All 12 Kaiju Who Live On Godzilla’s Monster Island

Throughout Godzilla‘s 70-year history, he has been shown emerging from multiple different home territories, but perhaps the most famous of his homes is Monster Island, which he has historically shared with many other kaiju. Some of those monsters haven’t appeared in a Godzilla movie in over 50 years, but during the latter stages of the Showa Era, a number of Godzilla’s friends and foes were loosely contained on the island. While the location was never specified, it was allegedly in the Pacific Ocean somewhere, in an equatorial climate.

While Monsterland was first introduced in 1968’s Destroy All Monsters, stock footage of kaiju in Monsterland from that movie was reused later in the Showa Era movies, presented as footage from Monster Island. Monster Island even appeared in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, albeit under a different true name, and with decidedly fewer kaiju present. Regardless of how it has been presented on the screen, the concept of a monster-infested island has been an essential part of Godzilla’s ongoing lore.

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12

Giant Condor/Giant Eagle

The Unnamed, Obscure Bird Bothered Godzilla Momentarily

The kaiju commonly referred to as “Giant Condor” is exactly what the name indicates: just an over-sized predatory bird. It’s difficult to consider him a kaiju in the same vein as Godzilla, Mothra, or Rodan, because he’s far smaller and barely registers as a threat to Godzilla. Its first appearance was in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, in which it flew at Godzilla on the beach of Letchi Island, where the movie largely takes place, and pestered him briefly before being blasted out of the sky by his atomic breath.

The monster is reused in All Monsters Attack but relabeled as “Giant Eagle”, and suffers a nearly identical fate. However, the encounter this time is framed as taking place on Monster Island as opposed to the aforementioned Letchi Island, so technically Giant Condor was one of the Monster Island kaiju in canon.

11

Manda

The Serpentine Kaiju Has Been An Ally Of Godzilla

Manda first appeared in one of Toho’s movies that was not part of the Godzilla franchise: the sci-fi fantasy adventure Atragon. He appeared in Destroy All Monsters as one of the Monsterland kaiju that gathers at the base of Mount Fuji to destroy the Kilaak base once they are freed from the Kilaaks’ mind control. While many of those monsters went on to battle King Ghidorah in a massive team effort, Manda sat out the fight alongside Varan and Baragon.

Stock footage of Manda from Destroy All Monsters was reused in All Monsters Attack, and he was presented as one of the monsters that lived on Monster Island with Godzilla and the others. While the events on Monster Island from All Monsters Attack technically occurred in the dreams of Ichiro Miki, it’s typically accepted that the monsters he dreamed about do in fact live on Monster Island, so in a roundabout way, Manda counts.

10

Gorosaurus

The Former King Kong Villain Once Aided Godzilla In Battle

Like Manda, the tyrannosaurus-like Gorosaurus first appeared in a Toho movie outside the Godzilla franchise. He was an early antagonist for King Kong in 1967’s King Kong Escapes, and suffered a broken jaw at King Kong’s hands. A new iteration of Gorosaurus appeared in Destroy All Monsters, and like Manda, he was one of the monsters under Kilaak control. Once the hold was broken on all the monsters, Gorosaurus was part of the main monster assault on King Ghidorah, and actually delivered a brutal drop-kick to the three-headed dragon that cemented the Monsterland allies’ victory.

As was the case for many of the monsters that appeared in All Monsters Attack, Gorosaurus technically appeared on Monster Island in the dreams of Ichiro Miki, but only using stock footage from his appearance in Destroy All Monsters. Whether due to continuity oversight or intentional distinction, Monster Island has historically been considered different from Monsterland, which was the unknown geographical territory where Godzilla and his fellow monsters roamed freely shown in Destroy All Monsters.

9

Ebirah

The Massive Lobster Lives In The Sea Around The Island

Ebirah was the primary antagonist of Godzilla in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, which again takes place not on Mosnter Island, but on Letchi Island. He made two other appearances in the Godzilla movie franchise, once in All Monsters Attack in a somewhat silly but entertaining rock fight with Godzilla, and once many years later in Godzilla: Final Wars, where he is embarrasingly dispatched by a group of mutant superhumans. Technically, he never sets foot on Monster Island during All Monsters Attack, but he is shown living in the sea there and fighting Godzilla on the beach.

8

Gabara

The Mutant Amphibian Bullied Godzilla’s Son

Gabara is among the Godzilla franchise’s most-maligned monsters, as he only appeared once in what amounted to an annoying bully role. The mutant amphibian harassed Godzilla’s far smaller young son Minilla, hitting him with electrified punches and other classic tokusatsu fight moves. He exclusively appears in All Monsters Attack in the dreams of Ichiro Miki, but in those dreams he is a resident of Monster Island. Godzilla absolutely thrashes him later in the movie in one of the more satisfying beatdowns in the franchise, if only because it gets Gabara off the screen.

7

Kamacuras

Godzilla And His Son Had Run-Ins With The Giant Praying Mantises

Kamacuras first appeared in 1967’s Son of Godzilla on Sollgel Island, which is an earlier iteration of Monster Island in the same way Monsterland was in Destroy All Monsters. There were originally three Kamacuras, and they were responsible for Minilla hatching early (which is supposedly why he looks different and lacks his father’s powers at first). Godzilla kills two of them before Kumonga, the giant spider kaiju, kills the third. They reappear in All Monsters Attack, where one of them chases Ichiro Miki. They make another Showa Era appearance in Godzilla vs. Gigan, shown living in peace on Monster Island.

6

Kumonga

The Enormous Spider Has Been Both An Enemy And An Ally To Godzilla

Like Kamacuras, Kumonga first appeared on Sollgel Island in Son of Godzilla. He acted as the movie’s final villain in fact, as Minilla finally learned Godzilla’s full atomic breath and the duo set Kumonga on fire to defeat him. He was also part of the cadre of Monsterland monsters that took on King Ghidorah in Destroy All Monsters, and appeared in Ichiro Miki’s dreams of Monster Island in All Monsters Attack. He also appeared as a Monster Island monster in Godzilla vs. Gigan, and would go on to make one final appearance during Godzilla: Final Wars.

5

Minilla

Godzilla’s Unimpressive Son Called Monster Island His Home

Minilla is one of the main characters on Monster Island in All Monsters Attack, as he befriends the boy Ichiro Miki (again, in his dreams) and is even capable of speaking. Prior to that, he fought alongside his father against King Ghidorah in Destroy All Monsters, and even delivered the final blow against the evil space monster with one of his smoke rings. Minilla continued to live on Monster Island through Godzilla vs. Gigan, mirroring the narrative of Kamacuras and Kumonga, until making his final appearance in Godzilla: Final Wars, where he befriended a young boy once again.

4

Anguirus

Godzilla’s Long-Time Ally Settled On Monster Island

Anguirus actually began as Godzilla’s first kaiju enemy, battling him to the death in Godzilla Raids Again, the rushed sequel to the 1954 original. Anguirus and Godzilla are actually the only two monsters who are shown living on Monster Island aside from stock footage or the dreams of Ichirio Miki. Throughout the rest of the Showa Era, Anguirus is the faithful friend and ally of Godzilla, and helps him go toe-to-toe against some of the fiercest enemies in Godzilla’s rogues’ gallery.

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While Monster Island has on occasion been presented as a place where kaiju are “kept” as opposed to a place where they choose to live, Anguirus and Godzilla never seemed to have much issue with leaving the island. As a burrowing monster, Anguirus is capable of entering the Earth at one point and appearing in another, as opposed to swimming across the ocean. In Godzilla vs. Megalon, Anguirus is shown falling into a fissure on Monster Island that resulted as part of an earthquake, and resurfaces elsewhere in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla before burrowing his way to Japan.

3

Rodan

Godzilla’s On-Again, Off-Again Ally Had A Nest On Monster Island

Rodan first appeared in his own solo Toho movie just two years after Godzilla debuted in 1956, giving him one of the longest cinematic histories of any on-screen kaiju. When he and Godzilla first clashed in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, they were bitter enemies who required convincing from Mothra to team up against the world’s greater threat. From that point on in the Showa Era, Rodan acted as an ally to Godzilla, assisting him in battle multiple times before eventually settling on Monster Island by the events of Godzilla vs. Gigan.

2

Mothra

The Larval Form Of The Queen Of The Monsters Briefly Appeared On The Island

Mothra’s true home is most commonly accepted as Infant Island, where she and the twin fairies known as the Shobijin are seen returning to after the climactic battle in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. She then awakens in her full-grown imago form to help stop the terrorist organization known as the Red Bamboo on Letchi Island in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, ultimately rescuing the people on the island. She is only shown living on Monster Island in stock footage, along with several other monsters on the list who appeared very briefly in via stock footage in the late Showa Era.

1

Godzilla

The Atomic Lizard Ruled Over Monster Island

Godzilla was always a mainstay of whatever legendary land or island where monsters congregated during the Showa Era, whether it was Sollgel Island, Monsterland, or Monster Island. Along with Anguirus, he is actually shown living on Monster Island in Godzilla vs. Gigan, whereas other monsters only appeared there in stock footage or dream sequences. While there never appeared to be any true hierarchy on the island, Godzilla’s strength and power seemed to provide him with the de facto rule over the other monsters, and he at the very least acted as an enforcer of order there.

Godzilla

Movie(s)

Godzilla, Godzilla 2, Godzilla 3, Shin Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla Minus One, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Godzilla Vs King Kong, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., godzilla: monster planet, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Godzilla: Final Wars, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla: The Showa Era Films, Godzilla vs. Biollante

Created by

Tomoyuki Tanaka, Akira Watanabe

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