Top 10 Worst Things King Kong Has Done

#10: Dropping an Innocent Woman

Also in:

Top 10 Jaw-Dropping Moments From Jawbreaker

“King Kong” (1933) King Kong had every right to act out after he was brought to New York City against his will. Unfortunately, innocent people paid the price. After Kong escapes his chains, he tries to find Ann, a woman of whom he had become very protective. He eventually climbs up several stories of a hotel and grabs a random person. Upon finding that the woman isn’t Ann, Kong just drops her. Given how high up the ape was at the time, it’s doubtful the innocent bystander survived her fall. Kong made an innocent woman plunge to her doom for no reason while trying to kidnap another. In a twist of karmic justice, Kong similarly meets his demise after falling from great heights.

“King Kong” (2005) When Kong kidnaps Ann on Skull Island, first mate Ben Hayes leads a rescue party to save her. Sensing that the mission is about to go south, Hayes tells the party to fall back and opens fire … which we admit probably wasn’t the best idea. With the first mate at his mercy, Kong takes a moment to think before throwing the man into a ravine. Although Hayes attacked first, he was just trying to save Ann, and protect his friends. Plus … we liked Hayes! Did you really have to throw him that hard, Kong?!

“Godzilla vs. Kong” (2021) In “Godzilla vs Kong”, the big ape has many reasons to be angry, and he isn’t afraid to show it! [SB: throwing tree into dome]. His most brutal show of aggression happens inside the Hollow Earth. After Apex executive Maia Simmons holds Kong’s allies at gunpoint, she tries to escape. Before she can, however, Kong grabs her ride and crushes it. We completely understand why Kong was enraged at Maia. But the bullets fired at him weren’t really much of a threat, she was essentially retreating, and there were other people in the H.E.A.V. with her.

“King Kong Lives” (1986) After Kong stirs up some chaos in a small town, a group of locals try to subdue him. The men use explosives to trap the ape under a pile of rocks. Unfortunately, they make the fatal mistake of trying to intimidate and torment Kong in the process. As soon as the ape escapes, he dispatches one of the men in horribly brutal fashion before devouring the other. This is yet another case where the humans legitimately wronged Kong but were punished disproportionately. From the moment the ape got free, they ceased to be a threat. Kong could’ve been the bigger ape and let these foolish men go home to the town he stomped through.

“King Kong Escapes” (1967) In this 1967 film, Lt. Susan Watson and her allies are trying to leave the remote Mondo Island on their submarine when they run into a major hiccup. Kong has followed them into the water and begins shaking their vessel. After Susan goes out to try to calm the ape down, he snatches her up. She has to jump into the ocean just to convince him to let her go. Although he may not be familiar with submarines, this version of the character seems to understand human emotions. He should’ve known better than to rock the boat or grab Susan on a whim. Fortunately, no one gets hurt by Kong’s reckless actions this time around.

“Kong: Skull Island” (2017) During “Kong: Skull Island”, the titular ape gets into a fight with a Mire Squid. After a brief struggle, Kong comes out on top. But the ape takes things a step further when he decides to consume the tentacles of his fallen foe. We can definitely understand why Kong had to take the squid down. But treating its remains like a sushi dinner seems … disrespectful. And it's just kind of gross. Judging by the way Kong used the blood of a defeated warbat to quench his thirst in “Godzilla vs Kong”, however, he clearly doesn’t intend to give up this savage habit any time soon.

“King Kong vs Godzilla” (1962) Although Godzilla is the Kaiju that’s normally associated with attacking Tokyo, Kong decided to give it a try in this 1962 film. He starts by chomping down on some power lines, and then proceeds to stomp on houses and smash through buildings. To cap off his destructive rampage, the ape returns to his old ways and kidnaps a woman named Fumiko. His last act endangers her life and prevents the military from taking direct action against him. So within a short timespan, Kong causes massive property damage and almost gets away with kidnapping. Thankfully, the humans stopped him before he committed even more crimes against Tokyo.

“King Kong” (1933) Already fleeing for their lives from a vicious dinosaur, this group of explorers have the misfortune of running right into Kong's clutches. Shortly after they reach a log bridge, the angry ape appears. Kong immediately rolls the tree back and forth to make the humans fall into the chasm below. And the ape doesn’t stop until he believes he’s sent each and every one of them to their demise. Unlike other humans, this group of explorers never attempted to attack Kong or take anything from him - at least not in this moment. The ape dispatched them all merely for invading his space.

“King Kong” (1976) In 1976’s “King Kong”, the titular ape stops at nothing to get a woman named Dwan (like swan) in his clutches. After his arrival in New York City, she tries to get away from him by boarding a train. But Kong catches onto her scent and destroys a set of tracks. After tossing one train car to the ground, he picks up a woman who looks like Dwan. Yep, we’ve heard this story before. Kong immediately throws her aside when he realizes it's not her. And she's just one of the dozens of New York City residents that were hurt (if not killed) when he attacked the train. Kong's obsession with Dwan turned a normal commute into a life and death struggle for these poor people.

“Godzilla vs. Kong” (2021) It was a ton of fun to see two legendary titans fighting for dominance in Hong Kong. But there’s a dark undercurrent to their battle. After Kong rushes into a fight with Godzilla aboveground, the two damage tons of buildings in the city. Although some Hong Kong residents might have gotten to safety, we still see innocent people getting caught in the path of the fight. We know that Kong was upset with Godzilla for a number of reasons, but the ape’s decision to brawl in Hong Kong caused massive destruction and likely caused many people to lose their lives. It might take years for the city and its residents to recover.