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The Iwis won't speak their name. But I call them Skullcrawlers.
Overview

Skullcrawlers, also known as Cranium Reptant[5], are a giant amphibian[5] superspecies created by Legendary Pictures that first appeared in the 2017 film, Kong: Skull Island, and served as the secondary antagonists, with the Skull Devil as one of the two main antagonists (alongside Preston Packard).

Name[]

Skullcrawlers earned their name from their skull-like heads and crawling locomotions. Their true name is known as Halakrah, or "Persistent Enemy" in the ancient Iwi language. The name "Skullcrawler" was first mentioned by Hank Marlow as he explained their history to Mason Weaver and James Conrad. The scientific name of their species, Cranium Reptant,[2][5] is derived from Cranium, meaning "skull" in Latin, while Reptant means to crawl or lay against the ground. Although Skullcrawlers are not considered Titans, and while lacking an official Titanus designation, the Skull Devil is designated as the "Alpha Skullcrawler" by Monarch.[5]

By the time of Godzilla vs. Kong, the Skullcrawlers have been designated as Titanus Cranium Reptant. However, this is inaccurate given the opening had many inconsistencies due to production delays.[6]

A titanic adult Skullcrawler held in captivity by Apex Cybernetics was nicknamed "Number 10" by Walter Simmons, due to the number on its holding cell.

Design[]

Appearance[]

Skullcrawlers are large amphibian creatures with only two long forelimbs and no hindlimbs, as well as long, prehensile, serpentine tails. They have long and slender, yet muscular, sturdy bodies. Several aspects of their appearance are noticeably skeletal, particularly their torsos and their heads. What appears to be the "eye sockets" of their skull-like heads are merely empty fenestrae, which presumably evolved that way to protect its eyes from enemies: their real eyes are set much further back, with the fenestrae perhaps serving to distract enemies from their more vulnerable eyes and acting as heat-seeking sensory pits. The pupils of their green eyes are horizontal and somewhat resemble those of frogs and toads. The colors of their hide range from dark brown to dark green to a bone-white color. The skin of Skullcrawlers is translucent, revealing the ribcage underneath from certain angles.

Their heads closely resemble those of mosasaurs such as Tylosaurus, and their jaws possess two rows of serrated, razor-sharp teeth. The Skullcrawlers have four clawed digits in a total of each hand, with the thumb being the smallest digit and the rest of the digits being larger and of the same size, and the adults have a prominent bony spike protrudes out of each of their elbows. The thorny, toothlike structures of their inner mouths somewhat resemble that of a leatherback turtle's. Additionally, they have long, prehensile triple-forked tongues that they can use to grab their prey.

The eggs of Skullcrawlers are near perfect spheres, with a height of approximately 4-6 feet. The shell of these eggs are transparent, revealing the infant Skullcrawler within, much like an amphibian or fish egg would. These eggs are laid in massive quantities, as implied by the several transport shuttles containing them in Godzilla vs. Kong.

Juvenile Skullcrawlers are easily distinguishable from adults. Their heads are smaller and more sloped, and also possess a more prominently brown skin tone. Adult Skullcrawlers are much larger, with most being almost the same size as Kong. Their heads are more defined, larger, and somewhat angled. Their tails are armed with a sharp barb that can be used as a weapon, and they also have distinct bone-like spikes protruding from their elbows. The adult Skullcrawler seen in Godzilla vs. Kong had a unique patch of red coloration running down the length of its back, a sickly yellow tint to its skull, and appeared to be significantly larger than any Skullcrawler previously encountered. A medium-sized adult Skullcrawler in the Skull Island series had several unique bone spikes protruding from its elbows and a mane of ornate serrated spikes that ran down the length of its spine. Skullcrawler blood is green in coloration, though the Skull Island series portrays it to be light purple.

The Skullcrawlers were designed to act as the "fallen angels" of Kong's kingdom and represent the darker, bleaker aspects of Skull Island.

Portrayal[]

All of the Skullcrawlers are portrayed by CGI.

Roar[]

In Kong: Skull Island, the roar of the Skullcrawler is very high in tone, possessing a raspy quality with a hiss and growl mixed in between. According to supervisor sound designer/editor Al Nelson, the Skullcrawler roar was inspired by the pained squeal of a dying rabbit as well as the sounds of sea lions and squirrels.[7] Some of its sounds were recycled from the Indominus rex from the 2015 film, Jurassic World. In Godzilla vs. Kong, when Number 10 burst from its cage, it briefly let out the same roar as the Mega-Kaiju from Pacific Rim: Uprising.

Personality[]

Skullcrawlers are subterranean pack-hunting predators with insatiable appetites that are the results of their heightened metabolisms. Because of this, it is suggested that male and female Skullcrawlers will almost always devour each other after mating.[8] They are highly aggressive, as well as incredibly persistent in pursuing their prey. They do, however, show a high degree of intelligence (as Hank Marlow calls them "crafty bastards"), shown when the largest of the Skullcrawlers refused to devour a grenade-armed Earl Cole and simply swatted him away. Juvenile Skullcrawlers appear to be naturally fearless, as two of them teamed up to attack Kong despite being smaller and out-muscled. They are incredibly tenacious and determined while chasing prey, with Ren Serizawa remarking that even in the face of death, Skullcrawlers still see a potential meal.[8]

Kong skull island skullcrawler 2 by giuseppedirosso-dbdkqoa

A lone Skullcrawler gives Jack Chapman a sadistic, lop-sided grin before devouring him.

The Skull Devil appeared to be more intelligent than the rest of its kind. This was seen when it appeared only once Kong was subdued by Preston Packard, and when it swatted Earl Cole away with its giant tail when it felt he was tricking the creature into eating him. The Skull Devil also seems to have a hint of sadism as it licks Kong's face maliciously after the giant ape gets tangled up in a shipwreck's rudder chain during their battle. This large Skullcrawler was also shown to have a deep desire of killing and eating humans, which was shown several times when it diverted its attention from Kong to James Conrad and Mason Weaver, implying that it had a sense of malice and cruelty. This could also hint that the entire Skullcrawler species is innately malevolent, as Hank Marlow calls them "nasty" and "mean as hell".

Origins[]

Little is known about the origins of this voracious predator, although its evolutionary purpose is abundantly clear. The Skullcrawler exists to devour, destroy, and dominate. Subterranean in nature, burrowing up through the geologically unstable steam vents across Skull Island, it is as though the Skullcrawler climbed up out of Hell itself.
This terrifying serpentine is a hypervore: a creature with such a hyper-adrenalized metabolism that it exists in a constant state of starvation. Just as a shark must keep swimming to survive, the Skullcrawler must keep feeding, dislocating its own jawbone so to maximize its ability to swallow anything that crosses its path. And within that gaping maw exists a long, whiplash tongue, which the creature uses to ensnare and constrict its prey. Its olfactory system can sense hot-blooded life across huge distances. Once it has picked up your scent, the blood in your veins is like blood in the water.
Perhaps most striking is the beast's fearful visage. A chilling, lidless skull-face peer out through translucent flesh, as two dark and lifeless eye sockets regard their prey with cold, unflinching malice. The patterning of its facial features may be indicative of deimatic behavior designed to threaten and terrify its prey.
We have observed different Skullcrawlers in a wide variety of different sizes. Given the unreachable depths of their subterranean nesting grounds, we have no way of knowing how big these things get, or the pecking order that governs their tribal feeding patterns.
The more we learn about the cultural history of Skull Island from the indigenous petroglyphs we have discovered, the clearer it becomes that the evolution of the Skullcrawlers has long been interwoven with Kong and his fallen ancestors.
If Kong is the god of Skull Island, then here comes the devil.
― Monarch Creature Profile

The Skullcrawlers are a species of super-predators that originated from the Hollow Earth before they invaded Skull Island, evolving the role of apex predators in direct competition with the giant ape-like species also inhabiting it. In Godzilla vs. Kong - The Official Movie Novelization, it is explained that Skullcrawlers evolved from a lineage of non-amniote basal reptilomorphs.[9] A dossier in Kong: Skull Island Cinematic Adventure reveals that the Skullcrawlers are classified under the sub-division of Salamandra, meaning that they are salamanders and therefore amphibians.

History[]

Kong: Skull Island[]

A juvenile Skullcrawler is first seen feasting on a dead Sker Buffalo by Kong. Kong prepares to confront the creature when he is ambushed by a second one from behind. After a quick battle, Kong ends up subduing and killing both Skullcrawlers by stuffing one's head into the ground, breaking its neck, and smashing the other's skull with a devastating stomp.

Another juvenile Skullcrawler ambushes Jack Chapman and a Spore Mantis, but went for Chapman and ate him alive while the Spore Mantis managed to escape. The same Skullcrawler then shows up in the boneyard and regurgitates Chapman's skeletal remains. When William Randa attempts to make his camera work, he is devoured by the Skullcrawler, who then tries to attack the group. Randa's camera starts to flash inside the Skullcrawler, which starts to aggravate the creature.

The Skullcrawler then starts chasing Mason Weaver, but the group retaliates using flamethrowers. The creature bats a crew member with its tail onto one of the Kong skulls, causing his backpack to detonate several canisters of toxic gas. The Skullcrawler starts to grow more relentless and disturbs a flock of resting Leafwings, which then turn their attention to attacking the group. James Conrad manages to kill some of the Leafwings using Hank Marlow's katana. The Skullcrawler then sets its eyes on Conrad and Reg Slivko, but Weaver rescues them by tossing Conrad's lighter at one of the subterranean vents, creating an explosion that kills the Skullcrawler on the spot.

The Skull Devil is awakened due to seismic explosives used to kill Kong and after he is incapacitated by Packard, she lets her presence be known by emerging out from the water. Then she attacked the weakened Kong, quickly rendering the ape unconscious before turning her attention to the humans. As the Skull Devil chases Conrad and the other survivors of the research expedition sent to Skull Island, Earl Cole tries to sacrifice himself by arming several grenades before trying to tempt the massive creature to eat him. However, the Skull Devil doesn't take the bait and bats him against a mountainside as the grenades went off, killing him.

As the Skull Devil finally reaches the rest of the crew in a marsh, Kong appears in time to stun the giant reptile with a large boulder, allowing the crew to run to safety. The Skull Devil then returns her focus to Kong, pouncing on him and biting his throat. Kong and Skull Devil continue to brutally wrestle, pummel, and bite each other until the Skull Devil throws Kong into a shipwreck with her tail, where the ape is entangled in the chains. With Kong subdued in the wreck, the Skull Devil is about to kill him when she's fired upon by Houston Brooks and the other humans. She then returns her focus to the humans and approaches them, giving Kong the chance to free himself from the chains.

As she approaches the crew once more, the Skull Devil's right eye was destroyed by a flare fired by Weaver, and Conrad lures her away from the crew on their boat. This allows Kong to use and swing the propeller of a wrecked ship at the Skull Devil like a medieval flail, which catches the beast in the shoulder and allows Kong to pull her back toward him and resume their fight. Kong continues to wrestle the Skull Devil and throws her into the side of a cliff, causing Weaver to fall into the water below.

As the Skull Devil continues to attack Kong, the ape uppercut her with the ship's propeller, slicing the her throat wide open and seemingly killing her. As Kong saves Weaver from drowning, the Skull Devil recovers from her wound and pounces on Kong once more. After coiling her tail around Kong, she wraps her tongue around the ape's arm, pulling it down her gullet in an attempt to devour Weaver. After a brief struggle, Kong tears out the Skull Devil internal organs through her mouth, which kills her instantly. With the Skull Devil slain, Kong succeeds in saving Weaver and avenging his parents.

Skull Island: The Birth of Kong[]

The Skullcrawlers' history on Skull Island is revealed in Riccio's visions. Riccio says that the Skullcrawlers attempted to invade Skull Island and waged war against Kong's ancestors. When the Iwis first arrived on Skull Island, the Skullcrawlers had wiped out all but the two strongest apes, which turned out to be Kong's parents.

After the 1973 Monarch expedition, Skullcrawlers still inhabit Skull Island, but their population is controlled by Kong, and none of them have grown to the size of the Skull Devil. In another vision, Riccio explained that the Skullcrawlers continued their fight against Kong's parents.

One day, a pack of Skullcrawlers attempted to kill Kong's Mother while she was in labor, but Kong's Father kept them at bay. After Kong was born, his mother hid him in a cave and sealed it with rocks before she rushed to aid her mate. Kong then watched as the Skullcrawlers slaughtered his parents.

Skull Island[]

Sometime in the 1990s, a medium-sized Skullcrawler covered in unique ornate spikes pursued a young woman through the forests of Skull Island. After cornering the woman against a mountainside, the Skullcrawler prepared to devour her, but was suddenly impaled through the back of its skull with a sharpened tree trunk by Kong, killing it instantly.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters[]

In the novelization of the film, a horde of Skullcrawlers attempt to leave Skull Island upon hearing Ghidorah's call, but they are stopped by Kong before they can do so.

Godzilla vs. Kong[]

A massive adult Skullcrawler, codenamed Number 10, is held captive by Apex Cybernetics to be used as a test subject for Mechagodzilla to kill, as well as numerous Skullcrawler eggs that are being transported from Pensacola, Florida, to Hong Kong. The creature breaks free from its containment cell and begins chasing after Madison Russell after she, Josh Valentine, and Bernie Hayes had wandered into the facility, but is swiftly grabbed and restrained by Mechagodzilla. The Mecha then dislocates Number 10's limbs before slicing it in half using the A-74 proton scream.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters[]

In 1973, a partially skeletal carcass of a Skullcrawler is seen on the rocky shoreline of Skull Island after Bill Randa sent his satchel adrift.

Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted[]

Skullcrawlers and their eggs are among the creatures hunted by Raymond Martin in the Hollow Earth before he is confronted by Kong.

Comics[]

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong[]

After winding up in the MonsterVerse in the first issue, the Legion of Doom find themselves on Skull Island where they come across a particularly large Skullcrawler which is consequently attacked by Kong. During the battle, the Legion of Doom takes shelter in a Monarch outpost (save Gorilla Grodd who stays behind to worship Kong as a god). In the fourth issue, Green Arrow discovers the skull of a large Skullcrawler being harbored in the ship of the League of Assassins. In the fifth issue, the Skullcrawler skull is then transported to the Lazarus Pit via helicopter so that it can be resurrected by Ra's al Ghul.

Abilities[]

Amphibious nature[]

The film novelization states that Skullcrawlers have hidden gills on their neck, allowing them to breathe on land and underwater indefinitely.

Burrowing[]

Being subterranean, Skullcrawlers are capable of using their limbs to burrow deep into the earth.

Durability and stamina[]

Skullcrawlers are very durable, as they can withstand bullets from rifles and the searing heat of a flamethrower. The largest of the Skullcrawlers was only dazed when Kong slammed his head with a boulder or smashed his face with a tree branch, while the Skullcrawler that ate Chapman and Randa could withstand fire from an M2HB heavy machine gun, which was chambered in .50 BMG. The Skull Devil could withstand continuous sprays of fire from a pair of M3 Brownings (Also chambered in .50 BMG). They have incredible stamina, being able to stay in a full-fledged fight for several minutes even whilst being incredibly injured.

Hunting[]

Skullcrawlers are both solitary and pack hunters. Juveniles can hunt for themselves and can take down creatures like the Sker Buffalo on their own, and they can cooperate to take down more powerful creatures such as Kong.

Intelligence[]

Skullcrawlers are very intelligent, as shown when the younger Skullcrawlers tried ambushing Kong, and when the Skull Devil realized Cole was trying to trick her into eating him and instead of eating him, she batted him away with her tail. Marlow describes them as "crafty bastards."

Olfactory system[]

Much like snakes, the Skullcrawlers' olfactory system allows them to sense hot-blooded lifeforms from miles away.

Prehensile tail and tongue[]

Big ol' tongue trick, really

A hungry Skullcrawler recoils its tongue to consume its prey.

Skullcrawlers have prehensile tongues that they use to grab and quickly devour small prey, or for gripping large prey in combat.

The tail of the Skullcrawler is heavily muscled and extremely powerful, which is evidenced when the largest Skullcrawler lifted and flung Kong across the marsh with his tail. As stated before, the tail is also for wrapping around large prey, possibly to latch onto them for balance or to constrict them. Adult Skullcrawlers such as Skull Devil have a sharp ivory-colored barb the size of Marlow's boat at the end of their tails, and they use this barb for slashing and lethal stabbing. Skull Devil killed Kong's Father with this barb, stabbing it into the side of his skull and leaving a large hole.

Speed and agility[]

Skullcrawlers can run very quickly despite having only two legs, and their speed matches or surpasses that of an adult human. They are able to navigate the treacherous terrain of Skull Island, and are capable of making swift turns.

Strength and combat[]

As the apex predators of Skull Island, Skullcrawlers are fearsome and deadly in battle, using their jaws full of razor-sharp teeth as their primary weapons. They can hold their own against opponents like Kong, able to withstand the blows and pummeling of the ape. Their serpent-like tails are used for swatting, wrapping around, or throwing an opponent during combat. Skullcrawlers can also use their clawed feet as formidable slashing weapons as well.

Voice mimicry[]

The novelization of Kong: Skull Island states that Skullcrawlers can mimic human voices to lure their prey.

Weaknesses[]

Heightened metabolism[]

Skullcrawlers possess accelerated metabolism, which causes them to live in constant starvation. This is shown when the largest Skullcrawler ravenously tried to eat Weaver and refused to let go of Kong's arm. Kong then turned her insatiable appetite against her, tearing out her tongue and other attached organs. In the Godzilla vs. Kong novelization, Madison Russell notes that Skullcrawler hatchlings are "born starving",[10] indicating that this trait is present from birth. Ren Serizawa later remarks that it is "impossible" for Skullcrawlers to eat enough to sate their starvation.[8]

Limb structure[]

A Skullcrawler's arms are unable to straighten out horizontally, so when Mechagodzilla grabbed Number 10 and held him by the arms, the Mecha dislocated both of Number 10's elbows and shoulders.

Locomotion[]

Having only two limbs to walk on, their stance is rather unstable and can easily be toppled.

Tongue[]

It is shown that Kong can easily eviscerate Skullcrawlers by yanking out their tongues, which are connected to their internal organs.

Vulnerable eyes[]

The eyes of a Skullcrawler are one of its only weak points, as seen when Weaver destroys one of the larger Skullcrawler's eyes with a flare gun. The large eye-like sockets on the front of their faces likely serve as distractions from their real eyes which are set further back. They may also serve a function as heat-seeking pits.

Trivia[]

  • The Skullcrawlers' stomachs don't appear to be able to digest bone, as one of them is seen vomiting bones, including a human skull, in the boneyard. This is similar to some species of snakes that eat eggs.
  • The Skullcrawlers' design has been influenced by the two-legged lizard from the original 1933 King Kong film, along with Sachiel from Evangelion, No-Face from Spirited Away, and Cubone from Pokemon.[11]
  • The Skullcrawlers combine features of snakes, lizards, and mosasaurs, all of which are members of the reptile order Squamata.
  • Skullcrawlers share some resemblances with the nāga of Southern and Southeastern Asian mythologies, for they are both creatures that live underground with serpentine bodies and possess only one pair of limbs.
  • The fact that the Skullcrawlers' eyesockets can be mistaken for their real eyes has a similar fact for orcas, as their white markings make people believe that those are their real eyes.
  • The Skull Devil has earned the name Ramarak among fans, but it has not officially been used in any of the films or the books.
    • Legendary copyrighted the name "Ramarak the Skullcrawler" and other variations of this name, which could possibly be a rejected name for the Skull Devil, in December 2015. The Skullcrawlers and their alpha may be a reference to Gaw and the Deathrunners from Kong: King of Skull Island, the illustrated prequel/sequel novel to the original 1933 movie as the creatures responsible for deaths of Kong's parents and the near extinction of his species.
  • The Skull Devil simply being dubbed "the Big One" is likely a reference to the film Jurassic Park, in which game warden Robert Muldoon gave the leader of the Velociraptors the same title.
  • In the English subtitles featured on HBO Max during Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) debut, the Skullcrawlers are referred to as "Skull-crawlers".
  • While it was initially believed to be a male, the Skull Devil is actually a female and is the mother of the Skullcrawlers that Kong killed earlier who were half her size.[12]
  • The skull-like face of the Skullcrawlers resemble that of the Cryptocledius from Godzilla: The Series.

List of appearances[]

Films[]

Television[]

Comics[]

Novels[]

Video games[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Artistmesh (29 August 2017). Behind the Magic: Making of Kong Skull Island. YouTube.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Skull Island: The Birth of Kong #2
  3. 3.0 3.1 Kong-Sized. kongskullislandmovie.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017.
  4. Skullcrawler creature profile
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Trent, Sigfried; Flanagan, Ivis K.; Bramnik, Michael. Kong: Skull Island Cinematic Adventure (2023). Evil Genius Games.
  6. Wingard, Adam (April 22, 2021). I'm Adam Wingard, director of Godzilla vs. Kong. AMA!. Reddit. Retrieved on April 22, 2021.
  7. Kong: Skull Island Production and High-Res Photos SciFi Japan. Retrieved January 15, 2018
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Leyes, Greg. Godzilla vs. Kong - The Official Movie Novelization. Titan Books. p. 241. April 6, 2021. ISBN: 9781789097351. ASIN: B08R6PKDFS.
  9. Keyes, Greg. Godzilla vs. Kong - The Official Movie Novelization. Titan Books. p. 122. April 6, 2021. ISBN: 9781789097351. ASIN: B08R6PKDFS.
  10. Keyes, Greg. Godzilla vs. Kong - The Official Movie Novelization. Titan Books. p. 197. April 6, 2021. ISBN: 9781789097351. ASIN: B08R6PKDFS.
  11. Davis, Erik (February 17, 2017). DIRECTOR JORDAN VOGT-ROBERTS ON WHY 'KONG: SKULL ISLAND' IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER 'KING KONG' MOVIE Fandango. Retrieved June 27, 2017
  12. Behind the Magic: Making of Kong Skull Island


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