Mothra

**Mothra** (モスラ *Mosura*) of the **Showa era** are giant divine moth kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1961 Toho film, *Mothra*.

Subsequently, the first Mothra made her first appearance alongside Godzilla in the 1964 *Godzilla* film, *Mothra vs. Godzilla*.

The second Mothra generation would be birthed in the climax of *Mothra vs. Godzilla* in the form of a duo, and one of the two would go on to become the new Mothra, up until the 1968 film, *Destroy All Monsters*, where an unspecified third generation individual would be seen.

In ***Heisei era***, it is first appeared in the 1992 *Godzilla* film, *Godzilla vs. Mothra*. She is among Toho's most popular characters, primarily among female fans, and she has appeared in every *Godzilla* film era. Toho even honored Mothra with the title "Queen of Monsters" for the soundtrack and home video releases of *Rebirth of Mothra*, illustrating her proximity in status to Godzilla himself.

In ***Millenium era***, it is first appeared in the 2001 Toho film, *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*, and made subsequent appearances throughout the Millennium era.

## 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."

In *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*, the guardian monster Mothra's name is spelled in kanji but pronounced the same: 最珠羅.

## Design

### 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.

#### ShodaiMosuLarva

Mothra's larval form in the original *Mothra* was portrayed by a 3 foot-long remote-controlled puppet and a 6 foot-tall, 33 foot-long suit that was operated by eight actors, including Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka.

The ShodaiMosuLarva is distinct from later Mothra larva designs in that its body is a very light shade of brown, with very pronounced dark spots all over its body. The body is also very elongated and slender. The head is much more rounded than later designs, and features a tall forehead.

The ShodaiMosuLarva's eyes are a light blue color and are very small and surrounded by large rounded sockets. The ShodaiMosuLarva's mandibles are relatively small, and the feelers flanking them are thin and located near the bottom of the head.

#### ShodaiMosuImago

The ShodaiMosuImago would set the tone for all of the Mothra imago designs to follow. The prop's body is mostly white in color, with several orange spots, most notably on the top of its head.

The body is very thick and rounded, and the legs are very thin and scrawny and are held close to the body. The ShodaiMosuImago's face is flat and its mandibles are very small. The eyes are ovular in shape, and are blue and surrounded by a black outline. For scenes of the imago Mothra flying in the distance, Mothra was portrayed through animation.

The ShodaiMosuImago was used in one scene in *Mothra vs. Godzilla*, during the imago Mothra's battle with Godzilla

#### GojiMosuLarva

The GojiMosuLarva is much fatter than the previous larval design, with a shorter body. The body color is a slightly darker shade of brown, while even darker brown spots are still present all over the body.

The GojiMosuLarva's skin is wrinkly and has veins visible on it. The head is less rounded, and the sockets around the eyes are not as deep and are less rounded. The eyes are still blue in color, but less plainly visible. The mandibles are quite large, while the feelers flanking them are fatter and located directly parallel rather than below the mandibles.

#### GojiMosuImago

The GojiMosuImago is very similar to its predecessor, the ShodaiMosuImago, although there are a few differences. The body of the GojiMosuImago is slightly more slender and less rounded. The legs are much longer and more pronounced, and are clearly visible rather than held close to the body.

The colors on the GojiMosuImago are more muted, and the wing design is slightly different. Most of the orange fur on the body has been changed to brown, while the areas that were brown on the ShodaiMosuImago are now a darker shade of brown. The eyes are more rounded and extend further out of the head. The GojiMosuImago's antennae are thinner, while the feelers are now covered in fur. The GojiMosuImago's face is more prognathic than the ShodaiMosuImago's, with the snout extending out from the rest of the face before the mandibles. The mandibles themselves are also larger than those of the ShodaiMosuImago.

The GojiMosuImago puppets were reused for *Ebirah, Horror of the Deep* two years later. The props had deteriorated slightly, and the wings had become more stiff and frayed. The colors are now faded, while the fur that had once been white is now a dingy light brown tone. For several scenes set on Infant Island, Mothra was simply painted onto the backdrop of the scene. This design is also called the **NankaiMosuImago** (南海モス成虫*NankaiMosuSeichū*) in *Ebirah, Horror of the Deep*.

#### SanDaikaijuMosuLarva

The SanDaikaijuMosuLarva is mostly based on the previous Mothra larva design, as its body proportions and the shape of its face are mostly unchanged. The SanDaikaijuMosuLarva's body is now smooth, without any visible wrinkles or veins, and is a dark brown color all over, with no spots. The eyes are red for the first time instead of blue, and the feelers next to the mouth have returned to a slimmer and more even shape.

#### SoshingekiMosuLarva

The SoshingekiMosuLarva is mostly based on the SanDaikaijuMosuLarva design, featuring the smooth brown body and red eyes. However, this design features some differences of its own. The prop sits much lower off the ground than previous designs and is shorter in length, to match this Mothra's smaller size in the film.

The body is an even darker shade of brown than the SanDaikaijuMosuLarva. The head is very small, with the forehead not even coming up to the top of the body. The sockets around the eyes are slightly more rounded but less deep, making the eyes more plainly visible.

### Roar

Mothra's chirps are actually Anguirus's roars sped up. 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.

## Personality

Despite having wrought destruction worthy of any Toho kaiju, Mothra is almost always portrayed as a kind and benevolent creature, causing destruction only when acting as protector to her worshipers on Infant Island or to her egg, or as collateral damage while protecting Earth from a greater threat. Mothra is usually accompanied by two tiny priestesses or fairies (often called Shobijin—Japanese for "small beauties") who also speak for her.

## Origins

Mothra's origins have somewhat varied from film to film, but she is always portrayed as a benevolent and ancient creature that possesses some level of divinity.

In the Showa era, Mothra is the guardian goddess of the remote Infant Island in the south Pacific Ocean. There, she is perpetually reborn through an egg and is worshiped by the island's natives. She is spoken for by two miniature telepathic fairies, called the Shobijin.

In *Godzilla vs. Mothra*, Mothra is once again portrayed as a sort of divine, mystical creature who resides on Infant Island in the company of two miniature telepathic fairies, who in this continuity are referred to as the Cosmos. However, Mothra's origin is gone into in greater depth here than in most incarnations. *Godzilla vs. Mothra* explains that Mothra was the guardian of the ancient world, protecting all life on Earth from threats. When an ancient civilization created a climate-controlling device, the Earth became offended and created a dark imitation of Mothra, called Battra, to destroy it. After destroying the device, Battra proceeded to eradicate the entire civilization and sought to exterminate all of mankind, believing humans to be a blight on the planet. Mothra challenged Battra and defeated him, sealing him away in the North Sea. Following this battle, Mothra and the Cosmos, the only remnants of the ancient civilization, took up residence on Infant Island, where they lived in peace for the next twelve thousand years.

In *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*, Mothra's origin receives its first major alteration. In this film, Mothra is one of the three Guardian Monsters and the Goddess of the Sea. In ancient times, Mothra and her fellow guardians Baragon and King Ghidorah were slain by Japanese warriors.

Mothra was laid to rest under Lake Ikeda while the warriors who slayed her prayed for her soul, that she would return one day to save Japan. Thousands of years later, the prophet Hirotoshi Isayama awakened Mothra by transferring the souls of Japan's honorable dead into her, so that she and the other Guardian Monsters could together stop Godzilla.

## 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 Maruas 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. Mothra simply knocked Godzilla over and grabbed the net holding the escaped 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*

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. 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 J.S.D.F. 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 J.S.D.F. 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, and nearly killed Battra. 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 Saegusaand 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.

### *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.

King 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 J.S.D.F.'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 Forcerecovered 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. However, Mothra survived from the explosion and flies away to the island.

## Abilities

### Bite

She has a knack for biting and clinging to foes' tails.

### Imago strength

In imago form her powers vary widely from film to film, including very animalistic scratching and dragging, and often concluding with a poisonous yellow powder (or "scales") - her last defense.

As an adult, her wings can (and generally do) create gales which tear apart buildings and send other kaiju flying. Her great bulk of a body is commonly used to her advantage in battle to slam into opponents (both in larva and adult form), and her surprising levels of strength can help her to drag and even lift monsters like Godzilla.

### Poison darts

In *GMK*, Mothra was able to shoot poison darts from her abdomen, but she lacked both her hurricane force winds and her poison powder.

### Poison scales

Her final strategy is to emit "scales," a yellow poisonous powder that can usually asphyxiate an enemy. However she only uses that attack when she knows she is going to die, this is speculated, because the extreme loss of scales will cause her to lose flight.

### Rebounding scales

Her powder now had a different effect, and now acted as a cloud of mirror-like scales, which would allow beam weapons to repeatedly rebound before striking the target, effectively making them impossible to miss.

Battra easily took advantage of this condition to attack Godzilla by repeatedly firing his Prism Beams, allowing them to strike Godzilla over and over again, with the rebound effect negating any chance of the prism beams not hitting their target. Ironically, Godzilla's Nuclear Pulse wasn't reflected by her mirror and she was thrown back, possibly because her mirror can't reflect energy attacks if it is able to pass around her mirror. In the Heisei era, Mothra is also able to use her scales multiple times without any loss of her ability to fly.

### Power reflection

In both *Tokyo S.O.S.* and *Final Wars*, Mothra's powder was able to redirect both energy and physical projectiles back to their original senders, but some individuals believe that the powder of the *Final Wars* incarnation of Mothra instead has the ability to cause a short-circuit in electronics. As seen in *Final Wars,* Mothra has the ability to counter enemy beams not only by reflecting them, she can also use them to attack via her kamikaze attack with which she kills Gigan and survived.

### Psychic abilities

Mothra is one of the most powerful psychics in the Toho universe. She uses this power benevolently, to communicate with humans, or defensively, to destroy her enemies. As suggested earlier, Mothra is assumed to be divine and draws many parallels to the Phoenix, which makes her one of the more powerful kaiju of the Toho universe.

### Silk

In larva form she may use her silken spray to wrap and immobilize an opponent, and has a knack for biting and clinging to foes' tails.

### Energy weaponry

The Heisei version of Mothra had some differences. She could now fire a beam of energy from her antennae, and fire arcs of lightning from her wings, or keep it in her body to release to another through touch.

## Mothra's fairies

Mothra is usually accompanied by two tiny priestesses or fairies (often called Shobijin, Japanese for "small beauties") who also speak for her. For Mothra's first three film appearances these twin fairies were played by the Peanuts. In *Mothra* they demonstrate telepathic abilities, within speaking range with people and over great distances with Mothra. They explain that while they call to Mothra in prayer and in song, they and Mothra are also connected on some deeper level beyond their control, and it is this connection that impels Mothra to find them no matter where they are.

These qualities are part of the continuity of all subsequent Mothra appearances. In *Mothra vs. Godzilla* the Shobijin also demonstrate teleportation, when trying to escape from Kumayama and Torahata. In *Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster* the girls translate not only Mothra's chirps but an entire conversation among three daikaiju.

In the *Godzilla* films of the 1990s, Mothra's priestesses (played by Keiko Imamura and Sayaka Osawa) identify themselves as Earth's Cosmos, who claim to have been created by the very life force of Earth, along with Mothra and Battra. The Cosmos speak not only for Battra and Mothra, but for the living Earth as well. The Cosmos say that Battra was first created by the Earth to balance the ecosystem, which was disrupted by the climate-altering device of an advanced civilization, 12,000 years ago.

However, Battra proved to be a little too enthusiastic about its task, and not only destroyed the things of man, but of the natural order as well. The first Mothra was then created to restore the true balance, and stop Battra's rampage. The Cosmos revere both Mothra and Battra as two different divine forces of nature. They act concerned when Battra is injured, and are pleased when Mothra finds a nonviolent method of stopping Battra, "making friends," as they say in the film. They know when Battra has awoken, and what his tasks and motivations are, but Battra does not appear motivated to seek them out, unlike Mothra, who seems compelled to protect them, and talks to them directly.

Mothra would reprise the role of ancient guardian, though with only a passing homage to the Cosmos, in *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*.

However, during the events of *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.*, two new Shobijin (portrayed by Masami Nagasawa and Chihiro Ôtsuka) appear, and demonstrate telekenesis. The duo present here are much like the other fairiesMothra's around past this new ability, however.

## In other languages

Mothra's name remains the same across many languages employing the Latin alphabet.

* Bulgarian and Russian: Мотра
* Chinese: 魔斯拉 (Mó sī lā)
* Italian: Watang, Mattra, Pulluk
* Serbian: Мотхра
* Yiddish: מאָטהראַ

## Trivia

* Mothra is the first bug kaiju in the *Godzilla* series.
* Mothra is 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 theHeisei 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.

* Toho had intended to follow *Godzilla vs. Biollante* with a revival of Mothra in her own spin-off film, *Mothra vs. Bagan*. However, following the unimpressive box office performance of *Biollante*, Toho discarded the project in favor of another *Godzilla* film, *Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah*. A 1992 survey revealed that Mothra was Toho's most popular kaiju among women, an observation which inspired Toho to again revise its plans, abandoning a proposed sequel to *King Ghidorah* in favor of a *Godzilla–Mothra* film. Following the end of the Heisei*Godzilla* series, Toho produced the *Rebirth of Mothra* trilogy. Thus, Mothra became the first Toho kaiju to lead its own films after its incorporation into the *Godzilla* franchise.
* According to an interview with Kenpachiro Satsuma, Koichi Kawakita originally wanted Mothra to be killed in*Godzilla vs. Mothra* and appear in a sequel as MechaMothra.[2]
* Mothra is one of the few monsters that has appeared in all three *Godzilla* eras, and is slated to appear inLegendary's series of *Godzilla* films as well.
* Though Mothra is in general a female kaiju, there have been male members of her kind. In *Rebirth of Mothra*, Mothra has a son named Mothra Leo, who goes on to star in the next two films of the trilogy. Mothra Leo reappears as Mothra's son in *Godzilla Island*, where he has a sister named Baby Mothra. Sometimes, Mothra's twin larvae possess different genders. In the Godzilland merchandise line released in 1984, one of Mothra's larvae is depicted as a boy and the other as a girl.

* Though Mothra is in general a female kaiju, there have been male members of her kind. Merchandise for*Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.* differentiates the two larvae from the film as male and female, with the male having darker colored skin than the female.

## List of appearances

### Films

* *Mothra* (First appearance)
* *Mothra vs. Godzilla*
* *Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster*
* *Ebirah, Horror of the Deep*
* *Destroy All Monsters*

* *Godzilla vs. Mothra*
* *Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla*

* *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*
* *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla* (Kiryu Saga continuity)
* *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.* (Kiryu Saga continuity)
* *Godzilla: Final Wars*

### Video games

* *Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee*
* *Godzilla: Save the Earth*
* *Godzilla: Unleashed*
* *Godzilla*(2014 video game)
* *Godzilla: Kaiju Collection*