Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic and welcome to our second video focusing on the
kaiju that face off against Godzilla.
These monsters are all unique and interesting, so hopefully you enjoy.
What we’re covering today is called the Heisei Era, which takes its name from the
political era of Japan.
The first film The Return of Godzilla takes place in 1984, which is actually before the
Heisei Era begins, but we’ll roll with it.
Let’s begin with the plant creature Biollante, created by combining the DNA of a human and
a rose plant, then mixing in some of Godzilla’s DNA as well.
She has several forms, first of which appears more rose-like, followed by her more Godzilla-like second form.
She faces off against Godzilla using a corrosive sap that she can spew from her mouth and spores
that she can exude to carry her around and help her regenerate, seemingly immortal.
In the film Return of Godzilla, we meet a small monster called Shockirus, which is a
crab-like creature that fed on Godzilla’s blood and became mutated, now hunting and killing humans.
It doesn’t really threaten Godzilla but rather sticks on Godzilla’s body to feed
on collateral damage.
Now, we have some time travel in the film Godzilla vs King Ghidorah, in which the tides
are turned and a version of Godzilla is attacking Tokyo, so a group of scientists transform
a cryogenically frozen King Ghidorah into Mecha-King Ghidorah, partially organic and
now partially mechanical.
We also see the origin of Ghidorah, three creatures called Dorats who were exposed to
radiation and fused together in the past, turning into the present day King Ghidorah.
Now, this mechanical Ghidorah wasn’t the only high-tech kaiju.
With the scavenged remains of Mecha King Ghidorah, a United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures
group created a new version of Mechagodzilla, called Super Mechagodzilla, which housed an
anti-Godzilla aircraft called Garuda on its back, teaming its power with the power of
the Mechagodzilla.
Even though these two things were both created to stop Godzilla, they still weren’t victorious,
and Godzilla survived, along with his child Baby Godzilla, which is a very different creature
than what we saw in the Showa Era movies.
Now since we’re talking about evil counterparts, let’s bring up Battra who is considered
the evil twin almost to Mothra.
Battra is a violent creature, having existed for a long time on Earth, always seeking to
protect the Earth, usually by destroying humanity.
This puts him in direct opposition to Mothra.
Like Mothra, he has a flying stage as well as a larval stage where he can exist on the ground.
Speaking of Mothra, she once traveled to space but needed a way to send a message back, so
she spawned thousands of what are called “Fairy Mothras,” small versions of herself that
came to Earth to warn them about an incoming danger… Space Godzilla.
This new creature is somehow a clone of Godzilla from space but it’s not quite clear who
or what created him.
When he arrives on Earth, he is incredibly intelligent and has a true evil intent, hoping
to kill Godzilla so that he can dominate the planet and rule it.
Now, when Space Godzilla was arriving, the humans had one form of defense: MOGUERA.
This machine was constructed again with remnants from creatures like Mechagodzilla.
It has pilots inside that control the machine and they tried their best to stop Space Godzilla,
though he ultimately defeated the machine.
We’ll end this video with the baddest villain of them all, Destoroyah.
When the Japanese people killed the first Godzilla in 1954 by using an Oxygen Destroyer.
The creatures in the ocean began to adapt and change, combining together over time to
build larger and larger creatures.
When he first began visible, he attacked fish, then eventually came to land, killing people
and destroying parts of the city.
It kept evolving, kept changing, and eventually even killed Godzilla Junior, which Godzilla
himself was not happy about.
He is one of Godzilla’s strongest foes, even smart enough to use his emotions against him.
Destoroyah tried to escape though his wings were frozen
and he fell into the super-heated ground, shattering completely.
The Oxygen Destroyer weapon was used in the most recent Godzilla: King of the Monsters,
so one could imagine this might leave the door open for Destoroyah to appear in these
films soon as well…
Well that pretty much covers this era, at least for the Godzilla films.
Toho had other films, such as Gamera and Mothra films, so if you’re curious about those
other kaiju, or you want to see more recent eras highlighted in a video like this, just let me know!
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