King Ghidorah | |
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Godzilla character | |
![]() A production image of the first Ghidorah suit, not fully painted[1] | |
First appearance | Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) |
Last appearance | Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) |
Created by | Tomoyuki Tanaka[2] Eiji Tsuburaya[3] Shinichi Sekizawa |
Designed by | Akira Watanabe[3] |
Portrayed by | Shōwa era: Shoichi Hirose[4] Susumu Utsumi[5] Kanta Ina[6] Heisei era: Hurricane Ryu[7] Tsutomu Kitagawa[8] Millennium era: Akira Ohashi[9] Legendary Pictures: Jason Liles[10] Alan Maxson[11] Richard Dorton[11] |
In-universe information | |
Alias | Ghidrah[12] King Ghidra[13] King Ghidora[14] Monster Zero[15] The 10,000 Year Old Dragon[16] The King of Terror[17] The Gold King[18] God of the Void[18] King of the Void[18] Titanus Ghidorah The Death Song of Three Storms Destroyer of Worlds Ghidorah The One Who is Many |
Species | Three-headed dragon-like monster |
King Ghidorah (キングギドラ, Kingu Gidora) is a fictional monster, or alien, or kaiju, which first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1964 film Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. The monster was initially created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Shinichi Sekizawa as an homage to the eight-headed mythological Japanese dragon Yamata no Orochi. Although the name of the character is officially trademarked by Toho as "King Ghidorah",[19] the character was originally referred to as Ghidorah, Ghidrah, or Monster Zero in some English markets.[12]
Although King Ghidorah's design has remained largely consistent throughout its appearances (an armless, bipedal, golden and yellowish-scaled dragon with three heads, two fan-shaped wings, and two tails), its origin story has varied from being an extraterrestrial planet-destroying dragon,[20] a genetically engineered monster from the future,[21] a guardian monster of ancient Japan,[22] or a god from another dimension. The character is usually portrayed as the archenemy of Godzilla and a foe of Mothra,[23] though it has had one appearance as an ally of the latter.[22]
Despite rumors that Ghidorah was meant to represent the threat posed by China, which had at the time of the character's creation just developed nuclear weapons,[24] director Ishirō Honda denied the connection and stated that Ghidorah was simply a modern take on the dragon Yamata no Orochi.[25][2][26]
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