Hedorah

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Hedorah (ヘドラ, Hedora^?), also known as the Smog Monster, is a fictional creature from the 1971 film Godzilla vs. Hedorah (titled Godzilla vs the Smog Monster in the U.S.). The monster was named for hedoro (ヘドロ, hedoro^?), the Japanese word for sludge, vomit, slime or chemical ooze.

[edit] Description

Hedorah is a monster formed from pollution that fed on pollution. Falling to earth as a cloud of spores, Hedorah hatched into millions of microscopic tadpole like creatures which began to feed upon the toxins mankind had poisoned its air and water with. As the creatures increased in number and power, they began to merge into a being 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 Destoroyah.

[edit] Powers and Abilities

Hedorah possesses many special abilities. As a composite creature 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 creature similar to the base organism that composed it. For traveling on land, Hedorah became a four legged pile of slime resembling a gigantic frog 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 imposing stature of the King of Monsters. Thanks to the protean nature of its body, ordinary weapons passed right through Hedorah while even Godzilla's atomic breath 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 a dual heat beam 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.

[edit] Godzilla vs Hedorah

Hedorah was an alien life form that landed on Earth and began feeding on pollution. Hedorah's actions soon gained the attention of Godzilla, 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, 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 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 ray 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 breath 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.

The Hedorahs killed thousands of people, including crewmen aboard several oil tankers, about 40 people the first time he went on land, 1,600 people when it was first scattered its acidic mist through the air, and a large group of partying youths at the top of Mt. Fuji. Also, over 3,000,000 people were wounded or killed by Hedorah's smog. It seems however due to the fact that Hedorah's supposedly acidic secretions left a cat unscathed, it could be suggested that it was able to control its toxicity or had an affinity to wildlife.

[edit] Final Wars

Hedorah later returned, albeit briefly, in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). Hedorah, along with Ebirah, is seen being blasted out of Tokyo Harbor by Godzilla and crashing into a building, with Ebirah's claw piercing Hedorah's eyes. The two are then blasted by Godzilla's nuclear ray, and may have been destroyed. It is unknown if Hedorah had been involved in the Xilians' invasion, or if he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. During the end credits a few deleted scenes were shown, one of which was Hedorah using his sulfuric acid mist emitted from his body while walking down a deserted, destroyed city.

[edit] Appearances in other media

• Hedorah appears as a villain in the 1988 Nintendo game Godzilla: Monster of the Monsters, as well as the sequel, War of the Monsters. Hedorah was also an enemy in the Godzilla Game Boy title, in which it, along with King Ghidorah, was the only monster unaffected by Godzilla's blows.

• Hedorah also makes a cameo appearance in the video game Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, 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."
• Hedorah is the name of a British indie guitar band from Reading (UK).

• A monster resembling Hedorah slightly appears on the "Intergalactic" music video from Beastie Boys

• Hedorah makes an appearance on the cover to Frank Zappa's album "Sleep Dirt".

• A creature similar in appearance to Hedorah appears in an episode of The Powerpuff Girls. It is made of slime rather than pollution. The plot revolves around the creature searching for its pet cat, which is stuck in the creature's own body. In another episode where the girls take on different identities, a monster named Steve also shares similarities with Hedorah.

• A character named Gooey in the Kirby series has a flying form similar to Hedorah's flying form.

• In the Teen Titans, a creature made out of radioactive pollution attacks a Russian city. It feeds on radiation to become stronger and most animals can't touch the monster without fatal side effects.

• In the "Class of 3000" episode "The Hunt for Red Blobtober," there is a giant blob made of radioactive waste and sloppy joe. The monster can get bigger if it eats radioactive waste or sloppy joes. The monster is affected by funk music.

• The Pokémon Grimer and Muk from the Pokémon franchise have similar characteristics as Hedorah, such as being poisonous.

• In the Digimon series there is a type of Digimon named Raremon, who looks like Hedorah, one of which was attacking a nightclub, showing reference to the Godzilla vs. Hedorah nightclub attack scene.

• Hedorah makes several appearances in the webcomic Bob the Angry Flower, most recently as a member of Bob's peculiar legal team.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Hedorah is a likely inspiration for the Destoroyah, a later Godzilla foe. Between the first appearances of the two kaiju Marvel Comics (who once published licensed Godzilla comics) created a kaiju-like character named Terminus who was revealed in a 1990 storyline (The Terminus Factor) to go through stages of development remarkably similar to those of Hedorah and Destoroyah.

Hedorah is among the most wanted for Atari's next Godzilla Video Game, along with Zilla and Monster X.

[edit] Links

• www.hedorahshrine.piczo.com

[edit] Filmography

• Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
• Godzilla Island (1997)
• Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

• Differences between the 5 hedorahs