Hey kaiju fans, today we're presenting the second part of the anime GODZILLA timeline.
All of this info is taken from "GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla" by Renji Oki,
the second official prequel novel to the anime trilogy after "Monster Apocalypse."
It picks up almost 20 years before the Oratio and Aratrum emigration ships leave Earth,
expanding on and adding to events mentioned in the previous book -
so make sure to watch our video on that one as well.
Now, let's dive in...
In 2029, Megalon—who in the prior decades had attacked Africa—
devastated India and Pakistan, both of which were recovering from a nuclear war against each other.
He moved on to the Philippines and then to Japan, which had already suffered kaiju attacks
such as Rodan II in Kyushu.
Megalon broke through the joint Japanese-American defense line and landed at Blue Beach, Okinawa.
King Caesar, the guardian deity of the island, suddenly appeared from Cape Manzamo and slayed
Megalon in combat, keeping the damage from the monster's attack at a minimum.
In the mid-2030's, Godzilla passed through Western Europe and vanished
into the sea off of France in 2037.
Multiple Rodans appeared in Rome and claimed the Italian peninsula as their feeding ground,
as other kaiju emerged in Europe later.
In August 2037, the larval Battra awoke from his slumber in South America,
detecting the approach of Gorath: an asteroid with a diameter of about 30 kilometers
and a mass comparable to the Moon.
Godzilla intercepted Battra and they fought at least two times.
The King of Monsters ultimately killed the beast and disappeared into the Arctic Ocean thereafter.
One of Godzilla's severed dorsal plates washed ashore near Rio de Janeiro and was brought
to the United Nations Anti-Godzilla Biological Protection Facility in Antarctica.
Dr. Tokumitsu Yuhara, a Godzilla researcher studying under Dr. Wilhelm Kirchner in the facility,
discovered Battra's DNA attached to the dorsal plate and found it was similar to moth DNA.
Scientists gave Battra the name "Monster M," and the United Earth launched a futile search for him,
believing him to be a monster capable of destroying Godzilla.
Yuhara later became concerned with the repercussions of his work on G-Cells,
believing Dr. Kirchner might be trying to clone Godzilla.
When the Bilusaludo obtained a sample of G-Cells, Dr. Yuhara warned about the dangers associated
with trying to weaponize the cells.
In 2038, Japanese amateur astronomers finally discovered Gorath.
It was not taken seriously at first, as the United Earth was overconfident
in its technological prowess after retaking Europe.
The Bilusaludo neglected Gorath entirely, focusing on Earth's monsters instead.
In 2039, the United Earth carried out "Operation: Eternal Light"
to reclaim control of the Atlantic Ocean from the kaiju.
During this operation, Gezora was exterminated in the Mediterranean,
which he had been terrorizing since the 2010's.
In 2040, Japanese astronomer Dr. Tajiri determined that Gorath would collide with the Earth in 2042,
and noted that it seemingly had a will of its own,
following an abnormal path to put itself on a collision course with Earth.
Some theorized that Gorath was a space monster in disguise.
In 2041, after the United Earth determined it nearly impossible to alter Gorath's path,
it was declared the greatest threat to humanity.
Plans were put into place to evacuate the Earth and establish a base in outer space.
2042 - Godzilla emerged from the Arctic ice in 2042.
Using energy he stored up during his five-year absence, he completely obliterated the approaching Gorath
with a more powerful crimson spiral-shaped variant of his atomic breath.
The United Earth's long-term plans changed dramatically after witnessing Godzilla's full power.
Settling on the Moon and Mars was now out of the question,
even though it would save many more lives; he might still be able to target them.
Over the next two years, the King of Monsters appeared a total of eight separate times.
He sank the United Earth's main naval fleet in the Atlantic during "Operation: Renaissance,"
then came ashore on the east coast of the United States and destroyed New York City,
the United Earth's new capital, overnight.
Even the two Markalite Cannons built on the site of the World Trade Center,
the most powerful artillery in human history, were unable to stop him.
Next, the Exif and Bilusaludo tried to destroy Godzilla by overloading the fusion reactors
of their motherships in "Operation: Prometheus."
He survived, of course; the city of Cleveland did not.
With the threat posed by Godzilla increasing, the United Earth approved "Project Mechagodzilla"
and began to design a giant robot in the monster's image.
All of the resources not already devoted into the construction of the interstellar emigration vessels
Oratio and Aratrum were injected into "Project Mechagodzilla,"
with the machine being constructed in a facility near the foot of Mt. Fuji.
The project was undertaken by both human and Bilusaludo scientists
and headed by Bilusaludo technical officer Mulu-Elu Galu-Gu.
The United Earth released four propaganda films which revealed the existence of Mechagodzilla
to the public and hailed it as the "Last Hope of Mankind."
The first of these films, made with minimal resources, used old-fashioned suits and miniature sets
to depict a battle between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla.
2043 - With "Project Mechagodzilla" underway, the United Earth began preparations for
"Operation: Great Wall": a plan to blast open a fault near the Himalayas
by detonating 2,000 nuclear warheads simultaneously.
Once the Nanometal placed underground was activated, Godzilla would be trapped in the hole.
United Earth engineers preparing for the operation in China accidentally awakened
a Baragon living underground, which attacked them.
2044 - To buy time for "Project Mechagodzilla," the United Earth initiated "Operation: Long March,"
a plan to keep Godzilla on land, where he could be reliably tracked,
while also luring him deeper into the Eurasian continent.
The operation began in North Africa, where United Earth forces faced threats from several other kaiju,
including Griffons, Giant Rats, the Giant Condor, smaller variants of Kumonga
and Kamacuras, Meganula, and Rodan.
The United Earth was so low on manpower during this operation that it began using child soldiers.
To make matters worse, nearly every Bilusaludo engineer traveled to Mt. Fuji to work on Mechagodzilla,
leaving almost no one in Eurasia who knew how to repair and maintain the superweapons
they had designed for humanity.
"Operation: Long March" crossed over with "Operation: LTF" (Let Them Fight) -
an initiative based in the Ogasawara Islands which aimed to control monsters and use them as weapons.
Multiple Titanosauruses, sea monsters from the Pacific Ocean,
faced off against Godzilla as part of the operation.
The United Earth found a more effective tool in the form of Gigan, a monster discovered
hibernating on the ocean floor off the coast of Siberia.
Gigan initially resembled a cross between an aquatic dinosaur and a bird, with scales covering his body.
He could fly and had a long sickle-shaped claw on each of his forelimbs.
The United Earth captured Gigan and were able to modify and control him using Exif and Bilusaludo tech.
Gigan first faced Godzilla in Suez, Egypt.
He lost both of his arms in the three-day battle, though he was successful in bringing
the King of Monsters from Africa into Eurasia.
Strategic defeats against Godzilla in Baku, Ashgabat, Samarkand, and Kashgar maimed him further.
As "Operation: Long March" continued, Gigan became more machine than monster—
his masters replacing each of his lost body parts with mechanical ones.
They upgraded Gigan's hands to sickles and hyper-vibrating chainsaws,
installed homing missile launchers on his arms, placed a goggle-like visor over his ruined eyes, and equipped his
abdomen with a prototype blade launcher intended for use by Mechagodzilla.
During "Operation: Long March," Gigan saved the lives of many United Earth soldiers
and personnel, earning their trust and devotion.
During a battle in Yarkant, China, Godzilla crushed Gigan's wings, arms, and head.
United Earth soldiers disobeyed orders and threw themselves into battle to save him,
until the Bilusaludo finally sent one of their spaceships to beam him up.
2045 - The Bilusaludo deployed Gigan in Hotan, China, and injected him with experimental Nanometal.
The substance's regenerative capabilities allowed Gigan to regenerate entire body parts
even after they were blasted off by Godzilla.
However, the King of Monsters unleashed a particularly powerful blast of his atomic breath
which completely obliterated Gigan and left no trace of the monster behind.
Michael N. Hunter, a United Earth medical officer who had served in "Operation: Long March,"
came into possession of one of Gigan's scales and vowed to return it to Siberia
to commemorate the monster's sacrifice on behalf of humanity.
With Godzilla now in China, "Operation: Great Wall" finally began.
As the United Earth's operatives carried it out, they were menaced by more kaiju.
Larval Meganulon living in the soil preyed upon the soldiers, while the Rodans preying
on the Meganulon hunted the humans as well.
A Gorosaurus living underground also turned up.
Another Manda appeared in the Persian Gulf and attacked United Earth engineers.
Despite these difficulties, the warheads successfully opened the fault,
trapping Godzilla underground for a year.
During this time, he fed on molten magma, accumulating energy.
Godzilla began swimming through the magma and triggered a volcanic eruption in January 2046
at an area designated "G-Crater,"
destroying many of the surrounding United Earth forces in the pyroclastic flow.
He then freed himself from underground using his atomic breath.
From there, he broke through the Indian defense line.
He caused 200 million casualties throughout Eurasia in the process,
and disappeared into the Bay of Bengal.
March 2046 - Godzilla came ashore on the Japanese archipelago and made his way to Hamamatsu,
the home of the United Earth's Mechagodzilla facility.
The United Earth marshaled its remaining military strength at the facility and prepared to face
Godzilla in a decisive final confrontation: the "Battle at the Foot of Mt. Fuji."
During the fight, Bilusaludo engineers were unable to activate Mechagodzilla for unknown reasons.
As Godzilla breached the facility, the personnel, including Galu-Gu,
were forced to evacuate and abandon Mechagodzilla.
Godzilla then obliterated the United Earth's forces and destroyed the facility housing
Mechagodzilla with his atomic breath.
With the United Earth' s ultimate weapon lost and the rest of its forces in Japan eliminated,
Godzilla traveled to Tokyo Bay unopposed and stormed through Tokyo,
completely destroying the metropolis in less than three hours before disappearing.
Following this crushing defeat, the United Earth began final preparations
for the Interstellar Emigration Plan.
December 2047 - A team of scientists, led by Dr. Ijuin,
began studying at the abandoned North American Hedorah Research Laboratory,
intending to develop a chemical weapon capable of destroying Godzilla.
They were inspired by rumors that the King of Monsters had been killed by a device called
the Oxygen Destroyer off the coast of France in 2037,
while the monster that destroyed Gorath was another member of the same species.
The supposed inventor, Dr. Serizawa, allegedly thought war between humanity,
the Exif, and the Bilusaludo was inevitable after the monsters were defeated.
According to the story, he killed himself alongside Godzilla and destroyed his research
rather than let the Oxygen Destroyer be used in the coming conflict.
Ijuin focused on a microorganism colony designated "J-MO7,"
which he believed to be connected to Serizawa's device.
While the researchers were studying J-MO7, the microbes began evolving and combined with
each other into an aggregate form.
This stage of J-MO7 was red and resembled a crustacean, leading the scientists to theorize
the creature may have been a subspecies of Ganimes that traveled south from the Bering Sea into North America.
The aggregate creature killed all of the researchers except for Kane Hilter, who locked himself
in a shelter and composed an email to Akira Sakaki to explain what became of the project.
He also revealed that he made up the story about the Oxygen Destroyer,
to give comfort to humanity as despair and rioting spread across the globe.
Hilter sent the message as the aggregate J-MO7 melted the iron door to the shelter.
With North America already out of humanity's control, no further investigation into J-MO7 could be carried out.
January 2048 - The Oratio was successfully launched.
March 11, 2048 - Godzilla arrived in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro,
where he destroyed the Space Port JSS-3.
Godzilla broke through the United Earth's defense line guarding Rio de Janeiro, heading towards the Aratrum.
Only a last-ditch nuclear strike prevented him from destroying the ship on the launch pad.
Nonetheless, he managed to shoot down a Landing Ship, causing an explosion that killed several people.
Akira and Haruka Sakaki were presumed dead in the explosion, but had actually managed to survive.
The Aratrum departed with their young son Haruo aboard, under the care of Daichi Tani.
A group known as the "Total Attack Faction" seized control of the United Earth remnants
left behind and began to launch nuclear weapons at Godzilla with wild abandon.
São Paulo and Salvador were among the cities they vaporized.
By the time the Goten took out their base in the Falkland Islands,
the total human population on Earth had fallen below 200 million.
After rampaging through Peru and Ecuador, Godzilla reached Buenaventura,
the United Earth's third capital, intent on destroying the last bastion of human resistance.
A monster shining like the sun arrived to stop him.
Her defensive scales reflected his atomic breath
and interfered with his Asymmetrically Permeable Shield.
Though an especially powerful burst of atomic breath managed to injure the creature,
the reflected blast blew off one of Godzilla's dorsal plates as well.
Humanity saw Godzilla retreat for the first time.
An indigenous tribe living in the Amazon rainforest known as "Mothra's People," led by the priestess Lira,
revealed themselves to humanity shortly after the battle.
They explained that Mothra, their guardian deity, had a counterpart called Battra,
and together they were said to have the strength to defeat Godzilla.
However, Battra awoke ahead of Mothra to try and intercept Gorath, only to be killed by Godzilla.
Alberto Ichiro Santos formed a group known as the Monster Coexistence Sect, or "Cosmos,"
which sought to emulate Mothra's People and live in harmony with their goddess.
They proposed a plan to the United Earth to transport Mothra's eggs to Japan so her offspring
could defend future generations of humans living there and ensure the survival of the species.
"Operation: Cradle," headed by Akira Sakaki, was put into action,
with Mothra depositing the two eggs on the USS Saratoga's flight deck.
On August 15, 2048, Godzilla confronted the Saratoga in the Pacific Ocean
as it made its way to Japan.
The injured adult Mothra faced him once again
to defend her offspring and ensure the success of the operation...
The relocation of Mothra's eggs to Japan would eventually lead to the emergence of the Houtua,
a small tribe living in Godzilla's shadow who would be encountered
by the crew of the Aratrum nearly 20,000 years later.
The Houtua had evolved from the remnants of humanity by incorporating some of Mothra's DNA
into their own genome, granting them the ability to secrete scales from their skin
that protected them from both Nanometal and Godzilla's cells.
With Mothra slain by Godzilla, the Houtua now worshiped one of her eggs,
which they kept in a temple within a volcanic caldera.
The egg was capable of telepathically communicating with its worshipers,
with two twin priestesses serving as conduits for its messages.
Shifting gears here: Kadokawa has yet to announce a third novel tying into "GODZILLA: The Planet Eater,"
although it's worth noting the company announced the previous two books
only two months before their corresponding films were released.
Author Renji Oki noted in a recent interview that he has very few options left for monsters
after including nearly all of Godzilla's giant co-stars, and then some,
in "Monster Apocalypse" and "Project Mechagodzilla."
While Oki had no plans for a third novel at the time the interview was conducted,
he still didn't completely rule out the possibility, and discussed hypothetical ideas and plot elements.
One of his ideas involved shifting the focus to some of Toho's kaijin,
such as the Human Vapor, Matango, and the Telegian.
He specifically entertained the idea of an entire race of Telegians living on the surface
of the moon following an experiment gone awry.
Another idea was exploring the immediate aftermath of the first two novels,
depicting life on the now-Godzilla-dominated Earth.
The availability of these novels in English is another question mark.
Netflix, for all the TV shows and movies it produces, does not have a publishing division yet.
A user on Toho Kingdom is currently working on an amateur translation of the first book,
but his postgraduate degree has kept him busy.
The best bet for an official release might be Vertical, Inc., a company which specializes in Japanese fiction.
In 2016, they published Touji Asakura's novelization of the live-action "Attack on Titan" films.
In the meantime, it's been a pleasure sharing some of these books' secrets with the rest of the fanbase.
Thank you for watching.