King Ghidorah (MonsterVerse)

"From the Hydra to the Rainbow Serpent, myth was the compass that led us to the resting place of the three-headed Titan. A name, unspoken through millennia of whispered nightmares. A living extinction event, named “the one who is many”. We call it Monster Zero."

- Monarch Sciences description

The King Ghidorah キングギドラ (Kingu Gidora) of the MonsterVerse, also dubbed Monster Zero, is a giant three-headed dragon  created by Legendary Pictures that will appear in Legendary's upcoming 2019 film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Name
King Ghidorah's name is likely based on Zmey Gorynych from the 1956 Soviet film Ilya Muromets, the inspiration source of the monster and was called King Dragon in Japan.

"Ghidorah" is likely based on a direct translation of the pronunciation of Hydra in Russian language.

Appearance
According to a cave painting, Ghidorah, much like his previous incarnations in Toho's pre-MonsterVerse films, is shown to be much larger than Godzilla, and appears to possess long manes on his necks, though whether they are comprised of hair, feathers, fleshy soft tissue, or some combination of any of these is currently unknown. The middle head's horns are notably straighter and longer than those of its peripheral heads. Ghidorah's wings are also larger and more bat-like in appearance than most incarnations, and they can also act as forelimbs when Ghidorah is standing idly. Each of his heads have a frill of horns similar to the Heisei incarnation, but each horn is longer and more curved. He still has his traditional twin tails which end in fish-like fins. His legs are digitigrade with avian-like feet, similar to the 2001 incarnation. His eyes are a fiery red which seem to glow.

Portrayal
Ghidorah will be portrayed through a mix of motion capture and CGI. It was confirmed that Jason Liles, who starred in Rampage, will mo-cap Ghidorah's middle head, with Alan Maxson and Richard Dorton portraying the other two, while unnamed colleagues play the monster's body.

Roar
Ghidorah's roar is undefined.

Personality
Ghidorah seems to be malevolent in nature, as implied by the skulls depicted surrounding him in the cave painting and a footnote in Vivienne Graham's notes that refers to him as "the devil". He is depicted fighting with Godzilla in a cave painting, suggesting that the two have a form of rivalry.

Origins
Ghidorah's origins are unknown, given how he is shown in a cave painting, it is quite possible he, like Godzilla and Kong, is a prehistoric superspecies; however, there´s other strong possibility that he could maintain his extraterrestrial origin due to the more lacking evidence of an earth natural origin, and being more mysterious. The creature, as of 2016 was discovered buried in the Antarctic in a location dubbed the "Wall of Serpents".

Kong: Skull Island
In 1971, Houston Brooks and San Lin would brief James Conrad and Mason Weaver on multiple other monsters who ruled the world alongside Kong. This included King Ghidorah, along with Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan, who were shown to the two via classified Monarch cave paintings.

2016
In 2016, Vivienne Graham led an effort to build a containment and research facility around an extraordinary, but dormant creature in the Antarctic. Her classified field notes contained the mysterious footnote, "The devil has three heads."

Godzilla: King of the Monsters
It has been confirmed that Ghidorah will appear in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, along with Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan, on May 31, 2019.

Bio-electrical nature
Ghidorah's dermal layer is covered with traces of gold which act as a conductor that carries bioelectrical currents throughout his body. He has an electro-receptor molecular biology and can conduct electrical currents, make water vapor heat up to extreme levels, and create localized storm systems, otherworldly tempests of thunder and lightning.

Flight
Ghidorah's massive and powerful wings enable him to fly with great speed over long distances.

Gravity beams
Ghidorah can shoot gravity beams from his mouths. Much like how Godzilla's dorsal plate glow whenever he's about to release his Atomic Breath, Ghidorah's throats glow before he fires his Gravity Beams.

Hurricane winds
Ghidorah has hyper-tensile muscle tendons on his wings capable of generating hurricane-force winds while in flight.

Intelligence
Cranial scans indicate each of Ghidorah's heads possess different levels of cognitive function and possible independent thought. The center head is the most intelligent while the left and right heads are more akin to feral, mindless beasts.

Trivia

 * In the official Monarch timeline posted on the Facebook page for Kong: Skull Island, the label given to Ghidorah is "Monster Zero", which was the name given to him by the Xiliens in Invasion of Astro-Monster.
 * According to Monarch Sciences, Ghidorah (like his arch-rival Godzilla) has been alive for centuries and influenced the depiction of numerous mythological creatures (such as the Rainbow Serpent and the Hydra) which were in fact sightings of him.
 * This trait where monsters had inspired humanity to create mystical creatures from the real world is very similar to the cases seen in Shusuke Kaneko's Gamera Trilogy and his Godzilla. There are more claims of similarities between his works and monsters in the previous film.
 * An idea for Ghidorah to battle Godzilla underwater, as seen in the concept arts released at Tokyo Comic-Con, was also originally introduced to the series within Kaneko's work.
 * This is the largest live-action incarnation of Ghidorah as well as the second largest next to the anime incarnation.
 * Monarch Outpost 32, where Ghidorah is contained, functions as a reference to Outpost 31 of the 1982 film The Thing. This is backed up by its location, which is in an Antarctic/Arctic region.
 * Additionally, it is a more subtle homage to 1964, the year Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster was released (as 32 is half of 64).

List of appearances

 * Kong: Skull Island
 * Godzilla: King of the Monsters