Cornelius was a male chimpanzee from the films Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes and Escape from the Planet of the Apes, based on the character of Cornélius from the original novel, La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle. He was the fiancée (later husband) of Zira and the eventual father of Milo, who would grow up to take the name Caesar.
An archeological scientist, Cornelius was reluctantly supportive
of Zira's theories and views. He really would have preferred the quiet
life with less controversy but deeply loved Zira and stood by her,
though he did try to smooth over the confrontation with the orangutan
elders and the gorilla soldiers. He himself had alarmed Zaius also by conducting digs in the Forbidden Zone,
which threatened to undermine Ape society if he discovered what Zaius
already knew. He was thus discouraged from further studies by the
authorities. He grudgingly helped Zira to defend Taylor
to the authorities and to escape subsequently but was cynical of
Taylor's stories of an intelligent human race, and retained his respect
for Zaius.
In the third Ape movie we were informed that Zira and Cornelius, after the visit of Brent, travelled into the Forbidden Zone to visit their friend Milo,
who had discovered and repaired Taylor's ship. Together the three
attempted to fly it but it launched onto a fixed return path to Taylor's
time and the Apes escaped just as the Alpha-Omega Bomb
device destroyed the world. Landing on Earth in 1973, the Apes were
cautiously welcomed as a novelty by the bemused population. However when
they accidently revealed details of Earth's final days and Zira became
pregnant with a child that could spawn an intelligent Ape race, the
human authorities became suspicious and ultimately plotted the deaths of
Zira, Cornelius and their son (Dr. Milo having already died). Escaping,
they were tracked down to a disused boat, where they were finally
killed by Otto Hasslein
despite Cornelius' attempt to defend himself and his family. The child,
initially named after Milo but subsequently renamed Caesar, had been
saved however, and would eventually do just what Hasslein had feared.
Many years later, Caesar named his own son after his father, whom he had never known
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