In 1955’s “Godzilla Raids Again”, the direct sequel to the original Godzilla film, it was decided that Godzilla would need an opponent. That opponent, the second kaiju Toho ever created, was Anguirus. Toho wanted this kaiju to be creative and realistic looking, but different from Godzilla. Anguirus was created as a quadruped (four-legged) kaiju. However, this resulted in a problem for both the crew and actor Katsumi Tezuka, who played Anguirus. It was very difficult for Mr. Tezuka to stand on all fours and still have the suit look natural as a quadruped. Most of the time, Tezuka had to be down on his hands and knees, making Anguirus appear to be crawling. To try and counter this problem, different camera angles were used on Anguirus to try and make it appear that he was always on all four legs, which they for the most part succeeded in doing. This new kaiju also had a bunch of other interesting new features. Anguirus had a long, crocodile-like mouth complete with long, dagger-like fangs, a carapace covered with hundreds of long spikes, a crest of curved horns on the crown of his head, a large nasal horn at the tip of his nose, a spiked tail, four toes on each foot, and warty skin. All-in-all a very original design and a favorite among fans.
