his family was in danger. The family would then be reunited once Koba was defeated and Caesar took back his place as the Colony's King and Leader. Cornelia would then watch as her husband looked upon his followers who awaited his answer for the Human-Ape War to come.

Blue Eyes

Blue Eyes is Caesar's teenage son and heir. Born from his marriage to Cornelia sometime after the famous ape rebellion was the pair's son named after his unique eye color. Caesar deeply loves Blue Eyes teaching him everything he needs to know in life, but despite his love for his son, Caesar doesn't always agree with Blue Eyes' reckless and rebellious behavior. It is clear that they love each other dearly but wish that the other would see from their perspective.

River Roars! — Blue Eyes, Caesar's eldest son and heir.

While Caesar attempts to juggle his responsibilities as a doting husband and father as well as king of the colony, he tries to make Blue Eyes see that one day he will be king of the colony and that recklessness will get him nowhere. Caesar even goes as far as to attempt to teach him that not all humans are bad but Blue Eyes has been too far influenced by Koba to make much of an impact which puts a massive strain on their relationship.

Later, when Koba usurps Caesar and goes on a rampage and begins to rally apes against Caesar and the humans, Blue Eyes sees that his father was right to worry about Koba who lies to Blue Eyes by telling him they are avenging his father's death. Blue Eyes (with the help of Malcolm) finds his injured father whom he is happy to see and tells him of what has occurred in his absence. While tending to his father he finds pictures of Will Rodman and a baby Caesar which make him realize that the reason for his father's compassion to humans is due to being raised by and sees that Koba's views of them were wrong. Blue Eyes would later be told by his father that he is going to end Koba's reign which elates his son who asks to go along but is rejected by Caesar. However, blue eyes doesn't yield and begs his father to let him help while simultaneously begging for his forgiveness. Blue Eyes would then lead a group of rebels to his father's hiding place at his old childhood home showing that he now supports his father in his decisions and sees him as a better leader than Koba.

Koba

Koba was Caesar's first good ape friend turned enemy. Koba was Caesar's opposite; while Caesar stil feels compassion for humans, Koba hates them for all the times he was sent to labs as a lab rat. Koba can be seen as Caesar's potential rival. In the beginning, it can be seen through the little interaction that the two apes have that Caesar trusted Koba enough to help Rocket lead the assault on the upper part of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was evident that when Caesar pushes Koba away from Will that if Caesar hadn't stepped in when he did, Koba would have killed him hinting at the rivalry that the two primates will have 10 years in the future.

After 10 years, Koba was appointed as Caesar's advisor and was one of his main companions other than Maurice, Cornelia and Rocket. Caesar trusts Koba and takes his advice to heart. The pair were now friends and were like brothers while Koba thinks of Caesar's eldest son, Blue Eyes as his nephew due to the bond the two elder apes share. The rediscovery of humans puts a massive strain on their friendship. Caesar was forced to defend himself when Koba accuses him of loving the humans more than the apes. Caesar was shot in the chest by Koba and was gravely injured. Later, Caesar confronts Koba and battles him, before throwing him to his death, after telling him that he was not an ape.

Luca

Caesar & Unknown Gorilla — Luca, Caesar's new good ape friend and fourth-in-command.

Luca is Caesar's second good ape friend. Not much is known about their relationships due to the limited interactions between the two but it appears that Caesar has enough trust to let Luca take up the mantle of fourth in command. Luca guards the entrance of the Ape Village with the other gorillas and it appears that no threat has interrupted the peace of the Ape Village in the last decade. When Caesar sends Koba to follow the humans to make sure they left, Luca tried to follow him but was immediately held back by Caesar. Later when Malcom comes to the Ape Village to speak with Caesar, Luca continuously pins the human to his knees possibly to protect his king from life threatening attempts. When Caesar is "killed" and Koba takes charge he has all the apes still loyal to Caesar imprisoned, these apes include Luca. After Koba is defeated by Caesar, Luca and the other apes are seen bowing in respect to Caesar who has retaken his position as king of the apes just before the war started by Koba begins.

Milo

Milo is Caesar's second son, and youngest child born sometime before the rediscovery of the human colony.

Infant's birth 3 — Milo, Caesar's youngest son.

When Milo is born Caesar is overjoyed at the thought if having another son and shares a heartfelt moment with Milo and Cornelia. He then tells his oldest son Blue Eyes to come and meet his new brother and happily watches as they bond for the first time. He would later speak with his friend Maurice that he is happy to have another son born into a time of peace and it was just the beginning for the ape colony. When Milo is a few days old Caesar would take his infant son with him on the outings with the other apes and would allow his child to be curious and play with the recently discovered humans showing amusement in the infant's merriment. Caesar is also protective of Milo as he is to Blue Eyes shown when he comes to their aid and fights off Carver who was threatening them with a concealed handgun Milo found. After fighting off Carver, Caesar quickly picks up Milo and walks away from the altercation while holding his son in a protective grip and telling the humans to leave ape territory. When Caesar is usurped by Koba and meets up with Blue Eyes at the Rodman House he asked about the safety Milo and Cornelia and when told they are alright he is deeply relieved at the news. Caesar would later be reunited with Milo and the rest of his family after Koba is defeated at the end of the movie he is deeply happy to be with his beloved family after suffering from hard times.

Malcolm

Malcolm is Caesar's second good human friend. After the rediscovery of humans, Caesar meets Malcolm and his family. As time passes, Caesar becomes friendly with him as they both have wives that they love and rebellious teenage sons. They also have the same goal; to bring peace so that the apes and humans can live in peace.

When Alexander drops his backpack in the rush to get out of the forest, Caesar has Koba retrieve it. Later when Caesar meets up with Malcolm, he returns the backpack to him, showing that no ill intent is necessary between the groups.

More to come...

Ellie

Ellie is Caesar's third good human friend. When Malcolm and his group enter the forest, Caesar encounters Ellie for the first time.

After Caesar allows Malcolm to access the dam to get the power back up and running,

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Alexander

Alexander is Caesar's fourth good human friend.

More to come...

Dreyfus

Dreyfus is Caesar's human opposite. Despite having no direct contact with the leader of the human colony, it is clear that Caesar doesn't trust Dreyfus and in return, doesn't trust Caesar. It is also known that Dreyfus was surprised when Caesar addresses the humans in English when he takes his army into the city and threatens to wage war if the humans don't obey his orders to stay away from the apes. Later, when Malcolm threatens to kill Dreyfus, Dreyfus once again displays his dislike for the apes by saying that they're purely mindless animals who don't know what they're doing.

Ash

Ash was Caesar's honorary nephew. Like Koba is to Blue Eyes, Caesar is like an uncle to Ash as he is the best friend of Rocket. Caesar knows Ash well as he grew up with his own son, Blue Eyes. Because Ash is Rocket's eldest (and possibly only) child, Caesar has granted him a place on the council with Blue Eyes.

Growing up, Ash idolized Caesar for his leadership and his views towards humans, which prompted the young chimpanzee to become one of Caesar's biggest supporters. When Ash is shot by accident by Carver, Caesar becomes worried for his nephew and tells Rocket, Ash's father to calm down and that everything will be all right. At a council meeting later, Ash and Rocket agree with Caesar that the shooting by Carver was a freak accident which greatly displeases Blue Eyes and Koba, who want to make the humans pay for what they did. After Caesar is shot by Koba who has framed the humans, Ash follows Blue Eyes into battle to "avenge" Caesar. When Blue Eyes reunites with his father at the Rodman House, he tearfully tells Caesar that Koba killed Ash for defying him which greatly upsets Caesar knowing that Koba, once a friend to the apes is now their biggest enemy. Caesar later avenges Ash's death, by killing Koba for the murder of his nephew.

Quotes

"Ape alone, weak. Apes together strong." - Caesar to Maurice (Sign).

"NO!" - Caesar's first word, to Dodge Landon (Spoken).

"Caesar is home." - Caesar before parting ways with Will (Spoken).

"Think before you act, son." - Caesar to Blue Eyes (Sign).

"Come meet your new brother." - Caesar to Blue Eyes after the birth of his youngest son (Sign).

(Maurice) "Another son." (Caesar) "Makes me think how far we've come." (Maurice) "Seems long ago. Still think about them?" (Caesar) "Humans? Sometimes." (Maurice) "Didn't know them like you did, only saw their bad side." (Caesar) "Good, bad...Doesn't matter now. Humans destroyed each other." (Maurice) "Apes fight too." (Caesar) "But we are family." - Caesar and Maurice (Sign).

"GO!" - Caesar after the rediscovery of humans (Spoken).

"If we go to war, we could lose everything we've built. - Caesar during the Ape Council Meeting (Sign).

"Home...Family...Future." - Caesar to the Ape Council (Spoken).

"APES DO NOT WANT WAR, BUT WILL FIGHT IF WE MUST!" - Caesar to humans (Spoken).

"(Points toward the Ape Village) Ape home! (Points toward the city) Human home! Do not come back." - Caesar to Malcolm (Spoken).

"Show me." - Caesar after Malcolm asks to show him the generator (Spoken).

"I said no guns...Human leave NOW!" - Caesar reacting angrily to Carver's hidden shotgun (Spoken).

"This my home, you should not be here." - Caesar to Malcolm and Ellie (Spoken).

(Caesar to Ellie) "You stay...one day." (Malcolm) "Might need a little more time." (Caesar, angrily) "ONE DAY!" - Caesar after agreeing to let Ellie help Cornelia (Spoken).

"Ape not kill ape." - Caesar after nearly killing Koba in anger (Spoken).

"You are my son, I need you to listen." - Caesar to Blue Eyes (Spoken).

"Trust." (Extends hand) - Caesar offering peace to Malcolm (Spoken).

"Ape. Ape...did...this." - Caesar to Malcolm (Spoken).

"Your mother, brother...safe?" - Caesar asking Blue Eyes about his family's safety (Spoken).

"No...Human. Koba." - Caesar revealing to Blue Eyes that Koba tried assassinate him (Spoken).

(Blue Eyes) "I'm so sorry...for everything." (Caesar) "No...I am to blame." (Blue Eyes) "But Koba betrayed you." (Caesar) "I chose to trust him because he is ape. I always think, ape better than human. I see now...how much like them we are." - Caesar to Blue Eyes (Sign/Spoken).

(Blue Eyes) "Fear makes others follow. But when they see you alive, they will turn from Koba." (Caesar) "Not if I am weak...Ape always seek strongest branch." - Caesar to Blue Eyes (Spoken).

(Malcolm) "Who was that? On the video." (Caesar) "A good man...Like you." - Caesar telling Malcolm about Will (Spoken).

(Koba) "Caesar has no place here, apes follow Koba now."(Caesar) "Follow Koba to war."(Koba) "Apes win war, apes together strong! Caesar...Weak."(Caesar) "Koba...Weaker." - Exchange between Koba and Caesar prior to battle (Spoken).

(Caesar) "Trusted Koba, like brother." (Koba) "Caesar brother to humans! Koba fight for ape! Free ape!" (Caesar) "You killed ape, Koba fight for Koba. Koba belong in cage. - Caesar and Koba during battle (Spoken).

(Koba) "Ape not kill ape." (Caesar) "You are not ape." - Caesar declaring that Koba is no longer a true ape (Spoken).

"LEAVE HIM!" - Caesar ordering the apes to not harm Malcolm (Spoken).

"War has already begun. Ape started war, human...human will not forgive. You must go...before fighting begins. I'm sorry...My friend." - Caesar telling Malcolm to escape before the war begins (Spoken).

(Malcolm) "I thought we had a chance." (Caesar) "I did too." - Caesar and Malcolm lamenting the lost opportunity for peace (Spoken).

Notes

Caesar was named by Charles Rodman, who was mumbling quotes from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar on the day Will brought the chimp home.
An earlier version of the script notes Bright Eyes' treatment at Gen-Sys Laboratories beginning on "Tuesday, March 10, 2011", with Caesar's birth following six week later (approx. 21 April, 2011). Seven years (according to that script) spent at the Rodman House would place the Ape Rebellion around 2018. Whether this is the correct year or not is unknown. It has been rumored that an August 2016 calendar was put on the set of the kitchen at the Rodman House. The film itself spans eight years, as evidenced by the captions "Three Years Later" and "Five Years Later". See also: What Year Is The Film Set?
The early script differs in that Rocket's eyes begin to go green (a sign of intelligence) after having bitten Caesar during their initial confrontation. After Caesar and Rocket together escape the San Bruno Primate Shelter and visit both the Rodman House and the Gen-Sys Laboratories, they use stolen scissors to share their blood with the other apes at the facility and pass on their viral intelligence. Caesar also has a relationship with Cornelia, a female chimp at the facility. The apes go to the Gen-Sys Laboratories and then to the San Francisco Zoo to free the apes Caesar has encountered over the years. At the end, Will takes a bullet intended for Caesar, and dies in his arms.
A deleted scene included in the DVD release had Caesar using his hands to push the helicopter off into the water with Jacobs inside. This would be changed to Koba using his feet to do so.
Most of Caesar's dialogue is either vocalizations, sign language, and the word "NO". To create Caesar's voice, sound designers Chuck Michael and John Larsen recorded hundreds of chimp sounds at the Chimp Haven sanctuary in Louisiana and mixed them with some of the audio Andy Serkis provided on set. The duo also aged Caesar’s voice from that of an infant to a full-grown chimp.^[2]
It could be possible that Caesar would be more intelligent due to the fact he has been exposed to the ALZ-113, and his exposure to the ALZ-112 while he was in the embryo. A close-up on Caesar's plotting scene and showed that his eyes were more green than before.
According to the Rise timeline, Caesar is seen at 3 years old, then in the year in which the Ape Rebellion takes place, Caesar is 8 and can be classified as a teenager whereas in the events of Dawn, which takes place ten years after the rebellion and virus outbreak, Caesar is 18 meaning he is fully grown and possibly an elder ape.
The quote that Charles says when he picks up Caesar for the first time as a baby could have been prophetic in terms of Caesar growing up and becoming a leader.
Caesar's first word, "NO"! serves as a parallel to the story that Cornelius tells in Escape from the Planet of the Apes about the ape known as Aldo uttering the word and being the first ape to speak. It is also parallel to Lisa telling Caesar (Milo) "No" in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.

Trivia

Caesar is a similar character to Taylor in the original films, because of his situation and because the birthmark on his shoulder may be inspired by the burns Taylor got on his shoulder after fighting another human.
It can also be seen that this version of Caesar is similar to Roddy McDowall's Caesar in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes as both become leaders of ape colonies, marry and have sons.
Similar to Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Caesar was named after the Roman dictator Julius Caesar. Unlike Julius Caesar, he stands for leadership through kindness.
The screenwriters believed that apes sexually mature at 8 years old and that Caesar could thus potentially attack Hunsiker at that age. Although chimps can become unpredictable at age 8, they don't become adults until at or past the age of 13.
Caesar was actually to be played by three people, Andy Serkis mostly played him from infancy to adulthood, Devyn Dalton played him in some scenes when he was a toddler, and Terry Notary played Caesar in the Golden Gate Bridge battle scene.
At Comic Con 2013, Andy Serkis mentioned in an interview that in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Caesar would have a teenage son and wife. It was confirmed by the film's producer Dylan Clark that Caesar's wife will in fact be Cornelia while the son was only mentioned a couple of times by Jason Clarke and by Andy Serkis himself. Actor Nick Thurston announced on his Facebook page that he was playing the role of Caesar's son and that the character's name was River before the name was changed to Blue Eyes during post-production. In a press conference at Comic Con, Andy Serkis mentioned that Caesar will also have an infant child meaning he would have more then one child in the film.
It has been suspected that Caesar actually witnessed the deaths of his surrogate parents Will and Caroline.
The words Caesar speaks in Rise are: 'NO!' and 'Caesar is Home' which he says clearly while according to the film's DVD subtitles he says "Wait!", "Go Up" and "Get Under" which are incoherent during the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge. He also seems to say "NOW!" when he emerges out of the fog on the back of a police horse.
In the first official still from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, his shooting star birthmark wasn't visible.
When Caesar bites Hunsiker while attempting to protect Charles, it's a reference to Andy Serkis' earlier role in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy when Gollum (Andy Serkis) bites Frodo's finger off in their final confrontation.
Judy Greer revealed in an interview that Caesar is still grounded in terms of personality because of the presence of his wife.
Matt Reeves has said in the recent USA Today sneak peek article that the other apes who value Caesar's leadership see him as their king and as their father.
According to a recent article, Caesar is not a big fan of guns.
Caesar will share some emotional scenes with both Ellie and Malcolm.
Caesar will be in a dilemma in this movie as he has very difficult choices to make regarding his apes and the surviving humans led by Malcolm.
There is a difference in the two trailers recently released in the shot of the baby's birth. In the domestic trailer, Caesar isn't wearing war paint but in the international trailer its the same shot only Caesar is wearing war-paint.
In the first official featurette for Dawn, there is a never before seen shot where Caesar hugs Koba but the reason is currently unknown.
According to an interview Caesar has only one scene with Dreyfus.
Andy Serkis has mentioned in an interview that he has based Caesar's relationship with Blue Eyes on the relationship he has with his own teenage son.
Andy Serkis stated that he took great inspiration from revolutionary and former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela when he said "Really what Caesar is all about, he is empathy". and "It was really important to base the character on a leader who is capable of empathy and there aren't that many out there, however Nelson Mandela came to mind".