# What's the King Kong backstory?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 14, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597 "2005-12-14T16:00:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/1 "2005-12-14T16:00:19Z")
What is the backstory regarding King Kong’s origins, if any? I checked wiki and googled but came up with nothing. What happened to his parents? Were they normal sized? Is /was there a troop of gorillas on the island? Why is he so big? Sorry for n00bness of question.
OR
---
### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/2 "2005-12-14T16:25:03Z")
There is none (at least, not in the original, which I understand Jackson is sticking with). Kong was Kong. No backstory was needed.
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/3 "2005-12-14T16:26:31Z")
I don’t think any of the old movies or novelizations answered this. In **Son of Kong** (which was rushed to the market and grossly inadequately funded), Kong has a king-sized Son, so presumably he had a Queen-sized mommy, who never appears. The existence of only three huge apes seems improbable, so you’d expect there to be a whole bunch of them.
Of course, that’s the Real World. In the world of Fiction you could have just one or two big apes with no reasons for them being there, and the hell with reality. What are giant apes doing on a South Pacific island full of dinosaurs from wildly different eras (Cretaceus T. Rex side-by-siode with Jurassic oversized Stegosaurs and Brontosaurs) and different locales anyway?
Some people try to make sense. There’s an ilustrated book **Kong: King of Skull Island** that came out last year and, I think, tries to bring some sort of sense to all this. I’ve only leafed through it. Maybe the guy who writes the novelization for this new movie will attempt something.
---
### Author:  [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/4 "2005-12-14T18:08:01Z")
Complete and utter hijack –
**CalMeacham** , that sig line just made me do something that I had always thought was one of those things that people talk about, but it doesn’t actually happen. My sinuses are now burning from the Pepsi One that was forcibly ejected through my nose. It all landed on my pants, giving the distinct impression that I pissed myself.
I’m in pain, I can’t leave my desk without embarrassment, and I thank you for it.
---
### Author:  [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/5 "2005-12-14T18:11:39Z")
Um…
A radioactive satellite fell to earth?
:Scratches the back of his head and stick his 😛 out:
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/6 "2005-12-14T18:18:51Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Let’s steal a back story! The film I took it from wasn’t using it anyway.
>
> * * *
>
> Um…
>
> A radioactive satellite fell to earth?
>
> :Scratches the back of his head and stick his out:
Almost – a chimp got sent up in a test satellite in the laste 1950s and two meteors crashed into each other near him. When he landed he started growing, and green rays came outta his eyes.
Later on he looked more like a gorilla, 'cause it was _cooler_.
---
### Author:  [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/7 "2005-12-14T18:19:09Z")
[The World of Kong: An Natural History of Skull Island](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=1c6shxfCjR&isbn=1416505199&itm=4) is a beautifully illustrated new book that attempts to explain the flora and fauna of Skull Island. I haven’t read the whole thing, but the Kong chapter explains that Kong is the last survivor of a race of giant gorillas on the island. I don’t know who gets to decide what’s canon in Kong’s world, but it’s a really nice book.
---
### Author:  [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/8 "2005-12-14T18:26:04Z")
Here, I’ll make up a backstory for you:
Kong is the last remaining example of a species of giant ape. They are very long-lived, almost immortal by human standards, and take many centuries to reach full size and maturity. Since they were never numerous, their fossil remains have never been unearthed.
---
### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/9 "2005-12-14T18:50:09Z")
> [@FlyingDragonFan](#):
>
> [The World of Kong: An Natural History of Skull Island](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=1c6shxfCjR&isbn=1416505199&itm=4) is a beautifully illustrated new book that attempts to explain the flora and fauna of Skull Island. I haven’t read the whole thing, but the Kong chapter explains that Kong is the last survivor of a race of giant gorillas on the island. I don’t know who gets to decide what’s canon in Kong’s world, but it’s a really nice book.
I’ve read it. Wish I hadn’t
The illos are nice, but the backstory makes no sense. And the writing quality goes downhill the further you get into the book. By the time you reach Kong’s origins, you no longer care.
It’s like _Highlander 2_–it needs to not exist. 😛 :dubious:
---
### Author:  [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/10 "2005-12-14T19:00:18Z")
According one movie review I read, we do see
the remains of Kong’s ancestors
Brian
---
### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/11 "2005-12-14T19:07:30Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#):
>
> I’ve read it. Wish I hadn’t
> The illos are nice, but the backstory makes no sense. And the writing quality goes downhill the further you get into the book. By the time you reach Kong’s origins, you no longer care.
>
> It’s like _Highlander 2_–it needs to not exist. 😛 :dubious:
WHOOPS! I _actually_ read _Kong: King Of Skull Island_.
**That’s** the one that sucked.
---
### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/12 "2005-12-14T23:21:31Z")
> [@N9IWP](#):
>
> According one movie review I read, we do see
>
> the remains of Kong’s ancestors
>
> Brian
(I had to fix your spoiler box, otherwise it messed mine up!)
Well, as a matter of fact:
Kong takes Ann to his lair/cave, which is strewn with the skeletons of giant apes.
And, in addtion–
Skull Island has obviously seen human(?) habitation in the distant past, as there are ruins in various places _besides_ the great wall.
---
### Author:  [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/13 "2005-12-15T01:14:53Z")
_Posted by Blondebear:_
> [@](#):
>
> And, in addition–
>
> Skull Island has obviously seen human(?) habitation in the distant past, as there are ruins in various places besides the great wall.
I noticed that (saw the movie today). Which leads to the question:
[spoiler]How did _anything_ get built there? The dinosaurs alone make the place a deathtrap, and they were obviously around long before humans came to the island. They should call that place Five Minute Island, because every five minutes something out of a freaking nightmare tries to eat you.
There was something very sad about Kong in his lair, the last of his kind, alone with the bones of his ancestors.[/spoiler]
---
### Author:  [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/14 "2005-12-15T01:36:15Z")
The Mad Lib backstory for King Kong:
1. a city
2. an adjective
3. a year
4. an adverb
5. a type of hoofed mammal
6. a dessert food
7. an adjective
8. a country
9. a number between 1 and 11, inclusive
10. an atomic element
11. the name of another giant-sized monster
12. a color
13. a type of hat
14. an Egyptian god or goddess
15. a felony
16. a vacation resort
There. Now somebody can make that into a story, plug in the various things, and boom. Instant backstory. Make your own! 😃
---
### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/15 "2005-12-15T02:51:45Z")
Well, I hope the backstory cooked up by Jackson rings true, because it’s part of the success of the original that there is no backstory. The implication is that he’s been there forever, pretty much; he shares the island with a bunch a dinosaurs. The land that time forgot, and all that. He is mysterious an eternal; he’s explicity referred to as a god. So I don’t think a backstory is really necessary. He just is.
---
### Author:  [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2005, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/16 "2005-12-15T04:59:01Z")
Hmmm, I thought big mammals got smaller when they’re isolated on islands for long periods of time…
---
### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/17 "2005-12-15T05:06:42Z")
> [@stegon66](#):
>
> Hmmm, I thought big mammals got smaller when they’re isolated on islands for long periods of time…
[Kongstanza]
I was in the pool! I was in the pool!
[/Kongstanza]
---
### Author:  [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/18 "2005-12-15T05:47:57Z")
If you’re interested in the real-life backstory, the movie was apparently inspired in part by [W. Douglas Burden’s](http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/burden.htm) expedition to capture a komodo dragon and return it to New York City. I haven’t read [the book](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0766165795/qid=1134625347/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-5363601-8472713?s=books&v=glance&n=283155), but I’m told it’s quite good.
---
### Author:  [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2005, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/19 "2005-12-15T06:54:31Z")
> [@stegon66](#):
>
> Hmmm, I thought big mammals got smaller when they’re isolated on islands for long periods of time…
Only on islands where they don’t have to fight dinosaurs.
---
### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2005, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597/20 "2005-12-15T09:22:46Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#):
>
> If you’re interested in the real-life backstory, the movie was apparently inspired in part by [W. Douglas Burden’s](http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/burden.htm) expedition to capture a komodo dragon and return it to New York City. I haven’t read [the book](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0766165795/qid=1134625347/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-5363601-8472713?s=books&v=glance&n=283155), but I’m told it’s quite good.
Hm. As John Ford aficionado–he and Merian C. Cooper later had a long-lived partnership–I’ve seen a few Cooper bios, and some peripheral stuff about the origins of _King Kong_, and I’ve never seen this mentioned. Cooper was something of an adventurer himself, and famously trekked to some pretty far corners to film some of his earlier movies. (His silent documentary about the nomad tribes of Iran, 1925’s _Grass_, is pretty amazing.) Charging lions, that sort of thing. IIRC, \*King Kong \*was an exaggerated fantasy based on his own life, not that of someone else. Is there another cite for this Komodo story?
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-king-kong-backstory/335597.md?page=2)