Proximus Caesar was an evolved chimpanzee who became the ruler of a coastal clan of apes in hopes of advancing his clan to gain access to remnants of human technology. He twisted Caesar's teachings and began conquering other ape clans to use as slave labor while hunting down humans, putting him into conflict with Noa and Mae.
Biography
Early Life
At a certain point in his past, Proximus became aware of the legend surrounding the first evolved ape king, Caesar. He developed a deep admiration for Caesar and began to see himself as his representative, adopting the name "Proximus Caesar." However, he misinterpreted Caesar's teachings, manipulating them for his own gain. In his quest for power, he eliminated the knowledgeable members of the Order of Caesar, who were dedicated to preserving his teachings and legacy, to ensure that no one could challenge his distorted version of the truth. Alongside his devoted followers, including his trusted lieutenant Sylva and Lightning, Proximus founded his own realm—a Coastal Ape Colony situated on the western coast of North America. He became a tyrannical leader, wielding the symbol of Caesar, which he had appropriated from the Order.
Proximus aspired to obtain human technology to match their power in his time; he took an interest in a former military bunker in the coastal region. To access it, Proximus dispatched his followers to raid and abduct numerous ape clans, eliminating their leaders and assimilating the remaining members into his own kingdom, turning them into his slaves to expand his kingdom's population. This led to the formation of a great ape kingdom, with Proximus as the sole leader, taking on the name Caesar. He put the captured apes to work day after day, constructing more barriers for the dam and stacking as many explosive materials as possible into the hatch to open the vault.
Additionally, he commanded his loyalists to carry out attacks on ape clans and to hunt down humans, whether they were living in the wild or not. During one of these attacks, his loyalists managed to capture a human named Trevathan, who later became their teacher and educated Proximus about human history, specifically Ancient Rome. They also planned and executed a massacre of a human expedition that was searching for a bunker in order to obtain a decryption key to restore communication with the remaining human settlements in the world. Following the massacre, only a young woman named Mae survived. Upon learning this, Proximus instructed his followers to locate and capture her, believing that she might hold the key to accessing the stored weapons.
During a different period, his followers assaulted a village where Raka, one of the few remaining elders who upheld Caesar's teachings, resided.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Proximus Caesar doesn't appear until the later half of the film, but he has a big role within the story. In the start of the film, he sends his henchmen Sylva and Lightning along with other members of his clan to find Mae. His followers would eventually attack Noa's village, the Eagle Clan, capturing his people and killing his father Koro, also the Eagle Clan's leader, during a fight against Sylva.
Later, after Noa and Mae were found and captured by Sylva and Lightning, and Raka died in a raging river; they are brought to the kingdom, Proximus Caesar oversees their arrival and emerges. Singing his usual quota and encouraging his subjects, he makes several of them try to open the vault door with explosives, despite his efforts to motivate them, they all end up trapped when the chains injure or kill them. Proximus, deeply disappointed, ordered his subjects to retreat, stating that they would become stronger tomorrow, and abandons his post. He later invites Noa to dinner with Mae and Trevathan, where he is impressed with the young ape's journey to his kingdom with Mae, and then explains his desires to descend into "evolution", thinking that humans did "many wonderful things" as flying like eagles or speaking across the oceans.
Proximus then torments Mae about his map leading to her kingdom, claiming that the vault already belongs to him, and then tells Noa that he is served by apes like him, wishing to know how to enter the vault. When Noa replies that she doesn't know how, since Mae never told him, he angrily attacks her before bringing Noa into his sight. He asks what he sees, Noa replies that they are "kidnapped clans", but Proximus tells him that they are part of his "kingdom", justifying that it is for them and that humans should never be trusted at all. Claiming that Mae has come to restore humanity's dominant role, Proximus declares to Noa his intentions to destroy the remaining humans before they come after him and his kingdom and put them in cages again.
In the morning, Proximus Caesar confronts Noa, Mae, Soona and Anaya after opening the vault door with Dar, Noa's mother, captive. He was impressed by her ingenious plan to enter the vault and in retrospect, and left amazed by the military tanks. While praising Noa for being a "useful ape", he berates him for not understanding the concept of never trusting a human, is unamused by his naivety, and has Lightning take Soona hostage. He then forced Noa to come to a conclusion of choosing between humans or apes, while preparing to kill Soona depending on Noa's response before provocatively challenging him to tear him apart. Everything stops when Mae uses a gun she took to save Soona by killing Lightning, while Proximus cowardly allows her to leave before asking if the vault had similar weapons. At the cost of that, Mae, ignoring Noa's pleas, set the charge explodes the dam, Proximus' first instinct was to save himself before drowning and at that moment, he pushed Sylva and a chimpanzee aside.
Defeat
Having avoided drowning and reached the top of the mountain with the Eagle Clan, Proximus waited once Noa joins them, and proceeded to brutally beat him out of anger for destroying his kingdom. Soona, Dar and Anaya attempted to intervene, but Proximus roared at them to stay back as he continued to beat Noa and they could do nothing but watch the brutality. Proximus then prepared to force him to bow before killing the adolescent ape, and would force the clan to watch. Noa, however, musters the energy to sing the clan's song, which Proximus found amusing and believed Noa lost his mind. To his surprise, Anaya, Dar, Soona and the clan joined in, which unnerved the chimpanzee. He commanded they cease, but they didn't listen and Son-Eagle, Koro's bird, slashed Proximus' cheek and landed on Noa's arm. The enraged Proximus prepared to attack until he found himself overswarmed by the clan's eagles at their command, slashing and pecking into Proximus' flesh and forcing him to the ledge. A roaring Proximus looked at Noa, who commanded Sun-Eagle to deliver the final blow, sending him over the ledge and fell into the ocean after the eagles ceased their attack. It is currently unknown if he survived the fall or not.
Personality
Proximus Caesar was a tyrant king who was an obsessive admirer of Caesar. He believed himself to be the next Caesar, hence his name 'Proximus Caesar'. But instead of being compassionate, peaceful and kind like his idol, his personality is closer to Koba's; he was ruthless, tyrannical and loved solving things with violence.
Cunning and charismatic, Proximus uses speeches to charm his followers into obedience, preferring to smooth talk them than outright abusing them once he has control, as a servant accidentally spilling a plate is met with just an impatient demand to depart rather than punishment. While happy to use them as cannon fodder, whether sacrificing one as a shield or not caring that Mae killed Lightning, his large ever expanding kingdom running smoothly is his main focus. After Lightning’s death Proximus is eager to learn where the rest of the guns are located, offering Mae safe passage in return for the information.
Despite his distrust of humans and his belief that apes are the superior species on the planet, Proximus secretly holds a deep admiration for certain aspects of humanity. He is willing to spare humans who prove to be useful, and surprisingly, he develops a peculiar friendship with Trevathan. Proximus never stoops to the level of murder to maintain his reign, opting instead for persuasive tactics such as smooth-talking, encouragement, and manipulating Caesar's beliefs and laws. These methods are employed to uplift the morale of his own forces.
Abilities
- Genius-Level Intellect: As a descendant of evolved apes, Proximus Caesar has a high level of intelligence.
- Speech: Proximus Caesar is capable of speaking fluently.
- Animal Strength: Great apes are very physically strong, easily powerful enough to beat a human to death.
- Animal Speed: Just like other chimpanzees, Proximus Caesar can run on 4 limbs and could outrun a world-class human sprinter with ease.
- Animal Reflexes
- Animal Stamina
- Animal Endurance
- Expert Hand-To-Hand Combatant: Despite his privileged position, Proximus was a capable fighter, dominating Noa in hand-to-hand combatant. His muscular build added to his abilities, he threw Noa several feet away twice during their brief fight.
Relationships
Notes
- Despite being a descendant of evolved apes, Proximus Caesar's sclera, the outer layer of the eyes surrounding the irises, are dark colored; a trait normal apes have in real life.
- Even though he's the main antagonist, Proximus Caesar has less screen time than Sylva, the secondary antagonist.
- Its possible Proximus is a descendant of a member of the San Francisco Ape Colony, which could explain his knowledge of Caesar.
Trivia
- Proximus was portrayed by Kevin Durand in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.[1]
- Erik Winquist, one of the VFX artists for the film, said in the interview that Proximus is a dark-skinned chimpanzee, and not a bonobo.