The Many Heads of King Ghidorah Part I - By Jordan Garren

Articles & Profiles: The Many Heads of King Ghidorah Part I - By Jordan Garren
Posted on Sunday, May 01, 2005 @ 00:00:00 Mountain Daylight Time by Duane

KING GHIDORAH (1964 - 1975)

Height: 100 Meters (328 feet)

Wingspan: 150 Meters (492 feet)

Mass: 30,000 metric tons (33,000 tons)

Weapons/Abilities: Gravity beams from each of its mouths, hurricane force winds caused by its wings, and flight at Mach 3.

First Appearance: Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

(Showa) King Ghidorah's Complete Filmography: Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Zone Fighter, Episode 5: King Ghidorah's Arrival, and Zone Fighter, Episode 6: King Ghidorah's Counterattack. King Ghidorah also has two very brief stock footage cameos in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Terror of Mechagodzilla.

Origin: King Ghidorah's true origins are a mystery, but what is known about this enigmatic, three-headed harbinger of doom is that it's been destroying planets for millenia, and has been utilized as a weapon by various alien cultures who have tried to conquer the Earth. Had it not been for the combined might of Godzilla and Earth's other homegrown daikaiju, King Ghidorah would have turned our planet into a barren wasteland.

My original intention for this article was just a simple kaiju profile but as I was researching Godzilla's biggest, baddest, and most popular arch nemesis, I discovered that King Ghidorah has evolved many times. So many times in fact that one article wouldn't do "the destroyer of worlds" justice. Because of that, I've turned this into a two part series covering Ghidorah's numerous incarnations. This first edition will cover King Ghidorah's appearances in film, television, video games, and novels during the Showa and Heisei periods of the Godzilla series. The second part will cover King Ghidorah's ever-changing visage in the Millennium Godzilla films and the Heisei Mothra trilogy (also known as the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy).

King Ghidorah first appeared in 1964's Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (a.k.a. San Daikaiju Chikyu Saidai No Kessen - Three Giant Monsters, Greatest Battle on Earth; a.k.a. Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster). In this film, a huge magnetic meteor crashes to Earth somewhere in the Japanese countryside while simultaneously, a woman claiming to be an alien prophetess appears and warns the Japanese of Rodan and Godzilla's sudden awakening. Eventually, the aforementioned meteor explodes and unleashes King Ghidorah upon Japan while Godzilla and Rodan continue an ongoing fight with one another elsewhere. Then the film takes an interesting twist: Mothra appears and tries to reconcile the differences between the two feuding monsters!

Mothra succeeds in doing that, but fails in convincing Godzilla and Rodan to save humanity from King Ghidorah. Then, to make a point, the giant larvae attempts to take on the three-headed death-dealer on her own, only to be easily outmatched. Just when it seems that Mothra is about to bite the dust, Godzilla and Rodan step in and start dealing out some punishment to King Ghidorah. What follows is one of the better kaiju fights ever filmed, as Earth's trio of monsters team up and eventually send Ghidorah fleeing to outer space after a good beating. King Ghidorah, after only one film appearance, managed to show off its cruel and truly malevolent nature. It came as no surprise to see Ghidorah again in the following Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (a.k.a. Invasion of the Astro-Monster).

In this film, beings called Xilians from Planet X arrive on Earth, begging for our help. Apparently their planet has been frequently under siege by King Ghidorah, and only the combined might of Godzilla and Rodan can save Planet X from destruction! Naturally us earthlings are eager to help out and we gladly "lend" the mysterious aliens Earth's two mightiest monsters. Godzilla and Rodan are then hauled to Planet X where they battle and defeat King Ghidorah. (As Ghidorah flies away, Godzilla does a victory dance that has become one of the most memorable Big-G moments in film history. It ranks right up there with Godzilla's flight in Godzilla vs. Hedorah and his tail-slide attack in Godzilla vs. Megalon.) Afterwards, Earth's diplomats return from Planet X with an audio recording of an alleged miracle cure for all diseases.

The tape recording of course is a "surrender or die" ultimatum, and soon Japan is assailed by the now alien-controlled Godzilla, Rodan, and King Ghidorah! Things look bleak until Japan's scientists invent a weapon that will cut off the alien's control of the monsters, plus they discover that a certain annoying high-pitched sound can disable and even kill the invading Xilians. The new weapons are put into action and the invading aliens are defeated, but what about the monsters? Well, after each giant creature has a monster-sized seizure (an effect caused by the breaking of the Xilians control), they all snap out of it and a new kaiju battle begins. Once again, Godzilla and Rodan send their tri-headed opponent packing and Earth is saved from conquest once again.

King Ghidorah would head out to space and lick its wounds until 1968's monster melee, Destroy All Monsters. Once again, alien invaders have come to Earth to enslave humanity, and once again they are forcing monsters to do their dirty work. This time out, the aliens are called Kilaaks and they have taken control of all the Earth's monsters (which were conveniently held at a scientific research station on Ogasawara Island called "Monsterland."). Though the film starts off a little slowly, it soon builds to a city-smashing crescendo as Toho's stable of monsters are unleashed on the world's major cities. ("Godzilla Nukes New York! Mothra Blasts Beijing! Rodan Levels Moscow! King Ghidorah Tramples Tokyo! Destroy All Monsters... the Battle Cry That Could Save The World!")

Of course Japan's scientific community discovers how to defeat the Kilaaks and take control of the monsters toward the end of the film, resulting in the biggest monster battle of all time. (Said battle still has yet to be topped in my opinion. Even Ryuhei Kitamura's Godzilla: Final Wars fails to compare to Eiji Tsuburaya's monster bash.) The Kilaaks, seeing that they're now officially screwed, unleash their trump card: King Ghidorah! But Ghidorah is clearly outnumbered and outmatched and eventually succumbs to a massive flogging, with Minya delivering a radioactive smoke ring as the coup de gras. Once the dust clears and things calm down, it appears that King Ghidorah, the master of disaster, the three-headed angel of death from above, has been killed! Despite that little inconvenience, King Ghidorah would be back one more time to rock Godzilla's world in 1972.

In Godzilla vs. Gigan, large alien cockroaches from a dying planet attempt to conquer Japan by building a fake monster theme park with a Godzilla tower. From this tower, they call upon both King Ghidorah and Toho's newest kaiju creation, Gigan. The two creatures begin tearing up Tokyo and easily shrug off the best efforts of Japan's self defense forces. Luckily, Godzilla and Anguirus hear the aliens' transmissions and make a beeline for Tokyo, ready to take on all comers. Once they arrive in Tokyo Bay, Godzilla and Anguirus take the offensive and start off strong, but the tide of the battle quickly turns in Ghidorah and Gigan's favor. Both Godzilla and Anguirus lose some blood and take a sizeable beating. Things look extremely bleak for Earth's heroic monsters until the aliens' control over King Ghidorah and Gigan is broken. (Thanks to a little help from humanity.)

Godzilla and Anguirus make a huge comeback and beat their enemies to a pulp, forcing both creatures to outer space for safety. After this film, King Ghidorah would appear in two episodes of 1973's Zone Fighter T.V. show. In Episode 5: King Ghidorah's Arrival (a.k.a. Blast King Ghidorah at Point Blank!), the shows resident alien invaders, the Garogans, create yet another evil plot to destroy Zone Fighter and his family. They plan to weaken Zone Fighter by absorbing the sun's rays using the "Dark Prism" (I guess Zone Fighter is solar-powered?) and then unleash their secret weapon upon him, namely King Ghidorah! The Garogan's evil plan almost succeeds but Zone Fighter's grandfather ("Great Zone") manages to destroy the "Dark Prism" and recharges Zone Fighter with a Proton crystal. (Wow this show sounds wacky doesn't it?) With his strength regained, Zone Fighter saves the day and chases King Ghidorah off our planet and follows him into space. The following week, Episode 6: King Ghidorah's Counterattack (a.k.a. King Ghidora Strikes Back!) premiered and continued the storyline from the previous episode.

In this episode, it turns out that King Ghidorah's retreat was merely a diversion and Zone Fighter's entire family was kidnaped by the Garogans! Zone Fighter quickly returns to Earth, rescues his family before they are executed, and then begins fighting anew with King Ghidorah. During the battle, Zone Fighter is blinded and flees after returning to his human form. "Great Zone" heals his grandson's eyes and then formulates a plan to lead King Ghidorah away from Earth. Using a space capsule, the Zone Family attack King Ghidorah and lead him to far away Jupiter; allowing Zone Fighter and King Ghidorah to battle one final time. Zone Fighter continuously deflects Ghidorah's gravity beams back at the creature, then engages the beast in physical combat. Surprisingly, King Ghidorah is nearly destroyed by Zone Fighter's patented Meteor Missile Might, but manages to escape and fly off into deep space, never to return to Earth again.

Sadly, that was King Ghidorah's final starring role in film and television. The mighty kaiju would not be seen in another film during the Showa era except for two brief stock footage cameos in both Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Terror of Mechagodzilla. (Hey, don't you shake your head at me! You watch those two movies again very closely and you'll see King Ghidorah. If you don't see him, then listen for his trademark roar! Sheesh, the nerve of you disbelievers!) After 1975, things got awfully quiet on the kaiju front after Godzilla's "final" film and Ghidorah sat in a dark, dank, and dusty warehouse, biding his time until he would roam free again on the silver screen. King Ghidorah's wait would be a long one.

KING GHIDORAH (1991)

Height: 150 Meters (492 feet)

Wingspan: 175 Meters (574 feet)

Mass: 70,000 metric tons (77,000 tons)

Weapons/Abilities: Gravity beams from each of its mouths, hurricane force winds caused by its wings, and flight at Mach 3.

First Appearance: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

(Heisei) King Ghidorah's Complete Filmography: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.

Origin: In the far distant future of 1999 (hahaha), people from the future called Futurians arrive in Japan and try and stop the creation of Godzilla. They succeed in their task but secretly release three small creatures called "Dorats" onto the island where the atomic explosion that created Godzilla will take place. The result of the blast was the fusion of the Dorats into the mighty King Ghidorah! With Godzilla gone, how will Earth defend itself from this new threat?!

In 1984, Godzilla made a comeback after nearly ten years with Gojira (a.k.a. Godzilla 1985) and in subsequent years, other popular Toho monsters would also be revived on the big screen. After nearly two decades, King Ghidorah was brushed off, revamped, and given an all new origin (as was Godzilla). Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah premiered in Japanese theaters in 1991 and did quite well in the box office. In this film, the Futurians arrive in Japan with an ominous message: In the near future, Godzilla will destroy Japan and the rest of the world! To stop this cataclysm from happening, the Futurians offer to go back in time and thwart the unintentional creation of the King of the Monsters. They do succeed after they remove a "Godzillasaurus" from the island and lay him to rest at the bottom of the see elsewhere. However, during this procedure, the Futurians secretly release three small Dorats onto the island before going back to the future. ("Great Scott!") Once they return to our present day and age, the Futurians come clean with their plans to conquer Japan with the aid of their monster, King Ghidorah!

What the haughty Futurians don't realize is that they have also managed to make a larger and much more aggressive Godzilla. You see, they moved Godzilla away from the original nuclear blast that created him, but by doing so, they left the Godzillasaurus in a spot that would be the site of a modern nuclear Russian sub's ruination. (The rest my friends, is history.) This "new" Godzilla eventually comes ashore and eagerly picks a fight with King Ghidorah. After a brief scuffle, Godzilla defeats the massive three-headed beast by blowing off its center head with a powerful blast of radioactive flame. That's right folks, Ghidorah comes out of retirement after nearly twenty years and in his first major film, he's defeated! However, this isn't the end of Ghidorah by a long-shot. The Futurians are Godzilla's next victims and they are incinerated before they can escape in their ship from Godzilla, except for Emmy, who decides to make up for the evil acts of her cohorts by resurrecting King Ghidora and making him bigger, faster, and stronger. (Cue the Million Dollar Man sound effects and theme music.) Her goal? To defeat Godzilla and save Japan!

MECHA-KING GHIDORAH (1991)

Height: 150 Meters (492 feet)

Wingspan: 175 Meters (574 feet)

Mass: 80,000 metric tons (88,000 tons)

Weapons/Abilities: Gravity beams from its two living heads & a powerful laser from its mechanical head, anti-gravity flight at Mach 4, metallic body armor, "Godzilla capture cables" with mechanical grappling claws.

First Appearance: Godzilla vs. Ghidorah

(Showa) King Ghidorah's Complete Filmography: Godzilla vs. Ghidorah.

Origin: After King Ghidorah's center head is blasted off by Godzilla, the creature lied comatose and near death. Lucky for Ghidorah, it was given new life by a Futurian named Emmy. She transported the mortally wounded monster to the future and had it retrofitted with a new robotic head and multitudes of weaponry. Thus was the creation of Mecha-King Ghidorah.

Just when you thought it was safe to live in Tokyo, King Ghidorah returns in an all new and improved form. ("Evil Gets an Upgrade!") Emmy the Futurian had the late Ghidorah's center stump retrofitted with a cool, laser-spitting robotic head, solar paneled wings, tons of body armor, and a series of "Godzilla capture cables" with grappling claws at the ends. Once these claws are latched onto Godzilla, a powerful electrical surge can be sent through the cables to help incapacitate the Big-G. Despite these upgrades (what, no CD player in the cockpit? What gives?!), Mecha-King Ghidorah still isn't a match for the accidentally created uber-Godzilla. What's a girl piloting a massive three-headed cyborg to do in a bad situation like this? Why carry off Godzilla and drop him far out at sea of course! Emmy takes Godzilla for a lift out over the Pacific Ocean and ends up plunging into the water after Godzilla disables Mecha-King Ghidorah's wings. In the end, Emmy escapes back to the future ("Great Scott!") before she can drown, and Godzilla and Mecha-King Ghidorah slowly sink deeper and deeper into the ocean waves.

Sadly this is King Ghidorah's (and Mecha-King Ghidorah's) first and last appearance in the Heisei series. By 1995, Godzilla was officially "dead" and it seemed like all his kaiju co-stars would also share the same fate. However, King Ghidorah managed to evolve and starred in Toho's new Mosura series. In each of these films, three different variations of King Ghidorah battles the ever-evolving powerhouse that is Mothra. (It turns out now that Mothra is a space-moth, which accounts for it's ability to actually put up a good fight.) Anyway, from the mid 1980's and onward, King Ghidorah has been in a variety of video games including Nintendo's Godzilla: Monster of Monsters for the NES. King Ghidorah is the game's final foe, but he isn't a huge challenge if your health meter is jacked up as high as it can go. (If you want a real challenge, type in MONSTER 0 in the password screen and test your skills. Good luck!) Ghidorah has also appeared in Godzilla for the Gameboy, Godzilla's Greatest Battles and Super Godzilla for the Super Nintendo console, and has more recently been a playable character in both Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee and Godzilla: Save the Earth.

King Ghidorah has also appeared in Marc Cerasini's series of Godzilla novels. In Godzilla 2000, Godzilla saves the planet by defeating the "Golden Dragon" by blowing off its center head (sound familiar?). After receiving this mortal wound, King Ghidorah painfully flew out of Earth's atmosphere. (This story is also told in Godzilla Saves America: A Monster Showdown in 3-D!) But Ghidorah would be back in Cerasini's Godzilla vs. The Robot Monsters. In this novel, Ghidorah's body is recovered after it falls from space by a Mongol warlord who has it built into Mecha-King Ghidorah. With this bio-weapon at his disposal, said Mongol warlord plans on creating an all new Mongol Empire spanning across the entire planet! It takes the combined force of Godzilla, Mechagodzilla (created by America and Japan), and Moguera (created by the Russians) to bring the three-headed cyborg down! Once again, Marc Cerasini takes the origins and back stories of Toho's monsters and changes them in ways that really make his books interesting. In fact, I think Toho should adapt and make films out of each one of Cerasini's novels sometime in the future. Well I guess that about covers the illustrious early career of King Ghidorah. So far we've seen this popular, yet villainous monster evolve from an ancient destructive force, to a man-made weapon of conquest, and finally become a tool used for humanity's protection. What other roles will King Ghidorah play in the future? Find out next month in the thrilling second and final chapter of "The Many Heads of King Ghidorah."

Pictures courtesy of Toho Kingdom, Gojistomp.Org, and Zone Fighter Episode Guide.