4

Ghidrah

from San daikaiju chikyu saidai no kessen
[trans. Three Giant Monsters’ Decisive Battle for Earth]
(Japan-1964; dir. Ishiro Honda)
[aka Ghidrah, The Three-Headed Monster]

Naoko Shindo: Oh it looks like they’re having a conversation. Oh Shindo, what do you think they’re saying to each other?
Detective Shindo: Huh, how would I know? You expect me to understand monster talk?

This space monster, the arch-nemesis of Godzilla the king of all monsters, is definitely one of the most insane creations to date to grace our list — a giant golden-scaled, triple-headed dragon kaiju from space that can spew lightning bolts from its mouths with destructive consequences. In its original screen appearances it even had golden hair! Over the years there have been many various different takes on the creature, including a cyborg version developed by the Futurians, but no matter what form he takes Ghidrah or King Ghidorah easily steals the show with every appearance and is popularly considered the most genuinely fearsome of the lot.

The trailer for Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster:

The US trailer:

A tribute:

• IMDB

Next: Kaiju Search-Robot Avery’s Top 20 Craziest Kaiju Countdown Number 3!

Top 20 Craziest Kaiju Countdown articles:

• Kaiju Search-Robot Avery’s Introduction
• Number 20: The Monolith Monsters
• Number 19: The Giant Claw
• Number 18: Dogora
• Number 17: The Trollenberg Terror
• Number 16: Rectuma
• Number 15: The Outlander
• Number 14: The Host
• Number 13: DeepStar Six
• Number 12: Gojira
• Number 11: Monster Shark
• Number 10: The Milpitas Monster
• Number 9: Space Monster Wangmagwi
• Number 8: The Relic
• Number 7: Angry Red Planet
• Number 6: Birth of a Legend: The Story of the Wawa
• Number 5: Cloverfield