Sandbox:Godzilla (Dark Horse)
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Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira) is a giant monster who appeared in various comics published by Dark Horse. He is the second incarnation of Godzilla to be featured in an American comic book series, after the Marvel Godzilla.
Name
- See also: Godzilla#Name.
Godzilla's Japanese name, Gojira (ゴジラ), comes from a combination of the Japanese approximation of "gorilla" (ゴリラ gorira), and "kujira" (クジラ), the Japanese word for "whale."
Design
In his debut appearance in Godzilla, King of the Monsters Special, Godzilla bears a unique design featuring a predatory reptilian face, small pointed ears, thin arms, and a very long segmented tail. He stands with a hunched dinosaur-like posture and possesses a singular row of five very large dorsal plates flanked on both sides by much smaller, more bumpy dorsal plates. The larger dorsal plates are shaped unlike those of any other Godzilla design, being extremely jagged and uneven, though still vaguely bearing the traditional maple leaf shape. The end of Godzilla's tail is akin to that of crocodilians. From Godzilla Color Special onwards, Godzilla's design is nearly identical to the post-1984 Heisei Godzilla designs with only one notable exception; his skin is primarily depicted as a bold green, continuing the trend of green American media-originating Godzilla incarnations. On a side note, though, he sometimes appears as the traditional charcoal gray instead. Additionally, Burton Helzer's flashbacks to the events of King of the Monsters Special in Dark Horse Comics #10 and Godzilla, King of the Monsters #0 retcon Godzilla's design into what is featured in the later comics.
Personality
Origins
According to carvings on an ancient radioactive slab deciphered by Professor Morio Yoshiwara, Godzilla is one of the "Disaster Monsters," gigantic ancient creatures which emerge every three or four thousand years and are drawn to the slab. Godzilla, known as the Fire Monster, is considered the most fearsome of these monsters. It is shown through flashbacks that Godzilla has existed since at least the time of the dinosaurs, when he clashed with other monsters such as Kamerus and ruled over the primordial ecosystem. Unlike most other incarnations of the character, this version of Godzilla is a natural creature who has not been enhanced in any way by nuclear testing, with his atomic breath presumably being a natural ability. Furthermore, his appearance in the modern day is not connected to nuclear testing, but rather is due to the unearthing of the slab.
History
- Godzilla, King of the Monsters Special (1987)
- Godzilla Color Special (1992)
- Godzilla (1995-1996)
Godzilla, King of the Monsters Special
In the 1950s, Professor Morio Yoshiwara led research efforts in deciphering an ancient radioactive slab discovered in the middle of a Tokyo construction site. After a bizarre leech-like monster emerged from the slab and killed a research assistant, Yoshiwara began frantically working to decipher the carvings on the slab and looking into various ancient scrolls and news clippings which he believed were connected somehow. He learned that the slab was buried on the island of Honshu thousands of years ago before it was settled in order to protect the rest of the world from the "Disaster Monsters," which emerged every three or four thousand years and were drawn to it. Yoshiwara feared that at least three of these monsters, Soran the Thunderbird, Inagos the Locust-King, and the Fire Monster, Godzilla, had already awakened and were making their way to Tokyo. He noted that, of the three, Godzilla was especially to be feared. Yoshiwara's superiors from the university dismissed his warnings, deemed him insane and fired him. Soon, swarms of locusts descended upon Tokyo, which signaled to Yoshiwara that it was already too late to stop the oncoming disaster. Yoshiwara took his wife Tomi and daughter Noriko to the harbor, where they witnessed Godzilla erupt from Tokyo Bay and emit a deafening roar. Godzilla observed the city before him and, angered at its unfamiliarity compared to the prehistoric world he had once ruled, blasted it with his atomic breath. Yoshiwara and his family took a motorcycle to the construction site, where foreman Burton Helzer was waiting with two transport helicopters to transport the slab. As Godzilla approached, Yoshiwara convinced Helzer to commandeer one chopper, take the slab to the Japan Trench and drop it into the trench while he distracted Godzilla with the other chopper. Yoshiwara said his final goodbyes to his family and piloted the chopper, crashing it into Godzilla's face while Helzer lifted the slab toward the bay. Godzilla gave chase, knocking over nearby debris which crushed and killed Tomi. Godzilla dove into the water and began swimming after the chopper, rapidly gaining on it. Helzer attempted to release the slab, but saw Soran flying above the chopper. Helzer finally managed to drop the slab, which sank beneath the waves. Godzilla and Soran gave chase, but Soran eventually surfaced and flew away. Godzilla continued to descend deeper into the trench until he finally vanished. Amidst the rubble, Noriko found a scale left behind by Godzilla. Decades later, Noriko had become a scientist dedicated to getting her revenge on Godzilla for the deaths of her parents, having used the scale to develop a method of killing him. She swore that if Godzilla ever awoke again, she would be waiting.
Godzilla Color Special
Godzilla
"Blast from the Past"
TBA
"Dramatization"
TBA
"Property Damage"
TBA
"Long Live the King!"
TBA
"Godzilla vs. Bagorah"
TBA
"Target: Godzilla! Part One"
TBA
"Target: Godzilla! Part Two"
TBA
"Target: Godzilla! Part 3"
TBA
"Target: Godzilla! Part 4"
TBA
"Lost in Time!"
TBA
"Horror on the High Seas!"
TBA
"Terror on the Titanic!"
TBA
"We Have Seen The Future, And It Has Been Destroyed By Godzilla"
TBA
"Turf Wars"
TBA
"To Climb the Highest Monster!"
TBA
"The Yamazaki Endowment"
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"Thunder in the Past"
TBA
Abilities
Atomic breath
Godzilla is able to fire an atomic heat ray from his mouth.
Triple atomic breath
In addition to his regular atomic breath, Godzilla has also been shown to be capable of shooting three separate beams at the same time; however, he demonstrated this ability only once.
Trivia
- This Godzilla’s 100-meter height makes him tall as his Heisei film counterpart.
Notes
- ↑ In the 15th issue of the Dark Horse Godzilla comic, Godzilla is stated to be 100 meters tall
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla (Dark Horse). 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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