Monster Discussion #38: Titanosaurus

[Patrick Alan]

When I was little, I used to think he was a giant seahorse dinosaur! I like Titanosaurus

[kaiju115]

Yeah, I know what you mean, a lot of folks I've come across said he looked like a sea horse on crack, but hey, he's still an awesome monster.

[Llante]

Titanosaurus is a pretty neat monster.

For most of the 70s, we had been getting oddity after oddity when it comes to kaiju, people,and plot. Gigan the space chicken, cockroaches from outer space, a cockroach god, a creepily smirking robot, and a pile of sludge were some of the strange creations that populated the 1970s. Even the 'normal' kaiju were not quite so normal. Godzilla got stranger and more goofy with each movie while King Caeser's interior was made of stone. In fact, the only truly normal kaiju in the period was Anguirus (Rodan doesn't count and King Ghidorah was always a strange creature).

That's not to say that I dislike these films or creations, I actually like them a lot for how creative and energized the movies of the time were. However, Titanosaurus was a nice break from the strangeness. He got more in touch with the 60s Godzilla films by being a monster that was just a simple, tooth and claw reliant, tragic, and dinosaur-like kaiju.

However, he wasn't totally an early, down to earth kaiju. This monster also had a dash of the strangeness that really characterizes this era. He had his elephant like roar, his seahorse appearance, and don't forget the pepperoni skin.

In fact, what made Titanosaurus the perfect villain (alongside Mechagodzilla) for the end of the Showa era was how he seemed like the strangeness and the tragedy of the Showa films coming together into this unique creation. Combine that with the recurring, invincible juggernaut, hi tech aspects of Mechagodzilla, back them up with the mad scientist, tragic heroine, and the best alien race of the Showa era and you have a recipe for a decent cast of villains to end such a great age on. It feels really satisfying.

Even though we never really got to see Titanosaurus' personality because of the constant mind control he was under, we still got a good sense of the tragedy behind his character and that he is a unique character, not just a pawn. Talk about unique, he is maybe the third totally peaceful kaiju after Mothra and Gamera.

However, he wasn't just a great and endearing character, his fight scenes kicked ass. Every time Titanosaurus came out to play, an excellent fight scene ensued. For example, I found it pretty neat when Dr. Mafune let his anger get the best of him and let Titanosaurus loose which
resulted in the awesome scene where he is stomping through the city at night. Especially cool is when he jumps into the planes. Not fly into it, not shoot it down with a beam, not confuse it, he actually jumps high and fast enough to take down military jets. And, how could I forget his tail fin. That was a neat long range ability that wasn't just a beam or stock footage, it was a new and interesting ability.

The best fight scene of all and what cements Titanosaurus as one of the greats is when he just gives Godzilla an absolute beat down. Even though Godzilla did put up a decent fight and Titanosaurus had Mechagodzilla providing the occasional missile barrage, it was mostly the red dino who was giving Godzilla a good fight, even tougher than Kong, Ghidorah, or Gigan's respective fights.

What helps Titanosaurus is that he had a decent movie, but he doesn't solely rely on the movie to be cool. He is in his own right a cool monster. Definitely a monster I would want to see again in a movie.

[devingodzilla]

i dont want to see titanasaurus in another movie they will just f*ck up his design like they did with mechagodzilla. I only like the 1974-1975 mechagodzilla suits.

[Tyler]

This would make for a good slight redesign of him

[Mincecraft]

This would make for a good slight redesign of him

The face kinda reminds me of Perfect Chaos from Sonic Adventure.

[Titanomajin]

I love Titanosaurus, he would have been a great addition to the Versus and Millenium series.

[NSZ]

I love Titanosaurus, he would have been a great addition to the Versus and Millenium series.

Titanosaurus as a small armed, thunder thighed, beam spammer with a recycled Rodan roar? No thanks.

[Titanomajin]

I love Titanosaurus, he would have been a great addition to the Versus and Millenium series.

Titanosaurus as a small armed, thunder thighed, beam spammer with a recycled Rodan roar? No thanks.

Titanosaurus is a beam spammer? With what beam?

[NSZ]

I love Titanosaurus, he would have been a great addition to the Versus and Millenium series.

Titanosaurus as a small armed, thunder thighed, beam spammer with a recycled Rodan roar? No thanks.

Titanosaurus is a beam spammer? With what beam?

He would have been a beam spammer had he been brought into the Heisei series. And it wouldn't matter if Titanosaurus didn't have a beam beforehand, because Kawakita would've just came up with one for him, like he did with Rodan.

[Rody]

This would make for a good slight redesign of him.
*Art Adams illustration*

Actually, I disagree. Adams' design looks too hefty. I prefer Titanosaurus being leaner in build.

[Titanomajin]

Ohhh ahritey.

[Beef Bigshot]

I always like titanasauarus, as a kid it was kinda
For me at least, one of the cooler monsters. I don't no why tho. Maybe it was the red texture of the skin or his unusual abilities, I don't no I just liked him alot.

[Titanomajin]

I always like titanasauarus, as a kid it was kinda
For me at least, one of the cooler monsters. I don't no why tho. Maybe it was the red texture of the skin or his unusual abilities, I don't no I just liked him alot.

Same here, for whatever reason i found him fascinating and awesome.

[GojirO]

I like KaijuSamurai's rendition of titanosaurus for his godzilla nero series