Planet of the Apes Last Frontier is a 2017 video game developed by The Imaginati Studios, based on the reboot series of the Planet of the Apes franchise. It occurs a year after Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and it follows an ape clan that separated from Caesar's group following Koba's death that enter into conflict with a human village. The game has three endings, one where apes win, where humans win, and where there is peace achieved.
Planet of the Apes Last Frontier contains examples of:
- 0% Approval Rating: By the climax of the game, Tola's popularity among the tribe has absolutely crashed due to his reckless decisions, with Oaka openly urging Bryn to challenge him for leadership. The final straw for the tribe is when Tola double-crosses the humans when they exchange Mark and Clarence on the bridge, as Tola launches an attack on the humans while his siblings and Clarence are still completely vulnerable, which gets Clarence killed. At this point, pretty much the entire tribe starts nonverbally urging Bryn to overthrow him.
- Abdicate the Throne: Bryn tries to convince Tola to give up leadership of the tribe peacefully without an issue when he finally challenges him for leadership, but Tola refuses and attacks him.
- Actually Pretty Funny: Even if Bryn endlessly defends Juno from Tola's bullying, even he will struggle to suppress his laughter when the gorilla Marcus throws a large pile of wood, scaring Juno into falling back on his horse after a triumphant Juno declares he hunts.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Deconstructed. Tola sees Juno as this, but this is primarily because he needs someone to blame for his own failure and becomes obvious that Juno is actually a genuinely helpful character. Bryn can also see Juno as this on occasion, though whether or not it is playful or if it is genuine depends on the player.
- Anyone Can Die: Many characters (major and minor) may die during the gameplay; not even Jess or Bryn are safe from this trope.
- Asshole Victim: Tola's disastrous leadership results in absoluetly none of the apes objecting when Bryn kills him in a leadership duel. Later on, both bounty hunters may end up dying after they reveal they intend to take over the town (and in Golden Ending, they do).
- The Bad Guy Wins: Depending on the player's actions, Willits and Reeves may succeeed in bringing soldiers into Millerton and successfully perform a coup against Jess, exiling her and her followers to place unknown via the train. On the other side, Tola can successfully kill Bryn and lead the apes to wipe out the human settlement.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Willits for the humans and Tola for the apes. Both are the driving forces of conflict in the game that push both sides against each other.
- Big Brother Bully: Tola is this to Juno, and so can Bryn, if the player chooses, though he won't be as bad.
- Big Brother Instinct: In stark contrast to Tola, (and it is mandated to get the Golden Ending), Bryn can endlessly defend Juno from Tola's bullying and defend and try to reassure Juno when he feels like a failure, a prime example being when Juno feels guilty Clarence got captured.
- Black-and-White Morality: The game primarily takes a Grey-and-Gray Morality approach, and it only becomes this towards the end of the game if the player is going for the Golden Ending of peace between humans and apes with all characters.
- Cain and Abel: Regardless of how much you try to get into Tola's good books, Bryn will always wind up having to fight him for leadership, and it is mandated if you are going for the Golden Ending. This is also obvious with Tola's incredibly poor treatment of Juno, calling him a failure, and blaming him for Khan's death and later Clarence getting captured. This bites him later on, if Bryn is on good terms with Juno, and he spares Tola's life twice, Juno will leap at Tola and impale him, fatally wounding him.
- Composite Character: Obviously, given the film it is based on.
- Bryn is one to Caesar and Maurice, clearly being respected in the ape tribe while not being the leader.
- Tola is clearly one to Koba, and also Doctor Zaius and Aldo given his aggressive behaviors and recklessness.
- Clarence is obviously one to Maurice, being the wise orangutan advisor to the tribe while also being mistrustful towards the new leader.
- Cool Crown: Oaka wears a circlet, similar to what Cornellia wore in the second film.
- Cool Old Guy:
- Clarence is one for the apes, especially Juno, and possibly Bryn. When Mark reveals to the apes that he is still alive, Oaka and Bryn manage to turn the entire tribe against Tola to get him back.
- Luke Rainey is one for the humans, being a good shot with his gun and also managing to be pretty smart.
- Doomed by Canon: Even if you get the Golden Ending, War for the Planet of the Apes shows that eventually the Simian Flu mutates to cause humans to lose their intelligence. This means the human characters are doomed anyway and the best ending for them would be the ones where the apes lose.
- Willets briefly mentions that some human prisoners have started getting sick and had to be isolated, implying that the mutated Simian Flu has already started.
- Do with Him as You Will: Tola hands Mark over to Bryn, with his fate up to Bryn. If the player decides to have Bryn hit Mark, this will result in you failing to get the Golden Ending, as leaving Mark unharmed is required to achieve peace.
- The Dragon: Reeves for Willits and Brutus for Tola. Depending on the player's actions, either of them can live or die.
- Good Counterpart: Despite the fact that Tola is a clear Expy of him, Tola is actually this to Koba. Tola actually cares about his people's future, and when he objects to Khan's orders to stay on the mountain, Tola points out there is no food left, and is willing to pull a Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! in order to prevent the tribe from starving, unlike Koba who did not care for his own kind. Tola's desire to attack the humans is to avenge the death of his father, while Koba's motives were purely selfish hate. Furthermore, Tola's decisions are always well intentioned and sympathetic, even if they are shortsighted, whereas Koba's motives were purely evil. Even when Tola becomes a villain, he still has moral lines he won't cross, unlike Koba, who crossed every possible line in exchange for power.
- Golden Ending: The best ending is where only five main characters (Willits, Reeves, Khan, Tola and Clarence) die and there is peace between Jess's humans and Bryn's apes.
- Genre Shift: While the reboot version of the Apes franchise, which this game clearly is a part of, focused on the environmental aspect of the franchise, such as animal testing, this game deals with the issue of race that the original film series portrayed rather overtly. One scene where this is shown is where Clarence is almost lynched, and will be lynched if Byrn does not take Mark captive to give Jess a bargaining chip.
- General Failure: Tola's decision to launch an attack on a prepared town to avenge Khan's death ends with a lot of apes dead and merely provokes the humans to retaliate. Clarence openly admits the assault is a fool's errand, and the player can have Bryn call Tola out for launching the attack in the first place.
- Hated by All: The dialogue and the actions of the apes make it very clear they did not like the idea of Tola taking charge after Khan's death. Once Tola's short sighted leadership get Clarence captured by the humans, and a lot of apes dead, he quickly becomes hated among the tribe, and there are a lot of indications that the apes want Bryn to overthrow him. While he was never selfish like Koba, and had genuinely good intentions, Tola's leadership style of shortsighted actions and not considering the consequences quickly turns the tribe against him.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: If Bryn spares Tola twice during their battle, Tola will pull an I Surrender, Suckers and manage to catch Bryn off guard. If Bryn has defended Juno and supported him throughout the game, even if there have been a few times where the two have disagreed, Juno will leap at Tola and impale him, mortally wounding him.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Tola's complaint about the mountains being barren of food and the need to go on to the plains is a completely acceptable argument. While Khan and Clarence, and possibly Bryn depending on the player, can warn him of the danger, it is made clear by Bryn in the prologue that there is little food left on the mountain, so Tola's decision to go onto the plain is utterly acceptable.
- Loved by All: After Clarence is revealed to still be alive, this revelation, if the player has caught Mark, leads to the apes forcing Tola to agree to a trade.
- Morton's Fork: Regardless of the player's decisions, Khan and Clarence will die at different points in the story.
- Never My Fault: Tola's main argument when something goes wrong is to blame somebody else, a pretty big example when he blames and assaults Juno for his father's death, when it was his fault because he was the one who insisted on stealing the human cattle.
- Pet the Dog: Despite being a bully to Juno, Tola does calm Juno down when they cross the railroad tracks admitting that the time of humanity has passed.
- Stronger Than They Look: Juno is clearly the runt of the three siblings and is shown to be the weakest of the three, but if Bryn spares Tola during their battle, and consistently defends Juno, Juno actually grabs a spear and manages to fatally impale Tola.
- The Resenter: It becomes apparent especially in the later half of the game that Tola deeply resents the favor Bryn had with Khan along with his popularity in the tribe. This is not helped by the fact that Tola is well aware that the apes want Bryn to be the leader, even if they will not say so openly.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Tola becomes the ape leader after Khan dies, and he quickly proves to be a pretty poor one, making incredibly shortsighted decisions that largely don't benefit the tribe at all. Tellingly, this is one of the few times this happens due to natural succession, as Khan declares that as Tola is the eldest, he will succeed him.
- The Dog Bites Back: Throughout the entire game, Tola endlessly bullies Juno, treats him like dirt, and often calls him a failure, throwing the blame on him for Clarence getting caught. If Bryn has defended Juno from the start, he will aid Bryn against Tola in their battle and help make the fight easier.
- Women Are Wiser: Oaka, Bryn's wife is much more calmer and level headed in comparison to her husband, and she wont hesitate to call out Clarence or Tola for their actions. She later openly urges her husband to take over the tribe, and later informs Mark that Clarence is not a chimpanzee or gorilla, when Mark seems to insinuate that Clarence is dead.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: It is made pretty obvious that Tola has always wanted his father's approval, and that this desire to do his father proud is one of the main reasons why Tola makes such shortsighted decisions.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Even when Tola becomes a villain in the game, he still has genuinely good intentions, and there are some lines he will not cross, making him this.
- You Killed My Father: Khan's death early in the game results in Tola desiring to avenge him, which drives his main actions throughout the rest of the game, culminating in his fight with Bryn.
