Mendez Ten (or Mendez 10) was a mutant from New York who lost a power struggle with Lord Kolp and fled to 'Primacy' to start a new life.
Mendez Ten was a biological descendant of the first Mendez who occupied the West Coast Forbidden Zone in the late 20th/early 21st century. Mendez' genealogical line was restored to power, and extended into the 40th century, culminating with the Dynasty's final inheritor, Mendez XXVI, but whether or not 'Mendez' was the mutant's true birth name, or merely an honorarium is unknown.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes[]
Mendez X, as represented in the mutant city many centuries later
A bust bearing the name 'Mendez X' can be seen in the corridor leading to the interrogation room in the mutant city.[1]
Novels[]
Death of the Planet of the Apes[]
At some point, Mendez X, like his predecessors before him, stored his memories in an effigy, which imprinted his accumulated psyche, memories, and knowledge into a psionic phylactery meant to advise his bloodline. The knowledge within them accessible through mental communion and physical contact. Thousands of years later the bust would be sculpted to resemble his successor, Mendez XXVI.
Games[]
Planet of the Apes Roleplaying Game[]
Despite the longevity of the Mendez Dynasty, not everyone believed in the righteousness of the Fellowship’s cause. In the 24th century, Mendez X came to view the Alpha-Omega Bomb as an evil desecration destroying the subterranean society. Offended by such blasphemy, Lord Kolp, of the malevolent House of Kolp, overthrew his rival, framed him for murder, and exiled Méndez from the Holy City. Mendez X wandered the desert for days before collapsing. A gorilla named Julius, leading a chimpanzee expedition scouting for new farmlands, brought the mutant to an integrated ape-human society known as the Primacy, led by wise orangutan ape lawgiver Dogen. Lord Kolp’s army attempted to eradicate the village, but was defeated and forced to retreat. In the wake of this failure, it wasn’t long before the House of Kolp’s hold on the Fellowship faltered.
Lord Kolp’s own Inquisitors questioned his leadership after the Primacy debacle, and Mendez XI was chosen to replace him. This Mendez shared Kolp’s belief in the Bomb’s benign divinity, but not his warlike aggression, and the Mendez Dynasty prospered for generations thereafter. Kolp XVII made a bloody power play, but General of Defense Ygli VI quashed the rebels, subjected them to mind dissuasion, and exiled Kolp, his lieutenants Jaekel and Krador, and the entire House, completing the karmic circle. By the 3970s, the House of Kolp’s whereabouts are unknown.
Notes[]
- Mendez Ten first appeared as a bust in Beneath the Planet of the Apes. He was properly featured over 15 years later in the continuity of the Planet of the Apes comic books published by Malibu Graphics.
- He was indirectly mentioned in the novel Death of the Planet of the Apes, which states that every descendant of the original Mendez stored their collective consciousness in their respective effigy seen in the movie.
Appearances[]
- Beneath the Planet of the Apes (indirectly mentioned)
- Planet of the Apes: Forbidden Zone
- Death of the Planet of the Apes (indirectly mentioned)
- Planet of the Apes Roleplaying Game (mentioned)
See Also[]
- Mendez I
- Mendez II
- Mendez XI
- Mendez XII
- Mendez XIV
- Mendez
- Mendez XXVI
- Fellowship of the Holy Fallout
References[]
- ↑ The Beneath the Planet of the Apes novelization as well as the final shooting script by Paul Dehn indicates that all of the bronze busts featured in the cathedral's underground causeway were those of the entire Mendez family line.