Varan
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Appearences
Varan made his debut in a 1958 film known as Varan. A significantly cut version was released in America in 1962 as 'Varan the Unbelievable!'. At the movie's end, he was killed by air-dropping bombs, which Varan snapped up and ate. Varan appeared decades years later on Monster Island in Destroy All Monsters. Just as with the Baragon suit, the Varan suit was heavily damaged from use on the Ultraman show. Beacause of this, he could only appear in Destroy All Monsters for a few seconds as an immobile (gliding) toy. Varan's name is in fact briefly mentioned in the American version of the film, at least. Contrary to popular belief, Varan was not thrown in for a few seconds just to say the film had more monsters. He was to have a bigger role, but Toho chose not to repair the suit damage and so Varan was regulated to being part of the backdrop.
Powers
Varan does not have any beam weapons, in common with many of the older kaiju. His one special ability is gliding. Varan has skin flaps between his arms and legs, rather like those of a flying squirrel. In his debut film, he jumped off a cliff and glided to another island: Japan. In Destroy All Monsters, he glides into view for the final battle, and later on Monster Island. Varan did not fight King Ghidorah in Destroy All Monsters; he merely watched.
So Varan has never actually been seen in combat against any other monsters. He used his tail to level buildings in his original film, which may indicate how he'd fight in combat. He also has dorsal spines, which did nothing vs. the puny humans he battled, but might possibly be of use against other giant monsters. His skin texture is extremely interesting - it is covered with huge blisters or lumps. In amphibians, such blisters contain poison glands. In reptiles, lumps like these are usually osteoderms - armor plates. Either option would mean Varan has some tricks up his sleeve. Osteoderm-like armor might make the most sense, since Varan was almost invulnerable to human weapons (in common with most Kaiju, however), and had to internally eat bombs before they affected him.
Games
Varan appeared in Godzilla: Monster of Monsters and a later GameBoy game, but otherwise has not appeared in any games. He was considered for Godzilla: Save the Earth and appeared in Godzilla: Unleashed as an Earth Defender.
He appears in several fan games, including Solgell Island Kajiu Volleystone, Godzilla, Anguirus, Varan: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack II and Dimension Tide
Deleted movies
Varan was meant to be in The Return of King Ghidorah, a TV version of Varan, Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguiris: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, and All Monsters Attack (a different version of Destroy All Monsters.)
