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| Species: | Descendant of Allosaurus |
| Height: | Showa: 35 Meters |
| Length: | Showa: 15 Meters |
| Weight: | Showa: 8,000 Metric Tons |
| Appearances: | Destroy All Monsters (1968) |
Summary
Gorosaurus (Gorozaurusu) is a dinosaur kaiju who first appeared in the 1967 Toho film, King Kong Escapes, and later debuted in the Godzilla series in the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters.
A second incarnation of Gorosaurus appeared in Destroy All Monsters, where he lived on Monsterland along with the rest of Earth's monsters at the end of the 20th century. The Kilaaks invaded the island and took control of its monsters, unleashing Gorosaurus in Paris. When the invaders' hold on the monsters was finally severed, Gorosaurus joined forces with Godzilla and the other Earth monsters against King Ghidorah, helping to turn the tide of battle by delivering a crippling kick to King Ghidorah's back.
Name
The origin of Gorosaurus' name is not entirely known, though the "-saurus" part of his name, a common component of the names of dinosaurs and other prehistoric reptiles, comes from the Greek word sauros, meaning "lizard." Gorosaurus goes unnamed in King Kong Escapes, and his name is only spoken onscreen in his second appearance in Destroy All Monsters. The Gorosaurus from Destroy All Monsters is sometimes designated in official books as Second Generation Gorosaurus (Nidaime Gorozaurusu).
Design
Gorosaurus is a giant biped dinosaur whose appearance was chosen to reflect the meat-eater from the original King Kong. As such, the dinosaur stands upright with his tail dragging on the ground, and possesses a large head, muscular legs and short arms. He has three fingers on each hand, in line with the meat-eater. The monster's skin is covered in thick, scaly bumps, and he sports a spike on the tip of his tail. In King Kong Escapes, Gorosaurus' skin is mostly blue in color, while his chin is red that fades into a lighter desaturated yellow in the underside of his tail and belly. In Destroy All Monsters, Gorosaurus' coloration is more muted. His skin now appears more gray, with the red coloration on his chin being much less visible. His underside remains a light tan color, which may appear yellow in some instances.
Origin
Gorosaurus is a carnivorous descendant of the dinosaur genus Allosaurus, which lived during the late Jurassic period approximately 150 million years ago. The Gorosaurus in King Kong Escapes was living on Mondo Island in the modern day, while the second Gorosaurus from Destroy All Monsters was one of the various monsters contained on Monsterland at the end of the 20th century.
History
Showa Era
At the end of the 20th century, Gorosaurus was living on Monsterland with the other Earth monsters. After the monsters were taken over by the Kilaaks, Gorosaurus was sent to attack Paris, burrowing underneath and destroying the Arc de Triomphe. He was later called back to Mount Fuji to guard the Kilaaks' base of operations. After he was released from his mind control, he helped Godzilla and the other Earth monsters battle King Ghidorah. Gorosaurus landed a devastating kangaroo kick on King Ghidorah's back, damaging his spine and knocking him to the ground. This turned the tide of battle and allowed Godzilla, Anguirus and Minilla to finish the space monster once and for all. After the destruction of Kilaaks, Gorosaurus and the other Earth monsters were returned to Monsterland to live out their days peacefully.
Trivia
- According to most sources, the original Gorosaurus from King Kong Escapes stands 35 meters tall, yet is only slightly taller than this film's King Kong, who is 20 meters in height. Interestingly, in Destroy All Monsters, despite Gorosaurus appearing to be about the same height as the 50-meter Godzilla, Gorosaurus is constantly stated as being 35 meters tall in supplementary materials.
- However, some sources give the 1967 Gorosaurus a different height of 20 meters, making him the same height as King Kong and Mechani-Kong. The vast majority of sources make no distinction between the 1967 and 1968 Gorosaurus though, and list them both as being 35 meters.
- Gorosaurus' role in King Kong Escapes is a direct homage to the meat-eater that fought King Kong in the 1933 film. Like the meat-eater, Gorosaurus menaces Kong's human love interest before he is defeated by Kong when the giant ape breaks his jaws. Additionally, Gorosaurus' design is an homage to the meat-eater.
- The Pachimon character Doilar is taken directly from Gorosaurus' design, but altered with two head horns and a toothless mouth.
- In the Super Sentai series Zyuranger, the Guardian Tyrannosaurus often performs a Gorosaurus-like kangaroo kick.
- A "what-if" illustrated scenario in the 2004 book Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. Super Complete Works showed the JXSDF creating an army of mecha-kaiju with the help of DNA extracted from their organic counterparts, including Gorosaurus.
