Hollow Earth Aerial Vehicle (HEAV)
|
This article concerns a recently-released film or other piece of media. More information will be added to the article as it becomes available. |
The HEAV (ヒーヴ, an acronym for Hollow Earth Aerial Vehicle, is an anti-gravity craft designed by Hīvu)Apex Cybernetics to traverse the Hollow Earth in the 2021 Legendary Pictures film Godzilla vs. Kong. It reappeared in the film's 2024 sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, bearing an updated design.
Name
In Godzilla vs. Kong, HEAV is established to be an acronym for "Hollow Earth Aerial Vehicle." However, packaging for Playmates' 6-inch Skullcrawler and Mechagodzilla figures expand it as Hollow Earth Anti-Gravity Vehicle,[4] possibly an early production name.
Development
The HEAV originally had a small role in Godzilla vs. Kong, deploying a HETV (Hollow Earth Terrestrial Vehicle) where the explorers spent most of their time.[5] Script revisions removed the need for the HETV. Michael Meyers and Simon Murton designed the HEAV, with Murton drawing on the way beetles retract their legs while flying.
The film's construction department built a full-sized HEAV for certain exterior shots, with a gimbal-mounted cockpit set built for interiors. The Macross series inspired the missile barrage one HEAV unleashed upon a Warbat.[6]
History
Monsterverse
Godzilla vs. Kong
Shortly after Godzilla attacked an Apex Cybernetics facility in Pensacola, Florida, CEO Walter Simmons and Chief Technology Officer Ren Serizawa dropped in on Professor Nathan Lind at Denham University in Philadelphia, where they expressed their interest in Lind's studies of the Hollow Earth. They revealed that scans of the planet's core revealed a powerful energy source, much like the energy possessed by Godzilla, that sustained the Hollow Earth's ecosystem. They proposed a joint Apex-Monarch mission to the Hollow Earth using the company's new Hollow Earth Aerial Vehicles, or HEAVs. These HEAVs would allow the expedition members to survive the gravity inversion experienced when entering the Hollow Earth, which had killed Lind's brother when he tried to lead an expedition there earlier. There, they could harvest this energy and create a weapon capable of defeating Godzilla. Convinced, Lind proposed that a Titan may be able to lead them to the energy source due to genetic memory, which drew the Titans back to the location where they originated. The Titan he had in mind was Kong, and he turned to his former colleague Dr. Ilene Andrews and the young Iwi girl Jia for help securing his cooperation. Apex approved the mission, sending Simmons' daughter Maia to oversee it, while also providing three HEAVs. She boasted that their engines "produce[d] enough charge to light up Vegas for a week."
After Godzilla attacked the fleet transporting Kong to Antarctica, leaving the Titan badly beaten and most of the ships in ruins, helicopters transported him the rest of the way. The HEAVs followed him into a Vile Vortex provided access to the Hollow Earth. After passing through it, their engines briefly lost power, but restarted just in time to avoid crashing. As they followed Kong, a Warbat ambushed one of the HEAVs and bit down on it, destroying it instantly. Kong grabbed it before it could attack the ship carrying Lind, Andrews, Jia, and Simmons, and quickly killed it. When a second Warbat threatened to suffocate him with its hood, Lind ordered his HEAV to fire a barrage of missiles at it. Pained, it loosened its grip, allowed Kong to recover and beat it to death.
After feeding on the monster, Kong continued on a determined path. He soon located an enormous temple built by his ancestors. Inside, he found a massive axe that glowed with blue energy. Kong set the it into a depression, which caused the ground to begin glowing with the same blue energy. Apex immediately unleashed a drone to begin extracting and analyzing the substance in the ground. When Lind and Andrews tried to stop them, Maia had her men point their firearms at them and Jia, causing Kong to roar angrily at them in their defense. Suddenly, Godzilla's atomic breath burst into the Hollow Earth, aggravating the Hellhawks roosting overhead and causing them to attack everyone. Maia and her men escaped in a HEAV, but made the mistake of firing on Kong, who caught the HEAV and crushed it in his hand, killing Maia. After Kong traveled to the surface to battle Godzilla in Hong Kong, Lind, Andrews, and Jia followed in the final HEAV, narrowing avoiding Godzilla's atomic breath. Godzilla triumphed over Kong, leaving him for dead, but found himself outmatched by Mechagodzilla, Apex's ultimate weapon gone rogue after receiving the energy from the Hollow Earth. Recalling Simmons's comment about the HEAV's energy outpost, Lind landed the ship on Kong's chest and set it to self-destruct, producing an electrical charge which restarted his heart. With Jia's encouragement, he ran to Godzilla's aid.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
To be added.
Capabilities
Flight
The HEAVs are equipped with antigravity engines which allowed them to keep pace with Kong as he dashed through the Hollow Earth. Their energy output is immense, allowing Professor Nathan Lind to restart Kong's heart by landing a HEAV on his chest and setting it to self-destruct.
Missiles
The HEAVs possess a hidden eight-cell and four-cell missile launcher above each front engine. These missiles have camera lenses on their noses, indicating that they are guided. A barrage of these missiles caused a Warbat to loosen its grip on Kong.
Machine guns
Two retractable machine guns on the bottom of each ship round out the HEAVs' arsenal. These weapons merely annoyed Kong, prompting him to destroy Maia Simmons's HEAV. They resemble M230 chain guns chambered for 30mm autocannon rounds, specifically 30×113mmB.[7]
Durability
The HEAVs were designed to survive the crushing gravitational inversion of the Vile Vortex leading to the Hollow Earth. However, two of the ships were easily crushed by a Warbat's teeth and Kong's grip.
Camouflage and mimicry
The Bio-Mimic HEAV is able to alter the coloration of its hull to blend in with its surrounding, even mimicking the appearance of nearby monsters. In Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Trapper Beasley used this feature to make the HEAV imitate a Vertacine, even leading them into battle against the Skar King's army.
Video games
- Funko Pop! Blitz (2019; added in 2021) - Android, iOS [Kong (Battle Axe) stickers]
- Pinball FX (2023) - PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Steam, Epic Games
- Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (2011; added in 2024) - Windows 10, Windows 11, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Fire OS/TV, Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, Samsung Gear VR
- Lords Mobile (2016; added in 2024) - Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, iPadOS, Fire OS
HEAV in Lords Mobile
HEAVs in Lords Mobile
Books
- Godzilla vs. Kong: The Official Movie Novelization (2021)
- Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - The Official Movie Novelization (2024)
Comics
- Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted (2024)
Gallery
Concept art
Godzilla vs. Kong
Concept art by Nick Keller
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Concept art by Matthew Cunningham
Concept art by Matthew Cunningham
Concept art by Matthew Cunningham
Concept art by Matthew Cunningham
Production
Godzilla vs. Kong
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Screenshots
Godzilla vs. Kong
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Merchandise
Playmates 6" Skullcrawler with HEAV
Playmates 6" Mechagodzilla with HEAV
Playmates 6" Kong with B.E.A.S.T. Glove and HEAV
Playmates Kong vs. Skar King diorama set
The HEAV miniature from Prime 1 Studio's Godzilla vs. Kong diorama
S.H. MonsterArts HEAVs, packaged with Kong Exclusive Edition
Miscellaneous
References
This is a list of references for HEAV. 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]
|
Comments
Showing 19 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.