Mothra

Mothra is a Daikaiju who first appeared in her own solo film in 1961 called Mothra.

**Mothra** (モスラ *Mosura*) is a giant divine moth Daikaiju who first appeared in the 1961 serialized novel *The Luminous Fairies and Mothra*, which was adapted the same year by Toho into the film *Mothra*. Mothra made her first appearance alongside Godzilla in the 1964 Godzilla film, *Mothra vs. Godzilla*. Her latest appearence was in the 2019 Godzilla film Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

## History

### *Mothra*

Mothra was first discovered on Infant Island, where natives to the island worshiped her as a goddess. Invaders from Rolisica took over the island and stole the Shobijin. The natives went to a temple, where a giant egg was held. The egg hatched into a larva, called Mothra, which swam across the Pacific Ocean and destroyed the Orion Maru as she journeyed north towards Japan to save the Shobijin from the humans. She destroyed Tokyo while trying to find them, then tore down Tokyo Tower and formed her cocoon. She emerged from the cocoon in her imago form, having been inadvertently helped by the army's Atomic Heat Ray Guns. She went to New Kirk City, and was reunited with the Shobijin at an airport runway after destroying a large portion of the city. Mothra then flew back to Infant Island with the Shobijin to live in peace.

### *Mothra vs. Godzilla*

Mothra's egg washed up on the shores of Japan when a typhoon carried it away from the shores of Infant Island. Kumayama, the owner of the company Happy Enterprises, bought the egg from the citizens of the area where the egg was found and planned to turn it into the main attraction of his upcoming amusement park The Shobijin came to Japan to request the egg's return, only for Kumayama and his financier Jiro Torahata to try and capture them as well. The Shobijin escaped and met with a group of sympathetic humans, warning that when the egg hatched the larva would cause much destruction and death while searching for food and attempting to return to Infant Island on its own. When the Shobijin's allies met with Kumayama and Torahata, they refused to return the egg and wanted to buy the Shobijin instead. The Shobijin then returned to Infant Island with Mothra. When Godzilla emerged in Japan and began heading for the incubator holding Mothra's egg, the three humans who helped the Shobijin traveled to Infant Island, which had been devastated by nuclear bomb tests. They asked the Shobijin for Mothra's help in defeating Godzilla, but they refused. However, Mothra herself, who was living out the last of her days on a sacred rock, agreed to help and flew to Japan, knowing she would never return.

Mothra arrived in Japan just as Godzilla reached Mothra's egg and attacked him. Mothra used the gusts of wind from her wings to knock Godzilla of his feet and tried to slash him with her claws, but she was too feeble to injure him. Mothra released poison powder from her wings against Godzilla, but Godzilla simply blasted her with his atomic breath, causing her to fall on top of her egg and die. While Godzilla continued his rampage across Japan, the Shobijin and the Infant Islanders began to pray for Mothra's egg to hatch. Finally, the egg hatched into two twin larvae. The larvae followed Godzilla to Iwa Island and attacked him there. While the larvae were much smaller and weaker than Godzilla, they used their size to hide behind rocks and sneak up on Godzilla, spraying him with silk. Eventually, Godzilla was trapped in a silken cocoon and fell over a cliff into the ocean below. Victorious, Mothra's larvae and the Shobijin returned to Infant Island.

### *Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster*

In the time after Mothra's battle with Godzilla, one of the twin larvae passed away, leaving its sister as the sole goddess of Infant Island. When the evil three-headed space monster King Ghidorah arrived on the Earth, the Japanese government asked the Shobijin to call Mothra to fight him. The Shobijin remarked that the young Mothra had no chance of defeating King Ghidorah on her own, but proposed that if she could recruit the help of Godzilla and Rodan they may have a chance. The Shobijin called Mothra to Japan, where she sought out Godzilla and Rodan, who were battling at Mount Fuji. Mothra used her silk to get the monsters to stop fighting and informed them of the threat posed by King Ghidorah. Godzilla and Rodan stubbornly replied that they had no reason to defend humanity from King Ghidorah, and refused to work together until the other apologized. Mothra told them that the Earth was not just for humanity, but for all creatures and that it was their duty to protect it. Unfortunately, Mothra's words failed to sway either monster, and the young larva was forced to take on King Ghidorah by herself. King Ghidorah easily blasted Mothra aside with his gravity beams, attracting the anger of Godzilla and Rodan, who finally joined the battle. Together, the three Earth monsters overpowered King Ghidorah, knocking him to the ground and trapping him in silk. King Ghidorah finally flew off into space, leaving Mothra and her new allies victorious. Mothra reunited with the Shobijin and swam back to Infant Island, while Godzilla and Rodan watched.

### *Ebirah, Horror of the Deep*

Mothra, now grown into her imago form, remained asleep on Infant Island while her people were abducted and enslaved by the terrorist organization known as the Red Bamboo, who operated on nearby Letchi Island. The Shobijin and the remaining natives continued to pray to Mothra until she finally awakened and heard their plea. The Shobijin told Ryota and Yata Kane, who had both ended up on Infant Island, to travel to Letchi Island and free the slaves, then create a giant net. The two of them traveled to the island by boat, while Mothra and the Shobijin prepared to fly there as well. When Mothra arrived, the island had been rigged to explode and Godzilla was in combat with the monster Ebirah, who guarded the island's waters. When Godzilla defeated Ebirah and saw Mothra fly overhead, he approached her and tried to initiate combat. Aware that the whole island was about to detonate in a huge nuclear-force explosion rigged by the Red Bamboo, Mothra simply knocked Godzilla over. While Godzilla was down, Mothra grabbed the net carrying the rescued slaves, then flew away from the island. Godzilla soon jumped into the water, just as the entire island was consumed in a nuclear explosion.

### *Destroy All Monsters*edit | edit source

By the end of the 20th century, a larval Mothra was living on Monsterland along with most of Earth's other kaiju. When the Kilaaks invaded the island, they took control of the monsters and sent them to attack major cities around the globe. Mothra first attacked Beijing, and later resurfaced in Tokyo along with Godzilla, Manda and Rodan. The four monsters completely leveled the city before departing. Thankfully, mankind destroyed the Kilaaks' mind-control device and the Earth monsters assaulted the Kilaaks' lair at Mount Fuji. The Kilaaks summoned King Ghidorah to fight off the Earth monsters. Mothra aided in the fight from afar, covering King Ghidorah in webbing alongside Kumonga. When King Ghidorah and the Kilaaks were defeated, Mothra and the other monsters were returned to Monsterland to live out their days in peace.

### *Godzilla vs. Gigan*

In 1972, a single Mothra larva was living on Monster Island with a large number of other monsters. It is unknown whether this larva was the offspring of the second generation Mothra, or itself the third generation Mothra.

### *Godzilla vs. Mothra*

Twelve thousand years ago, Mothra was the guardian of an ancient civilization. However, this civilization created a climate-controlling device, greatly angering the Earth itself and leading it to create Battra, a dark version of Mothra. Battra destroyed the device, but soon went beyond his purpose and attempted to destroy all of mankind, seeing them as a blight on the Earth. Mothra tried to stop them, and the two moths engaged in a titanic battle that destroyed the ancient civilization. Mothra defeated Battra and sealed him away in the North Sea, while Mothra and the Cosmos relocated to Infant Island to live in solitude. In 1993, an expedition sent to the island by the Japanese government encountered the Cosmos along with Mothra's egg. The Cosmos explained the story of Mothra and Battra to the explorers, and warned that the meteor that recently struck the Earth could awaken Battra. The Cosmos agreed to allow Mothra's egg to be transported to Japan, but en route the barge carrying it was attacked by Godzilla. The egg hatched into a larval Mothra, who attempted to defend herself from Godzilla. Eventually, Battra arrived in his larval form and knocked Mothra aside, attacking Godzilla instead. Godzilla and Battra were eventually swallowed up by a volcanic fault and presumed dead, while Mothra returned to Infant Island and the Cosmos were secretly captured by one of the explorers, Kenji Andoh.

Andoh brought the Cosmos to his employer, the Marutomo Company, who planned to exploit the tiny fairies as a publicity stunt. The Cosmos prayed to Mothra, who left the island to recover the Cosmos. The JSDF tried to fight Mothra in the ocean as she approached Japan, but failed to halt the larva. Mothra came ashore in Tokyo, unintentionally leaving a trail of destruction as she searched for the Cosmos. Masako Tezuka, her daughter Midori and Miki Saegusa recovered the Cosmos and brought them to Mothra, causing her rampage to cease. Unfortunately, the JSDF opened fire on Mothra with artillery, wounding her. Mothra crawled to the National Diet Building and encased herself in a cocoon. Meanwhile, Godzilla surfaced from the crater of Mount Fuji while Battra reappeared in the ocean and transformed into his imago form. As both Godzilla and Battra approached the Tokyo area, Mothra emerged from her cocoon in her imago form and flew off to stop Battra. Mothra and Battra clashed in the skies above Yokohama, with Battra overpowering Mothra and causing her to crash to the ground in the Minato Mirai 21 district. Before Battra could kill his light counterpart, Godzilla appeared and attacked them both. Godzilla proved to be more than a match for either moth, subduing Battra and nearly killing Mothra before Battra came to her aid, realizing that Godzilla was a far greater threat. Mothra saved Battra and temporarily knocked Godzilla down. Mothra communicated with Battra, and they decided to put aside their differences to defeat Godzilla. Mothra and Battra joined forces, firing their various beam attacks in tandem against Godzilla. Godzilla was subdued, and Mothra and Battra grabbed him, carrying him out over the ocean. Godzilla bit into Battra's throat and fired his atomic breath, killing him and forcing Mothra to drop both monsters into the sea below. Mothra placed a sacred seal over the water and reunited with the Cosmos at Haneda Airport. The Cosmos revealed that Battra told Mothra that a larger meteor was going to strike and destroy the Earth in 1999, and it was his duty to stop it. In the event of Battra's death, Mothra agreed to destroy the meteor instead. Mothra and the Cosmos bid farewell to the humans and flew into outer space, preparing to intercept the meteor before it could reach Earth.

### *Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla*

While flying through space to intercept the meteor that was destined to hit Earth in 1999, Mothra became aware of an evil extraterrestrial clone of Godzilla called SpaceGodzilla that was heading to Earth with the intention of killing his Earthling counterpart and conquering the planet. Mothra sent a Fairy Mothra to Earth, where it revealed itself to Miki Saegusa and transformed into a projection of the Cosmos, who warned Miki of the impending to disaster and stressed the importance of Godzilla in defending the planet. When SpaceGodzilla was ultimately defeated by the combined efforts of Godzilla and G-Force, the projection of the Cosmos reappeared to Miki and congratulated her on saving the planet.

It was also speculated by U.N.G.C.C. scientists that SpaceGodzilla's creation may have been due to Mothra unwittingly carrying some of Godzilla's flesh into outer space following their battle, allowing it to be pulled into a black hole and released through a white hole, where it was exposed to supernovas and mutated into a crystalline lifeform.

### *Rebirth of Mothra*

Millions of years ago, a space monster called Desghidorah arrived to destroy the Earth. This three-headed demonic dragon was forced to deal with resistance in the form of a species of highly advanced, enormous moths, which were known as Mothras. These moths were the protectors of the Elias, a race of tiny, human-like beings, who inhabited the planet. After the ensuing battle, Desghidorah was defeated and sealed within the Earth, although a great deal of life on the planet Earth was lost. Three Elias: Moll, Lora, and Belvera, were all who were left of their once prosperous civilization. Though Moll and Lora remained benevolent defenders of the Earth, Belvera became twisted and vengeful following her race's demise. These tiny fairies, along with one final Mothra, remained in solitude on Infant Island for countless millennia.

In order to preserve her legacy, Mothra summoned an enormous egg, however, she became physically exhausted from the ordeal. Shortly afterwards, a logging company in Hokkaido uncovered the tomb where the Mothras had sealed Desghidorah long ago. When the seal that had bound the creature was removed from the area, Moll and Lora fought Belvera for control of the artifact. Belvera prevailed and managed to release Desghidorah from its rocky tomb, planning to use it to destroy mankind. Mothra was summoned to stop Desghidorah, which was absorbing the life out of the forests. Mothra fought her hardest to stop Desghidorah, but was simply too old and frail to carry on the fight. Moll and Lora reluctantly prayed to the egg, causing it to prematurely hatch into a larva named Mothra Leo. Mothra Leo arrived to assist his mother, but Desghidorah grabbed Leo with his teeth and bit into him. Mothra rescued her son and destroyed a dam, causing Desghidorah to be buried in a flood of water. With her enemy distracted, Mothra carried Leo out over the sea, but her strength failed and she fell into the water. Mothra struggled to stay afloat, as Leo desperately tried to hold her up above the surface, but to no avail. Mothra sank underwater and drowned, leaving Leo to carry on her legacy and stop Desghidorah. Leo then swam to a remote island to transform into his imago stage and continue the battle.

### Millennium era

Mothra appeared in three of the Millennium series films, *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*, *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.* and *Godzilla: Final Wars*, making her the only monster besides Godzilla himself to appear in more than two films in the Millennium series.

### *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*

**Mothra** (最珠羅 *Mosura*) was a legendary beast from ancient Japan and was known as the Goddess of the Water. Ages ago, noble Japanese warriors slayed Mothra and laid her to rest under Lake Ikeda. The warriors prayed for Mothra's soul, in the hope that she and the other guardian monsters, Baragon and King Ghidorah, would rise again one day to defend Japan.

In 2002, a group of teenagers disturbed Mothra's shrine after robbing a convenience store near Lake Ikeda. Mothra awakened and pulled the teenagers underwater, wrapping their bodies in a cocoon of silk. Mothra then encased herself in a cocoon which sat on the lake's surface. When the prophet Hirotoshi Isayama called upon the guardian monsters to stop Godzilla, Mothra emerged from her cocoon and flew to Yokohama to battle him. Mothra perched atop the Yokohama Landmark Tower and flew at Godzilla, firing poisonous stingers at him and scratching his face with her claws. Godzilla fired his atomic breath at Mothra, but she avoided the blast, which struck and destroyed the Landmark Tower instead. Ghidorah arrived shortly afterward and joined forces with Mothra against Godzilla. Godzilla easily overpowered both monsters, knocking Ghidorah unconscious and sending Mothra flying into a railroad track after she deflected his atomic breath from striking Ghidorah. Godzilla turned his attention to the JSDF's battleships in Tokyo Bay, but Mothra flew behind him to take him by surprise. However, Godzilla turned his head at the last moment and fired his atomic breath at Mothra, vaporizing her. Mothra's life force flowed into Ghidorah's body, reviving him as the Thousand-Year-Old Dragon, King Ghidorah and giving him an advantage in the fight.

When King Ghidorah was ultimately killed by Godzilla, the spirit of all three guardian monsters flew into Godzilla, causing him to sink underwater and allowing the *Satsuma* to fire a D-03 Missile from within Godzilla's body, opening a gaping wound on his neck that ultimately caused Godzilla to destroy himself when he fired his atomic breath.

### *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla*

When a second Godzilla attacked Japan in 1999, the Prime Minister of Japan and the Minister of Science and Technology discussed how ever since the first Godzilla attacked Tokyo in 1954, giant monsters have often raided the country. One such monster was Mothra, who attacked Tokyo in 1961.

### *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S*

Mothra was sighted flying over the skies of Japan, prompting two fighter jets to try and shoot her down. Mothra was unaffected by the jets' missiles and continued flying to Japan. Mothra landed near the home of Shinichi Chujo, a man who had helped reunite Mothra with her Shobijin in 1961. The Shobijin appeared to Chujo and asked him to tell the government to scrap the Kiryu project, which utilized the remains of the first Godzilla as a weapon. The Shobijin claimed this was a crime against nature and the sanctity of life, and that Mothra would be forced to declare war against humanity if the first Godzilla's remains were not returned to the sea. They also promised that Mothra would take it upon herself to defend Japan from Godzilla. When Chujo told his story to Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi, he regretfully told Chujo that the government could not afford to scrap the project, as too much had already been sacrificed for it. When Godzilla appeared in Tokyo, Chujo's grandson Shun used school desks to recreate Mothra's symbol and summon her to Tokyo. Mothra engaged in battle with Godzilla, but due to her old age was easily overwhelmed. Igarashi ordered Kiryu to be launched to aid Mothra, and the machine entered the battle as well. Godzilla defeated Kiryu, while Mothra's egg on Infant Island hatched into two twin larvae. The larvae arrived in Tokyo to communicate with their mother, but Godzilla noticed them. Godzilla fired his atomic breath at the larvae, only for Mothra to fly in front of the beam, sacrificing herself for her children. Enraged with grief, the larvae attacked Godzilla, distracting him while Kiryu was repaired. Kiryu soon re-entered the battle, defeating Godzilla by using his drill hand to open a previously-inflicted wound on Godzilla's chest. Mothra's larvae encased Godzilla in silk, leaving him trapped and helpless. Rather than kill Godzilla, Kiryu overrode his programming and carried Godzilla out to the sea, sinking them both in the Japan Trench. Mothra's larvae swam back to Infant Island with the Shobijin, content that the souls of the dead could now rest in peace.

### *Godzilla: Final Wars*

Thousands of years ago, Mothra defended the Earth from an alien monster known as Gigan, defeating him and entombing him off the coast of Hokkaido. In the year 20XX, the Earth Defense Force recovered Gigan's mummified remains, drawing the attention of Mothra and her Shobijin. The Shobijin appeared to several members of the EDF and warned them that Gigan was evil and could awaken, but promised that Mothra would appear to defend the Earth. When the alien force known as the Xiliens took control of Gigan and an army of monsters and used them to conquer the planet, Mothra flew to Tokyo to aid Godzilla against Gigan and Monster X. Mothra saved Godzilla from being double-teamed by the enemy monsters, then confronted Gigan once again. Gigan fired two razor discs at Mothra, but she used her reflective scales to avoid them. Gigan responded by blasting Mothra with his laser beam, causing her to erupt in flames. Believing himself victorious, Gigan turned around only for his head to be sliced off by his reflected razor discs. Mothra, still on fire, flew into the headless Gigan and exploded, seemingly killing them both.

The film's end credits show an unharmed Mothra flying back to Infant Island, although it is possible this is simply unused footage and not meant to suggest Mothra survived her battle with Gigan, similar to how footage of Hedorah destroying Tokyo is also shown during the end credits.

### *GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle*

20,000 years after the fall of mankind at the hands of the kaiju, Mothra's surviving egg was kept in the underground temple of the Houtua civilization, which lived in the shadow of Godzilla Earth in a caldera under Mount Fuji. The twin priestesses Maina and Miana tended to the egg, telepathically transmitting its messages to their people. When the Houtua captured several United Earth troops which had returned to reclaim the Earth, they brought them into the temple to interrogate them. Maina and Miana placed their hands on Mothra's egg and telepathically asked the United Earth forces what their purpose was and why they had set fire to the Houtua's land. Captain Haruo Sakaki explained that they had come to destroy Godzilla. The twins responded that Godzilla was the enemy of Mothra, their God, and had killed her, leaving only the egg behind. The Houtua determined that the United Earth forces were not hostile, and the elder Munak allowed them to leave. Later, Maina and Miana tried to appeal to the rest of their people to help the United Earth troops before they were destroyed by Godzilla, but Munak stated that Mothra's egg proclaimed nothing. The twins then took matters into their own hands and traveled to Mechagodzilla City to help Haruo and his allies.

### *GODZILLA: The Planet Eater*

Mothra in Haruo's vision in *GODZILLA: The Planet Eater* When Metphies summoned Ghidorah to Earth and tried to telepathically convince Haruo to become his messenger to the rest of mankind, Maina and Martin Lazzari placed their hands on Mothra's egg to try and reach Haruo. When their message reached Haruo, it entered his telepathic vision and manifested into a vision of Mothra which flew over the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that Haruo and Metphies were inside, destroying it and causing Haruo to begin falling through the sky. As he fell, he saw Mothra flying overhead and remarked that she looked like a "butterfly." Maina soon appeared to Haruo in the vision, giving him the strength necessary to finally free himself from Metphies' telepathic manipulation. With the help of Mothra, Maina, and Martin, Haruo was able to overcome Metphies' influence and defeat him, severing Ghidorah's connection to reality and allowing Godzilla Earth to banish him back to the Void.

### *Kong: Skull Island*

mothra was on a cave painting in *Kong: Skull Island* After their adventure on Skull Island, Monarch members Houston Brooks and Lin San showed James Conrad and Mason Weaver a cave painting of Mothra, along with paintings depicting Godzilla, Rodan and King Ghidorah, as proof that the inhabitants of Skull Island were not the only monsters in the world. Mothra was depicted as entirely white in color and surrounded by worshipers in her painting.

### *Godzilla: King of the Monsters*

While discussing the completion of her sonar device the ORCA, Monarch's Dr. Emma Russell and her daughter Madison overheard Mothra's roar from their dwelling built in China's Yunnan rainforest. Emma was contacted and told to report immediately to Outpost 56, the Temple of the Moth. Upon arrival, they were greeted by entomologist Dr. Tim Mancini, who explained that Mothra's radiation levels have suddenly skyrocketed after she was sleeping peacefully just before. As they entered an observation room overlooking a huge chamber, they witnessed Mothra's glowing blue egg begin to pulse and shift before a huge mass burst from it. Shaking the amniotic fluid from her body, Mothra's larval form finally hatched. Monarch attempted to put a containment field around Mothra, but their systems inexplicably shut down, as if they were being sabotaged by an outside party. Seeing the armed soldiers surrounding her, Mothra began to panic as the soft blue bioluminescent glow being emitted from her body shifted to a red glow. Mothra began to thrash about, spitting silk at the guards and grabbing one guard in her mouth before throwing him into a wall. Emma ran into the chamber with the ORCA and activated it, trying to use it to calm Mothra. As Emma struggled to find the right sonar pattern, Mothra became aggressive and began spitting silk at her. Madison ran into the chamber after her mother, and watched as Mothra was bearing down on both of them. Fortunately, Emma successfully pacified Mothra with the ORCA, and her glow returned once again to the peaceful blue color from when she hatched. Emma and Madison were able to approach Mothra, and Madison placed her hand on the monster's face. Mothra blew air through her nostrils that blew both Emma and Madison back. This peaceful communion between man and monster was interrupted however when a bomb was detonated in the observation room. A group of armed mercenaries entered and gunned down most of the Monarch personnel, then absconded with Emma, Madison, and the ORCA. Mothra subsequently escaped the temple and cocooned herself under a nearby waterfall.

In their quest to retrieve the ORCA, Monarch came to realize that Emma had been in league with the eco-terrorist group, led by Alan Jonah, and intended to use the ORCA to reawaken the Titans around the globe in order to restore balance to nature before the government could exterminate them. The first Titan they unleashed, King Ghidorah, proved to not belong to the natural order like the others and emitted a call that awakened all of the other Titans around the world. Each of these Titans responded to Ghidorah's call and began doing his bidding, converting the planet's ecosystem to his liking by causing destruction across the globe. However, Mothra did not respond to Ghidorah's call as she emerged from her cocoon in her imago stage. Monarch's Dr. Ling and Dr. Houston Brooks watched as the imago Mothra spread her glowing wings. Mothra made her way to Monarch's Castle Bravo underwater base, where Monarch and the U.S. military were discussing countermeasures against Ghidorah and the other Titans now that Godzilla was seemingly killed by the experimental Oxygen Destroyer weapon that failed to harm Ghidorah. Mothra emitted blinding white bioluminescence from her wings that parted the surrounding stormclouds and revealed her presence to everyone in the base. Monarch discovered that Mothra was using sonar to communicate, and that Godzilla was responding from somewhere. Using her bioluminescent God Rays as a beacon, Mothra led Monarch to Godzilla's location. The submarine they were traveling in was pulled inside the Hollow Earth, where they found an ancient sunken city which contained Godzilla's lair. Dr. Ishiro Serizawa sacrificed himself to detonate one of the sub's nuclear torpedoes next to Godzilla, with the radiation revitalizing him and allowing him to fight once more.

Godzilla made his way to Boston to confront Ghidorah, supported by the military. Mothra arrived not long after and assisted Godzilla by pinning Ghidorah's heads against a building with her silk attack. Godzilla tackled Ghidorah through the building, but before he could attack again Ghidorah summoned Rodan to support him. Rodan intercepted Mothra, and the two flying Titans engaged in an aerial battle across the city as Godzilla and Ghidorah continued to fight on the ground. The molten magma emitted from Rodan's wings burned Mothra's own, causing her to eventually lose her ability to fly. Rodan sent Mothra crashing into a nearby skyscraper, but she used her claws to knock him off and climbed to the top. Rodan flew back around and pinned Mothra to the top of the skyscraper, trying to stab her with his beak. Mothra dodged his attacks and used her stinger to pierce directly through Rodan's chest. Immobilized by the sting, Rodan fell backward down into the burning city below, shrieking in rage. When Ghidorah dropped Godzilla from the sky and seriously injured him, Mothra intervened by weakly climbing onto Godzilla as Ghidorah closed in. She spread her wings to shield Godzilla, then flew directly at Ghidorah who easily disintegrated her with his gravity beams. Mothra's energy floated down onto Godzilla, causing glowing orange cracks to begin forming in his skin. Ultimately, Mothra's energy provided Godzilla with a huge boost in power which caused his entire body to become covered in these glowing patterns and emit intense heat. Godzilla used his new power to finish Ghidorah once and for all. His dorsal fins sparked with energy as he launched forth a burning nuclear pulse of energy which took the shape of Mothra's wings and made the sound of her roar. This pulse incinerated both of Ghidorah's wings, after which Godzilla fired another pulse that melted his left and right heads. Godzilla stomped onto Ghidorah's chest as the energy inside him built to critical levels and exploded. When the smoke cleared, Godzilla emerged victorious from the rubble, holding Ghidorah's remaining head in his jaws. Godzilla incinerated this head with his atomic breath before being confronted by Rodan and the other Titans which Ghidorah had controlled. With Ghidorah gone, the Titans all one by one submitted to Godzilla, accepting him as the new King of the Monsters.

Under Godzilla's leadership, the Titans became peaceful and helped to restore damaged ecosystems across the globe. Monarch also discovered a Titan egg, which was speculated to be either another Mothra, or something else entirely.

## Abilities

### Physical abilities

In her larval stage, Mothra has a primary form of physical attack involves using her mandibles to bite opponents. Typically she bites onto an enemy's tail, causing them physical pain while she holds on.

In her imago stage, Mothra slams her massive body into enemies and sometimes strikes them with her wings. She also uses her sharp claws to scratch or stab opponents. Mothra's surprising levels of physical strength allow her to drag and even lift monsters like Godzilla.

### Scales

Mothra using her reflective scales in *Godzilla vs. Mothra* Typically, Mothra emits "scales" scales from her wings as a last resort, a yellow poisonous powder that can incapacitate enemies. In *Mothra vs. Godzilla*, Mothra's scales only served to asphyxiate Godzilla and cause him to fall over, while in subsequent incarnations her scales have been given the ability to reflect attacks back at her enemies. In *Godzilla vs. Mothra*, Mothra can use her scales to create a 3-D mirror which causes beam weapons to repeatedly rebound before striking the target, effectively making them impossible to miss. Battra took advantage of this ability to attack Godzilla by firing his Prism Beams into the scales, allowing them to strike Godzilla over and over again. However, the scales failed to stop Godzilla's Nuclear Pulse, which sent Mothra flying. In *Godzilla: Tokyo SOS*, both missiles from a fighter jet and Godzilla's atomic breath ignited her scales on contact, damaging the latter while leaving her unharmed. In *Godzilla: Final Wars*, they caused Gigan's Bladed Slicers to malfunction, severing his own head. In *GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla*, her scales interfere with Godzilla's Asymmetrically Permeable Shield, rendering him defenseless as the scales reflect his atomic breath back at him, injuring him.

### Physical abilities

In her larval stage, Mothra's primary form of physical attack involves using her mandibles to bite opponents. Typically she bites onto an enemy's tail, causing them physical pain while she holds on.

In her imago stage, Mothra slams her massive body into enemies and sometimes strikes them with her wings. She also uses her sharp claws to scratch or stab opponents. Mothra's surprising levels of physical strength allow her to drag and even lift monsters like Godzilla.

### Scales

Mothra uses her reflective scales in *Godzilla vs. Mothra* Typically, Mothra emits "scales" scales from her wings as a last resort, a yellow poisonous powder that can incapacitate enemies. In *Mothra vs. Godzilla*, Mothra's scales only served to asphyxiate Godzilla and cause him to fall over, while in subsequent incarnations her scales have been given the ability to reflect attacks back at her enemies. In *Godzilla vs. Mothra*, Mothra can use her scales to create a 3-D mirror which causes beam weapons to repeatedly rebound before striking the target, effectively making them impossible to miss. Battra took advantage of this ability to attack Godzilla by firing his Prism Beams into the scales, allowing them to strike Godzilla over and over again. However, the scales failed to stop Godzilla's Nuclear Pulse, which sent Mothra flying. In *Godzilla: Tokyo SOS*, both missiles from a fighter jet and Godzilla's atomic breath ignited her scales on contact, damaging the latter while leaving her unharmed. In *Godzilla: Final Wars*, they caused Gigan's Bladed Slicers to malfunction, severing his own head. In *GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla*, her scales interfere with Godzilla's Asymmetrically Permeable Shield, rendering him defenseless as the scales reflect his atomic breath back at him, injuring him.

### Telepathy (Telepathic Abilities)

Mothra possesses telepathic abilities which she can use to communicate with her Shobijin across great distances.

### Silk

Mothra can spit a stream of silk at her enemies to either disorient or entrap them. Usually this ability can only be used in her larval stage, but in the MonsterVerse she is able to use her silk attack even as an imago.

### Wind

In her imago stage, Mothra can flap her wings to create gales which tear apart buildings and knock other kaiju down.

### Antenna Beams

In *Godzilla vs. Mothra* and *Rebirth of Mothra*, Mothra can fire laser beams from her antennae. In *Rebirth of Mothra*, this attack is called the Beam Pulser.

### Lightning

In *Godzilla vs. Mothra*, Mothra can fire arcs of lightning through her wings or release this electrical energy through her touch.

### Stinger

In *GMK*, Mothra can fire a hail of poisonous dart-like stingers from her abdomen. In *Godzilla: King of the Monsters*, she instead possesses a single larger stinger attached to her abdomen which can immobilize enemies pierced by it.

### Flight

Mothra is capable of flight, usually at supersonic speeds, while in her imago stage.

## Roar

Mothra's roar in the MonsterVerse is a modified version of her original roar.

Mothra's chirps are sped-up Anguirus roars. This is most evident during a scene in *Godzilla vs. Mothra* where Mothra is hit by artillery and moans in pain, emitting a sound that is almost identical to Anguirus' roar. According to the "Godzilla Quiz" included with the home video release of the *Monster Planet of Godzilla* short film, the Japanese onomatopoeia for Mothra's cry is "squeak" (キィー *kyī*). In *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*, the imago Mothra's cries are rendered as "CHEERNT."

## Movies & TV

* *Mothra* (1961)
* *Cheers, Mr. Awamori!* (1961) [props]
* *Mothra vs. Godzilla* (1964)
* *Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster* (1964)
* *Ebirah, Horror of the Deep* (1966)
* *Destroy All Monsters* (1968)
* *Godzilla vs. Gigan* (1972) [stock footage]
* *Bye-Bye Jupiter* (1984) [stock footage]
* *Adventure! Godzilland* (TV 1992-1993)
* *Godzilla vs. Mothra* (1992)
* *Get Going! Godzilland* (1994, 1996)
* *Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla* (1994)
* *Rebirth of Mothra* (1996)
* *Godzilla Island* (TV 1997-1998)
* *Rebirth of Mothra II* (1997)
* *Rebirth of Mothra III* (1998)
* *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack* (2001)
* *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla* (2002) [stock footage]
* *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.* (2003)
* *Godzilla: Final Wars* (2004)
* *Kong: Skull Island* (2017) [cave painting]
* *GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle* (2018) [mentioned]
* *GODZILLA: The Planet Eater* (2018) [vision]
* *Godzilla: King of the Monsters* (2019)
* *Godziban* (TV 2019-2020) [episodes 3, 5-7, 9, 11, 13-14, 18, 20, and 25-27]