Mecha-King Ghidorah

From Wikizilla, the kaiju encyclopedia
Revision as of 22:38, 17 October 2019 by VaderRaptor (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigationJump to search

Template:Ktab

King Ghidorah incarnations
Heisei King Ghidorah
Mecha-King Ghidorah
King Ghidorah 1998
Mecha-King Ghidorah™ trademark icon
Mecha-King Ghidorah
Mecha-King Ghidorah in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Alternate names Mecha-Ghidorah, Mecha KingGhidorah, Mecha King Ghidorah,
Mechanical King Ghidora,
Mega-King Ghidorah[1]
Subtitle(s) Cyborg Monster
(サイボーグ怪獣,   Saibōgu Kaijū)[2]
Cyborg Super Monster
(サイボーグ超怪獣,   Saibōgu Chō Kaijū)G:BL
Future WeaponG:BL
Species Cyborg King Ghidorah
Height 150 meters[note 1]
Wingspan 175 meters[note 2]
Weight 80,000 metric tons[3][4][note 3]
Forms King Ghidorah (Biological Form),
Power Up Mecha King GhidorahTMT,
Hyper Mecha-King GhidorahGI
Controlled by Emmy KanoGvKG, CryogsGRoE
Relations Mechagodzilla (Components recipient)
Allies MechagodzillaGRoE
Enemies Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra Leo, Anguirus, King Caesar, Godzilla Junior, Baragon, Gorosaurus, G-Guard Mechagodzilla
Created by Kazuki Omori
First appearance Latest appearance
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Godzilla Island
Roar(s)
More roars

Mecha-King Ghidorah (メカキングギドラ,   Meka Kingu Gidora) is a mechanically modified Ghidorah created by Toho that first appeared in the 1991 Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.

Despite its name, Mecha-King Ghidorah is not a fully mechanical robot but a cyborg; it was built in the year 2204 around the comatose body of King Ghidorah after he was defeated by Godzilla in 1992. Mecha-King Ghidorah was sent back to 1992 to battle Godzilla in Tokyo before he could destroy Japan, and succeeded in halting his rampage and dumping him in the ocean, though it was destroyed in the battle. In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, the remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah were salvaged by G-Force, who used its components to build Mechagodzilla.

Name

Mecha-King Ghidorah's name is simply a combination of the word "mecha," which is derived from "mechanical," and "King Ghidorah." Mecha-King Ghidorah is never referred to by name in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, but his name is spoken during the opening narration of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. His name is sometimes abbreviated to Mecha-Ghidorah in the video game Godzilla: Save the Earth. Japanese sources and merchandise sometimes offer different spellings of his English name. While the monster's official trademarked name includes a hyphen, it is spelled as Mecha KingGhidorah on the tag for the 1991 Bandai The Godzilla Collection figure, and Mecha King Ghidorah on the tag of the 2018 Movie Monster Series figure. A Kaiyodo resin cast model kit of the character spells his Japanese name as メカ・キングギドラ with an interpunct, and offers the English name Mechanical King Ghidora. The Japanese spelling with an interpunct was also used in the trailer for Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah as well as a program for the 1994 exhibition Great Godzilla Expo.[5] Godzilla.jp, Toho's former official Japanese site for the Godzilla series, misspelled Mecha-King Ghidorah's Japanese name as Mega-King Ghidorah (メガキングギドラ,   Mega Kingu Gidora).

Development

Mecha-King Ghidorah concept art by Shinji Nishikawa

Mecha-King Ghidorah, like the organic Heisei King Ghidorah, was designed by Shinji Nishikawa. Early concept art designs for both Mecha-King Ghidorah and the organic Heisei King Ghidorah depicted them with heads that closely resembled the heads of the Showa King Ghidorah.[6] According to Nishikawa, the manes of hair on the heads were removed because it proved too difficult for the special effects staff to superimpose every individual hair over footage of people fleeing.[7] The crescents atop Mecha-King Ghidorah's organic heads in some of the concept art were also omitted from the final design.

Main article: Mecha-King Ghidorah/Gallery#Concept Art.

Mecha-King Ghidorah's costume was created from fiber-reinforced plastic, and weighed as much as 200 kilograms. As a result, the piano wire used to operate the costume often snapped during filming and the set was even sometimes damaged under the costume's weight.[8][9][10] The Mecha-King Ghidorah suit was considered "too dangerous to put a person inside," and so it was operated without a suit actor.[11] Whereas the organic King Ghidorah's suit took 16 piano wires to operate, Mecha-King Ghidorah required 18.[10] A one-third scale miniature prop was also constructed to depict Mecha-King Ghidorah in flight.[3] For the scene of Mecha-King Ghidorah flying over the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the prop was hung from a crane and filmed on an open set.

According to actress Anna Nakagawa, who played Emmy Kano in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, the set for Mecha-King Ghidorah's cockpit utilized repainted and remodeled kitchen utensils such as drain strainers and pot lids. While specific switches were designated to operate the Godzilla capturing devices, Nakagawa was allowed to improvise which buttons to push to operate Mecha-King Ghidorah's beams.[12]

Design

Mecha-King Ghidorah resembles the purely organic King Ghidorah, but his middle head and neck, wings, chest, knees, and the tips of his tails are all replaced with mechanical parts. Mecha-King Ghidorah's cybernetic implants are all silver in color, except for the fronts of his wings, which are a dark gold color, and his mechanical head possesses green eyes.

In Godzilla Island, Mecha-King Ghidorah has three mechanical heads instead of one, and also has no gold coloring anywhere on his wings.

Origins

Mecha-King Ghidorah is the result of King Ghidorah being revived and cybernetically modified using advanced futuristic technology in the year 2204. As King Ghidorah's middle head and wings had been destroyed in his battle with Godzilla in 1992, they were replaced with cybernetic implants. Emmy Kano then took control of the monster and returned to 1992 to confront Godzilla in Tokyo.

History

Heisei series

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

Mecha-King Ghidorah in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

After defeating King Ghidorah and sending it to the depths of the sea, Godzilla began to wreck havoc throughout Japan. Emmy Kano, a Futurian who rebelled against her crew, and M11, her android, were asked if King Ghidorah could be revived in the 23rd century. If possible, he could be brought back to the present and used as an anti-Godzilla weapon to protect Japan. Emmy and M11 agreed and went to the future using the time machine KIDS.

As Godzilla continued his rampage through the center of Tokyo, Mecha-King Ghidorah materialized in a flash of pulsing energy. Piloted by Emmy and reinforced with several robotic segments, Mecha-King Ghidorah was more powerful than before. Mecha-King Ghidorah fired his gravity beams and triple laser beam at Godzilla, sending him crashing toward some buildings. Godzilla managed to regain his balance and damage both of Mecha-King Ghidorah's wings. Emmy then fired Mecha-King Ghidorah's energy-conducting capture cables and released its machine hand restraint. Mecha-King Ghidorah lifted Godzilla into the sky and over the sea, but both were sent crashing into the waves when Godzilla fired his atomic breath at it. Emmy quickly escaped in KIDS, leaving both monsters trapped on the ocean floor. At first, it seemed as if M11's circuitry was still onboard the cyborg, but it turned out that he had been hastily rescued by Emmy before escaping in KIDS.

Meanwhile, beneath the surface of the sea, Godzilla fired his atomic breath and freed himself from Mecha-King Ghidorah's grasp and left it behind, ensuring he would return to menace Japan again.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II

The damaged Mecha-King Ghidorah head in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II

The 23rd century technology G-Force salvaged from the remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah played a major role in the construction of Mechagodzilla.


Godzilla Island

Mecha-King Ghidorah in Godzilla Island

After facing yet another defeat at the hands of the inhabitants of Godzilla Island, the evil Xilien Zagres immediately realized it would take noting short of a miracle if her plans for planetary conquest were to succeed. Luckily for her, that miracle soon arrived in the form of a giant object, the Monster Vending Machine, that gave her the choice of purchasing a monster. Her choice: Mecha-King Ghidorah, a cybernetic monster that she hoped would assist her in her invasion. She then sent the monster down to Godzilla Island, where it landed in front of Godzilla. However, several moments passed, and Mecha-King Ghidorah did not move. Soon it became apparent to Zagres what must have happened: Mecha-King Ghidorah did not have a pilot, and would not work without either a pilot or modifications allowing it to work on its own. Godzilla then ventured forward and simply knocked the cyborg over, and very soon Besuke Jinguji and Torema formulated a plan: use the robot to attack Zagres's ship, the Vabaruda, in a full-frontal assault. The Commander soon took off in Mecha-King Ghidorah and Torema followed in her smaller ship, and the two attacked Zagres. For some time, the plan worked, but unfortunately a rogue asteroid knocked both the Commander and Torema back towards Earth. Using a tractor beam, Zagres brought Mecha-King Ghidorah back to her ship and soon flew it down personally to attack Godzilla Island. Fortunately, the monsters led an attack of their own, and soon drove the robot back into space.

Mecha-King Ghidorah would be called on again by Zagres to attack Godzilla Island, but each time the beast would be forced to flee. Soon, her leader, the Giant Dark Emperor, began to tire of her constant losses and Zagres was finally driven from Earth by Torema and was never to be seen again until Story 22 (Final Battle: Mecha-King Ghidorah Saga). Eventually, a more powerful version of Mecha-King Ghidorah called Hyper Mecha-King Ghidorah was purchased from the giant vending machine by Zagres and sent to attack Godzilla Island.

Abilities

  • Mecha-King Ghidorah flies with an Anti-gravity at the speed of Mach 4.
  • Mecha-King Ghidorah can fire yellow gravity beams from its mouths on the left and right head since it was a modified version of King Ghidorah.
  • Mecha-King Ghidorah can fire a triple laser beam from the central head. In Godzilla Island, however, all three heads can fire these beams, due to having three mechanical heads as opposed to one like in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.
  • Mecha-King Ghidorah is equipped with capture cables and a large machine hand restraint that can also discharge electricity.

Filmography

Video Games

Super Godzilla

Mecha-King Ghidorah appears as the penultimate boss in the 1993 video game Super Godzilla for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In this game, Mecha-King Ghidorah is the result of alien invaders cybernetically reviving King Ghidorah following his earlier battle with Godzilla and sending him back into battle. Mecha-King Ghidorah can be fought with either Godzilla or his more powerful form, Super Godzilla.

Godzilla: Domination!

Mecha-King Ghidorah appears as the unplayable final boss in Godzilla: Domination!, where he is fought on the final stage, Meteor X. In this game, Mecha-King Ghidorah is significantly enlarged, standing several times taller than the playable monsters and taking up nearly half of the stage. Mecha-King Ghidorah doesn't move around, but will occasionally jump, damaging the player unless he or she jumps as well. The only way to damage Mecha-King Ghidorah is to hit his robotic head, then hit the flashing point on his body after he is stunned. Mecha-King Ghidorah mostly attacks by breathing fireballs or firing energy blasts. When he takes enough damage, one of his organic heads will die and vanish, which results in health and energy power-ups being spawned. After Mecha-King Ghidorah is damaged enough, his second organic head will be destroyed, leaving only his robotic head. Mecha-King Ghidorah's robotic head will move incredibly quickly, making it difficult to hit, while using an attack that launches a spread of fireballs. When Mecha-King Ghidorah is finally defeated, his robotic head will explode, followed by his entire body, engulfing the screen in a white flash.

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee

Mecha-King Ghidorah appears as a playable character in Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee. If the player uses Mechagodzilla 2 in story mode, Mecha-King Ghidorah takes his place as the final boss.

Godzilla: Save the Earth

Mecha-King Ghidorah returns in Godzilla: Save the Earth. He plays similar to King Ghidorah, meaning he is powerful, slow, can fly, has a large amount of health, and has most of the some moves with some changes and different resistances. He does have two extra abilities, however. The first is that he has a taser attack that, if it connects, paralyzes his opponent and quickly drains away their energy. The taser can only be used three times, but collecting energy power-ups allows it to be used again. The other is that his block is an energy shield, which uses energy, and will absorb a weapon attack and convert it into his own health. Although he had the same rage attack as King Ghidorah in Destroy All Monster Melee (flying into the air while spinning around firing all three gravity beams), in Godzilla Save the Earth he now becomes temporarily invincible and any opponent that touches him is knocked away.

Godzilla: Unleashed

Mecha-King Ghidorah in Godzilla: Unleashed

Height: 120 meters
Weight: 80,000 tons

"Mecha-King Ghidorah is the GDF's best attempts to use the weapons of the Vortaak to defend Earth, rather than destroy it. After King Ghidorah's defeat at the hands of an Earth Defender in one possible future, the alien monster was rebuilt with GDF technology to serve the interest of mankind. To replace King Ghidorah's natural body armor, destroyed in the re-animation process, this new incarnation has been outfitted with a powerful energy shield to reflect weapon attacks. In addition, Mecha-King Ghidorah has replenishable taser weapons, which can drain an opponent's energy reserves. With most of his original form's combat techniques intact, Mecha-King Ghidorah might stand as humanity's best hope against the Vortaak invasion."

Godzilla (PlayStation 4)

Mecha-King Ghidorah in Godzilla

Mecha-King Ghidorah appears as a playable monster exclusively in the PlayStation 4 version of the game. Mecha-King Ghidorah has the ability to fly and fire gravity beams like King Ghidorah, but also possesses the Machine Hand from the film. When playing as Mecha-King Ghidorah in God of Destruction Mode, the player will need to defend cities from attacking kaiju, and prevent a certain percentage of the city from being destroyed.

Moveset

  • Square
    • One tap: Pincer Bite
    • Two taps: Three Headed Bite
    • One tap (Mid-air): Bite Kick
  • Triangle
    • Tap: Three Headed Attack
    • Forward + Tap: Machine Hand
    • Tap (Mid-air): Rotation Attack
  • X
    • Tap: Jump
    • Hold: Flight
    • Tap (Mid-air): Land
  • Circle
    • Tap: Gravity Beam + Laser Beam
    • Roar + Tap: Triple Tornado
  • R2
    • Tap: Windstorm

Kaiju Guide

Main article: Godzilla (2014 video game)/Kaiju Guide#Mecha-King Ghidorah.

Books

Comics

Godzilla: Rulers of Earth

Mecha-King Ghidorah in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #16

Mecha-King Ghidorah makes his first appearance in the IDW Godzilla comics in issue #15 of Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. After Godzilla survives an onslaught of Mechagodzillas, Mecha-King Ghidorah flies above him and abducts him with his capture cables and machine hand. Mecha-King Ghidorah, who is being telepathically controlled by the psychic twins Minnette and Malorie working for the Cryog leader, is ordered to take Godzilla to a robotics facility in Russia, which the Cryog leader has converted into a battle arena. Ghidorah drops Godzilla in the arena, where other Mechagodzillas are waiting. While the alien robots begin to overwhelm Godzilla, Anguirus escapes from the downed Kiryu's grip and enters the arena to help Godzilla. As the battle progresses, the twins note that either they are losing control over Mecha-King Ghidorah, or they never had it in the first place. After Godzilla destroys the Mechagodzillas and Ghidorah's control module, the twins are knocked out from the shock and Ghidorah flies away under his own power. After this, Mecha-King Ghidorah disappears from the comic's storyline, and he is never shown interacting with the Trilopods in any way, nor do the Cryogs ever attempt to retrieve him.

Godzilla: Oblivion

In the fourth issue of Godzilla: Oblivion, Mecha-King Ghidorah was constructed by a group of humans using the corpse of King Ghidorah in order to fight Godzilla and draw him back to his home dimension. After destroying the army of Kiryus sent to attack him, Godzilla arrived at the humans' research facility, where the recently-completed Mecha-King Ghidorah was activated and attacked him.

Gallery

Main article: Mecha-King Ghidorah/Gallery.

In other languages

  • Spanish: Mecha-Rey Ghidorah
  • Serbian and Russian: МехаКингГидора

Roar

Mecha-King Ghidorah's roars

Trivia

  • Mecha-King Ghidorah, the Heisei King Ghidorah, and Keizer Ghidorah are the tallest monsters to appear in a Godzilla film.[note 1]
  • Although the severely-wounded King Ghidorah was described as being just barely alive when the Emmy Kano found it, Mecha-King Ghidorah requires a human pilot to act, implying it is alive, but otherwise braindead.
    • This suggests that King Ghidorah's central head is dominant over the others, although all three can think for themselves. This is demonstrated when the robotic head fires its laser beam, the other biological heads fire their gravity beams alongside it automatically.
      • This is further suggested in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth when the Cryog leader Rhizon has King Ghidorah's middle head cut off and replaced with a mechanical head so that he can control him.
  • The Kaiju Guide from the PlayStation 3 and 4 Godzilla game incorrectly states that Mecha-King Ghidorah was still under the control of the Futurians, when in fact he was being piloted by Emmy Kano and M11, who were both defectors from the Futurian terrorists and working to defend Japan rather than destroy it.
  • Mecha-King Ghidorah is the first example of King Ghidorah fighting on the side of good, as he was utilized by Emmy so that she could defend Japan. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that he is good by nature, as he was simply under Emmy's control.
  • An unused sound byte exists in the PlayStation 3 version of Godzilla of the G-Force operator saying Mecha-King Ghidorah's name, suggesting that he was supposed to appear but ended up being scrapped for unknown reasons. Nonetheless, Mecha-King Ghidorah later appeared in the PlayStation 4 version of the game.
  • On the page for Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah on Toho's official website for the Godzilla series, Godzilla.jp, Mecha-King Ghidorah's Japanese name is misspelled as "Mega-King Ghidorah" (メガキングギドラ,   Mega Kingu Gidora).[1]
  • Mecha-King Ghidorah's roar was used for a space dragon in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger.

Video

Wikizilla: YouTube Kaiju Profile: Heisei King Ghidorah / Mecha-King Ghidorah

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 The heights for the Heisei King Ghidorah and Mecha-King Ghidorah are inconsistently listed as either 140 or 150 meters. The majority of sources state that King Ghidorah is 140 meters, though some books contemporary with Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, such as the 1991 Kodansha Hit Books: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Monster Great Complete Works (p. 10) and the early-1992 Godzilla Giant Monster Super Encyclopedia (p. 22), plus the 1995 Godzilla Giant Monster Diagram Encyclopedia (p. 94) and 1998 The Official Godzilla Compendium (p. 132) say King Ghidorah is 150 meters tall. However, the Battle History of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah manga collection, released in January of 1992, says that King Ghidorah is 140 meters tall, and says that Mecha-King Ghidorah weighs 80,000 metric tons whereas Kodansha Hit Books: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Monster Great Complete Works, Godzilla Giant Monster Super Encyclopedia, and Godzilla Giant Monster Diagram Encyclopedia erroneously give Mecha-King Ghidorah the same 70,000 metric ton weight as the regular King Ghidorah. A computer screen in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II displays Mecha-King Ghidorah's height as 150 meters.
  2. The wingspans for the Heisei King Ghidorah and Mecha-King Ghidorah are inconsistently listed as being either 140, 150 or 175 meters. The 2014 book Godzilla Completely Deciphered (p. 75) and PlayStation 3 and 4 Godzilla video game's Kaiju Guide state that King Ghidorah's wingspan is 150 meters, while the 1998 The Official Godzilla Compendium says it is instead 175 meters (p. 132). The 1993 Encyclopedia of Godzilla (Mechagodzilla Edition) states that King Ghidorah's wingspan is 140 meters (p. 102).
  3. Kodansha Hit Books: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Monster Great Complete Works, Godzilla Giant Monster Super Encyclopedia, and Godzilla Giant Monster Diagram Encyclopedia erroneously give Mecha-King Ghidorah the same 70,000 metric ton weight as the regular King Ghidorah.
  4. Episodes 51-56, 60-63, 66, 72, 107, 110, 113-114, 119-120, and 127.

References

This is a list of references for Mecha-King Ghidorah. 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]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Godzilla.jp - Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
  2. Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia. Shogakukan. 23 July 2014. p. 81. ISBN 4-096-82090-3. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. 3.0 3.1 Kodansha Hit Books: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Monster Great Complete Works. Kodansha. 5 December 1991. pp. 10, 61. ISBN 4-06-177720-3. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. J.D. Lees, Marc Cerasini (24 March 1998). The Official Godzilla Compendium. Random House. pp. 132–133. ISBN 0279888225 Check |isbn= value: checksum (help). Check date values in: |date= (help)
    Compendium18.png
  5. ゴジラ生誕40周年記念「大ゴジラ博」. movic. 21 July 1994. p. 15. ASIN B07DLYG5DV.
  6. Heisei kg concept art.png
  7. David Milner, "Shinji Nishikawa Interview", Kaiju Conversations (December 1995)
    Interview 1.png
  8. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah theater program. Toho. 14 December 1991.
  9. Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works. Shogakukan. 1 January 2000. p. 32. ISBN 978-4091014702. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. 10.0 10.1 Toho Special Effects Movie Complete Works. Village Books. 28 September 2012. p. 227. ISBN 9784864910132.
  11. Godzilla Days. Shueisha Bunko. 1998. ISBN 4087488152.
  12. Heisei Godzilla Perfection. ASCII MEDIA WORKS. 2012. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-4-04-886119-9.

Comments

Showing 54 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.

Loading comments...
Era Icon - Toho.png
Era Icon - Heisei.png
Kaiju
Mecha
Era Icon - Mecha-King Ghidorah.png
Era Icon - King Ghidorah.png
Era Icon - Dorat.png
Ghidorah