Angilas (Film monster)
Anguirus (アンギラス, Angirasu), or Angilas, is the second daikaiju who appeared only a year after Godzilla in the 1955 Toho film Godzilla Raids Again. Angilas is a four-legged dinosaur that looks similar to an ankylosaurus. He has several horns at the top of his head and a a single horn above his nose. His face is long and drawn out, like a crocodile, and has rows of jagged, serrated teeth. His carapace is studded with long, sharp spikes. Angilas's tail is longer than his body and makes up most of his body length. His hind limbs are longer than his fore limbs and he can stand up on them to his full, gigantic height, tough he generally traverses upon all fours.
Special Abilities
Angilas does not have any special weapons in particular, so he uses his teeth, claws, horns, and spiked carapace as his weapons. In addition, Angilas is an extraordinary jumper, and could even curl himself into a ball and bounce forward at a tremendous speed. He is also capable of burrowing underground.
Angilas also has remarkable stamina and determination, able to take a vicious beating before going down.
Film Appearences
Angilas was the first enemy that Godzilla faces, but was killed. A second Angilas appeared many years later as Godzilla's ally. He helped Godzilla repel the space monsters, Gigan and Ghidorah. He and Godzilla returned to Monster island, but the island was disturbed by nuclear bomb tests. The ground beneath Angilas cracked and he fell and was trapped. He went unseen for years, until he burrowed to the mainland and emerged to confront MechaGodzilla, who was disguised as Godzilla. However, MechaGodzilla was too powerful for Angilas, and severely injured him. Angilas was forced to retreat. In 1999, Angilas and the other inhabitants of Monster Island were captured and mind-controlled by an alien race known as Kilaaks who desired to dominate Earth. Angilas guarded the Kilaak base until the humans severed the mind control. Angilas was then sent to fight King Ghidorah at Fuji, where he and the other monsters successfully destroyed the space dragon once and for all. Angilas and the other monsters returned to their home where they lived in peace to this day.
In the movie "Godzilla: Tokyo SOS," a giant sea turtle dubbed Kameba is found dead. It had barely swam to a beach with three huge lacerations inflicted in its neck. At first, it was going to be Angilas, but the producer Shogo Tomiyama, disagreed about using him in this way.
Angilas was also featured in the 2004 movie, Godzilla: Final Wars as a controlled monster of the Xilians. He appears in Shanghai. He tramples and everything in his path until the warship Karyu appears. But Angilas curls himself into a ball and escapes from the warship. Karyu could not catch up. Then the Xilians appeared and teleported Angilas and the other monsters away. They told the humans that they eliminated the kaiju to save Earth. But it is soon discovered that this was all a lie and that the Xilians were controlling the kaiju. In Shanghai, the Xilians use their fighter ships to attack Karyu. Karyu fought back, but there were too many. While Karyu was distracted, Angilas jumped and curled himself into a ball before crashing into the ship. Karyu went spinning in the air before colliding into a skyscraper.
The Xilians then released the kaiju back on the cities they were destroying. Godzilla later fought Angilas, Rodan, and King Caesar at Mt. Fuji, but they were easily defeated. Unlike the other kaiju, who were killed, Godzilla let them live. (Apparently in homage to the days when all three Kaiju were his allies.) What happened to Angilas after that is unknown.
Trivia
Angilas was to have made an appearance in the film "Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack". Originally, the first draft of the film was to be called "Godzilla, Angilas, Varan: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack" as one of the three guardian Yamatos. The other two monsters were Varan and Baragon. However, Varan and Angilas were deemed unpopular were replaced with the more profitable King Ghidorah and Mothra.
Angilas has been featured in the video games, Battle Soccer, Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Godzilla: Destroy all Monsters, Godzilla: Save the Earth, Godzilla: Destroy all Monsters: Melee, Godzilla: Battle Legends, and Godzilla: Giant Monster March.
External link
- Angilas page at Toho Kingdom
- Angilas review at Toho Kingdom
