Monster Island

Monster Island

• See also Monsterland

Monster Island is an island within the Toho Universe that Godzilla along with other Kaiju are said to inhabit, depending on the film. The Island took many forms over the course of the series, sometimes being inhabited solely by the monsters and at other points being controlled to some extent by the Japanese or World Government. Monster Island or Monster Island-like locales were commonly used in the more child friendly Godzilla films of the late 60's and early 70's, though fell out of favor by Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster.

A Monster Island-like locale would show up again in two Heisei films, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (Lagos Island), and Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla (Birth Island) though the convention has not reappeared since then.

During the late 60's and early 70's, Monster Island was frequently used as a way to get Godzilla and any other monsters involved, into the movie without a lot of back story, especially in Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Megalon. However, by the time that Terror of MechaGodzilla rolled around, Godzilla simply appeared on cue. It was also a way for the producers to fill up time by including stock footage of the other monsters.

The most recent appearance of Monster Island is in the Godzilla video games.

History

Movies

Although details about the creation of Monster Island are sketchy at best, it is believed that in 1968, the United Nations set up a research base at the recently thawed Solgell Island in the South Pacific. The previous year, the monsters Godzilla, Minilla, and Kumonga had been frozen there during a weather control experiment. With three monsters already on the island, containment systems were built to keep them there, and one by one, the rest of the Earth's monsters were gradually rounded up and transported to the island, now dubbed Monster Island. By the 1970's, most of the world's giant monsters now lived on the island, where they were studied and monitered. However, in 1973, underground nuclear testing disturbed Monster Island, destroying the tropical landform and rendering it uninhabitable. For some time, the monsters roamed free, but soon, they were rounded up again and relocated to a new island in the Ogasawara chain dubbed Monsterland. There, they remain to this day.

List of Monsters

• Godzilla
• Anguirus
• Rodan
• Varan
• Gabara (At least in fiction; only in All Monsters Attack)
• Mothra (larva)
• Manda
• Baragon
• Minilla
• Kumonga
• Kamacuras
• Gorosaurus
• Giant Condor (only in All Monsters Attack)
• Ebirah (only in All Monsters Attack)

Godzilla: the Series

During the Monster Wars trilogy the Isle DIablo island chain was taken over by the Tachyons in their plot to take over the world. They used the island as a staging point to gather earth's monsters and send them after 6 of the worlds most powerful nations on the planet in a bid to weaken earth's defences and colonize earth. They were ultimately defeated and most of the Monsters killed in the process.

Three Survivors Crustaceous Rex, the Giant Bat, and King Cobra were rounded up and imprisoned on the island. The island utilized massive force fields to keep King Cobra and Crustaceous Rex from fighting the Giant Bat was allowed to roam freely but prevented from using it's sonic shrieks by a special collar and kept from leaving the island by lasers.

Later the terrorist organization S.C.A.L.E. was able to find and sneak into the facility by smugling a tracking device onto the H.E.A.T. Seeker when it went to the island to study a new captive known as Skeetera a giant mutant mosquito. They quickly toke over the island, toke both H.E.A.T. and the millitary personel captive and set the Monsters Free.

Godzilla also broke into the Island to protect his adoptive father Nick Tautopoulos and pacified the Monsters which gave a needed opening to regain control over the island. In other Episodes Numerous other Monsters were also captured by the Millitary: Giant Mutant Hummingbirds, Shrewster, Numerous Monsters from The Mutant Mania circus, and Numerous Monsters from the Sphiel Collesium.

Though it's unknown if they were brought to the island or sent to the Government's other mutant containment and research facillity Area 51.

List of Monsters imprisoned

• Crustaceous Rex
• Giant Bat
• King Cobra
• Skeetera
• The Shrewster

Video Games

Monster Island has appeared in Atari's Godzilla games. In Godzilla: Save the Earth, it is a playable arena that has a sub-arena, Monster Island Bay. The island has a mud pit, a waterfall, and even a volcanic section. Some of the challenges like Vorillium Basketball and Monster Bowling appear to take place on Monster Island, but its never actually said whether they do or not.

In Godzilla: Unleashed, the island is the first location to be bombarded with the crystals. The resulting chaos lets the Earth Defenders succesfully deactivate the forcefield barriers and escape. In Double Smash, the monsters are released as in Unleashed, but end up returning there for the final battle against Destoroyah and Spacegodzilla.

Film Appearences

• All Monsters Attack (1969) (only in the dreams of Ichiro)
• Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
• Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

External links

• Monsterland and MonsterIsland at Wikipedia