Kong: Skull Island

Every two movies is either an original monster made for the MonsterVerse or a classic monster adapted from the Toho movies. Godzilla 2014 and Kong: Skull Island had original monsters in the MUTOs and Skullcrawlers, then King of the Monsters and GvK had classic monsters in King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla (technically both in the latter's case), then GxK: New Empire had an original monster in the Skar King. So only two movies in the MonsterVerse thus far have had reimagined takes on Toho monsters as their villains. Which means Supernova is either gonna continue the "original monster villain" trend going by the pattern or it's gonna break it with what we're all speculating to be SpaceGodzilla. Whatever happens, I'll welcome it.

The opening of Monarch: LoM shows us that Bill Randa is somehow separated from the group and is soon chased by a Mother Longlegs, which later fights a Mantleclaw. So where does this scene fit in the movie, Kong: Skull Island?

For many years, sailors had spoken of an island that is so hostile that half or all of their crews died. An island straight out of prehistoric times...

In 1933, during the great depression, actress Anne Darrow is hired by struggling filmmaker Carl Denham to star in a film with Bruce Baxter on the island because a rumoured search for the island is imminent... Among members of this production/expedition are Jack Driscoll, Captain Englehorn, Jimmy, Lumpy, Preston, Ben Hayes, Choy, Herb, Briggs, Charles Watson and Mike. During the journey on the SS Venture, Anne and Jack fall in love.

They arrive on the island, called Skull Island. They are attacked by a hostile tribe, who by nightfall sacrifice Anne to the local giant of the island, Kong... Jack and the crew go to rescue her from Kong, while also discovering many of skull island's species, such as Skullcrawlers, V.Rexes, Dogs, Mother Longlegs, Leaf Wings, Venatosaurs and more, as well as a more peaceful and gentle tribe called the Iwi.

Anne is eventually rescued after a couple days of struggling. The remaining crew leaves the island and lived to tell the tale... This incident would be a major factor in Monarch's foundation.

Sorry if this one was kinda rushed, but this was a genius thought of mine.

Also this would be the first/pilot episode of Monarch: The Lost Files.

Hello, everyone. Today I have returned with another drawing. This time, I have drawn my version of the Snarehunter ants, though this is just one of five current forms. All five forms have been drawn and I may eventually add another form or two in the future, though that’s up in the air. Either way, I will be going over each of these five current classes over the next few posts. So join me while I take you on a trip to the Hollow Earth.

——

In the various ecosystems of the hollow earth exists a colonial organism, the Snarehunter. These organisms are very similar in appearance to ants and share many similar characteristics. They live in large colonies which function a lot like an ant’s colony and are near the top of the Hollow Earth food chain in many regions. Despite their appearance, however, they aren’t related to ants. In fact, they’re not insects at all but actually crustaceans. It should be noted that unlike ants, these animals can have classes which consist of both male and female members, though not all do as we will see in future entries. They can not breed with each other.

Pictured is the smallest form of these strange crustaceans, the forager. These individuals make up the vast majority of a colony’s members and take on many roles, one of which being a good gatherer as the name suggests. The creatures will gather a wide range of foods, from meat to fruits to seeds. When food is plentiful, foragers will take on a more active lifestyle, staying closer to the colony and even actively hunting down other animals for food. When food is low, however, they change up their hunting style. They will still patrol for plant matter but will go farther from the nest. The biggest change in behavior is their ambush hunting, though, and the source of their name. Groups of foragers will wait in ambush for an animal to come by and once they are within range (often when the animal touches one of their stick-like antennae), they will swarm the animal and overwhelm it. The animal is then killed and brought back to the hive.

The Snarehunters have a many adaptations to help them with this. Most prominently is their camouflage. Native plants will grow on these crustaceans and are used to help camouflage the ants. This isn’t a one way relationship, however, as it’s thought that by being mobile, the seeds of the plants can be spread further and with better results than those which are from stationary plants.

The jaws of these creatures are also more deadly than one might expect. These jaws can deliver a powerful bite but from the mouth comes another deadly tool. Venom glands in the mouth produce a powerful toxin which can paralyze its prey temporarily, though the prey usually doesn’t live long enough to make this temporary. Once the prey is cut well enough, the venom may seep inside. Survivors of these attacks have said that, besides the immense pain of the bite, the venom burns and that they were complete unable to even move one of their fingers.

Besides hunting, these individuals also perform other roles for their colonies. For example, when two colonies go to war, foragers form the main attacking force alongside soldiers. They may also perform other tasks such as helping raise the colony’s brood and expanding and repairing the nest when there are no other individuals to do so.

Possibly due to their colonial nature, these animals are very intelligent. Experiments performed by scientists have shown that groups of these animals can solve complex problems with the proficiency of a great ape and even solo individuals can complete complex tasks. They have also been shown to recognize faces and scents. This will be demonstrated in a separate post where we will go over the story of a biologist who experienced this first hand. Snarehunters also use sound to communicate with each other and there is currently a project dedicated to unraveling what their noises mean.

Despite their intelligence and deadly weaponry, Snarehunters do fall prey to other species in the Hollow Earth. Individuals out on foraging trips may be eaten by larger predators if they are alone or stray too far from their group. One particular species poses the largest harm to the colony, however. These creatures are Gomora. This massive, armored insectivore doesn’t just pick off ants on foraging missions but actively break into nets in order to feast on the Snarehunters inside. Their tough hide makes the mighty weaponry of the Snarehunters nearly useless and its specially designed limbs and teeth make short work of any unlucky individuals. After eating its share, it will leave, causing the nest’s inhabitants to be exposed to other colonies of Snarehunters which may attack and any bad weather which may occur. Luckily for these crustaceans, Gomora also eats a variety of other and has been known to cycle between various nests, giving each one time to repair and regrow before another attack.

——

And so this has been the Snarehunter forager. This entry was quite long as I wanted to go over quite a bit about these creatures. I hoped that you enjoyed the read regardless, though. Some future Snarehunter entries may be shorter than this since I already covered a lot of the group’s facts but that’s just a maybe, I have no idea for now. Anyway, that is all for now. I hope that you all have a wonderful day and goodbye! 👋

Like I don't get it why would Legendary agrees to collaborate with a mobile game that likes to make painfully misleading mobile game ads

And by the way uh Evony if you want to make a collaboration with Kong : Skull Island you've should have done that, but your 6 years too late

Knifehead:

• Height: 315 ft

• Length: 140 ft

• Mass: 87,000 metric tons

• Powers: Adept Swimmer; Blade Protrusion; Massive Jaws; Multiple Arms; Oxygen Independence; Phosphorescent Blood; Second Brain; Sharp Teeth; Underwater Breathing

• Weaknesses: N/A

King Kong (Monsterverse):

• Height: 337 ft

• Mass: 57,400 metric tons

• Powers: Climbing; Extraordinary Leaping; Fireproof Fur; Immense Strength & Agility; Prehensile Feet; Quadrupedalism; Sharp Fangs; Weapon Mastery

• Weaknesses: Oxygen Deprivation

Who would win?

Otachi (Pacific Rim):

• Height: 60 m

• Length: Est. 120 m

• Mass: 35,000 tons

• Powers: Acid Split; Amphibiousness; Caustic Blood; Flight; Prehensile Tail with Pincer Claws; Tactical Intelligence

• Weaknesses: Becomes unable to use certain powers after certain body parts are removed

• Wingspan: Est. 200 m

Smaug (Hobbit Film Trilogy):

• Height: N/A

• Length: 130 m

• Mass: 50,000 tons

• Powers: Enhanced Senses; Fire Breath; Flight; Hyper-Intelligence

• Weaknesses: Has one missing scale where his body is vulnerable to attacks; Molten Gold

• Wingspan: Est: 300 m

Skullcrawler (Monsterverse):

• Height: 80 m

• Length: 160 m

• Mass: 48,000 tons

• Powers: Burrowing; Constricting Body; Serrated Tail; Underwater Breathing; Vocalization Mimicry; Whipslash Tongue

• Weaknesses: Tongue is joined with insides, and ripping it off would kill Skullcrawler

Who would win? Credit for Skullcrawler image goes to Gino L. Kölling.