Baragon

Baragon (バラゴン, Baragon) is a reptilian created by Toho that first appeared in the 1965 Toho film, Frankenstein vs. Baragon.

Name
Baragon's name comes from from the Japanese word bara (バラ), meaning rose, and ragon (ラゴン), from "dragon."

In Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the guardian monster Baragon's name is spelled in kanji but pronounced the same: 婆羅護吽 (Baragon).

Appearance
Baragon is a four-legged reptile with brown skin, a horn on his head, and large ears. Despite being a reptile, his facial appearance resembles that akin to a Pug dog.

Origins
In the Showa series, Baragon burrowed underground and survived the Cretaceous extinction event while most other dinosaurs died.

In the Millennium series, Baragon is one of the ancient Guardian Monsters of Japan.

Frankenstein vs. Baragon
Baragon was first seen in Frankenstein vs. Baragon where he was awoken by sound from a nearby factory. He attacked the factory, and burrowed to a Shirane Village and attacked it. He then attacked a farm to feed on the livestock. Baragon was not seen during these attacks, so Frankenstein was blamed for them. A worker at the factory says it was not Frankenstein, but another monster. When a group of scientists looked for Frankenstein, they caused an explosion that woke up Baragon from his sleep. He tried to eat the scientists, but he was stopped by Frankenstein. Frankenstein and Baragon battle, but Frankenstein wins when he breaks Baragon's neck. The ground then cracks and the two fall down the hole.

Destroy All Monsters
Baragon appeared briefly in Destroy All Monsters, where he is present during the attack of King Ghidorah, but doesn't fight. He was supposed to attack Paris under the control of the Kilaaks, but because the ShodaiBara suit was heavily damaged during filming of the show Ultraman, he was replaced with Gorosaurus.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
Baragon was featured in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, where he was the guardian monster of the element of earth.

Baragon (婆羅護吽, Baragon) was first seen causing earthquakes throughout Japan. He attacked a city and fought Godzilla, but he was quickly killed by him. Later on, when all three guardian monsters were killed, he along with the other two guardian spirits, Mothra and Ghidorah, entered Godzilla's body when he was at sea which stunned him long enough to allow General Tachibana to burrow his way out of Godzilla after internally firing a D-03 missile, an explosive drill. This eventually destroyed him when he tried to use his atomic beam again after it burst out the inflicted hole in his shoulder and finally caused Godzilla to vaporize himself from within.

Abilities
Baragon has undiscovered origins, but has shown some of his powers in his Showa era. He can fire a flame ray from his mouth, like a much weaker version of Godzilla's spiral heat 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 and claws.

The distinctive notches in Baragon's ears originally had an unused function. Baragon could fold his ears over his eyes, with the notches interlocking with his horn. Baragon would then charge at the opponent, whilst protecting his eyes from physical blows.

In the Millennium era he gained strong jaws and limitless perseverance. He was able to withstand Godzilla's own heat ray.

In the Atari video games, Baragon can cause earthquakes and lava eruptions beneath his feet when he uses a rage attack, and can 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. In addition, he is one of the few monsters in the games who can use physical attacks in mid-air.

Filmography

 * Frankenstein vs. Baragon
 * Destroy All Monsters
 * Godzilla Island
 * Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
 * Godzilla: Final Wars (Stock Footage)

Video Game Appearances
Baragon appears as a villain in Godzilla: Monster of Monsters and its sequel Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters, as well as the Gameboy Godzilla game. 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. While rare to come across, during the fight with him, Baragon will sometimes look at the camera and tilt his head to the side as if he is mocking the player. This move allows the player to get in some free hits.
 * 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 then appeared in 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.

Godzilla: Unleashed
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."

Godzilla: Ongoing
Baragon is briefly teased at the end of the final issue of IDW's Godzilla: Ongoing.

Godzilla: Rulers of Earth
Baragon appears in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #9. In the comic, he appears in France, much like he was supposed to in Destroy All Monsters and fought Kiryu. Baragon started out in a flashback of the main character however, burrowing into the Earth. After his fight with Kiryu, he was brought to Monster Islands.

Sightings

 * Baragon made a cameo appearance in Dragon Ball.
 * The Pokémon Nidoking bares a strong resemblance to Baragon.
 * In the Activision game Skylanders, the character Warnado is strongly based on Baragon's appearance.
 * "Baragon" is the name of a character in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Roar
In Baragon's two appearances during the Showa era, 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 era, the character's roar was completely changed. The "modified Varan" roar was discarded and replaced with a new original sound. This version of the 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

 * Baragon is one of the monsters in the multiverse that appeals to female fans because of his "cuteness."
 * Baragon's ShodaiBara suit was reused for four Ultraman monsters: Pagos, Neronga, Magura, and Gabora.
 * A form of Baragon called Sea Baragon appeared in Kodansya's Godzilla manga series.

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

Baragon Baragon