Mokele-Mbembe, also dubbed Titanus Mokele-Mbembe, is a giant elephant-like Titan in the MonsterVerse created by Legendary Pictures who was introduced in the 2019 film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Besides his name appearing on a monitor, he is heavily obscured by smoke and dust. However, he appears in Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization where he appear in his own scenes.
Name[]
"Mokele-Mbembe" ("one who stops the flow of rivers") is a water-dwelling Congolese cryptid, similar to and believed to be a sauropod dinosaur.
Design[]
Appearance[]
In the novelization, Mokele-Mbembe is described as a gray quadruped with a pebbled reptilian back, with a head resembling an earless elephant, although his tusks point down instead of up. Each of his feet possesses five claws, and his front legs are slightly longer than his hind legs. The tail of Mokele-Mbembe is two third's the length of his entire body, and his mouth opens like a crocodile to reveal thousands of sharp teeth. He also has a curved horn on the top of his head, which pulsates with a faint green glow.
Portrayal[]
It is assumed that in Mokele-Mbembe's brief appearance, he is portrayed using CGI. Although not one of the Titans that Michael Dougherty mentions designing, and despite not appearing in concept art, the novelization of Godzilla: King of the Monsters describes Mokele-Mbembe in detail, implying that the figure in the cloud of smoke and dust is a model for Mokele-Mbembe and not a placeholder.
Roar[]
Mokele-Mbembe's roar appears to be low with small bellows.
Personality[]
Mokele-Mbembe can be highly aggressive when provoked and will attack anything he perceives as a threat or prey.
History[]
Godzilla: King of the Monsters[]
At some point, Mokele-Mbembe was located and contained imprisoned in Monarch Outpost 75, in Jebel Barkal, Sudan. Shortly after Alan Jonah's attack on Monarch Outpost 61 in China, Staff Sergeant Margaret Nez visited the outpost and saw the sleeping Titan in a 20,000-year-old cave. The next day, Nez met with Colonel Freer, who informed that the Titan would be eliminated if it made any unexpected movements.
After King Ghidorah's release and Emma Russell's announcement to Monarch of her intention to free others, Nez advised the outpost's responsible, to kill the Titan, but the latter refused and soon after Ghidorah's call awakened the other sleeping Titans around the world, including Mokele-Mbembe. the Titan pushed against his containment field, quickly overloading it and knocking down the nearby control room before Nez could hit the kill switch, killing many agents.
Mokele-Mbembe emerged from beneath pyramids. He grabbed several agents with his trunk and devoured them. The Titan traveled north up the Nile, surviving a canyon trap with power lines and explosive charges, easily breaking through defenses, trampling tanks, severing power lines with a swipe of his tail, and hurling a tank at a fighter jet.
Nez fired at the Titan as he approached, but the monster stopped just before killing her, after hearing Madison Russell's distant activation of the ORCA to call all Titans to Boston. Mokele-Mbembe does not arrive in time for the battle and does not see Godzilla become the alpha of all Titans again.
Abilities[]
Durability[]
Mokele-Mbembe's pebbled, reptilian back is durable enough to withstand a missile blast, which has almost no effect on him.
Strength and combat[]
In addition to his tusks, Mokele-Mbembe's tail is sharp enough to slice an Osprey in half and strong enough to tear through a pyramid. Mokele-Mbembe's trunk is incredibly fast and prehensile, allowing him to grab moving targets. His crocodile-like teeth are also incredibly sharp. He can also effortlessly hurl tanks through the air.
Trivia[]
- The outpost Mokele-Mbembe was contained in, Monarch Outpost 75, is a possible reference to the 1975 Toho film Terror of Mechagodzilla.
- It is also possible that the South African myth of the Grootslang and the Congolese/Ugandan myth of the Irizima were inspired by the sightings of Mokele-Mbembe.
List of appearances[]
Films[]
- Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Footage)
Novels[]
- Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization (First appearance)