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This is a holy war. All of human history has led to this moment. If we lose, we will be the last of our kind. It will be a planet of apes, and we will become your cattle.
Colonel McCullough

The Human-Ape War was a series of skirmishes and armed conflicts between humanity and evolved apes, the most notable being fought between the San Francisco Ape Colony and Alpha-Omega.

History[]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes[]

Evolution becomes revolution[]

The first real conflict between apes and humans occurred when Caesar, one of the first evolved apes, influenced by the events that his life had taken, led a rebellion of highly intelligent apes out of captivity and into a revolution for their independence and freedom. Starting inside the San Bruno Primate Shelter, the captive apes broke out of the centre and split into two groups, one headed by Caesar, Maurice and Rocket headed towards Gen-Sys Laboratories to free the captive chimpanzees there. The other group led by Buck headed towards the San Francisco Zoo to release the apes there to join their cause, while collecting spears made from cage bars. Word began spreading about a viral infection that already killed one man, Robert Franklin, but it was overlooked by the authorities who saw the liberated apes as merely wild, rampaging animals and prepared to slaughter them.

The two ape groups reunited in San Francisco where they caused a mass panic in the city streets while warding down local animal control and police forces to clear their path towards the Golden Gate Bridge to escape to the Muir Woods on the other side of the bridge.

Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge[]

Once on the bridge, the apes terrorized the people causing them to abandon their vehicles. Several police on horses then arrived as officers and received instructions to send the apes charging toward the center of the bridge where other officers had just finished setting up a blockade on the other side with the intent of massacring the apes. However, this plan was anticipated by Caesar who noticing the police force's strategy, divided his army into three groups:

  • A group of chimpanzees led by Koba ascended to the top of the bridge rails to draw away the police helicopter and lose them in the fog. However, not all escaped safely as Wolfie was shot and fell to his death.
  • Maurice's group of orangutans and chimpanzees swung under the bridge railings to avoid gunfire and ambush the humans on the far side of the bridge. Ape females and children climbed within the bridge centers above Maurice's group, in order to stay safe from the violence.
  • The rest of the apes that remained on the bridge and battled the horseback officers were led by Caesar, Buck and Rocket. After fending off attacks made by horse-riding police, Buck's group of gorillas gathered to turn over an abandoned bus and brace it over the bridge with their combined great strength, to draw the police's fire and allow Caesar on horseback to give the order to attack.

At Caesar's command, all three groups reunited and attacked the armed humans together and drove them away, proving their strength. The apes were eventually taken by surprise from the police helicopter and shot at as the Gen-Sys board leader Steven Jacobs instructed that the shooter kill the leader, Caesar. The remaining apes fled for cover while their alpha came under heavy fire by the police. However, Caesar disarmed the chopper shooter and Jacobs until another shooter fired at him. This act did not go unnoticed by Buck who bravely sacrificed himself to save his best friend by throwing Caesar out of range, leaping from the bridge into the helicopter and bringing it crashing into the pavements. Caesar quickly ran to the downed helicopter where he pulled a gravely injured Buck from the debris, on the brink of death Buck thanked Caesar for his friendship and passed on in his arms, much to Caesar's dismay. However, his attention soon turned toward a voice begging for help. The voice turned out to be Jacobs who survived the crash and was now in danger of falling from the helicopter. However, Caesar, stricken by anger and grief of his best friend refused to help Jacobs and left him for Koba to send the man falling to his fate below.

Caesar's home[]

The evolved apes immigrated into the surrounding redwoods at last, looking up to their savior Caesar for leadership and followed him into the tree tops where they observed the chaos in the distant city, awaiting their destiny.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes[]

New dawn[]

Due to the Simian Flu Pandemic, the human population had plummeted to 1 in 500 from the viral infection that humans dubbed the Simian Flu, likely because they traced its origin back to Gen-Sys where they had been testing it on apes, leading humans to believe it produced dangerous behaviors in apes. The Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge was not forgotten about, since the events were broadcasted and left when the apes headed into the red woods, likely telling any humans to beware of entering the woods. By the time the intial outbreak ended, human civilzation had collapsed, being reduced to a few small colonies scattered around the globe.

In San Francisco, a small community of humans that survived the pandemic lived within a secluded section of city. The survivors were genetically immune to the virus and escaped the prolonged, panic-driven violence that followed. Large quantities of weapons (including various machine guns and at least one tank) that were left behind by military and police forces were gathered up and guarded by Dreyfus' Army and locked up at Fort Point.

Searching for an alternative power source to keep instruments working and search for human survivors, a group led by Malcolm uncovered a warehouse dam high above the Muir Woods on the other side of the ape mountain. Desperate for more power, Malcolm's Group made a truce with apes to work on the dam and restore power to the city. Spying on the humans, Koba discovered the huge collection of weapons and plotted to use them to his advantage for a human massacre. Hostilities arose through prejudice and suspicion, in which Koba saw his chance and brainwashed the apes into attacking the humans to avenge an apparently murdered Caesar at human hands.

Battle of San Francisco[]

The apes looted the armory storehouse, taking many guns and prepared to engage in a fierce battle. Unprepared for the attack, Dreyfus reminded his people of their will to survive and despite losing some weapons to the apes, they would not let them through the gates.

Starting on California Street, the horseback apes hit the human army above the gates with heavy gunfire. Dreyfus' soldiers returned fire but losses were suffered beyond his comprehension, leading to Dreyfus using a rocket launcher to take out several apes near flammable barrels. Dreyfus' army then brought in a tank and gained the upper hand until Koba commandeered the vehicle, breaching the defenses and storming the city, plunging it into madness. Despite many casualties on both sides, the apes overtook the human colony and presumably the least harmful humans were brought into captivity. Dreyfus' closest men managed to contact survivors at a military base to inform them of their location and the ape attack, but couldn't stay in contact for long because of the ape invasion.

Ape occupation[]

By the next morning, the ape army terrorized the city, killing many other humans and placing the ones they captured in former Simian Flu quarantine containment units as Koba wanted them to know "life in cage". The ape tyrant had his forces scour the city for any remaining humans and ordered them to be locked up or killed as well. Any ape that refused to do as commanded were imprisoned for disobedience.

Helping the fallen[]

While this was happening, Malcolm and his family had returned to the city with Caesar who the found barely alive in the woods and took him to his old family home for him to recover. Once they arrived at the house, they discover Caesar's childhood after discovering a portrait of him with a human man before noticing Caesar's condition was taking a turn for the worse and they needed medical supplies but since the apes were searching for free humans they were in a dire situation before Malcolm offered to sneak into the city stating Caesar is the only one who can stop this. Returning to his old apartment, Malcolm gathered the supplies and had to work carefully to avoid getting caught by the apes until he found himself face to face with an armed chimp. Fortunately, the chimp was Blue Eyes who decided to spare Malcolm after remembering the death of his friend Ash and his uncle's betrayal. As he turned to leave Malcolm stopped him by telling him his father was still alive and in hiding. Taking Blue Eyes back to his father, the humans proceeded to operate on Caesar, saving his life.

Battle for power[]

Later as Caesar recovered from the surgery, he sent his son out to gather the apes that didn't follow Koba's reign in order to overthrow the treacherous bonobo. Caesar and his followers, with the help of Malcolm, would sneak into the city but would be forced to part ways when Malcolm is reunited with Dreyfus and a few men who had managed to escape capture. The group revealed they planned to detonate C4 charges, sending a rocketing explosion through an incomplete skyscraper in hopes of killing the apes above for one last chance of revenge. Unwilling to forsake his new friends Malcolm would hold Dreyfus and his men at gunpoint saying they need to give the apes a chance stating he's up there, which leads to Dreyfus asking "Who's up there?".

At that moment, Caesar arrived on the tower and confronted Koba who was surprised to see Caesar still alive before gloating that the apes follow him now. The two traded a few tense words before a fierce fight broke out. Caesar and Koba would battle either hand to hand or using the materials placed on the tower to gain an advantage over the other but stayed on even ground while the other apes were left watching intently.

Meanwhile, Malcolm attempted to explain what led to the recent events but to no avail as Dreyfus revealed even if Malcolm stopped him it wouldn't matter as he and his men have already made contact with survivors at a military base who were already on their way to help fight the apes. Taking advantage of Malcolm's shock, Dreyfus managed to steal the C4 detonator and ignited the charges, killing himself and his men while Malcolm quickly ran for cover and barely survived the explosion. The skyscraper was shattered by the explosion and killed many apes, but those who survived witnessed an insight between Caesar and the now bloodthirsty Koba who opened fire on them until Caesar tackled him, causing both to fall. Caesar landed to safety while Koba was left hanging off a ledge for dear life. Koba hypocritically begged Caesar to help him, citing the "Ape Not Kill Ape" law. Caesar grabbed Koba's hand, temporarily relieving the bonobo until he saw the dark look in Caesar's eyes. Caesar verbally disowned Koba as an ape and dropped him down the pit in revenge for his atrocities against humans and apes.

Preparing for war[]

After Koba's demise, Ceasar met with Malcolm, who begged Caesar to leave the city before the soldiers arrived or there would be an all out war. Caesar refused to leave before telling his reluctant human friend that war already started because of Koba's short violent reign, and the human race would not forget or forgive what the apes did to them, telling him to leave before the fighting began. Caesar gathered his surviving ape followers to help prepare them for the inevitable war ahead. Following Koba's violent uprising, the apes had caused enough bloodshed and terror that ruined any chance of peace and ignited a war between apes and humans. Although Dreyfus did not live through the battle, any surviving members of his army likely joined the oncoming human armies in the war ahead.

War begins[]

Another human colony came to aid what was left of the surviving humans of San Francisco. While Caesar dreamt of peace with the humans, he knew war was inevitable. The military faction that would become Alpha-Omega led by Colonel J. Wesley McCullough soon arrived and the following months were brutal for the apes as Caesar led his clan back to the woods and advised his lieutenants to continue the war while he stayed in a secret command base.

War for the Planet of the Apes[]

The battle that followed saw the deaths of sixty-three apes and all but four soldiers and one traitorous ape that followed Koba before. Caesar, finally showed himself and insisted he wanted to ensue a time of peace and end the war that took so many of his kin. He sent them away to advise McCullough that he would not attack if he left them in the forest. Unfortunately, McCullough refused to make peace and infiltrated the ape hideout with a few soldiers to assassinate Caesar. Though the attempt failed, Cornelia and Blue Eyes were murdered, the latter of whom was mistook for Caesar.

Following Caesar's capture, Alpha-Omega used the ape colony as slave labor to build a defensive wall to prepare the battle against the Northern Military, who sought to wipe out Alpha-Omega because they went rogue and began killing all those, even their own comrades, who carried an evolved strain of the Simian Flu which causes them to become mute. Additionally, McCullough killed anyone who opposed his methods, including his superiors. By dawn, the Northern Army started an offensive against Alpha-Omega. However, the apes are able to escape from the base, despite taking some casualties.

Victory[]

During the Battle of the Border, McCullough committed suicide after becoming infected with the mutated Simian Flu from Nova's doll and most, if not all of Alpha-Omega was killed when Caesar blew up a fuel tank, causing a series of explosions that destroyed the base. The explosions also caused an avalanche that wiped out all of the Northern Army in its path. Most of the apes survived and moved to an oasis that Blue Eyes and Rocket reported across a desert.

Aftermath[]

Despite heavy losses on both sides, the apes were ultimately victorious. When the apes and Nova reached the oasis, Caesar succumbed from his arrow wound and died peacefully after getting his people to safety, but not before Maurice tells him that Cornelius would know his legacy. McCullough's words to Caesar would eventually heed true as the evolved Simian Flu robbed the remaining humans of their speech, rendering them subservient to the now dominant apes. But Nova's new life with the apes could foreshadow and symbolize a peaceful co-existence between apes and humans in the near future.

Notes[]

  • There have been four known battles in the war, one on the Golden Gate Bridge, one in San Francisco, one outside the ape fortress, and one at the Alpha-Omega base (although the main two factions in the last battle were both human).
  • While it is not known what happened in the two years after Koba's revolution, the Human-Ape War can be brought down to many more engagements of the two one being the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge and the other being the battle outside Caesar hidden command base.

Trivia[]

  • As the credits roll half way after Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sounds of heavy breathing is heard, implying that Koba was still alive, but producer Dylan Clark confirmed that Koba is in fact dead. However, Koba returned in War for the Planet of the Apes, but only made two cameo appearances in Caesar's hallucinations.

Gallery[]

Planet of the Apes - Chernin Entertainment Series
Planet of the Apes (CE) Movies
Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | War for the Planet of the Apes | Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Main Evolved Ape Characters
Caesar | Bright Eyes | Koba | Maurice | Rocket | Buck | Cornelia | Blue Eyes | Luca | Ash | Cornelius | Winter | Lake | Bad Ape | Red | Noa | Soona | Anaya | Raka | Koro | Proximus Caesar | Coastal Ape Colony Gorilla
Supporting Ape Characters
Alpha | Burke | Verdon | Tinker | Grey | Stone | Andy | Wolfie | Jeanpierre | Lucky | Koba's Mother | Sparrow | Pope | Fifer | Cora | Rex | Bon | Dallas | Milo | Herman | Spear | Ajax | Oak | Fox | Aghoo | Ursus | Percy | Beardface | Armando
Main Human Characters
Will Rodman | Charles Rodman | Caroline Aranha | Robert Franklin | Steven Jacobs | Dodge Landon | John Landon | Douglas Hunsiker | Malcolm | Ellie | Alexander | Dreyfus | Carver | Foster | Colonel McCullough | Nova | Mae
Supporting Human Characters
Rodney | John Hamil | Rita | Sarah | Maddy | John | Edward | Roger Mason | Werner | Kemp | Clancy Stoppard | Corbin | Daniel Nygun | David Flynn | Finney | Kuo | Malakai Youmans | Max (Firestorm) | McVeigh | Terry | Roger | Rod Wilson | Preacher | Boyle | Lang | Travis
Families
Rodman Family | Caesar's Family | Malcolm's Family | Rocket's Family | Dreyfus' Family
Animals
Horse | Elk | Grizzly Bear | Eagle
Items / Weapons
Simian Flu
Important Events / Battles
Ape Rebellion | Human-Ape War | Simian Flu Pandemic | Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge | Battle in San Francisco | Battle of Muir Woods Park | Attack on Ape Waterfall | Battle of the Border
Organizations / Colonies / Companies
San Francisco Ape Colony | Caesar's Council of Apes | Caesar's Ape Army | Gen-Sys Board | San Francisco's Human Colony | Dreyfus' Human Army | Malcolm's Group | Alpha-Omega | Donkeys | Florida Ape Colony | Rocky Mountains Ape Colony | Eagle Clan | Coastal Ape Colony
Locations
West African Jungle | San Francisco | San Francisco Zoo | Gen-Sys Laboratories | Rodman House | San Bruno Primate Shelter | Golden Gate Bridge | Muir Woods Park | Ape Mountain | Ape Gate | Ape Village | Caesar's Home | Warehouse | Ape Waterfall | The Border | Oasis
Comics
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (webcomic) | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Contagion | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (BOOM! Studios) | Before the Dawn | War for the Planet of the Apes (BOOM! Studios) | Planet of the Apes: The Time of Man | Planet of the Apes: The Simian Age | Planet of the Apes: Devolution
Novels
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Official Movie Novelization | War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations | War for the Planet of the Apes - Official Movie Novelization | Caesar’s Story
Other Books
Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: The Art of the Films
Soundtracks
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Soundtrack Album) | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Soundtrack Album) | War for the Planet of the Apes (Soundtrack Album)
Video Games
Plague Inc: Simian Flu | Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier | Crisis on the Planet of the Apes VR
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