Monster Discussion #43: King Ghidorah (Heisei)

[JVM]

I don't remember Ghidorah using Rodan's exact roar, though I do remember him lacking his cackle. Would explain why the MKG Trendmasters toy has Rodan's roar though.

GvsKG91 had KG doing variations of Rodan's roar. It was pretty annoying

Ah, it's variations, explains why I didn't recognize it. Then again, GvKG91 was one of my first Toho movies so I might have just been too new to notice.

[Silv]

I generally hate all the Heisei origins of all the old monsters, aside from Godzilla himself. King Ghidorah himself was flawed for a great many reasons. First off, he is the most iconic arch enemy of Godzilla. And yes, while they were rewriting all the monsters, you first had him in the Showa series as a destroyer of worlds. And then you had Godzilla, who was the defender of Earth. While Ghidorah had destroyed many worlds on his path, he just can't get passed Godzilla, and thus he constantly returns. Four times in the Showa series he appeared to try to destroy earth, each time being thwarted by Godzilla. The Godzilla vs Ghidorah/Planet Destroyer vs Earth Defender feud to me, is very similar and just as epic as the concept behind Superman vs. Brainiac.

His Heisei origin, first off was very weak. As was the entire plot and concept behind the movie in general. First off, you had the plot holes and continuity errors. When the dudes from the future warned about Godzilla destroying Japan, the Japanese people were so confused... "would Godzilla really do that?" And thus even more confused when the new Godzilla didn't seem "friendly." I mean, this was a sequel to GvBiollante correct? We have Miki returning from her role in that movie, where she clearly even makes a reference to events in that movie... where Godzilla was NOT a friendly creature. So why are they all of a sudden speaking of Godzilla as if he's once again Japan's #1 Benevolent Mascot?

But anyways, that's a tad off topic. Godzilla and King Ghidorah. Because of the new Ghidorah origin, and the new Godzilla origin for this film, their fight didn't seem to hold any real importance. They were basically two unstoppable destructive forces who just happened to get in each other's way and fight each other. And because of this fact, the viewer really doesn't know who to root for when Godzilla and King Ghidorah actually face off.

It was a nice try I guess...

However, I still think they could have done a much better job with King Ghidorah in the Heisei series, even with that silly origin. First off, he should have appeared in more than just one movie. And Mecha King Ghidorah... eh... perhaps never should have happened, however, it was an interesting idea, I'll give it that. But he DEFINITELY should have returned at some point in the Heisei series. And I feel, that the best film for this to have taken place would have been in Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla.

Imagine this concept if you will... Mecha King Ghidorah, laying at the bottom of the ocean, left for dead, missing one head that was salvaged to make Mecha Godzilla.... slowly over the years, regenerates, as he was not actually dead, just in a state of hybernation on the ocean floor. He finally is whole again, and seeks his revenge on Godzilla. However, he knows from beforehand that he cannot defeat Godzilla alone. Meanwhile, Space Godzilla's origin remains the same, as he is created in space, but has no real direction. King Ghidorah flies out to space as SG's contact from Earth, who in turn, guides SG back to Earth to defeat Godzilla and get his revenge. And then Godzilla and Mogera face both Space Godzilla AND King Ghidorah, or him in his Mecha form, if that's how he remains. It definitely would have given King Ghidorah more purpose in the Heisei series, and while he does not have the same origin as a space monster, still could have taken it back by traveling into space for reach Space Godzilla.

That to me possibly could have made Heisei King Ghidorah the BEST King Ghidorah yet written. His origin is fresh, but shadows of his bitter rivalry with Godzilla and his origins as a space monster would have still been seen.

[gpulse90]

The only complaint I have is the orgin. It was just another created monster. I wanted to see ancient planet destroyer. But I guess it was the Hesei series, it was inevitable. Aside from that it is actually what I consider the best design King Ghidorah could have. Also I think it should of had a more tough complexion. Hiding behind its wings and running from a fight is more or less cowardly.

[Silv]

Yeah, his design, I really don't have much to say about. Him and Mothra are pretty much the closest to their Showa origins. Only thing notably different are the ears.

[Showa Gyaos]

People complain about Rodan's roars being recycled and altered for other monsters, but before even doing research, I only recognized Battra's cry as being one. It didn't matter to me then, and it still doesn't.

[zilla103192]

[quote="Showa Gyaos"]People complain about ...quote]

its TK, get used to it

[edgaguirus]

People wanted Ghidorah to sound like the old Ghidorah. It's called nostalgia.

[King Caesar]

And the best part about this is that Toho would modify KG's cry AGAIN in GMK.

[Tyler]

I like his cackles in GMK.

[Darth Calypso]

It sounds more like the original KG roar than the heisei roar, which is what Toho was going for I think.

[Jeragon85]

I thought the design was good. He looked so awesome. However as far as origin goes, I prefer the showa ghidorah because he just seemed more bad ass due to the fact that his origin is more of a mystery and not shown. The fact of fusing three little dorats together kind of was not so awesome. Plus the fact that people were responsible for his creation period was not so cool. Also how he used Rodans roar was ok, but he should have had his original sound. I thought the monster battles with him were awesome. Overall not bad, I prefer the showa ghidorah though.

[Huan_of_Valinor]

I love Godzilla VS King Ghidorah, but I found Ghidorah to be the worst thing about it with its new origin (how can a 50s nuclear blast mutate and merge three tiny creatures into a 150 meter plus kaiju when all it did to the original Godzilla was boost his height up to 50 meters)

Okay the way that i looked at that was that there are three of them, 3 x 50 = 150 vs one pre-godzilla thing getting mutated to 50 meters. How they merged is beyond me though...

i didn't mind the design overall, but i didn't like the roar, it didn't give kg any intimidation factor. And sadly i consider it weak and frail, even as i consider the Showa version to be over hyped (a rant for another thread). It did have Godzilla in a very compromised position, but only when it had human controllers, and once the connection was severed, the fight was over, even taking the choking attack into consideration.

it's not the worst redesign of the second series *coughmothracough* but it's still just meh.

[Arrow]

Up until fairly recently, this was my favorite King Ghidorah design. As of now, he's in third place - behind the '64 King Ghidorah and Grand King Ghidorah. The Dorats are awful, his origin is utterly ridiculous, his roar sucks, and he's horribly executed in flight.

But the design itself isn't that bad. I love seeing the way he towers over Godzilla and their first battle in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was one of the highlights of the film for me. Only negative there is that the monster itself is a bit on the blander side. This Ghidorah doesn't really show any sort of personality and lacks the menace of the Showa King Ghidorah or Grand King Ghidorah, even if he's made to look pretty ferocious.

Overall, it's a pretty forgettable King Ghidorah. The best thing about him is that we'd get Mecha-King Ghidorah out of it. But I still like it a lot. Truth be told though, outside of GFW's hideous version, there isn't a Ghidorah that I dislike.

[King Caesar]

^ I also thought the Heisei Ghidorah was frail as heck. Maybe that's just because Godzilla was a atomic titan, but still...kinda bummed me out.

[Huan_of_Valinor]

Ah but there is the fact that THIS Ghidorah is also an atomic titan... Sooooooo why is it so frail?

meh, whatever lol

[Living Corpse]

Ah but there is the fact that THIS Ghidorah is also an atomic titan... Sooooooo why is it so frail?

meh, whatever lol

Plot hole? DUN DUN DUN.

[Tyler]

Godzilla was stronger because he was created through the use of modern nuclear weaponry.

[King Caesar]

...I may be a nincompoop for asking, but why was Godzilla already big, prior to the submarine going down?

[Tyler]

...I may be a nincompoop for asking, but why was Godzilla already big, prior to the submarine going down?

Just read that Scifi Japan article.

[Ethan]

I rank King Ghidorah 1991 above both 4 legged Ghidorahs, but below the rest (and yes, this includes his Godzilla vs. Gigan design). While the main body of the suit looks great, the necks are too long. The heads don't fare much better, with the wobbly horns being nearly as baffling as Mothra's chicken legs. As it has been pointed out, once the creature takes to the sky, it loses all credibility. This seriously affects what I would otherwise believe to be one the film's most exciting scenes, when the Air Force engages with the monster.

Character wise, it's nothing special either. It's just a MacGuffin, not the destroyer of worlds he should be. Even when playing against character as in GMK it seemed to be given far more importance. And yes, the Dorats are practically on the same level of Jar Jar Binks, not the greatest way to go with your character's origin story.

I do like Ifukube's version of the King Ghidorah theme in this film though, it sounds more thundering than ever.