In the original 1933 film, the 1976 remake and the 2005 remake, Kong is among the last living members of a giant species of ape that lives on the mysterious Skull Island, which is inhabited by other giant creatures as well as a tribe of natives that worship him as a god. Confident in his noble intentions, Monarch entrusts Kong to defend Skull Island and keep its M.U.T.O. ecosystem in check. While Kong will kill humans if they are actively attacking him or causing harm to life on the island, he is never aggressive towards innocents or non-hostile individuals. The film's official tie-in comic, Skull Island: The Birth of Kong, establishes that Kong actively fights to protect life on the island, as he intervenes on several occasions to defend humans from attacking creatures like Death Jackals, Sirenjaws, and Mother Longlegs. In Kong: Skull Island, Kong demonstrates a degree of altruism, rescuing a Sker Buffalo that is pinned underneath a downed helicopter, and later rescuing Mason Weaver during his battle with the Skull Devil. In the 2005 film, Kong repeated the sign for "beautiful" to Ann Darrow, who had shown it to him earlier, showing just how intelligent he is. He frequently utilizes environmental objects while fighting, and learns over the course of a battle. Kong demonstrates at least semi-sapience in all of his film appearances. As a result of his experience in fighting other creatures, Kong displays a degree of strategy in his battles, and rarely ends a fight without making sure that his opponent is either dead or incapacitated.
Kong has a soft spot for human women, and will do anything to protect a woman that he likes, whether it be battling against another monster or military forces. Kong rarely attacks unless provoked, and is capable of causing mass destruction due to his size and strength, which causes human beings to fear and attack him. Kong lives a very solitary and difficult existence, constantly being attacked by the vicious giant creatures that live on his island. In all of his appearances, Kong is portrayed as a tragic and sympathetic monster. In the 2005 film, Kong's entire body is covered in battle scars, in order to give him the appearance of being both old and battle-hardened.
Kong varies between knuckle-walking like a real gorilla and walking upright like a human, sometimes utilizing both forms of locomotion in the same film. In all of his appearances, Kong mostly resembles a giant silverback gorilla, with either light black or brown fur. In 2017, Kong became part of Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros.' MonsterVerse after appearing in the film Kong: Skull Island. The original King Kong was remade in 1976 by Dino De Laurentiis and Paramount Pictures, and Universal Pictures released their own remake in 2005, directed by Peter Jackson. Typically, Kong is worshiped as a god by the natives living on the island, who often sacrifice women to him, whom he accepts as his "brides." In the original film and its two remakes, Kong is taken away from his island by an expedition team from the United States and brought back to New York, where he escapes and goes on a violent rampage before climbing a skyscraper and being gunned down by military aircraft and falling to his death. Though he has been reimagined many times in many different films, Kong is always depicted as a gigantic gorilla-like ape residing on a remote island hidden from civilization and inhabited by other bizarre creatures. One of the most well-known monsters in all of cinema, Kong made his debut in the 1933 film bearing his name.