Gohten

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Gohten
The Gohten in The War in Space
Alternate names Gouten,[1] UNSF-Gohten,[2]
Super GotengoGW2[3]
Subtitle(s) Space Defense Ship
(宇宙防衛艦,   Uchū Bōeikan)[4]
United Nations Space Defense Ship
(国連宇宙防衛艦,   Kokuren Uchū Bōeikan)[2]
Length 157 meters[5][6]
Width 31-53 meters[6]
Flight speed
  • 180,000 km/s (cruising)[6]
  • 280,000 km/s (maximum)[5][6]
Targets Daimakan
First appearance The War in Space

The Gohten (轟天,   Gōten, lit. "Roaring Heavens") is a drill-nosed spaceship which appears in the 1977 Toho film The War in Space. It is a variation of the Gotengo from Atragon.

Name

The Gohten's name comes from that of the Gotengo — literally translated as "Roaring Heavens" — but without the - (号) suffix which is typically given to ships and other machinery. Its name is distinguished from the Gotengo's in English by its romanization of the long o sound in Gōten as "oh." The name "Gohten" appears on the uniforms of the ship's crew in the film as well as on official merchandise as recent as the Toho SFX Movies Authentic Visual Books. The - is also omitted from the name of the Gotengo in GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse; however, in this novel the craft is more reminiscent of the version of the Gotengo featured in Atragon than the Gohten. The Gohten is sometimes given the full designation UNSF-Gohten,[2] which stands for "United Nations Space Force Gohten."

Development

The Gohten was designed[7] and modeled by Yasuyuki Inoue of Alpha Planning,[8] formerly an employee of Toho. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, who penned the story for The War in Space under the pseudonym Hachiro Jinguji (the name of the Gotengo's captain from Atragon), suggested the inclusion of the Gotengo in the film, which led to the creation of the Gohten.[9] Aside from being patterned after the Gotengo, Inoue explained that the ship's revolving cannons were inspired by a revolver his father brought back from the Russo-Japanese War when Inoue was a child.[10] Two total miniatures were produced of the Gohten: a 2.4-meter long, 1/80th scale model and a 1.2-meter long, 1/160th scale one.[8]

Ironically, the Gohten would go on to inspire the re-design of the eponymous Gotengo in Godzilla Final Wars, as director Ryuhei Kitamura was a fan of The War in Space.[11]

History

Showa era

The War in Space

The Gohten is the flagship of the human fleet. After a vicious battle against the Messiah 13 aliens around the spaceship's base, it travels to Venus. Afterwards, it travels across the planet in search of the alien base.

Capabilities

Flight

Gohten can fly at a top speed of Mach 816,326, approximately 93% the speed of light, with a cruising speed of Mach 528,961.[12] It can also travel through space.

Drill

Gohten is armed with a drill.

Revolver Cannon

Gohten is armed with two six-barrel rapid-fire Revolver Cannons (リボルバーキャノン Riboruba Kyanon).[12]

Air-based depth charges

Gohten is armed with at least seven aerial depth charges designed to detonate in the air.

Active Radar Missile

Gohten is armed with 34 Active Radar Missiles (アクティブ・レーダー・ミサイル Akutibu Reda Misairu).[12]

Laser cannon

Gohten is armed with nine laser cannons.

Ether Bomb

Behind the drill, Gohten has the Ether Bomb (エーテル爆弾 Etheru Bakudan).[12] This weapon has enough power to destroy Daimakan and the planet Venus.

Video games

Godzilla: Monster of Monsters!

In this side-scrolling game produced for the NES, the Gohten is one of several opponents the player has a chance of fighting in the Hyperspace areas of each level. The Gohten will fire upon the player using its various cannons, but will otherwise stay stationary. The player can choose to destroy the Gohten by attacking its cannons, or simply walk to the right and leave the Hyperspace area.

Gallery

Production

Screenshots

The War in Space

Merchandise

References

This is a list of references for Gohten. 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. Gohten being called Gouten.png
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nakamura & Shimazaki 2005, p. 185
  3. TOY CARD 100 - 61-C.png
  4. Kaneda et al. 2014, p. 75.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Motoyama et al. 2012, p. 198
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Ozawa et al. 2018, p. 160
  7. Ozawa et al. 2018, p. 276.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Ozawa et al. 2018, p. 161
  9. "Goten". Toho Kingdom. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  10. Kawakita 2003, pp. 319-321.
  11. Murai 2005, p. 82.
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "Goten". Toho Kingdom. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

Bibliography

Comments

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