- I hope you don't come to regret sparing his life. He's quite a good shot.
- Colonel McCullough on Preacher's archery skills[src]
Preacher was a crossbowman of Alpha-Omega who became the right-hand for Colonel McCullough.
Biography
Pre-War
Preacher was a survivor of the Simian Flu Pandemic and originally a member of the San Francisco Human Colony who took part in the Battle of San Francisco. After the end of Koba's violent uprising, he joined the military force that would become Alpha-Omega, led by J. Wesley McCullough in the war against the apes.
War for the Planet of the Apes
Encounter with Apes
As the Human-Ape War progressed, Preacher was assigned to an assault at the ape fort in the Muir Woods, with guidance from McCullough's various "donkeys", including Red. When the apes, led by Caesar counter-attacked the Alpha-Omega assault by firing arrows at the soldiers, Preacher was among the four human survivors who avoided being hit. He reported to McCullough, sure that he was going to die before he was discovered by an ape. Before being captured, McCullough assigned him as his new right-hand, as his previous one was recently killed by an arrow. Preacher, Red and the three other soldiers were brought to Caesar, who spared him and the soldiers, giving them the chance to send a peace offering to McCullough. Caesar then had Preacher and the soldiers sent back to their base of operations on horseback at the Border.
Torturing Caesar
Preacher was present at the Border (where Alpha-Omega captured the other apes) alongside McCullough and Red, and guarded Caesar from attacking McCullough with a crossbow although Caesar was not intimidated by him. Preacher seemed familiar with McCullough and seemed to be on good terms with him, explaining that while McCullough was monologuing about the evolution of the Simian Flu, McCullough executed his superiors. Preacher aided in torturing Caesar by ridding him of food and making him suffer from hypothermia when having water poured on him.
After Caesar and the apes escaped from the Border, Preacher was the first to realize that they were missing. As the Northern Army arrived to wipe out Alpha-Omega, Preacher aided in the battle against them, not knowing that McCullough committed suicide due to carrying the virus himself and was devolving into a primitive state.
Death
After locating Caesar with a belt full of grenades, Preacher arrived and shot Caesar with an arrow, downing him on the ground. Preacher prepared to finish off Caesar with a second arrow, but Red, who was watching from a distance after being told by a soldier to grab a grenade launcher, redeemed himself for Caesar by killing Preacher with the grenade launcher, leaving only Preacher's helmet from the explosion.
Personality
Relationships
Notes
- Preacher was a quaternary antagonist of the War comic books and the tertiary antagonist of War for the Planet of the Apes.
- Preacher was a skilled marksman, able to accurately fire a modernized crossbow, used to silently kill apes. He used this skill in the battle of Muir Park, to silently kill an ape armed with a machine gun, so his team could destroy the trench without immediate resistance.
Gallery
Appearances
Trivia
- In a recent interview for the trailer breakdown, director Matt Reeves said at some point of the movie, Caesar will show mercy to Preacher.
- Preacher is one of the few human soldiers captured by the apes after the end of the Muir Woods battle.
- Preacher is inadvertently the cause of Caesar's death; despite this, killing Caesar was ultimately in vain, as Caesar assures Maurice that the apes are strong with or without him, before the latter succumbing to his wounds.
- According to beta information revealed prior the film’s official release, Preacher was intended to side with the Caesar and end up joining the apes. This transition never came to pass however due to director Matt Reeves wanting to avoid the criticism of having an adult human male joining the apes and thereby disrupt the tone of the movie thus Preacher remained an antagonist which ultimately led to his death.
- In both the official novelization and a previous script draft of War, there was an extended scene showcasing Winter and Red feeding the remaining Alpha-Omega soldiers as Colonel McCullough took the majority and proceeded to their base at the border. In this scene, Boyle kicked his bowl at Winter after he spilled soup on the soldier's boot, which made the ape snarl in anger before Boyle pulled his gun out at him, frightening the ape. Preacher then attempted to defuse the situation, but Boyle called the latter "Donkey-Lover" and ordered Winter to get a new bowl. Connected to omitting the possibility of Preacher siding with the apes, this scene was omitted for the same reason.
- On Preacher's crossbow it reads "The Lord is a Warrior, The Lord is his name."