Destoroyah デストロイア

In 1954, Japan was devastated by the original Godzilla, which destroyed Tokyo in a single night. Through the brave sacrifice of one Daisuke Serizawa, the leviathan was slain with the usage of his dreadful invention the Oxygen Destroyer.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a trilobite-like organism from the Precambrian era that was resting on the floor of Tokyo Bay was awakened by that same event. Originating from a time when Earth had almost no oxygen, it slowly mutated over decades as it adapted to the modern atmosphere.

By 1996, construction on the Tokyo-Bay Aqua Line disturbed these creatures, triggering strange incidents at the site. Investigators soon discovered living organisms in soil where none should exist. Professor Kensaku Ijuin, the discoverer of the strange compound Micro-Oxygen, realized that these microbes carried the same properties as it. This was revealed to him as he grabbed a vial of a soil sample to find a hole bored into it. The microbes had escaped into the water supply, joining more of their kin as they traveled, binding together into larger forms as they approached life…

• In Everything Godzilla: The Complete Super Encyclopedia (ISBN 4063045579) this form is called the creature's "Microbody" (微小体 - Bisho Tai).
• This stage of Destoroyah is referred to, in English, as the creature's "Microscopic body" in the Godzilla the Encyclopedia (ISBN 9781835610363).
• For Destoroyah's character bio for the game Godzilla Battle Line, it's noted that the creature was originally a trilobite-like crustacean believed to have lived 2.5 billion years ago in the Precambrian era.
• According to the Definitive Edition: The Perfect Godzilla Giant Monster Super Encyclopedia (ISBN 9784063048476), this form measures roughly 2 to 5 millimeters in size. Interestingly, that range slightly overlaps with the creature's Crawling form, though that version is consistently heavier.
  

Having coalesced into forms resembling small crustaceans, the Precambrian mutants infiltrated the waters of Shinagawa Aquarium. Likely in order to feed and grow their numbers, they began to attack the fish within, dissolving the flesh and muscle off of them and leaving behind nothing but skeletons lining the floors of the tanks.

A security guard on duty watched the scene with horror, nearly passing out. The next morning, many were gathered to try and figure out what had happened, security camera footage being examined to discover the mutants responsible. However, it was too late to do anything, for by the point they had been discovered, their next evolution was already taking place...

• This form is called the creature's "Crawl body" (クロール体 - Kuroru Tai) in Everything Godzilla: The Complete Super Encyclopedia (ISBN 4063045579).
• According to Godzilla: The Encyclopedia (ISBN 9781835610363), this stage is labeled in English as Destoroyah's "Crawling Form."
• The Definitive Edition: The Perfect Godzilla Giant Monster Super Encyclopedia (ISBN 9784063048476) lists this form as ranging from about 2 millimeters (0.002 centimeters) up to 30 centimeters in size. The lower end of that range slightly overlaps with the creature's microscopic body stage.
  

Now taller than humans and heavily armored, the Precambrian mutants moved in a swarm across Tokyo, causing great destruction in their wake. Bridges fell as dozens of them converged on the Tokyo Telecom Center in Aomi, using it like a hive. The area was shut off and SWAT teams were deployed to do contain the threat, however they would soon discover they were woefully unprepared.

Bullets bounced off their carapace as the monsters ripped through the walls like paper, hurling the men like toys and crushing them underfoot. Glowing rays of Micro-Oxygen spewed from secondary jaws, going through body armor and everything beneath with no resistance. Realizing that guns were doing nothing, the men switched tactics, utilizing flamethrowers and rocket launchers. These proved much more effective, incinerating the creatures. However, they could not get to every one of them, as seen with one which broke free of the building and charged towards the crowd gathered outside. Reporter Yukari Yamane was nearly killed by it, hiding inside a police car which the monster bashed into, flipped over, and then sliced in half with its Micro-Oxygen ray in its attempt to dissolve her and feast upon the slurry of cells. Professor Ijuin pulled her away to safety, allowing several SWAT members to arrive and bathe the monster in fire.

The next day, the JSDF arrives in force to the area, armed with new knowledge: Micro-Oxygen liquefies at -187 degrees Celsius. Equipped with cryolasers and cadmium missiles, they prepare for the creatures' return... and they do return, in greater numbers and larger forms, their mutations accelerated by prior exposure to heat. This time, the JSDF unleashes a relentless assault, freezing and destroying the swarm with specialized weaponry.

For a moment, it seemed the threat was already over, but it soon became clear it had just begun. The crustaceans coalesced once more, forming a gigantic body of their combined mass. It's immense destructive power granted them a new name, for Micro-Oxygen by itself was not this powerful. They were the child of the Oxygen Destroyer, and so they gained the title Destoroyah.

• This stage of Destoroyah is called the creature's "Immature body" (幼体 - Yotai) in Everything Godzilla: The Complete Super Encyclopedia (ISBN 4063045579).
• According to the Godzilla: The Encyclopedia (ISBN 9781835610363), this stage is cited in English as Destoroyah's "Juvenile Form."
• The fact that exposure to heat would accelerate their mutation process is brought up in the kaiju guide found in Godzilla for the Playstation 3 and Playstation 4. The Godzilla Encyclopedia - New Edition (ISBN 9784773087253) takes it a step further, explicitly citing that exposure to flames will cause them to rapidly grow.
• Sources have slight variances on the English name for the creature's beam. The Godzilla Movie Studio Tour, for example, cites it as a "microoxygen ray", although possible this was a typo. Godzilla: The Encyclopedia (ISBN 9781835610363) in contrast refers to this as a "micro-oxygen" weapon using a hyphen in the spelling.
  

Transforming into its Aggregate form, Destoroyah proved its power immediately. Now being able to withstand the cryolasers that had slaughtered its components while unleashing Oxygen Destroyer Rays onto the tanks, destroying them. The JSDF's forces were rendered useless as it tore them asunder, before shifting into yet another form by breaking down and combining into a winged demon.

Destoroyah flew into the city, causing great havoc as a plan was put into place to lure Godzilla and the Precambrian nightmare into a confrontation. The King of the Monsters was undergoing a terminal condition that would lead to his nuclear meltdown and the end of the world if not stopped, so the idea would be to kill him with the incarnation of what killed the first Godzilla. To inact the plan, Godzilla Junior was telepathically coerced into traveling to Tokyo. Arriving in Tennozu, this is where he encountered Destoroyah before his father appeared.

Blasting the Flying Form out of the sky, Junior found himself face to face with the Aggregate as it charged relentlessly, swinging its spiked limbs against him. The young colossus was unable to fight back, eventually being knocked to the ground by the menace's horrid ray and by a building being sent tumbling down upon him. Leaping into the air, Destoroyah came crashing down on Junior, impaling the young kaiju's gut with the myriad spikes on its underside. Extending its secondary jaws, the horrid fiend stabbed the teenager's chest, sending Micro-Oxygen flowing into his bloodstream.

Junior proved more hardy than assumed, however, unleashing his Atomic Ray to tear into his foe. This blasted off limbs and forced Destoroyah off the young Godzilla. The Aggregate beast attempted to flee, only to be struck yet again in its flying form, sending the monster hurtling into a nearby power plant, shrouding it in rubble and flame.

Believing the threat subdued, Junior moves on to meet his father. However, Destoroyah still lived. Having absorbed cells from its opponent and been exposed to the intense heat of the Shinagawa power plant explosions, its mutation accelerated, triggering its next evolution...

• The Aggregate form of Destoroyah was portrayed by suit actor Eiichi Yanagida. Suit actor Yuichi Okada was originally selected to play the part but had to back out, which is noted in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Completion (ISBN 9784798615813).
• This form of Destoroyah is called the creature's "Aggregate body" (集合体 - Shugotai) in Everything Godzilla: The Complete Super Encyclopedia (ISBN 4063045579).
• The Aggregate form name appears in English in numerous media, such as the game Godzilla Battle Line and Godzilla: The Encyclopedia (ISBN 9781835610363).
• Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Complete Works (ISBN 9784091014504) notes that Destoroyah is able to absorb the cells of its victims after breaking them down with Micro-Oxygen.
• While some sources, such as Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works (ISBN 9784091014702), suggest the Juvenile form possessed an Oxygen Destroyer Ray, this ability is actually first developed in the Aggregate form. As noted in Godzilla: The Encyclopedia (ISBN 9781835610363), it far surpasses the destructive power of the Juvenile's Micro-Oxygen ray.
• The bio for this form in the game Godzilla Battle Line notes that the creature's ray had grown immensly more powerful "due to the dramatic increase in the concentration of Micro-Oxygen in its body".
• The codex entry for the Aggregate form found in the game Godzilla Defense Force claims that its exoskeleton "renders freezing weapons useless". In fact, it goes as far as to say that it transformed a "former weakness into a strength". Despite the claim, though, it's likely that had its exoskeleton been damaged or if it was exposed to the stronger weapons of the Super X3 it would have suffered the same fate of the creature's Perfect form.