Shockirus
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Shockirus (ショッキラス is a mutated sea louse Shokkirasu)kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1984 Godzilla film The Return of Godzilla.
Name
The Shockirus' name is never spoken in The Return of Godzilla, nor did it appear in the film's theater program.
Design
Shockirus resembles marine arthropods like the horseshoe crab with its multiple legs and hard shell. Its shell has many bumps, and it has a two-pronged spiked tail.
In the manga adaptation of The Return of Godzilla, the Shockirus look like ocean isopods, but with facial features resembling cockroaches.
Origins
Shockirus were a form of isopod mutated by exposure to Godzilla's radiation.[1]
History
Heisei era
The Return of Godzilla
When Godzilla attacked the Yahata-Maru, Shockirus jumped off his body and came aboard the boat. Shockirus hunted down the crew members that had survived Godzilla's attack and killed them all, draining their bodily fluids and leaving behind desiccated husks. The last survivor, Hiroshi Okumura, was injured by Shockirus and locked himself inside a locker to hide from the creature. When reporter Goro Maki came aboard the ship the next day, he was attacked by Shockirus, who jumped onto his chest and crawled toward his throat. Fortunately, Okumura regained consciousness and stabbed Shockirus in the back with a hatchet, killing it.
Abilities
Jumping
Shockirus is an extraordinary jumper.
Fluid draining
Shockirus can suck vital fluids out of a host.
Durability
Shockirus' hard carapace provides it some degree of protection.
Video games
- NEW Godzilla (1985) - NEC PC-8801
NEW Godzilla
Shockirus appears in NEW Godzilla, a video game adaptation of The Return of Godzilla, where it attacks Goro Maki aboard the Yahata-Maru.
Shockirus in NEW Godzilla
Comics
- The Return of Godzilla (1985)
- Godzilla (1995-1996) [issue #14]
- Godzilla: Rulers of Earth (2013-2015) [issue #1]
Godzilla
A Shockirus appears to attack Kino and Take when they climb up Godzilla.
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth
A creature resembling Shockirus appears very briefly.
Shockirus in the Return of Godzilla manga adaptation
Gallery
- Main article: Shockirus/Gallery.
Roar
Shockirus' roars are Ebirah and Kumonga roars that have been raised or lowered in pitch and sped up or slowed down, respectively. In the U.S. cut, the roars are replaced with a different hissing screech.
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Trivia
- Shockirus was the first new monster introduced in the Heisei series.
- Shockirus was the last completely original monster in general to appear in the Godzilla series, being unconnected to any previous monsters, until the MUTOs. The remaining monsters that appear in the Heisei and Millennium series are linked to Godzilla or another monster (Biollante-Godzilla, Battra-Mothra, Destoroyah-Oxygen Destroyer-Godzilla, Orga-Godzilla, Megaguirus-Meganulon, Monster X-Keizer Ghidorah-King Ghidorah) in some way.
- In the BBFC's review of the film for release in the United Kingdom, Shockirus was described as a "giant seahorse." 17 seconds of footage was cut from the sequence it appears in for the film to receive a PG rating.[6]
- Shockirus was inspired by a giant flea featured in the unproduced 1955 screenplay Bride of Godzilla?, which Tomoyuki Tanaka asked writer Hideichi Nagahara to revise in 1978. Tanaka and Nagahara's efforts to revive the Godzilla series culminated in The Return of Godzilla.[7]
References
This is a list of references for Shockirus. 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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Comments
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