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| Species: | Aquatic Dinosaur |
| Height: | Showa: 60 Meters |
| Weight: | Showa: 30,000 Metric Tons |
| Appearances: | Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975) |
Summary
Titanosaurus (Chitanozaurusu) is a giant aquatic dinosaur kaiju who first appeared in the 1975 Toho Godzilla film, Terror of Mechagodzilla.
Originally a peaceful, sea-dwelling dinosaur, Titanosaurus was discovered by Japanese marine biologist Shinzo Mafune, who was undertaking experiments involving controlling sea life. When Mafune claimed to his colleagues that he had discovered Titanosaurus and had complete control over him, he was laughed out of the scientific community and began a fifteen year-long quest for vengeance upon the civilization that had mocked and shunned him. When approached by the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens, Mafune offered Titanosaurus' services to them for their invasion of Earth, being promised a place in their new utopian world order along with his daughter. Titanosaurus was unleashed alongside the aliens' Mechagodzilla 2, and the two beasts began obliterating Tokyo before they were confronted by Godzilla. Titanosaurus and Mechagodzilla's combination proved formidable, but the intervention of INTERPOL allowed Godzilla to destroy Mechagodzilla and easily defeat Titanosaurus in single combat after he was weakened by a sonic wave oscillator.
Name
Titanosaurus' name comes from the word "Titan," referring to a member of the first divine pantheon in Greek mythology, and "-saurus," a common suffix for reptiles, derived from the Greek word for lizard, sauros. While "Titan" is usually transliterated to Japanese as Taitan, the "Titano-" portion of Titanosaurus' name is pronounced Chitano, similar to the Japanese name for the element titanium (chitan).
Titanosaurus also coincidentally shares a name with a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaur, though he bears little resemblance to actual Titanosaurs.
Design
Titanosaurus is a deep-sea dwelling creature who sports a fin on his tail and along his back up to the top of his head. He also has a pair of smaller fins on the sides of his head. Titanosaurus' neck is very long, and he has two antennae protruding from the top of his head. Titanosaurus's skin is bright red with black and yellow flecks, and he has a beige underbelly, most likely for countershading purposes. Titanosaurus's eyes are relatively large and are bright yellow-orange in color. The monster also has a forked tongue.
Personality
Titanosaurus is said to have been "a very quiet, friendly dinosaur" by screenwriter Yukiko Takayama. The monster is shown to have a gentle disposition, retreating from his first battle against Godzilla as soon as he was free of the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens' and Dr. Shinzo Mafune's control. Under their influence, however, he fights as fiercely as any kaiju, and displayed a knack for coordinating attacks with Mechagodzilla.
The instruction manual for the game Godzilla: Unleashed describes Titanosaurus as not being "specifically evil," though it states that humanity's disturbances of him have resulted in him becoming aggressive. In this game he acts in line with the other members of the Mutant faction, seeking to secure additional power for himself by harnessing the energy of SpaceGodzilla's crystals.
In the main continuity of IDW's Godzilla comics, Titanosaurus is shown to be aggressive toward other kaiju, as he battles Rodan on his own volition. However, he is naturally a defender of the Earth, as he teams up with Battra to fight SpaceGodzilla and later helps Godzilla and the other Earth monsters battle the Trilopods. He briefly fights under the command of the Devonian aliens in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, attacking ships and fighting against Godzilla along with the aliens' other controlled monsters.
Origin
Titanosaurus was a gigantic, docile sea-dwelling dinosaur. He was discovered by Dr. Shinzo Mafune in 1960 while Mafune was researching ways to control sea animals. Mafune set his sights on controlling Titanosaurus, but this caused him to be laughed out of the scientific community. Mafune persisted in working on his Titanosaurus controller for many years with the help of his daughter Katsura, eventually completing it in 1975 with the help of the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens. Under the influence of this device, the once-peaceful Titanosaurus became a violent, rampaging monster.
In Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, Titanosaurus is depicted on an ancient mural found on Infant Island, indicating that he is part of the planet's natural order. He is classified among the "water" monsters in this mural.
History
Showa Era
Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975)
Esteemed marine biologist Shinzo Mafune had begun studying the brain patterns of marine life in an attempt to gain control over sea creatures and establish vast undersea ranches, when he discovered Titanosaurus living under the sea. Mafune began developing a means of controlling Titanosaurus, but when he reported this to his academic peers, he was mocked and cast out of the scientific community. Quickly descending into madness, Mafune retreated into seclusion with his daughter Katsura at his home in Manazuru, where he began work on a plan to use Titanosaurus to take revenge on the society which had shunned him. Fifteen years after his dismissal from the oceanographic institute, Mafune was approached by Tsuda, a representative of the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens. With their assistance, Mafune was able to complete the device that gave him complete mental control over Titanosaurus, and unleashed the monster to destroy the Akatsuki, a submarine attempting to recover the remains of Mechagodzilla. The normally peaceful Titanosaurus became a frightening, intense monster, and crushed the Akatsuki with his hands.
With Mafune's plan to control Titanosaurus a success, the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens brought him to their base near Mount Amagi, where they were busy rebuilding Mechagodzilla. The aliens' commander, Mugal, promised Mafune and his daughter a place in their new utopian civilization on Earth if he would lend his scientific expertise, as well as the use of Titanosaurus, to their cause. When INTERPOL dispatched a second Akatsuki to search for Titanosaurus, Katsura sent the dinosaur to destroy it, only for the sub's sonar to interfere with the device controlling Titanosaurus and cause him to writhe in pain. Mafune meanwhile helped the aliens repair and perfect Mechagodzilla, but became frustrated while waiting for their word to begin their assault on Tokyo. Mafune took matters into his own hands and unleashed Titanosaurus into the city while Katsura left to sabotage a sonic wave oscillator INTERPOL was constructing to use against Titanosaurus. Godzilla arrived to fight Titanosaurus, who fled back to the sea after Katsura was shot and Mafune deactivated his control device. The aliens' surgeons were able to revive Katsura and installed Mechagodzilla's control device inside of her, all while Mugal warned Mafune to never act against his orders again. Mafune agreed, and the aliens moved their base of operations to his lab in Manazuru.
Finally, Titanosaurus and the newly-completed Mechagodzilla 2 were unleashed in Tokyo, savagely annihilating the city. As Mechagodzilla bombarded the city streets with his vast array of weaponry, Titanosaurus swept away the ruined buildings by generating gusts of wind with his tail fin. Godzilla arrived once again to fight off the aliens' monsters, but found himself outmatched by the duo. Titanosaurus grappled with Godzilla up close, while Mechagodzilla blasted Godzilla with lasers and missiles. Finally, the onslaught was too much and Godzilla was knocked unconscious. Titanosaurus kicked Godzilla into a ditch, and Mechagodzilla used its missiles to bury him alive under the Earth. Titanosaurus began stomping on Godzilla's earthen grave, while INTERPOL mounted their completed sonic wave oscillator onto a helicopter. The chopper flew overhead and began bombarding Titanosaurus with supersonic waves, placing the creature in agonizing pain. Mechagodzilla prepared to shoot down the helicopter, but Godzilla emerged from the ground and blasted the machine with his atomic breath. With Titanosaurus incapacitated by the sonic wave oscillator, Godzilla fought and destroyed Mechagodzilla for good. Meanwhile, INTERPOL assaulted Mafune's lab, killing Mafune and forcing the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens to flee. Katsura had killed herself to disable Mechagodzilla, leaving no one to control Titanosaurus any longer. Unaware that Titanosaurus was no longer under the aliens' control, Godzilla blasted him repeatedly with his atomic breath, causing Titanosaurus to fall off a cliff into the water below, his fate unknown.
Trivia
- In Terror of Mechagodzilla screenwriter Yukiko Takayama's original scenario, the role of Titanosaurus was filled by two dinosaurs called Titans, who became violent only when their necks were entangled. The Titans were of the same species, one male and the other female. Eventually, the Titans would fuse together into a creature simply called "Titan." Titan was referred to primarily as a female creature.
- Takayama deliberately had characters refer to Titanosaurus as a dinosaur instead of a kaiju to emphasize that the acts of destruction he committed were not in his nature, but a result of Mafune's control.
- Titanosaurus' roars were reused for the Crocomire and Phantoon bosses of the Metroid series.
- Titanosaurus is the last kaiju to be defeated by Godzilla in the Showa series. He is also one of the few kaiju to be defeated by the combined efforts of Godzilla and humans.
- The 2018 novel Operation Red Dragon: The Daikaiju Wars Part One features an antagonist monster named Barracudasaurus who is a direct homage to Titanosaurus.
