Mothra

Mothra (モスラ Mosura) is a giant divine moth kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1961 Toho film, Mothra, and made her first appearance alongside Godzilla in the 1964 Godzilla film, Mothra vs. Godzilla.
== Name ==
The name "Mothra" is the suffixation of "-ra" (a common last syllable in kaiju names) to "moth." Since the Japanese language does not have dental fricatives, it is approximated "Mosura" in Japanese.
Originally, Mothra's name was approximated in English as "Mosla," but it was later corrected to "Mothra" by the time of the release of her debut film. In the American dubbing and various posters for Mothra vs. Godzilla, Mothra is also referred to as "The Thing."
== Appearance ==
Since her first film, Mothra has been depicted in various stages of the lepidopteran life cycle: Mothra's mammoth egg is decoratively colored in blue and yellow waves. The egg hatches into her larva, a massive brown, segmented caterpillar (resembling a silkworm) with glowing blue, sometimes red, eyes. In rare circumstances, twins may emerge from the egg.
The caterpillar eventually spins a silken cocoon around itself (the pupa stage), and from this cocoon the imago (adult) Mothra emerges, a gigantic moth-like creature with brightly-colored wings. 
Mothra's life cycle - particularly the tendency of an imago's death to coincide with its larvae hatching—echoes that of the Phoenix, resembling resurrection and suggesting divinity.
== Trivia ==
* Mothra was the first bug kaiju in the Godzilla series.
* Mothra was the first Toho opponent Godzilla faced that did not debut in the Godzilla series but was instead absorbed by it, becoming one of the series' recurring characters.
** Likewise, Mothra is also the first and so far only Toho monster to have a series of films dedicated to her and her kind after being featured in the Godzilla series.
* Mothra is widely considered to be Toho's second most popular kaiju behind Godzilla, due to her numerous film appearances both in and outside of the Godzilla franchise. Toho has even given Mothra the title "Queen of (the) Monsters," a counterpart to Godzilla's "King of the Monsters."
* Despite being a frequent Godzilla ally, Mothra, in most movies, was Godzilla's foe. She became Godzilla's ally in two Godzilla movies in the Showa series, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and Destroy All Monsters.
** In Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Godzilla only fought Mothra because his role in the movie was originally meant for King Kong, as the creature never met Mothra before.
* In Godzilla vs. Gigan, Mothra makes an extremely brief appearance when Godzilla stomps towards Gigan. This is due to an erroneous use of stock footage which reused a scene from Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.
* Mothra has become one of Godzilla's most challenging opponents, having achieved the greatest success rate in battle. She has once overcome Godzilla in imago form, and twice Godzilla has fought her to her death only later to be bested by her newborn larvae. It should be mentioned that Mothra has never beaten Godzilla alone (in her Imago Form). The only victory by an insect over Godzilla were the Mothra twin-larvae in Mothra vs. Godzilla in the Showa series, Imago Mothra and Imago Battra in Godzilla vs. Mothra, in the Heisei series and the twin-larvae and Kiryu in the Millennium series.
* Unsurprisingly, Mothra has been mentioned or referenced countless times in other forms of media, some of which are tagged below.
** In episode 40 of the Kimagure Orange Road anime TV series, the cast are making an amateur movie referencing certain elements from Mothra. They use the Kasuga family cat to play the part of a giant monster heading towards Tokyo with a final confrontation at Tokyo Tower and the Kasuga Twins playing the part of lost princesses that the monster is seeking. The twins even sing to the monster in order to calm it down and they ride on the monster back to their island paradise.
** In the Rumiko Takahashi series, Urusei Yatsura, Mothra, along with other kaiju co-stars, make multiple background cameos.
** In the Love Hina anime, Motoko has a dream where Mutsumi Otohime appears as two tiny versions of herself who sing to summon a giant version of Tama-chan in a similar fashion to how Mothra is summoned by her fairies.
** Mothra has a brief appearance in an episode of The Simpsons where Godzilla is attacking the plane the family is on along with Gamera and Rodan.
** A song by We Are Scientists, released on their 2002 LP Safety, Fun, and Learning (in that Order) is titled "Mothra Versus We Are Scientists."
** In Class of 3000 Mothra and Godzilla made a few appearances.
** Mothra is the name of a track on the Nosferatu album by The Stranglers' lead-singer and guitarist Hugh Cornwell and Captain Beefheart percussionist Robert Williams.
** The Toe Jammers wrote a song about Mothra, in which Godzilla sings Mothra a letter he wrote that begs for her forgiveness.
** During the events entailed in Silent Hill 1, the lead protagonist, Harry Mason encounters a large larva that he must fight. Later on, it is shown to have evolved into a very Mothra-like giant moth, who seeks revenge.
** A common enemy in the Legend of Zelda series is a giant poisonous moth known as Mothula, an apparent play on Mothra's name.
** In the Pokémon anime, Giratina has Mothra's chirps and screeches.
** Mothra looks strikingly similar to the Generation III Pokémon Beautifly, even having an almost identical color scheme.
** The Pokémon anime makes a direct reference to Mothra through Caterpie. In an episode a giant Caterpie attacks a city similar to Tokyo and it evolves into Metapod while on a tower similar to Tokyo Tower.
** In the Generation V Pokémon video games, Volcarona (a giant, fire-controlling moth Pokémon) is likely to have been influenced by Mothra.
** At the end of the Mad Cartoon Sketch: "Linkong", the Shobijin from 1961's Mothra (plus their various appearances in several Godzilla films) appear, narrating the epilogue and summoning Mothra Washington. Mothra flies on-screen, with authentic chirps.
** In the Sonic X anime, the giant moth Mothmacin is a reference to Mothra.
** In the Kirby series, a parody is seen in the anime. A monster named Mosugaba and the small twin girls were known as the Twin Nuts.
** Mothra is part of a miniskit in the comedy show Saturday Night Live.
** Mothra makes a pseudo-cameo in Legendary Pictures' Godzilla. When Joe and Ford Brody are searching through the ruins of the quarantine zone, the word "Mothra" can be seen printed below a glass terrarium. Also, in Ford's classroom, there is a diagram featuring several moths and butterflies, the largest of which has Mothra's coloration.
** In August of 2014, the 1998 film was mocked by RiffTrax Live, which was created by and shares many of the former members of Mystery Science Theater 3000. During the riffing, they made witty references to King Ghidorah and Mothra.
** In the Dreamworks Animated film Monsters vs Aliens, the character Insectosaurus starts his life as a gigantic, mutant larva that is mostly a parody of Godzilla. By the film's climax, he has metamorphosed into a colorful imago whose wings bear a vague resemblance to the pattern on Mothra's own wings.
Category:Godzilla (series)