Mechani-Kong

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Mechani-Kong
Mechani-Kong in King Kong Escapes
Alternate names Mechanikong, Mechni-Kong,[1]
Robot Kong, Robot-Kong,[2]
Kong of Steel, King Kong Robot
Subtitle(s) Electronic Monster
(電子怪獣,   Denshi Kaijū)[3]
Electronic Robot
(電子ロボット,   Denshi Robotto)[4]
Species Robot duplicate of King Kong
Height Showa: 20 meters[5]
Kodansha: 100 meters[6]
Weight Showa: 15,000 metric tons[5]
Forms Mechani-Kong No. 1,
Mechani-Kong No. 2,[5]
Mechani-Kong IIKM
Controlled by Dr. Who,
Dr. Mad OniyamaKM
Relations Dr. Who (creator)KKE,
Dr. Mad Oniyama (creator)GKOTM
Allies Mechagodzilla IIIGKOTM
Enemies King Kong, GodzillaGKOTM
Modeled by Teizo Toshimitsu, Yasuei Yagi
Played by Hiroshi Sekita
First appearance Latest appearance
The King Kong Show King Kong Escapes
Roar(s)
More roars
Dr. Who: “He's exactly like the original Kong. With this, the world is ours.
Madame Piranha: “It's still not the original. You sure you didn't just build a giant toy?
Dr. Who: “A toy? That's an insult! How can you say that? It is the strongest thing there is in the world today!
― Dr. Who reveals Mechani-Kong to his benefactor Madame Piranha (King Kong Escapes)

Mechani-Kong (メカニコング,   Mekanikongu), also known as Robot Kong (ロボットコング,   Robotto Kongu), is a robot duplicate of King Kong that first appeared in the 1966 Rankin/Bass animated series The King Kong Show, and later appeared in the 1967 Toho film King Kong Escapes.

Mechani-Kong is the creation of the villainous Dr. Who, a mad scientist bent on world domination and the sworn enemy of King Kong. In The King Kong Show and its tie-in media, Mechani-Kong is frequently deployed by Dr. Who to destroy Kong or menace his human allies. In King Kong Escapes, Mechani-Kong was instead built by Dr. Who for the purpose of mining the highly radioactive Element X. When the radiation damaged the machine, Who resorted to kidnapping the real Kong from his home of Mondo Island to force him to dig for the element instead. However, Kong was able to resist the madman's mind control and escaped Who's Arctic base. Dr. Who repaired Mechani-Kong and sent it to Tokyo to capture Kong in order to make him continue his task. After a pitched battle atop the Tokyo Tower, Kong defeated his robot double and sent the machine plummeting to its doom on the streets below. Toho planned to revive Mechani-Kong for several Godzilla film projects in the Heisei series, but legal concerns regarding use of the character caused these films to be scrapped. Mechani-Kong did make an appearance in Kodansha's Godzilla, King of the Monsters manga in the early 1990s.

Name

Mechani-Kong's name comes from the word "mechanical" and the "Kong" part of King Kong's name. In the Japanese version of The King Kong Show and the U.S. release of King Kong Escapes, it is called Robot Kong (ロボットコング,   Robotto Kongu), while the U.S. poster for the film calls it the King Kong Robot.[7] Mechani-Kong's Japanese name is sometimes spelled with an interpunct as メカニ・コング.[3]

Development

Eiji Tsuburaya with the Mechani-Kong and King Kong suits

For King Kong Escapes, Mechani-Kong's head was modeled by Teizo Toshimitsu and its body by Yasuei Yagi. The suit was constructed from the "hard sponge" material used in bath mats. Initially, there were no protective pads on the shoulders inside the suit, but these were added during shooting. For filming of the climactic scene atop the Tokyo Tower, the protective pads were removed. Two sets of arms, a long pair and a short pair, were constructed and used interchangeably for the suit. Some materials have stated due to the difference in the arm length that two suits were created, but chief modeler Nobuyuki Yasumaru has stated that only one Mechani-Kong suit was made. Mechani-Kong's eyes were lit by an 8 millimeter projector lamp. A 1-shaku (Japanese foot) Guignol or hand-operated puppet was also used for the Tokyo Tower scene. A life-sized model of Mechani-Kong's right hand was also made to depict the machine grabbing Susan Watson. The remains of Mechani-Kong after it falls to its demise from the Tokyo Tower were composed of TV circuit boards and pieces of the Atomic Heat Ray Gun props from Mothra and Type 66 Maser Cannons from The War of the Gargantuas.

Mechani-Kong was a favorite monster of Heisei series special effects director Koichi Kawakita, who worked on the staff for King Kong Escapes. For this reason, Kawakita attempted to bring the character back as Godzilla's opponent for the fourth entry in the Heisei series. The story proposal Micro Super Battle: Godzilla vs. Gigamoth had Mechani-Kong built by the U.S. military and injecting a team of humans inside Godzilla's body, with radiation leaking from the mecha spawning the kaiju Gigamoth C Type. Further story proposals built on this premise, featuring Mechani-Kong as a human-built weapon injecting a team of humans inside of Godzilla to battle him from within. However, Toho feared using even the likeness of King Kong would present legal difficulties with Turner Entertainment, who blocked production of a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla prior to this.[8] Ultimately Godzilla vs. Mothra was produced in place of Kawakita's Godzilla vs. Mechani-Kong proposal, while some of Kawakita's ideas for Mechani-Kong found their way into Mechagodzilla in the following film. Kawakita later paid tribute to Mechani-Kong through the mechanical monster Bulgario in The Justirisers and Super Fleet Sazer-X the Movie.[8]

Design

In The King Kong Show, Mechani-Kong is a giant robot bearing the basic likeness of King Kong himself. His body is made of sleek brown metal with his face, hands, and chest being a lighter tan color. Mechani-Kong has no fingers, and his hands are instead composed of two claw-like pincers. There is also a window in the top of his head, behind which is a room where Dr. Who controls the machine. In tie-in media for the series, such as manga and other artwork, Mechani-Kong is given completely different designs. Some depict him as being nearly identical in appearance to Kong, except green in color and possessing bolts on his body. Others portray him with light tan segments on his joints and midsection; a brown, hinged lower jaw; two black squares for eyes; and a viewing window on the top of his head. Yet another design also heavily resembles Kong, but is silver and sports lines across his body representing seams.

In King Kong Escapes, Mechani-Kong's entire body is a metallic gray color, with visible bolts on its limbs and joints, and powerful light bulbs for eyes. Mechani-Kong No. 1 has a utility belt containing grenades around his waist. Mechani-Kong No. 2 lacks the utility belt, but has a hypnotic light attached to the sagittal crest atop his head.

Origins

In King Kong Escapes, Mechani-Kong was built by Dr. Who based on anatomical drawings of the real King Kong that he had stolen from Carl Nelson.

History

The King Kong Show

Mechani-Kong in The King Kong Show

Seeking revenge for previous defeats, Dr. Who began to destroy New Guinea with his new robot, Mechani-Kong. The military mistook it for the real King Kong, and went to capture him on Mondo Island. While discussing the incident with Professor Bond, who looked after Kong with his children, Susan and Bobby, the military received word of another attack on New Guinea, and the Bonds and Captain Englehorn brought Kong to the island nation to help look into the matter. Kong then attempted to attack Mechani-Kong, but Mechani-Kong was unfazed by all of his blows. After Mechani-Kong knocked Kong to the ground, Kong headbutted Mechani-Kong into the ocean, causing him to short-circuit to the point of breaking down. Dr. Who then had his robot airlifted away by two helicopters, which attached cables to either end of his body. Neither the Bonds nor Captain Englehorn ever found out that Dr. Who had created Mechani-Kong.

Showa era

King Kong Escapes

Mechani-Kong No. 1
Mechani-Kong holding Susan Watson while climbing the Tokyo Tower in King Kong Escapes

Using anatomical drawings of the legendary giant gorilla-like ape King Kong that he had stolen from Carl Nelson, the international criminal Dr. Who built Mechani-Kong to mine the highly radioactive Element X from the Arctic. Dr. Who intended to sell the element to his mysterious benefactor Madame Piranha, whose country desired to use it to build a nuclear arsenal. When Mechani-Kong began to dig for Element X, the radiation damaged the machine's circuits and left him disabled. Dr. Who was forced to find a new method to mine the material, and kidnapped the real King Kong from his home of Mondo Island. Who outfitted Kong with a mind control device on his head and used a large hypnotic light to further control him. However, the radiation emitted by Element X interfered with the mind control device, and Kong broke free. Kong then escaped Dr. Who's base and began swimming towards Tokyo.

Mechani-Kong No. 2

Under Dr. Who's orders, Mechani-Kong was hastily repaired, upgraded and designated as Mechani-Kong No. 2 (メカニコング2号,   Mekanikongu Nigō).[5] Dr. Who brought the repaired Mechani-Kong to Tokyo aboard his ship, then unleashed the machine in Tokyo to retrieve Kong. Kong battled his robot double in the streets of Tokyo, but Mechani-Kong grabbed Susan Watson, to whom Kong had taken a liking. Mechani-Kong began climbing up the Tokyo Tower with Susan in hand and Kong in pursuit. Dr. Who broadcast his voice from Mechani-Kong and told Kong to surrender or else he would drop Susan. As the two Kongs scaled the Tower, Madame Piranha turned on Dr. Who and damaged Mechani-Kong's remote controls, though she was shot and killed by Dr. Who in the process. Mechani-Kong became paralyzed and dropped Susan, who was rescued by Jiro Nomura. The top of the Tokyo Tower then snapped off, with Mechani-Kong falling to the streets below, breaking into several pieces upon impact and exploding.

Abilities

Hypnotic light

Mechani-Kong's hypnotic light

Mechani-Kong can emit a hypnotic light from the top of his head. This light is capable of temporarily entrancing Kong.

Grenades

Mechani-Kong's grenades

Mechani-Kong has a utility belt attached to its waist that contains numerous giant grenades. Mechani-Kong can pull these grenades off its belt and throw them, either to try and harm its enemies or to dig through the Arctic ice.

Strength

Mechani-Kong possesses a high degree of physical strength. The machine is capable of grappling with King Kong himself, considered to be the strongest animal on Earth, and is able to dig through solid ice or scale the Tokyo Tower with ease.

In the 1992 Kodansha manga Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Mechani-Kong II was able to restrain Godzilla using its impressive grip, allowing Mechagodzilla III to skewer him through his chest using its arms.

High beam eye lights

Mechani-Kong's high beam eye lights

Mechani-Kong's eyes are outfitted with powerful high-beam lights, which it can use to temporarily blind opponents.

Loudspeakers

Mechani-Kong's loudspeakers

Mechani-Kong has several loudspeakers inside its mouth, through which Dr. Who can broadcast his voice.

Submachine gun

Manga Mechani-Kong with gun.jpeg

In The Godzilla Comic’s Monster Warrior Godzilla story, Mechani-Kong possesses a large submachine gun which the robot uses in an attempt to shoot Godzilla.

Holograms

In the 1992-3 Kodansha manga Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Mechani-Kong II was able to produce holograms of people from inside its head window, to give the illusion that Mad Oniyama was holding Hideo Kaneko's classmates and teacher hostage there. However, this was quickly foiled when Hideo investigated a nearby oil tanker with G-Team and found that Oniyama had taken the hostages there instead.

Weaknesses

In The King Kong Show, Mechani-Kong was disabled after being headbutted over a cliff and into the ocean by Kong, which caused the machine to short-circuit to the point that it shut down.

In King Kong Escapes, when Mechani-Kong was mining for the radioactive Element X, the radiation of the ore caused the machine to short-circuit and shut down, which then required it to be quickly repaired and upgraded by Dr. Who. When facing Kong on top of the Tokyo Tower, Madame Piranha betrayed Dr. Who when she destroyed Mechani-Kong's remote controls and caused it to freeze up, after which it fell off with the top of the tower, broke into pieces on the ground below, and exploded.

In the 1992 Kodansha manga Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Godzilla threw Mechani-Kong II over his shoulders and on impact with the ground, the machine was disabled and lost one of its arms. Godzilla then destroyed the now-immobile Mechani-Kong II by shooting his atomic breath at the robot's head, causing it to explode. Though the machine was unmanned, a direct hit to its head window from the Maser Cannons of an ASTOL-MB93 was enough to stun the machine, allowing Godzilla to incapacitate it.

Video games

Konami Wai Wai World

Mechani-Kong appears in the fifth stage of Konami Wai Wai World, called City Stage, as one of the naturally occurring enemies alongside Jumping Hopper, Flyer, and Laserwalker. Later in the level, another Mechani-Kong-like mecha appears named Bosskonger, who serves as the stage's boss.

Comics

Godzilla, King of the Monsters (Kodansha)

Having been reconstructed by Dr. Mad Oniyama and christened Mechani-Kong II, Mechani-Kong, now scaled up to a height of 100 meters, was deployed to assist Mechagodzilla III in fighting Godzilla. Mechani-Kong II took Godzilla by surprise, punching through a refinery tank and holding Godzilla steady while Mechagodzilla III was ordered by Oniyama to attack him. Mechagodzilla III then skewered Godzilla through his chest using its arms, causing Godzilla to fall to the floor in a state of near-unconsciousness.

As an effort to prevent G-Team from fighting back, Oniyama had Mechani-Kong II project the images of Hideo Kaneko's classmates inside the robot's head, giving the impression that they were held hostage there; however, when Hideo and a group of G-Team soldiers investigated a nearby oil tanker, they located the hostages and Oniyama there, and informed Yosuke Kaneko that he could fire on the machine, as the supposed hostages inside Mechani-Kong II were fake.

With Oniyama forced to flee the controls for Mechani-Kong II and Mechagodzilla III, leaving the machines unguided, Yosuke Kaneko fired at the top of Mechani-Kong II's head with his ASTOL-MB93's Maser Cannons, stunning the robotic ape temporarily. Godzilla used the opportunity to get back to his feet and quickly fight back against Mechani-Kong II, throwing the mechanical ape over his shoulder and breaking its arm. The impact with the ground crippled the robot, which was then quickly dispatched by Godzilla with a shot to the head of his atomic breath.

Godzilla Rivals

Mechani-Kong could be seen standing in Dr. Ogilvy Hu's secret underground base alongside Mechagodzilla.

Gallery

Main article: Mechani-Kong/Gallery.

Sightings

  • In an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy titled "Giant Billy and Mandy All-Out Attack," there was a parody of Mechani-Kong named "Mecha-Gorillasaur," which was piloted by Mandy.

Roar

Mechani-Kong's roar is a modified Toho King Kong roar, which was sped up and echoed. Mechani-Kong's roar would later be used for the capsule monster Windom in Ultraseven.

Mechani-Kong's roars and sound effects

Trivia

Video

Wikizilla: YouTube Kaiju Profile: Mechani-Kong

References

This is a list of references for Mechani-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. Way, Jennifer (2016). Greatest Movie Monsters: King Kong and Other Monstrous Apes. Rosen Publishing Group. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-4994-3537-5.
  2. Encyclopedia of Godzilla (Mechagodzilla Edition). Gakken. 10 December 1993. p. 104. ISBN 405600174X.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia. Shogakukan. 23 July 2014. p. 47. ISBN 4-096-82090-3.
  4. Definitive Edition of Toho Monster Movies!! Godzilla Special Effects Complete Works. Natsumesha. 21 December 1994. p. 64. ISBN 978-4816317750.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Godzilla Giant Monsters Super Encyclopedia (4th ed.). Kodansha. 15 March 1994. p. 58. ISBN 978-4063042702.
  6. Yasui, Hisashi; Kawamoto, Hiroshi (5 December 1992). Godzilla, King of the Monsters. vol. 1. Kodansha. p. 97. ISBN 4-06-321661-6. |volume= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. Kong cartoon 05.jpg
  8. 8.0 8.1 Shimazaki, Jun; Nakamura, Tetsu (10 February 2012). Heisei Godzilla Perfection. ASCII MEDIA WORKS. pp. 131–135. ISBN 978-4-04-886119-9.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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