Bagan バガン [Video Games]

After the defeat of Mecha-King Ghidorah at the hands of Godzilla, a calm settled on the waking city of Tokyo. Godzilla and his controllers, the Anti-Monster Defense Forces piloting the Super-X2, had arrived just in the nick of time to spare the capital city from any further destruction. With no more monsters running amok and the sun rising over the horizon, it seemed peace was finally at hand. But the tranquil moment was short-lived, as the alien invaders responsible for the monster attacks had one more ace up their sleeve.

Even before its presence was made known, the crew of the Super-X2 pick up the signal of one last monster, a creature even more powerful than the cybernetic king of terror. Shortly thereafter, a massive ball of flesh and blood descends from the skies. Hovering just above the ground and in plain sight of the Super-X2 crew and Godzilla, the aliens called the energy body their ultimate weapon, Bagan, and coldly proclaim that humanity would learn the hard way just how powerful it was. Immediately, the grotesque orb pulses a green aura, its core beating steadily like a deformed heart. As the energy body's movement increases, four spheres emerge from its sides. The miniature flesh-like spores, gyrating at a rapid pace, circle the circumference of the energy body several times before being launched high into the air, one after another. The Super-X2 crew can only watch in horror as the four body spores rapidly soar and plummet towards the distant city of Tokyo. Suddenly, all four projectiles touch down in unison and explode in a brilliant flash. And as the glaring light fades into a reddening bloody sky, the terrible fate of the city is revealed: the entirety of Tokyo has been instantly wiped out.

After the untimely obliteration of the capital of Japan, the aliens challenge Godzilla to fight Bagan, acknowledging their underestimation of his strength but proudly boasting that he still stands no chance against their ultimate weapon. The invaders then declare an assault upon the Anti-Monster Defense Force headquarters at the National Diet Building, with the energy body silently obliging, ascending itself up and away from the devastated Tokyo area. Giving chase, the crew of the Super-X2 and Godzilla make their way towards the rampaging energy body of Bagan, and the aliens once more express nonchalant surprise at Godzilla's continued tenacity. But the arrival of the king of the monsters appears to trigger something within the energy body, as the massive cocoon pulsates with power and erupts into rounds of radiant white light... revealing Bagan's final true form.

• Although Bagan is known for being considered for a number of different Toho movie projects, there is no indication that the "Energy Body" form was ever planned to appear in any of these projects.
  
  

Born in ultra-ancient China and shrouded in myth, the monster Bagan was the ruler of earth, sea, and sky. The beast's legendary power was what brought it to the attention of a nefarious group of aliens plotting to conquer the Earth in the year 199X. Warping back in time, they retrieved the monster and enhanced its already great abilities to incalculable levels through the cellular fusion of both Godzilla's and King Ghidorah's cells - a process directly influenced by the stolen research of Professor Ogata, the foremost expert on Godzilla's cells and member of the Anti-Monster Defense Forces in the present day.

Its metamorphosis finally complete, the energy body housing Bagan's essence erupts into rounds of radiant white light... its transformation alone leveling structures in the surrounding area, including the National Diet Building. The three-horned demon emerges from the light, towering over Godzilla and glaring intently as its alien captors revel in its awakening and explain the mighty beast's ancient origins. Even with a mild cellular fusion buff using King Ghidorah's cells, the crew of the Super-X2 realize that Godzilla is completely outclassed by the aliens'  trump card. And with their primary research lab destroyed, hope seems bleak... until Professor Ogata suggests the military's backup Super-X in Osaka be used to collect energy from resupply bases scattered across Japan. The plan is a timely one, but it remains the only option, and the backup Super-X is immediately dispatched.

Their speech complete, Bagan at last stirs, raining hell upon Godzilla. Despite his best efforts, the king of the monsters can barely scratch the surface of Bagan's thick armored hide. The three-horned monstrosity hardly flinches to any of Godzilla's physical attacks, as its weight alone makes it incredibly sturdy. Even Godzilla's signature Fire Breath Attack is rendered useless by Bagan's force field. Only when Godzilla taps into his inner power with a Hyper Breath Attack does Bagan's force field fall, but the damage is still negligible. The hybrid super-monster retaliates after each of Godzilla's attacks with devastating body strikes, quickly depleting Godzilla's energy and dropping his fighting spirit. The situation is made even more dire as Bagan unsheathes its electrically-powered Slasher Claw, and unleashes its energy-based Plasma Beam and Diamond Storm techniques - all of which do tremendous damage.

But just as victory is within reach for the invaders, the backup Super-X at last arrives! The metal fortress startles Bagan, sending the monster careening backwards, giving just enough time necessary for the Super-X to pump its collected energy reservoir into the battered Godzilla.

The effect is immediate: Godzilla begins to flash a deep purple, his size growing and shifting, spikes jutting from enlarged shoulders and glowing green patches of skin erupting from his chest and spines, until finally his body calms - and a near-unrecognizable new form stands in his place. The fusion between Godzilla and King Ghidorah's cells has been fully realized: Super Godzilla!

With this new transformation, Super Godzilla stands on equal footing with the devil beast Bagan. The two square off in a battle of epic proportions, neither holding back as they blast one another with supped-up techniques and land ground-quaking physical strikes. But in the end, humanity's savior in the form of Super Godzilla emerges triumphant. With a deafening roar, the mythical Bagan sinks into the earth as a beam of light engulfs him and the surrounding area. The red sky clears, and the tri-horned behemoth is no more. The aliens, distraught at these events, refuse to acknowledge defeat and begin to retreat. But the crew aboard the Super-X2 shoot the alien mothership down, bringing an end to their terror.

With the invaders defeated, Super Godzilla demorphs into his original form, and the operation box used to control him is destroyed after his violent battle. Instinctively, Godzilla heads back out to sea under the rising sun, and peace returns to the world. Bagan is never seen again.

• Outside of being the final boss of Super Godzilla, Bagan is notoriously known for having been pitched for over a dozen Toho live-action projects, ranging from scrapped film proposals to realized movies. Its more noteworthy considered appearances include: The Resurrection of Godzilla by Tomoyuki Tanaka from 1980, although under a slightly different name and a vastly different form; Mothra vs. Bagan by Kazuki Omori from 1990; the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy from the mid- to late-1990's; Yamato Takeru II from 1997; and a handful of "Godzilla vs. Bagan" treatments scattered across the early to mid-1990's. More details surrounding its failed cinematic history can be found under the separate "Bakan" and "Bagan" unused character pages.
• Despite their visual differences, Bagan's video game incarnation and the black-and-red concept artwork design (right image, left design) are regarded as being the same entity, which is why the latter always appears in Super Godzilla-related material in place of the former.
  
  Both versions are also nearly identical in terms of abilities to the unused white-and-green concept artwork design (right image, right design) slated for Mothra vs. Bagan (1990), which had an anatomical illustration made for it noting its various techniques and anatomical quirks.
• Was created by Minoru Yoshida, one of Toho's chief Heisei-era monster designers responsible for the likes of SpaceGodzilla, Super Godzilla, both larva and imago forms of Battra, Destoroyah's pre-final forms, and a handful of others from movies such as Rebirth of Mothra (1996) and Yamato Takeru (1994).
• According to Super Godzilla producer Masato Takeno in an interview from 2020, it was then-Toho producer Shogo Tomiyama's idea to have Bagan appear in the video game, as the game's staff were looking to introduce original monsters for Godzilla to fight.
  
  

Appearing in two of the many in-game terminals, Bagan is featured alongside Godzilla and Dogolas in the Publicity Dep. where players can create mock movie posters, utilizing given titles and a variety of different poses and angle shots of the monsters. Two titles include "Bagan's Revenge" and "Godzilla VS. Bagan" for the aforementioned kaiju. Once completed, the custom poster can then be printed.

Bagan also appears in the Kid's Shop terminal as a part of a printable sumo wrestling mini-game set, with Godzilla being the opponent. Bagan's wrestler portrait can be printed, cut out, folded, and played on a miniature ring provided in the in-game shop.

• Nearly all of its in-game pictures are gif-like images. The full gallery of turnaround images can be viewed here.
• Its in-game model was sculpted by Minoru Yoshida. In the game's credits, toy company Kaiyodo Co., Ltd. is credited.