Monster Discussion #45: Mecha-King Ghidorah

[Huan_of_Valinor]

Someone posted something on youtube that i'm going to quote here, more or less.

the time travelers said that a person couldn't go back to a time in which he already existed, because one of them would disappear. If true does that mean that when MKG appeared, the body of KG disappeared because MKG didn't disappear. So KG's body disappeared, which means it wasn't there to be made into a cyborg in the future...

which means he can't exist... >.<

heck with logic. Not a bad design, but not a neccisary addition to the film imo

Dammit man, we finally made heads and tails of this accursed confusing movie and now you bring this up?! What is wrong with you!?

ROFL you guys are hilarious.

yeah lol i complicated things a bit but i felt that it was important. I usually only post when i feel that i have something important to say, which is why my post count is as low as it is lol

I'd love to see him come back. It'd be cool if in a new series King Ghidorah is not only a planet killing space monster and one of the strongest again but THE strongest and all of Earth's monsters team up and beat him. Then in a future sequel when everyone thinks he's dead someone brings him back as an even more powerful cyborg (MKG) thus making the strongest monster that took all of Earth's monsters to beat even stronger and they can't control him and he ends up breaking free and destroying the world again of his own free will and Earth's monsters have to once again team up but now it seems lees likely they'll win because some had died in the first battle against King Ghidorah thus lees help and Mecha-King Ghidorah is even more powerful. And the only thing that beats him in the end is Godzilla pulling a new power out of his ass at the end.

Man that would make for some epic movies.

To go off of that a bit, it would be fun to see a new generation Godzilla vs King Ghidorah movie and for a sequel have the Red Bamboo or some terrorist organization, rogue government group, or some other organization with access to high skill labor and high technology to create this Ghidorah cyborg.

i'm of the opinion that King Ghidorah the planet killer doesn't need any addtional forms. However as far as Red Bamboo goes, they could get some DNA off of the battlefield after the planet killer has been defeated and either killed or driven away (presumed dead), they attempt to clone it, but something goes wrong and they have to make it a cyborg to keep it alive. After they use it as a weapon and are defeated... Perhaps it's shown in a post credits scene the the original isn't quite as dead as it was thought to be lol

[kaiju115]

Mecha-King Ghidorah is just pure Awesome. One of the main reasons why consider Godzilla vs King Ghidorah as one of my top 3 favorites. I think it would be wicked to see this character again fighting Godzilla, though I doubt that will happen, but still just think about it.

[leunames]

MKG is my favorite Heisei design, followed by Biollante.

I choose to allow G vs KG to be an entertaining Godzilla movie waaay before any theoretical physics discussion even begins to become a factor. That being said, the origin of MKG is pretty neat, and a unique entry into Godzilla lore as a whole: take Godzilla's most resilient enemy (I mean that in a franchise context, and not in the actual context of the film), weaponize it cybernetically through future technology, and send it back in time so that Godzilla can face him yet again. It's a great origin, for how many times has Godzilla posed enough of a threat that warranted traveling into the future to procure upgrades that otherwise would not hav been possible in the current time, and then send back the completed product to fight Godzilla? It's a great concept.

Design-wise, it works to such a great degree. Instead of doing a full fledged robotic version, MKG is the first and only mecha to be ostensibly be a cyborg, as opposed to being entirely cybernetic (kiryu aside), which I thin was a GREAT idea. 2 organic heads and 1 cybernetic one instantly makes MKG's design unique, while the large metallic wings with the solar-panel looking patterns also helps give MKG a distinct profile that is separate and different from the plethora of wings in the godzilla franchise. I first knew about MKG when I saw the Bandai toy in Forbidden Planet back in 1991, and the fact that it was missing its middle head but still retain certain elements of the original monster gave a lot of clues about how the movie was going to play out, which again is a credit to the design.

Unfortunately it under-performed against Godzilla, considering how its cybernetic components were recycled to create a mecha that actually did kill Godzilla. Still, the design remains my favorite. I wish there were more toys of this character available aside from the Bandai and the marmit Monster Heaven.

[GIGAN05]

In my honest opinion, MKG is the worst executed monster next to Kaiser Ghidorah in
Toho kaiju movie history. A pretty cool idea on paper, but what did we get?

King Ghidorah having a cosplay malfunction. Seriously, all it has going for it is the machine hand. Godzilla Island had a much better looking MKG and I would take that design over the film version ANY DAY.

Everytime I see that suit, I cannot help but cringe on the inside.

That's my thoughts on such a dissipointing waste.

[Arbok]

King Ghidorah having a cosplay malfunction. Seriously, all it has going for it is the machine hand. Godzilla Island had a much better looking MKG and I would take that design over the film version ANY DAY.

Do you mean the one where all three heads are metal? I prefer the movie Mecha-King Ghidorah to that one because it's a unique looking cyborg... it's not a straight up mecha like Mechagodzilla or Mechani-Kong, and stands out for that reason. The visual dynamic of the central mechanized head with the two flesh ones next to it works in my opinion.

[eabaker]

King Ghidorah having a cosplay malfunction. Seriously, all it has going for it is the machine hand. Godzilla Island had a much better looking MKG and I would take that design over the film version ANY DAY.

Do you mean the one where all three heads are metal? I prefer the movie Mecha-King Ghidorah to that one because it's a unique looking cyborg... it's not a straight up mecha like Mechagodzilla or Mechani-Kong, and stands out for that reason. The visual dynamic of the central mechanized head with the two flesh ones next to it works in my opinion.

Yeah, while I find MKG a little clunky in action - well, really, practically immobile - I think the design itself is completely bitchin.

In fact, the machine hand is my one major issue with the design. I don't see how the heck that thing fit inside MKG's torso, and the effect is just silly looking.

[Llante]

I like Mecha King Ghidorah alot. It was a pretty cool concept to give Ghidorah the Mecha treatment. In particular, I liked the design of half robotic/half living being, kinda like Gigan. (There is an idea: Gigan and Mecha King Ghidorah: The Cyborg Monsters) Like typical Heisei kaiju, MKG makes a pretty good kaiju to use in the future, just with some different backstory or features. However, I do appreciate his role in the movie. Overall, I find Mecha King Ghidorah to be a good kaiju. Not bad, not great, just good. Oh yeah, and G-Force salvaging MKG for Mechagodzilla was pretty smart and unique.

[Arbok]

Oh yeah, and G-Force salvaging MKG for Mechagodzilla was pretty smart and unique.

Concur. One of those moments that makes continuity really work... in fact, I would say the best example in the Heisei series.

[Beef Bigshot]

I was wandering what people would think if mecha king ghidorah returned in a movie. I know alot of people would think it's cool if he would return but what role would he have. What would he look like , redesign?


If they redesign him I would want the mecha head to look more vicious and not so durpy. Also I would like if the wing were wider at the top and would shrink the farther down they went. Besides that I like the design just wished it look more ferocious.

Also I would like to see him as either an alien weapon, red bamboo Thingy, or an EDF type thing if handled well
No more future crap

[eabaker]

MKG is one of those Toho creations that I feel is too intimately bound to his original narrative context to be appropriate for a re-working. In general, I'm not big on the idea of monsters being cyborgized, and I think the time travel, moral-compass-spinning scenario into which Omori wrote him is just where he belongs.

[Legionmaster]

In general, I'm not big on the idea of monsters being cyborgized

That's because you're a poopyhead.

I think it would be neat if they took the KG/MKG upgrade thing and twisted it back into the alien narrative. That is, assuming we ever see KG or aliens again. I always dug this head concept and wished they had gone with the visor motif instead.

[Beef Bigshot]

If they did pretty much anything elso other than time travel with him I would be happy. Also I said this once and I'll say it again, he needs a more vicious looking redisngn. The mecha head is just sooo...durpy and unopposing that it's almost down playing his whole concept. Also I would like to see his bahavior change. He could have the potential to be a really scary monster

[Arbok]

I was pretty appalled when I first learned of Mecha-King Ghidorah. My first reaction was really how could they take a classic character like King Ghidorah and slice him up and turn him into a cyborg?

The Heisei series was about taking risks though (outside of Godzilla vs. Mothra that played it safe), and thought they did a good job of this aspect when I saw the film. I don't think we should see it return, though. I think it's something that gives a unique flavor to the 1991 movie and should stay at that.

[eabaker]

If they did pretty much anything elso other than time travel with him I would be happy.

And I'm curious what better thematic and narrative motivation you can imagine for the character.

[Legionmaster]

If they did pretty much anything elso other than time travel with him I would be happy.

And I'm curious what better thematic and narrative motivation you can imagine for the character.

King Ghidorah, the maniacal destroyer of worlds, battered by Godzilla in a failure of his own hubris, is reanimated by evil techno-aliens bent on controlling all with their mechanistic assimilation! Only in the end can Ghidorah's lone surviving head regain control of his body to destroy the mothership of his oppressors, bring freedom back into the world of man & monster!

[Living Corpse]

He could still be an alien, just have some war monnger find his body and turn it into a cyborg after he lost a fight to a group of Earth monsters. They did it on Marc's Godzilla novels.

[eabaker]

He could still be an alien, just have some war monnger find his body and turn it into a cyborg after he lost a fight to a group of Earth monsters. They did it on Marc's Godzilla novels.

One could write such a thing, but the question of "why" remains.

MKG's creation was completely germane to GvsKG. In most other contexts, it just seems like something one would include for its own sake.

[Living Corpse]

Why? Cause he can be used as a weapon. He's of free will when alive as King Ghidorah, then when he losses he is brought back as a cyborg weapon.

Hell it could be aliens who bring him back so it seems more logical how he could be turned into a cyborg with advance technology we humans don't have.

[eabaker]

Why? Cause he can be used as a weapon. He's of free will when alive as King Ghidorah, then when he losses he is brought back as a cyborg weapon.

Hell it could be aliens who bring him back so it seems more logical how he could be turned into a cyborg with advance technology we humans don't have.

Not why would characters in-universe do it, why would it be included in a story? What would it add or mean?

[Living Corpse]

eabaker ask yourself this, why do the aliens always need to control Godzilla and/or other monsters when they can just invade with their clearly more advance weapons?



And they make for powerful Bio-Weapons.