Headscratchers / Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Suko being Skar King's son

• If he and all those other orange-furred babies (which were shown in the throne room) are Skar King's children, how come none of them have his red fur, they're all fiery orange.
  • Could be Skar’s fur is just dirty, or it darkened with age.
  • Alternately, he could have rubbed pigments into his fur, given he already wears red face paint.
  • Another option is that it's a consequence of breeding with the Kongs rather than whatever breed of ape titan he originates from, the mixed blood causes the orange fur.

Kongs Aging

• This should be easy to answer: do Kongs age normally?
  • Most of the Titans are ancient beings, treated almost like Deities and with prophesies about them.
  • However, the great apes seem to operate on normal (if extended) lifespans. Kong is less than 100 years old and noticeably ages between each of his movies. He was a juvenile in Skull Island, an adult in Versus, and here he is clearly a silverback.
  • On the other hand, Skar is explicitly an ancient, immortal being who fought a war against Godzilla millennia ago.
    • However, Skar has also clearly aged, albeit more slowly: perhaps the great apes age quickly in their first hundred or so years of life, then slow down drastically once older.
    • Given we’ve never seen the full life cycle of any other Titan species, this could be the case for all of them: they grow quickly when young because that’s really the only time when they’re seriously vulnerable. Once they reach the size and power where only other Titans can pose a serious threat to them, their growth slows down and they become functionally immortal/immune to aging.
  • The mortal Kong interpretation is supported by the Hollow Earth Kongs having a number of infants, like a normal tribe of apes would. Immortal beings trapped for thousands of years wouldn't have a large number of juveniles because there would be a risk of overpopulation.
    • Counterpoint to this: Skar King wants an army.
    • Skar King himself may have some kind of extended lifespan, given the glow in his eyes that all the other apes lack. Perhaps that crystal enhanced him.

Kong's Growth

• Similar to the above question; in Skull island, it's established that Kong is still young & growing & he reaches his adult size by Godzilla vs Kong. Thing is, "young & growing" Kong, while still basically proportioned the same as adult Kong... was still about fifteen meters shorter than Suko is in Godzilla x Kong, with Suko being clearly proportioned as a child, not even really an adolescent. Like... there just isn't really a good Watsonian explanation for this that I can think of.
  • What is the question here? Kong was a teenager (not a child like Suko) in Skull Island, and as seen in this movie his adult size is basically the epitome of his species as all the other kongs are smaller. We'd need to compare Suko at the age Kong was at in Skull Island to really compare the two, and we can't given he is too young.
    • The question is, what is the growth & development cycle of the great apes & why is it portrayed inconsistently, because Suko, while being very young, absolutely towers over how big Kong was in Skull Island. In Skull Island, Kong was about 30meters tall. In Godzilla x Kong, Suko is 45 meters tall. Kong, as a full adult, is noticeably bigger but still proportionate to the other adult great apes. But "teenaged" Kong would barely come up to the knee of adult Kong. So, is teenage Suko going to be as big as Kong is now? And adult Suko going to be big enough to hold Kong & Godzilla in his hands like toys?
    • If there are in-universe answers then perhaps Suko's appearance is a combination of him not being quite the same kind of ape as Kong (i.e. different growth rate), and less physically developed in appearance than he should be due to being malnourished (i.e. if fed properly perhaps he would be have a build closer to Kong's proportions at the same size). A related possibility is that the Kongs on Skull Island were dwarfs due to their long existence on an island, causing Kong to start out much smaller than Hollow Earth apes and gaining a teenage body at a much smaller size, but perhaps through some genetic atavism over time growing to the size potential of his ancestors).

The palace in Gv K

• In Godzilla vs. Kong, Kong stumbles upon a seemingly abandoned palace built by his kind, which at the time seemed like confirmation that Kong really was the last of his kind. But now we see an advanced, functioning civilization of Great Apes that are very much still abundant, so what was with the empty throne room then? Were the inhabitants killed off by Godzilla? Was it the former home of the Skar King before they were forced to move?
  • Probably the latter. It's stated in the movie that Godzilla drove Skar King and his army into that lower level of the Hollow Earth and sealed them inside. It's hard to call Skar King's slave camp a advanced civilization either. Being trapped in a small, fairly desolate part of the Hollow Earth probably really slowed their recovery.

Godzilla vs. Scylla

• Scylla fights Godzilla one-on-one and very quickly dies. So how come she challenged him now? At the end of King of the Monsters she had the backup of four other Titans but chose to submit, so if she had no actual loyalty to Godzilla you'd think she'd have turned on him then.
  • Those other Titans were submitting, and presumably would not have allied with her. Other media depicts Scylla as seeking means of acquiring more power in order to challenge Godzilla, so she probably did not see herself as strong enough to try anything at that point. This movie presumably just shows Godzilla finally losing patience with her attempts to usurp him.
  • It's also implied that Scylla kept bullying humans for no real reason along with the whole usurpation thing. Godzilla just killed Scylla after he finally got tired of her crap.

Mothra's whereabouts

• Where was Mothra during the events of Godzilla vs. Kong? She's demonstrated the ability to hatch, pupate and emerge in just a day or two, so why didn't she emerge earlier to intervene the first time Godzilla and Kong fought?
  • We don't know what it takes to get Mothra's attention. Even in this movie she requires Jia alerting her before she emerges. And until Mechagodzilla suddenly gained the power of the Hollow Earth, the events of Godzilla vs. Kong were not of a world-threatening level. Or at least not until Mechagodzilla got loose and then Godzilla and Kong dealt with it before Mothra could have got there.
  • The novel clarifies that this Mothra is the "original" (while also the same individual who died against Ghidorah) and was sleeping within that Iwi sanctuary this whole time. Evidently a lot of magic is involved in Mothra's existence.

The Iwi's Warnings

• It's noted that the signal that puts Godzilla on alert was also broadcasted during other major Titan-related events. We eventually find out it is the Hollow Earth Iwi who are sending this signal as a means to communicate with Godzilla that danger is coming (though evidently without enough detail to tell him he needed to go into the Hollow Earth this time). But how is it that they know about the danger? Do their telepathic abilities give them access to knowledge of what is going on outside of Hollow Earth? Is this explained more in the novelization?
  • It wasn't necessarily the Iwi every time. In King of the Monsters and "Godzilla vs Kong" he was driven by sensing Ghidorah's presence (or continuing presence), and in the 2014 film he could just be sensing the MUTO's radiation. Maybe the Iwi only warned him about Skar King and nothing more.
  • Godzilla sensed Ghidorah certainly, but this signal is apparently independent of that. This film explicitly says the same signal (that we later find out the Iwi are sending) was also sent during other major Titan-related events, including the events with Ghidorah.

Using slave labour to build... what exactly?

• So the Skar King forces the apes to move giant boulders, but what for? They've already got the Skar King's room built, and a prison for Shimo, so what do they need now?
  • Probably statues of himself or other things in his honor. Or just to have them doing something painful and degrading. Skar King is a sadistic dictator, anything that feeds his ego or sates his sadism is good with him.

Skar King's imprisonment

• So Godzilla imprisoned all the apes, Skar King included, into the volcanic mountain. How have they survived so long, given their place is a fiery wasteland full of lava and with no food? You'd think they'd all have starved to death long ago.
  • The realm seemed to be quite a bit larger than the portion we saw the apes in (after all they had been down there for thousands of years and didn't find a way out until one of Kong's traps destabilized the ceiling of a cavern leading into it), so presumably there were food sources even if we didn't see them. Other Titans are also capable of subsisting off radiation alone, perhaps the apes can do this too if they need to. Moreover, I'm pretty sure that lake and forest area where Suko tricks Kong was part of the same realm as the volcanic one and could be traveled to to get food and water. Skar King presumably makes his slaves live in the inhospitable part because that area doubles as the cage for Shimo and he wants to keep her close.
• How imprisoned are the apes exactly? They’re clearly shown being able to leave the volcanic lair before kong traveled to them, and there are plenty of hollow earth portals. It seems like they could have travelled freely at anytime as long as they were willing to face territorial titans.
  • My understanding is that entire region surrounding the volcanic lair is still a realm below the regular Hollow Earth (we get a caption describing it as such after Kong arrives in it), and thus has no portals. It is only when Kong's trap collapsing the ground causes the "ceiling" of that lower realm to open up that the apes regained access to the regular Hollow Earth and its portals again.

Telling the apes apart

• Was the ape that Kong threw a rock at at long range, the ape that survived Kong's trap and reported back to Skar King, and the ape that Suko sent plummeting to his apparent demise all supposed to be the same guy?
  • That seems to be the case. While unnamed in the movie, the novel refers to him as "One-Eye". One-Eye is particularly lanky, a pale gray with no facepaint, narrow eyes, and is "balding". He looks more like a chimpanzee than a gorilla, and stands out from the other malicious apes, who usually wear facepaint, are darker in color, and more robustly-built as well as younger-looking. He's also the same guy who initially warned Skar King that Kong was in the palace.

Mark Russell

• There seems to be no mention of Mark after the incident with MechaGodzilla in Hong Kong. Did he step down from his position at Monarch after that?
  • Its a big organization. He's probably stationed somewhere else, maybe another Hollow Earth entrance.

Ape that tried to stab Kong

• Why would he try and stab him after Kong saved him from falling, only being ungrateful.
  • His task is to kill Kong, punishment for disobeying is death, so he is going to keep trying to kill him. Not every ape who is shown kindness is going to go against everything they have ever known about life the way Suko eventually did.

Skar King on Kong's metal tooth

• What made him notice Kong's tooth replacement when he first encounters him, kongs mouth was close tight and Skar spread Kong's upper lip mouth and discovers his metal tooth.
  • The Skar King was looking Kong over top to bottom to get an idea of who this upstart is showing defiance in his court. He wanted to see what condition he was in, and the state of your teeth can be a good indicator in animals, so he pushed Kong's lip aside to check.

The ape punched by Kong

• Why didn't the ape try to dodge Kong punching him, he was directly in Kongs face roaring and growling at him he would have been able to see Kong fist about to make contact with him, but just let's himself get punched out cold.
  • It was a pretty quick punch, and I doubt the slave driver ape was used to another ape actually fighting back, let alone knowing how to hit someone effectively. He was trying to intimidate Kong, likely expected him to either be cowed or roar back, not simply hit him. I'd say it is not unusual at all for someone to not have the reaction time to try to dodge a punch at close range, especially if they are not expecting to be hit.
  • Plus Rule of Funny.

Why did Suko try to have Kong killed?

• By luring him to the lake where the Drownviper was, Kong showed him nothing but kindness and patience I mean suko did attack him first and Kong used him as a bludgeon to attack the other apes but still.
  • Suko still didn't trust him, and was still focused on his mission, i.e. killing Kong.
  • It’s clear from their initial encounter that Suko did not trust Kong, he even attacks him alongside the Skar kings other goons and had his ass handed to him by Kong and got used as a weapon which he probably held a grudge over somewhat, as he was leading Kong to the Skar kings lair he was looking for a way to get rid of him.

Shimo caused the last ice age?

• It feels feel like a few things about this information don’t line up, why would Shimo, a benevolent titan who has no interest in destroying or conquering the earth, have started the last ice age in the first place? Why didn’t Godzilla or another of his kind step in to fix it like Godzilla did at the end of the movie?, if an ice age is part of the natural order than why did Godzilla feel the need to fix the one in Rio?
  • Those ice age events may have been accidental or caused by other factors effecting Shimo's behavior. As for Godzilla, he may have lacked the power to undo her powers until now.

Trapper and the Mosquito

• Given that Hollow Earth appears to be a mostly closed ecosystem that surface humans haven’t interacted with for hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of years….why the hell does Trapper, the resident “hippie” and nature/animal expert of the group allow a mosquito from Hollow Earth to bite him?! There are fatal diseases carried around by surface mosquitos literally all over the world, even in explored territories that people have lived in for centuries or millennia! God knows just what kind of diseases Trapper could contract from that, especially since it doesn’t look like the Hollow Earth recon team got anything resembling vaccinations for whatever they might catch down there…..
  • Mosquito-borne diseases that humans can contract are actually much less common in places with few or no humans, as many parasites and pathogens are species or family specific. If there are not enough hosts for the pathogen, it simply won't survive. Given how different the animals of Hollow Earth are, it may be even more unlikely that such diseases could effect humans. Even in places where human diseases are common, the chance of contracting any from any one mosquito bite is very small. It was probably still risky, but not that big a risk, especially if at this point Monarch knows enough about the local animals to know of potential diseases.

Mothra and the Hollow Earth

• How exactly did Mothra get to the Hollow Earth, especially since last we saw she was on the surface (and her past self/mother got killed by Ghidorah)? According to Wordof God, Mothra disappeared between helping the humans in King of the Monsters and the final battle against Rodan and Ghidorah to go and lay her egg(s), which does explain why the new Mothra is down in Hollow Earth……but how did no one know she was down there in the first place?! Considering how Monarch takes great effort to track the various Titans (and were supposedly tracking Mothra all throughout King of the Monsters even when she escaped containement), it seems particularly odd that they couldn’t track her going into the Hollow Earth to lay her egg, or at least registering her vanishing for a while and coming back.
  • As a caterpillar she could have easily dug down, found a portal, and went into Hollow Earth with Monarch having no ability to track her down there. Mothra being alive does not seem to be a surprise to Monarch, so they may well have known this happened.

Godzilla's new power level

• I've seen it referred to on these pages as 20% higher or 20x higher, and can't recall what the movie actually said (though I do recall it referred to the energy pouring out of him, not necessarily to his actual strength increase). Does the novel clarify this? Godzilla certainly is stronger in this form, but he doesn't do anything that would indicate a massive 20x increase.

How did Skar King not die?

• When Shimo freezed him cause afterwards he's shown moving his eyes around before Kong smashes him to pieces.
  • Titan biology clearly has its own rules, creatures their size shouldn’t be able to exist thanks to the square cubed law but they do. The same happened to Godzilla and he was fine, clearly Harmless Freezing applies.

Godzilla’s Iwi name

• What does Godzilla’s name in the Iwi language "The Monster Who Ate a Star." mean? Are they referring to his nuclear abilities?, how he “ate” Ghidorah? or did he actually eat a star at some point?
  • Probably their poor understanding of his (very bright) nuclear breath, yeah.
  • It’s also possible they once saw Godzilla or a member of his species feeding on a radioactive meteorite, similar to what he did in France at the nuclear plant.