In the Toho movie King Kong Escapes, Mechani-Kong was built by Dr. Who to dig for Element X, a large core containing a natural abundance of nuclear power. However, Mechani-Kong was not resistant enough to dig out the element, as the robot's circuits were destroyed by its magnetic waves. Dr. Who then kidnaps the real Kong to dig for the element, placing him in a hypnotic trance. Kong eventually breaks out of his trance and swims to Tokyo, where he and Mechani-Kong fight atop the Tokyo Tower. After a long battle in which both of them nearly fall off the tower, Dr. Who's associate Madame X rips out the robot's control cords, causing Mechani-Kong to malfunction. Mechani-Kong falls to its destruction from the top of the tower, mirroring Kong's demise in the original film. Mechani-Kong first appeared in the tenth episode of The King Kong Show as one of several monsters in the series used by Dr. Who to fight Kong. King Kong defeated the robot by knocking it into the ocean, which caused it to short circuit. Mechani-Kong was 20 meters tall and weighed 15,000 metric tons.
Abilities
In the movie, aside from its great strength, Mechani-Kong has high-intensity lights in its eyes which can be used to blind opponents. Although not as agile as the real Kong, Mechani-Kong possesses greater endurance. It is later modified with attachments on its waist which it uses to carry multiple grenade-like explosives and still later with a dome on the top of its head which features a flashing light that can hypnotize its foes.
Appearances
After abandoning a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla in 1991, Toho attempted to produce a film called Godzilla vs. Mechani-Kong. However, though Toho had created the live-action Mechani-Kong, Turner demanded payment for using King Kong's image. The film was dropped in favor of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.
Mechani-Kong also inspired the creation of an enemy character named 'Mecha Pong' from Capcom's 1989 arcade gameStrider.
Akira Ifukube utilized a reworked version of Mechani-Kong's theme for Mechagodzilla in the Heisei Godzilla film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II.
In , an animated series sequel to the 1998 remake/reboot film Godzilla, the Robo-Yeti from the episode "Competition" is a homage to Mechani-Kong except for its Yeti-like costume, chest missiles and whip-like cables filled with electricity, and was used by the Japanese military led by Dr. Ifukube.
