Character page for Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes (2001).
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Humans
Captain Leo Davidson
Played by: Mark Wahlberg
- Guile Hero: Justified as he's from a much more technological world.
- Expy: of Taylor from the original movies and Ulysse from the original novel.
- Reluctant Hero: He has to help the humans fight against the apes, since he was responsible for the creation of the planet of the apes.
- Trapped in Another World: He crash-landed on the planet of apes, and tries to find a way off.
Daena
Played by: Estella Warren
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Towards Ari for being close to Leo.
- Expy: of Nova.
- Nubile Savage: Being the new Nova, she looks like a supermodel even as part of a mostly feral pack of humans.
- Only Friend: He's apparently this to Leo, while the other human occupants are hardasses at best.
Apes
Pericles
- Apes in Space: He's a trained space chimp.
- Expy: of Hector from the original novel.
General Thade
Played by: Tim Roth
Dubbed by: Med Hondo (European French)
- Combat Pragmatist: Has no problem attacking his opponents unaware as two gorillas find out the hard way.
- Conqueror from the Future: The DVD special features explain the Gainax Ending by saying that Thade found Leo's space pod and used it to go back and conquer Earth in the past.
- Expy: Appears to be one to Ursus from the original movies and Urko from the TV shows.
- Fantastic Racism: He absolutely hates humans.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He's particularly prone to get violently angry.
- Large Ham: Big time. Tim Roth doesn't hold anything back and gleefully tears into each scene and line of dialogue with relish.
- Morality Chain: Loves his father deeply, though he passes away.
- Weaponized Headgear: During the battle he takes off his helmet to strike his opponents. He quickly discards it though!
Attar
Played by: Michael Clarke Duncan
- The Big Guy: He's easily the most physically imposing of the apes. Being played by Michael Clarke Duncan makes this hard to avoid.
- The Dragon: He's one to Thade.
- A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: Attar was a pupil of former military leader Krull, until he was disgraced by Thade for questioning his family, descendants of Semos, whom Attar is a devoted follower.
- Expy: To Ursus. Like Ursus he's a religious gorilla that takes orders from a smaller ape he has a deep respect for.
- Power Fist: Wears a single metal gauntlet that improves his backfists.
- Real Men Love Jesus: The toughest and manliest ape is also the most religious.
- Undying Loyalty: He serves Thade unquestionably, until near the end.
Ari
Played by: Helena Bonham Carter
- Expy: of Zira from the original movies.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: She doesn't believe in Semos, since she refuses to bow her head when the other apes pray for him.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: She's disgusted by the way the other apes treat humans.
Krull
Played by: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
- The Big Guy: Well he is a gorilla.
- Master Swordsman: Wields two ape swords in the climax, killing dozens of ape soldiers.
Limbo
Played by: Paul Giamatti
- Honest John's Dealership: He has shades of this.
- Humans Are Smelly: Because of his job, Thade thinks he "reek of humans".
Semos
- Crystal Dragon Jesus: He's basically the ale society's version of Jesus.
- Expy: He could be considered one to Caesar (or Aldo, according to the Sacred Scrolls), who led the ape uprising against their human masters in the original movies. Though he's more of an expy to the Lawgiver, being a revered ape who's worshiped as a deity by the other apes.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The prequel novels are inconsistent as to what he actually is. William Thomas Quick's novels have him as an early chimpanzee colonist who presumably inspired the legends while the John Whitman books had him appear in a vision as an apparently supernatural gorilla.
- Moses Archetype: He's a Jesus-like figure in this society but his name is an anagram of Moses.
- Significant Anagram: His name is an anagram of "Moses".
