Axor
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Axor (アゾール Azōru) is a cobra monster who appeared in the 17th episode of Hanna-Barbera's Godzilla, titled "The Beast of Storm Island."
Design
Axor is a dark grayish-blue serpent-like creature with a lighter underbelly sustained by sleek digitigrade legs. His eyes are yellow, with the exception of his crescent-shaped pupils, and surrounded by two black streaks. From the upper region of his back rises a large sack ending in a hole above Axor's forehead which he can inflate and deflate to produce wind. He has a pair of fangs on his upper jaw, four smaller teeth on his lower jaw, and a forked tongue.
Personality
Axor is a crafty monster who appears to relish in fear and control, instilling his slaves with the mentality that he must be obeyed at all costs. When dealing with escaped slaves or new human arrivals to Storm Island, Axor was shown to slowly approach them while making lots of noise. Axor seems to prefer targeting things far smaller than him; he attempted to scare Godzilla off before fighting him and quickly fled once the tides of the battle changed. Later, Axor broke off his fight with Godzilla entirely to try and repair the Lazarus Well's temple after the latter damaged it and fought even harder when Godzilla disrupted him.
History
- Godzilla (TV 1978-1979) [episode 17]
Godzilla
"The Beast of Storm Island"
Off the coast of Canada, the Calico sought refuge from a powerful storm, sailing into an atoll on nearby Storm Island. As soon as they stopped, a disheveled man ran up to the ship, warning them to leave the island immediately lest they draw the attention of Axor. Before Carl Majors could reply, a loud roar came from further inland, and the man exclaimed it was too late. Axor appeared from behind a mountain and roared again, looking down at the Calico and dancing before stalking towards the ship. As Majors rushed to turn the Calico around and escape, the man lamented that there was no escape from Axor. Coming right up to the shoreline, Axor loomed over the Calico and opened fire on it with his energy bolts before turning his attention to Godzilla, who had been summoned by the crew. The two monsters raised their arms and roared at each other before charging; Axor quickly gained the upper hand, pushing back Godzilla with a headbutt before grappling him and attempting to bite his neck. Godzilla managed to grab Axor and shove him around, but Axor broke free and twisted away, firing his slave ray at the man before he could explain much to Quinn Darian and knocking him out. Axor then disengaged Godzilla and retreated inland.
Late that night, Axor commanded the man to beach the ship on Storm Island once the rest of the crew were asleep. Encountering Brock Borden, the man tied him up and praised Axor, saying he must be obeyed. Stranded, Majors, Quinn, and Brock left the Calico to explore, finding many people building a large temple before being captured and taken inside to a glowing pit called the Lazarus Well, where Axor mind controlled them. Meanwhile, Pete Darian and Godzooky evaded the man Axor sent to capture them and infiltrated the temple, witnessing the adults getting hypnotized. Godzooky coughed, alerting the slaves and Axor to their presence, the latter using his winds to smoke them out. Axor pursued the pair, but they escaped the temple, leading to him sending Majors, Quinn, and Brock to capture them. Axor himself followed the duo back to the Calico and used his winds to generate waves, bringing them back to shore after they tried escaping. A group of Axor's slaves, lead by the enslaved Calico crew members, captured Pete and brought him to Axor's temple. Axor fired his slave ray at Pete, but it had no effect, angering Axor. Godzooky appeared and grabbed Pete, running down a hallway while Axor fired his energy bolts at them. Still chased by Axor, Pete and Godzooky climbed into the Lazarus Well, which Axor peered into before inhaling the steam coming out of the pit. He then stuck his arm in, swiping at Pete and Godzooky and destroying the rock platform they were on before shooting his energy bolts into the Lazarus Well. He missed the pair, while the damage caused by his attack allowed Godzooky to absorb the mists and gain a glowing aura. Axor stuffed his hand in the Lazarus Well again, this time grabbing Godzooky, but he hit Axor in the face with his tail and broke free. After flying back to check on Pete, Godzooky breathed fire like Godzilla, burning Axor and forcing him back. Godozooky attempted to lift Axor's foot with his newfound strength, but he soon found his limits and fled before he could be stepped on. Flying back up to Axor's face, Godzooky breathed fire again, but it quickly petered out into harmless smoke. Defenseless and cornered by Axor, Pete told Godzooky to call Godzilla.
Godzilla's footsteps could be felt all the way from Axor's temple, and the serpent monster sauntered out to confront him. Battling Godzilla in his slaves' village, Axor shot at him with his energy bolts, though Godzilla dodged and continued his advance. Axor unleashed his winds, which pushed Godzilla back and tore up the houses and terrain. Godzilla lunged at Axor and spun him around by the neck, Godzilla's tail destroying part of the temple wall in the process. Axor pushed him aside and tried to clear the damage, but was forced back into the fight when Godzilla breathed fire at him and the wreckage. Axor retaliated with his energy bolts and used his slave ray on Godzilla once he evaded them, though the King of the Monsters resisted with his willpower alone. Godzilla cornered Axor against a cliff and spat fire at him, but the serpent ran to the side, allowing Godzilla's flames to hit the rock face behind him and turn it to glass. The two monsters grappled again, and Axor shoved Godzilla into the cliff and prepared to use his slave ray. Godzilla rwn to the side as well, and Axor's beam reflected off the stone and struck him. Axor roared momentarily before freezing and fading out of existence. With Axor dead, the Calico crew and all the shipwrecked people enslaved by him were freed.
Abilities
Physical abilities
Axor matched Godzilla in strength, repeatedly shoving the other monster around and headbutting him during their fights, and tried to bite down on him with his fangs. Axor's body is also flexible, allowing him to escape Godzilla's grip with relative ease.
Energy bolts
Axor can fire clusters of energy bolts from his mouth. Though he fires many, a direct hit from one failed to damage the Calico.
Telepathic slave ray
Axor can fire a telepathic slave ray from his eyes which can turn humans and other creatures into his slaves. Though described as walking like zombies, Axor's slaves seem to exhibit some degree of autonomy, though they are entirely devoted to pleasing Axor.
Winds
Axor can inflate the sac on his head and force large amounts of air through a hole in it to create hurricane-force winds. He appears to be able to control their direction, arcing the gusts downwards to make waves to push the Calico back to Storm Island when Pete and Godzooky tried to escape.
Intelligence
Axor is incredibly smart, directing his slaves to perform complex tasks with minimal resources and even plan ahead. He orders them to build a temple grander than the pyramids in Egypt and far larger than himself with little materials and sends several to try and abduct Pete and Godzooky once he knew they were alone at the Calico. He flushed Pete and Godzooky out of hiding by making them cough from his winds. During the Calico crew's initial escape attempt from Storm Island, Axor broke off his fight with Godzilla and specifically hypnotized the escaped man before he could reveal too much to the crew. Hours later, once all of the crew except Brock Borden were sleeping, Axor commanded the man to steer the ship back to Storm Island and beach it, also having the slave restrain Brock as to not wake the others.
Before fighting Godzilla, Axor attempted to intimidate Godzilla by making himself look bigger and louder, and once he began losing the fight he quickly broke off the engagement. When the Lazarus Well's temple was damaged during his final fight with Godzilla, Axor recognized the building's importance and tried to clear the debris. Axor was able to tell when the unnamed man escaped his control and hunted him down.
Weaknesses
Though initially able to match Godzilla's physical strength, Axor was repeatedly overpowered by him in prolonged hand-to-hand combat. Godzilla was able to dodge Axor's energy bolts and even parried one. Axor's slave ray has additional limits; Godzilla was able to resist its effects, while Pete and Godzooky were immune due to having a cold. The slave ray bounces off of mirrors, which Godzilla used to hit Axor with his own slave ray, making the monster disappear.
Gallery
Trivia
- The monster Dolfiego from the ninth episode of The☆Ultraman shares many coincidental similarities with Axor. Both kaiju are intelligent bipedal reptilian creatures with eye-based mind controlling powers who enslave humans to build and maintain their temple-like homes on isolated islands. The episodes featuring both monsters premiered in 1979, just a little over four months from each other (May 30 and October 6, respectively).
- Axor is one of only two monsters created by Hanna-Barbera for Godzilla to have an invented name, the other being Godzooky.
References
This is a list of references for Axor. 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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