Gorgilla

History: On the jungle island of Borneo, on top of “Midnight Mountain”, lived Gorgilla, a gigantic half-man/half-ape. The giant simian was worshipped as the god of vengence by a tribe of head-hunters. An anthropologist known only as “Scotty” led an expedition to Borneo in search of the “missing link” between man and ape, and found Gorgilla in a lost jungle on “Midnight Mountain”. At first attacked by Gorgilla, the expedition ran into a tyrannosaur. Gorgilla fought off the dinosaur and saved the expedition; in appreciation, “Scotty” left Gorgilla to remain in the jungle.

Having a curiousity to see humans again, Gorgilla left the jungle and jumped into the ocean. He swam to an ocean liner, climbed aboard, and hid in the cargo hold. As the ship sailed into New York Harbor, Gorgilla emerged and frightened the crew. Jumping overboard, Gorgilla swam ashore and went into hiding, where he came across foreign agents who were plotting the assassination of a visiting African premier. Gorgilla foiled the assassination attempt and pursued the leader of the foreign agents to the top of the Statue of Liberty. After climbing to the top of the Statue, Gorgilla was shot with a bazooka. Losing his grip and falling, Gorgilla was killed in the resultant fall.

Height: 20 ft.
Demonstrated Power: Gorgilla had great strength and was able to punch through stone walls. Bullets did not penetrate Gorgilla's skin, but they did cause him pain. Gorgilla had a primitive, low level intelligence.

Comment: In modern times, changes were made through retroactive continuity. The original story was redrawn and relettered so “Scotty” became “Dr. Druid” (see Doctor Droom).

In The Monster Hunters adventure, Kro (warlord of the subterranean Deviant race) mentally manipulated Gorgilla to travel to New York, Dr. Druid saved Gorgilla at the Statue of Liberty by using telepathy to talk him down, and at the end of the adventure, Gorgilla was returned to the jungles of Borneo to live out his life.

In a Defenders tale, Gorgilla was shown on a news report battling the Avengers.

While in captivity, Gorgilla acquired a basic education and even learned to speak. Due to the fact that he never acted maliciously, Gorgilla was enrolled into Reed Richards' “Monster Isle Parole Plan” — he was reduced to human size by Richards' molecular compactor and worked as a janitor/window-washer at the Baxter Building. Gorgilla eventually joined forces with Fin Fang Foom, Elektro, and Googam (his fellow parolees) to battle the menace of an enlarged Tim Boo Ba.

Comment: Speculation - Could Gorgilla possibly be related to Gorro, the ape-like monster of Dr. Grimm from Captain America Comics #4? — they do resemble each other.

Comment: Speculation - Could Gorgilla possibly be connected to the Giant Folk of Devil Dinosaur's Dinosaur World (introduced in Devil Dinosaur # 3)?

Comment: Gorgilla (“The Monster of Midnight Mountain”) should not be confused with The Giant Monster of Midnight Valley (an alien encountered by Kid Colt in Kid Colt, Outlaw # 107) nor with The Ghost of Midnight Mountain (encountered by Kid Colt in Kid Colt, Outlaw # 93).

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