King Ghidorah (MonsterVerse)

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 Alignment | Chaotic Evil

**King Ghidorah**, also known as **Monster Zero** or simply known as **Ghidorah**, is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Alan Jonah) of the 2019 monster film *Godzilla: King of the Monsters* and the posthumous overarching antagonist of its 2021 sequel, *Godzilla vs. Kong.*

He is an ancient extra-terrestrial three-headed dragon-like kaiju who came to Earth seeking to conquer it and terraform it into a state more to his liking. He is Godzilla's oldest and most formidable arch-nemesis as they have fought many times over the course of Earth's history for the title of alpha Kaiju.

## Background

An evil alien dragon who invaded Earth in the ancient past, King Ghidorah clashed with Godzilla and Mothra, who succeeded in sealing him away beneath the Antarctic ice. The organization Monarch discovered Ghidorah's resting place in the present day, and established Outpost 32 to study him, dubbing him "Monster Zero." In 2019, the eco-terrorist Alan Jonah, working alongside Monarch defector Dr. Emma Russell, unleashed Ghidorah from his frozen tomb in an attempt to release all of the Titans to restore the natural order. Being an invasive species, Ghidorah had no interest in restoring balance and resumed annihilating the global ecosystem, awakening all of the other Titans himself and bending them to his will. Assisted by Monarch, Godzilla and Mothra joined forces and engaged Ghidorah in Boston for a final confrontation. Ghidorah summoned Rodan to his aid to deal with Mothra, while Ghidorah overwhelmed Godzilla in one-on-one combat. After defeating Rodan, Mothra sacrificed her life to save Godzilla from Ghidorah, reinvigorating him with her energy and allowing him to finally destroy Ghidorah once and for all. With the three-headed terror vanquished for good, Godzilla took his place as the King of the Monsters, ending the rampages of the Titans previously under Ghidorah's control.

Years later, in 2024, Ghidorah's brain was used to power the mecha-kaiju Mechagodzilla, with his consciousness later taking over the mecha. Thankfully, his short-lived reign of terror was stopped by Godzilla and Kong.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Dragon Titan Physiology:** As an extraterrestrial Titan in resemblance to a three-headed dragon, Ghidorah was incredibly powerful, and one of the few Titans in existence who is in the same weight class as Godzilla as an alpha Titan. He possesses several physical and borderline-supernatural attributes that surpasses that of other Titans. The only Titan who is capable of rivalling him in terms of "raw power" is Godzilla.
	+ **Advanced Strength:** Due to his gigantic size, Ghidorah possesses a tremendous level of immense strength as he is far greater than that of other Titans, thus he is the third strongest Titan after Godzilla and Kong. However, Titans of similar strength like Godzilla can harm Ghidorah and, potentially, kill him. He is strong enough to restrain Godzilla with his serpentine necks, pin him to the ground and even carry his 99,634-ton body into the Earth's troposphere with little effort, before dropping Godzilla thousands of feet below. However, it is implied that the electricity Ghidorah consumed in Boston greatly increased his strength in order for him to do this.
	+ **Advanced Durability:** Ghidorah's armored golden scales and advanced bodily tissues provide him much greater resistance to physical injury as he is capable of withstanding conventional weaponry. He was able to withstand a full-force charge from Rodan or Godzilla, as well as the sheer power of Godzilla's atomic breath. Ghidorah even used his wings as a shield to protect his heads from missiles. He was also completely immune to the blast of the Oxygen Destroyer, which was designed to exterminate all terrestrial life-forms caught in its blast and which was able to almost kill Godzilla. However, Ghidorah could not withstand thermonuclear pulses released by Godzilla in his burning form, which easily burned away his wings and heads within seconds.
	+ **Advanced Speed:** Ghidorah's three heads are extremely flexible and quick as they are able to lash out and quickly strike their intended targets as well as using their flexible necks and numbers to dodge attacks such as Godzilla's atomic breath. When Ghidorah was flying at top speed, he could reach up to 550 knots, although he seemingly wasn't as agile or acrobatic in the air as the smaller airborne Titan Rodan.
	+ **Advanced Stamina:** Ghidorah's musculature is considerably efficient. His virtually inexhaustible stamina enables him to exert himself at peak capacity for an undefined period of time, allowing him to fight against Godzilla and Rodan without tiring. Even when he is flying in the air, Ghidorah does not even seem to have any obvious signs of fatigue.
	+ **Advanced Endurance:** Ghidorah's endurance is shown to be high, capable of enduring attacks from Godzilla and Rodan and able to fight with all his might while ignoring the pain.
	+ **Advanced Senses:** Ghidorah is granted with powerful senses, such as his sense of smell and hearing. He is able to sense Godzilla's approach in Antarctica and also able to track down the ORCA in Boston.
		- **Advanced Vision:** Ghidorah possesses excellent vision, aiding him in fighting off against Godzilla and enabling him to locate things from far distances easily.
	+ **Accelerated Healing Factor:** Ghidorah could heal/regenerate much faster as he was able to regenerate one of his three heads that was torn off by Godzilla in less than fifteen seconds. He was also able to heal tears in his wing membranes during his fight with Godzilla in Boston. The novelization specifies that Ghidorah absorbs energy from external sources (such as the thermal energy of a volcano or the electrical energy of the Boston power grid) to make this power work. Dr. Stanton specifically comments that this ability "violates everything we (humans) know about the natural order" and it's an indicator of Ghidorah's extraterrestrial true nature.
		- **Longevity/Semi-Immortality:** Ghidorah's exceptional healing factor coupled with self-sustenance provide him with an incredibly long lifespan as he is capable of living for practically long periods of time seemingly without aging or weakening, thus he still retains the appearance of a three-headed dragon in his prime. However, close-call instances such as Godzilla in his burning form confirmed that Ghidorah can still be killed.
	+ **Consciousness Transferal:** Ghidorah's decapitated left head, though seemingly dead to the point that it decomposed to just a skull, retained Ghidorah's telepathic capabilities and with them some vestiges of Ghidorah's will and intent; enough that when Mechagodzilla was fully powered up with a Hollow Earth element, Ghidorah caused the mech to operate independently of a human pilot and begin killing any human it came across as well as trying to kill Godzilla.
	+ **Self-Sustenance:** As an alien Titan, Ghidorah does not need to eat or sleep.
	+ **Flight:** Ghidorah can use his humungous bat-like wings to fly through the air at high speed and high altitudes.
	+ **Advanced Bite:** Ghidorah has a particularly strong and powerful bite, either because of his sharp teeth, jaw-muscles, unusual jaw-structure or some other reason. Exactly what he could bite depends on the jaw-strength, resilience of his teeth/bite-surface and his shape.
	+ **Rattling:** Similar to rattlesnakes, Ghidorah can use the spikes on his twin tails to create a rattling sound as a form of intimidation.
	+ **Bio-Electrical Nature:** Ghidorah's skin was covered with traces of gold which act as a conductor that carries bio-electrical currents throughout his body. Besides it being hinted in the Antarctica battle to have enabled him to draw a lightning-bolt to himself and Godzilla, it aids Ghidorah's meteorokinesis.
	+ **Energy Drain:** Ghidorah was able to bite down onto power lines and absorb the power to himself, significantly boosting his strength. He was also able to siphon the energy out of Godzilla (who was empowered with both a nuke's energy and Mothra's Burning Godzilla-unlocking radiation) through his heads' bites, and the process caused excruciating agony to Godzilla which made the latter outright roar in pain.
	+ **Gravity Beams:** Ghidorah's most prominent ability and main weapon of choice is his gravity beams, powerful beams of concentrated gravity particles which he unleashes from his jaws in the form of golden, electrical lightning-like energy. Much like how Godzilla's dorsal plates glow whenever he is about to release his atomic breath, Ghidorah's throats glow before he fires his gravity beams. The beams are yellowish golden in color and they are more than powerful enough to tear through buildings and disintegrate humans. Ghidorah's gravity beams are so powerful that when Mothra was struck by all three at once, she was almost immediately disintegrated. This did not affect Godzilla in his fiery form, as it had no effect on him and instead, it seemingly charges up his last nuclear pulse attack.
		- **Wing Lightning:** As well as his gravity beams, Ghidorah can also project powerful lightning from the tips of his wings, seen after absorbing a large amount of electricity from a power grid. In addition to damaging aircraft it strikes, this lightning also blinds and temporarily incapacitates Godzilla, allowing Ghidorah to press his advantage.
	+ **Hurricane Winds:** Promotional materials state Ghidorah has hyper-tensile muscle tendons in his wings that are capable of generating hurricane-force winds while he is in flight. It doesn't really show, with the only hint being a scene where rhythmic winds implied to be generated by giant wingbeats battering Fenway Park before Ghidorah is anywhere in sight.
	+ **Meteorokinesis:** Ghidorah had electro-receptor molecular biology and could conduct electrical currents, make water vapor heat up to extreme levels. From the moment he was awakened, he caused unnatural winds on the ground and a storm of yellowish golden lightning. The longer Ghidorah was active, the bigger and more powerful his storm got: rapidly evolving into a ginormous typhoon, and finally to a Category 6 hurricane, and Ghidorah's storm furthermore produced offshoot tornadoes and water-spouts. It's also implied in the film and confirmed in the novelization that after Ghidorah takes over the other Titans, he begins creating other offshoot storms (without the yellow lightning) all over the planet to aid his extinction event.
	+ **Telepathy:** Due to the fact the immense length of Ghidorah's necks would normally interfere with how quickly the beast could receive and interpret sensory information, Ghidorah possesses telepathy so that his heads could communicate with each other instantaneously, thus bypassing any information lag he might experience. Later on when his remains were used to construct Mechagodzilla, the remnants of Ghidorah's consciousness in the left head's upper-skull would take advantage of the psionic technology Apex Cybernetics had hardwired into the skull in order to hijack the robot and turn it against its own creators.

### Abilities

* **Genius-level Intellect/Leader:** Ghidorah was amazingly intelligent, and each of his heads possessed different levels of cognitive function and independent thought. His middle head was the most intelligent by acting as the leader and being quicker-acting, more resourceful, as well as more goal-oriented than the other two. The right head displayed a combative spatial awareness when the other two were incapacitated in combat while the left head was an observant sentry. Ghidorah shows his intelligence during combat, such as when he bites down on electrical wiring during his battle with Godzilla in Boston, allowing him to temporarily stun his nemesis long enough to subdue and incapacitate him. While attempting to free his other heads from Mothra's silk, the right head was able to very quickly recognize Godzilla was behind him by looking at his own reflection. Ghidorah also seems to call in Rodan directly before the latter arrives and keeps Mothra occupied, which if the case shows Ghidorah knows when it's overwhelmed by Godzilla and Mothra's combined assault. Ghidorah also recognizes the ORCA frequency as a potential threat and makes several attempts to take out the source, such as when he destroys the Fenway Park speakers to cut off the sound.
* **Advanced Combatant:** Ghidorah's intimidation style is very similar to that of a king cobra. Much like cobras rise up their head and spread their neck, Ghidorah rises up his three heads and spreads his ginormous wings, making himself appear twice as large as Godzilla. Ghidorah can also use his wings, jaws, claws and two tails in combat against other kaiju such as Godzilla. Although he resembles a three-headed dragon, his combat style is similar to that of snakes as they quickly lash out and bite onto their opponent(s). Also like that of a snake, Ghidorah was seen coiling his serpentine necks around Godzilla several times in an attempt to strangle him to death. Ghidorah could also use his massive wings as a shield, tucking his heads behind them to protect himself from projectiles.
* **Alpha Call:** When Ghidorah became the ruling alpha Titan, he was able to let out a powerful call that could be heard by Titans all over the world and made them compliant to his commands. However, this cry only works on lesser Titans and did not work on other Titans with their own alpha status; such as Godzilla, Mothra and Kong, who were unaffected by Ghidorah's cry.
* **Sharp Teeth:** Each of Ghidorah's three heads have powerful jaws lined with sharp teeth that are capable of biting through most materials, able to bite into Godzilla's reptilian skin.
* **Twin Tails:** Ghidorah possesses two prehensile tails with retractable spikes on the ends that he can use as formidable weapons, help balance himself, use them to hold opponents in their grasp and even prefers using them as a threat display. During his fight with Godzilla in Boston, Ghidorah is capable of using his tails as prehensile limbs to restrain him while lifting Godzilla into the atmosphere before dropping him.
* **Constricting Necks:** Similar to that of constrictor snakes, Ghidorah can use his three serpentine necks to wrap around and squeeze opponents in combat, possibly to constrict them to death.

### Weaknesses

* **Freezing Temperatures:** Ghidorah was neutralized by freezing solid in ice after being rendered inert by Godzilla in Antarctica; this incapacitated him for centuries to millennia, and Ghidorah only recovered due to human interference deliberately freeing him from the ice.
* **Water:** Because Ghidorah's physical structure was that of an airborne creature; he was not entirely suited to move underwater. When Godzilla dragged him into the ocean near Isla de Mara, Ghidorah struggled to fight back and ended up getting his left head easily decapitated by the former. The *Godzilla: King of the Monsters* director indicates it was a combination of this and freezing temperatures that caused Ghidorah to become frozen in Antarctica.
* **Limited Durability:** Although Ghidorah was incredibly durable, he did have his limits; for example, he could not withstand the thermonuclear pulses that Godzilla released in his burning form; which incinerated Ghidorah's wings and two of his heads in a matter of seconds.

## Feats

### Strength

* Easily overpowered [Godzilla].
* Stronger than [M.U.T.O. Prime].
* Created a Category VI hurricane.
* Absorbed energy from a power plant and Godzilla himself and overpowered Godzilla who had just been freshly recharged by a nuclear bomb.
* Easily destroyed a Dunkin' Donuts billboard.
* Destroyed the Fenway Park speakers.
* Lifted Godzilla into the air above the cloud level.
* Was able to easily restrain Rodan's wings with his left and right heads, allowing his middle head to fire a Gravity Beam at him.
* Slammed Godzilla into the ground.
* His Gravity Beams were able to push Godzilla into the hole he came from.
* His Gravity Beams were powerful enough to obliterate Motrha's body.

### Speed

* Faster than Rodan.
* Quickly traveled from Washington D.C. to Boston.
* Lifted Godzilla above the cloud level in a few minutes.
* Can dodge missiles.
* Dodged a blast of Godzilla's Atomic Breath.
* When flying, his top speed could reach up to 550 knots.
* Quickly ran across several city blocks in Boston.

### Durability

* Withstood the Oxygen Destroyer, a weapon that almost killed Godzilla.
* Withstood extended periods of Godzilla's Atomic Breath.
* Immune to conventional weaponry.
* Can withstand full-force charges from both Rodan and Godzilla.
* After having his left head severed by Godzilla, he was able to completely regenerate it in a matter of moments.
* During his final battle with Godzilla in Boston, Ghidorah regenerated holes and tears in his wings after absorbing electricity from a nearby power substation.
* Though his regeneration was unable to keep up with Burning Godzilla's nuclear pulse, he survived having his wings, two of his heads, and the entirety of his body incinerated by the attack, and was only finally killed once Godzilla burned away his last head.
* Survived being frozen for millions of years.

### Skill

* Fought Godzilla many times over the course of Earth's history for the title of alpha Kaiju until he was finally destroyed for good in 2019.
* Survived being frozen for millions of years.
* Escaped from his icy prison in Antarctica.
* Completely dominated Godzilla in their first fight.
* Defeated Rodan.
* Awakened all the other dormant Titans around the world, with Rodan submitting to his rule.
* Would have reshaped the world in his own image after leading the Titans had Godzilla not stopped him.
* Came incredibly close to killing Godzilla on not one, but several occasions.
	+ If it weren't for Godzilla obtaining his Burning form through Dr. Serizawa's sacrifice, Godzilla probably would have lost to Ghidorah.
	+ The first time they fought was more of a tie but Ghidorah probably would have beaten Godzilla as he was winning fair and squad before he flew off.
* Fought Godzilla and Mothra in Boston.
* Killed Mothra with his Gravity Beams.
* Nearly drained Godzilla's life force.
* Chased and nearly killed Madison Russell if not for Godzilla's timely arrival.
* Slaughtered the human forces on the ground upon his awakening.
* Ate Vivienne Graham alive during his fight with Godzilla in Antarctica.
* Technically responsible for Emma Russell's death.
* His consciousness possessed Mechagodzilla and caused it to act on its own accord.

## Weaknesses

* **Freezing Temperatures:** Ghidorah was neutralized by freezing solid in ice after being rendered inert by Godzilla in Antarctica; this incapacitated him for centuries to millennia and Ghidorah only recovered; due to human interference deliberately freeing him from the ice.
* **Limited Durability:** Although Ghidorah was incredibly durable, he did have his limits; for example, he could not withstand the thermonuclear pulses that Godzilla released in his burning form; which incinerated Ghidorah's wings and two of his heads in a matter of seconds.
* **Water:** Because Ghidorah's physical structure was that of an airborne creature; he was not entirely suited to move underwater. When Godzilla dragged him into the ocean near Isla de Mara; Ghidorah struggled to fight back and ended up getting his left head easily decapitated by the former.
* While a skilled fighter on the ground and in his element when in the air, Ghidorah demonstrates considerable difficulty when fighting in the water, as shown when Godzilla dragged him underwater in Mexico, and likely would've been killed then and there if it weren't for the interference of the Oxygen Destroyer.
* His regeneration takes time, and he wasn't able to regenerate his wings and left and right heads after they were disintegrated by Burning Godzilla's nuclear pulse, nor when he was reduced to a single head before Godzilla incinerated it with his Atomic Breath.
* Because each head is capable of independent thought, they may become distracted and require the dominant middle head to get their attention and give them orders.
	+ However, all three were distracted by and pursued the ORCA when they had Godzilla at their mercy in Boston, giving him time to recover and ultimately leading to Ghidorah's downfall.

## Fun Facts

* Excluding the King Ghidorah featured in *Godzilla: The Planet Eater* which is an estimated 20 kilometers (65,616.8 feet) in length with no definite "height," this is the tallest incarnation of the character, standing 521 feet (158.8 meters) in height - approximately 29 feet taller than the Heisei King Ghidorah, who was 150 meters. The MonsterVerse King Ghidorah is also the tallest monster featured in a Godzilla film besides Godzilla Earth, who stands over 1,000 feet tall.
	+ The MonsterVerse King Ghidorah is also the heaviest incarnation of the character at 141,056 tons, which is nearly double the weight of the Heisei King Ghidorah, and the heaviest member of the Ghidorah group. He is also one of the heaviest kaiju in the Godzilla series, behind the Heisei Mechagodzilla at 150,000 metric tons, Super Mechagodzilla at 150,482 metric tons, M.O.G.U.E.R.A. at 160,000 metric tons, Biollante's Plant Beast Form at 200,000 metric tons, Bagan at 280,000 metric tons, and SpaceGodzilla's Flying Form at 720,000 metric tons.
* This is the first incarnation of King Ghidorah to have the ability to regenerate his heads.
* This, the Showa Ghidorah, and the *Rebirth of Mothra* Ghidorah are the only versions to be Pure Evil.
* Director Michael Dougherty revealed on his Twitter that, during the production of the film, he named King Ghidorah's individual heads from left to right; **Ichi**, **Ni**, and **San**, aka **Kevin**.
* It might be possible that this King Ghidorah could have attacked other planets prior to the events of *Godzilla: King of the Monsters*.
* Unlike the M.U.T.O.s and Skullcrawlers, who were simply animals (if intelligent ones) acting on instinct, King Ghidorah is the only monster in the MonsterVerse who is genuinely malevolent and evil, and ultimately acting on a plan with an actual endgame rather than simple instinct.
* The script for *Kong: Skull Island* called for the Iwi petroglyphs inside the *Wanderer* to depict many monsters, including "one with three heads." In the completed film, only Kong and the Skullcrawlers were shown. The film's novelization, however, does mention a three-headed creature depicted on the murals, along with several other creatures.
* Monarch's designation for King Ghidorah, Monster Zero, is the name given to King Ghidorah by the Xiliens in *Invasion of Astro-Monster*.
* The location where King Ghidorah is frozen in Antarctica, Outpost 32, is a reference to the 1982 film *The Thing*, in which the primary location is an outpost in Antarctica called Outpost 31. The titular alien monster in *The Thing* is also discovered frozen in the Antarctic ice, much like King Ghidorah.