MUTO

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MUTO 20142019 Alternate names Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism, M.U.T.O., Muto, Winged MUTO, Eight-Legged MUTO, Hokmuto, Femuto, Muto (Male), Muto (Female), Queen MUTO,GKotM BarbGKotM Subtitle(s) Electromagnetic Wave BeastG14 (電磁波獣), Flying Electromagnetic MonsterG14 male (飛行電磁怪獣), Primordial Parasitic MonsterG14 female (原始寄生怪獣), Ancient Enemies, Godzilla's Natural Enemies Ancient Organism (古代生物) Class- ification Titanus MUTOG14 Species Insectoid Titans Height Male: 200 feetG14 / 61 meters, 281 feet (average) Female: 300 feetG14/ 91 meters, 298 feet (average) Queen: 113 metersGKotM Weight Male: ~15,000 metric tonsG14 Female: ~60,000 metric tonsG14 Queen: 110,000 metric tonsGKotM Forms Larval stage, eight-legged female MUTO, winged male MUTO Place(s) of emergence Philippines, Janjira, Japan, Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository, Hoboken, New Jersey Controlled by King GhidorahGKotM Relations Unhatched eggs, MUTO Prime (mother), each other (siblings and mates) Allies Other MUTOs Enemies Godzilla Created by Gareth Edwards, Max Borenstein, Matt Allsopp Played by CGI with motion capture references First appearance Latest appearance Godzilla (2014) Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted Roar(s) Male: Female: Queen: More roars

This page covers the pair of monsters identified as "MUTOs" in Godzilla (2014), as well as the individual in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. For the parent superspecies, see MUTO Prime. For general use of the term "MUTO," see MUTO (designation).

“	This is our needle in the haystack, people. MUTO: Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism. It is, however, no longer terrestrial; it is airborne.	„
	— Admiral Stenz about the male MUTO (Godzilla)

The MUTOs (ムートー,   Mūtō) are parasitic Titans who first appeared in the 2014 Legendary Pictures film Godzilla.

Prehistoric parasites that thrived at the same time as Godzilla's species, the MUTOs survived by attacking and killing members of Godzilla's species and laying their spores in their radioactive carcasses. Two MUTO spores left in the carcass of a Godzilla-like Titan known as Dagon survived for millions of years buried deep underground in the Philippines, only to be uncovered by a mining operation in 1999. A male MUTO emerged from its spore and began feeding on a nuclear reactor located in Janjira, while the female emerged from a nuclear waste storage facility in Nevada years later in 2014. The MUTOs met in San Francisco and began building a nest, but Godzilla arrived in the city to stop them from reproducing. After a long battle, Godzilla successfully killed both MUTOs, while the military destroyed the creatures' nest, successfully preventing the MUTOs from repopulating. As Godzilla's foes in the first entry of the Monsterverse, the MUTOs were the first opponent faced by Godzilla in a film since Monster X 10 years earlier. A second female dubbed the Queen MUTO made a brief appearance in the film's sequel, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as part of the Titan army rampaging around the world.

Name

Main article: MUTO (designation).

"MUTO" is an acronym for "Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism." According to Godzilla: Awakening, this is a designation Monarch gives to all giant monsters as a sort of placeholder name. In this comic, both Godzilla and Shinomura were known as MUTOs before being given their own individual names. In addition, in the film Kong: Skull Island, Monarch agent Bill Randa states that his organization's purpose is to hunt Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms.

In one of the original screenplays for Godzilla, the MUTOs were called "Hokmuto" and "Femuto," which were short for "Hokkaido MUTO" and "Female MUTO," respectively. The "M.U.T.O." acronym instead stood for "Massive Unidentified Target Organism.

The MUTOs are individually referred to in Japanese media as Muto (Male) (ムートー（オス）,   Mūtō Osu) and Muto (Female) (ムートー（メス）,   Mūtō Mesu), while they are collectively referred to as simply Muto (ムートー,   Mūtō), or alternatively MUTO (Male and Female) (ＭＵＴＯ（オス・メス）,   Mūtō Osu Mesu) in the 2016 Japanese publication Shin Godzilla Walker: The New Legend of the King of the Monsters.

The female MUTO that appears in Godzilla: King of the Monsters is never identified onscreen, but referred to internally as the Queen MUTO or Barb (or Titanus Barb). The film's official novelization describes her as a "six-legged, hunchbacked MUTO", although she possesses eight limbs in the film.

The opening credits of Godzilla vs. Kong indicate that Monarch gave the MUTOs the Titan classification Titanus MUTO. They were previously described as Titans by Sam Coleman and Dr. Emma Russell in Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Development

The strange, dead monster created solely to confirm that Godzilla would be fighting another monster

The MUTOs are known to have been developed from the six-legged Anguirus-like Rokmutul and the winged dragon-like Pterodactyl — two early monsters from the development of Godzilla. In the 2012 Comic-Con teaser trailer for the film, a strange, dead monster was shown to confirm that Godzilla would be fighting another monster. When Legendary Pictures brought director Gareth Edwards and screenwriter Max Borenstein aboard the project, they came up with the MUTOs while contemplating the reason why another monster would be Godzilla's natural enemy.

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  Rokmutul concept art by Josh Nizzi

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  Pterodactyl concept art by Josh Nizzi

MUTO design used heavily throughout pre-production

The MUTOs went through several dozen concepts before Legendary settled on their final designs. Concept artist Matt Allsopp, working with Gareth Edwards, did the majority of the design work on the MUTOs. They examined other iconic movie monsters such as the Tyrannosaurus rex, the Xenomorphs, the Arachnids from the 1997 film Starship Troopers, the great white shark from the 1975 film Jaws, and King Kong to determine what aspects of their designs made them iconic, and some of those elements bled into the MUTOs. As was the case for Godzilla, many individual MUTO concepts leaned heavily on a certain type of animal. Edwards at first wanted a design akin to a crab, but this was discarded as Jim Rygiel explained that the MUTOs "had to be menacing enough to take on Godzilla, but sort of facile enough to move around the city. Yet still, be based on some sort of natural look. [...] We had to somewhat fit into nature because that's what Godzilla's battling in this film is nature, basically." The initial design had a face that was mostly featureless and nearly eyeless. Artists from the Moving Picture Company, the visual effects company responsible for much of the computer animation in Godzilla and the creation of the CGI models for the MUTOs, later added an articulated mouth and more definite eyes as the monsters' designs developed, the eyes were added for the purposes of small-scale animation close-ups. Some concepts had the male MUTO with four wings. At one point, the four wings were shaped like the X-wing starfighter from Star Wars. A design for the male with only six total appendages and four wings would be dropped as Allsopp felt the wings were "too much like a dragon." The final design of the male MUTO was also created by Matt Allsopp.

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  Early crustacean-inspired designs for the MUTOs

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  Concept art of the four-winged Hokmuto

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  MUTO concept art by Ian Joyner, sporting distinctive markings on its skin

Initially, the male MUTO would have grown wings halfway into the movie, after losing his battle against Godzilla in Hawaii

One of the original screenplays of Godzilla had the male MUTO emerge in Hokkaido, Japan, instead of the fictional city of Janjira. The female MUTO still appeared in Nevada, however. The male MUTO was initially wingless and would be defeated by Godzilla in Honolulu early on and presumed dead, though it turned out he formed a chrysalis and re-hatched later on with two pairs of wings. Edwards said of removing this element, "We just felt that there were too many iterations of its life cycles, so we dropped the idea." Additionally, the MUTOs burrowed underground through large distances in early versions of the movie. "At one point, the MUTO burrowed its way out of the ground in San Francisco, but it's hard to believe that something could burrow its way across America in just a day or so. So even though it's a cool image, it just felt unbelievable."

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  Wingless male MUTO at Honolulu International Airport

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  The male's apparent death in Hawaii

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  Concept art illustrating the female MUTO's trek across the U.S.

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  The now-winged male confronts Godzilla at Embarcadero

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  The female surfaces from underground in Chinatown

The MUTOs were depicted onscreen entirely through the use of computer-generated imagery, while two actors performed motion-capture reference for the creatures. The actor for the male MUTO wore a set of wings operated by his arms, while the female MUTO's actor wore two prosthetic additional legs and used crutches to act as extensions for his arms and allow him to capture the effect of the female MUTO knuckle-walking.

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  The motion capture actors for the female (left) and male (center) MUTOs alongside Godzilla's actor TJ Storm

Design

Turnaround of the upper body of the female MUTO's 3D model

MPC visual effects supervisor Guillaume Rocheron was quoted in Godzilla: The Art of Destruction as saying that he "would classify [the MUTOs] as mammals because they have flesh and bone and muscles." He stated that the MUTOs aren't literally giant insects, despite their designs being inspired by arthropods such as beetles and spiders, but admitted that their silhouettes "definitely look like insects."

The MUTOs' bodies are predominately grayish-black, with the male sporting predominant light markings. Their head is shaped similarly to Gyaos: long and triangular with the tops of their heads flat. They possess triangular jaws with seemingly degenerated rows of sharp teeth. The MUTOs have sort of "mandibles" in their lower jaws capable of separating slightly, similar to Shin Godzilla. The female MUTO has two pairs of forelimbs and a smaller pair on her chest, being just smaller than Godzilla. The smaller male MUTO is nearly identical in its physique except that one of the two forelimb pairs is modified into his wings. Both MUTOs have red eyes and two hind legs. In the novelization, their skin is described as a "chitinous exoskeleton."

The Queen MUTO in Godzilla: King of the Monsters has a "crown" of dorsal ridges on her back meant to express her age, in contrast to the single ridge of the female MUTO in Godzilla. Her body is also covered in scars "from past battles...or mating rituals."

Personality

“	The MUTOs represent the malevolent side of nature.	„
	— Alex Garcia, Godzilla: The Art of Destruction p. 118

As prehistoric parasites, the MUTOs that emerged in 2014, and inferably the one that emerged in 2019, had the sole goals of self-preservation, determined to merely consume radiation and reproduce. The male immediately sought out radiation for nourishment after emerging from his chrysalis. In every interaction with Godzilla, he immediately engaged in battle, attacking him at every opportunity, though he ultimately retreated during their fight in Honolulu.

The MUTOs' display courtship

Once the male had matured enough, the female awakened from her dormancy and traversed west to meet with the male, who had brought a nuclear warhead as a sign of courtship for their eggs to consume. She seemed to exhibit pain when laying her eggs in her nest in San Francisco. She became hostile and defensive once Godzilla appeared, fighting him alongside the male MUTO to defend their nest. Meanwhile, the male MUTO attacked Godzilla whenever the female MUTO was overpowered, indicating a protectiveness for her.

When together, the MUTOs demonstrate an impressive level of teamwork, and are able to overwhelm Godzilla. Had nothing distracted them from fighting Godzilla in San Francisco, the pair may have killed him. Discovering her eggs' destruction in an explosion, the female MUTO displayed visible grief over the loss of her young, and when she seemed to identify Ford Brody as the one responsible, this was quickly replaced with rage. Her pursuit of Brody as he attempted to transport the nuclear warhead out of the city via boat left her open to a surprise attack by Godzilla from behind.

In Godzilla: Aftershock, Monarch's Dr. Emma Russell further speculates on the nature of the MUTOs, suggesting that after their young were successfully born, the female might have cannibalized the male like a praying mantis. She also proposed that a newly born brood of MUTOs acts as an invasive species, adapting the environment to their will and wiping out almost everything else within it. Upon their food’s depletion, she hypothesized that the brood would turn on each other until only one individual remained, who would then mature into the next MUTO Prime.

The Queen MUTO from Godzilla: King of the Monsters submitted to Godzilla alongside the other Titans, apparently acknowledging the unlikelihood she could defeat him in battle.

Origins

Production schematic of the Philippine dig site the MUTOs emerged from

The MUTOs are ancient parasites that come from the same era and ecosystem as Godzilla. Like him, the MUTOs feed off of radiation. However, in contrast to Godzilla, who came to live at the bottom of the ocean and feed off the planet's natural radiation, the MUTOs are actively drawn to sources of man-made radiation such as nuclear warheads and energy plants.

As revealed in Godzilla: Aftershock, the official graphic novel prequel to Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the MUTOs are the offspring of a metamorphosed female MUTO dubbed MUTO Prime. MUTO Prime infected a Godzilla-like Titan known to the ancients as Dagon and designated Species 5146_Adam by Monarch. It implanted its reproductive spores into Dagon’s lower torso. The spores broke down the hemoglobin in his blood to leech the nuclear radiation. After Dagon perished due to the inability to replenish his nuclear energy, the spores continued to grow within his carcass, which was eventually buried deep within an underground cavern in the Philippines. When a mining company unwittingly unearthed the skeleton in 1999, the male's spore hatched and it burrowed to Janjira in its larval state in search of nuclear energy, while the female's spore remained dormant until the male matured. This means the two MUTOs are both mates and siblings.

The Queen MUTO's origins go unexplained. However, according to Godzilla: King of the Monsters director Michael Dougherty, she was never discovered or classified by Monarch, having been dormant "deep beneath" a strip mall in Hoboken, New Jersey. She was roused when King Ghidorah summoned she and other superspecies with his call.

History

• Godzilla (2014)
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
• Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) [opening credits]
• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023-2024) [stock footage]

Monsterverse

Godzilla (2014)

The male MUTO's cocoon

The MUTOs were discovered in the Philippines in 1999 after a mining operation drilled into a cave containing a gigantic skeleton with two parasitic spores attached to it, one of which had already hatched. The larval male MUTO, who had hatched after being disturbed by the cave collapsing, burrowed his way to the Janjira nuclear power plant in Japan, where he caused the plant to collapse from underneath, killing Sandra Brody and several other workers, and causing the entire area to be evacuated because of radiation leaking from the plant. Despite the destruction of the plant, the MUTO attached himself to the reactor and entered a cocoon-like state, absorbing all the radiation from the surrounding area. The second spore containing the female MUTO was taken by the Americans to the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada.

The male MUTO at the Honolulu Airport

For the next 15 years, the organization Monarch maintained a research base in the ruins of the Janjira plant, where they observed and studied the MUTO while it fed on the reactor. As the reactor was depleted and the MUTO matured, it began giving off electromagnetic pulses which interfered with Monarch's equipment. Ishiro Serizawa, who was in charge of the operation, regretfully gave the order to kill the MUTO before it could destroy their base. The cocoon was destroyed with electrical currents released from cables surrounding it. A group of armed operatives approached the remains of the cocoon to confirm the MUTO was destroyed, but the creature was still alive and attacked them. The MUTO laid waste to the power plant once again before sprouting his wings and taking off. The United States Navy, under the command of Admiral William Stenz, began to pursue the MUTO as it crossed the Pacific Ocean. Eventually, the male MUTO arrived in Hawaii, where it had dragged a Russian nuclear sub ashore and was feeding on its torpedoes. A group of soldiers were sent to investigate, but were attacked by the MUTO. Fighter jets were sent in to try and stop the creature, but the MUTO released an EMP, causing the jets to fall out of the sky and crash. The MUTO proceeded to terrorize the Honolulu International Airport but was confronted by Godzilla, who had come ashore to hunt it. The two monsters briefly battled until the MUTO retreated back over the ocean, with Godzilla in pursuit.

Meanwhile, Serizawa and his assistant Vivienne Graham concluded that the male MUTO was using echolocation to signal to the female MUTO that he was mature and ready to mate. Serizawa worried that the spore containing the female was not actually dormant, and the military sent a team to the waste depository to investigate. When the soldiers arrived, the facility was destroyed and the female MUTO had already broken out. The female MUTO terrorized the city of Las Vegas and began to head west to California. The military formed a plan to lure both MUTOs and Godzilla out to sea with a nuclear warhead, then detonate it in an attempt to kill all three of them. Two warheads were transported via a train, but the female MUTO intercepted it in the California wilderness, killing all the personnel except for Ford Brody and eating one of the warheads. The other warhead was recovered and airlifted to San Francisco Bay, where it was armed, but it was stolen by the male MUTO, who presented it to the female as an act of courtship in downtown San Francisco.

The MUTOs tag team Godzilla

After acquiring the warhead, the female MUTO created a nest and attached her eggs to the warhead, nourishing them with the radiation. The male, meanwhile, attempted to distract Godzilla, who had broken through the Golden Gate Bridge and come ashore. Eventually, Godzilla reached the nest and took on both MUTOs at once, while an extraction team led by Ford Brody arrived to recover the armed warhead. The bomb was removed from the nest, and Ford ignited a gas explosion to destroy the MUTOs' eggs. The explosion attracted the attention of the MUTOs, who had brutally overpowered Godzilla, and they went to investigate. The female MUTO was stricken with grief after seeing her young killed but became enraged when she saw Ford, the man responsible. Before the MUTO could kill Ford, Godzilla emerged from behind her and pummeled her mercilessly with his atomic breath. The male MUTO then attacked Godzilla from behind, allowing the female to pursue Ford and his team as they attempted to take the bomb out to sea. When the male MUTO attempted to strike Godzilla from behind once again, Godzilla anticipated it and smacked the MUTO with his tail, impaling him on a building and killing him.

The female MUTO is killed by Godzilla's "Kiss of Death"

Ford's team arrived at the docks with the bomb but were all slaughtered by the female MUTO, leaving Ford the only one left. Ford grabbed the bomb and placed it on a boat. Unable to defuse it, he started the boat in an attempt to take it out over the bay before it could detonate. However, the female MUTO's EMP field disabled the boat, leaving her face-to-face with Ford. Ford drew his pistol and aimed it at the MUTO, but knew he stood no chance and closed his eyes as she prepared to kill him. Suddenly, the female MUTO was pulled back by Godzilla, who pried open her jaws and fired his atomic breath down her throat, severing her head from her body and killing her.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

The Queen MUTO approaches Godzilla in Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Following the Battle of San Francisco, Monarch transported the female MUTO's severed head to its underwater base in Bermuda, Castle Bravo.

King Ghidorah's call awakened the Queen MUTO, who began to rampage along with the other Titans he had summoned. After Godzilla killed Ghidorah, she assembled in Boston with Scylla, Behemoth, Methuselah, a flock of Leafwings, and Rodan. Each of the Titans progressively submitted to Godzilla, who roared triumphantly.

Abilities

Echolocation

The MUTOs utilize echolocation to communicate, find a source of radiation, and locate one another. They are able to communicate from over 5,000 miles away, making contact with the male in Janjira, Japan, and the female in the U.S. state of Nevada.

Electromagnetic pulse

The male MUTO's EMP affecting his containment facility

The male MUTO is able to unleash electromagnetic pulses from his claws, which can disable electronics in a five-mile-wide radius. The female is surrounded by an EMP field, labeled the "Sphere of Influence" by the news, which has the same effect. Unlike in real life, where electrical objects hit by an EMP which are not sufficiently shielded can sustain enough damage to their components to be rendered unusable, the EMPs generated by the MUTOs appear to be temporary, as some time after the EMP hits an area, electrical devices within the region of the pulse will spontaneously reactivate.

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  The male uses his EMP in Hawaii

In Godzilla: The Official Movie Novelization, it is explained that the MUTOs' EMP ability evolved as a defense mechanism, used to prevent Godzilla's species from using their atomic breath. The film doesn't allude to this, but in an earlier screenplay, it is explicitly mentioned that Godzilla cannot use his atomic breath when near the female MUTO. This idea was later abandoned in both the film and the novelization, with Godzilla being able to fire his atomic breath at her despite close vicinity. In the novelization, the male claps his wings together to create a luminous electromagnetic pulse which "snuffed the bioelectric spark in Godzilla's throat"; whatever effects, if any, the female's EMP field has on Godzilla's breath were not mentioned.

Intelligence

The MUTOs served as an effective tag team against Godzilla, coordinating their attacks against him and preventing him from concentrating on either one of them. This strategy faltered after Ford Bordy destroyed the MUTOs' nest, with the female rushing to investigate and chasing after a ground of soldiers who had taken the nuclear warhead inside the nest while the male resumed battling Godzilla.

Flight

The male flies between buildings

The male MUTO has wings which he can use to fly. The speed at which he can fly is undetermined, but he was able to travel from Janjira to Honolulu within a day or so.

Physical strength and durability

Both MUTOs possess immense physical strength and durability, though inferior to Godzilla. The male MUTO dredged up a Russian Typhoon-class sub from the depths of the ocean and pulled it far inland on the island of Hawaii; the fact that he did this and later attacked a ship in San Francisco Bay to obtain a nuclear warhead implies that he possesses some swimming capabilities. He managed to drag a 90,000 ton Godzilla from one city block to another. The parasites fought Godzilla primarily with their long, curved claws, striking him hard enough to draw blood a couple of times. The female was able to claw herself out of Mount Yucca, as well as destroy buildings with ease. She pushed Godzilla around a few times in spite of his size. To save his mate, the male dragged Godzilla several hundred feet away. Thanks to his EMP, the male MUTO avoided the U.S. military's heavier weapons, while the female withstood missile fire without receiving any noticeable damage.

Radiation absorption

MUTOs can sense detect sources of radiation from long distances and consume them for sustenance. Monarch describes them as "bio-atomic", along with Godzilla. After emerging in the Philippines, the male MUTO attacked the Janjira Nuclear Power Plant in 1999 and fed on its reactors for 15 years, inadvertently protecting the Japanese public from the radiation they released. His metabolism is highly efficient at processing absorbed radiation, to the point that radiation levels in Janjira were safe for humans by 2014. The male later sought out a Russian nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean and a nuclear missile in San Francisco Bay. Prior to hatching, the female MUTO fed from the contents of the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository. She also targeted a nuclear missile convoy while marching west. After meeting in San Francisco, the MUTOs placed the missile the male had captured in their nest.

Reproduction

The female MUTO's egg pouch, glowing and filled with spores prior to her meeting with the male

The female MUTO reproduces sexually. She lays hundreds of eggs near radioactive objects so that her offspring can immediately gain nourishment. Analysis of her carcass by Monarch determined that her ovaries had contained hundreds of unfertilized eggs, establishing that if she were to reproduce, she would spawn enough MUTOs to overrun the biosphere.

Weaknesses

The male MUTO ultimately perished when Godzilla tail-whipped him into a massive building, impaling him on the structure and severing one of his arms. Godzilla's atomic breath burnt the female MUTO when fired twice at her hide, and ultimately killed and decapitated her when he shot a sustained blast down her throat.

Video games

• Godzilla: Smash3 (2014) - Android and iOS
• Pinball FX (2023) - PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Steam, Epic Games [silhouette; target]

Godzilla: Smash3

Godzilla battles the male MUTO as a boss in the Tokyo stage, while both MUTOs confront him in the San Francisco stage.

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  The male MUTO in Godzilla: Smash3

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  The female MUTO in Godzilla: Smash3

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  A target with the Male MUTO's silhouette in Pinball FX

Comics

• Skull Island: The Birth of Kong (2017) #1
• Godzilla: Aftershock (2019) [flashbacks]
• Fight or Flight (2023)
• Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted (2024) [flashback]

Skull Island: The Birth of Kong

A photograph of the male MUTO inside its chrysalis taped to a map in Houston Brooks' office in the first issue of Skull Island: The Birth of Kong

While the male MUTO was still developing inside of its chrysalis in Janjira in 2012, a photograph taken of it inside the chrysalis was taped to a map in Houston Brooks' office, alongside photos of the 1954 Castle Bravo detonation as well as an image of a moth-like creature.

Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted

The female MUTO as she appears in Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted

In 2014, the female MUTO killed Raymond Martin's family during an attack on an unspecified city, leveling a building he had just constructed. Martin, who barely survived, swore vengeance against the Titans, culminating in the construction of the Titan Hunter mech.

Books

• Godzilla: The Official Movie Novelization (2014)
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization (2019)
• Godzilla vs. Kong: The Official Movie Novelization (2021) [mentioned]
• Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - The Official Movie Novelization (2024) [mentioned]

Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization

By 2019, the remains of MUTO Prime and both the male and female MUTOs were being dissected inside of Monarch Outpost 54 in Bermuda. As in the film, the Queen MUTO is among the Titans who bow before Godzilla in Boston, although she is described as having six legs instead of eight.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - The Official Movie Novelization

Monarch Director Hampton shared with her assistant Laurier that she encountered Godzilla when he battled the male MUTO in Hawaii. She continued to wonder if he saved her intentionally after the parasite scraped off the side of the hotel she was staying in and seemed poised to demolish the rest of the building.

Gallery

Main article: MUTO/Gallery.

Roar

A MUTO roar first appeared as an MP3 file hidden in the official Godzilla website. It played upon loading the main page, though it was largely drowned out by Godzilla's roar.

Many of the MUTOs' roars are deep and blaring with occasional crackles and snapping noises. On occasion, they make trumpet-like cries and groans similar to creaking doors or Geiger counters. The male and female vocalizations are slightly different; the male emits higher-pitched calls and shrieks, while the larger female's roars are deeper.

Godzilla sound designer Erik Aadahl reused some of the MUTOs' roars for Grimlock in the 2014 film Transformers: Age of Extinction^{[citation needed]}, a giant crab in the 2020 film Love and Monsters, and Scorponok in the 2023 film Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

The male MUTO's roars The female MUTO's roars The Queen MUTO's roars

In other languages

Language Name Meaning Mandarin Chinese 穆托 Mù tuō Transliteration of the English name Russian Г.Н.Н.У.С. (Гигантское Неопознанное Наземное Уникальное Существо) Acronym for Giant Unidentified Terrestrial Unique Creature

Trivia

• The MUTOs are the first American-made kaiju to be specifically created for a Godzilla film, not counting the Gryphon from the unmade 1994 American Godzilla film, and the TriStar Godzilla from the 1998 American film, who was later re-trademarked with the name "Zilla" and appeared as a separate monster in subsequent Godzilla-related media.
• The MUTOs' role in Legendary Pictures' Godzilla as Godzilla's enemies somewhat mirrors that of the Gryphon from the scrapped 1994 American Godzilla film. In both stories, the military initially considers Godzilla to be a threat but is ultimately forced to allow him to fight his enemy in a major American city after its own efforts prove futile. Godzilla kills both the female MUTO and the Gryphon through decapitation, though the exact manner in which they are decapitated differs.
• In 2023, the prehistoric hermit crab Mutotylaspis, found in the Cretaceous deposits of Russia, was named after the MUTOs. It was likely named after the male MUTO specifically, since the publication references a daikaiju "that walks on four legs."
• The MUTOs are Godzilla's first completely original opponent in a movie since Titanosaurus in 1975. Every foe Godzilla has fought since are either pre-existing monsters, incorporate his DNA (Biollante, SpaceGodzilla, Orga, Megaguirus), or are based on an existing character (Keizer Ghidorah, and thus Monster X, being a derivative of King Ghidorah) or previously-introduced concept (Destoroyah being based on the Oxygen Destroyer).
• A MUTO head makes a brief appearance in Pacific Rim Uprising, during the scene where Hermann Gottlieb examines PPDC records in search of a match for the image that Mako Mori transmitted.
• The monitor broadcasting the Queen MUTO suddenly ceasing her rampage upon the ORCA being activated by Madison at Fenway Park was a reutilized shot of a devastated city viewed through a bisected skyscraper, seen in the 2012 Comic-Con teaser trailer and the official teaser trailer for the 2014 film.

Videos

Kaiju Profile: MUTO 3D character turntable of Queen MUTO

References

This is a list of references for MUTO. 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]

Bibliography

• Keyes, Greg (23 April 2024). Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - The Official Movie Novelization. Titan Books. ISBN 978-1803368108.

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