Mechagodzilla
 | This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. |
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (August 2007) |
 |
| This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. |
| Godzilla film series character | |
|---|---|
| MechaGodzilla | |
| Species | Mecha/Cyborg |
| Alias | Bionic Monster Cosmic Monster Mecha-G Mechagodzilla 2-3 Super Mechagodzilla Kiryu |
| Form(s) | Fake Godzilla (Godzilla disguise) Super Mechagodzilla (combination of Garuda and Mechagodzilla 2) |
| Height | 50-120 metres |
| Weight | 40,000-150,482 tons |
| Air speed | Mach 1-5 |
| Abilities/Weaponry | Flight Flamethrower Lazer Eye Beams Missile Claws Electrical Beam Forcefield Mega Buster Plasma Grenade Maser Ray Absoloute Zero Cannon. |
| Relationships | Godzilla (Blueprint) Mecha-King Ghidorah (Predecessor in Heisei series) M.O.G.U.E.R.A (Successor in Heisei series) |
| Major enemies | Godzilla Anguirus King Caesar Rodan |
| Allies | Titanosaurus Mothra |
| Built and Controlled by | Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens JSDF Vortaak (in Destroy All Monsters Melee) |
| First appearance | Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla |
| Created by | Shinichi Sekizawa |
| Portrayed by: | Shōwa series Ise Mori Heisei series Wataru Fukuda Millennium series Hirofumi Ishigaki Motokuni Nakagawa |
Mechagodzilla (メカゴジラ, Mekagojira) is a fictional character from various films in the Godzilla series, introduced in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974). It is Godzilla's mechanical doppelgänger and one of the most popular Toho kaiju.
Mechagodzilla (Showa)
The first Mechagodzilla was created as a weapon of destruction by a race of ape-like aliens, sometimes known as Simeons or the Black Hole aliens (See: Alien races from the Godzilla films).
It first appeared in a pseudo-flesh outer covering, masquerading as the real Godzilla during attacks against Japan in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Curiously, while the Simeons gave Mechagodzilla a laser in his mouth to mimic Godzilla's atomic beam, they didn't bother replicating Godzilla's unique roar. Godzilla's dinosaur friend Anguirus wasn't fooled by the impostor. Mechagodzilla broke his jaw and sent him fleeing underground. The battle went badly for Anguirus, but tipped humanity off to the charade.
Soon the true Godzilla appeared and exposed his rival's metallic form completely. Interestingly, after losing its disguise, Mechagodzilla's fingers lost all mobility and it lost the laser beam from its mouth (No explanation for this was ever given.) The battle resulted in a tie, however, and in the end it took the combined might of Godzilla and King Caesar to remove Mechagodzilla's head from its shoulders, ending the threat.
The Simeons rebuilt their dreadnought for another try in Terror of Mechagodzilla one year later. Having learned the value of teamwork firsthand, the Simeons called in an old debt to pair Mechagodzilla with the aquatic dinosaur Titanosaurus. (Any reasoning as to why they did not bother to recruit Titanosaurus in the first film is never mentioned, though they may have simply thought that Mechagodzilla was more than a match for Godzilla in the first place (which by the way was true), making the extra help unnecessary.)
This time, there were some modifications to it, mainly turning the mecha into a true cyborg by giving him living human brain cells, as well as moving Mechagodzilla's brain down into its neck so it could function unimpaired with its head completely removed in order to prevent Godzilla from defeating Mechagodzilla the same way he did the first time. Godzilla's perseverance combined with the timely self-sacrifice of Mechagodzilla's operator brought the machine down for good. The King of the Monsters buried Mechagodzilla's shattered form deep underground to prevent another repair job, and since this was the final film of the original Godzilla series, he was successful.
The original Mechagodzilla is the only one to be referred to by numerics within the movies themselves. When it is rebuilt in its second appearance, the "MG" emblazoned on its arm has a "2" added to it. It is still usually referred to as simply "Mechagodzilla" by the characters.
Arsenal
Showa Mechagodzilla has armour constructed out of a mysterious and nearly indestructible alloy known as "Space Titanium." It is also equipped with a staggering amount of firepower.
Mechagodzilla is capable of firing a rainbow colored optical beam that seems to be equal in power to Godzilla's atomic breath. Its head can rotate a full 360 degrees, allowing the robotic dinosaur to shoot down an opponent that might attempt to approach from behind. Mechagodzilla's head is also able to generate a cylindrical force-field around the robot's body by spinning around rapidly. This doesn't apply however when the head is twisted either without Mechagodzilla doing so itself or in the opposite direction (which one was true was never mentioned in the films) as both times when Godzilla twisted the mech's head himself the head was torn off. When disguised as Godzilla, MG could fire a laser beam from his mouth similar to the real Godzilla's atomic breath. After the disguise was destroyed, MG never used the laser beam again, most likely as it was no longer required to impersonate its enemy.
Showa MG is also equipped with powerful missiles in its fingers, knees, and even its toes. These missiles can explode on contact with a target, or they may lodge in the flesh of an enemy like darts. Located under a hatch in MG's chest is a Maser-like weapon that fires a jagged orange energy beam with enough slicing power to cut a mountain in half. Showa Mechagodzilla is no slouch in close combat either, as evidenced when it completely dominated King Caesar. Mechagodzilla 2 was able to increase the velocity of its finger missiles by rapidly rotating its hands and could also fire a ray from under its head when it was ripped off.
Video game appearances
The Shōwa Mechagodzilla appears in the video games Godzilla: Monster of Monsters for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Godzilla for the Game Boy, Super Godzilla for the Super Nintendo, Godzilla for TTI Duo, Godzilla Generations for the Sega Dreamcast and Godzilla Generations: Maximum Impact for the Sega Dreamcast. He has been confirmed in the Wii version of the upcoming game Godzilla: Unleashed, making it the first game with all three Mechagodzillas. He might be part of the Alien faction because of his role in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. His design is already complete and he's seen in the Godzilla: Unleashed trailer.
Mechagodzilla (Heisei)
The VS Mechagodzilla was created by the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center using Futurian technology scavenged from the remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. When Godzilla attacked the city of Kyoto, Mechagodzilla was deployed against him. The mechanical kaiju acquitted itself well, but was eventually defeated due to a voltage backsurge during their electrocution of Godzilla. One of the back-up pilots, Kazuma Aoki, suggested merging Mechagodzilla with the Garuda, a smaller airship that had been constructed by the UNGCC before Mecha-King Ghidorah's remains had been salvaged.
Kazuma, in fact the chief designer and main pilot of Garuda to start with, found some personal redemption as his idea is approved. The combined form of the two mechs, dubbed Super Mechagodzilla, is unleashed against the King of the Monsters and Fire Rodan. In the heat of battle, Kazuma personally detaches Garuda and flies against Fire Rodan while the other Mechagodzilla crew continue against Godzilla. Kazuma is defeated, but manages to reattach the Garuda to Mechagodzilla to form Super Mechagodzilla. Super Mechagodzilla proceeds to destroy Godzilla's own reptilian secondary brain and moves in for the kill. Fire Rodan reappears, but is killed by a blast from Super Mechagodzilla. Upon dying, Fire Rodan's body dissolves, releasing the radioactive energy within its body and healing Godzilla's injuries. As Rodan dissolved, he filled the air with a superheated, radioactive dust, which melted MG's diamond coating. As a result, Super Mechagodzilla was rendered defenseless against the revived monster. Godzilla, temporarily supercharged with radiation, destroys the mech with his super spiral ray. Super Mechagodzilla's crew escape uninjured.
Arsenal
Heisei Mechagodzilla is protected by an armor plating made from an alloy called NT-1, which is coated in a layer of artificial diamond that allows it to absorb energy from Godzilla's Atomic Breath and transfer it to its ultimate weapon, the Plasma Grenade, located on its abdomen. Mechagodzilla was also able to absorb energy from Rodan's heat beam. This weapon could be rendered useless if the plasma pool used to channel the energy overheated. Heisei Mechagodzilla also possesses laser cannons in its eyes and a Mega Buster ray in its mouth with destructive power equitable to Godzilla's atomic breath. It can fire tranquilizer missiles from its hips, paralysis missiles from the shoulders, and shock anchor cables from its wrists which deliver a powerful electrical surge into its opponent. After Godzilla used a Shock Discharge to send a back surge through the cables and into Mechagodzila, the shock cables were upgraded into a more powerful version called the G-Crusher which was used to destroy a secondary brain in Godzilla's lower spine.
Finally, Mechagodzilla can attach to the airship Garuda whereupon it gains Garuda's powerful maser cannons as well as added thrust from the Garuda's jets. This version is known as "Super Mechagodzilla".
Video game appearances
The VS Mechagodzilla appeared in the video games Super Godzilla and Gojira - Kaiju Dai Kessen for the Super Nintendo, Godzilla: Domination! for Game Boy Advance, Godzilla: Save the Earth for Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee for Xbox and the Nintendo GameCube and is confirmed for the Wii and Playstation 2 versions of Godzilla: Unleashed. Because of his role in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, he should be part of the Global Defense Force faction.
In Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, Mechagodzilla was a somewhat slow moving character who could use powerful lasers and missiles. He could also hover from the jets on his back.
VS Mechagodzilla was removed from the English version of Super Godzilla in favor for the more-known Shōwa Mechagodzilla. This was due to the fact that at the time of the game's release, the new Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla film had not been released on American shores.
Mechagodzilla (Millennium)
The Millennium version of Mechagodzilla first featured in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (Godzilla X MechaGodzilla in Japan), it was given the nicknames "Kiryu" and "Mecha-G."
Although the original Godzilla had been killed in 1954 by the Oxygen Destroyer, Japan still found itself under attack from other monsters such as Mothra over the decades. When a second Godzilla appeared in 1999, this was the last straw. The Anti-Megalosaurus Force (AMF) division of the Japan Xenomorph Self Defense Force (JXSDF) proposed a shocking plan: to dredge up the skeleton of the first Godzilla from Tokyo Bay and use it as a skeleton/framework for constructing a Mechagodzilla.
Cloned DNA from the bones was also inserted into the quasi-organic control computers, intended to take over subconscious motor control functions for the crew. By 2003, the metal monster was ready. Kiryu was unleashed, but the cyborg's latent memories were reawakened by Godzilla's own roars. Kiryu broke free of its pilot, Akane Yashiro, and proceeded to trash the city (manual overrides being ignored) without Godzilla's help for a couple of hours until it ran out of power.
The Japanese public was not amused. Hastily recalled, Kiryu received quite a few weapon upgrades in addition to new computer control software routines. When Godzilla attacked again a few days later, both branches of the JSDF tried stopping him without the steel dragon's help, but it was useless. With Akane at the ROV controls again, Kiryu was sent out.
The second battle went well until Kiryu's receiver was damaged. Akane wanted to enter Kiryu and affect repairs personally, despite being ordered not to. She then piloted the cyborg directly from its skull, carrying Godzilla out into the bay once more. Akane tried to destroy Godzilla with Kiryu's ultimate weapon, the "Absolute Zero Cannon", but the fight ended in a draw. Godzilla went back to the sea (though not before suffering a horribly shredded chest) and Kiryu went back to the body shop after suffering a destroyed right arm, heavily damaged Absolute Zero system, and empty power cells.
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., taking place one year later, saw Akane sent to America for further flight training. Taking her place in case Godzilla appeared was Akiba, but Kiryu's engineer Yoshito Chujo is the human focus of the film.
Mothra's twin fairies, the shobijin, appear to warn Japan. They claim that building Kiryu using the real bones was a violation of the natural order of things, sure to keep attracting the current Godzilla. The twins also claimed that Mothra would gladly take Kiryu's place in protecting Japan if they agreed to dismantle the mechanical beast. Since Kiryu had been built partially to defend against a second attack from Mothra herself, the Japanese declined at first.
But when Godzilla did appear and killed Kamoebas, Mothra voluntarily engaged him, Prime Minister Hayato Igarishi was shamed into aiding her. Kiryu flew into battle again. Despite this, the current adult Mothra was killed and Kiryu's transmitter damaged once again. Just like Akane before him, Yoshito entered Kiryu for repairs, but remained inside the mech during the battle after Godzilla's beam had accidentally struck both of the hatch doors damaging and jamming it.
Teaming up with the newly-hatched twin Mothra larvae, Kiryu was able to use his drill in his right arm and injured Godzilla's chest even more. While Godzilla screamed in pain, Kiryu fired his Triple Hyper Maser at Godzilla, making Godzilla roar to show Kiryu his flash back to Yoshito. Godzilla was then wrapped up by the twin Mothra larvae web. Unable to fight, Godzilla dropped to the ground, making Kiryu win the battle. Kiryu broke free of Akiba's control. Instead of finishing its battle, it merely subdued him, carrying Godzilla out to sea. After releasing Yoshito to safety, Kiryu plunged into the depths with its counterpart and was never seen again. This marked the first time that MechaGodzilla was able to defeat Godzilla decisively by the end of a Godzilla film without Godzilla coming back to destroy him.
Mechagodzilla was intended to return in the next film, Godzilla: Final Wars. But with so many monsters being revived for the film, each with new looks, the budget costs were enormous. So too was time needed to squeeze all these kaiju into one film. Toho Studios finally nixed Mechagodzilla completely from the movie.
Arsenal
Kiryu is considerably sleeker than other versions of Mechagodzilla, and is probably the most powerful. While Showa and Heisei Mechagodzilla are constructed of fictional alloys, it is never specified what Kiryu's armor is made out of. It is the first MechaGodzilla to include organic parts, built from the skeleton of the original Godzilla and using Godzilla DNA in its computer system. Additionally, unlike previous Mechagodzillas, Kiryu's tail was able to move which allowed Kiryu to use it as a weapon.
Kiryu is a well balanced machine, and the most agile Mechagodzilla to date, moving with a fluid, almost organic grace. Its armament includes an oral maser cannon, dual laser cannons on each arm, and a flight pack that contains two forward firing rocket launchers and four batteries along its back and sides for launching guided missiles. Upon emptying its payload, the flight pack can detach from Kiryu's body and launched to push the enemy a safe distance back before being remotely detonated. In Tokyo SOS, the flight pack was modified so that only the weapons pods were fired; leaving the thrusters attached and allowing Kiryu to maintain its aerial capabilities. For close combat, a short blade can be extended from Kiryu's right wrist which was not only able to penetrate Godzilla's nearly impervious hide, but was also able to discharge a crippling electrical surge into its opponent's body. In Tokyo SOS, Kiryu's arsenal was upgraded to allow its right hand to collapse into a revolving drill. Like the previous Mechagodzillas, Kiryu was also able to fly; although its limited energy reserves required the machine to be airlifted to the battlefield by two carrier craft.
Kiryu's most devastating weapon is the Absolute Zero Cannon, (a weapon also utilized by the Gotengo.) Stored in its chest behind a trio of folding panels, the Absolute Zero Cannon fired a ball of energy that flash froze its target, enabling Kiryu to shatter its opponent with the slightest vibration. After being heavily damaged in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, the Absolute Zero Cannon was deemed too expensive to repair and was replaced by a triple hyper maser cannon in Tokyo SOS.
Video game appearances
Kiryu appeared in the video game Godzilla: Save the Earth for Xbox and PlayStation 2. This would be Kiryu's first and to date only appearance on the PlayStation 2 so far in the United States.
Kiryu was available in Japan's version of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee on the Nintendo GameCube. Since that film would take a few years to reach U.S. stores, Kiryu was dropped from the American version of the game. He did appear in the Xbox version of the game as alongside VS Mechagodzilla. He has been revealed for the Wii version of the game Godzilla: Unleashed.
