Lieutenant Varus was a gorilla soldier from Ape City. Thirty five years before Taylor's arrival, Varus was part of General Aleron's unit charged with clearing a community of humans from a cave system known as Hollow Cliffs on the edge of the Forbidden Zone. There, Aleron argued with Varus over whether the humans should be simply sealed into the caves - Aleron favoured a more humane solution. Inside a cave, the two fought until a human shot Varus with his own rifle. To hide the dangerous implications of this, Aleron sealed the cave with Varus' body inside, but rumours among the soldiers questioned whether Aleron himself had killed Varus, thus breaking the first law of the apes. Fifteen years on, Aleron discovered the ruthless attempts to stifle any challenge to traditional values, and after the excavation of the Hollow Cliffs and discovery of the bullet-damaged skull of Varus, Aleron was convicted of his murder and sent to the ape prison of The Reef, refusing to reveal the truth.
Notes[]
- Varus is exclusive to the continuity of the Planet of the Apes comic books published by BOOM! Studios.