You know, I haven't done a review before, but I've been feeling different today. So, here we are with some stupid kaiju review...
The kaiju I will be reviewing today is...
HEDORAH(THE SMOG MONSTER)!
You know, this guy?
A personal favorite. I've always found it to be an awesome yet fairly-underrated kaiju that deserves more respect from the fandom.
The versions mentioned in this post are...
Anyways, let's move on.
Design-wise:
Hedorah's designs, like the kaiju as a whole, are very unique and awesome. They still have the touch of him within them.
Showa/IDW(Legends) Design: Iconic design. I love it's strange-but-unique appearance for all of it's forms. Fits well with it's grotesque theme & nature.
Final Wars Design: Good enough. I like how it retains it's grotesque nature, but makes it's a bit more modified than before.
Overall, very good designs. I appreciate how they fit so perfectly well with the touch of it.
Power-Wise:
Sure, it may be goofy-looking at times, but we still need to note how surpisingly powerful and unique it is compared to other kaiju. For example, it ability to adapt and grow stronger(passed on to Shin Godzilla and Destoroyah) makes it special, and it body (which allows it to shrug off firepower and melee attacks with very little difficulty) makes him a lot harder to take down than most kaijus. Looking back on it's incarnations, it still remains pretty strong.
Showa Incarnation: Could easily devastate cities with no difficulty whatsoever, and proved to be a tough match to ShowaGoji, who was on his own level, surprisingly powerful. Surely would've killed him if it weren't for interference.
Final Wars Incarnation: It's featless in the movie, and in the short, it's just fairly impressive. Sure, it was able to do some damage to FinalGoji(blinded his eye, which is still a fairly-incredible feat), but in all due respect, it never did as much as the other incarnations and required a lot less to kill. Still much of a threat.
IDW(Legends) Incarnation: Arguably the most powerful version of the goober mentioned in this post. Tanked hits from both Mechagodzilla and Godzilla and easily shrugged them off. Regen is surprisingly fast, and his resistance to firepower and electricity(as it tanked powerful shocks from Mecha without any struggle) are rather impressive. The fact that it would've killed both if MG hadn't dragged him to outer space(where it was fryed up and blasted apart) shows how crazy this version is.
Overall, surprisingly powerful, and probably among the strongest adversaries Goji has faced.
Role-Wise:
They're all pretty much the same. They are are giant monsters that feed off of pollution and prove to themselves to be a tough match, even for Godzilla himself. They all play it surprisingly well, though I do admit, I feel like Showa did it the best due to how horrifying it was in the film, especially whenever it's acidic smog ate away the flesh of civiliians.
TRIVIA:
Female Monster: The Codex for the 2019 mobile game Godzilla:Defense Force states that the Hedorah from Final Wars has "a red extension on its left hand that only occurs in the males of the species," and specifies that the Showa incarnation of the character lacks it because it is a female. However, it refers to both incarnations simply as "it." Adding to that, the kaiju is depicted as as female in the Godzilla 1984 toyline.