Monster Discussion #57: Dagahra

[Omegazilla]

While I can't stand RoB or even Mothra to a degree I like Dagahra quite a lot. His design and arsenal are impressive and his backstory as an artificial garbage disposal was interesting. Thankfully this kaiju isn't totally forgotten with his recent appearance in the MA universe. Such a sinister looking monster probably would have been better off fighting Godzilla but oh well it is what it is.

[edgaguirus]

That is a fight I'd like to see.

[Dino-Mario]

He's got a great design, sinister roar, neat powers and a good backstory, what's not to like? A shame he still hasn't got the chance to confront the Big G, he feels like he'd be a decent opponent for him.

[GojiDog]

One of the more unique designs post Heisei Godzilla series.

New monsters in the Toho menagerie has become less and less of a thing unfortunately. I love all the classics, but I always like to keep adding to the family as well. Part of what got me into the Godzilla series as the kid was seeing just what crazy thing he was going to fight next. Something I've always admired about the Gamera series is that aside from Gyoas, they always make up new monsters for Gamera to fight in every new film and continuity. In Heisei Gamera, it would have been so easy to bring Guiron or Zigra back, we got Legion and Iris instead, and I think it worked better that way.

Since the dawn of the Millennium, we've had Orga (who is clearly an amalgamation of Gamera and the Tristar Godzilla so the REAL Godzilla can put it in its place. Nobody can convince me that wasn't deliberate), Megaguirus, and Monster X (who is basically just a shell for a slightly different King Ghidorah). Compare that to the Heisei films which tried to strike a balance between old (Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan, Mechagodzilla, and MOGUERA) and mixed it with new creations (Biollante, Mecha Ghidorah, Battra, Spacegodzilla, and Destoroyah). And go even further back to the Showa series when they started to shy away from always bringing back monsters. Rodan and Mothra were MIA in the 70s, but we kept getting new and fresh monsters to keep the series going, and this included both enemies and sidekicks for Godzilla.

Originality has unfortunately kind of gone to the wayside. Credit to Legendary for trying to add new monsters like The MUTOs, Skullcrawlers, and all the new faces in KOTM, especially muh boy Behemoth.

But Dagarha...I like that thing! Its like they mixed a dragon with a stingray and leant itself nicely to the water based fights that were featured in the film. I definitely dug it. And in a series of films where Mothra did almost nothing but fight various versions of King Ghidorah, Dagarha stands out as a unique creation and a welcomed breath of fresh air.

[Godzillian]

Think it's a shame he was given so many energy attacks and constantly beam spams. Takes away from how much of a threat he was since he was pretty savage in physical combat

[Gigantis]

Ah, Dagahra. The wonderful monster stuck in a trash trilogy of films. Unique powers, cool design. I like him, and he deserves better.

[kaijufanforever]

Some of the concept art tends to a more aquatic design. However, Dagahra is more a threat being able to navigate water, land, and air. This ability gives him much potential as a city destroyer and danger to man.

It`s a work of fiction, making him more fishlike wouldn`t prevent him from being above land. There are plenty of flying fish, and even some that to some capacity can walk or breath air. Im not saying I don`t like Dagahra, just that they could`ve made him stand out more.

Let's not forget Zigra despite being a shark magically grew legs to stand on land

to be fair Zigra IS an alien

[Rodan95]

Dagahra is a badass kaiju in a terrible film. Would love to see him return in a future (and better) film.

[imposterzilla]

Allegedly Dags was supposed to show up in Final Wars, but was cut early on.

[Terasawa]

Allegedly Dags was supposed to show up in Final Wars, but was cut early on.

Source?

[BlankAccount]

I'm glad he finally got to be part of the Godzilla films. Not so glad he was reduced to a mere cameo. Geeze, say what you will about Rebirth of Mothra 2, at least we got to see him in action.

[imposterzilla]

Source? It was years back and it was from a leaker that had leaked the film to a tee. Though due to his English it was hard to understand. Also Shinji Nishikawa also has said it in a few off hand references.

[Omegazilla]

The good news is that it appears there are plenty that agree with us that Dagahra is a cool unique kaiju with fairly recent mentions in media such as the Godzilla anime. Hopefully he gets a larger role in the future.

[KingKaiju]

I still want that Bandai Dagahra figure. I've seen it around for $40+, and seriously tempted to just bite on it.

[BlankAccount]

I still want that Bandai Dagahra figure. I've seen it around for $40+, and seriously tempted to just bite on it.

You might be better off biting the bullet now while it's a 9mm cause it could become a 50. later. Games and movies usally go down in price but books and toys can end up being more expensive later on.

[edgaguirus]

The good news is that it appears there are plenty that agree with us that Dagahra is a cool unique kaiju with fairly recent mentions in media such as the Godzilla anime. Hopefully he gets a larger role in the future.

Dagahra would be ideal for comics. Perhaps a major appearance there could bring other roles.

[KingKaiju]

I still want that Bandai Dagahra figure. I've seen it around for $40+, and seriously tempted to just bite on it.

You might be better off biting the bullet now while it's a 9mm cause it could become a 50. later. Games and movies usally go down in price but books and toys can end up being more expensive later on.

That's true. Especially for something that doesn't have any releases, or multiple figures of.

[Destorogoji]

As a suit, it was very stiff, except for that beautiful head and neck. Actually, does anybody know if he was all animatronic or an actual suit?

As a kaiju, he's very cool, I really like Dagahra, and I like to see Toho still remembers him, his wings/fins are awesome. The Barem is very cool, too.
Dagahra is one of the most dangerous kaiju to the whole ecosystem because of those starfishes.

[JAGzilla]

He's a mixed bag, design-wise. His body feels like this almost amorphous blob of bolk with few features that really stand out. His draconic head, however, looked downright menacing, even hellish when lit by red light during the first underwater battle. I liked that evil grin he had, too.

Ability-wise, he's really fairly interesting. The purple mouth lasers were generic, but the Barem cannons were very original and devastating; for them alone, I'd love to see Dagahra return in a movie with modern effects. I want to see those acid-spitting killer starfish really shine. The red blasts he fired upward from his fin were unconventional, too; they make Dagahra feel like a living submarine with his own anti-aircraft gun. That is one potential issue with bringing him back, though: his weapons feel artificial (even by kaiju standards), because of course they are; he was created by Nilai-Kanai. So either a similar origin would have to be maintained, or his design and powers would have to be overhauled to seem more naturalistic. I could see the Barem being retained; it could just be said that they have some kind of symbiotic relationship with him. But he wouldn't be able to fire them out of shoulder-mounted cannons.

[Voyager]

Never been a fan. While I like him more than Desghidorah I still prefer ROM 3’s King Ghidorah.