Kumonga

Kumonga クモンガ (Kumonga) is a giant spider created by Toho that first appeared in the 1967 Godzilla film, Son of Godzilla.

Name
Kumonga's name comes from kumo (クモ), which is the Japanese word for "spider."

Kumonga's name in the international dub of Son of Godzilla is "Spiga", which comes from "spider."

Appearance
Kumonga's designs are very consistent throughout its appearances. Its body is black with yellow patterns. It has cold-color eyes, an arachnid mouth, and eight legs.

Origins
According to the journal of Dr. Matsumia, Kumonga was a type of very large spider to dwell in the jungle of Sogell Island. However, exposure to the radioactive storm of 1967 created by the UN's failed weather experiment mutated Kumonga into a 45-meter tall.

Son of Godzilla
In the Showa series, Kumonga was a giant spider that lived in Sogell Island. It first appeared when it trapped and poisoned Kamacuras. Then it trapped Godzilla's son, Minilla in webbing and closed in for the kill. However, Godzilla arrived and defended his son. Kumonga attacked and nearly succeeded in killing Godzilla, but Minilla helped his father and using their atomic rays, they burned Kumonga's body, severely injuring it.

Destroy All Monsters
Kumonga returned in Destroy All Monsters and was living on Monsterland, along with many other monsters. In 1999, aliens known as Kilaaks captured and mind-controlled the monsters of the island. The were released in cities throughout the world. But in the end, the humans broke the mind-control and freed the monsters. The monsters were then sent to attack and destroy King Ghidorah. Kumonga took part in the fight by trapping King Ghidorah in the thick webbing. After King Ghidorah was defeated, Kumonga and the other monsters returned to Monsterland and lived peacefully to this day.

Godzilla: Final Wars
Kumonga was featured in Godzilla: Final Wars, not that different in appearance, as one of the many mind-controlled monsters of the Xiliens. It appears in a desert in Arizona where it destroys a trailer. Then suddenly, the Xiliens teleport the spider and the other monsters around the world. They tell the humans that they took the monsters away to save Earth. However, the humans find that the Xiliens were controlling the monsters and the Xiliens release all the monsters again to finish destroying the cities they were attacking. When Godzilla is freed from the south pole and fights the alien-controlled kaiju, defeating Gigan and Zilla. Through the alien leader's command, Kumonga is released in New Guinea to battle him. Godzilla approached the monstrous arachnid and let loose a roar to announce his presence. At first, Kumonga was able to trap Godzilla in thick webbing, but Godzilla managed to grab a strand of webbing that was still attached to Kumonga and swung it around in circles before letting go of the webbing. Kumonga soared over the horizon and was not seen again

Abilities
Kumonga can shoot a thick webbing and a stinger from his mandibles. Kumonga has prehensile pedipalps that can be used to grab small prey. The Showa version was able to survive multiple hits from Godzilla's atomic ray. The Millennium Kumonga's web was able to expand on contact with air from a single thread into a net for incapacitating foes. It also has long legs ending in sharp points which can be used to skewer opponents or crush through materials like in a scene in the movie Godzilla Final Wars. It also appears to have jumping abilities.

Filmography

 * Son of Godzilla
 * Destroy All Monsters
 * All Monsters Attack (Stock Footage)
 * Godzilla vs. Gigan (Stock Footage)
 * Godzilla: Final Wars

Video Game Appearances

 * Godzilla vs. 3 Major Monsters
 * Gojira-Kun
 * Godzilla Trading Battle
 * Godzilla: Kaiju Collection

Godzilla: Legends
Kumonga appears in Godzilla: Legends #5. While Godzilla is moving across rural Mongolia, he falls into a quicksand trap that Kumonga set for him. Kumonga then proceeds to wrap Godzilla in webbing, saving his meal for another day. However, Godzilla bursts from the webbing using his radioactive pulse and starts fighting Kumonga. Kumonga bites Godzilla on the lower neck, and Godzilla counters by ripping off one of Kumonga's legs and beating him with it. As Kumonga tries to run away, Godzilla bats him away with his tail, sending Kumonga bouncing across the ground and knocking him unconscious.

Godzilla: Ongoing
Kumonga appears in the first issue of Godzilla: Ongoing, where he attacks during a wedding and kills the friends and family of a man named Urv, an old friend of Boxer. Boxer's "Kaiju Kill Crew" eventually subdues Kumonga and takes him to the Monster Island facility. Later, Kiryu frees the captured monsters from the island so that they can fight off the space monsters. Kumonga hitches a ride on Kiryu's back and accompanies him to New York to fight Monster X. Monster X defeats both monsters, but Godzilla arrives before he can destroy them.

Godzilla: The Half-Century War
Kumonga is one of the many monsters seen battling in Ghana in 1975 in The Half-Century War #3.

Godzilla: Rulers of Earth
Kumonga first appeared in Rulers of Earth #1'' in a spiderweb system it created at the bottom of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. He was present when Gigan invaded Earth, and after a brief battle, in which Gigan severed one of Kumonga's legs, Kumonga retreated into its burrow and has not surfaced since. After its fight with Gigan, Kumonga was transported to Monster Islands, where it lived among the other captured kaiju. When the Trilopods invaded, Kumonga was one of the first to fall to them, having its DNA copied by the alien arthropod. Kumonga was presumably contained within the Trilopod hive while the Trilopod that copied it attacked Godzilla.

Kumonga's image was also seen in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #9 on the massive cave painting on Infant Island as part of the land section.

Roar
In both of its appearances, Kumonga makes a variety of chirping noises. However, in Godzilla: Final Wars, it also make a series of bird-like calls.

In Other Languages

 * German: Spiega
 * Russian: Кумонга
 * Chinese: 库蒙加 (Kù méng jiā)

Trivia

 * According to the German release of Son of Godzilla, Kumonga was possibly created by Dr. Frankenstein.
 * Kumonga and Kamacuras share many similarities.
 * Unlike many normal spiders, Kumonga can fire its webbing from its mandibles similar to the Spitting spider.
 * Of all the monsters who appeared in Godzilla: Final Wars, Kumonga does the least amount of damage, and also destroys the least amount of objects in the film.

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

Spiega Kumonga