Great Watchuka
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The Great Watchuka (ワチュカ Wachuka) is a yeti monster that appeared in the 1978 Godzilla episode "The Sub-Zero Terror." He acts as the protector of the Watchuki of the Himalayas.
Name
The Great Watchuka is referred to as "Ancient Watchuka" by the native Ten Sing after passing by numerous banners near his territory, while the explorer traveling with him, Dr. Rourke, jokingly calls him a "Snowman". After seeing the monster for the first time, Rourke refers to him as simply "the Watchuka".
Design
The Great Watchuka is covered head to toe in snow white fur (a brighter white under his eyes), possessing red sclera with red irises and black pupils, white eyelids, visible nostrils around the fur near his mouth which also resembles a mustache and fur below that which resembles a beard, two-toed furred feet, and patches of dark green skin around his pectorals, portions of his stomach, armpits and inner areas of the biceps and hands. As the guardian of the Watchuki, the Great Watchuka heavily resembles his smaller counterparts, looking almost identical to the warrior Watchuki.
Origins
The Great Watchuka acts as the guardian to the Watchuki, a species of ape-like humanoids that lived in the Himalayas. Thousands of years ago, humans drove the Watchuki high into the mountains, where they remained and became the subject of local superstition. There, they discovered a jungle growing in a dormant volcano and used geothermal power to maintain a thriving civilization hidden within it. As they prepared to one day come back and attack humanity as revenge for their exile, the Great Watchuka acted as their guardian and would attack any explorers who crossed into their territory. When the Calico crew asked Dr. Rourke about what happened during his expedition, he explained that the locals attributed the many avalanches over the years to be the fault of the Great Watchuka.
History
- Godzilla (TV 1978) [episode 12]
Godzilla
"The Sub-Zero Terror"
While leading a scientific expedition looking for geothermal energy in the Himalayan Mountains, Dr. Rourke and a local, Ten Sing, came across several banners which Ten Sing foretold as belonging to the territory of "Ancient Watchuka". Unbelieving of this tale, Rourke continued onwards after convincing Ten Sing it was for the sake of his people, until a sudden avalanche threatened to bury them. As the humans ran away, the culprit behind the avalanche was revealed to be the Great Watchuka, who stood crouched over a cliff before roaring at the pair below. While journeying near the Himalayan Mountains, the Calico crew soon met up with Dr. Rourke by chance, who happened to be Dr. Quinn's old friend and colleague. After docking, Rourke brought the crew inside and explained to them what had happened in the mountains, though he was still doubtful that the Great Watchuka actually existed. With some convincing from the Calico crew, Dr. Rourke agreed to show them the place where his expedition was halted by an avalanche.
After approaching an area near a dormant volcano, which they believed to contain the energy source, the expedition was attacked by the Great Watchuka, who attempted to smother the crew with another avalanche. Godzilla was summoned and shielded the group from the falling snow with his body. Witnessing his attempt at dispelling the unwanted visitors from the shadows, the Great Watchuka howled in annoyance. After seeing Godzilla retreat back under the waves, the Great Watchuka climbed back onto the cliff and roared before slinking away. Entering the volcano, the Calico crew discovered a village of intelligent, white-furred hominids who called themselves the Watchuki. Their village was powered by a steam engine—the source of the geothermal energy the party was searching for. Harboring a deep grudge against humanity, the Watchuka planned to conquer the surface world by releasing an army of larger warrior Watchuka who had been cryogenically preserved for war. When the Calico crew and Dr. Rourke opposed the Watchuka's plan, the hominids froze them in ice, with the exceptions of Brock Borden due to Godzooky hiding him. After tricking the warrior Watchuki into a dead end, Brock was able to unfreeze Rourke and the rest of the Calico crew after disguising himself as a Watchuki. However, this also unfroze the plethora of warrior Watchuki, who began to chase all of them down. Despite this, the Calico crew and Rourke managed to escape into the jungle.
Enraged at their escape, the Watchuki summoned their guardian, the Great Watchuka, to stop them from escaping and warning the rest of the human race. The Great Watchuka burst through a wooden gate and began to chase down the humans, searching around the forest before clutching Quinn in his hands as she summoned Godzilla. Upon Godzilla's arrival, the Great Watchuka placed Dr. Quinn on the mountainside and the two monsters began to fight, immediately grappling with each other. After wrestling with the Great Watchuka, Godzilla shoved the Great Watchuka to the ground and used his fire breath on the monster, but he blocked it after picking up a giant boulder. Getting back on the offensive, the Great Watchuka tackled Godzilla and pushed him backwards. As they kept fighting, the stresses of their fight reawakened the dormant volcano after the duo collided into it. As the volcano showed signs of eruption, both monsters continued grappling with each other as the ground fissured and steam filled the air. After the two broke out of their wrestling match, the Great Watchuka attempted to reach for Dr. Quinn, only for Godzilla to claw at the hominid's hand. With the ground around them slowly falling apart, Godzilla dodged another one of the Great Watchuka's tackles, sending the Watchuka off the side of the cliff to disappear into a chasm. As Godzilla helped the Calico crew escape from the eruption, the Great Watchuka began to pull himself out of the chasm right as Godzilla climbed out of the volcano. However, Godzilla fashioned a hammer out of a giant rock and tree and slammed it on top of the volcano, sealing it and imprisoning the Watchuki and the Great Watchuka inside, with their fates left unknown.
Abilities
Physical abilities
The Great Watchuka possessed immense strength, able to cause avalanches in the Himalayan Mountains with ease. When Dr. Rourke first attempted to cross into his territory, the Great Watchuka caused an avalanche that completely destroyed Camp Number One. When the Calico crew arrived later on, Dr. Rourke explained to them that the locals attributed most avalanches that occurred in the area to the Great Watchuka. After a second attempt was made to explore the Great Watchuka's territory, the giant Watchuki pushed a boulder far larger than himself off of a cliff to cause another avalanche in order to dispose of the humans, although Godzilla took the brunt of the snowfall after arriving. The Great Watchuka caused another avalanche after Dr. Quinn Darian, Dr. Rourke, and Pete Darian got too close to the Watchuki's base of operations, although he was unsuccessful in killing them. When the Calico crew began their escape, the Watchuki summoned the Great Watchuka to capture them, the giant hominid bursting through a giant wooden gate before chasing them down. During his fight with Godzilla, the Great Watchuka was able to match the reptilian's strength while grappling with him and later tackled Godzilla to the ground before pushing him into the side of the active volcano in the Watchuki village. Even after colliding with the volcano, the Great Watchuka and Godzilla quickly grappled with each other again, even rolling on the ground while pushing against one another. He later attempted another tackle, only to fall into a chasm after Godzilla sidestepped him, though the Great Watchuka climbed out quickly thereafter.
Intelligence
The Great Watchuka was shown to have a decent level of intellect, using boulders to cause avalanches in order to get humans away from his territory and to guard his race's base of operations within the dormant volcano. The Great Watchuka also responded to the commands from the smaller Watchuki, due to being their guardian. Right before Godzilla could use his fire breath on him, the Great Watchuka picked up a large boulder to absorb the blast. After losing his grip on Godzilla, the Great Watchuka used the opportunity to put some ground between the two of them before grappling once more.
Durability
During his fight with Godzilla, the Great Watchuka was shoved to the ground and showed no pain after holding a melting boulder that had endured a blast of Godzilla's fire breath. He also did not react to having his hand clawed at and was quick to recover after falling into a chasm.
Weaknesses
While the Great Watchuka was able to match Godzilla's strength, he had his grip on the reptilian broken after being shoved to the ground. During another grappling match, he was eventually overpowered and held against the ground as the both of them rolled around it. The Great Watchuka, while smart, proved too reliant and too determined on tackling Godzilla, as he was tricked into leaping into a chasm by the reptilian when preparing to charge him. Like the rest of the Watchuki, the Great Watchuka was sealed inside the dormant volcano after Godzilla slammed a makeshift hammer made of a tree and rock onto the volcano's spout.
Gallery
- Main article: Great Watchuka/Gallery.
Trivia
- Like King Kong in his debut film, the Great Watchuka bursts through a large wooden gate in his pursuit of a ship's crew, fixates on a woman who he picks up, and later sets her down to fight a reptilian creature.
References
This is a list of references for Great Watchuka. 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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