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Apex contains plot and/or ending details of Pacific Rim: The Black and all its related media. Proceed at your own discretion.
- "A drone survived. This one. Apex. It evolved into a singular creature. A bio-mech with no allegiance."
- —Loa, Boneyard
Apex was a Drone Jaeger built by Shao Industries with the intent of supplanting humanity.[1] It, along with the other Drone Jaegers, was secretly modified and turned into a Kaiju-Jaeger Hybrid by Newton Geiszler, who was under the Precursors' mind control, and began opening Breaches in the Pacific Rim following the activation of its secondary brain by Newton. Apex and the other Kaiju-Jaeger Hybrid's rampage were stopped by a feedback loop created by Liwen Shao to block the signal that Newton used to control them, killing most of them. Apex, however, survived and fell dormant at the bottom of the sea. Some time later, Apex reawakened and broke free from the Precursors' hive mind, and began hunting both Kaiju and Jaegers alike on the isolated continent of Australia. He later encountered Kaiju bOy, a Human-Kaiju Hybrid and established a neural handshake with him, becoming his loyal guardian in the process, and saved him from the influence of the Sisters of the Kaiju by restoring his memories of Taylor and Hayley Travis before succumbing to his injuries and dying shortly afterwards.
Appearance[]
Apex is a large, humanoid Kaiju-Jaeger Hybrid with black armor colored with red markings around its body, several sharp spikes ranging from its arms and cervical, red, claw-like fingers, a spherical head, red eyes, and sharp teeth. When it was first constructed, it had silver-grey armor and blue eyes, but otherwise looked the same.
Personality[]
Apex is a normally violent creature who, not unlike other Kaiju, shows extreme hostility towards everyone within its vicinity, sadistically killing and eating any Kaiju it comes across. Despite this, it does have a gentle side, most prominently shown with Kaiju boy, and is capable of expressing curiosity. Apex is shown to be a genuinely helpful individual towards those it considers allies, as shown when it gave Atlas Destroyer Chaos Nemesis' arm as a replacement for the latter Jaeger's lost arm. It is also capable of prioritizing more important objectives over less important ones, as it briefly pursued Bogan when they unintentionally attacked it, but remembered its goal to save Boy from the Sisters of the Kaiju and resumed its course towards Sydney. Apex seems to care for Kaiju boy very much, as it went out of its way to find him and restore his memory, even when Boy severely injured it whilst berserk.
Abilities[]
Apex has the ability to open Breaches through the collaboration of other Drone Jaegers by firing a beam from its chest. It can forcefully drift with several people at once, allowing it to show its memories to those who it drifts. Apex can emit a scanning beam from its eyes to access an individual's memories and transmit them to others, during which its eyes shift from red to blue. It can also shoot missiles from its shoulders, although it has not been seen doing so throughout Pacific Rim: The Black.
Apex is a powerful fighter, as it was able to kill several Kaiju throughout its life, and was able to easily hold its own against both Atlas Destroyer and Kaiju bOy. It can use its sharp, claw-shaped fingers to impale opponents. Apex has impressive strength, as it was able to create a large shockwave by punching Atlas Destroyer.
History[]
Pacific Rim Uprising[]
Apex was one of several Drone Jaegers constructed by Shao Industries. Technologist Liwen Shao was motivated to design the Drone Jaegers out of concern for the lives of Jaeger pilots. Unbeknownst to her, Newton Geiszler, under the influence of the Precursors' hive mind, had secretly placed Kaiju brains inside of the Drone Jaegers to further the efforts of the Precursors' attempts to colonize Earth. Newton activated the Kaiju brains within the drones, causing them to turn into Kaiju-Jaeger Hybrids. Among these hybrids were Apex, who, along with other Drone Jaegers, began opening Breaches within the Pacific Rim. They were eventually stopped by Liwen Shao when she created a feedback loop that destroyed most of the drones.
Pacific Rim: The Black[]
Apex was the only one of the Drone Jaegers to have survived the feedback loop that killed the rest of his brethren. It fell dormant at the bottom of the sea, but regained consciousness after an unspecified period of time when the Kaiju Blue inside of it began circulating its body, causing its armor to turn black with several red markings around its body, and its eyes to shift from blue to red. No longer under the Precursors' control, Apex began attacking both Jaegers and Kaiju in Australia. At some point during Operation Blackout, Apex arrived in Meridian City and killed a Kaiju that was rampaging in the city prior to its arrival. Shortly afterward, it destroyed two large drones who tried to fend it off. Apex sensed the presence of a Human-Kaiju Hybrid in a recruitment center for the Pan Pacific Defense Corps and attempted to drift with him, but failed.
"Into the Black"[]
While Taylor and Hayley Travis were running away from a Ripper, Apex suddenly appeared and grabbed the Ripper before eating it, inadvertently saving the two siblings from death. It noticed Taylor and Hayley and tried to eat them next, but narrowly missed them, forcing them to jump into a nearby river to escape. Apex later responded to Hayley's cries for help while they were running away from a pack of Rippers, and once again grabbed them and ate them just before the Rippers could kill the pair.
"Boneyard"[]
When Hayley and Taylor were traveling through a boneyard using Atlas Destroyer in search of Kaiju bOy, they were attacked by an Acidquill who had emerged from a nearby Breach. As it gained the upper hand and prepared to destroy Atlas Destroyer, Apex suddenly appeared an grabbed the Acidquill by one of its tails and slammed it on a cliff before jumping on it and impaling its head with its claws, killing it. Apex later approached Boy, recognizing him as the individual it tried to drift with in the past. Taylor and Hayley, worried about Boy's safety, rushed towards Apex and Boy, intent on protecting him from Apex. In response, Apex rushed towards Atlas Destroyer and attacked the Jaeger, easily blocking one of its punches from its only remaining arm and throwing it on the ground. Apex prepared to land a devastating punch on Atlas Destroyer's head, but Boy blocked the punch with his superhuman strength, leaving Atlas Destroyer undamaged and creating a large shockwave in the process. Apex stared at Boy for a moment before lifting him up in the air, drifting with him, Taylor, and Hayley and showing them its memories. It later drifted with Hayley and scanned her memories. Apex went to the ruins of the destroyed Chaos Nemesis and took its arm as a replacement for Atlas Destroyer's missing arm, which it gave to Taylor and Hayley, who gladly accepted it, before going to the Acidquill's carcass and eating it.
"Sisters of the Kaiju"[]
Through his neural link with Boy, Apex determined that Boy's mind was being manipulated by the Sisters of the Kaiju, a cultist organization who worshipped Kaiju and sought to make Boy their "Kaiju Messiah", and began its journey towards Sydney to save Boy from the Sisters' influence.
"Mind, Body, Soul"[]
While Apex was on its way to free Boy from the Sister's domination over his mind, he was attacked by one of Bogan's mercenaries, who accidentally launched a rocket-propelled grenade at it. Angered, Apex began walking towards Bogan, leading the mercenaries to repeatedly shoot at him in hopes of warding him off. Apex however, remembered his objective of saving Boy and resumed his course to Sydney, leaving Bogan unharmed.
"The Twilight Run"[]
After Boy came under the control of the Sisters of the Kaiju as their new "Messiah", Apex arrived to help Atlas Destroyer save him. Apex threw Boy away while he was attacking Atlas Destroyer in his Kaiju form, and grabbed him midair when he attempted to strike back. Apex used its scanning beam to try to return Boy's memories to him. However, the Sisters started to chant to influence Boy to fight off Apex's "bane and corruption", allowing him to kick Apex to the ground and break free from its grasp. Boy began repeatedly stomping on Apex's head, crushing part of its armor. Apex managed to throw Boy away and fight back briefly, only for him to tackle Apex on the ground and punch its head, doing further damage to the point where its flesh became exposed. Atlas Destroyer tried to intervene, but was rendered inoperable due to prior damage and had to reset its systems. After doing so, Atlas Destroyer intervened and grabbed Boy, restraining him for Apex. With Boy restrained, Apex manages to finish the process of restoring Boy's memories. Unfortunately, the injuries Apex suffered while attempting to save Boy from the Sisters proved to be too severe, leading him to die shortly afterwards. Shortly after regaining his sense of self, Boy roared in grief as he saw Apex's corpse.
Trivia[]
- Apex is a Latin word literally meaning "peak" or "tip". It is commonly used to refer to an Apex Predator, an animal at the top of its food chain.
- Apex bears a resemblance to the Juggernaut-class Kaiju-Jaeger Hybrids featured in Pacific Rim: Breach Wars.
- Apex is referred to with male pronouns throughout Pacific Rim: The Black.
Gallery[]
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An image gallery is available for Apex
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References[]
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