Roger was an alcoholic and abusive handler of Koba. He was also responsible for the death of Koba's mother.
Biography[]
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm[]
Roger's origins were unknown. One day, he replaced Kuo as Mary's assistant at a primate research facility where the young bonobo Koba and his mother lived. When Roger was sent to put a leash on Koba to bring him back inside from playing, Koba tried to play a game with Roger that he played with Kuo. However, this only angered Roger, who verbally abused Koba into submission. As soon as Roger put the leash on Koba, he yanked it so hard it hurt the bonobo's neck, provoking Koba into jumping at Roger, albeit without hitting him. This only angered Roger more, and he continued to verbally abuse Koba until Mary took over the situation and took Koba inside herself, but not before reprimanding Roger for his needless abuse. Roger retorted by blaming Koba for being a "dumb animal", a statement Koba didn't understand at the time.
That night, after drinking a large amount of alcohol, Roger, armed with a long, heavy sack of oranges, came into Koba's pen and began verbally abusing Koba again for "disobeying him". When Koba tried to back away, Roger hit him with his sack of oranges, winding the young bonobo. Before Roger could strike Koba again, Koba's mother attacked Roger to defend her son, biting the drunken man's hand. In retaliation, Roger beat Koba's mother with his sack of oranges until she retreated into the corner of the cage with Koba. Roger then stormed out, but not before deriding the two apes as "stupid animals."
Legacy[]
Although Roger was never seen or heard from again afterwards, his brutal beating of Koba's mother resulted in her death, which resulted in the facility's project funding being cut and Koba being sent to a new abusive owner, being separated from his kinder human handler Mary. Effectively, Roger's abusive actions changed Koba's life forever and set him on the path to becoming the most hateful ape in history and kickstarting his genocidal hatred of humans.
Personality[]
From what little was seen of him, Roger was shown to be an arrogant, disrespectful, impulsive, cruel, and short-tempered alcoholic bully. He was quick to anger and had nothing but contempt for the animals he was charged with handling. He frequently insulted Koba and handled him in an extremely rough manner, even attacking him when he disobeyed him even though the bonobo was too young to defend himself at the time.
Roger was also reckless and irresponsible, as he consumed a dangerous amount of alcohol before trying to "punish" Koba for disobeying him. When Koba's mother attacked him in defense of her son, Roger reacted violently by beating her until she retreated and showed no remorse for it afterward.
Abilities[]
- Physical Strength: Roger was very strong, being able to carry and swing around a long, heavy sack of oranges and beat Koba's mother, a fully-grown female bonobo, so badly with it that she died as a result.
Notes[]
- It is unknown whether or not Roger intended to kill Koba's mother, as he was drunk at the time and left the scene before she actually died of her injuries.
Trivia[]
More to come…