Baragon

Baragon (バラゴン, Baragon) is a reptilian created by Toho Studios that first appeared in the 1965 film Frankenstein vs. Baragon, and first appeared alongside Godzilla in the 1968 Godzilla series film, Destroy All Monsters.

Appearance
Baragon is a four-legged reptile with brown skin, a horn on his head, and large ears.

Name
The name Baragon is derived from the Japanese word bara (バラ), meaning rose, and gon (ゴン), from the Greek word meaning shape. This term is probably a reference to the plates on Baragon's back being shaped like rose petals.

Showa Series
In the Showa series, Baragon burrowed underground and survived while all (or most) other dinosaurs died. He adapted to the environment and lived successfully. When the sounds of a nearby factory disturbed and awakened Baragon, he emerged from the underground and attacked it. He next appeared at Shirane and destroyed the village. He next emerged at a farm, where he ate the livestock. During these attacks, Baragon was not seen, so a mutated human being called Frankenstein was blamed. But there was a person who survived the destruction of the factory who claimed there was a second monster and that it was the one that attacked the factory. When a small group of scientists searched for Frankenstein, an explosive detonated and Baragon woke up from his sleep. He appeared from the ground and saw the scientists. Baragon tried to eat the humans, but Frankenstein suddenly appeared to protect the scientists from Baragon. The two fought in a climatic battle and Frankenstein successfully defeats Baragon by choking him and breaking his neck. But in the end, a fissure appears beneath the huge giants. The ground cracks and the two fall inside.

Baragon was later seen in the film Destroy All Monsters, one of several alive and kept in captivity on Monsterland. Along with the rest of Earth's monsters, Baragon is brought under the control of the Kilaaks during their invasion of Earth and forced to destroy Earth's cities.

Baragon was supposed to attack Paris for the film, using his burrowing ability to smash the Arc de Triumph from below. Unfortunately, the Baragon suit was unavailable due to the fact it was on loan to the people working on the Ultraman TV series. Baragon was replaced with Gorosaurus for this scene.

He later breaks free from this mind control, and watches (but does not actually take part in) the fight against the aliens and their remaining monster, King Ghidorah, before returning to Monster Island. Whether this is the same Baragon that was presumed dead at the end of Frankenstein Conquers the World or another of its species is never determined, although it is unlikely that an experienced burrower would die from an earth related death. It is actually very likely that is not in cannon with the Godzilla series.

Baragon was originally slated to appear in Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla, but his role was quickly rewritten for a more recognizable monster, Anguirus. It should be noted, however, that Anguirus "borrowed" Baragon's burrowing ability in the film (as Gorosaurus had in Destroy All Monsters).

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
In the Millennium series, Baragon reappeared in the 2001 film, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack as one of three ancient guardian monsters. (The other two are Mothra and King Ghidorah.) When Godzilla is reincarnated as the physical manifestation of the souls of the people who died in the Pacific during WWII, Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah were summoned to protect the nation from the threat. Baragon was the first of the three guardians to confront Godzilla. Although he tried his best, Baragon was not strong enough and was defeated by Godzilla's atomic ray. Baragon does not have his tunneling heat ray in the Millennium series, but he was still able to burrow and had his extraordinary jumping abilities.

Abilities
Baragon has undiscovered origins, but has shown some of his powers in his Showa era airing. He can fire a flame ray from his mouth, like a much weaker version of Godzilla's Spiral Ray. The horn on his snout occasionally glows and crackles. He has the aforementioned burrowing ability, and can jump very far. He also has natural teeth/claws.

In the Millennium era he gained strong jaws and limitless perseverance. He was able to withstand Godzilla's own heat ray. The horn no longer lit up.

Filmography

 * Frankenstein vs. Baragon
 * Destroy All Monsters
 * Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

Video Game Appearances
Baragon appears as a villain in the 1988 Nintendo game Godzilla: Monster of Monsters and its sequel Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters, as well as the Godzilla (Game Boy) title. Baragon would usually remain on all fours, preventing many attacks from hitting him, and would stand on his hind legs only to fire his heat beam. Another attack was to pounce at Godzilla or Mothra and pin them against the side of the screen. Sometimes he would turn his head to the screen and tilt it to one side almost in a "Huh?" fashion.
 * Gojira-Kun
 * Godzilla (Gameboy)
 * Godzilla: Monster of Monsters
 * Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters
 * Godzilla Trading Battle
 * Godzilla: Save the Earth
 * Godzilla: Unleashed
 * Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash

Baragon was going to be in the PS2 version of the game Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, but that version was cancelled so he was placed into the sequel, Godzilla: Save the Earth. Baragon is a fast and agile fighter with decent power and great combo abilities. He shares many of the strengths of Anguirus such as immunity to high attacks on all fours and beam/projectile weapons doing only half-damage. He can dig like Megalon, though for longer and not be tired when he emerges, and his rage attack is to dig down and unleash a volcanic eruption. Baragon's fire ray attack can also be used while he's running or jumping and cannot be charged.

In Atari video games, the subterranean dinosaur can cause earthquakes and lava eruptions beneath his feet and constantly replenish his energy as long as he is in contact with the earth. He can breathe fire, though it short-ranged, but can still get in beam locks.

Godzilla Unleashed Bio
Height: 60 meters Weight: 34,000 tons

"Baragon is an earth guardian-with special affinity for the terrestrial crust we walk upon. Baragon is physically the smallest monster on record, but his connection to the rocks and magma beneath us empower him to achieve greatness on a par with his larger allies. His small size makes him a tremendous leaper, with graceful aerial combat maneuvers and techniques. When not in the air, Baragon constantly replenishes his energy so long as contact is maintained with the earth. Baragon emits streams of fire from his mouth, and can cause eruptions and earthquakes beneath his feet. When firmly planted with all four legs upon the ground, Baragon is almost impossible to push aside, despite his small stature."

Roar
In Baragon's two appearances during the Showa Era of Kaiju films, his roar was a slightly modified version of Varan's roar. The only difference being that Baragon's version has a little more of a growling added to the mix. This growling-Varan voice would give Baragon's roar a more "guard-dog" tone. Some parts of the roar comes from Godzilla.

In the millennium version of Baragon, the character's roar was over-hauled along with the rest of the character's design. The "modified Varan" roar was discarded and replaced with a new original sound. This version of the character's 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.

In Other Languages

 * Russian: Барагон

Trivia

 * Dragonball_baragon.jpgon made a cameo in the hit anime series Dragon Ball.
 * The Pokémon Nidoking bears a strong resemblance to Baragon.
 * Baragon is one of the few monsters in the universe that appeals to female fans because of his "cuteness".
 * Baragon ate people in his original appearance. However, he was ultimately scrapped when the film was reworked and re-shot.
 * Baragon's suit would be used for four Ultraman monsters, Pagos, Neronga, Magura and Gabora.
 * In the Activision game Skylanders, the character Warnado is strongly based on Baragon's appearance.
 * Baragon is somewhat like as a ceratopsian to fans, a group of horned dinosaurs that includes the Triceratops. In many fan conceptions of the monster, he has traits that are shown in many ceratopsians.

Poll
Do you like Baragon? Yes! No. Kind of.