Koba was a ruthless and aggressive evolved bonobo with a strong hatred for humans stemming from years of abuse. Once a close ally of Caesar during the Ape Rebellion, he later became his greatest enemy after seeing his compassion and respect towards humans, and led the apes to war with humanity.
Biography
End of A Happy Life
Koba was born and raised in a primate research facility, where he lived with his beloved and loving mother and their kind caregiver, Mary, who taught them sign language. Like many Sign Language apes, Koba did not understand that apes who did not use sign language were like him, and also was not taught by Mary what the word "chimp" meant. As a result, Koba regarded non-signing chimps as "big black caterpillars", and identified himself with humans, a sentiment Mary was aware of, but never made any attempts to change.
One day, Mary's assistant, Kuo, left the facility and was replaced by an abusive alcoholic named Roger. Due to being unfamiliar and uncomfortable with Roger's rough handling methods, Koba disobeyed him without even meaning to, causing Roger to verbally and physically assault the young bonobo in a drunken rage. When Koba's mother attacked Roger to defend her son, Roger retaliated by fatally beating her with a sack of oranges. Due to having never seen a dead animal before or even been taught about death, Koba did not understand at the time that his mother was dead, though he missed her terribly. As a result of the death of Koba's mother, Mary's project funding was cut, and Koba was sent to a new home which Mary promised would be good.
Used for Entertainment
That turned out to be false, as Koba was sold to a TV studio under the care of the abusive Tommy. There, he lived with another young ape who knew sign language named Milo, with whom Koba became friends, although they were never as close as Koba was to his late mother. Tommy was the producer of a comedy show entitled Monkey of the House, and regularly forced Koba and Milo to do tricks, electrocuting them or beating if they failed or disobeyed him. One night, for his own amusement, Tommy forced the two apes to drink alcohol, causing them to get drunk and accidentally hurt themselves.
The next day, Koba and Milo were unable to perform correctly due to still being slightly groggy. Frustrated, Tommy left to talk with Alice, his supervisor. In Tommy's absence, an unruly boy visiting the set harassed Milo by poking him, insulting him and demanding he do a trick. Provoked, Milo bit the boy on the nose in self-defense. Upon discovering this, Tommy punished Milo by wiring his mouth shut, which disturbed Koba.
Tommy's show was eventually cancelled due to poor ratings and litigation sparked by Milo biting the boy. Turning to drink, Tommy took his anger out on the two apes. When Koba finally tried to defend himself from Tommy's abuse, Tommy punished the bonobo by slashing his face with a knife and then blinding his left eye with a lit cigarette. Tommy later killed himself and the two apes attempted to escape his home, only to be caught and separated by animal control officers.
Tortured in the Name of Science
Koba was then sent to a laboratory, where he was subjected to painful experiments, the very first of which involved giving him an injection which almost instantly made him vomit while he was muzzled. He was also vivisected several times, always with anesthetic, but this ultimately made little difference because Koba's stitched up wounds always hurt whenever he woke up and the sedative drug always made him feel sick. When he was not being experimented on, Koba was kept locked up in a cage which had no enrichment. He tried to sign to his captors that he was not a "big black caterpillar" like he believed the other lab apes to be, but they ignored him. As a result of boredom, loneliness, and the trauma of the experiments, Koba quickly descended into depression. He even developed self-harming behaviors such as pulling out his fur and injuring his knuckles and fingers by Signing them against the floor of his cage until they bled.
Koba was eventually discovered by a neuroscientist named Amol and the latter's superior, Steven Jacobs. Amol knew sign language and, since Koba knew it too, selected him as his test subject for an experiment intended to improve cognitive ability. Delighted to finally have someone to sign with him, Koba reluctantly submitted to being experimented on. Amol then had a machine designed to produce images directly from the brain attached to Koba's head and back while the bonobo was sedated, though this ultimately made little difference as the machine still caused Koba crippling pain when he woke up. A few days later, after the pain had diminished enough for Koba to think clearly, Amol did lots of signing with Koba in order to test the machine's effectiveness. Although Koba came close to forming a bond with Amol, Jacobs fired the neuroscientist after his experiments failed, resulting in a severe financial loss for Jacobs. Afterwards, Jacobs confronted Koba in his cage, callously deriding him as a "stupid, ugly monkey" and claiming he would put Koba down if he could. This caused Koba to develop a strong dislike of Jacobs.
Koba was then moved to several other laboratories, where he was experimented on countless more times by many scientists. The experiments included being vivisected, forced to breath in two different gases (one made him go to sleep, while the second gave him a hacking cough for two days), having long needles stuck into his stomach without anesthetic, and having his eyes sprayed with a substance that hurt worse than tear gas (though very fortunately for Koba this did not further damage his eyesight despite the pain). As a result of his unbearable suffering, Koba fell so deep into despair that he felt as if he was his cage and his pain. He also displayed aggression toward non-signing apes who tried to interact with him, as he still did not know how, nor did he want to, interact with non-signing individuals, and only wanted to be left alone.
A Dark Path
Eventually, in 2016, Koba, along with nine chimpanzees, was selected and taken to Gen-Sys Laboratories in part of testing the new ALZ-113 retrovirus developed by Will Rodman. Shortly after arriving, Koba was visited in his new cage by Jacobs, who had become the CEO of the lab. Jacobs sadistically taunted the long-suffering Koba, calling him the "ugliest ape in the world", and telling him that there would be no more "hand-talking nonsense," and no matter how human Koba thought he was, he was nothing more than an animal. This proved to be the breaking point for Koba, who finally realized that he was not human and thus concluded that Mary had lied to him that he was. After reflecting on how much pain and suffering humans had caused him throughout his life (taking his mother from him, blinding his eye, and abusing and torturing him in countless ways against his will), Koba repudiated all remaining affection he had for humans, replacing it with pure hatred and distrust, as well as a desire for revenge on all of humanity. Knowing it was impossible for him to reach all humans, but it was possible for him to reach Jacobs, Koba decided to focus his anger and hatred on Jacobs for the time being.[1]
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
On the day of resuming chimp testing, Koba saw Will and chimp handler Robert Franklin examining the chimpanzees. Determined to get to Jacobs in order to kill him, Koba made sure to get himself picked first by holding out his hand from the slot of his pen, catching Will's attention. As Will dropped a cookie in his hand, Koba quickly ate it and held his hand out to demand another, cementing Will's decision to pick Koba as the first test subject. As Will, Franklin and an assistant strapped him down, Koba noticed Jacobs knocking on the window and joined, satisfying the bonobo to start his revenge on the cruel and greedy man. After Jacobs dressed up in lab testing gear, Koba lied still as Will placed a canister of the new ALZ-113 in an anesthetic machine and placed a breathing mask on Koba's mouth. Waiting for the right moment, Koba breathed in the virus and felt strange before he initiated his surprise attack by bursting through the restraints and trying to lunge at Jacobs. In the process, Koba disconnected his gas mask from the machine and knocked off Franklin's mask. However, before Koba could fully get off the table, the scientist managed to restrain him. Despite losing consciousness after Will reinserted the tube back in the machine, Koba kept breathing in the virus as Franklin rubbed his jaw, unaware that he breathed in the 113.
In a matter of hours, Koba felt his brain changed and was placed in a special room with a writing computer screen. Picking up Jacobs' scent as the human walked in, Koba wrote his name and turned to see an astonished Jacobs, displaying his new heightened intelligence as he conspired to kill him.
Liberation
Koba was later freed by Caesar during the early stages of the Ape Rebellion and immediately admired him for liberating him along with the other experimented apes.[2] It would seem that he went off on his own as he walked in the opposite direction of the apes during his escape (most likely to find Jacobs) but he later met up with the other apes as they were causing mass chaos in the city. He and the other apes then set their sights on the Golden Gate Bridge as their next target before escaping to true freedom.
Ape Leader
At the Golden Gate Bridge, Koba was ordered by Caesar to lead the chimpanzees in an attack from above using the bridge's high-wire supports. His group narrowly avoided the helicopter after them, at the cost of Wolfie. Once Caesar gave his army the order to attack a large battle ensued. During the battle, Koba was shown holding his own against several officers and joined his new comrades in the celebration of the battle after the surviving police flee.
He was then forced to take cover after the police helicopter with (Steven Jacobs on board) appeared and starting wiping out many of the apes. But this threat was resolved when the ape army's fourth-in-command, Buck sacrifices himself to take down the helicopter to save Caesar. Steven Jacobs who been wounded by Buck's attack and the crashing of his helicopter had begged Caesar for help as his damaged helicopter dangled precariously over the water below. Caesar, angered over his friend's demise refused to help him and left Koba to do whatever he pleased with the human. Jacobs, recognizing Koba from Gen-Sys, got scared as the vengeful bonobo approached the helicopter and gently nudged it off balance with his foot. In defiance against Koba, Jacobs called him a "stupid monkey". With an angry snarl, Koba pushed the helicopter and sent it plummeting into the bay, sending a screaming Jacobs falling to his death. With his vengeance complete (at least for now), Koba left the area with the other apes who made their way to the redwoods of Muir Woods and embraced their newfound freedom.
Freedom
Later, Koba attacked Will and was about to kill him before he was stopped by Caesar who pushed him away from Will. Koba attempted to attack Will again only to be threatened by Caesar. Koba was surprised, angered and hurt by this, wondering why Caesar would refuse to let him kill another human after just letting him kill one.[3] Nevertheless, Koba reluctantly obeyed his new leader, backed off and ran into the woods. Despite this, Koba soon acknowledged Caesar's leadership with the other apes.[2]
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm
Koba's first days of freedom were problematic for him, as he had never seen the moon before, had difficulty sorting through his now more vivid memories, and integrating with the non-altered apes, whom he still considered beneath him. Nevertheless, he continued to look up to Caesar, and hoped to be given a greater role in maintaining the safety of the colony. After a few apes were killed by hunters, Koba watched Caesar close the still-open eyes of one of the corpses, which caused him to have a flashback of his mother's death. This made Koba realize, for the first time, that his mother had been killed by Roger, although he would never understand why. Later, during a conversation with Maurice, Koba was told by the orangutan that the creatures he considered "big black caterpillars" were also apes, like him. Finally realizing the wrongness and human-like nature of his belief, Koba resolved to be respectful and loyal to all apes from then on.
When the colony was hunted by the forces of Anvil, Koba proved his trustworthiness by discovering tracking devices in fruit left as bait by Anvil mercenaries, then chose to save Rocket over an opportunity to kill one of the mercenaries. Later, Koba, leading a a group of five chimps and six gorillas and held off an assault whilst Caesar and the other apes moved to a safer location. Only Koba and two other apes of his band survived the battle.
When the mercenaries attempted to bomb the apes, Koba managed to return to Caesar and save him and Cornelia from the explosions. Koba, Maurice and Rocket then moved the troop to a safer location while Caesar was unconscious, with a concerned Koba never leaving his leader's side. When Caesar finally regained consciousness, Koba was embraced by Caesar, who called him his brother.[1]
Planet of the Apes: The Simian Age "Cloud and rain"
Koba kills Cloud
By the time Blue Eyes was still a young child, Koba had gained the respect of Caesar. He was entrusted with searching an area of the woods to find food supplies along with Cloud and Rain. While they were searching, Cloud picked up a human toy, which Koba quickly snatched from his hands and threw away. Later, the pair found a couple of berries, and Cloud started to eat them, asking Rain not to tell Koba about it. All of the sudden, they heard a scream and found a human with a broken ankle. Cloud offered the human a couple of berries, but Koba arrived and pushed the apes away from the human. Taking a rock, Koba raised it above his head to kill the human. Cloud reminded Koba that Caesar had forbidden killing humans, but Koba responded, "Koba no Caesar," before using the rock to kill the begging human.
After that the three of them started a campfire, where Koba told the pair that humans made apes weak and gave little to no value to them. Koba told the pair how even though Caesar was an ape and their leader, apes could be stronger and better. He then proceeded to order them not to inform Caesar about the human's murder. The next day, the three apes met with Maurice to deliver the food supplies they had collected. Later Cloud headed to where the human's corpse was, intending to inform Caesar about what had happened. However, Koba caught him in the act and killed him the same way he had killed the human. A funeral was held for Cloud, and during Caesar's announcement, Koba blamed the humans for his death, stating that apes would never kill other apes.
Caesar establishes their ultimate law
That night, Rain remembered Cloud as a brother but was interrupted by Koba, who choked her and threatened her never to go behind his back and tell Caesar what had happened with the human. The next day, Caesar met with Koba and told him that for apes to have a secure future, they needed to create their own laws. He then decided to establish the first law to protect their future: "Ape shall not kill ape." Caesar showed this law to Koba, adding that if he were ever gone, the apes would need a capable leader like him. [4]
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Life of Peace
Ten years after being freed from captivity, Koba has risen to great prominence in the newly created Ape Colony which has taken to live in a village residing in the mountains, capable of holding a capacity of thousands. He has grown much closer in friendship with his leader Caesar to the point of serving as an honorary brother and advisor to Caesar, despite his opposition to Caesar's fondness for humans. Koba along with the other adult apes is now a mentor to the younger apes and is also idolized by Caesar's son, Blue Eyes who sees the bonobo as an uncle. At some point, he met and befriended two chimpanzees Stone and Grey who would often be found following Koba's orders seeing him as their leader.
Hunting Trip
One day, during a hunting trip in the woods Koba is with his fellow apes secretly observing a herd of deer awaiting Caesar's command which alerts the deer into a panic and have them flee in terror. As the deer run from Caesar's group they encounter Koba and his group who attempt to attack but are knocked aside despite their efforts. Koba then hears Caesar's call for help as he holds off a bear attacking his son. The bonobo immediately comes to his friend's aid and stabs the bear in the back with a spear, fatally injuring it and saving Caesar and Blue Eyes. Caesar thanks Koba for his assistance and they collect the body of the bear for food before heading back to their village. Arriving in the village, Koba talks to the maimed Blue Eyes and tells him not to feel bad about his scars as they show he is strong.
Hatred Reborn
The next day, Koba would hear the sound of a gunshot and followed the other apes to its origin. Koba and the other came across a shocking and horrifying sight Rocket's son Ash wounded and a group of humans armed with loaded guns staring at them. After the humans put their weapons down Koba and the other apes scream at them (in English) to leave the forest which they do out of fear. Under Caesar's orders Koba, Stone, and Grey follow the humans in their van back to the human settlement where they discover just how many humans survived the Simian Flu a decade ago. After this Koba and his group head back to the colony for a council meeting on discussing what should be done about the rediscovery of humans. Koba suggests wiping them out for what they did to Ash but he is denied by Rocket who agreeing with Ash that it was an accident. Koba chastised Rocket for this but the latter states he follows Caesar. Their argument is broken up by Caesar who states the apes have done so much and cannot afford to lose their homes because of war. Koba then speaks to Caesar about his abusive past with humans and while saying he is devoted to him for freeing him states that something must be done about them, to which Caesar responds that they will.
March into the City
The Ape Army marched into the city where Caesar addressed the humans (in English), telling them that they do not want war but will fight if they must. He tells them to stay out of Ape Territory while they will do the same with staying out of human territory. With that the apes march out of the city. As they do so Koba (the last to leave) angrily glares at Malcolm and the other humans before leaving the city with his people.
Turning against Caesar
Malcolm, the co-founder of the human colony, entered the Ape Village where he attempts to make peace with the apes to gain access to a hydroelectric generator at a dam in their territory, which could provide long-term power to the city. Koba encouraged Caesar to let him kill Malcolm and to wipe the other humans out while they are still desperate. However, seeing prospects for peace, Caesar allowed Malcolm and his group access to the dam provided they work unarmed. This angers Koba who begins to show signs of rebelling against his leader for being merciful to the race that caused so much pain and grief in the past. Koba claims that if the humans get more power, they will become more dangerous, but Caesar reasons that if the humans are left to do their work then they will leave. Feeling betrayed, Koba reminds Caesar of the abuse he suffered at the hands of humans, pointing to his multiple scars and finishing with his blind eye as; "Human work!". His defiance starts a sudden silence in the village as Caesar stands up above Koba, but Koba escapes the conflict by asking his king for forgiveness, which Caesar accepts. Koba then leaves in shame and disappointment.
Usurpation
The following day at the river dam, Caesar and several apes accompany the humans to keep an eye on them as they work, all except for Koba. Caesar asks Maurice where the bonobo has gone, which the orangutan tells him; "Still angry… Said he was going hunting".
Meanwhile in San Francisco, Koba with Grey and Stone spy on the human armory and sees they have enough weapons to wipe out all of his people with that he quickly heads back to the village to warn Caesar. But Koba is caught in the act by two human guards who threaten him, yet he manages to catch them off guard by playing dumb and walking away, rolling his eyes in frustration.
Upon reaching the village and searching for Caesar, he speaks with Blue Eyes who tells him that Caesar is at the dam with the humans. Arriving at the dam he attacks Alexander and when the human boy remarks about this Koba moves to hurt Alexander more only for Maurice and Malcolm to stand between them with this action he angrily shouts for Caesar to come out to which he does. Koba confronts Caesar about his tolerance of the humans, saying that they threatened his sons, but he still lets them work on the dam. Koba goes onto rant about his leader's tolerance to humans, accusing Caesar of loving them more than apes and even more than his own sons. Enraged by Koba's insolence, Caesar attacks Koba and beats him so badly he draws blood. Caesar nearly strangles Koba to death, but stops himself at the last moment after remembering the "Ape Not Kill Ape" law. As he lies on the floor, the beaten and bleeding Koba looks to his fellow apes for help, but they avoid his gaze, though the humans continue to stare at Koba. With no other choice, Koba submits and begs Caesar to forgive him. Caesar accepts and Koba leaves the dam immediately afterwards. This fight proves to be the breaking point in their relationship as the furious, traumatized, and utterly humiliated Koba secretly makes plans to usurp Caesar and deal with the humans.
Later, Grey asks a sulking Koba why he did not tell Caesar about the large collection of guns in the city under human guard, but the bonobo responds that they will keep it a secret. Koba later approaches Blue Eyes, the former broken after having lost Caesar's trust in him, and warns his honorary nephew to protect his father, claiming to continue fearing for Caesar's safety as long as the humans remained within the ape territory. He later returns to the armory targeting range where he was caught before, managing to run into the same two human guards again. Playing dumb, Koba "plays" with the intoxicated men and steals an M4A1 assault rifle from them, waving it around like a plaything before suddenly opening fire and killing them both with it. He leaves the area with his new weapon and rushes back to the forest along with his followers.
That night, power is restored to San Francisco. The humans rejoiced and Malcolm's team celebrated with the apes. Meanwhile, Koba ambushes Carver and beats him to death, taking his hat and lighter as trophies. Returning to the Ape Village, he has his two followers secretly set a part of the village alight. In hiding, Koba uses the assault rifle to shoot Caesar in the shoulder as the two lock eyes, apparently killing him as the latter falls off a ledge into the darkness below. Koba then leaves the rifle and Carver's hat at the scene of the shooting. As the ape colony enters a frenzy with the loss of their king and homes, Blue Eyes appears with the gun and Carver's baseball hat and gives them to an arriving Koba, who takes advantage of the confusion to blame the humans for Caesar's death and burning the colony's home. Manipulating Blue Eyes and the other apes, he takes up the mantle of alpha for himself and orders war with the humans as the only option to "avenge" Caesar.
Leading his people into madness
Assuming leadership, Koba orders the young and females into hiding and leads the male apes to war in San Francisco. The apes overwhelm the armory and charge the gates of the high rise, peppering the unprepared humans with gunfire. During the battle, Koba's horse is quickly killed at the beginning of the battle, along with many other apes. The apes become worried as they suffer many casualties and consider retreating, but Koba does not give up. He picks up a dead ape's gun, jumps onto another horse by pushing the ape already on the horse off it and after grabbing a second gun, he begins shooting at the humans, killing several of them. Blue Eyes, Luca and several apes watch in shock as Koba shows colors and violence like no other ape had ever shown before. Just as he is about to enter the humans' main building, a tank, supporting the humans appeared and frequently fires rockets and bullets at the apes, killing many of them. Enraged, Koba bravely attacks and takes control of the tank, using it to enter the humans' main shelter by knocking down a pillar, which in turn knocks down the door.
After heavy casualties, Koba and the remaining apes begin to capture the surviving humans. Koba eventually corners two humans (who were attempting to resist the apes), disarming one of them and orders Ash to kill the unarmed man, but the young chimpanzee refuses to do so, citing Caesar's teachings. Koba pats Ash's back as if to console him, but then seizes him by the neck and roughly drags Ash up some stairs to the top of a balcony. Koba then ruthlessly kills Ash by throwing him off the balcony to his death. He then tells the terrified apes that Caesar is gone and they follow him now. All the present apes, especially Blue Eyes, are shocked and horrified by Koba's murder of Ash, but are too afraid to stand up to him.
After this, Koba has his army round up any human survivors left in the city, declaring they are the apes prisoners and will know life inside a cage. He also imprisons Caesar's remaining sympathizers on a bus adjacent to the humans; these apes include Maurice, Rocket, Luca and several others. With this act, Koba essentially became the ruthless tyrant, that both humans and the other apes feared the most.
Battle with Caesar
Blue Eyes later learns his father is alive, and by himself, manages to free the imprisoned humans and Caesar's loyalists. The freed apes join Caesar and travel to the summit of the high rise to confront Koba who is surprised to see Caesar still alive before jumping down to confront him.
At first, it established a frenzied argument between the two apes as Koba states that the apes now follow him, but Caesar remarked that they follow him to war with the humans. Koba, however proudly states they will win the war with him leading them, saying "Apes together strong!" He mocks Caesar by saying "Caesar weak", but Caesar, unhurt and defiant, quietly retorts "Koba weaker". Enraged, Koba attacks his former friend and the two apes engage in a brutal fight. Koba initially has the upper hand easily, managing to land several blows on Caesar and push him off a girder. However, Caesar manages to pull Koba down with him, and in the fall, a rod stabs Koba in the side, wounding him. More furious than before, Koba grabs a metal bar and chases Caesar around the tower, trying to beat him with the bar, while the other apes can do nothing but watch.
Eventually, Koba corners Caesar on a ledge, but Caesar grabs a piece of metal to use as a shield. The two apes trade words on what caused this with Caesar stating he had loved and trusted Koba like a brother, while the latter remarks that Caesar is a brother to humans while Koba fights for apes to free them from tyranny. Caesar angrily rebukes Koba's claims stating "Koba fight for Koba", and he belongs in a cage, which leads the bonobo to attack him even more angrily. Koba eventually manages to knock away Caesar's makeshift shield, but as the bonobo tries to deliver the deathblow, Caesar manages to strike Koba's wounded side several times, weakening the bonobo and making him drop his weapon. Enraged, in pain, and weaponless, Koba nevertheless continues fighting. While Caesar and Koba battle to establish supremacy, C-4 explosives (implanted by Dreyfus) detonate underneath the tower, injuring and killing several apes.
As Caesar and others assist the injured and trapped from the falling debris, Koba finds Grey trapped under debris. He lifts the debris and picks up Grey's assault rifle, but then callously drops the debris, leaving his former follower trapped. Koba wildly shoots at Caesar, killing one of the apes Caesar rescued and forcing the rest of the apes to run for cover. Blue Eyes throws some building debris at Koba, to which he angrily retaliates by firing at Blue Eyes, injuring Maurice in the process. After viewing what Koba has done to Maurice and the other apes, Caesar furiously dives at Koba, knocking him off guard and sending the two tumbling down a platform. Caesar falls to safety while Koba is left dangling on a ledge clinging for dear life.
Death
Koba, hanging from the ledge, starts climbing and pleads with Caesar to save him, hypocritically citing the "Ape not kill ape" law. Caesar, grabs Koba's hand and starts to pull him up, relieving Koba until he notices the look on Caesar's face as he looked upon the trauma Koba has caused and hears him say in a dark tone: "You are not ape". Caesar then lets go of the surprised Koba's hand and lets the evil ape fall from the tower to his death, thus putting an end to the rogue ape's reign of terror. The remaining apes then cheer on Caesar while the latter briefly mourned Koba's death, as he had previously been like a brother to him.
War for the Planet of the Apes
Despite Koba being dead at the time of the Human-Ape War, Caesar and other apes still lived under his shadow, including Maurice who compared Caesar to Koba at one point because of Caesar's lust for revenge against humans. Koba was mentioned when Caesar stated to the captured soldiers that he was not the one who started the war, but Koba who he killed for his vile actions. Koba appears in two hallucinations of Caesar, where he continually haunts Caesar. His first appearance in a hallucination is after Caesar inadvertently kills Winter, reminding him that he just killed an ape and broke his rule. Koba's second and final appearance was Caesar's hallucination during his torture, where he scolded Caesar saying that he cannot save the rest of the apes, and that he should join him in the afterlife.
Legacy
After his death, Koba's actions had a great effect on the other apes, as his hatred and attack on humans made it impossible for the apes to have peace with them, and caused an impending war with humans to come. Therefore, Koba got exactly what he wanted in death; war with the humans.
Koba went down in history as a traitor and monster to the San Francisco Ape Colony. However, several apes defected from the Ape Colony due to being more loyal to Koba, the ape having become a de-facto martyr to apes like Red. These apes, minus Red as he redeemed himself by saving Caesar from the soldier Preacher, were later wiped out in the final conflict with the Alpha-Omega.
Caesar even made sure that it was known to all whether apes or humans, that he was not the one who started the war, but Koba and he revealed that he killed him but it did not stop the progressing conflict, Caesar was also haunted by Koba's actions psychologically as well, consistently having dreams of Koba taunting him about his decision to kill him. Caesar himself would go on to feel he was gradually becoming like Koba as the war progressed. Koba starting the war with humans also led to the deaths of Caesar, Cornelia, Blue Eyes, and Luca, indirectly making him responsible for their deaths.
When Caesar had the opportunity to kill Colonel J. Wesley McCullough, the very man responsible for the deaths of Cornelia and Blue Eyes, he chose not to, instead allowing the latter to kill himself, this proved that Caesar did not allow his hatred to completely consume him, something that Koba was incapable of doing.
Grey, who witnessed Koba "playing" with the two guards, told the story to other apes and it became a popular tale known as "How Koba played the Fool." Maurice would later write down the story in a book to Caesar's young son, Cornelius.
In Caesar's Story, which Maurice wrote to Cornelius, Maurice wrote in Koba's legacy. He called him "Koba the Betrayer". Maurice explained that the bonobo had suffered at the hands of humans more than most other apes, having lost his mother, been used for entertainment, and tortured in the name of science, which led him to hate humans more than any other ape. Despite this, Koba proved his loyalty to the ape colony many times, and his saving Caesar's life several times meant that Cornelius would never have been had Koba not been around. Maurice believes that if the events triggered by the return of the humans had never happened, Koba would never have decided to betray Caesar and would have instead eventually died of old age as a loved and respected member of the ape colony. By usurping Caesar and starting the war between humans and apes, Koba caused countless deaths and great suffering on both sides. Maurice never found out why Koba chose to imprison him and Caesar's other loyalists instead of killing them immediately like he did with Ash. He suspects it may have been either because Koba wanted to find a way to convince them to swear loyalty to him, or just taunt them with his victory. Maurice does not know for sure because Koba was not a simple ape; he had once loved Caesar as much as he was capable of loving anyone, and when love twists into hatred, it can cause thinker to have strange thoughts. Maurice also suspected that the reason Koba chose the unfinished skyscraper as his new home was because he felt a sort of kinship with it: they were both "unfinished"; the tower had never been fully built, and Koba had not been raised correctly.
Koba's impact endures even generations after Caesar's demise, as numerous apes continue to exhibit violent and power-seeking behavior. One notable example is Proximus Caesar, an ape who distorted Caesar's teachings to pursue global supremacy. As Caesar foresaw, apes mirror human nature, evidenced by Proximus and his followers who persist in wreaking havoc, asserting control over the world, and subjugating humans as mere livestock, fueled by their belief in Koba's ideology.
Physical Appearance
Despite being a bonobo, Koba was large, having an equal height to a chimpanzee, and muscular with a grizzled, greying black fur with several small patches missing. Being a continuous lab experiment had left him heavily scarred and deformed; he developed scoliosis, which made the left side of his body more curved than his right, and the left side of his hunched back is more pronounced than the lowered right side. He had several notable scars, most notably a long, jagged gash that ran from his left forehead, through his eye, which was blind and milky white, and into his cheek, a second scar on his right forearm that ran from his wrist to his elbow, and a third scar that marred the left side of his neck. He also had a couple of notches in his right ear. Koba's right eye was originally brown, but after being exposed to ALZ-113, the iris turned green and his sclera white.
In Dawn, Koba adorned himself with white chalk on his face and torso, reminiscing a skeleton, during a hunt. He also sustained a horizontal cut on his left side during his fight against Caesar for the Ape colony before his death.
Personality
Koba was the most dangerous enemy that apes and humans alike had ever faced. He was highly intelligent, belittling, ruthless, violent, cruel, sadistic, unstable, manipulative, and vindictively vengeful. This traits stem from the fact that Koba was cruelly mistreated by abusive humans and experimented on by human scientists, to the point where he was garnered a hateful obsession and genocidal intentions towards humanity as a whole.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Koba, traumatized and disordered by the years of experimentation, abuse, and neglect he had received, was psychologically unbalanced and extremely vengeful, with a bitter grudge against humans, most notably Steven Jacobs. Highly intelligent and bitterly cynical, Koba enacted his revenge on Jacobs at the climax of the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, by ruthlessly pushing him to his death without saying a word and with a cruel, malevolent glare flashing in his eyes. He was also short-tempered, aggressive, ruthless, strong, vindictive, powerful and had a strong hatred for humans due to them treating him like a guinea pig and torturing him with their research. In fact, his hatred and vengeance was the cause of humanity's downfall due to him pulling off his gas mask and putting on the face of Robert Franklin and infecting him with the ALZ-113 that would later affect all of humanity. Koba considered all humans to be enemies, as shown when he attacked and tried to kill Will despite the latter showing him some kindness, though this is arguably understandable considering Will experimented on Koba.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm
When he was young, Koba was kind, friendly, curious, playful and naïve, as he deeply loved his mother, enjoyed playing and signing, and believed that apes who did not use sign language were "big black caterpillars". He was rather kind, as he let a caterpillar go after playing with it instead of pointlessly squashing it. He did not hate humans as he was very close to his kind human handler/caregiver Mary and identified himself with humans due to Mary raising him like one.
However, after losing his mother and subsequently suffering for years under the heel of abusive humans, Koba became depressed, embittered, aggressive, and hateful, with an instinctive desire to scare off or outright kill any human he saw. He lost all trust and affection he once had for humans, including Mary, whom he concluded had lied to him that he was human. Koba's traumatic experiences appeared to have blinded him (both literally and figuratively since one of his abusive owners, Tommy, burned out one of his eyes) to the point that he absolutely refused to believe any human could be good. Malakai Youmans noted that Koba's hateful expression was identical to those he had seen on the faces of child soldiers he had encountered in Central Africa. Throughout Firestorm, Koba showed several signs of having Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder, most notably suffering from flashbacks and nightmares, and showing reluctance to emotionally connect with others.
Despite his past experiences, hatred of humans and internal suffering, Koba did still have a kinder side which he occasionally showed when he was in the company of his own kind who truly understand and can relate to what he went through. He notably showed this when he offered Maurice fruit and empathized with him over their shared experience of being abusively trained by humans for entertainment. Koba was shown to be very loyal and respectful towards Caesar for freeing him from captivity. In fact, Koba proved that his loyalty to his fellow apes was stronger than his hatred of humans when he chose to save Rocket over an opportunity to kill a mercenary. However, he was also ambitious, desiring a high position in the ape colony, though he had no desire to take Caesar's place as alpha.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Koba appeared to have become rather laid-back and level-headed in the ten years since his liberation; a good and brave warrior who was willing to risk his life for his fellow apes and offered compassion to the apes who are in pain. He served as a mentor to the younger generation of apes, especially his honorary nephews Blue Eyes and Ash, the sons of his close friends, Caesar and Rocket. Koba shows this specifically when he constantly supported Blue Eyes and acted as another role model or second father in his life, whether it be saving his life, or telling him that his scars made him strong. Koba genuinely cared for his fellow apes during the period of time in which they thought the humans had died away.
However, Koba's fear and hatred of humans, as well as his unsatisfied desire for vengeance, were reborn when humans were rediscovered ten years after the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge. Because of his past experiences with humans, Koba firmly believed they could never be trusted and should be wiped out before they had a chance to oppress the apes again. Because of his hatred towards humans, Koba showed no guilt or remorse in wanting to hurt or kill them, no matter their actions, which was shown during his scenes with Malcolm and Alexander. Koba saw all humans as nothing but threats and desired for all of them to suffer just as he did.
Although Koba deeply respected and admired Caesar, he was incapable of understanding his sympathy and compassion for humans, which Koba viewed as dangerously naïve. Thus, Koba became disillusioned with Caesar when he agreed to work with the humans to rebuild their city-powering dam, as he believed this would make the humans too dangerous to deal with. Koba's disagreement with Caesar's decision led him to go behind his leader's back to discover the full extent of the "threat" the humans pose. After discovering the humans' vast armory, Koba immediately concluded that they could wipe out the apes and intended to warn Caesar, showing that despite his resentment of Caesar's decision, he was still loyal to him. However, after Blue Eyes revealed that Caesar was still allowing Malcom's group to work on the dam even after one of them broke the deal of bringing in no guns and attacked Cornelius, Koba took this as a sign that Caesar cared more for humans than apes. As a result, Koba lost his temper, forgot his intent to warn Caesar, and instead insolently accused Caesar of loving humans more than apes, causing a fight between the two which Koba lost.
After being beaten and humiliated by Caesar in front of the ape colony and Malcom's group, Koba's already unstable psyche and emotional state appeared to break completely, driving him to embrace his darkest instincts and desires, and lose all care of who stood in his way of fulfilling them. In fact, any feelings of love and loyalty Koba felt toward Caesar and his fellow apes appeared to have evaporated after the humiliating beating. Still determined to get rid of the humans, he became willing to do whatever it took to do so. Despite Koba's previous gratitude and long-time loyalty to Caesar for saving him from captivity, this did not stop him from gunning down his old friend in the end or putting his ape brethren in harm's way, showing that Koba's hatred and lust for revenge against humanity had won out over his loyalty to his fellow apes, and had also given him a desire for power that made him dangerously treacherous.
During the course of Dawn, Koba started to show alarming signs of chronic mental disorder, the main traits of this being extreme violence, egomania, and incapacity for guilt or remorse. Koba became maniacal and delusional, his abusive past inspiring him to take violent action against humans, to the point of being extremely bloodthirsty, cruel, and sadistic towards them, which was shown by him gunning down humans left-right-and-center during battle with hateful glee, and later having the surviving humans caged as poetic revenge for his abusive past, though he intended to kill them all later. This showed that Koba's hatred of humanity was genocidal and irrational. However, in his quest for power and revenge, Koba became almost as ruthless and violent to his fellow apes as he was to the humans he hated so much. This was seen when Koba set fire to the Ape Village in order to incite them into action against the humans, and later established himself as a tyrannical dictator to his people when he mercilessly threw Ash to his death for disobeying Koba's orders to kill an unarmed man, and imprisoned any other apes still loyal to Caesar, even Maurice and Rocket, with whom Koba had previously been friends. However, even though he was willing to sacrifice other apes, Koba did not sink low enough to sacrifice the women and children apes, as he only brought along the males for war while having the young stay with the females in the woods.
Koba was also very cunning and devious; he manipulated Blue Eyes, Caesar's son, to fight by his side, and also staged Caesar's supposed death and the destruction of the ape colony's home, whilst blaming the humans who would have been the most obvious threat to the colony. Koba was highly intelligent and astute, sharing the same cerebrality as Caesar, even if his path of thought was far more erratic than Caesar. Koba's concept of being incredibly manipulative was piqued when he successfully made two human soldiers think he was stupid by using the tricks he had learned from Tommy to act silly, and was even able to fake playfulness with guns. However, Koba showed his true colors to the soldiers when, during one encounter, after entertaining them with his feigned stupidity, he shot them both with their own gun without a second thought and with considerable pleasure.
Koba shared the same charisma as Caesar, but he wasted his oratory and leadership talents by resorting to violence, oppression and tyranny. He preferred to use force rather than diplomacy to settle differences with an opponent. Koba was also a person of excellent intelligence and cunning, shown by him destroying the colony home to further enrage them, as well as attempting to kill Caesar, whilst simultaneously framing the humans in the process. Also, he was also a meticulously powerful tactician, shown by his proficiency in leading the human holocaust at the climax of the film. However, in his belief that physical power solved everything, he was powerless when Caesar used psychological warfare shown in their fight.
Koba was also a "scleptomaniac", which was shown by his gleeful use of machine-guns during the Battle in San Francisco, the burning of the Ape Village, and when he opened fire on Caesar and the other apes on the human tower.
Koba quickly became a selfish hypocrite; during his showdown with Caesar he screeched to his former friend that he fought for apes. The fact that he believed this only confirmed his insanity as Koba showed an increasingly dangerous lack of concern for his fellow apes, which is evidence in how he aforementioned murdered Ash without a second thought when he refused to kill two unarmed humans as he was ordered to do, and once again when Koba took a final attempt to murder Caesar and in doing so left a wounded ape to die. He was also willing to push other apes out of the way or use the tools other apes were using, such as when he knocked an ape off of his horse when Koba wanted it, and when he took the guns of fellow apes whenever he wanted more.
Koba was extremely arrogant, as he believed that Caesar's compassion and respect for humans made him weak and believed he was unfit to rule as king, which was quite the opposite. After Caesar refused to agree with his belief that the humans should be wiped out, Koba believed he would be a far better leader then Caesar. Unfortunately, he proved to be a tyrannical leader as well as the fact he was weaker then Caesar; in terms of intelligence, wisdom, strength and leadership. Koba was also extremely unreasonable, as even after Caesar pointed out that starting a war with the humans would result in a high loss of life on both sides, Koba still chose to go through with his plan of overthrowing/apparently killing his former friend, Caesar and starting a war with the humans.
When pushed into a corner, Koba resorted to begging as seen when he pleaded to Caesar to save him despite his attempts to kill him and killing many apes. He tried to (ironically and unsuccessfully) use the "Ape not kill Ape" law to his advantage, but was surprised that his actions hardened Caesar enough to both disregard the law and disown him as an ape. Koba's last act in life was to scream in defiant rage.
Abilities
- Animal Strength: Koba was powerful and strong; this was displayed when he beat ape-hater Carver to death in the dead of night, and when he took over a man-driven infantry fighting vehicle, both times with just his bare hands and without any difficulty. However, Koba's strength was ultimately inferior to Caesar's but it was more a question of biology.
- High-Level Intellect: Even before he was exposed to the ALZ-113, Koba had some level of intelligence, as he silently planned to kill Jacobs by acting docile with his handlers. After he was exposed to the ALZ-113 at Gen-Sys Laboratories by Will - and his team - who tested it on him, he became much more intelligent than before, though it was unknown how much his advanced intelligence and IQ had increased.
- Expert Hand-To-Hand Combatant: Despite his advanced age, Koba was an exceptionally skilled hand-to-hand combatant; near the climax of the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, the scarred bonobo proved himself to be a capable close-range fighter, being able to grab and throw a police officer with great ease. He was also capable of holding his own against the much younger Caesar. While in their first brief, but brutal, brawl, Caesar defeated him easily, the second fight was a long, ferocious duel, which Koba initially dominated, putting up an extremely savage offensive against Caesar (who was still recovering from his wounds). However, despite being a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant in his own right, Koba's combat skills were ultimately inferior to Caesar's; the bonobo was forced to resort to using an iron bar as a weapon against his former friend when he found that hand-to-hand combat was not enough to overpower him. Even then, he ultimately was outmatched, Caesar wounding him with a cut on his abdomen that he exploited to force Koba onto the defensive.
- Skilled Marksman: Koba was surprisingly proficient in the use of firearms. During the assault on the human settlement in San Francisco, he used both an M4A1 with an ACOG scope and an M249-SAW.
- Expert Horse Rider: Koba was able to ride a horse with incredible ease, even when carrying a spear or dual-wielding machine guns.
- Sign Language: Like Caesar, Koba knew American Sign Language and used it as a means of communication. Koba was taught sign language by his human caregiver Mary, though it is unknown how skilled he was before being exposed to the ALZ-113. What is known is that he exceeded his handlers expectations, being recognized as one of the leading apes in the facility.
- Speech: After being exposed to the ALZ-113, Koba had gained the ability to speak, shown when he yelled at the humans in the woods and verbally berated Caesar for his tolerance of humans. His speech (like Caesar's) was near complete, as he was able to tell the humans that he had captured they would be exposed to the torment he had faced and also spoke out against Caesar on numerous occasions.
- Expert Leader: Like Caesar, Koba was a natural leader, as he was able to take control over the scared ape population in a matter of seconds and successfully lead them to victory; despite the many deaths of his army. He also rallied enough support that Apes (like Red) still followed his methods after his death.
- Expert Tactician: Like Caesar, Koba was a brilliant tactician; he was a brilliant orator and could rally whole hordes of delusional and angry apes in a crisis that he (ironically) started. Combining oratory skills, brutality, and propaganda, Koba was a deadly enemy on the battlefield. He used such to temporarily become the alpha of the San Francisco Ape Colony, though he ultimately lost such when Caesar challenged him.
- Pain tolerance: Due to his torturous time as a lab ape, Koba appeared to have a fairly high tolerance for physical pain. This was notably shown in Firestorm when he chose to keep his eyes open when he ran through a painful cloud of tear gas, and in Dawn when he continued to fight Caesar despite being wounded in his side.
Relationships
- See Koba/Relationships.
Quotes
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
- "Don't feel bad Blue Eyes. Scars make you strong."(Signed) - Koba to Blue Eyes.
- "Must attack them now! Before they attack us!" - (Signed) Koba during the Ape Council meeting.
- "For years I was a prisoner in their lab. They cut me...Tortured me. You freed me, I would do anything you ask. But we must show strength!" - (Signed) Koba to Caesar.
- "If they get power, they'll be more dangerous! Why help them?!" - (Signed) Koba to Caesar.
- "(Chuckle) Human work? (Points to scar behind ear) Human work. (Points to scar on forearm) Human work. (Points to scar running down face) HUMAN WORK!" - Koba reacting angrily to Caesar's willingness to let humans work within the Ape Village (Spoken).
- "Enough guns here to kill every ape. Must warn Caesar." - (Signed) Koba after discovering the humans' armory.
- "Humans attack your sons, you let them stay?! Put apes in danger! Caesar love humans more than apes! More than your sons!" - Koba berating Caesar for his sympathy towards humans (Spoken).
- "Forgive me." - Koba submitting after being beaten by Caesar (Spoken).
- "Humans kill Caesar, burn ape home! Go get them! Apes must attack human city! Fight back! Come! Fight for Caesar!" - Koba rallying the apes after Caesar's alleged assassination at the hands of the humans (Spoken).
- "We will avenge your father's death!" (Signed) - Koba to Blue Eyes.
- (Grey) "Followed the humans here. Hiding everywhere!" (Signed) (Koba) "We must capture them all!" (Signed) - Koba orders Grey to capture all the humans.
- "Go ahead Ash...Make humans pay". - Koba encouraging Ash to kill an unarmed human (Signed).
- "Caesar gone. Apes follow Koba now." - Koba after murdering Ash for insubordination (Spoken).
- "Humans, you ape prisoner! Now you will know life in cage! More humans out there! Go! Find them!" - Koba to human prisoners (Spoken).
- (Koba) "Caesar has no place here, apes follow Koba now." (Caesar) "Follow Koba to war."(Koba) "Apes win war! Apes together strong! Caesar...Weak."(Caesar) "Koba...Weaker." - Exchange between Koba and Caesar prior to battle (Spoken).
- "Caesar brother to human! Koba fight for ape! Free ape!" (Caesar) "Kill Ape. Koba fight for Koba. Koba... belong in cage." - Koba during battle with Caesar (Spoken).
- (Koba) "Ape...not...kill...ape." (Caesar) "You...are...not ape." - Koba and Caesar prior to Koba's death (Spoken).
- "No!" - Koba's last words as he plummets to his death (Spoken).
War for the Planet of the Apes
- (Koba) "Sleep. You can not save ape. Apes… all… die... here." (Caesar) "No." (Koba) "Yes. Join... me." - Koba speaks to Caesar in a hallucination while he is tied up and is slowly starving to death. (Spoken)
Notes
- Koba was an anti-hero in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the main antagonist of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. He makes brief reappearances as a hallucination to Caesar in War for the Planet of the Apes.
- Koba was named after Joseph Stalin, who used "Koba" as a nickname before the Russian Revolution.[5]
- Perhaps coincidentally, the Niokolo Koba National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the only protected area in Senegal known to have wild chimpanzees.[6]
- Koba is a bonobo, a species of ape found to the south of the Congo River in Africa. Once thought to be chimpanzees, they have been classified as a separate species.
- Koba is partly responsible for the ALZ-113 pandemic because he exposed Robert Franklin who was not wearing a breathing mask while the 113's feed tube was loose. This makes Carver's statement somewhat true about apes having already "killed off half the planet".
- Koba may be based on two real life apes: Kanzi, a bonobo who mastered keyboard communication at Georgia State University (and whose name also starts with the letter "K"); and a wild, aggressive chimpanzee named Saddam, who was known to have murdered a number of children near the Kibale National Park in Uganda before he was hunted down by an angry mob.
- Asked about sequels, director Rupert Wyatt suggested one possible scenario in which Koba would take on the role as the main antagonist: "There's so much we can do. Whereas the story of the first film plays out as a fairy tale, the next film will play out as a Shakespearean sci-fi drama where you'll have Caesar as the leader of this revolution, but Koba would be the one leading his own troops wanting to wipe out humans in a genocide. But Caesar is more conflicted, and maybe Caesar needs Koba's assistance in terms of the conflict. And Maurice is his advisor and he's telling him to combine forces. Caesar needs the allegiance of the two, although he doesn't believe in what Koba believes in, which is complete genocide."[7] This portrayal of Koba might suggest similarities to Aldo, or to Stalin (also a significant influence on Animal Farm, a novel which Wyatt and Andy Serkis plan to film).
- An earlier version of the script gave Koba's official Gen-Sys designation as "Nanotherapy, beta version: Male Test Subject #11". The same script emphasised Koba's sinister nature, with the lab assistants noting that "some are born rotten". Before their revolt, Caesar and Rocket escaped from their facility and broke into the lab in search of Caesar's mother. In return for a bracelet, Rocket freed Koba, who then killed Robert Franklin before returning to his cage, effectively framing Caesar. After the revolt, Koba lingered behind the ape army, infecting Steven Jacobs with the fatal virus and following across the bridge after the path had already been cleared. A deleted scene on the Blu-Ray disc of Rise of the Planet of the Apes showed Jacobs being given the ALZ-113 by the devious Koba.
- In another deleted scene on the Blu-Ray and DVD version of the film, Koba finds a shotgun in the woods at the film's climax and learns how to use it by aiming at the screen and firing.
- Bonobos are similar to chimpanzees, except they are darker, slightly smaller and tend to have longer limbs and longer hair on the tops of their heads. While Koba acts aggressively in the film, in reality this would ultimately be unlikely, as bonobos are far less violent than chimpanzees.
- Out of all the apes that play active parts in Rise, Koba is the only one that did not inhale the ALZ-113 when Caesar released it on the other apes. He received the ALZ-113 at Gen-Sys Laboratories when Will and his team administered it to him.
- At age 26, Koba is one of the oldest apes to appear in the reboot films. In Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Koba was the second oldest after Buck who was 19 years old and the bonobo was only 16 years old.
- When Koba is left hanging from the ledge after being knocked down by Caesar, he attempted to use the "Ape not kill Ape" law to convince the latter to save him. Ironically, Koba himself has broken that rule on many occasions by killing Ash and several other apes during his attack on Caesar both of which led to his deserved end; this is most likely why Caesar declared he was not an ape.
- Koba did not know it at the time, but the manner in which he killed Steven Jacobs was a reflection of his own future. This is further supported by the circumstances of their deaths as both were hanging from a ledge pleading for help from Caesar who let them fall to a deserved end.
- Despite Koba's hatred for humans, his actions during Dawn of the Planet of the Apes have him appear more human-like than any of his fellow apes, even Caesar. For example, he speaks English the most fluently and coherently from exercising his vocal chords more often, he is the first of the Ape Colony to use a man-made weapon such as a gun when attempting to assassinate Caesar and waging war with the human survivors, and like the humans that once dominated the continents of the world, he is willing to kill members of his own kind in the pursuit of power and vengeance.
- Koba starting the Human-Ape War indirectly led to the death of Caesar.
- This is ironic as when Koba was alive he failed to kill Caesar twice and died himself.
Trivia
- Koba's relationship with Caesar, in Dawn, is a direct mirror of the relationship between "Caesar" from the original movie series and his leading military commander, General Aldo. In the fifth film, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, soon after the collapse of human civilization (through nuclear war) Caesar and Aldo become divided over how to treat surviving humans. Caesar wants to coexist with them, while Aldo wants to exterminate them. Coincidently, both Aldo and Koba fell to their deaths after their confrontations with their Caesars. Another thing between them is, while Koba is primary villain in Dawn, Aldo is a secondary villain in Battle.
- Toby Kebbell replaced Christopher Gordon as Koba in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes for unknown reasons.
- Director Matt Reeves regards Koba as a tragic figure whose horrific past, inner suffering, and hatred of humans drove him to villainy. He regards Koba's humiliation by Caesar at the dam as the breaking point for Koba, stating the humiliation was so bad Koba would never be able to "come back from it."
- Ironically, despite Matt's intentions for Koba to be seen as tragic, he was only partially successful: while a large number of people do regard Koba as tragic through and through, many other people lose all sympathy for him due to his selfishness, hypocrisy and increasing ruthlessness towards his fellow apes. In fact, Villains wiki and Pure Evil wiki has classified Koba as Pure Evil (at least the movie version of him.)
- Koba shares some similarities with Scar from the Disney film The Lion King:
- Both were uncles to their "nephews"; Blue Eyes/Simba. Though Blue Eyes was Koba's honorary nephew rather than his biological one, and Koba was genuinely compassionate to Blue Eyes at first, unlike Scar was to Simba.
- Both have a hatred of the leader of their clans (Caesar/Mufasa)
- Both take major control of their clans.
- Both have scarred left eyes.
- Both eventually try to kill their clan leader, however unlike Koba Scar actually succeeded in killing his leader, but was later killed by his successor.
- Both fall from a great height in a climactic battle with their respective rival (though unlike Koba Scar survives his fall, only to be killed by his scorned hyena minions afterward).
- In the article by Collider, Toby Kebbell revealed a huge chunk of Koba's backstory revealing how Koba has come to despise humans and how he became blinded in one eye. However, this contadicts with the events in the Firestorm novel.
- Koba is the first and only known bonobo to appear in the Planet of the Apes films. His first appearance was in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
- In spite of this, Koba looks little like a typical bonobo. Bonobos have longer legs, a less stocky body, and a darker face than chimpanzees. Koba however, appears only to have the darker face. His legs and body seem to be the same as that of the other chimpanzees who appear in the film.
- Though bonobos are normally peaceful and rarely resort to violence, Koba is extremely aggressive; in fact he is arguably the most violent ape in the reboot trilogy.
- This is probably due to his many years of imprisonment, abuse and torture.
- Though Koba is supposedly killed when Caesar drops him into the pit, sounds of moving rubble and an ape breathing hardly suggests that Koba is alive and breathing. He may have survived the fall, but succumbed afterwards.
- Koba is the first and only known bonobo to be killed by Caesar.
- In the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Official Movie Novelization, Koba is referred to as "One-Eye" in the humans' point of view.
- He is the third villain in the whole franchise, who appeared in two movies. First villain: Dr. Zaius: Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes Second villain: Kolp: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes Third villain: Koba: Rise and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
- He is the first villain in the whole franchise who appeared in three films.
- Koba had three known followers: Grey, Stone and Red. Ironically, Stone is the only who does not try to kill Caesar to avenge Koba who was redeemed himself and survived at the end.
- Toby Kebbell stated interest in playing Koba again in War for the Planet of the Apes, greatly implying Koba had survived. If he did return, he would have likely be a secondary antagonist, but producer Dylan Clark has confirmed that Koba is in fact dead. However, Koba does appear in War, where he only made two cameo appearances in Caesar's hallucinations.
Gallery
- See Koba/Gallery.
Appearances
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (novelization)
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (BOOM! Studios)
- War for the Planet of the Apes (novelization) (Caesar's hallucination)
- Planet of the Apes: The Simian Age
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm - The Official Movie Prequel
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- ↑ Caesar’s Story
- ↑ Planet of the Apes: The Simian Age
- ↑ Joseph Stalin, nicknames and pseudonyms
- ↑ Niokolo Koba National Park at A.P.E.S Wiki (a different kind of Apes Wiki!)
- ↑ Director Rupert Wyatt on the Film, Its Themes & The Sequel, by Ed Gross - ComicBookMovie.com (August 5, 2011)