The mutated Godzillasaurus killed most things in his path with his radioactive body, but one group of life forms not only survived, but thrived. Near Daikoku Island in the Izu island chain, parasitic sea louse attached themselves to the dormant leviathan. The exposure to Godzilla triggered a mutation, turning the small crustacean into gigantic arthropods called Shockirus.
Later, when the fishing vessel known as the Yahata-Maru ran aground on some rocks in the midst of the sea, the crew bore witness to the sight of Godzilla bursting forth. Roaring tremendously, the nuclear menace had been awoken by a volcanic eruption at Daikoku Island.
The next day, reporter Goro Maki stumbled upon the Yahata-Maru while it was adrift at sea.
The reporter ventured onto the ship, only to be greeted by scenes of carnage. Bodies of the ship's crew, drained of all fluid, decorated a ruined cabin. A few of the deceased crew had weapons in their hands, hinting at a futile fight for survival against something. After slipping on a strange substance on the floors, the journalist eventually discovered a sole survivor. Hiroshi Okumura was curled up in a closet, unconscious and clutching a knife in one hand. Suddenly, Goro discovered the truth of the massacre as a Shockirus leapt towards him, intent on adding him to the list of bodies present. Despite his best efforts, the reporter soon found himself on the ground, the horrid creature pinning him and creeping its mandibles towards his throat. The knife in Hiroshi's hand, which Goro had grabbed, simply bounced off the hard carapace. Fortunately, the last sailor of the Yahata-Maru awoke in time to grab a hatchet and bury it in the parasite's back, killing it. This encounter with a humble creature mutated into a man-killer was only a portent of what was soon to come…
Powers / Weapons
Fluid Draining
Shockirus could drain fluids from prey using their mandibles, inherited from their pre-mutated state as bloodsucking sea louse.
The speed with which they could do so is unknown, as all their victims were found post-mortem.
Extraordinary Jumper
Shockirus were capable of leaping sizable distances relative to their size. This was achieved through using their tail like a spring to launch themselves at their prey.
This ability allowed a Shockirus to maneuver around the Yahata-Maru swiftly and overwhelm its crew.
Background and Trivia
The crustacean rarely has its name listed in English. When it is, it's typically as a "Giant Sea Louse", which is how it appears in the Picturebook of Godzilla & All Monsters (ISBN: 9784065234914). However, Toho Kingdom was given the opportunity in 2005 to check on the preferred names for several of Toho's properties. During these discussions, it was mentioned that Toho's preferred English name is "Shockirus" for the mutated copepod. Although not many sources back this up, this spelling does appear in the game files for Godzilla Defense Force.
The Godzilla: Toho Giant Monster Picture Encyclopedia (ISBN: 4092800525) lists two Japanese names for Shockirus. One is the more commonly used and unique name ショッキラス (Shokkirasu) while the other is 巨大フナムシ (Kyodai Funamushi), which basically translates as giant ligia exotica. This causes a bit of confusion on the original species that got mutated. A ligia exotica, also known as a wharf roach, is different from a sea louse. However, any English reference to the creature is deliberate to mention it as a sea louse. This includes both the international dub and also the US dub for the Godzilla 1985 version.
According to John LeMay's The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films, Shockirus was inspired by a giant flea from the unproduced Bride of Godzilla? (1956). It would later appear in the early drafts for the unmade Resurrection of Godzilla, both in Tomoyuki Tanaka's proposal and Hideichi Nagahara's draft.
Shockirus was designed by Hideaki Nishina.
The birthplace of the Shockirus is noted as "being attached to Godzilla" in The Giant Picture Encyclopedia of Godzilla: Toho Special Effects Movie World (ISBN: 4873765587). The Godzilla Encyclopedia (ISBN: 9784773087253) gives a different description, citing the seas near Daikoku Island which is where the Yahata-Maru encounters Godzilla. As a side note, Daikoku Island is also sometimes called Daikokujima, which is how it appears in English in the video game Godzilla.
Shockirus' roars are modified Kumonga and Ebirah roars, though this was replaced with a hissing noise for the initial US release of Godzilla 1985.
The Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works (ISBN 9784091014702) notes that in order to jump Shockirus would use its tail as a spring.
Although only one Shockirus is seen in the movie, earlier drafts featured more of the creatures. In fact, there was also a sequence where a group attack a fishing village near the Mihama nuclear power plant. Toho producer Fumio Tanaka cited that this was removed for budgetary reasons and because it wasn't directly related to the film's main story. This is mentioned in Godzilla: The Large Complete Works (ISBN 406178417X).
For the US Godzilla 1985 version of the film, dialogue is added later in the movie to reference the creature. The exchange happens between Major McDonough and General Goodhue while they are walking away from a Dr Pepper vending machine. The dialogue is: "We got a report from Oshima last week... a sea louse carcass washed ashore. Sucker was five feet long!" This would seem to indicate, at least in the US version, that there was more than one Shockirus. Oshima is part of the Izu Islands, same as Daikoku Island near where the attack happened, but since the dead Shockirus was left on the Yahata-Maru this would imply that another one somehow died and ended up washing away in the water.
Although to date without another film appearance, Shockirus has shown up for brief cameos in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #1 and Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters #14, as well as the Dark Horse reprint of the 1984 manga titled Terror of Godzilla. Likewise, its sole video game appearance can be found in the text-based adventure game NEW Godzilla, a video game adaptation of the 1984 film developed by Toho.
The Shockirus props used for the film were built with the damaged harpoon in it. In addition, most publicity stills were taken at a place in production after the damage from the butcher knife occurs, causing the giant sea louse to bleed and produce a white liquid from the wound. These elements were digitally removed by the Toho Kingdom staff for the main image to give a better representation of the creature itself.
