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This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
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| “ | WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY! | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar's most famous quote as he addresses his ape loyalists. |
| “ | In their time, humans were capable of many great things, yes? They could level mountains, they could speak across oceans. They could fly, Noa. Like eagles fly! But now... we will learn. Apes will learn. I will learn, from what is inside that vault. | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar explaining his ambitions to Noa. |
Proximus Caesar is the main antagonist of the 2024 sci-fi action film Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth installment of the Planet of the Apes reboot franchise. He is the tyrannical king of the Coastal Ape Colony, a rogue clan of apes that proclaim to follow the ways and teachings of the late Caesar.
Gathering a faction of fanatically loyal guards that raid villages for new unwilling recruits, Proximus sets his eyes on unlocking the gate to a vault full of human knowledge and technology as a means of empowering his kingdom and uniting all clans under his rule through pure force. He was the arch-enemies of Noa and Mae.
He was voiced and motion-captured by Kevin Durand, who also played the Black Knight Ghost in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Oshima in Big Momma's House 2, Martin Keamy in Lost, Blob in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Gabriel in Legion, Setrakus Ra in I Am Number Four, Ricky in Real Steel, Mika in The Captive and Frederick Gideon and his demon in Locke & Key.
Appearance[]
Proximus Caesar is a muscular middle-aged chimpanzee who is mostly seen wearing Roman-themed monarch attire. His outfit consists from a bronze metal crown, a red cape coupled with orange/brownish shoulder pads attached with particles of scrap metal, golden bracelets, and a reddish, orange undergarments.
Personality[]
Proximus Caesar is an ambitious and cunning monarch with rather subtle and jovial mannerisms, followed by a desire to maintain control. Claiming to be in touch with Caesar's teachings, he instead proves to be a rather arrogant and duplicitous tyrant who represents the hypocrisy that goes against everything Caesar believes - such as being a charismatic manipulator who twists Caesar's legacy as his own future. He twists "ape together strong" from a mantra of unity to one that enforces servitude to his will. Proximus is also not above threatening the lives of other apes, thus breaking Caesar's "Ape not kill ape" oath in the process.
While claiming his desire to claim human knowledge and technology was for the benefit of his fellow subjects, saying it is "[our] time", Proximus seems more intrigued with further empowering himself rather than the betterment of other apes, and ultimately reveals his controlling nature in front of the very enslaved apes upon beating Noa in front of them.
On the other hand, Proximus happens to have admiration for humans upon having heard tales that quite exaggerate the "many great things" they were capable of; such as flying likes eagles or speaking far from many oceans. While he nevertheless is intrigued of such concepts, he held the inadequate belief that they are never too trusting to begin with, and believed they would retrieve back their weaponry to put apes back in cages. Even though he makes a point, it only further extinguishes his hypocrisy of enslaving apes and only wanting their technology to his benefit, therefore Proximus, for such things, is nowhere any better than the mistrusting humans he believes under paranoid circumstances. While he holds no value in human life (nor Ape life), he displays an appreciation and even excitement about certain human inventions, especially weaponry like firearms.
He showed an odd affection for Trevathan, his enslaved human inventor; even though the man was trapped, Proximus gave him living quarters with running water, and it is more comfortable and roomier than allowed to most of his own Apes. Proximus also expresses enthusiasm and gratitude to Trevathan when he reads textbooks, and particularly history, the latter receiving admiration from the Ape King, especially for the human capacity for conquest that he aims to emulate. While Proximus seems to like Trevathan, it is more akin to liking a pet, and it lacks any kind of respect. Despite such affection, the Ape indicated no concern about his human's disappearance and likely death.
He also seems to find some fondness in Noa, praising him for being a "brilliant and useful ape" to his expense than most apes he enslaved, being impressed with how he was able to fix a functioning electrocuting staff on his own and managing to find his way inside the vault. Despite this, it comes off being more conditional as it seems, to him, Noa was the perfect pawn to his benefit and was disappointed in his naivety of trusting humans, even going as far as to angrily beat him up for "ruining his kingdom".
Even with his Kingdom in ruins, Proximus remained intimidating enough to prevent the Eagle Clan helping Noa in the fight; Proximus showed vengefulness and sadism in his beating of Noa. When Noa started his song to summon eagles, Proximus - still confident and arrogant - was merely amused, though became irate when the whole clan began singing. In his final moments, Proximus showed more disbelief than fear when the attack of eagles drove him back, and he was too shocked to register his fall to his death, until halfway down, at which point he did scream in anger and terror.
Ultimately, Proximus has no redeeming or admirable traits, being nothing more than a callous tyrant seeking domination over ape and mankind alike. In addition, he is also a blatant hypocrite who doesn't believe he should be held to the same standards as everybody else.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Proximus Caesar was born 300 years after Caesar's death and eventually became the leader of a group of apes living by the coast. He idolized the famous Caesar and saw himself as Caesar's representative. He was fascinated by human technology and aimed to improve his clan. Unfortunately, he distorted Caesar's principles for his own gain, aiming to conquer other ape groups, eliminate their leaders, and absorb the survivors into his own clan as slaves to grow his power.
Furthermore, apart from directing his loyal followers to carry out attacks on ape tribes, he also instructed them to track down humans, regardless of whether they were wild or not. On a specific occasion, his loyalists managed to apprehend a human named Trevathan, who later became his inventor and educated Proximus about human history, specifically Ancient Rome. With the intention of unlocking an old military bunker and gaining entry, he also planned and executed a brutal massacre on a group of humans who were on an expedition to locate the bunker and retrieve a decipher key to restore communication with other human settlements. In the aftermath of this horrific event, only one young woman named Mae survived. Upon learning of her survival, he commanded his followers to capture Mae, hoping to exploit her presence in order to access the weapons stored within the bunker.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes[]
Proximus Caesar commands his loyal followers Sylva and Lightning, along with other members of his tribe, to set fire to the nearby settlement called the Eagle Clan. They pillage the entire town, abduct its inhabitants, and in the midst of a battle between Sylva and Noa, Koro's son, they slay their leader, Koro. Following this, Proximus' supporters launch an assault on a village where Raka, one of the few remaining elders who still holds faith in Caesar's legacy, resides.
After Noa and Mae are discovered and captured by Sylva and Lightning, while Raka perishes in a raging river, they are taken to the kingdom where Proximus Caesar oversees their arrival and appears. Singing his usual anthem and motivating his subjects, he convinces some of them to attempt opening the vault door with explosives. Despite his efforts to inspire them, they all end up trapped as the chains either kill or injure them. Proximus, feeling deeply disappointed, commands his subjects to retreat, assuring them that they will grow stronger tomorrow, and then abandons his position. Later, he invites Noa, Mae, and Trevathan to a dinner where he is impressed by the young ape's journey to his kingdom with Mae. He then shares his desire to evolve, believing that humans have accomplished "many wonderful things" such as flying like eagles or communicating across the oceans.
Proximus then harasses Mae about his map leading to her kingdom, asserting that the vault already belongs to him, and then informs Noa that he is served by apes like him, wanting to know how to enter the vault. When Noa responds 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 faces Noa, Mae, Soona, and Anaya after unlocking the vault door with Dar, Noa's mother, as a captive. He was impressed by her clever plan to access the vault and was astonished by the military tanks. While commending Noa for being a "useful ape", he scolds him for not grasping the idea of never trusting a human, finds his innocence unamusing, and has Lightning take Soona as a hostage. He then pressures Noa to make a decision between humans and apes, while getting ready to harm Soona based on Noa's answer before provocatively challenging him to attack. Everything halts when Mae uses a gun she had taken to rescue Soona by shooting Lightning, while Proximus cowardly lets her go before inquiring about similar weapons in the vault. Despite this, Mae, disregarding Noa's pleas, triggers an explosion that destroys the dam. Proximus' initial reaction was to save himself before drowning, pushing other apes aside in the process.
After losing his kingdom and followers in the accident, Proximus miraculously escaped drowning and made it to the mountain top with the Eagle Clan. He waited for Noa to join them, and upon his arrival, he viciously began to beat him out of anger for destroying his kingdom. Soona, Dar, and Anaya tried to intervene, but Proximus roared at them to stay back as he continued to beat Noa, leaving them helpless to do anything but watch the brutality. Proximus then prepared to force Noa to bow before killing him, with the clan forced to witness. Noa, however, summoned the energy to sing the clan's song, which Proximus found amusing and thought Noa had lost his mind. To his surprise, Anaya, Dar, Soona, and the clan joined in, unsettling the chimp. He ordered them to stop, but they ignored him, and Sun-Eagle, Koro's bird, swooped down, slashing Proximus' cheek and landing on Noa's arm. Enraged, Proximus prepared to attack until he was overwhelmed by the clan's eagles at their command, tearing into his flesh and driving him to the edge. Proximus, roaring, looked at Noa, who ordered Sun-Eagle to deliver the final blow, sending Proximus over the edge and into the ocean after the eagles stopped their attack, finally ending his reign of terror and restoring Caesar's legacy.
Powers and 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.
- Enhanced Strength: Proximus Caesar is physically strong, easily powerful enough to beat a human to death. He repeatedly picked Noa up and threw him several feet away during their fight, thoroughly dominating him.
- Enhanced Speed: Like chimpanzees and bonobos, Proximus Caesar is capable of running on four limbs which allows him to outrun a world-class human sprinter with ease.
- Enhanced Reflexes: To be added
- Enhanced Stamina: To be added
- Enhanced Endurance: To be added
- Hand-To-Hand Combat: Despite his privileged position, Proximus proved himself to be a capable fighter, dominating Noa in physical combat and casually tossing Noa around.
Quotes[]
| “ | Are we thankful for the words of Caesar? Do we bend our heads? Say his words! What a wonderful day! | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | That felt good. When I think on those words... I feel good. Caser was first elder. Now I am Caser. | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | Now, when I think of all the treasures left inside for us... I feel very good. It may be difficult to open. But not impossible... because we work together. All as one. As Caesar required. | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | That felt good. When I think on those words... I feel good. Caser was first elder. Now I am Caser/ | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | Pull! | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | Enough! | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | MAybe stronger tomorrow. | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | You are a funny little human Trevathan. | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | Hey, come. Come, sit. Please. | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | Wondeful yes? You two have come a long way. an ape and a human traveling together is... quite adventure. | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | You are Nora? Welcome, Noa. | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | Are you familiar with the concept of evolution? | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | So this is why I need to get the knowledge inside the vault. I Believe it will deliver instant evolution. | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | In thier time, humans were capable of many great things, yes? They could level mountains. They could speak across oceans. They could fly Noa. Like eagles fly. But now we will learn. Ape will learn. I will learn yeah from what is inside that vault. | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar |
| “ | Proximus Caesar: Mae,Mae,Mae,Mae. My apes encountered your companions. I believe this map belong to you. You see Noa before she traveling with you and that old orangutan Mae was with other humans. But sadly my apes did not realize their value so I was brought only bodies. I could not speak to them like I can speak to you. I know you are coming here to get inside my vault. Mae: It is not yours! Proximus Caesar: Oh. It is now isn't it? And I will get inside no matter how many apes it cost me. |
„ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar and Mae |
| “ | You are going to stand, so that you can bend for your king, before you die! | „ |
| ~ Proximus Caesar demanding Noa to bend and show respect while suffocating him. |
Trivia[]
- Proximus' name is the Latin word for "next/nearest," meaning that his name is the "next Caesar" when translated to English.
- To add to this, Caesar isn't his real name
- Kevin Durand revealed that Tony Robbins, Elon Musk and Arnold Schwarzenegger served as inspirations for Proximus Caesar when improvising his character; "I did look at really charismatic speakers - I watched [life coach] Tony Robbins quite a bit, Elon, Arnold Schwarzenegger doing like his governor speeches. Just these humans who without trying, you just have to watch them as they hold so much power and charisma.'
- His role in the movie is very reminiscent of Dr. Zaius. However, Dr. Zaius had several redeeming qualities, while Proximus has none.
- At the end of the film's credits you can hear an ape breathing, perhaps it was Raka (Noa's orangutan mentor who had supposedly drowned in a river) or Proximus who probably survived the fall and is planning his revenge.
External Links[]
- Proximus Caesar on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Proximus Caesar on the Planet of the Apes Wiki
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 Villains
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