|
| “ | That's Kong. He's king around here. He's god to these people. | „ |
| ~ Hank Marlow describing Kong's origins to Conrad and Weaver. |
King Kong, simply known as Kong and dubbed Titanus Kong, is one of the main kaiju protagonists of the MonsterVerse franchise alongside Godzilla. He, as an adolescent, first appeared as the titular deuteragonist of the 2017 epic monster action-adventure film Kong: Skull Island, and a cameo character in the 2019 film Godzilla: King of the Monsters. He will reappear in the 2020 film Godzilla vs. Kong, in which he, as an adult, is set to battle against Godzilla.
This incarnation of the famous monster, King Kong, is an extremely powerful, mighty, and gigantic ape kaiju who possess vastly incredible strength, durability, and more physical superhuman features. He was discovered in 1973 by the enigmatic company, Monarch, which has been studying other monsters, such as Godzilla, Shinomura, and the two M.U.T.O.s.
He is portrayed by Terry Notary (who also played Groot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Rocket in the Planet of the Apes reboot franchise and Buck in The Call of the Wild) via motion capture, while his guidance was provided by Toby Kebbell, who also played The Thing and Tintin. His vocal sound effects are also provided by Frank Welker.
Biography
Kong: Skull Island
After crash-landing on Skull Island in 1944, American fighter pilot Hank Marlow and Japanese pilot Gunpei Ikari engaged in a fight to the death. After Ikari gained the upper hand and prepared to fatally stab Marlow with a dagger, Kong appeared over a cliff, leading the two shocked men to end their struggle.
In 1973, the scientific organization Monarch organized an expedition to Skull Island, escorted by the Sky Devils helicopter squadron led by Lt. Colonel Preston Packard. One the helicopters carrying the expedition members cleared the storm cell surrounding the island and began flying over land, they immediately began dropping seismic charges onto the ground below, allegedly to map the island. The explosions drew out Kong, who responded by throwing a tree through one of the choppers. The remaining choppers formed a perimeter around Kong and opened fire on him. The bullets did little more than irritate Kong, who proceeded to rip the helicopters out of the sky and smash them. After downing all of the choppers, Kong wandered back off into the jungle. Kong eventually reached a river, where he noticed the wounds he had sustained from the choppers' rotor blades. Kong winced in pain briefly before beginning to drink from the lake. Suddenly, Kong realized that a Mire Squid was in the water and grabbed one of the creature's tentacles. The Mire Squid then attacked Kong with all of its tentacles, trying to strangle him to death. Kong was able to crush the creature's head under his foot and kill it, then proceeded to eat several of its tentacles. Kong then grabbed the squid's carcass and dragged it away, presumably back to his lair.
After meeting Marlow, some of the surviving expedition members were brought back to the village of the island's indigenous tribe, the Iwis. There, Marlow explained that Kong was perceived as a god by the islanders, and generally acted as a guardian on the island that kept the most dangerous creatures there under control. He stated that the reason Kong attacked the helicopters was because the seismic charges they dropped had drawn creatures he called Skullcrawlers to the surface. According to Marlow, Skullcrawlers were the most vicious and dangerous animals on the island, and were responsible for killing Kong's family. At this time, Kong was being attacked by two Skullcrawlers, but was able to easily dispatch the two smaller creatures. One of the expedition members, Mason Weaver, found a Sker Buffalo pinned underneath a downed helicopter and tried to free it, only for Kong to arrive and free the buffalo himself. Kong gave Weaver an indifferent glance and simply wandered off.
After surviving an encounter with a Skull Crawler and several Leafwings, Weaver and James Conrad stood atop a cliff and looked out over the island, only to witness Kong approach them. To their surprise, Kong did not seem violent or aggressive at all, and even allowed Weaver to place her hand on his face. Suddenly, explosions appeared over the distance, and Kong immediately raced toward them. Weaver and Conrad knew that Packard and his men were setting a trap for Kong, intending to kill him. The two of them, joined by Marlow, rushed to the scene to try and save Kong. When Kong arrived at the scene of the explosions, he saw Packard and his men in the distance. As Kong crossed a lake to reach them, Packard ignited the napalm he had dumped into the water, causing the entire lake to erupt into flames. Kong swung his arm angrily at the water, causing the flaming napalm to hit some of the soldiers, before collapsing onto the ground. Packard placed leftover seismic charges around Kong, preparing to finish him, but Weaver, Conrad and Marlow arrived and aimed their guns at him, demanding for him to stop. Packard refused, and was prepared to detonate the charges and blow them all sky high, when suddenly a gigantic Skullcrawler erupted from the lake. Everyone except Packard fled, while Kong regained consciousness and promptly smashed Packard under his fist. The Skullcrawler attacked Kong, and the humans were forced to leave the giant ape to his fate.
The following morning, as the surviving expedition members neared the extraction point on the north side of the island, they were confronted by the giant Skullcrawler. Fortunately, Kong arrived and smashed the monster in the face with a boulder. Kong engaged in battle with the Skullcrawler, buying time for the humans to get to safety. The weakened Kong simply was not a match for the Skullcrawler, and was knocked into an old shipwreck and entangled in its anchor chain. Weaver had managed to reach a vantage point and fired a flare into the Skullcrawler's eye, enraging it and causing it to destroy the cliff and send Weaver falling into the water below. Kong finally broke free of the chain, and managed to create a makeshift flail when it became entangled with the ship's propeller. Kong swung the flail at the Skullcrawler, embedding the propeller into its back. Kong pulled the propeller out and sliced the creature across its throat, seemingly killing it. Kong then pulled Weaver out of the water and took a second to stare at her in his hand, only for the Skullcrawler to get back up and clamp its jaws onto his arm. Kong battled the Skullcrawler again, trying to keep Weaver away from its mouth, but the beast used its prehensile tongue to pull Kong's hand, with Weaver held in it, down its throat. Mustering all his strength, Kong pulled his hand free of the Skullcrawler's gullet, ripping out the beast's innards and killing it instantly. Kong gently set Weaver down on the ground, while Conrad immediately ran to her to ensure she was okay. As Weaver regained consciousness and embraced Conrad, Kong looked back at the two of them before walking away. Once the survivors were finally rescued from the island, Kong stood triumphantly in his domain, beating his chest and letting out a mighty roar.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Kong was on Skull Island, now the site of Monarch Outpost 33, when King Ghidorah emitted an alpha call which awakened the planet's dormant Titans and bent them to his will. While Kong, along with Mothra and Godzilla, is the only one not to respond to Ghidorah's call, he was shown to be leaving Skull Island on one of Monarch's computer monitors. After Godzilla defeated Ghidorah, humanity began uncovering many secrets from the ancient world regarding the Titans, including a cave painting of what appeared to be another member of Kong's species fighting Godzilla.
Godzilla vs. Kong
Kong is set to fight Godzilla in this installment, but it is unknown who will win.
Characteristics
Personality
Kong is a charming and benevolent creature who truly cares about the lives of others. He even went so far as to sacrificing his life by surprising his arch-nemesis, the alpha Skullcrawler, Skull Devil, throwing a large boulder at him, thus saving his human allies. He also cares for other animals, as shown when he saved an injured Sker Buffalo trapped underneath a fallen helicopter. However, he still displays ferocious anger towards those who attack him, as seen when he brutally destroys several helicopters when they try to shoot at him, and when he kills Packard and several people who allied with him.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Titan Physiology: As a titan, Kong is incredibly powerful; as he possesses various physical attributes that surpasses that of most other titans.
- Advanced Strength: Kong is far stronger than most other titans; for example, he was able to throw a boulder around half his own size and still manage to jump at least 250 ft into the air, and was able to fight off a Mire Squid and kill it using his own muscles; he was also able to rip off Skull Devil's powerful tongue when it latched onto him, killing the alpha skullcrawler.
- Advanced Durability: Kong is far more durable than most other titans; for example, he can withstand conventional weaponry and attacks from the Skullcrawlers.
- Advanced Speed: Kong is much faster than most other titans.
- Advanced Agility: Kong is far more agile than most other titans; for example, he was able to quickly dodge Skullcrawlers that attack him from behind.
- Advanced Stamina: Kong possesses far more stamina then most other titans; allowing him to remain physically active for long periods of time.
- Weaponizing: Kong can make something useful out from any object he can find and use them as melee and ranged weapons like trees, boulders, a boat propeller, and even chains on Skullcrawlers.
Abilities
- High-Level Intellect: Kong is highly intelligent, he used this trait to survive in Skull Island and defeat many of his enemies, seeing that Preston Packard was going to kill him with a detonator, and thus smashed him right then and there, shortly before fighting Skull Devil. In the final battle, while fighting the Skull Devil, Kong utilised several tools to fight the creature, examples including him hitting the Skull Devil with a stripped tree like a baseball bat and using a chain attached to a boat propeller like a flail to yank him, restrain him and slice his throat with the propeller like a shuriken, which seemingly killed him. Not long after that, when Skull Devil wrapped his tongue around the giant ape's arm, Kong used this advantage against him, pulling out his tongue and ripping out his innards.
Weaknesses
- Limitations: Because Kong is still a teenager, he has not yet fully develop the physical attributes of adult giant apes; as he has difficulty defeating much larger opponents.
- Lack of Bodily Armor: Kong's body is very vulnerable and has no armor, unlike Godzilla's, which has very thick scales to resist attacks from enemies (not counting his gills) because of this, Kong can get wounded very easily, which was seen when the blades of a helicopter he fought grazed his palm very badly. Kong was also shown to have a poor resistance to fire due to his fur, collapsing from the napalm and fire he was hit with after a few minutes. Additionally, Kong has poor regeneration, shown below.
- Poor Healing Factor: Unlike Godzilla, who can heal quickly from his wounds, Kong has a relatively slow healing factor comparable to that of a human, as needs a much longer time to do so. This was seen when he washed his arm to heal his wounds from a skirmish with several helicopters. Kong's wounds on his chest have also not healed yet.
Relationships
Mason Weaver
Due to Mason's interest in and respect for nature and her desire for peace, she is able to connect with Kong.
James Conrad
Hank Marlow
Preston Packard
Skullcrawlers
Skull Devil
Skull Devil was the alpha of the Skullcrawlers on Skull Island and Kong's primary adversary who was said to be responsible for slaughtering the giant apes on the island, leaving Kong as the only survivor.
Sker Buffaloes
Kong appears to care for the Sker Buffaloes living within his territory, as shown when he saved one trapped under a fallen helicopter, as well as fending off the Skullcrawlers that killed one of them.
Godzilla
Although Kong has never directly encountered Godzilla, he does not seem to recognise him as the alpha titan, a cave painting of Godzilla fighting against a member of Kong's species can be seen; implying that his species has a rivalry or an negative relationship with the giant lizard.
King Ghidorah
Kong's willpower renders him resistant to the alpha call of King Ghidorah, which awakens most other Titans around the globe and bends them to his will, including the Skullcrawlers on the island. Kong actively chooses to remain on his island and ignore Ghidorah's call to "hunt together" with him, and his attention is immediately grabbed by the Skullcrawlers responding to Ghidorah. Only Godzilla and Mothra also dared to oppose Ghidorah's call.
Trivia
- This is the most heroic incarnation of King Kong.
- Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts wanted this Kong's design to have a closer resemblance to the original 1933 creature designed by Marcel Delgado.
- It is unknown why Kong and Godzilla would fight each other in Godzilla vs. Kong, since they are both heroic monsters; this would classify the both of them in the category Good Vs. Good, the first being Iron Man vs Captain America in Captain America: Civil War and Batman vs Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
- However, it is safe to assume that they believe each other are a threat, Kong believing Godzilla is a threat to Skull Island and Godzilla believing Kong is a threat to the balance of nature or that Kong refuses to accept Godzilla as his king and so he is challenging the giant lizard for the title of the new "King of the Titans". The ending credits imply that Kong's species have been rivals with Godzilla's species since ancient times according to cave drawings.
- This is the third monster that Monarch discovered, the first four being Godzilla, Shinomura and the two M.U.T.O.s.
