King Kong

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King Kong
King Kong in Godzilla vs. Kong
Name information
null
Alternate names Kong, The Eighth Wonder of the World,
The Eighth Wonder, The Beast, The Greatest King, Monkey, Kingkong[1]
Subtitle(s) Demon King of the Jungle
(ジャングルの魔王,   Janguru no Maō)KK33[2]
Great Strong Monster
(大怪力怪獣,   Daikairiki Kaijū)KKvG, KKE[3]
Giant Demon God
(巨大なる魔神,   Kyodainaru Majin)KKvG[3]
Demon of the South Seas
(南海の魔神,   Nankai no Majin)KKvG[4][5]
Giant Monster
(大怪獣,   Daikaijū)[6]
Ruler of the South Seas
(南海の王者,   Nankai no Ōja)KKE
King of the World
(世界の王者,   Sekai no Ōja)TKKS
Guardian God of Skull Island
(髑髏島の守護神,   Dokurotō no Shugoshin)KSI
The-Mountain-Who-Thunders-Death
Guardian Deity (守護神,   Shugoshin)GvK
Class-
ification
Titanus Kong (individual)MV
Apus Giganticus (species)MV[7][note 1]
Physical information
null
Species Giant ape (Megaprimatus kongKK05)
Height 15.24 metersKK33, KK76-KKL,
45 metersKKvG,[8][9]
20 metersKKE,[9]
7.62 metersKK05,
31.6 metersKSI[10][11]
102 metersGvK[12]
Weight 20,500 metric tonsKKvG,[9]
10,000 metric tonsKKE,[9]
5 tonsKK05,
158 tonsKSI[10][11]
Forms Mega KongKTAS,
BabyKKotA, JuvenileKKotA
Affiliation information
null
Place(s) of emergence Faro IslandKKvG,[3]
Mondo IslandKKE[3]
Controlled by Dr. WhoKKE (temporarily)
Relations Kiko, Baby Kong (sons),
Lady Kong (mate)
Jason Jenkins ("brother"),
Junior (cousin)
Allies Lady Kong,
Jason JenkinsKTAS, Ann DarrowKK05, James ConradKSI, Mason WeaverKSI, Hank MarlowKSI, JiaGvK, GodzillaGvK, Suko
Enemies Meat-Eater, Elasmosaurus, Pteranodon, Godzilla, Gorosaurus, Giant Octopus, Mechani-Kong, Giant Sea Serpent, Giant Boa, V. rex, Terapusmordax, Skullcrawlers, Mire Squid, Preston Packard, Death Jackals, Sirenjaw, Mother Longlegs, Camazotz, Warbats, Hellhawks, Mechagodzilla, Skar King, Shimo, SupergirlJLvGvK
Real world information
null
Created by Merian C. Cooper
Played by Stop-motion animationKK33,
Shoichi HiroseKKvG,
Haruo NakajimaKKE,
Rick BakerKK76,
Will ShephardKK76,
Peter Cullen (vocals)KK76-KKL,
Peter ElliottKKL,
Scott McNeilK:TAS,
Andy SerkisKK05,
Frank WelkerKKG,
Seth Green (voice)TLBM,
Tobey Kebbell and Terry NotaryKSI[13],
Eric PeteyGvK[14]
Other information
null
First appearance Latest appearance
King Kong (1933) Godzilla x Kong:
The New Empire
Roar(s)
1933:1962-1967:1976:1986:The Mighty Kong:The Animated Series:2005:King of the Apes:2017:2021, Skull Island: More roars
And now, ladies and gentlemen, before I tell you any more, I'm going to show you the greatest thing your eyes have ever beheld. He was a king and a god in the world he knew, but now he comes to civilization merely a captive, a show to gratify your curiosity. Ladies and gentlemen, look at Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World!
„ 

Carl Denham (King Kong)

King Kong (キングコング,   Kingu Kongu)[note 2] is a giant ape monster who first appeared in the 1933 RKO Radio Pictures film King Kong.

One of the most well-known monsters in all of cinema, Kong made his debut in the 1933 film bearing his name. Though he has been reimagined many times in many different films, Kong is usually portrayed as a gigantic gorilla-like ape residing on a remote island (sometimes dubbed Skull Island) hidden from civilization and inhabited by other bizarre creatures. Typically, Kong is worshiped as a god by the natives living on the island, who often sacrifice young women to him, whom he accepts as his "brides." In the original film and its two remakes, Kong is taken away from his island by an expedition team from the United States and brought back to New York, where he escapes and goes on a violent rampage before climbing a skyscraper, then being gunned down by military aircraft and falling to his death. Toho acquired the rights to use Kong for their 1962 film King Kong vs. Godzilla, where he was drastically scaled up and pitted against Toho's flagship monster Godzilla. Toho made another film featuring Kong, King Kong Escapes, in 1967, where Kong battled an evil robot duplicate of himself named Mechani-Kong. The original King Kong was remade in 1976 by Dino De Laurentiis, and a sequel to this remake titled King Kong Lives was released in 1986. Universal Pictures released their own remake in 2005, directed by Peter Jackson. In 2017, Kong became part of Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros.' Monsterverse after appearing in the film Kong: Skull Island. In this continuity, Kong witnessed the brutal death of his parents at the hands of the Skullcrawlers shortly after his birth, leading him to become the self-appointed guardian of Skull Island. He reappears in the film's 2021 sequel Godzilla vs. Kong, in which he initially enters into conflict with Godzilla but eventually sides with him to destroy the Apex Cybernetics-constructed anti-Titan weapon Mechagodzilla.

This is an overview page. To view information on specific incarnations of King Kong, please click on their corresponding boxes in the table below.

Name

King Kong was named by Merian C. Cooper who, after consulting with his friend W. Douglas Burden, decided upon the name "Kong" due to his liking of single-syllable film titles with peculiar sounds and liking of the hard 'K' sound. The prefix "King" was later attached to the original film's title, and by extent Kong himself, after a complaint from executives at RKO who refused to accept the title due to it having "a Chinese sound" and being too similar to the name of Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's 1927 film, Chang. Prior to King Kong being decided upon, the titles "The Eighth Wonder" and "The Beast" were considered,[15] the former of which would be extended to The Eighth Wonder of the World and used as a nickname for Kong within the film.

For Kong's appearances in the Japanese Toho films King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes, as well as Japanese releases of the other American Kong films, his name is converted into katakana as Kingu Kongu (キングコング). These incarnations of Kong are also given several Japanese subtitles, including Great Strong Monster (大怪力怪獣,   Dai Kairiki Kaijū), Giant Devil (巨大なる魔神,   Kyodainaru Majin),[3] and Demon of the South Seas (南海の魔神,   Nankai no Majin).[4][5] In King Kong Escapes, the Mondo Islanders refer to Kong as Bon Kong (ボンコング,   Bon Kongu)[16], with 'Bon' meaning "King" in their language. The King Kong from Kong: Skull Island is given the subtitle Guardian God of Skull Island (髑髏島の守護神,   Dokurotō no Shugoshin) and is referred to as the Giant God of Skull Island (髑髏島の巨神,   Dokurotō no Kyoshin) and The Greatest King (最大の王,   Saidai no Ō) by the film's Japanese title and trailer, respectively.

The incarnation of King Kong featured in King Kong Escapes is sometimes denoted as the Second Generation King Kong (2代目キングコング,   Nidaime Kingu Kongu).[17] After Toho lost the rights to the character, they displayed the suit from this film at a public event under the name King Gorilla (キングゴリラ,   Kingu Gorira).[18]

The character is often referred to as just Kong, with the "King" title only used during the ill-fated promotional events exhibiting him to the public. In King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes, he is referred to primarily by his full name of "King Kong." In Escapes specifically, he is initially known only as "Kong" before Carl Nelson hears a native of Mondo Island refer to him as Bon Kong, which he translates as "King Kong." In the Monsterverse, he is only referred to as "Kong" onscreen and in the films' titles, though tie-in media such as Kong: Skull Island - The Official Movie Novelization, Kong: Skull Island - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, solicitations for Skull Island: The Birth of Kong and some merchandise, as well as the Japanese title for Kong: Skull Island, do use his full name of "King Kong."

Design

In all of his appearances, Kong mostly resembles a giant silverback gorilla, with either light black or brown fur. Kong varies between knuckle-walking like a real gorilla and walking upright like a human, sometimes utilizing both forms of locomotion. Kong typically has an upright human-like posture and primarily walks upright, although in King Kong (2005), he more anatomically resembles a real gorilla and moves like one. In this film, Kong's entire body is covered in scars, in order to give him the appearance of being both old and battle-hardened.

Personality

In all of his appearances, Kong is portrayed as a tragic and sympathetic monster. Kong lives a very solitary and difficult existence, constantly being attacked by the vicious giant creatures that live on his island. Kong rarely attacks unless provoked, and is capable of causing mass destruction due to his size and strength, which causes human beings to fear and attack him. Kong has a soft spot for human women and will do anything to protect a woman that he likes, whether it be battling against another monster or military forces. As a result of his experience in fighting other creatures, Kong displays a degree of strategy in his battles and rarely ends a fight without making sure that his opponent is either dead or incapacitated.

Kong demonstrates at least semi-sapience in all of his film appearances. He frequently utilizes environmental objects while fighting, and learns over the course of a battle. In the King Kong (2005), Kong repeated the sign for "beautiful" to Ann Darrow, who had shown it to him earlier, showing just how intelligent he is.

In Kong: Skull Island, Kong demonstrates a degree of altruism, rescuing a Sker Buffalo that is pinned underneath a downed helicopter, and later rescuing Mason Weaver during his battle with the Skull Devil. The film's official tie-in comic, Skull Island: The Birth of Kong, establishes that Kong actively fights to protect life on the island, as he intervenes on several occasions to defend humans from attacking creatures like Death Jackals, Sirenjaws, and Mother Longlegs. While Kong will kill humans if they are actively attacking him or causing harm to life on the island, he is never aggressive towards innocents or non-hostile individuals. Confident in his noble intentions, Monarch entrusts Kong to defend Skull Island and keep its MUTO ecosystem in check.

Origins

In the original 1933 King Kong film, the movie's 1976 remake, King Kong Lives, and 2005 King Kong remake, Kong is among the last living members of a species of giant ape that lives on the mysterious Skull Island, which is inhabited by other giant creatures as well as a tribe of natives that worship him as a god. Supplementary materials for the 2005 film reveal that incarnation of Kong to be the last surviving member of a species called Megaprimatus kong, and that his kind are likely descended from Gigantopithecus, the largest known primate to have ever lived and a close relative of modern orangutans rather than gorillas.

Kong's backstory is elaborated upon in the 2005 novel Kong: King of Skull Island. According to this novel, Kong is the last surviving member of a species of huge apes known as kongs that once were numerous on Skull Island. While he was still an adolescent, Kong and his parents were attacked by a pack of dinosaurs called Deathrunners and their huge matriarch, Gaw. Kong's mother and father were both brutally killed in the attack, but Kong survived and grew up with an intense hatred for Gaw and all the meat-eating dinosaurs on the island. Eventually, Kong took his revenge by killing Gaw, establishing himself as the undisputed king of Skull Island and the god worshiped by the natives.

Members of Kong's species battling Skullcrawlers in Skull Island: The Birth of Kong

The backstory for the 2005 Kong has been given off-screen by people involved in the making of the film. In an interview with the BBC, director Peter Jackson states that Kong never knew his parents because they were "probably killed by dinosaurs" when he was still young and that he had siblings which were also deceased.[19] In Cinefex #104, Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop explained of the giant gorilla bones in Kong's lair by stating "We decided to give Kong a graveyard of his ancestors. [...] Gorillas do mourn their dead, and this was where Kong mourned the loss of the only thing that he had social interaction with — it could be his father or mother."[20] The Making of King Kong: The Official Guide to the Motion Picture states that the skull seen among the gorilla remains was Kong's father.[21]

In King Kong vs. Godzilla, Kong instead comes from an island called Faro Island, where he is worshiped by the local natives as their mighty god. In King Kong Escapes, Kong is a legendary giant ape that resides on Mondo Island.

In Kong: Skull Island, Kong is established as the last living member of his species, and still a growing adolescent. Kong's family was wiped out fending off malevolent creatures called Skullcrawlers that threatened all other life on the island. A painting inside the Iwis' temple to Kong depicts what appears to be Kong kneeling in front of the carcasses of his parents, suggesting that he witnessed their deaths. Kong's birth is shown in detail in the official tie-in comic Skull Island: The Birth of Kong. Kong's parents were the last two members of their kind on Skull Island, and when his mother went into labor with him, they were attacked by a pack of giant Skullcrawlers. Kong's father fought the beasts off while his mate delivered their son, and hid the infant away inside a nearby cave. Kong's parents were both subsequently slaughtered by the Skullcrawlers in front of him, and died lying next to each other. The infant Kong knelt in front of their corpses and wept for the parents he never knew, and from that day on used his rage to protect the other creatures of the island from malevolent monsters like the Skullcrawlers.

History

RKO films

The character of King Kong was conceived by Merian C. Cooper, who licensed his idea to RKO Radio Pictures. RKO released King Kong, directed by Cooper, in 1933. The film was a huge success and would later become one of the most famous and influential motion pictures of all time. Its success led to RKO quickly greenlighting a sequel, Son of Kong, which was made by much of the same filmmaking crew and released later the same year. This lower-budgeted sequel was not the success its predecessor was, and another film based on Kong would not be produced until almost three decades later.

King Kong (1933)

Main article: King Kong (RKO).

King Kong was worshiped as a god-like figure by the natives of the remote Skull Island, who were the remnants of a once-great civilization which once ruled the island and built the ruins inside their village and the huge wall surrounding it. To appease Kong, the natives would select a "bride" to sacrifice to him, performing a wedding ritual before tying her to a post just outside the wall where Kong would find and carry her off to the interior of the island. An American film crew led by enterprising director Carl Denham eventually landed on the island to film his latest picture, catching the natives in the midst of a wedding ritual. Though the chief and witch doctor were initially angered by the intrusion, they were struck by the beauty of the crew's leading lady Ann Darrow, believing she would make a perfect offering to Kong. When the crew refused, the natives used canoes to head to their docked ship, the Venture, under cover of nightfall and abduct Ann. Ann was offered to Kong, who emerged from the jungle to claim his new bride. The Venture crew pursued the giant ape in an attempt to rescue Ann, but were forced to contend with the other monstrous prehistoric beasts inhabiting the island. Hearing the crew continuing to pursue him, Kong set Ann down in a tree before confronting them as they tried to cross a chasm on a falling log. Kong twisted the log and caused all of the crew members to fall to their deaths in the pit below, save for Denham and Venture first mate Jack Driscoll. A huge meat-eating dinosaur attempted to prey on Ann while Kong was away, but Kong returned just in time to fight the beast, killing it by breaking its jaws. Kong brought Ann to his mountain lair, where he was attacked by an Elasmosaurus and later a Pteranodon. During Kong's battle with the latter creature, Jack rescued Ann and escaped with her back to the native village. After dispatching the pterosaur, Kong pursued the two to the village, tearing down the gate in a blind frenzy and rampaging through the village before being subdued by a gas bomb thrown by Denham. Denham brought Kong to New York City to be displayed on Broadway, but he escaped from his chrome steel bindings and escaped, tearing through the city before finding and abducting Ann once again. After destroying a train, Kong scaled the Empire State Building, where he was met by a squadron of Curtiss F8C Helldiver biplanes. The planes' gunfire mortally wounded Kong, who fell from the building's summit to his death on the street below. As crowds gathered around Kong's bloodied carcass, Denham somberly remarked that "It was Beauty killed the Beast."

Son of Kong

Main article: Kiko.

Beset by lawsuits and facing criminal charges for the damage wrought by Kong, Denham fled New York City aboard the Venture once again with Captain Englehorn and the ship's loyal cook Charlie. Following a mutiny by the new crew, the trio ended up on Skull Island once again, accompanied by disgraced Captain Nils Helstrom and stowaway Hilda Petersen. There, they encountered Kong's friendly albino son Kiko, rescuing him from a pit of quicksand. Grateful for Denham's help, Kiko defended him and Hilda from a giant cave bear and a dragon and helped them recover the island's hidden treasure. When an earthquake struck the island and caused it to begin sinking into the ocean, Kiko sacrificed his life to save Denham.

Toho films

Willis O'Brien, famed stop-motion animator on the original King Kong, conceived of a story pitting Kong against a giant humanoid creature created from assembled African animal body parts and built by Dr. Frankenstein's grandson. O'Brien contacted independent producer John Beck to help him pitch the story to studios, with Japanese studio Toho ultimately being interested. However, Toho preferred to replace the giant Frankenstein creature as Kong's foe with their own monster, Godzilla, currently on hiatus following the release of Godzilla Raids Again in 1955. Toho negotiated with RKO for the rights to Kong and produced King Kong vs. Godzilla in 1962, though O'Brien was cut out of the deal completely and received no notice or compensation. The film was wildly successful both in Japan and abroad, inspiring the development of an animated series featuring Kong co-produced by Rankin/Bass and Toei Animation. Toho was contacted once again to produce a live action film adaptation of the cartoon, with its initial attempt tentatively titled Operation Robinson Crusoe: King Kong vs. Ebirah. When Rankin/Bass rejected this story, it was repackaged as the Godzilla film Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, with Toho instead producing the more faithful film King Kong Escapes in 1967. Though Toho's rights to the character expired after the release of this film, it used the Kong suit created for the film as the monster Gorilla in the 1974 television series Go! Greenman.

King Kong vs. Godzilla

Main article: King Kong (King Kong vs. Godzilla).
King Kong and Godzilla destroy Atami Castle during their battle in King Kong vs. Godzilla

During his travels in the Solomon Islands, pharmacologist Dr. Makioka discovered a red narcotic berry called Farolacton on the remote Faro Island. Upon returning to his employers at the Pacific Pharmaceutical Company in Japan, he also reported that the island's natives spoke of a "Giant Demon God." Advertising director Tako believed this mysterious god was a great way to generate publicity for the company and sent two Tokyo Television employees, Osamu Sakurai and Kinzaburo Furue, to the island to find it. The Giant Demon God, a huge ape known as King Kong, revealed himself when he burst through the wall separating the native village from the rest of the island to fend off an attacking Giant Octopus. After sending the huge cephalopod retreating back to the sea, Kong drank jars of the Farolacton juice and fell asleep to the sound of the islanders' rhythmic prayer. Sakurai and Furue arranged for Kong to be transported to Japan aboard a raft, with Tako excitedly arriving on the ship towing it during Kong's transport. However, the Japan Coast Guard arrived and warned that the company was illegally smuggling Kong into Japanese waters and would be held liable for any damage he caused. Kong began to awaken, after which the dynamite wired to the raft was detonated. It failed to harm Kong, who immediately swam to Japan and came ashore. He ran amok until he encountered the recently-awakened Godzilla. Kong threw boulders at his foe, who retaliated by firing his atomic breath at the surrounding forest. Burned by the radioactive flames, Kong retreated. Godzilla was eventually repelled from entering Tokyo by a barricade of high-tension wires carrying one million volts of electricity, but Kong arrived later and simply bit down on the power lines, drawing strength from the electrical current. Kong then rampaged through Tokyo, during which he abducted Sakurai's sister Fumiko and scaled the National Diet Building. Shells loaded with Farolacton juice were fired into the sky and detonated above Kong, accompanied by loudspeakers playing the Faro Islanders' chant. Kong collapsed and fell unconscious, with Fumiko being rescued from his clutches. The JSDF decided to airlift Kong to Mount Fuji, where Godzilla had traveled, in order to stage a rematch between both kaiju in the hope they would kill each other. Kong was lifted by balloons pulled by several helicopters and dropped onto Godzilla. The two monsters resumed their battle, but Godzilla triumphed yet again, knocking Kong unconscious and setting the area around him ablaze. A passing overhead lightning storm revitalized Kong, who used his electrified punches to even the odds. Kong and Godzilla's clash reached Atami Castle, and after the two beasts destroyed it they tackled each other into Sagami Bay. Moments later, Kong surfaced from the water and began swimming back to his island home, with Godzilla nowhere to be seen.

King Kong Escapes

Main article: King Kong (King Kong Escapes).

A legendary giant ape held to inhabit Mondo Island in the Java Sea, Kong was the subject of study by United Nations Commander Carl Nelson, who prepared several anatomical sketches of the mythical beast. International criminal Dr. Who stole Nelson's sketches and used them as blueprints for a robot built in Kong's image called Mechani-Kong, designed to mine the radioactive Element X from the North Pole. Nelson, Lt. Commander Jiro Nomura, and Lieutenant Susan Watson came ashore on Mondo Island after their research submarine Explorer was damaged in the nearby waters and had to anchor for repairs. When Gorosaurus menaced Susan, Kong came to her aid and slew the dinosaur monster by breaking his jaws. Kong became infatuated with Susan, saving her and her colleagues once again from a Giant Sea Serpent as they tried to return to the Explorer. When Dr. Who learned of the real Kong's discovery, he decided to abduct him in order to mine Element X in place of his robot, which could not withstand the intense radiation. Who sent several Jet Helicopters to knock Kong unconscious and airlift him to his Arctic base, then captured Nelson, Nomura, and Susan in order to make them get Kong to cooperate. Kong escaped from Who's base and began swimming to Japan, with Who pursuing him in his ship. Nelson and his allies arrived in Tokyo to warn the JSDF not to attack Kong, but Dr. Who deployed Mechani-Kong into the city to recapture him. When the robot could not defeat Kong in one-on-one combat, it abducted Susan and scaled the Tokyo Tower. Who threatened to drop Susan if Kong did not surrender, but he continued pursuing them up the tower. Kong caught Susan once the robot dropped her, then continued after his robotic double. Madame Piranha, formerly Dr. Who's financial benefactor, turned on him and gave her life to disable the robot's controls, after which the top of the tower broke off and sent Mechani-Kong plummeting to its destruction on the streets below. Kong chased down Who's ship in Tokyo Bay and destroyed it, killing Who in the process, then began making his way home to Mondo Island.

The King Kong Show

King Kong in The King Kong Show

In 1966, Rankin/Bass acquired the rights to Kong from RKO and collaborated with Japanese animation studio Toei Animation to develop an animated TV series based on the character. The show, originally airing as just King Kong but widely known as The King Kong Show, ran from 1966 to 1967, and formed the basis for Toho's 1967 film King Kong Escapes. It followed the Bond family, who befriended Kong on his home of Mondo Island and worked with him to battle multiple monsters and villains who threatened both the island and the world at large.

De Laurentiis films

In the 1970s, RKO entered a contract with Italian-American movie producer Dino De Laurentiis and Paramount Pictures allowing them to produce and distribute a remake of the original King Kong, a pivot from RKO's "no remakes" policy that had blocked studios such as Britain's Hammer Films from producing remakes of the film in the past. Universal Pictures, who had previously handled the King Kong copyright on RKO's behalf, objected to this announcement, alleging that it already had secured the remake rights to King Kong through an oral agreement with RKO. All parties were brought to federal court to settle the matter, with both De Laurentiis and Universal fast-tracking their remakes into production in the hope of the other backing down. When the case was settled and the federal judge ruled that De Laurentiis had the right to proceed with its remake, Universal shelved The Legend of King Kong, content with acquiring the character rights to Kong from Merian C. Cooper's son Richard for future use. De Laurentiis' King Kong was released theatrically by Paramount in late 1976, and despite mixed audience and critical reception was a financial success. De Laurentiis produced a much less successful sequel, King Kong Lives, a decade later.

King Kong (1976) to King Kong Lives

Main article: King Kong (De Laurentiis).
King Kong frees himself from his bindings in King Kong (1976)

After satellite imaging revealed images of a previously-uncharted island hidden in a perpetual fog bank, ambitious Petrox executive Fred Wilson convinced the company's board to approve an expedition to the island to search for vast petroleum reserves he believed were hidden there. Princeton University primatologist Jack Prescott stowed away aboard the Petrox Explorer, believing that the island was home to a gigantic undiscovered species of anthropoid spoken of only in legends and accounts by explorers. Along the voyage, the Explorer rescued a castaway named Dwan. Wilson, Prescott, Dwan, and much of the crew came ashore once they reached the island, discovering a native village in the shadow of a massive wall. Prescott believed that the natives were holding a sort of wedding ceremony, preparing to sacrifice a young woman to the mythical ape god on the other side of the wall. The priest presiding over the ceremony was angry at the outsiders for interrupting the ceremony, but upon seeing Dwan he attempted to bargain for her in order to sacrifice her to Kong instead. When the crew did not comply, the natives followed them back to the Explorer and abducted Dwan, drugging her and tying her to a post just outside the wall. The natives' god, a 50-foot ape called Kong, approached the wall and grabbed Dwan before slipping back into the jungle. While Dwan initially assumed Kong meant to eat her, she soon began to sympathize with him after it was clear he meant her no harm. Prescott led several of the crew members into the jungle in pursuit, but Kong cut them off at a log spanning a chasm, throwing the log into the pit below. Only Prescott and another crew member, Boan, survived, with Boan heading back to the village and Prescott continuing his pursuit. Prescott reached Kong's mountain lair, where the ape was attacked by a colossal boa constrictor. Using this opportunity, Prescott retrieved Dwan and escaped back to the village. Filled with rage, Kong snapped the snake's jaws and chased them back to the village, where Wilson had set a trap. Once Kong broke through the gate, he fell into a pit filled with chloroform, rendering him unconscious. With the oil deposits on the island worthless, Wilson decided to bring Kong back to New York City as a publicity stunt for Petrox. Kong was kept in the cargo hold of an oil tanker and fed with tons of fruit. As the beast grew restless and began pounding on the walls of his prison, Dwan tried to calm him only to fall into the hold. Kong rescued her and let her climb back above deck. While Kong was being exhibited in New York, he became furious as he saw photographers aggressively taking pictures of Dwan. He broke free of his steel restraints and began to rampage, trampling several fleeing people in the crowd, including Wilson. Jack rescued Dwan and the two tried to escape to Manhattan, but Kong swam across the Hudson River and abducted Dwan from a bar. Noticing the resemblance between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and Kong's mountain lair, Prescott advised the military to let Kong climb them where he could be safely caught by helicopters carrying metal nets. The military followed his advice, but had no intention of capturing Kong alive. Once Kong reached the top of the South Tower, he was attacked by a group of flamethrower-wielding soldiers. He leapt to the North Tower and threw a fuel tank at the soldiers, which exploded and killed them. The military next sent in a detachment of UH-1 Iroquois choppers armed with machine guns. Dwan begged Kong not to set her down or else they would kill him, but he opted to keep her out of harm's way and put her down. The choppers opened fire, riddling Kong with bullets and causing him to bleed profusely. Despite taking down two choppers, Kong finally succumbed to his wounds and fell off of the North Tower into the plaza below. Dwan made her way to Kong, then wept as his heart stopped beating.

King Kong with Lady Kong in King Kong Lives

Placed into a coma by his fall rather than killed, Kong was sent to the Atlantic Institute and cared for by Dr. Amy Franklin for a period of 10 years. The institute planned to revive Kong by transplanting a mechanical heart into his body, but Dr. Franklin warned that he would need a large infusion of blood from a compatible donor to survive the procedure. Fortunately, explorer Hank Mitchell discovered a female member of Kong's species in Borneo, which was brought to the United States and dubbed Lady Kong. Using a blood donation from the female, Dr. Franklin was able to complete Kong's surgery and successfully revive him. However, Kong heard the cries of the captured Lady Kong and broke out of the institute to rescue her. The two giant apes escaped into the wilderness together, where they mated. The Army sent in Lt. Col. Archie Nevitt to find both apes, seemingly killing Kong and capturing his mate. Franklin and Mitchell later learned that not only was Lady Kong pregnant with Kong's child, but that Kong had survived the attack, though his artificial heart was now failing. They freed Lady Kong from her holding cell, and she made her way to a barn and went into labor. Nevitt stationed infantry and tanks to meet Kong when he arrived, and after a grueling battle Kong managed to destroy the Army's forces and kill Nevitt. With the failure of his heart accelerated by the wounds he sustained, Kong collapsed next to his mate just after she gave birth. Lady Kong showed Kong their infant son, causing Kong to smile proudly before finally dying peacefully, content that his family was safe. Lady Kong and her son were then transported back to Borneo to live in peace together.

The Mighty Kong

Utilizing the public domain status of the 1932 novelization of the original King Kong, multiple studios co-produced an animated musical adaptation of the story in 1998. While primarily an adaptation of the novelization's story, it incorporates some elements from the 1976 remake as well, and features a more lighthearted ending than previous adaptations.

Filmmaker C.B. Denham organized a voyage to the mysterious Skull Island aboard the Java Queen in order to film his next picture on location. When the ship arrived, the local native tribe abducted leading lady Ann Darrow in order to sacrifice her to their god, the giant ape known as Kong. First mate Jack Driscoll led several of the crew members into the jungle to rescue Ann, encountering a host of prehistoric beasts. Ann began to sympathize with Kong after realizing he was actually gentle and friendly and meant her no harm. After Kong protected Ann from a Tyrannosaurus rex, several Pteranodons, and a giant snake, Driscoll rescued her and escaped back to the native village. When Kong gave chase, Denham used gas bombs to knock Kong unconscious, intending to bring him back to New York City as his next production. Kong escaped while being exhibited on Broadway, grabbing Ann once again and climbing to the top of the Empire State Building. Denham proposed capturing Kong with a giant net held between two blimps, but his weight caused the net to tear, sending him falling to the street below. However, Kong managed to survive the fall, with Denham planning to relocate him to a new island where he could live in peace.

BKN International productions

With Universal Pictures' planned King Kong remake on indefinite hold and Godzilla: The Series airing on television in the late 1990s, BKN International capitalized on demand for a new adaptation of Kong and produced Kong: The Animated Series from 2000 to 2001. The series follows a clone of Kong created by Dr. Lorna Jenkins after his death in New York City. The cloned Kong, working together with Lorna's grandson Jason and his friends, fights to prevent the evil Dr. Ramone De La Porta from acquiring the Primal Stones of Kong Island and using them to conquer the world. The show ran for a total of 40 episodes over two seasons. With Universal's King Kong set for release in 2005, BKN capitalized by reuniting the cast and crew for a direct-to-video film based on the TV series titled Kong: King of Atlantis. A second direct-to-video film, Kong: Return to the Jungle, was released the following year around the same time as the extended cut of Peter Jackson's King Kong.

Kong: The Animated Series to Kong: Return to the Jungle

Decades after Kong fell to his death from the Empire State Building, Dr. Lorna Jenkins recovered a sample of his DNA and used it to create a clone of him. The clone was relocated to the original Kong's home of Kong Island in order to defend it and the legendary Primal Stones it housed. Kong joined forces with Lorna's grandson Jason, his friend Eric Tannenbaum IV, and the native girl Lua to stop the mad scientist Dr. Ramone De La Porta from recovering the Primal Stones and using them to awaken the legendary demon known as Chiros.

Universal film

Universal planned to produce a remake of the original King Kong titled The Legend of King Kong in the 1970s, going so far as to bring RKO Pictures and Paramount Pictures to court over the remake rights to the original film. Though a federal judge ruled that Dino De Laurentiis' remake could proceed, RKO lost any ownership of the King Kong character, which reverted to the estate of his original creator, Merian C. Cooper. Cooper's son Richard sold most of his rights to Universal, who waited until the late 1990s to begin development on a new King Kong remake. The studio approached Peter Jackson to direct and write the film in 1996, but this initial attempt was abruptly canceled the next year. Universal later reapproached Jackson while he was directing the highly successful The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and offered him the chance to direct King Kong again. This attempt materialized in the 2005 film King Kong. While Universal had considered a sequel to the film titled Skull Island at one point, any plans were abandoned once Kong was extensively incorporated into Legendary Pictures' Monsterverse.

King Kong (2005)

Main article: King Kong (Universal).
King Kong prepares to battle a Vastatosaurus rex in order to protect Ann Darrow in King Kong (2005)

In 1933, struggling film director Carl Denham organized an expedition to the uncharted Skull Island aboard the Venture in order to film his next picture. When the ship arrived on the island, Denham and several of the crew members came ashore and found the ruins of a once great civilization, now inhabited by a derelict tribe. The natives savagely attacked the crew, who managed to escape through the use of firearms. However, the natives made their way to the anchored Venture and abducted leading lady Ann Darrow, bringing her back to the village to sacrifice her to their god: the giant ape known as Kong. Kong accepted the offering and carried Ann into the jungle. When the Venture crew tried to pursue Kong, he intercepted them as they tried to cross a log bridge spanning a chasm, sending them all falling into the pit below, where they were beset by the creatures dwelling there. Ann tried to escape from Kong while he was distracted, but was menaced by a family of Vastatosaurus rexes. Kong came to her rescue and slew all three dinosaurs, earning Ann's trust and admiration. Screenwriter Jack Driscoll, having survived the pit, continued his pursuit of Ann and reached Kong's mountain lair. Jack escaped with Ann while Kong battled a swarm of Terapusmordax and brought her back to the native village. Kong followed them and broke through the village's wall and through a sea cave before being subdued and knocked unconscious by the Venture crew. Denham had Kong brought back to New York City to be exhibited on Broadway, but the enraged giant ape escaped his bonds and began rampaging through Manhattan. In order to calm the beast, Ann approached Kong and allowed herself to be taken by him again. The military attacked Kong with artillery in Central Park, leading him to escape by climbing the Empire State Building. Biplanes were sent to engage Kong, and riddled him with machine gun fire until he was mortally wounded and plummeted to his death in the streets below. As crowds gathered around Kong's carcass, Denham somberly remarked "It was Beauty killed the Beast."

Kong: King of the Apes

In 2016, 41 Entertainment and Arad Animation co-produced a CG animated TV series featuring Kong titled Kong: King of the Apes, which streamed exclusively on Netflix.

The infant Kong, who, at the time of his discovery, was thought to be the last great ape alive in the wild, was taken from his home by poachers and was able to use his abnormal strength to escape their helicopter and find his way into the California redwood forests where he was discovered by Lukas Remy, who treated Kong like a brother. The two were later framed for terrorism by Lucas' brother Richard Remy, a mad scientist responsible for creating an army of robotic dinosaurs called Biono-bots. Kong worked together with Lukas and his friends to battle the various Biono-bots and thwart Richard's schemes.

Monsterverse

In 2014, Legendary Pictures entered a distribution deal with Universal after concluding its previous deal with Warner Bros. One of the first projects they announced was an origin story for King Kong titled Skull Island and set for release in 2016. Following the success of Legendary's Godzilla in 2014, Legendary decided to retool the Kong film, retitled Kong: Skull Island, to take place within the same universe as that film and enable a future rematch between Godzilla and Kong. For this reason, the project switched distributors from Universal to Warner Bros., and was released in 2017. Kong: Skull Island became the second entry in a cinematic universe officially dubbed the Monsterverse, with Kong returning in the crossover film Godzilla vs. Kong in 2021. The animated series Skull Island, focusing on Kong, premiered on Netflix in 2023. A fifth film in the Monsterverse, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, is currently in post-production. Outside of Kong's film appearances, he appears in two comics set in the Monsterverse as well: Skull Island: The Birth of Kong and Kingdom Kong.

Kong: Skull Island to Godzilla vs. Kong

Main article: King Kong (Monsterverse).

Many thousands of years ago, Kong's species were a race of Titans who inhabited the Hollow Earth and lived alongside humans in a great civilization. They eventually went to war with Godzilla and his kind, ultimately being driven from their home and forced to relocate to Skull Island. There, they found a new enemy in the vicious Skullcrawlers, who whittled their numbers down over centuries of conflict. By the time the Iwi, remnants of the human civilization which once inhabited the Hollow Earth, arrived on Skull Island, only a single mated pair of Kongs remained. The female was pregnant, and went into labor as she and her mate were beset by a pack of Skullcrawlers. The male defended the female long enough for her to deliver their son, Kong. Knowing her demise was imminent, Kong's mother sealed her son in a cave, where he could only watch helplessly as the Skullcrawlers slaughtered his parents, who died clasping their hands together. When the battle was over, the newborn Kong crawled from his sanctuary and knelt next to the bodies of the parents he never knew, weeping. From that day, Kong vowed to avenge his parents and honor their memory by defending the other denizens of the island from the Skullcrawlers and the other more malevolent creatures inhabiting it. In 1944, World War II fighter pilots Hank Marlow and Gunpei Ikari shot each other down over Skull Island and resumed their duel, only to be interrupted by the appearance of Kong. They were welcomed by the Iwi, who lived under Kong's protection, and became close friends, until a Skullcrawler killed Gunpei. In 1973, the Titan-hunting scientific organization Monarch sent an expedition to Skull Island to test Bill Randa's theory that it was an emergence point for the Hollow Earth Titan ecosystem. Recognizing that the expedition's seismic charges would draw more Skullcrawlers to the surface, Kong brought down their helicopter transport and stranded them on the island. Colonel Preston Packard, leader of the Army helicopter squadron transporting the expedition, became obsessed with avenging his fallen comrades by killing Kong. Some of the survivors encountered Marlow and the Iwi, and learned of Kong's true purpose and benevolent nature. They interfered with the deranged Packard's attempt to kill Kong using an explosive trap, but the colossal 95-foot Skullcrawler known as the Skull Devil soon appeared to take advantage of Kong's weakened state. Kong killed Packard before the Skull Devil attacked him, but the creature's attention was drawn by the fleeing humans. As the humans tried to escape the island via an extraction point on the north side, the Skull Devil menaced them before Kong arrived to save them. When the Skull Devil overpowered Kong, the humans drew its attention so that Kong could recover. Using an improvised mace created by an anchor chain tied to a ship propeller, Kong turned the tide against his mortal enemy, eventually killing it by tearing out its innards. The humans escaped, keeping the experience a secret to everyone but members of Monarch.

In 1995, Aaron Brooks, son of two of the 1973 Monarch expedition members, organized an off-the-books return mission to Skull Island to evaluate the security of the ecosystem, believing Kong could not be trusted to keep it in check. This expedition too became stranded after a Psychovulture attack, but Kong rescued them from a pack of Death Jackals. The team was taken in by the Iwi, who educated them about Kong's purpose and past. One of the expedition members, Walter R. Riccio, was driven insane by consuming the Iwi's ceremonial hallucinogenic brew and used remaining seismic charges from 1973 to blow open the wall of the Iwi village, allowing several Mother Longlegs to enter. Kong came to the rescue and swiftly dispatched the giant arachnids, then killed Riccio after determining he was responsible for their incursion. Brooks, by now the only surviving expedition member, accepted Kong's role as protector and decided to stay among the Iwi and help them rebuild after the attack.

By 2019, Monarch had formally established a research station, Outpost 33, on Skull Island to monitor Kong. When the ecoterrorist Alan Jonah and rogue Monarch operative Emma Russell unleashed the dreaded King Ghidorah from his Antarctic prison in an ill-advised attempt to reawaken all Titans and restore the natural order, the three-headed alien Titan emitted an alpha call that reached the ears of every living Titan on Earth, awake or dormant. Kong rejected Ghidorah's summons to join his reign of terror, one of only three known Titans to oppose it. However, Ghidorah's call awakened the Skullcrawlers still dormant under the island's surface, forcing Kong to battle them. While Kong triumphed, a powerful storm that Ghidorah had generated over the ocean began approaching Skull Island. By 2021, Aaron Brooks' father Dr. Houston Brooks was leading efforts on Skull Island to lead an expedition into the Hollow Earth through a entrance on the island dubbed the "vile vortex." The storm generated by Ghidorah eventually merged with the perpetual storm cell surrounding the island, creating an uncontrollable superstorm that plunged the island into permanent darkness. This turned out to be the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy; with the island blanketed in darkness, the evil bat-like Titan known as Camazotz flew from the Hollow Earth with his hell swarm in a bid to kill Kong and usurp his position as an alpha Titan. Kong was forced into battle with Camazotz, but was outmatched until a squadron of G-Team fighter pilots intervened. With their help, Kong overpowered Camazotz and banished him back to the dark recesses of the Hollow Earth from whence he came. With the storm unrelenting, Monarch evacuated any of the Iwi as it could, though many refused to leave the island and promptly vanished.

Kong wields his battle axe, charged by Godzilla's atomic breath, against Mechagodzilla in Godzilla vs. Kong

Kong befriended a young Iwi girl named Jia after her parents were killed by a Sirenjaw, forming a protective bond with her. By 2024, Monarch built a huge dome replicating Skull Island's original climate to house Kong, but it was clear it would not be able to hold him much longer. Dr. Ilene Andrews opposed suggestions to move Kong off the island, believing Godzilla, by now the undisputed alpha Titan, would come for him. However, Godzilla had recently begun attacking Apex Cybernetics facilities seemingly unprompted, leading Monarch to agree to lead a joint expedition with Apex into the Hollow Earth in order to recover an energy source capable of powering an anti-Godzilla weapon. Kong was to help locate the energy source, using his species' genetic memory. While Kong was being transported by a naval fleet in the Tasman Sea, Godzilla arrived to attack him. Godzilla destroyed much of the fleet and nearly drowned Kong before he was disoriented by depth charges. Deeming Kong to no longer be a threat, Godzilla withdrew, while Kong was airlifted to the Hollow Earth entrance in Antarctica. Escorted by two HEAVs, Kong reached the Hollow Earth and was immediately forced to battle two Warbats. Kong came upon an ancient temple dedicated to his ancestors, discovering a huge battle axe inside a giant throne room. Apex located and copied the energy source to power its artificial Titan, Mechagodzilla, drawing Godzilla to Apex HQ in Hong Kong. Godzilla used his atomic breath to blast into the temple and bellow his challenge at Kong, who climbed through the opening and into the city, axe in hand. The two Titans engaged in a rematch, with Kong utilizing his axe to even the odds. While Kong held his own and managed to land several punishing blows on his foe, he was ultimately overpowered by Godzilla and left on the brink of death. In the meantime, the Hollow Earth energy source had caused Mechagodzilla to go berserk due to its the use of King Ghidorah's surviving skull as a neural processor. Mechagodzilla broke free of the Apex facility and stormed into Hong Kong, rampaging before attempting to kill Godzilla. Dr. Nathan Lind used a HEAV as a defibrillator to revive Kong, with Jia convincing him to help Godzilla against Mechagodzilla. Kong leapt to Godzilla's aid, and the two former enemies joined forces against the robotic Titan. Mechagodzilla nearly killed Kong using the spinning blades on the end of its tail, but the intervention of a group of humans stalled the machine long enough for Godzilla to power Kong's axe with his atomic breath. Kong proceeded to slice Mechagodzilla apart before tearing off its head. Godzilla and Kong ended their conflict and went their separate ways. Kong was relocated to his ancestral home in the Hollow Earth, where he made his new home.

Supporting roles in Warner Bros. films

Due to its ownership of the original 1933 film as a result of acquiring RKO's film library in its acquisition of Turner Entertainment, Warner Bros. has featured Kong in supporting roles in its own films, which typically include ensemble casts of other popular characters either owned or licensed by Warner Bros.

The LEGO Batman Movie

King Kong was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone along with other notorious villains of the LEGO multiverse. He was one of the villains freed by the Joker as part of his plan to exact revenge on Batman and destroy Gotham City. Kong was defeated when Robin crashed the Batmobile into his face, knocking him unconscious into the water.

Ready Player One

James Halliday, the creator of a popular virtual reality game called the OASIS, devised a series of challenges called Anorak's Quest to determine his successor after his death. In the first challenge, players raced through the streets of a simulated New York City, evading various obstacles. King Kong was the final hazard, leaping off the Empire State Building to attack the racers. Just before the finish line, Kong would crash through the racetrack itself and lurk out of sight, swatting any player who tried to drive over him. It is possible that Halliday programmed Kong to be impassible; the solution that Wade Watts discovered was to drive in reverse at the start of the race, revealing a hidden corridor that ran underneath the racetrack.

Space Jam: A New Legacy

As a resident of the virtual Serververse where Warner Bros. properties reside, King Kong attended the high-stakes basketball match between teams led by LeBron James and his son Dom. He pouted when the malevolent artificial intelligence Al-G assumed control of Dom's team and boasted, "King Kong ain't got nothing on me." When the Toon-Squad eventually won the basketball match, King Kong gave a fist bump to the Iron Giant.

Abilities

Physical abilities

In all of his film appearances, King Kong displays immense physical strength. Kong can fight toe-to-toe with various giant creatures, such as dinosaurs and giant snakes, and come out on top. Kong exhibits impressive agility, as he can jump over great distances (such as the 250 meters between the World Trade Center's Twin Towers) and land on his feet. Kong also demonstrates durability when he continued fighting against airplanes (helicopters in the 1976 version) and even destroy some of them after being riddled with bullets. In the 1976 film, Kong survives getting shredded by machine-gun fire and falling from the top of the South Tower of the World Trade Center before falling into a coma. In Kong: Skull Island, Kong is even more resilient and shows complete resistance to any gunfire. Kong even withstands being lit on fire after swimming through a lake filled with napalm, although it weakens him and causes him to pass out.

Kong is also remarkably intelligent. He makes use of environmental objects like trees or rocks when fighting, and even when overwhelmed by more powerful or more numerous opponents he can think on his feet and find a way to win. In the 2005 film, Kong demonstrated the ability to understand and use sign language to Ann.

In both of his Toho incarnations, King Kong is an extremely capable melee combatant, using his large arms, powerful muscles, and mighty fists to strike fear in foes such as Gorosaurus, the Giant Octopus, and even Godzilla himself. In his first incarnation in King Kong vs. Godzilla, the mighty primate cannot be harmed by electrical currents, and instead, feeds on their power in order to revitalize or awaken him from a state of unconsciousness. He can also use those same electrical currents, whether they are man-made or natural, to allow him to release surges of electricity from his hands, a powerful tool against Godzilla. The second incarnation of the Toho Kong who appeared in King Kong Escapes lacked these abilities but instead was immune to the radioactive Element X.

King Kong appears to be particularly resistant to Godzilla's atomic breath. He is hit by it multiple times throughout King Kong vs. Godzilla, and usually suffers little more than having some of his fur singed.

Attractions

Video games

Konami Wai Wai World

Age: 8 years old
Blood type: O
Height: 250 centimeters
Weight: 1.5 metric tons

King Kong, simply called Kong here, is imprisoned in the game's fifth stage, City Stage. After freeing him, Kong becomes a playable character. His power-up item(s) are bunches of throwable bananas.

Tabletop games

Books and short stories

Monsterverse tie-ins

All of the Monsterverse films received novelizations, with Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization adding a scene in which Kong prepares to defend Skull Island against an onslaught of Skullcrawlers provoked by Ghidorah's call. Kong also appeared in two kid-friendly tie-ins to Godzilla vs. Kong. He explores Skull Island with the Iwi girl Jia in Kong and Me and travels the world with Godzilla to demonstrate key tenets of friendship in Godzilla vs. Kong: Sometimes Friends Fight (But They Always Make Up).

Comics

Gallery

Main article: King Kong/Gallery.

Roar

In the original 1933 film, King Kong's roar was adapted from tiger and lion roars and altered in pitch.

King Kong's roar in the two Toho films was later reused for King Caesar, Sanda, Gaira, Daigoro, and Manda in Godzilla Singular Point.

In the 1976 remake, King Kong's roars are primarily derived from stock roars dating back to the 1957 films The Land Unknown and The Deadly Mantis, with additional vocalizations provided by an uncredited Peter Cullen. The stock roars would go on to be used in countless other monster movies, and were even used for Toto in Gamera the Brave 30 years later.

In the 2005 remake, Kong's motion-capture actor Andy Serkis provided vocalizations for Kong that were then lowered in pitch to match those of a real gorilla, and then mixed with various other animal sounds.

Kong's roars in Kong: Skull Island were created by sound designer Al Nelson and adapted from the sounds of lions, gorillas, and monkeys. The use of lion roars was inspired by how sound editor Murray Spivak created Kong's roars in the original film. In Godzilla vs. Kong, Kong's roars were created by Erik Aadahl and were adapted from lions, leopards, bears, tigers, gorillas, boars and elephants.[citation needed]

King Kong's roars in the 1933 film
King Kong's roars in the Showa series
King Kong's roars in the 1976 film
King Kong's roars in the 1986 Universal Studios King Kong Encounter attraction
King Kong's roars and sound effects in the 2005 film
King Kong's roars and sound effects throughout the Monsterverse

Trivia

  • King Kong was Godzilla's first opponent in a color film.
  • King Kong was the first American-made monster to fight Godzilla in a film, the second being Zilla, and the third being the MUTOs.
  • King Kong's relatively small size outside of the Toho and Monsterverse films fits with the scientific understanding of the square–cube law, in which large animals have a low surface area, and therefore are less efficient at processes such as gas exchange, placing an upper limit on their size. King Kong's size in the 1933 film is close to the largest size a terrestrial animal can be under the currently understood constraints.
  • According to an interview with Ishiro Honda, an early draft for the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters called for "all monsters" to appear. It is possible that Kong was to be among them, but this remains unconfirmed.
  • Toho had planned to feature Kong in the Heisei series of Godzilla films in a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla titled Godzilla vs. King Kong. According to designer Shinji Nishikawa [24], the film would have Kong fall in love with a scientist who eventually converts him into a cyborg. Turner Entertainment, by then the copyright owners of the original 1933 film, requested payment from Toho for the rights to use the character, and the film was ultimately scrapped. Toho later considered several projects pitting Godzilla against Kong's mechanical doppelgänger, Mechani-Kong, but these films never came to pass either.
  • Kong is one of the many kaiju who share the word "King" in their names. Other examples are King Ghidorah, King Caesar, Red King, Black King, Gold King, Jumbo King, Grand King, Five King, Live King, Eleking, King Joe, King of Mons and Kingsaurus III, as well as Godzilla and Geronimon, who are given the titles "the King of the Monsters" and "the King of All Monsters", respectively.
  • In the Toho films, Kong is much taller than the original King Kong, who was said to stand at 50 feet tall in the original 1933 film. Kong is approximately 145 feet tall in King Kong vs. Godzilla, and 60 feet tall in King Kong Escapes.
  • Toho's King Kong was the basis for the American/Japanese anime TV series The King Kong Show. Toho was not involved in its development, though they later collaborated with the show's makers, Rankin/Bass Productions, to produce the film King Kong Escapes, which adapted several elements from the series.
  • The 1962 King Kong suit would later be loaned to Tsuburaya Productions for the second episode of Ultra Q where he was given more pronounced eyebrows, a tail, and more visible ears, to portray the massive monkey Goro.
  • A popular urban legend claims that two different endings were shot for the Japanese and American versions of King Kong vs. Godzilla, with Kong winning in the American version and Godzilla winning in the original Japanese version. However, this rumor is certifiably false, as both versions end with only Kong emerging from the ocean, and Godzilla nowhere to be seen. Both Toho's 1963 international sales booklet and the company's official English-language site state that Kong was the victor,[25][26]while producer Tomoyuki Tanaka declared the outcome a draw in his 1984 book Definitive Edition Godzilla Introduction. Regardless, there is no version of the film in which Godzilla defeats Kong.
  • King Kong's roars from the Toho films have been used for many other kaiju, particularly in the Ultra Series. Gudon, a kaiju from Return of Ultraman and King Caesar are among the best known of these examples. Some of the stock roars used by Kong in the 1976 film were later used for Toto in Gamera the Brave.
  • Some of the German releases of the Showa era films changed the names of various unrelated characters to King Kong. For instance, both Jet Jaguar from Godzilla vs. Megalon and Mechagodzilla are called King Kong in the German dubs. However, unlike what many people believe, they are not stated to actually be the real King Kong wearing robot suits or confused with Mechani-Kong. The name "King Kong" carried great marquee value, and this is likely the reason why the German distributors changed the names around.
  • There were two known unlicensed Japanese King Kong films produced in the 1930s, Japanese King Kong and The King Kong that Appeared in Edo. They are notable for being two of the first-ever tokusatsu/kaiju films ever made, predating Godzilla by two decades. Unfortunately, all prints of both of these films are believed to be lost and very few records of their existence remain. Kong's name also influenced the first kaiju television series, Marine Kong, although the titular monster was a robot dinosaur.
  • Shunsuke Fujita, the producer of the PlayStation 3 and 4 Godzilla game, stated in an interview that the developers and he "definitely wanted" to include King Kong in the game, but were unable to due to licensing issues.[27]
  • Kong is killed or seemingly killed at the end of the majority of his live action film appearances, with the two Toho films (King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes) and his two Monsterverse appearances (Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla vs. Kong) being the only exceptions.
  • While Kong is only mentioned in dialogue and shown through stock footage in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, he is included in a piece of concept art featured in The Art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters[28] depicting the film's final scene as one of the kaiju surrounding Godzilla.
  • In the 80th Academy Awards opening, for a brief moment Peter Jackson's King Kong can be seen fighting against TriStar's Godzilla.[29]

Videos

Wikizilla: YouTube Kaiju Profile: Toho King Kong
Wikizilla: YouTube Kaiju Profile: Kong (2017-2021)

References

This is a list of references for King Kong. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. KK.PNG
  2. King Kong 1933 Japanese Poster.jpg
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia. Shogakukan. 23 July 2014. pp. 30, 46. ISBN 4-096-82090-3.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Godzilla All Giant Monsters Pictorial Book. Kodansha. 6 July 2021. p. 62. ISBN 978-4-06-523491-4.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Godzilla Toho Giant Monster Pictorial Book. Shogakukan. 1 April 2005. p. 78. ISBN 4-09-280052-5.
  6. 168777604 805732120040348 382744355706474449 n.jpg
  7. Napton, Robert (2023). Legends of the Monsterverse: The Omnibus. Legendary Comics. p. 442. ISBN 978-1681161174.
  8. J.D. Lees, Marc Cerasini (24 March 1998). The Official Godzilla Compendium. Random House. p. 131. ISBN 0279888225 Check |isbn= value: checksum (help).
    Compendium17.png
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Godzilla Giant Monsters Super Encyclopedia (4th ed.). Kodansha. 15 March 1994. p. 26. ISBN 978-4063042702.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Warner Bros. JP Tweet
  11. 11.0 11.1 Kong-Sized
  12. Kong2021Height.jpeg
  13. Toby Kebbell clears up Kong: Skull Island rumors - Entertainment Weekly
  14. Ian Failes (8 May 2021). "How Kong's ocean showdown with Godzilla was made". befores & afters.
  15. Rudy Behlmer (28 September 2010). King Kong Blu-ray DigiBook. Warner Bros. pp. 5, 22.
  16. Bon kong R2 subtitles.jpeg
  17. Nomura, Kohei (5 December 2004). Godzilla Dictionary. ISBN 4773002921. Text "publisher" ignored (help); Text "Kasakura Publishing" ignored (help)
  18. Kong display.png
  19. Applebuam, Steven. (September 12, 2005) Interview - Peter Jackson. BBC Movies
  20. Fordham, Joe. (Januray 2006) "Return of the King." Cinefex, 104, p. 75
  21. Wake, Jenny. (December 13, 2005) The Making of King Kong: The Official Guide to the Motion Picture, p. 118. Pocket Books. ISBN 1416505180. 978-1416505181.
  22. "Godzilla Destruction - Unreleased Content [Android/iOS]". Toho Kingdom. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  23. Lord Mobile (February 12, 2024). "Monstrous roars reverberate across the kingdoms, signaling the arrival of two legendary titans. Lords Mobile will be collaborating with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire! 💥

    Brace yourselves for exclusive items and mystery events.

    Stay tuned!

    #lordsmobile #godzillaxkong"
    . X.
  24. [1]13
  25. Tohofilms8.png
  26. King Kong vs. Godzilla | TOHO
  27. Godzilla Developer Was So Passionate About Their Favorite Monster They Snuck It In The Game - Siliconera
  28. 6240338 2380115275640964 7569062263025887966 n.jpg
  29. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YomFIbvApZY

Notes

  1. Hidden text only accessible in the revised PDF of the collection.
  2. King Kong's Japanese name is spelled with an interpunct (キング・コング) in King Kong (1933) and its 2005 remake. All other Japanese-language media spell the name without an interpunct.

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