King Caesar
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- Saeko Kanagusuku: “Of course! It's the guardian of the Azumi family, King Caesar.”
- Keisuke Shimizu: “King Caesar?”
- Saeko Kanagusuku: “It's the one treasure of the Azumi royal family. It is handed down by tradition. Anyway, a legend states that the people of the mainland tried to conquer the Okinawan people. A brown monster came forth and began rescuing the royal family and their subjects. The monster's name was King Caesar.”
- ― Saeko Kanagusuku identifies a statue of King Caesar found in a hidden cave (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla)
King Caesar (キングシーサー is an ancient shisa Kingu Shīsā)kaiju who first appeared in the 1974 Toho Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.
The ancient guardian of the royal Azumi family of Okinawa, King Caesar could only be awakened by a mystical statue. The Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens attempted to recover this statue so that King Caesar could not stand in the way of Mechagodzilla, but their attempts failed when Saeko Kanagusuku and a group of humans used the statue to awaken the guardian monster. King Caesar attempted to battle Mechagodzilla, but was outmatched by the mechanical monster. Thankfully, Godzilla arrived and aided King Caesar in the battle. Together, the two Earth monsters successfully destroyed Mechagodzilla, after which King Caesar returned to his slumber in a cliffside. King Caesar's second film appearance came 30 years later in Godzilla: Final Wars, where he was one of the Xiliens' many mind controlled monsters. King Caesar attacked Okinawa at first, then was deployed alongside Rodan and Anguirus to battle Godzilla at Mount Fuji. Godzilla triumphed, and left his enemies stacked unconscious in a pile. King Caesar also appeared in GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla, the second official prequel novel to the GODZILLA anime trilogy, in which he appeared from Cape Manzamo in Okinawa to defend the island from Megalon, ultimately defeating his foe in battle.
Name
King Caesar's Japanese name, "Kingu Shīsā," was created by combining the words "king" and "shīsā," and refers to a creature prevalent in Okinawan mythology.
Toho's original romanization of the name was King Seeser, as seen in Toho's English trailer and official synopsis for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.[1][2] Upon the film's release in the United States, several contemporary reviews and publications referred to the character under the erroneous mondegreen King Seesaw.[3][4] Toho eventually settled on "King Caesar" as the kaiju's official English name.
The King Caesar featured in Godzilla: Final Wars is known as King Caesar (2nd Generation) (キングシーサー(2代目). Kingu Shīsā Nidaime)[10]
Development
The basis for King Caesar was King Balgan, also known as King Vulcan, a monster featured in an early draft for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla titled Showdown in Zanpamisaki: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. King Balgan was described in this draft as having a body which glows a bronze color, golden scales, and dog-like ears which can pin back or perk up. In this story, he was to fight alongside Godzilla and Anguirus against Mechagodzilla and Gigan.[11] As the draft underwent further revision, King Balgan was reworked into King Caesar while Anguirus' role was greatly reduced and Gigan was excised from the film entirely.
King Caesar was designed by Akihiko Iguchi and modeled by Nobuyuki Yasumaru and Tomoki Kobayashi. He was portrayed by Kinichi Kusumi, who also played Anguirus in the film. The suit's eyes were created using car taillights. A miniature doll of King Caesar in a sitting position was created, but left unused in the film.[12]
King Caesar was among many monsters not seen since the Showa series brought back in 2004 for Godzilla's 50th anniversary film, Godzilla: Final Wars. He was redesigned by Shinji Nishikawa and modeled by Shinichi Wakasa and his company MONSTERS. The new King Caesar suit was created to allow easy and agile movement by suit actor Motokuni Nakagawa, a veteran Super Sentai actor who also portrayed Monster X and half of Keizer Ghidorah in the film.
Design
King Caesar's appearance was inspired by the shīsā, a mythological beast resembling a combination of a dog and a lion. In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, King Caesar had red, gemstone-like eyes. In his appearance in Godzilla: Final Wars, King Caesar's design was altered; while he still closely resembled his initial design, his skin became more detailed, with a very pronounced red brick-like texture. He also had much longer ears and human-like eyes with orange irises.
Origins
In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, King Caesar is the legendary guardian monster of the Azumi royal family of Okinawa. Long ago, he appeared and helped the Okinawans to drive off invaders from the mainland. Though never mentioned in the film, an anatomy drawing in Godzilla Monster Diagrams Super Encyclopedia suggests he is some sort of mystical construct rather than an organic creature, with bones made of gold, "concrete brick-like body reinforcements", and energy crystals as an apparent power source.[13][14]
In Godzilla: Final Wars, King Caesar's origins are unexplained, and he simply appears in Okinawa under the control of the Xiliens.
History
Showa era
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
King Caesar, the ancient guardian of the Azumi family, was sleeping in a mountain, waiting to be awoken. The Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens heard of this monster, and after failing to recover the statue required to awaken him, sent their own creation to destroy him. As Mechagodzilla raced to destroy King Caesar, the ancient song required to awaken King Caesar was sung by Nami, the last remaining member of the Azumi royal family. King Caesar erupted from the mountainside and took on Mechagodzilla. King Caesar fought the best he could, but he was overwhelmed by Mechagodzilla's power. Godzilla arrived to battle his mechanical doppelganger, and joined forces with King Caesar. Both monsters were nearly defeated as Mechagodzilla unleashed his full payload of weaponry against them, but Godzilla managed to reach Mechagodzilla and force him to retreat. Godzilla was able to draw Mechagodzilla back to him using special magnetic powers he had gained, then held him still, allowing King Caesar to attack him. Finally, Godzilla twisted off Mechagodzilla's head, destroying him. Mechagodzilla soon exploded along with the aliens' base, sending Godzilla falling into the ocean below. Godzilla surfaced shortly afterward, then swam away as King Caesar returned to his rest inside a cliff.
Godzilla Island
Millennium era
Godzilla: Final Wars
In 20XX, King Caesar was seen attacking Okinawa, until he was teleported away by the Xiliens. Once the trust between the aliens and humans was broken, King Caesar was released once again. Alongside Rodan and Anguirus, King Caesar was one of the final monsters controlled by the Xiliens to confront Godzilla as he neared Tokyo. Transported to the Japanese countryside with his allies by the Xilien UFOs α, ß and γ, King Caesar proved to be an agile and intelligent opponent, coordinating his attacks with Rodan and Anguirus to try and defeat Godzilla. He was eventually thrown by Godzilla into his two allies, leaving them all unconscious and stacked on top of each other.
Abilities
Physical Strength
King Caesar possesses formidable strength and speed.
In Godzilla: Final Wars, this enables him to use various martial arts techniques. His agility was heavily emphasized, as he jumped high in the air to kick Anguirus. His tackle is known as Tackle Break (タックルブレイク Takkuru Bureiku) and his scissor kick is known as Flying Caesar Attack (フライング・シーサーアタック Furaingu Shīsā Atakku).
Prism Eye
King Caesar's most notable ability is his ability to capture the energy beams of enemy monsters into one eye, and fire it back at the target through the other. This is known as his Prism Eye (プリズム式眼球 Purizumu-Shiki Gankyū, lit. Prismatic Eyeball). He used this twice with great effectiveness against Mechagodzilla before the cyborg wisely changed tactics and used his missiles instead.
In Godzilla: Unleashed, King Caesar can fire thin yellow lasers from his eyes under his own power.
Lightning Beam
In episode 63 of Godzilla Island, King Caesar fires a white lightning beam from his mouth while battling Mecha-King Ghidorah. Used in tandem with Godzilla's atomic ray and Mechagodzilla's eye lasers, it was able to blow off the cyborg's left head. King Caesar also has this ability in Godzilla Defense Force, though it is orange in color and only the Showa King Caesar displays this ability.
Intelligence
In Final Wars, King Caesar also displayed a degree of strategy during his fight with Godzilla, coordinating his attacks along with Rodan and Anguirus.
Filmography
- Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
- Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) [stock footage]
- Godzilla Island (TV 1997-1998) [77 episodes][note 1]
- Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
Video games
- Battle Soccer: Champion of the Field (1992) - Nintendo Super Famicom
- Battle Baseball (1993) - Nintendo Famicom
- Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1993) - Nintendo Game Boy
- Godzilla: Heart-Pounding Monster Island!! (1995) - Sega Pico
- Godzilla Movie Studio Tour (1998) - PC and Mac
- Godzilla: Trading Battle (1998) - Sony PlayStation
- Godzilla: Unleashed (2007) - Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 2
- Godzilla (2014) - PlayStation 3 and 4 [Kaiju Guide]
- Godzilla: Kaiju Collection (2015) - Android and iOS
- Godzilla Defense Force (2019) - Android and iOS
- Godzilla (2021) - Pinball
Godzilla: Unleashed
King Caesar appears in the video game Godzilla: Unleashed as a playable character, with characteristics of both his Showa and Millennium incarnations. He is able to fire solar heat beams from his eyes.
Height: 100 meters
Weight: 75,000 tons
"King Caesar is a mystical defender of the Earth. Unlike the other Earth Defenders, King Caesar is specifically concerned with the well-being of humanity, and will respond to events that threaten human beings. King Caesar's strongest asset are his powerful legs, which have tremendous strength and flexibility. King Caesar's entire body is a capacitor, storing and refocusing the sun's energy into searing beams of heat, which he projects from his eyes. In battle, King Caesar can absorb the energy from his opponent's weapons, which both protects him from ranged attacks and provides him the power necessary to engage fast-moving opponents at range. His internal batteries are not unlimited in their capacity, and there is a possibility of overload should King Caesar absorb too much energy without quickly discharging it."
Godzilla (PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 4)
- Main article: Godzilla (2014 video game)/Kaiju Guide#King Caesar.
King Caesar 1974 in Godzilla: Kaiju Collection
King Caesar 2004 in Godzilla: Kaiju Collection
Books
GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla
The guardian deity of Okinawa, King Caesar suddenly appeared from Cape Manzamo when the monster Megalon landed on the island. King Caesar fought and defeated Megalon, defending the local populace and keeping damage from Megalon's attack to a minimum.[15]
Comics
- Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #9, 17, 21-23, 25 (2014-2015)
- Godzilla: Oblivion #4-5 (2016)
- Godzilla: Rage Across Time #5 (2016)
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth
King Caesar appears in issue #9 of Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. The guardian monster was seen primarily in a flash back, fighting against Megalon across Okinawa, the city he was meant to protect. Due to the fight, countless humans died, thus enraging King Caesar to the point of no return. To make matters worse, as the monsters fought, two more elemental monsters, Varan and Ebirah, arrived. The fight was interrupted when an alien war ship crashed and sent King Caesar and Megalon under ground. He later appears in a vision of Lucy in issue 17 alongside Godzilla and the Mothra Larvae, fighting the Cryogs.
Following the invasion of the Trilopods, the Shobijin revealed that King Caesar was resting in Okinawa, and that he needed to be awakened to save the Earth. Lucy and her team accompanied the Shobijin to Okinawa, where they found King Caesar resting inside a mountain. Suddenly, the group was attacked by Battra, prompting King Caesar to awaken and battle him. When a group of Trilopods arrived, Battra retreated and left King Caesar to battle them. King Caesar managed to kill several Trilopods, but then allowed himself to be captured and taken to their hive in Los Angeles but not before killing Minette and Mallory. Once inside the hive, King Caesar freed all of the various monsters that had been captured by the Trilopods. He then led the other monsters into battle alongside Godzilla against the Trilopods, killing the Kamacuras and Rodan Trilopod clones. King Caesar also tried to battle Magita, a gigantic Trilopod, but his attacks did nothing against the creature. After Godzilla destroyed Magita, King Caesar and the other monsters followed him out to sea.
Godzilla: Oblivion
King Caesar appeared at the end of the fourth issue of Godzilla: Oblivion, as he emerged from an interdimensional portal along with Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus, Biollante and Zilla while Godzilla was battling Mecha-King Ghidorah In the following issue, where the monsters were now joined by Hedorah, King Caesar wandered off while the other monsters battled Mecha-King Ghidorah, and was later seen sitting on a makeshift throne made from damaged buildings. Later, after Mecha-King Ghidorah was defeated by Godzilla, all of the monsters were left behind as the humans left the Earth as it became covered by tiny robotic cells that served as interdimensional doorways.
Gallery
- Main article: King Caesar/Gallery.
Roar
The roars of King Caesar were recycled from those of the Toho King Kong in King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes, with an added lion growl.
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In other languages
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Trivia
- In King Caesar's first on-screen appearance in Godzilla: Final Wars, a traditional Japanese style roof can be seen in the foreground with a shisa statue on it.
- King Caesar was the last monster to be Godzilla's ally in the Showa series.
- In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, King Caesar is the savior of Okinawa, but ironically in Godzilla: Final Wars, he attacked the city he protected for generations. However, it should be noted that Godzilla: Final Wars isn't a part of the Showa continuity, and that King Caesar was under the control of the Xiliens, and therefore was not acting as he should have been.
- King Caesar is the third monster with the word "King" in his name to appear in the Godzilla series, after King Kong and King Ghidorah.
- King Caesar has his own theme song, used to awaken him if sung by a member of the Azumi royal family.
- In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Black Hole Alien Leader Kuronuma remarks that, "We'll be in trouble if King Caesar brings other monsters to life." This ability is never elaborated upon.
- According to anatomy diagrams, King Caesar's eyes are actually one large U-shaped prism.[16]
- King Caesar's Prism Eyes are similar to Barugon's prism spikes, although Barugon can create and project his own rainbow while King Caesar needs an outside source.
Notes
- ↑ Episodes 6, 9, 21, 33, 37-40, 43, 58-63, 66-67, 76-78, 81-82, 85, 93, 111-113, 119-120, 123, 125, 127, 130, 132, 134-135, 137-138, 140-142, 144-145, 148-150, 160, 179, 181, 183-184, 186-188, 190-194, 199, 204-208, 212, 217, 224, 226-229, 233, 236, 251-252, and 256.
References
This is a list of references for King Caesar. 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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