Nanometal

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Nanometal
Nanometal, in the form of a Houtua arrowhead, in GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle
Alternate names Nano-metal, Nanomachines[1]
Subtitle(s) Autonomous Metal
(自律思考金属体,   Jiritsu Shikō Kinzoku-tai)[2]
First appearance Latest appearance
GODZILLA: Planet
of the Monsters
GODZILLA: The
Planet Eater
That, sinister thing. Poison.
„ 

Miana and Maina warn Haruo Sakaki about the Nanometal (GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle)

Nanometal (ナノメタル,   Nanometaru), also known as Nanomachines (ナノマシン,   Nanomashin),[1] is a fictional extraterrestrial alloy used by the Bilusaludo aliens in the GODZILLA anime trilogy. It is utilized in the construction of various weapons, most prominently the anti-Godzilla superweapon Mechagodzilla.

Design

Nanometal is a light grayish-blue metallic substance. It is composed of microscopic individual nanomachines, which when clustered together in a large volume become a bluish fluid. Nanometal can harden into solid metal, which retains the grayish-blue color but may be covered in a seemingly random arrangement of white streaks that resemble veins. Nanometal can also be dispersed as a vapor to form a thermal energy buffer layer. In this state it takes the form of a gray mist. As liquid Nanometal moves and spreads it slithers across a surface like a fungus or slime mold before completely covering the entire surface and hardening. Nanometal can be molded into a variety of shapes or form a number of complex machines.

History

Reiwa era

GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters

In the year 2046, the Bilusaludo, in cooperation with humanity, secretly constructed the anti-Godzilla superweapon Mechagodzilla from Nanometal in Hamamutsu, Japan. Godzilla breached the facility where Mechagodzilla was being built in March, but the Bilusaludo scientists were unable to activate Mechagodzilla, forcing the machine to be abandoned in the ensuing decisive battle between Godzilla and the United Earth in Hamamatsu. While the Nanometal technology was seemingly lost, Mechagodzilla's chief engineer Mulu-elu Galu-gu kept a single small chunk of the material in his quarters aboard the Aratrum.

GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle

Mulu-elu Galu-gu and Rilu-elu Belu-be discovered that the arrowheads used by the Houtua were constructed from Nanometal, the same material used to construct Mechagodzilla 20,000 years ago. Galu-gu believed this was a sign that the facility where Mechagodzilla was built could still exist and be viable. They convinced Captain Haruo Sakaki and the majority of surviving members of the United Earth's landing brigade to seek out the ruins of Mechagodzilla's facility and attempt to salvage any remaining Nanometal for use in anti-Godzilla operations. Guided by the twin Houtua priestesses Maina and Miana, the soldiers passed through a cave where Galu-gu and Belu-be detected a surviving signal being given off by Mechagodzilla, indicating that the machine was still alive. After exiting the cavern they were set upon by two flying-type Servum which were suddenly impaled by Nanometal spikes that erupted from the ground and subsequently absorbed by the material. As Galu-gu and Belu-be looked into the valley below, they saw a replica of Mechagodzilla's production facility built entirely from Nanometal. Galu-gu surmised that in the intervening 20,000 years, Mechagodzilla's Nanometal remained intact and active and continued to grow and replicate, gradually building this facility which he dubbed Mechagodzilla City. As the team approached the entrance to the City, they saw the corpses of countless Servum which had been absorbed by the Nanometal. Galu-gu assured Adam Bindewald that the Nanometal would not assimilate humans, as Mechagodzilla was only following its directive to destroy Godzilla. The party progressed inside Mechagodzilla City, entering its central building that was the source of Mechagodzilla's signal. Inside they found several Nanometal-consumed human corpses, but the Bilusaludo explained that these humans were already dead before the Nanometal absorbed them. As they progressed further inside they finally came upon Mechagodzilla's severed head, which had remained active enough to orchestrate the construction of the City. Belu-be fully reactivated Mechagodzilla's A.I., granting the Bilusaludo complete control over the City and all of its Nanometal. Galu-gu explained that rebuilding Mechagodzilla was no longer necessarily, as they could now mobilize all of the Nanometal in Mechagodzilla City to carry out an overwhelming anti-Godzilla strategy. Preparations began, with the Bilusaludo directing Mechagodzilla City to begin construction of several new weapons. In addition, Belu-be used the Nanometal to upgrade the United Earth's Powered Suits into new advanced models dubbed Vultures.

Galu-gu and Haruo gathered all of their troops in Mechagodzilla City's control room and explained the battle strategy. Once Mechagodzilla City's fortifications were complete, it would cease disppersing the fog concealing it and attract Godzilla. Once Godzilla reached a trap point, Nanometal in the ground would be detonated and cause him to fall into a tunnel leading to a capture point near the City. Vultures would help draw Godzilla to this point, after which the tunnel would be closed off and flooded with liquid Nanometal, which would then harden and temporarily trap Godzilla. Once Godzilla's shield temporarily collapsed, flanking railguns would open fire on his dorsal plates, destroying his EMP amplifying organ. After this EMP Harpoons would be fired into Godzilla's back, overloading him with electromagnetic energy until he exploded, just like the smaller Godzilla they had already defeated. While preparations were still underway, Adam and two other soldiers witnessed several Bilusaludo being absorbed by the Nanometal and frantically reported it to Haruo. Haruo told Galu-gu to call for backup, but Galu-gu explained that the Nanometal had not gone out of control. Rather, the Bilusaludo had willingly become one with Mechagodzilla City's Nanometal in order to help with the operation. To Haruo and the others' horror, Galu-gu and Belu-be insisted that becoming one with the Nanometal was a tremendous honor, discarding one's physical body to become part of a perfect machine. As the humans and Bilusaludo argued, Master Sergeant Yuko Tani took the side of the Bilusaludo, saying that even if she couldn't agree with the Bilusaludo's methods, only volunteers were being assimilated and it was all in the name of ensuring the operation's success. Haruo and the others reluctantly backed down, just before learning that Mechagodzilla City had ceased dispersing its concealing fog. The Bilusaludo assimilated by the Nanometal had diverted the City's resources to the armaments and were now making independent decisions. The timetable for the operation was moved up as Godzilla awakened and began approaching the City. Godzilla fired his atomic breath, but Mechagodzilla City dispersed a buffer layer of Nanometal particles to deflect most of the blast, with the City taking only minor damage. Haruo, Yuko, and Belu-be commandeered the three Vulture units and flew out to distract Godzilla as Mechagodzilla City rushed to complete preparations. They were unable to hold him off for long, and Galu-gu was forced to detonate the trap point. Godzilla began moving through the tunnel and approaching Mechagodzilla City. When he fired his atomic breath, Nanometal was dispersed inside of it to keep the blasts from hitting the City. Godzilla finally reached the capture point and was buried up to his knees in Nanometal. Railguns opened fire until his shield went down, at which point flanking railguns destroyed his dorsal plates. EMP Harpoons were launched into Godzilla's back, and he fell silent.

Those inside Mechagodzilla City waited eagerly for Godzilla to explode, but instead he began giving off intense heat. Martin Lazzari realized that Godzilla was somehow converting the excess electromagnetic energy in his body into heat, allowing him to survive the energy surge and simultaneously attack them. As the heat inside Mechagodzilla City climbed, Galu-gu and the other Bilusaludo allowed themselves to be absorbed by the Nanometal, while Martin and the humans fled in horror. The Vulture's weapons were unable to withstand the heat to strike Godzilla, so Belu-be proposed that they fly to the tropopause and dive bomb directly onto Godzilla, triggering him to explode. Only one part of the Vulture would be unable to withstand the heat for long enough, so it would need to be repaired with Nanometal. Haruo asked what Belu-be meant, only for the Nanometalized Galu-gu to appear on his monitor and explain that the part was the pilot. Nanometal began to slither up Haruo, Belu-be, and Yuko's bodies, assimilating them. Yuko tried to resist and eject from her Vulture, causing it to plummet. Haruo grabbed her Vulture as Belu-be allowed himself to be assimilated and flew to the atmosphere. To Galu-gu's shock, Haruo's body rejected the Nanometal and he was able to brush it off. Metphies contacted Haruo from a cave outside the City where Martin and the others had fled and warned that once Godzilla was destroyed, the Nanometal would continue to spread until it had absorbed the entire world and all life in it. Haruo flew his Vulture to the central building of Mechagodzilla City and confronted Galu-gu, demanding that he end the Nanometal's encroachment. Galu-gu told Haruo that the second he attempted to fight Godzilla, he accepted that he had to become something that is no longer human. He told Haruo to harden his resolve and do what was necessary, forcing Haruo to choose between destroying Godzilla or potentially sacrificing the rest of humanity. After hesitating, he finally opened fire on the control room, killing Galu-gu and destroying Mechagodzilla City's core in a fiery explosion. Belu-be tried to stop Haruo, but his Vulture deactivated and crashed into the central building, obliterating it. Godzilla resumed activity and opened fire on Mechagodzilla City with his atomic breath, razing it to the ground in two blasts. Haruo's Vulture landed on a nearby peak. He pulled Yuko from her Vulture and found her unresponsive, with her entire body up to her head assimilated by Nanometal. He finally realized that she was dead as a tear made of Nanometal rolled down her face.

GODZILLA: The Planet Eater

In the aftermath of the destruction of Mechagodzilla City, Martin Lazzari found that the intense heat had rendered all of the Nanometal inside the City unusable. All that remained of the City that Martin could salvage was a single Vulture, and even then he didn't know how to activate it. Yuko Tani's heart continued to beat thanks to the Nanometal that had infected her, however her brain had shut down and left her with no chance of reawakening. Many months later, after Godzilla defeated Ghidorah and the surviving humans had integrated with the Houtua, Martin had a breakthrough. Using active Nanometal recovered from Yuko's body, he was able to reactivate the surviving Vulture and harness the capabilities of its Nanometal. He explained to Haruo Sakaki that he would be able to reverse-engineer the Nanometal and rebuild civilization with it, allowing them to leave the Houtua's primitive lifestyle behind. Just then, Haruo experienced a telepathic vision from Metphies, who explained that the cycle of destruction would continue with the reemergence of civilization, and time was on Ghidorah's side. Haruo understood that humanity would repeat the mistakes of the past if civilization returned to its former state, attracting the wrath of Godzilla once more and potentially allowing Ghidorah to return to this world. Haruo took Yuko's body with him inside the last Vulture and flew toward Godzilla. He screamed at Godzilla to burn away the last remnant of the past, to put an end to all of his hatred. Godzilla obliged and blasted the Vulture with his atomic breath, causing it to crash and explode. In his dying act, Haruo ensured that the last trace of Nanometal was destroyed for good, and gave humanity the chance to follow the path of the Houtua, one he hoped would not lead to the same cycle of destruction that consumed the Bilusaludo and Exif.

Capabilities

Autonomous movement

Nanometal possesses the unique attribute of being able to act autonomously, however it requires 100 gigawatts worth of power from thermonuclear reactors in order to function.[3] It has the capacity to regenerate, demonstrated when the Nanometal-injected Gigan instantly reformed parts of its body that were blasted away by Godzilla's atomic breath.[1] Because it is composed of individual nanomachines, Nanometal can deform, reshape, and move like a fluid. Due to being composed entirely of Nanometal, Mechagodzilla would have possessed the ability to reform and regenerate its body at will. In addition, Nanometal can be spread over a large area to diffuse incoming projectile and energy attacks, such as Godzilla's atomic breath. The Nanometal composing Mechagodzilla remained active over a period of 20,000 years, and because its limiter was damaged it continued to grow at an accelerated rate during that time, forming a city-sized fortress 14 kilometers in diameter named "Mechagodzilla City." In this time the Nanometal had evolved and become more sophisticated as well.

Weaponry usage

Nanometal can be used as a powerful weapon, as sharpened weapons created from it possess incredible penetrating power. The Houtua's arrowheads are able to effortlessly pierce the hide of Servum and the armor on the United Earth's Multipodal Batteries. The Nanometal spikes formed by Mechagodzilla City are also able to easily slay Servum that venture too close. Nanometal can be used to upgrade and improve existing weaponry, such as the Vultures that are created using Powered Suits as a base. Nanometal can be used as an explosive. During "Operation: Great Wall" it was used in tandem with 2000 thermonuclear warheads to open a fault into the ground large enough to trap Godzilla under the Earth's crust, while 20,000 years later it was used to trap Godzilla and draw him toward Mechagodzilla City.

Assimilation

Nanometal has the ability to cover and assimilate lifeforms, in a process called Nanometalization (ナノメタル化,   Nanometaru-ka). This process is initiated once Nanometal comes into contact with organic matter, after which it completely assimilates it in a matter of moments. At first, it could only assimilate the deceased or things related to Godzilla, but it eventually learned to assimilate other beings like humans and Bilusaludo once its limiter was turned off. Individuals that are Nanometalized become one with the Nanometal itself, something the Bilusaludo consider to be the next step of evolution and necessary to enable proper use of Nanometal weapons such as the Vultures. The Bilusaludo soldiers who are assimilated by the Nanometal in Mechagodzilla City fuse with the City and serve as neural processors, their collective intelligence forming a sort of hive mind that is capable of making decisions independently from even Mulu-elu Galu-gu's orders. The Bilusaludo intended to Nanometalize the entire planet in order to quickly restore the advanced civilization that was destroyed by Godzilla. While Nanometal initially shuts down after Mechagodzilla City's control room is destroyed, it remains intact and can potentially be reactivated. Nanometal was able to keep Yuko Tani's heart beating even after she was rendered brain-dead, meaning she would technically remain alive indefinitely although she could never awaken. The active Nanometal recovered from Yuko's body was sufficient to reactivate the last Vulture, and may have allowed for the reconstruction of civilization had Haruo not intervened.

Books

GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla

During a battle between Godzilla and Gigan in Yarkant, China as part of "Operation: Long March," Godzilla severely damaged Gigan's wings, arms and head. The Bilusaludo dedeployed Gigan in Hotan in 2045 and injected him with experimental Nanometal, which caused him to instantly heal from his injuries. The Nanometal allowed Gigan to regenerate after entire parts of his body were blasted off by Godzilla, but Godzilla was able to completely destroy Gigan with a concentrated blast of atomic breath, leaving no trace of the monster behind.[1]

Trivia

  • The nature of Nanometal, specifically its ability to self-replicate and absorb organic life and the possibility of it spreading and assimilating the entire Earth, is an example of the gray goo doomsday scenario, in which out-of-control self-replicating nanomachines consume all biomass on Earth while simultaneously creating more of themselves.
  • Mechagodzilla's body frame in Godzilla vs. Kong is stated to be composed of T-1 Nanometal Skeleton Housing.

See also

References

This is a list of references for Nanometal. 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 1.2 1.3 Oki, Renji (25 April 2018). GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla. Kadokawa. pp. 74–82, 86–111. ISBN 9784041063453.
  2. Japanese GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle trailer
    Nanometal trailer text.png
  3. City on the Edge of Battle pamphlet 2.jpg

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