"Urchak now means to wipe out [Miranda's] halfbreed tribe and continue west to conquer and destroy what he sees as an impure and repugnant race. As you can see Urchak has gone quite mad."
— William, to Thorne, Urchak's Folly issue #2
Since 1963, the Planet of the Apes has quite a lengthy history of Fantastic Racism, but some of these bad guys stand out as especially vile, whether they're human or ape.
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Films (including canon comics)
Examples
- Original film series:
- Vernon Kolp Appearances is the chief inspector for Governor Arnold Breck's rule, being both responsible for the death of Caesar's adoptive father Armando and having captured Caesar and subjected him to torture to make him talk, then trying to have him executed via electrocution. After the revolt led by Caesar, Kolp launches a mission where he has many apes murdered and breaks Breck out from captivity, and also gains access to the Alpha-Omega Bomb with the intent to end all life on Earth to end the Ape Revolution. During the battle with the apes, Kolp took the opportunity to shoot Bruce MacDonald In the Back, killing him. Returning as the leader of a band of mutants after a nuclear holocaust, Kolp tries to eradicate everyone residing in Ape City, humans and apes alike, killing a gorilla soldier along the way. Once this fails, he tries to use the Alpha-Omega Bomb to destroy the entire city as a last-ditch effort to kill everyone, despite its capabilities to destroy the entire world.
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes & Revolution on the Planet of the Apes: Governor Arnold Breck himself is the tyrannical leader of an unnamed city under totalitarian government of America, which he runs as a Police State. He has the apes put in rehabilitation facilities to be trained and sold into slavery, allowing the apes to be systematically abused, tormented, and brutally beaten for disobedience on a daily basis. Breck allows Arthur Kolp to torture Caesar via electrocution, and orders that Caesar to be executed by Kolp. When the apes lead by Caesar began their rebellion, Breck orders that all of the apes be killed on sight. Returning in Revolution, it's revealed that Breck was the brains behind the Alpha-Omega Bomb, a weapon he plan to use to destroy all life in the world if it means the eradication of the apes. Giving Caesar an ultimatum to either surrender or watch the world burn that ultimately fails, Breck attempts to activate the bomb as a last-ditch effort to destroy his enemies.
- Revolution on the Planet of the Apes & Battle for the Planet of the Apes: General Aldo is a gorilla commander of Ape City's army who plans to usurp Caesar for being weak. Having a hatred for humans because his teacher called him out for his disruptive behavior, during the comic he frees a bunch of other apes who start going on a rampage, slaughtering all their teachers and then stealing a bunch of jets to start bombing Washington and taking over the White House. During the film, Aldo coldly murders Cornelius II once he saw him planning to usurp Caesar and tries to frame a human for the act. Once he gains leadership with Caesar's absence, he locks all of the humans in cages, including the children, and mercilessly slaughters all of the mutants who were retreating from the failed invasion of Ape City. Aldo and his men later attempt to kill all of the humans he locked up, threatening to kill Caesar should he get in his way.
- The Human War, written by Ian Edginton: Minister Shiva, the granddaughter of General Thade, seeks the near-annihilation of humanity and all their ape supporters at any cost. Willing to pointlessly sacrifice the lives of her soldiers in battle, Shiva's sadism extends to having a prisoner ape tortured to death and his body crucified to lure his brother into a trap. Committing treason by trespassing into Calima, Shiva reveals her true goals to use the unfamiliar technology to undo and remake ape society in her own image, regardless of how many lives are lost in the process.
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes prequel comic, written by Michael Moreci: Pope is a brutal chimpanzee and the commander of Caesar's ape soldiers. Believing that Caesar's rule has made the ape society weak, Pope desires to wrest power from the Ape King through any means necessary. Subjugating a tribe of primal apes by killing their alpha, Pope forces them to undergo vicious training to mold them into loyal soldiers with which to use to conquer Caesar's colony. Demonstrating his cruelty by having a dissenting ape tortured and fed to a polar bear, Pope proceeds to have dozens of humans and apes alike rounded up and caged with the intention of using them as slave fodder. When confronted about his inhumane treatment towards his fellow apes, Pope casually decries them as not apes, but mere "dumb animals".
Comics
Adventure Comics
Examples
- 1990 series, written by Charles Marshall:
- General Ollo is the leader of the Aldonites who thinks gorillas should rule humans and apes. He first appears hosting a gladiator match where he forces both humans and apes to fight each other to the death, solely for his entertainment. Ollo leads an invasion of Ape City where he slaughters humans and apes alike, ordering his men to hunt down and kill any human they come across; locks up many apes and murders them when they demand to be released; orders that his son be executed; and crucifies many apes and humans. Ollo has humans captured and torturously experimented on by mutilating their vocal cords and tongues, doing the same to his own men for failing to kill his son. Once usurped, Ollo has all of his soldiers killed one by one for weakness and gathers a new army to conquer Ape City, even faking his redemption to continue plotting his conquest. In Ape Nation, Ollo collaborates with the Tenctonese to take over the planet, having his soldiers raid villages and kill anyone in their path in a plan to destroy Ape City. Ollo kills their leader Danada by gunning him down once the latter tries to betray him.
- Issues #21-24—"The Terror Beneath" arc: Governor Breck comes Back from the Dead as a vengeful godlike spirit, seeking to wipe out all apes and those who aren't deemed human to his eyes, and planning to either rule the human race as a god or destroy the world if he can't rule it. Disintegrating the very cult that brought him back because he doesn't see them as human, Breck goes on to kill off all of the Forgotten Apes and wreaks havoc across the land, scorching entire ape villages; wiping out Ollo and his entire army; and killing off several recurring characters. Breck forms an army of humans for him to lead and destroy Ape City to enslave or kill any apes they come across. When losing his battle with the Lawgiver, Breck in anger threatens to destroy the whole land out of spite.
- Ape City, written by Charles Marshall: Scab is a member of the Vindicators, a group of six sent forward in time to eliminate as many apes as they can. Scab is the most brutal and evil member of the Vindicators and the one who takes the most active pleasure in the atrocities that the group commits. The Vindicators start their spree by killing over 50 apes. When a battle raged on for a while, Scab decided on his own to end the fight by launching napalm at the other faction's base to wipe them out in one go.
- Urchak's Folly, written by Gary Chaloner: Colonel Urchak himself is a brutal ape commander who was kicked out of Ape City after he betrayed them. Urchak would come to believe that if he were to build a bridge, he could use it to expand his empire. Urchak would attack a human village, ordering all the men to be wiped out and the female Taylorite priestess Miranda held as his Sex Slave. In order to build this bridge, Urchak has enslaved dozens to hundreds of humans. Whenever a human defies him or annoys him, Urchak would have them crucified.
- Ape Nation, written by Charles Marshall: The self-proclaimed "Danada the Destroyer" is a treacherous and ambitious Tenctonese and the brother of Caan and Elysa. Danada starts a coup where he usurps his brother, locks him up, and plans to have him executed. Danada forms an unholy alliance with the vicious General Ollo and the traitorous Simon in a plot to destroy Ape City and conquer the world. He leads a murderous horde that wipes out countless villages and towns, slaying anyone in their path while scorching their home. Both Ollo and Danada betray Simon by ordering he be killed once he becomes a problem, and when Danada gets sick of Ollo's criticism and threats, he orders the latter killed as well. Once at the mercy of his sister and the ape Heston, Danada cowardly tries to claim Ollo is solely the one behind the invasion to save his own skin.
- The Forbidden Zone, written by Lowell Cunningham, has both halves of the Big Bad Duumvirate:
- Kolp, the cruel leader of the mutants who worships the Alpha-Omega Bomb as a god-like weapon, makes his introduction by mind-raping the fellow mutant Mendez for standing against Kolp and the other mutants. Kolp used his Psychic Powers to force his own soldiers to kill each other so they be martyrs instead of Mendez, which allowed Mendez to escape but as a disgraced traitor. Kolp orders his army to go forth and kill everyone from the land known as Primacy, both man and ape alike, with his army slaughtering countless along the way to raze Primacy to the ground.
- Colonel Arvo is the hateful father of Julius, and a xenophobic gorilla with a deep hatred of humanity who hunts and kill them for sport. Outraged at his son's archaeological discoveries, Arvo and his men hunt his son's expedition team, killing two of his compatriots and intending to killing his own son next. Arvo discovers the land where apes and humans live in unity, and decides to wipe out all the humans residing there along with the apes for making peace with them. Arvo massacred the mutant army, even killing those who surrendered with no mercy, and tried to kill the human Pell with his bare hands in his final moment.
Other Comics
Examples
- Marvel Comics:
- 1974 magazine's "Terror on the Planet of the Apes" arc, written by Doug Moench: Brutus was appointed as the "Peace Officer" of Ape City by Xavier when its old leader stepped down. Brutus is actually the leader of a gang of ape supremacists, who are responsible for the deaths of Jason's parents. When Jason uncovers Brutus, and the latter's wife opposes his ideas, Brutus murders his wife and then pins the murder on Jason. When Jason escaped, Brutus tried to track him down, killing anyone who got in his way, including a completely innocent Shaggy. Later on, Brutus would have Xavier killed in an attempt to take over Ape City. Brutus, after being banished, would steal some war machines and fire them at the mountains of peaceful people, then order his minions to kill any survivors. Brutus's dream nearly comes true when he tries to use nuclear weapons from the psychedrome to wipe out humanity. After Brutus's plan is foiled, he vows revenge on Jason, so he allies himself with the Gorilloids and leads an army to attack Ape City to take it over by force to wipe out humans, then he plans to do the same to the Makers and Inheritors. When the Gorilloids order Brutus to stop, he kills several of them.
- Battle for the Planet of the Apes 1974 adaptation: Governor Breck is yet again a xenophobic, genocidal monster now seeking to reestablish humanity as the dominant species over Apekind. After a nuclear war, Breck now leads an army of Mutants and plans to destroy Ape City and all of its inhabitants, including the humans they made peace with, even willing to use the destructive Alpha-Omega Bomb to destroy the city should he perish. Breck leads an assault on the city where he kills ape soldiers by the dozen, not caring his own troops get caught in the crossfire, and massacring most of Aldo's men during the battle. Breck goes on to destroy the barrier in order to continue his crusade to raze Ape City to the ground.
- Boom! Studios:
- 2011 series, written by Daryl Gregory: Brother Kale, the leader of a cult in the city of Mak, was an extreme human supremacist who made a plot to start a war. Kale would sell weapons to a human named Chaika, who would assassinate the Lawgiver, which would begin a war between the humans and the apes. Not only did Kale not care that his actions lead to the assassination that started the war, but he made it worse by manipulating an ape named Nerise into staging a coup against the ape leadership and thus causing an ape civil war. After Kale got some competition in the weapons selling business by the Great Khan, he would create a new plan. He would sacrifice himself to the apes so that his top follower Martha, carrying out his plan from beyond the grave, would detonate a nuclear bomb in Mak, killing everyone inside, both humans and apes.
- Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern: Gorilla Grodd uses his Psychic Powers to break into the minds of Ursus's men and the Red Lantern Corps so that he could take over Ape City and take the Power Ring for himself. Mentally breaking Cornelius and his allies to take control of their minds, Grodd forces Ursus to kill his fellow apes while forcing Ursus to watch, then psychically tormenting the Green Lantern Corps for getting in his way. Grodd holds Zira captive, threatening to put her in an infinite loop of pain if Cornelius doesn't give him the ring.
Other Media
Examples
- Return to the Planet of the Apes: General Urko from the very beginning showed a genocidal desire to wipe out all of the humanoids. Urko several times throughout the series attempts to locate and wipe out the humanoids but keeps failing. He gets increasingly annoyed with Zaius and the rest of the council so once he discovers an old World War II airplane he plans to use it to overthrow Zaius and capture and kill all the humanoids. Urko starts to get increasingly paranoid, believing that one of his own men is plotting against him; Urko starts regularly threatening them. Urko then turns his attention to the Underdwellers, hoping to eliminate them and the humanoids in one go. To do this, Urko frames the Underdwellers for a series of robberies, which includes getting people to lie about being attacked. Finally, Urko gets ready to attack the Underdwellers, planning to wipe them out.
- 2001 video game (PC/PlayStation version): General Ursus is the leader of the gorillas and one of the members of the Ape High Council. Seeing gorillas as superior to other apes, Ursus discovered that Professor Cornelius managed to find a way to use human DNA to improve the ape genetic code. Forcing Professor Cornelius to work for him and continue his experiments on captured humans, Ursus planned to "enhance" the gorillas and create an unbeatable army, which he intended to use it to completely wipe out humanity and take over the ape society, while slaughtering any ape who would resist his rule. When Ulysses humiliated him and stole the results of Cornelius's research, Ursus ordered his gorillas to attack a human village and wipe out most of the humans there.
