Obsidius

Obsidius™ Alternate names Magmouth, Pyrodorah, Kazango, Dotoryo, Volcanis Species Magma organism Height 98 meters Weight 78,000 tons Relations SpaceGodzilla (creator), Krystalak ('brother') First appearance Godzilla: Unleashed Roar(s)

Obsidius (オブシディウス,   Obushidiusu) is a volcanic kaiju that first appeared in the 2007 Godzilla video game Godzilla: Unleashed. He was chosen for the game through an IGN readers' poll, defeating The Visitor, Fire Lion, and Lightning Bug with 37% of the votes.

Name

Obsidius' name comes from "obsidian," a type of volcanic glass. It was chosen by a second IGN readers' poll after he was voted into the game, prevailing over Pyrodorah, Kazango, Dotoryo, and Volcanis. During the original poll, he was called Magmouth.

Design

Originally, according to art director Robert Caracol, Obsidius "was a combination of two separate concepts. The first was a rocky, craggy creature that was solid rock. The second was more akin to flowing magma. In the end, we came up with a blending of the two ideas, arriving at a monster that was a walking volcano. It possessed the hardness and sharpness of solid granite but could also attack using the molten fluid from within its body." Obsidius' design did not change much from there. Its colors range from a dark brown to charcoal black, and then its magma ranges from yellow to orange. It has three horns at the back of its head, no eyes, no mouth features—other than a hole similar to a throat where magma can be expelled from—and no real features other than rocky skin and thin lines of magma where articulation is required, like the joints of the arms, legs, neck, tail, and feet.

Abilities

Inferno

Obsidius spitting Inferno.

Obsidius can spit out torrents of molten lava from his mouth and condense it into a beam that is capable of melting buildings with ease and burning other opponents.

Rip It Up

Obsidius performing Rip It Up.

Obsidius performs this close-ranged attack by digging his hands into the Earth and then tearing the ground upwards, striking the body of his opponent with his clawed fingers while throwing chunks of rock and dirt into the opponent kaiju's face. Obsidius is able to use this technique on land, in the water, and even in lava.

Physical capabilities

Obsidius curled into a ball.

Obsidius is an exceptionally strong brute with powerful hand-to-hand fighting capabilities. Many of Obsidius' attacks are similar to a gorilla and Orga, with his huge arms and flexible legs playing a huge role in his fighting style. While being a bit slower than fellow mutant Krystalak, Obsidius can curl himself into a ball and roll around at high speeds and into opponents. He also appears to be an extraordinary jumper, able to leap to incredible heights, jumping hundreds of meters in the air.

Obsidius leaping very high.

Durability

Obsidius in lava.

Being made of the raw, ferrous materials of the Earth, Obsidius dons a virtually impenetrable mineral exterior that shields him against both physical and energy assaults. His game bio states that he emerged from a volcano; accordingly, he does not take damage from lava, allowing him to roam around in the pyroclastic lava pools in the Seattle arena of the game.

Obsidius depicting a resistance against energy weapon.

Essence Absorption

Obsidius absorbing essence.

A strange ability that Obsidius possesses, the volcanic-rock kaiju is capable of absorbing certain properties of his opponents when grappling them, depending on if they are living or non-living. If the foe he grabs is organic, Obsidius steals some of their life force and heals himself; if mechanical, Obsidius saps some of their energy to replenish his stamina bar. This ability is exclusive in the PlayStation 2 version of the game.

Burrowing

Animatic of Obsidius burrowing.

As shown in his animatic, Obsidius can burrow underground. This ability was not demonstrated in-game.

Video games

• Godzilla: Unleashed (2007) - Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 2

Godzilla: Unleashed

"Although most of the crystals deposited on Earth by the meteor showers embedded themselves in the surface, some of them managed to punch through the earth's crust and enter the lithosphere. There, brought together by the magma flows from within the earth, a sentient creature was brought to life by the accumulated power of the crystals and the raw, ferrous materials of the earth. Obsidius emerged from a volcano onto the surface world only recently and thus far has resisted all attempts at communication. His virtually impenetrable mineral exterior shields him against both physical and energy assaults. He advances single-mindedly toward the most unstable crystal formations on the surface, and as such should be considered extremely dangerous."

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  Obsidius' bio from page 32 of the Godzilla: Unleashed instruction manual booklet

Gallery

Concept art

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  Obsidius concept art (#1)

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  Obsidius concept art (#2)

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  Obsidius concept art (#3)

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  Obsidius concept art (#4)

Screenshots

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Roars

Obsidius' roars are stock sound effects of the Sharptooth performed by Frank Welker for The Land Before Time, though Simon Strange has stressed that this was not done deliberately.

Obsidius’ roars

Trivia

• Obsidius is one of the only monsters in Godzilla: Unleashed who does not take damage from the lava flows in the Seattle arena, along with Fire Rodan in the PlayStation 2 version.
• In the PS2 version of the game, Obsidius shares Orga's exact moveset, while the Wii version gives him a unique moveset.

References

This is a list of references for Obsidius. 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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