I love hypothetical questions. I would rather fight 100 duck-sized horses than one horse-sized duck. But I’m still scratching my head over a viral question that’s romping around social media: Who would win if you pitted 100 average men against one gorilla?
Let’s not stop there, though. We’re going to expand that hypothetical situation. What if the gorilla in question is movie villain-hero King Kong?
The original question seemed to take off from a post on X that racked up nearly 300 million views. The tweet suggested the men could handle the gorilla if the humans were dedicated enough to the task.
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Even YouTube personality MrBeast weighed in, tweeting, “Need 100 men to test this, any volunteers?” along with an image of a group of men facing off against one very large gorilla.
Tesla / SpaceX CEO and DOGE czar Elon Musk seemed to volunteer, responding, “Sure, what’s the worst that could happen?”
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MrBeast seems like he wants to test the 100 men versus one gorilla question.
Humans aren’t known for fighting fair.
“A fight between 100 men and one gorilla might lead to a lot of dead men, but we all know that men will come with weapons, strategies, drones, fire and other clever tricks,” wrote Renaud Joannes-Boyau, professor in geochronology and geochemistry at Southern Cross University in Australia. He suggested humans might lose many of the battles, but would eventually win the fight.
Joannes-Boyau ultimately takes a philosophical approach to the question.
“Perhaps the real takeaway message isn’t who wins in a fight, but to realize that two very different and yet very close cousins have walked two separate evolutionary roads, each in their own distinct way,” he wrote.
Get your Kong on
Now let’s give the ape an upgrade.
Kong depictions on film have varied since his debut in the now-classic 1933 King Kong movie.
The big ape was said to be 25 feet tall in the 2005 Peter Jackson movie, so let’s use that as our benchmark. A real male silverback gorilla can typically reach 5 feet in height, so our fictional Kong is at least five times bigger than the real thing.
Gorillas have powerful bites, can easily weigh 400 pounds, and have a low center of gravity for leverage. We can’t exactly talk gorillas into doing bench presses, but some scientific estimates place gorilla strength at anywhere from four to 10 times that of a human. Apply that to Kong and we have a super-ape that could handily wipe out multiple men with one swinging fist.
In my unscientific estimation, I’m giving Kong the advantage against 100 unarmed men. But don’t take my word for it. Watch some King Kong movies and decide for yourself.
Here are some top streaming options to get you in the mood to debate the 100 men against one gorilla question.
King Kong (1933)
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Kick it old school with the original King Kong.
Dive into the original that started it all. This Kong could hold a human woman handily in one palm. Rent it on Apple TV or Amazon Video.
King Kong (2005)
Yes, that’s a dinosaur in a King Kong movie.
Lord of the Rings movie series director Peter Jackson tried his hand at King Kong and revived the big ape for a new generation. The star-studded film featured Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Stream it on Starz.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Kong: Skull Island is the cornerstone for a modern take on Kong lore.
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
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Godzilla and Kong don’t always get along, as seen in the promo image for Godzilla vs. Kong.
Godzilla? Check. Kong? Check. You can’t go wrong with two overgrown monsters sharing the title of a movie. Will they kill each other or become besties? You’ll have to watch to find out. Widely available as a streaming rental.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Godzilla and Kong kick butt together in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
The latest entry in Kong movie lore is Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, in which the two titans team up. Don’t think too hard about the plot; just enjoy the action. Stream it on Max.
