Do you have any new Red head canons? Honestly I just want an excuse to talk about him because he’s one of my favorite apes; really wished we explored on him more, him and the second generation were so young too:(
Anon I have been waiting for an ask like this!! 😍😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍
Firstly, I’m now convinced Red has Antisocial Personality Disorder (I recently watched Watson (a medical take on Watson and Sherlock Holmes) and there was a main character on the show with the disorder and, Anon, this character’s personality matched Red to a tee!).
Secondly (and this one is based on my headcanon that Red was abused/rejected by his mother), maybe the reason why he consistently went to Winter in War and in Revelations (having the most interactions with him I mean) was because Winter really was his only true friend.
Maybe when they were little, and before anyone knew how bad Red was being treated and intervened, Winter was the first one to acknowledge that something was wrong (he saw the bruises and asked Red if he was ok) and to try to help Red. He might not have understood the gravity of what was happening at the time but he did comfort Red and might have even had him spend the night at his dwelling as a refuge.
Winter might have also told his father about Red’s bruises who then informed Caesar but I doubt Red would have told Winter much if anything at all about where the bruises came from and Winter likely wouldn’t have thought it was abuse due to how young and innocent he and Red both were at the time.
I also want to point out here that I don’t think any of the apes in the colony (especially Caesar) would have allowed abuse from a parent to a child to continue if they knew it was happening. I have no doubts that they would have done something about it if they knew (chase the abuser out, have someone else adopt the child, or something like that). It’s just everything about Red’s behavior towards the colony suggests a deep hatred that wasn’t just caused by Koba’s death, which makes me think he believes they (Caesar’s rule or his people) failed him somehow.
This is all to say that Winter was, in Red’s mind, the first and only one to truly care about him.
Now, flash forward to Revelations and War:
Yes Red is manipulative but what if he really did want Winter to survive and believed he was protecting/saving him by making him believe Caesar was dead/forcing him to betray Caesar? This might be unlikely but it does explain why he keeps trying to get Winter on his side.
Similarly, Winter might have felt protective of Red (and by that I mean he never forgot the bruised and scared little gorilla Red once was and Winter never wanted to see him hurt like that again) and the situation when they were little became part of his identity (Winter may not be the bravest or smartest gorilla, but he’ll be there for you if you need a shoulder to cry on and he will not abandon you even if others have).
That same situation might have been the start of their friendship. Unlike other apes, Red might have played with him (even games where his white fur gave him away) and didn’t bully him or make him feel different just because of his fur. So for Winter, Red might have been the first one to truly see him so to speak.
This, along with his own fears relating to the war and his feeling of inadequacy, might have been why he fell so easily for Red’s lies.
I don’t know if Red ever found out what happened to Winter but if he knew or believed it was Caesar, it would have served as more reason to hate him.
Other headcanons I have for Red include:
- He was born premature (which is why he’s said to be shorter than other gorillas in Revelations) and has slight nerve damage relating to that.
- Due to possibly being abused as a child, Red bruises easily (particularly in his face-nose especially!).
- Red struggles with showing or accepting affection. He understands the concept but finds it difficult in action. He’s awkward about it but does get better.
- If Red had any siblings or anyone close to him, he will be protective of them and won’t hesitate to kill anyone who hurts them.
- In another life, Red would be goth and listen to heavy metal/punk music lol.
- I don’t know where else to put this but Winter one time tried to flirt with Red and said “do you want to make pink with me?” and got flustered with how it sounded coming out and ran away. Red didn’t know what he was talking about until later and found it hilarious!
Hope you liked all that! Please feel free to ask for more!
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