- Not to be confused with Barugon.
Baragon (バラゴン Baragon?) is a reptilian kaiju created by Toho that appeared in the 2001 film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.
Name[]
Baragon's name comes from from the Japanese word bara (バラ?), meaning rose, and ragon (ラゴン?), from "dragon." This name refers to the ridges on his back, which supposedly resemble rose petals.
In Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the guardian monster Baragon's name is spelled in kanji but pronounced the same: 婆羅護吽? (Baragon).
Design[]
Appearance[]
The Millennium version of Baragon, also known as SokogekiBara, is a four-legged mammal-like reptilian creature with dark red skin, an orange horn on his forehead, head spikes, and large, floppy dog-like ears. He is bulkier than his previous incarnaton, but had a similar head design. He also has more realistic-looking eyes, which are bright amber with large pupils.
Compared to his Showa counterpart, he has more prominent teeth in addition to large fangs. Baragon also wider ears, which were reduced in size and protrude slightly sideways rather than back towards the head. Baragon's legs are more stout and large, and brightly detailed claws with the thumb claw being larger, similar to many theropod dinosaurs.
Portrayal[]
The SokogekiBara suit was portrayed by actress Rie Ota in most of the scenes, though stuntman Toshinori Sasaki also assisted in the role.
Roar[]
While Baragon's original roar was a slightly modified version of Varan's roar, the character's roar was completely changed. The "modified Varan" roar was discarded and replaced with a new original sound. This version of the roar starts of with a growl followed by a gurgling high pitched wail. The higher voice in the character gave it a more benevolent voice which would help with the audiences appeal to its protagonistic role, and the roar was also enhanced with leopard growls and snarls, crocodile hisses, and some elephant sounds as well as the T. rex roars featured in Jurassic Fight Club.
Origins[]
Baragon is one of the ancient Guardian Monsters of Japan. Alongside Mothra and King Ghidorah, Baragon was originally a rogue beast that threatened Japan before being slain by a group of ancient warriors. These warriors "purified" the souls of Baragon and the other beasts, causing them to gradually rejuvenate into benevolent guardians of Japan.
History[]
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack[]
Baragon in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
Baragon was featured in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, where he was the guardian monster of the element of earth, and later became a model of Komainu (狛犬?, Wolf-like animal or Korean Dog (Koma) and Dog (Inu )), guardian creatures of shrines in Japan.
Baragon (婆羅護吽?, Baragon) was first seen causing earthquakes near Mount Myoko and throughout Japan. He fought Godzilla, but he was quickly killed by him. Later on, when all three guardian monsters were killed, he along with the other two guardian spirits, Mothra and Ghidorah, entered Godzilla's body when he was at sea which stunned him long enough to allow General Tachibana to burrow his way out of Godzilla after internally firing a D-03 missile, an explosive drill. This eventually destroyed him when he tried to use his atomic beam again after it burst out the inflicted hole in his shoulder and finally caused Godzilla to vaporize himself from within.
Abilities[]
Durability[]
Baragon has strong jaws and limitless perseverance.
Natural healing[]
He can replenish his energy as long as he is in contact with the earth.
Burrowing[]
Baragon has the ability to burrow underground. One example of this was when he used this ability to ambush Godzilla off-guard in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack!. The repercussions of his burrowing has the potential to cause earthquakes and avalanches.
Video games[]
Godzilla: Save the Earth[]
Baragon appears as a playable character in Save The Earth, his moveset relies primarily on his Burrowing abilities.
Godzilla: Unleashed[]
Baragon once again appears in both the Playstation and Wii ports of Godzilla Unleashed as a playable character.
Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash[]
Baragon appears as a Boss in the half of the Seattle Stage.
Godzilla: Kaiju Collection[]
Baragon's 2001 incarnation appeared within the title Godzilla: Kaiju Collection with his past incarnations.
Godzilla Defense Force[]
Baragon appears in the Arizona stage as a boss, it can also be battled in the games GMK Weekly Challenge.
Once beaten you'll unlock a 3 Star Card for him that raises production speed by 35% for 16 seconds.
In other languages[]
- Russian: Барагон
Trivia[]
Concept art displaying Baragon's use of his ears
- The distinctive notches in Baragon's ears originally had an unused function. Baragon could fold his ears over his eyes, with the notches interlocking with his horn. Baragon would then charge at the opponent, whilst protecting his eyes from physical blows.
- Unlike his Showa incarnation, this Baragon is not shown to be capable of breathing fire of any kind, although he did use the Flame Ray ability that his Showa counterpart did, during the boss battle against the former in the iOS game Godzilla: Defense Force.
List of appearances[]
Films[]
- Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
- Godzilla: Final Wars (Stock Footage)
Video games[]
- Godzilla: Save the Earth
- Godzilla: Unleashed
- Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash
- Godzilla: Kaiju Collection
- Godzilla Defense Force
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia. Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack; Page 111
