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Species: | Sea Dragon |
Length: | Showa: 150 Meters Millennium: 300 Meters |
Weight: | Showa: 30,000 Metric Tons Millennium: 60,000 Metric Tons |
Appearances: | Destroy All Monsters (1968) All Monsters Attack (1969) Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975) Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) |
Summary
Manda (Manda) is a sea dragon kaiju who first appeared in the 1963 Toho film Atragon.
In his debut film, Manda was the guardian of the undersea empire of Mu, and was unleashed to destroy the Gotengo before it could breach the heart of Mu. The second incarnation of Manda introduced in Destroy All Monsters was one of the monsters contained on Monsterland by the end of the 20th century, and was unleashed to attack Tokyo under the command of the Kilaak invaders. After the aliens' control of the monsters was severed, Manda was present at Mount Fuji when Godzilla and the other monsters battled King Ghidorah. Manda made a brief appearance in Godzilla: Final Wars as well, once again battling the Gotengo underwater.
Name
Manda was originally conceptualized as a giant snake during production of Atragon, and was given the name "Mammoth Snake" (Manmosu Sunēku), which later became "Mammoth Serpent" (Manmosu Da). Because the upcoming year, 1964, was the year of the dragon, Toho felt it would be appropriate to make the monster a dragon instead. Toho redesigned the creature as a sea dragon, and shortened "Manmosu Da" into "Manda," which became the monster's official name. Manda's name has also been speculated to be a combination of the Japanese words "man" and "daija", which when combined mean "ten thousand serpent."
The Manda featured in Destroy All Monsters is sometimes denoted in official books as Second Generation Manda (Nidaime Manda), while the Manda from Godzilla: Final Wars is called Manda (3rd Generation) Manda Sandaime).
Design
Manda resembles an Eastern dragon, as he has an elongated thin body with four legs. In Atragon and Godzilla: Final Wars, Manda's skin is a bluish-green color, and his head is adorned with four horns. The original Manda from Atragon has two long barbs on his face that resemble whiskers, and a mane of hair that extends from the top of his head all the way to his tail. His face is also covered in small spikes. This Manda possesses yellow reptilian eyes with slit pupils.
The second generation Manda from Destroy All Monsters resembles a snake with legs rather than a traditional oriental dragon. He has no horns or spikes on his head, and there is no hair on his body. His eyes are more rounded and mammalian, and are light blue rather than yellow.
The Manda from Godzilla: Final Wars more closely resembles the original Manda, though the hair on his back is replaced with a row of pointed spikes, and his whiskers are removed. This Manda has a small hood behind his head similar to that of a cobra, and four long barbs extending from the underside of his body. He also has spikes on his arms and legs, and a forked snake-like tongue rather than the rounded tongue possessed by previous incarnations.
Origin
In Atragon, Manda was the guardian of Mu, an underwater kingdom. How Manda became its protector and how long he had been protecting it is unknown. In Destroy All Monsters, Manda is one of the monsters contained on Monsterland, a human-monitored island located in the Ogasawara Islands, at the end of the 20th century. Manda's origins in Godzilla: Final Wars are unknown.
History
Heisei Era
At the end of the 20th century, Manda was one of the monsters contained on Monsterland, a facility in the Ogasawara Islands. When the Kilaaks came to Earth and took control of Manda and the other monsters of the island, they made them attack major cities around the world. Manda appeared in Tokyo alongside Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra, where he crushed a monorail line. When the crew of the Moonlight SY-3 freed the monsters from the Kilaaks' control, they all assembled outside of Mount Fuji to assault the Kilaaks' base. Manda did not fight in the battle against King Ghidorah, and watched from the sidelines with Varan and Baragon. After King Ghidorah was defeated, Manda and the other kaiju returned to Monsterland.
Manda was one of the monsters inhabiting Monster Island in the dreams of Ichiro Miki.
Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975)
As Dr. Shinzo Mafune prepared to unleash Titanosaurus to take his revenge on the rest of humanity, his daughter Katsura begged him not to turn Titanosaurus into a monster of destruction like Manda, Rodan, or King Ghidorah.
Millennium Era
In 20XX, Manda attacked Normandy, causing the Earth Defense Force to deploy the Gotengo to engage him in the English Channel. At first, Manda was able to constrict himself around the Gotengo and pull the warship further and further into the depths of the water, severely damaging it. However, the crew spotted an underwater volcano and charged into it, with Manda stuck on their ship. Unable to withstand the heat, Manda was forced to uncoil himself and swam away. The Gotengo managed to get out of the volcano, but Manda charged at the ship. The Gotengo turned around 180 degrees and fired the Absolute Zero Cannon to freeze the weakened Manda, and then rammed into him with its powerful drill, breaking him into pieces and killing him in the process.
Trivia
- Manda is one of the few kaiju to appear onscreen with Godzilla but never fight him, others being Varan and Gorosaurus.
- However, Godzilla and Manda did battle in a deleted scene from Destroy All Monsters, taking place during the attack on Tokyo by four kaiju. They also fought in the 1998 novel Godzilla at World's End and the 2013 comic series Godzilla: Rulers of Earth.
- In the manga adaptation of Destroy All Monsters, Manda takes part in the final battle with King Ghidorah, wrapping around his wing.
- Manda's copyright icon appears on the back covers of the Random House books Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island and Godzilla vs. the Space Monster, although he is not actually in either book. It is possible this was either an error or that Toho felt the snake monsters Rattler and Yellowback were similar enough to Manda to require use of the license.
- At 300 meters in length, the Manda from Godzilla: Final Wars was tied with Yamata no Orochi from The Three Treasures as the longest known Toho kaiju, until Ghidorah was introduced in the GODZILLA anime trilogy with a length of 20 kilometers.
- Sprite assets for the 1963 design of Manda can be found in the game files for Godzilla Defense Force, although he cannot currently be encountered in the game itself.