Skull mountain

In King Kong, Skull Island is located at approximately, somewhere off the coast of Sumatra. There is a distinctive rocky knoll in the center of the island which is shaped like a human skull, hence its foreboding name.

At first, it is thought of as deserted, but upon further examination by the protagonists of the picture, it is filled to the brim with superstitious natives, prehistoric creatures of all sorts, and one extremely large gorilla, known by those on the island as "Kong".

The ancestry of the natives is never really explained, although the setting suggests they are a South East Asian group. Their barbaric portrayal in the film has provoked complaints and controversy ever since the movie's release. In the sequel film, Son of Kong, we last see Skull Island as it sinks into the sea. Kong's son drowns while holding Carl Denham above the water. Denham survives unscathed.

Skull Island is never referred to by name on film. In the original film, only Skull Mountain is named, while in the sequel Son of Kong, its simply referred to as "Kong's Island". In the novelization of King Kong (1933) by Delos Lovelace, it's called Skull Mountain Island. But RKO referred to it as Skull Island in their publicity materials.

Kong: King of Skull Island, a 2004 sequel-novel which ignores Son of Kong, makes an attempt to reveal the history of Skull Island before the events of the 1933 film's story.