Shockirus
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Shockirus (ショッキラス Shokkirasu) is a mutated aquatic parasite kaiju that first appeared in the 1984 Toho Godzilla film The Return of Godzilla.
A wharf roach mutated to gigantic size by exposure to Godzilla's radiation, Shockirus leapt from the monster's body when he appeared at Daikoku Island and onto the Yahata Maru No. 5, where it killed all but one of the crewmembers by draining their bodily fluids. When news reporter Goro Maki came aboard the derelict ship, Shockirus attacked him and nearly killed him before the sole survivor, Hiroshi Okumura, killed it with a meat cleaver.
Name
Shockirus' name is never spoken in The Return of Godzilla, nor did it appear in the film's theater program. It is only ever referred to as a "wharf roach monster" (フナムシの化け物 funamushi no bakemono) or "giant wharf roach" (巨大なフナムシ kyodaina funamushi). The name "Shockirus" did not begin to appear until later official publications. While the creature is identified as a wharf roach - a species of isopod related to similar species such as the giant isopod and woodlice - in the Japanese version, the film's international English dub refers to it as a sea louse - a type of copepod - instead; this is reflected in some Japanese sources such as Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works, which give it the English name Giant Sea Louse.[1] This change may have been due to the fact that real wharf roaches are not parasitic and feed on algae and detritus rather than blood, whereas sea lice are known to parasitize fish.
Development
Shockirus was inspired by a giant flea featured in the unproduced 1955 screenplay Bride of Godzilla?. In the unmade film, they existed as part of a hollow Earth ecosystem as gigantic parasites to the Godzilla and Anguirus species before spilling onto the surface when a mining company opened up a shaft into their domain. The giant fleas caused several deaths and led to the discovery of the hollow Earth system. Tomoyuki Tanaka asked writer Hideichi Nagahara to revise Bride of Godzilla? in 1978.
Across several drafts the exact look and location of the parasites changed, becoming instead residents of a hollow island before being changed to mutated lifeforms created by feeding on Godzilla's irradiated blood. The concept of a parasite mutated to giant size by feeding on Godzilla was carried over into Tanaka's 1980 Resurrection of Godzilla proposal and its 1983 revision. These two proposals eventually culminated in The Return of Godzilla, which featured Shockirus.[6] Several sequences were planned for the giant wharf roach, including multiple Shockirus invading a fishing village close to the Ihama Nuclear Power Plant. According to producer Fumio Tanaka, these were cut due to budgetary concerns and for being too tangential to the main story.[7] These scenes survive in the film's tie-in novelization. At least two props were created for Shockirus. One depicting the wharf roach with no injuries, and the other with the harpoon stuck in its body.[8]
Design
While officially a mutated wharf roach, Shockirus resembles other marine arthropods like the horseshoe crab with its multiple legs and hard shell. Its shell has many bumps, and it has a two-pronged spiked tail. Across Shockirus's carapace lies a few quills, most likely a result of its mutation. Its blood is white.
In one manga adaptation of The Return of Godzilla, the Shockirus look like ocean isopods, but with facial features resembling cockroaches.
Origins
Shockirus is a wharf roach that was mutated by exposure to Godzilla's radiation.[1]
History
Heisei era
The Return of Godzilla
When Godzilla attacked the Yahata Maru No. 5, Shockirus jumped off of his body and came aboard the boat. Shockirus hunted down the crew members that had survived Godzilla's attack and killed all but one, draining their bodily fluids and leaving behind desiccated husks. The last survivor, Hiroshi Okumura, was injured by Shockirus and locked himself inside a locker to hide from the creature. When reporter Goro Maki came aboard the ship the next day, he was attacked by Shockirus, who jumped onto his chest and crawled toward his throat. Fortunately, Okumura regained consciousness and stabbed Shockirus in the back with a meat cleaver, killing it. After Okumura reported his experience to Professor Makoto Hayashida, the scientist hypothesized that Shockirus was parasitizing Godzilla and had been mutated to its monstrous size due to prolonged exposure to his radiation.
Abilities
Jumping
Shockirus is an extraordinary jumper, launching itself at Goro Maki, knocking and pinning him to the ground. According to the Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works, Shockirus uses its tail like a spring in order to jump.[9]
Fluid draining
Shockirus can suck vital fluids out of a host through its mandibles, leaving multiple sailors aboard the Yahata Maru No. 5 as dried husks.
Amphibiousness
In Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, multiple Shockirus were shown swimming nearby Godzilla in the South Pacific.
Durability
Shockirus's hard carapace provides it some degree of protection. It was impaled with a harpoon which became lodged in its body prior to attacking Goro Maki. The reporter attempted to stab it repeatedly with a knife, but failed to injure it. In the film's manga adaptation, he used a sharp piece of wood instead; it soon splintered. Additionally, sailors battling the Shockirus horde in a flashback found that the wooden handles of their pickaxes broke when they tried stabbing one of the creatures.
Weaknesses
In The Return of Godzilla, Hiroshi Okumura killed Shockirus with a meat cleaver, while in the film's manga adaptation he used a spear. In the Dark Horse comic Godzilla #14, Také Fukuda blasted one into pieces by firing a flare gun at its mouth at point-blank range.
Video games
- Multiplayer Adventure: New Godzilla (1985) - NEC PC-8801
Multiplayer Adventure: New Godzilla
Shockirus appears in this video game adaptation of The Return of Godzilla, where it attacks Goro Maki aboard the Yahata Maru No. 5.
Shockirus in Multiplayer Adventure: New Godzilla
Comics
- Godzilla (1985)
- Godzilla #14 (1996)
- Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #1 (2013)
Godzilla (1985)
In this manga adaptation of The Return of Godzilla, over a dozen Shockirus attacked the Yahata Maru No. 5. In a flashback, Hiroshi Okumura recalled how they quickly overwhelmed the crew; he survived only because the captain hid him in a locker. Goro Maki attempted to fight back against the Shockirus that attacked him with a sharp piece of wood, while Okumura killed it with a spear. The Shockirus were larger than the creature in the film, and resembled cockroaches in contrast to the film's isopod-esque design.
Shockirus in the Godzilla 1985 manga
Godzilla #14
A Shockirus latched onto Tadihisa "Kino" Kinoshita's leg when he and Také Fukuda climbed up Godzilla's body. Fukuda attempted to pull it off him as it climbed on his back, but with no success. At Kinoshita's recommendation to treat it like a tick on a dog, Fukuda fired his flare gun into its mouth, blasting it into pieces.
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #1
Four Shockirus swam around Godzilla as he set a course for Hawaii.
Gallery
- Main article: Shockirus/Gallery.
Roar
Shockirus's roars are Ebirah and Kumonga roars that have been raised or lowered in pitch and sped up or slowed down, respectively. In Godzilla 1985, the roars are replaced with a different hissing screech.
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Trivia
- Shockirus was the first new monster introduced in the Heisei series.
- In the BBFC's review of The Return of Godzilla for release in the United Kingdom, Shockirus was inexplicably described as a "giant seahorse." Seventeen seconds of footage was cut from the sequence that it appears in for the film to receive a PG rating.[10]
- Shockirus is referenced in the Godzilla Singular Point episode "Graftage," when members of the Otaki Factory investigate a Manda carcass which has washed ashore. Haberu Kato suggests that the kaiju may have been killed by "gigantic sea roaches."
Notes
- ↑ In Godzilla 1985, the U.S. version of The Return of Godzilla, Shockirus is instead stated to be 5 feet (~1.5 meters) long.
References
This is a list of references for Shockirus. 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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