Kaiju: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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Typically they arrive from somewhere Far Away. Whether that means space, [[Beneath the Earth]], or a South Pacific island varies. Expect lots of [[Stuff Blowing Up]] to result, but, since [[Giant Equals Invincible]], don't expect the explosions to actually hurt them. ''Do'' expect at least one case of [[Helicopter Flyswatter]]. Examples of this genre can range from straight-up [[Disaster Movie]] (''[[Cloverfield]]'', the first ''[[Gojira (film)|Godzilla]]'' movie) to all-out wrestling matches between [[People in Rubber Suits]] (Most of the later [[Godzilla]] movies). As this genre features a judicious application of [[Rule of Cool]], expect the [[MST3K Mantra]] to be in full effect. Often, you'll only watch this kind of movie [[Just Here for Godzilla|to see the monsters fight]], which can often involve an [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny]] (such as ''[[King Kong vs. Godzilla]].'')
This is actually one of the oldest genres in film, dating back to the early days of cinema when special effects were new. Pioneers of the genre were ''[[The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms]],'' ''[[King Kong]],'' and ''[[The Lost World (film)|The Lost World]]'' (which was actually the earliest example of the genre). The idea probably originates from thinking of [[Dinosaurs Are Dragons|dinosaurs as fantastic beasts]] or ideas about giant [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragons]]. A '''Kaiju''' though will most of the time be a [[Single Specimen Species]], when even dragons often are a race of monsters.
[[Rent-A-Zilla]] is a [[Sub-Trope]], where the work doesn't focus on the monster.
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** During Walt Simonson's run of ''[[The Mighty Thor]]'', Fafnir the dragon sure had the size to qualify.
* ''[[Batman]]: Gotham After Midnight'', a very bizarre miniseries, featured Bat-foe Clayface ''devouring people whole'' and growing into a gigantic mud-monster... which the Dark Knight fought with ''a Bat-mecha'' he had built for just such an occasion. [[Crazy Prepared]], indeed...
* ''[[Exiles]]'' had the Monster World arc, which envisioned Curt Connors, Bolivar Trask, Tony Stark, and Hank Pym as a team of Action Scientists fighting
* ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers: The Initative]]'': When the new 3-D Man is sent to a superhero team in Hawaii he finds out one of his missions is to protect the state from the occasional kaiju that wanders over from Japan.
* [[Fire Breather]] anyone? Duncan's daddy, Belloc, actually calls himself king of the Kaiju and wants his son to one day take his place.
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* ''[[Street Fighter (film)|Street Fighter]]'' has a tribute to these, with Zangief and E. Honda duking it out in a model city.
* Referenced in ''[[Deep Rising]]'', at the end of which something unseen but HUGE moves toward the beach and the survivors, knocking down trees as it approaches. Not to mention its own multi-armed, lamprey-headed octopus with mouths at the end of each arm. Its head fills a ballroom and its tentacles can reach throughout an ocean linear.
* ''Thunder of the Giant Serpent'' has one of the largest snakes in
* ''[[The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms]]'' is an early prototype of this genre.
** Since the film ''The Giant Behemoth''/''Behemoth: The Sea Monster'' ([[Department of Redundancy Department]] or [[Sadly Mythtaken]], your choice) [[Whole-Plot Reference|is basically the same film]], it counts as one as
* ''[[The Blob]]'' can be seen as a [[Blob Monster]] taken to this level as it grows larger. The 1980s Remake's climax is a full on Kaiju rampage.
** A lot of Blob Monsters get Kaiju like as they get bigger.
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* Iron Golem/Minotaur in ''Pulgasari'' isn't too big, but given its attacking medieval villages, it fits the bill. Notable for being from North Korea, and eventually banned there.
** An American [[Direct to Video]] film called ''The Adventure of Galgameth'' reset it in Medieval Europe, but has the same plot as Pulgasari, right down to the titular monster's weakness to salt water and growing by eating iron and its derivatives.
* The ''Daimajin'' series' titular monster is an ancient demon-god. It too battles medieval forces, but with a stone body and mystical powers. It also exists to punish the
* The space monster Guilala from ''The X From Outer Space'' is one of the most bizarre Kaiju to have its own films.
* Talos from ''[[Jason and the Argonauts]]'' is made of bronze, but definitely fits the bill.
* The Giant Amoeba and "Rat-Bat-Spider" from ''Angry Red Planet'' fit the bill.
* ''Kraa: The Sea Monster'' is actually from Outer Space, but is
* ''Zarkorr: the Invader''
* The last shot of ''Deadly Spawn'' features one of the monsters grown larger than a house.
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* Jack Frost at the end of ''[[Jack Frost (1997 film)|Jack Frost 2: The Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman]]''.
* A commercial for the fast food chain Hella Burger in the [[Slasher Film]] '''''Drive Thru''''' depicts [[Monster Clown|Horny the Clown]] as one of these.
* ''[[The Troll Hunter]]'' has the giant Jotannar Troll, at over
* The fairly obscure ''Daigoro vs. Goliath'', produced by [[Ultra Series|Tsubaraya Productions]].
* [[Sharktopus]], anyone?
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** No discussion of giant monsters in ''D&D'' is complete without mentioning the legendary Tarrasque. Only one exists on any given world; this reptilian monstrosity awakens every century to destroy everything in its path, devouring all life and reducing the countryside to rubble, and is completely unkillable without resorting to godlike magic.
*** In ''[[Pathfinder]]'', the Tarrasque, while still unique, is one of a whole family of unique kaiju created by the apocalypse god Rovagug. Which is itself an unbelievably gigantic insect-[[Eldritch Abomination]] [[Sealed Evil in a Can|imprisoned in the molten heart of the world]] in a cage whose bars are strong enough to hold it in, but wide enough to allow its comparatively tiny and ineffectual spawn to escape.
** The original ''Oriental Adventures'' supplement introduced a number of creatures called "Gargantuas" that were [[Captain Ersatz
*** ''Test of the Samurai'' adventure for the ''Oriental Adventures'' campaign setting featured a gigantic psychic monster called a "Krakentua", which is best described as Cthulhu, ''sans'' wings, in a kimono.
** ''[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]'' magazine #289 proposed "Kaiju" as a template, enabling the DM to turn any Animal, Magical Beast or Vermin in the ''Monster Manual'' into a fifty-foot armour-plated monstrosity capable of destroying <s> Tokyo</s> [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|Nakamaru]].
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* The whole idea is sort of deconstructed in ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]''.
* Being a spinoff of [[Ultraman]], Kaiju Buster Powered naturally has plenty of Kaiju. However as it's also heavily inspired by [[Monster Hunter]], said Kaiju are more then capable of being taken down by humans with swords and energy weapons.
* Inspired ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]''. By [[Word of God]], the character designer Yoji Shinkawa was disappointed with the design of [[Godzilla]] [[In Name Only]] in the [[They Just Didn't Care|notoriously half-assed]] [[Roland Emmerich]] ''[[Godzilla (film)|Godzilla]]'', and so designed [[Walking Tank|Metal Gear RAY]]'s body, movements and [[Mighty Roar]] after how ''he'' [[Ascended Fanfic|would have redesigned Godzilla to look]]. There's also allusions made both in-game and in [[Word of God]] comparing Solid Snake to Godzilla and Raiden to King Kong, although this is more of a
** Parodied in the non-canon ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]: VR Missions'' and ''Snake Tale E: External Gazer'', where having giant Kaiju versions of the game's standard [[Mook
* ''[[Disgaea]]'': FLONNEZILLA! Flonne's final attack{{spoiler|as a fallen angel}}. She dresses up in a patchy dinosaur costume and starts terrorizing the targets, with toy planes on wires flying around her. She finishes it up by breathing fire on the target.
* ''[[Mass Effect 3]]:'' ''[[Eldritch Abomination|A Reaper]]'' vs ''The {{spoiler|Mother of all [[Sand Worm|Threshermaws]]}}''
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' frequently fight
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' has four of these: The Unagi in Kyoshi Bay (that needs water, and therefore cannot attack the village); The Serpent from the Serpent's Pass (hence the name); Koizilla, the [[Fan Nickname]] for the Aang/Ocean Spirit Cross-fusion; and the currently unnamed Vine Monster that can be created by Huu.
* In the ''[[Kim Possible]]'' episode 'Partners', [[Mad Scientist|Doctor Drakken]] and [[Mad Scientist|DNAmy]] create a gigantic [[Godzilla]]-like creature that proceeds to destroy the town's fast food area. [[Reset Button|It doesn't stay destroyed, though]].
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== Real Life ==
* Amphicoelias was by some estimates the single largest land-based
* At two meters long, ''Anomalocaris'' wouldn't qualify as a kaiju today, but considering it lived in an era when the largest non-''Anomalocaris'' animals tended to be measured in a few inches, it certainly was at the time!
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