Venusian
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Venusians (金星人 Kinseijin) are a fictional people who inhabit the planet Venus in various science fiction media. Their appearances in giant monster media include the 1961 comic book series Gorgo and the 1964 Toho Godzilla film Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.
Within the Godzilla series, Venusians were once an advanced civilization possessing technology far beyond that of humanity, but the majority of their population was wiped out some 5,000 years ago when Venus was decimated by the space monster King Ghidorah. A small number of Venusians managed to flee to Earth where they assimilated with humans, their identities and superhuman abilities degenerating in the process. Though no pure-blooded Venusians appear in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, the Selginese Princess Maas Doulina Salno is a descendant of the race, and is contacted telepathically by a Venusian who entrances her and awakens her Venusian identity.
Culture
Little is known of the Venusian culture in the Godzilla series, as their population was driven to near-extinction some 5,000 years ago. However, Princess Salno prays to a god while under Venusian influence.
In issue #10 of Gorgo, the Venusians refer to Earth as "Pthuxa" before they learn its English name. In issue #12, a Venusian compares Gorgo to the Griptocs, beasts from their folklore that were supposedly killed by their ancestors.
History
Showa era
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
Approximately 5,000 years ago, the Venusians possessed a thriving technologically advanced civilization. However, the evil space monster known as King Ghidorah arrived on Venus and completely eradicated the Venusians' civilization in a matter of days, earning him the title "Venus Hellfire." The few Venusians who survived fled to the nearest inhabitable planet, Earth, where they interbred and assimilated with the native humans over the following millennia.
Just before her plane was destroyed by a bomb planted by the political opposition party of Selgina, Venusian descendant Princess Maas Doulina Salno was contacted by the spirit of a Venusian which commanded her to jump from the plane. She survived by falling through a dimensional rift as her plane exploded above her, and was rescued by a Japanese fisherman. The man gave her his clothes in exchange for her royal bracelet, for which she no longer had any use. Her Venusian identity awakened, the princess now sought to warn the people of Earth of impending disaster with the help of her inborn ability to see into the future. She first appeared in Ueno Park, warning the onlookers that great disasters were soon to befall the Earth, beginning at Mount Aso in Kyushu. Reporter Naoko Shindo took an interest in the prophetess and began to cover her story, though onlookers scoffed at her claims to hail from Venus. The princess next appeared at Mt. Aso, warning that accumulated volcanic gases would soon resurrect Rodan. Her warnings were dismissed once again, until Rodan suddenly emerged from the volcano's crater before taking flight. The princess disappeared in the ensuing chaos, but both Naoko and her brother, a police detective who had been assigned to bodyguard the princess on her visit to Japan, continued to search for her. Malmess, the assassin tasked with killing her, also headed to Japan to finish the job.
As a ship readied to depart from Yokohama harbor, the Shobijin of Infant Island bid farewell to members of the press as they prepared to return home. The princess appeared at the scene, stating that the ship must not sail. The ship's captain angrily ordered the princess to be escorted away, but Naoko promised to help her and convinced her to come with her to a hotel. Naoko checked the two of them into the hotel and had the princess wait in the room while she met with her brother. In the meantime, Malmess and his assassins broke into the room and threatened her, attempting to determine if she really was the princess. She insisted that she was a Venusian, though she recalled wearing the royal bracelet which was enough to convince Malmess that she was his target. Fortunately, the Shobijin had tailed Naoko and the princess and shut off the lights before Malmess could kill her. They warned Shindo and Naoko to the killers' presence, after which Shindo drove them away following a brief gunfight. When they restored the lights, Shindo and Naoko found the princess reading a book in the corner of the room, which she explained to be the result of Venusians' ability to see in complete darkness. Just then, Godzilla rose from Tokyo Bay and destroyed the ship, proving the princess' warning true.
Shindo brought the princess to Dr. Tsukamoto's laboratory near Mount Fuji for analysis. Tsukamoto determined that there seemed to be nothing wrong with her, despite her continued insistence that she was a Venusian. She explained that King Ghidorah, the same monster who destroyed Venus, had arrived on Earth to do the same to it. True to her warning, a meteor which had crashed in the Kurobe Valley split open and unleashed King Ghidorah, who took to the skies and flew to Tokyo. As King Ghidorah leveled Tokyo with his Gravity Beams and Godzilla and Rodan converged on the Mt. Fuji area, Shindo and Tsukamoto remained behind at the lab while everyone else evacuated. The princess maintained her insistence that she was a Venusian, but elaborated that she was the descendant of the Venusians who survived Ghidorah's invasion 5,000 years ago and assimilated with humanity. She stated that while most of her race's natural abilities disappeared due to interbreeding with humans, her capacity to see into the future remained. Tsukamoto planned to deliver electroshock therapy in order to try and determine the truth about the princess, but Malmess and his assassins secretly raised the voltage to lethal levels. Fortunately, Rodan dropped Godzilla onto a power pylon just before the lethal shock could be administered. Shindo again drove off the assassins, and was met by Naoko, Professor Murai, and the Shobijin, who explained that Mothra was heading to the area in an attempt to convince Godzilla and Rodan to help her stop King Ghidorah. Shindo, Tsukamoto, the princess, and the others traveled to a vantage point near Mt. Fuji to watch Mothra's conversation with Godzilla and Rodan. The princess wandered off to a ledge overlooking a gorge, where she prayed to the Venusians' deity to save the Earth from destruction. Malmess, who narrowly survived a rockslide triggered by King Ghidorah, tracked the princess to the area and shot her with his sniper rifle, grazing her head and knocking her onto a lower ledge. Shindo leapt into action and rescued her. The princess regained consciousness and found she did not remember anything that had happened while she claimed to be a Venusian. Just before Malmess could kill the princess and Shindo, a stray Gravity Beam fired by King Ghidorah caused an avalanche that knocked Malmess to his death in the gorge below.
After the three Earth monsters successfully sent King Ghidorah retreating back into outer space, the princess spoke with Shindo and the others at an airport prior to her return to Selgina. Tsukamoto explained that the shock of being shot snapped her out of her earlier state. When she asked if her Venusian abilities would ever return, Tsukamoto said it was impossible to tell. Just before departing, the princess revealed that despite her memory loss, she distinctly remembered the times that he had saved her life. She thanked him and promised she would never forget him, then boarded a plane bound for her home country.
Technology
The Venusians were said to have been highly technologically capable, their advancements far exceeding those of the civilizations of Earth.[1]
Abilities
The Venusians possessed several superhuman abilities, including to predict the future and see in darkness.[1] These abilities gradually degenerated in the survivors of Venus' destruction due to inbreeding with humans; however, the part-Venusian Princess Salno's abilities were reawakened when she was contacted by a Venusian, being able to accurately predict future events and read a book in complete darkness. Furthermore, Princess Salno is said to have survived the bombing of her plane by falling through a rift between dimensions,[1] possibly accomplished through Venusian abilities.
Comics
- Gorgo #10, 12, and 21 (1962-1965)
- Movie Comics: Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1984)
Gorgo
Two distinct races of Venusians appear in this series, both hostile to Earth. In issue #10, they are giant red-furred humanoids with one eye, one horn, and a furless tail, while in issue #12 they are aquatic red-furred octopi-like creatures with one eye. Venusians also appear in a back-up story of issue #21 called "The Wrong Button" in which they are grey humanoid giants.
In Gorgo #10, as a Venusian spaceship flew through space to earth, the Venusian commander told one of his crewmates, Patha, to focus their telescopes on Earth in order to learn about their enemy, the humans. Patha reported his findings to the commander whilst holding a figure of a human. The commander congratulated Patha and flew the spaceship towards Earth as humans noticed the craft. As Gorgo was making his way to Australia, the Venusian ship was heading in the same direction. Military jet planes approached the spaceship; when alerted of this, a door in the spaceship opened, revealing a Venusian. A jet fires missiles at it but to no avail, and the giant alien responded by grabbing the jet plane and bringing the pilot into the spaceship. Patha stated that due to the human technology being weak against them, they should land and start attacking the humans. As the Venusian ship began to lower and land near Melbourne, Gorgo surfaced near the city as well. He noticed the spaceship, although he first moved to eat trees as a snack before further investigating it. The general of home defense, having already evacuated the city, ordered nuclear bomb dropped onto the Venusian ship, which damaged but did not destroy it. In response, a Venusian stepped out of the ship and started wreaking havoc on the city. Drawn by curiosity, Gorgo approached the Venusian, only to be attacked by it. Gorgo ultimately choked the Venusian, killing it. Aboard the spaceship, the commander saw how Gorgo was battering his minions quite easily, so he shot a ray at Gorgo, knocking the reptile down as he let out a roar. After hearing her son's loud roar, Ogra quickly approached the battlefield. As another Venusian continued wrecking the city, Gorgo got back up and attacked it. The commander fired the beam from his ship at Gorgo again, but this time, Gorgo used the Venusian as a shield against the blast. Gorgo started attacking and greatly damaging the ship, so a Venusian lunged at him. As Ogra surfaced and joined her son's offensive, the Venusians realized their invasion had failed miserably. The commander told Patha to launch the ship. Though Patha warned him that doing so would lead to their deaths, the commander responded that it would be better for them to perish in space. The triumphant monsters returned to the sea.
Trivia
- Venusians are the first alien race to be referenced in the Godzilla series, debuting a year before the much more popular Xiliens from Invasion of Astro-Monster.
References
This is a list of references for Venusian. 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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Bibliography
- Nomura, Kohei (7 August 2014). Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition]. Kasakura Publishing. ISBN 978-4-7730-8725-3.
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