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Skull Island is the name of many islands used in various works of fiction, first appearing in the 1933 film King Kong.

Contents 1 In King Kong 2 In Dead Alive! (1992 film) 3 In The Curse of Monkey Island (1997 video game) 4 In King Kong (2005 film and Video Game) 5 In The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island 6 Skull Island inhabitants 6.1 King Kong and Son of Kong 6.2 2005 Remake 7 Other references

Main article: King Kong (1933 film)

Main article: The Son of Kong

In King Kong, Skull Island is a long island, located at approximately 90 degrees East and 2 degrees South - somewhere off the coast of Sumatra. There is a distinctive rocky knoll in the center of the island which is shaped like a human skull, hence its foreboding name.

At first, it is thought of as deserted, but upon further examination by the heroes of the picture, it is filled to the brim with superstitious natives, prehistoric creatures of all sorts, and one extremely large gorilla, known by those on the island as "Kong".

The native people of Skull Island appear to be of West African (or perhaps Papuan) descent. Their barbaric portrayal in the film has provoked complaints and controversy ever since the movie's release. In the sequel film, Son of Kong, we last see Skull Island as it sinks into the sea. Kong's son drowns while holding Carl Denham above the water. Denham survives unscathed.

Kong: King of Skull Island, a 2004 sequel-novel which ignores The Son Of Kong, makes an attempt to reveal the history of Skull Island before the events of the 1933 film's story.

Main article: Braindead (1992 film)

In the 1992 film Dead Alive!, Skull Island is seen as a relatively barren place off the coast of Sumatra with very little foliage and rocky beaches. It is alluded that there is some technology present on the island, given the appearance of a Jeep driving along the rocky shore.

It is never stated what kind of creatures live on this Skull Island, aside from the Sumatran Rat-Monkey. The hideous creature, found only on that island, is the offspring of plagued rats and tree monkeys. Its bite, while fatal, can also bring the recently deceased back to life.

The cage for the monkey as seen in this movie can be found in 2005's King Kong, on the ship as they head for skull island

The native people of this Skull Island also appear to be of African descent, although they were portrayed in the film by Fiji's national rugby team.

Main article: The Curse of Monkey Island

In the 1997 adventure game The Curse of Monkey Island, Skull Island is home to the infamous smuggler known as "King Andre".

Skull Island is only reachable via a small dinghy operated by the ghostly "Flying Welshman" (an allusion to the legend of The Flying Dutchman). While living, the Welshman became lost in the fog surrounding Skull Island when the lighthouse on neighboring Blood Island was broken. Guybrush Threepwood needs to get to Skull Island in order to get a diamond he needs to lift the curse cast on Elaine Marley by LeChuck's cursed ring. In order to get to Skull Island, he must fix the lighthouse and make a compass for the Welshman.

Trivia:

• Many characters claim that Skull Island is in the shape of a skull. When the island is finally shown, however, it more closely resembles a duck than a skull. An astonished Guybrush grumbles "It should be called Duck Island." The Welshman (who insists it looks like a skull) reluctantly responds, "Well if you turn your head and squint..." to which Guybrush insists, "If you turn your head and squint it looks like a bunny," a reference to a well-known optical illusion.
• Skull Island is one of the smallest islands in the Monkey Island series (the player can only interact with a few things on the island and it is contained by only four perspective shots).
• When the Flying Welshman talks to you before you go to Skull Island, Guybrush Threepwood (Your character) says "I'm not afraid!". The Welshman replies "You will be, you will be" Interestingly enough, his second "You will be" is voiced differently. Its actually Yoda's Voice, taken from the series "Star Wars", when Yoda says that exact phrase to Luke Skywalker. This makes plenty of sense, for Curse of Monkey Island was made by Lucas Arts, a sub company of Lucas Film Ltd (The makers of Star wars).

Main article: King Kong (2005 film)

Main article: Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie

The Skull Island of 2005's King Kong is very similar to that of the 1933 film. It is once again a long-forgotten place, noted as being "far west of Sumatra", until a mysterious map leads a group of adventurers to it. It appears to be in a region that affects magnets, and is frequently shrouded in fog. The island is slowly sinking beneath the sea.

The island is shaped like a large hand with long, skeletal fingers. It is surrounded by carved stone reefs, made to resemble faces crying out in anger and pain, and is criss-crossed by an enormous stone wall and covered with jungle-swallowed ruins that are countless generations old, which are all that remain of an unknown, ancient human civilization that somehow once existed and thrived on Skull Island.

It is filled with all manner of monstrous creatures, but these beings have evolved past their primitive ancestors. The animals there have turned into violent killing machines - the harsh environment of Skull Island changing their evolutionary outcome. Aside from dinosaurs, the island is also home to insectoid and worm-like creatures. There are strange creatures like Arachno-Claw, Scorpio-Pede, and Celocimex. See the main link above for details.

The island can be broken down into several smaller ecosystems, all shifting and changing as the animals fight amongst each other. These ecosystems are the Skull Island Coastal Region and the Village, the Skull Island Lowlands, the Skull Island Swamp and River System, the Skull Island Jungle, the Skull Island Chasms and the Skull Island Uplands. Each has its own unique collection of species that continuously fight with each other.

The current native people of this Skull Island appear to be of a mixed Melanesian descent, although director Peter Jackson has stated that they are supposed to look like no other people on Earth. They were portrayed by a number of different Pacific Island people, who were sprayed with a brown paint to make all of their skin tones coincide. Many wear pieces of bone in some form (such as a necklace) and some even have smaller pieces of bone embedded in their flesh, such as through the nose. Many also have bright red eyes or even what appears to be eyes with no pupils that are just white, presumably an evolved evolutionary trait.

The island is further explored in the later series of expeditions called Project Legacy. In 1948, the island sinks and is forever lost due to a huge earthquake, measuring 9.2 on the Richter Scale, with all of its unique animals and strange people.

The Weta Workshop book The World of Kong documents many of the inhabitants, locations and details of Skull island, as of King Kong (2005 film).

• A Stegosaurus-like creature: appears in a sequence in which it is disturbed by Carl Denham's crew. Like an angry rhinoceros, it charges the men and they fell it with a gas-bomb. As they walk by it, it starts to get up again and is shot. Orville Goldner, who worked on the film, described it as a combination of two species the Stegosaurus ungulatus and the relatively unknown Kentrosaurus.^[1]
• A long-necked Apatosaurus: The dinosaur is disturbed by the rescue party's raft as it crosses a swamp and capsizes it, attacking the men in the water. Several of them are chased onto land and one fellow, climbing a tree, is cornered and mauled to death by the animal. A common misconseption is that the brontosaurus eats the sailor, but it is stated in the script that the dinosaur kills and then abandons the body of a sailor identified as "Tim." The creature reappears in Son of Kong, crying out as the island is sinking.
• A large 2-legged lizard-like creature: This creature climbs up a vine from the crevasse to attack Jack Driscoll. It falls back into the pit when Jack cuts the vine it is climbing. Other than the two limbs, the other distinct feature of this unique creature is the iguana-like ridge of spikes down its back. Orville Goldner said it was loosely based on the features of the Desmatosuchus.^[1]
• A large theropod which has been identified as both Tyrannosaurus and an Allosaurus: The dinosaur is modeled after after Charles R. Knight's depiction of a Tyrannosaurus.^[1] However, it possesses three finger per hand, unlike the Tyrannosaur's two (though the number of claws was disputed at the time, as intact finger bones would not be uncovered until the mid-90s). In the documentary I'm King Kong! The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper, included on the 2 disk DVD release of King Kong, Cooper refers to this beast as an Allosaurus, not a Tyrannosaurus, which would justify the number of fingers. However, the creature was originally intended to be a Tyrannosaurus designed for the canceled Willis O'Brien film Creation (1931). It may also be worth noting that the Tyrannosaurus present in Willis O'Brien's earlier project The Lost World (1925) also had a third finger. Also note that at the time, people thought Tyrannosaurus had three fingers, which may be a solution to the third finger. The 1932 Kong screenplay refers to the dinosaur only as "Meat Eater." The creature appears in the iconic scene where Kong defends Anne from its attack, killing it after a protracted fight.
• An Elasmosaur-like creature: a highly stylized, serpentine aquatic reptile with a long neck and tail as well as two pairs of flippers. It inhabits the bubbling swamp area near Kong's cave. Goldner describes the Elasmosaur as being designed as more slender then the ones known to science and its swimming limbs are less prominent.^[1] It battles Kong in the style of a giant, constricting snake.
• A Pteranodon-like pterosaur menaces Anne, and is the last major creature to appear on Skull Island. It is slain by Kong.
• Teratornis: These birds can be seen flying around the dead T-Rex. One is seen eating the dead T-Rex and is scared off by the approaching Jack Driscoll.
• Rhamphorhynchus: The tiny Rhamphorhynchus are seen flying around Skull Mountain. A few are flying around the large cave at the base of Skull Mountain, while others are seen flying around Kong's lair near the top of Skull Mountain.
• Archaeopteryx: The tiny Archaeopteryxes are seen flying around in the jungle. Most notably a few fly by when the Stegasaurus enters the clearing, and one flys out of the dead tree that Kong puts Ann in before he goes to fight the sailors on the log bridge. According to Goldner, they were made to flit among the trees on invisible wires.
• Arsinotherium: This huge creature chases the men onto the log bridge in the test reel. According to Goldner, Cooper had second thoughts about the Arsinotherium and ordered the action to be refilmed using a Styracosaurus. Both versions were eventually thrown out because they captured to much audience attention.
• Gigantophis garstini: According to Goldner, This huge serpant that appeared in one scene and later cut out of the film, had its living prototype in Egypt. This giant snake menaces Ann at the base of the dead tree that Kong puts her in before he battles the sailors on the log bridge. It was in the test reel but later cut out. However you can still see Ann Darrows reactions to it below her just before the T-Rex shows up in the clearing.
• Cynognathus: created, and then re-created for the "Spider pit sequence" and portrayed as a stout, reptilian predator. Goldner stated that a was loosely adapted, as many of the creatures of the pit were imaginative.^[1]
• A Giant Crab, Spider and tentacled 'bug': all appear in the original notes, script, and re-created "Spider-pit sequence", eating the surviving crewmen in the crevas.
• Triceratops: In the original script only, encountered by Kong on volcanic flats, he hurls bolders at a herd of them and drives them into a stampede, impailing one of the crew of the Venture.
• Giant Bear: A gigantic bear that attacks Denham and Hilda, but is driven off by the Son of Kong.
• Styracosaurus: Corners Hellstrom, Englehorn and Charlie into a cave in Son of Kong, destroying one of their guns. Originally slated to appear in King Kong, chasing the crew onto the log bridge and keeping them trapped there.
• Cave Serpent: A dragon-like creature that attacks Denham and Hilda, but is killed by Kiko. King Kong: A History of a Movie Icon, calls the creature 'The Dragon' all through its review of Son of Kong.
• Second Unknown, dragon-like Plesiosaur: A very stylized, dragon-headed incarnation of this marine reptile eats Hellstrom as he attempts to flee at the end of Son of Kong.

• Megaprimatus kong: A huge species of gorilla, they were the largest primates to have ever lived, even bigger than Gigantopithecus, the previous record holder and possible ancestor. The average M. Kong could stand up to 5-8 meters (18-25 feet tall) and possibly weighed 5-8 tons. By 1933, there was only one of them left. This specimen, a male, was captured and brought back to New York by Carl Denham, but escaped and was shot down off the top of the Empire State Building, rendering the species of Megaprimatus kong extinct.
• Vastatosaurus rex: Originally portrayed as a cold-hearted killer, which grew up to 15 metres (50 feet), the V-Rex was portrayed with the same general attitude, but was considerably larger than the T-Rex and had an additional finger.
• Venatosaurus saevidicus: A large dromeosaur. Size is 16-24 feet long. Distinguished by its sickle-like claw, in King Kong (2005 film) they killed Denham's cameraman, hunted in packs, and caused a Brontosaurus stampede. Another species is the smaller Venatosaurus impavidus. Venatosaurus saevidicus is the only predator on Skull Island that preys on adult Brontosaurus.
• Ferrucutus cerates: Ceratopsian seen briefly by the foot of the stairway to Kong's lair. Similar to a Styracosaurus. In the extended edition, one attacks the crew, but is gunned down. (Although like the Stegosaurus in the original, it does not die instantly)
• Brontosaurus baxteri: A herding, herbivorous creature that tramples several of the crew during a stampede.
• Terapusmordax obscenus: Giant batlike creatures, Actually rodents, that were found in the cave where Kong lived in the 2005 film, though they had long, bare tails, unlike a real bat, which has only a vestigial, webbed one.
• Ligocristus innocens: A hadrosaur. No confirmed sightings are in the 2005 version, but it may be the carcass that the Foetodon are feeding on. It grew from 26-34 feet (8-10 metres) long.
• Decarnocimex (Flesh-removing bug): According to The World of Kong, these are "oversized relatives of crickets with bladed forelimbs for tearing apart carcasses." Carl Denham fights these when he falls into the pit.
• Weta-Rex; Deinacrida Rex (Terrible-cricket king): Dog-sized Wetas which attacked Jack Driscoll.
• Arachno-Claw; Arachnocidis (Spider-claw): The only remake of the original pit beasts, the Arachno-Claw is what the name inplies - a mix of a spider and a crab.
• Deplector (Reaper): Giant lobster-like insects that live in crevasses lining the chasm walls. They reach out of their crevices to grab prey. Females are much, much larger than males. Blind, Deplectors are tethered to their holes by excretions that are elastic. This monster kills a sailor in the movie.
• Carnitis Sordicus (Vile Meat-Weasel): One of the beasts that is most memorable, Carnictus is a large worm with a sphinter-maw at one end. It undulates inside-out and exposes the mouth to its prey, allowing it to eat. These monsters end up eating Lumpy the cook in the remake.
• Pirahnodon: In the extended cut, this gigantic fish attacks the Venture crew as they pass through a swamp, devouring several crewmen.
• Scorpio-pede: In the extended cut, several of these Eurypterid-like creatures attack the venture crew, but flee as the Pirahnodon approaches.
• Burtornis: In the extended cut, Lumpy shoots this 7ft tall carnivorous bird as it approaches the crew unseen, but heard. Driskol believes it is Anne, but is relieved to see the bird instead, dying on the ground. Lumpy then ends the bird's suffering. It is the only creature in the film to be portrayed by a puppet rather than CGI.

• A skull-shaped island was seen in the original teaser trailers for Disney's 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) includes an island called Totenkopf's ("Death's Head") Island.
• Skull Island was one of the original attractions at Six Flags Over Texas on opening day in 1961.
• A puzzle from the first game in the Simon the Sorcerer series involves retrieving a herb from a place called Skull Island, in this case an actual giant's skull half-submerged in a swamp.
• A section of the video game Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror takes place in the Caribbean and features a skull-shaped island called Zombie Island.
• Skull Island appears in the television series The Simpsons in its parody of King Kong in the episode "Treehouse of Horror III," but the island is jokingly renamed "Ape Island."
• Skull Island was a name given to an island in the anime and manga One Piece.
• The scientific name for the giant ape King Kong, according only to supplemental material created for the 2005 film, is Megaprimatus Kong. This species was said to have evolved from gigantopithecus. King Kong was the last of the Megaprimatus.
• In the film The Devil's Rejects, the bounty hunter portrayed by Diamond Dallas Page says of his targets, "They're going to think King Kong came down from Skull Island!"

Monkey Island video games v • d • e
Games:	The Secret of Monkey Island | LeChuck's Revenge | The Curse of Monkey Island | Escape from Monkey Island
Characters:	Guybrush Threepwood | Elaine Marley | LeChuck | Ozzie Mandrill | Herman Toothrot | Voodoo Lady | Stan | Minor Characters
Islands:	Blood | Booty | Dinky | Jambalaya | Lucre | Mêlée | Monkey | Phatt | Plunder | Scabb | Skull
Various:	SCUMM | GrimE | iMuse | Insult swordfighting | List of Monkey Island topics

King Kong films
King Kong (1933) • The Son of Kong (1933) • King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) • King Kong Escapes (1967) • King Kong (1976) • King Kong Lives (1986) • King Kong (2005)