Planet of the Apes is a science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a post-apocalyptic world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control as the dominant species. Accordingly, the primary characters of the franchise include individuals belonging to both species, acting as protagonists and antagonists across the series in three disparate timelines. This list features characters from the original film (based on Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel Planet of the Apes), its sequels, and reboots.
Characters introduced in the original film series
Taylor
George Taylor, more commonly known as Taylor, is the main protagonist of the original Planet of the Apes film also appearing in Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Taylor is an American astronaut and the leader of a space expedition. Taylor was played by Charlton Heston. While Taylor's first name is never spoken in dialogue, the end credits of Planet of the Apes identify him as George Taylor. Taylor was born or very likely born, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he learned to read and write in Jefferson Public School. At the start of Planet of the Apes, Taylor and two of his crew wake from hibernation to discover their spaceship has crash-landed in a lake on what they take to be an Earth-like, but largely barren, planet orbiting a Sun-like star in the constellation Orion. The ship's chronometer reads as Earth year 3978, 2,010 Earth years after their take-off. As the ship sinks, the three astronauts escape. Taylor and his crew explore, finding mute humans being hunted by gorillas on horseback. Taylor is shot in his throat, and taken to Ape City. His crew mates Dodge and Landon are killed and lobotomised, respectively. Taylor is examined by chimpanzee psychologist Dr. Zira and Dr. Cornelius, thinking he might be a missing link between humans and their "evolved superiors", the apes. Learning of Taylor's intelligence, orangutan Dr Zaius wants Taylor put to death and to know where he came from. Taylor escapes from the laboratory with Cornelius and Zira, and eventually ends up discovering the planet he is on is Earth. In Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Heston returns as Taylor, helping another astronaut named Brent, who was originally sent to rescue Taylor, to destroy a nuclear weapon worshipped by underground mutants. In the process, the weapon is detonated, destroying everything. In Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Taylor is briefly mentioned and referred to as Colonel Taylor despite the character never being given a military rank in the two previous films.
Dr Cornelius
Dr. Cornelius is a chimpanzee archaeologist and historian who appears in the original novel of Planet of the Apes (La Planète des singes), and also the first three installments of the classic movie series of the same name. Cornelius was played in the first and third film by Roddy McDowall, and in the second by David Watson. In 1968's Planet of the Apes, Cornelius is introduced as the fiancé of Dr. Zira, an animal psychologist and veterinarian, both of whom are on the scientific staff of Dr. Zaius. Cornelius begins to question how the ape society began, especially its evolution. Cornelius sees that Taylor is worthy of consideration as an intelligent being. Cornelius and Zira escape with Taylor to the "Forbidden Zone" (a wasteland where humans are said to come from) to a site where Cornelius had been digging the year before. Dr. Zaius pursues them, is captured by Taylor and is forced to accept the evidence for a pre-ape human society. Cornelius accepts that apes did not evolve from humans, and rediscovered the inventions that humans had created. Taylor leaves; the artifacts are destroyed, and Cornelius and Zira return home. In Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Cornelius and Zira meet another astronaut, Brent, who appears at their doorstep after being shot by a gorilla. Cornelius gives Brent a map leading to where they left Taylor and instructs him not to let other apes hear him speak. In Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Cornelius and Zira themselves become astronauts, escaping their world in Taylor's spacecraft that was found and restored by their friend Dr Milo, and travelling back in time to roughly 1–3 years after Taylor's departure. They discover a world run by humans and deduce it is their own planet from the apes' prehistory. After being celebrities, the apes are imprisoned and interrogated by the humans. Zira is pregnant and this puts the fear of an ape-run Earth in the humans. Zira gives birth to Milo (renamed Caesar in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes ) and is taken into hiding by Armando, a sympathetic circus owner. After being discovered by Dr. Hasslein, Cornelius and Zira escape with a normal chimpanzee baby, which they had switched with Milo to ensure his safety. All three are killed.
Dr Zira
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