Mechagodzilla (メカゴジラ Mekagojira) is a fictional mecha character that first appeared in the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. In its debut appearance, Mechagodzilla is depicted as an extraterrestrial villain that confronts Godzilla. In subsequent iterations, Mechagodzilla is usually depicted as a man-made weapon designed to defend Japan from Godzilla in the 1993 film, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II and in the 2002 film, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. This is because in the original 2 films, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Terror of Mechagodzilla, Mechagodzilla was built by aliens and not humans before humans made their own Mechagodzilla in the future to fight Godzilla. In all incarnations, the character is portrayed as a robotic doppelgänger with a vast array of weaponry, and along with King Ghidorah, is commonly considered to be an archenemy of Godzilla.
Background[]
Development[]
Mechagodzilla was conceived in 1974 as a more serious villain than its immediate two predecessors, Gigan and Megalon, whose films were considered creative disasters. According to Tomoyuki Tanaka, Mechagodzilla was inspired by both Mechani-Kong from the previous Toho film King Kong Escapes and the robot anime genre, which was popular at the time. Effects director Teruyoshi Nakano also felt that a mechanical monster was cheaper to construct than the mutated animals Godzilla had previously faced. As the resulting Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla proved to be a greater critical success than previous 1970s Godzilla films, the character was revived in 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla. The film's screenplay was based on the winning entry of a story-writing competition won by Yukiko Takayama, who continued the darker tone of the previous film by adding the subplot of Mechagodzilla being cybernetically connected to a young woman. Mechagodzilla's design remained largely unchanged from its previous appearance, though it was made to look thinner and more angular, with a darker sheen and an MG2 insignia emblazoned on its upper arms. The film's original draft was going to have Mechagodzilla destroy Tokyo utterly, though the destruction was cut down for budgetary reasons.
Mechagodzilla was brought back in 1993's Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, as the success of Godzilla vs. Mothra and the popularity of its main antagonist Mothra spurred Toho into reintroducing familiar characters rather than inventing new ones. Originally, the new Mechagodzilla was to be named "Berserk", and was envisioned as being a much more organic Godzilla-like creature which would later turn on its creators after becoming infected with a computer virus which makes it self-aware. Berserk would subsequently absorb more and more machinery, to the point of degenerating into a mass of metal and wires, though this concept was rejected early in pre-production. As Mechagodzilla was intended to be a military defense weapon rather than an alien construct, the character was redesigned as looking sleeker and smoother. It was portrayed by suit actor Wataru Fukuda, and consisted of multiple separate elements which were worn like plate armor. Special effects artist Koichi Kawakita originally envisioned Mechagodzilla being able to split into aerial and terrestrial units, though this idea was scrapped in favor of the character merging with the flying battleship Garuda. The film was promoted through the children's program Adventure Godzilla-land, which portrayed Godzilla and Mechagodzilla as rival news anchors reporting on the events of the upcoming movie. Composer Akira Ifukube wrote a theme for Mechagodzilla incorporating a slow battle march with heavy percussion and pentatonic phrasing.
The decision to incorporate Mechagodzilla into the Millennium series was taken by producer Shōgo Tomiyama, who gave the general outline of what would become the story of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla to Godzilla vs. Megaguirus director Masaaki Tezuka. Tezuka instructed his staff to research both cybernetics and DNA engineering in order to make the character scientifically plausible. Tezuka had initially wanted Mechagodzilla to be a much speedier robot than the one on film, envisioning it as becoming progressively more agile during its fight against Godzilla as the latter tore off its opponent's armaments. This incarnation of Mechagodzilla was deliberately shown being airlifted by carriers rather than flying directly into battle as the previous two incarnations had done, as Tezuka felt that it made little sense for Mechagodzilla to drain its energy in such a manner. Upon being asked why the Mechagodzilla suit wasn't painted with military camouflage colors, Tezuka answered that "Mechagodzilla doesn't need to hide." Tezuka had originally intended to have both Godzilla and Mechagodzilla die at the end of the film, but was forced to change this on the insistence of Toho managers, who felt that such an ending was too dark for a New Year movie release.
In the 2003 sequel Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., creature designer Shinichi Wakasa used the same mold to create a redesigned Mechagodzilla, which was meant to look more weathered than its predecessor. According to production designer Shinki Nishikawa, several other changes were made to the Mechagodzilla design's head, chest and arms in order to make the character look less heroic and more machine-like. The robot's back unit was reduced in size and flipped upside down, and the head was made smaller. As the previous design's shoulder cannons were considered uneven and unsophisticated-looking because of their rectangular shape, special effects director Eiichi Asada made them more pentagonal. As the character was supposed to rely more on its forearm cannons than in the previous film, Nishikawa made them larger and more powerful looking.
For Godzilla vs. Kong, Mechagodzilla's design was inspired by the Generation 1 Transformers due to their "simplicity." Director Adam Wingard attempted to avoid the "complex" designs from the Michael Bay Transformers films. Writer Max Borenstein had originally written Mechagodzilla into Godzilla: King of the Monsters. However, director Michael Dougherty scrapped the character during development.
Arsenal[]
The Showa Mechagodzilla stands 50-meter (160 ft) in height and weighs 40,000 metric tons. It is built from "space titanium", and is capable of launching missiles from its fingers, toes and knees, as well as firing Space Beams from its eyes and a Cross Attack Beam from its chest unit. It also possesses jets fires in its feet allowing it to fly. Its head can spin 360°, and can form a force field capable of repelling and shocking opponents. The upgraded model featured in Terror of Mechagodzilla included revolving missiles, and was no longer vulnerable to decapitation, as its main computer was housed in an external power source. Once Mechagodzilla's head was removed, the machine was able to continue to fight, possessing a Head Controller capable of firing a concentrated laser with the same strength as its regular beams.
The Heisei Mechagodzilla stands 120-meter (390 ft) in height, weighs 150,000 metric tons, and is powered by a nuclear reactor, deriving its energy from heavy hydrogen and helium-3 in pellet form. Its frame is coated in an armor made of synthetic diamond codenamed T-1, allowing the robot to resist and repel Godzilla's atomic breath, as well as absorb its power to energize its Plasma Grenades, an energy weapon housed in its abdomen. Additional armaments include Mega Buster ray fired from its mouth, Laser Cannons in its eyes, missiles fired from its shoulders and hips, jet propulsors on its back and behind hips to fly and Shock Anchors fired from its arms capable of piercing Godzilla's skin and electrocuting him. The model is later combined with the flying battleship Garuda, thus allowing it to hover and adding two additional Maser Cannons to its arsenal.
Kiryu, the Millennium Mechagodzilla, stands at 60-meter (200 ft) in height, weighs 40,000 metric tons, and is piloted remotely from a control craft. The mecha can be remotely recharged from the ground using microwaves that are relayed through a power system on one of the command aircraft, and then beamed back down to the robot. Its armaments include a Twin Maser Cannon in its mouth, railguns on its hands, a maser blade on its right hand, two reactors on its back to fly, a back unite with missiles and boosters and two rocket launchers on its shoulders. Its most powerful and most energetically costly weapon is the Absolute Zero Cannon housed in its chest, which fires a beam capable of flash freezing enemies. In Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., the Absolute Zero Cannon is replaced with a Triple Hyper Maser Cannon and instead of the maser blade he can assemble his right hand into a drill.
The Anime Trilogy Mechagodzilla stands 50 meters in height, weighs 30,000 metric tons, and is powered by artificial intelligence and made from nanometal. In the novel: Project Mechagodzilla, its arsenal includes a Blade Launcher, Convergent Neutron Cannon, Flight, Hyper Lance, Thermal Energy Buffer Layer, and Tail Blow. When it forms Mechagodzilla city, the defenses include gun cannons, EMP Harpoons, and a force field to protect itself when fired upon.
In Godzilla vs. Kong, Mechagodzilla stands 122-meter (400 ft) in height, towering over Godzilla, weighs 100,000 metric tons, and is telepathically piloted through a cybernetic neural network developed from King Ghidorah's only surviving brain. Its weaponry includes a proton scream, missiles fired from its shoulders and chest, jet boosters on its back, plasmic hits, buzzsaws in its fingers and spinning spikes at the end of its tail.
History[]
In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Mechagodzilla is created as a weapon of destruction by the Black Hole Planet 3 aliens, also known as the Simians, who intend to conquer Earth before their own homeworld gets destroyed by an expanding black hole. First appearing in a pseudo-flesh outer covering and masquerading as the real Godzilla, Mechagodzilla attacks Japan and overpowers Godzilla's ally Anguirus. Godzilla appears and destroys the pseudo-flesh disguise, forcing Mechagodzilla to reveal itself in full. Their initial battle results in a tie, as Godzilla is severely wounded and Mechagodzilla is forced back into the Simian's base for repair. Mechagodzilla is deployed again but is overpowered through the combined efforts of Godzilla and King Caesar. Godzilla ultimately defeats Mechagodzilla by decapitating it and blowing its body apart.
The Simians return and rebuild Mechagodzilla in Terror of Mechagodzilla. This time, it is further modified with living human brain cells and has its control circuitry integrated into the body of the human woman Katsura Mafune, who is a cyborg courtesy of the aliens, now being led by Mugal. Mechagodzilla is teamed up with the dinosaur Titanosaurus, who is controlled by Katsura's crazed father. Although Mechagodzilla survives another decapitation during a battle against Godzilla, it is once more defeated after Katsura commits suicide, destroying the robot's controls and freezing it long enough for Godzilla to use its atomic heat ray on Mechagodzilla's headless body, causing it to explode.
In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Mechagodzilla is built as an anti-Godzilla weapon by the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center using 23rd-century technology reverse engineered from the remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah. Mechagodzilla overpowers Godzilla in Kyoto, but is rendered harmless by a voltage backsurge caused by Godzilla. Mechagodzilla is recovered and merged with the smaller airship Garuda to form Super-Mechagodzilla (スーパーメカゴジラ, Supa-Mekagojira). This combined mecha later fights both Fire Rodan and Godzilla. It proceeds to cripple Godzilla by destroying its secondary brain and mortally wounds Rodan. Rodan then sacrifices its energy to revive Godzilla, who then uses its new red spiral atomic breath to destroy the weakened Super-Mechagodzilla.
In Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, it is revealed that Mechagodzilla's remains were salvaged and used to construct Moguera.
The Millennium incarnation is featured in two films: Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. and is referenced as Kiryu (機龍, Kiryū), derived from Kikai Ryu (Japanese for "machine dragon") or "Kōryū" (Japanese for steel dragon). When a second Godzilla appears in 1999, the Japanese military creates a Mechagodzilla built around the skeleton of the original Godzilla from 1954 and a DNA computing-based operating system. During its first battle with Godzilla four years later in 2003, Kiryu's genetic memories of its 1954 incarnation are awakened, and it proceeds to attack Tokyo, free from the controls of its pilot until its power drains. During its second battle with Godzilla, Kiryu forces Godzilla to retreat after using its Absolute Zero Cannon.
In Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., taking place one year later in 2004, Mothra's fairies warn Japan that Kiryu's creation is a violation of the natural order and that Mothra would gladly take the cyborg's place in protecting Japan, should Kiryu be dismantled. The ultimatum is declined, as Kiryu was built partially to defend against a second attack from Mothra herself. Godzilla eventually appears, prompting Mothra and Kiryu to cooperate. Kiryu momentarily is forced to fight Godzilla alone after Mothra is killed, but is later assisted by Mothra's larvae, who encase Godzilla in a cocoon, and Kiryu is given orders to terminate him. However, Kiryu's soul has awakened once again, and it instead grabs hold of Godzilla, flies out to sea, and submerges both Godzilla and itself in the depths of the ocean (though not before ejecting its human occupant to safety).
Mechagodzilla appears briefly in Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, the first film in the anime trilogy. The mecha is designed and constructed by humans and bilusaludo - the latter one of two alien races who made contact with humans in an attempt to rescue them - as a countermeasure against Godzilla. But the mech is never activated as Godzilla attacked the construction facility forcing them to abandon it. Though not seen again, the mech is referenced several other times throughout the film. In Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, the second film in the trilogy, the remnants of Mechagodzilla's AI rebuild the facility it was created in by utilizing nanometal to help defeat Godzilla, aptly named "Mechagodzilla City". It also creates three battlesuits with flight capabilities called "Vultures".
Haruo and his forces use the city as a base of operations to destroy Godzilla. When Mechagodzilla City begins assimilating its surroundings and living beings with its nanometal under the command of the Bilusaludo, and is predicted to assimilate the entire planet prompting Haruo to destroy its command center, giving Godzilla the opening to destroy it. In Godzilla: The Planet Eater, some nanometal survives within Yuko's body which Professor Martin extracts and applies to the last Vulture intending to rebuild civilization. Realizing this will only repeat the mistakes that prompted Godzilla's advent, endanger the Houtua and risk the return of Ghidorah, Harou takes Yuko and the last Vulture and flies all three towards Godzilla in a suicide charge to save the Houtua from mankind's mistakes.
Mechagodzilla was featured in the 2021 film Godzilla vs. Kong. Secretly built by Apex Cybernetics as an anti-Titan weapon and modeled after Godzilla, it is remotely piloted by Ren Serizawa via a telepathic link originating from a skull of Ghidorah's left head (acquired after it was torn off by Godzilla in Godzilla: King of the Monsters), though conventional energy sources prove insufficient to power it to full capacity.
As Mechagodzilla is being built at a facility in Pensacola, Florida, Godzilla senses Ghidorah's presence whenever the mecha activates, which causes him to search for and eventually attack the facility. Due to the secrecy of the project, the public misinterprets this as Godzilla having gone rogue, resulting in Monarch and Apex taking Kong to the Hollow Earth in search of an energy source to confront Godzilla with; simultaneously, Apex covertly plans to use it to power Mechagodzilla, now housed within Victoria Peak. Godzilla and Kong clash en route to the Hollow Earth in the Tasman Sea, but ultimately the team finds and retrieves the power source, in the form of "Hollow Earth Energy".
After Godzilla and Kong fight a second time in Hong Kong, Serizawa charges the mechanical Titan with the untested Hollow Earth's energies, upon pressure from Apex Cybernetics' CEO Walter Simmons. However, the process unexpectedly allows Ghidorah's mind to possess Mechagodzilla, who then kills both Simmons and Serizawa, goes on a rampage in the city, and faces Godzilla. Tired and wounded from his earlier battle with Kong, Godzilla is easily overwhelmed, and is nearly killed before Kong joins the battle. Kong's axe initially proves ineffective against Mechagodzilla, as its energy was depleted after battling Godzilla. As Mechagodzilla maintains the upper hand, Josh Valentine tampers with its control panel via alcohol spillage, stalling it long enough for Godzilla to supercharge Kong's axe with his atomic breath. Kong then uses his fully powered axe to dismember Mechagodzilla's limbs, and finishes it off by tearing off its head.
Appearances[]
MonsterVerse[]
Godzilla vs. Kong[]
In the time following King Ghidorah's defeat, billionaire Walter Simmons and his company, Apex Cybernetics, focused on helping mankind rebuild and respond to the rise of the Titans. Bernie Hayes, an online conspiracy theorist and host of the Titan Truth Podcast, worked deep undercover for Apex Cybernetics in Pensacola, Florida for five years to try and expose the company's shady activities. Just as Hayes was downloading data from an Apex computer onto a flash drive, Godzilla rose from the ocean and attacked the facility. As the staff began to evacuate, Hayes sneaked into a restricted area of the facility where he was confronted by two guards. As they held him at gunpoint, the two guards were suddenly killed by a blast of Godzilla's atomic breath, leaving Bernie with small injuries. As the smoke cleared and Godzilla continued his rampage, Bernie saw a strange piece of technology resembling a giant robotic eye among the ruins of the facility.
Soon after, Walter Simmons and his chief technology officer, Ren Serizawa, visited Nathan Lind at Denham University in Philadelphia, where they showed their interest in his studies of the Hollow Earth, the evolutionary source of the Titans. They explained that a deep scan of the planet's core revealed a powerful source of energy that sustained its ecosystem, similar to the energy of Godzilla himself. They proposed a joint mission between Apex and Monarch to enter the Hollow Earth and harvest this source of energy to create a weapon capable of defeating Godzilla.
Suspicious after Godzilla's attack, Madison Russell and her friend Josh Valentine sought out Bernie, and agreed that Apex had something to do with Godzilla's change in behavior. The three then broke into the ruined Apex facility, finding that the "eye" Bernie described was now gone. Madison found an elevator that took them to sublevel 33, a mysterious area mentioned in the data Hayes managed to download. Upon reaching the sublevel, the group of three hid in a nearby transport vessel that housed Skullcrawler eggs. The vessel was then transported to Apex's headquarters in Hong Kong. As the three began to investigate the large chamber they found themselves in, they stumbled upon the activation test for Apex's ultimate anti-Titan weapon: Mechagodzilla.
As Mechagodzilla activated, with Serizawa controlling it via a neural link, Simmons unleashed a giant Skullcrawler, codenamed "Number 10," into the chamber as a test subject. The Skullcrawler set its sights on the small group of people and began to give chase. As Josh and Bernie took cover in a small hatch, Madison tripped as she was running. Before the Skullcrawler could devour her, Mechagodzilla restrained it, held it by its arms, and sliced it in half with its Proton Scream before powering down. Serizawa reported that Mechagodzilla only reached about 40% of its power capacity. Simmons stated this was as expected, and told them not to worry as they would soon have the power they needed to finish their creation. However, Godzilla sensed Mechagodzilla's activation and began swimming toward Hong Kong.
As Madison, Josh, and Bernie continued to sneak around the facility, they came upon a room containing Ghidorah's skull, which Apex had converted into a living supercomputer and neural interface used to control Mechagodzilla. After Kong had led the Apex-Monarch team into a massive castle-like structure that was built for his species, he found a massive axe that glowed with blue energy, which caused the ground around him began to glow with the same energy. Apex immediately sent out a spider-like drone to extract and analyze a sample of the energy, much to Monarch's disagreement.
Nevertheless, Apex managed to copy and recreate the energy from the Hollow Earth and implant it into Mechagodzilla. Simmons gave the order to activate Mechagodzilla once more, but Serizawa objected, warning him that the neural interface was untested and that they had no idea how Mechagodzilla could react to the new source of energy. Simmons dismissed these concerns and ordered Serizawa to activate the mecha.
As Godzilla and Kong fought in Hong Kong for supremacy, Apex activated Mechagodzilla, which was now infused with the power from the Hollow Earth. However, this also prompted Ghidorah's consciousness to possess the mecha. The machine instantly severed its neural link with Serizawa and went out of control, killing Simmons. An electrical shock promptly killed Serizawa before Mechagodzilla broke free from its facility underneath Victoria Peak Mountain and began to destroy what was left of Hong Kong with its Proton Scream. Godzilla, who had just nearly killed Kong, roared at his mechanical doppelgänger and promptly charged at him.
Mechagodzilla, recognizing its arch-nemesis, responded with a charge of its own, firing a barrage of missiles at the King of the Monsters. Both monsters clashed, and Mechagodzilla activated its jet boosters as its claws ignited with energy, knocking Godzilla to the ground with ease. Watching the battle from the control room, Madison, Josh, and Bernie realized that Mechagodzilla was still being controlled by the command center, so Josh tried to hack into Mechagodzilla's system in an attempt to slow it down.
As Mechagodzilla continued its assault, it grabbed Godzilla by the head and slammed it against multiple buildings. Finally, the two monsters engaged in a beam lock, only for Mechagodzilla to pour more energy into its Proton Scream, knocking Godzilla over once more and severely burning his chest. As the mechanical Titan continued its relentless assault against Godzilla, Lind used a HEAV as a defibrillator on Kong's chest, reviving him. As Kong woke up, he witnessed the battle between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla. Jia convinced Kong that Godzilla wasn't the enemy and that Mechagodzilla was the true threat to get the ape to help Godzilla. Convinced, Kong readied for battle after Jia warned him to be careful. As Kong sprung into action, Mechagodzilla dragged Godzilla to the ground once more. It pried Godzilla's jaws open, intending on firing its Proton Scream into Godzilla's mouth. Just before Mechagodzilla dealt the killing blow, Kong jumped onto Mechagodzilla's back and pulled its head back, forcing it to fire its Proton Scream into the sky. Mechagodzilla threw Kong off of its back and was just about to strike, only for Godzilla to grab one of its arms, stopping the oncoming attack and allowing Kong to do the same. Both monsters joined forces, pulling Mechagodzilla through a building by its arms. Mechagodzilla soon broke free of both monsters' grip, knocking Kong away as it dealt with Godzilla. Mechagodzilla delivered a swift uppercut to Godzilla's chin before pinning him to a building. But before Mechagodzilla could deliver a blow from its tail, Kong reentered the fight, his axe at hand, and swung the weapon at Mechagodzilla. Mechagodzilla quickly gained the upper hand once more, pinning Kong against a building as it lashed its spinning drill-tipped tail into Kong’s face, only for him to catch it.
As the battle was still taking place, Josh was still trying to hack into Mechagodzilla's system, only for Hayes to dismiss the motion and suggest they have one last drink before they died. This gave Josh an idea, as he took Hayes' flask of alcohol and poured it over Mechagodzilla's control panel, causing it to spark and making Mechagodzilla momentarily stall. Godzilla took this opportunity to fire his atomic breath at Kong's axe, supercharging it. As Kong broke free, he began to strike Mechagodzilla with the axe, managing to chop both of its arms off before severing one of its legs, bringing Mechagodzilla down to the ground. As Kong lifted his axe over its head, Mechagodzilla attempted to fire one last Proton Scream but failed as Kong slammed his weapon onto Mechagodzilla's neck, then tore off its head. Kong held up Mechagodzilla's severed head and spine and roared triumphantly, then threw it aside, ending Mechagodzilla's brief reign of terror.
Cameo Appearances[]
Ready Player One[]
Helen activated her custom Iron Giant for the final battle, while Daito used an artifact to turn into an RX-78-2 Gundam for two minutes. Helen was no match for Mechagodzilla, who knocked her aside before unleashing its flamethrower. Before Wade and Samantha could slip past it, a tail whip totaled his DeLorean. Daito entered the battle as they tried fleeing on foot, saving them from being crushed underfoot. Samantha headed towards Helen while Wade and Zhou continued towards the castle. Though the Gundam was an even match for Mechagodzilla, landing some solid hits with his Beam Saber, the time limit proved to be Toshiro's downfall. As he stood defiant, Mechagodzilla vaporized him, then trained its finger missiles on Wade and Zhou. Just then, Helen leaped onto its back, causing its shots to go wild. With Samantha in the palm of her hand, he held the mech's head in place long enough for the gunter to shoot out one of its eyes with her pulse rifle. Before Sorrento could react, she tossed a Madball grenade through the hole and into the cockpit, killing his avatar and destroying Mechagodzilla.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
External Links[]
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