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| Species: | Extraterrestrial Crystalline Godzilla Clone |
| Height: | Heisei: 120 Meters |
| Length: | Heisei: 250 Meters |
| Weight: | Heisei: 80,000 Metric Tons |
| Appearances: | Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) |
Summary
SpaceGodzilla (Supēsugojira) is a crystalline Godzilla clone kaiju who first appeared in the 1994 Toho Godzilla film Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.
SpaceGodzilla is Godzilla's penultimate foe in the Heisei series of films, as well as the only extraterrestrial creature introduced in that series. Boasting an array of psychic powers and energy attacks along with his ability to form and use crystals in various ways, SpaceGodzilla is a challenging opponent, and as a result, shapes the direction of battles which involve him. Spawned by some of Godzilla's cells which were cast into outer space, SpaceGodzilla made his way to Earth with the goal of conquering the planet and eliminating his earthling counterpart. SpaceGodzilla triumphed in his first battle with Godzilla, even capturing the latter's adopted son in a crystal prison. The evil creature then made his way to Fukuoka and transformed it into his own crystal fortress. G-Force deployed MOGUERA to stop SpaceGodzilla, and Godzilla himself soon joined the battle. While SpaceGodzilla was stronger than Godzilla or MOGUERA individually, their combined efforts resulted in the creature's defeat. Despite to date only appearing in a single film, SpaceGodzilla has been featured prominently in other Godzilla media.
Name
SpaceGodzilla's name simply comes from the English word space (supēsu) and Godzilla (Gojira). In English, SpaceGodzilla's name is officially spelled in camelCase, meaning it is written as a single word with the "G" capitalized, in contrast to Mechagodzilla, whose name is spelled as a single word with only the first letter capitalized. However, SpaceGodzilla's name is sometimes spelled as Space Godzilla or Space-Godzilla in official media. SpaceGodzilla's name is abbreviated as Spe-Godzi (Supegoji) once in dialogue in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla as well as in some merchandise, while the book Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla Super Complete Works shortens it to just SG. Before SpaceGodzilla is identified, G-Force refer to him generically as "Space Monster" (Uchū Kaijū).
In the 1998 LitGodzi merchandise line, SpaceGodzilla is referred to simply as Space (Supēsu). Before the name "SpaceGodzilla" was chosen, the monster was also known as "CrystalGodzilla" (Kurisutarugojira) in concept art.[1]
The form SpaceGodzilla takes on while traveling through space and strafing Godzilla during their Birth Island battle is called his Flying Mode (Hikō Keitai), or alternatively Flying-type SpaceGodzilla (Supēsugojira Hikōtaipu).
Design
SpaceGodzilla looks similar to Godzilla in many ways, but his skin is navy-blue with a patch of dark reddish-purple skin, that appears much smoother than the rest of his skin, on his abdominal area. He is considerably bulkier than Godzilla and is also 20 meters taller than him. He has two massive white crystals that erupt from his shoulders, and his tail is much longer, ending with several crystal-like spikes. His dorsal fins on his back are made of similar crystals and are white in color. As a result of his build, SpaceGodzilla has difficulty walking and he cannot run, but he makes up for this by having the ability to fly and to levitate. His arms are also extremely thin and short in comparison to the rest of his body, owing to the fact that he rarely uses them directly in favor of his telekinetic abilities. SpaceGodzilla's head is elongated and his mouth area appears similar Biollante's, as he has sharp teeth and tusks on the sides of his mouth, along with fleshy membranes on the inside of his mouth. He has fire-orange eyes and a crest that goes from orange through yellow.
Personality
SpaceGodzilla is one of the most intelligent of Godzilla's foes in the series, exhibiting displays of planned combat strategy throughout the movie (harvesting power from buildings, trapping Godzilla's son, etc.). This is further evidenced by the fact SpaceGodzilla sought to dominate the Earth of his own free will, instead of other monsters, which only cause random destruction, and only involvement in world domination is to carry out their masters' will.
Due to his overly-muscular body, SpaceGodzilla prefers to attack with his corona beam from a distance and was at times overwhelmed by MOGUERA's assault in close quarters. His short and stumpy arms meant that he couldn't reach the mech without using his tail.
Unlike Godzilla, who in the Heisei series of films is depicted as a force of nature, neither good nor evil, SpaceGodzilla appears to have an element of true malice, as the monster was said by the Cosmos to be headed to Earth for the purpose of defeating Godzilla. According to the Cosmos, SpaceGodzilla intended to kill Godzilla so that the Earth would be defenseless when he dominated it.
Origin
In Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla the human characters hypothesize that Godzilla cells somehow cast into space fell into a black hole and began assimilating crystalline organisms, then came out from a white hole, evolving rapidly by absorbing energy from exploding stars. It is not known for certain what caused the Godzilla cells to fall into the black hole, but it is explained in the film that either cells from Godzilla's previous clone, Biollante, escaped Earth's orbit when she rose into space after battling Godzilla in 1990, or that Mothra unknowingly carried the cells into space on her wings when she was going to space to deflect a meteor headed for Earth in 1993.
History
Heisei Era
SpaceGodzilla was first seen flying through space, where he destroyed a manned NASA satellite. He battled MOGUERA while he was on his way to Earth, and defeated the mecha. He then landed on Birth Island and attacked LittleGodzilla, but Godzilla arrived to save him. SpaceGodzilla quickly overpowered Godzilla using his telekinetic skills and then trapped Little Godzilla in crystals. He flew away and flew over Japan, eventually landing and setting up his fortress in Fukuoka. MOGUERA arrived in Fukuoka to battle SpaceGodzilla again but was no match for the monster. Godzilla soon arrived as well and joined forces with MOGUERA. MOGUERA split into Land Moguera and Star Falcon. Land Moguera drilled underground and knocked out the foundations of SpaceGodzilla's power source, the Fukuoka Tower, while Godzilla toppled the tower from ground level. Godzilla then had the upper hand, and MOGUERA used its spiral grenades to destroy SpaceGodzilla's shoulder crystals, critically weakening him. In retaliation, SpaceGodzilla blasted off one of MOGUERA's arms and proceeded to impale the mecha on his tail and throw it into a nearby building. Akira Yuki tried to pilot the damaged mech back into battle, colliding with SpaceGodzilla and knocking the celestial clone down. However, the damage to the machine-made it almost impossible to control, and MOGUERA crashed into several buildings where it became completely disabled. While the space monster struggled to get up, Godzilla blasted him with his red spiral ray multiple times, destroying MOGUERA in the process. SpaceGodzilla let out a weak roar and finally exploded into spores of light that floated back up into space.
Trivia
- SpaceGodzilla's flying form weighs a massive 720,000 metric tons,[note 1] making SpaceGodzilla the heaviest known monster in the entire Godzilla franchise.
- SpaceGodzilla is the only monster in the Godzilla series to have two official origin theories put forth in the same film. Other monsters have had multiple origins throughout their film appearances, but are restricted only to a single origin in each continuity.
- SpaceGodzilla has many characteristics similar to Biollante, including a screeching roar, a duo of tusks on each side of his mouth, a flap of skin in the corners of his mouth, and an ability to cause electrical disturbances. At the end of the film, SpaceGodzilla's glowing "essence" escaped from his body and flew into space, much like Biollante did herself five years earlier. These uncanny similarities make Biollante a more likely candidate than Mothra for creating SpaceGodzilla.
- A Space Godzilla was the title of an illustrated short story based on an unmade Godzilla film considered after Terror of Mechagodzilla. It revolved around several alien "Space Godzillas," which hailed from Godzilla Planet. Aside from the name, this story and SpaceGodzilla are completely unconnected.
- Early versions of the script for Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla called for SpaceGodzilla to face Godzilla and a second Mechagodzilla, a plan scrapped when it was realized that against the combined might of Godzilla and the machine which nearly killed him in the previous year would make the battle too one-sided. Instead, the less-powerful Moguera was revived and updated for this purpose. Although, Godzilla: The Half-Century War seems to pay homage to this idea in issue #4.
- SpaceGodzilla was part of the mutants faction in Godzilla: Unleashed. At first glance, it might have made more sense for SpaceGodzilla to have been in the Aliens faction, seeing as his origins are from space. However, all of the alien monsters in the game were controlled by the Vortaak, and SpaceGodzilla was acting on his own free will during the events of the game.
