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| Species: | Prehistoric Subterranean Reptile |
| Height: | Showa: 25 Meters Millennium: 30 Meters |
| Length: | Showa: ??? Meters Millennium: ??? Meters |
| Weight: | Showa: 250 Metric Tons Millennium: 10,000 Metric Tons |
| Appearances: | Destroy All Monsters (1968) GMKG: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2004) |
Summary
Baragon (Baragon) is a subterranean reptile kaiju who first appeared in the 1965 Toho film Frankenstein vs. Baragon, and later debuted in the Godzilla series in the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters.
The original Baragon from Frankenstein vs. Baragon was a villainous creature that came to the surface to feed on livestock and people. As the creature only surfaced at night, most people blamed Frankenstein for the beast's attacks. When Baragon threatened Frankenstein's caretaker Sueko Togami, Frankenstein challenged him to battle, and successfully defeated him only to fall into a fissure caused by Baragon's burrowing. The second generation Baragon in Destroy All Monsters was living on the human-monitored Monsterland facility at the end of the 20th century, and disappeared after the Kilaaks invaded the island and took control of the monsters. Baragon later appeared at Mount Fuji and witnessed the battle between the Earth monsters and King Ghidorah after the aliens' mind control was severed. Baragon's next film appearance came in the Millennium series film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, where he was the first of the three Guardian Monsters to battle Godzilla. While not as popular as monsters like Mothra or King Ghidorah, Baragon has maintained a strong fan following over the years.
Name
In Frankenstein vs. Baragon, Baragon is mostly referred to by characters as the Subterranean Monster (Chitei no Boo), and by his name in only one instance. He is not named in the English-dubbed version, but is referred to as Baragon in promotional material such as American International Pictures' pressbook for the film. Baragon is also given the subtitle of Fierce King of the Underground in the film's Japanese trailer.
According to a booklet included with Toho's 2002 three-disc DVD release of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Baragon's name was originally Baragora in the original unrealized version of the film, Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, with him being given the name "Baragon" by the JSDF late in the story. In the final film, he is known as "Baragon" in legend and is later posthumously codenamed as such by the JSDF, though his name is still spelled in kanji rather than katakana. Prior to this designation, Baragon is informally called the "red monster" and "red Godzilla" by characters, in reference to his body's reddish coloration and apparent resemblance to Godzilla.
Design
Baragon is a quadrupedal, mammal-like reptilian creature with reddish-brown skin, a single large horn on his forehead which is followed by several backwardly-curved spikes on the back of his head, and large, floppy ears. Baragon typically has facial features that look fairly similar to those of a bulldog or pug, with large, expressive eyes and a short muzzle. Baragon also has two sets of segmented, plate-like structures on his back and tail.
The original 1965 Baragon, compared with the Millennium version, has more robust, Godzilla-like proportions, with a much smaller head and a longer, thinner neck. This Baragon's eyes are a good deal smaller than those of the 2001 Baragon. Each eye's sclera and pupil are cloudy white and the irises are dark blue. The 1965 Baragon's ears are also significantly smaller and have a less prominent concave notch to them. The structures connecting the main parts of the ears to the sides of the head are much longer, meaning that that the crescent shaped section of this version's ears is not directly attached to the sides of the head. The forehead is larger than the GMK version and the backwards-curving spikes are placed farther back on the head. This suit's face is much more wrinkly, the nose is smaller, and the muzzle and upper lip are more prominent. The 1965 Baragon also has a longer torso, a longer tail, and considerably more back plates. This suit's hands and feet are much smaller and the claws are thinner and sharper than the 2001 version. This Baragon has a much greater amount of teeth and they are all of a uniform size. The teeth are also smaller and more needle-like, and there are no prominent canine teeth or fangs. This Baragon is, with the exception of his forehead horn and claws, uniformly colored a dull, sandy, grayish brown.
When Baragon returned three years later for Destroy All Monsters, a new head had to be sculpted for his suit as a result of the heavy damage inflicted on it from repeated use in Ultra Q and Ultraman. The Second Generation Baragon has a larger head, a shorter neck, and bigger eyes. This iteration also has a much smaller and sharper-looking forehead horn that curves more upward than the original version and his face, especially the upper lip, is flabbier and sags at a downward angle. This Baragon's sclera are orange, his pupils are bright red, and his claws are duller. This version's ears are more rabbit-like in shape and their notches have been greatly reduced. The 1968 Baragon is primarily a dark shade of brown with the insides of the ears, the spikes on the back of the head, and the back/tail plates being a light, cream-colored brown. This Baragon's head and neck are an even darker, almost tar-black, shade of brown. The teeth are also black, making them appear almost nonexistent when viewing the mouth from certain angles.
Compared with its 1965 and 1968 counterparts, the GMK Baragon design has a more aggressive and somewhat predatory appearance. The head is much larger and the neck is shorter and thicker. The eyes are larger and have dark red irises with black pupils. This version's teeth are less numerous than the Showa incarnations', but are much larger and bear a slight resemblance to the dentition of carnivorous mammals, including a pair of prominent fangs. This Baragon's mouth can open much wider than its predecessors, has a wide, flat tongue, and its lips are wavy and wrinkly and the mouth is almost always open, making this Baragon look like he is constantly snarling. The upper lip and muzzle are reduced while the nose has been increased in size. The forehead is reduced and the backwards-curving horns are placed closer to the top of the head. His ears are larger, wider, and protrude slightly sideways rather than back towards the head. The ears also have a much more prominent concave notch in them and are directly attached to the sides of the head, unlike the 1965 Baragon. The forehead horn is considerably larger and has less of a curve to it. The GMK Baragon is stouter and has thicker, more muscular limbs with larger hands and feet. The undersides of this Baragon's forearms and heels are studded with small spikes. His torso is shortened and more compact, bringing his limbs closer together. The claws of this Baragon are much larger, duller, and straighter and the plates on its back and tail are more angular. This Baragon has a more hunched posture when standing bipedally and the tail is shorter than that of the Showa incarnations. The 2001 Baragon is uniformly colored a dark pinkish-red with slight grayish-purple tinges while the horns on his head and claws are a bold amber.
Origin
In the Showa series, Baragon is the descendant of a Mesozoic reptile called Baranosdragon (Baranasudoragon) that survived into the modern day living underground. In Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Baragon is one of the three ancient Guardian Monsters of Japan, the others being Mothra and King Ghidorah.
According to the 1993 book Everything About Godzilla Movies, the Baragon that appeared in Destroy All Monsters was born in Gunma Prefecture and raised on Monsterland.
History
Showa Era
At the end of the 20th century, Baragon was living on Monsterland, a human-monitored island in the Ogasawara chain, along with most of Earth's monsters. The Kilaaks arrived on the island and severely damaged it, placing the monsters under their mind control and unleashing them across the globe to annihilate Earth's cities. Baragon was not seen attacking the Earth's cities, but once the Moonlight SY-3 crew destroyed the Kilaaks' mind control device, he assembled along with the other Earth monsters outside of Mount Fuji. Baragon did not take part in the ensuing battle against King Ghidorah directly, but spectated alongside Varan and Manda. After King Ghidorah and the Kilaaks were destroyed, Baragon was returned to Monsterland with the other monsters to live out his days in peace.
Millennium Era
GMKG: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2004)
Baragon was first seen burrowing through a tunnel near Mount Myoko, causing an avalanche that killed a gang of bikers unfortunate enough to be in the tunnel. A truck driver just outside the tunnel saw the monster's head as he burrowed past, and was traumatized by the sight, later telling authorities that he had seen Godzilla. Baragon continued to burrow across Japan, with his movements being interpreted by authorities as an earthquake with a moving epicenter. Baragon surfaced in the countryside near a police station, freeing the prophet Hirotoshi Isayama, who had awakened him, from the jail. Baragon continued moving through the country, and was misidentified by many eyewitnesses as a "red Godzilla." Finally, Baragon encountered Godzilla himself, who had surfaced at Yaizu Harbor and was rampaging through Japan. Baragon attacked Godzilla, jumping at him and biting his arm and burrowing underneath Godzilla to make him fall over. However, Baragon proved to be no match for the much larger Godzilla, who knocked him to the ground and began stomping his head into the gravel. Baragon tried to crawl away, but Godzilla immobilized him with his atomic breath. Godzilla then finished off Baragon with another blast of atomic breath, causing him to explode. Later on, after all three guardian monsters were killed, Baragon's spirit along with the other two guardian spirits, Mothra and King Ghidorah, entered Godzilla's body when he was at sea which stunned him long enough to allow Admiral Tachibana inside the Satsuma to burrow his way out of Godzilla after internally firing a D-03 Missile, an explosive drill. This eventually destroyed Godzilla when he tried to use his atomic beam again after it burst out the inflicted hole in his shoulder and finally caused Godzilla to vaporize himself from within.
Trivia
- Baragon's skull makes a brief appearance in Pacific Rim Uprising, during the scene where Hermann Gottlieb examines PPDC records in search of a match for the image Mako Mori transmitted.
- Baragon battling Godzilla alongside Anguirus and Varan in GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse is a clear reference to Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.
- Baragon is featured in concept art published in The Art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, along with other established kaiju such as Anguirus and Gamera.[22] In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, director Michael Dougherty said, "We had thought about using some additional Toho creatures to give them some cameos but every Toho creature comes with a price tag. It was a choice to either shell out more money simply for the rights for these creatures to show up on screen for a few seconds, or embrace the opportunity and the challenge to create new creatures."
