The relationships of Koba from the Planet of the Apes reboot series.
Family[]
Koba's Mother[]
An unnamed bonobo was Koba's mother. Koba was very close to his mother while growing up and often found comfort with her whenever he was frightened. He would often ask her to tickle him, which she would and it would always make him feel better.
One day, when they received a new handler named Roger, he wasn't nice unlike their previous caretakers and would constantly act abusive towards them. One day, Roger began to beat Koba, causing his mother to step in and protect her son, and was badly beaten with a sack of oranges. She died from her injuries shortly afterwards, and although Koba didn't understand at the time that she was dead he missed her a lot. He would often ask for her, while their kind human caretaker, Mary would tell him gently that his mother was gone. Even years later, Koba still missed his mother and sometimes thought about her. In a book to Cornelius, Maurice mentioned that Koba never understood why his mother was killed, which could imply that Koba wanted to, but was never able to, find closure about the first tragic event of his life.
Friends and Allies[]
Mary[]
Mary was the kind caregiver of Koba and his mother. Koba had a close bond with Mary, who gently taught him Sign Language and how to count and speak using buttons. However, she also made the rather questionable decision to allow Koba to believe that he was human and didn't teach him what the word "chimp" meant.
Mary disapproved of the rough way in which Roger handled Koba, and she was later seen to be extremely upset when she discovered that Koba's mother had died after being badly beaten by a drunk Roger. Mary was later forced to give up Koba after the funding for her ape language project was cut. However, she promised Koba that he would be going to a nice home, which later turned out to be false, with Koba being sent to the abusive Tommy.
After years of suffering at the hands of humans and finally realizing that he wasn't human, Koba apparently lost all affection he once had for Mary, as he concluded that she had deliberately lied to him that he was human (this is partly accurate, as while Mary never outright told Koba that he was human, she allowed him to believe that he was).
Amol[]
Amol was one of Koba's few human friends. Amol was the only one to communicate with Koba through sign language in a long time, and used him in a special experiment, in which he did his best to comfort Koba despite willingly causing him great physical pain by experimenting on him. Koba liked Amol because he was the first one to sign with him in a long time, and allowed the man to experiment on him only reluctantly because he wanted someone to talk to. However, before their bond could solidify, Amol was fired by Jacobs.
Milo[]
Milo was a chimpanzee and Koba's ape friend.
They met when Koba was sent to live with vile television producer, Tommy after Koba's first home was shut down due to lack of funding. They quickly became close friends, constantly looking out for each other and acting as each other's confidant, although they were never as close as Koba was to his mother. They would often escape their cages at night to play and steal Tommy's food. After Tommy killed himself, the pair were forced to separate. Koba never saw Milo again and was upset at losing another loved one.
Stone[]
Stone, Koba's friend and follower.
Stone is one of Koba's friends and one of his loyal followers along with Grey.
Like Grey, he is mainly seen by Koba's side throughout the movie. As a follower of Koba he is nothing but loyal, as seen when he was instructed by Koba to help plant evidence that humans were responsible for burning the Ape Village and Caesar's death.
During the Battle in San Francisco, Stone followed Koba and the other apes in their battle against humans and though fighting valiantly he was blown up and seemingly killed by a tank. Enraged at the human assistance, Koba races towards the tank, jumps on the tank, pummels the human on top, kills the driver and takes control of the tank. This shows that he valued his camaraderie with Stone and was genuinely saddened over his untimely and agonizing "death".
Stone survived and witnessed Koba's callous attitude towards the apes in his battle with Caesar being shocked at his attitude.
Enemies[]
Caesar[]
Caesar, Koba's king, former close friend and former honorary brother now enemy turned killer.
Caesar was Koba's close friend turned enemy and killer.
Caesar is Koba's opposite; while Koba has nothing but hatred and bitterness towards humans for all the abuse he's suffered from them, Caesar still held respect and compassion for humans.
In Rise, Caesar liberated Koba from captivity and led him to battle. Caesar initially trusted Koba enough to task him with leading the assault on the Golden Gate Bridge, though he grew wary of him when the latter attacked his adoptive father Will, viewing him as too "impulsive".
Despite this, Koba greatly respected and admired Caesar for freeing him and the other apes and sought to gain his approval from the beginning. He gained Caesar's respect upon discovering tracking devices in the fruit left as bait by Anvil forces, and was later adopted as Caesar's brother after he risked his life holding off an attack whilst Caesar led the rest of the troop to safety.
During the 10 year time jump, Koba is now an advisor and lieutenant to Caesar and has a close association with him and his eldest son, Blue Eyes. It would seem Caesar has forgiven Koba for his attempted attack on Will as the pair were close friends and acted like brothers. However, upon the rediscovery of humans, Koba and Caesar's friendship quickly began to deteriorate, as they disagrees on how to deal with the humans. Koba started to believe that Caesar favors them more than the apes and thus Koba began to rebel. When he learned that Caesar was still letting the humans work on the dam after one of them had snuck in a gun and attacked his sons, Koba lost his temper and challenged Caesar again. In his anger, he accused his leader of loving humans more than apes and even his own sons. This led to a brutal fight between them which ended with Koba beaten, bloodied and humiliated in front of both apes and humans. Caesar refrained from killing Koba at the last moment, remembering the sacred "Ape not kill ape" law. Knowing he couldn't defeat Caesar, Koba asked for forgiveness and Caesar accepted.
However, this proved to be the breaking point in their friendship, as the furious, traumatized and humiliated Koba decided that Cesar was too weak to lead the apes, and thus decided to kill Caesar and take his leadership. He shot Caesar while hiding and set the ape village on fire, pinning the blame on the humans. He then led the apes to war, where they killed or captured most of the humans in San Francisco.
Koba imprisoned any ape that still remained loyal to Caesar after making an example when he killed Ash for refusing to kill a human. When Caesar reveals himself to be alive, Koba was greatly surprised to see this but stated that Caesar had no place among the apes as they follow him now but Caesar remarked they follow him to war. Koba arrogantly boasted the apes will win the war with him leading them before calling Caesar weak. However, this did not faze Caesar who calmly stated "Koba weaker" (gestures at Koba's gun), causing the latter to lash out at his former friend and leading to a brutal duel between the two apes. As they fought, Caesar expressed his contempt for Koba's actions stating he had loved and trusted Koba like a brother, but Koba tried to justify his actions by claiming Caesar was a brother to humans (recalling Caesar stopping him from attacking Will) and he (Koba) was fighting for apes; Caesar then claimed Koba's actions were not for the welfare of the apes, only himself, and thus deserves to be caged (reminding Koba of his mistreatment in Gen-Sys Labs).
This statement was proven in a way, as when Dreyfus detonated the C4 Koba spotted a gun and he used it to open fire on all the other apes while trying to shoot Caesar who avoided the barrage of bullets as the other apes ran for cover, but at least one was killed and one was wounded. This act was stopped by a disgusted Caesar who quickly and furiously tackled Koba, causing them both to nearly fall into a 260 foot deep pit; though Caesar fell to safety, Koba was left dangling for dear life. Koba begged Caesar to save him using the "Ape not kill ape" law which caused Caesar to pick him up, relieving Koba until he saw the dark look in Caesar's eyes. Caesar looked upon the trauma Koba wrought and disowned him as an ape by firmly stating, "You are not ape", and let the screaming bonobo fall to his demise. This act was shown to have been done with reluctance as Caesar would later mourn and grieve over Koba's death, showing that despite the latter's actions the previous bond of the brotherhood still meant something to him, but felt it needed to be done. His death continues to haunt Caesar, as he began to hallucinate Koba, taunting him as Caesar was brutally tortured by Colonel McCullough's men.
Rocket[]
Rocket, Koba's former close friend now enemy.
Rocket is Koba's close friend turned enemy.
Despite their limited interactions during and after the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Koba and Rocket became friends. When Caesar asks Rocket to summon a group of apes to him in the early days in their quest to survive, Rocket finds Koba and takes him to Caesar with the other apes. Rocket was later injured after falling from a tree branch when a human named Corbin fired his gun. Koba then tackled Corbin to the ground and carried the injured Rocket up to a tree, thus saving Rocket's life. As the years go on, Rocket and Koba remain on good terms until Rocket's son, Ash is shot by accident by Carver.
Koba argues with Rocket saying that he does not love his son enough to want justice for his shooting. Rocket argues back saying that he will do whatever Caesar wants to do and that he doesn't follow Koba's orders. Later, when Koba is nearly beaten/strangled to death by Caesar for challenging him, Rocket watches without trying to help, and looks away when Koba looks to him and the other apes for support, which visibly hurts Koba.
After Koba "kills" Caesar and leads the other apes to war on the humans, Rocket is locked up with Maurice and other apes who are only loyal to the supposedly dead Ape king and not being loyal to Koba. Also, Koba dishonors Rocket by murdering his son for refusing to kill unarmed humans. When Koba was dangling on a ledge for dear life, Rocket silently nodded to Caesar, possibly wanting the latter to avenge his son's death. Unlike some of the apes, Rocket did not mourn or grieve over Koba's death and instead cheered Caesar on for defeating Koba and ending his madness.
Will Rodman[]
Will, the scientist who experimented on Koba.
Will Rodman was the scientist who experimented on Koba with the ALZ-113.
Despite not having much direct interaction with Will, Koba despised him because he was human and because he experimented on him once. When Will was searching for Caesar in the forest after the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Koba came across him and pushed him to the ground, taking a few seconds to recognize him before moving to kill him due to his being human. Koba was stopped by Caesar, who pushed him out of the way and threatened him not to hurt his adoptive father. It was during this confrontation that Koba realized that Caesar has compassion for humans.
Blue Eyes[]
Blue Eyes, one of Koba's former students and former honorary nephew now enemy.
Blue Eyes is one of Koba's students and honorary nephew turned enemy.
From a very young age, Blue Eyes has looked up to Koba and Koba took it in his stride to turn the young prince's beliefs against Caesar. By the time Blue Eyes became old enough to have his own opinion, Koba had influenced him enough that Blue Eyes' beliefs had driven a wedge between Blue Eyes and his father. After the hunting trip that saw Blue Eyes scarred by a bear, Koba told Blue Eyes not to feel bad about his scars and that they were a sign of strength. After Ash is shot by Carver in the forest, Blue Eyes agrees with Koba that something has to be done to avenge Ash's shooting. After Blue Eyes has a disagreement with Caesar, Koba comforts him. When Caesar is helping Malcolm with the dam, Koba approaches Blue Eyes, who is sharpening his spear and demands to know where Caesar is. Blue Eyes tells him his father is with the humans and follows him to Caesar. Blue Eyes watches conflicted as Koba fights his father.
After Caesar is shot by Koba and the humans are blamed, Blue Eyes, more than willing to avenge his father, accompanies Koba with Ash in tow into the city. After witnessing Koba throw Ash to his death, Blue Eyes slowly turns from Koba. Later on, Blue Eyes completely turns against Koba after learning of his father's survival and Koba's treachery which causes him to feel shame for ever worshipping Koba. Blue Eyes then releases all the apes Koba imprisoned and has them join his father in overthrowing Koba.
During Caesar and Koba's battle, when Koba opened fire on the other apes in an attempt to kill Caesar; Blue Eyes threw a series of pipes at the bonobo, who angered at his former nephew's deed fired a round of bullets at him without hesitation. Blue Eyes would pay witness to Koba's death and mourn his passing as he had previously been like an uncle to him. However, Blue Eyes could not forgive Koba for all the destruction and death his war campaign had begun.
Ash[]
Ash, one Koba's student, honorary nephew turned enemy and first ape victim.
Ash was one of Koba's students and honorary nephews turned enemy and victim.
Koba's hold over Ash wasn't nearly as strong, as his hold over Blue Eyes was. During the attack on the humans they fight the humans in a building, Koba orders the young ape to kill an unarmed human, but Ash bluntly refuses, citing Caesar's teachings. This causes the deranged bonobo to suddenly and angrily grab the young chimpanzee, dragging him up the stairs and throwing him off a balcony to his death with Blue Eyes and the other apes watching in horror.
Koba showed no remorse whatsoever for this act and outright told the other apes that Caesar was gone and he now leads the apes. While fighting Caesar, the latter mentioned Ash's death after Koba stated he fought to free the apes from human tyranny this caused Koba to become angry possibly due to remembering Ash's insubordination.
Maurice[]
Maurice, Koba's former friend, now enemy.
Maurice is Koba's good friend turned enemy.
Their first interaction is when Koba offers Maurice some fruit. They sit and talk while they eat and Maurice notices that when Koba eats he shakes. Koba notices the same thing with Maurice, and Maurice explains about Caesar's "mist" making them more intelligent. Nevertheless, the two apes have had their differences, with Maurice having once rebuked Koba for dismissing the non-altered apes in the colony as "big black caterpillars". Koba also notices that Maurice is somewhat wary of him.
As the years go on, Koba and Maurice have more interaction as they both serve as teachers to the younger generation. However, their friendship is destroyed when Maurice stands against Koba when he tries to attack Alexander and Malcolm, and also doesn't attempt to help Koba when he is beaten and very nearly killed by Caesar for challenging him. Later, Koba has Maurice, along with Rocket and several other apes incarcerated due to their undying loyalty to Caesar. During his final confrontation with Caesar, Koba wounds Maurice when opening fire on Caesar and the other apes. This would be a fatal mistake that leads to Koba's downfall. Like with Rocket, Maurice did not mourn Koba's death no doubt because of the wound he suffered from the bonobo.
Despite everything Koba did, Maurice still felt a degree of sympathy for the bonobo because he suffered more than most apes and because if the humans hadn't return Koba wouldn't have gone down the dark path he took.
Luca[]
Luca, Koba's former close friend, now enemy.
Luca is Koba's close friend turned enemy.
Not much is known about their relationship due to the little to no interaction between the two apes, but the two seem to have had a good friendship before Koba overthrew Caesar. In the beginning of Dawn, after the humans reappear and Koba is charged with following them Luca tries to join him but is halted by Caesar before he could. When Koba overthrows Caesar, Luca seems to follow his orders without question as he took part in the attack on the city after thinking Caesar was killed by humans. However, Luca was shocked and disgusted when Koba callously left two wounded apes on the ground as well knocking one ape of its horse. At some point after the battle, Koba may have found out about Luca's loyalty still belonging to Caesar and had Luca imprisoned along with Caesar's other loyalties. Luca may have grown to despise Koba for this as he later joined Blue Eyes and the other apes in overthrowing Koba and restoring Caesar back to power.
Ape Colony[]
Koba and his followers.
Koba was the greatest enemy of the Ape Colony.
During Firestorm and Dawn, Koba served as a great warrior of the colony, in which he gathered much respect from them. Koba appeared to have the colony's well-fare on his mind, as he willing risked his life for them many times, wanted them to show the newly revealed humans their strength and feared for them after it was discovered the humans have guns.
However, Koba ultimately wanted them to fulfill his vengeful desire of wiping out the remnants of humanity. When Koba was very nearly killed by Caesar for insulting and challenging him, not one member of the colony present stepped in to help Koba, and avoided his gaze when he looked to them for support. This visibly hurt Koba and likely made him feel betrayed, leading to his decision to take revenge and power no matter the cost. Indeed, during his supposed assassination of Caesar, Koba secretly had the Ape Village burned down and led the apes in attacking the human colony to "avenge" Caesar. Under his rule, the apes killed many humans and took over the city. Koba also wanted the apes to move past Caesar's reign, as he imprisoned the loyalists and even killed Ash, breaking their law of "Ape not kill ape". He threateningly told them that follow him now. With that, the colony obeyed and became more vicious than before, as they either killed or captured any remaining humans. After Caesar's recovery, Koba believed he had their loyalty, as he told Caesar the apes followed him and believed they could win the war with humanity following him. The apes then watched him battle Caesar on who should be their leader. After the destruction of the colony tower, it appears the apes have seen Koba's callous regard to them as Koba opened fire on them; in contrast to Caesar who temporarily forgot his fight with Koba and tended to the wounded apes. When Caesar attacked Koba to end his rampage, the remaining apes watched as Caesar held Koba at his mercy. Even while helpless, Koba made a mockery of the colony, as he used their sacred law to try to get Caesar to save him, but had already broke the law himself. In the end, Caesar disowned Koba as a ape for his vile actions before dropping him to his death. The apes saw Koba for the monster he truly was and accepted Caesar. Despite his death, Koba had a great impact on the colony, as his actions set in the motion for the war to come.
During the events of War, it was revealed several of Koba's Loyalists were still around and attempted to overthrow Caesar but failed and were exiled. These apes ironically went onto serve humans as their Donkeys.
Steven Jacobs[]
Steven Jacobs, the human that Koba hated the most.
Koba developed a strong hatred for Jacobs after the latter fired Amol, the only person to communicate with him through sign language in years. Koba also resented Steven's supervision of some of the experiments performed on him, his cruel mockery of his scars, and his callous dismissal of his intelligence, and desperately wanted to kill him, plotting to do so by acting docile with his handlers. During the climax of the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Caesar gave Koba the order to do whatever he wants to Steven. Upon approaching Steven, the latter is frightened to see the furious and vengeful look on the bonobo's face. Koba then finally got his revenge by angrily pushing the ruined helicopter over the edge of the bridge with Jacobs still inside, screaming, "Stupid Monkey!" moments before he plunges to his death. Interestingly, Koba would die the same way Jacobs did. According to Maurice, Koba hated Steven Jacobs more than any other human, because he supervised Koba's torment.
Robert Franklin[]
Despite only having one encounter with each other, it ultimately had a major and lethal effect on Humanity and the Ape Colony. While Will Rodman, Steven Jacobs and Franklin were testing the ALZ-113 on Koba, Koba managed to kick Franklin in the face, knocking his mask off as a result. Despite Franklin managing to put his mask back on, he was already exposed to the virus. Franklin died a few days later as a result of the virus, but not before accidentally exposing Will's neighbor Douglas Hunsiker by sneezing on him, who would unknowingly spread the virus across the world while flying a plane to Paris, ultimately resulting in many humans being infected and killed in the process. At least a decade following Koba's and Franklin's incident, the virus had evolved to point where instead of killing humans, it robbed them of their ability to speak.
Grey[]
Grey, Koba's former friend, former follower and enemy.
Grey is Koba's friend and one of his followers turned enemy.
Grey accompanies Koba throughout most of the movie, following his orders usually without question. When he is on the verge of being killed by Caesar for challenging him, Koba looks to Grey and Stone for support, but they refuse to help him by avoiding his gaze, probably out of fear of Caesar. This visibly hurts Koba and forces him to pretend to submit to Caesar.
Despite this, Grey stays loyal to Koba and is later seen asking if they should warn Caesar about the humans having guns. Grey took part in Koba's plan to overthrow Caesar as the latter told Grey to light the Ape Village on fire which he did obediently without any second thoughts about his deed. Grey would later march with his fellow apes and his leader in the Battle in San Francisco, he would become Koba's right hand ape after the successful occupation of the San Francisco's Human Hideout Shelter, and be content with their progress. However, he was forced to step aside when Caesar (who was really alive) and his loyal followers appear and battles Koba for supremacy.
When an explosion caused by Dreyfus occurs and does severe damage to the tower the apes are on, Caesar stops his fight with Koba to help his people. Koba, however, spotted Grey pinned under debris and lifted it up, only to pull out the gun Grey had and then drop the debris back on him. It is unknown why Koba abandoned Grey despite his loyalty, though it could possibly because he remembered how Grey did not help him at the dam, or simply because he just didn't care about him anymore. Koba then opened fire on the apes. This abandonment caused Grey to turn against Koba and become a loyal follower to Caesar.
Despite what Koba did to him Grey still shown to have a degree of respect for him in Revelations.
Roger[]
Roger was one of Koba's cruel handlers. Roger handled the bonobo in a very rough and brutal way, and was also the human who killed Koba's mother. Roger's abusive actions served as a major point for Koba's eventual dark path and bring his hatred for humans to extreme and genocidal proportions.
Tommy[]
Tommy was another one of Koba's abusive "caregivers". Tommy forced Koba and his friend Milo to do tricks for a TV entertainment show called "Monkey of the House", electrocuting them if they failed. When he wasn't forcing them o perform, Tommy kept Koba and Milo locked up in cages which were so narrow they had to stand up in them.
After his TV show was cancelled, Tommy took his anger out on Koba, repeatedly beating him. This finally made Koba snap, causing him to angrily defend himself by knocking Tommy down and hitting him. When Tommy pretended to submit, Koba felt good and powerful that he was in control for a moment, only for Tommy to slash his face with a knife, giving Koba his infamous facial scar. The knife wound failed to blind Koba's eye, so Tommy sadistically burned it with a lit cigarette, ignoring Koba's pleads for him to stop. Tommy later pointed a gun at Koba, before turning it on himself and committing suicide. Even years afterward, Koba deeply hated Tommy for abusing and half-blinding him and wished he could've killed him.
Dreyfus[]
Dreyfus, Koba's human enemy and human counterpart.
Dreyfus was one of Koba's human enemies and one of his human counterparts.
Though they had no direct interaction, Koba despised Dreyfus mainly for being human. Not very surprisingly, Dreyfus despised Koba and the other apes for standing in the way of restoring power. When Koba rebelled against Caesar, he led a full scale attack on the human colony which forced Dreyfus and his militia to battle them.
Moreover when Ape Army took control of the city, Koba had many of the humans imprisoned except for Dreyfus and his closest men who evaded capture. At an attempt to get revenge on Koba and the apes for attacking his people, Dreyfus ignited a series of C4 explosives that were implanted on various areas of the colony tower.
Carver[]
Carver, Koba's human enemy and second human counterpart.
Carver was one of Koba's human enemies and his second human counterpart.
Though Koba did not have any direct interaction with Carver, he hatefully despised him, mainly because he was human, and partly because he shot Ash for for no good reason. He was so angry by this action that he wanted the ape colony to go to war with the humans. Unsurprisingly, Carver also prejudiced against Koba and the other apes for the Simian Flu outbreak that decimated humanity. However, Carver's hatred was invalid as the Simian Flu was man-made.
Later on, when he finds out that Carver attacked and tried to kill Blue Eyes and Cornelius (Caesar's sons and his honorary nephews), for no apparent reason, this was the last straw for Koba who would later find and ambushed Carver in the dead of night and viciously beat him to death. Koba then framed Carver for the (supposed) death of Caesar and the burning of the ape village which was enough to spur the other apes on the path of vengeance.