Blue Eyes (2024)

Blue Eyes is a major character in the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy, serving as the tritagonist of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and a minor character in War for the Planet of the Apes. He was the eldest son and crown prince of Ape King Caesar and his Queen, Cornelia, and the older brother of Cornelius. He was also the best friend and honorary cousin of the late Ash. Through both of his parents, he was also the honorary nephew of Maurice and Rocket, the best friends and top lieutenants of his father, Caesar. He was also the honorary nephew and former student of Koba, who he once had a close bond with before the latter betrayed Caesar.

As Caesar's eldest son, Blue Eyes was the heir to his father's ape colony. Through Caesar, Blue Eyes was the adoptive great-grandson of the late Charles Rodman, the adoptive grandson of the late Will Rodman and the late Caroline Aranha, as well as the biological grandson of late chimpanzees Bright Eyes and Alpha. As Caesar's son, he was a member of the Ape Council as well as a soldier of the Ape Army. Upon the rediscovery of humans, Blue Eyes becomes the ape counterpart of Alexander.

He was played by Owen Teague.

Biography[]

Birth and Childhood[]

In the years after the famous Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge and after the establishment of the Ape Village, Blue Eyes was born to Caesar and Cornelia, the king and queen of the Ape Colony. Unlike the other apes born into his generation and many of the elder generation, Blue Eyes was named because of his abnormal eye color. Growing up, he became close to his father's honorary nephew, Ash, the son of Rocket. Blue Eyes would idolized Rocket and Koba for their strength seeing the two as honorary uncles. Over this time, Blue Eyes becomes extremely close to Koba who teaches him along with his other honorary uncle Maurice.

For most of his childhood, he was the treasured heir, being Caesar's only child which changed in Blue Eyes' adolescent years when his parents were about to have a second child. As Caesar's eldest son, Blue Eyes inherited a lot of his father's personality traits and some of his mother's which include stubbornness, rebelliousness and defiance which become two of Blue Eyes' most identifiable traits.

Early in his adolescent years, Caesar assigns Blue Eyes to be a member of not only his army but his council, both skills that Blue Eyes would later need when he eventually succeeds his father as king. Also, Blue Eyes, like many of the other young apes, learns to wield weapons as a way of defending himself if the need ever arose.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes[]

Blue Eyes first appears with his father in the forest standing on a tree branch during an elk hunt. He asks his father if they should attack the deer now only for him to be silenced by Caesar who then order the apes to attack. When Caesar manages to ensnare an elk, he tells his son to stay put and quiet but is ignored. Blue Eyes wanders off to kill the seemingly trapped deer, only to be attacked by a bear, resulting in the elk escaping and Blue Eyes receiving scars. Caesar intervened, keeping the bear at bay until Koba heard Caesar's cry and ran towards the bear, stabbing it in the back, killing the bear which falls onto Caesar. When Caesar is freed, he goes to tell his son to think before he acts and tries to check out Blue Eyes' injuries, but the young ape stubbornly brushes off his father's concern and goes to his horse.

As they return to their village, Koba comforts the prince by telling Blue Eyes to be proud of his new scars as they show he is strong and durable. When his father is summoned by Cornelia's midwives, Blue Eyes reluctantly follows and stands awkwardly in the doorway before his father summons him over to meet his little brother Milo for the first time. Blue Eyes is shown to be nervous about the situation, but bonds with his new brother anyway, happy to be an older sibling to a new ape.

Later, Blue Eyes is out by the lake fishing with his best friend and honorary cousin, Ash. Ash begins to tease him about the bear incident and playfully shoves him which results in Blue Eyes taking the comments in stride and playfully shoving him back. On the way back to the village, the teenagers stumble across a human named Carver who suddenly becomes frightened and shoots Ash in the shoulder. Blue Eyes stays to protect him until their fathers and the other apes appear. The humans would then be scared off by the adult apes shouting (in English) at them to leave the forest. Back in the village, Blue Eyes sits with his father and his uncles in a council meeting. The apes argue over what is to be done about the humans and what they must do to avenge Ash's shooting. Blue Eyes agrees with Koba that something has to be done to show the humans they mean business. Ash, being present tells them that the humans didn't mean to shoot him and that it was an accident. Blue Eyes argues with him saying that the humans need to be taught a lesson. Caesar would tell his son that he plans on telling the humans a loud message that they'll understand clearly. The next morning, Caesar leads the army into San Francisco to issue the threat of war to the humans, Blue Eyes rides with him, carrying Alexander's lost bag. On Caesar's orders, he dismounts from his horse and throws the bag at Malcolm's feet as his father tells the human not to come back to the forest. The ape army would then leave for the forest after giving their warning to the humans.

Later on, the human Malcolm would enter the Ape Village leading to him being captured by Luca and the other Gorilla Guardians who would drag him through the village and bring him for Caesar to pass his judgment. Blue Eyes would growl at the human for disobeying his father's warning, but is forced to watch as his father spares the human and allows him and his group to work on the city dam. Blue Eyes would speak with his father about his decision saying that he agrees with Koba about humans being evil and how they should finish them off. Caesar attempts to explain to his son that not all humans are bad, but Blue Eyes refuses to listen and stalks off much to Caesar's utter annoyance. When Caesar agrees to help Malcolm and his family, Blue Eyes accompanies him and his uncles, Maurice and Rocket and carries his little brother, Milo. When Milo climbs out of his arms and off the horse, Blue Eyes hurries after him and stops and watches nervously as the little one interacts with Ellie and Alexander before he wanders over to a supply box, revealing a hidden gun. Blue Eyes leaps into action and rescues his little brother from Carver who threatens to kill him as well only to be punched by Caesar who threatens the humans with the exposed weapon before throwing it over the dam wall and ordering them to leave.

Blue Eyes is present when Malcolm and Ellie enter the family home to apologize for Carver's behavior. He watches as the humans plead with Caesar to help Cornelia, who is very sick. He tries to dissuade his father for continuing to allow humans in their territory only to be ignored when his father says the apes will help the humans, Blue Eyes firmly states that he will not help the humans. He remains in the village sharpening spears with the younger apes until Koba returned to tell Caesar that the humans are more dangerous than he thought. The bonobo then asked Blue Eyes where his father is. Blue Eyes told Koba he is at the dam with the humans. Blue Eyes then accompanies Koba, Grey and Stone to the dam where he watches Koba angrily confronts Caesar stating that humans had attacked his sons and yet he still lets them work. Koba goes on ranting that Caesar loves humans more than apes and his sons, which caused Caesar to lash out and attack Koba. Blue Eyes watches this unsure of who to help until his father stopped himself from beating Koba stating "Ape not kill ape" law. Koba begged Caesar to forgive him and leave the dam afterwards. Blue Eyes glared at his father.

At night in the Ape Village, Blue Eyes is seen eating until his father tries to speak with him about humans but Blue Eyes to caught up in what with Koba has told him stalks off much to Caesar's dismay. The teen then goes to sit by a sulking Koba who tells him to protect his father as he believes his (Caesar) love for humans has clouded his judgment to the point of where he won't listen to reason to which Blue Eyes agrees. Later on, the apes and humans celebrate the restoration of power of San Francisco in the Ape Village. Blue Eyes is shown bemoaning the events remembering the fight his father had with Koba, but his spirits are lifted when he sees his sick mother emerge from their home. Blue Eyes runs and embraces Cornelia, happy that she is now okay and able to walk. His happiness was to be cut short when the sound of a gunshot, which comes from a hidden Koba who used a gun acquired from the city, and he saw his father fall from their home. The Ape Village was then set ablaze by Grey secretly, forcing the apes to flee for dear life. Blue Eyes then appears with Carver's baseball cap and gun, showing it to the colony. Koba, appearing out of nowhere is given the items the bonobo while assuming leadership states that the humans assassinated their king and burned the village. He then commands the apes to fight back and attack the humans while they still have the chance. Koba approaches the sadden Blue Eyes, telling him that they will avenge his father, believing his father to truly be dead decides to join in the assault of attacking the San Francisco shelter.

The ape army would attack the city's armory and would steal all the weapons before moving to launch a full assault on the shelter. Once they reached the gate, they are confronted by the human militia guarding the wall. A huge battle breaks out resulting the in the deaths of many apes and humans as well causing chaos to the already damaged city in the process. Koba would then steal a tank which allowed the apes to enter the city and chase or terrorize defenseless humans. As he enters the city with his people, Blue Eyes (while holding Ash back) saw the utter horror and madness that his father would not condone. The next day, the apes took over most of the city and forced many humans to run in a building for safety. As the apes group up, Blue Eyes and Ash, headed up the stairs as one human swung a lamp post at an ape while Koba approached from behind and disarmed the human. Koba then tossed the post to Ash, ordering him to kill the defenseless human. Ash declines, stating Caesar would not want this, and threw the post on the floor. Koba walked up to Ash, patting him on the back, only to suddenly grab the young chimpanzee and dragged him up the stairs. Blue Eyes and the other apes followed Koba, worried about what Koba was planning to do. Koba reached a balcony and threw Ash to his death, horrifying Blue Eyes and the other apes. Koba tells the apes that Caesar is gone and he leads the apes now. After witnessing the death of his best friend and cousin, Blue Eyes now begins to see Koba's true colors. Afterwards, the apes took full control of the city and Koba imprisoned all the remaining humans in cages so they would know what life was in cage. Koba also imprisoned all the apes still loyal to Caesar, these apes include Maurice, Rocket, Luca and many others. Seeing them chained in a bus, Blue Eyes is beyond horrified at this action, asking Maurice why they were chained. Maurice told Blue Eyes that Koba views them as too loyal to Caesar, meaning they will never give in to Koba's tyranny. He is then is told by his uncle to watch out for himself and stay safe.

Blue Eyes then went on patrol looking around the city for any free humans. As he does, he encounters Malcolm in an abandoned apartment room pointing his gun at the human who pleas for him to not do it, but remembering the death of his friend and the madness Koba started Blue Eyes decides to lower it, sparing the human. The young ape then turns to leave but Malcolm quickly stops him by telling him his father is alive. Shocked, Blue Eyes travels with Malcolm to the Rodman House where he spots his wounded but still living father laying on the couch. The prince puts down his gun and quickly goes to tend to his father as Caesar asks if Cornelia and Milo were safe, Blue Eyes confirmed their safety relieving his father. He then sees Caesar's gun shot wound and thinking the humans are responsible immediately snarls at them. Only for Caesar to tell Blue Eyes it was not the humans who shot him but Koba, leaving Blue Eyes shocked and ashamed at himself for following the treacherous ape's reign. When Ellie prepares to operate on Caesar, Blue Eyes holds his father's hand the whole time during the surgery and stays with him as he recovers.

As his father rests from surgery, Blue Eyes examines a portrait of Caesar when he was young and Will Rodman together which made him realize that his father was raised by humans hence the reason for his compassion and sympathy toward them. He is soon startled by his father, who suddenly wakes up and grunts in pain from the sewn up wound. Blue Eyes apologizes for his actions and behavior in the past days, but Caesar states the fault is his alone. Blue Eyes became confused, stating that Koba betrayed him. Caesar replied that it was his choice to trust Koba due to his previous views apes being better than humans, but after witnessing Koba's betrayal he now sees that apes and humans are exactly alike and asks for Koba's current location. Blue Eyes signed that Koba resides in the human survivors' tower with all the apes that have pledge their loyalty to him. Caesar then asks about the apes who refuse to follow Koba, to which Blue Eyes replied that they have become prisoners, he states among them were Maurice and Rocket. Blue Eyes also said Koba killed Ash, saying the apes only follow out of fear. Blue Eyes tries to reassure his father by stating that once the apes see Caesar alive they will turn from Koba, but Caesar said not if he's weak. Despite his injury, Caesar tries to rise, saying he must do something to stop Koba, or he will endanger the entire ape race. Blue Eyes stopped him, speaking clearly for the first time. Caesar became proud of seeing Blue Eyes finally learning.

After making the plan to free Koba's prisoners, both apes and humans, Blue Eyes returned to the city heading for the bus containing Caesar's loyalists, drawing Caesar's symbol to renew their strength then told them of the plan. Caesar's loyalists executed the plan at night, freeing themselves and the humans. Blue Eyes then led them back to Caesar, telling him Koba calls for the female and young apes to come to the city, Cornelia included. Startled by this revelation, Caesar decides to confront Koba. Blue Eyes silently watched as his father and former uncle do battle for power and knowing it's for the best he stays on the sidelines as the fierce duel continues. When Koba opened fire on the apes to kill Caesar, Blue Eyes moves many of the injured to safety before throwing a series of pipes at Koba who angrily fires at him leading to one of his stray bullets hitting and scarring Maurice. Blue Eyes would then tend to his wounded uncle and worry about his life. Afterwards, Blue Eyes witnessed his father throwing Koba to his death.

As Caesar takes back his place as Ape King, Blue Eyes embraces his parents and little brother as the other apes bow down to Caesar awaiting his guidance for the impending war with humans to come.

War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations[]

The novel first introduces the apes in a scene where Blue Eyes discovers Ash's remains. Angry with grief, he beats the body until Maurice restrains him and Ash's family takes his remains away. His sorrow over Ash's passing is touched on many times in Revelations, as is his jealousy over the fact that Ray saw Ash in a dream and Blue Eyes did not. Eventually, Ash does visit Blue Eyes in a dream and it seems to give him at least some closure, though it is likely that he will struggle to fully accept his best friend's death.

War for the Planet of the Apes[]

Blue Eyes, along with Rocket were sent by Caesar to search for a new place to live and return early in War with the news that they had found such a place. Blue Eyes embraces his father immediately upon return. He then embraces Cornelia and says "hi" to his younger brother. Cornelia remarks "look who's here, son" and Blue Eyes notices that Lake is nearby. He goes to her and they touch heads.

Later during the ape council meeting, they discuss the new place that he and Rocket have found. It is a long journey through a desert, but they believe it's the perfect place for the colony. They want to leave as soon as possible, but must find a safe way out of the forest for all of the apes. Lake rests her head on Blue Eyes shoulder when the meeting concludes.

Later at night, when the Colonel's men attack the ape village, Caesar tells Blue Eyes to protect his mother and brother while he goes off to find the humans. Blue Eyes kills a soldier that enters their home, but is then shot and killed by the Colonel along with Cornelia off screen.

Blue Eyes is mentioned by Caesar a few times through out the movie. Once when telling Winter who was murdered, again when Bad Ape asks Caesar if he has children, and finally when Caesar confronts the Colonel himself.

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Heroes

Planet of the Apes (1968) George Taylor |Nova |Dr. Zira |Dr. Cornelius Beneath the Planet of the Apes Brent |Dr. Zira |Dr. Cornelius |George Taylor |Nova Escape from the Planet of the Apes Dr. Zira |Dr. Cornelius |Caesar Conquest of the Planet of the Apes Caesar Battle for the Planet of the Apes Caesar Planet of the Apes (2001) Captain Leo Davidson |Krull Rise of the Planet of the Apes Caesar |Rocket |Maurice |Cornelia |Buck |Will Rodman |Caroline Aranha Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Caesar |Maurice |Rocket |Blue Eyes |Cornelius |Luca |Ash |Malcolm |Ellie |Alexander |Kemp |Foster War for the Planet of the Apes Caesar |Maurice |Rocket |Luca |Bad Ape |Lake |Nova Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Noa |Mae |Raka |Soona |Anaya |Dar |Koro