Battra

Battra (バトラ, Batora) is a dark divine moth created by Toho that first appeared in the 1992 Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Mothra.

Development
Battra was originally meant to be an evil twin of Mothra called "Gigamoth" whose abilities somewhat resemble Hedorah's in the scrapped Godzilla vs. Gigamoth.

Name
Battra's name most likely comes from the common Japanese practice of shortening two words to make one; in this case the combination of the Japanese spelling of Battle Mothra (バトルモスラ, Batoru Mosura), as described in the Super Godzilla video game manual. It was also said to be "Black Mothra", as described in Godzilla vs. Mothra.

Appearance
Like Mothra, Battra has both larva and forms. Battra's imago form has a predominately black body with very large wings that have patterns of red, black and yellow. He also has yellow horns in his head, six legs, and red eyes which glow purple when firing his beam, as well as a red line which runs down his body's sides.

His larval form is mostly black but with a lot of yellow and a dark red underside. He also has a giant horn, similar to Destoroyah's, which is yellow and glows when he uses his beam, and two tusks on each cheek. Battra's larval form also has bigger, more powerful legs than Mothra's larval form which are yellow and horn-like. Much like his imago form, his eyes are red. Battra's larval form is also physically much larger than Mothra's, being almost as large as Godzilla himself.

Godzilla vs. Mothra
Twelve thousand years ago, the spirit of Earth created Battra. Battra was created to destroy a device built by an ancient civilization to control Earth's climate. Battra began to do his job well beyond his purpose and Mothra was forced to intervene. There was a huge battle between Mothra and Battra. When Mothra finally won, Battra was laid to rest in the North Sea, while Mothra survived in the mountains with the Cosmos. Unlike his benevolent twin Mothra, Battra sees humanity as a blight on Earth, and won't stop until humanity is removed from the planet. It's because of this that Battra came into conflict with Mothra, who seems intent on protecting humanity.

Thousands of years later, Battra was awoken by a meteorite in Siberia. Battra swam to the coast of Japan and burrowed, reappearing and attacking Nagoya. The JSDF fought Battra but were no match, and Battra left a wrecked city behind as he burrowed again. Battra appeared in the waters off the archipelago of the Philippines, where Godzilla and Mothra were battling. Battra engaged Godzilla, who was the bigger threat. The two monsters battled down to the sea floor in the Philippine Trench, where a volcanic eruption supposedly killed them. But Battra and Godzilla lived on, appearing near Mount Fuji, with Godzilla exiting an erupting volcano and Battra emerging from the ocean's depths. Upon metamorphosing from his larval form, he flew to Tokyo to exact his revenge on Mothra. The sinister moth seemed to have an upper hand against his less violent counterpart, but soon, in the heat of the battle, Godzilla appeared. Mothra and Battra teamed up to combat Godzilla together in defense of both Earth and humankind. Once Godzilla was defeated, Battra and Mothra carried him out to sea. However, Godzilla, still conscious, killed Battra by attacking him with an atomic ray at point-blank range while he was being transported. Godzilla and Battra dropped into the ocean below. Mothra then flew in a circle and placed a seal over the final resting place of Battra, honoring his sacrifice.

Abilities
In its larval form, Battra was a horribly brutal opponent who was relentless and remorseless in its attack. In this form, he wielded a massive yellow horn which could be put to use as a battering ram or bludgeoning weapon. From the horn, he was also capable of firing off furious electrical blasts of an orange-yellow color. He could fire similar electrical blasts of a purple color from his crimson eyes. However, these beams would often fly wildly about, Battra not appearing to have precise control over their direction. The titanic larva could also create energy pulses from his massive horn as another form of attack.

In its imago form, Battra had lost the ability to burrow or swim, but attained flight at mach 3 with its new wings, allowing for easier and more efficient travel for further destruction. The once prominent horn had disappeared and had been replaced with three smaller horns. These horns were incapable of releasing energy anymore, but Battra had developed more powerful optic beams, known as "Prism" beams. Unlike the beams used in his larval form, adult Battra had complete control over the Prism Beams, which also are far more powerful in this form. He also had developed three pairs of legs and would utilize them for grasping objects. The imago form of Battra could also release an "energy shock" from its feet in order to subdue foes while in close combat. However, in the manga adaptation of Godzilla vs. Mothra, the dark insect can unleash damaging energy spheres from his horn, discharge energy through the stinger-like attachment on his tail, and instantly form his cocoon which also acts as a defensive shield.

In Godzilla Island episode 166 "Baby Mothra Awakes," Battra can also emit powder from his wings just like Mothra except that the powder is red instead of yellow like Mothra's.

Filmography

 * Godzilla vs. Mothra
 * Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (Stock Footage)

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters
Battra's egg is first discovered by the twins Minette and Mallorie in Kingdom of Monsters #3. Using telepathic powers, the girls kill the soldiers watching the egg, claiming that they can hear the being inside it "singing." The creature hatches, to whom they call Battra, and the monster becomes their bodyguard as they rob an almost entirely deserted Paris. The girls dub themselves the new queens of Paris, as Battra wraps itself in a cocoon. When he emerges in his adult form, he fights Rodan until both are controlled by the twins. They head to where Godzilla, MechaGodzilla, and King Ghidorah are brawling, as the twins want to control Godzilla next. This results with Battra and Rodan fighting Godzilla, but Godzilla defeats them both.

Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths
Battra appears in the miniseries Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths as one of the monsters on Monster Island that later attacks Tokyo. At the end of issue #5, Battra returns to Monster Island peacefully along with the other monsters after the Elias are rescued.

Godzilla: Ongoing
Battra appears wreaking havoc around the globe in issues 1 and  2 of Godzilla: Ongoing. In issue #3, Battra is captured in a gigantic electrical net by Boxer's "Kaiju Kill Crew" and brought to Monster Island to be contained. In issue #11, after being freed from Monster Island, Battra and Titanosaurus battle SpaceGodzilla in London. However, the two Earth monsters are defeated and SpaceGodzilla escapes to join Monster X in New York.

Godzilla: The Half-Century War
Battra appears in issue #3 of Godzilla: The Half-Century War as one of the many monsters battling in Ghana in 1975.

Godzilla: Rulers of Earth
Battra was seen in a flashback after the alien spaceship crashed into the Earth, sending all of Earth's monsters into hibernation, burrowing into the ground. Both larva and imago Battra were seen as part of the 'fire' monsters on the Infant Island cave mural, along with Megalon and Baragon.

Video Game Appearances

 * Godzilla (Arcade)
 * Super Godzilla
 * Godzilla: Battle Legends
 * Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee
 * Godzilla: Save the Earth
 * Godzilla: Unleashed (PlayStation 2 version only)
 * Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash

Godzilla Unleashed
In Godzilla Unleashed, Battra is a model-swap of Mothra, and has the same attacks in Imago form. However, in Larva form, Battra can fire a beam from his horn. Like Mothra Larva, Battra Larva's energy can only be replenished if he hits a yellow crystal, but he regenerates energy normally in Imago form.

Sightings

 * Battra is also the name of a bird-like charabom in Bomberman Jetters.

Roar
Battra's roar is a very slightly edited Rodan roar. However, in Godzilla Island, Battra's roar is actually a Mothra roar at a lower pitch.

In Other Languages

 * Russian: Батра

Trivia

 * Within Godzilla vs. Mothra, there is a continuity discrepancy involving Battra that deserves mention. In the film, the Cosmos explain Battra's origins and his defeat at the hands of Mothra. They state that Battra's body (either lifeless or still barely alive) was deposited in the Northern Sea. Thousands of years later, in 1993, Battra emerges, in his larval form, from his Siberian ice prison and departs the Northern Sea, heading for Japan. However, the cave painting on Infant Island clearly depicts an Imago Battra in combat with Mothra. This raises several questions about the nature of Battra himself, including a possibility of the Battra from 12,000 years ago being a different Battra altogether, and the 1993 Battra being a second creature created by Earth's life force, probably from the remains of the original Battra. If they are, in fact, the same creature, then the fact that it emerges 12,000 years after his defeat, once again in his larval form is a contradiction. It is possible that Battra can revert back to Larva form.
 * Battra is the only monster Godzilla fought in the Heisei series whose origin is not at all influenced by or related to Godzilla at all, instead being connected to Mothra.

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