9 Well Deserved Movie Villain Deaths
5. Koba - Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
From when we first saw him in “Rise” we immediately recognise the scarred bonobo as a future antagonist who would counter Caesar at some point.
Whether it was his sinister smile or that milky eye, Koba was a terrifying presence even when he was on the side of the good apes.
It’s in the second instalment of the trilogy that the confrontation between the two apes escalates and Koba makes his move to overthrow Caesar.
Between nonchalantly killing two humans to incite a war and selfishly allowing other apes to die during a building collapse, Koba betrays and murders his own to preserve his seat of power amongst the other apes.
Caesar confronts Koba at the top a building before the other apes, and their fight for dominance ultimately culminates with Koba trying to appeal to Caesar’s vulnerabilities, reminding Caesar that apes don’t kill other apes.
Caesar resists and lets him fall with the words “you are not ape” and we watch as the traitorous Koba screams and falls to his doom.
Even in “War” Koba’s death lingers over Caesar, as our hero is reminded not just of the betrayal, but the guilt of taking the life of one of his own.