King Caesar (キングシーサー Kingu Shīsā?) is an ancient shisa kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1974 Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.
Contents
Name
King Caesar's Japanese name, "Kingu Shīsā," is a reference to the shisa, the Okinawan mythological creature on which the kaiju is based.
Toho's initial English name for the character was "King Seeser," as seen in early promotional materials for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. The current name, "King Caesar," has been in use since the 1990s.[3]
Appearance
King Caesar's appearance was inspired by the shisa, a beast resembling a combination of a dog and a lion.
Roar
King Caesar's roars were recycled Toho King Kong roars.
Origins
In the Showa films, King Caesar is a benevolent, mystical guardian of the Azumi family of Okinawa, an island part of the Kyushu archipelago in Japan. In times of danger, King Caesar can be awakened from his deep sleep by a member of the family through an ancient song.
In Godzilla: Final Wars, King Caesar is one of the many monsters used by the Xiliens in their campaign to conquer the Earth. Unlike his Showa counterpart, this version of King Caesar has no established origin or connection to Okinawa, sans a brief scene where he is shown attacking it under the Xiliens' control.
History
Showa Series
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Godzilla arrived to stop the robot, but soon both were nearly defeated. Godzilla used his special power he had obtained from lightning to pull Mechagodzilla into him. Once the machine what in Godzilla's grasps, King Caesar and Godzilla worked together to destroy the alien. Eventually, after Godzilla ripped off Mechagodzilla's head, King Caesar then returned to his cave and collapsing the entrance, burying him to peacefully sleep and heal his wounds.
Godzilla Island
King Caesar in Godzilla Island
Millennium Series
Godzilla: Final Wars
King Caesar was first seen attacking Okinawa, until he was teleported away by the Xiliens. Once the trust between the aliens and humans was broken, King Caesar was released once again. Alongside Rodan and Anguirus, King Caesar was one of the final monsters controlled by the Xiliens to confront Godzilla as he neared Tokyo.
Transported to the Japanese countryside with his allies by the Xilien UFOs α, ß and γ, King Caesar proved to be an agile and intelligent opponent. He was eventually thrown by Godzilla into his two allies, leaving them all unconscious. His fate was ultimately left unknown.
Abilities
Energy deflection and reflection
His most notable ability, however, is his ability to draw the energy beams of enemy monsters into his eyes, and fire it back at the target. He used this twice with great effectiveness against Mechagodzilla before the cyborg wisely changed tactics and used his missiles instead. However, this special ability of his is not shown in Godzilla: Final Wars for no energy weapons were used against him.
Heat beams
In video games such as Godzilla: Unleashed, the Okinawan deity monster has the ability to transform raw solar energy into searing beams of heat from his eyes.
Lightning beam
In the Godzilla Island episode "All-Out Monster Attack", King Caesar can fire a white lightning beam from his mouth.
King Caesar firing his beam
Physical abilities
King Caesar possesses formidable speed, strength and agility, enabling him to use various martial arts techniques, making him a formidable foe in close combat. He is rock-solid, able to withstand a horrible beating before going down.
Video games
Godzilla: Unleashed
| “ | King Caesar is a mystical defender of the Earth. Unlike the other Earth Defenders, King Caesar is specifically concerned with the well-being of humanity, and will respond to events that threaten human beings. King Caesar's strongest asset are his powerful legs, which have tremendous strength and flexibility. King Caesar's entire body is a capacitor, storing and refocusing the sun's energy into searing beams of heat, which he projects from his eyes. In battle, King Caesar can absorb the energy from his opponent's weapons, which both protects him from ranged attacks and provides him the power necessary to engage fast-moving opponents at range. His internal batteries are not unlimited in their capacity, and there is a possibility of overload should King Caesar absorb too much energy without quickly discharging it. |
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— King Caesar Godzilla: Unleashed bio |
Godzilla (2014 video game)
| “ | Guardian deity of the ancient Ryukyuan royal family, the Azumi clan, King Caesar is a ferocious monster whose forte is nimble hand-to-hand combat. It is able to absorb an enemy's energy beams with its right eye, and it can both amplify and redirect them using his left eye's special "Prism Eye" ability. It was awoken from its slumber within Manzamo Cliff in Okinawa by the "Song of Miyarabi", later joining Godzilla to confront the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens who established an invasion base in Okinawa. In "Godzilla: Final Wars" (2004), King Caesar was controlled by the invading Xiliens, ultimately destroying Okinawa. It pounced on Godzilla using pro-wrestling melee techniques such as tackles and flying scissor kicks. It appeared as a guest monster tie-in for Expo '75 in Okinawa. King Caesar is modeled after the traditional Okinawan "Shisa," a lion-dog statuette used to ward off evil spirits. |
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— King Caeser Kaiju Guide bio |
Godzilla: Kaiju Collection
King Caesar appeared within the mobile title Godzilla: Kaiju Collection.
Comics
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth
King Caesar appears in issue #9 of Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. The guardian monster was seen primarily in a flash back, fighting against Megalon across Okinawa, the city he was meant to protect. Due to the fight, countless humans died, thus enraging King Caesar to the point of no return. To make matters worse, as the monsters fought, two more elemental monsters, Varan and Ebirah, arrived. The fight was interrupted when an alien war ship crashed and sent King Caesar and Megalon under ground. He later appears in a vision of Lucy in issue 17 alongside Godzilla and the Mothra Larvae, fighting the Cryogs.
Following the invasion of the Trilopods, the Shobijin revealed that King Caesar was resting in Okinawa, and that he needed to be awakened to save the Earth. Lucy and her team accompanied the Shobijin to Okinawa, where they found King Caesar resting inside a mountain. Suddenly, the group was attacked by Battra, prompting King Caesar to awaken and battle him. When a group of Trilopods arrived, Battra retreated and left King Caesar to battle them. King Caesar managed to kill several Trilopods, but then allowed himself to be captured and taken to their hive in Los Angeles. Once inside the hive, King Caesar freed all of the various monsters that had been captured by the Trilopods. He then led the other monsters into battle alongside Godzilla against the Trilopods, killing the Kamacuras and Rodan Trilopod clones. King Caesar also tried to battle Magita, a gigantic Trilopod, but his attacks did nothing against the creature. After Godzilla destroyed Magita, King Caesar and the other monsters followed him out to sea.
Godzilla: Oblivion
King Caesar appeared at the end of the fourth issue of Godzilla: Oblivion, as he emerged from an interdimensional portal along with Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus, Biollante and Zilla while Godzilla was battling Mecha-King Ghidorah (Hedorah joined them in the next issue). While he did join the fight with the other monsters, at first, he was then seen sitting on a throne made out of flaming buildings. Later, after Mecha-King Ghidorah was defeated by Godzilla, all of the monsters were left behind as the humans left the Earth as it became covered by tiny robotic cells that served as interdimensional doorways.
In other languages
- Literal Spanish: Rey César
- Russian: Кинг Цезарь
- Hungarian: Sárkánycsászár
Trivia
- In King Caesar's first on-screen appearance in Godzilla: Final Wars, a traditional Japanese style roof can be seen in the foreground with a shisa statue on it.
- King Caesar was the last monster to be Godzilla's ally in the Showa series.
- King Caesar is the savior of Okinawa, but ironically, in Godzilla: Final Wars, he attacked the city he protected for generations. However, it should be noted that Godzilla: Final Wars isn't a part of the Showa continuity, and that King Caesar was under the control of the Xiliens, and therefore was not acting as he should have been.
- King Caesar has his own theme song.
List of appearances
Films
- Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (First appearance)
- Terror of Mechagodzilla (Stock Footage)
- Godzilla: Final Wars
Television series
Video games
- Battle Soccer: Champion of the Field
- Godzilla, King of the Monsters
- Godzilla: Heart-Pounding Monster Island!!
- Godzilla Movie Studio Tour
- Godzilla: Trading Battle
- Godzilla: Unleashed
- Godzilla (2014 video game) (Kaiju Guide)
- Godzilla: Kaiju Collection
Comics
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Official Godzilla Compendium. Profiles of the Monsters; Page 130.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia. Godzilla: Final Wars; Page 117.
- ↑ Toho Kingdom - Article: What's in a Name?
