KAIJUOLOGY: DESGHIDORAH

Subject: Desgisdora a.k.a. Death Ghidorah

Documentation: Mothra (1996) a.k.a. Rebirth of Mothra

History: In 1996 after Godzilla's final fight with the monster Destoroyah, a battle which nearly destroyed all of Japan, the great kaiju plaguing the land of the rising sun was seemingly over. Japan looked forward with high hopes. The Japanese put into affect a large scale plan to rebuild since fear of the kaiju attacking was now a worry of the past.

The Houkoku Corporation, who owned several acres of the Hokkaido wilderness and forests began excavating and developing the land for construction. Digging deep into the mountain side of the Monbetsu region the construction crew unearthed what looked to be an ancient ruin covered in runes of an unknown language. The construction crew chief, a man by the name of Yuichi Goto, examined the strange rock-like structure discovering what appeared to be a jeweled artifact. Thoughtlessly he removed the artifact, a seemingly insignificant event that would precede a series of apocalyptic-like catastrophes.

Half of the following accounts are fact, witnessed by the entire world. The other half cannot be proven and therefore have been relegated as myth and legend. The artifact that Mr. Goto had removed from the ruin was a mystical seal, the Seal of Elias. According to the Elias (the twin fairies known as the Shobijin, envoys to the kaiju Mothra) the seal was set in place 65 million years ago before the rise of mankind. What the Japanese believed to be the mountain landscape of Hokkaido was in actuality the prison of a dark malevolent kaiju named Death Ghidorah.

According to the Shobijin several species of Ghidorah have plagued Earth since the dawn of time. A species of kaiju of unknown origin coming to our planet from outer space, in the last 70 years alone mankind has seen at least 5 different types of Ghidorah. Death Ghidorah, according to the Shobijin, was the most powerful due to its unique ability to siphon off the life energies of an entire planet and turning that energy into its own power.

The Shobijin spoke of a time more than 65 million years ago when Desghidorah (as the devil kaiju is sometimes referred to) first entered our solar system. At this time Mars was rich with life and thriving. The dark kaiju entered Mars's atmosphere, decimating the civilizations of Mars and slaying the Martian kaiju before draining the planet of all its energies leaving it a barren wasteland. Immediately after the conquest of Mars, Death Ghidorah turned its sights toward Earth.

Earth at that time was ruled by the great beasts, the legendary kaiju of myth, chief among them were the colonies of Mothras. When Death Ghidorah attacked it had the power of dozens of planets at its disposal. The wild gods of Earth (as the native kaiju were believed to be) united to combat this dire threat. Thousands of kaiju were killed including all but one of the swarms of Mothras. In the end the dark space kaiju was defeated and imprisoned underneath what is now present day Hokkaido. The temple was sealed away by the mystical energies of Earth, channeled through the Seal of Elias.

Death Ghidorah's powers and abilities rely heavily upon the stolen life energies of others. Its ability to breath fire, project energy beams from its mouth, fly, and many other devastating powers are subject to the amount of energy it has consumed. After Mr. Goto removed the seal the mountain shifted and the beast was set free. Having laid dormant for 65 million years Death Ghidorah's array of powers were minimal. It couldn't even fly. Immediately it set about absorbing the life energies around it. With Godzilla gone only Mothra was left to defend Earth.

Mothra was severely weakened after returning from space, having stopped a rogue planet from destroying Earth. Mothra also expended much of its life force bearing an egg. Still the majestic kaiju rose to defend us. Even in its weakened form, Death Ghidorah proved too powerful for Mothra alone. Mothra channeled more of its energies to the egg forcing it to hatch prematurely. The adult Mothra and the larvae Mothra attacked the dark kaiju together. After the initial battle the older Mothra was killed and the larvae had to retreat, taking the last vestiges of the older Mothra's life force within itself forcing the metamorphosis into adulthood.

During the interim Death Ghidorah gained enough power to fly and expel energy beams from its three mouths. Mothra, taking a page from its enemy, drew upon the life force of the Earth for extra power. It returned to do battle with the outer space kaiju, narrowly defeating the dreaded beast. If not for Death Ghidorah's still severely weakened form the Earth and everything in our galaxy may have ended. Much of this report is based on the word of the Shobijin and therefore cannot be substantiated. However, the world was witness to Death Ghidorah's horrific power that day and hopes it will remain vanquished and never again return.

Review: Ghidorah is one of the classic kaiju and fan favorite among all the kaiju in existence. Every kaiju fan (well, most of them) loves Ghidorah. Several times Toho has brought this kaiju back and more than once have they tried to redesign it. My favorite of all the redesigns and re-imaginings of its story is this one, Death Ghidorah!

Sadly Godzilla and Death Ghidorah have never fought each other. The Mothra trilogy was aimed at a younger audience often featuring children as the central protagonists. As a result of this the films are harder to watch as adults. Their kaiju designs however remain Godzilla worthy, exceeding several kaiju designs from Godzilla's own films. Its such a shame that Toho hasn't resurrected Death Ghidorah or Dagahra. The concept of multiple species of Ghidorah is also very cool and very interesting, something I wished they'd continue to explore.

All in all Death Ghidorah is one of the best kaiju to come from the 1990's stable. From the moment I first saw the images of it in the pages of G-Fan I was hooked. I thought this was hands down the coolest look Ghidorah has ever had. And Toho cleverly played the redesign off as a new kaiju and not the old Ghidorah transformed (which means they left room for a potential classic Ghidorah and Desghidorah team-up!). Koichi Kawakita once again delivers outstanding special effects and solidifies himself as the modern kaiju master!

Threat Level: 10 out 10

Universal Extinction