Call Me Stormy

Know Your Monster: 28

VARAN

Varan is one of the most fascinating Kaiju, but also less well-known than other Japanese movie monsters. That’s because he’s appeared in only two films. The first — Varan the Unbelievable! from 1958 –received only a limited distribution in the United States. Otherwise, Varan has been seen only in a cameo role in the omnibus Destroy All Monsters.

If you can imagine a reptilian flying squirrel, then you have an idea of Varan’s appearance. He has skin flaps connecting his legs and arms, allowing him to glide and swoop down on his enemies. But his stony facial expression and scaly, blistered hide also make him look like an offshoot of Godzilla. One of his most powerful weapons is his tail, which he uses as a whiplash, powerful enough to knock down buildings.

In the same manner that Mothra was cast as the guardian protector for the natives of Infant Island, Varan is a mountain god worshiped by a remote tribe. But his ancestral stomping grounds lie in Siberia along the Kitami River. After the Japanese send out a scientific expedition to capture or destroy the beast, he returns the favor by attacking Tokyo.

Let’s watch a short clip of Varan in full destructive mode. He does have a nice roar!

Tomorrow’s featured monster: Viras

Know Your Monster: 23

THE MYSTERIANS

Besides gigantic monsters or Kaiju, one other recurring element exists in vintage Japanese sci-fi thrillers — mutant alien races that use the Kaiju as weapons in a quest to conquer the Earth. The Mysterians served as the prototypes. In a 1957 film called The Mysterians, this scientifically advanced race descends upon the planet in a dome they erect near Mt. Fuji. They issue two demands they want Earthlings to satisfy: Build them a small landing strip and give them the right to marry Earth women.

The Mysterians needs Earth women so they can dilute their own tainted genetics. Some 100,000 years earlier, they inhabited the fifth planet from the sun, but were forced to abandon it following a nuclear war. They reassembled on Mars, only the surviving Mysterians proved to be deformed and crippled, contaminated by Stronium-90. If they can mate with Earth women, they hope to reverse that trend, and keep their race alive.

In 1959, Toho Studios released a sequel to The Mysterians, a new film called Battle in Outer Space, presenting an even more sinister and threatening race from Outer Space — the Natal. Many new races have emerged since, from beyond our solar system as well as beneath the oceans. All can trace their origins to the Mysterians, who inspired rock musician Rudy Martinez, aka Question Mark, to name his new band “? and the Mysterians.”

Tomorrow’s featured monster: Reptilicus

Know Your Monster: 22

MOTHRA

No Kaiju other than Godzilla has appeared in more movies than Mothra. She has an enduring fan base, especially among women. Perhaps this is because Mothra doesn’t seem as terrifying as other Japanese movie monsters. After all, she is a giant lepidopteran, part butterfly and part moth, summoned by miniature fairies to serve as a protector of the natural world. She is slow to rise up in anger, only going on the offensive if someone threatens her worshipers or one of her brightly colored blue and yellow eggs.

But make no mistake about it. When Mothra loses her cool, all hell can break loose. She has racked up many victories over Godzilla himself, although admittedly, usually doesn’t face him alone, but in tandem with other monsters. Conversely, she also has appeared as an ally with Godzilla, most often defending the Earth against alien invaders and their robot monsters such as Mechagodzilla.

Mothra made her debut in 1961 in a Toho featured based on the novel The Luminous Fairies and Mothra. Three years later, she was pitted against Godzilla for the first time. She has appeared in six additional Godzilla movies over the years, plus her own trilogy back in the 1990s.

She uses a silken spray to freeze-dry her opponents. She also can release a poisonous yellow powder, but rarely does so, as that seems to impede her flying abilities and signal her own impending death. A divine aura surrounds Mothra. She can foresee the future and sometimes tweak fate. But she’s not always so high-minded, and has been known to chomp on the tails of her foes. She can appear fully grown or in larval form.

The original trailer from the 1964 film Mothra Vs. Godzilla, released in the United States as Godzilla Vs. The Thing.

Tomorrow’s featured monsters: The Mysterians

Know Your Monster: 20

MINILLA

Minilla, also known as Minya or Minira, is presumably the offspring of Godzilla, based upon his introduction as such in the 1967 film Son of Godzilla. The funny thing about that movie: We never see Mrs. Godzilla. Minilla hatches from an egg, so we don’t learn anything about Godzilla’s mating rituals or whether Mrs. G also lives on Solgell Island, where Minilla is born.

It’s a dangerous place, crawling with gigantic mutant spiders and praying mantises. The pint-sized Minilla is easy prey, so Godzilla quickly must teach him some basic defense and how to shoot his radioactive ray. Minilla and Godzilla can communicate telepathically from great distances, even across oceans. When Minilla sends out his danger signal, Godzilla will rush to the rescue. Although, in a few instances, Minilla will return the favor and save Godzilla’s hide in tough fights, earning the respect of his proud and beaming father.

Minilla is closer and more sympathetic to humans than Godzilla. And the baby Godzilla also exhibits boyish traits. He’s always playful, for instance, kicking boulders instead of stones, or hitching a ride on his father’s tail. Watch as Godzilla trains Minilla to transform his puffs of smoke into the radioactive ray. It’s the equivalent of a father who tosses a child into the deep end of the pool during the kid’s first swimming lesson.

Tomorrow’s featured monster: Monster X

Know Your Monster: 19

MEGALON

Megalon has stirred more controversy than other Godzilla foes. On the one hand, he has an ardent following — his popularity leading to his appearance in a long string of Godzilla video games. But Megalon made only one screen appearance, in 1973’s Godzilla Vs. Megalon, and many Godzillaphiles sneer at that picture for good cause.

It wasn’t originally meant to be a Godzilla movie at all, but instead a sci-fi thriller pitting Megalon against an Ultraman wannabe, Jet Jaguar. After the first screen tests turned out poorly, the production was shut down and nearly scrapped, until the producers hit upon a scheme to salvage their work by adding Godzilla as a tag-team partner to Jet Jaguar, and also giving Megalon an accomplice — Gigan. A few new Godzilla scenes were quickly cranked out, and also lots of footage inserted from older movies. The end results are mixed and uneven, some decent battles, but a somewhat convoluted plotline.

Megalon himself is a high point — a shiny, iridescent, mutant creature who most closely resembles a cockroach, but also exhibits attributes lifted from beetles and even owls. One standout trait: In place of arms, Megalon has drills allowing him to burrow rapidly into the Earth. This isn’t surprising because he’s the guardian monster for the Seatopians, an undersea city whose residents have grown angry with the human race over nuclear weapons testing. They dispatch Megalon to attack Tokyo. He has a deep arsenal, being able to fire lightning bolts and to drop napalm bombs stored in his mouth. He can swim as well as fly, and jump high to escape whenever he’s in danger.

Watch the original Japanese trailer for the 1973 film.

Tomorrow’s featured monster: Minilla