Gotengo

The Gotengo is a flying battle ship that first appeared in the 1963 film Atragon, and later appeared in several other films, notably The War in Space and Godzilla: Final Wars.

Operation Atragon
Constructed from the brainchild of Captain Shinguji, the Gotengo was a submarine in a class of its own. Able to travel through the air, and the water, the vessel knew no bounds. Armed with a powerful freezing cannon, and several particle beam cannons, the ship was more than adapted for war. Building the machine exclusively for the protection of Japan, Captain Shinguji refused to use it to save the countries of the world from the Mu Empire. The pride of Japan during World War 2 was stolen, and he would rather burn in the fires of hell, long before he would use his ship to save the rest of humanity. Very well would he have stuck to that claim, if it weren't for a Mu agent kidnapping his daughter and nearly sabotaging the Gotengo in a landslide. Realizing that his own flesh and blood was at harm, and that the war was over, the Captain finally broke down, and sent out his submarine. Using its drill and toothed saw blades along its body, the machine tunneled through its prison and set out to the ocean, through the wind.

Wide eyes of terrified Mu subs strained against the steel juggernaut's presence. Sinking beneath the waves, they thought they could outrun their would-be destroyer, but the Gotengo followed, plunging into the icy waters. In the inky darkness, Captain Shinguji ran into the Mu God Manda. Thinking it could squeeze its prey, the snake like kaiju wrapped its massive body about the ship's hull. Ordering then, in retaliation, the steel frame of the ship was electrified, sending the viper into retreat, where it was frozen by the Zero Cannon. Diving still deeper, the Gotengo burrowed into the city of Mu, and destroyed their main generators, causing a horrific series of explosions that would engulf the empire in flames. The Gotengo had saved Japan, and humanity from extinction.

Godzilla: Final Wars
After the Self-Defense Force managed to lure Godzilla to Antarctica in the 20th century, their weapons were rendered inoperable by the monster's endless well of power. The ultimate war machine of the JSDF, Gotengo, was released in response to the dire need for assistance. The aerial battle cruiser sliced through a mountain of ice and quickly approached its quarry. As the crew overlooked the nuclear nightmare, the captain ordered them to fire their arsenal at the behemothic beast. The deck guns unleashed their ammunition on the creature, but to no avail. An atomic ray was launched at the soaring submarine, and the deck was illuminated with sparks. The Gotengo crashed into the icy landscape, and most of the crew was rendered unconscious. Godzilla trudged toward his immobile adversary, prepared to finish it once and for all.

Right when it appeared as though the situation was at its worst for humankind, the tables were turned on the lumbering leviathan. An earthquake shook the frosty terrain, and Godzilla began to fall deeper and deeper into a massive gorge. The captain of the Gotengo found his advantage, and gave an order to launch an array of missiles at a mountain behind Godzilla. The resulting avalanche sent thousands of tons of ice barreling down onto the now helpless dinosaur, freezing the monster in suspended animation. The world breathed a sigh of relief as the crew of the Gotengo celebrated! That malevolent menace was finally defeated, and the world was safe, at least for the moment.

Operation: Final War
Decades after its epic bout with Godzilla in the 20th century, the Gotengo was repaired and enhanced with modern weaponry. The newly advanced craft was sent to Great Britain, where it grappled with the mighty sea serpent, Manda. After a short battle, the constricting creature was frozen by the Gotengo's zero cannon and shattered by the versatile vehicle's giant bow drill.

The aerial battleship returned to Tokyo, where it became obvious that a major monster invasion was occurring across the globe. Suddenly, the monsters vanished, and an alien race called the Xiliens took responsibility for their defeat. However, once their plans for domination were uncovered, the monsters were unleashed on the world yet again, for they had always been under the Xilien's technological spell. In order to save the world, the Gotengo was piloted to Antarctica on a mission to free Godzilla from his icy prison. The Xiliens sent the savage cyborg Gigan to prevent the revival of Godzilla, but to no avail. Though Gotengo was pummeled by Gigan's cluster beam and buzz saw, it managed to fire 10 missiles, which freed Godzilla from his tomb. Two blasts of his atomic ray defeated Gigan, and the Gotengo proceeded to launch into the air. Godzilla trailed the battleship, for it thought that the battle from forty years earlier was still waging on. Those aboard the Gotengo used this to their advantage, and they began to lead Godzilla to Tokyo.

During the long voyage to Japan's capital, the evil aliens unleashed Zilla, Kumonga, Kamacuras, Rodan, Anguirus and King Caesar to fight off Godzilla, in hopes of killing him right away. Each being defeated rather easily. When Gotengo finally reached the Mothership, the battle between humans and extra terrestrials was about to begin. Gotengo simply buzzed through the Mothership's preliminary defenses, and began to fire on the ship with its giant maser cannon. Unfortunately, it appeared as though a protective shield was protecting the entire ship from attack. The Gotengo launched its Dogfighter, which infiltrated the core of the battle station and destroyed the shield generator, at the cost of the pilot. The Gotengo utilized its drill to pierce through the hull of the immense vessel, and a long brawl ensued within.

When the Xiliens were defeated in combat, they initiated the Mothership's self-destruct sequence. The humans escaped into the Gotengo, and fled the dying Mothership. The explosion that followed caused the foe Godzilla was presently facing, Monster X, to morph into an entirely new creature: Keizer Ghidorah. This three-headed dragon began to quickly extract the life from the nuclear behemoth! It appeared as though the world was doomed, but those aboard the Gotengo had a plan. Using up nearly all of its remaining energy, the Gotengo transferred the power of Keizer into Godzilla. Supercharged with energy, Godzilla destroyed two of his adversary's three terrible heads. His hyper spiral ray finished the job, and Godzilla roared in success, for he had finally defeated his most powerful opponent yet.

Godzilla noticed the weakened Gotengo, and in his surge of triumph, began to contemplate the defeat of his old foe. An atomic ray was sent barreling into the ship, forcing it to crash into the ground. The battleship's electrical grid was damaged, and power was unavailable. Godzilla was about to finish the vessel when his son, Minilla, pleaded with him to spare the humans inside. Godzilla listened, and he respected his son's wishes. The two monsters began to swim into the distance, and into the sunset. The Gotengo had gone through a great deal, and if it weren't for this powerful ship or its courageous crew, the world may not have lived to witness another day.

Other Appearances
A two-episode anime OAV called Super Atragon was released in 1995, based on the same novels as the original Atragon. In the series, the ship is called the Ra, and was built by Japan during World War II with the help of mysterious woman named Annette. The crew is on maneuvers at sea when they get word of the Atomic Bombings and the end of the war. Soon afterwards, they encounter a similar vessel, with three smaller drills in front and flying an American flag, and accompanied by a similar woman named Avatar. When a crewman born in Hiroshima fires on the American ship in his rage and grief, the two ships engage in combat, ultimately destroying each other on their drills. The only known survivors are the Ra's Executive officer and Annette, who are sent off in a plane as the two vessels began their final attacks.

In the present day, Go Arisaka, the grandson of the Ra's captain, and his girlfriend Ann (really Annette) are caught up in an invasion by Annette's subterranian home civilization, led by Avatar. The Ra is rebuilt to battle the invasion, and eventually leads to a final confrontation with Avatar in a brand-new version of the Liberty.

Weapons

 * Flight at mach 2.
 * Equipped with the Zero Cannon that freezes to absolute zero.
 * Bow drill that allows ship to burrow.
 * Equipped with a deck cannon.
 * Can launch five missiles from either side of the ship.
 * Equipped with four Electronic Particle cannons.
 * Can move at 80 knots on the water's surface.
 * Has two giant rotating blades above and below the ship.
 * Can discharge electricity that will shock anything that touches the ship.
 * Can submerge to very deep waters and move at 80 knots.
 * Equipped with a Crystal Cannon, which is a highly powerful laser fueled by Power Surge Crystals (Godzilla: Unleashed only).

Video Game Appearances

 * Godzilla: Monster of Monsters
 * Godzilla: Monster War
 * Godzilla Trading Battle
 * Godzilla: Unleashed (Wii and PS2)
 * Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash

Godzilla: Monster of Monsters
In Godzilla: Monster of Monsters for the NES, in one of the map areas in the game is a battle against a giant alien spaceship that resembles the Gotengo.

Godzilla: Unleashed
The Gotango reappears in Godzilla: Unleashed known as Atrogon. The Gotengo was first shown in a pre-release trailer for the game, battling Godzilla. It was later shown to be a boss. In this game, the Gotengo was piloted by Admiral Gyozen. The gotengo appears three times in the game. First in London as an obsticle, then in New York as a boss, here the player must get the Gotengo down to half health. The battleship appears one last time in Osaka near the end of the game. After the fight Gyozen is killed. The Gotengo fights by shooting missles, freezing missles, using the drill nose, and the new crystal cannon.