Houston Brooks

Houston Brooks is an African-American seismologist working for Monarch, portrayed by Corey Hawkins.

## Houston Brooks

### Affiliation

Occupation: Seismologist at MonarchAllies: Bill Randa, San Lin, Victor Nieves, James Conrad, Mason Weaver, Hank Marlow, Reg Slivko, Kong

Enemies: Preston Packard, Ramarak, Skullcrawlers

## Quotes

Brooks: I thought you were crazy.

Randa: I wish I was.

## History

Houston was an Ivy League student who wrote a thesis paper on the Hollow Earth theory being a fact instead of a long-discredited falsehood, and that subterranean pockets remain undiscovered all over the world. The academic community dismissed Houston's theory but it caught the attention of senior Monarch operative William Randa, who proceeded to recruit Houston into the agency.

### *Kong: Skull Island*

In 1973 as the Vietnam War dies down, Houston and Randa are able to convince Senator Al Willis to provide funding for an expedition to the newly-discovered Skull Island alongside Landsat with a military escort led by the Sky Devils helicopter squadron leader, Colonel Preston Packard. Houston and Randa travel to Saigon, Vietnam, and coerce former British SAS captain James Conrad into joining the mission as a tracker. During the mission briefing on the ship, the *Athena*, using the cover of a geological survey, Houston explains the plan to use explosives to map the island's surface and writes off Conrad's voiced concern with the method.

On the following day, the group breaks through the storm surrounding Skull Island. The soldiers on the helicopters drop the seismic charges and Houston can prove his Hollow Earth theory with the data provided.

In a post-credits scene, Houston and San Lin tell Conrad and Mason Weaver they've been recruited to Monarch, and inform them that Kong isn't the only monster king in the world.

### Between *Kong: Skull Island* and *Skull Island: The Birth of Kong*

After the expedition, Houston would go on to marry Lin and father one son named Aaron. Sometime around the year 1995, Aaron joins Monarch but soon comes to a heated disagreement with his father over the latter's decision to leave Skull Island under Kong's supervision. Houston tells Aaron that friends of his died there believing the island should be kept a secret, and he isn't going to let his son ruin all the hard work he and Monarch did in doing so. In the 1980s, Houston is approached by Landsat technician Rick Stanton, after Stanton grew curious concerning company whispers of the covered-up Skull Island mission. They become close friends and soon Houston introduces Rick to Ishiro Serizawa. Shortly after, Rick is offered a position at Monarch and he accepts.

### *Skull Island: The Birth of Kong*

I'm warning you, Aaron. Leave this alone.

― Houston

On July 9, 2012, Houston is retiring from Monarch after 40 years of service when his colleague Singh gives him a "retirement present" of sorts: A military-grade recorder that was in the possession of his son Aaron when the latter disappeared during a mission to Antarctica over 17 years ago.

Upon correctly guessing the password to the recorder to be "Gjallarhorn" because he would constantly read Norse mythology to Aaron during his childhood, and thus it became a shared password between them, Houston learns from Aaron's recordings that, much to his dismay, his son didn't go to Antarctica to investigate a MUTO fossil. Instead, Aaron defied his father and mounted an off-the-books mission to Skull Island. For more than a year, the mission resulted in the loss of the entire crew, leaving Aaron the sole survivor stranded on the island. However, the mission did help shed light on not only how Skull Island has evolved since Houston last "visited" it, but also Kong himself, revealing how he became the last of his kind and his protective instincts toward humans.

During his retirement party the next day, Houston, elated for his son's survival and the knowledge that Aaron is waiting for him, reveals his plan to travel "somewhere tropical."

### *Godzilla: Aftershock*

You've got that look on your face--the same look Aaron had before he disappeared. You're pushing yourself too hard. Just like he did.

― Houston to Emma

Two years later and several months after Godzilla returned and defeated the MUTOs in the Battle of San Francisco, Houston, apparently having returned to operations at Monarch, pays his colleague Dr. Emma Russell a visit in the Philippines as she plans to head out to the Azores to deal with the MUTO Prime. Houston understands what Emma is up to, noting how she shares the same look his son Aaron did before he disappeared. He tells Emma that she is pushing herself too hard as Aaron did, and empathizes with her about losing a son. Emma tells Houston that he found his son but Houston replies that Aaron paid a very heavy price for going too hard “for the greater good”, and he doesn't want to see the same thing happen to Emma. She insists that nothing will happen to her and snaps at Houston when he mentions her daughter Madison. When the situation defuses, Emma tells Houston to just wish her luck, and he relents.

### *Godzilla: King of the Monsters*

After reconsidering his retirement, Houston goes back to working for Monarch. In the Yunnan Province in China, he is at a camp near Mothra's location after she escaped Alan Jonah's raid on the Outpost 61 containment facility. Houston meets Dr. Ling Chen, recognizing her from having previously known her mother, and together they walk the trail toward the waterfall housing Mothra's cocoon. He asks Dr. Ling about Mothra and she tells him that legends call Mothra a protector and guardian angel who embodies life. Having watched the video of Mothra's interaction with Emma and Madison, Dr. Ling believes the legend to be true. Looking at the cocoon, Houston says that he hopes she's right.

Sometime later, Houston, a science team, and a squadron of soldiers go to Outpost 61. The dead scientists' bodies have been removed and the techs confirm his suspicions about the security and containment being sabotaged, possibly with Emma's help. A few hours later, Houston is called back to the waterfall. He learns that all of the Titans are escaping the outposts, and contact with the Argo, Castle Bravo, Monarch, and all containment sites have been lost. Seeing Monster Zero atop the Isla de Mara volcano on a monitor, Houston realizes the Titans are responding to the three-headed dragon's call. Houston and Dr. Ling then bear witness as Mothra hatches from her cocoon and takes flight, with Houston noticing a look of reverence toward Mothra in Dr. Ling's eyes similar to the Iwi people's attitude toward Kong.