King Ghidorah (Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons) / Frankenghidorah
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...The battle between the kaiju and King Ghidorah raged on for hours. The kaiju fought valiantly. Mothra spun its silk... Hedorah utilized its corrosive tentacles... Rodan flapped its mighty wings... and Godzilla, King of the Monsters... fought as it always did. As only it knew how. Still... it was not enough. Ghidorah, this outside invader unlike any this world had ever seen, proved to be too much for them. And it was only a matter of time... before the battle was lost.
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— President Thomas Jefferson tells the story of how King Ghidorah initially defeated the four kaiju (Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants #4) |
King Ghidorah (キングギドラ Kingu Gidora), also known as Monster Zero, is a three-headed dragon kaiju who first appeared briefly on a map in the 2023 IDW Publishing comic Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #1 before having larger roles in the sequels Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants and Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens. King Ghidorah was initially an Xilien pawn set upon Earth to wreak havoc, only to fight and eventually be killed by four kaiju in Ancient Rome: Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and Hedorah. Though the Xiliens discarded King Ghidorah after cloning Mecha-King Ghidorah from it, the Simians collected and resurrected the monster as Frankenghidorah, pitting it against its clone in the battle for Earth.
Name
- Main article: King Ghidorah#Name.
The "Ghidorah" (ギドラ Gidora) part of King Ghidorah's name comes from the Japanese word for "hydra" (ヒドラ hidora), which shares two of its three katakana characters with "Ghidorah." Bob Jones also refers to King Ghidorah as "Monster Zero" in Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens issue #4, a name which originated in Invasion of Astro-Monster.
The name of King Ghidorah's resurrected form, Frankenghidorah, is an obvious portmanteau of "Frankenstein" and "Ghidorah", the former referring to an 1818 novel in which a scientist creates an organism by stitching together body parts.
Design
In both Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons and Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants, King Ghidorah is identical to his 1991 film counterpart from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, albeit with consistently yellow eyes instead of red ones.
In Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens, Frankenghidorah naturally resembles his living self but with some notable differences: some of the horns on his heads are broken, his eyes are purely green in issue #4 but vary between yellowish and pinkish-red in issue #5, his wings have multiple tears, and multiple stitches and metal implants cover his body.
Personality
King Ghidorah is never seen acting under his free will, obeying the commands of whoever his masters are. When controlled by the Xiliens, King Ghidorah is a vicious monster who is tasked with wreaking havoc all over Earth and attacks four battling kaiju unprovoked. When resurrected as Frankenghidorah by the Simians, the three-headed dragon relentlessly attacked his cyborg clone, Mecha-King Ghidorah.
Origins
King Ghidorah was originally an extraterrestrial monster controlled by the Xiliens as part of their invasion force to conquer Earth. However, the invader was eventually killed in ancient Rome by the combined forces of the Earth monsters Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan, as well as Hedorah, a defective Xilien probe. King Ghidorah would go on to inspire tales of the Hydra, presumably told by those who witnessed the battle in Rome.
While the Xiliens abandoned King Ghidorah's corpse and instead cloned it to create Mecha-King Ghidorah, the Simians salvaged the monster's corpse and had reanimated it by 1954.
History
- Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #1, 3 (2023) [map in #1, story and mask in #3]
- Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants #1–5 (2024) [mask only in #1–2, flashbacks in #3–5]
- Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #1–2, 4–5 (2025) [mask in flashback only in #1–2]
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons
Issue #1
King Ghidorah was featured on a map as Henry Hull spoke about the treasure Martin Yanes had hidden on Monster Island.
Issue #3
In the 16th century, King Ghidorah was among the various kaiju known to the Sons of Giants, a secret society that sought to conceal the existence of the monsters from the rest of the globe. One of the group's members wore a mask resembling one of the dragon's heads.
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants
Issue #1
In 1804, a member of the Sons of Giants wore a mask resembling King Ghidorah.
Issue #2
The King Ghidorah-masked individual was present when the Sons of Giants abducted reporter Mortimer Lane and remained present as the group's leader told Lane tales of the kaiju.
Issue #3
The group's leader, President Thomas Jefferson, detailed a historic kaiju brawl in ancient Rome between Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and Hedorah. As the battle escalated, Godzilla and the other monsters were interrupted when a hail of lightning knocked them off their feet, marking the arrival of the extraterrestrial King Ghidorah. After recovering, Godzilla, Hedorah, Mothra, and Rodan decided to end their own clash and resolved to take on the alien invader that threatened their shared home together.
Issue #4
The Earth-defending kaiju fought valiantly, though King Ghidorah quickly gained the upper hand and incapacitated the kaiju one by one until only Godzilla remained. The King of the Monsters fought fiercely and charged King Ghidorah, though the three-headed monster grabbed Godzilla and slammed him to the ground, leaving the alien victorious.
Issue #5
With no one else to fight, King Ghidorah prepared to ravage the planet unopposed. As he flew away, however, he was suddenly caught by the recovered Godzilla, who bit into King Ghidorah's tail and pulled him back as the other kaiju also recovered. Working together, the three kaiju attacked their three-headed foe simultaneously and soon prevailed, killing the alien invader and saving the Earth from his wrath. As he recounted this legend, Jefferson revealed that witnesses to the titanic battle for Earth subsequently formed the Sons of Giants to honor the kaiju, knowing that they could rely on them to defend the planet in times of crisis - times which included the present, as Jefferson believed the Earth to be under siege by the same extraterrestrial force that sent King Ghidorah to Earth centuries prior. His fears were soon proven correct when Jefferson and Lane uncovered a conspiracy led by the Xiliens, who were preparing to launch a full-scale invasion of Earth.
Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens
Issue #1
A member of the Sons of Giants donned a mask of King Ghidorah.
Issue #2
While speaking with U.S. agent Bob Jones as the Xiliens launched their full-scale invasion of Earth in 1954, Dr. Kyoto detailed the downfall of the Sons of Giants over the years, including an individual donning a King Ghidorah mask who met their end at the hands of Xilien assassins, paving the way for the aliens' invasion.
Issue #4
After being exposed as a Simian, Dr. Kyoto brought Jones to their base on the Moon to request his assistance in helping their people stop the ongoing Xilien invasion of Earth. There, she unveiled their upgraded Jet Jaguar and their armada of ships to combat the threat, but Jones expressed concern over the Xiliens' ultimate weapon, which had felled even Godzilla himself: Mecha-King Ghidorah. Dr. Kyoto revealed that after the Xiliens' failed invasion of Rome, they abandoned King Ghidorah and the Simians recovered the extraterrestrial dragon's corpse; Mecha-King Ghidorah was actually a clone of the original. Dr. Kyoto led Jones to the original King Ghidorah, a reanimated corpse now dubbed "Frankenghidorah".
Issue #5
The Simians launched their counterattack against the Xiliens as Godzilla, Jet Jaguar, and Hedorah besieged Monster Island, the Xilien stronghold. After the Xiliens deployed Mecha-King Ghidorah, the Simians released Frankenghidorah to combat his clone, allowing Godzilla the opportunity to free several other monsters that had been captured by the Xiliens and allowing them to focus on battling Mechagodzilla, Gigan, SpaceGodzilla, and Megalon. Frankenghidorah engaged Mecha-King Ghidorah in an aerial battle, unleashing gravity beams while dodging his clone's own beams until their beams locked. The Simian ships opened fire on the point where the beams were colliding, generating a vast explosion that soon consumed the entirety of the island, including the Xilien and Simian armies, both Ghidorahs, and the rest of the kaiju.
Abilities
Gravity Beams
King Ghidorah's Gravity Beams were effective in harming all four of his kaiju opponents when he arrived in Rome, knocking them all to the ground. A gravity beam shot from the middle head was also effective in dealing major damage to Hedorah in particular, leaving the smog monster defeated on the ground.
Frankenghidorah immediately began firing Gravity Beams at Mecha-King Ghidorah after being unleashed by the Simians. Frankenghidorah's Gravity Beams also proved strong enough to engage in a beam-lock with Mecha-King Ghidorah's own beams, only being overpowered by the energy output when all the Simian UFOs fired their lasers into the beam-clash at the center.
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King Ghidorah using gravity beams against Hedorah -
Frankenghidorah firing gravity beams at Mecha-King Ghidorah
Lightning
In addition to his regular gravity beams, King Ghidorah appeared to be capable of summoning lightning in areas close to him, with numerous bolts of lightning appearing during the battle in Rome, though none struck his opponents.
Physical abilities
King Ghidorah uses his raw strength to break free from Mothra's silk imprisoning him. Later, he lifts Godzilla into the air using his all three jaws, then forcefully throws him to the ground.
Flight
King Ghidorah is naturally capable of flight, flying during the battle in Rome and attempting to leave the Colosseum to wreak havoc elsewhere using before being restrained.
As Frankenghidorah, the undead dragon was capable of flying just as well as when he was alive despite the holes in his wings, engaging in a dogfight with Mecha-King Ghidorah as the two fired Gravity Beams at each other.
Winds
In addition to flight, King Ghidorah also uses his wings to create powerful winds, which overpowered those from Rodan and knocked him into the Colosseum.
Durability
King Ghidorah was merely irritated by Mothra's silk attack and Rodan's winds, and appeared to be completely unaffected by the corrosive properties of Hedorah's tentacles. King Ghidorah also quickly recovered when Godzilla charged into him, almost immediately picking Godzilla up and throwing him to the ground.
Weaknesses
Though much more powerful than the four kaiju individually and even managing to defeat the four of them initially despite their attempts at teamwork, King Ghidorah was swiftly restrained and killed when they truly cooperated with one another, with Godzilla killing him with his claw.
As Frankenghidorah, he was engulfed in a massive explosion caused by the beam-lock between him, Mecha-King Ghidorah, and the Simian UFOs, which destroyed the entirety of Monster Island.
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King Ghidorah restrained by Godzilla and his allies
Gallery
- Main article: King Ghidorah/Gallery.
Trivia
- This King Ghidorah being the in-universe basis for the mythological Hydra and having the nickname Monster Zero are traits it shares with the Monsterverse King Ghidorah.
- This King Ghidorah is unusual in being allies with Godzilla, albeit after starting off as enemies and only as Frankenghidorah. He also allies with several other monsters traditionally portrayed as enemies such as Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus, and Kumonga, though again only as Frankenghidorah and after starting off as enemies with the former two. Conversely, this is the only King Ghidorah incarnation outside of the web series Godziban who is an enemy of Gigan.
- This is the only King Ghidorah to be related to his respective Mecha-King Ghidorah incarnation without the latter being the former's cyborg form, with Mecha-King Ghidorah instead portrayed as his clone.
See also
References
This is a list of references for King Ghidorah (Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons). 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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