Ghogo

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Ghogo™ Alternate names Gohgo, Gorgo Subtitle(s) Legendary Beast (伝説獣,   Densetsujū) Species Fairy Height 20 centimeters Weight 0.9 kilograms Place(s) of emergence Nilai-Kanai Allies Elias, Mothra Leo Enemies Dagahra Designed by Yasuko Ambiru Modeled by Kyoji Maeda First appearance Rebirth of Mothra 2

Ghogo (ゴーゴ,   Gōgo) is a fairy kaiju who appeared in the 1997 Toho film Rebirth of Mothra 2. An artificial organism created by the scientists of the super-ancient Nilai-Kanai civilization prior its collapse, Ghogo was the true identity of the "treasure of Nilai-Kanai."

Name

The English name "Ghogo" appeared in the Japanese theater program for Rebirth of Mothra 2 as well as other tie-in materials for the film. It was used on Toho's official trademark icon for the creature, and is an unregistered trademark. Despite this, he is called Gorgo in the English-dubbed international version of the film, in the credits on Sony's 2014 Blu-ray release of the film, and in several Japanese books.

Development

Decided design for Ghogo by Yasuko Ambiru

Ghogo was designed by anime and picture book artist Yasuko Ambiru. Shinji Nishikawa also submitted at least one concept, which lacked legs.

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  Ghogo concept art

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  Ghogo and Fairy communicating

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  Shiori holds Ghogo

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  Decided design for Ghogo by Yasuko Ambiru

A prototype model of Ghogo was created, which director Kunio Miyoshi and other key staff members used to deliberate over the creature's design. Kyoji Maeda of Up-Art produced nine total props for Ghogo, including two close-up props - one radio-controlled and one wired - and seven "action" props. The two closeup props consisted of FRP (fiber-reinforced plastic) cores, fitted with mechanisms to remotely control their eyes independent of one another. Latex was attached around the eyes, and their eyelids could be opened or closed. The props were covered with a Japanese fabric called boa, often used for plush toy stuffing.

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  Two Ghogo puppets

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  Hikari Mitsushima with a suspended Ghogo action prop

Design

Ghogo's cream-white fur coat covers his whole body except for his eyes, antenna and claws. He has big, expressive eyes with dull gray irises and white sclera along with an antenna on his head which when straightened out, comprises roughly a third of his total height. His three-toed feet bear sharp, long black talons resembling those of predatory birds. Ghogo moreover has a short tail tipped with black fur and which sports three intricate golden rings at its base.

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  Front, side, below views of Ghogo

History

Heisei era

Rebirth of Mothra 2

Shiori Uranai carries Ghogo in a basket

Shortly after a strange red starfish attacked a fisherman off the coast of Okinawa, two other local fishermen, Mikio Kotani and Junichi Nagase, encountered a small fuzzy creature. He leapt at Mikio, who swatted him back into the water, causing him to drop a gold ring. Believing they'd discovered a new species, the two resolved to capture it.

A young girl, Shiori, encountered the fuzzy creature while picking flowers. Both were equally terrified at first, but she managed to befriend him. She soon ran afoul of two school bullies, Kohei and Yoji. Just as they caught her, Belvera, wicked sister of Mothra Leo's priestesses Moll and Lora, appeared on Garugaru. She informed them that the creature was called Ghogo—and demanded that Shiori hand him over. Shiori gave her the basket containing Ghogo, only to slip him out and run away. As Belvera and the boys gave chase, Moll and Lora arrived on Fairy. As the laser beams flew, Belvera revealed to her sisters that she planned to use Ghogo to obtain the miraculous treasure of Nilai-Kanai. Shiori and the boys tossed Ghogo to each other, keeping Belvera at bay long enough to reach a heavily populated beach, and she retreated. Ghogo, seeing that Yoji injured his knee during the chase, healed it with his urine.

Ghogo and Fairy converse telepathically

Moll and Lora formally introduced themselves to the kids. At their school, they researched Nilai-Kanai, which according to Okinawan legend was a magical kingdom that sank into the Pacific Ocean 12,000 years ago, also known as Mu. Translating Ghogo's conversation with Fairy, Moll and Lora learned that Dagahra, a monster created by Nilai-Kanai to consume pollution, had returned, with the Barem he produced threatening to choke the world's oceans. The Elias vowed to stop him using Nilai-Kanai's treasure. Commandeering the computer, Ghogo instructed them to take him to the coast of Ishigaki Island.

That night, Shiori and the boys stole their teacher's canoe and set sail, with the fishermen, now in Belvera's employ, following them on a water scooter. After they found the submerged ruins of the Nilai-Kanai pyramid, Ghogo dove into a small opening, causing a beam of green light to shoot into the sky and pulling the kids into a water tunnel, which ended inside a room with a stone lion. Suddenly, the entire pyramid rose to the surface, allowing Fairy to enter and blast one of the Barem that followed them in. Dagahra arrived to attack the pyramid, but rays from the stone statues flanking it drove him off. Moll and Lora fly off to summon Mothra Leo, tasking the kids with finding the treasure.

The fishermen abducted Shiori and Ghogo, only to lose both of them after Ghogo scratched Junichi's hand. Bouncing through the temple with determination, Ghogo led Shiori across an invisible bridge, and they soon reunited with the boys. Meanwhile, Mothra Leo engaged Dagahra, seeming to gain the advantage with repeated blasts of his Breast Power Beam. Dagahra retaliated from underwater with a Thundering Toxic Crimson Vortex which enveloped Leo and left him covered in Barem. With the pyramid's aid, the guardian managed to collapse on top of the structure.

The fishermen tracked down the kids and Ghogo again, but Moll and Lora intervened, destroying their spear gun. Cowed, they apologized, only for Mikio to grab Kohei and Garugaru to shoot down Fairy. The door in front of them all suddenly opened. Inside they found massive statues, two with impressive orange gems on their foreheads. Mikio and Belvera retrieved them, causing the doors to close. An enormous, regal hologram of Princess Yuna took form at the center of the room and wordlessly sent Junichi flying with a blast of lightning. The Elias made their cases for possession of the treasure: Belvera wanting to use it to wipe out humanity, Moll and Lora striving to save it. Yuna explained that long ago, both Nilai-Kanai and Dagahra were buried by an earthquake just as the civilization's greatest scientists created a treasure to protect it. That treasure was not an object, however, but Ghogo. Belvera lunged for him, but a force field stopped her. Having crawled on top of the pyramid, Dagahra tried to finish Leo. His weight quickly caused the structure to crumble. Yuna instructed Shiori to bring Ghogo to Mothra, then stopped a statue from falling on them with a force field. The humans resolved to put their differences aside to escape, with Shiori using Ghogo to heal Junichi after he was injured by rubble. They crossed a bridge which shattered immediately afterwards, triggering a firestorm. As more doors closed, they seemed to be trapped, but Garugaru tripped a switch at the last moment, shutting another door and saving them. Belvera acknowledged her sisters before flying off. As they made it outside, the statues and Yuna granted Leo another burst of energy to knock back Dagahra, giving Shiori time to present Ghogo to him. The little creature started glowing and floated above Leo and transformed into Hopeful Water which showered down, ridding Leo of the Barem and purifying the seawater. The revitalized Leo subsequently transformed into Rainbow Mothra.

Dagahra was no match for this new form, his rays reflecting off an invisible shield, but found no solace underwater either, as Rainbow Mothra transformed into Aqua Mothra to ravage him from the inside. Reverting to Rainbow Mothra, he dropped Dagahra on top of the pyramid, then liquefied them both. The humans, having safely made it to the shore, heard the voice of the hologram, reminding them that the future is in their hands. Shiori revealed the gift Ghogo left her: a single pearl she imagined as the Earth.

Abilities

Physical abilities

Ghogo either scratched or bit the fisherman Junichi off-camera, allowing him and the girl Shiori to run away.

Mobility

Ghogo moves by sliding across the floor or hopping around. Capable of leaping with considerable height and verticality in his jumps, he quickly traveled through the halls of the Nilai-Kanai pyramid. On two occasions, he stopped in midair during a jump to look around, levitating briefly. He also swam using his claws to propel himself and catapulted himself out of water several meters into the air into a boat. Moreover, he controlled his underwater descent into the still-sunken Nilai-Kanai pyramid.

Durability

Ghogo shrugged off a whack from a fishing spear during his first encounter with Mikio and Junichi. He also endured being thrown into trees, and Yoji landing on top of him after they're both flung at least several meters from a forest to the sands of a beach.

Telepathy

Ghogo communicated telepathically with the also-intelligent Fairy. He also generated a map on a computer to convey the location of the civilization he originated from.

Hopeful Water

Ghogo appears to 'urinate' Hopeful Water (ホープフルウォーター), also called miraculous water (奇跡の水). The water is said to be the same water from the beginning of life on Earth. The liquid is capable of healing injuries sustained by humans, including a scraped knee for Yoji and damage caused from temple rubble falling on Mikio. His sacrifice released a large amount of Hopeful Water which rained down from above the temple. The water dissolved the myriad of Barem latched onto Mothra Leo and floating in the seawater surrounding the temple, and led to Leo's transformation into Rainbow Mothra.

Video games

• Mothra Tamagotchi (1997) - Bandai Tamagotchi
• Godzilla: Trading Battle (1998) - Sony PlayStation
• Mothra: Dream Battle (1998) - Sega Dreamcast VMU

Mothra Tamagotchi

Ghogo is one of the special pets. He evolves from Fairy.

Godzilla: Trading Battle

Ghogo is present through an effect card called "Fairy Ghogo" (妖精ゴーゴ,   Yōsei Gōgo). The card can be used to either fully heal or evolve a monster if it has an evolution.

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  Ghogo in Mothra Tamagotchi

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  Fairy Ghogo card information from Godzilla: Trading Battle

Comics

• Rebirth of Mothra 2 (1997)
• Outrageous Flying Mothra! (1997)
• Manga Digest Edition: Rebirth of Mothra 2 (1998)

Gallery

Main article: Ghogo/Gallery.

Video

Kaiju Profile: Ghogo

See also

• Garugaru
• Fairy Mothra
• Barem

References

This is a list of references for Ghogo. 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]

Bibliography

• Ozawa, Ryoko; Tomoi, Taketo; Nakamura, Satoshi, eds. (4 September 2016). All Toho Monsters Pictorial Book (4th ed.). Yosensha. ISBN 978-4-8003-0362-2.
• Kaneda, Masumi; Oishi, Shinji; Konuta, Kenji; Eguchi, Mizuki; Maruyama, Takeshi (28 July 2014). Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia (1st ed.). Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4-09-682090-2.
• Nishikawa, Shinji (24 June 2016). Shinji Nishikawa: Drawing Book of Godzilla (1st ed.). Yosensha. ISBN 978-4-8003-0959-4.
• Kawamata, Shigeo, ed. (22 August 2014). Rebirth of Mothra 2 Super Complete Works (Kindle ed.). Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4-09-101461-0.

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