Destoroyah
| Destoroyah | |
|---|---|
| Godzilla film series character | |
| File:Desutoroia.jpg Destoroyah in its Perfect Form, as featured in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). | |
| First appearance | Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) |
| Created by | Takao Okawara Kazuki Ōmori |
| Portrayed by | Ryo Hariya Eiichi Yanagida |
| Information | |
| Species | Mutated crustacean |
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Destoroyah (Japanese: デストロイア Hepburn: Desutoroia, lit. 'Destroyer') is a crustacean kaiju who first appeared in Toho's 1995 film Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, as its titular main antagonist.
Overview[edit]
Destoroyah originated as a colony of microscopic Precambrian crustaceans that had been awakened and mutated by chemical reactions in Tokyo Bay when the Oxygen Destroyer was detonated to kill the original Godzilla in 1954. In 1995, the Destoroyahs are released from the rock strata that held them as a consequence of the construction of the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line. They eventually grow into man-sized creatures which repel a JSDF assault. The Destoroyahs later combine into a flying form which fights Godzilla Junior. Destoroyah is defeated, but then morphs into an even larger form that is significantly larger than Godzilla and towers over Junior. The creature proceeds to kill Godzilla Junior and faces Godzilla in Haneda Airport, but is finally killed through the combined efforts of Godzilla and the army.[1]
Development[edit]
In conceptualizing Godzilla's final adversary, screenwriter Kazuki Ōmori initially proposed having the Heisei Godzilla battle the ghost of the original 1954 Godzilla.[2] Instead, the filmmakers settled on a new monster that was a by-product of the Oxygen Destroyer.[3] The character was initially going to be named "Barubaroi", though this was rejected on account of it sounding too similar to Berber, and thus could have been considered offensive.[4] The Barubaroi designs were more chimeric, in the style of the creature from The Thing, than the finalized Destoroyah look, though they shared Destoroyah's trait of surpassing Godzilla in height.[5]
All of Destoroyah's forms were designed by Minoru Yoshida, who'd been instructed to make the creature a crustacean. His design for Destoroyah's final form was given to illustrator Noriyoshi Ohrai, who incorporated it into the movie poster. Ohrai's depiction was later used as the basis for the 3D model used in constructing the creature's suit.[6]
Composer Akira Ifukube had initially wanted to give each of Destoroyah's forms their own motif, though he subsequently chose to give them all the same theme. He chose not to use the Oxygen Destroyer theme from the original 1954 film, as he felt that the theme expressed the tragedy of the weapon's creator, and thus was inappropriate for a monster.[7]
Reception[edit]
Complex listed the character as No. 3 on its "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time" list.[8] Godzilla historian Steve Ryfle called Destoroyah a "nearly immobile Predator-meets-SpaceGodzilla clone", stating the character is "more laughable than menacing, and should be placed alongside Megalon and Gigan in the back rooms of the Toho monster gallery."[9] Destoroyah was one of the inspirations behind the name of Japanese heavy metal band Destroya.[10][better source needed]
Appearances[edit]
Films[edit]
- Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
Television[edit]
- Godzilla Island (1997)
Video games[edit]
- Godzilla Trading Battle (PlayStation - 1998)
- Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (GameCube, Xbox - 2002/2003)
- Godzilla: Save the Earth (Xbox, PS2 - 2004)
- Godzilla: Unleashed (Wii, PS2 - 2007)
- Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash (NDS - 2007) as equal Playable/Boss
- Godzilla (PS3, PS4 - 2014/2015)
- Godzilla Defense Force (2019)
- Godzilla Battle Line (2022)
- GigaBash (PS4, PS5, Steam, Epic Games)
Literature[edit]
- Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (manga - 1995)
- Godzilla: Legends (comic - 2011–2012)
- Godzilla: Rulers of Earth (comic - 2013–2015)
- Godzilla: Cataclysm (comic - 2014)
- Godzilla in Hell (comic - 2015)
- Godzilla: Oblivion (comic - 2016)
References[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Destoroyah. |
- ↑ Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). Directed by Takao Okawara. Toho
- ↑ Ryfle 1998, p. 313.
- ↑ Ryfle 1998, p. 307.
- ↑ 東宝特撮映画大全集 ["Toho special effects movie Complete Works"], Village Books, 2012, pp. 248-251. ISBN 9784864910132 Search this book on .
- ↑ Kawakita, Koichi (2012). 平成ゴジラパーフェク [Heisei Godzilla Perfection] (in 日本語). Dengeki Hobby Books. ISBN 978-4048861199. Search this book on
- ↑ David Milner, "Koichi Kawakita Interview II" Archived 2016-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, Kaiju Conversation (December 1995)
- ↑ David Milner, "Akira Ifukube Interview III" Archived 2016-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, Kaiju Conversations (December 1995)
- ↑ Josh Robertson, "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time", Complex (May 18, 2014)
- ↑ Ryfle 1998, p. 309.
- ↑ "DESTROSE Mina隊長 登場！". HMV Japan (in 日本語). December 14, 2010. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
Sources[edit]
- Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 9781550223484. Search this book on
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- CS1 日本語-language sources (ja)
- Fictional character
- Fictional crustaceans
- Godzilla characters
- Fictional characters with superhuman strength
- Fictional mass murderers
- Fictional monsters
- Fictional mutants
- Fictional parasites and parasitoids
- Fictional superorganisms
- Film characters introduced in 1995
- Kaiju
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