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This planet doesn't belong to us. Ancient species owned this earth long before mankind. And if we keep our heads buried in the sand, they will take it back.
― Randa to Packard
Overview


William "Bill" J. Randa was a former sailor of the United States Navy and the sole survivor of the USS Lawton incident. Afterwards, he became a high-ranking official of the organization Monarch and organized the first expedition to Skull Island in 1973. He made his first appearance in the 2017 MonsterVerse film, Kong: Skull Island.

Personality[]

In his youth, Randa was optimistic, adventurous, and an idealist who was open to a sleuth of possibilities. He was also compassionate and supportive towards those whom he viewed as friends and family.

As time went on, however, Randa started to embrace a much darker side: being the sole survivor of an attack on his vessel by the Ion Dragon and witnessing his wife Keiko Randa and best friend Lee Shaw seemingly die, Randa had let vengeance consume him and was prejudiced enough to believe that monsters like Kong possessed no conscience and that they must be exterminated. However, this changed when Randa began to see the similarities between humans and Kong. Additionally, he expressed his regret of not being the best father and was willing to apologize to Hiroshi Randa for the mistakes he made.

Relationships[]

Houston Brooks[]

Randa and Brooks got along well since Randa agreed with Brooks’ thesis about the Hollow Earth and recruited him to Monarch. Brooks was visibly shocked when Randa met his demise in the jaws of a Skullcrawler.

History[]

Naval Career[]

During World War II, Randa was a sailor of the United States Navy with tours in Italy and North Africa.

Attack on the USS Lawton[]

In 1943, Randa was stationed aboard the USS Lawton 200 miles west of Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked, torn apart, and sunk by an unidentified Titan known as the Ion Dragon, leaving him as the only survivor. Since the experience, Randa would dedicate his life as a researcher at Monarch trying to prove that monsters exist.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters[]

1952[]

Randa was in the jungle of the Philippines following the trail of a creature that inspired local folklore about a dragon that carves a path of fire across the sky. During the expedition, he crossed paths with Lee Shaw and Keiko before concluding that they were all searching for the same thing. Lee chose to return to Mindanao with the belief that Randa could not be trusted, but Keiko joined Randa as they realized that the trails of the creature and the airborne radioisotopes were an exact match. As they trekked deeper into the jungle, Randa and Keiko discovered what remained of the USS Lawton.

Randa guided Keiko through the interiors of the Lawton as he revealed his past experiences aboard the ship and uncovered his lost belongings. The exploration took a darker turn when they came across bodies of sailors encapsulated in nacre. Randa and Keiko then decided to escape the Lawton before he was pinned by falling debris. Fortunately, Lee arrived just in time to rescue the pair before hiding in the jungle to watch an Ion Dragon claiming the Lawton as its own.

1954[]

Randa, Keiko, and Shaw managed to discover and create an impression of Godzilla's footprint in Indonesia before they presented it to General Puckett in order to gain funding from the United States Army so that Monarch could resume its activities. Although they succeeded in obtaining the funding, they were frustrated to find Puckett to deploy an atomic bomb to lure Godzilla out to the Bikini Atoll. Regardless, Randa documented the operation with his camera and witnessed Godzilla being seemingly killed by the atomic bomb. Back at their headquarters, Randa comforted the grieving Keiko as Lee informed them that the American government was willing to give Monarch further funding in case of future Titan emergences. Randa and Keiko agreed to keep some Monarch secrets with Lee so that they could study the Titans without outside interferences.

1955[]

Randa informed Keiko and Lee of another Titan sighting in the Japanese Hateruma Island with radiation readings that were similar to the one they found in the Philippines. On the island, Randa and Keiko became with acquainted a scientist named Suzuki, who managed to build a Gamma Radiation Simulator to lure Titans in. Randa informed Lee of their venture and was surprised when the latter chose to leave his station in the Monarch Headquarters so that he could protect Keiko. Randa was astounded that the Titan who responded to the Gamma Radiation Simulator was none other than Godzilla, who successfully survived the Castle Bravo bomb. Randa, Keiko, and Lee deliberated on whether they should inform the military about Godzilla, but when they returned to the Monarch Headquarters, they were shocked to find Lee demoted due to his insubordination.

Randa, Keiko, and Lee presented their findings to Lieutenant Hatch, who remained unconvinced if running Monarch is more prioritized over Soviet sleeper agents. When Hatch started to make disdainful remarks about Keiko, the furious Randa was about to accost the lieutenant as Lee held him back. As they returned to their office, Randa vented his anger by punching a hole in the wall. Randa and Keiko then complied with Lee's order of creating a map that would show where the Titans were hiding in order to have their former positions reinstated and the government's continued funding. Randa and Keiko went through Monarch's field notes as they attempted to discover how the Titans managed to travel across the world without being noticed by humans, but with no success. Simultaneously, Randa coined Monarch's official motto: beyond logic, lies truth.

Several hours later, Randa was alone in his office as he contemplated on what he and his colleagues had been missing. Upon noticing an ant walking through a tear on his map, Randa realized that the Titans were using subterranean tunnels to move across the globe. Excited, Randa visited Keiko in her home and presented his Hollow Earth theory to her before meeting her son, Hiroshi. After learning about Keiko's family history, Randa offered to help Keiko in raising Hiroshi.

1959[]

Randa, Keiko, and Lee were on a M.U.T.O. hunt in the Kazakh countryside, with Lee praising Randa and Keiko for being able to raise Hiroshi as a married couple and work for Monarch simultaneously. They then put on masks to protect themselves from the radiation, only to discard them upon realizing that the air around the abandoned nuclear power plant was clean. The trio then placed seismic charges around the power plant that Lee detonated, which resulted in them discovering the hollow bedrock. As Randa, Keiko, and Lee delved deeper, they came across an Endoswarmer nursery that Keiko wished to study. Randa and Keiko shared a kiss before she and Lee climbed down to collect genetic materials. However, the unstable ground slowly awakened the Endoswarmers, prompting both Lee and Keiko to climb back up to Randa. Despite Randa's efforts to pull Keiko up, he was devastated when the Endoswarmers pulled her to her death.

1962[]

Randa and Lee prepare for a reconnaissance mission to the Hollow Earth called "Operation Hourglass" in Kansas after they said their goodbyes to Hiroshi. While walking through the launch site, Randa and Lee pondered on how Keiko would love to see how far Monarch had grown. Randa saluted Lee when the latter and three other operatives prepared for departure and was surprised to find the Ion Dragon responding to the Gamma Radiation Simulator. However, the gravitational inversion created a vortex that caused a substantial amount of damage around the test site, and Randa believed that Lee and everyone else inside the reconnaissance pod were killed in the implosion. Randa then told the heartbroken Hiroshi about what happened.

Randa was grieving Lee's supposed death at Monarch's Headquarters when Puckett arrived to reveal that the Department of Defense had ceased in giving further funding to Monarch following the catastrophe. Randa believed that he could have prevented Lee from going, which made him even more determined to keep Monarch running. Puckett then advised Randa to stay alive so that Hiroshi would still have a father.

1973[]

During the Skull Island expedition, Randa created a recording for Hiroshi and apologized to his stepson for all the mistakes he made and intended to create a legacy. However, it was cut short when a Mother Longlegs pursued Randa towards a rocky shoreline. Believing that his demise was near, Randa sent his satchel adrift before a Mantleclaw emerged from the ground and engaged the Mother Longlegs in a vicious battle that ended with both of them plunging into the ocean. Randa then watched as the tides wash his satchel away.

Kong: Skull Island[]

In 1973, Randa managed to convince Senator Al Willis to procure funding for an expedition to Skull Island with help from Houston Brooks, allowing him to determine if his theories were true. Randa then hired a security force comprised of U.S. military soldiers led by Preston Packard as a means of protection from potential threats. He also hired James Conrad to join them as a tracker.

After journeying to the island, Randa had Brooks initiate seismic tests, with him and Brooks discovering Skull Island's bedrock was completely hollow, vindicating his "Hollow Earth Theory". However, this would awaken the lizard-like Skullcrawlers that dwelled beneath the island. This, in turn, angered Kong, the island's Alpha Titan, who attacked the expedition team to prevent anymore Skullcrawlers awakening. The event had a profound effect on Randa, who felt vindicated that his theory about the existence of monsters was finally proven true. Telling this to Packard, who threatened him after Kong's attack, Randa admitted that he worked for Monarch and used the explosives to flush out Kong or another Titan. He also confessed that he felt threatened about the existence of ancient species that ruled the earth before mankind, believing that they would eventually take back the planet from humanity.

While journeying with Packard's men to try and reach a missing soldier, Jack Chapman, Randa and Packard encounter one of Kong's bloody handprints. Randa is awestruck by the sight, and deems it magnificent, slowly beginning to realize just how much alike Kong is to a human when he compares his hand to Kong's. At one point during the night Randa warned Packard that while he understood his motives to find Chapman, his mission to kill Kong might get them all killed.

After reuniting with the survivor group led by Conrad, Mason Weaver, and Hank Marlow, they are subsequently guided by Conrad to the western side of the island while trying to find Chapman and are forced to go through the site in which the bones of Kong's parents lie. While taking photographs at the grave of Kong's parents, Randa was devoured by a Skullcrawler and his camera continued to flash within its stomach as it stalked the rest of the crew. If he was still alive inside the Skullcrawler, then it was likely that he was killed when Weaver threw Conrad's lighter at the gas from a nearby subterranean vent, which burned the creature alive in a fiery explosion.

Trivia[]

  • His line "monsters exist" is rather coincidentally meta in nature, as he is portrayed by John Goodman, who also portrayed the main character James P. Sullivan from the Pixar animated film, Monsters Inc. He also appeared in the film 10 Cloverfield Lane, which boasted the tagline "Monsters Come In Many Forms."

List of appearances[]

Films[]

Television[]

Books[]


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