Mothra

Mothra (モスラ, *Mosura*) is a fictional monster, or kaiju, that first appeared in the 1961 film Mothra, produced and distributed by Toho Studios. Mothra has appeared in several Toho tokusatsu films, most often as a recurring character in the Godzilla franchise. She is typically portrayed as a colossal sentient larva (caterpillar) or imago, accompanied by two miniature female humanoids speaking on her behalf. Unlike other Toho monsters, Mothra is a largely heroic character, having been variously portrayed as a protector of her own island culture, the Earth and Japan. Mothra's design is influenced by silk worms, their imagos, and those of giant silk moths in the family saturniidae. The character is often depicted hatching offspring (in some cases, twins) when approaching death, a nod to the Saṃsāra doctrine of numerous Indian religions.

Mothra is one of Toho's most popular monsters and second only to Godzilla in her total number of film appearances. Polls taken during the early 1990s indicated that Mothra was particularly popular among women who were, at the time, the largest demographic among Japan's movie-going audience, a fact that prompted the filming of 1992's Godzilla vs. Mothra, which was the best-attended Toho film since King Kong vs. Godzilla. IGN listed Mothra as #3 on their "Top 10 Japanese Movie Monsters" list, while Complex listed the character as #7 on its "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time" list.

Though Mothra is generally portrayed as female, male individuals of her species have also been featured in the franchise, including Mothra Leo in the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, and a male Mothra larva who appears alongside his non-identical twin in Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

## Mothra's fairies

Mothra is usually accompanied by tiny twin female fairies, which Shinichi Sekizawa termed **Shobijin** (小美人), meaning "little beauties". The original draft for Mothra called for four fairies, though Sekizawa reduced the number to two, as twins were comparatively rare in Japan, thus adding to the characters' mystique. Toho also sought to reinforce its links with Columbia Pictures, by featuring the singing duo The Peanuts, who had been popularized in America by Columbia Records. Yūji Koseki composed the song *Mosura no uta* ("Song of Mothra") for the fairies to sing when summoning Mothra. The song was originally sung in Malay language or Indonesian language, but there is also a later version, set to the same tune, sung in Japanese:

**Mothra's Song**
 *Dengan kesaktian indukmu* | with the power of your ancestor
 *Restuilah doa hamba hamba mu yang rendah bangunlah dan* | grant the prayer of your lowly servants, arise and
 *tunjukkanlah* | show
 *kesaktianmu* | your power!

The Peanuts were given an additional song in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster entitled "Cry for Happiness", composed by Hiroshi Miyagawa. The Peanuts did not reprise their role in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and were replaced by the singing duo Pair Bambi. In *Godzilla vs. Mothra*, the fairies are renamed the **Cosmos** (コスモス, *Kosumosu*) and are played by Keiko Imamura and Sayaka Osawa. This casting move was criticized by Godzilla historian Steve Ryfle, who lamented the fact that the two actresses were not identical and that their singing voices were "paper thin." According to Takao Okawara, the Cosmos scenes were among the hardest scenes he had ever filmed, as the actresses had to synchronize their movements without looking at each other.

In the *Rebirth of Mothra* trilogy, Mothra Leo's fairies are called the **Elias** (エリアス, *Eriasu*) which consist of Moll, Lora, and their estranged sister Belvera. Moll and Lora contrast with prior adaptations because they possess separate personalities and rarely act in unison. Megumi Kobayashi was cast as Moll for all three films, Sayaka Yamaguchi as Lora for the first two films, Misato Tate as Lora for the third film and Aki Hano as Belvera for all three films.

*Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack* does not feature Mothra's fairies, but they are given a nod in the form of a pair of twin girls wearing white clothes during the scene where Mothra flies over Tokyo. They are played by sisters Ai and Aki Maeda.

In the anime trilogy directed by Gen Urobuchi, the fairies are human-sized sisters named Maina and Miana. Their people are the **Houtua** (フツア, *Futsua*), descendants of humans that evolved through Mothra's influence with both telepathy and an immunity to the assimilative properties of nanometal. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, it's revealed that Monarch researcher Dr. Ilene Chen (played by Zhang Ziyi) has an identical twin sister named Dr. Ling Chen, who is also in Monarch and is present at Mothra's hatching. The Chens are part of a family which appears to consist almost entirely of pairs of identical twin sisters, two of whom are shown visiting Infant Island (Mothra's traditional home) in 1961.

The film's director and co-screenwriter, Michael Dougherty, confirmed the twins to be an updated version of the fairies, explaining, "It was important to me to find ways to modernize the ideas that [Mothra] has followers. Modernize the priestesses. [There] are still certain realms of believability to keep in take. You have to ease people into the more fantastical aspects." He noted that the twins were a "perfect example" of humans and monsters cooperating and forming a "symbiotic relationship with each other", saying, “The twins are an example of a very successful, long relationship...so I wanted to make sure that we found some way to incorporate them, even if it was a little bit of an Easter egg.” Dougherty, who is half-Vietnamese, felt the need to retain the twins' Asian ethnicity.

## Appearances

### Films

* Mothra (1961)
* Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
* Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
* Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
* Destroy All Monsters (1968)
* Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
* Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
* Rebirth of Mothra (1996) (as Mothra Leo)
* Rebirth of Mothra II (1997) (as Mothra Leo)
* Rebirth of Mothra III (1998) (as Mothra Leo)
* Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
* Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)
* Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
* Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018) (as the Ghost Mothra)
* Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

### Television

* *Godzilla Island* (1997–1998)
* *The Simpsons* (1989–present)
* *Sonic X* (2003–2005)
* *Godzilla: Singular Point* (2021–present)

### Video games

* *Godzilla: Monster of Monsters* (NES – 1988)
* *Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters* (NES – 1991)
* *Kaijū-ō Godzilla* / *King of the Monsters, Godzilla* (Game Boy – 1993)
* *Godzilla: Monster War* / *Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters* (Super Famicom – 1994)
* *Godzilla Giant Monster March* (Game Gear – 1995)
* *Godzilla Trading Battle* (PlayStation – 1998)
* *Godzilla Generations: Maximum Impact* (Dreamcast – 1999)
* *Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee* (GCN, Xbox – 2002/2003)
* *Godzilla: Domination!* (GBA – 2002)
* *Godzilla: Save the Earth* (Xbox, PS2 – 2004)
* *world of warcraft* (PC – 2004) (reference)
* *Godzilla: Unleashed* (Wii – 2007)
* *Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash* (NDS – 2007)
* *Godzilla: Unleashed* (PS2 – 2007)
* Terraria (PC – 2012) (reference)
* *Godzilla: The Game* (PS3 – 2014 PS3 PS4 – 2015)
* *City Shrouded in Shadow* (PS4 – 2017)
* *Godzilla Defense Force* (2019)

### Literature

* *The Luminous Fairies and Mothra* (serialized novel) (1961)
* *Godzilla 2000* (1996)
* *Godzilla at World's End* (1998)
* *Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters* (comic – 2011–2012)
* *Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths* (comic – 2011)
* *Godzilla: Legends* (comic – 2011–2012)
* *Godzilla* (comic – 2012)
* *Godzilla: The Half-Century War* (comic – 2012–2013)
* *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth* (comic – 2013–2015)
* *Godzilla: Cataclysm* (comic – 2014)
* *Godzilla: Oblivion* (comic – 2016)
* *Godzilla: Rage Across Time* (comic – 2016)
* *Godzilla: Project Mechagodzilla* (novel – 2018)
* *Godzilla Rivals* (comic - 2021)

### Music

* *Mothra* of Anvil (Metal on Metal, 1982)
* 'Mothra', song by Atomship (The Crash of '47, 2004)

### Collectible Card Game

* Luminous Broodmoth (Mothra, Supersonic Queen)