Planet of the Apes: Caesar's Story is the retrospective of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes through Maurice's perspective. The book was written by Greg Keyes and was released on October 23, 2018.
The book bridges the gap between the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes.
Premise
After the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, Caesar's tribe has finally found a safe refuge from the last remnants of the humans who wish to see them wiped out. It comes at a cost, however, as Caesar dies before he can see the apes thrive and prosper in their new home. Maurice, as a gift to Caesar's son Cornelius for when he grows older, decides to recount and chronicle Caesar's story so that his son can truly know what a unique and brave ape his father was, and inspire Cornelius in turn.
Caesar's Story is this chronicle, and tells the story of Caesar from his earliest days under the care of scientist Will Rodman, as well his life with the ape colony in Muir Woods after the outbreak of the Simian Flu, his interactions with Malcolm and Ellie, the dangerous ape Koba, and his ultimate battle with and imprisonment by the vicious and unstable Colonel. The book also chronicles what happens in-between the events of Rise and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, as well as the events between Dawn and War for the Planet of the Apes.
The book includes Maurice's personal thoughts and reflections of his long time spent alongside Caesar, and contributions from several other key apes that knew Caesar. The result is a truly one-of-a-kind celebration of the new Planet of the Apes trilogy and the franchise as a whole.
Synopsis
Introduction
Maurice introduces himself, explaining that he is the story teller rather than the story itself. The story exists without him, being there before he tells it and is still there long after he is finished. The story is for Cornelius.
The story is about Caesar, Cornelius's father and the apes' first king. Maurice writes that he, Blue Eyes, and all other apes-chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans-are in it, and their children for as long as the seasons pass. The story itself is invisible and silent, and someone must give it voice in order to share it.
Maurice writes that this can be more difficult than it sounds, and asks Cornelius to imagine the story as being like a spear a blind ape is touching with his hands. He is asked to describe it and only by guiding his hands over the entire weapon is he able to describe it as a spear. The tale of Caesar is much larger, with many more parts than a spear.
Maurice explains that in this story he is the blind ape who can describe what he saw, heard and felt. However, that it is not enough, so he also records things he didn't see, but were told to him by Caesar, Cornelia, Blue Eyes and even Koba the Betrayer. There are also those who have survived the apes' trails who have their own part of the tale, but even their testimony doesn't tell the whole story about Caesar, because there are parts of it even he didn't know and more he never talked about.
Maurice explains that other apes are telling Caesar's story, but since these apes saw little or nothing of what actually happened, their testimony is wrong. They make the error of thinking the spear is a stick or a knife, or a gun or a bomb. Maurice fears that the more time passes, the more the errors of these apes will be believed to be the story itself.
Already some apes are telling things about Caesar that are untrue. They say that he was born a human, but was Changed by a medicine into an ape who then appeared, fully grown, in the shelter where Maurice first met him. Others say even stranger things, such as he was born of a lightning strike. Maurice believes that after he dies, the real story will gradually be replaced by a fantasy one.
Maurice then explains that, despite their many flaws, humans were clever. Apes woke only a few hands of years ago, but humans were changed when the world was young. They created many ingenious things, many of which they turned to evil. In fact, their cleverness might have ultimately been their downfall, but even a blighted tree might bear a little fruit. Humans created methods to make stories visible to everyone. They made marks to represent worlds and ideas; they drew pictures and made images like moving things. Unlike spoken words, these marks and images do not change with time. Now, to better preserve the history of the apes, Maurice uses a human tool: writing. He writes and draws this story for Cornelius. When Cornelius is old enough and and has been taught to read, he will learn from what Maurice has wrote and drawn the story of his father, Caesar, whom Cornelius never knew as well as Maurice and others. Maurice is doing what he can to make that right.
Caesar's Birth and Early Years
Maurice writes that Caesar was no fantastical being, as he did not spring from stone as an adult, or was born of a lightning strike, or born a human. However, he was raised by humans as one of their own.
Caesar's mother was a chimpanzee who was born, like many apes, in the Forest of Fruit, where trees produced all kinds of fruit. Maurice knows of this from Cornelius's mother, Cornelia, who was born there. She said it was always warm and never cold like the apes' home in the north was during winter. Because of this, lakes and rivers didn't freeze over and ice never fell from the sky. The air was sweet and the birds, animals and trees were all different from the ones the ape colony knows. Some apes don't believe the Forest of Fruit is real, that it was just a dream apes had before the Change.
But the Forest of Fruit was real and it wasn't a perfect paradise. Cornelia also told of many dangers in that place, such as giant cats and snakes, and terrible beasts that lived in rivers and streams. Also, there were times the rains didn't come and fruit wasn't plentiful, forcing apes to sometimes hunt and kill for meat, a practice which helped the ape colony survive in their new homes, which had very little fruit. The Forest of Fruit may not have been a paradise, but it was the ancient homeland of apes where they were born to live in freedom. No ape alive today knows where it is, and Maurice doubts that they will ever find it.
The greatest danger in the Forest of Fruit was humans, who killed apes for meat and for fun. They also captured apes and took them far away, putting some of them in cages to be stared at and taunted. Others, like Maurice, were trained to do tricks to amuse humans. Worst of all, some apes were tortured to discover medicines to help humans live longer.
Caesar's mother was called Bright Eyes, but little else is known about her because Caesar never knew her, but was told about her by Will, the man who raised him. From what Maurice and the other apes do know, Bright Eyes was given the strange medicine that Changed the apes, and she was pregnant with Caesar when this happened. Caesar was the first ape to be born Changed, as all apes, including Cornelius, are born now. As a result of the medicine, Caesar had green eyes, which were one of his most striking features.
Caesar did not know at the time that he was Changed, nor did he know any other apes. He only knew humans. And as strange it sounds, these humans loved and he loved them. Will was Caesar's father, Caroline his mother, and Charles, Will's father, was Caesar's grandfather. The fact that these humans loved and cared for Caesar was hard for Maurice to understand, because the humans who kept him cruelly treated him as a mere animal. For other apes, such as Koba, it was impossible to believe, because, for good reason, many apes feel nothing but hatred for humans.
However, Maurice believed Caesar, and he came to understand that just like not all apes are good, not all humans are bad. The two species are, unfortunately, too much alike.
Caesar was raised as a human child; he wore human clothes and he played with human toys. He lived in a room in a human house full of wonderful things, and a window through which he observed the outside world. But over time, Caesar began to understand to understand that other humans didn't see him as one of them. One day, he saw human children playing and tried to join in, but they were scared of him and their father hurt Caesar. They didn't see him as a human boy, but something else; something they didn't like.
Will took the wounded Caesar to a doctor, and there Caesar saw other apes for the first time. He was unsure of what they were, because while they looked something like him, nothing else about them seemed right. The doctor who healed him was Caroline and she eventually became his human mother.
Maurice cannot tell Cornelius everything Caesar felt when his parents first took him to the forest across the Orange Bridge. All Caesar said was that he felt "free", but Maurice knew he loved the forest, as did Maurice himself. Caesar's human parents took him there many times over the years during his childhood. But always they returned to the City, which to Caesar felt smaller every day.
Each day, Caesar was less sure of what he was and where he fit in. When he finally asked Will this question, he took him to Gen-Sys laboratories, where he told Caesar about how he was born and how his mother died. After that, something happened that Caesar didn't like to talk about. Looking out of his window, he saw Charles being threatened by the man who had hurt Caesar as a child. Charles was old and sick, as he often forgot things and sometimes didn't know what he was doing, but he was a good, kind and loving human.
Seeing Charles threatened, Caesar acted as any loyal grandchild might. He attacked the man and bit off his finger. Thus, he defended his human family, just as he later defended the apes. But for the humans that was not excusable; in their eyes, any ape who hurt a human, no matter the reason, should either be killed or caged. So the humans took Caesar to the place where Maurice, Rocket and many other apes lived and were forced to stay in cages. It was there that Caesar understood something that changed everything; for a long time, he had thought of himself as human, but he also knew that other humans didn't think of him that way. Now, he understood that Will and Caroline didn't think of him that way either. That was a hard lesson for Caesar, but he would soon learn an even harder one.
The Shelter
More to come...
Caesar Becomes Caesar
More to come...
How Caesar Led Us Out
More to come...
The Battle of the Orange Bridge
More to come...
Our First Days in the Forest
More to come...
The Humans Hunt Apes
More to come...
The First Ape Council
More to come...
The Meeting with Hunters
More to come...
About Koba
Maurice writes that after that it was quiet for a while; too quiet. Caesar kept the apes busy, learning how to make spears, even though he hoped they would only be used to intimidate, not kill. They were getting stronger; most of the fatally injured had died and the rest of the wounded had recovered. Rocket hadn't been shot after all, but had lost his footing when the gun fired. The apes made fun of him for this and called him "Three Legs." Although Rocket wasn't seriously hurt, he couldn't lead his band, so Caesar put Koba in charge of Rocket's band.
Maurice writes that here he wants to talk about Koba. He explains that the bonobo suffered much at the hands of humans; more than most other apes in fact. When he was little, he lived with his mother in a place were apes were taught Sign Language. Like many Sign Language apes, Koba did not think of other apes as being like him. In fact, he thought of himself and his mother as being more like the human who trained him. This makes Koba similar to Caesar, as they both believed they were human in their youth. Koba regarded non-signing chimps as "big black caterpillars" and didn't understand that they were like him. This is a common trait in Sign Language apes; they think apes who cannot sign/talk are just animals.
Maurice then goes on to explain the many tragedies and horrors that Koba suffered at the hands of humans. First, Koba's mother was killed by a human; Koba never understood why. Afterwards, he was taken, and like Maurice, trained to entertain humans through pain and intimidation. Finally, Koba became a lab ape, to be cut open and sewn back together over and over again, and to have his eyes forced wide open so they could be stung with spray and drops. Koba tried to sign to the humans around him that he wasn't an animal, that he could sign and talk, but they ignored him. Gradually, despair and then anger consumed him to the point that he had little but killing on his mind by the time Caesar freed him.
But now that Koba had been freed, Maurice could see the pride in him. He sensed that Koba's anger was still there, but that he was discovering something more important, something he had never had for more than the briefest of moments; belonging and family.
Maurice once snapped at Koba because he called the zoo apes "black caterpillars". He explained that they were all apes all together. Maurice writes that it was like watching a new life come into the world as Koba realized that believing the non-signing apes to be inferior made him like a human. And Koba didn't want to be like a human.
During the confrontation with the hunters, Koba proved that his loyalty to Caesar and his fellow apes was stronger than his hatred of humans, which was a good sign.
The Day and Night of Flame
More to come...
After the Fire
More to come...
Caesar Courts Your Mother
More to come...
How the Gorilla Guard Came About
More to come...
Caesar Becomes a Father
More to come...
The Rise of the Midwives
More to come...
We Begin the School
More to come...
How Blue Eyes was Wounded
More to come...
What Koba Counseled; What Caesar decided
More to come...
What the Humans Wanted
More to come...
What Happened at the Dam
More to come...
How Koba Played the Fool
More to come...
How Your Mother was Cured
More to come...
How Koba and Caesar Fought
Maurice writes that Malcom sent away the man that attacked Caesar's sons, and the next morning apes came to help work on the dam.
While they were working, Koba returned to the village, where he was told by Blue Eyes about what the man with the gun did before leading Koba to the dam. Koba was outraged that the apes were helping humans, and he demanded to see Caesar. He attacked Alexander and Malcom, but Maurice stepped in his way. At the time, Maurice was unsure why he did it, because while his experiences with humans were not as bad as Koba's, they were still pretty bad. Yet, Maurice sensed that Malcom, Ellie and Alexander were good, and he was drawn to Caesar's idea of a world where apes and humans could peacefully coexist.
Koba glared at Maurice, but stopped and demanded to see Caesar again. Eventually, Caesar came and Koba angrily berated him for letting the humans stay even after one of them had attacked his sons. Baring his teeth, Koba loudly accused Caesar of loving humans more than apes and even his own sons. Enraged by Koba's insolent challenge to his authority, Caesar shouted a war cry and attacked Koba. He threw Koba to the floor, beat him with his fists and choked him while slamming his head against the cold, metal floor. Maurice was shocked and feared Caesar would kill Koba. But Caesar spared Koba, citing the "Ape not kill ape" law.
Maurice writes that Koba may have been more surprised than anyone present; he seemed to not know what was happening. Maurice thinks it was even worse for Koba because it happened in front of humans. Koba got to his feet, crouched before Caesar, and offered his hand to him, asking for forgiveness. As soon as Caesar touched his hand, Koba darted away.
That night, Caesar tried to talk to Blue Eyes, but the young ape went to Koba instead. Koba told Blue Eyes that Caesar no longer trusted him and that he needed protection because was blinded by his love for humans, which Blue Eyes agreed with. Koba told Blue Eyes that as long as the humans were at the village, he feared for Caesar's life.
The Lights Reborn
More to come...
What Koba Did
Maurice writes that after Caesar dominated and shamed him at the dam, something broke in Koba. This thing had been damaged for a long time, and it would never have fully healed, but if the humans hadn't returned-if Caesar hadn't worked with them-it might have stayed merely injured. Koba might have lived out his life with the ape colony as his family and died of old age surrounded by those who loved him. But instead this thing in him shattered, and he decided to kill to Caesar.
Koba never told Caesar about the guns in the human city, and told Grey and Stone not to either. After his fight with Caesar, Koba went back to the gun place, where he once again played the fool, lulling the humans into letting down their guard. Then, he stole one of their guns and killed them.
Armed with the gun, Koba returned to the ape village. Like a venomous, malicious spider, Koba climbed up the cliff-side while Grey and Stone, on his orders, secretly set fire to the village the apes had built together. Then, the apes heard a single, loud gunshot and then they they saw Caesar fall from the cliff.
As the terrified and confused apes panicked, Blue Eyes found the gun on a crag and brought it up to show everyone. Though Maurice suspected it was a human who shot Caesar, he knew Malcom and his family weren't to blame and told them to run in English.
Seizing the opportunity, Koba took the gun from Blue Eyes and blamed Caesar's "death" and the destruction of the ape village on the humans. He declared war on the humans, sending the ape females and young to hide in the woods while he and the males went to attack the human city. Koba embraced Blue Eyes, promising him they would avenge Caesar's "death."
Main Characters
Apes
Narrators
- Maurice - Caesar's best friend.
- Rocket - Caesar's second best friend.
- Hila - A chimpanzee who lived in the San Francisco Zoo when Buck liberated him.
- Oak - A gorilla and member of the Gorilla Guard who initially followed Koba but eventually returned to Caesar's side.
- Tinker - A chimpanzee and Rocket's wife.
- Barbar - An elderly orangutan who was freed from the San Francisco Zoo.
- River - A chimpanzee and member of Caesar's Ape Army.
- Spear - A chimpanzee scout in Caesar's Army and member of his council.
- Lake - A chimpanzee, Blue Eyes' wife and Cornelius' guardian.
- Bad Ape - A chimpanzee who lived in a zoo before the Simian Flu outbreak, and spent his days as a hermit before joining Caesar's Ape Colony.
Other Apes
- Cornelius - A chimpanzee, Caesar and Cornelia's son, Blue Eyes' younger brother and the surviving heir of Caesar's throne.
- Caesar - King of the Apes, Cornelia's husband.
- Buck - A gorilla, Caesar's fourth-in-command and was Caesar's second best friend.
- Koba - One of Caesar's closest friends and soldier who betrayed him, and ignited a war between humans and apes.
- Cornelia - Queen of the Apes, Caesar's wife.
- Furaha - A wild born chimpanzee who helped teach other apes to hunt for food.
- Luca - A gorilla, Buck's successor, Caesar's fourth-in-command and the leader of the Gorilla Guard.
- Grey - A chimpanzee who served as one of Koba's lieutenants and later tells Maurice details of Koba's plot against Caesar.
- Ash - A chimpanzee, and Rocket and Tinker's son who was killed by Koba.
- Blue Eyes - A chimpanzee, Caesar and Cornelia's son, and Cornelius' older brother.
- Red - A gorilla in the Gorilla Guard who betrayed Caesar until sacrificing himself for him.
- Winter - A gorilla and member of the Gorilla Guard who Luca mentored until be betrayed them.
Supporting Characters
Apes
- Lucky - A chimpanzee who live in the San Bruno Primate Shelter with Caesar before being carted off to Gen-Sys.
- Mbwé - A chimpanzee who died of wounds sustained during the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge.
- Musang - An orangutan and one of the first Maurice tried to teach sign to.
- Percy - An old orangutan who was a member of Caesar's Council of Apes.
- Dallas - A young chimpanzee and a member of Caesar's diversionary troop.
- Sam - A chimpanzee and a member of Caesar's diversionary troop.
- Keling - An orangutan and a member of Caesar's diversionary troop.
- Eastwood - An orangutan and a member of Caesar's diversionary troop.
- Rafael - A wild born chimpanzee and a member of Caesar's hunting party.
- JoJo - A chimpanzee scout in Caesar's Army.
- Roy - A chimpanzee in Caesar's Army assigned to Koba.
- Herman - A gorilla in Caesar's Army.
- Kumang - An orangutan who raised Oak in the San Francisco Zoo.
- Ray - An orangutan in Caesar's Army.
- Ajax - A gorilla in Caesar's Army and second-in-command of the Gorilla Guard.
- Branch - A chimpanzee who lead an assault on the beach against McCullough's troops.
- Shell - A chimpanzee loyal to Koba.
- Stripe - A chimpanzee loyal to Koba.
- Kami - A chimpanzee who River had a crush on.
- Kolo - A chimpanzee and member of Caesar's Ape Army who was killed during the attack on the Ape barricade.
- Spark - A chimpanzee and member of Caesar's Ape Army who was killed during the attack on the Ape barricade.
Humans
- Will Rodman - Caesar's adoptive father who creates the virus by accident that becomes known later as the Simian Flu.
- Caroline Aranha - Caesar's adoptive mother.
- Charles Rodman - Caesar's adoptive grandfather.
- John Hamil - Chief of San Bruno Police. Died during the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge.
- Steven Jacobs - The CEO of Gen-Sys Laboratories.
- Clancy Stoppard - A female ape specialist who is bought in to help capture Caesar.
- Malakai Youmans - A skilled hunter who is bought in to capture an ape to create an antidote for the Simian Flu.
- Colin - A human boy who helps teach Barbar how to tame and ride horses.
- Dreyfus - One of the former leaders of the San Francisco Colony.
- Malcolm - One of the former leaders of the San Francisco Colony and an ally of Caesar.
- Ellie - Malcolm's second wife and a former CDC nurse who treated Cornelia and Caesar.
- Alexander - Malcolm's son and Ellie's step-son.
- Colonel J. Wesley McCullough - The leader of the Alpha-Omega forces.
- Preacher - A member of McCullough's army who killed Caesar after being spared by him.
- Nova - A human girl who was unable to speak and Maurice's adopted daughter.
Gallery
More to come...
Notes
- This book recalls events from all three films, as well as mention events that transpired between the three films and the two novels.
Trivia
More to come...
External Links
- My Mission... by Maurice - 'Simian Scrolls' #21 (2020)
