Bagan
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Bagan (バガン is an ancient super Bagan)kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1993 Godzilla game, Super Godzilla.
While Bagan has never made an onscreen appearance, he is particularly well-known for his numerous planned but ultimately scrapped film roles. The first proposed appearance of Bagan was Resurrection of Godzilla, a film proposed by Tomoyuki Tanaka in 1980 as a revival of the Godzilla franchise, which was replaced with The Return of Godzilla. This version of Bagan was an ancient shapeshifting god monster that took three different forms: the dragon-like Doragon Reijuu, the ape-like Enjin Reijuu, and the fish-like Mizu Reijuu. Eventually, Bagan transformed into a huge totem-like amalgamation of all three forms, only to be defeated by Godzilla. A second version of Bagan was proposed for the film Mothra vs. Bagan, a film starring Mothra that would have been set in the same universe as the Heisei Godzilla films. This Bagan was an ancient demonic beast that was sealed away in the Himalayas in ancient times, only to be reawakened in the modern day by global warming. Bagan would have fought Mothra in a final confrontation in Bangkok, being defeated by the combined efforts of Mothra and her larva. This same version of Bagan was planned to go on to face Godzilla in the third entry of the Heisei series, Godzilla 3. When Mothra vs. Bagan was scrapped, this project was reworked into Godzilla vs. Bagan, which was itself replaced with Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. Bagan was potentially considered for another film, also titled Godzilla vs. Bagan, which according to Takao Okawara was an early version of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. Bagan's last proposed appearance was Yamato Takeru II, an unmade sequel to Toho's 1994 fantasy film Yamato Takeru. Though all of Bagan's film appearances were scrapped, he was featured as the final boss in the 1993 Super Nintendo game Super Godzilla, and also made an appearance in Godzilla Movie Studio Tour.
Name
"Bagan" is Indonesian for blueprint or draft, an odd coincidence considering that none of the proposed films involving him were ever made.
History
Resurrection of Godzilla
The first version of Bagan, from the early draft of The Return of Godzilla titled Resurrection of Godzilla, was a shape-shifter. It started out as an ape-like creature but after being wounded it became a dragon-like creature. In further detail, it had a sea monster-like creature with a dragon-like creature attached to its top. Each time it changed it healed itself. It dives into the sea and becomes fish-like. Bagan runs into Godzilla, but finding that it can't defeat him in any single form, it makes a towering, combined form. But after this, it can no longer change shape, meaning it can no longer heal itself, allowing Godzilla to defeat it.
Mothra vs. Bagan
In Mothra vs. Bagan, Bagan is an ancient creature that destroys the world's forests. He was sealed away in the Himalayas long ago by a clan of Mothra, but due to global warming, the beast breaks free of his frozen tomb. He begins his savage attack against humanity, destroying some remote villages and the city of Calcutta, but is eventually confronted by Mothra. As the fight between the two monsters takes them to Bangkok, Mothra's egg hatches and the larva arrives to help its parent, and with their combined powers they are able to end Bagan's reign of terror. A mortally wounded Mothra then carries Bagan's unconscious body out to sea and seals him away again before perishing. Unfortunately, after Godzilla vs. Biollante did not perform as well at the box office as Toho had hoped, they decided not to risk making another movie with another new monster, and so Mothra vs. Bagan was canceled.
Yamato Takeru II
According to the book Heisei Godzilla Perfection, Bagan was to play a role in the unmade sequel to the 1994 fantasy film Yamato Takeru, alongside Orochi.
Abilities
The only known powers for the version of Bagan in Resurrection of Godzilla, are shape-shifting and the ability to heal himself.
In the storyboards for Mothra vs. Bagan, Bagan is shown to be blowing a hole in one of Mothra's wings with an energy beam from his mouth. He is also shown to be firing some sort of lightning bolt from his main nasal horn, and growing what seems to be some type of energy wings out of his back.
The version of Bagan that appeared in Super Godzilla possessed very high physical strength and durability. He could slash with his powerful Slasher Claw attack, perform a Diamond Storm in which he would shoot white, star-like objects from his horns, fire a white Plasma Beam from his mouth and generate a Force Field to block incoming attacks. Bagan's attacks were the strongest used by any enemy in the game. Additionally, he had the most health out of any enemy in the game and normal Godzilla's attacks would only cause a very small amount of damage, making it necessary to transform into Super Godzilla to defeat Bagan and complete the game.
Filmography
- Resurrection of Godzilla (1980/1984; scrapped)
- Mothra vs. Bagan/Mothra vs. Godzilla[3] (1990; scrapped)
- Godzilla 3[4]/Godzilla vs. Bagan[5] (1991; scrapped)
- Godzilla vs. Bagan (1995; scrapped)[6]
- Rebirth of Mothra trilogy (1996-1998; considered)[7]
- Yamato Takeru II (1997; scrapped)[7]
Video Games
Super Godzilla
Bagan received a starring role as the final boss in the video game Super Godzilla. Supercharged by cells from Godzilla and King Ghidorah that his alien commanders had spliced into him, Bagan is easily the most powerful foe in the game, generally seen as impossible to defeat as normal Godzilla, and still seen as a difficult opponent as Super Godzilla.
"This original super monster is making his first appearance in this game. The monster Bagan, born in a super-ancient China shrouded in legend and myth, rules over land, sea, and air. The aliens fused Godzilla cells and King Ghidorah cells with Bagan to create the strongest, most evil and ferocious monster. He has unimaginable destructive power. The Godzilla and King Ghidorah cells fused with him enable him to use the weapons of monsters past, such as fire breath attack and laser light from his horns and make those weapons even more powerful. The thick Bagan cells are even more indestructible than metal and his super-weight makes his body so sturdy that he does not even notice Godzilla's attacks." — Super Godzilla Manual (U.S.)[1]
Godzilla Movie Studio Tour
Bagan appears alongside Dogolas and Godzilla in the Publicity Dep., where players can create mock posters for their custom movie, and even print out the resulting creation. A variety of angles are supplied for use. He also appears in the Kid's Shop in the form of a printable "Sumo Wrestling" tabletop game, with his opponent being Godzilla.
Gallery
Concept Art
Resurrection of Godzilla
Concept artwork by Hurricane Ryu Hariken
Mothra vs. Bagan
Super Godzilla
Bagan info from Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works
Bagan info from Super Godzilla Official Guide Book
Godzilla Movie Studio Tour
Trivia
- Bagan is one of only two monsters in the Godzilla franchise to be more greater in weight than the final form of Biollante, who weighs in at a lesser 200,000 metric tons. The other is SpaceGodzilla, whose flying form weighs a massive 720,000 metric tons.
- The kaiju Kilazee from Ultraman: Towards the Future bears a remarkable resemblance to Bagan's initial design. Both creatures were designed by Shinji Nishikawa.
- Another Ultra kaiju, Rebuilt Buildgamera, who was featured in the 1992 PC game Ultra Special Tactics Squad Go!, also bears a resemblance to some of Bagan's concept art.
- According to Takao Okawara, Bagan may have been planned for another film titled Godzilla vs. Bagan. Okawara stated that while Godzilla vs. Destoroyah was being planned, he had heard about a film titled Godzilla vs. Bagan, but did not know any details about the plot.[6]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 While the instruction manual for Super Godzilla and Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works list Bagan's height and weight as 150 meters and 280,000 metric tons respectively, the Super Godzilla Official Guide Book says Bagan is 130 meters in height and weighs 90,000 metric tons.
References
This is a list of references for Bagan. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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