King Ghidorah

**King Ghidorah** (キングギドラ *Kingu Gidora*) is a three-headed dragon kaiju who first appeared in the 1964 Godzilla film, *Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster*.

## History

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

Thousands of years ago, King Ghidorah attacked the planet Venus, eradicating the planet's advanced civilization and rendering Venus an uninhabitable wasteland. The few Venusians that survived the monster's attacks fled to Earth, where they interbred with the native humans and gradually began to lose their identity.

In the present day, a meteor shower was visible in the skies above Earth, with one meteor crashing down in the Kurobe Valley in Japan. A scientific team led by Professor Murai traveled to the valley to examine the meteor, which exuded a strange glow and even produced its own magnetic field that fluctuated in strength. After several days of study, Murai and his colleagues observed that the meteor was actually growing in size. One day, the meteor began producing an extremely powerful magnetic field before splitting open and launching a ball of fire into the sky above. The fireball exploded several times before finally taking the form of King Ghidorah, having come to do to to Earth what he did to Venus in the past. King Ghidorah flew over Japan, leveling cities effortlessly with his gravity beams. As the cosmic terror approached the Mount Fuji area, Mothra tried to convince her fellow Earth monsters Godzilla and Rodan to cease their fighting and join forces against King Ghidorah. The monsters refused, forcing Mothra to take on King Ghidorah by herself. King Ghidorah blasted the larva with his gravity beams, arousing the anger of Godzilla and Rodan, who finally entered the battle. While King Ghidorah was more powerful than the three monsters individually, he was no match for their combined might, and was beaten into submission and covered in a silken cocoon. As Godzilla pelted King Ghidorah with boulders and threw him off a cliff, King Ghidorah finally retreated and flew back into the void of outer space.

### *Invasion of Astro-Monster*

King Ghidorah (the Astro-Monster)
When astronauts Fuji and Glenn arrived on the newly-discovered Planet X, they encountered an intelligent and technologically advanced alien race called the Xiliens. The Xiliens' leader, the Controller of Planet X, explained that his people lived in constant terror due to the attacks of a horrific space monster known as **Monster Zero** (怪物０*Kaibutsu Zero*). The Controller showed the two a video feed of the creature, revealing it to be none other than King Ghidorah. The Controller explained that he knew Godzillaand Rodan drove off King Ghidorah when the monster attacked Earth, and asked that his people be allowed to "borrow" the two monsters to fight off King Ghidorah on Planet X. When the two astronauts returned to Earth and received the support of the world's leaders, the Xiliens revealed themselves, having already been operating on Earth in secret. The Controller apologized for the secrecy, but thanked Earth's leaders and ordered the Xiliens' UFOs to transport Godzilla and Rodan to Planet X, with Glenn, Fuji and their superior Dr. Sakurai accompanying them to oversee the mission. When the monsters were placed on Planet X, King Ghidorah flew overhead and attacked them. Godzilla and Rodan joined forces again, and managed to force the space monster to retreat. The Controller remarked that this was a triumphant day for Planet X, and provided Glenn and Fuji with a tape he claimed contained the cure for cancer. The Controller sent the astronauts on their way, keeping Godzilla and Rodan on Planet X.

When the astronauts returned to Earth, they found the tape was actually an ultimatum demanding that Earth surrender to Planet X and become a colony. King Ghidorah had actually been under the Xiliens' control the entire time, and now both Godzilla and Rodan had become their pawns as well. When humanity refused to surrender, the Xiliens released the mind-controlled Godzilla, Rodan and King Ghidorah on Earth to destroy its major cities. Thankfully, Fuji and several Earth scientists discovered a device capable of breaking the aliens' control over the monsters. The device was activated, while the JSDF assaulted the Xiliens' hidden base. The Xiliens lost their control over the monsters, while their forces were defeated by the JSDF When Godzilla regained consciousness, he woke up Rodan and the two attacked King Ghidorah once again. During the battle, Rodan grabbed Godzilla and carried him in the air, slamming into King Ghidorah and sending all three monsters plummeting into the sea below. After a few moments, King Ghidorah flew out of the water and retreated back to outer space, while Godzilla and Rodan disappeared beneath the waves.

### *Destroy All Monsters*

When the crew of the Moonlight SY-3 destroyed the device the Kilaaks were using to control Earth's monsters, Godzilla and his fellow monsters assembled near the Kilaaks' base at Mount Fuji, preparing to assault it. The Kilaaks proceeded to unleash their trump card, King Ghidorah, to defend their base. King Ghidorah descended and attacked the Earth monsters, managing to hold his own against several opponents. Anguirus bit down on King Ghidorah's neck, causing him to take flight and send Anguirus falling to the Earth. King Ghidorah landed and stomped Anguirus into the dust, then reentered battle against Godzilla and his allies. Anguirus, undeterred, got back up and attacked King Ghidorah again. As King Ghidorah battled Godzilla and his allies, Gorosaurus landed a devastating kangaroo-kick on his back, knocking him to the ground. Godzilla proceeded to stomp on King Ghidorah's necks, causing him to cough up blood. Minilla fired a smoke ring that choked King Ghidorah's remaining head and caused it to fall limp to the ground. Mothra and Kumonga then covered King Ghidorah's carcass with silk and webbing. When Godzilla found the Kilaaks' base and destroyed it, it caused a huge fissure to open in the ground, with King Ghidorah's lifeless body falling into it. With King Ghidorah defeated for good and the alien invasion thwarted, Godzilla and the other monsters returned to Monsterland to live out their days in peace.

### *Godzilla vs. Gigan*

As part of their plan to conquer the Earth, the M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens took control of King Ghidorah and allied him with their own cybernetic monster, Gigan. Controlling the two monsters from the Godzilla Tower located in World Children's Land, the Nebulans unleashed Gigan and King Ghidorah in Tokyo. The space monsters razed the city and withstood all of the JSDF's attempts to stop them, leaving humanity helpless. Thankfully, Godzilla and Anguirus became aware of the invaders' scheme, and swam to Tokyo to battle Gigan and King Ghidorah. However, King Ghidorah and his cybernetic ally proved to be more than a match for the Earth monsters. Godzilla was badly wounded by Gigan's hook-tipped appendages and the Godzilla Tower's laser beam, leaving Anguirus at the mercy of both space monsters. Fortunately, a group of humans managed to destroy the Godzilla Tower, severing the Nebulans' control over Gigan and King Ghidorah. After some more fighting, Godzilla and Anguirus finally regrouped and assaulted their foes once more, seizing the upper hand. Gigan attempted to retreat and was shot out of the sky, allowing Godzilla and Anguirus to double-team King Ghidorah. Godzilla held King Ghidorah still from behind while Anguirus rammed him with his spiky carapace. King Ghidorah soon retreated along with Gigan, leaving Godzilla and Anguirus victorious and the Earth safe once again.

### "Attack King Ghidorah!"

King Ghidorah was later taken control of by an evil race of aliens called the Garogas, and was deployed to Earth to destroy a newly-developed invention called the Blue-Green device, meant to reduce carbon monoxide pollution. The approaching King Ghidorah was soon engaged by the Japanese Air-Self Defense Force, but their efforts proved futile against the space dragon. The Garogas held the scientists who invented the device hostage, intending for King Ghidorah to destroy the building, including the device and scientists inside. Luckily, Hikaru Sakimori and his siblings arrived just in time to stop them. Transforming into Zone Fighter, Angel, and Junior, the trio manage to ward off the Garogas.

Later, after the Garogas enacted their Dark Prism operation, planting a crystal-like prism for the Zone Family to recover and eventually leading them into a trap, King Ghidorah appeared once more. Hikaru transformed into his giant Zone Fighter form to combat the Terror-Beast, and attempted to lure him away from the research institute where the Blue-Green device was being held. However, Zone Fighter was greatly inhibited by the Dark Prism, which slowly absorbed the sun's light and left him unable to recharge energy. In this time of need, Hikaru's grandfather Raita unleashed the artificial cloud Bolt Thunder, which bombarded King Ghidorah with a barrage of lightning. Weakened by the Bolt Thunder, King Ghidorah's control over the Dark Prism was severed, and Zone Fighter was able to replenish energy once more. With his energy fully restored, Zone Fighter managed to lure King Ghidorah back into space.

### "King Ghidorah's Counterattack!"

While luring King Ghidorah to Venus, Zone Fighter realized that the monster had disappeared. He returned to Earth to protect his family from the Garogas, only to find that they had been kidnapped. After eventually rescuing his family members, Zone Fighter was given an urgent call to return to the research institute, where he found that several cars had been suspended in midair, deducing it as the work of King Ghidorah. Transforming into Zone Fighter once more, Hikaru rescued the passengers of the floating vehicles, and confronted King Ghidorah yet again. As the titans battled in the city, Zone Fighter was struck in the face by one of King Ghidorah's gravity beams, leaving him blinded. Unable to retaliate, Zone Fighter was forced to revert to human form as King Ghidorah decimated the institute. Returning home, Hikaru's vision was restored, and he decided to face off against King Ghidorah one last time. Successfully luring King Ghidorah to Venus, Zone Fighter managed to defeat the space demon after a vicious struggle, although King Ghidorah managed to escape with his life, something few of the hero's enemies, not even Gigan, were able to do.

## Abilities

### Flight

King Ghidorah is able to fly up to speeds of Mach 3 in the Earth's atmosphere by flapping his gigantic wings, and exceeds this while flying through space, reaching a speed of Mach 400. He encased himself within a meteorite while traveling from planet to planet in both his original appearance and in *Godzilla vs. Gigan*.

### Gravity Beams

King Ghidorah's arguably most famous ability is the golden, lightning bolt-like **Gravity Beams** (引力光線 *Inryoku Kōsen*) he spits from his three mouths, also variably referred to as **Lightning Beams** (電撃光線 *Dengeki Kōsen*) or **Zero Gravity Beams** (無重力光線 *Mujūryoku Kōsen*). These beams are roughly equal in power to Godzilla's atomic breath, and are capable of causing large-scale explosions when fired at buildings. King Ghidorah uses these beams to cover a large radius or strike multiple targets by firing them from each of his mouths. King Ghidorah can also fire these beams one at a time, demonstrated in *Godzilla vs. Gigan* when he turns one of his heads to blast Anguirus, who is attempting to sneak up behind him.

### Hurricane Winds

King Ghidorah can produce hurricane-force winds by flapping his wings, which are capable of blowing away buildings and knocking other kaiju off their feet.

### Durability

King Ghidorah is extremely durable and resistant to damage, to an extent close to Godzilla. He withstands conventional weaponry with no noticeable effect, and can even shrug off point-blank blasts from Godzilla's atomic breath. King Ghidorah tends to use his durability to his advantage, as he often prefers to escape from a battle that he can't win before he suffers more injuries than necessary. King Ghidorah also holds the distinction of being the only one of the Garogas' Terror-Beasts to survive his battles with Zone Fighter.

### Magnetic Powers

In *Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster*, while encased in the meteorite, King Ghidorah had the ability to generate what appeared to be magnetic fields that varied in strength from time to time. While it was never stated directly what purpose they served, it was stated that they were somehow connected to his powers.

In *Zone Fighter*, King Ghidorah seems to retain his control over gravity/magnetism, managing to suspend several cars midair above a research institute, though how he achieves such a feat goes unexplained.

### Weaknesses

Though more than a match for Godzilla in a one-on-one battle, King Ghidorah tends to become overwhelmed when facing multiple kaiju at once. This proves to be his downfall in *Destroy All Monsters*, where he is killed in a battle against all of Earth's monsters at the same time. King Ghidorah also tends to become confused when the mind control of his alien masters is severed, which leaves him open and vulnerable to attack.

## Films & TV

### (showa era)

* *Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster* (1964)
* *Invasion of Astro-Monster* (1965)
* *Destroy All Monsters* (1968)
* *Godzilla vs. Gigan* (1972)
* *Zone Fighter* (TV 1973) [episodes 5-6]
* *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla* (1974) [still]
* *Terror of Mechagodzilla* (1975) [stock footage]
* *Bye-Bye Jupiter* (1984) [stock footage]

## Roar (old)

King Ghidorah's roar sounds like cackling, and consists of a combination of screeching and clicking sounds. Each one of King Ghidorah's heads roars at a different pitch. King Ghidorah's roar was later reused by Tsuburaya Productions for a sound made by Kemur Man in *Ultra Q*, as well as a telephone ringtone in *Ultraman* and *Fight! Mighty Jack*.

## Roar (ALL)

The most common version of King Ghidorah's roar is screeching with some clicking sounds added and modified to sound deeper. In the Heisei era, his roar is borrowed and modified from Rodan in order to sound more dragon-like and somewhat metallic. This was done by multi-tuning Rodan's roar in both high and low pitches. This roar was used again for the mature King Ghidorah in *Rebirth of Mothra III*, but deepened and mixed with growling noises. Cretaceous King Ghidorah's roars were modified from Desghidorah's elephant-like roar with an increased pitch, and were later used for Orga in the Japanese version of *Godzilla 2000: Millennium*. In *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack* , King Ghidorah's new roar was created to sound more similar to his Showa roar.

## More!

### Design

King Ghidorah is a golden dragon monster with two legs, three heads on long necks, giant bat-like wings, and two tails. King Ghidorah's multiple heads were primarily inspired by Yamata no Orochi, an eight-headed dragon from Japanese mythology that had been featured in the 1959 Toho film *The Three Treasures*. Toho also drew inspiration from the three-headed dragon Zmey Gorynych from the 1956 Soviet film *Ilya Muromets*, which had been distributed theatrically in Japan by Shintoho in March 1959. Other sources of inspiration included mythological creatures such as the Hydra, unicorn, pegasus, and qilin. King Ghidorah was brought to life on the movie screen by a stunt actor inside an elaborate three-piece suit, with a team of puppeteers to control the suit's many appendages. His design was mostly created by Eiji Tsuburaya based on a minimal description in the script: "It has three heads, two tails, and a voice like a bell."

1. ↑ Template loop detected: Template:Cite book
2. ↑ Japanese *Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster* trailer
File:Terrifying Super Space Monster.png
3. ↑ Template loop detected: Template:Cite book
4. ↑ Japanese *Invasion of Astro-Monster* trailer
File:Demon of Planet X.png
5. ↑ Japanese *Destroy All Monsters* trailer
File:Space Monster King Ghidorah.png
6. ↑ Japanese *Godzilla vs. Gigan* trailer
File:Warui Nakama Kingu Gidora.png
7. ↑ Template loop detected: Template:Cite book
8. ↑ SciFi Japan: ZONE FIGHTER Series Guide