Monster Discussion #17: Baragon (Showa)

[JVM]

Again, ain't seen him in action yet.

[Arbok]

Baragon is such an odd creature. He actually eats people in his feature film, and clearly endangers the protagonists. In many ways, his role is almost identical to Gaira's... yet somehow Gaira is one of the most frightening Toho monsters ever, while Baragon is one of the most cuddly.

I assume its his oddly cute appearance which has led to his continued popularity and cult status in Japan. Long before GMK, the character was still very popular, making a top ten list that was conducted in 1993. At any rate, I can't help but love the guy, and do feel he is far more interesting and notable than some of his DAM "kin" such as Gorosaurus, Varan or Manda (even though he did nothing of note in that particular film).

[JVM]

^ Well Baragon also gets bonus note points over Gorosaurus and Manda for landing a title role It's a shame he didn't get to live to his full potential in there.

[HayesAJones]

Arbok's right... how am I supposed to feel about him? Is he a blood-thirst killer or a reptilian puppy?

Either way he's a cool edition to the Toho family. A classic dinosaurian monster with a bit of mammal thrown in.

[GodzillaDude]

Baragon is one of my favorite monsters Showa or Millennium/GMK.

[Dynomy84]

Baragon is one of my favorite monsters besides Godzilla. he always made me feel bad that once in a while he gets a movie against a monster and prevails. yet i doubt it will happen.

[Showa Gyaos]

I never knew what Dinosaur that Baragon was based off of? I think he is a Ceratopidae dinosaur since in FCTW, it was never mention what type of Dinosaur he is.

Once, on Wikipedia, I read that it is a sub-species of Triceratops. If you ask me, he looks nothing like one.

On topic, I have always loved Baragon, even though he is considered a low-tier monster even by Showa standards.

[edgaguirus]

Low tier or not, I like him. He's got a good design and made a perfect enemy for Frank.

[Toxic Toast]

I like to think that, if a Gamera crossover was ever made, Baragon and Barugon would team-up to kick some ass.

[TokyoVigilante]

Why does Baragon need to be a sub-species of anything? That's stupid. Baragon is a Baragon. That's what makes him interesting, the same with Anguirus.

Anyways, I prefer low-tier monster movies. There's generally more at stake on a human level, making the drama a bit more engaging then just a monstrous juggernaut destroying everything. FCtW is a prime example of this.

[Godz]

Hey Arbok, what's this top ten list you spoke of?

Anyway, I like Baragon. Like the Showa version better than the GMK one, even if both were essentially punching bags. Cool design. My first exposure to him was in the "Monster of Monsters" video game on the NES (also the first time I ever saw Hedorah, Gezora, Moguera, and Varan.), where he was annoying to fight, and had a weird "taunt" where he'd look out the TV screen at you...which was a good time to start kicking his head in as Godzilla.

[Dragoon]

He's okay, a cool lizard puppy, certainly isn't bad, but he isn't really my favorite or anything.

[kaijukurt]

I find Baragon cool; because the fact that he actually behaves like a monster(he eats people) but is rather cute-looking at the same time!

[Arbok]

Hey Arbok, what's this top ten list you spoke of?

It was a survey done in the early 1990's, pretty much at the height of the popularity of the Heisei series. Sadly, I don't have it on me anymore, but I do recall that the list was largely the most popular monsters from Toho that one would expect, along with the recent Heisei monsters (Battra was on there for example, which was natural since it was a new creature at the time). Baragon was the out liner on the list, though.

[GodzillaXGomoraFight]

I finally saw the ending scene between Frakenstein and Baragon in FCTW at dailymotion.com. I think that Baragon is coll and also vicous (eating people, blowing up villages). I was only disapointed that Baragon did not do better in the fight against Frakenstein at the end, yet the Giant Octopus kills Frankenstein without the effort.

[Mulder]

I LOVE BARAGON! As my sig says i like the GMK Baragon more than Showa Baragon but he's ok.

[Dynomy84]

yeah i also prefer GMK Baragon but i like them both anyways

[Tom Servo]

I don't know why i lvoe Baragon maybe its because he is the most we've gotten to a triceratops kaiju?

[Space Hunter M]

^
Just out of curiosity, have you watched Frankenstein vs. Baragon?

[therealmccoy]

Baragon is one of my favorites; even though he was active in only two movies. There's just something about him. I know everyone discredits him or overrates him, but that's just me. I like his ears, even though they look weird.

He kind of looks like a puppy.