Baragon

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Baragon (バラゴン, Baragon^?) is a fictional kaiju that was first featured in the 1965 Toho produced film, Frankenstein vs. Baragon (a.k.a Frankenstein Conquers the World). Baragon is a four-legged reptile with a horn on his head and large ears. His main weapon is a heat ray that he can fire from his mouth. In addition, he can jump very high and burrow through the ground. Baragon is not to be confused with the Gamera series kaiju, Barugon, despite some similarities between the two creatures.

[edit] Origin

[edit] Showa Series

In the Showa series, Baragon was a giant triceratops who burrowed underground to escape extinction and survived while all other prehistoric creatures like him died. He adapted to the environment and lived successfully. When the sounds of a nearby factory disturbed and awakened Baragon, he emerged from the underground and attacked it. He appeared later at Shirane and destroyed the village. Then he emerged at a farm, where he ate the livestock. During these attacks, Baragon was not seen, so a mutated human being called Frankenstein was blamed. But there was a person who survived the destruction of the factory who claimed there was a second monster and that it was the one that attacked the factory. When a small group of scientists searched for Frankenstein, an explosive detonated and Baragon woke up from his sleep. He appeared from the ground and saw the scientists. Baragon tried to eat the humans, but Frankenstein suddenly appeared to protect the scientists from Baragon. The two fought in a climatic battle and Frankenstein successfully defeated Baragon by choking him and breaking his neck. But in the end, a fissure appeared beneath the two giants, widening until both titans were swallowed by the earth.

The monster Baragon was later seen in the film Destroy All Monsters, one of several alive and kept in captivity on Monster Island. Along with the rest of Earth's monsters, Baragon is brought under the control of an alien race during their invasion of Earth and forced to destroy Earth's cities.

Baragon was supposed to attack Paris for the film, using his burrowing ability to smash the Arc de Triumph from below. Unfortunately, the Baragon suit was unavailable due to the fact it was on loan to the people working on the Ultraman TV series. Baragon was replaced with Gorosaurus for this scene. Baragon later was used as a guard for the Kilaak Base, but he was not shown on screen doing this.

He later breaks free from this mind control, and watches (but does not actually take part in) the fight against the aliens and their remaining monster, King Ghidorah before returning to Monster Island. Whether this is the same Baragon that was presumed dead at the end of Frankenstein Conquers the World or another of its species is never defined, although it is unlikely that an experienced burrower would die from an earth related death.

Baragon was originally slated to appear in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, but his role was quickly rewritten for a more recognizable monster - Anguirus. This is why Anguirus developed the ability to burrow (as Gorosaurus did in Destroy All Monsters).An interesting side note is that his likeness does appear in the sequel,Terror of Mechagodzilla. During the sequence of still photos in the flash back scene, a cross section of Baragon's body can be seen to the left of Titanosaurus. He is often not credited with this appearance.

[edit] Millennium Series

Baragon fights Godzilla in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

In the Millennium series, Baragon reappeared in the 2001 film, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack as one of three ancient guardian monsters. The other two are Mothra and King Ghidorah. When Godzilla is revived by the souls of the people who died in WW2, Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah were summoned to protect the nation from the threat. Baragon was the first of the three guardians to confront Godzilla. Although he tried his best, Baragon was not strong enough and was defeated by Godzilla's atomic ray. Baragon does not have his famous heat ray in the Millennium series, but he still has his burrowing and extraordinary jumping abilities. Baragon was featured in the video games, Godzilla: Monster of Monsters, Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters, Godzilla Unleashed, and Godzilla: Save the Earth . (The latter used the GMK design but gave it fire breath like the Showa version.)

[edit] Lost projects

• The Anguirus role in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was originally written for Baragon, but the Baragon suit was in such dire straits that the studio chose to use Anguirus as a replacement to fill the role. This could also be interpreted as the reason we see Anguirus gain burrowing and leaping abilities, traits attributed to Baragon.
• A movie that would later turn into GMK was Godzilla x Varan, Angilas, Baragon: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, which had Varan and Anguirus instead of Mothra and King Ghidorah. Fans were upset they had chosen Baragon in GMK instead of Anguirus, but Baragon was more famous than him in Japan, likely because of the differences between the original Japanese versions of the Showa series, and the American Showa movies. Note that Anguirus had a whole new model, very different from that of the Showa and Final Wars versions.

[edit] Movie Appearances

• Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)
• Destroy All Monsters (1968)
• Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
• Godzilla Island (1997)
• Godzilla: Final Wars (Stock Footage) (2004)

[edit] Appearances In Other Media

• Baragon appears as a villain in the 1988 Nintendo game Godzilla: Monster of Monsters, and its sequel, as well as the Godzilla Game Boy title. Baragon would usually remain on all fours, preventing many attacks from hitting him, and would stand on his hind legs only to fire his heat beam. Another attack was to pounce at Godzilla or Mothra and pin them against the side of the screen. Sometimes he would turn his head to the screen and tilt it to one side almost in a "Huh?" fashion.

• Baragon was going to be in PS2 version of the game Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, but that version was canceled so he was placed into the sequel, Godzilla: Save the Earth. Baragon is a fast and agile fighter with decent power and great combo abilities. He shares many of the strengths of Anguirus such as immunity to high attacks on all fours and beam/projectile weapons doing only half-damage. He can dig like Megalon, though for longer and not be tired when he emerges, and his Rage attack is to dig down and unleash a volcanic eruption. Baragon's heat ray attack can also be used while he's running or jumping and cannot be charged. He is in Godzilla: Unleashed with the Earth Defender faction. He can be bought for 15,000 store points.

• Baragon had a cameo in the hit anime series Dragon Ball.

• As several monsters in the Pokemon video game series were modeled after Japanese pop culture and mythology, the monster Nidoking and his brethren seem to have been modeled after Baragon. Nidorino especially bears a striking resemblance with his large ears, bulky reptilian body and nose horn.

[edit] Sources Used

• Toho Kingdom homepage

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