BLOOD WORK: KAIJUOLOGY: TITANOSAURUS

Subject: Titanosaurus

Documentation: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

History: Titanosaurus is a species of dinosaur that was discovered during the Great Awakening period from 1954 to 1975. The Great Awakening saw the emergence of many forms of mega-fauna long thought extinct, many of which attacked populated areas. Titanosaurus however was one of the few beasts whose nature was that of a peaceful creature. Titanosaurus is a colossal creature, hence the name. Even among dinosaurs Titanosaurus dwarfed most in terms of its incredible size placing it in the rare category of the Ultrasaurs alongside such others as Varan, Baragon, and Anguirus.

Titanosaurus was discovered by marine biologist Shinji Mafune sometime prior to 1960 living some distance outside of Japan's coastal waters. Mafune published his discovery in 1960 including several notebooks, journals, and diagrams of the beast. Despite the world having witnessed the return of multiple kaiju by this time, Dr. Mafune's claims of Titanosaurus were largely disregarded by the scientific community. Many believed the doctor's discovery to be pure fantasy and a desperate attempt to establish his career, taking advantage of the kaiju phenomena.

Dr. Mafune went into reclusion shortly thereafter and continued his research of Titanosaurus with the help of his daughter Katsura Mafune. They discovered Titanosaurus's use of sonic vibrations, similar to that of whales. Titanosaurus is highly susceptible to particular sonic frequencies, reacting sometimes violently. Through testing and years of research Dr. Mafune developed a crude means of manipulating the creature by use of an intricate array of sonic frequencies.

Titanosaurus by Bill Gudmundson

In 1974 the spacemen from the Third Planet of the Black Hole made their first bid for world domination by way a kaiju-sized mechanized weapon called Mechagodzilla. Their attempt at world conquest failed thanks to Interpol and largely due to the combined efforts of Godzilla, King Seesar, and Anguirus. During this time the spacemen encountered Dr. Mafune. The aliens sought refuge on a secluded island which contained a small fishing community as well as the Mafune Estate. While conducting an experiment Dr. Mafune's daughter was fatally electrocuted. At that moment the spacemen entered and, using their advanced science and robotics, saved Katsura's life by transforming her into a cyborg. This placed Dr. Mafune in the spacemen's debt.

Since 1960 when Dr. Mafune was ostracized and marginalized by his fellow scientists he nurtured a deep hatred for his fellow man. The spacemen used that hatred to manipulate Mafune into assisting them in their second attempt at global conquest. Titanosaurus was conscripted into the spacemen's attack forces alongside Mechagodzilla. The beast first attacked a government submarine which was searching for the remains of Mechagodzilla. Titanosaurus was manipulated into attacking the Japanese mainland on two separate occasions, once solo and the other accompanied by Mechagodzilla. On both occasions Titanosaurus was confronted by Godzilla.

After the destruction of the first submarine, another submarine was dispatched with the goal of finding and locating the whereabouts of Titanosaurus. When the kaiju attacked the submarine a supersonic distress signal was sent that inadvertently disrupted Mafune's manipulation of the kaiju. Discovering the dinosaur's sensitivity to high frequency sonics, a sonic oscillator was then designed and employed in defense against Titanosaurus. It was ultimately this sonic oscillator and the might of Godzilla that forced the great dinosaur back into the ocean. The spacemen were defeated and Dr. Mafune and his daughter were killed. Titanosaurus has not been seen since.

In addition to Titanosaurus's immense size (taller than Godzilla even) it also possesses many natural abilities. The kaiju is at home one both land and water but seems to possess a natural affinity towards the sea. Titanosaurus has a collapsible sail at the end of its tail which doubles as a fin underwater propelling it forward at tremendous speeds through the currents. On land this sail/fin can generate gale force winds with the power of an F4 tornado. The beast also possesses incredible muscle mass even when compared to other kaiju, probably due to spending most of its time deep beneath the ocean. This great strength of his rivals that of Godzilla.

Review: Titanosaurus is awesome. The sleek amphibious design is surprisingly new for the kaiju universe as a whole. The design is evocative of classic sea serpent depictions and aquatic dragon paintings. I've said this many times that I prefer more natural kaiju designs as opposed to more abstract designs and Titanosaurus encompasses my favorite aspects. He's simplistic but he's not boring. His color is quite different from most natural kaiju in that he has a vibrant color pallet of yellows, reds, and oranges. This is in line with the more vibrant colors of sea life and totally appropriate for the creature. He'd fit in perfectly with Mothra, Baragon, Kamoebas, Manda, and all of the other Earth protectors.

Titanosaurus was the last new kaiju created in the Showa era at a time when the Japanese movie industry was in regression. Everything was transitioning to television and the movie industry was suffering because of it. Many great Japanese film franchises saw their demise around this time, including Godzilla. Even with next to no budget for the film, Toho's creature effects technicians turned out one of the best kaiju costumes in that of Titanosaurus. With the Godzilla series at its financially worst moment and with an extremely limited number of resources they still managed to produce a new kaiju that was far superior to the competition at their best.

Earth's Defenders ~ Mothra, Titanosaurus, and Kamoebas

He's a seldom seen kaiju having never truly been resurrected in another film or video game. There is very little merchandise of him either. All this makes him a rarity amongst the Godzilla cast of kaiju and a strong reason to keep coming back to watch Terror of Mechagodzilla. He's nowhere near overused or over saturated like the more popular kaiju so seeing him is still a novel experience. He has appeared in one video game that I know of, Godzilla Unleashed for the Wii. He was also sown in concept art for Godzilla: Save the Earth for Playstation 2. He has also appeared in multiple comic books from IDW's Godzilla line. Titanosaurus's day may be coming at long last!