Godzilla, Kong, Gamera & Co.: The Kaiju Mega-Thread

[Grendelsbayne]

So I rewatched King of the Monsters yesterday and got curious about how many kaiju there officially are in the Monsterverse after I realized there's a line in there that Monarch officially catalogued 17 titans by the time of that movie, which seemed low. So I went online to see if there were any known that I couldn't remember and found the 'gojipedia' that listed all the monsters that were named onscreen in every project.

Kind of amusingly, just the KotM movie by itself actually has too many monsters in it. Including all the names of escaped Titans that were shown on the computer screens, there are actually 19 Titans in KotM, even though the dialogue says only 17 exist (18 counting Ghidorah, who was 'kept off the record').

And that's without counting Kong, or the Frost Vark or the Ion Dragon from Monarch LoM, or any of the smaller megafauna from Skull Island (skullcrawlers, mother longlegs, rockclaws, etc) or the hollow earth (brambleboar, those bugs from Monarch, leafwings, etc), or acknowledging that there were actually at least 3 MUTOS (2 that died in 2014 and the one in KotM).

 

[Smiley]

I give Godzilla x Kong 3 out of 5 stars, mostly on the strength of its last 20-30 minutes. I was so tempted to walk out during the first half of the movie, especially after the bit of Kong dentistry. The plot is more Hollow Earth nonsense and very Kong focused (I'm definitely on the Godzilla side of things). The humans are adequate in their parts, but nobody is providing a moving performance like Cranston, Watanabe, Chandler, or Brown in the earlier films.

There are characters that show up in this film that I hope reappear if they make another in the sequence. I will not say more for now while people are still going to see GxK.

 

[JD]

Just watched GvK E .. enjoyed it but honestly.. Godzilla was an after thought. This was a kong movie. And they could have left G out and be the same movie. Owell.

I think you got your titles mixed up, so I'm not sure which movie you're talking about here.

 

[valkyrie013]

I think you got your titles mixed up, so I'm not sure which movie you're talking about here.

The latest one.. Empire, could have just been a Kong movie.. Godzilla inclusion seemed to be tacked on. If he was missing it wouldnt have really changed the movie

 

[thribs]

Director has said the next one will be more Godzilla focused

 

[JD]

The latest one.. Empire, could have just been a Kong movie.. Godzilla inclusion seemed to be tacked on. If he was missing it wouldnt have really changed the movie

Oh OK, it's actually Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

 

[Lordcommanderdarkwolf]

Monarch has been renewed for series 2 + spinoffs.
https://deadline.com/2024/04/monarch-legacy-of-monsters-renewed-second-season-apple-tv-1235882018/

 

[Kai "the spy"]

 

[JD]

Just finished Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster, and I really enjoyed it a lot. The human storyline with the Princess who said she's a Venusian was pretty good, and all of the Kaiju stuff was great. The Godzilla vs Rodan fight, and the big Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan vs King Ghidorah fights were my favorite fights yet.
The only issues I had were that we never really got a thorough explanation for what exactly was going on with the princess. The way things played out I'm kind of assuming the Venusian was a non-corporeal being that possessed her, or that she really was 5,000 thousand year old Venusian but had been living as a human so long she forgot until the lights on the plane somehow made her remember.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

I've been wondering about this for a while now, and while I know the real life explanation for this is that the movies featuring them hadn't been made yet; what do we think happened to the Kaiju we didn't see on Monster Island in the movie 'Destroy All Monsters'?

Chronologically, 'Destroy All Monsters' is the last Kaiju movie, being set in 1999, and was meant to be the last Godzilla movie, with Toho planning on retiring the monster; however, six more Godzilla movies would follow, set chronologically before 'Destroy All Monsters', each introducing a new Kaiju character - Gabara from 'All Monsters Attack'; Hedorah from 'Godzilla vs. Hedorah'; Gigan from 'Godzilla vs. Gigan'; Megalon and Jet Jaguar from 'Godzilla vs. Megalon'; Mechagodzilla and King Caesar from 'Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla' and Titanosaurus from 'Terror of Mechagodzilla.'

I think we can speculate on a few of them. Gabara was part of a child's imagination, and therefore probably doesn't exist. Hedorah was destoyed by Godzilla. Gigan came from outer space and probably returned there following the events of 'Godzilla vs. Megalon'. Megalon probably returned to Seatopia at the end of the same movie. King Caesar returned to his resting place at the end of 'Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla'. That leaves Titanosaurus. Did he return to the deepest parts of the ocean or did he subsequently perish from his injuries Gorosaurus comes from 'King King Escapes', therefore it is likely that King Kong resides on Mando Island. Why he wasn't relocated to Monster Island along with Gorosaurus, maybe it was decided Kong was better off on Mando Island with the natives.

Those are the Kaiju I can think of. Are there any more that might be floating around that might have been on Monster Island that we didn't see.

 

[Christopher]

Gabara was part of a child's imagination, and therefore probably doesn't exist.

Yep. Apparently the frame story of All Monsters Attack is meant to take place in the real world.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Gigan was actually killed by Zone Fighter. While Ghidorah also fought against Zone, he survived (barely) to return in DAM.

I'm not sure whether King Kong Escapes is actually set in the shared universe. While Gorosaurus originated in the film, he also meets his end there. Similarly, Baragon and Manda are from movies outside the shared universe, Frankenstein Conquers the World and Atragon, respectively.

 

[Christopher]

Similarly, Baragon and Manda are from movies outside the shared universe, Frankenstein Conquers the World and Atragon, respectively.

I dunno... None of the movies were originally intended to be a shared universe; for instance, in Rodan and Varan there was no mention that Godzilla or other kaiju had been known to exist before. It was only the later films that retroactively crossed over the kaiju and made them a shared universe, ignoring the inconsistencies that created. I don't see why that should be any different for those two films than it is for the others.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Is King Kong in "King King vs Godzilla" meant to be the same Kong in "King Kong Escapes" owing to Gorosaurus appearance in "Destroy All Monsters", or do two giant gorillas share the same name?
One was found on Faro Island, the other on Mondo Island.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

I dunno... None of the movies were originally intended to be a shared universe; for instance, in Rodan and Varan there was no mention that Godzilla or other kaiju had been known to exist before. It was only the later films that retroactively crossed over the kaiju and made them a shared universe, ignoring the inconsistencies that created. I don't see why that should be any different for those two films than it is for the others.

And Manda comes from the movie Atrogon, another film set outside the Godzilla Kaiju universe.

 

[Christopher]

Is King Kong in "King King vs Godzilla" meant to be the same Kong in "King Kong Escapes" owing to Gorosaurus appearance in "Destroy All Monsters", or do two giant gorillas share the same name?
One was found on Faro Island, the other on Mondo Island.

The point is, there's no unified continuity, no unambiguous answer. Many of the films were originally intended to be in separate continuities, but later films retconned them into a shared universe. In Rodan, Rodan is the only kaiju ever discovered and Godzilla doesn't exist. But later films had Godzilla and Rodan team up.

In fact, King Kong Escapes is based on the Rankin-Bass animated King Kong series rather than on KKvG. But that doesn't matter. These are imaginary characters in made-up stories. As long as Toho has the rights to the characters, they can make a movie putting them in the same universe even if they weren't originally. What would stop them? There's no objective reality they have to conform to. They made it all up.

I mean, look at Frankenstein Conquers the World vs. War of the Gargantuas. WotG recasts two of the leads, changes the character names and setting, and alters the backstory and creature makeup, but in every other respect it's obviously meant as a direct sequel to FCtW. So it's both in continuity and not at the same time, because that's something you can do with stories as opposed to reality. Or look at the Kiryu duology. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla is supposed to be set in a world where no prior Godzilla movies happened except the '54 original, but in Tokyo S.O.S., a character remembers Mothra using a move that only happened in Mothra vs. Godzilla. So they played fast and loose with continuity and the dividing lines between "universes." None of this is real, so it's illogical to ask for an objective answer about how the realties are defined. They can change it at a whim if they want to.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

It is interesting, though, to see they cared a little about continuity once there was a shared universe when it came to the big star kaijus. For example, King Ghidorah only dies in DAM, they took great care to even let him survive his battle with Zone Fighter. Ebirah dies and is never seen again, not even the big DAM. On the other hand, Kumonga died in Son of Godzilla, but was featured in later movies as an inhabitant of Monster Island. Same with Kamacuras, but those were shown to be multiple monsters even on their first appearance.

 

[Saul]

Godzilla X Kong New Empire was pretty darn boring. Feels like a massive step down after Godzilla Vs Kong. But considering it's success I expect more of the same. Would love to get back to more familiar monsters though.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

In case anyone is interested, Amazon Japan has Godzilla Minus One Collectors Edition Steelbook up for sale on its website. Included are a 4K theatrical version, the theatrical blue ray version, the "Minus Color" blue ray and a blue ray with bonus features. Cost plus shipping and handling around $140.

 

[thribs]

I don’t think it has any English subtitles though.