Magic Serpent

Anguirus

[GRA] Played by Katsumi Tezuka. It would seem that this suit's floppy carapace was an intentional feature of Anguirus' design, as the manga adaptation of the film portrays Anguirus' carapace as flopping around. Subsequent concept art for the unmade early drafts of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Barubaroi, shows a design for Anguirus with the halves of his carapace being able to move around, although the latter instances of this concept art may be of the monster Barubaroi mimicking Anguirus.

[The Volcano Monsters]

[DAM] Played by Hiroshi Sekita and Tadaaki Watanabe. Compared to the Godzilla Raids Again suit, the Anguirus built for Destroy All Monsters had a wider, more muscular neck. The eyes were larger, giving Anguirus a more heroic appearance, just like the Godzilla he fought alongside. Except for a pair of fangs, the suit's teeth were shorter than its predecessor's. The carapace, which no longer moved independently of the rest of the suit, was lined with uneven rows of spikes.

[Gigan] Played by Koetsu Omiya.

[Megalon] Actor unknown. The suit's two large front teeth were removed.

[MG] Played by Kinichi Kusumi.

[Wilderness Years] Before his appearance in Godzilla: Final Wars, Toho planned to use Anguirus three times in the Millennium series and twice in the Heisei series. First, he was considered to appear in Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla, which was meant to be the last film in the Heisei series. Anguirus' appearance was retained in another concept for the final Heisei film, Godzilla vs. Barubaroi, which also featured a new subspecies of Anguirus called the Anguirus Hound. Both Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Barubaroi were scrapped in favor of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, which did not feature Anguirus. However, Shinji Nishikawa commissioned concept art of Anguirus for both films. Anguirus was to be one of the Guardian Monsters, the God of the Sea, in Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the original version of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. He was cut when Toho insisted that Mothra and King Ghidorah be included in the film instead to increase its marquee value. Anguirus was considered to appear in the following film, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, and battle Kiryu, but was removed from this project as well. Anguirus was planned to appear as a corpse in the film's sequel, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., but was replaced with Kamoebas out of fear of fan backlash.

[GFW] Played by Toshihiro Ogura. While distantly resembling the 1955 suit the body of the suit was given a heavier build, as well as spikes on its arms and legs. The head of this Anguirus suit was also given a wider head and lost its crocodile-like snout. It has a pig-like nose with a short horn, and a crown of seven horns instead of seven. The eyes and forehead are now pressed more forward. The spikes of the carapace pointed forward and were arranged in straight rows, like the 1955 suit, and the tail ended in a spiked club, a feature more accurate to real ankylosauruses. The mouth has smaller teeth, and the fangs are not as prominent as in the previous suit. A planned scene in Godzilla: Final Wars of Godzilla destroying Rodan, Anguirus, and King Caesar was not filmed, making Anguirus one of the only five surviving monsters at the end of the film.

CR Godzilla 3S-T Battle

King Kong

[KKvsG] The suit's head had several gorilla-like features, such as a large mouth lined with almost rounded teeth inside the lips, a short nose, regularly-sized eyes, and a pointy tip-of-the-head. The suit also had longer arms than legs. A puppet of Kong's upper body was used for close-ups, while a stop-motion model was used for a sequence where Godzilla drop-kicks Kong.

In 1966, the suit was loaned to Tsuburaya Productions, where it was slightly modified and used to portray the giant monkey Goro in Ultra Q.

[KKE]The suit was returned to Toho the following year for the film King Kong Escapes, where it was modified to resemble the new King Kong suit and used to portray Kong in water scenes.

The GoroKongu looked much like the ShodaiKongu, still covered in brown fur except for the face, chest, hands and feet, and with the most noticeable difference being the suit's head. The head is now bigger, with bigger eyes, mouth and a shorter neck. The suit's arms are longer, and more hair covers the hands. Its legs are somewhat shorter, but the feet show no considerable difference. The suit also seems to be somewhat top-heavy. A second GoroKongu head was created for closeup shots of Kong.

Seven years later, the suit was reused in the series Go! Greenman for the kaiju, Gorilla. To make the suit feel more ape-like, poles were put into the arms of the suit for the suit actor to hold on to. This also helped the suit actor make more natural movements with the suit's long arms. By the time the suit was needed for Go! Greenman, the poles had been removed. Because of this, it was harder for the suit actor to make realistic movements. Throughout the episode the suit's arms would flail around very unnaturally.

For King Kong's first big-screen appearance since Peter Jackson's 2005 remake, the giant ape was given a brand-new design. Rather than the much more anatomically accurate gorilla-like design Kong bore in the 2005 film, the LegendaryKong appears to take cues from the original Kong design from the 1933 film, as well as the Kong designs used in Toho's two films featuring the monster. The LegendaryKong is bipedal and stands upright and like a human rather than on all fours like a gorilla, holding his arms at his sides. The color of Kong's fur is a brown color than the all-black fur of the 2005 Kong, and is based on the coloration of the 1933 Kong seen on official posters. The LegendaryKong is considerably taller than all previous versions of Kong, save for his 1962 Toho incarnation, and stands approximately 104 feet tall. According to director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, the LegendaryKong is meant to look both energetic and young as well as lonely and tired. Vogt-Roberts wanted this version of Kong to elicit sympathy from the audience and allow them to understand his feelings and thought processes.

• When designing King Kong, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts' mandate was to make his shape simple and "hopefully iconic" so that "a third grader could draw that shape and you know what it is," with the original 1933 design as a major source of inspiration. According to Vogt-Roberts, a major part of designing Kong was to give the impression that he was "a lonely God". When designing the titular kaiju, the designers looked to the Kong from the original film as a reference. Vogt-Roberts has said that designing and creating Kong was a huge part of the movie.
• Industrial Light & Magic's design process for Kong took eight months. One of the company's most grueling tasks was creating the 19 million hairs on the character model, a year-long endeavor.
• Kong was realized primarily through key-frame animation, although Toby Kebbell and Terry Notary performed in a facial capture session and movement capture session, respectively.
• Supervising sound editor and sound designer Al Nelson used sounds from lions, gorillas, and monkeys as bases for Kong's roar. The use of lions was inspired by sound editor Murray Spivak's work on the original film.
• Vogt-Roberts has said that the filmmakers intentionally tried to differentiate this Kong design from the design featured in the 2005 film directed by Peter Jackson. Rather than making the design resemble a gigantic silverback gorilla that walks on all four limbs like in Jackson's film, the designers chose to have Kong stand upright like a human. A major reason for this was to show that Kong is his own species that has its "own set of rules, so [the filmmakers] can do what we want and [they] really wanted to pay homage to what came before...and yet do something completely different."
• This is the second King Kong design to be portrayed via computer-generated imagery and motion capture, after the design from the 2005 film.
• According to an interview with Ishiro Honda, an early draft for the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters called for "all monsters" to appear. It's possible that Kong was to be among them, but it is unconfirmed.
• King Kong was also supposed to return in the Heisei era, but Turner Entertainment Inc., by then the copyright owner of the 1933 King Kong film, prevented this by stating that Kong shouldn't be in a Japanese monster film, and even blocked Mechani-Kong's return in the Heisei series.
• In the Toho films, Kong is much taller than the original King Kong, who was said to stand at 50 feet tall in the original 1933 film. Kong is approximately 145 feet tall in King Kong vs. Godzilla, and 60 feet tall in King Kong Escapes.
• Toho's King Kong was the basis for the American/Japanese anime TV Show, The King Kong Show. Toho was not involved in its development, though they later collaborated with the show's makers, Rankin/Bass Productions, to produce the film King Kong Escapes, which adapted several elements from the show.
• There were two known unlicensed Japanese King Kong films produced in the 1930's, Japanese King Kong and The King Kong That Appeared in Edo. Though these films are not official King Kong films, they are notable for being two of the first ever tokusatsu/kaiju films ever made, predating Godzilla by two decades. Unfortunately, all prints of these films are believed lost and very few records of their existence remain.
• In 1998 there was an unlicensed animated King Kong film made entitled The Mighty Kong, which was a family-oriented musical retelling of the original 1933 film. Because this film was not officially licensed, King Kong is never referred to by his full name in the film, only "Kong" or "the Mighty Kong."
• Shunsuke Fujita, the producer of Bandai Namco's Godzilla, stated in an interview that the developers and he "definitely wanted" to include King Kong in the game, but were unable due to licensing issues.

Mothra

• Mothra was the first Toho kaiju Godzilla faced that did not debut in the Godzilla series but was instead incorporated into and absorbed by it, becoming one of the series' recurring characters.
  • Mothra is also the only Toho kaiju to receive films dedicated to herself and her kind (Rebirth of Mothra and its two sequels) after appearing in the Godzilla series.
• Toho had intended to follow Godzilla vs. Biollante with a revival of Mothra in her own spin-off film, Mothra vs. Bagan. However, following the unimpressive box office performance of Biollante, Toho discarded the project in favor of another Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. A 1992 survey revealed that Mothra was Toho's most popular kaiju among women, an observation which inspired Toho to again revise its plans, abandoning a proposed direct sequel to King Ghidorah in favor of a Godzilla–Mothra film. Following the end of the Heisei Godzilla series, Toho produced the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy. Mothra thus became the first Toho kaiju to lead its own films after its incorporation into the Godzilla franchise.
• According to an interview with Kenpachiro Satsuma, Koichi Kawakita originally wanted Mothra to be killed in Godzilla vs. Mothra and appear in a sequel as MechaMothra.
• In addition to her appearance on Monster Island via stock footage in Godzilla vs. Gigan, Mothra can be very briefly seen during the film's final battle, dropping down from a bridge while Godzilla walks towards King Ghidorah. This 'cameo' is unintentional, a result of the film's extensive use of stock footage from Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and other Showa Godzilla films.
• Stock footage of this incarnation of Mothra is utilized in Godzilla vs. Gigan to represent Mothra living on Monster Island. Whether the Mothra depicted in this stock footage is meant to canonically be the same Mothra from Destroy All Monsters is unclear.
• It is sometimes mistakenly believed that this incarnation of Mothra reappeared in the 1996 film Rebirth of Mothra. In reality, the 1996 Mothra is an entirely separate incarnation of the character, as the Heisei Godzilla films and Rebirth of Mothra trilogy do not share continuity.
• In Shusuke Kaneko's original vision for Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, titled Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the roles of Mothra and King Ghidorah were filled by Anguirus and Varan. Toho convinced Kaneko to replace the monsters with Mothra and King Ghidorah, believing the inclusion of two more popular monsters would increase the film's marquee value.
• Mothra's first appearance at Lake Ikeda may be a reference to Issie, a cryptid that is believed to live under the lake.
• Though Mothra's Shobijin are not present in GMK, they are referenced in the form of two twin girls who witness Mothra fly overhead in Yokohama. The two girls in question are portrayed by Ai and Aki Maeda, who portrayed the character Ayana Hirasaka in the film Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris.
• This Mothra's identity is not discussed within the context of Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., and it is seemingly implied to be the same Mothra featured in her debut film. Supplementary materials, however, reveal that this Mothra is merely a descendant of the original Mothra.
• During the end credits for Godzilla: Final Wars, Mothra is shown flying to Infant Island. Whether this is meant to indicate that Mothra somehow survived her battle with Gigan, or is simply a deleted scene, is unclear.

Mothra's larval form in the original Mothra was portrayed by a 3 foot-long remote-controlled puppet and a 6 foot-tall, 33 foot-long suit that was operated by eight actors, including Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka. The ShodaiMosuLarva is distinct from later Mothra larva designs in that its body is a very light shade of brown, with very pronounced dark spots all over its body. The body is also very elongated and slender. The head is much more rounded than later designs, and features a tall forehead. The ShodaiMosuLarva's eyes are a light blue color and are very small and surrounded by large rounded sockets. The ShodaiMosuLarva's mandibles are relatively small, and the feelers flanking them are thin and located near the bottom of the head.

The ShodaiMosuImago would set the tone for all of the Mothra imago designs to follow. The prop's body is mostly white in color, with several orange spots, most notably on the top of its head. The body is very thick and rounded, and the legs are very thin and scrawny and are held close to the body. The ShodaiMosuImago's face is flat and its mandibles are very small. The eyes are ovular in shape, and are blue and surrounded by a black outline. For scenes of the imago Mothra flying in the distance, Mothra was portrayed through animation.

The ShodaiMosuImago was used in one scene in Mothra vs. Godzilla, during the imago Mothra's battle with Godzilla.

The GojiMosuLarva is much fatter than the previous design, with a shorter body. The body color is a slightly darker shade of brown, while even darker brown spots are still present all over the body. The GojiMosuLarva's skin is wrinkly and has veins visible on it. The head is less rounded, and the sockets around the eyes are not as deep and are less rounded. The eyes are still blue in color, but less plainly visible. The mandibles are quite large, while the feelers flanking them are fatter and located directly parallel rather than below the mandibles.

The GojiMosuImago is very similar to its predecessor, the ShodaiMosuImago, although there are a few differences. The body of the GojiMosuImago is slightly more slender and less rounded. The legs are much longer and more pronounced, and are clearly visible rather than held close to the body. The colors on the GojiMosuImago are more muted, and the wing design is slightly different. Most of the orange fur on the body has been changed to brown, while the areas that were brown on the ShodaiMosuImago are now a darker shade of brown. The eyes are more rounded and extend further out of the head. The GojiMosuImago's antennae are thinner, while the feelers are now covered in fur. The GojiMosuImago's face is more prognathic than the ShodaiMosuImago's, with the snout extending out from the rest of the face before the mandibles. The mandibles themselves are also larger than those of the ShodaiMosuImago.

The GojiMosuImago puppets were reused for Ebirah, Horror of the Deep two years later. The props had deteriorated slightly, and the wings had become more stiff and frayed. The colors are now faded, while the fur that had once been white is now a dingy light brown tone. For several scenes set on Infant Island, Mothra was simply painted onto the backdrop of the scene. This design is also called the NankaiMosuImago (南海モス成虫,   NankaiMosuSeichū) in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.

The SanDaikaijuMosuLarva is mostly based on the previous Mothra larva design, as its body proportions and the shape of its face are mostly unchanged. The SanDaikaijuMosuLarva's body is now smooth, without any visible wrinkles or veins, and is a dark brown color all over, with no spots. The eyes are red for the first time instead of blue, and the feelers next to the mouth have returned to a slimmer and more even shape.

The SoshingekiMosuLarva is mostly based on the SanDaikaijuMosuLarva design, featuring the smooth brown body and red eyes. However, this design features some differences of its own. The prop sits much lower off the ground than previous designs and is shorter in length, to match this Mothra's smaller size in the film. The body is an even darker shade of brown than the SanDaikaijuMosuLarva. The head is very small, with the forehead not even coming up to the top of the body. The sockets around the eyes are slightly more rounded but less deep, making the eyes more plainly visible.

Instead of being controlled by wires, this puppet used for Mothra larva in Godzilla vs. Mothra is more mechanical on the inside. When the larva crawls, there are small wheels underneath the puppet. The eyes are lamps which glow sometimes. The prop was later reused to portray Mothra Leo's larval form during water scenes in Rebirth of Mothra.

This Mothra imago puppet is mainly derived from the GojiMosuImago, with some differences. Mothra's body is now much more compact and rounded. Her fur is a brighter color, with most of the brown areas now colored orange. The eyes are slightly smaller and a much brighter blue color, while the antennae are shorter and thicker. This Mothra prop's legs are made to appear shorter and more bird-like. This prop is also called the MogeMosuImago (モゲモス成虫 MogeMosuSeichū?) in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.

The ReoMosuImago retains many of the key features of the previous Mothra imago design, but has been changed somewhat. The wings now possess a new pattern and now fold and flap more realistically, giving the prop a more lifelike appearance. The prop's face is wider, while the eyes sit further on the sides of the head. The eyes are changed from blue in color to a turquoise shade. The antennae are much longer and thicker, and feature a tuft of fur at their tips, giving them a closer appearance to real moth antennae. The legs retain the birdlike design, but are longer and thicker, with visible white claws on the feet.

The GMKMosuLarva puppet is a bit different from its predecessor, the HeiseiMosuLarva. It has a different shape around the eyes, but like the previous model and its successor, it is remote controlled.

The GMKMosuImago is very different from the previous and later designs. It looks more like like a hornet and Moth hybrid. The eyes are purple instead of the usual blue, the legs are much longer and the wings are pointier. On the wings, it has a similar pattern to Mothra Leo from the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy but with purple on the top, yellow in the middle and red on the bottom instead of orange on the top and green on both the middle and bottom or all seven colors of the rainbow like Rainbow Mothra. CGI used in some scenes.

SOSMosuLarva is similar to the HeiseiMosuLarva design, only darker in color. The other differences is that the lamps for eyes can glow either red or blue. Like the HeiseiMosuLarva and GMKMosuLarva puppets, it is remote controlled instead of being controlled by wires.

The puppet was different from the previous GMKMosuImago, returning to its fluffy and soft look and losing the wasp-like appearance. The puppet kept the slimness of the GMKMosuImago puppet, making it look more real than the other fluffy HeiseiMosuImago and ShodaiMosuImago puppets. This puppet is also called the FinalMosuImago (ファイナルモス成虫 FainaruMosuSeichū?) in Godzilla: Final Wars. Used in the CR Game as well.