Megalon made his debut in the 1973 film, "Godzilla vs. Megalon." In this film, Megalon, the guardian of Seatopia, was sent to the surface world to avenge the destruction of one third of Seatopia by nuclear testing. Megalon, led by Jet Jaguar, laid waste to parts of Tokyo and defeated the JSDF whenever they attacked him. However, when Goro Ibuki regained control of his robot and sent him to get Godzilla, Megalon went berserk, hopping around with no sense of direction. When Jet Jaguar returned from retrieving Godzilla, he programmed himself to grow to 50 meters and attacked Megalon. The Guardian of Seatopia retaliated against the robotic kaiju and with the help of Gigan, nearly destroyed him. However, Godzilla arrived on the scene and together with Jet Jaguar, were able to force both Megalon and Gigan to retreat.
Megalon is 50 meters tall and weighs 44,000 tons. Megalon, while a pretty big coward and idiotic in battle, does have his moments. In battle, he likes to use the lightning bolt from his horn and napalm bombs from mouth to battle his opponents at long range. But if forced to, he will use his jaws and drill hands quite effectively. He also uses his burrowing ability to travel underground and confuse his enemies, popping up and attacking them before retreating underground. He can also hop long distances and fly at Mach 3.
Check out this section in February, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... SPACEGODZILLA!
FEBRUARY 2002
SPACEGODZILLA
SpaceGodzilla arrived on the silver screen in the 1994 film, "Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla." In this film, SpaceGodzilla is formed by the combination of a G-Cell carried into space by either Mothra or Biollante and some strange crystalline entity within a blackhole. After being created, the space kaiju immediately headed for Earth, intending to destroy Godzilla. The newest anti-Godzilla robot from G-Force, Mogera, attempted to intercept him, but was quickly defeated by SpaceGodzilla in the asteroid belt. The space kaiju then continued on his way toward Earth, arriving on Birth Island. SpaceGodzilla attacked Little Godzilla before Godzilla arrived. The two kaiju engaged in a brief battle, which SpaceGodzilla won and also imprisoned Little Godzilla in a cage of crystals before heading to the Japanese City of Fukuoka, where he created a crystal fortress for himself. Using Fukuoka Tower as an energy-receiver, Space Godzilla could channel energy from space into his own body, charging his mutated cells. As SpaceGodzilla erected his evil fortress, Godzilla was already on the way, intending to destroy the kaiju who imprisoned his adopted son. Then, after marching across the Japanese mainland, Godzilla arrived in Fukuoka and confronted his hated enemy, but was overcome by the space kaiju’s power. However, Mogera soon arrived and split into the Star Falcon and Land Mogera, taking out Fukuoka Tower and cutting off SpaceGodzilla’s energy supply. Mogera then reformed and destroyed SpaceGodzilla’s energy-receiving shoulder crystals, enabling Godzilla to overload the space kaiju with energy from his super-charged radioactive heat ray and causing him to explode.
SpaceGodzilla was 120 meters tall and weighed 88,000 tons. SpaceGodzilla relied heavily on his long-range attacks, mainly his corona beam, energy-reflecting shield, and telekinesis. One of his favorite attack methods was to morph into his crystalline-flying form and attack his opponents with his corona beam from the sky. The space kaiju, while not enjoying close combat as much, was a fairly decent grappler, using his claws, teeth, and even the crystals on the tip of his tail quite effectively.
Check out this section in March, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... VARAN!
MARCH 2002
VARAN
Varan debuted in his own film, "Varan the Unbelievable", in 1958. In this film, Varan had been laying dormant in Kunishiroshima Island’s salt-water lake, as he had been for centuries, while being worshipped by the cult of Obaki. Soon, the U.S. Navy decides to test a newly created chemical in the lake, awakening Varan. Varan soon rose from the lake attacking anyone and anything in his path, including Kunishiroshima Island's only city, Oneda, and completely leveling it. Varan is finally driven off the island by a large dose of the chemical that awoke him carried in a truck that exploded underneath him and retreats into the ocean. Varan was though to have been killed by the chemical, but reappeared several years later as an inhabitant of Ogasawara Island. The Kilakks took control of and released Varan from the island, but it is not known what city he attacked. He viewed the final battle with King Ghidorah along with Baragon and Manda, but did not take part. When the Kilakks were finally defeated, Varan returned along with the rest of the kaiju to Ogasawara Island where he has remained to this day.
Varan is 50 meters tall and weighs 16,500 tons. Varan is much like Anguirus and Baragon when it comes to fighting, relying heavily on his claws, teeth, and spines. Varan will lunge at foes and rip into them with great ferocity. The skin membranes between his arms/legs also allow him to glide long distances and he is an excellent swimmer.
Check out this section in April, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... GYAOS!
APRIL 2002
GYAOS
Gyaos made his debut in the 1967 film, "Gamera vs. Gyaos." In this film, Gyaos emerged in a large cavern in a mountainous, volcanic area of rural Japan after a large earthquake awoke him. After destroying a plane and preying upon the Japanese countryside, Gyaos was confronted by Gamera when he tried to devour a child named Ichi. The battle was short and Gamera forced Gyaos to retreat, but Gamera was badly injured and had to submerge in the ocean to recover. With Gamera out of the picture, Gyaos attacked the city of Nagoya, but the cities lights kept him at bay (although he did get a few humans). Gamera soon returned and another battle ensued with the Guardian of the Universe taking the upper hand, forcing Gyaos to sever two of his own toes to escape Gamera and the rising sun, which causes the kaiju's flesh to wither and shrink. After learning this, the JSDF and local construction workers devised a plan to get Gyaos to land on top of a rotating dining room of a hotel by placing a huge vat of artificial blood on it. If Gyaos can be kept there long enough via becoming dizzy from the spinning dinner, the sun will rise and destroy him. The plan nearly succeeds, but the power shorts out and Gyaos is able to retreat back to his cave. The next plan is to attract Gamera back to the countryside by setting the mountainside forest on fire, while at the same time keeping Gyaos at bay. Gyaos uses his yellow fog to douse most of the flames, but Gamera arrives and after a long battle, clamps onto the back of Gyaos’s neck and drags him into the nearby volcano, destroying him.
Gyaos was not seen again until 1995, when he returned with a whole new origin. Now the Gyaos were a race of biologically engineered kaiju created by the scientists of Atlantis, but the Gyaos turned on their creators and destroyed the lost city. After being all but destroyed by the guardian of Atlantis, Gamera, many nests of Gyaos eggs remained, hidden all over the world, waiting for the right conditions to hatch. When Japan’s mana became low, a nest of these eggs hatched on a small Japanese island, releasing three of the Shadow of Evil. The Gyaos soon ate up the island’s available prey and began to attack the Japanese mainland. Gamera soon awoke as well, sensing the return of the Shadow of Evil and quickly swam to the mainland. A long battle with many different confrontations began between Gamera and the Gyaos across Japan, finally ending in Tokyo when the last Gyaos had grown to match Gamera in size. A long and vicious battle then ensued, nearly killing both kaiju, but in the end, Gamera (with the help of his human friends) was able to destroy the final Gyaos. The next year, when Gamera was forced to drain the Earth's mana to destroy Legion, the climate conditions became just right for the Gyaos, which began hatching all over the world. Gamera realized this and traveled the globe, attacking and destroying the Gyaos (who were now evolving at a rapid pace) as they emerged, but the Shadow of Evil was multiplying too fast for even Gamera to overcome. Following his battle in Kyoto with the Gyaos mutation, Irys, Gamera prepared himself to face the legions of Gyaos, who were swarming toward him…
In 1967, Gyaos was 65 meters tall, had a wingspan of 172 meters, and weighed 25 tons. For long-range combat, he used his Mach 3 flight, his sonic beam that could cut through anything, hurricane winds, and could spray a fire-retardant yellow smog from his sides. For close combat, Gyaos employed his sharp talons and teeth. Gyaos also has an amazing regenerative ability, being able to even re-grow severed limbs in a matter of hours. In 1995, Gyaos's height grew to 85 meters, weight increased to 75 tons, and wingspan expanded to 185 meters, he also gained some new abilities. They could now go out in the daylight thanks to shield plates over their eyes that protect them from the sun's rays. Other than that and the loss of the yellow smog, Gyaos’s powers were basically the same.
Check out this section in May, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... KING KONG!
MAY 2002
KING KONG
King Kong (well the Japanese King Kong anyway) made his debut in the 1962 film, "King Kong vs. Godzilla.” In this film, employees of the Pacific Pharmaceuticals located in Japan discovered King Kong on far off Faro Island. Natives of the island worshipped Kong as their god, but also feared him, even creating a giant wall to try and keep the giant ape out of their territory. However, King Kong saved the natives and from Odaka, the giant octopus, which attacked them to get at their red berry juice, which Kong took a few gulps of himself and passed out once he defeated Odaka. With Kong down for the count, the employees of Pacific Pharmaceuticals decided to bring Kong back with them to the mainland, but on the way back to Japan, Kong was able to escape captivity. Once he reached the mainland, Kong sensed Godzilla’s presence and headed right for him. Kong and Godzilla engaged in a brief confrontation, in which Godzilla was able to fend off the giant ape with a few blasts of his radioactive heat ray, forcing him to retreat. Kong soon returned and attacked Tokyo, plowing through the city and capturing a Japanese woman, but was soon subdued once again with red berry juice. King Kong was then airlifted to Mt. Fuji by the JSDF in order to take on Godzilla, the Japanese hoping that both creatures would finish one another off. Kong and Godzilla went at it tooth and claw, but the giant ape was again beaten down by the King of the Monsters. However, a sudden electrical storm revitalized Kong and he managed to gain the upper hand on Godzilla. Soon, both kaiju got to close to a cliff and tumbled into the sea, but only Kong resurfaced… in retreat, knowing that Godzilla could easily drown him in his underwater element.
King Kong wasn’t seen again until 1967 in, “King Kong Escapes”, where Kong was discovered living on Mondo Island by a United Nations research team. Kong soon went toe to toe with the island’s other resident, Gorosaurus, when he tried to devour the UN research team’s female member. Kong and Gorosaurus engaged in a fierce battle that soon ended with Kong breaking the mutated dinosaur’s jaw and knocking him out. Kong then became infatuated with the female member, even battling a giant silver sea snake to protect her and her team as they left Mondo Island. News of Kong's return soon reached the mad Dr. Who, who had been hired by a nameless Asian communist nation to locate and retrieve the incredibly rare Element X from the Arctic. In his quest, Dr. Who created Mechani-Kong, but the robotic kaiju wasn’t able to withstand the radiation of Element X, so the mad doctor decided to capture and use the real Kong to dig up Element X. Dr. Who was able to successfully capture Kong and transfer him to the Arctic, but the radiation of Element X disabled Dr. Who’s control over Kong, allowing him to escape to Tokyo. Dr. Who followed, hoping to recapture Kong with Mechani-Kong, but ultimately the plan was foiled when the two kaiju climbed Tokyo Tower and Kong knocked his robotic double to the ground, destroying him. Then Kong, with direction from the UN team, located Dr. Who's ship in Tokyo Bay and destroyed it along with the madman inside.
King Kong is 45 meters tall and weighs 27,500 tons. Kong is devoid of any beam weapons, so he relies on his great strength and mammalian cunning in battle. That along with his teeth and being able to shock opponents for a period of time after being reenergized, make the giant ape a very difficult for to battle. However, even with Kong’s great strength, he does show signs of weakness to radiation, examples being Godzilla's radioactive heat ray Element X. However, when Kong is incredibly mad, the giant ape will ignore this, letting nothing get in his way. Kong is also capable of hurling boulders, using interesting judo-type moves on his opponents, and swimming great distances.
Check out this section in June, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... MECHA-KING GHIDORAH!
JUNE 2002
MECHA-KING GHIDORAH
Mecha-King Ghidorah made his debut in the 1991 film, “Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.” In this film, King Ghidorah, who had just been defeated at the hands of Godzilla, now laid in a comatose state at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, the beast who defeated him, Godzilla, marched onward toward Tokyo, intent on destroying the Japanese capital. Emi Kano, the last surviving of the group of Futurians who created King Ghidorah, returned to the 23rd century with Android M-11 to devise a plan to stop Godzilla. There, she used the futures advanced technology to revive King Ghidorah as the cyborg, Mecha-King Ghidorah. Once returning to the 20th century, Mecha-King Ghidorah attacked Godzilla during the monster king's raid on Tokyo. The battle between the two was vicious, but Mecha-King Ghidorah was actually able to capture Godzilla with his capture cables and machine-hand, lift him into the sky, and fly him out to sea. However, a blast of Godzilla's radioactive heat ray took the cyborg kaiju out of commission in mid-air, causing both Godzilla and Mecha-King Ghidorah to drop thousands of feet into the ocean below. Mecha-King Ghidorah was destroyed, but Godzilla revived after a few moments and swam away, sparing Japan for now.
Mecha-King Ghidorah stands at 150 meters tall, weighs 88,000 tons, and has a wingspan of 175 meters. Mecha-King Ghidorah can fly at Mach 4 and is not a very effective grappler aside from using his jaws, but makes up for it with all the offensive weapons he has. He relies heavily on his triple laser beam and gravity beams in battle, and in a tough spot he uses the his capture cables and machine-hand. Mecha-King Ghidorah’s biggest weakness, however, is the human controller inside of him, causing him to react slower in battle and if the human pilot is hurt, Mecha-King Ghidorah goes off-line.
After Mecha-King Ghidorah plunged into the pacific ocean, his body lay dormant for a few months until it was excavated by the U.N.G.C.C. in order for them to study 23rd century cybernetics and create anti-Godzilla weapons like MechaGodzilla, Mogera, and Garuda. It is not known what became of Mecha-King Ghidorah’s body, but it is assumed that after being dissected by the U.N.G.C.C., it was stored in an underground base for further study at a later date.
Check out this section in July, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... FIRE RODAN!
JULY 2002
FIRE RODAN
The kaiju Fire Rodan made his debut in the 1993 film, “Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II.” In this film, Fire Rodan hatched from a prehistoric egg on Adona Island, which was exposed to radiation at a nearby nuclear waste site. Fire Rodan grew very quickly and soon became 70 meters tall. Later, Fire Rodan attacked a group of scientists who had discovered his “brother’s” egg (actually Baby Godzilla). Godzilla, sensing the presence of the young Godzillasaurus, soon came to the island and fought Fire Rodan. However, after an intense physical battle, Godzilla defeated Fire Rodan, knocking the mutated pteranodon unconscious. Fire Rodan later revived when a group of psychic children sang an ancient song that gave him renewed strength. The song also mutated him into his final form, now capable of delivering a uranium heat beam from his mouth, much like Godzilla’s heat ray. Fire Rodan then sped off after the helicopter, which was carrying Baby Godzilla to a deserted island in order to lure Godzilla there. Fire Rodan destroyed the helicopter and grasped the container with Baby Godzilla inside in his talons, carrying it to Chiba City. Their plan to lure Godzilla out in the open in jeopardy, the U.N.G.C.C. sent Garuda and MechaGodzilla to take out Fire Rodan and retrieve Baby Godzilla. During the battle, Fire Rodan was able to take out Garuda, but was no match for the much stronger MechaGodzilla, who mortally wounded the mutated pteranodon with his plasma grenade after Fire Rodan put up a terrific fight. Later, Fire Rodan was revived once again during the battle between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla, this time by his “brother” Baby Godzilla in order to aid the downed Godzilla. However, the injured kaiju was again taken out by MechaGodzilla, but his dying body landing on top of Godzilla, passing his very radioactive essence into Godzilla and Fire Rodan crumbled into a golden dust. As a result of this, Godzilla revived and destroyed MechaGodzilla with his new ability, a flaming red radioactive heat ray that I like to call the “super-charged” radioactive heat ray, which is much more powerful than his normal radioactive heat ray.
Fire Rodan stands at 70 meters tall, weighs 17,600 tons, and has a wingspan of 120 meters. Fire Rodan can fly at Mach 1.5 and is very agile when in the air, being able to dodge beams and attack opponents with ease. The mutated pteranodon can also create windstorms with his wings and create sonic booms one the ground when flying over. Fire Rodan is also a very effective grappler, viciously attacking his opponents with his wings, horns, talons, and beak. However, when he’s in a tough spot, Fire Rodan employs his uranium heat beam with devastating effects to his opponents.
Check out this section in August, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... DAGARAH!
AUGUST 2002
DAGARAH
Dagarah made his debut in the 1997 film, “The Rebirth of Mothra II.” In this film, the history of Dagarah is explained like this. Thousands of years ago, Dagarah was created by the people of a city on the island of Mu, he was supposed to consume ocean pollution in order to keep the sea clean. However, the Berem created by Dagarah (those starfish creatures), while consuming garbage, became an even greater threat to ocean life. Soon Dagarah too became a threat, eventually destroying the city of his creators. In the present, Belvera reawakened Dagarah and after attacking one of the Okinawan islands, Dagarah was confronted by Mothra. However, after a long and brutal battle, the sea kaiju defeated Mothra. Now covered in Berem and near death atop the towering pyramid on the island of Mu, Mothra was about to be finished off by the advancing Dagarah. However, the creature Gorgo, the living treasure of Mu, delivered a large amount of energy to Mothra, as well as giving her the new ability to transform into Aqua Mothra. Aqua Mothra then did battle with Dagarah underwater, until she spilt into millions of tiny fairy Aqua Mothras and entered Dagarah's body. Now inside the sea kaiju, Mothra destroyed his Berem-generating organs, crippling Dagarah. Then, the Princess of the Mu’s form appeared, summoning Dagarah to the island and both faded away, dissolving into the sea and has not been seen since.
Dagarah stands at 50 meters tall, is 70 meters long, and weighs 17,700 tons (my guess). Dagarah is at his best when in the water, attacking with ease with his claws and teeth for close-range combat, and firing his energy beam and life draining Berem for long-range attacks. Dagarah can also battle out of water, but is not at his best out of his sea element, although he can fly.
Check out this section in September, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... MECHAGODZILLA!
SEPTEMBER 2002
MECHAGODZILLA
The most famous robotic kaiju of them all, MechaGodzilla, made his debut in the 1974 film, “Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla.” In this film, aliens from the Third Planet in the Black Hole constructed the most powerful robot known throughout the galaxy, MechaGodzilla, in order to conquer Earth. Arriving disguised as Godzilla himself in order to fool the planet, MechaGodzilla began his reign of terror on Japan. However, Godzilla’s most trusted ally, Anguirus, realized something was up and attacked the robot kaiju. MechaGodzilla made short work of the mutated ankylosaurus, but not before he tore away some of the Godzilla disguise, revealing the space titanium underneath. But that night in Tokyo, the real Godzilla confronted his imposter, at which point the disguise hiding the robot was burned off, revealing MechaGodzilla’s true form. Godzilla and MechaGodzilla fought a brief battle that ended with Godzilla seriously wounded and MechaGodzilla’s head control damaged and in need of repairs. The repairs were quickly made by the aliens and a human scientist they had captured who had knowledge of their technology. MechaGodzilla was then dispatched to attack and destroy the newly awakened King Seesar. After a vicious battle, the robotic kaiju managed to force the Azumi Protector to the brink of defeat and was about to finish off King Seesar when Godzilla reappeared. After a very bloody and interesting battle, Godzilla managed to defeat his mechanical foe with the help of King Seesar, tearing off MechaGodzilla's head and tossing it into the sea while the body exploded into millions of tiny pieces.
Less than a year after failing in their attempt to conquer Earth, the Third Planet Aliens returned and rebuilt MechaGodzilla for a second attempt to conquer the planet. However, this time the aliens decided to employ living brain cells in MechaGodzilla, giving it the thinking abilities and reaction times of a living creature. To achieve this goal, the control device for MechaGodzilla was implanted within the body of cyborg human Katsura, daughter of Dr. Mafune. Then, along with Titanosaurus, MechaGodzilla was sent to destroy Tokyo as the first step in their conquest of Earth. However, Godzilla soon arrived and after the two kaiju nearly killed the King of the Monsters, the organization “Interpol” leapt into the battle with supersonic beams to disorientate Titanosaurus while Godzilla battled MechaGodzilla. The battle was fierce, but was finally won by Godzilla when Katsura was shot, disconnecting her from MechaGodzilla and allowing Godzilla to destroy the robotic menace once and for all.
MechaGodzilla returned in 1993 with a completely new origin. The robotic kaiju was now a manned weapon of the Japanese, constructed by the UNGCC in order to defend Japan against Godzilla. Soon after its completion, MechaGodzilla was called upon to do battle with Godzilla as the Monster King advanced on Kyoto, where Baby Godzilla was being held for study by scientists. The robotic kaiju overwhelmed Godzilla at first, but was disabled when Godzilla sent his own radioactive energy racing back into MechaGodzilla through his shock anchor cables, shorting out many of his electrical systems and causing him to overheat. While MechaGodzilla was “out of it” Godzilla revived and attacked him, knocking him to the ground and continuing his march on Kyoto. MechaGodzilla was soon repaired and redesigned to dock with the flying battleship Garuda, thanks to some persuasion by Kasuma Aoki. Psychic Miki Saegusa was also added to MechaGodzilla’s crew in order for the robot to be able to lock onto Godzilla’s spinal brain and destroy it with the G-Crusher, crippling him. However, Fire Rodan came into the picture and MechaGodzilla was sent to Chiba City to eliminate the mutated pteranodon. During the battle, Fire Rodan managed to cripple Garuda, but came up short against MechaGodzilla, who severely wounded him with a point-blank blast of his plasma grenade. Soon Godzilla arrived and the second fight between the two kaiju began, with Godzilla soon coming close to defeating MechaGodzilla until Garuda returned and distracted Godzilla as MechaGodzilla got to its feet and the two machines soon came together, forming Super MechaGodzilla. Super MechaGodzilla was soon able to beat Godzilla back and use the G-Crusher to cripple him. Victory seemed certain now that Godzilla was unable to move anything from the waist down, but suddenly Fire Rodan revived and flew in to aid Godzilla. Super MechaGodzilla took out Fire Rodan with a blast of his Mega Buster, killing Fire Rodan, but the dying monster’s nuclear essence revived Godzilla, regenerating his spinal brain and giving him new strength (super charged radioactive heat ray). Fire Rodan’s nuclear essence also destroyed Super MechaGodzilla’s NT-20 plating, allowing Godzilla’s ray to harm the robotic kaiju. Godzilla then viciously attacked, using his super charged radioactive heat ray again and again against the robot, completely destroying it.
In MechaGodzilla’s original incarnation, he stood at 50 meters tall and weighed in at 44,000 tons. MechaGodzilla could fly and was a decent grapple back then, battling with his hands and jaws, but most of his power lied in his offensive weapons. Including his chest beam, laser eye beams, force field projector, revolving missiles in fingers, throat, knees and toes, and his flame-thrower located in his mouth. This impressive package was all contained with in extremely tough space titanium armor. The UNGCC version of MechaGodzilla also had a vast array of weapons and could fly at Mach 1, but was not an effective grappler at all. His weapons included the mega-buster ray from his mouth, super heat shield NT-20, laser beam eyes, plasma grenade, paralysis missiles, shock anchor cables, the "G-Crusher", and also had the ability to dock with Garuda to become Super MechaGodzilla. With these new weapons also came new stats, the robotic kaiju was now 120 meters tall and weighed 165,000 tons.
MechaGodzilla will soon return with a whole new origin and all new look in Godzilla X MechaGodzilla, due out this December!
Check out this section in October, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... GODZILLA (1954-1975)!
OCTOBER 2002
GODZILLA 1954-1975
The most famous kaiju of them all and star of 26 films so far, Godzilla, made his debut in the 1954 film, “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” In this film, World War II nuclear bomb tests in the South Pacific mutate a sleeping dinosaur (Godzillasaurus) into a massive radioactive monster. First appearing near Odo Island and destroying the small town on the island, Godzilla soon appeared in Tokyo itself, completely destroying the city in one night, killing millions and turning the whole area into a sea of fire. Nothing the Japanese used on Godzilla, tanks, jets, missiles, or electricity was working at all. Only one thing could put a stop to Godzilla once and for all, the Oxygen Destroyer, which removes the oxygen from any area it is detonated. At first, Dr. Serizawa, the inventor of the device, refused to use it on Godzilla, fearing the repercussions of the weapon if the wrong people got their hands on it. However, after much persuasion, Serizawa agreed to use the weapon once, on Godzilla. Dr. Serizawa detonates the device himself underneath Godzilla in Tokyo Bay and as all life in the bay perishes along with Godzilla, Dr. Serizawa kills himself to keep the secret of the deadly weapon from getting out. Soon, all of Tokyo Bay is one giant graveyard and Godzilla is gone… for now.
Two years later, Godzilla reappeared on Iwato Island, battling the fierce kaiju Anguirus. The two kaiju soon took their battle to Osaka, Japan and Godzilla seemingly killed Anguirus, but continued his reign of destruction until he was trapped in an avalanche of ice by the JSDF on a deserted island. However, after several years of being trapped in the ice, global warming caused it to break away and float down into the Bering Sea, where Godzilla finally freed himself and advanced on Japan. This time Godzilla did battle with King Kong, who retreated from the Monster King after a vicious battle that ended when they both plunged into the water off the coast of Japan. Two years later, Godzilla returned following an attempt by the Japanese to obtain land from the sea, emerging from the ground that was once underwater. In the end, only with the help of Mothra could Japan be saved, the twin larva trapping Godzilla in a silk web and causing the Monster King to topple into the sea. Later that same year, Godzilla returned and headed straight for Japan, soon doing battle with the returning Rodan. Meanwhile, the terrible monster King Ghidorah landed on Earth for the first time, encased in a meteor. Nothing humanity tried could defeat King Ghidorah, so in order to save the world from the three-headed space kaiju, Mothra convinced Godzilla and Rodan to join forces and defeat King Ghidorah, forcing the space kaiju to retreat back into the blackness of space. A year later, the aliens of the Planet X requested to borrow Godzilla and Rodan from Earth to help them rid Planet X of King Ghidorah. Interested in the opportunity to get rid of two kaiju and obtain a miracle drug, the Earth agreed. However, the Xians soon revealed their true nature, sending all three monsters to conquer Earth and claim it as a colony of Planet X. However, humanity was soon able to break the control over the monsters and Godzilla and Rodan confronted King Ghidorah. After a brief battle, all three monsters fell into the sea, only King Ghidorah emerging, retreating back into space.
Godzilla was not seen again until his unconscious form was discovered by marooned sailors on an island controlled by the military organization, Red Bamboo. The sailors revived Godzilla with a bolt of lightning so that Godzilla would destroy the Red Bamboo and the sea monster Ebirah. Godzilla was next seen arriving on Sogellel Island, answering the call of a baby kaiju that was in need of assistance. Godzilla and his adopted son Minilla soon did battle with the island's other kaiju, a swarm of Kamakiras and the giant spider Kumonga. After defeating the monster bugs, a weather experiment sent both Godzilla and Minilla into hibernation, which is presumably how Godzilla was able to be captured and incarcerated on Ogasawara Island with nine other kaiju. However, the alien Kilaaks soon freed the monsters and used them to attack the world's capital cities, but humanity once again found a way to free the monsters from the alien control, and sent them to attack the Kilaaks. The aliens called upon King Ghidorah to try and save them, but Earth’s monsters made short work of the three-headed monster before destroying the evil aliens once and for all. Following the Kilaak invasion, Godzilla did battle with many invading kaiju such as Hedorah, Gigan, Megalon, MechaGodzilla, and once again King Ghidorah. Godzilla was aided in some of these battles by his allies Anguirus, Jet Jaguar, and King Seesar. Godzilla's last battle before he disappeared until 1984 was against MechaGodzilla and Titanosaurus in 1975, whom he successfully defeated after a long and hard-fought battle.
During the Showa series, Godzilla stood at 50 meters tall and weighed 22,000 tons. Godzilla favored close combat in these days, laying into his opponents with a series of punches, kicks, and tail attacks. For long range attacks and city destruction, Godzilla always utilized his powerful radioactive heat ray, which almost never fails to take down an opponent (except King Ghidorah). As always he had his super regenerative powers to keep him going and he used many unique attacks against his opponent in those days, like his flying kick! Godzilla would return ten years later to reign again in 1984 in what was known as the Heisei Series.
Check out this section in November, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... VIRAS!
NOVEMBER 2002
VIRAS
The space squid Viras made his debut in the 1968 film, "Gamera vs. Viras" otherwise known as "Destroy All Planets." In this film, invaders from the planet Viras attempted to conquer Earth by using Gamera as their weapon of destruction. However, Gamera ruined their plans by breaking the alien control over him and destroyed their space ship. This was not the end of the battle, for several Viras aliens suddenly emerged from the destroyed ship and began to merge into a single, kaiju-sized Viras. The giant Viras then attacked Gamera and after a brief battle, Viras impaled the giant turtle with his spear-like head. However, Gamera, with Viras still in his body, activated his jet propulsion and took off into the sky, eventually dislodging Viras from his body and sending him falling back into the sea, the space kaiju’s body freezing solid from the extreme height at which Gamera was flying. Once Viras hit the water, his frozen body quickly disappeared beneath the surface, never to be seen again.
Viras stood at 96 meters tall and weighed 120 tons. Viras is not the greatest of fighters, finding it easier to take control of giant beasts with his mind and forcing them to do his will. However, when forced to fight, the giant squid will employ his long, choking tentacles and his sharp spear-head to beat on his enemies.
Check out this section in December, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... KUMONGA!
DECEMBER 2002
KUMONGA
The gigantic spider Kumonga made his debut in the 1967 film, "Son of Godzilla." In this film, Kumonga was a legendary, vicious monster reported to dwell in the jungle of Sogellel Island. However, exposure to the radioactive storm created by the UN’s failed weather experiment caused Kumonga to grow to 45 meters tall. Then, after being awakened by a battle between Minilla and the last Kamakiras, Kumonga attacked the Kamakiras, killing it for food and then nearly killed Minilla. However, before that could happen, Godzilla stepped in and saved his adopted son, then got into a vicious battle with the giant spider. After a tense battle, Godzilla was finally able to defeat Kumonga with the help of Minilla as the mutated dinosaurs blasted the giant spider with their radioactive heat rays, apparently killing him. However, Kumonga later appeared as an inhabitant of Ogasawara Island and was too sent out by the Kilaaks to attack the world’s major cities. Once humanity broke the control over the monsters, Kumonga made his way to Mount Fuji and was present at the final battle against the Kilaaks and King Ghidorah, helping Mothra to trap the three-headed space kaiju in a net of webbing as Godzilla, Anguirus, and Gorosaurus finished him off. After the battle, Kumonga returned along with the rest of the kaiju to Ogasawara Island with the rest of the kaiju, where he has remained ever since.
Kumonga stands at a height of 45 meters and weighs 8,800 tons. Kumonga is most effective as a grappler, overwhelming his foes with his eight, sword-like legs. However, Kumonga also employs his webbing and poison stinger in battle, entangling his opponents in his web and then jabbing them with his poison stinger, which either kills the foe or knocks them unconscious.
Check out this section in January, when the Kaiju of the Month will be... SANDA & GAILA!
