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==Name==
==Name==
The name "Mothra" is the suffixation of "[[-ra]]" (a common last syllable in kaiju names) to "moth." Since the Japanese language does not have dental fricatives, it is approximated "Mosura" in Japanese. Mothra's Japanese name is referenced through the [[Titan]] classification given to her by [[Monarch]], ''Titanus Mosura''.
The name "Mothra" is the suffixation of "[[-ra]]" (a common last syllable in kaiju names) to "moth." Since the Japanese language does not have dental fricatives, it is approximated "Mosura" in Japanese. Mothra's Japanese name is referenced through the [[Titan]] classification given to her by [[Monarch]], ''Titanus Mosura''. According to ''[[Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization]]'', Mothra's real name, "Mosura," means "giver of life" on [[Infant Island|a small island in Indonesia]] where she was once revered as a goddess.
==Design==
==Design==
The MonsterVerse Mothra's design is very different from past incarnations of the character. Her imago stage has a segmented insect-like body, with six legs and two wings. Her legs are considerably different from those of past Mothra designs, which are typically small and equally-sized, with clawed bird-like feet. The MonsterVerse Mothra has two long hind legs with two joints and two clawed toes. She has four forelimbs, two on each side of her body, with one large pair and one smaller pair. Her forelimbs are longer and more muscular than those of past designs, and end in large hooked claws. Mothra's head is comparatively smaller than it usually is, though it retains her traditional large blue eyes, which are oval-shaped rather than circular. She appears to possess two large white antennae which lay flat against the top of her head. Mothra has two gigantic compound wings each composed of two segments: a larger segment near the front of her body and a smaller segment toward the rear. The wings possess intricate patterns with the character's traditional orange, yellow, and black coloration. There is a circular pattern on both sides of the front corners of Mothra's wings, as is the case with her previous designs. According to [[Michael Dougherty]], these circles are meant to represent [[Godzilla/Legendary|Godzilla's]] eyes, demonstrating a connection between the monsters. While the [[S.H. MonsterArts]] figure of this Mothra seems to lack the character's traditional white fur and instead possesses smooth skin which ranges in color from light brown to orange, in the film's second trailer she is clearly seen possessing white fur, with some orange fur on her forehead.
The MonsterVerse Mothra's design is very different from past incarnations of the character. Her imago stage has a segmented insect-like body, with six legs and two wings. Her legs are considerably different from those of past Mothra designs, which are typically small and equally-sized, with clawed bird-like feet. The MonsterVerse Mothra has two long hind legs with two joints and two clawed toes. She has four forelimbs, two on each side of her body, with one large pair and one smaller pair. Her forelimbs are longer and more muscular than those of past designs, and end in large hooked claws. Mothra's head is comparatively smaller than it usually is, though it retains her traditional large blue eyes, which are oval-shaped rather than circular. She appears to possess two large white antennae which lay flat against the top of her head. Mothra has two gigantic compound wings each composed of two segments: a larger segment near the front of her body and a smaller segment toward the rear. The wings possess intricate patterns with the character's traditional orange, yellow, and black coloration. There is a circular pattern on both sides of the front corners of Mothra's wings, as is the case with her previous designs. According to [[Michael Dougherty]], these circles are meant to represent [[Godzilla/Legendary|Godzilla's]] eyes, demonstrating a connection between the monsters. While the [[S.H. MonsterArts]] figure of this Mothra seems to lack the character's traditional white fur and instead possesses smooth skin which ranges in color from light brown to orange, in the film's second trailer she is clearly seen possessing white fur, with some orange fur on her forehead.

Revision as of 05:03, 21 May 2019

Mothra incarnations
Mothra 2018
Mothra 2019
None
Mothra® (MonsterVerse) trademark icon
Mothra® (MonsterVerse)
Mothra Imago in the second Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailer
Mothra Larva in the second Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailer
Subtitle(s) Queen of the Monsters[1]
Species Giant moth (Titanus Mosura)[2]
Height 52 feet[2] / 15.8 meters[3]
Wingspan 803 feet[2] / 244.8 meters[3]
Forms Larval stage, imago stage
Place(s) of emergence Yunnan Rainforest, China[2]
Allies Godzilla
Enemies King Ghidorah, Rodan
First appearance Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Roar(s)
233px-MKG.png
This article concerns an upcoming subject, and will be updated with new information as it arises.

Mothra (モスラ,   Mosura) is a giant moth kaiju that appears in the 2019 Legendary Pictures film Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

This will be the first incarnation of Mothra to appear in an American-made film.

Name

The name "Mothra" is the suffixation of "-ra" (a common last syllable in kaiju names) to "moth." Since the Japanese language does not have dental fricatives, it is approximated "Mosura" in Japanese. Mothra's Japanese name is referenced through the Titan classification given to her by Monarch, Titanus Mosura. According to Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization, Mothra's real name, "Mosura," means "giver of life" on a small island in Indonesia where she was once revered as a goddess.

Design

The MonsterVerse Mothra's design is very different from past incarnations of the character. Her imago stage has a segmented insect-like body, with six legs and two wings. Her legs are considerably different from those of past Mothra designs, which are typically small and equally-sized, with clawed bird-like feet. The MonsterVerse Mothra has two long hind legs with two joints and two clawed toes. She has four forelimbs, two on each side of her body, with one large pair and one smaller pair. Her forelimbs are longer and more muscular than those of past designs, and end in large hooked claws. Mothra's head is comparatively smaller than it usually is, though it retains her traditional large blue eyes, which are oval-shaped rather than circular. She appears to possess two large white antennae which lay flat against the top of her head. Mothra has two gigantic compound wings each composed of two segments: a larger segment near the front of her body and a smaller segment toward the rear. The wings possess intricate patterns with the character's traditional orange, yellow, and black coloration. There is a circular pattern on both sides of the front corners of Mothra's wings, as is the case with her previous designs. According to Michael Dougherty, these circles are meant to represent Godzilla's eyes, demonstrating a connection between the monsters. While the S.H. MonsterArts figure of this Mothra seems to lack the character's traditional white fur and instead possesses smooth skin which ranges in color from light brown to orange, in the film's second trailer she is clearly seen possessing white fur, with some orange fur on her forehead.

Mothra's larval stage, as seen in a few brief shots in both trailers for the film, maintains the appearance of a giant segmented caterpillar. The segments of her body are rounded, and her head is very small compared to the rest of her body. The legs of her larval form are larger and more visible than they have been in past designs. Instead of the large oval-shaped eyes of the imago stage, Mothra's larval stage has much smaller blue eyes. Mothra appears to have several blue bioluminescent patches on her body.

Personality

Mothra was worshiped as a benevolent goddess by ancient civilizations, even receiving a temple built for her in China, suggesting that she was able to coexist peacefully with humanity. Monarch classifies her behavior as that of a "protector," calling her the "mother of the natural world."[4]

Origins

Mothra's origins are currently unclear, but she is assumed to be some sort of ancient creature, due to being depicted in what appear to be ancient cave paintings. Mothra is shown surrounded by worshipers in the paintings, suggesting that she is perceived to be a deity by some. This is supported by the discovery of her cocoon within an ancient temple in China known as the "Temple of the Moth."[5] According to Monarch, Mothra appears in ancient folklore and fairy tales from across the world.[2] One painting depicts Mothra and Godzilla surrounded by human warriors locked in battle against King Ghidorah, suggesting that she fought alongside Godzilla against King Ghidorah in the ancient past.

History

MonsterVerse

Kong: Skull Island

After their adventure on Skull Island, Monarch members Houston Brooks and Lin San showed James Conrad and Mason Weaver a cave painting of Mothra, along with paintings depicting Godzilla, Rodan and King Ghidorah, as proof that the inhabitants of Skull Island were not the only monsters in the world. Mothra was entirely white in color and surrounded by worshipers in her painting.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

A carving of Mothra from her temple in China

Mothra was confirmed to be appearing in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, along with Rodan and King Ghidorah, on July 26, 2014.[6] A Monarch timeline video uploaded to Kong: Skull Island social media accounts describes a giant cocoon with a "quickening heartbeat" discovered by Monarch in China's Yunnan province, within an ancient structure called the Temple of the Moth.[5]

Abilities

Flight

In her imago stage, Mothra has massive wings which make her capable of flight.

Silk Attack

Mothra's natural defensive ability is to spit silk at enemies. Unlike past incarnations of the character, she can use her silk attack even in her imago stage. Mothra is seen using this attack to restrain King Ghidorah.[4]

God Rays

Mothra can emit concentrated beams of beta-wave bioluminescence from the patterns on her wings.[7]

Filmography

Comics

Skull Island: The Birth of Kong

An image of Mothra taped to a map in Houston Brooks' office in the first issue of Skull Island: The Birth of Kong

A photograph of what appears to be a cave painting of Mothra was taped to a map in Houston Brooks' office in 2012.

Gallery

Main article: Mothra/Gallery.

Roar

Mothra's roar in the MonsterVerse is a modified version of her original roar.

Trivia

  • Mothra is referenced in an Easter egg in the first film of the MonsterVerse, Godzilla. At Ford Brody's old house in Janjira, a terrarium with a cocoon in it can be seen with two labels attached to it that together say "Ford's Mothra."
    • Earlier in the film, during the sequence where the Janjira Nuclear Power Plant is seen collapsing from Ford's elementary school, a chart showing the lepidopteran life cycle along with numerous large paper butterflies and moths can be seen displayed in the classroom.
  • The Monarch outpost where Mothra is being studied is Outpost 61, a reference to the release year of her debut film, 1961.
Early concept art design for Mothra, sharing some design similarities with the MonsterVerse Mothra
  • This incarnation of Mothra possesses uncharacteristically long limbs and a more upright posture compared to past designs. However, these traits were present in Toho's early pre-production concept art design for Mothra from her debut film.
  • The MonsterVerse Mothra's bioluminescent "God Ray" abilities, perhaps coincidentally, resemble an unused ability of the winged MUTO in the June 2012 screenplay for Godzilla. In this version of the film's story, the male MUTO, originally dubbed "Hokmuto," had the ability to produce a lightning like "shockwave" that generated aurora-light lights similar to the ones Mothra gives off.

See also

References

This is a list of references for Mothra (Monsterverse). 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. Mothra Monarch Sciences.png
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "SPECIMEN: TITANUS MOSURA" - Monarch Sciences
    TITANUS MOSURA - Monarch Sciences.png
  3. 3.0 3.1 MonsterVerse Mothra Japanese stats.jpg
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Specimen: Titanus Mosura". Toho Kingdom on Twitter. 16 May 2019.
  5. 5.0 5.1 [1]
  6. Holy Mothra: Gareth Edwards Reveals ‘Godzilla 2′ Monsters At Comic-Con
  7. Monarch Sciences

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