King Caesar キングシーサー [Showa]

Modeled after the Shisa, a Ryukyuan cultural artifact, King Caesar was created off the Miyagi Coast in Okinawa to defend the Azumi family. Manufactured from a concrete brick-like body and gold, a mammoth guardian was produced. Powered by special energy crystals, the Okinawa diety was a menancing deterent to any threats that might endanger the royal family. Despite being golem-like, though, the beast was given a mammalian appearance. After defending the Azumi, the creature was sealed, locked away behind a prophecy.

In the 1970's, though, Princess Nami, a member of the Azumi family, predicted that a terrible monster would appear to wreck havoc on the world. Not long afterwards, archaeologists discovered a shrine dedicated to King Caesar. Inside was a sacred statue while cave paintings revealed the prophecy: "when a black mountain appears above the clouds, a huge monster will come forth and try to destroy the world. But when the red moon sets, and the sun rises in the west, two monsters will appear to save the people."

Meanwhile, a race of extraterrestrials from the third planet of the black hole sent a spy to try to capture the sacred statuer. The black hole aliens eagerly desired to halt the reawakening of King Caesar. They believed if the ancient monster were revived, the aliens' plan for domination would be in jeopardy as their secret weapon would have to face a monstrous obstacle.

As the aliens mobilized, Godzilla appeared at Mt. Fuji, and began to rampage through the countryside. Anguirus, who was burrowing across Japan, arrived to meet his old friend head on, although not as allies but enemies. The two behemoths clashed as the quadruped monster sensed that this was not the true Godzilla. Anguirus was hopelessly outmatched, though, and was sent into retreat. With its foe defeated, Godzilla continued its march toward more metropolitan areas. Eventually, at an oil refinery, it was met by another adversary: a second Godzilla. This allowed for the revelation that the first monster wasn't Godzilla at all. In fact, it was a mechanical clone named Mechagodzilla. The robotic menace quickly shed its disguise once the tides of the battle turned against it, and went at Godzilla with full force. Its overwhelming power sent Godzilla into retreat, but the attack took its toll on the robot as well. This forced the black hole aliens to recall their war machine in order to repair it.

The black hole aliens didn't stay idle in their bid for world domination, though. They continued to try and seize the sacred statue, which was on route to be returned to the Azumi Castle gate in order to fulfill prophecy. However, the alien's opposition failed, and the statue was finally returned. This happened just as the red moon had set and the sun was rising, while reflecting off the clouds to give the illusion that it was rising in the west as the prophecy had foretold. The energy from the sun glowed in the eyes of the artifact. This created a focused beam of brilliant energy, which struck a rock formation at Manzage cliff off the coast of Okinawa. From the cliff, a dormant King Caesar stood.

To awaken the monster, one final step had to be completed. For this, Princess Nami ran to the beach in order to sing an ancient song. However, time was running out. With repairs finalized, Mechagodzilla was dispatched to destroy King Caesar. As the robot monster approached, the song finished and the ancient guardian broke through the rock formation. King Caesar, after centuries of rest, was finally revived.

Having failed to stop its awakening, Mechagodzilla instead started its assault on the creature. The golem-like monstrosity entered the fray in return by reflecting the cosmic monster's eye beams with his own Prism Eye. Fierce finger missiles soon gave the cold machine the upper hand, though, and it started to severely outmatch King Caesar. Fortunately, Godzilla arrived on the scene just in time, craving vengeance for his past humiliation at the hands of his mechanical clone. With the two monsters fighting off Mechagodzila, the prophecy was finally coming to fruition. However, the mechanical menace proved to be too much for both King Caesar and Godzilla. Godzilla was brutally injured, and had to quickly find a method by which to defeat his adversary. To do this, he converted himself into a giant magnetic force. This caused every metallic object in the surrounding area to be attracted to him. Mechagodzilla could not escape from Godzilla's magnetic grip, and was restrained by him. Held in place, King Caesar proceeded to head butt the mechanical dragon in the right side of its chest. The immense mass of the Okinawa monster sent sparks flying and left large dents in Mechagodzilla. Godzilla then finished off the sadistic, cybernetic clone, by twisting the head of the menace off. Mechagodzilla was completely annihilated in the process. Exploding on the coastal cliff, fragments of space titanium were sent off into the waves below. The aliens' plans for domination were finally thwarted.

Victorious, King Caesar returned to the rock formation at the Manzage cliff. This was followed by an explosion, sealing back the ancient guardian. The royal Azumi family also regained possession of the statue, letting them live once more in peace.

• The Okinawa monster was portrayed by suit actor Kinichi Kusumi.
• King Caesar was designed by Akihiko Iguchi. The suit was modeled by Tomomi Kobayashi and Nobuyuki Yasumaru.
• The fact that the creature is golem-like, having been built rather than being an organic creature, is not specifically mentioned during the film. This is very apparent from cutaway views of the monster, though, such as the one that appears in The Ultimate Godzilla Monster Illustration Super Encyclopedia (ISBN: 4063042790).
• In the 2000 publication The Giant Picture Encyclopedia of Godzilla: Toho Special Effects Movie World (ISBN: 4873765587), King Caesar's powers are mentioned as "Prismatic Eyeball" (プリズム式眼球 - Purizumu-shiki Gankyu), "Head Butt" (頭突き- Atama Tsuki) and "Body Slam" (体当たり - Karada Atari). It also cites the creature as originating off Miyagi Coast in Okinawa (沖縄の海岸壁 - Okinawa no Kaigan Kabe).
• In Tomoyuki Tanaka's the Definitive Edition Godzilla Introduction (ISBN: 4092201427), the Prism Eye is stated as being able to amplify the power of beams by 10 times. The book also mentions that King Caesar used its ears to help it intimidate its foes.
• During earlier drafts of the film, after the Giant Monsters Converge on Okinawa! Showdown in Zanpamisaki concept was abandoned and the movie was known as Showdown in Zanpamisaki: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, a monster called "King Barukan" (キングバルカン - Kingu Barukan) was mentioned. In addition, the beast had devastating horns that were used to attack enemies. During draft and screenplay revisions, though, the name was changed to King Caesar and the horn aspect of the monster dropped.
• The golem-like monster's jumping power is not used during Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), although it is seen during the movie's trailer. In this advert, King Caesar jumps and does an aerial attack against Mechagodzilla.
• The CD-Rom Godzilla Movie Studio Tour mentions that King Caesar could jump 1,000 yards, which is roughly 914 meters. It also mentions that the beast is equipped with a horn that is a "very powerful fighting weapon". This is likely an error, as it fits more with King Barukan, the unused monster that eventually became King Caesar during the draft stage.