Character Analysis: 7
Date: 9/15/09

Deity to the underground Seatopian Kingdom, Megalon is a powerhouse boasting formidable offensive capabilities. On paper, the creature is one of the more powerful beings featured in the Showa series, hosting a variety of unique weapons. Despite this, though, the creature proved somehow less effective in battle.

	Cutaway view of Megalon

A look below the skin shows off several of the monster's many feats. These range from the ability to jump ten kilometers using its strong leg muscles to being able to see where the beast creates its Napalm Bombs. At 40,000 tons, the creature is also massive. The third heaviest being in the Showa series in fact, behind only Moguera and Hedorah while tied with Mechagodzilla. Exactly what is leading to all of this extra mass is unknown.

Some have speculated, due to the rather peculiar drills Megalon sports, that the deity might be a cyborg similar to Gigan. The cutaway view shows this not to be the case, however. Megalon is a strictly organic creature, stated in books to have developed to its odd state due to the influence of "magnetic fields" altering its growth.

Regardless of origins, Megalon ends up being one of the more outlandish designs in the Godzilla films. An oddity both in appearance and weaponry, the Seatopian god is one of the more complex creatures created by Toho up to this point.

Drill Overview of Megalon

Drill:
The creature's most memorable, and outlandish, feature: its drill, or "Omni-Drill".

By combining its two forearms together, Megalon could create a powerful drill weapon. As hard as diamond, the drill was able to cut through most things in its path in a matter of seconds. For whatever reason, though, the creature did not seem particularly prone to use this as a weapon. Instead, the monster seemed to favor attacking with its hands separated to try and lash out at its foes.

Burrowing:
No other creature comes close to matching Megalon when it comes to its unbelievable burrowing abilities. Utilizing its drill, the creature could move through solid rock beneath the Earth's surface with ease. Able to move at a speed of mach 3, the monster was just as comfortable moving beneath the surface as it was above. Due to heightened senses, as mentioned in the top cutaway view, the deity could travel underground while monitoring its prey on the surface, able to sense things as specific as human footsteps while still below ground. This trait was utilized in striking Jet Jaguar from underground successfully, in one of the few instances where Megalon used his drill offensively. Puzzlingly, though, despite nailing a direct hit the first time, the creature is way off during its second attempt to strike Jet Jaguar while underground, appearing a good distance away from the robot.

Horn Beam:
Sometimes referred to as a "laser", Megalon was able to fire a lightning bolt-like beam from its large horn. Oddly enough, the creature never once utilized this attack against either Godzilla or Jet Jaguar. The monster did utilize it heavily, though, against the Self Defense Force and when destroying Tokyo as it flew over the city. The beam was capable of several impressive displays, such as melting the M4A3E8 Sherman Tanks.

	Dual Horn Beams

Its worth noting that, while flying, Megalon appeared to be able to fire two nearly consecutive blasts from his horn. This is never specifically shown coming in more than one beam from the horn itself, and is obviously due to footage being lifted from Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) of the title character unleashing its gravity beams. So if this is an actually applicable feat of the creature, or simply a stock footage goof, can be left up to the interpretation of the viewer.

Flight:
Although nothing fancy at this stage, Megalon is capable of flying at mach 3 through the air, at the same speed that the creature could burrow. This flight speed is comparable to Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Gigan. It is, however, slower than the speed both Jet Jaguar and Mechagodzilla could fly at, the two fastest monsters in the Showa series.

Napalm Bombs:
Generated in the beast's stomach, Megalon was capable of shooting detonating bombs from its mouth. These bombs typically exploded on impact, although this wasn't always the case as in one instance when a bomb fell on the surface and Jet Jaguar was able to pick it up and toss it back.

Accidentally Swallowing a Bomb

Offensively, the bombs did not appear to be all that powerful, although were more than capable of blasting Jet Jaguar out of the sky. Megalon appeared to be fairly impervious to the attack himself, after he accidentally swallows a bomb that lands back into his mouth. Rather than causing a rupture or any significant and long term damage, the bomb appears to explode in his mouth and all that occurs is a trail of smoke emitted from his maw afterwards as he groans. At the very least, it proves that Megalon is not short changed when it comes to his defensive properties.

Intelligence:
So despite Megalon's diverse powers, what kept the creature from competing successfully against other monsters? The answer falls in its intelligence, or lack there of. Despite its physical prowess, the monster was almost child-like in terms of its mental state. Looking at the drill cutaway view, it's easy to see that Megalon has a fairly small brain compared to just about every other monster in the Showa series. This actually played out to the Seatopian's advantage, as they were able to control the creature simply by waving Jet Jaguar in front of it, causing the beast to follow out of curiosity. It also threw a tantrum when Jet Jaguar left, jumping and crashing onto the ground up until the jets started to attack it.

	Ring of Fire

The downfalls of this should be pretty obvious, though. To be fair, Megalon is far from "brain dead". As mentioned drill cutaway view, the creature is able to effectively combine attacks, mustering up both the thought process and the technical capabilities to do things such as firing his beam while launching Napalm Bombs. The beast was cunning enough to decide to try and trap Godzilla and Jet Jaguar in a ring of fire as well. Furthermore, the creature also tried to circle Jet Jaguar enough to make the robot dizzy as a plan of attack. Sadly, these are more exceptions to the rule rather than the norm though.

Megalon's Favorite Attack: Charge

The greatest problem facing Megalon is his battle tactics. The creature could be an effective long range attacker, boasting two different attacks to utilize. It could also slowly wear its opponent down, using burrowing strikes or even its flight more effectively. In practice, though, Megalon often rushes straight in to attack with simply its arms, not even using them as a drill. It's not even very good at these rush attacks either, as Godzilla was able to rather effortlessly step out of the way as Megalon went running head first into Gigan. The creature is not deterred with this failing either, as its seen trying it again and again while its arsenal, such as the horn beam, are never called upon. The end result is a creature that was easily outclassed by Jet Jaguar until Gigan showed up, and a deity that was hopelessly outmatched by Godzilla.

Final Thoughts:
Megalon has the physical power to be a real threat to a lot of monsters, but not the brain power to effectively utilize it. He has some potent weapons that, if combined, could make him a formidable opponent. However, his methods of rushing into combat head first have shown that, when push comes to shove, he is not very menacing in battle. A monster with adequate defenses, good agility, and a penchant for calculated strikes should be able to dispatch him, as Jet Jaguar proved since he didn't even need to utilize his flight power to quickly get the upper hand over him.