Dagon

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Dagon
Dagon as depicted on an ancient Phoenician stone tablet in Godzilla: Aftershock
Alternate names Raijin, Species 5146_ADAM,
Godzilla-type creature
Subtitle(s) Stirrer of the Abyss, Lord of Lightning
Species Prehistoric amphibious reptile
Height Unknown[note 1]
Relations Godzilla (possible descendant),
MUTOs (parasites)
Enemies MUTO Prime
First appearance Latest appearance
Godzilla (2014) Godzilla: Aftershock
Vivienne Graham: “Oh my God... Is it possible? Is it him?
Ishiro Serizawa: “No. This is much older.
― Dr. Vivienne Graham and Ishiro Serizawa as they discover Dagon's bones (Godzilla, 2014)

Dagon, known to the Japanese as Raijin (雷神,   Raijin), was a Titan[2] resembling Godzilla who first appeared as a skeletal carcass in the 2014 Legendary Pictures film Godzilla. He was explored further in the 2019 graphic novel Godzilla: Aftershock, a prequel to that year's film Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

In the 11th century, B.C., a group of Phoenicians made their way to the Japanese islands, where they encountered a gigantic creature which they believed to be their god Dagon. They witnessed a battle between Dagon and MUTO Prime, in which Dagon was defeated and infected with his enemy's parasitic young. The Phoenicians witnessed Dagon regain consciousness and return to the sea, and while they assumed that he lived on, he eventually collapsed and died in the Philippines. His skeleton was unearthed in 1999 A.D., unleashing the two MUTO spores which had incubated inside of him. A Titan similar to Dagon, Godzilla, fought and killed both MUTOs in 2014 before they could reproduce, and later slew MUTO Prime when it emerged to try and implant its larvae inside of him.

Name

Dagon goes unnamed in Godzilla, although Monarch designates his species Species 5146_ADAM in a diagram of his skeleton. In Godzilla: Aftershock, it is revealed that the ancient skeleton was once revered as a god by multiple ancient peoples which encountered him; as the Biblical Dagon (𐤃𐤂𐤍 Dāgūn) by the Phoenicians and as the lightning god Raijin (雷神,   Raijin) by the Japanese. While modern-day scholars believe the Mesopotamian and Canaanite deity known as Dagon was actually associated with grain and agriculture, his depiction in Godzilla: Aftershock follows the more common interpretation in popular culture that Dagon was worshiped as a sea god, due to the association of his name with a Canaanite word for fish. The "fish god" depiction of Dagon was perhaps most popularized by his appearance in the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

Design

Some Phoenician artwork of Dagon depicts him as nearly identical to Godzilla as he appeared in Godzilla (2014). However, others show him with smaller and less jagged dorsal plates, as well as dull-yellow skin around his eyes.

Personality

Dagon did not have any recorded quarrels with humans, and was worshiped by a group of Phoenicians as a benevolent god both before and after his clash with MUTO Prime.

In a tweet, Godzilla: Aftershock writer Arvid Nelson described Dagon as being more "empathetic" or "kind" toward humans than Godzilla himself.[3]

Origins

In Godzilla, Dr. Ishiro Serizawa describes Dagon's remains as "a fossil of another giant animal in the Phillippines. Like [Godzilla]." Monarch agents in Godzilla: Aftershock avoid calling Dagon and Godzilla members of the same species despite their physical similarities, instead using phrasing like "Godzilla-type creature." When Serizawa questions whether Dagon is an ancestor of Godzilla, Dr. Emma Russell replies, "It's possible. Let's not forget how little we know about his lifecycle." Monarch's superspecies profile for MUTO Prime appears to conflate Dagon and Godzilla, saying, "Records of the encounters between [MUTO Prime] and Godzilla have been difficult to find, limited to intricate paintings on ancient Phoenician stone tablets." Tweets posted by Legendary Pictures's official Twitter account during the 2020 Monsterverse Watchalong avoid linking Dagon with Godzilla, simply describing him as "host Titan"[4] or "massive Titan skeleton."[5] The graphic novel's author, Arvid Nelson, treats the two Titans as members of the same species,[6] but has also acknowledged that "I'm not the best source for Monsterverse canon – take anything Legendary says over anything I say!"[7]

History

Dagon's skeleton in Godzilla

Monsterverse

Godzilla (2014)

In 1999, miners in the Philippines uncovered a radiation pocket underground. Believing they had stumbled upon a valuable uranium deposit, they continued digging until the entire mine mysteriously collapsed into a massive underground cavern containing the skeleton of an unidentified monster. Monarch dispatched Dr. Ishiro Serizawa and his assistant Dr. Vivienne Graham to inspect the cavern. Dr. Graham recognized the structure of the skeleton and asked Serizawa if it was possible this skeleton belonged to Godzilla, but he responded that this skeleton was much older. Attached to the skeleton's ribcage were what Graham concluded were two parasitic spores. One spore appeared dormant, while the other had split open, with whatever emerged from it leaving a trail out of the cavern and directly into the ocean. Monarch later constructed diagrams of this skeleton, labeling it "Species 5146_ADAM".

Comics

A Phoenician mural of Dagon facing MUTO Prime

Godzilla: Aftershock

In 2014, following the appearance of a creature believed to be the basis for the myth of the Shinto entity Jinshin-Mushi, the Japanese government provided Monarch with ancient stone tablets dating from the 11th century B.C. inscribed in Phoenician. These tablets chronicled the arrival of a group of Phoenicians in Japan after a shipwreck, marking the first contact known between the Far East and the Levant. There, they encountered a creature resembling Godzilla, which the Phoenicians believed to be their sea god Dagon. They witnessed the arrival of what was almost certainly Jinshin-Mushi, which attacked Dagon and knocked him to the ground before extending arrow-tipped tentacles from its body and stabbing him with them. Dagon eventually regained consciousness and returned to the sea, with the inscriptions suggesting that he had miraculously been saved from death. However, Monarch's Dr. Emma Russell knew what had really become of Dagon. Jinshin-Mushi had implanted its parasitic young inside of Dagon's body. These parasites leeched off of Dagon's internal nuclear energy until he finally collapsed and died, becoming entombed in a cave in the Philippines which had been uncovered in 1999. Emma believed that Jinshin-Mushi was the parent superspecies of the two MUTOs which had emerged from the spores found attached to Dagon's skeleton, giving it the name "MUTO Prime." She proposed that other Godzilla-like creatures such as Dagon had existed in the ancient past, and MUTO Prime had carried out this parasitic life cycle several times. The strata found in the Philippine cavern and a MUTO egg chamber in Siberia both corresponded to mass extinction events in Earth's history. Emma believed that once MUTO Prime brought down a member of Godzilla's species, its progeny overran the world like an invasive species, wiping out the rest of their ecosystem before they turned on each other and the only survivor became the next MUTO Prime. Now, MUTO Prime was attempting to do to Godzilla what it had done to Dagon, which would almost assuredly lead to another catastrophic mass extinction had Godzilla not killed it for good with Emma’s help.

Abilities

Atomic breath

Due to his similarities and possible relation to Godzilla, Dagon may be able to fire an atomic heat ray. Though this ability is never demonstrated in any of Dagon's canonical appearances, when asked about it on Twitter, Godzilla: Aftershock writer Arvid Nelson responded, "I don't see why not."[8]

Physical abilities

While none of Dagon's abilities are shown, Arvid Nelson has stated that he possessed "pretty much the same powers" as Godzilla himself, though noted that Godzilla is "probably the strongest" of his species.[9][10] Dagon stood his ground against MUTO Prime up until their final confrontation, and according to Nelson was physically stronger than it.[11][12]

Weaknesses

As depicted in Phoenician stone tablets, Dagon was eventually beaten by MUTO Prime in physical combat. Though he escaped with his life, he was infected with his enemy's parasitic young, eventually leading to his death.

Gallery

Screenshots

Godzilla (2014)

Trivia

Notes

  1. No measurements for Dagon have ever been provided. However, according to Godzilla: Aftershock writer Arvid Nelson, Dagon was "probably smaller" than Godzilla, as Godzilla "has more radiation to feed on".[1]

References

This is a list of references for Dagon. 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. Nelson, Arvid (12 January 2022). "The conclusion we all sort of… stumbled towards is that Dagon/Raijin was probably smaller, because the current GZ ("our" GZ) has more radiation to feed on, which is like Miracle-Gro for him". X.
  2. @Legendary (9 April 2020). "In Godzilla: Aftershock, it is revealed that the Titan Jinshin-Mushi, aka "The Earthquake Beetle", implanted these two parasitic spores into the abdomen of a host Titan in order to incubate by feeding off its atomic energy. #MonsterverseWatchalong". X.
  3. Nelson, Arvid (6 September 2021). "Funny you should mention it, because I didn't think of this consciously while I was writing the story, but yes, I do think of Dagon as being more… I don't know, "empathetic" or "kind". So "yes" to both". X.
  4. @Legendary (9 April 2020). "In Godzilla: Aftershock, it is revealed that the Titan Jinshin-Mushi, aka "The Earthquake Beetle", implanted these two parasitic spores into the abdomen of a host Titan in order to incubate by feeding off its atomic energy. #MonsterverseWatchalong". Twitter.
  5. @Legendary (9 April 2020). "The backstory behind this massive Titan skeleton is explored in the Godzilla: Aftershock graphic novel. In the story, a Monarch base is eventually constructed on the site of the ruins, dubbed Outpost 14 as a reference to 2014 (the year the film came out). #MonsterverseWatchalong". Twitter.
  6. Nelson, Arvid (31 January 2022). "Exactly what you saw – it was the "standard" play-out for an encounter between Jinshin Mushi and a member of the GZ species. JM wins". Twitter.
  7. Nelson, Arvid (24 November 2023). "I'm not the best source for Monsterverse canon – take anything Legendary says over anything I say! Personally, I feel like atomic breath is something every member of Godzilla's species should have… but that's just me". Twitter.
  8. Nelson, Arvid (27 August 2021). "Yes, I don't see why not (never a bother)". X.
  9. Nelson, Arvid (12 January 2022). "Yes – he'd have pretty much the same powers of "our" GZ". X.
  10. Nelson, Arvid (12 January 2022). "The conclusion we all sort of collectively came to here is that "our" GZ, the current one, is probably the strongest. But it's not to say Dagon was weak! They're both in the same ballpark". X.
  11. @Shack459 (1 August 2021). "@arvidthetwit is dagon physical stronger than Muto prime". X.
  12. Nelson, Arvid (2 August 2021). "✅". X.

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