But Skull Island is different, in the original film, the PJ remakes and Monsterverse, the island feels like a character in of itself, the monsters living don't make the island, rather they are just one piece of an already interesting and dangerous location. Remove King Kong and all the other monsters, remove the natives and you could still have a movie, albeit a different one, about an island with a dangerous environment.
Keep in mind when analyzing this island, I will be be adding info from supplementary material and deleted scenes from the viral marketing, art book, interviews and the tie in comic and speculation.
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The Island:
Discovered in 1972 by satellites owned by Landsat, an expedition team was sent in 1973 to explore the island. MONARCH, having made little to no progress in proving an unknown prehistoric ecosystem still existed after their 1954 attempts to kill Godzilla, tagged along in one final ditch effort to prove that Godzilla was not the only super fauna out there and secure more funding for their organization. The island is one of the most diverse, beautiful and dangerous places on Earth. The island has jungles, forests, bamboo forests, fields, valleys, mountains, volcanoes, and swamps. Each area providing it's own dangers. Like most other places on planet Earth it carries the normal threats of disease carrying insects, heat exhaustion and deadly storms along with the more fantastical threats from the islands native super fauna and flora.
Parts of the island are littered with the bones of many lifeforms that have fallen prey to the many threats of the island. It is oddly fitting that the island looks like a skull when viewed from outer space and even has a waterfall cutting a mountain face into the shape of a skull when looked from certain angles.
Perpetual Super Cell:
Living up to the reputation of the myths, getting to the island is a dangerous task in of itself. Due to higher than normal magnetic levels Skull Island is surrounded by a never ending storm. Many ships and planes have been lost to the island and it's surrounding waters due to the magnetic levels interfering with their navigational instruments. The high winds and lightning strikes make it dangerous to even fly to the island. It is humbling to think that many creatures capable of flying off the island are being kept away from the outside world by the storm. It is because of this storm that Skull Island had remained largely undiscovered till the early 70s with the raise of satellite mapping usage and why those who had managed to come back from the island had never been able to find it again.
The Waters of Skull Island
Skull Island is surrounded by a coral reef and whirlpools as well as the aforementioned violent storm, making safe travel by ship nearly, if not completely, impossible. The lakes of Skull Island are home to the Mire Squid, the largest octopus species ever recorded, as have giant aquatic insects that wait below the surface of the water, it's legs sticking out like logs before grabbing unsuspecting pry that swims in it's grasp. Because the lakes, rivers and lagoons empty into the ocean, it can be presumed that some of the dangerous aquatic life of Skull Island also lives in the waters around the island. All bodies of water both on and near the island should be approached with extreme caution.
Evolution:
The island's ecosystem is a enigma with a mix and match of various animals and plants that otherwise don't share the same ecosystem off the island, and in fact some shouldn't even be on the island. The island has many deer and wildebeest that should not be on the island. Theories on how they ended up there include that the island was once a part of a larger continent before breaking off and becoming an island due to tectonic shifts and their offspring went through a similar evolution or that some of the ships stranded on the island had been carrying said animals, introducing them to the island. Whatever the reason, it's the least of the island's mysteries.
Size:
In what would seem to be counterproductive for life on an island with limited space and resources, many animals on the island grew to be larger not smaller. Easily the most notable oddity of life on the island at first glance, animals such as the Sker Buffalo dwarf their mainland cousins. Due to the size of some of the native species of the island, caution should be taken, for even a large peaceful animal can still crush one to death. The large size could be an evolutionary response to fight off would be predators and kill them, in a way keeping all populations in order.
Even insects and arachnids are no exception to this, as giant spiders and ants have been documented.
Living Fossils:
Several prehistoric plants and animals thought to be extinct still live on the island today and even new ones such as the Skullcrawler have been discovered. Dinosaur skulls have even been found in the Boneyard. Upon carbon dating of a massive triceratops skull, it was deduced that it was not fossilized yet and indeed may have been killed recently. If there are still dinosaurs living on Skull Island, they are nearly extinct like King Kong's species thanks in part due to the Skullcrawlers. With ancient species still around such as the discovery of Godzilla, it would not be a stretch to say some might still be alive. Like many other life-forms on the island, it was much larger than it'd extinct ancestors dug up in the rest of the world.
Fauna:
Although peaceful creatures such as the Sker Buffalo, deer and King Kong live on the island, it seems many, if not the majority of animals on Skull Island are hyper aggressive. Not counting the more peaceful ones merely defending themselves, half the aggressive species kill for food & territory as one would expect however many also seem to kill for no apparent reason at all or kill things many times too large to eat, giving the impression that many kill just for sport. Some such as the Psychovulture kill their own kin due to a psychosis caused from ingesting poisonous puffer-fish indigenous to the waters of Skull Island. However this would not explain the Death Jackal which is so aggressive, that it has been documented not only killing it's kin but even eating itself, giving off the impression the entire species is insane.
In August 7th of 1995, the rogue Aaron Brooks and his team were immediately attacked by the Death Jackals the minute they set foot on the island. Repeated visits by our cryptobiology team has discovered life that has evolved unlike anything we had seen before such as the Mire Squid raising it's body temperature so it's ink is boiling hot when it releases it to the Psychovultres being able to discharge an electrical current from it's mouth.
Flora:
Like the fauna, much of the plant life on Skull Island has grown to giant proportions. Like the venus flytrap and pitcher plant, several carnivorous plants have been documented on Skull Island but unlike them said specimens are more active, aggressive and large enough to eat humans and even creatures larger than humans. In fact several of our personal were lost to said plants and others witness them eating prey as large as the Sker Buffalo. Perhaps it is due to the evolutionary arms race that the plant kingdom has evolved to be just as dangerous as the animal kingdom on Skull Island.
Due to this, all plant life, even aquatic plant life in the waters of Skull Island should be treated as a possible threat.
Flora-Fauna:
The most bizarre evolutionary path seen on the island, if not the world. Birds with leaf feathers, tigers with bark like antlers, giant walking sticks and spiders with bamboo legs. At first glance many of the fauna on Skull Island was presumed to be just camouflaged to look like plant life as many animals and insects are. However repeated expeditions and dissection of specimens have found that many animals on Skull Island are actually also part plant, thus many were reclassified from fauna to flora-fauna. Adapting the ultimate disguise to either hunt or hide, life on Skull Island has learned the best way to fool others into thinking you're a plant is to actually be part plant.
Not just looking like a stick but being an actual giant walking stick or log would be the case, the Spore Mantis has sap in it's stomach acid, secreting amber feces, the Sker Buffalo's heart pumps chlorophyll to breath when underwater for days at a time and the Leafwing uses it's leafs as literal wings to fly. Some sea slugs have adapted the ability to preform photosynthesis after eating certain algae. But then the sea slug can't stab you with a cactus beak.
Perhaps the most frightening and bizarre of the flora-fauna is the Mother Longlegs which is unlike any spider on the planet. Even by flora-fauna standards it is odd. It has legs partially made of actual bamboo which sucks up innards of potential meals up like a straw, has hair-grass on it's body, claws like a crab and opens it's stomach to lower tentacles to capture prey.
Fora-Faun even exist in the waters of Skull Island, as Crocs and gators covered in trees growing out of their backs, and even whales with seaweed growing out of them have have been observed.
Mineral-Fauna
Even more extraordinary at least one case of rock-animal hybrids have been discovered. The docile Magma Turtle hatches in molten rock, and often bathes in it throughout it's life to grow it's shell with cooled down magma, with no ill effect to it's health. Originally mistaken for for a flora-fauna, trees feed off of the cooled off volcanic soil of it's shell. Because of it's living environment, these massive turtles have boiling hot blood that rivals even molten rock. Even the hyporvore predators such as the Skullcrawlers think twice about attacking a creature that walks right out of Hell.
Such an evolution makes even the already fantastical flora-faunas look normal in comparison. Because of this and the Skullcrawlers, our research team is even eager to learn what kind of ecosystem exists not only deep underground with the Skullcrawlers but also swimming molten rock & metal possibly near the center of the Earth. The bottom of the ocean was once thought to be to harsh for life to exist. The Earth's core might be the new Mariana Trench.
Iwi:
Surprisingly despite the dangers of the island, human civilization has not only survived but flourished on the island. Part of this is due to the Kong species protecting weaker animals and even humans from predators such as the Skullcrawler. The other reason is human ingenuity, as the Iwi have built a large wall with spikes on it to keep out would be predators. Though capable of speech, the Iwi rarely speak unless absolutely necessary to avoid alerting prey or predators when hunting or gathering food and mostly communicate through other means, most likely body language. Though Lieutenant Hank Marlow has suggested some form of telepathy, this theory is mostly disregarded though some in the organization are trying to test this. Aaron's team encountered some that learned how to speak English though this is unsurprising as many ships have brought book and outsiders who learned the Iwi's way and taught them theirs.
Though appearing to be mostly of Pacific/Asian descant, due to all the planes and ships that have wound up stranded on the island it is possible some have mixed ancestry or even parents from surviving outsiders meeting and mingling with the natives of the island. Marlow has also noted that they age extremely slow, if at all. Due to the nature of parasitic plants bounding with other life on the island, it is possible the Iwi might be part human-part plant. Our scientists are currently testing this theory.
King Kong:
Worshiped as a god by the Iwi, King Kong is the last of his kind. Appearing to be a giant bipedal ape that stands upright, King Kong protects the island not only from outside threats but also to keep threats like the Skullcrawler from ever leaving the island. Despite a tragic first encounter which led to the deaths of several personal, King Kong has shown to be kind and gentle so long as one not threaten him, his home, the natives or the more peaceful animals of Skull Island and has even been shown to protect Sker Buffalo and even outsider humans from the various predators of the island. King Kong is not only smart enough to use natural things in his environment as tools and even a ship's chains and propeller as a flail but even recognize humans by sight and determine which outsider humans are his ally and which are his enemy. It is because of this and his ability to control the Skullcrawler population that we here at MONARCH have chosen to allow him to live and study him. Due to his connection with Weaver and Conrad, both have been chosen to his "handlers".
Remarkably fast for a creature of his size, King Kong is able to leap great distinces, often jumping from mountain to mountain. Examination of his family's remains make it clear he is still growing and when he is fully grown he will rival the size of Godzilla.
Skullcrawler:
Resembling mix between a snake and a lizard, the Skullcrawler is the apex predator both on and below Skull Island. Driven by a hyper-metabolism, the Skullcrawler is in a constant state of starvation. It's skull like facial marking help distract attackers away from it's true eyes and may also act as a psychological weapon as one literally looks into the face of death. The mouth is filled with razor sharp teeth that point inwards to keep prey from escaping it's mouth. Skullcrawlers are intelligent, working together as a team to fight King Kong, and the large waiting till King Kong is weakened before showing up despite it's constant state of starvation, able to resist this pain to make a planned ambush pay off. They also understand traps, as the large one knew something was up when one of the humans it was chasing stopped running and tried to tempt it to eat him while he held explosives.
The tongues are prehensile like a chameleon, as are it's tail. It seems with age the adults grow spikes on their elbow blades for added defense or offense. Remarkably durable, the large one was able to continue fighting despite having it's throat cut open. The large one was also shown to understand leverage, as when King Kong caught it in midair, it wrapped it's tail around him and then used their combined weight & momentum to flip King Kong around and throw him. They also either have the ability to live underwater or hold their breath for a long time like a gator as the large one was in a lake and did not pop up till King Kong was weakened.
The Skullcrawler is the most dangerous thing on the island due to it's constant need to feed, they have driven several species to extinction or near extinction in King Kong's case, with the Iwi village walls being constantly stained in fresh blood from Skullcrawlers throwing themselves at the spiked walls. Indeed they are the reason why a dangerous island that should be teeming with more predators in such a tight compact space is pretty empty, to the point Packard's team was able to camp out in an open filed and go hours between dangerous encounters with other predators.
They endangered or destroyed most of the predators on the island, not just the prey. Were it not for the Kong species, the entire island would be one giant boneyard and they would venture off the island when big enough to swim to the outside world, spreading more death. Indeed, it is because of this and their facial markings that Houston Brooks believed that the Skull Island got it's name.
The Boneyard:
If there was ever a place on the island that could be called the most dangerous, this would be it. Located near a volcano, pockets of natural gas leak out the vents in the ground, choking off any plant life and making gunfire a dangerous action should one be too close to the vents or on a day with little to no wind. The gas, acting as a fog, makes ambushes easier for the dominant predators of the island. In fact, the boneyard, as the name suggests, is littered with the remains of many animals who ventured into the area and is the most dangerous place because it is right above the home of the Skullcrawlers. The Boneyard proved the late MONARCH scientist William "Bill" Randa right in his belief that there was entire unknown ecosystems in underground caravans. If they are unable to find prey in their natural underground home, the Skullcrawlers will venture above ground to find food.
Because it rests on top of their home, venturing into the Boneyard is considered suicide due to the sheer number of the Skullcrawlers and fog like gas. The remains of King Kong's family is rest here as a reminder of that.
Threat Level: EXTREME
Skull Island is the most dangerous place on Earth, teaming with a monster ecosystem.
Conclusion:
Skull Island is arguably the most important discovery MONARCH has ever made. True it was the discovery of Godzilla that birthed the organization, but the military has falsely believed they had killed the creature while MONARCH had doubts till it's reappearance in 2014, and while it was correctly believed to be on of the last of it's kind, MONARCH feared that entire monster ecosystems were alive and well. Skull Island proved them right as it was an island filled with many monsters, not just one but an entire ecosystem, showing that they are right to fear that monsters will reclaim the planet and turn it back into an ecosystem fit for them. It was Skull Island that got them the funding that they needed and they went from being just a bunch of outcast scientist behind desks in a tiny closet to building an entire quarantine zone with a cage and giant monster taser in Janjira around the male parasitic MUTO's cocoon.
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Wow this took longer than I thought it would to make. So tell me guys and gals, what are your thoughts about Skull Island itself? I personally feel it's one of the coolest settings we've gotten so far and unlike Janjira or the MUTO cage we actually got time to explore it. I'm satisfied with what we got out of if but feel like we can explore more like in a game and I'm glade we got a mini-comic series exploring it more. If it does end up being turned into Monster Island I feel like that'd give Monster Island a much needed character.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions on the island, did you like it, hate it or were just indifferent.
