Baragon

Not to be confused with Barugon.
Godzilla film series character
Baragon
First appearance Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965)
Last appearance Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
Created by Eiji Tsuburaya

Baragon (バラゴン) is a kaiju who first appeared in Toho's 1965 film Frankenstein Conquers the World. Baragon is a four-legged dinosaur 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.[1]

Overview

Showa series

In Frankenstein Conquers the World, Baragon was a dinosaur who burrowed underground to escape the extinction of the dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures when they all died out. He adapted and survived. But when the sounds of a nearby factory disturbed and awakened him, he emerged from underground and attacked that factory. He later appeared 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 the mutant human Frankenstein was blamed. But there was a person who survived the destruction of the factory, claiming there was a second monster that had attacked the factory. When a small group of scientists searched for Frankenstein, an explosive woke Baragon from his sleep. He emerged to attack the scientists, but Frankenstein appeared to protect them from the monster. The two fought a climactic battle, with Frankenstein ultimately defeating Baragon by choking him and breaking his neck. In the end, a fissure appeared beneath the two and swallowed them both into the Earth.

In Destroy All Monsters, Baragon is seen as one of several monsters kept in captivity on Monster Island. Along with the rest of Earth's monsters, he is brought under the control of an alien race called the Kilaaks during their invasion of Earth and forced to destroy cities in their cause. He later breaks free from this mind control, and watches (but does not actually take part in) the fight against the Kilaaks and their remaining monster, King Ghidorah, before returning to Monster Island with the other Earth monsters. It is presumed this was the same Baragon that battled Frankenstein, apparently having recovered.

Use of suit

Of all the monsters in the Toho fame, the Baragon suit was borrowed and used the most by Tsuburaya Productions, the company made famous for its work on the TV show Ultraman. The Baragon suit was reused several times to create the monsters in the series: Neronga, Gabora, and Magular, as well as Pagos from Ultra Q. Notably, Haruo Nakajima, the Godzilla suit actor as well as suit actor for Baragon in his initial debut, also played the suit actor for these monsters (with the exception of Magular).

In Destroy All Monsters, Baragon was supposed to attack Paris for the film, using his burrowing ability to smash the Arc de Triomphe from below. Unfortunately, the Baragon suit was unavailable due to the fact it was on loan for work on Ultraman. Baragon was replaced with Gorosaurus for this scene, but was still blamed for the attack. Gorosaurus was also given Baragon's special burrowing ability and even his signature roar to further confuse viewers. Baragon was also supposed to be used as a guard for the Kilaak base, but he was not shown on screen while doing this, possibly for the same reason above. Baragon's other appearance was supposed to be in Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla. He was supposed to fight Mechagodzilla in the scene after he smashed that building, but instead they replaced him with Anguirus, who was also given Baragon's burrowing and extraordinary jumping abilities.

Millennium series

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 (originally Varan and Anguirus). When Godzilla is revived by the souls of the people who died in World War II, 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 and was eventually killed by the monster's atomic breath. Baragon does not have a heat ray or a glowing horn, but he still has his burrowing and extraordinary jumping abilities.

In Godzilla: Final Wars, stock footage of Baragon from Frankenstein Conquers the World was seen during the opening claiming that Baragon was one of many monsters that arose due to the devastation that the World Wars brought, along with Varan, Gezora, Gaira, Titanosaurus, and Megaguirus.

Appearances

Films

Television

Video games

Literature

Cultural references

References

  1. ↑ "Godzilla: Save the Earth Monster Profile - Baragon - GameSpot". gamespot.com. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
  2. ↑ "Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill!: Aadi Yug (India, 1978)". diedangerdiediekill.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-05-31.