User:Les/Sandbox/Anti-Megalosaurus Force
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The Anti-Megalosaurus Force (AMF), known in the Japanese versions as the Japan Counter-Xenomorph Self Defence Force (J.X.S.D.F) [対特殊生物自衛隊 Tai Tokushu Seibutsu Jieitai], is a kaiju-fighting organization which stars in the 2002 Godzilla film Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and its 2003 sequel Godzilla: Tokyo SOS. Following the appearance of Godzilla in 1954, an increasing number of giant monster attacks in Japan necessitated the formation of the AMF in 1966. The fourth branch of Japan's Self-Defense Forces after the Ground, Maritime, and Air Forces, the AMF swiftly adopted the JGSDF's Maser technology which they had implemented into the Type 66 Maser Cannons that repelled the monster Gaira earlier in 1966. By 1990, the AMF had completed a new and improved Maser Cannon of their own, the Type 90, but found it to have little effect against a second Godzilla who suddenly appeared on the Boso Peninsula in 1999. Due to this failure, the AMF turned to the skeletal remains of the first Godzilla, using it as a framework to construct their ultimate weapon: the colossal robot Kiryu. Completed in 2003, the operation of Kiryu was entrusted to a specially-trained task force of the AMF known as the Kiryu Squad (機龍隊 Kiryū-tai).
A similarly-named organization, the Anti Megalosaurus Force (A.M.F.) [アンチ・メガロサウルス・フォース Anchi Megarosaurus Fōsu], is featured in IDW Publishing's 2012 comic series Godzilla: The Half-Century War. This A.M.F. is an international organization which existed since at least 1954, culling personnel from both the JSDF and U.S. Armed Forces. Boasting an ever-developing arsenal of superweaponry including Masers, Mechagodzillas, and the black hole cannon Dimension Tide, the A.M.F. monitored and responded to the attacks of the globetrotting Godzilla for nearly 50 years, taking down a slew of other monsters in the process.
Name
The AMF is known in Japanese as 対特殊生物自衛隊 (Tai Tokushu Seibutsu Jieitai), translating to "Anti-Special Creature Defense Force." This is frequently abbreviated as 特生自衛隊 (Tokusei Jieitai), translating roughly to "Special Life Defense Force." It may also be further abbreviated as 特自隊 (Tokujitai) or simply 特自 (Tokuji), the latter used on the exteriors of their weaponry. The organization's official English name in the Japanese versions of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo SOS is the Japan Counter-Xenomorph Self Defence Force. This is more or less a translation of the Japanese name, though with the Special Creature (特殊生物 Tokushu Seibutsu) portion approximated to "Xenomorph": a word derived from the Greek xénos meaning "foreign," "strange," or "alien" and morphḗ meaning "form" or "shape." The word's use to refer to strange or alien creatures was popularized by the 1986 American science fiction film Aliens.
While the initialisms of the real-world Japanese Defense Forces do not include periods, patches on AMF members' clothing render its Japanese abbreviation as J.X.S.D.F (without a final period). The initialism "JXSDF" is occasionally used in external media however, including the Kaiju Guide in the PlayStation 3/4 Godzilla game and the Codex in the mobile game Godzilla Defense Force. Both games also use irregular renderings of the expanded name. The former refers to it as the "Japan Counter-Xenomorph Self-Defense Force," inserting a hyphen between Self and Defence, and using the American spelling of Defence rather than the Commonwealth spelling which appears in the movies. The latter game refers to the organization differently depending on the Codex entry: Japan Xenomorph Self Defense Force in Godzilla ('02)'s entry, Japan Counter-Xenomorph Self Defense Force in Mechagodzilla ('02)'s entry, and Japanese Xenomorph Self Defense Force in Mechagodzilla ('03)'s entry.
In the films' international English versions, the J.X.S.D.F name is replaced by Anti-Megalosaurus Force. This name also roughly mirrors the original Japanese, but with the Special Creature portion translated as "Megalosaurus" rather than Xenomorph. Megalosaurus, a combination of the Greek megálos meaning "giant" or "great" and sauros meaning "lizard," is also the name of the first genus of non-avian dinosaur to ever be formally classified. Its usage here is strange, however, as numerous kaiju canonically documented by the JSDF and AMF are not reptiles, including the aquatic humanoid monster Gaira whom the JSDF faced the same year as the AMF's establishment. The comic series Godzilla: The Half-Century War uses a similar name for its featured organization, but removes the hyphen to become "Anti Megalosaurus Force." While onscreen text in the export version of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla abbreviates the organization's name as AMF with no periods, the comic changes this to "A.M.F." Furthermore, Phase Six's Japanese translation of The Half-Century War does not use the AMF's original Japanese name from the Kiryu films, but instead simply transliterates the English name as Anchi Megarosaurusu Fōsu (アンチ・メガロサウルス・フォース).
History
- Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)
- Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003)
Millennium era
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
Godzilla: Tokyo SOS
Video games
- Godzilla (2014) - PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 [mentioned, Kaiju Guide]
- City Shrouded in Shadow (2017) - PlayStation 4 [unnamed]
- Godzilla Defense Force (2019) - Android, iOS [mentioned, Codex]
Comics
- Godzilla: The Half-Century War #1-5 (2012-2013)
Godzilla: The Half-Century War
Godzilla: The Half-Century War issue 1
TBA
Godzilla: The Half-Century War issue 2
TBA
Godzilla: The Half-Century War issue 3
TBA
Godzilla: The Half-Century War issue 4
TBA
Godzilla: The Half-Century War issue 5
TBA
Members
Kiryu series
The AMF had employed 4,072 personnel as of 1999, falling to 4,068 by 2004. Known members include:
- Ichiryu, chief of staff
- Kanzaki, Kiryu maintenance squad leader
- Nikaido, Special Work Party manager
- Lieutenant Colonel Togashi, Kiryu Squad leader
- Captain Kenji Sekine, former White Heron pilot
- First Lieutenant Akane Yashiro, former Kiryu pilot
- First Lieutenant Susumu Hayama, former White Heron pilot
- Second Lieutenant Shosuke Akiba, Kiryu pilot
- Second Lieutenant Azuki Kisaragi, White Heron pilot
- Sergeant First Class Yoshito Chujo, Kiryu mechanic
- Tadokoro, Kiryu mechanic
- Mochizuki, Kiryu mechanic
- Second Lieutenant Hayama (deceased)
Godzilla: The Half-Century War
- Captain Ota Murakami, TBA
- Lieutenant Kentaro Yoshihara, TBA
- Colonel Schooler, TBA
- Doc Randall, engineer
- Dr. Deverich, scientist (formerly)
More TBA
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