Kong's first appearance was in 1933 film titled King Kong (yeah, I know. How's that for coincidence?) as a stop motion puppet. The film was about an expedition to film a motion picture that finds itself upon the mysterious Skull Island, where they come across natives preparing a sacrifice to their island god. Spotting the beautiful blonde Ann amung the ship crew, they kidnap her and sacrifice her in place of one of their native island girls. She is placed in the jungle where she is taken by Kong for...let's just say reasons known only to him (what use does a tiny blonde have to a giant ape? Does he collect Barbies?). Not giving up Ann without a fight, the adventurous crew sets out into the jungle in persuit of Kong, where they meet up against many dangers including Dinosaurs. Retrieving Ann from Kong's grasp, Kong chases the crew outside of the jungle where an ambush awaits him and he is knocked out. The crew, in search of a quick buck, take him to the mainland for show. Dubbed the 8th Wonder of the World, come see the giant monkey! Of course, the restraints are unable to hold the mighty Kong and he escapes, in search of Ann through New York City. Kong eventually snatches his favorite blonde up and climbs to the top of the Empire State Building with her, where he is gunned down by biplanes and falls off, leaving Ann at the top.
"'Twas beauty killed the beast."
Kong didn't appear in person in the film's watchable quicky sequel of the same year, Son of Kong, though he did appear on a poster at the very beginning of the film.
Kong wouldn't make another film appearance until 1962, when producer John Beck approached Toho studios with original Kong puppet master Willis O'Brian's own idea for a sequel, King Kong vs. Frankenstien (a monster made out of animal parts was the idea). Frankenstien was dropped in favor of Godzilla, who Toho thought would be much more bankable a foe for the giant ape. The end result was King Kong vs. Godzilla. Bearing no continuity to the original film, the new Kong (now a guy in a monkey suit) was found on Faro Island by a group of advertisers hunting down this ancient legend. They find him dueling with an octopus, and is afterwards kocked out and taken captive. In traditional Kong style, he escapes and rampages through Japan, where Godzilla is also stomping through at the same time. Sick of their giant monster infestation, Kong is knocked out again by the military and flown to Mt. Fuji to do battle with Godzilla once and for all. Godzilla roasts the living hell out of Kong until the ape is hit by lightning and becomes more powerful than he was before. With the tables turned, the two tumble into the ocean. Kong is the only one that surfaces, as he swims back to Faro Island.
Kong had a dropped Toho film project after this, in which he was to due battle with the giant lobster Ebirah. Due to a legal battle over the Kong character's use, the script was rewritten into a Godzilla movie and Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster was born. The dispute over Kong was settled not long after and Toho went ahead with King Kong Escapes in 1967. Like King Kong vs. Godzilla, Escapes held no continuity with any previous film, however continuity with the Gorosaurus character tied it in to Destroy All Monsters, which makes it a part of the Godzilla series (meaning there are two different Kongs in the timeline...I guess). This time, Kong lives on Mondo Island and is hypnotyzed by the evil Dr. Huu to do his bidding and mine out an element known as Element X. However, Huu's control breaks and Kong Escapes Huu sends his giant robot Mechani-Kong after Kong, where they duel on Tokyo Tower. Mechani-Kong falls off and is destroyed. Afterwards, Kong hunts down and destroys Huu's operation and kills the man who took him captive.
Kong would return to American cinemas in 1976, in a remake of King Kong. Kong's role stayed the same, but now the expedition hunting him down is searching for oil, the little blonde Kong likes is named Dwan, and instead of Dinosaurs, Kong battles giant reptiles. The final battle takes place in New York again, however Kong climbs to the top of the World Trade Center instead of the Empire State building.
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