Goro Maki (Shin Godzilla)

Goro Maki Species Human Nationality Japanese Occupation Biologist Related to Unnamed deceased wife First appearance Shin Godzilla Played by Kihachi Okamoto (photo double)

This page is for the character from Shin Godzilla. For other uses of "Goro Maki," see the disambiguation page.

“	I did as I pleased. Now, you do the same.	„
	— Goro Maki (Shin Godzilla)

Goro Maki (牧 悟郎,   Maki Gorō) is an unseen supporting character in the 2016 Godzilla film, Shin Godzilla. A mysterious biology professor who was expelled from Japan, Maki worked for an American energy firm and discovered a new lifeform born from consuming nuclear waste dumped on the seafloor in the 1950s, which he named "Gojira." Maki vanished abaord his yacht the Glory-Maru in 2016, shortly before the creature he discovered made landfall in Tokyo. Apparently having committed suicide, Maki left behind some of his research, which later proved crucial in leading to Godzilla's defeat. Japan was left to ponder whether Maki had intentionally unleashed Godzilla as a sort of test of the Japanese people.

History

Reiwa era

Shin Godzilla

A Japanese biology professor, Goro Maki was expelled from Japan sometime after his wife died due to radiation sickness. Maki was subsequently employed by an American energy firm and began studying mutations caused by nuclear waste dumped into the Pacific Ocean by the U.S. in the 1950's. During his research, Maki discovered a strange new lifeform, a prehistoric sea creature that had adapted to the nuclear waste on the sea floor and began consuming it. Maki gave the creature the name "Gojira" (呉爾羅), which meant "incarnation of God" in Maki's home on Odo Island. The American Department of Energy learned of Maki's research and prevented it from being published, while giving the creature the English name of "Godzilla."

In 2016, Maki's yacht the Glory-Maru was found abandoned in Tokyo Bay, along with numerous files and a small origami crane, shortly before Godzilla attacked the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line and made landfall for the first time. American envoy Kayoco Anne Patterson asked Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Rando Yaguchi to find information about Maki's whereabouts in exchange for information about Godzilla. Yaguchi presented Kayoco with the files recovered from Maki's yacht, but reported that Maki was nowhere to be found, having seemingly committed suicide. Maki had left behind a note simply saying "I did as I pleased. Now, you do the same." Kayoco allowed Yaguchi to bring the files to his team of bureaucrats searching for a way to stop the creature. The files revealed how Godzilla was spawned by radiation dumped onto the sea floor 60 years ago, and also included what appeared to be a molecular schematic of Godzilla's cellular processes, which the team was unable to interpret. After Godzilla had come ashore a second time and leveled Tokyo, Yaguchi and his team had a breakthrough when they folded the schematics like origami, revealing that Godzilla's cells actually converted air and water into a radioactive isotope that provided him with energy. Based on this breakthrough, Yaguchi and his team created a blood coagulant capable of freezing Godzilla. The coagulant was used as part of Yaguchi's complex plan called "Operation Yashiori," which succeeded in freezing Godzilla. Yaguchi considered the possibility that Maki intentionally unleashed Godzilla as a sort of test of the Japanese people, and determined that he would work to rebuild Japan in the age of Godzilla.

Gallery

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  A file on Maki

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  Maki's CV, as published in The Art of Shin Godzilla

Trivia

• The photograph of Goro Maki is actually of late Japanese filmmaker Kihachi Okamoto, a contemporary of Ishiro Honda. Director Hideaki Anno cites Okamoto as one of his influences, with the climax of his 1988 OVA series Gunbuster referencing Okamoto's 1971 film Battle of Okinawa.
• Maki's yacht, the Glory-Maru, is named after the Eiko Maru, the first ship Godzilla destroyed in the original film and the name of which translates to "Glory."
• Maki is stated to hail from Odo Island, which is the location where Godzilla first came ashore in the original film.

References

This is a list of references for Goro Maki (Shin Godzilla). 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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