What Would Happen In a Fight Between Godzilla and King Kong?

Updated:

04 Apr 2017

If Godzilla and King Kong were to fight, how would it go down?

In Kong: Skull Island it’s revealed through the presence of the Monarch organization, and an after credits scene depicting Godzilla and other kaiju, that the two movies exist in a shared universe. I don’t think it needs to be said what that means. The Kaiju movie has always returned to the spectacle of seeing giant monsters clash. From the original 1933 King Kong film onward, the title character always gets into a tussle at least once with non-human opponents. Of course, Godzilla has made his brand by fighting other giant monsters and inspiring knockoffs like Gamera. So, if this franchise continues, not only is the Great Ape and the Leviathan deathmatch an exciting possibility, it is an inevitability. Now I’m not one to jump the gun so soon after a product has only recently released. However, as a long-time movie buff and fan of genre fiction, considering the outcomes and factors of these sorts of brawls is always fun to ponder. So once again we ask the eternal question of gamers, history buffs, and soccer fans. Who would win in a fight?

King Kong’s advantages:

“I’ve been stomping lizards since I was born. What you got?!”

On the surface, it might not appear that Kong has a lot going for him. Godzilla has teeth, claws, armor, a devastating ranged weapon, and is more storied in both height and fights. The Kong of Kong: Skull Island though, is a vast departure from almost any other incarnation of the character. (Don’t get me started on the animated series.) Not only has he been scaled up to match proper kaiju status, this Kong is a young buck. In contrast to his earlier versions where the sacrifice of women to him was a reoccurring ritual hinting at a long history and great age. This Kong is only in his teenage years and the film is set in the 70’s. In contrast, Godzilla is millions of years old and his age hints at a possible frailty. Gareth Edwards directly compared him to “the last samurai” and that “his kind has long since died out.” By the modern day, Kong will be in his prime and Godzilla might be on his last legs. From what we see in the film, Kong has surprising agility for something his size, a feature Godzilla distinctly lacks. So, the King of Monster might have trouble getting his hits in. Even taking away the age factor, Kong also has another advantage that is highlighted many times in his film and that’s the mighty, opposable thumb! Kong is shown to be very adept at using trees, rocks, and anything else he can grip, as a weapon, when his raw strength isn’t enough. Something Godzilla, for all his natural tools, simply can’t do. So, Kong squaring off with Godzilla in an industrial city might have the same effect as attacking Jackie Chan at a Home Depot.

Godzilla's Advantages:

"I've been eating mammals since you evolved."

Die hard and casual fans of Godzilla both buy into the character for many reasons and one of them is power. The walking nuclear/natural disaster has always been something of a fantasy to vicariously live through. Divorced from the horrifying effects that he metaphorically represents, Godzilla is fun to watch.The oceans rise and sink with him, the Earth shakes with his every footfall, entire cities are minor obstacles to him, our greatest weapon is the thing that powers him, and anything below that is barely appreciable as a threat. The amount of fighting seen in Godzilla 2014 was disappointing to some but the fighting that we did see was a blast. Between his claws, teeth, tail, spines, and atomic breath, Godzilla has more options than Kong does in a fight. Kong might be more agile than Godzilla but that’s not going to do much but prolong the battle if Kong can’t actually hurt Godzilla. From what we see in the latter’s movie, only the combined effort of the two Mutos seemed to be effective against him. Kong doesn’t have a Diddy to his Donkey that he can tag in. (Does that sound dirty or is it just me?)

Conclusion:

“The arrogance of fans, is thinking they’ll be a definitive winner. Let them fight anyway.”

As much as I adored King Kong in this most recent movie, especially with him now a straight up protector figure, the odds favor the king of monsters in this bout. If a middle weight boxer were to challenge an older but still active heavy weight who was also wearing padding, the latter has the advantage. That said, it’s not so disproportionate that it’s hopeless for Kong either. The key factor here is whether Kong can figure out a way to get Godzilla down for the count and finish him off before Godzilla has a chance to kill him in seven different ways. He’s David in this fight and he needs to find the sling and rock for Godzilla’s Goliath. Skull Island showed that not only can Kong weaponize things, he can pick up on potential applications after only a moment of observing a new object. There is a skeptic in me that says it doesn’t matter, that like many crossover battles before this, we won’t get a definitive winner for fear of ticking off half of the viewers. This is a strange time in movies though. Captain America: Civil War gave us an official “winner” but the victory was so hollow it feels more appropriate to say both sides lost. So maybe one will win, or maybe they’ll fight two times and each one wins under different circumstance. Either way, it is sure to be a true clash of the titans, to decide who is the true king.