King Ghidorah (Rebirth of Mothra III)
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King Ghidorah (キングギドラ is a three-headed dragon Kingu Gidora)kaiju that appeared in the 1998 film, Rebirth of Mothra III.
This is the only incarnation of King Ghidorah to appear in a film without Godzilla. Like the Showa incarnation of the character, this King Ghidorah is an evil space monster, and first invaded Earth millions of years ago during the Cretaceous. King Ghidorah returned to Earth in the present day to feed on the life forces of human children, trapping them all inside a gigantic dome in the forests around Mount Fuji. Rainbow Mothra attempted to stop King Ghidorah, but was soundly defeated. Rainbow Mothra traveled back to the Cretaceous period and battled King Ghidorah's younger and weaker form, seemingly killing him by dropping him into an active volcano. When Rainbow Mothra returned to the present day, King Ghidorah reappeared and continued his reign or terror. Rainbow Mothra then transformed into Armor Mothra and destroyed King Ghidorah.
Name
King Ghidorah's name is composed of "King" (キング and "Ghidorah." The "Ghidorah" part of King Ghidorah's name comes from the Japanese word for "hydra" Kingu) (ヒドラ, which is spelled very similarly to the Hidora)Japanese katakana for Ghidorah.
Each of this King Ghidorah incarnation's forms has its own name. King Ghidorah's younger form is known as Cretaceous King Ghidorah (白亜紀キングギドラ, while his mature form is called Modern Type King Ghidorah Haku Aki Kingu Gidora) (現代型キングギドラ. Both forms were also given different nicknames by the production staff: Cretaceous King Ghidorah was called Young Ghidorah Gendai-Gata Kingu Gidora) (ヤングギドラ and Modern Type King Ghidorah was called Grand Ghidorah Yangu Gidora) (グランドギドラ. Grand Ghidorah, or alternatively Grand King Ghidorah, has become a popular name for this incarnation of the character among English-speaking fans. In the film, the Gurando Gidora)Elias Moll refers to King Ghidorah as the King of Terror (恐怖の大魔王. Kyōfu no Dai Maō)
Development
Initially during development of Rebirth of Mothra III, the filmmakers considered featuring a new monster as Mothra Leo's foe, as they had done for the first two entries of the trilogy. This new monster was to be associated with fire, and Leo would travel back to Edo period Japan to fight it.[3] Eventually, Toho decided to incorporate a more well-known established monster into the film. Initially, their choice was Rodan, before King Ghidorah was ultimately settled upon.[4] King Ghidorah's last film appearance had come in 1991's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, though the character had been considered for multiple unrealized projects since then. Toho had planned a direct sequel titled The Return of King Ghidorah, which would feature an extraterrestrial King Ghidorah separate from the one in the prior film arriving on Earth to challenge Godzilla. When this project ultimately resulted in Godzilla vs. Mothra, Toho revived the concept for the sixth film in the Heisei series. In this story, Godzilla was to battle an alien King Ghidorah dubbed "Emperor Ghidorah," but this idea was also scrapped and replaced with SpaceGodzilla. Koichi Kawakita said in a 1995 interview that Toho planned to produce a standalone film starring King Ghidorah in 1999,[5] but this never came to pass, possibly because of the character's appearance in Rebirth of Mothra III. For his role in Rebirth of Mothra III, King Ghidorah would be returned to his traditional depiction as an evil space monster, a characterization Toho had planned to return for the various unmade films featuring him in the Heisei series.
Modern Type King Ghidorah was designed by Shinji Nishikawa and modeled by Shinichi Wakasa of MONSTERS Inc. The scales for the suit were produced by Ogawa Studio.[2] Some of the paint applied to the suit was partially based on the coloration of chameleons.[6] Nishikawa and the modeling staff nicknamed the Modern Type King Ghidorah suit "Grand Ghidorah" (グランドギドラ. The suit was worn by actor Gurando Gidora)Tsutomu Kitagawa, who also portrayed Cretaceous King Ghidorah in the film and would go on to play Godzilla in five of the six Millennium films.[6] A smaller prop of Modern Type King Ghidorah was created for flight scenes and aerial battles with Mothra Leo.
The Modern Type King Ghidorah flying prop is prepared for filming of a fight scene with Armor Mothra.
A separate costume was created to portray King Ghidorah's younger form, Cretaceous King Ghidorah.[3] Cretaceous King Ghidorah was designed by Yasushi Torisawa. Early concept art for this form strongly resembled the Showa King Ghidorah before the final design opted for a more dinosaurian anatomy and dull golden-brown skin. The suit was modeled by a team led by Nobuhiro Kokubo and consisting of Shigeaki Ito (head modeler), Toshiya Suzuki, Taichi Yamada, Shosuke Koshiba, Kazuhito Kimura, Kimiko Sekine, Natsuko Kurahashi, and others. The left and right necks were operated by piano wires, while suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa also placed his arms into these necks to move them.[7] The modelers were strongly conscious of weight reduction when creating the Cretaceous King Ghidorah suit, and wanted to make it possible for Kitagawa to run and jump while inside the suit.[6] The staff nicknamed the Cretaceous King Ghidorah suit "Young Ghidorah" (ヤングギドラ. Yangu Gidora)[4]
Early Cretaceous King Ghidorah concept art, bearing a strong resemblance to the Showa King Ghidorah
Filming of a fight scene between Cretaceous King Ghidorah and Rainbow Mothra
Tsutomu Kitagawa runs and jumps in the Cretaceous King Ghidorah suit, facilitated by the lightweight construction of the suit.
Design
Modern Type King Ghidorah exhibits physical characteristics of both the Showa and Heisei incarnations of King Ghidorah. Like the Showa King Ghidorah, this incarnation possesses curved horns on each of his heads, along with a crescent on the top of his heads and pronounced fangs in each of his mouths. Like the Heisei King Ghidorah, this King Ghidorah stands completely upright, and lacks manes of fur on the sides of his heads. Some characteristics unique to this King Ghidorah are his comparatively more muscular build, shorter and thicker necks, and taller and more detailed wings. The ornamentation on his heads is also unique, in addition to the two horns and crescent, each head also features a fin-like projection on its cheek. The middle head also possesses unique forked antler-like horns. This King Ghidorah's skin is a somewhat brighter and shinier shade of gold than that of previous incarnations.
King Ghidorah's younger form, Cretaceous King Ghidorah, has dull gold-colored skin. The necks are relatively short but thick and are covered in bright gold spines, while the his three heads are proportionally larger than in previous designs. In keeping with the other ancient monsters who appear in the film, Cretaceous King Ghidorah is designed to look more primitive and fierce. Cretaceous King Ghidorah also draws on features from theropod dinosaurs, as seen in the suit's legs and faces.
Personality
This incarnation of King Ghidorah returns to the Showa incarnation's depiction as a malevolent space monster that arrives on Earth to decimate all life. The explanation for this King Ghidorah's destructive nature is that he feeds on the life forces of the creatures he kills. King Ghidorah caused the Cretaceous extinction millions of years ago, and returns to Earth in the present day to feed on the life forces of children. This King Ghidorah appears to be more intelligent and methodical than past incarnations, constructing a huge dome in which to trap his victims and slowly harvest their life forces. He is also capable of instilling mind control on other beings, and does this to turn the Elias against each other.
Origins
King Ghidorah is an evil giant three-headed dragon from outer space and a more powerful relative of Desghidorah. He first arrived on the Earth millions of years ago as Cretaceous King Ghidorah. King Ghidorah wiped out the majority of life on Earth and consumed their life forces. He then returned to Earth in the modern day in his more powerful mature form, intending to feed on the life forces of human children.
History
Heisei series
Rebirth of Mothra III
Cretaceous King Ghidorah
![](/w/thumb.php?f=Ghidorah2.jpg&width=300 1.5x, /w/images/c/cd/Ghidorah2.jpg 2x)
King Ghidorah's younger form, Cretaceous King Ghidorah (白亜紀キングギドラ, first arrived and attacked the Haku Aki Kingu Gidora)Earth 130 million years ago in the Cretaceous period. Cretaceous King Ghidorah attempted to exterminate the dinosaurs and almost every other life form on the planet and feed on their life forces. Cretaceous King Ghidorah then encased himself within a meteor and left the Earth, using the life-essence of the creatures he had destroyed to live as he traveled through space. However, Rainbow Mothra managed to transform into Light Speed Mothra and travel back to the Cretaceous period and attack Cretaceous King Ghidorah while he was still on Earth. King Ghidorah's younger form was still more than a match for Rainbow Mothra, shredding both of his wings and mortally wounding Leo before being dropped into a volcano and seemingly killed. Unbeknownst to Rainbow Mothra, one of King Ghidorah's tails was severed in their battle, and burrowed underground to hide and regenerate.
Modern Type King Ghidorah
![](/w/thumb.php?f=Gurando_Gidora.png&width=300 1.5x, /w/thumb.php?f=Gurando_Gidora.png&width=400 2x)
130 million years later, King Ghidorah arose again as Modern Type King Ghidorah (現代型キングギドラ. King Ghidorah came to Japan in a meteor to feed on humans, mainly children, but he soon started to eat adults. King Ghidorah built a dome in the Gendai-Gata Kingu Gidora)Mount Fuji area where he kept his victims and absorbed their life forces. Rainbow Mothra heard of this monster, and he quickly took action to defeat it. Even with all of Rainbow Mothra's power, King Ghidorah quickly defeated him. Rainbow Mothra touched down nearby, but was healed and transformed into Light Speed Mothra by his priestess Moll and traveled back to the Cretaceous period to defeat King Ghidorah's younger form. In the present day, King Ghidorah had vanished and it appeared Rainbow Mothra had been victorious. However, King Ghidorah reappeared in the sky and resumed his reign of terror, having regenerated from the tail Rainbow Mothra had left behind millions of years ago. Rainbow Mothra was reborn as Armor Mothra and engaged King Ghidorah in battle again, this time proving to be the more powerful combatant. Armor Mothra sliced off King Ghidorah's wing with his own razor-sharp wing then completely destroyed him with a powerful laser beam.
Abilities
The King Ghidorah from Rebirth of Mothra III demonstrates many unique abilities not shared by any incarnations before or since, in addition to the character's traditional abilities.
Flight
King Ghidorah can fly at a speed of Mach 3 while in the Earth's atmosphere and at sublight speeds while in outer space.[2] King Ghidorah is able to fly even with the loss of one of his wings using a zero gravity field.
Gravity Beams
Modern Type King Ghidorah can fire the character's traditional golden Gravity Beams (引力光線 from his mouths. Inryoku Kōsen)[2] These beams are powerful enough to destroy buildings and severely injure Rainbow Mothra. He can also combine his Gravity Beams into a single concentrated blast, called the Gravity Beam Triple Tornado (引力光線トリプルトルネード, Inryoku Kōsen Toripuru Torunēdo)[2] which was sufficient to send Rainbow Mothra flying through the air but failed to even slow down Armor Mothra. Before unleashing this combined attack against Armor Mothra, his entire body emitted a golden glow.
Antigravity Beams
![](/w/thumb.php?f=RaishuGhido.jpg&width=300 1.5x, /w/thumb.php?f=RaishuGhido.jpg&width=400 2x)
King Ghidorah can fire up to six Antigravity Beams (反重力光線 Hanjūryoku Kōsen)[2] from each of his wings.
Hypnosis Beam
King Ghidorah can instill a weak mind control on other beings susceptible to it using a Hypnosis Beam (催眠光線 projected from his eyes. Saimin Kōsen)[2]
Fire Balls
![](/w/thumb.php?f=Createceous_King_Ghidorah_shooting_balls_of_flames.jpg&width=300 1.5x, /w/thumb.php?f=Createceous_King_Ghidorah_shooting_balls_of_flames.jpg&width=400 2x)
Cretaceous King Ghidorah can spit Fire Balls (火炎弾 Kaen Dan)[2] from his mouths in place of his mature form's gravity beams.
Wing Shockwaves
While flying, King Ghidorah's wings produce hurricane-force winds called Wing Shockwaves (翼の衝撃波 Tsubasa no Shōgekiha)[2] which blow away cars and buildings.
Durability
Modern Type King Ghidorah cannot be harmed at all by any of Mothra Leo's various attacks, at least until the latter transforms into Armor Mothra.
Regeneration
King Ghidorah is shown to have regenerated his entire body from a severed tail that was cut off by Rainbow Mothra in the past. The book Rebirth of Mothra III Super Complete Works suggests that King Ghidorah could still regenerate from the wing Armor Mothra slices off in their final battle.[2]
Barrier
King Ghidorah's scales can manipulate the light from projectiles to form a protective barrier (バリア. Baria)[2] He used this ability to shrug off Rainbow Mothra's Cross Heat Rainbow Laser, Mineral Chest Beam, and Sparkling Rainbow Buster attacks. However, it failed to block Armor Mothra's Armor Heat Laser.
Dome
![](/w/thumb.php?f=Grand_King_Ghidorah_Dome.jpg&width=300 1.5x, /w/thumb.php?f=Grand_King_Ghidorah_Dome.jpg&width=400 2x)
King Ghidorah is able to create a dome (ドーム Dōmu)[2] that allows objects to pass through, yet has a corrosive effect when they try to leave. The dome's exterior is laced with tentacles that pull outside victims inside. Living creatures inside the dome slowly have their life-force drained and transferred to King Ghidorah.
Teleportation
King Ghidorah can teleport smaller beings inside his dome.
Weaknesses
King Ghidorah's younger form, Cretaceous King Ghidorah, is considerably weaker than his mature form, allowing Mothra Leo to eventually defeat him by throwing him into an active volcano. In addition, King Ghidorah's mature form is susceptible to Armor Mothra's attacks, which sever one of his wings and eventually cause him to completely explode.
Filmography
- Rebirth of Mothra III (1998)
Video Games
- Godzilla (2014) - PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 [picture]
- Godzilla: Kaiju Collection (2015) - Android and iOS [Modern Type and Cretaceous]
- Godzilla Defense Force (2019) - Android and iOS [Modern Type and Cretaceous]
King Ghidorah Modern Type in Godzilla: Kaiju Collection
Gallery
- Main article: King Ghidorah/Gallery.
Roar
Modern Type King Ghidorah's roars are recycled from the Heisei King Ghidorah's roars, themselves modified from Rodan's roars. This time, the roars have been deepened and mixed with growling noises. Cretaceous King Ghidorah's roars are modified from Desghidorah's elephant-like roars at an increased pitch. Cretaceous King Ghidorah's roars would later be recycled for Orga in the Japanese version of Godzilla 2000: Millennium.
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Trivia
- Though this is the only incarnation of King Ghidorah to combine his Gravity Beams into a single blast, a storyboard for Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah shows Mecha-King Ghidorah attacking Godzilla with a similar technique.[8]
- This King Ghidorah suit appears in a single shot in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, when the Satsuma uses its thermal camera while observing King Ghidorah and Godzilla battling underwater.
- This incarnation of King Ghidorah made him the first monster to debut in the Godzilla series and then later appear in a film without Godzilla. However, the Showa King Ghidorah had previously appeared without Godzilla in two episodes of the TV series Zone Fighter.
- This incarnation was originally planned to represent King Ghidorah in the PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 4 Godzilla video game, but due to time constraints the developers were forced to replace him with the Heisei incarnation. Even so, a still of King Ghidorah from Rebirth of Mothra III is used as King Ghidorah's in-game picture, and he is stated to be an alien monster rather than three mutated Dorats.
- Cretaceous King Ghidorah's brown coloration and ability to spit fireballs in place of his usual golden coloration and gravity beams are more similar to the Slavic dragon Zmey Gorynych from the 1956 Soviet film Ilya Muromets, which was a major source of inspiration for King Ghidorah.
References
This is a list of references for King Ghidorah (Rebirth of Mothra 3). 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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