is a

kaiju is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...

who first appeared in

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

's 1973 film '' Godzilla vs. Megalon'', his only film appearance to date.

Overview

Megalon is a bipedal, humanoid, burrowing

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

resembling a

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

, standing 55 meters (180 feet) tall and weighing 40,000 metric tons (44,092 short tons), and the god of the subterranean nation of Seatopia. While Megalon possesses limited intelligence (he must be led to his destination by the protagonists' robot,

Jet Jaguar is a 1973 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Jun Fukuda, written by Fukuda and Shinichi Sekizawa, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects subsidiary Toho–E ...

), he makes up for it with his strength. Megalon has two drill-like front appendages, which it uses both for burrowing and as weapons, and a set of wings usually covered by a beetle-like shell. The creature can fly, burrow, and swim at high speeds. Unlike most kaiju under fire from humans who prevail with brute force, Megalon uses retreat and ambush tactics to defeat human forces in his first encounter. Megalon also has a horn (similar to a

rhinoceros beetle Dynastinae or rhinoceros beetles are a subfamily of the scarab beetle family (Scarabaeidae). Other common names – some for particular groups of rhinoceros beetles – include Hercules beetles, unicorn beetles or horn beetles. Over 1 ...

) from which it can fire

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

-like bolts of electricity and it is capable of spitting

napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated alu ...

-like fire bombs from its mouth. In '' Godzilla vs. Megalon'', Megalon is worshipped as a deity by the people of the subterranean kingdom known as Seatopia. The Seatopians unleash Megalon on the surface world as revenge for the damage caused to Seatopia through reckless

nuclear testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

. During his assault on the surface world, Megalon comes into conflict with

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...

and

. Megalon returns in '' Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse'', a prequel novel to '' Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters''. Megalon appeared on the West coast of Africa in 2012 and crossed the continent, destroying countless nations, and disappeared into the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

. There were 20 million casualties, including the wounded. Shortly after Megalon's attack across

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, millions of refugees fled to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

due to

civil wars A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

across the continent, this also lead to a dispute between refugees and locals in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

that lead to a second civil war. Megalon returned 10 years later and attacked

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, forcing humanity to abandon the continent. In '' Godzilla: Project Mechagodzilla'', a prequel novel to '' Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle'', 7 years later, Megalon moves to

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. It annihilates

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, both of whom just recovered from a

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear wa ...

against each other. After destroying the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, Megalon moved to the

Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

, but were intercepted by King Caesar, a guardian deity of the island, both monsters died in the battle.

Appearances

Films

* '' Godzilla vs. Megalon'' (1973)

Television

* ''

Godzilla Island is a television show spinoff of the ''Godzilla'' franchise. It premiered on October 6, 1997, and ran for a total of 256 three-minute episodes, finishing on September 30, 1998. Set in 2097, most of Earth's ''kaiju'' (monsters) live on an island o ...

'' (1997-1998)

Video games

* ''

Godzilla Trading Battle is a PlayStation video game released only in Japan in 1998 by Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hank ...

'' (

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

- 1998) * '' Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee'' ( GCN,

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

- 2002/2003) * '' Godzilla: Domination!'' ( GBA - 2002) * '' Godzilla: Save the Earth'' (Xbox,

PS2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

- 2004) * '' Godzilla: Unleashed'' (

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, ...

- 2007) * '' Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash'' ( NDS - 2007) * '' Godzilla: Unleashed'' (PS2 - 2007) * ''Godzilla Defense Force'' (2019) * ''Kaiju Universe (Roblox game)'' (2019-2022)

Literature

* '' Godzilla at World’s End'' (1998) * '' Godzilla: The Half-Century War'' (comic - 2012-2013) * '' Godzilla: Rulers of Earth'' (comic - 2013-2015) * '' Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse'' (2017) * '' Godzilla: Project Mechagodzilla'' (2018)

References

{{Godzilla Fictional beetles Fictional insects Fictional gods Film characters introduced in 1973 Godzilla characters Kaiju Fictional monsters Science fiction film characters Toho monsters Horror film villains