Mu

Mu (ムウ,   Mū) is a lost continent that was featured in the 1963 Toho film Atragon, and has been mentioned in several other kaiju films.

History

Showa era

Atragon

12,000 years ago, the great continent of Mu existed in the Pacific Ocean. However, one night the entire continent sank under the ocean and vanished from the surface. However, a number of Muans survived the event and were able to salvage and rebuild their once-great civilization. To provide the continent with sufficient light and warmth, the Muans constructed an artificial sun using geothermal energy, and called it the "heart of Mu." The subterranean continent of Mu survived for millennia, until 1963 when the Muans decided to reclaim the vast empire they once possessed. The Muans began launching attacks on the surface, attempting to force the nations of the world to surrender to their power and become colonies of Mu once again.

Eventually, after defeating the Muans' guardian dragon Manda, the undersea battleship Gotengo was able to breach the heart of Mu, and its crew members planted explosives on the generators powering the artificial sun. The Gotengo froze the machinery with its Absolute Zero Cannon and escaped to the surface, after which the explosives were detonated. The resulting explosion of the artificial sun produced a colossal explosion that completely obliterated Mu, leaving a wall of fire and smoke visible above the ocean. In a moment, the entire continent of Mu was wiped from existence.

Gamera vs. Jiger

When a mysterious statue called the Devil's Whistle was removed from an island, the evil beast known as Jiger, which had lived on the sunken continent of Mu, appeared and traveled to Japan.

Godzilla vs. Megalon

After an unexplained earthquake struck Japan, Goro Ibuki and Hiroshi Jinkawa told Goro's little brother Rokuro about how ancient civilizations like Mu and Lemuria were supposedly lost after being swallowed underground by geological diastrophism. These stories would prove prophetic, as the civilization of Seatopia, which like Mu and Lemuria had been pulled underground by earthquakes in ancient times, would soon send its guardian monster Megalon to attack the surface world.

Heisei era

Gamera the Guardian of the Universe

The comma-shaped beads found on Gamera's shell, as well as Gamera himself, were said to originate from the lost continent of Atlantis or Mu.

Trivia

• The lost continent of Mu was first proposed to exist by 19th-century writer Augustus Le Plongeon, and was later popularized by James Churchward in the early 1900's. Churchward's books claimed that Mu existed 12,000 years ago and was located in the Pacific Ocean, and that many other great ancient civilizations such as ancient Egypt were remnants of the Mu civilization, while other continents contained colonies of Mu. This depiction of Mu was the primary influence behind the version featured in Atragon.
• In contrast to Mu's location in Atragon, the continent is stated by Hiroshi to have existed in the Atlantic Ocean in Godzilla vs. Megalon.
• In the 1993 video game Godzilla, Megalon is erroneously referred to as the "Guardian of Mu" instead of Seatopia.
• English-language marketing for the film Godzilla vs. Megalon often included the tagline "Monster against monster for the lost continent of Mu!"

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