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Old 05-22-2019, 04:26 PM   #685
Prince Charon
 
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Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

I'm going to post this to the main discussion/development thread on SB.com shortly, but not everyone who reads this thread also reads that one, so I thought it might be useful to post this here, as well. One thing to note that was already mentioned there: In the 1933 King Kong movie (inspired, perhaps somewhat loosely, by events that took place on Earth-2 in 1932), the miniatures sets modeled Kong as about 18 feet tall on the island, but 24 feet tall in the city (maybe they thought he didn't look intimidating enough in the city at 18 feet tall, and figured no-one would notice, and/or didn't want to rebuild the island sets and reshoot the scenes).


I've been of the opinion for a while that the genus Gigantopithecus could have been more successful and widespread on Earth-2 than on Earth-1, with the yeti, sasquatch, skunk ape, and so on probably being members (unless the sasquatch is a hominin), possibly different races of a single species, possibly different species. Most of these creatures are very shy, especially around humans, and are unlikely to attack unless threatened and/or cornered.

One possible species that I've considered recently is Gigantopithecus kongi, named for the sole member known to Western science at this time (if King Kong is a member). The species experienced island gigantism through many thousands of years on Skull Island, and should normally stand ten to twelve feet tall (feet-to-meters converter, for those that want one) at adulthood - unless using one of the more esoteric variants below. They may be less shy then others of their genus... or maybe that's just Kong. Incidentally, I have not firmly decided how close the 1933 movie was to the events which took place in 1932. In particular, Kong might never have left the island.

Here are some options I'm considering for King Kong in this setting, which I would like opinions on:

1. King Kong is a normal but impressive example of his species, only about twelve to thirteen feet tall; large enough for a conmanshowman like Carl Denham to describe as the Eighth Wonder of the World, but it'd be a much harder sell. He may actually be the leader of a troop of his species, or perhaps king of all of them on the island.


2. Kong is a member of his species suffering from medical gigantism, about fourteen to fifteen feet tall, and is aggressive partly because he's in pain a lot of the time.


3. Kong uses psychokinesis and/or biokinesis to support his large body, such that he can plausibly be 18 feet tall, or even 24 feet. This is either unique to Kong himself, or very rare in his species.

4. As 3, but the ability is normal for Gigantopithecus kongi. This requires a much larger Skull Island, either historically or currently (if historically but not currently large, Kong may be the last of his species).

5. As 4, but rather than psychokinesis or biokinesis, the bodies of Gigantopithecus kongi contain exotic (but non-magical) materials that allow them to support large bodies on a primatoid body-plan. This not only requires a larger Skull Island as in 4, but one where those materials are common. Other species may also be exceptionally large.


6. Kong warps space or projects an ectoplasmic 'suit' around himself to create the effect of being larger and stronger, for defense and intimidation purposes (but doesn't need to eat much more than normal for his real size). The change in size between the island and the city (if he did get taken to a big city) could have happened, perhaps because the city scared him. Kong's real body might be roughly human-sized, or even smaller (indeed, he might be a human). Whether this is unique to Kong or normal for his race doesn't change much in terms of the size of Skull Island (though if he's human, there may never have been a race of Gigantopithecus present). After his death, his real body would have been revealed. Of course, he might not have died...


7. Kong is a local spirit or god, who prefers to manifest physically, and may have difficulty switching to astral, or may have allowed himself to be captured because he was curious. Again, the size change from the movie could have happened if Kong was indeed brought to the city. This Kong would be just as alive after the end of the movie as he was before, but likely would have returned to Skull Island when his physical manifestation 'died.'



As mentioned above, I'm not absolutely certain about Skull Island, so here are some options:

1. Skull Island is pretty much as seen in the movie, a remote, fairly small island that it's quite plausible could have gone uncharted for some time.

2. As 1, but Skull Island was historically much larger, on the order of Ireland, or even Madagascar. Skull Island is unstable, possibly due to vulcanism, or possibly due to being made from especially-erodable stone. This is somewhat consistent with the obscure sequel Son of Kong, though clearly it wouldn't sink that fast, nor are there likely to have been survivors that close to it if it did.


3. Skull Island is remote, but is fairly large, possibly the size of Ireland, and there may be some magic involved in it's going uncharted for so long... or perhaps it was deposited by a banestrom.


4. Skull Island is small, but the great doors seen in the movie cover a portal leading to a pocket dimension or another worldline. This is especially appropriate for Kong option 5, above.


5. Skull Island itself is in a pocket dimension or alternate worldline, accessible through a portal at sea (perhaps the ship passes between two smaller islands nearby). For both this and Skull Island option 4, above, if this is a full worldline rather than a pocket dimension, that's a lot of potential territory to explore, and new dangers to get eaten by... but Earth-2 is no stranger to that.


Thoughts?
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Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.

Last edited by Prince Charon; 05-26-2019 at 01:59 PM.
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