Alma

Alma was Kolp's trusted Communications Officer in Battle for the Planet of the Apes. In scenes deleted from the original release of the film, Kolp ordered Alma to fire the Alpha-Omega Bomb if he were to be defeated. She promised to, but later struggled with her conscience as Mendez dissuaded her from destroying the world.

Notes

• The scenes with the Alpha-Omega bomb were filmed to suggest a full-circle for the series of Apes films, with the descendents of Mendez continuing to revere the bomb up to the time of Taylor's arrival. However, with the ending of this last movie trying to show a more optimistic future, the scenes were removed to allow some hope that the course of events had been altered. The scenes were, oddly, restored for TV broadcasts in 1975, but did not receive an official release until included on a Japanese Laserdisc (in the early ‘90s) and on North American-region DVDs in 2006.
• The novelisation of Battle suggested a romantic involvement between Alma and Kolp.
• Alma means "soul" in spanish.
• Marvel Comics prequel to Battle, Quest for the Planet of the Apes showed Alma, Mendez and Governor Breck as slaves in the new Ape City who rebelled and escaped back to the radioactive ruined city. Marvel's Battle adaptation which followed had Breck as the lead villain rather than Kolp, as it was based on early scripts which still included Breck, before the role was recast.
• MR Comics' Revolution on the Planet of the Apes had Alma and Mendez as members of Kolp's elite team to rescue Governor Breck from his ape captors.
• The early story outline of Battle (as 'Epic of the Planet of the Apes') described Alma as having 'primitive psionic powers' (at the end of the film she senses when Breck has died), 'black hair streaked with white' ("towards albinism of 'Beneath'"), and was Breck's secretary.
• The later treatments for Battle also suggested a romantic involvement between Alma and Kolp - they kissed before his departure - while also detailing that they had worked together for 11 years and 3 months. Alma was now his Communications Officer (Mendez had filled that role in previous script revisions).^[1]

Appearances

• Battle for the Planet of the Apes
• Battle for the Planet of the Apes (novel)
• Planet of the Apes Magazine: Battle for the Planet of the Apes
• Revolution on the Planet of the Apes

References