GT25's Battle Series: King Kong vs. Godzilla
King Kong, Skull Island, and any related material is owned by Merian C. Cooper, RKO Pictures, Dino de Laurentiis Entertainment Group, and Universal Studios Inc. Godzilla, Odo Island, and any related material is owned by Toho Co., Ltd.
Aloha, and welcome to the fourth installment of the Battle Series. In this series, we see who would win in a hypothesized battle to the dead by comparing two warriors from the multitude of universes out there. For this installment, we will settle a rematch that many have wanted for over 50 years: King Kong vs. Godzilla. To ensure a fair battle, I will use the Toho version of King Kong as well as the Godzilla from Godzilla X MechaGodzilla (2002) and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003) and I will be comparing the warrior's weapons/powers, strengths/weaknesses, physiology, battle experience, and abilities as well as two new categories to measure these warriors with. Much like with my previous entries, we will start with the warrior's individual histories.
History of the Warriors
For possibly several decades, the creature called by the natives of Skull Island by "Kong" was the king of the island that had faced many creatures, including tyrannosaurs, pterosaurs, and other giant and prehistoric creatures. Despite his title as the "King of Skull Island", it wasn't until the year 1933 that he met his ultimate demise.
When the natives sacrificed the actress Ann Darrow to their "god", Kong instead took the lady as his own and traveled deeper into the island with the film and boat crew following him to get Ann back. As Kong had to deal with the humans following him, he also killed a Tyrannosaurus Rex in battle and fought off an Elasmosaurus along with a Pterodactyl as Ann was rescued by the first mate named Jack Driscoll.
As Kong followed Jack and Ann, he broke through the wall built by the natives and was soon knocked out by gas bombs. With a monstrous prize in his clutches, the film director named Carl Denham decided to take the beast back to the United States as "King Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World".
Premiering in New York City while being subdued by chains and shackles, Kong was shown to the public before the media took pictures of both Ann and Kong. Quickly angered by the flashes of light from the cameras, Kong made short work of the chains and started his rampage through New York City.
After getting back Ann, Kong climbed to the top of the Empire State Building where he made his last stand against bi-planes that were trying to take him down. After several minutes and nearly hundreds of bullets, King Kong soon succumbed to his wounds and fell off the tall building to his death.
After several incidents of ships suddenly bursting into flames in the year 1954, it was soon discovered by the Japanese government that a prehistoric creature called by the natives of Odo Island as Godzilla was the reason for the shipping disasters. Godzilla quickly made his way to the shore of Tokyo and started his rampage through the city, leveling the city in a sea of fire.
When the scientist named Daisuke Serizawa finally agreed to use his new discovery to kill the monster, Godzilla was finally killed and reduced to bones by the Oxygen Destroyer. After 45 years and other kaiju attacks, another species of the Godzilla species appeared in Japan once again and quickly won against the Japanese Self-Defense Force and their best weapon at the time, the Type 90 Maser Cannon.
When Godzilla reappeared four years later, he was confronted by Kiryu, a Mecha built around the bones of the original Godzilla. After two fights, Godzilla received a wound on his chest and a victory against his robotic adversary before he returns to the ocean for another year. Before his return to Japan, Godzilla fought and killed another kaiju called Kamoebas.
As Godzilla returned to Tokyo to destroy the city, he is confronted by an adult Mothra who started fighting him. Despite having an early lead, Mothra was quickly taken down before Kiryu arrived to fight alongside her. However, both Mothra and Kiryu were taken down by Godzilla.
As twin Mothra larvae arrived to help battle Godzilla, the adult Mothra was killed by the dinosaur to save her offspring and Kiryu was finally able to stun Godzilla long enough with his Hyper Maser for Godzilla to be bind up by the Mothra larvae's webbing. However, when Kiryu was commanded to kill Godzilla, the spirit of the original Godzilla took over and Kiryu flew into the ocean with the bind-up Godzilla.
Physiology
King Kong is a massive Silverback Gorilla with a height of 45 meters, or 147.64 feet. His body has many scars that show his victories from his battles.
Godzilla is a radioactive dinosaur with a height of 55 meters, or 180.45 feet, and a length of 122.5 meters, or 401.9 feet. His body has a scar on his chest from his battle against Kiryu.
Verdict: I would have placed their weights to compare, but both kaiju are 25,000 tons each so it's redundant. While Kong does have scars to show his victories (which I'm sure some ladies will like), I will give a slight edge to Godzilla since Kong has been known to fight and kill giant dinosaurs larger than him.
Battlefield Experience
Thanks to the scars that are on his body, we do have a rap sheet on his victories and his muscles prove his strength in battle. Kong has been able to hold his own against dinosaurs such as a Tyrannosaurus, an Elasmosaurus, and a Pterodactyl. While we only see Kong fight these three creatures in the film, we can assume that Kong has been able to kill other giant creatures larger than him.
The battles we do know for Godzilla are against Kiryu, Mothra, and Kamoebas. While Godzilla made short work of the smaller Kamoebas, Kiryu went into a "rage" mode very quickly after sizing Godzilla up in the first battle and this allowed Godzilla to retreat into the ocean. The second battle against Kiryu showed that the two were evenly match and Godzilla ultimately won, but not without gaining a scar on his chest.
The battle against the adult Mothra showed that Godzilla was able to hold his own before Mothra was joined by Kiryu in her battle. While Godzilla ultimately manage to knock out Kiryu and killed the adult Mothra, Kiryu was brought back online and was able to stun Godzilla long enough for the twin Mothra larvae to cocoon him in their webbings.
Verdict: This is a fairly simple decision to make. King Kong has more battlefield experience than Godzilla and has experience fighting dinosaurs larger than himself. The edge goes to King Kong.
UPDATE: A review posted by someone calling themselves "Darkness" pointed out to me that I didn't count the other monsters that Godzilla has fought over the years. However, I have to tell everyone my policy about characters with multiple versions, like Godzilla in this case. For certain fights, I will either use the character based on all the movies (much like I used partially against Gamera) or a particular version of the character, much like this case with the Godzilla from Godzilla x MechaGodzilla (2002) and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003).
According to "Darkness", Godzilla has experience fighting against many monsters of all shapes and sizes. However, since I'm using the Godzilla with its own continuity, I am going by that continuity. In this case, this Godzilla only fought three kaiju: Kamoebas, Mothra, and Kiryu. So if I was to do what "Darkness" suggested and count the fights against King Ghidorah, then the verdict will be invalid since this Godzilla has never faced any version of King Ghidorah. Therefore, the verdict for Battlefield Experience remains as it is, with King Kong getting the edge.
Strengths/Weaknesses
King Kong has immense strength, able to break the jaws of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and able to stop an Elasmosaurus from strangling him. The king of Skull Island is, strangely, immune to electricity and is able to absorb electricity to power himself. However, Kong mainly relies on his brute strength against his opponents.
Godzilla is able to breathe underwater and has enough strength to throw the much heavier Kiryu around. When he is low on power, Godzilla is able to become a lightning rod to power himself up with natural electricity. However, the Hyper Maser of Kiryu is able to stun him long enough to leave him open for an attack.
Verdict: When comparing the strength of both kaiju, King Kong and Godzilla are about on the same level, with King Kong able to break the bones of his opponents and Godzilla able to throw Kiryu around. While both kaiju are able to absorb electricity, Godzilla does have a slight weakness that he will be stunned should enough man-made electricity hit him at once. However, this was only once and had required a giant burst of electricity from Kiryu.
In the case that this battle continues into the ocean, Godzilla has an advantage against King Kong in that the dinosaur is able to breathe underwater and can travel deeper than the king of Skull Island. Godzilla gets a slight edge for his aquatic nature. Now onto the first of the two new category.
Battlefield Strategy
In nearly all the battles that King Kong has been in, the king of Skull Island has always gone to brute strength to overpower his opponents and kill them. However, should this fail, he is able fall back onto an electrical current that he can send into an opponent's body.
I've made a mistake about Godzilla's battlefield strategy in that I assumed that he would soldier on to kill an opponent after a battle. However, thanks to "awesomesause01" and Screwattack's Death Battle, I have since reevaluated Godzilla's strategy to starting a fight and finishing the fight right then and there. This can be seen in Godzilla's battle against the adult Mothra, the twin Mothra larvae, and Kiryu during his battle against all four of them.
Verdict: In the original dubbed version of King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), a scene was added to say that Godzilla "is shear brute force while Kong is a thinking animal". However, I have to call false on this statement since it seems King Kong ONLY relies on brute strength while Godzilla has shown moments of brilliance on the battlefield. The edge goes to Godzilla for his first-and-only fight strategy.
Abilities
King Kong has enough strength to break the jaws of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and is able to stop an Elasmosaurus from strangling him. However, he is able to absorb both man-made and natural electricity without getting any negative effects on his body. Kong has survived many battles against dinosaurs and other giant animals.
Godzilla is able to breathe underwater and has enough strength to throw around the much heavier Kiryu. When he needs to recharge his energy, Godzilla is able to become a lightning rod to attract lightning to become more powerful. While Godzilla has regenerative abilities, the scar on his chest suggests that these regenerative abilities are slow-acting. Godzilla has survived a shot from the Absolute Zero Cannon inside Kiryu during his second battle at point blank range with a scar to prove this feat.
Verdict: While the ability of absorbing electricity is able to be done by both kaiju, Kong is able to absorb both natural and man-made electricity when he needs to. However, Kong has never been shown with regenerative abilities, which would explain all his wounds. In terms of what the two kaiju have survived, Godzilla has survived more than Kong has been through against the humans. The edge goes to Godzilla for his regenerative ability and surviving the Absolute Zero Cannon.
Weapons/Powers
When Kong is not using his brute strength against an opponent, he is able to conduct electricity through his touch. Other than that, Kong is able to use his mouth to bite down on an opponent.
When Godzilla is battling against an opponent at a distance, Godzilla is able to launch a Thermonuclear Beam that is able to destroy buildings and was able to kill Mothra. Other than that, Godzilla is able to use his claws, teeth, and tail against an opponent.
Verdict: During close-combat, Kong does seem to have an advantage with his ability to send electricity into an opponent. There is two problems with this ability, however. First, it took a giant blast of electricity from Kiryu to actually stun him, so it is possible that Kong's electrical current would not be able to even faze Godzilla.
Secondly, should by some fluke Godzilla actually is able to absorb Kong's electrical current, than Kong is royally SCREWED. The edge goes to Godzilla for his Thermonuclear Beam and his claws. Finally, we move onto the last of the new categories.
X-Factor
In terms of an X-Factor, King Kong has experience fighting dinosaurs and creatures larger than himself. In Kong's mind, Godzilla would be nothing more than a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex, a being he has experience fighting. Also, the Elasmosaurus was able to get its tail around Kong's neck to try to strangle him. So Godzilla's tail won't be that hard for him to counter.
In terms of an X-Factor, Godzilla is entirely radioactive, a fact that only the original film actually showed effectively. Just walking down a city's block is enough to cause it to become inhabitable and will cause humans to become dosed with radioactivity, possibly enough to either kill them or cause them to receive radioactive poisoning. His Thermonuclear Beam is composed entirely of pure radiation, which will cause humans to be vaporized and possibly cause any area hit to become radioactive. It is possible that, should Godzilla hit an opponent enough with his Thermonuclear Beam, than Godzilla's opponent can get poisoned by the radiation should the opponent not have armor or the armor is penetrated.
Verdict: In terms of their X-Factors, Kong has an X-Factor based on his experience in battle while Godzilla has an X-Factor based on his own radioactive nature. Also, in the case the energy beam actually cause radioactivity poisoning to an opponent, than Kong is screwed since he has nothing to protect him.
Against Mothra, Godzilla's energy beam was unable to get past her exoskeleton and Kiryu is a Mecha, which means that Godzilla's energy beam doesn't have an effect on the machine. In terms of the X-Factors, Godzilla gets the edge.
Category Edge Recap
Physiology: Godzilla
Battlefield Experience: King Kong
Strengths/Weaknesses: Godzilla
Battlefield Strategy: Godzilla
Abilities: Godzilla
Weapons/Powers: Godzilla
X-Factor: Godzilla
Verdict: You guys can possibly see where this is going. To put it simply, King Kong can't take Godzilla. The only edge Kong has is his battlefield experience in fighting more opponents than Godzilla. However, should by some fluke Godzilla either takes the battle to the sea or Kong's electrical current is absorbed by Godzilla, than King Kong is dead.
While Kong is able to use his electrical current against Godzilla, it took a massive amount of electricity from the Hyper Maser in Kiryu to actually stun the radioactive dinosaur. Also, Kong only relies on physical brute strength to overpower an opponent, which would work against a dinosaur. However, against Godzilla who can launch an energy ray from his mouth, Kong would have to try hard to get close should Godzilla use his Thermonuclear Beam to keep Kong at a distance.
Even if Kong manages to get close enough to use his brute strength against Godzilla, the King of the Monsters is able to use his claws to slice through the giant gorilla's skin. However, all of this is ultimately worthless to Kong since if Godzilla's energy beam is able to cause radioactive poisoning in opponents with weak armor or no armor, then Kong will be poison with radiation and will slowly be killed from the inside. As Kong weakens, Godzilla will just need to hold back and settle in for the long haul until an opening presents itself for Godzilla to cut Kong down.
Possible Winner: Godzilla
Please note that this is just my opinion. I know that some people would say that King Kong would win against Godzilla, which is why this is called GT25's Battle Series, not so-and-so's Battle Series.
Have a hypothesized battle that you want to see? Leave the battle in the reviews or PM me and I would be happy to do it.