Monster Discussion #5: Rodan (Showa)

[JVM]

You know him, you love him - one of Godzilla's most beloved allies, Rodan.

It's always shocked me how little Rodan has actually been used since the 60s. It's as if he's gone from one of Toho's all-stars to a trivial supporting character.

[Guardian7]

Well... it is possible that Rodan just moved into whatever standard eco-life it was suppose to have. Sailing down from the top of some remote south sea island and consuming large marine life.
Most likely not wanting to have anything to do with humans, aliens or any civilzation and simply just being a Giant Mutated Flying Prehistoric creature.

It is a simplistic ending for Rodan. But not a bad one (Chronologically speaking Rodan appeard in DAM and did not seem any worse for wear. So obviously life had been good).

G7

[Hedorah]

Ohhh Rodan, such a great kaiju, but he always gets shafted. He deserves a revival. He is a loyal ally, and very powerful as well.

[godzilla1996]

I like the wings on this Rodan over the Heisei one. He's pretty cool. The sonic boom wings are actually threatening

[Guardian7]

I don't know if I have ever read anything about this. But how difficult was it for the suit actor to move in the Rodan suit? It seems like its pretty cumbersome. Nothing seems to come to mind/memory offhand about it.

Loved the original Design. Just looked so Primal!

G7

[HayesAJones]

Rodan's a great kaiju, very simply yet iconic. But, I can't really see him as Godzilla's sidekick. Maybe as a partner out of necessity, but other that that he should be a pretty independent beast. He's tough enough to hold his own with many a monster.

[Guardian7]

Exactly... Anguirus is like Robin to Batman... as Rodan and Godzilla are like Superman and Batman.

Rodan can stand alone... or together as a total equal.

G7

[Goji]

I don't know if I have ever read anything about this. But how difficult was it for the suit actor to move in the Rodan suit? It seems like its pretty cumbersome. Nothing seems to come to mind/memory offhand about it.


G7

Well, Mr. Nakajima talked a little bit about it at G-Fest 2008...but didn't really get into those kind of details. He told a story about when the wire broke that was holding him up (when Rodan crashes into the ocean with a bridge seen in the background, only to fly back out shortly after). Sounded pretty scary, actually.

Rodan 56' is one the best kaiju designs of all time. It just looks great and lifelike overall. It's a shame the 60's Rodan's didn't look as "cool", but at least he was still a powerhouse.

[Mulder]

The funny thing is rodan appeared in the showa,hesei, and millenium era making him one of three era kaiju.

[Arbok]

The funny thing is rodan appeared in the showa,hesei, and millenium era making him one of three era kaiju.

He deserved to. At one point, Rodan was considered one of "Toho's Big Four" along with Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah.

Since then, though, his overall importance has dwindled a lot and Mechagodzilla has taken up his spot in the "Big Four" (...it's sadly fitting that he even killed Rodan in the 1993 film, taking that into consideration).

Still, I would love to see a proper revival of the character. He was great in the Showa series, especially his debut film which is one of the better kaiju productions Toho produced.

[TokyoVigilante]

He has a great antagionistic partnership with Godzilla. I've always liked the idea of these two fighting. It's a shame he had to get shrunk so much for the Heisei version. He's much cooler being taller then Godzilla and burrowing underground.

[Guardian7]

Personally TVigilante - I think the only thing that Rodan retained in his HEISEIera stuff WAS his tenacious and tough demeanor.
I think the design was hideous... Fine for maybe another flying creature... or possibly a relative of the ACTUAL Rodan. But certainly NOT the Primal Rodan I prefer.
Actually... the HEISEI battle between Godzilla and Rodan is one of my favorite fights in the entire series.

I am curious. Who here thinks that the Rodan that went on in the SHOWAera stuff was the baby one that hatched out of the Egg? after Rodan's parents had actually perished in the lava flow.

Can you imagine if there had been Three Rodans? That would have been crazy!

G7

[123go]

Exactly... Anguirus is like Robin to Batman... as Rodan and Godzilla are like Superman and Batman.

Rodan can stand alone... or together as a total equal.

G7

That is what I've been saying all along. Well put Guardian7!

[Zilla103192]

Toho (the people who actually make the movies!!) states that its the sam one...

BUT!

i also think like Lamango. despite what toho says... i still tell people that there must of been one more egg in the volcano and it hatched into the new rodan.

[JVM]

Well, it seemed pointless to me to make three different Rodan threads... if I gave Rodan 56 a thread, I'd have to give his mate a thread.

Like with Anguirus, the 50s version'd be virtually disregarded. As much as I'd love the extra posts, I've stopped caring about post count.

Besides, TK's main bios only list one Rodan bio, and one Anguirus bio

[Goji]

In the damn movie it says it's one of the original 2 Rodans.

Except they didn't.

Read carefully next time. The Princess (as the Prophet) clearly mentions that Rodan has been "revived".

[Goji]

Well I'm not going by the dub. Obviously, liberties are taken with the dialogue when things are dubbed into another language. Especially with dubs that aren't faithful to the original script in the first place.

[Malchik]

...it's sadly fitting that he even killed Rodan in the 1993 film, taking that into consideration.

Heh, never thought of that.

[Shadowplay]

In the dub, sub just says Rodan.

I highly doubt the people who made the dub knew or cared about the original Rodan film, so I don't think they were trying to create any continuity between the two movies. They probably meant revived as in "waking up from suspended animation," because if you haven't seen the original film, you'd have no idea what Rodan was doing in a volcano besides "it's been entombed there since prehistory."

As for the Japanese version, I have no idea whether it's supposed to be the same Rodan or not.

[JVM]

This is an interesting discussion. I remember when I joined the fandom back in 2005 though, Rodan was generally regarded as a third one of the species, but I also think it may have had to do with the fact Ghidorah was not available on DVD, so most newer fans were unaware he rose from a volcano.