Monster Discussion #17: Baragon (Showa)

[The One and Only]

I do own, and have in turn seen Frankenstein Vs Baragon. And honestly while undermatched in GMK, the kaiju did put up a pretty good fight against Godzilla in that flick. Overwhelmed by the shear strength of the King of Monsters, but still held his own for a bit. Too bad Kaneko didn't give him back his fire breath in the flick,and ditched the glowing horn, it made him seem a little generic without that light up feature. But he still kept that almost puppy dog cute look.


But one feature, despite his cue, floppy hound dog ears, that makes him a bit scary is this. Notice in Frankenstein Conquers The World/FVB, the beast's teeth are a yellow, black color. And they're sort've bent, or esckew. That smile, once you see it comin' at you isn't a smile at all. It's the Gates of Hell welcoming you in.

Also Baragon, gets some excellent screentime in the last to be released of the Marc Cerasini novels, Godzilla Vs. The Robot Monsters. With the story of him being released after a mining disaster in Montana, the kaiju goes on quite a eating spree throughout the region, until stopped finally by Mechagodzilla in it inaugural mission.

[Irys X]

One thing I never understood is why Baragon didn't use his horn as a spear in battle. Seems like a pretty logical thing to do.

[MekaGojira3k]

Baragon has always been a favorite kaiju of mine. Flame breath, tunneling abilities, super leap, and a fluorescent horn? Yes, please. I also loved his brief appearance in GMK (poor little guy). He's a great kaiju who is genuinely threatening to human beings who made a formidable foe for Frankenstein.

[Killswitch]

^I love that leap! With all those abilities, its a shame Toho didn't use him more often.

[Tohosaurus]

Baragon is decent in my opinion. He's not as notable as some other monsters, but there are plenty of monsters I care much less about from the Showa era (Varan, Manda, Oodaku, Ookandru, Moguera, Dogora, etc). He put up a reasonable fight in FCtW, but it was too bad his suit kept him from engaging in a nice battle within DAM. In any case, I actually much prefer the Millennium Baragon. He looks way better, which is to be expected of something so much newer. I also never really cared for his oral flamethrower anyway, so I liked that they dropped it for his redesign.

[AK107DX]

I really like Baragon. The only way to really see the character in action other than in GMK is to watch Frankenstien Conquers the World. Too bad that was the only movie that he used his heat ray in. He deserves to be in more movies.

[Rody]

Frankenstein Conquers the World(the dubbed version at least) is a somewhat mediocre film, but Baragon is a great monster; he's so unique. Sure, he's a dinosaur, but he bears no resemblance to any known species. I love his feisty & cunning character. I think GMK did improve on the design in many ways, though there is still one major problem: he has pathetic little paws for a burrowing animal.

[Space Hunter M]

he has pathetic little paws for a burrowing animal.

He uses his heat-ray to compensate for this problem.

[Giga Kaiju]

^ an Updated look with a little resemblance to a Triceratops could be awesome if its done right, but he looks great the way he is "Cross of a Dino and a Mammal" kind of. Makes him more unique.

[Zornow13]

Love love love Showa Baragon! Dont know why he was soo weak in GMK ( not crazy over that re-design either, OR his rebooted roar ugh! his old roar is soo iconic to kaiju ( used aLOT in Ultraman). But yeah Showa Baragon also looks like a pug. that can tunnel and fire a ray, and jump all over the place!..he just RULES!

[Rody]

Love love love Showa Baragon! Don't know why he was so weak in GMK ( not crazy over that re-design either, OR his rebooted roar ugh! his old roar is so iconic to kaiju ( used a LOT in Ultraman). But yeah Showa Baragon also looks like a pug. that can tunnel and fire a ray, and jump all over the place!..he just RULES!

I like both versions of Baragon; However, I think the millennium version made several small changes which, overall, improved the design, making him a stockier, more "streamlined" burrowing animal. I also don't think that the millennium version was particularly weaker than the Showa version. He was just going up against a far stronger opponent.

As for the roar, once again I am very fond of both; but I prefer the millennium roar for one reason: originality. Baragon's old roar was recycled from Varan. For GMK, Toho gave him his very own, original roar.

[Space Hunter M]

If you listen closely, you can actually hear stock Half-Life 2 zombie grunts.
There were plenty of other sound effects in GMK that almost any Source engine junkie would instantly recognize.

[Zornow13]

Love love love Showa Baragon! Don't know why he was so weak in GMK ( not crazy over that re-design either, OR his rebooted roar ugh! his old roar is so iconic to kaiju ( used a LOT in Ultraman). But yeah Showa Baragon also looks like a pug. that can tunnel and fire a ray, and jump all over the place!..he just RULES!

I like both versions of Baragon; However, I think the millennium version made several small changes which, overall, improved the design, making him a stockier, more "streamlined" burrowing animal. I also don't think that the millennium version was particularly weaker than the Showa version. He was just going up against a far stronger opponent.

As for the roar, once again I am very fond of both; but I prefer the millennium roar for one reason: originality. Baragon's old roar was recycled from Varan. For GMK, Toho gave him his very own, original roar.

RIGHT I forgot about poor Varan! my bad, but I LOOOVE Varan's/Bargon's Gorosaurus's Roar, that sound is GREAT!

[Rody]

^ Oh, I won't disagree with you there. It's a classic sound.

If you listen closely, you can actually hear stock Half-Life 2 zombie grunts.

Never seen Half-Life 2, so I wouldn't notice.

[daijinryuu775489]

I like showa Baragon, since he's mostly T&C with a heat ray added in as a bonus. It's a shame he wasn't used much in DAM, in spite of how often his name came up.

[Bentley]

Baragon had a very decent GMK design, and he actually got more respect than most of the FW monsters.

[demoylition]

I get the vibe that everyone hates this monster. How could you? Hes awesome and cuddly at the same time!!!

[eabaker]

Weird. I always got the impression that Baragon was pretty popular among fans. I think it's a pretty unique, neat design.

[62JackC]

I never cared for him nor did Toho.
I felt he was pretty over-rated after YT's "BARAGON BITCHES" thing.

[GodzillaSpawn]

I'm indifferent.