Kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. A subgenre of science fiction, it was created by Eiji Tsuburaya and Ishirō Honda. The term can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monsters.
Gamera is a fictional monster, or kaiju, originating from a series of Japanese films. Debuting in the 1965 film Gamera, the Giant Monster, the character and the first film were intended to compete with the success of Toho's Godzilla film series. Since then, Gamera has become a Japanese icon in his own right, appearing in a total of 12 films produced by Daiei Film and later by Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Daiei Studio respectively, and various other media such as novelizations, manga, video games, and so on.
King Ghidorah is a fictional monster, or kaiju, which first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1964 film Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. The monster was initially created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Eiji Tsuburaya and Shinichi Sekizawa as an homage to the eight-headed mythological Japanese dragon Yamata no Orochi. Although the name of the character is officially trademarked by Toho as "King Ghidorah", the character was originally referred to as Ghidorah, Ghidrah or Monster Zero in some English markets.
Godzilla vs. Hedorah is a 1971 Japanese kaiju film directed by Yoshimitsu Banno, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the 11th film in the Godzilla franchise, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla and Hedorah. The film stars Akira Yamauchi, Toshie Kimura, and Hiroyuki Kawase, and features Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and Kenpachiro Satsuma as Hedorah. Satsuma would go on to portray Godzilla in later Godzilla films.
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is a 1995 Japanese kaiju film directed by Takao Okawara, with special effects by Kōichi Kawakita. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 22nd installment in the Godzilla franchise, and is the seventh and final film in the franchise's Heisei period. The film features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Godzilla Junior and Destoroyah, and stars Takuro Tatsumi, Yōko Ishino, Yasufumi Hayashi, Sayaka Osawa, Megumi Odaka, Masahiro Takashima, Momoko Kōchi and Akira Nakao, with Kenpachiro Satsuma as Godzilla, Hurricane Ryu as Godzilla Junior, and Ryo Hariya as Destoroyah.
Godzilla: Monster of Monsters! (ゴジラ) is a Nintendo Entertainment System video game released in Japan in 1988 and in 1989 in the US by Toho Co., Ltd. The North American version removes all references to Toho Cenfile-Soft Library and Compile, crediting the game to Toho Eizo on the title screen instead.
Gigan is a kaiju from Toho's Godzilla franchise who first appeared in Godzilla vs. Gigan. Gigan is a space monster resembling a species of reptile who was turned into a cyborg by the Nebulans. Gigan sports a huge buzzsaw in its frontal abdominal region, large metallic hooks for hands, and a birdlike beak. Gigan is considered one of Godzilla's most brutal and violent opponents, and the first kaiju in the Toho sci-fi series to make him noticeably bleed. Complex listed the character as No. 2 on its "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time" list.
Hedorah, also known as the Smog Monster, is a kaiju monster who first appeared in Toho's 1971 film Godzilla vs. Hedorah. The huge monster was named for Hedoro (へどろ), the Japanese word for sludge, slime, vomit or chemical ooze.
Mechagodzilla is a fictional mecha character that first appeared in the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. In its debut appearance, Mechagodzilla is depicted as an extraterrestrial villain that confronts Godzilla. In subsequent iterations, Mechagodzilla is usually depicted as a man-made weapon designed to defend Japan against Godzilla and other kaiju. In all incarnations, the character is portrayed as a robotic doppelgänger with a vast array of weaponry, and along with King Ghidorah, is commonly considered to be an archenemy of Godzilla.
Godzilla Island is a television show spinoff of the Godzilla franchise. It premiered on October 6, 1997, and ran for a total of 256 three-minute episodes, finishing on September 30, 1998.
Godzilla: Unleashed is a 3D fighting video game based on Toho's Godzilla franchise. It was developed by Pipeworks Software and published by Atari. The game was released in North America on November 20, 2007 for PlayStation 2; and on December 5 of the same year for the Wii. A Nintendo DS version, titled Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash, was also released in North America on December 5, 2007.
G-Fest, often typeset as G-FEST, is an annual convention devoted to the Godzilla film franchise and other kaiju franchises such as Gamera and the Ultra Series. G-Fest is staged by Daikaiju Enterprises, Ltd., and G-Fan magazine. It regularly features panels, contests, and theatrically screened films of interest to fans of Japanese monsters.
Godzilla: Kaijū Daikessen is a 2D fighting video game released in 1994 for the Super Famicom. The game was developed by Alfa System and published by Toho. It was the second game based on Toho's Godzilla franchise to be released on Super Famicom, following 1993's Super Godzilla.
Godzilla is a video game developed by Compile based on the Godzilla franchise, and was first released for Game Boy in 1990. It is a port of the 1985 MSX game, Gojira-Kun. The game features character designs from the franchise's Showa era films.
Kaijū-ō Godzilla is a 1993 action adventure game by Bandai for the Game Boy. It was released exclusively in Japan. The game is notable for featuring nearly every monster in the Godzilla franchise up until the time of its release.
Godzilla is a 2014 video game developed by Natsume Atari and published by Bandai Namco Games for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 based on the Japanese monster Godzilla franchise by Toho. It was first released on December 18, 2014, in Japan only for the PlayStation 3. It was released on July 14, 2015, in North America and on July 17, 2015, in Europe. The Western PlayStation 4 version is based on the upgraded Japanese release called Godzilla VS, released on July 14, 2015, containing more content such as additional monsters.
Ultraman is a fictional superhero who debuted in the pilot episode to his 1966 TV series of the same name, entitled "Ultraman". He is the first tokusatsu hero launched by the Ultra Series and by extension, Tsuburaya Productions. His appearance in the entertainment world helped spawn the Kyodai Hero genre with countless shows such as Godman and Iron King.
