King Ghidorah

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Image:Mergefrom.gif It has been suggested that Death Ghidorah be merged into this article or section. ([[{{{2|: talk:King_Ghidorah}}}|Discuss]])
Image:King Ghidorah.jpg

King Ghidorah (キングギドラ Kingu Gidora), sometimes spelled Ghidrah or Ghidora, is a daikaiju featured in several of Toho Studios' Godzilla films and (in derivative forms) in their Mothra Trilogy. Ghidorah is among the most powerful creatures in daikaiju eiga with a reputation that has earned it the title "The King of Terror". It is often considered Godzilla's greatest rival, and Godzilla often must team up with at least one other daikaiju to defeat Ghidorah. It is also one of the daikaiju most susceptible to mind control; it acts completely autonomously in at most two Godzilla movies, in other cases being controlled for most of its screen time by human(oid)s, often aliens.

Created as an opponent for Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra in 1964's Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Ghidorah is a golden dragon-like space monster with three heads on long necks, bat-like wings, and two tails. It was said to be 100 meters tall with a 150-meter wingspan and to weigh 30,000 metric tonnes. King Ghidorah was brought to life on the movie screen by a stunt actor inside an elaborate costume, with a team of puppeteers to control the beast's many appendages. Its alarming shrieks — a different ringing pitch for each of its heads — are among the genre's most recognizable sound effects. Its design is due to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya based on a minimal description in the script: "It has three heads, two tails, and a voice like a bell."

In recent films Ghidorah has undergone several revisions to its origin and appearance — for instance, a 140-meter irradiated triplet of genetically engineered pets with a Rodan-like cackle in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, and a 49-meter guardian monster in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack — and has been realized via CGI as well as suitmation.

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Shōwa era

Initially, Ghidorah was said to have come from outer space, an ancient evil responsible for destroying civilizations on many planets, including Venus (Mars in the English dub). Arriving on Earth in a magnetic meteorite, Ghidorah devastated much of the Japanese countryside before being repelled by the monstrous team of Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan. In the follow-up movie, Invasion of Astro-Monster, it was revealed to be a mind-controlled pawn of beings from Planet X, a newly discovered planet in Jupiter's umbra, who called it Monster Zero. These "Xilians" coveted Earth's water resources and took control of Godzilla and Rodan in an attempt to conquer Earth. However, the human characters intervened by freeing the monsters, and Godzilla and Rodan drove King Ghidorah back into space.

It made two more appearances in the Shōwa Series, both times as an agent of alien invaders. In Destroy All Monsters, controlled by the Kilaaks, it fought and was apparently killed by the combined might of ten of Earth's daikaiju. In Godzilla vs. Gigan, summoned by Space Hunter from Nebula M, it teamed up with Gigan in a battle against Godzilla and Anguirus.

A note on chronology: While Godzilla vs. Gigan (1971) was released after Destroy All Monsters (1968), in the Shōwa Series timeline Destroy All Monsters takes place in 1999, many years after the other Shōwa films, which apparently take place at the approximate dates of their release. Thus, Ghidrah is alive to be driven off by Godzilla and Anguirus in 1971 and to later battle several monsters to its death in 1999.

Ghidorah also appeared in two episodes of the tokusatsu superhero TV series, Ryûsei Ningen Zôn.

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Heisei era

The daikaiju was revamped for 1991's Godzilla vs King Ghidorah, third in the VS Series. Time-travellers from the 23rd century (called "Futurians") released three genetically-engineered Dorats (or Drats) onto Lagos Island, the location at which a Godzillasaurus was to be exposed to radiation from hydrogen bomb testing and become Godzilla. Instead, the irradiated Dorats fused into Ghidorah, which the Futurians then used to devastate present-day (1992) Japan. The marauder was defeated by a reincarnated Godzilla, who blasted off the monster's middle head. Ghidorah fell into the ocean, where it remained comatose for hundreds of years.

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Mecha-King Ghidorah

Image:Mecha King Ghidorah.jpg The Futurian Emi Kano recovered the beast in 2204 and, from its body and futuristic technology, created the cyborg Mecha-King Ghidorah, equipped with solar-paneled wings, an entirely mechanical middle head, and several devices specifically designed for combat with Godzilla. This incarnation managed to stun Godzilla with its Capture Cables, grasp it with the giant Machine Hand, and carry it out to sea. Godzilla finally blasted the monster at point-blank range, and both crashed into the water. Godzilla would return the following year (Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth), but Ghidorah would not appear again in the VS Series. The cybernetic remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah, however, would later be studied by the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center (U.N.G.C.C.) and the technology used to design and construct Mechagodzilla (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II).

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The Mothra Trilogy

In 1996's Rebirth of Mothra, a monster called Desghidorah or Death Ghidorah (デスギドラ - Desughidorah) appears as a black, quadrapedal three-headed dragon who could create fire and open fissures into the Earth as well as absorb energy from the planet it was destroying. Mothra defeated it and sealed it away, making the world safe from its evil. Ghidorah reappeared in 1998's Rebirth of Mothra III, having come from outer space and responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. Mothra battled this Cretaceous King Ghidorah in prehistoric times as well as its older form Grand King Ghidorah (グランドギドラ - Gurandoghidorah) in the present day to save a group of children kidnapped by the dragon. This version of King Ghidorah had returned to his world-destroying roots of the Showa Era.

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Millennium era

King Ghidorah appeared in the third of the Shinsei Series of Godzilla films, 2001's Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. Ghidorah adopted yet another origin for this film, as one of three legendary guardians of the Japanese isles, similar to the eight-headed dragon Yamata no Orochi of Japanese mythology. (In fact, the three-headed Ghidorah in this film is said to be underdeveloped, awakened from hibernation before it could grow all eight of its heads.) Godzilla again attacks Japan and is repelled by the combined might of the guardian monsters (Baragon, Mothra, and Ghidorah) and the Japan Self-Defense Forces.During the battle the 3 guardian Monsters' energy fused into Godzilla making him a guardian monster himself.

In Godzilla: Final Wars, a skeletal-looking monster called Monster X appears and clashes with Godzilla. As their fight seems to end in a tie, Monster X transforms into a massive golden quadrepedal Ghidorah called Kaiser Ghidorah (alternatively spelled Keizer) (カイサーギドラ - Kaizāghidorah), who absorbs Godzilla's energy and nearly kills the king of the monsters, until Godzilla gets a burst of energy from the superhuman Ozaki, which makes Godzilla stronger and given a more powerful beam which is enough to cause Kaiser Ghidorah to explode in the stratosphere in a massive burst of energy visible from space. In his character design logo, Kaizer Ghidorah is referred to as Monster X II for reasons unknown though possibly, it may have been a futile attempt to hide the monster's identity as this name was used on promotional material shortly before the movie came out.

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Popularity

King Ghidorah consistently ranks as viewers' favorite daikaiju in the Godzilla films (besides Godzilla). This fame, coupled with the unimpressive box office run of Godzilla vs Biollante (1989), inspired Kazuki Omori to revive Ghidorah for the 1991 sequel.

Ghidorah (often also as Mecha-Ghidorah) has appeared in several Godzilla video games:

Ghidorah also appears often in pop culture, for instance as Godzilla's adversary in a special effects shoot depicted in Pee-wee's Big Adventure. It is also the namesake of both Daniel Dumile's alter-ego "King Gheedorah" and (presumably) the Japanese rap group King Gidora. "Monster Zero" is referenced in Rob Zombie's "The Great American Nightmare".

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Filmography

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References

  • Toho Kingdom
  • Kalat, David. A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series, McFarland & Company, 1997. ISBN 0786403004
  • Ryfle, S. Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G", ECW Press, 1998. ISBN 1550223488

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