King Bloodscale
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King Bloodscale, sometimes referred to simply as Bloodscale is a gigantic dinosaur living on Skull Mountain Island in the 2026 IDW Publishing comic series The Rocketeer: The Island by John Layman based on an idea from the late Dave Stevens. Bloodscale is the reigning King of Skull Mountain Island until his death in 1938 at the hands of Kong, who would inherit Bloodscale's title of "King."
Design
King Bloodscale is a gigantic theropod dinosaur remniscent of period-accurate reconstructions of Tyrannosaurus rex. He is primarily orange in color, with a lighter underbelly, rough-textured skin, glowing green eyes, and prominent scarring. It stands upright, has two clawed digits on both hands, and two three-toed feet. In issue #3, Cliff Secord, the titular Rocketeer claims that Bloodscale has "razor-sharp fangs nearly as big as my head." If the average height of a human head is between 18 and 20 cm, it would suggest that Bloodscale's teeth are of a comparable size.[1]
Origins
King Bloodscale is "a giant T-rex."[2] At some point the people of Skull Mountain Island began offering human sacrifices to Kong in hopes that he would protect them from Bloodscale.
History
The Rocketeer: The Island
"Chapter Three: Law of the Jungle"
In July of 1937, shortly after American pilots Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan crash landed on Skull Mountain Island. Shortly after this, they had their first encounter with King Bloodscale. While Earhart survived, there was not enough left of Noonan to bury.
Some time in 1938, Earhart was located by a rescue team led by a masked crime fighter known as “The Rocketeer.” He had become separated from his group, and was trying to rescue his friend Betty from Kong. Just as Earhart was explaining that Kong was probably protecting her from King Bloodscale, the beast appears in a clearing before them. The humans ran, which Earhart explained was their only chance for survival, as the gigantic Bloodscale chomped after them.
"Chapter Four: The King and I"
Bloodscale chased them through the night until the humans disappeared behind a waterfall, masking their scent, and leaving the King of Skull Mountain Island unable to find them. Enraged at his failure, Bloodscale followed a different scent elsewhere into the jungle.
In Kong's Skull Mountain lair, Betty grew tired of waiting for Kong to return with breakfast, and opted to call out to him. This alerted Bloodscale to her location, and he began to charge toward the sound, right up Skull Mountain to the mouth of Kong's cave. Betty and Bloodscale were certain she had met her end, but Kong swung in just in time to knock Bloodscale off-balance. Kong tackled him to the ground, as the Rocketeer swept Betty up and out of harm's way. Kong tackled Bloodscale to the ground and tried to take a bite out of the king's snout, but the island's apex predator quickly turned the situation around and pinned Kong to the ground and went for Kong's neck. The ape blocked the king's jaws with his forearm, and kept one of Bloodscale's claws back with his hand. Despite the Rocketeer's eagerness to take Betty and leave, she insists that he help the giant who helped protect her. Kong broke Bloodscale's grip, and the dinosaur then slashed him across the chest, and used his tail to knock the ape backwards into the side of the mountain.
Bloodscale's victory seemed certain as Kong went down, but the Rocketeer then tried to lance him with a tree branch that snapped against his scaly hide. Bloodscalee snatched the interloper out of the air, and before he can take action, Popeye the sailor-man hits his snout with a molotov cocktail. As the fire spread across King Bloodscale's hide, Amelia Earhart flew by the beast's face, smokescreening him with her plane's exhaust. This distraction allowed for the island's natives, and a Belgian boy journalist named Tintin, to launch an attack with spears and slings under the leadership of archaeologist Alexandra Payne. The surprise of the spears in his flank caused Bloodscale to drop the Rocketeer. By this time, Kong had managed to recover, and he took the King of Skull Mountain Island by surprise, and smashed his face in with a giant boulder. Bloodscale's body would be cooked and eaten by the human population over the coming months, and Kong inherited his title of King.
Gallery
Abilities
Scent-based tracking
Bloodscale has the ability to track prey by scent. This is typically a very effective adaptation, but it can be thwarted by passing through water.
References
This is a list of references for King Bloodscale. 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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