Varan 波羅蛇麒 (2001)

One of the first choices to be a Guardian Monster in the early draft for Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), this interpretation of Varan would have remained largely faithful to the incarnations preceeding it.

Having been sealed away a thousand years ago, the Guardian Monster would have been named "Baradagi". Its muscular body sported a white color scheme while membranes under its arms allowed it to glide freely on the wind. Baradagi would have been awakened from its slumber in Lake Tazawa in Akita due to campers playing loud music on the lakeside, the beast confusing the commotion for being Godzilla's roars. Baradagi would eventually meet Godzilla in battle, having been renamed "Varan" by the Self Defense Force, and would have put its gliding prowess to good use with the turbulence caused by Anguirus and Baragon's differing body temperatures. In the end, however, the Guardian Monster would prove no match against the vengeful Godzilla. In its final moments, the mortally wounded Varan would catch Yuri Tachibana on its back as she fell from the Bay Bridge, bringing her safely to the ground and allowing her to escape. Its life expended, Varan would collapse and melt, turn to bone, and decay away.

Compared to Baragon and Anguirus, not many concepts for Varan exist, though a detailed clay model of its design was made. Unfortunately for Varan, Toho was not very keen in adding such an obscure monster to their next Godzilla movie, and were adamant in adding in more bankable, "flashy" monsters. Reportedly, Kaneko agreed to Toho's terms after discussing the situation with some of his friends and discovering that most of them weren't familiar with the monsters he was proposing. His compromise, though, was to still include Baragon in the final treatment. As a result, Varan would end up being replaced by Mothra, and Baragon would be the only one of the three original Guardian Monsters to make it to the big screen.

While Varan didn't make it to the final cut, some elements of the monster survived, such as its watery lair being home to the slumbering Mothra, and the scene of Yuri being saved after falling from the Bay Bridge being revised and later given to a revived King Ghidorah.

• Most images can be found in the 2001 book Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Super Complete Works (ISBN: 409101481X). Varan's clay model was created by monster designer and sculptor Fuyuki Shinada, who worked on the design in private.
• The details regarding "Baradagi" and its origins and abilities can be found in a special booklet supplied with the 2002 Toho-published 3-disc DVD set of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001).
• Mention of its midair shockwave attack can be found in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Completion (ISBN: 9784798627793).
• Following a Movie Monster Series poll held by Toho earlier in 2022, Varan not only received a long-awaited vinyl figure, but also additional merchandise later the same year. A select few of these items surprisingly featured the White Wind Guardian Monster Varan. The illustration in the image gallery above is from a clear file found on the Godzilla Store, while other items sporting this art included stickers and t-shirts.