Kong: King of Skull Island is a 2005 novel by Brad Strickland, with illustrations by Joe DeVito. It was authorized by the estate of Merian C. Cooper, and kicked off a series of novels and comic books in its own distinct continuity.
The story is a direct sequel/prequel to the original 1933 film, and more directly, to Brad Strickland's 2005 rewrite of the 1932 Delos W. Lovelace novelization. After Kong’s fatal fall from the top of the Empire State Building, the creature’s body was taken away, and nobody ever saw Carl Denham, Kong, or Captain Englehorn again. Twenty-five years later, Vincent Denham, the son of Carl Denham, has come across a map to Skull Island itself, apparently left by his father. Jack Driscoll, who has since married Ann and now manages a shipping company of his own, offers to take Vincent to the mysterious, ancient island to look for Carl Denham. While there, Vincent will learn about his father’s fate, some of the history of the island, and the origins of the mighty Kong.
The 2023 video game Skull Island: Rise of Kong would use elements of the novel.
This novel provides examples of:
- …And That Little Girl Was Me: The ancient “Storyteller” talking to Vincent reveals herself to be Ishara near the end.
- Aquatic Sauropods: A huge, territorial sauropod rises from a swamp to menace a young King Kong , killing the huge crocodile that was threatening him in the process. A pretty clear homage to the original movie, which had a sauropod behaving in much the same fashion.
- And Man Grew Proud: The ancient Tagatu once lived in a massive city in the island’s interior, kept safe from the dinosaurs of Skull Island by the burning of various herbs cultivated by the Tagu that pacified the animals. However, the herbs were not one hundred percent reliable, and sometimes, the Atu warriors would have to step in to dispatch dinosaurs that got too aggressive. As the Atu gained more and more influence and power across the island, some extremists went so far as to sabotage the herb mixtures to make the Tagu's methods look worthless. As the Atu gained dominance in their society, the Tagu were eventually banished to the far side of the Wall, giving the Atu total supremacy over the island… but when they ran out of the herb mixes, the Atu leaders could not hold back the saurian predators, or control the Kongs, and the final blow came when an ancestor of Gaw began to systematically exterminate the humans and Kongs alike. The Atu society collapsed, and they were forced to beg for sanctuary from the Tagu's small village behind the walls.
- Athens and Sparta: The militant Atu and the intellectual Tagu people have major overtones of this, though it’s not as one-sided as most examples, and comes across as Both Sides Have a Point in a land as dangerous as Skull Island. The Tagu figured out how to use burning herbs to ward off and pacify the dangerous wildlife of Skull Island, allowing the combined "Tagatu" people to live comfortably in the heart of the dangerous land, helped by their allies, the ancient Kongs. However, the herbal approach was not 100% effective, and it was particularly sketchy when dealing with the Deathrunners, which was where the Atu’s martial prowess became needed. When both sides were willing to work together, the Tagatu prospered, but when the Atu sought dominance long ago, everything collapsed, especially after they lost control of the Kongs.
- The Atoner: Denham became this in the wake of Kong's death, taking his body back to Skull Island and spending 25 years trying to help the Tagatu rebuild.
- Believing Your Own Lies: When King Kong rampaged through the native village in 1933, Bar-Atu, having enjoyed decades of success as Kong’s High Priest, and his mind warped by senility and years of exposure to the herbs, confronted the ape personally, believing he actually had the power over Kong he claimed to wield for so long. Kong immediately crushed him like an ant, then bit him in two.
- Beware the Skull Base: Skull Mountain, the biggest landmark on Skull Island, a huge rounded mount with caves in the front bluff and base that make it look like a human skull. The mountain was the home and last refuge of the Kongs.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Bar-Atu and Gaw are this for much of the book, with the former using the latter as a threat to hang over the heads of the other islanders.
- Bittersweet Ending: King Kong is long dead, Carl Denham dies of old age less than a day after reuniting with Vincent after 25 years, and the unique and strange prehistoric life on Skull Island is slowly dying out. On the other hand, the Tagatu’s future is looking bright, Bar-Atu’s influence and cult died with him when Kong rampaged through the village, the Deathrunners never really recovered from Gaw’s death, and the only people who know of Skull Island have promised to keep it a secret, allowing the islanders to live in peace at last.
- Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": The Skull Island Archaeopteryx are called "Oji" by the Tagatu, while the local Ichthyosaur species are called "Sleeks".
- Canon Character All Along: It turns out Big Bad Bar-Atu was the ancient Witch Doctor from the original film, who is explained as being The Man Behind the Man to the chief.
- Disappeared Dad: Carl Denham vanished with Kong’s body in 1933, and nobody ever saw him again. With most of the rest of the expedition having also gone missing, his wife was let to field the onslaught of lawsuits in the wake of Kong's rampage. According to his son Vincent, the stress eventually killed her, and he’s still angry at Carl.
- The Dreaded: Gaw. Everyone on the island was absolutely terrified of the gigantic Deathrunner, and for good reason.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: The entire crew of the Venture, including Captain Englehorn and Charlie the cook, were wiped out by off-page by Pterosaurs and sea reptiles when the Venture anchored in Skull Island’s lagoon, cracked up in the rough surf, and sank.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Storyteller seems to be a very important title in Tagatu tradition, and upon taking the position, the individual who becomes Storyteller will eschew their previous name afterwards.
- Feathered Fiend: The Deathrunners and Slashers are covered in a layer of feathers. Interestingly, the artwork shows Gaw has lost these in favor of Spikes of Villainy.
- The Ghost: Jack mentions he’s still married to Ann, but she never shows up in person.
- Giant Animal Worship: Bar-Atu, the shaman of the island, insists the giant dromaeosaur named Gaw demands Human Sacrifice. He pivots to making King Kong the subject of worship after the ape kills Gaw.
- Gold Fever: Captain Magwich has an intense love of gold, and will ally himself with anyone he thinks might get him more of it.
- The Greatest Story Never Told: At the end, Vincent and Jack promise to keep Skull Island a secret from outsiders, as they fear what could happen to the island if more people learned about it.
- The Great Wall: A gigantic wall separates the Tagatu village in the modern day from the island’s interior, and the dangerous prehistoric life lurking within. Ancient murals in the ruins in the island’s interior hint that the Kongs themselves helped build it, and the gigantic gate was built to deliberately let them in in the ancient past. Storyteller claims that the Wall was originally built from the giant ships the Tagatu took to reach Skull Island.
- In Medias Res: The plot kicks off in late 1933 shortly after Kong's rampage through Manhattan, bounces forward to 1957, follows Vincent looking for Carl, and then veers between 1957 and an unspecified time decades before Carl arrived on Skull Island, as Storyteller explains some of the island’s history to Vincent as he recovers in her hut. Afterwards, the plot stabilizes back in 1957.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Bar-Atu enjoyed several decades of rule over the island without fear. However, he finally suffered an agonizing death during King Kong's rampage through the village in 1933, while his long-time enemy Ishara survived to scour his legacy from the island.
- King on His Deathbed: On-Tagu, the Tagatu chief in Storyteller’s tale (and Ishara’s father) was The Good King for years, but he’s sick in bed for most of the events of the flashback. He has enough power that even Bar-Atu won’t go against him, but as his health declines, so does his influence. When he dies, Bar-Atu takes advantage of Ishara and Kublai's temporary absence to seize power completely.
- Last of His Kind: King Kong was the last of the Kongs, after his parents were killed by Gaw. To deal with his intense loneliness, he took several ancient Tagatu statues of Kongs up into his lair to stay with him. He also arranged the bodies of the human sacrifices given to him on a high shelf of rock in the same lair, after they died of fear.
- Look on My Works, Ye Mighty, and Despair: Near the end of the Atu’s dominance on the island, they began to carve a gigantic face into the stone of the island’s biggest mountain. The Atu collapsed before the project could be finished, and years of erosion turned the face into the huge skull-like shape Denham and company saw in 1933.
- Lost World: Skull Island is one, a mysterious ancient island in a remote part of the Indian Ocean populated by dinosaurs, natives with virtually no contact with the outside world, and until 1933, a population of gigantic apes.
- The Magic Goes Away: During the 25 years spent on Skull Island, Denham observes the unique prehistoric life on the island is slowly dying out for reasons unknown.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: A young King Kong has a brief run-in with an aggressive “Phobosuchus” after fleeing the village.
- Not So Invincible After All: Gaw spends the majority of the book running wild, too smart to catch and too powerful to stop. The first time she’s actually hurt comes when some of the Tagatu dump boiling oil on her from atop the wall, causing her to shriek in pain and retreat into the jungle.
- Outside-Context Problem: Captain Magwich, a 19th-century explorer who turns up searching for gold on Skull Island. He and his crew have gunpowder, which makes them far more dangerous than anyone else who’s ever turned up on the island’s shores.
- Carl Denham and his film crew turning up in 1933 also count, and they proved to have just as much of an impact when they took King Kong away.
- Polly Wants a Microphone: The "Oji" can mimic human speech, though it's ambiguous as to just how much they can actually understand. Storyteller's pet Oji likes repeating things it heard from Carl Denham, and wakes Vincent up at one point with a loud "YA GONNA SLEEP ALL DAY?" in his father’s voice.
- Racial Remnant: The Tagatu fled their original homeland thousands of years ago after a volcanic eruption wiped it out, taking the Kongs to their new home on Skull Island with them. The traditions of the Tagu and the Atu, and their tense relationship with one another, originated in that forgotten land, but were passed down on Skull Island.
- Raptor Attack: The most dangerous predators on the island are an odd dromaeosaur species; the Slashers are fast, feathered roughly wolf-sized theropods, who are led by the bigger, smarter Deathrunner subspecies. The Deathrunners themselves are led by Gaw, an absolutely gigantic Deathrunner of unparalleled strength and intellect among their species.
- Reclaimed by Nature: The Tagatu once lived in an Advanced Ancient Acropolis in the island’s interior, kept safe by burning various herbs to ward the dinosaurs off. By the modern day, the ancient city has long fallen to internal strife, and now is so overgrown with growth from the jungle that most of it is unrecognizable.
- Religion of Evil: Bar-Atu was the leader of a cult that worshipped Gaw as a god, and claimed she demanded Human Sacrifice from among the Tagu. Since Gaw was a very real, very intelligent, and very dangerous theropod, who was more than happy to accept said sacrifices, Bar-Atu held quite a bit of sway in the Tagatu village. After King Kong finally killed Gaw, Bar-Atu smoothly shifted the cult's focus to worshipping and sacrificing to Kong, but he had much less power over the ape, and it eventually led to his undoing. Storyteller claims that Bar-Atu’s cult was originally founded as the "Shaitan" by the long-dead Seth-Atu, whose teachings embodied the worst excesses of Atu culture.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: Bar-Atu actually seems to have some supernatural communication with Gaw, being able to summon her to the Gates of the Wall at will to partake in a Human Sacrifice. He claims this is due to being the High Priest to the "god", but in reality, he has knowledge of the herbs that the ancient Tagu once used to summon or shoo the island’s wildlife. This comes back to bite him when he runs out of his secret stash of the herbs, and can no longer control much of the island's wildlife - and moreover, he never had any level of control over Kong.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: Vincent has this relationship with Kara, Storyteller’s apprentice. She deeply distrusts outsiders, but slowly comes around to Vincent.
- T. Rexpy: Skull Island is home to a large tyrannosaurid species. They’re huge and powerful, but lack Gaw’s powerful arms or brains.
- You Killed My Father: The reason It's Personal between King Kong and Gaw; the dinosaur killed both of Kong's parents. We later find out that an ancestor of Gaw's was also responsible for wiping out most of the island’s Kongs in the distant past.
