is a fictional monster, or ''

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 ...

'', which first appeared in the 1958 film ''

Varan the Unbelievable is a 1958 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it stars Kōzō Nomura, Ayumi Sonoda, and Koreya Senda, with Haruo Nakajima as Varan. In the fi ...

'', directed by

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 44 feature films in a career spanning 59 years. The most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki, his films have had a significant influence on the film industry. Honda enter ...

and produced and distributed 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 Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

. Varan is depicted as a giant prehistoric reptile capable of

gliding flight Gliding flight is heavier-than-air flight without the use of thrust; the term volplaning also refers to this mode of flight in animals. It is employed by gliding animals and by aircraft such as gliders. This mode of flight involves flying a s ...

, and would go on to appear in the 1968 film ''

Destroy All Monsters is a 1968 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film, which was produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, is the ninth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and features eleven monster ...

'', the ninth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise.

Overview

In its film debut, Varan is depicted as a

that lives in a saltwater lake within the Kunishiroshima valley, where it is known to the natives as the god ''Baradagi-Sanjin'' and identified by an entomologist as a "Varanopode", a fictional reptile said to have lived during the

Mesozoic Era The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...

. Varan kills an expedition duo and destroys a nearby village before attacking Tokyo until it is tricked by the military into eating bombs. After several of them detonate in its stomach, Varan is mortally wounded and escapes into the ocean, where the final bomb explodes and destroys it. Varan reappears in the film ''

'', living on Monsterland alongside several of Earth's monsters until the alien Kilaaks enslave the monsters and send them to attack Earth's major cities. After an astronaut crew destroys the aliens' control device, the Kilaaks respond by sending

King Ghidorah is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', which first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1964 film ''Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster''. Although the name of the character is officially trademarked by Toho as "King Ghidorah", the character was originally ...

to kill Earth's monsters. While most of them fight and eventually kill the space dragon, Varan did not take part in either. Following this, Earth's monsters return to Monsterland to live in peace.

Appearance and abilities

Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director and cinematographer. Known as the he worked on 250 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He is regarded as one of the co-creators of the ''Godzilla'' series, as well as the main creator of the ...

and Akira Watanabe based Varan's design on that of a ''Draco'' lizard,

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 a

kappa Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; el, κάππα, ''káppa'') is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value ...

. The name Varan is derived from ''Varanus pater'', or "father of lizards." The original incarnation of Varan is 50 meters (164 feet) tall and weighs 15,000 metric tons (16,534 short tons). In its film appearances, Varan displays the ability to glide at speeds of Mach 1.5.

Action figures

Few figures of Varan have been issued, compared to the other kaiju film monsters. Bullmark released the first ever Varan vinyl toy in 1970.

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine ...

had initially only issued Varan in

gashapon , also called , is a trademark of Bandai. Among the variety of vending machine-dispensed capsule toys that originated in the 1960s, it became popular in Japan and elsewhere. "Gashapon" is onomatopoeic from the two sounds "gasha" (or "gacha") fo ...

form as part of High Grade Series 6, in promotion for the film '' Godzilla 2000''. However, in 2022 Bandai introduced a 6” Varan vinyl figure in their ‘Movie Monsters’ range, in response to a poll decided by fans as to which Toho characters needed figure releases. Y-MSF has also released a figure on the 6" scale in 2005. Other companies, such as CCP, Marmit, Trendmasters, and the modern version of Marusan have also released Varan figures.

Appearances

In one of the early drafts of what would become the film '' Godzilla vs. Gigan'', Varan was to have joined Godzilla and

Rodan is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', which first appeared as the title character in Ishirō Honda's 1956 film '' Rodan'', produced and distributed by Toho. Following its debut standalone appearance, Rodan went on to be featured in numerous e ...

in defending the Earth against King Ghidorah, Gigan, and a new monster called "Mogu". Additionally, Shusuke Kaneko, director of the

Heisei The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, ...

Gamera is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. Debuting in the 1965 film ''Gamera, the Giant Monster'', the character and the first film were intended to compete with the success of Toho's ''Godzilla'' film ...

trilogy had originally considered Varan to star in what would become the film '' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'' as one of Godzilla's opponents. However, the monster was replaced with the more popular

.Rodan's Roost: Kaiju Scrap-yard: Varan, Baragon, Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack - Godzilla 2002
/ref> The suit designer, Fuyuki Shinada, is said to have compromised by giving some of Varan's facial features to King Ghidorah.

Films

* ''

'' (1958) * ''

'' (1968)

Video games

* '' Godzilla: Monster of Monsters'' ( NES - 1988) * ''

Kaijū-ō Godzilla is a 1993 action adventure game by Bandai for the Game Boy. It was released exclusively in Japan. The game is notable for featuring nearly every monster in the ''Godzilla'' franchise up until the time of its release. Story While the game does ...

'' / ''King of the Monsters, Godzilla'' (

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...

- 1993) * ''

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: 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)

Literature

* '' Godzilla 2000'' (novel - 1997) * '' Godzilla: Rulers of Earth'' (comic - 2013-2015) * '' Godzilla in Hell'' (comic - 2015) * ''Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse'' (novel - 2017)

References

External links

* {{Godzilla Toho monsters Fictional lizards Fictional characters with superhuman strength Godzilla characters Kaiju Mothra characters Science fiction film characters Fantasy film characters Film characters introduced in 1958 Fictional monsters Horror film villains