Anguirus

**Anguirus** (Japanese: アンギラス, Hepburn: *Angirasu*) is a fictional monster, or *kaiju*, which first appeared in *Godzilla Raids Again* (1955), the second film in the *Godzilla* franchise. Anguirus is the first monster to ever be shown engaging in combat with Godzilla in a film. Since then, the character has appeared conversely as an enemy and an ally of Godzilla in numerous films produced by Toho, including *Destroy All Monsters*, *Godzilla vs. Gigan*, *Godzilla vs. Megalon*, *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla*, and *Godzilla: Final Wars*. It has also appeared in other media, including comic books and video games.

## Original

The original English name given to Anguirus by Toho was "Angilas", given the pronunciation of the name in Japan, which was changed to Anguirus in the 1959 American release of *Godzilla Raids Again*, with the film's title being changed to *Gigantis, the Fire Monster*. In the mid-1990s, Toho copyrighted the revised name "Anguirus," making it official.

Anguirus is depicted as a very tenacious and fierce fighter. Despite constantly going up against enemies tougher than himself, Anguirus rarely backs down and always puts up a vicious fight. Despite his fierce nature, Anguirus has traditionally been shown in various media as being a close friend of Godzilla.

While many of Godzilla's allies have had to work with him out of necessity, such as Mothra and Rodan, Anguirus and Godzilla appear to have a genuine friendship, despite initially being enemies. This is most pronounced in *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla*, where Anguirus senses that the Godzilla roaming Japan is not the monster he knows and attacks it, with a character even mentioning that it's strange to see Anguirus attack "his friend" Godzilla.

In *Godzilla Raids Again*, it is suggested that Anguirus is a relative of the dinosaur Ankylosaurus that lived around the same time as Godzilla. Like Godzilla, Anguirus managed to survive into the modern day by lying dormant somewhere, presumably underwater, before being awakened and irradiated by nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s. This origin is never discussed further or contradicted in subsequent films.

## Showa era 1968-1974

According to the English subtitles of the 1955 Japanese language film *Godzilla Raids Again*, Anguirus (spelled "Angilas" in that film) was properly called an *Angilosaurus* (which in Japanese is pronounced roughly the same as *Ankylosaurus*), a dinosaur described as "one of the stronger dinosaurs that lived in the prehistoric era." It is described in a textbook by Polish world animal specialist Plateli Hondon as "one of the few creatures that had a thorough hatred for war-like predators," which explains Anguirus' eagerness to fight Godzilla. The dinosaur *Angilosaurus* lived (according to the film) from 150-70 million years ago, and its remains were affected by the same hydrogen bombs that awoke Godzilla. In the English-dubbed version of *Godzilla Raids Again* (released as *Gigantis the Fire Monster* in the US), the name of the dinosaur is pronounced ""ANG-will-o-Saw-rus," and given the sub-moniker "Killer of the Living." They ruled the Earth at one time, according to the film, then disappeared suddenly. From an unnamed textbook in the movie (the same book that in the Japanese-language version was written by Hondon), a scientist reads that these creatures (the angilosaurs) may return from hibernation due to radioactive fallout. Anguirus is said to have "brains in several parts of its body, including the head, abdomen, and the chest."

Anguirus was the first enemy that Godzilla ever faced. Godzilla and Anguirus battled in Osaka, and after a fierce struggle Godzilla won with a bite to the neck and incinerated Anguirus' body by using its atomic breath. Anguirus was reintroduced (presumably as a different creature than the one in *Godzilla Raids Again*) in a brand-new costume in the 1968 film *Destroy All Monsters* as an ally and best friend of Godzilla living with it on Monsterland, a man-made habitat for all of Earth's monsters in the Ogasawara Islands created at the end of the 20th century. This costume is reused throughout the remainder of the Showa series, and Anguirus continued in its capacity as Godzilla's ally and friend. It helped Godzilla repel the space monsters, Gigan and King Ghidorah, in 1972's *Godzilla vs. Gigan*. It and Godzilla then returned to Monster Island (presumably the same island featured in *Son of Godzilla*), which was later disturbed by nuclear bomb tests in 1973's *Godzilla vs. Megalon*. Rodan, perched on a mountain above, toppled down on top of Anguirus, who disappeared when it fell through the ground in a massive split in the ground.

Anguirus tunneled its way to a snowy region, where it witnessed Mechagodzilla's first emergence in *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla*. It followed Mechagodzilla underground to Japan where it revealed itself to call upon the real Godzilla and engage Mechagodzilla in battle. However, Mechagodzilla was too powerful for Anguirus and severely injured it, breaking its jaw in a bloody display. Anguirus was forced to retreat underground, although it managed to tip off humanity that its opponent was not the true Godzilla. Showa Anguirus was 60 meters (196 feet) tall and weighed 30,000 metric tons.

## Heisei era

Anguirus was going to be in Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla but when toho re-planed the film Anguirus was dropped for unknown reasons. but concept art still exists for Anguirus's heisei design

## Millennium era

Anguirus was intended to appear in the unmade film *Godzilla X Varan, Baragon, and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*, set to be directed by Shusuke Kaneko and released in 2001. However, Toho requested that Kaneko replace Varan and Anguirus for the more popular King Ghidorah and Mothra, respectively, leading to the release of the film *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*.

After a 30-year absence, Anguirus made a return in the 2004 film, *Godzilla: Final Wars* as a controlled monster of the Xiliens. It appears in Shanghai, and tramples everything in its path, then engaged the flying UN battleship, *Karyu*. The Xiliens appeared suddenly and teleported Anguirus and the other monsters away. They told the humans that they eliminated the monsters to save Earth, but this was soon discovered to be a ruse; the Xiliens were controlling the monsters. In Shanghai, the Xiliens use their fighter ships to attack the *Karyu*. While the *Karyu* was distracted, Anguirus jumped and curled himself into a ball, crashing into the ship at its midpoint. *Karyu* went spinning in the air before colliding into the Oriental Pearl Tower.

Anguirus, King Caesar, and Rodan are pitted against Godzilla at Mt. Fuji. It successfully defeats all three monsters. King Caesar, Anguirus, and Rodan are then left in a heap at the base of the mountain. Godzilla did not kill its fallen foes as a nod to their status as allies of Godzilla during the Showa era. This is in contrast to the remaining majority of the monsters seen in the film, all of whom, aside from Zilla, were enemies of Godzilla during the Showa era, and were slain either by Godzilla, the Gotengo, or the mutants who were part of an anti-monster task force near the beginning of the film.

Millennium Anguirus was 90 meters (295 feet) tall, 160 meters (524 feet) long, and weighed 60,000 metric tons.

## Nicknames

Angilas, Angurus, Angorus,
Bōryu Anguirus, Anguillasaurus, Angillus, Anguillas, Anzilla, Angy

## Abilities

### Durability

Anguirus' spiky carapace and armored hide grant him impressive resistance to attacks from enemy monsters. He was able to withstand having his neck bitten by King Ghidorah and being dropped from a great height and stomped into the ground, and even quickly got back to his feet and reentered the battle. He also survived grievous injuries in his battles with Gigan and Fake Godzilla, having his face sawed open in the first instance and his jaw broken in the second, and even shrugged off a blast from Godzilla's atomic breath from point-blank range in *Godzilla Raids Again*. In *Godzilla vs. Megalon*, Anguirus was swallowed by a tectonic fissure on Monster Island, but survived and was able to simply burrow underground.

Anguirus' durability is also highlighted in the comic *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*, where after being beaten nearly to death by a Cryog Mechagodzilla, he quickly recovers and immediately assists Godzilla in battle against Mecha-King Ghidorah and an army of Mechagodzillas.

### Physical Abilities

Anguirus tightly bites down on King Ghidorah's neck, drawing blood and holding on as he is carried into the air in the film *Destroy All Monsters*.

Anguirus possesses rows of extremely sharp teeth that he will use in battle. These, with the added bite force Anguirus can generate, cause pain to any kaiju that finds itself in Anguirus' jaws. The attack was shown to be strong enough to break King Ghidorah's skin and draw blood. He also tends to attack with his claws and by charging opponents, as demonstrated in his battle with Godzilla in *Godzilla Raids Again*.

Moreover, he may use his spiked tail to swing around at opponents. In Kodansha's *Godzilla, King of the Monsters* manga, his tail is prehensile, and he uses it to grapple with and restrain opponents

### Spiked Carapace

Anguirus launched himself at King Ghidorah, damaging him with his carapace in *Godzilla vs. Gigan*.

Anguirus' greatest asset in combat is his spiked carapace. He often slams his back into opponents in order to injure them with his spikes. In *Godzilla vs. Gigan*, Anguirus launched himself at King Ghidorah while Godzilla held him still from behind. In *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*, Godzilla lifted Anguirus by his tail and used him like a flail, swinging his spikes into Mecha-King Ghidorah's chest and damaging the cyborg.

### Anguirus Ball

Anguirus curls into his carapace and launches himself into Godzilla in *Godzilla: Final Wars*.

In many Godzilla video games and in the film *Godzilla: Final Wars*, Anguirus was shown to be able to retreat inside of his carapace and curl into a ball, an ability dubbed the **Fierce Dragon Monster Ball Violent Bullet** (暴龍怪球烈弾 *Bō Ryū Kai Kyū Retsu-dan*) or simply **Anguirus Ball** (アンギラスボール *Angirasu Bōru*). This allows Anguirus to travel quickly by rolling while also damaging any structures or enemies in his path.

## Books.

### *Who's Afraid of Godzilla?*

Anguirus was one of the many monsters in the book to be afraid of Godzilla. When Megalon and Gigan started to bully the other residents of Monster Island, Anguirus stood up to them, only to be shoved into a volcano. When Godzilla saved him, Anguirus was quick to announce he was glad to have a big tough friend like Godzilla.

### *GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse*

The first Anguirus emerged from the frozen soil of Siberia in November of 2005 and traveled southeast to Beijing, where it joined Rodan. Both monsters were exterminated by the Chinese bioweapon Hedorah, but a second Anguirus, denoted "Anguirus II," emerged in South Africa the following year. A fourth Anguirus appeared from the Pacific Ocean in Los Angeles alongside Baragon II and Varan II in 2030, and all three monsters were killed by Godzilla.

## Roar

Anguirus's roars were later sped up and used for Mothra. This is most evident in the film *Godzilla vs. Mothra*, where after being injured, Mothra lets out a roar that sounds almost identical to Anguirus'.