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Character Analysis: 7
Date: 9/15/09
Deity to the underground Seatopian Kingdom, Megalon
is a powerhouse boasting formidable offensive capabilities.
On paper, the creature is one of the more powerful beings featured
in the Showa series, hosting a variety of unique weapons. Despite
this, though, the creature proved somehow less effective in
battle.
A look below the skin shows off several of the
monster's many feats. These range from the ability to jump ten
kilometers using its strong leg muscles to being able to see
where the beast creates its Napalm Bombs. At 40,000 tons, the
creature is also massive. The third heaviest being in the Showa
series in fact, behind only Moguera and Hedorah while tied with
Mechagodzilla. Exactly what is leading to all of this extra
mass is unknown.
Some have speculated, due to the rather peculiar
drills Megalon sports, that the deity might be a cyborg similar
to Gigan. The cutaway view shows this not to be the case, however.
Megalon is a strictly organic creature, stated in books to have
developed to its odd state due to the influence of "magnetic
fields" altering its growth.
Regardless of origins, Megalon ends up being
one of the more outlandish designs in the Godzilla films. An
oddity both in appearance and weaponry, the Seatopian god is
one of the more complex creatures created by Toho up to this
point.
Drill:
The creature's most memorable, and outlandish, feature: its
drill, or "Omni-Drill".
By combining its two forearms together, Megalon could create
a powerful drill weapon. As hard as diamond, the drill was able
to cut through most things in its path in a matter of seconds.
For whatever reason, though, the creature did not seem particularly
prone to use this as a weapon. Instead, the monster seemed to
favor attacking with its hands separated to try and lash out
at its foes.
Burrowing:
No other creature comes close to matching Megalon when it comes
to its unbelievable burrowing abilities. Utilizing its drill,
the creature could move through solid rock beneath the Earth's
surface with ease. Able to move at a speed of mach 3, the monster
was just as comfortable moving beneath the surface as it was
above. Due to heightened senses, as mentioned in the top
cutaway view, the deity could travel underground while monitoring
its prey on the surface, able to sense things as specific as
human footsteps while still below ground. This trait was utilized
in striking Jet Jaguar from underground successfully, in one
of the few instances where Megalon used his drill offensively.
Puzzlingly, though, despite nailing a direct hit the first time,
the creature is way off during its second attempt to strike
Jet Jaguar while underground, appearing a good distance away
from the robot.
Horn Beam:
Sometimes referred to as a "laser", Megalon was able
to fire a lightning bolt-like beam from its large horn. Oddly
enough, the creature never once utilized this attack against
either Godzilla or Jet Jaguar. The monster did utilize it heavily,
though, against the Self Defense Force and when destroying Tokyo
as it flew over the city. The beam was capable of several impressive
displays, such as melting the M4A3E8 Sherman Tanks.
Its worth noting that, while flying, Megalon appeared to be
able to fire two nearly consecutive blasts from his horn. This
is never specifically shown coming in more than one beam from
the horn itself, and is obviously due to footage being lifted
from Ghidorah,
the Three-Headed Monster (1964) of the title character
unleashing its gravity beams. So if this is an actually applicable
feat of the creature, or simply a stock footage goof, can be
left up to the interpretation of the viewer.
Flight:
Although nothing fancy at this stage, Megalon is capable of
flying at mach 3 through the air, at the same speed that the
creature could burrow. This flight speed is comparable to Mothra,
King Ghidorah, and Gigan. It is, however, slower than the speed
both Jet Jaguar and Mechagodzilla could fly at, the two fastest
monsters in the Showa series.
Napalm Bombs:
Generated in the beast's stomach, Megalon was capable of shooting
detonating bombs from its mouth. These bombs typically exploded
on impact, although this wasn't always the case as in one instance
when a bomb fell on the surface and Jet Jaguar was able to pick
it up and toss it back.
Offensively, the bombs did not appear to be all that powerful,
although were more than capable of blasting Jet Jaguar out of
the sky. Megalon appeared to be fairly impervious to the attack
himself, after he accidentally swallows a bomb that lands back
into his mouth. Rather than causing a rupture or any significant
and long term damage, the bomb appears to explode in his mouth
and all that occurs is a trail of smoke emitted from his maw
afterwards as he groans. At the very least, it proves that Megalon
is not short changed when it comes to his defensive properties.
Intelligence:
So despite Megalon's diverse powers, what kept the creature
from competing successfully against other monsters? The answer
falls in its intelligence, or lack there of. Despite its physical
prowess, the monster was almost child-like in terms of its mental
state. Looking at the drill
cutaway view, it's easy to see that Megalon has a fairly
small brain compared to just about every other monster in the
Showa series. This actually played out to the Seatopian's advantage,
as they were able to control the creature simply by waving Jet
Jaguar in front of it, causing the beast to follow out of curiosity.
It also threw a tantrum when Jet Jaguar left, jumping and crashing
onto the ground up until the jets started to attack it.
The downfalls of this should be pretty obvious, though. To
be fair, Megalon is far from "brain dead". As mentioned
drill cutaway view,
the creature is able to effectively combine attacks, mustering
up both the thought process and the technical capabilities to
do things such as firing his beam while launching Napalm Bombs.
The beast was cunning enough to decide to try and trap Godzilla
and Jet Jaguar in a ring of fire as well. Furthermore, the creature
also tried to circle Jet Jaguar enough to make the robot dizzy
as a plan of attack. Sadly, these are more exceptions to the
rule rather than the norm though.
The greatest problem facing Megalon is his battle tactics.
The creature could be an effective long range attacker, boasting
two different attacks to utilize. It could also slowly wear
its opponent down, using burrowing strikes or even its flight
more effectively. In practice, though, Megalon often rushes
straight in to attack with simply its arms, not even using them
as a drill. It's not even very good at these rush attacks either,
as Godzilla was able to rather effortlessly step out of the
way as Megalon went running head first into Gigan. The creature
is not deterred with this failing either, as its seen trying
it again and again while its arsenal, such as the horn beam,
are never called upon. The end result is a creature that was
easily outclassed by Jet Jaguar until Gigan showed up, and a
deity that was hopelessly outmatched by Godzilla.
Final Thoughts:
Megalon has the physical power to be a real threat to a lot
of monsters, but not the brain power to effectively utilize
it. He has some potent weapons that, if combined, could make
him a formidable opponent. However, his methods of rushing into
combat head first have shown that, when push comes to shove,
he is not very menacing in battle. A monster with adequate defenses,
good agility, and a penchant for calculated strikes should be
able to dispatch him, as Jet Jaguar proved since he didn't even
need to utilize his flight power to quickly get the upper hand
over him.
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