![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Godzilla_Poster-scaled.jpg)
GOJIRA
By Peter Glanting
Published Issue 082 October 2020
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_Godzilla_082.jpg)
GODZILLA (ゴジラ, GOJIRA)
Like so many of Godzilla’s friends and foes, Godzilla themself comes from mysterious origins. In the words of Wikipedia: “generally depicted as an enormous, violent, prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation.” You can’t say fairer than that.
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_Mothra_082.jpg)
MOTHRA (モスラ, MOSURA)
When the Mothra movie premiered in the U.S., theaters would lay out a bunch of weapons on tables in the lobby, with signs that read: “These could not defeat Mothra.” I’d like to see a similar form of promotion for the Hunger Games, with just an empty table in the theater with a sign that reads: “They sure are hungry.”
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_Anguiris_082-1.jpg)
ANGUIRIS (アンギラス, ANGIRASU)
Anguiris can burrow underground and move at great speeds. According to very credible sources, Anguiris’s brain is in their chest.
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_Mecha_Godzilla_082.jpg)
MECHAGODZILLA (メカゴジラ, MEKAGOJIRA)
Whether they’re made by aliens or by humans, Mechagodzilla is a constant mechanical thorn in Godzilla’s side. Mechagodzilla can fire missiles and energy beams, and can generate force fields as well.
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_ebirah_082.jpg)
EBIRAH (エビラ, EBIRA)
A giant lobster.
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_hedorah_082.jpg)
HEDORAH (ヘドラ, HEDORA)
One of the actors who played Hedora had to have an appendectomy while still in the Hedora suit. My neighbor Jack told me this.
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_King_Ghidorah_082.jpg)
KING GHIDORAH (キングギドラ, KINGU GIDORA)
I don’t really know what King Ghidorah’s canon origin is. Their CV boasts being an alien dragon, an interdimensional god, a Japanese guardian spirit, and genetic experiment. You decide.
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_rodan_082.jpg)
RODAN (ラドン, RADON)
The radioactive Pteranodon has become friendlier-looking over the years as they have become less of a menacing villain and more of a helpful, prehistoric friend. Studios changed the Japanese name “Radon” for English speaking audiences “to avoid confusion with the element radon.”
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_Gigan_082.jpg)
GIGAN (ガイガン, GAIGAN)
The cyborg known as Gigan boasts a saw blade on their torso and hook hands. These hook hands get replaced by chainsaws in Gigan’s later years.
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_kamoebas_082.jpg)
KAMOEBAS (カメーバ, KAMĒBA)
Kamēba is barely a Godzilla kaiju. They were in two non-Godzilla pieces of media before making a brief appearance in Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. I probably could have included a more prolific monster, but I have a soft spot for the enormous turtle.
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_spacegodzilla_082.jpg)
SPACEGODZILLA (スペースゴジラ, SUPĒSUGOJIRA)
Unlike Megalon, SpaceGodzilla is very smart. SpaceGodzilla is a clone from space.
![](https://www.birdymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PeterGlanting_Med_Megalon_082.jpg)
MEGALON (メガロ, MEGARO)
According to my extensive research, Megalon is supposed to be very strong, as well as profoundly feeble-minded. I’m pretty sure that the 90s SNK fighting game King of the Monsters based their character Beetle Mania on Megalon, though I always thought BM seemed pretty sharp.
Peter Gustav Glanting is from San Francisco and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis. He’s been a freelance copywriter/ social media manager, but is also passionate about arts and crafts, having been exposed to them for prolonged periods.
Check out his comics delicate adventures and Jerk Frenzy.