Raban

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Raban
Raban in Kaiju Raban
Raban's Transitional Stage in Kaiju Raban
Raban's Transitional/Crocodillian Stage in Kaiju Raban
Species Mutated Human-Godzilla hybrid
Forms Human, Transitional Stage, Second Transitional/Crocodillian Stage, Raban
Enemies Jiro Ikawa, Raban-17
First appearance Monster Raban

Raban (ラバン,   Raban) is a giant mutant Human-Godzilla hybrid kaiju created by Shigeru Mizuki that first appeared in the 1958 kaiju manga, Monster Raban.

Design

Raban appears heavily dinosaurian, drawing many qualities from Godzilla who's blood was used in Raban's creation. Raban's body is covered in dark and wavy stripes, as well as spots on his forehead, feet, and neck. Raban also draws on some design cues from lizards and snakes, such as his streamlined shape and forked tongue.

Before completely transforming into Raban, Ichiro exhibits a transitional stage between being human and becoming the hybrid. In this form, Ichiro's skull becomes completely exposed, and his arms and legs become more reptilian in nature. As Ichiro continued to mutate, he took on a second form, resembling Raban but with the proportions of an alligator or Komodo Dragon. After this form grew in size, Raban was formed.

History

Monster Raban

Raban was originally an average scientist named Ichiro Mizuki who went on an expedition to Papua New Guinea with his rival to get a sample of Godzilla's blood, believing it is the key to achieving immortality. The pair manage to track down Godzilla and successfully gather a sample of his blood with an appropriately sized syringe. However, as they are venturing back to their boat they are attacked by a group of natives that impale Ichiro's leg with a poison spear. While Ichiro is incapacitated by the wound, his rival Jiro steals the vial and leaves him for dead. Not knowing that the vial was taken, Ichiro crawls his way back to the ship and reunites with Jiro. Shocked that Ichiro managed to survive, Jiro concocts a plan to kill off his competition once and for all. Jiro tricks Ichiro into being injected with some of Godzilla's blood on the grounds that it is a drug to counteract the spear's poison. Expecting Ichiro to die from the raw blood, Jiro watches in horror as Ichiro mutates. Suffering incredible pain, Ichiro's flesh melts off his bones, and he eventually grows into a reptilian creature that then jumps overboard into the water. Jiro returns to Japan where he is treated like a hero. But a short time later Japan is attacked by a new monster who they name Raban. The military initially respond to the attacks with standard military weaponry, but the attempts are ineffective. Left with no other alternatives, Japan turns to their newly proclaimed hero, Jiro. The man announces he will construct a mechanical counterpart to Raban, and use it to destroy the monster. But Jiro's sister Keiko becomes suspicious of her brother, confident that Raban is actually Ichiro, because the monster is wearing the good-luck charm she gave Ichiro before the expedition. With this knowledge, Keiko seeks out Ichiro's mother and discovers Ichiro and Jiro are really brothers. Just as Jiro completes his mechanical Raban, Keiko informs him of her findings and is unable to go on with Raban's death. Jiro desperately asks the Japanese prime minister for money and eventually removes Godzilla's blood from Raban, returning him to human form.

Abilities

Physical strength

Raban is not shown to possess any special abilities, besides extreme strength, and he can swim extremely fast.

Body Heat

Raban was depicted to possess unusually high body temperatures and often emits smokes from his nostrils.

Evolution

Raban was noted to possess extremely fast evolutional capabilities, and it is speculated that Raban would eventually develop physical traits and abilities of the original Godzilla.

Gallery

Scans

Monster Raban

Trivia

  • Raban became the basis for the Dai-Kaijū, a recurring character in the GeGeGe no Kitarō franchise.
  • Godzilla's first appearance within Monster Raban somewhat resembles that of Gyaos from the 1967 film Gamera vs. Gyaos; both monsters made initial appearances by hiding within volcanic craters and fired energy projectiles to shoot down aircrafts of research teams studying the monsters, and made their first actual appearances later at night. Coincidentally, both this Godzilla and the Original Gyaos in Gamera the Brave possess DNA that mutate normal organisms including humans into kaiju.
  • Raban is the first example of a character or other monster who mutates after being exposed to Godzilla's cells (blood in this case), as well as the first example of a Godzilla-human hybrid. Biollante is the second, with her first appearance being 31 years later in 1989.

References

This is a list of references for Raban. 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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