History WesternAnimation / SkullIsland2023

* SpiritualAntithesis:
** To the original ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' which this series serves as a sequel to. Both works begin with two general groups of people getting stranded on Skull Island, and their numbers (particularly the armed group's) numbers get whittled down by the island's wildlife, ''but''...
*** The ''Kong: Skull Island'' cast consist of military forces and Monarch experts who know of the existence of Titans plus a journalist, whereas the ''Skull Island'' series cast consist of private mercenaries and unequipped cryptozoologists whom are essentially civilians.
*** The movie's military forces start out wholly allied with the rest of the main cast, but they split apart from them and become increasingly antagonistic under the resident GeneralRipper[='s=] direction, then revert to being the main human heroes' allies after said Ripper's death. The series' mercenaries on the other hand are antagonistic to the ''Once Upon a Maritime'' crew and Annie from the start, [[spoiler:but are gradually revealed to be all but GoodAllAlong, and the two groups fully work together from then on]].
*** In the movie, the humans get stranded on Skull Island due to Kong attacking their aerial forces ''after'' they've arrived on the island, before Kong is revealed to be GoodAllAlong. In the series, the humans get attacked by the series' true BigBad ''at sea'', and they get stranded on Skull Island only after the fact due to washing ashore without a shipping vessel.
*** Both works feature a monster-savvy character, who's been cast away on an IsleOfGiantHorrors for many years before the rest of the humans showed up, and who befriended one or more natives including a character who their polar opposite (the Iwis and Gunpei Ikari for Hank Marlow, Dog for Annie). But whereas Marlow was a chirpy old man stranded on Skull Island, and a keen expert on Kong and the island's other monsters; Annie is a wary, aggressive WildChild who was stranded on a ''neighboring'' monster island before the series' first episode sees her stranded on the titular island, and her knowledge of Skull Island's monsters (especially Kong) is consequently limited. Whereas Marlow wanted to get back home to civilization, his wife and the son he'd never met[[spoiler:, and he was quite happy to accomplish that at the movie's end]]; Annie actively resists the PrivateMilitaryContractors[='=] efforts [[spoiler:led by a long-lost mother whom she barely remembers]] to capture her and bring her back to civilization by force, [[spoiler:and she's nothing but distressed when she sees a city for the first time in her life at the season's end]].
*** The movie's {{Kaiju}} conflict between Kong and the BigBad was triggered by the human cast's presence and their arrogance. Not quite the same in the series [[spoiler:-- the WholeEpisodeFlashback reveals that ''Kong'' caused the Kraken's emergence years before the human cast's arrival as an indirect consequence of a moment of arrogance where he ignored his human friend's cautioning]].
*** In ''Kong: Skull Island'', the main humans befriend the Iwis and learn from them about Kong's true role as the island's BigGood who protects humans from the island's worse monsters. In the ''Skull Island'' series, the main humans [[DramaticIrony don't understand Kong's true role on the island nor his benevolence]] [[spoiler:all the way to the season's ending, and they end up on bad terms with the Iwis]].
** And to ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019''. Apart from the fact that one work is a Godzilla-oriented Franchise/MonsterVerse story and the other is a Kong-oriented [=MonsterVerse=] story...
*** The main heroes of ''King of the Monsters'' consist of the world's topmost Titan experts who know things about the creatures that even the public doesn't yet know, and they have a wealth of resources and hi-tech at their command. The main heroes of ''Skull Island'' are completely new to the existence of Titans, DramaticIrony is in full effect as they're thrust into a land of Titans that they never knew about for the first time in their lives, and they're forced to make do with limited resources and skills that they can scavenge on Skull Island.
*** At the start of ''King of the Monsters'', Mark Russell is an absent father who neglected and abandoned his child Madison, and the film involves him fighting to rescue her from mortal danger and amend that mistake. At the start of ''Skull Island'', Cap is a somewhat overbearing father who is reluctant to let his son Charlie leave his wing, and a part of his character arc is learning to let his son go and find his own way in the world once they've reunited.
*** In both stories, one of the main heroes has lost someone they dearly loved to a Titan rampage in the backstory, and they hold a grudge against a still-living Titan who was involved in the rampage. In ''Skull Island'', it's the main Titan hero (Kong) instead of the main humans (the Russell family) who's endured such a loss, and it's the legit BigBad of the series instead of the main HeroWithBadPublicity who is being blamed. [[spoiler:Whereas ''King of the Monsters'' pushes the message that VengeanceFeelsEmpty, and it sees Mark Russell making peace with the Titan that he originally blamed for his loss; ''Skull Island'' climaxes with Kong avenging his loss by killing the monster responsible, gaining some closure amid the FinalBattle when he saves someone else from enduring the same loss that he did]].
*** Both works have an antagonistic group of mercenaries who set off the plot, take at least one of the heroic humans captive, and have a prominent man-and-woman duo co-leading them. Between the two works, either of these aforementioned co-leading duos have completely opposite working relationships. Emma Russell and Alan Jonah in ''King of the Monsters'' only worked together because they believed they had a common end-goal, their teamwork was [[TeethClenchedTeamwork very tenuous]], and they were all too happy to turn on and abandon each-other once their alliance had served its purpose for one of them and the pair's end-goals directly clashed. Irene and Sam in ''Skull Island'', on the other hand, had an intimate CommonalityConnection before they started their mission, and they're tight-knit friends whom stay unwaveringly loyal to each-other to the end. Speaking further on the mercs...
*** The ''King of the Monsters'' mercs are co-led by an EvilAllAlong mother, who starts out having a tight relationship with her daughter, only to drive the latter away from her over the course of the plot. The mercs in ''Skull Island'', on the other hand, are led by a more-or-less GoodAllAlong mother [[spoiler:who is trying to get her long-lost {{wild child}} back, but mother and daughter have accidentally gotten off to a ''very'' bad start before the story's beginning, then they work on amending that after the series' midway point]].
*** The mercenaries in ''Skull Island'' stop anntagonizing the heroes and band together with them against the true BigBad after the season's midway point, whereas the mercenaries in ''King of the Monsters'' (barring Emma) directly {{defied}} any opportunity to join the heroes in an EnemyMine even when the threat of the film's Big Bad came down to EvilVsOblivion.
** Unrelated to the [=MonsterVerse=], the WholeEpisodeFlashback is an antithesis to one of the ''Franchise/KingKong'' franchise's oldest and most iconic traditions of all. [[spoiler:Whereas the [[Film/KingKong1933 original movie]], and most ''King Kong'' narratives that adapt its story, end with the woman who Kong bonded with outliving him when he tragically dies, the series' backstory switches it around so that it's ''Kong'' who outlives the woman when she tragically dies, and we see the emotional fallout this has on the King of the Primates]].

** The FinalBattle between Kong and the Kraken takes place on the very same beach where Mike and Charlie first washed up in the first episode. Furthermore, when the boys wash up there at the end of the first episode, there's a broken mug presumably from the ''Once Upon a Maritim'' – that same mug reappears in the final episode, having been seized by a hermit crab. [[spoiler:This also applies in a chronological sense: that beach is heavily implied to be the same one where the Island Girl's village was based, and where Kong lost her to the Kraken, in the WholeEpisodeFlashback]].

** To the original ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' which this series serves as a sequel to. Both works begin with two general groups of people getting stranded on Skull Island, with the armed group's numbers getting whittled down by the island's wildlife, ''but''...

*** The movie's military forces start out wholly allied with the rest of the main cast, but they split apart from them and gradually become antagonist under the resident GeneralRipper[='s=] direction, then revert to being the main human heroes' allies after said Ripper's death. The series' mercenaries on the other hand are antagonistic to the ''Once Upon a Maritime'' crew and Annie from the start, [[spoiler:but are gradually revealed to be all but GoodAllAlong and the two groups fully work together from then on]].
*** In the movie, the humans get stranded on Skull Island due to Kong attacking their aerial forces ''after'' they've arrived on the island, before Kong is revealed to be GoodAllAlong. In the series, the humans get attacked by the series' true BigBad ''at sea'', and they get stranded on Skull Island only after the fact due to washing ashore without a shipping vessel and with the Kraken barring any attempts at further rescue.
*** Both series feature a monster-savvy character, who's been cast away on an IsleOfGiantHorrors for many years before the rest of the humans showed up, and who befriended one or more natives during that time including a character who their polar opposite (the Iwi and Gunpei Ikari for Hank Marlow, Dog for Annie). But whereas Marlow was a chirpy old man stranded on Skull Island, and a keen expert on Kong and the island's other monsters; Annie is a moody and aggressive WildChild, who was stranded on a new, ''neighboring'' monster island before the series' first episode sees her stranded on the titular island, and her knowledge of Skull Island's monsters (especially Kong) is consequently limited. Whereas Marlow wanted to get back home to civilization, his wife and the son he's never met; Annie actively resists the PrivateMilitaryContractors[='=] efforts, [[spoiler:led by a long-lost mother whom she barely remembers,]] to capture her and bring her back to civilization by force, [[spoiler:and she's nothing but distressed when they effectively succeed at the season's end]].
*** The movie's {{Kaiju}} conflict between Kong and the BigBad was triggered by the human cast's presence and their arrogance. Not quite the cast here [[spoiler:-- the WholeEpisodeFlashback reveals that ''Kong'' caused the Kraken's emergence years before the human cast's arrival as an indirect consequence of a moment of arrogance where he ignored his human friend's cautioning]].
*** In ''Kong: Skull Island'', the main humans befriend the Iwi and learn from them about Kong's true role as the island's BigGood who protects humans from the island's worse monsters. In the ''Skull Island'' series, the main humans [[DramaticIrony don't understand Kong's true role on the island nor his benevolence]] [[spoiler:all the way to the season's ending, and they end up on bad terms with the Iwi]].

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* SpiritualAntithesis: To ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019''. Apart from the fact that one work is a Godzilla-oriented Franchise/MonsterVerse story and the other is a Kong-oriented [=MonsterVerse=] story...
** The main heroes of ''King of the Monsters'' consist of the world's topmost Titan experts who know things about the creatures that even the public doesn't yet know, and they have a wealth of resources and hi-tech at their command. The main heroes of ''Skull Island'' are completely new to the existence of Titans, DramaticIrony is in full effect as they're thrust into a land of Titans that they never knew about for the first time in their lives, and they're forced to make do with limited resources and skills that they can scavenge on Skull Island.
** At the start of ''King of the Monsters'', Mark Russell is an absent father who neglected and abandoned his child Madison, and the film involves him fighting to rescue her from mortal danger and amend that mistake. At the start of ''Skull Island'', Cap is a somewhat overbearing father who is reluctant to let his son Charlie leave his wing, and a part of his character arc is learning to let his son go and find his own way in the world once they've reunited.
** In both stories, one of the main heroes has lost someone they dearly loved to a Titan rampage, and they hold a grudge against a still-living Titan who was involved in the rampage. In ''Skull Island'', it's the main Titan hero (Kong) instead of the main humans (the Russell family) who's endured such a loss, and it's the legit BigBad of the series instead of the main HeroWithBadPublicity who is being blamed. [[spoiler:Whereas ''King of the Monsters'' pushes the message that VengeanceFeelsEmpty, and it sees Mark Russell making peace with the Titan that he originally blamed for his loss; ''Skull Island'' climaxes with Kong avenging his loss by killing the monster responsible, gaining some closure amid the FinalBattle when he saves someone else from enduring the same loss that he did]].
** Both works have an antagonistic group of mercenaries who set off the plot, take at least one of the heroic humans captive, and have a prominent man-and-woman duo co-leading them. Between the two works, either of these aforementioned co-leading duos have completely opposite working relationships. Emma Russell and Alan Jonah in ''King of the Monsters'' only worked together because they believed they had a common end-goal, their teamwork was [[TeethClenchedTeamwork very tenuous]], and they were all too happy to turn on and abandon each-other once their alliance had served its purpose for one of them and the pair's end-goals directly clashed. Irene and Sam in ''Skull Island'', on the other hand, had an intimate CommonalityConnection before they started their mission, and they're tight-knit friends whom stay unwaveringly loyal to each-other to the end.

** [[spoiler:For pretty much the first time in the Franchise/MonsterVerse, the Iwi become deliberately hostile to one of the western visitors to Skull Island and forcibly capture them, which is in-line with the original portrayal of Skull Island's natives within the more mainstream ''King Kong'' narrative formula]].

* BrainyBrunette: The majority of the human cast including ''all'' of the major scientists, brains and other notable think-tanks have dark hair.

** [[spoiler:In the season finale, Charlie discovers that Skull Island's natives speak English (as they did in the Franchise/MonsterVerse graphic novel ''Skull Island: The Birth of Kong'', and he also learns that the giant gorilla he's been encountering on the island is named Kong, and the natives ''don't'' appreciate anyone disrespecting or endangering the gorilla in question]].

* KrakenAndLeviathan: The BigBad of the series is a giant sea-monster with venomous cephalopod-like tentacles, Cap catching brief glipses of the rest of its body as it sinks his research vessel in the first episode.

** At the start of ''King of the Monsters'', Mark Russell is an absent father who neglected and abandoned his child Madison, and the film involves him fighting to rescue her from mortal danger and amend that mistake. At the start of ''Skull Island'', Cap is a somewhat overbearing father who is reluctant to let his son Charlie leave his wing, and a part of his character arc is learning to let his son go and find his own way in the world once they've reunited.

* AlwaysABiggerFish: The huge burrowing crabs immediately hide when they hear Kong's roar. And a Sirenjaw that ate a man whole is nothing but a bite-sized snack for Kong.

* BolivianArmyCliffhanger: The eighth episode ends with [[spoiler:Annie waking up in a hospital two weeks after being knocked out during the FinalBattle, with only Irene by her side. At the same time the fight with Kong was happening, some other characters were facing their own perils (Mike being poisoned, Charlie encountering a native who wanted to get back at him for endangering Kong) and we are not told if they made it out okay (if at all).]]

* LukeIAmYourFather: A major mystery of the first season is what Irene exactly wants [[spoiler:with the castaway Annie. It turns out that she is her mother and just wants her daughter back]].

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: The Sirenjaw, the Chameleon Titans and the Skullcrawler are all reptilian and are far more vicious than the mammalian and bird-like Titans, like Kong, Dog and the red hawk.

* SuperPersistentPredator: The croc monster from Episode 3. [[spoiler: Having long legs and longer arms and able to ''run on land,'' it never stops pursuing the kids - even over a GiantWaterfall and even after eating one of the expedition. It finally is stopped when Kong eats it.]]

* SuperPersistentPredator: The croc monster from Episode 3. [[spoiler: Having long legs and longer arms and able to ''run on land,'' it never stops pursuing the kids - even over a GiantWaterfall - until Kong eats it.]]

''Skull Island'' is a 2023 animated action series and the first television series to be set in the Franchise/MonsterVerse franchise. It stars the voices of Creator/NicolasCantu, Creator/MaeWhitman, Creator/DarrenBarnett, Creator/BenjaminBratt, and Creator/BettyGilpin. The series was developed, executive produced, and written by Brian Duffield (''Film/LoveAndMonsters'', ''Film/{{The Babysitter|2017}}'').

* CallBack: To ''Film/KongSkullIsland''. In Episode 2, Hiro and Mike interview a former member of Packard's squadron who wasn't chosen for the mission to Skull Island. And like in ''Kong: Skull Island'', the island is guarded by a monster that tears apart any helicopters that come near, only this time, it’s a tentacled creature.

* HarmfulToMinors: In episode one, [[spoiler:Mike's father pushes him out the way of one of the sea monster's descending tentacles, getting smashed right in front of him with a splatter of his blood hitting Mike in the face. As the beast shifts it's tentacles to get a better grip, the gory pulped remains are fully exposed to Mike just off-camera, driving him into lashing out at the tentacles in a hysterical rage]].
* ILetGwenStacyDie: In [[WholeEpisodeFlashback Episode 7]], it's revealed that Kong had once befriended a Spanish-speaking island girl and formed a bond with her, until the two eventually had a falling out after a battle with monsters nearly got him, her, and his hawk killed. Later, the Kraken attacked the girl's village, fatally wounding her in the process, and when Kong brought her to his home, she later [[DiedInYourArmsTonight died in his arms]], calling him her king, before burying her outside. The necklace from her is a TragicKeepsake for Kong.

* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Sirenjaw is a crocodile titan that chases after Mike and Charlie at the start of episode 3, only to get [[MonsterMunch eaten by Kong]].

* SignificantGreenEyedRedhead: The Spanish-speaking girl who befriended Kong had green eyes and red hair.
* WaistDeepOcean: In Episode 3, a Sirenjaw rises out of a swamp that a mercenary is standing ankle-deep in and eats him.

* AdvertisedExtra: A Skullcrawler appears on the poster which makes it look like they'll play a prominent role, but one only appears in episode 7 for around a minute before getting swiftly killed by Kong.

* ArchnemesisDad: [[spoiler:Irene, the woman leading the mercenaries, is actually Annie’s mom. However, as they have shot at her beloved Dog in a panic, Annie REALLY does not like or trust them.]]
* TheBeastmaster: The female lead, Anne, has managed to tame a giant dog-like Titan that she named [[ADogNamedDog Dog]].
* BigFriendlyDog: "Dog", the Titan Annie tamed, could be charitably described as a ten-foot-tall mutant bulldog.

* {{Cliffhanger}}: The eighth episode ends with [[spoiler:Annie waking up in a hospital two weeks after being knocked out during the FinalBattle, with only Irene by her side. At the same time the fight with Kong was happening, some other characters were facing their own perils (Mike being poisoned, Charlie encountering a native who wanted to get back at him for endangering Kong) and we are not told if they made it out okay (if at all).]]
* ADogNamedDog: More specifically, a giant canine-titan named “Dog”. Annie isn’t very creative with names…

* GiantEnemyCrab: Among the titans in the show are a group of giant beach crabs that ambush their prey from under the sand.
* GiantFlyer: The unnamed red hawk-like Titan capable of carrying both a human and Dog with ease with its talons.

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Charlie wants nothing more than to give up life with his cryptid-hunting father and to go to college.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: In [[WholeEpisodeFlashback Episode 7]], it's revealed that Kong had once befriended a Spanish-speaking island girl and formed a bond with her, until the two eventually had a falling out after a battle with monsters nearly got him, her, and his hawk killed. Later, the sea monster attacked the girl's village, fatally wounding her in the process, and when Kong brought her to his home, she later [[DiedInYourArmsTonight died in his arms]], calling him her king, before burying her outside. The necklace from her is a TragicKeepsake for Kong.

* LukeIAmYourFather: A major mystery of the first season is [[spoiler:what Irene exactly wants with the castaway Annie. It turns out that she is her mother and just wants her daughter back]].
* MixAndMatchCritters: Many of the creatures on Skull Island, just like in the movie, appear to be part plant, like a tortoise with a back full of aloe, or a huge cat whose fur looks like tall grass.

* SquashedFlat: Hiro, Mike's father, gets killed by the tentacle of a giant monster during the very first episode.
* TentacledTerror: The squid like monster who stalks the waters near Skull Island and whose tentacles are long enough to reach inland.

* WildChild: Annie has been shipwrecked on an island close to Skull Island for more than a decade with nobody but Dog for companionship. Thus, at age 16, she has a tendency to act somewhat immature and socially inept.

* EverythingIsTryingToHearYou: This is Skull Island, of course almost everything will try to kill or eat you if you aren't careful.

* AlwaysABiggerFish: The huge burrowing crabs immediately hide as soon as they hear Kong's roar. And a huge crocodile titan that ate a man whole is nothing but a bite-sized snack for Kong.

* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: A crocodile titan chases after Mike and Charlie at the start of episode 3, only to get [[MonsterMunch eaten by Kong]].

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Annie is being persued by a group of mercenaries who get stranded with her and her rescuers on Skull Island. [[spoiler:They were actually hired by her mother to rescue her and bring her home.]]

* ILetGwenStacyDie: In [[WholeEpisodeFlashback Episode 7]], it's revealed that Kong had once befriended a Spanish-speaking island girl and formed a bond with her, until the two eventually had a falling out after a battle with monsters nearly got him, her, and his hawk killed. Later, the sea monster attacked the girl's village, fatally wounding her in the process, and when Kong brought her to his home, she later died in his arms, calling him her king, before burying her outside. The necklace from her is a TragicKeepsake for Kong.

* KrakenAndLeviathan: The first Titan encountered is a giant sea-monster with cephalopod-like tentacles, Cap catching brief glipses of the rest of its body as it sinks his research vessel, though whether this is the Na Kika/Kraken from the expanded [=MonsterVerse=] is never specified.