Welcome to Wikizilla! — Please log in or sign up to contribute.

Futurian

From Wikizilla, the kaiju encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Futurians
The Futurians in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Leader Wilson
Pawns King Ghidorah, BaganGZB
Homeworld Earth (in 2204)
First appearance Latest appearance
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Godziban
“
Using the Earth Union's time machine, we've been sent back here to warn you all. We wish to change incidents that are about to take place here. Things that have caused catastrophe in the 23rd century. We came here to warn you all about your country's gloomy future. Because in the century that we come from, there's no longer a Japan.
„ 

— Wilson (Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, English dub)

The Futurians (未来人,   Miraijin, lit. "Future People") are a group of time travelers from the 23rd-century year of 2204 who visit Japan in 1992 during the events of the 1991 Godzilla film Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. Though they claim to have come to save Japan, they are in fact radical terrorists whose goal is to destroy Japan in the past before it can become an economic superpower in the future.

Name

The Futurians' Japanese name, Miraijin (未来人), literally translates to "Future People." It appears in three places in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah: spoken by the Japanese Prime Minister when reacting to the time travelers' demands,[note 1] spoken by Emmy Kano when arguing with Wilson after being taken back to MOTHER,[note 2] and included in Atsuko Deguchi's credit for "Futurian costume design" (未来人衣装デザイン,   Miraijin ishō dezain) in the ending credits. The group is otherwise referred to as nijūsan seiki no katagata (23世紀の方々) by Fujio and as nijūsan seiki no ningen-tachi (23世紀の人間たち) by Terasawa, meaning "23rd-century people" in respectful and informal language, respectively. Nonetheless, Miraijin is the primary name used for them in external sources, including those contemporaneous to the film such as its theater program, Shogakukan's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Super Complete Works, and Kodansha's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Monster Complete Works.[1][2][3]

The first-known use of the English translation "Futurians" was in a 1992 plot synopsis written by J.D. Lees for a kaiju newsletter that would later become the fanzine G-FAN.[4] This has come to be the most widely-preferred translation in the English-speaking fandom and has been adopted by several official sources, including: the back cover of TriStar's 1998 DVD release of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, the 1998 book The Official Godzilla Compendium (coauthored by Lees),[5] LIFE magazine's 2019 "Godzilla" issue,[6] the captions and description on GODZILLA OFFICIAL by TOHO's 2021 YouTube upload of the film's trailer,[7] King Ghidorah 1991's description in the 2022 mobile game Godzilla Battle Line,[8] the 2022 book Godzilla: The Official Guide to the King of the Monsters,[9] the track title "The Conversation with the Futurians" on Mondo's 2023 vinyl release of the film's soundtrack,[10] the upcoming 2024 book Godzilla: The Encyclopedia,[11] and Toho's since-closed global website.[12]

"Futurians" has never been used in any English translation of the film itself, however. The instance of Miraijin in the Prime Minister's line is simplified as "their" in the international English dub, Hong Kong company Universe Laser & Video's subtitles, and The Criterion Channel's subtitles, while Sony's subtitles translate it as "the people from the future."[note 3] The instance in Emmy's line is changed to "us" in the dub and Sony's subtitles, to "you" in Universe L&V's subtitles, and to "people" in Criterion's subtitles.[note 4] Additionally, the 2000 Japanese book Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works offers the English name "Future People."[13]

History

Heisei era

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

The Futurians represented a political organization called the Equal Environment Earth Union (EEEU). The goal of this organization is to equalize the power of all nations of the planet. However, in the year 2204, Japan was the most powerful nation on Earth, having bought up nations on other continents like Africa and South America. It had become so powerful and large that the Earth Union (a type of futuristic United Nations) could no longer control it.

Unsatisfied with his organization's progress, Wilson formulated a plan to use more drastic measures to bring Japan to its knees and end its economic reign. While he originally planned to use nuclear weapons against Japan, Wilson realized this would be nearly impossible given the banning of all nuclear weapons back in the 21st century. Instead, Wilson, along with two other members of the EEEU, Glenchico and Emmy Kano, stole the time machine MOTHER from the Earth Union and along with an army of androids, traveled back to 1992 Japan. Once there, they laid out a phony scenario to the Japanese government, stating that Godzilla would soon return and completely destroy Japan. They then proposed a solution that involved using their time machine to travel back to the year 1944 to remove the dinosaur living on Lagos Island which was theorized to have been transformed into Godzilla by the hydrogen bomb test carried out at nearby Bikini Atoll in 1954. Once they had relocated the "Godzillasaurus" to the bottom of the Bering Sea, where they hoped the creature would die, they secretly released three Dorats, man-made creatures bred in the 23rd century, onto the island before departing. It was hoped that the three imps would survive until the 1954 Castle Bravo H-bomb test, and that the radiation would mutate the Dorats into a monster that the Futurians could use to attack Japan in Godzilla's absence, the resultant destruction leaving the nation too crippled to begin its rise to being the most powerful nation in the 23rd Century.

When the expedition returned to the present day, Godzilla had disappeared from the waters off Japan while a three-headed dragon called King Ghidorah, the result of the Dorats fusing and mutating from the H-bomb, seemingly took his place. Controlling the beast the same way that they controlled the original Dorats, the Futurians sent their monster to attack and destroy Japan one city at a time, hoping to weaken it and prevent it from becoming a superpower in the future by forcing it to accept their demands for rebuilding the country. With Godzilla out of the way, and the JSDF helpless against King Ghidorah, the Futurian's plan seemed to be working. Disillusioned by the horrific method her colleagues were employing against Japan, Emmy chose to defect and reprogrammed their android M11 to side with her and help the Japanese. Meanwhile, the Japanese government developed a plan to mutate the Godzillasaurus which they believed was still dormant in the Bering Sea into a new Godzilla using a nuclear submarine owned by Yasuaki Shindo. However, the sub encountered the fully-mutated Godzilla, having actually been created by the Futurians' actions rather than erased, en route to the Bering Sea. Godzilla destroyed the submarine and absorbed its power, which cured his ANEB infection and caused him to grow to 100 meters in height. However, the two remaining Futurians refused to give up, and ordered their creation to kill Godzilla when the monster came ashore in Hokkaido. For a while, it appeared as if Godzilla may lose, but right at the critical moment in the battle, Emmy, M11 and Kenichiro Terasawa mounted an assault on MOTHER, destroying the computer used to control King Ghidorah. Now weakened, King Ghidorah began to lose ground, and soon Godzilla succeeded in decapitating the beast's middle head. Meanwhile, Emmy and Terasawa confronted Wilson and Glenchico, who assured them that their plan was still a success, as the revitalized Godzilla would destroy Japan for them. Emmy and Terasawa attacked Wilson and Glenchico, knocking them unconscious, then escaped in KIDS with M11. Unwilling to let her former colleagues escape back to the future, Emmy used KIDS' teleportation ray to teleport MOTHER directly in front of Godzilla. When Wilson and Glenchico regained consciousness, they found themselves face-to-face with Godzilla. Godzilla then blasted the time machine with his atomic breath, destroying it along with Wilson and Glenchico just 60 seconds before it could teleport back to 2204. When King Ghidorah subsequently attempted to flee, Godzilla blasted holes in its wings, causing it to fall into the sea, defeated at last.

However, Wilson and Glenchico's claim seemed to be true, as Godzilla began a rampage across Japan, trampling Sapporo before heading south for Tokyo. In order to stop Wilson from getting the last laugh, Emmy and M11 returned to the future and recovered the still-living but comatose King Ghidorah from the Sea of Okhotsk, using their technology to convert him into a cyborg dubbed Mecha-King Ghidorah. Mecha-King Ghidorah returned to 1992 and confronted Godzilla in downtown Tokyo, overwhelming him after a fierce battle. Mecha-King Ghidorah carried Godzilla over the open ocean, but Godzilla blasted out its wings and caused them both to plummet into the sea below. Fortunately, Emmy and M11 escaped from the cyborg monster inside of KIDS and returned to 2204, their mission a success.

Books

Comics

The Godzilla Comic Raids Again

Main article: Xilien.

In the story "Miss Kano's Disgrace", a group of Xiliens disguise themselves as Futurians and convince Japan to allow them to carry Godzilla into space, secretly plotting to invade Earth using King Ghidorah.

Gallery

Trivia

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: 「これじゃあ日本は未来人の意のまま」
    ("Japan will be at the Futurians' mercy.")
  2. ↑ Japanese: 「200年先の未来人相手に勝てると思うほど彼らもバカじゃないわ」
    ("They're not stupid enough to think they could beat Futurian opponents from 200 years in the future.")
  3. ↑
    • English dub: "...if we give in to any of their requests..."
    • Universe L&V: "If Japan agrees to their demands..."
    • Criterion: "We'll be at their mercy."
    • Sony: "We are vulnerable to the will of the people from the future."
  4. ↑
    • English dub: "The Japanese government's not stupid. They know they can't fight us with our advanced weapons."
    • Sony: "The Japanese government is not stupid. They know they can't fight us with our advanced weapons."
    • Universe L&V: "They're not that stupid to lay down for you just because you're from the future."
    • Criterion: "They know they can't defeat people from 200 years in the future."

References

This is a list of references for Futurian. 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. ↑ Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (theater program). Toho. 14 December 1991. p. 10.
  2. ↑ Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Super Complete Works. Shogakukan. 1 December 1991. p. 19. ISBN 978-4-09-101428-3.
  3. ↑ Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Monster Complete Works. Kodansha. 5 December 1991. p. 23. ISBN 4061777203.
  4. ↑ G-FAN. #102. Daikaiju Enterprises. January 2013.
  5. ↑ Lees, J.D.; Cerasini, Marc (24 March 1998). The Official Godzilla Compendium. Random House. p. 124. ISBN 0679888225.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Baker, J. I.; Goehner, Amy Lennard (31 May 2019). "Godzilla Filmography". LIFE. Vol. 19 no. 15. LIFE Books. p. 92. ISBN 978-1547853830.
  7. ↑ GODZILLA OFFICIAL by TOHO (27 May 2021). "GODZILLA vs. KING GHIDORAH (ゴジラVSキングギドラ) - Official Japanese Trailer [HQ]". YouTube. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  8. ↑ "CHARACTER". Godzilla Games for mobile Godzilla Battle Line Official website. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  9. ↑ Skipper, Graham (8 November 2022). Godzilla: The Official Guide to the King of the Monsters. Welbeck Publishing. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-78739-899-3.
  10. ↑ "Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Mondo. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  11. ↑ "Godzilla: The Encyclopedia: Shinji Nishikawa Unravels the Depths of Godzilla". Amazon. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
    English with no cut.jpg
  12. ↑ "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah". TOHO Global Site. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  13. ↑ Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works. Shogakukan. 1 January 2000. p. 196. ISBN 978-4091014702.

Races & Organizations
Races
Organizations

Comments

Showing 10 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.

Loading comments...
Era Icon - Toho.png
Era Icon - Heisei.png
Era Icon - King Ghidorah.png


Retrieved from "https://wikizilla.org/w/index.php?title=Futurian&oldid=389689"