Godzilla vs. Barubaroi

Unmade Film
Intended Release:
1995

Conceived by:

Koichi Kawakita,
Hideki Oka

Godzilla vs. Barubaroi


Japanese Title

ゴジラVSバルバロイ
[Gojira vs. Barubaroi]

After the death of the original Godzilla in 1954, a mysterious organism is captured in Tokyo Bay where the Oxygen Destroyer was used, and is later brought to the Yamane Paleontology Lab. After consuming a Japanese rice fish and transforming, it is discovered the mystery creature evolves by preying on other creatures.

Studies on the enigmatic specimen named "Barubaroi" continue as it predates on various Japanese wildlife, including a spider crab, a giant salamander, and an octopus. 40 years pass, and the creature remains confined in a small aquarium.

Eventually, G-Force shows interest in the shapeshifting anomoly and wish to monitor it themselves. However, after being moved to a G-Force lab, the creature runs rampant and ends up being burned to cinders with a flamethrower. Unbeknownst to G-Force, fragments of Barubaroi escape the lab and make their way to the outside world.

Now free, Barubaroi begins growing rapidly as it feasts on South Sea insects and gains the ability to fly. It also consumes pieces of Godzilla on Birth Island and becomes capable of emitting an atomic ray, steadily growing larger and more powerful.

As time goes on, the transforming monstrosity begins traveling the globe, fighting and consuming other monsters including a species of Anguirus, its body forming numerous heads and eyes and growing taller than Godzilla himself. Barubaroi then reaches its final evolutionary form and does battle against Godzilla Junior and Godzilla for planetary dominance - all the while, G-Force deals with conspiracies surrounding the United Nations, with Commander Takaki Aso pushing for the completion of the GOH-TEN to unleash the ultimate weapon: the Neo Oxygen Destroyer.

Background - Images - Concept Evolution

LOST PROJECT HISTORY

A movie pitched by Koichi Kawakita and Hideki Oka, Godzilla vs. Barubaroi was intended to close out the Heisei Godzilla VS series by introducing a bizarre antagonist with ties to the original 1954 Godzilla film. Kawakita and Oka worked closely with staff when it came to brainstorming ideas. Because of this, a number of submitted stories and concepts for the Barubaroi monster exist, though Oka's draft proved to be the most influencial.

Starting off life as a tiny organism, Barubaroi would have been found in the waters of Tokyo Bay in 1954 where the first Godzilla died, eventually being transported to a lab for further testing. Years later, it would escape its confinement, traveling the world's oceans and consuming other wildlife. Finally, the movie would culminate in a final battle between Barubaroi and Godzilla, with the latter dying either at the hands of Barubaroi or by other means.

While not mentioned in plot summaries, Godzilla Junior appears in concept art facing off against Barubaroi before the beast reaches its final evolutionary form. Likewise, Anguirus and a subspecies, Anguirus Hound, were set to appear in some capacity, with the Hound and potentially Anguirus becoming fodder for the growing Barubaroi. Lastly, in Oka's draft, the prohibited weapon dubbed the "Neo Oxygen Destroyer" would have been utilized to presumably eradicate Barubaroi and Godzilla at the very end of the film, with the deadly weapon being used via the GOH-TEN by Commander Takaki Aso. The commander would have also had a subplot dealing with "hot drama" surrounding his past, all the while haggling with the United Nations, who put the near complete development of the GOH-TEN on ice.

Originally, Kawakita wanted a monster comprised of smaller creatures that could coalesce into enormous size, with the final product having a very abnormal and nonuniform body type. As development continued and more staff became attached to the project, the idea for Barubaroi to be turned into a crustacean-themed monster was introduced by Minoru Yoshida, a theme that would carry over into future designs. However, it was learned that Barubaroi's name was a derogatory word in ancient Greek, leading to the eventual name change of "Destoroyah".

While Godzilla vs. Barubaroi was not truly realized, many of its introduced concepts - such as a monster comprised of smaller organisms, the use of flamethrowers as Barubaroi runs amok, the potential recreation of the Oxygen Destroyer, and the close ties to 1954 - would set the stage for what would later become Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995).


Monsters

Anguirus (1995)
Anguirus (1995)



Aliens, SDF & Misc.

Neo Oxygen Destroyer
Neo Oxygen Destroyer
GOH-TEN
Gotengo (1995)
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick



Background and Trivia

  • The article picture featuring Barubaroi was colored by artist hea777 using Kaoru Kamigiku's black-and-white concept sketch as a base for use by Toho Kingdom. The colored look is an interpretation, and not Toho's official colors for the unused character.
  • While largely mentioned in passing in most media, this lost film was extensively covered in the 2012 publication Heisei Godzilla Perfection (ISBN 4048861190), with some additional details featured in Kawakita's book Heisei Godzilla Chronicle (ISBN 4873763193).
  • Despite the inclusion of the Neo Oxygen Destroyer, some notes on concept artwork mention the original Oxygen Destroyer as potentially having some impact on the movie's plot.
  • Both the GOH-TEN and the special combat battleship Moby-Dick would have played very similar roles in the movie. The inclusion of the GOH-TEN was of Hideki Oka's doing, while that of Moby-Dick was suggested by Yosuke Nakano.
  • While Hideki Oka was responsible for writing the draft, all the concept sketches featuring Oka's Barubaroi and GOH-TEN were done by Toho monster designer Kaoru Kamigiku.

Images


Concept Evolution

Godzilla vs. Giant Monster Varan Concept Evolution Godzilla: Great Naval Battle Concept Evolution Revenge of SpaceGodzilla Concept Evolution Terror of SpaceGodzilla Concept Evolution
Godzilla vs. Giant Monster Varan   Godzilla: Great Naval Battle   Revenge of SpaceGodzilla   Terror of SpaceGodzilla  
Earth Defense Force G-Force Concept Evolution Moonlight SY-1~2 Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Cyber City Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Cyborgman Concept Evolution
Earth Defense Force G-Force   Moonlight SY-1~2   Godzilla vs. Cyber City   Godzilla vs. Cyborgman  
Godzilla vs. Android Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Legendary Beast Concept Evolution Godzilla S Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Godzilla (Alternate Draft) Concept Evolution
Godzilla vs. Android   Godzilla vs. Legendary Beast   Godzilla S   Godzilla vs. Godzilla (Alternate Draft)  
Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Godzilla (Story Plan A) Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Baraguirus Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Chaos Concept Evolution
Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla   Godzilla vs. Godzilla (Story Plan A)   Godzilla vs. Baraguirus   Godzilla vs. Chaos  
Godzilla vs. the Divine Beast Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Bagan Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Junior Godzilla Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Deep-Sea Life Concept Evolution
Godzilla vs. the Divine Beast   Godzilla vs. Bagan   Godzilla vs. Junior Godzilla   Godzilla vs. Deep-Sea Life  
Godzilla vs. Biomonster Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Super-Nuked Godzilla Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Lambda Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Barubaroi Concept Evolution
Godzilla vs. Biomonster   Godzilla vs. Super-Nuked Godzilla   Godzilla vs. Lambda   Godzilla vs. Barubaroi  
Godzilla vs. Barubaroi (Nakano Draft) Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (Early Draft) Concept Evolution Godzilla vs. Destoroyah    
Godzilla vs. Barubaroi (Nakano Draft)   Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (Early Draft)   Godzilla vs. Destoroyah