It's hard to believe how little an impact the discovery of a fantastic creature like King Kong had on the world at large. When Carl Denham first brought the fearsome king of Skull Island back to New York in chains, those who were lucky enough to witness the majesty of the beast up close, (and survive his wrath,) described Kong as the most incredible thing they had ever seen. Little did even they know however the great ape was only part of a lost world. One that was as nightmarish as it was wonderous, where gigantic Dinosaurs, terrifying mutations, mythical beasts, subterranian monsters, supernatural creatures, and the ruins of one of the most advanced civilizations all existed side by side.
All of this, and the true extent of what we owe Kong was ultimately kept from the general public for centuries after Denham's infamous show, "Kong the 8th Wonder of the World." Held on March the 2nd 1933, its first and only performance saw the ape break free in the middle of a chorus of dancers trying to crudely imitate the natives who worshipped Kong's ritual in the usual tacky Denham style. Kong subsequent rampage through New York, saw up to 50 people lost their lives as a result. (Some contemporary reviews joked, perhaps in bad taste given the tragedy, that even the mighty Kong couldn't sit through Denham's unique brand of entertainment.) The official explanation put out by the media after Kong's recapture, was that Kong was simply a freak, a mutation that Denham had discovered in the rainforest and that he ultimately didn't survive his wounds when he was recaptured from the top of the Empire State building. The government however who had leaned on the media to print these lies had in fact shipped the gorilla back to Skull Island that they then completely quarantined for their own reasons, which will become clear over the course of this series.
The idea of there being an entire island of monsters which Denham claimed seemed to be too much even for those who had lost their loved ones to its king and the public as usual, were only too happy to buy into the comforting, and in hindsight rather obvious lie. To be fair Denham's desire to travel back to Skull Island was not so much to let people know the truth, but rather because there were treasures on the island, he hoped use to pay off the lawsuits the unscrupulous director had become embroiled in as a result of Kong's rampage. Not surprisingly nobody took him up on the offer. Denham later tragically died in disgrace less than two decades later. Given how disastrous his first expedition was however, maybe that was for the best.
Meanwhile not only were Kong and his island studied extensively by secret government expeditions in the ensuing decades, but the mighty beast also became involved in some of the most important battles of the 20th century. Ironically though primarily remembered as a monster by the public. In secret, Kong helped battle Nazis, Robots, Frankenstein's monsters, vampires and even demons from hell itself. In fact our world would not be here today if it were not for this beast.
Here for the first time is the true story of Kong. Compiled from the governments secret records that were finally revealed to the public after their rediscovery in the 25th century, along with other vital sources, compiled over decades such as the only surviving ruins of Skull island, the long lost diaries of Carl Denham, and first accounts from other such as Anne Darrow, and certain rogue agents who over years were dismissed as crack pots and kooks for talking about prehistoric monsters living in the 20th and 21st centuries. This is as complete a record as possible of this strange creature that in some ways crossed the line between man and beast's life. Whilst Kong was undeniably a savage brute, and the tragedy of that fateful day in 1933 should never be forgotten. At the same time it cannot be denied that Kong demonstrated a capacity for loyalty and affection, to the few humans he bonded with that went beyond what we would have thought was possible in a mere animal. Granted humanity has always had a tendency to underestimate the sentience of animals, but even the most cynical could not deny the genuine affection and even love Kong felt for his friends.
In order to truly understand Kong however we must first examine the history of the island he came from. Sadly Skull Island sank in the middle of the 2020s. Ironically it came at a time when paleontologists had confirmed that Kong wasn't just a freak mutation, through the discovery of a prehistoric species of ape, dubbed Megaprimatus Kong. Still whilst this lent some credence to Denham's claims of a prehistoric world, it's doubtful the government would have allowed anyone near the island anyway. Despite the comprehensive attempts to chronicle the unique life forms and history of Skull Island, ultimately the scientists of the 20th and 21st century obviously did not have access to our resources or techniques and therefore their studies were limited.
Still based on their research, we can conclude the following about Skull Island's history.
It originally began as a subterranean landmass. Sometime during the early Cretaceous period, what would one day become Skull Island sunk beneath the ground, due to unstable fissures in the earth, which would continue to play an important role in the island's history right the way through, and may even have caused its end. Not all of the Dinosaurs that went with the landmass perished. In fact a thriving population of Dinosaurs continued to flourish underground for millions of years afterwards, including those that had gone extinct up above such as the Allosaurs. At the same time other species that evolved after the landmass sank would also make their way there through massive caverns that were still connected to world above. These included Tyrannosaurus Rex, which just as above, soon became the dominant predators in this subterranean world.
The Dinosaurs and plant life meanwhile were able to survive thanks ironically to the same fissures which not only generated enough heat, but light for the jungles underground to remain stable. Ironically when the rest of the non avian Dinosaurs were killed off in the disaster above, the Dinosaurs in this unique underground terrain thrived and would continue to evolve over the next 65 million years into new forms, until further movements in the earth thrust at least part of the land mass back to surface world a second time. There it remained for several thousand years, during which time other large mammalian species crossed over into the landmass, including Megaprimatus Kong. Eventually however just before the dawn of early man, further activity from the fissures split the risen land mass, (along with the part of it that still remained underground) away from mainland Indonesia, finally creating Skull Island that drifted deep into the ocean where it remained isolated from then on. The fissures also made the waters around the island unpredictable too, making it difficult for anyone to travel there.
Skull Island as it came to be known many centuries later was able to remain an isolated anomaly of creatures from different eras, who were completely unique not only due to millions more years of evolution, but the unique terrain of the Island itself.
Initially when it first broke off, Skull Island was huge. Believed to be over twice the size of the United Kingdom in fact, and that was just the surface area. The underground section, which was accessible to the surface via tunnels and caverns may have been even larger. However over the centuries, the very same fissures that had created this landmass in the first place, also began to rip it apart from the inside, causing massive sections to fall off into the sea and the underground to flood, slowly over centuries.
Still in the meantime the many different species that had been taken with it when Skull Island first drifted off, continued to thrive.
Among the species catalogued included the fearsome predators, Vastatosaurus Rex, Venatosaurus, Gorosaurus, Rhedosaurus, and Titanosaurus.
The V. rex's were the direct descendant of Tyrannosaurus Rex and like their ancestors, the dominant predators on the island. They grew to over 60 feet long, stood over 25 feet tall and weighed in at up to 15 tons. They not only possessed stronger and more robust jaws than their Tyrannosaur ancestors, but thicker, plated scales, strong enough to withstand several rounds of machine gun fire at close range (as several men of the later expeditions to Skull Island found out much too late.) Their forearms were also much longer and contained three claws as well.
The V. rex much like the Megaprimatus Kongs was actually very intelligent creatures, capable of advanced problem solving skills, and sophisticated ambush and hunting techniques. (Another fatal mistake that many of the 20th and 21st century visitors to Skull Island made was underestimating the V. rex's intelligence, and assuming they were nothing more than mindless beasts.)
The V. rex's were the undisputed kings of Skull Island, though they did later face competition from the Skull Crawlers and Tyrannosaurus Als who we will examine later.
The Gorosaurus meanwhile was descended from early to mid Cretaceous era Allosaurs, the original apex predators of the landmass that would one day become Skull Island before the Tyrannosaurs showed up. The Gorosaurus grew up to 40 feet long, and despite weighing in at 8 tons, was incredibly agile. In fact it was capable of jumping over 20 feet in the air, and the predators greatest weapon was its trademark kick, which at close range could be powerful enough to cave in the chest cavity of a Megaprimatus Kong.
Titanosaurus on the other hand was the direct descendant of Spinosaurus. These creatures however had adopted an even more semi aquatic lifestyle than its ancestor. Its feet and hands had not only become webbed, but the distinctive sail had also evolved into a fin, whilst the tail had evolved into more of a flipper like limb. In spite of this however the Titanosaurus that measured up to 60 feet in length and weighed in at 9 tons, were still capable of living on the land and actually had much longer and stronger limbs than those of their ancestors. Despite their size, the Titanosaurs were actually quite shy and reclusive animals. They were still dangerous and effective predators, but they spent most of their time in the rivers that filled the caverns of the deepest caverns of the island, preying on Piranohdon's and other marine creatures. They rarely ventured into the jungles above, and were only encountered fleetingly by the 20th century expeditions. In spite of this however they were still territorial and extremely vicious fighters when cornered, with their stronger, more flexible arms and the huge talons on their hands making them dangerous in a fight. Kong himself seemed to find this out the hard way as he had a rather nasty scar made by a Titanosaurs claw down his face. The ape was also said to have a fear of the darker tunnels leading to the Titanosaurs territory, though he was able to eventually overcome it when rescuing one of his friends.
The Rhedosaurus was perhaps the most unusual of all the carnivores on the island. It may barring some unforeseen discovery, have been the only example of a four legged meat eating Dinosaur in the history of our planet. Quite why it evolved this peculiar adaptation, no one is exactly sure. Growing up to just 35 feet long and weighing in at about 7 tons. The Rhedosaurs were easy meat for larger killers such as the V. rex and therefore tended to group together into large packs and herds led by alpha males. They hunted together with a level of sophistication not seen in most species of reptiles and could bring down some of the largest animals on the island.
There was actually a second subspecies of Rhedosaurs, besides the smaller more common variant. Sadly very little is known about the second, much larger species which is believed to have been a mutant.
The fissures beneath the island, not only ripped apart the surface, but in the underground section they led to mass exposure of higher levels of radiation from the very earth's core the wider they became, which slowly not only killed most of the animals and the plant life below, but mutated the few surviving creatures leading to hideous monstrosities such as the Skull Crawlers. The Rhedosaurs many of whom remained underground however were also affected and it is believed as a result of the radiation started to grow to immense sizes. It seems likely that more of the Rhedosaurs stayed underground than the other carnivores to avoid competition with the likes of the V. rex's, most of whom went above in pursuit of their larger prey, who in turn had left when the plant life began to die out.
The mutant Rhedosaurs were believed to have grown up to 60 feet long and weighed in at 10 tons making them among the largest killers on the island, though some believe they may have reached even greater sizes. They were seldom seen as they had ironically become dependent on the polluted air of Skull Island's underground, though they did venture to the higher caverns to hunt, they very rarely if ever strayed into the jungle. It is known that sometimes the mutant Rhedosaurs came into conflict with the Titanosaurs, with one explorer describing a particularly vicious battle between the two Dinosaurs.
Still whilst the mutants may have been a rare sight, the smaller variant of Rhedosaurus was among the most common carnivores on the island, second only to the Venatosaurs.
These smaller, craftier and more agile predators were the descendants of the Dromeosaur family. They grew up to 27 feet long and stood roughly 10 feet tall. Unlike their ancestors, the Venatosaurs had shed all of their feathers, and had thick, almost leathery scaly skin. Despite their size, they were incredibly fast, being able to run up to 60 miles per hour, due to having long, streamlined bodies. They were also extremely agile too. The Dinosaurs real strength however lay in the fact that much like the Rhedosaurs they were efficient pack hunters. The packs were always led by the largest female. Unlike in the majority of other meat eating Dinosaurs, females were considerably larger in the Venatosaur species. Dominant females were usually referred to as Gaws by at least one of the groups of humans who would come to live on the island, those who later worshipped Kong. The Venatosaurs themselves meanwhile were also referred to as Death Runners by these same natives. Indeed it appears that the Venatosaurs were the most persistent predators of all of the human civilisations that came to settle on Skull Island over the years, though this was more due to the fact that they were simply the most widespread predatory Dinosaur species. The animals smaller size, and greater intelligence allowed them to adapt more easily and therefore the humans were not simply able to avoid their territory the way they were with the other larger killers.
Among the species of plant eating Dinosaurs to live on the island included the Brontosaurus Baxteri, numerous species of Hadrosaurs, a Ceratopsian species known as Ferructus, and a gigantic species of Stegosaurus that was thought to have reached up to 80 feet in length.
The Brontosaurs were the largest animals on Skull Island, growing up to 150 feet long and weighing in at over 100 tons. They rivalled some of the largest sauropods from the Jurassic and Cretaceous eras in size. The Hadrosaurs were the most prosperous however, though this coupled with their smaller size compared to the sauropods and lack of defenses compare to the Ceratopsians made them the main prey of most of the larger predators.
Whilst Dinosaurs were the dominant creatures of Skull Island, many other prehistoric creatures still existed too, including Pterosaurs, marine reptiles such as Plesiosaurs, Mosasaurs and giant mammalian species, all of which thrived and even dominated in certain areas too. For instance the mountain tops were dominated by both Pterosaurs and gigantic bat like monstrosities known as the Terapasmordax, whilst the lakes and deeper caverns were inhabited by a variety of unique creatures from the Plesiosaurs to gigantic fish creatures known as the Piranhadon who were the apex predators in the south, but in the deeper caverns fell prey to the Titanosaurs. The most notable non Dinosaurian creatures on the island however were the Megaprimatus Kongs. No one knows exactly how these creatures evolved. At one point it was believed that they may have descended from Gigantopithicus, the previously largest known primate species, but Gigantopithicus was actually more closely related to the Orangutan, whilst the Kong's were instead members of the Gorilla family. Whatever their true origin, they did not evolve on Skull Island and instead became part of the landmass' ecosystem before it drifted away. That said however on average it appears that the Kong's of Skull Island were larger on average than those on the mainland, though this may have been as a result of the dangers of Skull Island. Meanwhile Kong is the largest known specimen of his kind. Standing up to 30 feet tall and weighing in at 15 tons, the Kongs were despite their enormous size somewhat similar in behavior to normal gorilla's. Contrary to how they have often been portrayed in popular culture, gorillas are actually extremely gentle, social and intelligent creatures who will only attack under provocation. It appears that the Kong's were the same. They didn't rule the island, in fact they were herbivores, though their sheer strength and size meant that only the V. rex's were capable of hunting them. Even then however in the early days, the apes generally tended to avoid the Tyrannosaurs and lived in the mountains, with the Pterosaurs and Terapasmordax' being too small to bother the great apes, though their young were sometimes taken.
As more and more of the surface of Skull Island sank into the ocean, the large collection of predators and animals were forced to move inland, leading to more competition. Furthermore the movements in the earth also forced several of the mutations living below to the surface, though even then they still tended to gravitate towards the darker, quieter regions. Aside from the Rhedosaurs numerous giant mutated bugs, insects, arachnids and other creepy crawlies also began to occupy the pits and caverns of the island.
Another disruption to the island's fragile ecosystem however came when the first civilisation of humans settled on the island.
The original Skull Islanders were powerful warlocks and witches. Not much is known about their history on the mainland, but according to the few records that were left on Skull Island, they were specialists in necromancy, which was used to eventually build up an advanced and powerful civilisation known as Maskos. The elites were revived and given a second, or if they were deemed important enough, third, fourth and fifth lives. The slaves, criminals, and dregs of society, as well as prisoners of war and people from villages they conquered meanwhile were simply brought back as mindless zombies and used as slave labor, guards etc. They also had strong ties to vampirism as well, though unlike most other human societies that have been known to shun vampires, for understandable reasons. The original Skull Islanders instead made deals with them, and even had vampires in high positions of authority, though no vampires ever ruled . Eventually Maskos experiments with the dead inadvertently revived an ancient Demonic creature Chiros. This abomination possessed the power to control fire, and centuries prior to the founding of Maskos had destroyed several civilisations including the one that had stood in Maskos place before hand. His ultimate aim was to turn the earth into nothing but a flaming ball in space that he could then reshape and use to create his own race of flaming creature as he had done to many worlds throughout the universes history.
He had ultimately been slain by the founders of Maskos who cast a spell that made the ocean itself flood the entire area (Maskos was situated near the ocean.) After the demons apparent death, the future founders then turned to necromancy which had always been forbidden by the previous civilisation to establish their new order, ironically sealing the fate of the society they started.
Chiros was not truly dead. A demon like him could never die. Essences of his spirit always remained, and the more the sorcerers tried to restore the lands outside of Maskos that Chiros had burned to ash, the more they unknowingly revived fragments of his spirit, until eventually the fragments were able to merge together restoring Chiros.
The fire demon then attempted to destroy Maskos, and though most of the society was burned to the ground in the end, their elites greater skill in the black arts eventually allowed them to seal Chiros deep within a mystical prison after tricking him.
The survivors of Maskos then headed for Skull Island. They had known about the island's existence for many centuries before hand, having considered it to be of no use to them due to its perils. Now they believed it would be the perfect place to conceal Chiros prison. The demon had many followers around the earth and both human and demonic who would want to free him, and they did not have the strength following the demons resurrection to try and fight them all off like before.
At the same time however, the Maskos weren't simply going to leave the prison on Skull Island. They would still guard over it, and indeed being forced to live on this island they felt was a suitable punishment for their experiments with the dead that defied the natural order.
Whilst even with their magics it was a hard existence, eventually the survivors of Maskos were able to build a massive city in the centre of Skull Island that was protected by a 100 foot tall wall. Chiros spirit meanwhile was buried underneath the city in a secret passage that led to the deepest and darkest pit on the island, that over the centuries the natives filled with more horrors. In contrast to Maskos, the Skull Islanders had the utmost respect for the dead. Again most likely in an attempt to make amends for their past. The bodies of the dead were burned instantly to prevent any dark magics from ever being able to reanimate them and to help their souls find peace. Those who had led worthwhile lives skulls however were kept in special temples whilst the rest of the body was destroyed as a sign of respect as it helped to preserve their memories. These skull temples became the most sacred places on the island, which eventually led to the landmass being known as Skull Island.
The original Skull Islanders as they became known thrived for hundreds if not thousands of years. They were not able to completely tame the horrors of the island. The V. rex's still dominated beyond the confines of their city, whilst the Venatosaurs remained a persistent menace. The Megaprimatus Kong however proved to be among Skull Islanders most useful allies. The city was built around the Kong's mountain lair, though this did lead to conflicts initially as the apes when food was scarce would venture down into the humans territory, and proved to be a threat to the humans when provoked even with their magics.
Ultimately however the humans learned how to tame the apes using their magics from a far, which was made easier by the beasts gentle nature and in time the Megaprimatus Kong species became their most loyal servants.
Once they were established the Skull Islanders reconnected with the outside world. Believing that they had atoned for their sins through the hardships of life on the island. The Skull Islanders, using magic to cross the perilous waves, sent their agents into the outside world to battle the forces of evil all around the globe. They also sent the beasts of Skull Island they had controlled or tamed via magic to battle the forces of darkness too. Again the Megaprimatus Kongs were primarily used, which led to legends of these giant apes appearing all over the world. Still over the centuries they were able to tame some of the Dinosaurs. At least one V. rex ended up serving the Skull Islanders. Apparently the creature was taken when it was just a hatchling after its parents were killed by a rival V. rex, which made it easier to control through magics. This Vastatosaurus ironically struck up a partnership with a large Megaprimatus Kong, with the two of them becoming arguably the greatest and most celebrated heroes of the original Skull Islanders. Sadly however they were among the many beasts that would become lost in the legendary cursed land of Harrakor, though we will explore this in greater detail later. The Skull Islanders also used their magics to create and alter some of the beasts on Skull Island as well. Their most successful experiment was the Tyrannosaurus Al, a fusion of Tyrannosaur and Allosaurus through magics. Some of the Tyrannosaurus Als would survive the fall of the Skull Islanders civilisation and continued to live on Skull Island afterwards. Though they weren't as numerous as the V. rex's, they were actually larger and came to dominate the outskirts of one side of the island.
Eventually however the original Skull Islanders civilisation fell thanks ironically to one of the former founders of Maskos. The vampire named Leraska. Unlike even the other surviving vampires of Maskos, Leraska did not want to leave the ruins of the city to travel to a lost land of monsters and beasts. He felt that they had done nothing wrong in their use of necromancy and wanted instead to rebuild their city. He felt absolutely no guilt over the horrors they had carried out. To be fair neither did the vampires who went to Skull Island, but they simply felt it was best to try and rebuild there rather than stay in the ruins of Maskos that's earth had been burned almost completely black. A few elitists remained with Leraska, and as he was now their leader, the vampire was not held back from both indulging in his sadistic desires and using the blackest magics to try and restore the land. In time he built a powerful city on the ruins of Leraska made up of the worst vampires, demons, monsters, beasts and warlocks, all under his command. In contrast to the Skull Islanders, Leraska's followers carried out atrocities around the world. Naturally the Skull Islanders soon came into conflict with Leraska's followers, with their battle taking place across the world over centuries. The Skull Islanders were eventually able to beat the vampire king's forces back, but sadly one of the vampire elites of Skull Island, who was not happy with his position betrayed the secrets of their defenses, allowing Leraska to plant a magical bomb within their city that ultimately destroyed it. Most of the Skull Islanders were killed in the blast, but the survivors were left helpless against the Dinosaurs and beasts of the island, (with the bomb having also destroyed most of the massive wall.)
The humans were simply killed off by the Dinosaurs, though some have speculated that at least a few may have fled the island. Either way the reign of the first Skull Islanders came to an end, though Leraska's city eventually fell too. It was destroyed from within by its own corruption and greed. To this day the area is still an uninhabitable wasteland.
The magics left behind by the original Skull Islanders meanwhile continued to have an affect on the island, twisting some of its creatures and even its landscape to some extent. Some even argued that the island developed sentience as a result of the loose magics, at least to a degree. This was always dismissed by those who actually studied the Island as ridiculous. Still Ray O'Brien, one of a large group of convicts stranded on Skull Island in the 1910s and 20s came to believe the island did not want him and the others to leave as it enjoyed watching them suffer for their past crimes. Every time he and his fellow convicts it seemed came close to finding a way off, something would prevent it from a thunderstorm to a V. rex, to a mutant etc. It could have just been a coincidence, and indeed most have questioned if he and the others ways of escape would have even worked anyway.
Still Ray's words came to haunt later visitors to Skull Island, some of whom came to a similar conclusion that the island had a will of its own and even enjoyed casting judgement on those foolish enough to venture there.
The fissures also perhaps as a result of the unstable magics began to act up to a greater degree than ever before after the collapse of the Skull Islanders society. In just a few centuries more than half of Skull Island would collapse into the ocean, with much of the underground levels being flooded too. This forced the already eclectic collection of animals into the centre of the island where the Skull Islanders city had once stood (that had since been reclaimed by the jungle, with only a few ruins scattered around.)
Competition became more intense and sadly many species did not make it. Among the casualties were the Mega Primatus Kongs. Their species had survived Lareska's bomb due to living atop the highest mountain. However the changes in the earth as the island was ripped apart, had not only created more caverns and entrances to the mountains for the large meat eating Dinosaurs, but it had also led to exposure from the toxic fissures which affected the environment. Much plant life was killed off and certain areas of the mountain became uninhabitable, at least to the Kongs, forcing them into the jungle below.
The great apes were sadly no match for the V. rexes. who eventually killed their race off. Whilst Kong himself would later be shown to be an incredible fighter, capable of fighting and killing a V. rex no problem. He was sadly the exception it would seem rather than the rule. The Kongs however were also at a huge disadvantage in that they reproduced at a much slower rate than the Dinosaurs too.
Kong was among the last of his kind when he was born, in fact his family were possibly the only Kong's left on the island at that point. His own family was later killed in front of him when he was just a child by a pack of Vastatosaurus Rexes, forcing him to fend for himself for a very young age. This information was gleaned from Kong's own memories which were accessed by one of his former brides, a witch named Dokara who when healing Kong from a Gorosaurus attack was able to dig deep into his mind with her magics and gain at least some insight into his past life and indeed why he was so attached to the humans of the island.
After the V. rexes killed his parents, Kong tried to pull his little sister to safety, as she had also been wounded by one of the giants. The V. rex responsible however followed Kong into the woods and finally finished off his sister. In the resulting attack, Kong was knocked into a ravine by the Dinosaur and dragged away by the current until he eventually washed up outside another human settlement.
At some point, it is generally believed in the 17th century, a new generation of humans came to live on Skull Island. They had nothing to do with the original civilisation, instead they were the descendants of survivors from ships that had crashed on Skull Island due to its unstable waters. Some had perhaps come here looking for the legendary lost island, whilst others had simply passed by and been affected by the waves. Regardless the survivors and their descendants attempted to build a society from the ruins of the original Skull Islanders city.
For a while they were able to build a few settlements, nothing like what the original Skull Islanders had created, but given the nature of the island at that point it's not surprising. Sadly there were inevitable divisions among the next generation of Skull Islanders, leading to a civil war. The survivors from the losing side retreated underground hoping to strike back, but the years spent in the caverns slowly began to mutate them, transforming these skull islanders into savage, bestial mutated predators known as the Ceskon who soon began to hunt the surface dwellers.
The settlement that Kong drifted by meanwhile, was more peaceful, though it also existed near the jungle and was more vulnerable. Kong was rescued from the river bank and taken in by a young girl, no older than 16 named Yenar. She often took in stray Dinosaurs and animals that were wounded (and already had a pet Protoceratops)
Yenar essentially raised Kong. Due to his species gentle nature, he was very docile and friendly towards all the villagers who came to adore him. As he grew larger there would be some problems in trying to feed the animal, but the village was more than willing too after Kong killed his first V. rex when he was just 20 years old. This particularly vicious V. rex was known to the settlement, who always did their best to keep out of its way, but sadly the reckless actions of a young inexperienced hunter brought it down on their area. Due to the Rex's greater size (as Kong had not fully grown yet) and its experience it actually won their first confrontation, but Yenar was able to distract it with a spear, long enough for Kong to tackle the beast to the ground and break its jaws.
Kong continued to protect the settlement from numerous other dangers of the forest for years afterwards, though along the way Kong lost his best friend when tragically Yenar succumbed to an alpha Venatosaur, or a Gaw.
A greater loss however was when the Ceskon attacked the settlement. Despite Kong's best efforts, all of of the second generation Skull Islanders villages were destroyed, not just his settlement. Only a small amount of the surface dwellers escaped to behind the ruins of the original society's wall.
By this stage Skull Island had been reduced to a mere fragment of its former self. Only a small area around the mountain that had once been completely covered by the city remained. The remains of the wall meanwhile cut off a tiny section, all that was left of the once mighty jungle beyond the wall from the rest of the island. It made the perfect place for the survivors to build their new settlement, with the wall protecting them from the Dinosaurs and Ceskon's.
Kong however, who did eventually manage to drive the Ceskon's back underground continued to visit the new skull islanders settlement behind the wall. Having come to see them as the closest thing he had to a tribe or pack after his families death. Unfortunately whilst the great ape helped to protect them from the other horrors of the island, he also forcibly abducted several of the villagers at a time to take back to his lair to keep him company.
Some of the villagers rebelled against Kong and even tried to slay the beast to rescue their loved ones, but these attempts were always met with failure. One instance in particular led to devastation for the village, when one man was able to rescue his daughter, only for Kong to follow them back to the village which he attacked in an effort to reclaim his companion. Following this tragedy, the villagers decided to sacrifice one of their own every year to Kong to keep him satisfied. The young woman were chosen at random (even the chief's elders could be selected,) and placed outside the wall with a large bell being struck to summon the ape. (The entire village would stood by and watched this ceremony, not only as a sign of respect to the woman making the sacrifice, but to make sure no animals from the jungle found her first.)
At first Kong still continued to abduct people whenever he wanted, but as time went on he seemed to become used to the sacrifices, as it saved him the trouble of climbing the wall and accepted them. Whilst these women were referred to as the brides of Kong, and Denham himself played up the beauty and the beast angle for his infamous show. There was nothing romantic about Kong's connection to the women offered up. Again he simply viewed them and the humans of the village, as the closest thing he could have to a tribe. His kind were social creatures by nature and the loneliness was unbearable for the great ape.
Each of these brides of Kong, did not have a long life expectancy in the jungles of Skull Island. Even with Kong's protection he only had to let his guard down for a second and they could be snatched by a predator or some mutated horror. At least one of his brides however, Dokora managed to escape. After surviving for 1 year in his clutches she finally fled, fearful that Kong would dispose of her when a new bride was offered up.
Like the previous brides who tried to flee, she didn't get far in the hostile jungle below, but unlike the others she soon came to master some of the left over magics. Having studied some of the forbidden texts before in secret. Dokora became a powerful witch who lived in solitude on the island. She did not want to return to the village that had offered her up and unlike Kong, she seemed to prefer the solitude. In time she came to guard Chiros pit which had survived as it was stationed in the centre of the island.
In spite of her negative feelings towards Kong however, she nevertheless saved his life following a brutal fight with a large Gorosaurus that had attempted to move in on Kong's territory. Though the great ape had managed to slay the Dinosaur, the carnivorous reptile still dealt him a lethal blow in his chest. Dokora felt she still owed Kong after he had saved her from a V. rex, a pack of Venatosaurs, and several Ceskons during their year together.
It was during this healing spell that she read his mind and learned the truth about the beast. She apparently took pity on the ape afterwards and came to see him as more than just a monster. She still largely lived on her own, but every now and again would continue to visit and even try and help Kong at certain points.
By the time Carl Denham arrived on Skull Island in 1931, Kong was over 100 years old. It's not known if Kong's long lifespan was perhaps as a result of the magics of Skull Island artificially extending his life or the natural lifespan of his species, as so little is known about them at this stage.
Either way, whilst the natives and western explorers may have seen him as the king of Skull Island, ruling from the ruins of the mountain where his kind had once dwelled. In truth Kong was struggling to survive the nightmare Skull Island had become as much as any other unfortunate creature trapped there. His face and body bore the tell tale signs of horrific battles for survival. The Titanosaurus claw mark across his face, the V. rex bite that had nearly taken his life across his arm, the Gorosaurus scars across his chest, Venatosaur bite mark and claw marks all up and down his back, several nasty Rhedosaurus bite marks up and down his legs and over his stomach. The mountain was not Kong's throne. It was his refuge from the hellish jungle below, with subsequent movements in the earth having sealed it off from the rest of the jungle, once again only Kong could reach the top. Sadly however it was now picked completely clean and he was still forced to travel to the jungle below for food.
The 100 years of life and death battles below and solitude had turned Kong from a gentle and placid creature into a savage brute. Though he was still gentle and loyal to those he deemed his friends or herd, any threats he would deal with in the most brutal way possible.
In the next article we shall see the perils and difficulties the first wester explorers of the 20th century would encounter when they first explored Skull Island and the tragedy of how they would exploit Kong.