King Kong (Ready Player One)

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King Kong Alternate names Kong Species Virtual reality game obstacle Enemies OASIS players First appearance Ready Player One (2018)

“	I stopped because of Kong. No one ever makes it past Kong. That-That’s like a rule.	„
	— Wade Watts (Ready Player One)

King Kong is a giant ape who appears in the 2018 film Ready Player One. Rather than a living creature, like most versions of the character, he is an AI-controlled enemy in the virtual world called the OASIS.

Development

In an undated draft of Ready Player One by Zak Penn, a meteor served as the final, impossible obstacle of the first stage of Anorak's Quest instead of King Kong.

This incarnation of King Kong was modeled after the original 1933 version by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). "All of the hairs on his body are hand-groomed, hand-placed," visual effects supervisor Grady Cofer said about his artists' work on the creature. "In a way, it's similar to the way the original puppet was made."

Design

King Kong’s design is mostly reminiscent of the original King Kong design, in addition to resembling real-life gorillas more so than other incarnations. However, some unique traits include incredibly thick fur; facial proportions resembling those of baboons; and black, smooth skin.

Origins

James Halliday, the co-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. The first challenge required players to race through the streets of a simulated New York City, evading obstacles such as runaway trains, wrecking balls, and a Tyrannosaurus rex. King Kong attacked players during the final phase of the race, and for five years was considered an impassible obstacle.

Personality

King Kong is programmed to relentlessly pursue and attack racers upon spawning atop the Empire State Building to prevent them reaching the finish line, only ceasing his offensive if a player ceases driving or is left unable to continue racing. When Wade Watts, controlling the avatar Parzival, traversed a secret road beneath the city to avoid Kong, the 8th Wonder of the World roared furiously at him.

History

• Ready Player One

Ready Player One

After five years of OASIS players attempting to finish the race which served as the first challenge in Anorak's Quest, only the most dedicated treasure-hunters (Gunters) and employees of Innovative Online Industries (IOI) still competed. One such Gunter, Wade Watts, entered using the DeLorean from Back to the Future. During the race, he took notice of the renowned Gunter Art3mis, racing on Shotaro Kaneda's motorcycle from Akira, but eventually overtook her. As usual, King Kong manifested atop the Empire State Building during the final stretch of the race, ignoring the biplanes buzzing him to attack the few remaining racers. He crushed one car as he landed, then crashed through a water tower and a bridge, preventing Watts's friend Aech from continuing. Art3mis sailed over the gap, however. With Watts now in the lead, Kong pursued him parallel to the track and, with the finish line in sight, crashed through the final stretch of road. Watts stopped the DeLorean just before it reached Kong, and the monster sank out of sight. When Art3mis attempted to leap over Kong, Watts pulled her off the bike moments before Kong snatched it out of the air and crushed it. Watts volunteered Aech's services to fix it. As he repaired it in his workshop, Watts defended his avoidance of Kong to Art3mis, saying the monster was impossible to drive past. Noting that Halliday, the quest's programmer, hated such arbitrary rules, Art3mis challenged him to take more risks and not be afraid of losing his equipment.

After reviewing historical footage of Halliday, the quest's programmer, Watts hit upon the idea to drive backwards at the start of the race, seemingly into a wall. Instead, he passed into an underground track, allowing him to avoid the many obstacles on the surface, including Kong. The gorilla could only roar in frustration as Watts emerged out of his reach, crossed the finish line, and became the first player to earn the Copper Key. Art3mis, having watched Watts go backwards, used the exploit next; he then told Aech, who told their friend Daito, who told his best friend Sho. Christened the High Five, these Gunters would ultimately challenge IOI directly for control of the OASIS.

Abilities

Physical abilities

King Kong's size allows him to effortlessly destroy vehicles or buildings, and he is dexterous enough to grab a small motorcycle out of the air. He is also quite agile, scaling buildings with ease and overtaking Wade Watts's DeLorean. It is possible that James Halliday programmed Kong to be impassible, with no player racing on the surface ever getting past him in the five years since the challenge was discovered.

Weaknesses

If a player drives backwards at the start of the race, they will be able to travel beneath the track and avoid Kong entirely, although he retains awareness of their position. While the player will eventually surface just before the finish line, this point is evidently outside of his programmed range, as he merely roared at Parzival rather than pursue him.

Gallery

Ready Player One

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Trivia

• Alan Silvestri's score for Ready Player One quotes Max Steiner's score for the original King Kong film when the character appears.
• The King Kong design in the 2021 Film Space Jam: A New Legacy, also distributed by Warner Bros, strongly resembles the Ready Player One Kong, although it is unknown if the same model was used.
• Ready Player One was the first film to include major appearances by King Kong and Mechagodzilla, although the two characters would not meet onscreen until Godzilla vs. Kong (2021).

See also

• Mechagodzilla (Ready Player One)

References

This is a list of references for King Kong (Ready Player One). 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]

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