Baragon

Baragon (バラゴン, Baragon) is a four-legged, horned dinosaur-like creature with a horn on his head and large ears, which first appeared in Ishirō Honda’s 1965 film Frankenstein Conquers the World, then alongside Godzilla and other monster characters in films in the Toho Godzilla franchise, including Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.

Baragon is not to be confused with the Gamera series kaiju Barugon, despite some similarities between the two creatures.

Features   

  • Height 25-30 meters    
  • Weight 250-10,000 tons        

Powers

Flame blast from mouth, emits a ray from his nasal horn, brute strength, burrowing ability, tremendous jumping ability (100 meter jumps). In Atari video games, the subterranean dinosaur can cause earthquakes and lava eruptions beneath his feet and constantly replenish his energy as long as he is in contact with the earth.


History

A dinosaur who burrowed underground to escape the post-Cretaceous climate changes, his glowing nasal horn lighting the way as he travels through the strata of the Earth. He seemed to have been killed in a battle with Toho’s version of Frankenstein’s monster, but later turned up as an inmate on Monsterland in Destroy All Monsters. Along with the rest of Earth’s monsters, Baragon is brought under the control of an alien race called the Kilaaks during their invasion of Earth and forced to destroy Earth’s cities. It is unknown if this was the same Baragon supposedly killed in battle with Frankenstein or another one of the same species, the latter is supported by the fact this Baragon was smaller than the original.

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. Although he tried his best, Baragon was not strong enough and was killed by Godzilla’s atomic breath.


Movie appearances    

  • Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)    
  • Destroy All Monsters (1968)    
  • Godzilla Island (1997)    
  • Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)    
  • Godzilla: Final Wars (2004, Stock footage)