Kong is a massive ape, who originally resided on Skull Island, where he was routinely offered sacrifices by the island's native human population.
King Kong (1933 Film)[]
- Main article: Kong (1933)
Kong is one of the titular characters of the film. A savage beast that dwelled on some long lost island known only as "Skull Island". There he spent his life battling dinosaurs, surviving in the wild, and being worshiped as a god to the natives who offered sacrifices to him.
All that changed, when Filmmaker Carl Denham arrived on the island to film a movie with sailor John Driscoll, a writer, Ann Darrow, an actress and the crew of the tramp steamer that brought them there. Ann was kidnapped from the ship by the natives of the island and offered as a sacrifice to Kong. Kong was so taken enthralled by Ann's beauty that he became attached to her and tried to protect Ann from the dangers of the tropical forest that covered the island.
While walking through the jungle with Ann, he heard the search party that was sent out after Ann. He set her down on a tree and goes off to stop them. He finds the men, fleeing from an angry dinosaur, and attacks them. He seizes the log bridge they are crossing and twists it, sending each of the men plummeting down into the ravine. Soon, there are only two men on the log, and at this point, he throws the entire log off the cliff. In a deleted scene, several men survive the fall but are eaten alive by horrible creatures that live in the chasm. Only Jack and Carl survive the attack. Jack tells Carl to go back to the village while he continues the pursuit.
Suddenly, Kong hears Ann screaming. A T-Rex is attacking her. He charges angrily back, and attacks the T-Rex, while Ann attempts to hide. The fight lasts for three long minutes. Kong tries to grab the T-rex, and throw it to the ground. He succeeds a few times, but the dinosaur gets back up and bites Kong's arm several times. At the end of the fight, Kong finally manages the pin the giant dinosaur to the ground and split it's jaw in half, killing the dinosaur instantly. Kong roars in triumph, before heading back to his cave with Ann.
After climbing out of the Ravine, Jack Driscoll goes after Kong, and follows him silently, and solo. He arrives at Kong Cave, to see Ann trying to play dead, to trick Kong she's dead so she can escape. Suddenly, Ann screams when she sees a plesiosaur! Kong attacks the prehensile sea serpent, and Jack attempts to rescue Ann, but can't get past Kong and the plesiosaur. Once Kong kills the Loch Ness-like monster, Jack hides as Kong heads out to his cliff, with Ann still in his hand. Jack watches anxiously. But suddenly, Kong hears Jack's footsteps. He puts down Ann for a second and goes to investigate.
At that very moment, a Pteranodon attacks Ann and attempts to fly away with Ann. Kong once again fights the flying reptile, but saves Ann and sets her down. This is the opportunity Jack has been waiting for. He reunites with Ann, and while Kong is fighting the abomination, they climb down the side off the cliff. Kong sees Jack attempting to escape, and tries to pull their vine back up. But Jack and Ann jump and fall into the rapids below. They both climb out and escapes back to the natives' village.
Kong, in a rage chase after them, and in order to get to her, breaks down the wall separating him from the village. He takes his anger out on the natives by biting, crushing, and stomping them. He also destroys their buildings and ritual spots. During the chaos, Carl Denham knocks Kong out with one of his Gas Bombs, and decides to bring Kong back to New York, to be put on display, and get rich in the process.
Unfortunately, a few months later in New York, the show Flip-Flops horribly. The start of the show goes as planned, as Kong, now enslaved on a metal post, tied to chains, is presented to the amazed crowd. But when Carl, Jack, and Ann get together to have the reporters take their pictures, the flashing camera lights start to enrage Kong. Worse, Kong thinks the flashbulbs are guns being fired at Ann. He has had enough of everything and breaks out of his chains in anger.
The audience panics and flees in terror as Kong smashes out of the theater and into the city. After throwing cars and debris from buildings at people, he climbs up the New York City hotel building, to search for Ann, which he notices her go into once he broke out. He grabs women out of their windows, but they're not Ann, and he throws them onto the streets, killing them instantly. Just a few minutes later, he manages to find Ann and recaptures her. Rampaging through the city, Kong, still carrying Ann, chases a crowd of panicking citizens and reaches a bridge for a subway train. Kong takes out the bridge, as an oncoming elevated train approaches. The engineer attempts to put on the brakes, but it is too late, and the train falls off the bridge, and into Kong's grasp. Panicking, screaming, and fainting, passengers on the train are killed when Kong throws it to the ground and pounds on it. After destroying the train, Kong begins to scale the city's buildings.
During the famous climax of the movie, Kong climbs up New York City's tallest building, the Empire State Building, to escape the police chasing him on the ground. Unfortunately, he doesn't know that there are threats in the air too. US Soldiers in four red biplanes appear once he reaches the top of the Empire State Building. Kong sees the planes as creatures, just like on his island, and gets ready to fight. He sets Ann down on a ledge and reaches the roof of the building and roars, which starts the final dogfight.
The planes separate and start to fire on Kong with machine guns. Kong tries to dodge their gunfire, with a few bullets hitting his body. He attempts to take the planes out of the air but misses most of the time. The planes continue to zoom around Kong and fire every time they get close to him. Kong lunges at one plane that flies too close to him. He grabs it and throws down, where the plane crashes to the ground, killing the pilots inside. The remaining planes fire on Kong, bullets ripping into his body, severely wounding the giant ape. He takes on about six rounds of shots before he loses his grip and nearly falls. Wounded, knowing he's close to death picks up Ann, and gazes at her beauty one last time. Once he puts her down, the planes fire two rounds of shots into his neck and shoulder, critically wounding him. Now, Kong is having a hard time holding on to the building, realizes something. He fears the planes are a threat to Ann, f they accidentally shoot her. He decides to not even try to hold on to the building, and to end the fight before Ann gets hurt, he lets go of the building and plummets 102 stories down to his death.
In the film's end, Carl Denham looks down at the lifeless body of Kong, and realizes his sacrifice to save Ann, and concludes that "It wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast."
King Kong vs. Godzilla[]
- Main article: King Kong (1962)
King Kong was discovered by an expedition to Farou Island, which was sent there by Mr. Tako, marketing executive for Pacific Pharmaceuticals, in order to find a legendary monster worshiped by the natives. The expedition only heard Kong's roar from the mountains, but saw the beast himself when he battled a Giant Octopus that attacked a village on the island. After chasing the octopus off, Kong began to drink jugs of the Soma berry juice that the natives had prepared, and fell asleep. The expedition members had Kong tied to a raft and taken back to Japan to be used as publicity for the company, but their boat was stopped by the Japanese Coast Guard, who informed Tako that he would be liable for any damage caused by King Kong in Japan. Suddenly, Kong began to stir and try to break free of the raft. The crew members opened fire on the dynamite attached to the raft, causing it to explode. Kong emerged from the water unharmed, and swam to the Japanese mainland. Kong rampaged along the coastline until he encountered Godzilla in the wilderness. Kong tossed a boulder at Godzilla, who responded with a blast of his thermonuclear breath, which singed Kong's fur and set much of the forest ablaze. Kong scratched his head and walked away in defeat.
Later, Kong arrived in Tokyo and easily passed the electrical barrier that had been used to repel Godzilla earlier, actually drawing strength from the electrical currents. Kong smashed several buildings in his path and grabbed a train, and while looking inside was smitten with Fumiko Sakurai. Kong grabbed Fumiko and dropped the train, then climbed to the top of the National Diet Building. The J.S.D.F. surrounded the building and loaded rockets with the Soma berry juice while playing a recording of the Farou Islanders' chant, hoping to lull Kong back to sleep. After a few minutes, Kong fell unconscious and slid off the building, allowing the J.S.D.F. to rescue Fumiko. The J.S.D.F. then formed a desperate plan: bring Kong to Mount Fuji so he can fight Godzilla and the two monsters will destroy each other. Kong was tied to several large balloons with indestructible metal wire and carried to Mt. Fuji. Kong was dropped onto Godzilla, and the two titans resumed their battle. Godzilla again claimed the upper hand, eventually battering Kong into unconsciousness and razing him with his atomic breath. Luckily for Kong, a lightning storm passed over head and Kong was struck by lightning, re-energizing him and surging an electrical current through his body. Kong grabbed Godzilla's tail, electrocuting him with his touch, and the battle raged on, this time with both combatants on equal footing. The monsters fought across the Fuji wilderness until they reached a cliff, where they tackled each other into the ocean below, causing an earthquake. After the tremors settled, Kong emerged from the water, victorious, and began to swim back to his home on Farou Island.
King Kong Escapes[]
King Kong was discovered on Mondo Island by a joint expedition of American and Japanese scientists, led by Carl Nelson. When Susan Watson, a member of the expedition, was attacked by Gorosaurus, Kong saved her and defeated Gorosaurus. Later, when the crew tried to leave Mondo in their submarine, they were attacked by a Giant Sea Serpent. Kong swam out to sea and fought off the snake, allowing the sub to escape safely. News of Kong's discovery alerted the evil Dr. Who, who kidnapped Kong and placed him under mind control, forcing him to mine a radioactive element called Element X so that Who could sell it to the mysterious Madame Piranha. Nelson, Susan, and their other crew member Jiro Nomura arrived at Who's base in the North Pole and managed to free Kong, leading him back to Tokyo. Enraged, Who sent his robot version of Kong, Mechani-Kong, to Tokyo to kill Kong. Mechani-Kong kidnapped Susan and climbed the Tokyo Tower, and Kong pursued them. Kong rescued Susan and battled Mechani-Kong, and eventually managed to cause Mechani-Kong to fall from the tower and onto the street, destroying it. Kong then attacked Dr. Who's submarine in Tokyo Bay and destroyed it, killing Who and ending his evil plans. Kong then returned to Mondo Island to live in peace.
King Kong (1976 Film)[]
- Main article: Kong (1976)
Kong, in the 1976 movie is bigger than the original, and instead of black fur, he has brown fur and walks like a man. Kong in the movie lives on Skull Island and is worshiped by the natives as a god, who make human sacrifices to him. He is one of the 5 different creatures on skull island. Kong first appears in the movie, when Dwan is kidnapped by the natives on Fred Wilson's ship, as punishment for trespassing, and is offered as a sacrifice. Kong makes his way through the jungle to carry out the sacrifice, and he picks up a terrified Dawn from the post and carries her into the jungle. Kong chases Dwan around, in an attempt to still have her as his prisoner. But Kong is fascinated by Dwan's monologuing skills and starts to feel more sympathy for her. When she accidentally falls in the mud, he takes her to a giant waterfall and washes her down. At this point, Dwan no longer sees Kong as a threat, and Kong is falling in love with her and decides to make sure nothing happens to her. Kong then hears a search party being lead by Jack Prescott, Dwan's new boyfriend, he attacks the crew while they are on a log, and shakes the log bridge, sending the crew plummeting down into the ravine. Only Jack and Boan survive the attack. He then takes Dwan back to his lair, where he pets her and cherishes her. Suddenly, everything goes south when Kong and Dwan are attacked by a giant snake. Dwan hides for cover, while Kong battles the giant serpent. Jack, then arrives, and Dwan and they embrace. Dwan and Jack flee from the fight, as Kong manages to kills the snake. Now Kong, enraged about losing Dwan, chases Jack to the wall separating the jungle from the village, and breaks it down, to find Dawn. But just as he breaks through, he falls into a pit trap filled with Chloroform, which knocks him out. The "Ape Trap" was set up by Fred Wilson, who sees money to made off the giant ape. Kong is transported to New York in a supertanker. Dwan feels bad for her ape friend, and tries to convince Wilson that he's just an animal, he risked his life to save her from that snake, and he should be brought home. But Wilson says he's not a sympathetic animal. He's just an evil monster. In New York, Kong is put on display during a show at Randall's Island, in a giant cage, wearing a large embarrassing crown on his head. At the end of the show, everything flops when Dwan is pushed and shoved by reporters who want interviews. When Kong sees this, he assumes Dwan is being attacked,and breaks out of his cage in anger. Mass hysteria erupts in the crowd as everyone stampedes for the parking lot. Kong attacks the crowd by crushing them with his giant feet, and even crushes Fred Wilson, who is killed instantly. He breaks out of the stadium,and goes on a rampage through New York City. By 9:00, all citizens were safely off the streets. Kong rampages through the streets furiously search for Dwan. Dwan and Jack escape in the caboose of a subway train. However, Kong sees the train and chases after it. He finds a bridge the train would cross. He takes out the bridge and grabs the subway train as crosses. The passengers scream and panic as Kong waves the train around furiously. Dwan and Jack escape from the caboose, the only part of the train not derailed, just as Kong, realizes Dwan's not there, he throws the train down, that explodes when it hits the ground, killing everyone on board. Soon, Kong manages to find Dwan in a bar hiding with Jack. She is nervous but glad Kong's alright. Kong then notices something. The World Trade Center towers look like his home on the island because his home is in between two native towers g flees with Dwan to the towers, and makes a terrific climb up the side of the South Tower. The military is down below, and hundreds of soldiers are pointing guns and two giant searchlights at Kong. Once Kong reaches the top of the tower, he looks up at the moon, and realizes even though he's far from home, New York City is a beautiful place. Suddenly, he is attacked by two Navy Seals with flamethrowers. Kong is partially burned, and makes a tremendous jump to the North Tower. Ripping up debris from the roof, he manages to stop the Navy Seals. Dwan is relieved because of this. But the joy didn't last long. Three military helicopters with mini-guns fly to the North Tower. He sets Dwan down on the roof, despite her begging to still hold her. She knows once Kong puts her down, they will attack. With this, the helicopters open fire, mercilessly shooting Kong, turning him into a blood-covered beast. Kong, roaring in pain tries to fight back, and manages to down two of the helicopters, but to no avail. He falls down onto the roof, and can no longer move. Dwan devastated, tries to help him, but Kong, still lying down nearly unconscious, rolls of the side of the tower, and plummets down to the pavement, fatally injuring him. Kong, slammed down in the pavement is close to death, and he is too weak to get up. As reporters start to take his picture, he views his love Dwan one last time. His eyes then stop blinking, indication to everybody that he is dead. The King of the apes was dead, an left Dwan grieving for her lost friend.
King Kong Lives[]
King Kong (2005 Film)/Video Game[]
Main Article: Kong 2005
Kong is portrayed as much more sympathetic in the 2005 film. He is offered Ann Darrow by the Island's Natives. He is initially portrayed as a mindless violent behemoth, but he is later show to be protective of Ann, and even appears to have a sense of humor. He is also the last of his kind called Megaprimatus Kong.
Kong first meets Ann Darrow during the native's ritual, when Ann is kidnapped off of Carl Denham's boat, and is offered as a sacrifice to Kong, who the natives worship as a god. They tie her to a post, and lower her off the giant, lava surrounded wall, and straight down to the cliffside platform. Kong, hearing the loud Native Drums, comes to see who the victim is this time. He climbs through the trees, ad then jumps down in front of Ann. Ann screams, and attempts to break off the post. However, Kong grabs her off the post, and she is carried into the Jungle.
Kong runs through the Jungle holding Ann in his giant hand. As they run, Ann looks down, to see to her horror, the skeletons of Kong's other sacrifices. Ann slashes Kong's hand with her sharp necklace, and he drops her. She attempts to flee, but Kong grabs her again and continues to run through the Jungle with her.
Soon, they arrive on a cliff, and Kong finally sets her down but refuses to let her escape. Ann decides to distract him by doing a comedy routine that she learned as an actor. Kong is easily amused by it, and at this point, starts to feel more sympathetic to Ann. But is distracted when he suddenly hears voices. It's Carl Denham's search party that's trying to find Ann.
Kong charges toward the search party. He finds the crew crossing a log over the spider pit. He grabs Hayes, and slams him against the cliff, killing him instantly. His body falls into the ravine. Everybody starts to shoot at him, as Carl films the amazing beast. Kong avoids the bullets and grabs the log. He rolls it furiously, sending each of the crew members plummeting into the ravine. He soon throws the entire log of the cliff, and into the spider pit. Only Jack, Carl, Lumpy, Preston, and Jimmy survive the attack.
Suddenly, he hears Ann screaming. She is being attacked by three V-Rexes. Kong races back and fights all three of the V-Rexes. Holding Ann in his giant paw, he battles the three monstrous dinosaurs.
Monsterverse[]
- Main article: Kong (Monsterverse)
Kong featured in the Monsterverse is much larger and stronger than his past depictions. He is depicted having brown hair, massive fangs and is very intelligent. The Iwi people who are indigenous to the island, worshipped Kong as their god and the last of their saviors. Though he is extremely territorial and will attack those who enter his domain under hostile intent, Kong is protective of the other animals around him, as well as those who do not wish him harm. Though he is massive, Kong might get larger still as he is never outright confirmed to have stopped growing in Godzilla vs Kong
Kong's primary enemy on the island are Skullcrawlers, which thrive under the island. Kong usually hunts and kills these beasts before they reach full maturity, however, the bigger one is much mightier and can do serious damage to Kong. But Kong was able to kill this beast with the aid of the survivors on the island, as well as using pieces of an old ship as a weapon to finally finish the beast off. When the rescue team came for the survivors, Kong didn't attack them and allowed them to leave.
Trivia[]
- In addition of its video games appearances, King Kong appears as a playable character in Konami Wai Wai World, based on the Kong character from the King Kong Lives video games adaptations.
- Kong bears several full titles. Such as "King Kong, Lord of Skull Island" and "Kong, King of Beasts".
- Depending on adaptation, King Kong tends to more heavily resemble either a gorilla, or fictional bipedal ape like a Sasquatch/Bigfoot. In the 1933 original film and 2005 version, the former is present with Kong chiefly being quadrupedal. The Toho versions from the 1960s, the 1976 remake, and Monster'verse versions meanwhile tend to be chiefly or exclusively bipedal and more resemble a gigantic bigfoot. This is meant to hearken to Carl Denham's description of Kong resembling both man and beast.
- While Kong infamously dies at the end of the 1933 original film, the 1976 film and its 1986 sequel, and the 2005 version; this isn't true for all instances of the character. He survives past the ending in the two Toho films and Monster'verse films. There also exists an alternate ending to the 2005 videogame which enables the player to save Kong from his climactic last stand atop the Empire State Building.