5 Forgotten Kaijus That Haven’t Been In Movies For Decades

Godzilla, King Kong, the Kraken, King Ghidorah, the rancor, Mothra, Rodan, these are all kaiju who have been consistently used in cinema for decades. But the well of kaiju goes down very deep, and not all of them have found themselves featured in the Monsterverse movies, the two 2010s Clash of the Titans movies, or modern-day Disney Star Wars projects. What follows are five examples of kaiju that haven’t been seen in quite some time yet still have much to contribute. The only factor potentially excluding them is just how long it’s been since we’ve seen them in a film. Specifically, at least 20 years.

Now, we’re focusing just on movies here. That means if a character showed up in, say, the animated series Godzilla Singular Point, they were fair game.

5) Manda

Toho’s Manda is simplistic yet effective in design. He’s a sea dragon with no real powers outside of his ability to use his long, snake-like body to crush objects, whether it’s an underwater vessel or a land-based bridge. He wouldn’t be a film’s big bad, but he could be a great first act fight in a Monsterverse movie.

Not counting stock footage in All Monsters Attack (aka Godzilla’s Revenge) and Terror of Mechagodzilla, Manda has only been in three movies: Atragon, Destroy All Monsters, and Godzilla Final Wars. And, in all three of those movies, he made the most of limited screentime.

4) Varan

If any Toho kaiju really got messed over, it’s poor Varan. He got his own movie, so one would think he would have ended up being as important to the Godzilla movies as Rodan or Mothra. Instead, he’s just seen flying in the background at one point in Destroy All Monsters. Every other monster contributed to beating Ghidorah in that monster mash except him. It’s as if Toho went out of their way to say he didn’t matter. He didn’t even really pop up in Godzilla Final Wars, save for a shot of a kid playing with a Varan toy.

It’s a shame, too, because he’s pretty well-designed. He’s not as big or powerful as Godzilla, but he’s an interesting looking prehistoric reptile. And, unlike Godzilla, he can fly.

3) Baragon

Like Varan, Baragon had a major presence in one movie then was mostly discarded. For instance, in the climactic fight of Destroy All Monsters, he too did not contribute much to taking down King Ghidorah.

The last time we saw Baragon (outside some stock footage of his Frankenstein Conquers the World debut in Godzilla Final Wars), was in his major supporting role in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. It’s about time we see this burrowing beast once more.

2) Guiron

Gamera wasn’t included because his last film was in 2006, so he just missed the cutoff. Granted, we got what amounted to a baby Gamera 2.0 in that movie, but it still counted. Gamera’s adversaries, however, were all fair game, so we went with the most bizarrely designed of the bunch: Guiron.

If Gamera ever flies his way into the Monsterverse, Guiron should join him. This quadruped with a kitchen knife for a head is a deadly opponent, and it would be fun to watch Kong and Godzilla try to dodge a swing of his noggin blade. Really, most of Gamera’s adversaries could function well in the Monsterverse, from Guiron to Gyaos.

1) Anguirus

Godzilla’s first adversary also became his best friend, even over Mothra and Rodan. Yet we still haven’t seen him in the Monsterverse.

This one seems like it will inevitably change. We saw him consistently in the Shōwa era in Godzilla Raids Again, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs. Gigan, and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, but he sat out the Heisei era before ultimately returning in the Millennium era’s Godzilla Final Wars. In other words, it’s not the first time there’s been a gap between Anguirus sightings. Admittedly, we did see his dead body in GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, but we’re not counting corpses as genuine movie appearances here. Bring Anguirus to the Monsterverse, please, it’s been 21 years since we last saw the guy.