Anguirus

The **Anguirus** (アンギラス *Angirasu*) of the **Showa era** is a mutated *Ankylosaurus* kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1955 *Godzilla* film, *Godzilla Raids Again*.

## Name

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.

## Design

### ShodaiAngira

Anguirus is a four-legged dinosaur-like creature that combines the features of an *Ankylosaurus*, a *Styracosaurus*, and a crocodile. He has several horns at the top of his head and a single rhino-like horn above his nose.

His face is elongated with a long snout bearing rows of jagged, serrated teeth and his carapace is studded with long, sharp spikes. Anguirus' tail is longer than his body and makes up most of his body length, and is also covered with spikes. His hind limbs are longer than his forelimbs, enabling him to stand up on them to his full height, but he generally acts as a quadruped.

### SoshingekiAngira

Compared to the previous Anguirus design, the SoshingekiAngira suit has a wider, more muscular neck. The eyes are larger, giving Anguirus a more heroic appearance, just like the Godzilla it appeared alongside. Except for a pair of fangs, its teeth are shorter than its predecessor's. The carapace, which no longer moves independently of the rest of the suit, is lined with uneven rows of spikes.

This suit was also used for Anguirus' brief appearance in the opening of *Godzilla vs. Megalon*. The suit's fangs were removed for its appearance in *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla*. This suit is also known as the **GiganAngira** (ガイガンアンギラ) in *Godzilla vs. Gigan*, the **MegaroAngira** (メガロアンギラ) in *Godzilla vs. Megalon*, and the **MekaAngira** (メカアンギラ) in *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla*.

### FinalAngira

FinalAngira has many differences from the previous suits. While distantly resembling the 1955 suit the body of the suit was given a heavier build, as well as spikes on its arms and legs. The head of this Anguirus suit was also given wider head and lost its crocodile-like snout.

It has a pig-like nose with a short horn, and the six other horns are now seven, most strange in it's appearance is that the middle horns are reduced. The eyes and forehead are now pressed more forward. The spikes of the carapace are pointed forward (most noticeable is that they're in straight rows, much like the 1955 suit), and the tail is given a tail club, a feature more accurate to real *Ankylosauruses*.

Although the suit has heavy build to it, the actor is able to move faster. The mouth has smaller teeth, and the fangs are smaller and not as prominent as the previous suit.

In *Godzilla: Final Wars*, Anguirus is jokingly referred to as an "armadillo," due to his ability to curl himself into a ball.

### Portrayal

Anguirus was portrayed through suitmation.

### Roar

In showa series, Anguirus common roar is very akin to a loud shriek, over a deep bellow.

In millenium series, Anguirus common roar starts off as a loud shriek. In 2004 tiger growls were added. in godzilla singular point anguirus resued t rex from jurassic park

## Personality

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.

Anguirus within the Millennium continuity is depicted similarly to his Showa counterpart, being shown as a very tenacious and fierce fighter, even against Godzilla who is much larger, and much more powerful than he and his allies are.

## Origins

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, including *Final Wars*.

## History

### *Godzilla Raids Again*

Anguirus first encountered Godzilla in *Godzilla Raids Again*, on Iwato Island. The two ancient creatures fought then fell into the sea below and disappeared. After some research was carried out, Anguirus was revealed to be an ancient and incredibly strong dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period. The two kaiju resurfaced and met each other again in Osaka, Japan, where they fought. After a fierce and destructive battle, Godzilla gained the upper hand when he bit Anguirus in his neck then threw him into a moat near Osaka Castle, before finishing him off with his atomic breath.

### *Destroy All Monsters*

In *Destroy All Monsters*, Anguirus was now living on Monsterland along with the other Earth monsters in the year 1999. The Earth was invaded by theKilaaks, however, and he was sent to guard the aliens' earth base. The humans intervened, and freed the monsters from the alien mind control. Anguirus battled King Ghidorah once again, and managed to kill him with the other monsters.

### *Godzilla vs. Gigan*

Almost 30 years after the events of *Godzilla Raids Again*, in *Godzilla vs. Gigan*, Godzilla and Anguirus were now living together on Monster Island. Whether this was the same Anguirus that fought Godzilla in 1955 or a different Anguirus entirely is never explained. Godzilla sent him to Japan to check on a strange noise they were hearing. Anguirus swam to the shores of Japan, where he was attacked by the military. The military managed to drive him off, but he returned to Monster Island to inform Godzilla. Godzilla returned with him to Japan, where they fought Gigan and King Ghidorah at the World Children's land. Despite being badly injured in the battle, Godzilla and Anguirus drove off the space monsters and returned to Monster Island in peace.

### *Godzilla vs. Megalon*

Anguirus appeared briefly in *Godzilla vs. Megalon*, where he was seen on Monster Island with Godzilla and Rodan. The trio of monsters were resting on Monster Island when nuclear tests were carried out nearby, causing the island to split in half. Godzilla managed to escape, but Anguirus toppled over and fell into the growing fissure.

### *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla*

Three years later, in *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla*, Anguirus, having been resting and travelling underground ever since he fell into the fissure a year earlier, traveled to Japan in search of Godzilla. Anguirus knew something wasn't right, when he saw his friend Godzilla was attacking buildings mindlessly and walking around the Japanese countryside with no specific pattern. Anguirus burrowed out of the ground after Godzilla attacked an apartment building, tripping him over. Anguirus then challenged Godzilla, but Godzilla threw him through a bridge and into a valley. As Anguirus got back up, he leapt out of the valley, knocking off some of Godzilla's scales with his claws as he passed, revealing metal underneath. The now-revealed Fake Godzilla then fought back viciously, beating Anguirus and slamming him into the ground. The Fake Godzilla broke Anguirus' jaw in a violent and bloody fashion, forcing Anguirus to burrow back underground and retreat. Chronologically, this wasn't Anguirus' last appearance in the Showa era, as at some point between 1975 and 1999, he was found and taken toMonsterland, his injuries having been completely healed.

### *Godzilla: Final Wars*

Anguirus was under the control of the Xiliens and was sent to China and attacked Shanghai. He was attacked by the Karyu, but he proved too fast for it. He continued to fight against the humans, but he was recalled by the Xilienson their commander's orders.

Once X killed the Controller and led the Xiliens himself, Anguirus was brought back to Shanghai, and destroyed the Karyu after slamming into it after curling up. After Godzilla was freed by the Gotengo in Antarctica, Anguirus was deployed to the Japanese countryside with Rodan and King Caesar by the Xilien UFOs α, ß and γ, and waited to encounter Godzilla.

When Godzilla arrived, Anguirus almost immediately curled up into a ball and tried to ram Godzilla, but Godzilla used this to his advantage, kicking Anguirus into King Caesar and Rodan. After successfully knocking all three monsters unconscious, Godzilla stacked them into a pile and continued to follow the Gotengo to Tokyo.

## Abilities

### Roll attack

His "rolling" attack, was introduced in the video games and later incorporated in his appearance in *Godzilla: Final Wars*. In the former game, Anguirus' rage attack involves him charging his spikes with some undefined energy, then jumping far up into the air, shooting them off while performing multiple flips. In the latter, it is simply a more powerful variant of his rolling attack.

### Sonic roar

In the video games *Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee*, *Godzilla: Save the Earth* and *Godzilla: Unleashed*, Anguirus is finally given a "sonic roar", a roar which is loud enough to hurt monsters and destroy military weapons. It can also destroy, and even pass right through, buildings and rocks.

## In other languages

* Basque: Erraldoien
* Serbian: Ангуирус
* Yiddish: אַנגוירוס
* Russian: Ангирус
* Chinese: 安吉拉斯

## Trivia

* Anguirus was the second kaiju in the *Godzilla* series.
* Anguirus was the first kaiju to be defeated by Godzilla.
* Anguirus was the first kaiju Godzilla ever fought, and would go on to become his most loyal ally and friend.
* Anguirus roar was used in many video game series such as *Street Fighter* and *Metroid*.
	+ Anguirus' roars were reused for the Draygon boss of the *Metroid* series.
* In *Dairanger*, Daimugen reuses Anguirus' roar.
* Due to limitations of the costume's design to accommodate a stuntman Angurius seems to walk on his knees at times (though this is not the case in his animated and video game depictions).

* Before his appearance in *Godzilla: Final Wars*, Toho planned to use Anguirus twice in the Millennium series and once in the Heisei series. First, he was supposed to appear in *Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla*, which was supposed to be the last film in the Heisei series. In the Millennium series, he first was one of the Guardian Monsters, the God of the Sea, in *Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*, the original version of *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*. He was cut when Toho decided they could make a larger profit if they replaced him for a more popular kaiju: Mothra. Again, in*Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.*, he was originally the monster found washed up dead on the beach with a large neck wound received from Godzilla. However, Toho replaced him with Kamoebas out of concerns that fans would take offense to such an appearance.
* A scene in *Godzilla: Final Wars* of Godzilla destroying Rodan, Anguirus, and King Caesar was not filmed, making Anguirus one of the only five surviving monsters at the end of *Final Wars*. The film originally had Godzilla destroy the three monsters. Interestingly enough, the three monsters who were spared were all allies with Godzilla in the past.
* Due to limitations of the costume's design to accomodate a stuntman Angurius seems to walk on his knees at times (though this is not the case in his animated and video game depictions).
* During early production of the *Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla* in 1995, Anguirus was originally planned to appear, but due to fact that Godzilla fought against creatures that simply resembled him, the project was dropped and Anguirus didn't appear in another *Godzilla* film until 2004. Even though Anguirus didn't appear in the Heisei era, there is concept art commissioning on how he would have looked like.

## List of appearances

### Films

* *Godzilla Raids Again* (First appearance)
* *Destroy All Monsters*
* *Godzilla vs. Gigan*
* *Godzilla vs. Megalon*
* *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla*

* *Godzilla: Final Wars*

### Television series

* *Recommend! Godzilland*
* *Godzilla Island*

### Video games

* *Gojira-kun*
* *Godzilla: Save the Earth*
* *Godzilla: Unleashed*
* *Godzilla*(2014 video game)
* *Godzilla: Kaiju Collection*

### Comics

* *Rampage Godzilla*
* *Godzilla, King of the Monsters*
* *Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters*
* *Godzilla: Ongoing*
* *Godzilla: The Half-Century War*
* *Godzilla: Legends*
* *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*
* *Godzilla: Cataclysm*
* *Godzilla in Hell*
* *Godzilla: Oblivion*