Red

Red
Death	2028
Occupation	Soldier of the Ape Army (formerly) Member of the Gorilla Guard (formerly) Leader of Koba's Loyalists (formerly) "Donkey" for Colonel McCullough's forces
Race	Gorilla
Gender	Male
Status	Deceased
Continuity	Movies (CE)
Portrayed By	Ty Olsson
Voiced By	Ty Olsson
First Appearance	War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations
Last Appearance	War for the Planet of the Apes

You know...Colonel...shoot apes...when wall is done.
His wall...his madness...it won't save him...anymore than it will save you.
I save myself.
Is there anything left...of you to save?

Caesar sees through Red's façade, seeing his wavering resolve.

Red was an evolved gorilla and was one of Koba's followers who defected to Colonel McCullough's forces and has the word "DONKEY" tattooed on his back and the Greek symbols for Alpha and Omega branded on his right temple.

Biography

War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations

Red was shown early in the story to be questioning Caesar's leadership, disliking the fact that Caesar had let the humans go after killing Koba. He went on to convince Grey to leave Caesar's army to create a colony of their own, along with others that were loyal to Koba. Grey became their leader, though it was Red behind their schemes.

Red lured the humans to the building in which Caesar had hidden the females and young, knowing that the attack would prompt Caesar to send the females and their children back to the safety of the forest. Some of the Gorilla Guard accompanied them to keep them safe, Red included. However, Grey and the others in their secret group slipped away to follow them without Caesar's knowledge.

With the help of their group, Red and Grey managed to subdue the females and the Gorilla Guard, convincing them that Caesar and the ape army had all perished and that Grey was the new king. Cornelia had escaped, however, and they sent some of their loyal apes to find her with orders to kill her, so that the rest of the females, leaderless, would succumb to Grey's leadership.

When push came to shove, however, Grey stood against Red in his bid to kill Cornelia during the birth of one of the females. He stated that it was against custom and that they would wait until after the birth to seize the former queen. This enraged Red, who attacked Grey, and the two of them brawled until Red got hold of a gun and shot Grey point blank in the face, killing him. The gorilla was then descended upon by the females, and retreated in humiliation to have lost to their mob.

Captured by the Colonel

Two months later, Red and Koba's followers wandered throughout Northern California, trying to avoid been found by Caesar and the humans. After searching an abandoned gas station for food, Red and the other apes were ambushed by McCullough's forces, killing all but a wounded Red and a chimpanzee. Red was then taken prisoner by the humans alongside other apes they had captured as well. McCullough was outraged that none of the ape prisoners were Caesar and mockingly suggested asking Red if he could take him to Caesar while cocking and pointing his gun at the gorilla, preparing to kill him. Red then said yes to McCullough, leaving the human surprised that the gorilla could understand him. McCullough asked Red if he could take him to Caesar, to which the gorilla agreed, saying that Caesar was not the leader of him. Impressed, McCullough decided to spare Red's life for now. He then ordered his soldiers to get Red some bananas. Red later aided the Colonel during the battle against Caesar’s forces at the dam.

War for the Planet of the Apes

Fighting the Colony

Red was present with the group of soldiers who attacked one of Caesar's outposts in the forest, the gorilla providing ammunition and grenades for the soldiers to use. He was later captured, branded a traitor by the apes. However, he spoke out against Caesar's claims he feared him, prompting one ape to strike him to the ground.

A deal with Winter

Winter then forced him outside. However, Red managed to overpower the other gorilla, threatening to kill him if he didn't reveal where Caesar's main base was, resulting in Winter giving in but in exchange for his induction as one of the Colonel's "donkeys". Red agreed and returned to the humans, informing them of Caesar's location. As promised, he allowed Winter entry to be one of the Colonel's "Donkeys".

Red was later watched by Caesar, Luca and Maurice helping the soldiers pack their gear. A few days later, he encountered Caesar's apes, only with the soldiers, helping them capture nearly all the apes and helped string the near dead ones on crosses to be made an example of.

Capturing Caesar

He found Caesar near one cross trying to help his dying ape, before proceeding to knock him out with the butt of his rifle. The next day, Red was ordered to whip a captive orangutan until Caesar, also a prisoner, suddenly yelled at him to stop. Red brought Caesar before the Colonel and then whipped Caesar in the orangutan's place. However, he was surprised Caesar did not yield no matter how much he suffered. Red watched as the Colonel shot the orangutan and turned to kill Caesar before witnessing the apes get back to work to protect their captive king.

During his captivity, Caesar reminded Red that he was an ape and he would always be thought of as inferior by the humans. Red responded by telling him the Colonel wanted to see him.

Red brought Caesar before the Colonel and witnessed the heated argument between the pair before taking the prisoner away. A day later, he brought food to the apes and approached Caesar, seemingly to give him water but poured it on him at the Colonel's orders. This left the ape to the mercy of the cold winds. That night, he cut Caesar down and put him in the cage. He listened to the Colonel of putting Caesar to work if he survived the night after starving and being dehydrated.

Death

When Alpha-Omega came under attack by the Northern Army, Red is seen assisting the Alpha-Omega soldiers. During the fight, Red grew concern with the opposing humans slaughtering each other until an Alpha-Omega soldier ordered Red to reload a machine gun. After reloading the weapon, Red and the soldier spotted Caesar's troop leaving the base, but Red watched in horror as the solider opened fire at the fleeing apes. Red felt his allegiance wavering even more as the gorilla saw Rocket firing back until he ran out of bullets and a few apes getting killed while dragging their dead comrades. Horrified, Red was snapped out of his confliction as the solider called him Donkey and demanded a grenade launcher, infuriating Red as he obeyed and rummaged through the bags behind them.

Pulling out the launcher, Red spotted Caesar running through the gates as gunfire impact the ground around him, realizing the ape leader has remained behind. Spotting Caesar pulling a grenade from the belt around him, Red surmised that Caesar intends to blow up the fuel tanks, causing a chain reaction that will destroy the base, until Red saw Caesar struck down by an arrow to his right side. Watching Caesar turn to see Preacher, the shooter, Red realized he joined the wrong side and sealed his fate as the soldier yelled at him to bring the launcher. Obliging at first, Red rose to hand it over until he aimed it at Preacher and pulled the trigger, killing the archer before he killed Caesar. As a dazed Caesar turned to him, Red stood firm and displayed his pride as an ape as he accepted his fate when the soldier shot Red in the back of his head for his betrayal.

Legacy

Red's sacrifice allowed Caesar to gather enough strength to toss a grenade at the fuel tank, blowing up the Alpha-Omega facility, killing the Alpha-Omega soldier and Donkeys on the wall, and allowing the remaining apes to escape.

Personality

War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations

Red was shown to be defiant, as he challenged Caesar's leadership and disliked the fact that Caesar had let the humans go after killing Koba.

He was very manipulative, as he noticed Grey was treated coldly by Caesar for helping Koba go to war with humans. He would play on the latter's emotions and get him to desert Caesar's army and create a colony of their own, along with others that were loyal to Koba. He also allowed Grey to be the figure head, while he was really the mastermind behind the scheme. He even convinced the Gorilla Guard of Caesar and the ape army's fall, as well that Grey should be the new king. However, his plan backfired as Cornelia had escaped forcing him to send some of their loyal apes to find her with orders to kill her, so that the rest of the females, leaderless, would succumb to Grey's leadership.

Red was very underhanded, as he lured humans to the building in which Caesar had hidden the females and young, knowing that the attack would prompt Caesar to send the females and their children back to the safety of the foes, putting the colony at risk. Red was also merciless and showed no remorse in his acts, as he violently subdued the female apes to get them to comply. Red also killed Grey for refusing to carry out the rest of his plan and tried to carry them out himself.

Once his plan fell to shambles, Red decided to join the human army both as a need to survive and getting revenge on Caesar.

War for the Planet of the Apes

Now serving as one of the Donkeys, Red was very loyal to the Alpha-Omega and tried his best to be treated like an equal. He often use speech to use as a way to impress them while ignoring their disdain of apes.

When it comes to his former colony, Red showed no acts of mercy and aided his new human comrades in torturing them. However, he was willing to make a deal with Winter about serving as a donkey to save himself from death. Red showed no emotion to being called a traitor and when he insulted Caesar about his people being led to death. He took pleasure in torturing Caesar, during his capture and tried to help the Colonel break his spirits but was surprised that he didn't give in.

Red's loyalty to the human started to waver, as seen when he saw Caesar constant defiance and bravery, and being told that once the ape colony has fulfilled their purpose of building a wall would mean the death of Red and his fellow donkeys. When watching Caesar's herd being attacked by one of the soldiers and Caesar continuing to press on, Red feeling guilty and admiration towards Caesar redeems himself by killing his former close ally Preacher, when witnessing him nearly kill Caesar. Red saved Caesar's life, though at the cost of his own. Before dying, Red shared one last proud look with Caesar to symbolize that he sided with him once more.

Abilities

• Animal Strength: Like all gorillas, Red was extremely powerful and strong, able to carry grenade launchers for the humans and easily drag Caesar around (albeit with chains).

• High-Level Intellect: Red had been given the ALZ-113, through unknown methods, giving him increased intelligence. Despite such, he preferred to keep such secondary when with the soldiers, favoring to act as one of their "Donkey's".

• Expert Hand-To-Hand Combatant: Due to him being a former member of the Ape Army, Red was a capable fighter. He managed to overpower Winter, another gorilla with ease (off-screen) despite being restrained; he beat him to the point that he made the ape tell him where Caesar's hideout was so Red would spare his life. He also managed to gain the upper hand against Rocket, the second-in-command of Ape Army, in their brawl.
• Speech: Having been given the ALZ-113, through unknown methods, Red gained the ability of speech. He was taught how to speak by humans though his speech is broken mostly because he rarely used it. It also made him arrogant, using it to defy Caesar's status as alpha by speaking against him, much like Koba had once done. He rarely used it around the soldiers though, ultimately being subordinate to them.
• Expert Marksman: Red was capable of firing a grenade launcher over a distance with enough accuracy to kill a soldier, saving Caesar's life.

Relationships

• See Red/Relationships.

Notes

• Red was the main antagonist of the Revelations novel, the tertiary antagonist of the War comic books and the secondary antagonist turned anti-hero of War for the Planet of the Apes.
• He is the first gorilla to speak.

Trivia

• Unlike the other gorillas from the Ape Colony, he had red colored fur from his head extending to his shoulders and upper back. This may be the reason why he is named Red.
• He is portrayed by Ty Olsson, who previously played John Hamil in Rise.
• The name given to him before, "Donkey", is a reference to the name of the Nintendo character Donkey Kong. Coincidentally, both Red and DK are gorillas with brownish-red fur.
• The prequel novel Revelations confirmed this character's name to be Red, not Rex, as stated IMDB, perhaps mistakenly.
• It was Red who started the rebellion of Koba's followers against Caesar in Revelations.

Gallery

• See Red/Gallery.

Appearances

• War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations
• War for the Planet of the Apes (novelization)
• War for the Planet of the Apes (BOOM! Studios)
  • War for the Planet of the Apes #1
  • War for the Planet of the Apes #2
  • War for the Planet of the Apes #3
  • War for the Planet of the Apes #4