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| Species: | Alien pollution creature, Sludge-like chemical-eating microorganism colony |
| Height: | Showa: 60 Meters (Perfect Form) Millennium: 120 Meters (Perfect Form) |
| Length: | Showa: 102 Meters (Perfect Form) Millennium: 180 Meters (Perfect Form) |
| Weight: | Showa: 48,000 Metric Tons Millennium: 70,000 Metric Tons |
| Appearances: | Godzilla vs Hedorah (1971) Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) |
Summary
Hedorah (Hedora) is an alien pollution kaiju who first appeared in the 1971 Toho Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Hedorah.
A bizarre alien lifeform that arrived on Earth in a comet, Hedorah quickly grew to gigantic size by feeding on humanity's pollution. Beginning as a huge tadpole-like creature, Hedorah transformed into a terrestrial form and came ashore in Japan, where it battled Godzilla. Continuing to grow and evolve, Hedorah took on an airborne form capable of spreading clouds of toxic mist and finally a colossal bipedal form that dwarfed even Godzilla. Hedorah was finally destroyed by a combination of Godzilla's efforts and a device constructed by humanity, but the threat of rampant pollution giving rise to another Hedorah remained. Hedorah's next onscreen appearance came in Godzilla: Final Wars, where it was a pawn of the Xiliens in their invasion of Earth. Hedorah was unleashed along with Ebirah to battle Godzilla in Tokyo Bay, but Godzilla made short work of both monsters.
Name
Hedorah was named after hedoro (a Japanese word for sludge, slime, or ooze. It is commonly referred to as the Smog Monster (Kōgai Kaijū), as it both consumes and produces numerous gaseous pollutants, and is referred to as such in the American dub for Godzilla vs. Hedorah. In the Japanese trailer for Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Hedorah was instead given the title Ninja Monster (Ninja Kaijū).
During pre-production, Hedorah was originally called Hedoron. Coincidentally, the first two episodes of P-Productions' Spectreman in January 1971 featured a pollution monster with the same name. Toho would later use the Hedoron name for a monster from their TV series Warrior of Love Rainbowman. Additionally, Haruo Nakajima revealed that he and the staff working on Godzilla vs. Hedorah referred to the monster as Gomi, meaning "garbage."
Hedorah's first four forms are denoted as Initial Stage (Sho-ki) or Young Form (Yō-tai), Aquatic Stage (Suichū Seisoku-ki), Landing Stage (Jōriku-ki), and Flying Stage (Hikō-ki). His final form is known as either the Perfect Stage (Kanzen-ki), Mature Stage (Seichō-ki), or the Giant Stage (Kyodai-ka-ki). The Hedorah from Godzilla: Final Wars is known as Hedorah (2nd Generation) Hedora Nidaime).
In both English-dubbed versions of Godzilla vs. Hedorah, the "o" in Hedorah's name is not pronounced, and in the dubbing of the American version, the "He" is stressed with the long-e sound ("Hee-drah"), though the spelling in both onscreen text and promotional material remains the same.
In the ending credits of the Japanese version of Godzilla: Monster of Monsters! and in Godzilla for the Game Boy, Hedorah's name is spelled as Hedrah.
Design
Hedorah's stages all share multiple common characteristics - all have gray, kelp-like surfaces and large, gold-and-black irises with red sclera. These eyes are positioned so that they blink sideways. In its Initial and Aquatic stages, Hedorah resembled a tadpole. In its Landing Stage, it took on a quadrupedal reptilian form. Its Flying Stage was like a flying saucer, and its Perfect Stage took on a humanoid shape.
The Hedorah from Godzilla: Final Wars has a dark gray body with reddish tubes protruding from it. It is considerably thinner than the original Hedorah, with more discernible legs and fewer kelp-like protrusions on its body. Hedorah's left arm also possesses a long, whip-like extension. The 2004 Hedorah only appears in a single form that resembles the original Hedorah's Perfect Stage, and it is unknown if it possesses any other forms.
According to an interview with Yoshimitsu Banno by the Japanese magazine Eiga Hi-Ho, Hedorah's eyes were modeled after vaginas. In Godzilla: Final Wars, this allusion is significantly toned down, and its eyes are tilted and this don't bear the same resemblance.
In Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla tears out two white orbs from Hedorah's body. While in the film, the purpose of these orbs is never discussed, supplementary materials explain them to be Hedorah's eyeballs, despite them being white instead of red.
Personality
Hedorah seems to be primarily driven by instinct and the will to survive, and the horrific death and destruction it causes are mostly derived from its bizarre biological properties rather than any true malice. However, it does demonstrate aggression and an ever-increasing amount of intelligence and awareness in its encounters with Godzilla. When first confronted by Godzilla, Hedorah answers Godzilla's taunts and seems to mimic his gestures. During the final battle, Hedorah even laughs while brutally maiming Godzilla, and when it attempts to drown him in sludge.
In Godzilla: Final Wars, Hedorah was under Xilien mind control and did not act independently. Its only visible onscreen actions involve it being blasted out of Tokyo Bay, then visibly waving its arms and panicking before Ebirah's claw pierces its eye.
Origin
In Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Hedorah was an alien life form from the Dark Gaseous Nebula in the Orion constellation that landed on Earth after traveling on a comet for at least 243 light years. In Godzilla: Final Wars, Hedorah was one of many monsters under the control of the Xiliens, but its origin and how it came under the Xiliens' control are never explained. According to GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse, the official prequel novel to GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, Hedorah was a colony of sludge-like microorganisms discovered in a waste mine in China that was subsequently converted into a biological weapon by the Chinese military.
In IDW Publishing's Godzilla: Ongoing comic series, Hedorah is an alien monster that came to Earth along with fellow aliens Gigan, Monster X, and SpaceGodzilla in order to wreak havoc.
History
Showa Era
Hedorah, an alien from the Dark Gaseous Nebula of the Orion, landed on Earth during the arrival of a comet, and promptly began feeding on pollution. Hedorah's actions soon gained the attention of Godzilla, who attacked the Smog Monster as it was literally sucking on an active smokestack to consume the pollutants being given off by it. At the time, Hedorah was smaller than Godzilla and inexperienced at fighting, and was easily trounced by Godzilla. The two creatures had a series of battles across Japan, and Hedorah continued to grow bigger and stronger, and eventually evolved into a flying saucer-like stage, allowing him to fly and spread sulfuric acid mist across Japan while destroying many factories as it continued to feed. Hedorah and Godzilla had a final showdown at the summit of Mount Fuji, in which Hedorah achieved it Perfect Stage, a humanoid, walking pile of sludge. Thanks to its acidic, poisonous body, as well as its lethal eye bolts, Hedorah very nearly put an end to Godzilla in their struggle. However, the JSDF had built a pair of gigantic electrodes near the warring monsters. Since Hedorah was an amorphous being and thus was mostly fluid, it was hoped that the two electrodes would dry Hedorah out and defeat it. Unfortunately, during the battle the fuses to control the electrodes had blown and the pylons supplying electricity had been damaged by the two monsters, making the electrodes useless.
Despite receiving brutal injuries in the battle, Godzilla powered the electrons with a blast of his atomic breath as Hedorah was standing between them, dehydrating it. Just as it seemed Godzilla had triumphed, Hedorah's dried husk burst open and another Hedorah flew out of it. Godzilla used his atomic breath to propel himself into the air and chase after Hedorah. After knocking Hedorah down, Godzilla brought Hedorah back to the electrodes and had them near-completely dry Hedorah out. Realizing Hedorah might still have moisture within it that could bring it back to life, Godzilla tore into Hedorah's body and had the electrodes dry out the remaining husk of Hedorah, reducing it to a mass of dust and finally defeating the alien. However, the possibility remained that if rampant pollution continued, another Hedorah could emerge.
Millennium Era
Hedorah was the only Xilien-controlled monster, apart from the concealed Monster X and Gigan, not to participate in the initial attack on Earth's cities. The Controller of Planet X later dispatched it, along with Ebirah, to stop Godzilla in Tokyo Bay. Godzilla's atomic ray quickly sent it flying through the air and crashing into a building. Ebirah followed, and his claw pierced Hedorah's left eye. The two were then destroyed by an extended blast of Godzilla's atomic ray, much to the Controller's frustration
Trivia
- The Codex for the 2019 mobile game Godzilla Defense Force states that the Hedorah from Godzilla: Final Wars has "a red extension on its left hand that only occurs in the males of the species," and specifies that the Showa incarnation of the character lacks it because it is a female. However, it refers to both incarnations simply as "it."
- According to Haruo Nakajima, the Perfect Stage Hedorah suit weighed over 100 kilograms.
- At 48,000 metric tons in weight, Hedorah's Perfect Stage is the heaviest kaiju to appear in the Showa Godzilla series. However, it is not the heaviest kaiju in the entire Showa series, as several Terror-Beasts from Zone Fighter outweigh it.
- Hedorah evolves into a new form after each of the first three reel changes in Godzilla vs. Hedorah, with reel three even ending on the line, "What sort of monster will it become in its next stage, the fourth?"
- The sound effect used for Hedorah's eye beams is the same as the one used for Showa King Ghidorah's flying, only played at a higher pitch.
- After he was selected by Toho to helm the next Godzilla film in 1975, Godzilla vs. Hedorah director Yoshimitsu Banno came up with the idea of the two monsters facing off again in Africa. Toho was uninterested and began developing a sequel to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla instead.
- In both of Hedorah's film appearances, its left eye is injured in some way.
- Hedorah is one of the first Toho monsters to be depicted via hand-drawn animation, as seen in the animated segments of its debut film.
- In Godzilla: Final Wars, Hedorah's tail resembles the Choju King Crab's from Ultraman Ace.
- Hedorah was the last new monster in the Showa series to completely act on its own independence, as the rest were controlled by aliens or undersea civilizations.
- Hedorah's debut in Godzilla vs. Hedorah coincided with the revival of the Ultra Series with The Return of Ultraman. Curiously, the first episode of the new series, which was directed by Ishiro Honda, featured a monster called Zazahn, a kelp monster bearing a remarkable likeness to Hedorah who was supposedly attracted to a city by pollution.
- In the 1984 Godzilland merchandise line, Hedorah is depicted as a female monster and one of Godzilla's friends. The Godzilland Hedorah is generally depicted as purple in color with long eyelashes above its eyes. This is the only known instance of Hedorah being portrayed as an ally or friend of Godzilla.
- Hedorah was likely an inspiration for the monster Destoroyah in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. Both monsters possess multiple forms, including microscopic, flying, and gigantic bipedal final forms, are composed of trillions of microorganisms that have merged together, are extremely difficult opponents for Godzilla, and are incredibly deadly to organic life. Both Hedorah and Destoroyah likely influenced the creation of the monster Shinomura from the comic Godzilla: Awakening, which also shares many of these similarities.
