King Ghidorah キングギドラ [MonsterVerse]

Having released Mothra from her temple home, Dr. Emma Russell and her eco-terrorist allies continued on to their next destination: MONARCH Outpost 32, housed in Antarctica. Shooting their way inside, they soon found their next target: A massive Titan frozen deep within the ice, known only as Monster Zero. The beast was a recent discovery by the organization and information on it was scarce, but it was believed to be another Alpha Titan, once a possible rival to Godzilla. Despite this, Dr. Russell planned on releasing the creature next. Drilling holes into the ice and planting bombs within, Emma detonated them, shattering the Titan's frozen prison. As Outpost 32 was destroyed, Dr. Russell and her allies escaped in a helicopter, and as soon as they reached a safe distance, she used her ORCA device to play a simulated Alpha Titan signal, awakening the ancient beast below.

Rising up from the icy depths, Monster Zero revealed himself as an enormous beast with three heads at the ends of snake-like necks, two tails ending in clusters of spikes, and a pair of gigantic, bat-like wings. Storm clouds began to form in the sky, lightning flashing. Far below, MONARCH soldiers opened fire on the creature with machine guns, but after a brief bout of curiosity, he soon grew tired of their futile attempts at harming him and unleashed his three golden gravity beams upon the humans, immediately vaporizing them. Seeing that Monster Zero was about to kill everyone there, including her father and Emma's ex-husband Mark, Emma's daughter Madison grabbed the ORCA and started to hit random controls, which began to disorient and infuriate the dragon below. Charging his gravity beams once again, Monster Zero prepared to destroy the helicopter, when Emma finally wrestled the ORCA away from Madison and shut it down, causing the Titan to lose interest in their craft.

Monster Zero began to focus his attention on a lone helicopter Mark and the others were attempting to escape in, when he suddenly sensed another presence rapidly approaching the area. Bursting up from the ocean underneath the ice, Godzilla had arrived, and the two Alpha Titans glared in hatred at one another. Immediately they charged and began their fight anew, tearing into each other with all their might. The creatures seemed evenly matched until Monster Zero gained the upper hand, using his gravity beams to topple Godzilla and push him into the same crater he himself had escaped from moments earlier. With his foe out of the way for the moment, Monster Zero returned his attention to the humans, killing Dr. Vivienne Graham as well as several more soldiers. Before he could go any further, MONARCH's mobile headquarters, the U.S.S. Argo, flew in and began an aerial assault. At the same time, Godzilla pulled himself up from the ice and advanced on his foe. Now faced with two opponents, Monster Zero decided to retreat, flapping his massive wings and disappearing into the stormy sky.

MONARCH immediately began to follow Monster Zero with their satellites, but lost track of him within a tropical storm over Brazil. However, once the Fire Demon Rodan was released from his volcanic prison on Isla De Mara, that very same storm began to change direction and head directly for the Mexican island, making MONARCH realize that it wasn't a storm at all, but rather Monster Zero himself. Deciding to lead Rodan away from the mainland and towards Monster Zero, a squadron of MONARCH fighter jets began to attack, with the Argo acting as the main piece of bait to lure Rodan away. Within minutes, the squadron was destroyed and only the Argo remained. The aircraft flew directly into the tropical storm with Rodan right on their tail. Diving down towards the sea, the Argo lured the two Titans into colliding with each other, Monster Zero slamming his talons into Rodan's chest. At first the Fire Demon's speed and agility gave him a slight edge, but he was ultimately no match for Monster Zero's sheer power. The Alpha Titan's two outer heads immobilized Rodan's wings and his center head unleashed a point blank gravity beam at the pterosaur creature, blasting him out of the sky.

Returning his attention to the Argo, Monster Zero flew after the craft and was about to catch it when Godzilla suddenly burst from the sea, grasping his rival and pulling the three-headed dragon into the waves below. Monster Zero put up a struggle, but it was clear that the beast was not accustomed to fighting underwater, and Godzilla was able to tear off the Titan's left head. Before he could press his advantage, however, the two monsters were struck by the United States military's new superweapon: the Oxygen Destroyer. A weapon capable of exterminating all forms of life within a two mile radius, the missile shot down into the sea and detonated between Godzilla and Monster Zero. Unfortunately, only the former was affected by the weapon, and Monster Zero rose from the sea, returning to Isla De Mara and landing on its still erupting volcano. Absorbing the former outpost's radiation, Monster Zero immediately put the energy to use, fully regenerating his torn neck and severed head, completely undoing the damage done by Godzilla. Fully healed, Monster Zero reared his three heads back and let loose an unearthly cry that could be heard around the globe; with Godzilla gone, Monster Zero was now the unquestionable Alpha Titan of Earth, and the dragon began to summon his followers. Scylla, Methuselah, Behemoth, the Queen MUTO, Sekhmet, Mokele-Mbembe, Yamata no Orochi, and countless other Titans began to rise from their slumber and answer their master's call. Rodan, having recovered from his fight with the new Alpha, landed at the foot of the volcano and bowed to the three-headed monster. There was no doubt that Monster Zero was now in charge.

With the Argo no longer actively following any Titans, Dr. Ilene Chen began to research any legends she could find with any mention of a creature similar to Monster Zero, hoping to find some clue to stopping the beast. From her findings, she was able to piece together a legend that spoke of a false king, a hydra that fell from the stars whose storms were capable of swallowing men and monsters alike: Ghidorah, the One Who Is Many. With Godzilla gone, Ghidorah was now turning the other Titans into his own personal army, using them to wipe out humanity so he could reshape the world to his own liking. With Rodan at his side, King Ghidorah made his way to Washington, D.C. and began laying waste to the city, flooding it thanks to the Category 6 hurricane he had created around himself. But when Dr. Russell's daughter Madison used the ORCA to override his signal to the other Titans, the three-headed dragon was not pleased, traveling from D.C. to Boston in order to find and eliminate the rival Alpha call.

Demolishing Fenway Park as he searched for the signal's source, Ghidorah was about to kill Madison when an atomic blast hit him hard, sending the false king staggering backward and crashing to the ground. Godzilla had returned.

Getting to his feet, King Ghidorah charged his ancient foe and the two renewed their battle. At first, the three-headed monster found himself outmatched by Godzilla's newfound strength, thrown about by his physical might. He almost began to gain an advantage, choking Godzilla out with his three heads and slamming him to the ground, but the previous Alpha was able to force him back with his atomic ray. Just then, Godzilla's ally Mothra arrived, ensnaring Ghidorah in her web and trapping two of his heads against a building. Ghidorah was unable to free himself in time and was bodyslammed through the structure and to the ground by Godzilla. Realizing a two on one match would prove difficult if not impossible to win, Ghidorah called for Rodan, who immediately emerged from the clouds and attacked Mothra, leaving her unable to assist Godzilla any longer. Despite this, Ghidorah was still outmatched by Godzilla. Fortunately for the dragon, however, he spotted a nearby electrical generator. Biting down on the machine, Ghidorah began to glow as a massive energy surge pulsed through him, his body absorbing the city's entire supply of electricity. His powers recharged to the point of bursting, Ghidorah spread his wings wide and let out lightning bolts in all directions, decimating MONARCH's forces and badly injuring Godzilla.

With his rival weakened, Ghidorah moved in for the kill, snatching Godzilla in his talons and flying high into the atmosphere, far above the clouds. Releasing his rival, Ghidorah let Godzilla plummet back to Earth, his velocity causing him to ignite upon re-entry before crashing violently against the ground. King Ghidorah landed moments later and prepared to finish his foe, when the wounded Mothra appeared, climbing atop Godzilla's body and shrouding him with her wings to protect him. Screeching in defiance, Mothra flapped her wings and flew directly for the evil Alpha, but King Ghidorah responded with a blast of all three of his gravity beams, hitting the Queen of the Monsters hard and causing her to erupt into a ball of light. With Godzilla's body absorbing the remnants of Mothra's life energy, Ghidorah moved in close and constricted his three necks around him, his heads biting down on Godzilla, beginning to absorb his foe's energy. It was then that the ORCA was used to distract Ghidorah, luring him away from Godzilla as he once again sought out to destroy the source of the call. Chasing after Emma Russell as she led him away with the ORCA, Ghidorah finally caught her, crashing her jeep with a gravity beam. As Emma lay dying in the street, Ghidorah closed in to finish her off, only to sense a rapidly increasing threat approaching.

Godzilla was back on his feet. And not only was he back at full strength, but due to Mothra's sacrifice, he had now reached critical mass, his powers having been pushed to the breaking point. Glowing red with fiery energy crackling across his body, the creature - now known as Burning Godzilla - unleashed a devastating nuclear pulse, burning away Ghidorah's wings; first the membranes, then the muscles and bones. King Ghidorah desperately fired all three gravity beams at Godzilla, but the glowing beast didn't even react to their power, unleashing another fiery pulse that vaporized the Titan's outer two heads completely. Unable to escape, Ghidorah screamed as Burning Godzilla stepped onto his chest then pressed down, his foot impaling the dragon's torso, bio-electric energy spilling out of the gaping wound. With a blinding flash of light and powerful shockwave, an explosion enveloped both creatures.

Once the dust had settled and the devastated Boston was revealed, the ground began to shake. Out of the rubble rose the screeching head of King Ghidorah! But, shockingly, this lone screeching head was all that remained of the evil beast. Rising up from behind, Godzilla held the other end of the creature's long neck - impossibly still alive and struggling - in his jaws, slowly devouring the neck bit by bit. As Ghidorah screamed in defiance, Godzilla charged his atomic ray and let loose, disintegrating the creature's head. At long last, King Ghidorah was slain, and Godzilla had emerged the true King of the Monsters.

• Though Godzilla: King of the Monsters marks King Ghidorah's first physical appearance in the MonsterVerse, the first hint of the creature's existence comes in the form of a cave painting in the post credit sequence of Kong: Skull Island (2017), showing him locked in combat with Godzilla.
• Ghidorah's MONARCH Outpost is number 32, a reference to Outpost 31 from John Carpenter's science fiction horror film The Thing from 1982. Additionally, it is also half of 64, as in 1964, the release date of Ghidorah's debut film Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964).
• This marks the first time Ghidorah is referred to as "Monster Zero" in a feature film since Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965).
• Motion capture for the creature was performed by Jason Liles (middle head), Alan Maxson (right head), and Richard Dorton (left head).
• Ghidorah's heads were named Ichi, Ni, and San by the crew. In the film's audio commentary, Michael Dougherty said the center head (Ichi) was the Alpha of the trio, the right head (Ni) was the more aggressive one, and the left head (San) was the most curious and playful. Dougherty opined that due to San's more relaxed, less threatening personality, that King Ghidorah would almost be a completely different creature if he was the leader, but due to his position was forced to go along with whatever the other two wanted.
• As Michael Dougherty explained in the "The Antarctic Base" making of featurette, Antarctica was ultimately chosen as the location of Ghidorah's debut because he wanted the Titan's initial environment to be an extension of himself - "Somewhere desolate and cold and dead."
• The explanation that King Ghidorah was able to regrow his left head due to absorbing the radiation from Rodan's volcano, as opposed to simply healing himself on his own as one might assume, comes from Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization.
• In the audio commentary, Michael Dougherty theorized that Ghidorah's strategy of lifting Godzilla into the stratosphere and dropping him back to the ground was likely a technique he often used when hunting Godzilla's species in the age when the Titans ruled the Earth.
• In the film's end credits, King Ghidorah is said to have been played by "Himself."
• During the intro of Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), King Ghidorah is referred to as just "Ghidorah" with the nickname "The Devil with Three Heads". Its classification is cited as "Titanus Ghidorah" with a nature that is unknown. The height is listed as 521 feet and weight as 121,000 tons. Its eye colors are noted as red, "bla…" with the rest of entry not loading before it transitions.