Markalite

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Markalites (also Marcalite Farps or Cannons) were superweapons developed for the 1957 Toho science fiction film The Mysterians, in which they absorb and reflect the Mysterians' powerful radioactive rays back at them. Derivative devices have appeared in numerous other Toho films, especially prominently in the Godzilla series. Markalites are replaced in the Heisei Series soon by driving power ray shooting operation vehicles called MBT-92s.

[edit] Markalite Fahrps

The original Markalite Fahrps (Flying Atomic Heat Ray Projector) were designed and constructed for the express purpose of countering the threat posed by invading Mysterians. The devices consisted of a dish 200 meters in diameter affixed to a structural base equipped with a power source and retrorockets used to land the devices from high altitudes. The base is supported by a tripod, each foot of which rests on a caterpillar track for mobility. The Markalite Fahrps had to be constructed in secret but delivered to the Mysterians' dome at the base of Mount Fuji; for this purpose the Markalite Gyro was constructed, a rocket-powered craft which dropped the Markalite Fahrps from altitudes out of range of the dome's ray.

[edit] The Atomic Heat Ray

In the 1961 film Mothra, the Rolisican military deploys their latest weaponry, the Atomic Heat Ray, to destroy Mothra's cocoon at Tokyo Tower. The devices consist of a similar (but much smaller) dish affixed to a tracked vehicle, and look and sound much like the Markalites from The Mysterians.

[edit] Maser Cannons

War of the Gargantuas (1967) was the first Toho film to feature Maser Cannons, devices consisting of a Markalite-like dish affixed to a tracked vehicle which emit lightning-like rays instead of the radioactive rays of the Markalites and Atomic Heat Ray (though the maser cannons in Godzilla 1985 instead fired red laser-like beams). While the design and effect of the weapon is unlike conventional maser, various incarnations have appeared regularly in Toho science fiction films, most recently in Godzilla: Final Wars, and are still called "Maser" Cannons (in the English Sony dub/sub they are mistranslated to "phaser"). They were also seen in a few episodes of Ultraman.

[edit] Cultural references

• The popular tokusatsu film journal Markalite, published by Kaiju Productions and Pacific Rim Publishing, takes its name from the devices.
• In Destroy All Humans! 2 Japan will send large tanks with Radar dishes on them as well as the normal tanks. This is a direct reference to the Maser Cannons.
• In the Heisei Series,they are replaced by new devices called MBT-92s invented by probably the Japan Self Defense Forces or the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center.

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