𝓗eadcanons.ೃ࿔*:･
Headcanons of KPOTA and Proximus' background.
°❀.ೃ࿔.
The Biology of Apes and the World (in ol' North America of course).
*.= ALZ-113 in the trilogy seemed to trigger a rapid evolution in apes cognitively (greater sapience, understanding and flawless acquisition of language despite the anatomy of their vocals in a short period, which may suggest that some of their internal organs may have evolved, equalling humans' cognitive abilities) and physically (becoming almost completely bipedal as knuckle-walking seemed to be abandoned completely, only used for idling/to rest on their knuckles similarly how humans stand with one knee bent, run/charge at full speed or intimidate, suggesting that their skeletal anatomy have changed despite prolonged bipedalism causing discomfort, this would lead massive effects on their bodies), meaning that the apes three centuries forward would have experienced quite significant changes which their, relatively still recent, ancestors didn't receive.
Now paired with bipedalism and the level of sapience, which took humanity millions of years to acquire and perfect, they have also shown to flawlessly acquire fire, and that fire was then used for cooking meat, mirroring human evolution at this point, albeit through cracked glasses.
Just what effects would this have?
The transition to bipedalism may have been mainly driven by environmental and adaptive stresses. Since apes in KPOTA would have globally diverged (except in the uninhabitable regions, of course, just anywhere where humans inhabited), and especially many of them are descendants of captives, they would be unfamiliar and have essentially no access to the environments that their species naturally come from (forested environments with an abundance of edible vegetation), meaning they have increased distances between food sources and have to look over tall grasses and vegetation.
However, bipedalism offers several advantages: a more energy-efficient way to travel over long distances, an elevated vantage point for spotting predators and prey (which is significant for hunting), and walking on two legs allows for greater energy efficiency compared to knuckle-walking. Those are essential for travelling between scattered resources, and again, directly mirror human evolution with their early hominin ancestors, specifically the Miocene era.
Moreover, bipedalism also allows apes to create technology and culture (to a greater degree, they already had tool use and culture, but not to the same extent as humans formerly) with freed hands that can carry objects, use tools and perform complex tasks in general. And what could this also result in? More dexterous hands, longer thumbs and more flexible wrists! Whilst still maintaining the sturdy nature of their hands and long fingers, they still climb.
Another anatomical change that bipedalism would have on them over the course of time is the pelvis. It's uncertain how exactly the pelvis would be developed because they still climb trees and brachiate, but also only walk on two legs, where quadrupedalism is only used for sprinting/charging. Their pelvis would have to be unique from humans' and apes' back then. It doesn't help when their legs are rather still bent than straight when bipedal? Even Ardipithecus ramidus had straighter legs than they did, and they were also a tree-climbing species. One thing that is certain is that the apes would have evolved to have much more flexible muscles and skeletons in their lower body, whilst still preserving that signature bent look and power of their upper bodies.
What would bipedalism also affect? The spine! Their spines would have inevitably formed an S-shape, but not as prominent as humans', which helps maintain balance and absorb shock while walking upright. Their feet would also have evolved to have a larger heel and more developed arch, again aiding in shock absorption and providing stability for bipedalism. Would like to imagine, as a silly thought, that when their feet are not on the ground and used like hands, the palm of the feet becomes naturally flat like hands do, a little evolutionary quirk!
Lastly but not least, bipedalism would have affected their foramen magnum (spine connection to the cranium) to be closer to the base of the skull than the back of it. While not in the same position as humans, it's closer than compared to their ancestors.
*.= As apes have shown a preference for cooking their food, despite no need for it as their guts can process raw meat and other edibles, this directly affects the anatomy of their skull as well. Eating cooked food over time for three centuries since the first evolved apes has resulted in their teeth (mostly if not only molars, as canines are present in apes and monkeys for sexual dimorphism and status/competition/intimidation reasons, rather than purely chewing) becoming smaller and jaws (prognathism) shrinking with the reduction of chewing on hard foods. To compensate for their jaw power (albeit still significantly stronger than humans and enough to cause damage, enough to scare), this allowed for brains to become larger, morphing the skull into a rounder shape.
*.= What's with irises and white sclera?
White sclera isn't a rare trait as thought to be when it comes to non-human apes, a lot of them has it, especially gorillas, some have bits of whites mixed with black in their sclera and whatnot.
Yet how come that some apes, despite being descendants of the first apes to receive ALZ-113, still have dark sclera and darker irises like Proximus even after three centuries? It's simply genetics. Apes who have recessive/hidden genes for white sclera and lighter irises simply have lighter eyes which the virus may have triggered/activated it, whereas those who don't have those genes retains their original eyes. The whole eye colour semantics seem to work similarly with humans. Both parents have recessive genes for lighter eyes despite having dark eyes and the child inherits the two recessive genes than the dominant.
It's not impossible for an ape to have blue eyes, there have been apes with leucism or albinism who have it.
So, since their eye colours became more varied and spread out, would there be a gene mutation in the colour of their hair too? Without a doubt! There are already chimpanzees who have rather light to medium brown hair than black, and there are bonobos whose hair colours are brown (source is Lola ya Bonobo)!
It wouldn't be too far to say that there could be apes (apart from gibbons, they have every colour) who are blonde, auburn and such if the colour of their irises could also mutate. They're just less common, like in humans.
Looking at Noa's father, Koro's hair looks quite light and dirty blondeish; it's certainly not from black to grey. He must have had a considerably light shade of brown hair before ageing. Noa inherited his mother's darker hair.
*.= Except for gorillas, the apes seem to eat more meat than vegetation, due to the environments lacking the nutritious vegetation that they would have access to in their places of origin, and to seek such fruits and vegetables, they would have to scout far away to find some, which burns down the energy, and competitions are not uncommon as there would be other apes from different clans who'd scout as well. Only in larger clans, kingdoms, and empires is agriculture learned and utilised.
*.= Similarly with humans' strange fixation on blonde or red hair or green or blue eyes in cultures where those traits are rarer, there are definitely clans, kingdoms and empires where those traits are admired. Whereas leucism is held at an even higher standard, but albinism may be less so due to the associated health issues that are viewed as undesirable, as beauty/attractiveness is associated with health.
However, there could be cultures where apes with leucism and albinism may be deemed as bad luck or untrustworthy. Like Caesar's words and story, no matter how changed and exaggerated, spread across generations, there could be cultures with different interpretations of the story where Winter is mentioned, and because of his betrayal (and cowardice) to Caesar, they may associate all apes with albinism as untrustworthy and prone to ditching due to Winter's role in these stories.
*.= Only clans descended from Caesar's clan seem to have inter-species living together, as the rest of the apes preferred to stick to their own species, especially bonobos and chimpanzees, whose socialisations and cultures are too different to be compatible, then to the gibbons and orangutans who are more solitary and only stick to one or two apes, which could only work under a diplomatic and careful chief like Caesar. Kingdoms and empires would inevitably have mixed species and cultures living together at some point.
*.= Books and anything that contains knowledge are sought after in many apes. Like humans, they too spread their culture and knowledge to the youngsters and have long childhoods that consist of learning and learning every aspect of life, thus books and learning are highly valued and collected. Of course, it is only clans that have a written language system (English as the de facto language) where they collect, archive and write knowledge, whereas in clans that don't have written language, they spread their knowledge orally from one generation to another.
*.= In some regions of North America where there is more than one clan sharing the area, they would open a market at the end of the week where they trade what they found and made throughout the week.
*.= Because of the demands and importance of written knowledge, there had been clans, kingdoms and empires that commissioned apes from the neighbouring latter who would create copies or works that contain the requested knowledge, whether through parchment, wooden tablets, or paper (which only apes with advanced technology would have access to, as they make paper themselves, but that means they would also be targeted by kingdoms and empires to be annexed into. Lovely).
°❀.ೃ࿔.
Proximus' Background and the 'Kingdom' (Empire)
*.= Proximus' empire wasn't something that he acquired independently, but a progression of several generations of others and his family, a clan that formerly was part of Caesar's and diverged long ago, possibly right after his death. Hence, all this knowledge, gestures and the symbol. They were more akin to missionaries in the early stages.
*.= Proximus was the son of a bonobo mother and a chimp father (we're too far into the bonobo belief, and I personally like it, more so if he was mixed with bonobo and chimp heritage, because it would add to his leadership and where he got it), who bonded more out of practical and diplomatic reasons than personal intimacy. From there, he grew up with two contrasting styles of leadership. One was submit, if you do wrong, you'll be killed as punishment as an example; the other was submit, if you do wrong, you'll be punished for it, but you'll be reassured because I trust your usefulness and contribution, you'll be rewarded for that usefulness to further strengthen that alliance and loyalty as I only keep my morality for my friends.
Suffice to say, he inherited both the best (and worst) traits from his parents and formed his own style of ruling from there. Only use violence when it's the last necessary option.
*.= Like many apes before him and the ones with high status within the empire, he was tutored and lectured, as the empire here has one of the largest libraries in the region, with such a strong presence of books and written knowledge, there are many academic/scholarly positions that the apes could find themselves in.
*.= The old shipwreck wasn't Proximus' only residence, but it's the main one where the court and politics are present, including where many of the significant members of the court and council live, thus he resided and attended there the most. His actual place of rest is in the forest (which is also part of the empire and where apes of higher status live) near the tented village.
*.= Proximus deliberately calls the empire ''kingdom'' instead of what it actually is to promote that feeling of unity and collectiveness.
*.= He didn't come from a family of royals, and there is no sense of true monarchy or royalty within the empire; rather, it is the apes part of the council who are most trusted and well-adjusted political members who will be elected, and their loyal advisors will be elected after them.
Similarly, Caesar wasn't a king, but that was the title he was given because of how he governed and approached everything; on top of that, the respect he earned from all apes, and Maurice being the successor instead of Cornelius. When the clan (now empire) diverged from Caesar's, they followed that approach to electing leadership rather than basing it on blood relations or 'royalty'.
The title 'King' is only a political title rather than a royal one, and is interpreted differently than what their human counterparts may perceive. A 'King' to humans is a man who inherited the throne that was his birthright as son and heir to the predecessor. A 'King' to apes here is an ape, doesn't matter male or female, who possesses every quality that Caesar had, thus ordained as Caesar. By Proxy Caesar.
Heirs can inherit the throne/kingship, but only when they're adults and part of the council, and as long as an heir's father or mother is alive, then they may be given the crown as being raised by the King and being observed by the subjects of the King throughout their upbringing, which gives proof of their political competency and intelligence, is enough to harbour trust and guarantee a succession, to be worthy enough to be ordained as Caesar.
Kings also have as few children as possible to avoid competition and tensions for power between siblings; what is most important is the quality rather than the quantity. There are many competitions between the daughters and sons of the council and the King.
*.= (This is about how Proximus annexes clans, already made a blog about it, but I'm pasting it here, if you read it already, you may skip it)
We all know that one of Proximus' troops strategies to annexing clans is through direct violent raids, as seen with the Eagle Clan, but here's a question: what if this was a rare instance of such a strategy since they were desperate to capture Mae, and instead they employ more decisive strategies usually?
One strategy that they employ the most is sending their smaller cavalries, the quickest soldiers (primarily slimmer and more lithe apes) who deliver devastating and shock charges to break the sense of barriers and cause diversions amongst the panicking locals, who are masked and body painted so to hide their identity (they even have fake names, different calls and a unique variation of English for the plan) and avoid being recognised if the locals were to see them in Proximus' kingdom.
Then the rest of the troops would barge in to act as 'saviours'/'heroes' who would pressure and push the cavalry away from the area. Afterwards, they grant care and support to the traumatised clan and offer (coerce) them into joining their kingdom as refugees (but they will integrate and assimilate over time without noticing), which often would be difficult to reject as the cavalry took great efforts to fully demolish their homes from top to bottom.
Another interpretation to add as another probable reason as to why the apes outside the coastal colony are seemingly willing and supportive of Proximus, because apart from them being descendants of the clans who had already been annexed long ago so their history and culture is lost, the newly arriving clans would be lied and given a false sense of security and preservation— just as soothed into the golden cage.
And would also like to add another interpretation that the coastal colony apes are clans of apes who had been directly violently raided and who knew about the true nature of the whole ordeal, thus they were sentenced to slave labour with a perception and illusion that they receive decent treatments (since we don't see these apes being whipped into labour or anything, they had to be promised something and influenced to be willing to commit to unpaid labour with a reward, ultimately creating a sense of respect and appreciation for Proximus over time, we all know Proximus likes to deal with sly words than violence).
But then what if there were also clans who had been raided and attacked by foreign clans that Proximus' troops took care of and helped them? There's another reason to add for the blind worship.
*.= In the tented village outside of the shipwreck, they have outdoor taverns where the soldiers (and locals) would often drink and rest, sometimes yearn and gaze dotingly at some of the servers here and there. Commonly, these are the places where large feasts and festivals take place, and where every busy ape has their dinner, which Proximus likes to join in indiscriminately and invites everyone in (except the coastal apes), resulting in loud singing and a lively place with instruments being played and cups flying about until daybreak.
They also have seasonal menus!
*.= The empire has its own wine stored in the nearby caves in traditional clay amphorae and sold in taverns; the court gets the special ones.
*.= Apart from having the natural advantage of being located by the coast, as every successful kingdom and empire had throughout human history, they're also located in one of the most vegetated regions.
Located in California, one of the states with the most diverse production of fruits and vegetables, generally known for agriculture, after three centuries have passed, there would be a lot of varied seeds of fruits and vegetables that had been dispersed, whether by air or animal, without human management you have a wild frenzy of varying edibles that grow on specific seasons, essentially a pseudo Garden of Eden.
For that, a lot of youths from the empire would go scouting together with their friends to collect all the fruits and vegetables.
*.= They have a large stable just outside the perimeter of the tented village where horses can rest and are looked after. A common area for apes to station in and prepare before travelling.
*.= The empire has one of the largest horticultures in the region.
*.= Apart from being well known for its militarism, large size and emphasis on academia (and possibly wine), they're also one of the few groups of apes that publish works and literature, as well as copy the books they archive to make sure that the knowledge won't be lost once those books expire.
Where do they get paper? They do it Cai Lun style. They also write on wooden tablets, stone tablets, whatever can be written on, as long as they can store knowledge.
Not mine, but strawbebb's, who explained better about the theory of the cloaked apes being the vestal virgins of the empire! I love it so much, I had to add it.
This is the article I used for the biology part, since they pinpointed the main key effects that bipedalism has! There is so much information on that subject, and a lot of it is theories too.
