King Ghidorah

King Ghidorah (キングギドラ, 'Kingu Gidora'), sometimes spelled Ghidrah or Ghidora, is a dragon featured in several of Toho Studios' Godzilla films. King Ghidorah is among the most powerful creatures in daikaiju eiga with a reputation that has earned it the title "The King of Terror". He is often considered Godzilla's archenemy. Usually, King Ghidorah is so destructive and powerful, that Godzilla is often required to team-up with another monster, even several monsters, before engaging the three-headed dragon of terror and destruction in battle. One exception to this theme occurred in the 1991 film Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, which included an extra powerful Godzilla defeating King Ghidorah, as well as severing King Ghidorah's middle head. Despite this setback, however, King Ghidorah is one of the few daikaiju who is more than a match for Godzilla under most circumstances, though there have been other monsters such as Hedorah, Destoroyah, SpaceGodzilla, and MechaGodzilla 2 who have been equally formidable opponents for Godzilla. King Ghidorah is also one of the monsters that are most often mind controlled; it acts completely autonomously in three movies, in other appearances being controlled for most of its screen time by aliens. {| class="toc" id="toc"

Contents
[hide] *1 Shōwa History
 * 2 Heisei History
 * 2.1 Mecha-King Ghidorah
 * 3 Godzilla Island
 * 4 Millennium History
 * 5 Video Game Appearances
 * 5.1 Godzilla Unleashed Bio
 * 6 Abilities
 * 6.1 Other assorted abilities
 * 7 Gallery
 * 8 Cultural References
 * 9 Trivia
 * }

Shōwa HistoryEdit
Created as an opponent for Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra in 1964's Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, King Ghidorah is a golden dragon-like space monster with two legs, three heads on long necks, bat-like wings, and two tails. It was said to be 100 meters tall with a 150-meter wingspan weighs 30,000 metric tons in the Showa era. King Ghidorah was brought to life on the movie screen by a stunt actor inside an elaborate three-piece costume, with a team of puppeteers to control the beast's many appendages. Its alarming shrieks — a different ringing pitch for each of its heads — are among the genre's most recognizable sound effects. Its design is due to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya based on a minimal description in the script: "It has three heads, two tails, and a voice like a bell."

In recent films, King Ghidorah has undergone several revisions to its origin and appearance — for instance, a 150-meter tall irradiated triplet of genetically-engineered pets with a Rodan-like cackle, called Dorats in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, and a 49-meter-tall guardian monster in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack — and has been realized via CGI as well as suitmation.

King Ghidorah was created by the Garogans and was given to the Xiliens (for some unknown reason) who sent King Ghidorah to Earth to weaken it's forces and take it over without any trouble. But the Xiliens did not know of Earth's Monsters. King Ghidorah was destined to be given to different alien races, losing his history on the way.

Initially, King Ghidorah was said to have come from outer space, an ancient evil responsible for destroying civilizations on many planets, including Venus (Mars in the English dub), as well as the planets themselves. Arriving on Earth in a magnetic meteorite, King Ghidorah devastated much of the Japanese countryside before being repelled by the monstrous team of Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan. In the follow-up movie, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, it was revealed to be a mind-controlled pawn of beings from Planet X, a newly discovered planet in Jupiter's umbra, who called it Monster Zero. These "Xilians" coveted Earth's water resources and took control of Godzilla and Rodan in an attempt to conquer Earth. However, the human characters intervened by freeing the monsters, and after a fight with Godzilla and Rodan, King Ghidorah flew back into space. While generally accepted as a victory for Godzilla and Rodan, some have argued that King Ghidorah actually won the encounter and left of his own accord, maybe because he was too injured to continue attacking Earth. Some have looked to the fact that in the next film Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, Godzilla is found on an island supposedly dead but other fans say that Godzilla is recovering or sleeping.

He made two more appearances in the Shōwa Series, both times as an agent of alien invaders. In Destroy All Monsters, controlled by the Kilaaks, he fought and was seemingly killed by the combined might of ten of Earth's daikaiju, however, he reappears in Godzilla vs. Gigan, as one of the monsters controlled by the M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens, and an ally of Gigan in a battle against Godzilla and Anguirus. It should be noted, though, that Destroy All Monsters was set in the year 1999, while Godzilla vs. Gigan is to all appearances set in the early 1970s.

King Ghidorah also appeared in two episodes of the tokusatsu superhero TV series, Zone Fighter. He appeared in two back-to-back episodes, and was one of the few monsters to survive his encounter with Zone Fighter.

Heisei HistoryEdit
The kaiju was revamped for 1991's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, third in the VS Series. This time beefed up to 140 meters height (492.125984 feet). Time-travelers from the 23rd century (called "Futurians") released three genetically-engineered Dorats (or Drats) onto Lagos Island, the location at which a Godzillasaurus was believed to be exposed to radiation from hydrogen bomb testing and become Godzilla. Instead, the irradiated Dorats fused into Ghidorah, which the Futurians then used to devastate present-day (1992) Japan. The marauder was defeated by a strengthened Godzilla; this newer Godzilla was larger and more powerful than ever before owing to an encounter with a modern nuclear submarine. Even so, Ghidorah appeared to be winning the battle until its controlling computer was sabotaged. Godzilla recovered and blasted off the monster's middle head. Ghidorah fell into the ocean, where he remained comatose for hundreds of years.

Mecha-King GhidorahEdit

 * Main article: Mecha-King Ghidorah

Mecha-King GhidorahAdded by The FavsThe Futurian Emi Kano recovered the beast in 2204 and, from its body and futuristic technology, created the cyborg Mecha-King Ghidorah (メカキングギドラ, Meka Kingu Gidora?), equipped with solar-paneled wings, an entirely mechanical middle head, and several devices specifically designed for combat with Godzilla. This incarnation managed to stun Godzilla with its Capture Cables, grasp it with the giant Machine Hand, and carry it out to sea. Godzilla finally blasted the monster at point-blank range, crippling it, and both plummeted into the water. Godzilla would return the following year (Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth), but King Ghidorah would not appear again in the Versus series. The cybernetic remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah, however, would later be studied by the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center (U.N.G.C.C.) and the technology used to design and construct Mechagodzilla 2 (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II) and later M.O.G.U.E.R.A. (Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla).

Godzilla IslandEdit
King Ghidorah in Godzilla IslandAdded by KingGhidorah2001In Episode 6-15, the Xilien Zaguresu controls the monsters into fighting against each other and sends King Ghidorah to. The humans break the mind-control, but most are too injured to continue fighting. Godzilla and Rodan battle King Ghidorah and all three monsters are knocked off the cliff. Ghidorah lay at the bottom of the ocean, but Zaguresu zapped him with her beam and revived him. He battled furiously against Godzilla, who's atomic ray did nothing. Godzilla finally went down, but Torema unleashed a pyshic wave that knocked Ghidorah back. Godzilla fired his ray again, and this time Ghidorah could feel it. She eventually weakens from an attack from Zaguresu earlier and Ghidorah continues his fight with Godzilla. Godzilla eventually gains the upper hand, biting one of Ghidorah's necks. Ghidorah tries to fly away but Godzilla bites on Ghidorah's leg. King Ghidorah uses all of his strength to free himself, even lifting Godzilla into the air, and eventually breaks free and flies away.

Millennium HistoryEdit
King Ghidorah in Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out AttackAdded by Nightwolf4545King Ghidorah appeared as a hero in the third of the Millennium Series of Godzilla films, 2001's Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. Ghidorah adopted yet another origin for this film, as one of three legendary guardians of the Japanese isles, similar to the eight-headed dragon Yamata no Orochi of Japanese mythology. (In fact, the three-headed Ghidorah in this film is said to be underdeveloped, awakened from hibernation before it could grow all eight of its heads.) Godzilla again attacks Japan and is repelled by the combined might of the guardian monsters (Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah) and the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Despite killing all three Yamato Beasts and decimating the JSDF, the spirits of the three Guardians entered Godzilla's body, stunning him long enough to allow General Tachibana to burrow his way out of Godzilla after internally firing a D-03 missile (explosive drill). This eventually destroyed him when he tried to use his atomic beam again after it burst out the inflicted hole in his shoulder and finally caused Godzilla to vaporize himself from within. This film was the first time that King Ghidorah was depicted as a hero, instead than a villain. It was also the first time that King Ghidorah was physically portrayed as being smaller than Godzilla.

Video Game AppearancesEdit
King Ghidorah (often also as Mecha-King Ghidorah) has appeared in several Godzilla video games:
 * Godzilla: Monster of Monsters
 * Super Godzilla (also "Mecha")
 * Godzilla: Battle Legends (also "Mecha")
 * Godzilla Giant Monster March (also "Mecha")
 * Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (also "Mecha")
 * Godzilla: Domination (also "Mecha")
 * Godzilla: Save the Earth (also "Mecha")
 * Godzilla: Unleashed (also "Mecha")