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"Son... will know... who was... father. And what... Caesar... did... for us."
Maurice's promise to Caesar before his passing[src]

Maurice was a compassionate and noble evolved orangutan who served as the main advisor and most trusted confidant of the late ape king, Caesar. He helped liberate his fellow apes from the humans in the Ape Rebellion, oversaw the teaching of the San Francisco Ape Colony and helped stop Colonel McCullough from killing the apes.

Biography

Early life

Born in 2001, Maurice began life as a circus orangutan to entertain children and was taught American Sign Language by a kind circus worker. Before turning fifteen, Maurice was sold from his circus and sent to the San Bruno Primate Shelter just outside of San Francisco, where he bunkered with fellow apes Rocket, Cornelia, Buck, and countless others. There, he witnessed the cruelty of humans, especially towards his fellow apes, from his cage, particularly from the shelter's abusive handler, Dodge Landon, who tormented the apes and made Maurice fearful of humanity, but also wise with experience of how to stay safe from them by keeping his sign language secret.[1]

The Ape Rebellion

In 2016, a hyper-intelligent chimpanzee named Caesar was brought to the shelter. Caesar's mind was enhanced by ALZ-112, a revolutionary Alzheimer's drug, making him the first of a new breed of evolved apes. Maurice befriended Caesar, showing him the ways of the facility, and warned him not to show his intelligence, lest Dodge torment him more. Caesar at first followed Maurice's lead, but after being rejected by his adoptive human father, Will Rodman, Caesar felt betrayed and angry, and began forming a plan to free the apes from the facility. Using his great intelligence, he established himself as the apes' new alpha, and through a conversation with Maurice, devised a plan to bring them to his level of intelligence so he could better lead them.

Caesar escaped from the shelter and stole two canisters of the ALZ-113, the upgraded version of the ALZ-112, from Will's house, which he brough back to the shelter and ruptured in the apes' cages. The effect of the ALZ-113's vapor enhanced the intelligence of all the apes in the shelter, including Maurice. With Maurice's help, Caesar began teaching all the apes sign language and began plotting a massive uprising to escape the shelter.

A few nights later, Caesar finally confronted Dodge and the two fought, resulting in Caesar being forced to kill him. With the apes now organized as an army, Maurice and the others followed Caesar's lead out of the shelter and to the outskirts of San Francisco. They divided their forces to free other apes around the city, with Maurice joining Caesar to free the apes being experimented on with the ALZ-113 at Gen-Sys Laboratories. When the army reunited, Caesar led them to the Golden Gate Bridge, where they fought their way through in a six hour standoff with the human police. Eventually, the army overpowered and disarmed the police and made their way across the bridge to Muir Woods, where they escaped into the trees to start a new society free of human oppression.[1]

Dawn of civilization

Over the following decade, Maurice served as one of Caesar's closest confidants, alongside Koba, a bitter bonobo who had been experimented on at Gen-Sys, and Rocket, the alpha of the shelter prior to Caesar taking over. Together, they built a large thriving village in the woods for them and their families to live in. Maurice became the overseer and teacher of the young apes of the colony. He taught them sign language along with Caesar's founding laws of their civilization, such as "ape not kill ape" and "apes together strong".

Maurice grew closer to Caesar, who had taken the chimpanzee Cornelia as his wife and had a son named Blue Eyes. They all came to view each other as family, and Maurice joined the Ape Council, becoming one of his most trusted advisors alongside Koba. Meanwhile, the ALZ-113 spread among the humans as an airborne virus that wiped out the majority of their population, save for a small number who were immune. By 2026, the apes believed the humans to be extinct, and Maurice came to realize that while he held no resentment towards them, he never truly knew their kindness, unlike Caesar.[2][3]

Conflict with the Human Colony

In 2026, the apes came across a group of humans in their forest, one of whom, Carver, shot Rocket's son, Ash, out of fear. When he heard the gunshot, Maurice joined Caesar and a group of apes to confront and intimidate the humans. The apes scared off the humans, and they fled, with a human teenager, Alexander, dropping his satchel as he ran. As Koba and some other apes followed the humans to the ruins of San Francisco, Maurice took an interest in the satchel, which contained within it a sketchbook and a graphic novel, fascinating him and making him see a softer, kinder side of humanity he hadn't seen before.

The council then convened to decide what to do about the humans, and while Koba and Blue Eyes insisted they attack to protect their village, Maurice and a gorilla named Luca acknowledged it may be dangerous to engage them in battle, and they didn't know why the humans were even there to begin with. Caesar then concluded the meeting, siding with Maurice and announcing he had a peaceful way to deal with the humans.

The next morning, Maurice and an army apes marched on horseback to San Francisco to confront the human colony. Maurice watched as Caesar confronted Malcolm and Dreyfus, the human leaders, and the entire colony. Caesar announces that while the apes do not want war, they will fight to protect their home, while stating if the humans stay in their territory, the apes will stay in theirs. [3]

Soon after the apes' march into the city, Malcolm made his way to the ape village with a small group. He explained to Caesar that they had been out in the woods looking for a dam that could produce power for their colony and allow them to continue to survive. Malcolm showed the apes the dam, and Caesar agreed to let them stay and work on it. While the team worked on the dam, Maurice met with Alexander, who turned out to be Malcolm's son. Alexander was nervous but offered to show him more of his drawings and comics, allowing Maurice to finally embrace the goodness of humanity, and take it along with their dark side.

After a disagreement about guns and the banishment of Carver, Maurice and some of the other apes joined Malcolm's group in trying to repair the dam. When Koba returned from scouting out the city, he demanded to see Caesar, and tried to attack Alexander and Malcolm, who he believed were against the apes. However, Maurice, in his newfound sympathy for humans, came between Koba and Malcolm, protecting his new friends.[3]

Koba's usurpation

When the dam was repaired and San Francisco had its power restored, the apes joined in a massive celebration for both their success and the recovery of Cornelia, who had been suffering from a horrible illness. During the celebration, the sound of a gunshot rang out, and Caesar's body fell from the trees to the apes' horror, all as the village burst into flames. In the midst of the confusion, Blue Eyes came out holding a human gun, and Koba declared the humans killed Caesar. Knowing Malcolm and his group were right next to him when Caesar was shot and they were in fact innocent, Maurice told them to run for their lives.

As the humans fled, Koba took control of the ape colony, and ordered a siege on San Francisco while the humans were vulnerable. Maurice, Rocket, Luca, and some other apes refused to follow Koba's violent uprising and kill humans, believing Caesar wouldn't have wanted this, and that Malcolm's group was innocent. As a result, Koba and his followers proceeded to lock them in former Simian Flu quarantine cells as they engaged the humans in a massive battle and took control of the city, all while Maurice watched helplessly from his cage.[3]

The day after the battle, Maurice and the other captives escaped with the help of Blue Eyes, who turned on Koba after he killed Ash. They then made their way to an abandoned house in the city's suburban areas, where they found a still-alive Caesar being nursed back to health by Malcolm's wife, Ellie. Knowing Koba was about to launch a full-scale war against the humans, Caesar led his allies back into the city, and to the top of a massive skyscraper where Koba was waiting, all while Malcolm argued with a vengeful Dreyfus, who wanted to kill the apes, at the base.

Maurice and the other apes watched in horror as Koba and Caesar viciously fought for the title of Ape King on the top of the tower. Just as the battle was reaching its peak, Dreyfus detonated the explosives he set along the tower's interior, sending Caesar and Koba flying and rubble crashing down over the apes. When the dust settled, Koba grabbed a hold of his gun, which he had tossed aside at the battle's beginning, and fired on Caesar and the other apes. Caesar managed to take cover, but Maurice's right cheek was grazed by one of the stray bullets, leaving a permanent scar. Seeing his wounded friend, a furious Caesar tackled Koba and left him dangling from a ledge, before dropping him to his death.[3]

The Human-Ape War

Despite Koba's demise, Malcolm informed the apes that Dreyfus had contacted a military base, who were on their way to San Francisco to fight the apes, before the final battle. Malcolm and his family were told to flee to safety by Caesar, and so they vanished before the war began. Maurice then stood by Caesar's side as his chief advisor as the Ape Army fought the human paramilitary group, Alpha-Omega, in battle after battle, for the next two years.

In that time, Caesar became more angrier and brutal, but still compromising and empathetic, simply trying to find a way to end the war and stop the bloodshed, with Maurice often acting as his voice of reason in many situations. The apes also found a new haven deep in the forest, hidden by large waterfall.[3][4]

Two years into the conflict, Alpha-Omega attacked an ape trench, resulting in an ape victory albeit with many casualties. Red. a former follower of Koba who joined Alpha-Omega with a turncoat group of apes called Donkeys, convinced a terrified gorilla named Winter to reveal the location of the apes' command base in exchange for his service and sparing his life. That night, Alpha-Omega's leader, Colonel McCullough, led a strike team into the apes' home, and while Caesar was occupied, slaughtered Cornelia and Blue Eyes. When Caesar found them dead in his bedroom, all empathy he had left for humans was stripped from him, and he became cold and emotional, with not even Maurice able to have him see reason.[4]

The day after the ambush, the ape colony prepared to trek out to a new home that Blue Eyes and Rocket had found weeks earlier. However, Caesar, blinded by his hatred, left his surviving young son, Cornelius, with Blue Eyes' widow, Lake, and began his own quest to find Alpha-Omega's base and kill the Colonel for what he'd done to his family. Joining him on his quest were Maurice, Rocket, and Luca, who insisted on coming to make sure he came back alive.

On their journey, they came across a young human girl, who was terrified of them and without anyone to care for her. Maurice calmed the girl down, and showed her the apes weren't their enemy, but the girl couldn't respond, being unable to speak. Maurice realized the girl wouldn't survive alone, and so insisted that they take her with them, despite Caesar's protests to abandon her. As the team continued their journey, Maurice began teaching her American Sign Language, and the two grew very close with Maurice becoming the girl’s surrogate father.

The team eventually came across an Alpha-Omega camp where they found Winter, who was now working for the Colonel's men. When Caesar and the others cornered him, Winter revealed that the Colonel was camping at a border base. Winter attempts to call for help, to which Caesar covers his mouth to prevent him from doing so; inadvertently suffocating him to death, as Maurice and the apes watches in shock.

It wasn't long before they made a startling discovery: Bad Ape, an aloof but empathetic ape gifted with the same intelligence as Maurice and the colony. Bad Ape revealed he was a zoo ape who gained intelligence from the Simian Flu and escaped an ape massacre at the height of the pandemic. While the group was with Bad Ape, he gifted the human girl a Chevy Nova car's wordmark, which became the inspiration for the name Maurice would give her, Nova. Bad Ape then revealed he had been to the border facility, and led the group there. On their journey, Maurice helped Caesar bond more with Nova, and his compassion for humanity began to return.

When the team reached the outskirts of the border facility, they were ambushed by human soldiers. Rocket and Luca killed them, saving the others, but at the cost of Luca's life. Maurice realized just how much of a risk it had been to come out to kill the Colonel, and urged Caesar to lead them back to rejoin the colony on their search for a new home. Caesar refused, more determined than ever to kill the man who had taken so much from him. Maurice pointed out that he sounded like Koba in his hateful obsession, and Caesar, furious at the comparison, ordered Maurice and the others to rejoin the colony alone, and left for the facility to kill the Colonel alone.[4]

Despite Caesar's orders to leave him, Maurice and the others stayed behind, hoping Caesar would return, but after a day passed, they made their way to the base to make sure he was alright. When they arrived, they saw that not only had he been taken prisoner, but the entire ape colony had been captured and was being forced to build a wall to help protect Alpha-Omega from the opposing Northern Military. Horrified, Maurice and the others desperately began concocting a plan to free the apes before it was too late.

While Maurice and Rocket planned, Nova wandered into the camp and tried to help Caesar, and to save her life, Rocket allowed himself to be captured to distract the soldiers. Along with Caesar and Lake, Rocket began formulating a plan for escape from the inside, while Maurice, Bad Ape, and Nova located an underground tunnel that led under the complex's prisons. They used the tunnels to go underneath the prisons. While they were searching, Maurice told Nova that she was very brave, and that she was something beyond human and ape.

Maurice, Bad Ape, and Nova helped the apes out of their prisons and began herding them out of the facility just as the Northern Military arrived and fought Alpha-Omega, but Caesar planned to stay behind to finish off the Colonel, despite having regained empathy for humanity. When all the apes had escaped, they watched as the battle raged on, until finally Caesar destroyed a leaking gas tank with a grenade, destroying the base and only barely escaping to rejoin the colony.[4]

A new home

Led; by Caesar and following Rocket's directions, Maurice and the ape colony trekked for miles through forests and across a desert to find the oasis that; Blue Eyes and Rocket had found, a landscape; with lush vegetable life and running water. The apes finally settled down in their new home and Maurice sat; with Caesar; who had spared the Colonel's life. As they sat admiring the apes' new home, Caesar revealed he suffered a fatal wound from the battle and would soon pass away.

A distraught Maurice began to cry, but Caesar promised that; the ape colony would be fine; without him. Maurice in turn promised to look after Cornelius and that; he would grow up knowing what his father stood for and everything that; he did for the apes. Caesar then died peacefully, knowing that; the apes were safe and that; he had left behind a legacy of perseverance and honor that; would be continued; by Maurice and his son, Cornelius.[4]

In honor of Maurice's friend and king, Caesar, Maurice immortalized his legacy; by writing a book he called Caesar's Story and had the other apes contribute the tales of their experiences; with him to help preserve Caesar's memory for future generations.[5]

Personality

Maurice is a kind-hearted orangutan; who speaks very little, was rather intelligent even before being exposed to the ALZ-113, and is immensely loyal to his friends. Despite his compassion towards other apes, he was rather cynical and pessimistic when he first met Caesar. When Caesar exposed all the apes to the 113 and led them to freedom, Maurice grew more hopeful and wise.[1]

As Maurice took on the role of teacher and council member in the new ape society, he also became Caesar's main advisor and close confidante. But he remained skeptical about whether there could; be any good in humanity, as he only saw their darkness. But; when the apes encountered Malcolm's group, Maurice became fascinated; by Malcolm's son, Alexander and the two became friends, as Alexander taught him more of the human world. Maurice became softer and kinder towards humans, having now seen their capacity for both good and evil, so stood; by both the humans and Caesar during Koba's brief coup of the ape colony.[3]

Due to Maurice being the most gentle of apes; he is rarely aggressive and violent; unless the situation calls for it; for example; when the apes went to war; with the humans, Maurice was still sympathetic towards humans, but he was willing to kill them; in order to protect his people. He became Caesar's closest confidante as the war became more brutal and acted as his voice of reason as Caesar descended; into rage and vengeance after McCullough had killed his family. Caesar's growing brutality strained his relationship; with Maurice, but in the end, the two were still fiercely loyal to one another.

Maurice's gentle nature also helped him care for the young human girl Nova and take her in as his adoptive daughter. She helped make both Caesar and Maurice better because of her presence, strengthening Maurice's compassion for humans and returning Caesar to his empathetic state. When Caesar rescued the apes and led them all to a new home, free of the human soldiers that; took so many ape lives, Maurice watched as his best friend and king quietly passed away. He promised him that; he would care for his last remaining son, Cornelius and honored his legacy; with a book chronicling his life, loyal to his friend to his last moments of life.[4][5]

Abilities

  • Animal Strength: Like all orangutans, Maurice is extremely powerful and strong, during the Ape Rebellion, he is proven to be strong enough to lift a manhole lid and throw it at one of the police cars; which caused it to crash; into a police car. In War, Maurice was able to beat Boyle to death; with ease.
  • Genius-Level Intellect: Maurice's intellect is the highest among all apes and even humans; surpassed only by Caesar, Blue Eyes and Cornelius, even before Maurice was exposed to the ALZ-113, he had some level of intelligence, after Caesar arrived at the ape shelter, he was observing him and realize that the latter is much more intelligent than a normal ape, after he was exposed to the ALZ-113, Maurice became much more intelligent than before. By the time of the events of Dawn; Maurice's intelligence and IQ has increased to the point when he has been appointed by Caesar as one of the teachers of the new generation of apes, as well as being the overseer of the San Francisco Ape Colony.
  • Sign Language: Like Caesar, Maurice knows sign language, as he uses it as a way of communication, little is known about how or by who he learned it from, other then that he came from the circus. In Dawn, Maurice is seen teaching the young apes the basics of sign language in order for them to communicate proving that he is very skilled in teaching it to other apes as many apes either evolved or otherwise have learned the art from him and Caesar.
  • Expert Hand-To-Hand Combatant: Due to Maurice being the third-in-command of the Ape Army, he is a capable combatant. As seen when the apes were battling the humans during the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Maurice was able to defeat many police officers before they were forced to retreat.
  • Expert Horse Rider: Like many of the other apes, Maurice is able to ride a horse with ease.
  • Expert Leader: During the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Maurice was seen as a capable leader as seen when he led the orangutans and some of the chimpanzees under the bridge in order to attack the police officers when their attention was focused on the other apes, this tactic was successful in obtaining victory.
  • Speech: Having inhaled the ALZ-113, like the other evolved apes, Maurice has gained the ability of speech. During Dawn, his only dialogue outside of sign language is one word, "Run" which was warning for Malcolm and his family to flee when Koba took power. In War, he spoke to give Nova her name, at the end, it is revealed Maurice's speech is broken as he spoke to Caesar before his death, promising him that Cornelius will know who his father was and what he did for him and the ape colony.

Relationships

Notes

  • Maurice was one of the main protagonists in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and the deuteragonist in War for the Planet of the Apes. He also served as the main narrator of Caesar’s Story.
  • Maurice was likely named after Maurice Evans, who played Doctor Zaius in the original Planet of the Apes. However, the character used the American pronunciation of the name, rather than Evans' British pronunciation.
  • Maurice is the only known orangutan in the Ape Colony to have been given the ALZ-113 drug.
    • It is likely the orangutans have been exposed to the virus after living with the other apes for so long.
  • At age twenty-five during Dawn, Maurice was one of the six oldest apes to appear.
  • After Caesar's death, it can be assumed that Maurice played some role in raising Cornelius alongside Lake and Rocket.
  • In War, Maurice is showing small signs of adaptation, as he appears to be able to knuckle-walk and arch his back like chimpanzees and gorillas, as opposed to an orangutan's traditional fist-walking and their back appears hunched.

Trivia

  • Maurice is likely named after Maurice Evans, the actor who portrayed Dr. Zaius in the original film series.
  • There are many postings on Karin Konoval's official public Facebook page that tell about her experiences getting to know real life orangutans. Konoval later confirmed that Maurice was based on "feisty" Bruno from the Los Angeles Zoo, on the "heart and soul" of Towan from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, and on Clyde the walking orangutan.[6]
  • Karin Konoval had to wear weights as part of her motion capture suit.
  • Maurice was the third known ape to speak in the Chernin-produced Apes franchise. In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, he told the humans in the Ape Village to leave when Koba took over with only one word, "Run".
  • Maurice received a scar on the top of his right cheek after Koba fired at him, Blue-Eyes, Rocket and Luca.
  • Maurice is the first ape that Caesar ever communicated with in sign.
    • He was also the last ape he communicated with in English at the time of his death.
  • Due to the time gap between War for the Planet of the Apes and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Maurice would've passed away sometime between those years.

Gallery

Appearances

References

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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