Hedorah
Encyclopedia
| Toho Toho is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group... character |
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|---|---|
| Hedorah | |
| Species | Pollution spawned space monster |
| Alias | The Smog Monster |
| Form(s) | Aquatic Form 20 meters Land Form 30 meters Flying Form 40 meters Final Form 60–120 meters |
| Weight | Final Form 48,000-70,000 tons |
| Air Speed | Mach 1 |
| Relationships | |
| Major enemies | Godzilla Godzilla is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,... |
| First appearance | Godzilla vs. Hedorah Godzilla vs. Hedorah , also known as Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, is a 1971 science fiction kaiju film. The eleventh film in Toho Co. Ltd.'s Godzilla series , it was directed by Yoshimitsu Banno with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. It was the first film to feature Hedorah. The score was composed by Riichiro Manabe... |
| Created by | Yoshimitsu Banno Yoshimitsu Banno is a Japanese director, best known for the cult-classic Godzilla vs. Hedorah, which he directed and co-wrote. Banno was a special guest at G-Fest XII in 2005. He is currently co-producing a new Godzilla film with Legendary Pictures.-Directing Credits:... |
| Portrayed by | Shōwa series Kenpachiro Satsuma Kenpachiro Satsuma is a Japanese actor. He is probably best known for playing Godzilla in the Heisei series of Godzilla films , but played other giant monsters as well.-Films:... Millennium series Kazuhiro Yoshida |
, also known as the Smog
Smog
Smog is a type of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine...
Monster, is a fictional character in the 1971 film Godzilla vs. Hedorah
Godzilla vs. Hedorah
, also known as Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, is a 1971 science fiction kaiju film. The eleventh film in Toho Co. Ltd.'s Godzilla series , it was directed by Yoshimitsu Banno with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. It was the first film to feature Hedorah. The score was composed by Riichiro Manabe...
. The monster was named for , the Japanese word for sludge
Sludge
Sludge refers to the residual, semi-solid material left from industrial wastewater, or sewage treatment processes. It can also refer to the settled suspension obtained from conventional drinking water treatment, and numerous other industrial processes...
, vomit, slime or chemical ooze. He is the main antagonist of the film.
Description
Hedorah is an extraterrestrialExtraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
kaiju
Kaiju
is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
formed from pollution that could feed on pollution. Falling to Earth as a cloud of spores, Hedorah hatched into millions of microscopic tadpole-like organisms which began to feed upon the toxins with which mankind had poisoned its air and water. As they increased in number and power, they began to merge into a giant monster of living sludge capable of reducing the entire planet to an uninhabitable wasteland.
Hedorah's transformations and composite physiology are thought to be the inspiration for the Heisei monster Destoroyah
Destoroyah
, alternatively Destroyah, or Destroyer, is a fictional Japanese monster from the Godzilla Franchise appearing only in the 1995 film Godzilla vs. Destoroyah and in some of the Godzilla video games. He originated as a colony of Precambrian crustaceans that had been awakened and mutated when the...
. Surprisingly, Hedorah has become one of the most famous Godzilla monsters.
At the time of his creation, he was without a doubt, alongside King Ghidorah
King Ghidorah
is a kaiju, a fictional Japanese monster featured in several of Toho Studios' Godzilla films...
, Godzilla's most challenging enemy. In the course of their fights, the King of the Monsters was continuously injured and found it very difficult to defeat him. Hedorah, with King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla
Mechagodzilla
is a fictional character from various films in the Godzilla series, introduced in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla . He is Godzilla's mechanical doppelgänger and one of the most popular Toho kaiju...
, SpaceGodzilla
SpaceGodzilla
, is a modified clone of Godzilla featured in the Heisei Godzilla film Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla . SpaceGodzilla is the main antagonist of the film. It was originally planned for use in the Showa era of films but dropped, and its physical appearance is nearly identical to Super Godzilla, a variant...
and Destoroyah, are considered to be some of Godzilla's most powerful enemies.
Although in Final Wars, Godzilla defeated Hedorah with ease, which means Hedorah is no longer one of Godzilla's most powerful enemies.
Powers and abilities
Hedorah possesses many special abilities. As a composite kaijuKaiju
is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
formed from millions of smaller organisms, Hedorah is capable of assuming a number of different shapes to suit the particular situation. For traveling through water, Hedorah transformed into a giant tadpole monster similar to the base organism that composed it. For traveling on land, Hedorah became a four-legged pile of slime resembling a gigantic salamander and it also could assume a saucer-like shape which granted it flight capabilities. After being driven back by Godzilla several times, Hedorah assumed a gigantic humanoid shape that even dwarfed the king of the monsters. Thanks to the protean nature of its body, ordinary weapons passed right through Hedorah while even Godzilla's atomic ray was unable to inflict any lasting harm. Finally, since Hedorah fed on pollution, so long as a piece of it remained alive then Hedorah could retreat to absorb more pollution in order to regenerate itself.
Hedorah's primary form of attack was by spurting globs of its own corrosive sludge at its opponent. The slime was so acidic it was even capable of scarring Godzilla's usually impenetrable hide. It was also able to project crimson energy beams from its eyes while its flying form created a byproduct of sulphuric acid mist that melted any living creature that came in contact with it down to its skeletal frame just like the Oxygen Destroyer
Oxygen Destroyer
The Oxygen Destroyer was a fictional weapon that appeared in the 1954 film Godzilla. It was an extremely powerful chemical compound that was able to completely dissolve Godzilla and wipe out all life in the Tokyo Bay...
.
Showa
Hedorah was an alien life form that landed on EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
and began feeding on pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
. Hedorah's actions soon gained the attention of Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
, who attacked the Smog Monster as he was feeding off of a smokestack. At the time, Hedorah was still in a young form, and was easily trounced by Godzilla. The two creatures had a series of battles across Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and Hedorah continued to grow bigger and stronger, and achieved a flying saucer-like form, allowing him to fly and spread sulfuric acid mist across Japan while destroying many factories. Hedorah and Godzilla had a final showdown near Mt. Fuji, in which Hedorah achieved his final form, a bipedal, humanoid pile of sludge. Thanks to his acidic, poisonous body, as well as his lethal eye bolts, Hedorah very nearly put an end to Godzilla in their struggle. However, mankind had built a pair of gigantic electrodes near the warring kaiju
Kaiju
is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
with the intention of creating a superheated zone that would dry Hedorah out. During a period of the fight where Godzilla was knocked out, Hedorah was lured between the electrodes. Unfortunately, a fuse was blown, and the electrodes were useless.
Thankfully, Godzilla quickly came to the rescue again, using his breath to re-energize the electrodes. Badly dehydrated by their electricity, Hedorah tried to escape when in the film's most famous moment, Godzilla used his atomic ray as a jet to propel himself through the air after the sludge monster whereupon he returned Hedorah to the electrodes to be dried out completely. Sensing still wet sludge within Hedorah's husk, Godzilla proceeded to rip out Hedorah's innards and then used the electrodes to finally slay the last remnants of the polluted monster.
Millenium
In Godzilla: Final WarsGodzilla: Final Wars
is a 2004 Japanese science fiction-kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, written by Wataru Mimura and Isao Kiriyama and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. It is the twenty-eighth film in the Godzilla film series, and the sixth in terms of the series' Millennium era...
, Hedorah, along with Ebirah
Ebirah
, is a fictional kaiju that first appeared in the Showa Godzilla film Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster. He is one of the two main antagonists of the film.-Showa series:...
, is seen being blasted out of Tokyo Harbor by Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
and crashing into a building, with one of Ebirah's claws piercing one of Hedorah's eyes. The Smog Monster and the Sea Monster are then knocked out by a blast of Godzilla's atomic ray.
Appearances in other media
- Hedorah appears as a villain in the 1988 NESNes-Localities:In Norway:* Nes, Akershus, a municipality in the county of Akershus in Norway* Nes, Buskerud, a municipality in the county of Buskerud in Norway* Nes, Hedmark, a former municipality in the county of Hedmark in Norway...
game Godzilla: Monster of the Monsters, as well as the sequel, War of the Monsters. Hedorah was also an enemy in the Godzilla Game BoyGame BoyThe , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
title, in which it, along with King GhidorahKing Ghidorahis a kaiju, a fictional Japanese monster featured in several of Toho Studios' Godzilla films...
, was the only monster unaffected by Godzilla's blows. - Hedorah also makes a cameo appearance in the video game Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters MeleeGodzilla: Destroy All Monsters MeleeGodzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee is a fighting video game produced by Pipeworks Software, Inc. and released for the Nintendo GameCube on October 8, 2002. The game was later released for the Xbox in North America on April 16, 2003...
, where it randomly appears in disc form and slows the energy recovery. It can be killed, though this is difficult. - Hedorah is a boss in Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash.
- Heodorah is one of the title antagonists of the 1996 children's book Godzilla vs. Gigan and the Smog Monster, written by Alice Alfonsi, and published by Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. The book's plot concerns Hedorah and Gigan's assault on Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, until both are challenged and ultimately defeated by the heroic Godzilla and RodanRodanis a fictional Japanese mutated pterosaur introduced in Rodan, a 1956 release from Toho Studios, the company responsible for the Godzilla series. Like Godzilla and Anguirus, he is designed after a type of prehistoric reptile...
. - Godzilla At World's End, a 1998 young adult novel by Marc Cerasini, and also published by Random House, features Hedorah among a global army of artificially created monsters; all sent forth by the mysterious crystalline beings dubbed The Ancient Ones, in order to eradicate mankind from the Earth.
- The television series Godzilla IslandGodzilla Islandwas a television show spinoff of the Godzilla franchise. It premiered on October 6, 1997, and ran for a total of 256 three-minute episodes, finishing on September 30, 1998.Set in 2097, most monsters live on an island out in the Pacific Ocean...
featured Hedorah in several episodes, along with a related, but otherwise original character named Neo-Heodrah; a brightly colored blue and pink 'clone' that could spawn mutant mushrooms in mass, to infest the title island, and thus overwhelming the show's heroes. - Hedorah is the name of a British indie guitar band from Reading (UK).
- Hedorah makes several appearances in the webcomicWebcomicWebcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
Bob the Angry FlowerBob the Angry FlowerBob the Angry Flower is a black-and-white comic strip that tells the exploits of an easily angered anthropomorphic flower named Bob and his interactions with the world, often in search of either global domination or love...
, most recently as a member of Bob's peculiar legal teamLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. - Hedorah appears as part of Gary PanterGary PanterGary Panter is an illustrator, painter, designer and part-time musician. Panter's work is representative of the post-underground, new wave comics movement that began with the end of Arcade: The Comics Revue and the initiation of RAW, one of the second generation in American underground comix...
's cover artCover artCover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
for the album coverAlbum coverAn album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
of Frank ZappaFrank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
's 1978 LP recordLP recordThe LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
, Sleep DirtSleep DirtSleep Dirt is an album by Frank Zappa released in January, 1979 on his own DiscReet Records label. It reached 175 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart...
.