Koba (Planet of the Apes)

First appearing in Rise, Koba is a bonobo which led a life full of abuse and torment at the hands of humans. He is picked up by the company Gen-Sys to be part of a testing procedure for the ALZ-113 retrovirus developed by Will Rodman, in hopes of curing Alzheimer's. Koba impresses Rodman enough to undergo the procedure for the testing. He is mocked briefly by Rodman's superior, Steven Jacobs, by knocking on Koba's window as he is being strapped in for the procedure. Koba lies still long enough until he initiated a surprise attack that knocks handler Robert Franklin's mask off. While Koba is sedated, Franklin has breathed in enough of the 113 virus to become contaminated, which would begin the Simian Flu outbreak that caused humanity to die out. After the procedure, Koba shows off his newfound intelligence by writing Jacobs's name on a writing computer screen, taunting him while he plots his revenge. He is later freed from captivity by Caesar, and joins him in his attack on the Golden Gate Bridge. Koba is commanded by Caesar to lead an attack from above using the high-wire supports. He notices that Steven Jacobs's helicopter has been attacked, and has left him injured. With Caesar's permission, Koba goes over to the wreckage of the helicopter and pushes it over the edge of the bridge, killing Jacobs. Koba follows Caesar and the rest of the apes to Muir Woods Park, where he attacks Rodman, but is stopped by Caesar before he can kill him.

In this novel, set a few weeks after the first film, Koba works hard to prove his loyalty to Caesar, while also struggling with the painful memories of his past, which are now more vivid due to his enhanced intelligence.

Koba was born in an unnamed primate research facility, where he lived with his mother and their caregiver, Mary, who taught them Sign Language. When Koba was still young, his mother died defending him from an abusive, alcoholic handler named Roger. As a result of this incident, the facility's project funding was cut and Koba was sold to Tommy, an abusive TV producer. Tommy made Koba and his new chimpanzee friend, Milo, part of his TV show, Monkey of the House, and would electrocute or beat them whenever they displeased him. When Koba finally tried to defend himself from Tommy's abuse, Tommy punished the bonobo by scarring his face with a knife and blinding his eye with a lit cigarette. After Tommy committed suicide due to his show being cancelled, Koba and Milo attempted to escape, only to be captured and separated by animal control officers. Koba then became a laboratory test subject, and eventually met Steven Jacobs, whom he swore revenge on after the man repeatedly mocked him as an unintelligent animal.

Ten years later, at the start of Dawn, Caesar and Koba are building their own civilization as humanity dies out. Koba becomes something of a brother to Caesar and is idolized by Caesar's son, Blue Eyes. Koba assists Caesar in saving Blue Eyes from a bear attack, and tells Blue Eyes not to be ashamed of his new scars from the encounter, as they show that he is strong. The next day, Koba and the other apes hear a gunshot ring throughout the forest and find Rocket's son Ash has been wounded by a group of humans with loaded guns. Caesar scares the humans into retreating, and orders Koba to follow them, where he finds a small civilization of humans that have survived the outbreak. When he returns, Koba insists on eradicating the humans for what they did to Ash and comes into conflict with Rocket for this, who insists that they must obey Caesar. Caesar and the apes march to the humans' settlement and claim that they do not want war, and that the humans must stay out of the ape's territory. Malcolm, one of the co-founders of the human's settlement, returns to the woods to make peace with Caesar in order to gain access to a hydroelectric generator at a dam in the ape's territory. Caesar allows the humans to work in the dam, granted they work unarmed, which infuriates Koba. Koba fears that if the humans get more power, they will become more dangerous, to which Caesar replies that once they finish their work they will leave. Angered, Koba points out all of his scars, referring to them as "human work". Caesar stands above Koba, who ashamedly seeks forgiveness from his king, and leaves.

The next day, Koba and two chimpanzees Grey and Stone, sneak off to San Francisco, claiming that he was off hunting. Koba observes that the humans have enough weaponry to wipe out the apes, and attempts to go and warn Caesar, but is caught by two human guards who threaten him. Koba plays dumb to catch them off guard and walks away. Koba returns to find that Caesar is at the dam with the humans. Koba arrives and attacks Malcolm's son, Alexander. Koba prepares to attack the boy again, but is interrupted by Maurice. Koba shouts for Caesar to come out, and confronts him about his tolerance of humans. Koba begins ranting that Caesar loves humans more than apes, and the two get into a fight where Caesar nearly beats Koba to death for his insolence. Caesar stops when he remembers his code that apes must not kill other apes and relents. Koba again begs for Caesar's forgiveness, and secretly begins his plans to usurp him. Koba keeps the discovery of the guns a secret, and warns Blue Eyes that he fears for Caesar's safety due to the humans remaining in the apes' territory. Koba returns to the armory and is caught by the same two humans again. Koba again plays dumb before stealing a M4A1 assault rifle from them. Koba treats the weapon like a toy to mess with the humans before executing them both. The power is restored and the humans celebrate with the apes. Koba kills the human Carver, who had shot Ash and was flippant with the apes previously, and takes his hat and cigarette lighter as souvenirs. Koba returns to the village and has his followers set the village on fire. Koba then uses the rifle to assassinate Caesar as they both stare at each other, seemingly killing him. Koba leaves the items he took from Carver at the scene of the shooting, framing him for killing Caesar and burning down the village. Koba wages war against the humans, claiming it to be in revenge for the death of Caesar and assuming leadership of the colony.

Koba charges into war with the rest of the male apes, killing many humans and leading to the deaths of many apes. Koba personally takes over a tank which is attacking the apes, and uses it to break down the door of the human sanctuary. Inside, Koba demands that Ash kill an unarmed man. Ash refuses, stating such an act goes against Caesar's teachings, and Koba angrily drags him up a flight of stairs and throws him off a balcony to his death. Koba insists that Caesar is dead, and the apes are to follow him. Koba orders all human survivors to be rounded up and taken prisoner, claiming that they will know life inside a cage, and imprisons Caesar's remaining sympathizers in a bus. Blue Eyes learns that Caesar is in fact alive, and frees the humans and apes loyalists from captivity singlehandedly.

Caesar and Koba face off at the top of the high-rise of the sanctuary. Koba taunts that the apes follow him now, and that he will win the war against the humans. Caesar claims that Koba was like a brother to him, while Koba retorts that Caesar is a brother to the humans, and that Koba will free apes from tyranny. Caesar retorts that Koba engaged this war due to selfish reasoning, and that he belongs in a cage. After an explosion, Koba steals a machine gun and attempts to kill Caesar with it, killing another ape and also injuring Maurice in the process. Caesar furiously launches himself at Koba and the two apes tumble down a platform, leaving Koba dangling off the edge. Koba hypocritically pleads for his life, reciting Caesar's rule of "Ape not kill ape", thus disregarding the fact that he killed some apes himself. Caesar begins to pull Koba up before disowning him as an ape by saying "You are not ape!", and drops a horrified Koba to his death.

By the beginning of War, Koba's actions have sparked a fully fledged war between the apes and the human survivors – the latter of whom are being led by a ruthless militant colonel, named J. Wesley McCullough. At some point, Koba appears in a couple of flashbacks only as a hallucination to Caesar after the latter accidentally kills Winter; who had joined forces with McCullough out of fear. Koba's apparition reminds Caesar of his rule not to kill apes, which he had just inadvertently broken. Maurice compares Caesar to Koba at one point, citing his lust for revenge. Koba appears to Caesar again while he is being tortured, mocking Caesar and claiming that he cannot save the apes, and he should succumb to his injuries and join him in death.[3][4] However, despite this, Caesar succeeds in freeing the apes from human captivity and later goes on to confront McCullough with the opportunity to execute him - after asserting that he is becoming like Koba.

But in the end, Caesar renounces this by sparing his enemy; he instead watches McCullough commit suicide. However, while escaping with the apes and eliminating the pursuing humans, Caesar is mortally wounded and he later dies at the end of the movie. However, despite Caesar's death, he has succeeded in saving the ape colony and whatever is left of Koba's cause was over at last.