Headcanon. Elements and interpretations of a fictional universe accepted by an individual fan, but not found within or supported by the official canon.
Inspired by the Gamera-GMK thread, here's a catch-all for any zany, partly logical idea you have.
Here's a brief one; Minya looks so little like Godzilla because he was actually impacted by irradiation.
Godzilla throughout the Showa era was a natural beast, only released thanks to the hydrogen bomb - not literally created by it. However, Minya and the residents of the Island may have had direct contact with radiation, hence their abnormal size. As a fetus, perhaps this 'jolted' his growth significantly.
My own headcanon for Minilla's size is that it takes a member of Godzilla's species centuries to reach full maturity.
This would also have been true of Godzilla Jr but he was exposed to huge levels of radiation that caused him to rapidly develop into a double of his father.
Other Showa verse headcanons:
- Madame Piranha was working for the Red Bamboo all along. She was to secure the Element X from Dr. Hu so her organization could build a new arsenal of nuclear weapons to replace those lost in Godzilla vs the Sea Monster.
- The aliens seen throughout the series are not true extraterrestrials but long displaced colonies of Seatopia, who in the ancient past developped technology to explore the stars and seed the galaxy with their people. The only exceptions are the Kilaaks and the Garoga (who I think might actually be Kilaaks wearing a different "suit")
-Similarly Mu and the Infant Island civilization are also descended from Seatopia, having broken away from the Megalon religion to worship Manda and Mothra respectively.
- In line with the above, Princess Salno's ancestors were not true aliens, but humans from Seatopia who left Earth in the ancient past to colonize Venus, only to return to Earth to escape King Ghidorah.
- The Mysteroid was another colony of Seatopia; when it was destroyed by the Mysterians' nuclear war and formed the asteroid belt, the Mysterian survivors fled to Mars while the enemy they were fighting took shelter on Ceres. Those on Ceres became the Natarl, the effects of the nuclear holocaust leaving their bodies ravaged and no longer recognizably human.
- The Simeons were the slaves of a Seatopia colony beyond our solar system. The apes rose up and overthrew their human masters.
- Megalon is Mothra's counterpart in a similar vein to how Battra is Mothra's counterpart in the Heisei series.
- Jet Jaguar was created using the same technology used by Zone Fighter. Hence size altering abilities.
- Speaking of size altering abilities, Minilla's ability to shift from human to kaiju size in Ichiro's dream is something he can do in the real world. Godzilla can do it too, but he's too proud generally to make himself smaller.
- Kong can also size shift, hence being so much smaller in King Kong escapes.
- The Anguirus in the later half of the Showa series is the same one from Raids Again. Regen like a boss.
- The moon was destroyed by Gorath in the late twentieth century. To remedy this situation another satellite that had been caught in Gorath's gravity pull very similar to own moon trailing some distance behind it was moved into orbit around Earth. A moon base was established shortly thereafter.
- Godzilla's sensitivity to Minilla's telepathic distress calls is directly responsible for his heroic behavior in later Showa films; Godzilla can defect the psychic vibrations of fear and alarm given off by human populations when daikaiju attack, which cause him to instinctively leap into Protective Dad mode no matter who is actually threatened (Godzilla vs Hedorah, Terror of Mechagodzilla).
- King Seazer is an ancient golem like entity composed of stone and gems similar to Daimajin. He was animated by the ancient sages of Okinawa to protect them from the ever looming threat of King Ghidorah.
- Clark Nelson and Carl Nelson are brothers. They wanted to study Kong together, one for greed and the other for science. Clark abandoned his brother when he got a lead on a giant monster worshipped by beautiful maidens on a place called Infant Island; Carl quietly continued his research while working for the UN when a submarine expedition proved very fortunate to his interests.
- Whole family of scientists named Sakurai.
- All of the Oodako are the same Oodako, possessed by a burning hatred of all hairy humanoid giant monsters.
Kaiju-King42 wrote:
Welcome to Toho Kingdom, where every conceivable opinion, no matter how outlandish or unpopular, is a possibility among the population.
^I didn't say he was. I said Jet Jaguar was created using Zone Fighter's technology- like, say, the size changing mechanism.
Kaiju-King42 wrote:
Welcome to Toho Kingdom, where every conceivable opinion, no matter how outlandish or unpopular, is a possibility among the population.
Not technically a headcanon, but I tend to imagine a lot more stuff happened between 1975 and 1999 in the Showa timeline that just isn't on film. Not even specific events, just that it seems odd to imagine after twenty years of almost annual kaiju appearances, they drop off for twenty-five.
I used to be a lot more optimistic and outgoing, believe it or not. I used to actually be passionate about this stuff.
JVM wrote:Not technically a headcanon, but I tend to imagine a lot more stuff happened between 1975 and 1999 in the Showa timeline that just isn't on film. Not even specific events, just that it seems odd to imagine after twenty years of almost annual kaiju appearances, they drop off for twenty-five.
I have two ideas for this gap;
One, the events of GvMG and ToMG scared off other invaders for quite some time, and any new Kaiju that popped up never made an impact on society enough to be recognized. As Godzilla and friends were 'tamed' and put on Monster Island, Invaders figured Godzilla was no longer a threat (to them, at least).
Two, Monster Island was created sooner than most guess, simple as that.
JVM wrote:Not technically a headcanon, but I tend to imagine a lot more stuff happened between 1975 and 1999 in the Showa timeline that just isn't on film. Not even specific events, just that it seems odd to imagine after twenty years of almost annual kaiju appearances, they drop off for twenty-five.
I have two ideas for this gap;
One, the events of GvMG and ToMG scared off other invaders for quite some time, and any new Kaiju that popped up never made an impact on society enough to be recognized. As Godzilla and friends were 'tamed' and put on Monster Island, Invaders figured Godzilla was no longer a threat (to them, at least).
Two, Monster Island was created sooner than most guess, simple as that.
Well, if we assume the Showa movies occur in production order with the exception of DAM (and disregard AMA as Ichiro's fantasy), then the monsters are mostly living on Monster Island by the time of Gigan, and don't seem very interested in straying.
Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could at any time lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world.
JVM wrote:Not technically a headcanon, but I tend to imagine a lot more stuff happened between 1975 and 1999 in the Showa timeline that just isn't on film. Not even specific events, just that it seems odd to imagine after twenty years of almost annual kaiju appearances, they drop off for twenty-five.
I have two ideas for this gap;
One, the events of GvMG and ToMG scared off other invaders for quite some time, and any new Kaiju that popped up never made an impact on society enough to be recognized. As Godzilla and friends were 'tamed' and put on Monster Island, Invaders figured Godzilla was no longer a threat (to them, at least).
Two, Monster Island was created sooner than most guess, simple as that.
Well, if we assume the Showa movies occur in production order with the exception of DAM (and disregard AMA as Ichiro's fantasy), then the monsters are mostly living on Monster Island by the time of Gigan, and don't seem very interested in straying.
I've always figured Monster Land in Gigan is Monster Island, but before humans figured out how to contain the Kaiju.
If that's right, they probably just contained themselves and their various battles to the Island, from then end of ToMG to the events of DAM. I suppose the Invaders being intimidated idea could fit in there, too.
One, the events of GvMG and ToMG scared off other invaders for quite some time, and any new Kaiju that popped up never made an impact on society enough to be recognized. As Godzilla and friends were 'tamed' and put on Monster Island, Invaders figured Godzilla was no longer a threat (to them, at least).
Two, Monster Island was created sooner than most guess, simple as that.
Well, if we assume the Showa movies occur in production order with the exception of DAM (and disregard AMA as Ichiro's fantasy), then the monsters are mostly living on Monster Island by the time of Gigan, and don't seem very interested in straying.
I've always figured Monster Land in Gigan is Monster Island, but before humans figured out how to contain the Kaiju.
If that's right, they probably just contained themselves and their various battles to the Island, from then end of ToMG to the events of DAM. I suppose the Invaders being intimidated idea could fit in there, too.
Yeah, that's where I was coming from.
Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could at any time lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world.
I really like the idea of Madame Piranha being with the Red Bamboo, and perhaps even its leader. I also to think, with King Kong Escpaes, that the film is set sometime between Terror of Mechagodzilla and Destroy All Monsters. Apart from the hovercrafts and other technologies being somewhat out of place in 1967 (Though you can argue they were created through studied alien technology), Kong is treated as if he's a legend, despite appearing only a few years back in 1962. However, if the film is put further into the "Showa timeline", Kong being somewhat forgotten makes more sense after the various other monster attacks that followed. You can also say that Mechani Kong was based off of Mechagodzilla and was originally envisioned by Carl Nelson to combat the various monstrous threats on Earth. The only minor gripe is Gorosaurus appearing via stock footage as one of Monster Island's residents in Godzilla vs. Gigan, but something minor like that can probably be ignored.
I also like to think the Manda from Atragon was male while the one from Destroy All Monsters was female. Because hey, why not? A lot of male specimens of that sort are typically "prettier".
And I like to place Varan before The Mysterians in the timeline, not because it helps with it or anything, but because it makes the film slightly less lame if watching them in chronological order.
99% sure it isn't true, but I'll always believe the Alien leader in ToMG is the same one as seen previously in GvMG. I've believed it too long to change my mind.
One, the events of GvMG and ToMG scared off other invaders for quite some time, and any new Kaiju that popped up never made an impact on society enough to be recognized. As Godzilla and friends were 'tamed' and put on Monster Island, Invaders figured Godzilla was no longer a threat (to them, at least).
Two, Monster Island was created sooner than most guess, simple as that.
Well, if we assume the Showa movies occur in production order with the exception of DAM (and disregard AMA as Ichiro's fantasy), then the monsters are mostly living on Monster Island by the time of Gigan, and don't seem very interested in straying.
Given Godzilla vs. Gigan was at one point called "The Return of King Ghidorah", I suspect it was produced under the belief that DAM had already taken place, and Monster Island was a re-christened Monsterland. I tend to consider they worked based on production order at the time, and that it wasn't until later Toho moved the '70's films to take place at release, and kept DAM to 1999 after all. Another piece of evidence I've mentioned elsewhere is the reference to Manda in ToMG making no sense within a canon that excludes DAM. (Even if we allow for "Atragon", Manda never meets the public!)
I somewhat assume today, within Toho's established canon, that Monster Island was too damaged by the opening of "Godzilla vs. Megalon", considering it's absence in the two Mechagodzilla films, leading to the creation of Monsterland years later.
I pretty literally just assume another 25 years' worth of Showa films occurred off-screen. Nothing specific, just the basic impression that stuff continued to happen.
I used to be a lot more optimistic and outgoing, believe it or not. I used to actually be passionate about this stuff.
Mechagigan wrote:99% sure it isn't true, but I'll always believe the Alien leader in ToMG is the same one as seen previously in GvMG. I've believed it too long to change my mind.
They only had different names, personalities, and clothes and the first one died...
Kaiju-King42 wrote:
Welcome to Toho Kingdom, where every conceivable opinion, no matter how outlandish or unpopular, is a possibility among the population.
Mechagigan wrote:Manda may have eventually made contact offscreen, though I'm not sure if that goes against Atragon, having never seen it.
The idea that the 70's series happens post-DAM is interesting. Could explain some of the wackier technology.
Atragon isn't part of Toho's official canon, but even if we allow for it, it doesn't clash any more so than Baragon and Varan's reappearance in DAM clashes with their previous appearances. I just find it a good example that Toho's official continuity isn't as hard-set as some people treat it as, and in a more positive sense, that we can't always assume what we see on-screen is all that's happened in the Showa continuity, whereas the Heisei and Millennium timelines are much more clear-cut.
I keep up the release order as sort of a secondary chronology.
I used to be a lot more optimistic and outgoing, believe it or not. I used to actually be passionate about this stuff.
Mechagigan wrote:99% sure it isn't true, but I'll always believe the Alien leader in ToMG is the same one as seen previously in GvMG. I've believed it too long to change my mind.
They only had different names, personalities, and clothes and the first one died...
Same could be said about Gandalf.
Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could at any time lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world.
Mechagigan wrote:99% sure it isn't true, but I'll always believe the Alien leader in ToMG is the same one as seen previously in GvMG. I've believed it too long to change my mind.
They only had different names, personalities, and clothes and the first one died...
The most fun I tend to have with it is sort of 'customized' versions of the timelines, where certain films are left out, written off as fantasies or 'movies within movies' or anything like that....just kind of excluding different films to see the flow of things.
Showa era is interesting to nix All Monsters Attack, Hedorah, Gigan, and Megalon...to go straight from Destroy All Monsters to Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla and Terror of MechaGodzilla. I don't think there is anything in GvMG or ToMG that excludes them from occurring post-1999.
And it literally allows one to leapfrog the films ravaged most by stock footage, children skewing/oriented plots, and the ridiculous "Super moves"...to me, those can easily be looked at as being "Movies within movies" or just fantasies...AMA, Hedorah, and Megalon being the sort of imaginations/hallucinations of the key child characters in those film....Gigan being an invention of the comic book writer in the film.
It even gives a sort of 'meta' reason behind the stock footage. In AMA the child is reliving/re-creating ACTUAL documented things he saw/heard of monsters doing. If films like Godzilla vs Gigan and Godzilla vs Megalon are 'movies within movies' or 'fantasies'...then they too would naturally draw from/re-create earlier kaiju battles/moments that occurred in real-life.
That 4 film sequence just feels that way to me...like the product of a world ravaged by dangerous, threatening monsters, always living in the shadow of Godzilla....so as a coping mechanism, films are produced that paint Godzilla as a hero and something that isn't to be feared.
It's just a very fun concept to me.
"I'm saying a prayer, George. A prayer for the whole world."
