Destroyah
From Wikizilla
Destoroyah, alternatively Destroyah or Destroyer, is a kaiju from the 1995 film Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. It originated as a colony of Precambrian crustaceans that had been awakened and mutated when the Oxygen Destroyer was detonated to kill Godzilla in 1954 (Godzilla). Destroyah was chosen in Godzilla: Unleashed
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Appearance
It grows quickly and adopts several appearances throughout the film, including insect-sized, 2-meter, and 18-meter crablike forms, a larger aggregate crablike form, a batlike flying form, and a 120-meter bipedal, winged, demon like final form. Destoroyah was one of several kaiju in the Heisei series to undergo such transformations.
Origin/Story
Starting out as a small, harmless microorganism from the precambrian era, it survived peacefully until 1954, where it was mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer. After soil samples were taken from the area in which it resided, the creature escaped into the water used in the aquarium, where it killed several fish before vanishing.
Destroyah next emerges in its 2-meter form, destroying a bridge and then hiding in a factory. The Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) sends in numerable soldiers to attempt to destroy the crabs, but their assault rifles cause no damage to the creatures, who badly wound and kill a number of JSDF. Eventually the JSDF attacks them with flamethrowers, badly wounding the aggregates and causing them to retreat. It becomes known that the aggregates are very vulnerable to temperate extremes, incredible heat or sub-zero cold.
The JSDF deploy a squadron of Maser Tanks and missile batteries armed with Ultra Low Temperature lasers (ULT Lasers) and cooling shells. When the aggregates emerge again, they begin bombarding them with the freezing barrage. It seems to be working against the beasts, until they all converge on one position and merge into one giant crab monster. It's then revealed that micro-oxygen, which was thought to have given birth to the crabs, wouldn't possess that power, only the Oxygen Destroyer would. The giant aggregate then transforms into a giant bat-like form and flies away.
When trying to think of another way to fell the destructive monster, the JSDF decide to try and lure Godzilla to Destroyah. They reluctantly agree to the plan, despite protests from the psychic Miki Saegusa, and decide to lure Godzilla Jr. to Destroyah, knowing Godzilla will follow. Miki and another psychic fly out to Junior and use there psychic powers to make him change his course for Tokyo. When Junior arrives, Destroyah attacks him in his/her flying form. Junior is battered by the stronger monster, until he gets off a lucky shot and brings the flying form down. Destroyah quickly recovers, attacking Junior in his/her giant crab form. Destroyah pins Junior beneath her/his massive form and tears into his skin with his/her double jaw, injecting him with micro-oxygen drinking his blood, and draining his life force. When all hope seems lost, Junior fires one last blast at Destroyah, knocking her/him into the air. Junior then fires one final radioactive burst, sending Destroyah flying into a factory and her/his apparent death as the factory explodes.
When Godzilla finally arrives in Tokyo, and reunites with his son, the final form of Destroyah rise from the fires of the factory. The vile behemoth takes to the air and flies toward Godzilla and his son, striking the monster king to the ground and grabbing Junior in her/his massive claws. He/She flies high into the air and drops Junior, sending the young monster plummeting to the ground. Junior smashes into a building, sending smoke high into the air, and Destroyah makes a final pass over the fallen beast, firing her/his micro-oxygen ray and killing Godzilla Junior.
Godzilla, witnessing the death of his son, rises from the ground, a violent new rage burning in his veins. Destroyah lands and bellows at Godzilla, challenging him to a final battle. Destroyah proves to be a powerful and vicious opponent, even for Godzilla in his most powerful form. He/She batters the monster king with bursts of micro-oxygen rays and pummels him to the ground with his mass. Destroyah then wraps his/her tail around Godzilla and drags him out to sea, dropping him in the ocean. Godzilla rises again and returns to the fight, where Destroyah unleashes her/his deadly Horn Katana, slicing through Godzilla's powerful hide as if it were paper. Godzilla unleashes his full fury upon Destroyah, causing the demon to spurt vast amounts of blood and finally explode. Destroyah quickly counter attacks in his/her multiple small aggregate forms. As they swarm upon Godzilla, the monster king is overwhelmed by the mass and unleashes a powerful nuclear pulse, destroying the aggregates.
After Godzilla fails to revitalize his fallen son, the grief in his heart causes his meltdown to begin to go critical. The JSDF quickly dispatches the Super X III and the maser tanks armed with ULT Lasers to stop Godzilla's meltdown. As Godzilla continues to mourn his son and his nuclear heart begins to overload, Destroyah returns again. The evil beast strangles Godzilla with his/her tail and then throws Godzilla away from his son and prepares to battle again. Godzilla rises, and his spines begin to melt as the meltdown begins. The overload of power causes Godzilla's fire breath to increase in power to exponential levels. Godzilla unleashes his fury upon Destroyah, who is burned and torn apart by the fiery blasts. Sensing that he/she is going to lose the fight, Destroyah takes to the skies to escape. The JSDF quickly turn their ULT Lasers on the escaping monster, destroying his/her wings. Destroyah then plummets to the ground, the freezing blasts from the lasers causing his/her body to rapidly deteriorate. He/she falls to the ground in front of Godzilla and evaporates into a cloud of mist on impact.
Powers and abilities
Destoroyah possessed numerous powers, including a micro-oxygen beam that was strong enough to dissolve Godzilla's and Godzilla Junior's hides and a Laser Horn(horn katana) attack that was powerful enough to badly wound Godzilla. He can also stab his tail into enemies and absorb the life energy from them. It also was able to divide himself into smaller, aggregate forms which would combine again to form his final form, these were used to heal himself and attack Godzilla. It was portrayed by fans as The Strongest Monster in the Heisei series, even stronger than Spacegodzilla and Mechagodzilla 2 as it is able to withstand several hits from Godzilla's enhanced spiral ray while both Spacegodzilla and Mechagodzilla 2 were destroyed in one shot. Its general design is reminiscent of the Xenomorphs in the Alien movies, complete with double jaws. Destoroyah later appeared in two of Atari's Godzilla videogames, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee and Godzilla: Save the Earth with the new addition to be able to spew purple Oxygen Absorber Mines, that cause a great amount of damage when used in a group and can draw monsters into them and send them flying. His rage attack is called Oxygen Destroyer, which is a powerful homing attack shot from his mouth.
A possible reason that the name "Destroyer" isn't commonly used in various markets is because the word itself could not be trademarked. So while he is referred to as "Destroyer" when spoken, it is always "Destroyah" in printed form.
Trivia
- A cut scene from the film that was completely scrapped and lost (or possibly locked away) by Toho revealed that Destoroyah had a special ability not seen in the finished film release or in any other commercially released product, toy, game, or otherwise. The cut scene showed that Destoroyah could open up the floral pattern on its chest and fire a devastating beam (called a "Wave-Motion Ray"), with oxygen destroying properties and capable of knocking Godzilla over with immense force. Supposedly, the attack was used only the one time in that scene, and nowhere else. It is shown on the Region 2 Godzilla vs. Destroyer DVD.
- Another deleted scene in the movie took place at the end of the film. After Destoroyah is brought to the ground when trying to escape from Godzilla's meltdown, he rises again as opposed to dissolving. Without his wings, he could no longer escape Godzilla's fury, so he was forced to fight Godzilla as the monster king began to meltdown. Godzilla quickly overpowered Destoroyah, grabbing him by his horn and pummeling him repeatedly. As Godzilla melts down, the JSDF rain their ULT weapons upon him, as well as Destoroyah. Unable to stand against the immense heat of Godzilla's meltdown and the freezing cold of the ULT lasers, Destoroyah falls and evaporates. However, it was thought that having Godzilla fight Destoroyah while he melted down took away from Godzilla's death, which was to be the main point of the movie. So the scene was re-edited to have Destoroyah die after the JSDF shoot him down, and allow Godzilla to have center stage as he finally dies.
- Some fans believe Destoroyah is a female Kaiju. Destoroyah's anatomy is somewhat crablike- the final form has a wide, triangular patch on its belly which is similar to those found on the undersides of female crabs. It might also be hermaphrodite with a female look. Others believe that gender is not an issue, as Destoroyah is composed of multiple little crabs of varying gender. Still others declare that Destoroyah must be male. This is due to the fact that on all of Toho's official property including Destoroyah claim the beast to be a male. This will never be known for sure though.
