Captain Englehorn
Captain Englehorn, commonly referred to as the Skipper, is a character who appears in nearly every version of the King Kong mythos.
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King Kong & The Son of Kong
Captain Englehorn was the very laid back and world-weary captain of the S.S. Venture. He was multilingual and spoke many different languages. An old friend of Carl Denham, Englehorn and his trusty first mate Jack Driscoll often ferried Denham on his globe-trotting moviemaking expeditions. The Venture took them all to Skull Island, where they encountered King Kong, and Englehorn's multilingual talents came in handy with dealing with the natives. Later, Englehorn, having been sued by the city of New York for his part in bringing Kong to America, returned to Skull Island with Denham to search for a fabled lost treasure. There, the Skipper found himself menaced by a variety of prehistoric monsters alongside the Venture's cook, Charlie, and the treacherous Nils Helstrom. He survived however, and got an equal cut of the treasure once Denham found it.
King Kong (Novelization)
Primarily the same as the the film version, except that he is German and his ship is called the Wanderer, not the Venture.
King Kong (Monster Comics)
Identical to the film version except that he is bearded and has no mustache.
The Mighty Kong
Identical to the film version.
King Kong (2005)
Englehorn is the German captain of the S.S. Venture, hired by Carl Denham to take him and his film crew to Skull Island. Initially Englehorn refused to leave port until they had the manifest, but Denham, sought by the police, paid him to leave New York that very night. Englehorn was well known for his tendency to take on illegal cargo, including rare animals for zoos and circuses, and on this particular voyage he had a shipment of chloroform for an unknown client. Englehorn was initially doubtful that Skull Island even existed, but just as he ordered his first mate, Ben Hayes, to turn the Venture around they sighted the isle.
When Denham went ashore with Ann Darrow and his film crew and they were attacked by the natives, it was Englehorn who came to their rescue and killed one of the warriors who was about to behead Denham. Following Ann's abduction to be a sacrifice to King Kong, Englehorn gave Denham and Jack Driscoll 24 hours to find her before he and his crew pulled anchor and left Skull Island. But Bruce Baxter persuaded Englehorn to mount a rescue operation when the search party did not return, and the Captain and his men managed to arrive in time to rescue Denham, Driscoll, Jimmy, Megan C. Bailey and Preston from giant insects. Denham ultimately persuaded Englehorn to let him use the chloroform shipment to knock Kong out, allowing them to capture the gorilla.
