Infant Islander
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Infant Islanders (インファント島民 Infanto Tōmin)[2] are the inhabitants of Infant Island who first appear in the 1961 film Mothra.
An isolated but peaceful community, the Infant Islanders worshipped the monster Mothra as their guardian deity, shepherded by the twin Shobijin. Following a purported encounter that shipwreck survivors had with people of Infant Island, which had previously been presumed to be uninhabited, the nations of Japan and Rolisica launched a joint expedition to Infant Island to search for signs of life. After the Shobijin were kidnapped by members of the expedition, the islanders prayed to Mothra to rescue them. Years later, the Infant Islanders initially refused a request from outsiders to send Mothra to fight Godzilla, but eventually relented when Mothra herself agreed to defend Japan. Some time later, the terrorist organization known as the Red Bamboo began enslaving Infant Islanders and forcing them to work on the nearby Letchi Island, though they were later saved by a group of their allies and Mothra.
While the Shobijin and Infant Island itself have regularly appeared in works featuring Mothra over the years, the Infant Islanders themselves have had far less prominence since their last film appearance in 1966's Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, though they have appeared in two Godzilla comics from IDW Publishing.
Name
The natives of Infant Island are referred to by various names, such as Infant Islanders (インファント島民),[2] Infant Island Islanders (インファント島島民 Infantotō Tōmin),[3] or the people of Infant Island (インファント島の人々 Infantotō no hitobito).[4]
The Islanders' leader from Mothra vs. Godzilla is identified as the Infant Island Elder (インファント島長老 Infantotō Chōrō) in the book Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition].[1]
Development
Actors
Despite being Pacific Islanders, the people of Infant Island were portrayed by Japanese actors in brownface in all four of their film appearances.
Dozens of extras portrayed the Infant Islanders, many of them unidentified. Below is a list of all known actors to portray an Infant Islander.
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Appearance
Infant Islanders are simply human. Due to the tropical climate of their island, they tend to wear relatively little clothing, which varies dramatically from very simple grass skirts to decorated woven dresses. Some islanders, especially elders and warriors, wear extravagant beaded necklaces and headdresses adorned with feathers. Many women wear flowers in their hair.
In Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, several Infant Islanders are depicted with tattoos.
Culture
The Infant Islanders are generally a very peaceful and hospitable people. In Mothra, they aided survivors of a shipwreck who were stranded on their island and provided them with juice to protect them from radiation. They did not interfere with the subsequent expedition being conducted on their island until after the Shobijin were threatened, which is the only time they became hostile; otherwise, they were willing to leave the outsiders in peace. By the events of Mothra vs. Godzilla, however, they had become less trusting of outsiders in the wake of nuclear tests ravaging their home and humanity's refusal to return Mothra's egg, but they were convinced to give outsiders another chance soon after. In Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, they were shown to give shipwrecked sailor Yata a home on the island and allowed him to partake in their worship of Mothra.
In all of their appearances across all media, the Infant Islanders worship Mothra as their deity, frequently dancing, singing, and praying to her - especially when a new Mothra is born. In turn, Mothra acts as their guardian and rescues her people when in danger, as shown in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.
History
- Mothra (1961)
- Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
- Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
- Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
- Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) [mentioned, indirect]
Showa era
Mothra
The small and seemingly uninhabited Infant Island became the subject of outside scrutiny following an incident in which shipwreck survivors were rescued on the shores of the island unharmed despite being subjected to what was believed to be lethal levels of radiation as a result of recent nuclear tests in the area. A joint expedition by Japanese and Rolisican scientists was launched to investigate the survivors' claims of a native population inhabiting the island who supplied them with a juice that protected their bodies from the island's radiation. However, the expedition soon came across a far more astounding discovery - a pair of tiny, doll-sized women they later dubbed the Shobijin. During one encounter with the fairies, a greedy Rolisican member of the expedition, Clark Nelson, made a daring attempt to grab the Shobijin in the hopes of bringing them back to Japan. In response, the natives of the island revealed themselves from the forest, surrounding the group and intimidating Nelson into releasing the Shobijin. Undeterred, Nelson later returned to Infant Island with his own group to follow through on his plan. After grabbing the Shobijin, Nelson ordered his men to fire upon the natives as they were surrounded, mercilessly slaughtering many of them as they attempted to rescue the Shobijin.
The survivors prayed to a giant egg they regarded as their deity, Mothra, to rescue the Shobijin from Japan. Hearing the Shobijin's singing from across the ocean as well as the singing and dancing of her worshippers, Mothra soon hatched and made her way to Tokyo, where she eventually rescued the Shobijin after a long search. Mothra then returned to the island and reunited the Shobijin with their people.
Mothra vs. Godzilla
After a tsunami washed Mothra's egg out to Japan, the Shobijin attempted to retrieve the egg to no avail despite the best attempts of reporter Ichiro Sakai, photographer Junko Nakanishi, and scientist Shunsuke Miura to help them, forcing them to return to Infant Island empty-handed. Following the return of Godzilla, Sakai, Junko, and Miura later ventured to the nuclear bomb-ravaged Infant Island to request the adult Mothra's help in defeating the monster laying waste to Japan. The islanders surrounded the trio and brought them to their elder, who angrily refused to help them, blaming outsiders for destroying their island and leaving them with only a tiny oasis in the heart of the island to live in. The Shobijin also refused, having become distrustful of humanity after failing to retake Mothra's egg. Junko and Sakai argued that they should not blame all of humanity for the actions of a few and that humanity could do better moving forward. Their appeal proved successful, as the Shobijin and Mothra agreed to help. Following Mothra's demise in the subsequent battle, the Shobijin and the islanders back on Infant Island prayed for the egg to hatch, where two Mothra larvae emerged and went on to defeat Godzilla.
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
The Shobijin made a voluntary visit to Japan where they appeared on a television program to honor a request from two children to see Mothra. While the Shobijin revealed that one of the larva had since passed away, they sang a song that allowed the audience to see the remaining Mothra on Infant Island and the islanders worshipping her. Following the arrival of King Ghidorah, the islanders saw Mothra off as the Shobijin called Mothra to Japan to help Godzilla and Rodan stop the space invader.
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
A terrorist organization known as the Red Bamboo raided Infant Island and enslaved dozens of its people. The prisoners were forced to work on the nearby Letchi Island, guarded by the monster Ebirah who prevented the captives from escaping. The Shobijin and the island's remaining inhabitants prayed for Mothra to save their enslaved people, but the divine moth was too deep in slumber to hear them. One of the captive Infant Islanders, Dayo, managed to get away from her abductors following a failed escape attempt by other captives and met with four men - Ryota, Yoshimura, Ichino, Nita - who wound up on the island in search of Ryota's brother. The group sought refuge from the Red Bamboo in a cave, where they discovered Godzilla lying dormant. Later, the group infiltrated the Red Bamboo's base of operations and learned that the terrorists were manufacturing nuclear weapons in addition to forcing the Infant Islanders to create a specialized yellow liquid that was used to keep Ebirah from attacking the Red Bamboo's ships.
Ryota later escaped the island via balloon and ended up on Infant Island, where he interrupted a ceremony being conducted by the islanders and reunited with his shipwrecked brother Yata, who had been taken in by the islanders. The brothers then planned on returning to the Red Bamboo's base to free the enslaved people, with the islanders and the Shobijin providing them with supplies while the latter also asked them to construct a large net once they freed the captives. Meanwhile, Nita, who had been captured by the Red Bamboo, convinced the imprisoned islanders to tamper with the yellow liquid and instead produce a phony liquid that they hoped would not affect Ebirah. After Godzilla was awakened and later had a close encounter with Dayo, he attacked the Red Bamboo base and forced the terrorists to flee the island, where Ebirah destroyed their ship just as Nita and the islanders had planned. With Ryota and Yata having reunited with the others, the group freed the captive islanders, though they were unable to prevent the Red Bamboo from initiating a self-destruct mechanism that was to consume the island imminently. After Godzilla defeated Ebirah, the Shobijin and Mothra finally arrived just as the islanders finished constructing the net they had been requested to. The Shobijin told everyone to get in the net, which Mothra grabbed just in time to save the humans before Letchi Island was destroyed. With their people safe, Mothra and the Shobijin brought the survivors back home without further incident.
Heisei era
Godzilla vs. Mothra
While explaining their history to Takuya Fujito, Masako Tezuka, and Kenji Ando, the tiny fairies known as the Cosmos revealed that 12,000 years ago, an ancient civilization was almost entirely wiped out by Battra before the monster was defeated by their deity, Mothra. Survivors sought refuge on Infant Island, but by the present day, the two Cosmos were the last remnants of their people.
Comics
- Giant Monster Mothra (1961)
- Mothra (1961)
- Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1967) [Kodansha]
- Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1967) [Toho]
- Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #9, 19 (2014)
- Godzilla Rivals: Mothra Vs. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. (2024)
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth
After surviving a kaiju attack on a naval fleet, Kaiju Watcher Lucy Casprell found herself on the shores of Infant Island, where she was warmly greeted by the Shobijin and a group of native islanders, identified by the Shobijin as the descendants of a civilization lost long ago. The Shobijin detailed the ancient history of the kaiju on Earth, including a great battle between King Caesar and Megalon centuries prior that nearly wiped out humanity. Mothra rescued survivors and relocated them to Infant Island, where generations of their descendants have remained.
Years later, Battra found Infant Island and sought to kill Mothra under the direction of the psychic twins Minette and Mallory. During the battle, Battra incinerated many of the natives and gravely injured Mothra, who sacrificed herself to buy time for her larvae, the Shobijin, and surviving natives to flee the island shortly before it was completely destroyed.
Godzilla Rivals: Mothra Vs. M.O.G.U.E.R.A.
In a bid to eradicate all kaiju from the planet and allow humanity to become Earth's dominant species, a terrorist organization known as the Restorers stole the W.K.O. mechs Mechagodzilla and M.O.G.U.E.R.A. and used them to attack Infant Island in the hopes of destroying Mothra's egg to kill her for good. Following a battle against Ebirah in Tokyo that left Mothra weakened, one of the terrorists used Mechagodzilla to lay waste to the unguarded island, mercilessly incinerating fleeing Infant Islanders with its eye beams and demolishing their settlements. While many of the islanders were killed, Mothra's egg was successfully protected thanks to the efforts of the W.K.O. and Jet Jaguar, allowing Mothra to live on.
Gallery
Screenshots
Mothra
Mothra vs. Godzilla
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
Trivia
- Dayo is the only named Infant Islander.
- One of the Infant Islanders in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth bears a striking resemblance to the Infant Island Elder as seen in several Showa films, while another is clearly based on Dayo from Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.
References
This is a list of references for Infant Islander. 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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Bibliography
- Nomura, Kohei (7 August 2014). Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition]. Kasakura Publishing. ISBN 978-4-7730-8725-3.
- Mamiya, Naohiko (1 January 2000). Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works. Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4-09-101470-2.
- Ozawa, Ryoko; Tomoi, Taketo; Nakamura, Satoshi, eds. (4 September 2016). All Toho Monsters Pictorial Book (4th ed.). Yosensha. ISBN 978-4-8003-0362-2.
- Aita, Hideo; Nakamura, Satoshi (6 July 2014). Common Knowledge of Godzilla. Futabasha. ISBN 978-4-575-30696-5.
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