Monster Discussion #56: Grand King Ghidorah

[gigan72]

This is the discussion thread for Grand King Ghidorah, who so far has only appeared within the film Rebirth of Mothra III. I know many favor this design.

[Dannybeane]

I like the wing design, but much like GMK kg, the heads look to plasticky.I also don't care much for the pedophile vibe I get from this ghidorah.

[GigaBowserG]

This one's quickly becoming one of my favorite incarnations. Love the slew of powers, the design, and sadistic personality. Even the roar, despite being recycled from Heisei Ghidorah, works very well. Sounds less like a quickly-made, higher-pitched Rodan and more its own thing.

[EmperorGhidorah]

GKG is more or less my favorite incarnation of Ghidorah. His design is appealing, albeit a bit on the bulky side. I especially like the way it invokes certain elements of Japanese dragons (antlers, beard-like scales, snarling expression).

It's also nice to see a Ghidorah who truly feels like a "King Of Terror".

[Israha]

THE definitive King Ghidorah incarnation, in my opinion. Too bad it got stuck in a halfassed kaiju fairytale for children that is RoM 3, because THAT was the dreaded, planet-destroying golden space hydra, the King of Terror that other Ghidorahs failed to be. Design-wise, I prefer Showa Ghidorah (less is sometimes more, I'd say), bu he was nothing more than a mind-controlled puppet...kinda ruined his reputation. GKG was the ultimate kaiju villain - majestic, malevolent, destructive, cunning and very, very powerful.

[Dannybeane]

Bah Showa KG from GtTHM is still the best interpretation in my opinion. A Batshit crazy monster that can level cities before the military even has a chance to mobilize and seems to relish in the destruction he causes.

[Israha]

Well, Ghidorah as a destruction-spreading loose cannon worked well, but I like my evil kaiju having some sort of personality. Like Gigan being a sadistic opportunist or Destoroyah flat-out cruel and merciless killer. GKG was a true evil mastermind, with a scheme to take over Earth and wipe out humanity. He had his own character, was more than just a giant dragon from space, bound on destruction.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Great design but it suffers from being in a mediocre film. It's a shame that it appears once in the beginning and destroys a city only to never attack any urban areas later. It makes him seem less threatening and downplays his destruction potential/sinisterness. You could've easily had another scene with him attacking someplace right before Mothra returns from the past to add more tension. Of course I get there were budget limitations but of course.

[Mr. Xeno]

Great design but it suffers from being in a mediocre film. It's a shame that it appears once in the beginning and destroys a city only to never attack any urban areas later. It makes him seem less threatening and downplays his destruction potential/sinisterness. You could've easily had another scene with him attacking someplace right before Mothra returns from the past to add more tension. Of course I get there were budget limitations but of course.

There actually were two separate scenes of him attacking cities: when he first appeared, and after his first battle with Mothra. Plus, I think him kidnapping all the children at the end added enough tension.

[szmigiel]

The over all design is great, but the execution of the suit is not. I prefer King Ghidorah heads to be serpent like long and flexible, not giraffe like long and stiff.

[Godzillian]

Perfect Ghidorah design but wasted on the ROM series. Would've loved to see this go up against Godzilla

[Giga Kaiju]

I don't favor it as much as Heisei 'Normal' Ghidorah or the original Showa one, but it is certainly awesome in its own right. Looks majestic, awe-inspiring and epic in the sense of medieval-esque vibes with him which helps the design quite a bit, and explains why it is so liked (and to me at that, too...).

[Godzilla21]

I liked everything about him except the antlers.

[Breakdown]

GKG looks alright. My only critiques would be the thick, meaty wings and the elongated snouts; something I also didn't like about the Godzilla 2000 suit.

[edgaguirus]

I love this design. It looked fierce and strong, plus had the power to match. It's my top ranking Ghidorah.

[ebirahsmeg1]

Looks absolutely great as a Bandai 8 inch figure....not so much so in the actual movie and one of the biggest disappointments I've seen in the genre. It comes off rather stiff, especially when flying (a hallmark unfortunately of most of Kawakita's later work), the horns look too much like deer antlers, the sound effects/roars are same recycled Rodan junk from GvsKG. Oh yeah, and it's in ROM 3. No a bad design overall (I like many things about it actually), but very mediocre execution and a terrible film are big negatives against GKG. On the other hand, the young KG was actually an interesting idea and one of the few bright spots of that terrible film.

I'm sorry, but the notion that this is the "definitive" KG of the entire series is beyond laughable. It's in the middle of the pack...

[Godzillian]

Looks absolutely great as a Bandai 8 inch figure....not so much so in the actual movie and one of the biggest disappointments I've seen in the genre. It comes off rather stiff, especially when flying (a hallmark unfortunately of most of Kawakita's later work), the horns look too much like deer antlers, the sound effects/roars are same recycled Rodan junk from GvsKG. Oh yeah, and it's in ROM 3. No a bad design overall (I like many things about it actually), but very mediocre execution and a terrible film are big negatives against GKG. On the other hand, the young KG was actually an interesting idea and one of the few bright spots of that terrible film.

I'm sorry, but the notion that this is the "definitive" KG of the entire series is beyond laughable. It's in the middle of the pack...

Kawakita didn't work on this film

[ebirahsmeg1]

Looks absolutely great as a Bandai 8 inch figure....not so much so in the actual movie and one of the biggest disappointments I've seen in the genre. It comes off rather stiff, especially when flying (a hallmark unfortunately of most of Kawakita's later work), the horns look too much like deer antlers, the sound effects/roars are same recycled Rodan junk from GvsKG. Oh yeah, and it's in ROM 3. No a bad design overall (I like many things about it actually), but very mediocre execution and a terrible film are big negatives against GKG. On the other hand, the young KG was actually an interesting idea and one of the few bright spots of that terrible film.

I'm sorry, but the notion that this is the "definitive" KG of the entire series is beyond laughable. It's in the middle of the pack...

Kawakita didn't work on this film

My mistake. However, he worked on the first two films filled with the same issues as ROM3, and this film follows the exact same path in terms of subpar effects and execution...

[GigaBowserG]

My mistake. However, he worked on the first two films filled with the same issues as ROM3, and this film follows the exact same path in terms of subpar effects and execution...

Will have to disagree with you there. Having given the trilogy a rewatch not very long ago, I'd argue the effects in these films were some of the best since vs. Biollante. All monsters have a multitude of unique tricks up their sleeves (Grand King Ghidorah included); the energy attacks are colorful and dynamic, beam spam hating be damned. Stuff explodes like it's from a Michael Bay film, but prettier. Desghidorah's defeat in particular had me quite captivated.

[Dannybeane]

Desghidorah's lava breath is pretty nifty but everything else spfx-wise about the ROM trilogy is awful. All the props are stiff and look like they're made of plastic. On a design standpoint, the kaiju look cool but the actual performances look terrible in my opinion.