Kaiju Personalities

[DaveTheAnalyzer]

I remember going to Rodan's Roost site and I really enjoyed their kaiju stats section. The personality section was among my favorites, since this was among the time I realized these monsters had personality.

So are there any kaiju you like for their personality? Or you could ask the personality of a certain kaiju you find hard to grasp.

An example of the latter for me was Rodan. For a long while, I could only define him as a generic pterosaur and BabyG's Big Brother. Then I saw Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster, and fell in love with his some what cowardly hit and miss fighting strategy, as well as him cackling at other people's pain. Yet he isn't without his redeeming qualities, and combined with the above, I like him as much as Anguirus.

[Space Hunter M]

Godzilla 1962. He's such a loveable jerkass. He seemed rather cocky after his escape from the iceberg, pretty much mocking King Kong as an opponent. I always assumed he gained a level of respect for Kong after loosing to him. He soon returned to these ways two films later, when he fought with Rodan.

[SpanishBulldog63]

Angurius,with his never-say-die attitude,and constant underdog status, has always been one of my favorite monsters for that reason alone.And considering the size difference between him and his enemies, I think it's safe to say Anguirus has got a kaiju-sized Napoleon Complex.If any kaiju matches my personality,it's Anguirus.

[Destroyer]

The Godzilla monsters are great for their distinctive personalities.

Rodan as mentioned has a great fun character to watch on screen. He thinks he's cool stuff and loves to openly taunt and mock Godzilla. Of course, after Ghidorah, they found a new respect for each other. Ah, Rodan, so awesome.

Anguirus is the bravest monster of them all. When he saw Godzilla getting defeated, he ran straight into Gigan's buzzsaw. Unlike Rodan, he doesn't consider himself to be cool and all that, he just wants to help out.

In terms of villains, I always did find Destoroyah's personality to be the most brutal, with Rodan being my favorite hero's personality.

[The Midnight Man]

I'm not too keen on the actual movie, but I do quite like the portrayal of Gabara. A swaggering, over confident bully that's all too happy to pick on a opponent too scared to fight back, but gets his ass kicked pretty soundly in an actual fight.

Can't narrow it down to specific moments, but I really like the interplay between Gaira and Sanda during their climatic showdown. It's testament to some great acting on the part of both suit actors, as you get the sense that Sanda is holding himself back at the beginning of the fight, and is still trying to make his "brother" see reason; and Gaira just ain't having any of that. Even before that, the moment where Sanda discovers his sibling has been preying on humans, and just through simple body language there's a real sense of disgust and anger. All good stuff.

Honourable mention goes to Megaguirus smiling just before she collapses a structure onto Godzilla. Very cool character moment for what was previously a fairly unremarkable character.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

I love how pissy Godzy is in Sea Monster and Son of Godzilla. He's got the attitude of a man with very little patience, a lot of pent-up rage, and a mean streak a mile wide (mocking Ebirah with his own claw, anyone?). He's indifferent to Minya through most of his picture, even knocking the kid around a bit, but that just makes it more admirable when he finally comes to his aid and then shelters him from the cold.

The gruff, angry brawler with a heart of gold. How many film monsters do you get such a definitive impression of?

[menschenjaeger]

Ghidorah = the street lunatic shouting randomly on the street corner + gravity beams

[Cimmerian Dragon]

That is a priceless description. That's what I missed in all of his later incarnations; Ghidorah is supposed to be batshit crazy.

[SpanishBulldog63]

Gigan to me is like the kid at school who likes to pick on others,but can't stand the taste of his own medicine,and Megalon is like his big brainless back-up friend

[menschenjaeger]

I guess this is the place to mention the term I always think of when I see Goji in any of the "Holy Trinity" of G-films: Smacked ass. Godzilla is such a smacked ass in Mothra vs. Godzilla, especially, but also in the following two films. The scene with his tail getting caught in the tower, then tripping, then dropping the tower on himself, and then beating the crap out of the fallen tower... He's just big and irritable, and clumsy as hell.

He was every bit as much a smacked ass in GTTHM. Rodan just humiliated him. TAIL BITING! Then his first tangle with King Ghidorah. In Monster Zero, he seemed to be a little more capable, but he still had some smacked ass moments: his fancy footwork during the final fight, and the moment when all the monsters "come to" after the Xiliens are out of the picture. The way he looks at the unconscious King G and kicks some rocks onto him. "YOU! This was all YOUR fault! Get up, you!"

So he's a big tough guy, but what a total smacked ass.

[DaveTheAnalyzer]

I love Anguirus, and his grouchy, but loyal Determinator personality. He is so whipped with Godzilla.

Destroyah is so For the Evulz.

I like Gabara. His bullying, dirty coward personality would make him a great and dispicable antagonist if he got a villain upgrade.

I need to see if I could get War of the Gargantuas. It's been a while.

Megaguirus, lovely villain. So smart and wicked, she basically flew circles around Godzilla until he learned her style. I would like to see her again someday.

Interesting...I never thought of King Ghidorah being mentally unstable. I wonder what his origins were.

Ah, Gigan could teach Gabara how to be an effective @$$hole? And Gigan is the member of the bully posse that just unintelligently repents whatever the head bully says? Interesting.

Ah, Godzilla. Such a dojikko, and realizing he isn't the strongest 'mon on the block. I wonder if they they just left the clumsiness in because they didn't have to budget to refilm scenes. And he's so gruff but had some sprinkles of goodness inside him. No wonder he and Anguirus are such a perfect match.

[Rody]

To me, King-Goji has several traits of a two/three-year old. As Space Hunter M alluded to, he doesn't seem to take his fights with Kong seriously. When they first meet, Goji's constantly bouncing and clapping and randomly firing his ray. Clearly, he sees this as nothing more than a game. The only time Goji seems particularly serious is when Kong later grabs him by the tail, and I'm pretty sure Goji's just panicking because he can't see what's going on.

Kong, on the other hand, seems sort of like a veteran warrior who's pretty ticked off about being forced out of retirement. He has anger to vent, and is fully willing to take it out on Godzilla ---- until Goji whips out the atomic ray. This throws Kong for a loop; he's not used to this kind of combat. When he finally just looks at Godzilla and walks away, I read it as him deciding that it's not worth the effort - and he's just not in the mood - to teach this big brat of a monster the lesson he deserves.

[HayesAJones]

Anguirus is an obvious first choice. Such a determined little bastard. Gigan and Megalon really hit it off as a pair. Both enjoying taunting and mocking foes, but Gigan has a yellow streak and Megalon is a bit dumb. SpaceGodzilla always scream 'giant dickhead' to me, and just dripped with ill intent in his closeup shots. Destoroyah too, he just wants to kill everything. Megaguirus is another lovely villain, very mean and jeer-y during her fight.

And then, of course, there the biggest and best of them all- GMK Godzilla. This guy OOZES hate and anger and ferocity. You can tell what's going on his in head, with those animated lips and brows. He's such a brutal jerkass. I love him.

[edgaguirus]

I also have to say Anguirus. He's a loyal ally, but brave and tenacious. He'll take a hit if it means getting the bad guy.

Gaira always struck me as angry and with an inferiority complex. He always has to prove he's strong and tough, even if his opponent isn't interested in combat.

Sanda is the rugged outdoorsman who likes his privacy. He will help out when it's needed, but doesn't encourage company, like when he waved off Akami.

Minya showed a load of personality. The kid seemed lonely and uncertain of himself, but has a fighting spirit when he musters it up.

[The H-Man]

Then his first tangle with King Ghidorah.

That's got to be one of my favorite scenes, Godzilla rushing in to tangle with Ghidorah, only to get thrown into that bridge. He completely underestimated Ghidorah.

A couple of favorite personality scenes from the two Showa MechaGodzilla movies are when G first confronts MG and knocks away bits of his outer skin (when MG is still disguised), Godzilla backs off and looks puzzled, like "WTF am I fighting here?". Second one is in Terror, when G rips off MG's head, only to realize that this time that doesn't do the trick. He then disgustedly tosses the head aside and moves back in.

[Gyaos]

GMK Godzilla is a definite must on my list.

Kiryu has somewhat of a human personality, especially when he says goodbye to his pilot.

Anguirus, as many have said before, is very determined in battle despite all the odds stacked against him.

Destroyah is just outright evil (not more than GMK Godzilla though)

Spacegodzilla is just a prick, but he makes the list.

Oh, and cant forget the Gigan-Megalon duo.

[Godzilla 1995]

Rodan's a pompous prick.

Godzilla's a jerk, but seems to admire any courageous monster, as shown in Ghidorah, the Three-headed Monster.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

Giant monsters have no personalities.

We merely project personalities upon them.

[Destroyer]

Giant monsters have no personalities.

We merely project personalities upon them.

Lies, all lies!

Personality has been displayed in a bunch of them, mainly in the Showa films.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

Giant monsters have no personalities.

We merely project personalities upon them.

Lies, all lies!

Personality has been displayed in a bunch of them, mainly in the Showa films.

A few quirky actions don't dictate a personality.