King Ghidorah (Godzilla Island)
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It's your time to shine, my sweet King Ghidorah!
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— Zagreth summoning King Ghidorah (Godzilla Island episode 6, "A Sudden Conflict") |
King Ghidorah (キングギドラ Kingu Gidora) is a three-headed dragon kaiju who appeared in the 1997-1998 TV series Godzilla Island and was the primary antagonist of its second story arc. King Ghidorah was one of many monsters the Xiliens used in their attempts to take over the Earth, deployed to battle the heroic monsters on Godzilla Island.
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." It also, coincidentally or not, sounds very similar to the Russian pronunciation of "hydra" (Гидра, ˈɡʲidrə). In episode 10 of Godzilla Island, Ghidorah is referred to as a "Space Monster" (宇宙怪獣 Uchū Kaijū), which the English YouTube subtitles translate as "Astro-Monster", in reference to Invasion of Astro-Monster.
Design
The Godzilla Island King Ghidorah was portrayed by a Bandai Godzilla Island Monster Series figure of the King Ghidorah design seen in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). In some episodes, he is depicted using stock footage from various Toho films such as Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) and Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965).
Personality
King Ghidorah is a malevolent pawn of the Xiliens who assists them, particularly Zagreth, in invading various planets. He ruthlessly attacked Godzilla and was ready to kill the King of the Monsters when Torema interrupted him with her special ability, Miracle Psychokinesis. Despite appearing to simply be a pawn of the Xiliens, King Ghidorah retreating and directly disobeying Zagreth's orders shows that he has some agency of his own.
Origins
King Ghidorah is known to have assisted the Xiliens, including Zagreth, in previous invasions, including the destruction of Torema's home planet, Planet Torendeiru. Outside of this, his origins are not explored and his relation to either Mecha-King Ghidorah or Hyper Mecha-King Ghidorah, pawns of the Xiliens obtained from the Monster Vending Machine, is left unknown.
History
- Godzilla Island (TV 1997-1998) [17 episodes][note 1]
Heisei era
Godzilla Island
King Ghidorah
While the monsters living on Godzilla Island suddenly began battling each other, the Xilien Zagreth sent King Ghidorah to wreak further havoc on the island. He attacked the G-Guard base while Little Mothra attempted to break up the fights between the other monsters. After Torema destroyed the Berserker Wave Tower responsible for the monsters' rage, King Ghidorah landed on the island and dueled Godzilla, Rodan, and Little Mothra. King Ghidorah briefly wrestled with Godzilla until Rodan knocked the three of them into the sea.
While Godzilla surfaced, King Ghidorah remained trapped under the sea until Zagreth fired a Nourishing Akamanda Drink Beam at the dragon, reviving him and increasing his strength threefold. King Ghidorah then returned to wreak havoc on the island, battling Godzilla and sending him flying with a point-blank blast from his gravity beams. With Mechagodzilla and Moguera undergoing repairs[note 2] and the other monsters on the island in the hospital, Godzilla was helpless as King Ghidorah mercilessly attacked him. However, as King Ghidorah prepared to kill Godzilla, a poisoned Torema managed to used her Miracle Psychokinesis ability to mentally attack King Ghidorah, stunning him and giving Godzilla a chance to fight back. After giving G-Guard Commander Beisuke Jinguji a video to watch which would explain why she came to Earth, she fell unconscious. The video revealed that the Xiliens, aided by King Ghidorah and led by Zagreth, destroyed her home planet of Torendeiru by using a Berserker Wave on its monsters.
Godzilla fired a blast of atomic breath at the space dragon, knocking him down. King Ghidorah retreated after Godzilla blasted him once again with his atomic breath and bit one of his necks. While Godzilla tried to stop him by biting onto his tail, King Ghidorah escaped anyway and ignored Zagreth's orders to continue fighting the King of the Monsters.
Mecha-King Ghidorah
Lucas initially reported the reappearance of King Ghidorah to Godzilla Island, but quickly realized that the invading monster was actually Mecha-King Ghidorah. King Ghidorah also appeared in a flashback as the Giant Dark Emperor commented on Zagreth's various attempts to take over Godzilla Island.
Mysteries of Godzilla Island
When Lucas asked Torema what brought her to Earth, she realized he never watched the video she gave to Jinguji and recounted how the Xiliens and King Ghidorah destroyed Torendeiru.
SpaceGodzilla's Spirit
King Ghidorah appeared in a flashback as Torema, Lucas, and Jinguji recalled Godzilla's many battles.
Bonus
King Ghidorah was seen in flashbacks as Lucas and Beisuke Jinguji listed several threats Godzilla had to deal with due to the Xilien's repeated invasion attempts.
Introducing Misato
After Randeth's plan to make the monsters on Godzilla Island collapse using a giant radio and yellow smoke containing dance-globin was countered by Misato Jinguji using opposing sound waves, Randeth furiously summoned King Ghidorah to attack the exhausted monsters. While the Astro-Monster flew over the island, Beisuke Jinguji called on Moguera, but King Ghidorah's gravity beams shot it out of the sky. With no opposition, King Ghidorah began attacking the G-Guard base with his gravity beams. Luckily, Godzilla then arrived to battle King Ghidorah, having recovered from his exhaustion, and felled him with his atomic breath. Godzilla then pounced on Ghidorah and continued attacking the dragon, though he was able to fly away and then drop Godzilla to the ground. Godzilla quickly got back up and wrestled with the monster after resisting his gravity beams, but soon succumbed to exhaustion. Misato suddenly arrived in Medical Jet Jaguar and fired a blast of dance-globin smoke at King Ghidorah, immediately playing music afterwards. This caused King Ghidorah to dance, prompting Randeth and King Ghidorah to reluctantly retreat.
Abilities
Flight
This incarnation of King Ghidorah is capable of flight both on Earth and in outer space. He prefers to attack structures from the air, also besting Moguera in a brief aerial duel.
Gravity beams
This incarnation of King Ghidorah possesses the character's trademark gravity beams. He aims these at both other monsters and the G-Guard base, and managed to send Godzilla flying with a point-blank blast of the beams. They were also capable of damaging Moguera, knocking it out of the sky.
Physical capabilities
King Ghidorah wrestled with Godzilla and was shown to be comparable in strength to him.
Durability
King Ghidorah showed impressive durability, especially when empowered by the effects of the Nourishing Akamanda Drink Beam, under which he shrugged off a blast of Godzilla's atomic breath, though a second blast knocked him down.
Weaknesses
King Ghidorah was vulnerable to Torema's special ability, Miracle Psychokinesis, which stunned him and gave Godzilla a chance to fight back. He was also susceptible to the dance-globin smoke and danced after Misato Jinguji infected him with a small sample of it using Medical Jet Jaguar and played music.
Roar
This incarnation of King Ghidorah reuses the roar of the Showa King Ghidorah.
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Gallery
- Main article: King Ghidorah/Gallery.
Notes
- ↑ Episodes 6-7, 9-15, 57, 68, 72, 127, and 145-148.
- ↑ From damage sustained engaging the Vabaruda in the previous story arc, Introducing Torema.
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