Best and Worse Kaiju Redesigns

[Godzilla 1995]

Good gosh, have they no decency?? Those are terrible!

Yes, yes. And we hear the same whining as always.

Did you miss the part where I said "paleontologist?"

Not all of these are designed to appeal to your taste. More-or-less designed to appeal to a biological, form-follows-function kind of taste.

I know far worse than this.

I didn't miss the part where you said paleontologist, I just think they're ugly from a visual standpoint. They're not pretty to look at, and not just because of their design. I don't find the art style appealing.

[Gyaos]

Admittedly, I liked Baragon and Biollante. Everything else is bleh.

[Godzilla 1995]

Admittedly, I liked Baragon and Biollante. Everything else is bleh.

I can kinda see Biollante being sort of alright, but I thought Baragon was the worst. Kinda looks like some mutated rat.

[HayesAJones]

It's the pose. Why is he posed like some cutesy bunny?

[VamprisArachne]

It's the pose. Why is he posed like some cutesy bunny?

Not to mention his face looks like this:

[Gyaos]

Admittedly, I liked Baragon and Biollante. Everything else is bleh.

I can kinda see Biollante being sort of alright, but I thought Baragon was the worst. Kinda looks like some mutated rat.

Her disfigured head and the almost pained look on her face is the stuff of nightmares, it really looks like a mutation.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

You know guys, I tire easily of your guys artistic ignorance.

So.

[Godzilla 1995]

Look, Nick, I'm no art critic, nor do I want to be. I like some designs, and there are some I don't like. I don't like the paleontology look for the Godzilla monsters and that's pretty much it. They're just not my thing. I'm not being ignorant, I'm just stating my tastes.

[Gyaos]

Hey man, I actually liked some of the designs >.>

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

Hey man, I actually liked some of the designs >.>

Not you, Frank. It's a general commentary about Godzilla fans.

[SpanishBulldog63]

Directed at the last two batch of pictures:

Anguirus and Baragon are just hideous. I wouldn't know that was suppose to be Anguirus if it wasn't labelled. Baragon's recognizable at least, but what the hell is he suppose to be? Some sort of nightmarish reptilian rabbit? He's ugly in a totally unlikable way.

Rodan and Gorosaurus are just awkwardly proportioned. Their heads are enormous. I'm pretty sure they would just fall on their faces if they tried to move.

Manda as a fish rather than a snake/serpent/dragon is an interesting idea. Adding the leafy sea dragon bits ruins it for me though. He looses that lithe, sinuous look. Maybe a full catfish/eel version could work though.

I actually like Biollante, Mothra, and Gyaos. It's cool that you can recognize specific plants on Bio instead of her just being a generic mass of vines. Mothra breaks the plain ol' moth look without being crazy extreme, and the feet look like they could be nasty weapons. Gyaos reminds me of Bat Gremlin. His crests look just like Gremlin ears. I love it, the resemblance is oddly fitting.

This. I think if done right,a paleontological aspect of the Godzilla kaiju would look pretty cool,but in the case of the designs i posted,the only ones i find actually pretty cool were Gyaos and Mothra, simply because.as HayesAJones mentioned, he really reminds me of the Bat Gremlin. Mothra in her design actually looks like a realistic moth.

But the others? I can kinda see where he was going with Anguirus,but the head and tail imo bastardize the design into one of those old-school glued-on-fin lizards. Baragon...damn what the hell happened here? im sure a paleontologist probably would have gone the ceratopsian route,but we get this armadillo/rabbit lovechild from hell instead. With Manda,personally I'd have gone the serpent route, simply because the fossil record has some pretty big snakes(ex. Titanoboa),so marine version would be possible,albeit an archaic version thats still have legs.

Hayes,you pretty much hit the nail on the head with Rodan and Gorosaurus.Goro's design kinda gets to me more,because its one thing to have a large head,but another when the head is the same size as the midsection.

[anguirusnut94]

Some of these have probably been posted before but I thought I'd post them all. They have an interesting vibe but I wouldn't call them "movie ready."

Godzilla and Minilla


Mothra larva and adult


King Ghidorah


Rodan


Anguirus


Baragon

I'm iffy on Gigan and JJ, but I'm loving the rest of these, esspecially Baragon and Anguirus.

[Inferno Rodan]

Yes, yes. And we hear the same bitching as always.

Did you miss the part where I said "paleontologist?"

Not all of these are designed to appeal to your taste. More-or-less designed to appeal to a biological, form-follows-function kind of taste.

I know far worse than this.

>implying taking a paleontological/scientific view of the monsters requires turning them into generic dinosaurs and reptiles with spikes and stuff tacked on

Taking a form-follows-function approach goes pretty much completely against the basic principals behind these characters' designs. If you wanna do that with your own monsters, fine. Hell, I lean in that direction myself with the vast majority of my monsters. But applying it to existing monsters which were never intended to be made that way is stupid.

[Rody]

My opinion on the B&W sketches:
First of all, I'll say that this fellow definitely has a talent at drawing, so I won't criticize him on that. Nevertheless....

Godzilla is decent. However, his limbs look too skinny and the plates look very poor.
Minilla looks less like Minilla and more like a baby GINO.

Imago Mothra is pretty good; but the larva is so big that it looks ridiculous.

Ghidorah looks.... off. I think it's too avian in appearance.

Gigan is atrocious. WHAT was the artist thinking?!

Rodan is decent; but once again I think he looks more avian than reptilian, which I don't like.

I understand why someone might redesign Anguirus in this way, but he never looked much like an Ankylosaur in the first place. Personally, I don't care for it.

Baragon here appears to have gone through a reverse process from his '02 incarnation. The latter became smaller and perhaps more streamlined in appearance, whereas this design has become larger and lankier. Some of the proportions look off to me, so personally I don't like it.

I will say again that this guy seems to be very talented with a pencil/pen --- but the actual designs need work.
I'll review Phillipe Elias's drawings later.

[dogora]

i like this design quite a lot because it closer to its namesake than godzilla actaully is.
http://my.deviantart.com/messages/#/d4q4bef

[Rody]

Interesting; although it doesn't look that much like a gorilla or a whale. Still, I will give the guy credit for creativity.

I think I prefer the other "gorilla-whale" redesign that was posted here, though.

[Tyler]

Posting all these cause I think they're great.

Gamera


Flying Gamera


Barugon


Gyaos


Viras


Guiron


Space Gyaos


Jiger


Zigra


Garasharp


Legion


Legion Soldiers


Iris


Ayana and Iris


Hyper Gyaos


Nightmare Gamera


Zedus


Toru and Toto

[Rody]

Those are interesting; I kind of like the cartoony style.

Some of them are over the top, however.

[Kiryu2012]

I like the Nightmare Gamera design. Makes me want to see him against GMK Godzilla.

[Godzilla1703]

Yes Garasharp! I thought everyone forgot about him! But anyawy, cool, its a great style for a Gamera Anime of Manga but Hyper Gyaos looks kinda fat to me.