Mothra (MonsterVerse)

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Mothra, Queen of the Monsters.

― Ilene Chen (Godzilla: King of the Monsters)

Template:Tabber2Legendary Template:Infobox Monster Mothra (モスラ,   Mosura^?), also dubbed Titanus Mosura, is a giant moth daikaiju created by Legendary Pictures that first appeared in the 2019 film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Name

Mothra is given her name due to the fact she resembles a gigantic moth. The name "Titanus Mosura" comes from the Latin term "Titanus", meaning Titan, with "Mosura" being a Japanese translation of Mothra. The novelization of the film reveals that "Mosura" is the name that is given to her by the natives of a small Indonesian island that worship her, and that the name itself means "giver of life".

Design

Appearance

Mothra’s larval state is much more insectoid in appearance compared to other incarnations and has a bluish-green coloration to it as opposed to the traditional brown and baby blue eyes. Unlike its previous appearances, where it had 2 mandibles, this version has 3, which makes her larval state more in keeping with its insectoid aesthetic.

Her imago state possesses large wings with red, orange, yellow, and black coloration which give off a blue/orange glow with eye patterns akin to her Showa era, Heisei era, and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. designs. She also possesses raptorial front and mid-legs, as well as toed hind-legs akin to the male MUTO.

Her wings are much narrower than most incarnations. She sports a stockier head than most other interpretations but retains the classic blue eyes. Her abdomen is shaped like a wasp's, much like her 2001 incarnation. Her body still retains her classic white fur though her mouth is vertical as opposed to the usual horizontal position.

Portrayal

The portrayal of the MonsterVerse Mothra is undefined.

Roar

Mothra's roar is similar to her past roars, being a sort of screech. The filmmakers also used the chittering of crickets that were slowed down exponentially to give the impression that Mothra is singing. There are a few moments in the film where she gives off her classic roar such as when she goes berserk in her larval state, when she emerges from her cocoon in her imago state, when Ghidorah kills her, and can also be heard within Godzilla's Nuclear Pulse.

Personality

Upon hatching from her egg as a larva, Mothra shows signs of curiosity and inquisitiveness at the Monarch personnel around her. However, she becomes aggressive when they try to contain her and webs up some of them with her silk attacks. When Emma emits the Alpha frequency from the ORCA, Mothra immediately calms down, allowing Madison to approach and nearly touch her.

Mothra remains loyal to Godzilla even after Ghidorah became the Alpha Titan and immediately flies to his location after emerging from her cocoon. She helps Godzilla in fighting both Ghidorah and Rodan in Boston but sustains great amounts of injuries in the process. When Godzilla is greatly wounded after being dropped thousands of feet from the sky, Mothra stands between him and the approaching Ghidorah. To prevent Godzilla from undergoing a nuclear meltdown, Mothra sacrifices herself to Ghidorah’s gravity beams, giving Godzilla her life force so that he can have the power to destroy Ghidorah.

Origins

From erased Nazca lines to the hidden Temple of the Moth, the name "Mothra" is woven throughout the most secret mythologies of our planet. The folklore and fairy tales tell of a winged creature of blinding light, an angel of the clouds whose god-like luminescence has the power to shatter the sky.

Ancient spirit tablets discovered in the mountain jungles of the Yunnan Province portray a giant winged Alpha of the Lepidoptera order. In all of our findings, human civilization is pictographically shown in poses that imply deification of the so-called "Queen of the Monsters", suggesting that the creature was once a benign part of the natural order.

When Monarch containment crews discovered the live Titan chrysalis within the Chinese myth site, Dr. Emma Russell was quickly dispatched to closely monitor the creature that lay dormant within it. A quickening sonar pulse suggests the creature is awakening. If she ever emerges from her ancient slumber, a superspecies that once illuminated the sky will be reborn as Mothra.

Pupal DNA samples suggest a remarkable, multi-stage evolution. On reaching adulthood, Mothra's gigantic thorax is capable of emitting beta-wave bioluminescence which can be projected through the intricate patterns on its wings and weaponized into blinding "god rays".

As one of the deadliest and most beautiful natural phenomena in Earth's history, no wonder this devastating guardian angel was worshipped as a goddess by the ancient human civilizations blessed to witness her.

― Cryptid Profile

The MonsterVerse of Mothra deviates from that of the original Toho incarnations in that she is not a mystical, divine being, but rather a member of Titanus Mosura, a prehistoric insect-like superspecies that originated from the same era as Godzilla and the Titans. Godzilla's species, in particular, had a warm, symbiotic relationship with Mothra's.

In a nod to the original Japanese films, the Mothra featured in Godzilla: King of the Monsters was worshipped as a deity by a primitive culture living in the Yunnan Province, where her egg was stored away in an ancient temple upon being discovered by Monarch.

History

	SPOILER WARNING: This section may contain major plot and/or ending details. Proceed at your own discretion.

Kong: Skull Island

In 1971, Houston Brooks and San Lin would brief James Conrad and Mason Weaver on multiple other monsters who ruled the world alongside Kong. This included Mothra, along with Godzilla, Rodan, and Ghidorah, who were shown to the two via classified Monarch cave paintings.

2009

In 2009, a team led by Monarch scientist Dr. Emma Russell followed a strange bio-acoustic signature to a previously undiscovered megalithic temple in the high-altitude jungles of China's Yunnan province. A giant cocoon was found within the temple, with a rapid heartbeat detected inside.

Godzilla

Before the meltdown at Janjira in 2014, the Brody family owned an aquarium that had a creature dubbed "Mothra" in it.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Mothra is first seen as a larva hatching from her egg after being closely monitored by Monarch for years. She becomes agitated when Monarch operatives fire electrical pulses at her and spit silk at them in defense, as well as flattening them with her massive bulk and devouring them in her 3-part mandibles. The Monarch scientists decide to terminate her before she can destroy the facility, but Dr. Emma Russell manages to calm her down using the ORCA device, which releases frequencies only understood by Titans. Now more relaxed, Mothra leans close towards Dr. Russell and her daughter, Madison, and allows them to touch her. Soon after, eco-terrorists raid the facility, killing all the Monarch personnel except for Emma and Madison, who they abducted. Sensing danger, Mothra retreats into a waterfall before the eco-terrorists can capture her, and seals herself off in a cocoon.

Sometime later, Mothra hatches from her cocoon in adult form and spreads her wings for the first time. She takes flight and later assists Monarch in discovering where Godzilla was regenerating after nearly being killed by the Oxygen Destroyer.

Mothra travels to Boston and assists Godzilla in his re-match against Ghidorah. She spits silk at Ghidorah, pinning him to the side of a building and allowing Godzilla to brutally ram him through. Before she can further assist her Alpha, Rodan appears and intercepts her, slamming her into a building.

The two Titans grapple each other in the sky, and a fierce aerial battle ensues. Rodan, being much larger and, arguably, more powerful than Mothra, has the advantage for most of the fight. Rodan then pins her to a building and prepares to deliver the killing blow, only to have Mothra stab him in the sternum with her hidden stinger, which incapacitates him.

Severely wounded and weakened, Mothra flies over to Godzilla, who had just been dropped from thousands of feet by Ghidorah. Using the last of her strength, she flies towards Ghidorah, who blasts her with his gravity beams.

Mothra burns up and disintegrates, her ashes falling onto Godzilla, transferring her power to him. Godzilla, now burning red, blasts Ghidorah with thermonuclear pulses, which take the shape of Mothra's wings. Using these thermonuclear pulses, Godzilla can defeat Ghidorah and secures his position as the Alpha Titan.

Following Ghidorah’s death, newspaper articles reveal that another Mothra egg has been discovered.

Abilities

Abdominal Stinger

Mothra possesses a stinger in her abdomen, in which she used as a last resort to stab Rodan in the sternum when the latter has momentarily pinned her to a building.

Bioluminescence

Mothra's thorax is capable of emitting beta-wave bioluminescence that can be projected through the patterns of her wings and weaponized as blinding 'god rays' that can disperse clouds.

Durability

Mothra can take hits from Rodan's attacks and continues on fighting.

Energy Dispersal

Upon dying, Mothra releases a cloud of energy that empowers Godzilla.

Flight

Mothra's gigantic wings allow her to fly across the sky at great speed.

Raptorial Forelimbs

Mothra's legs possess pointed tips, allowing her to fight up close against other Titans if she needs to.

Silk Attack

Mothra can launch incredibly strong silk from glands inside her mouth, and she can do this in both her larval and imago forms. The silk is shown to be strong enough to temporarily glue humans to the walls of a cave and Ghidorah to the side of a building.

Speed and Agility

Mothra can swiftly blindside Ghidorah by gluing him to the side of a building with her silk, and she is quick enough to use her stinger to stab Rodan before he can kill her.

Strength and Combat

Her fighting style varies depending on what stage of life she is currently in. In her larval form, Mothra can knock humans away with her legs, as well as devour them whole with her tripartite mandibles. In her imago form, Mothra uses her raptorial forelimbs and stinger as her primary weapons. A strike from her limbs is strong enough to stagger Rodan for a short amount of time and her stinger is sharp enough to pierce through Rodan’s geothermal armor.

Reincarnation

Mothra can cheat death by laying an egg upon reaching her imago state.

Weaknesses

Relative Fragility

Due to her smaller size and delicate frame, Mothra was not the most durable Titan. She was severely wounded after her battle against Rodan and disintegrated within seconds when Ghidorah blasted her with his gravity beams.

Trivia

Pre-production design of Mothra

• This is the first incarnation of Mothra that is not a literal divine creature. Though, she does have aspects that imply her mystical origin.
• This incarnation of Mothra to have long forelegs resembles Mothra's pre-production designs by Toho.
• The revealed image for Mothra reads "Terrasearch #63061: Yucca Province". June 30, 1961 (6-30-61) was the date the original Mothra film released. However, Yucca is a typo as it's supposed to be "Yunnan", and there is no such place as the Yucca Province.
  • As seen on the Monarch Sciences website, Monarch Outpost 61, where Mothra is located, homages 1961, the year when Mothra was released.
• Based on the fact that the Nazca Lines are mentioned in Monarch Sciences' description of Mothra, it can be assumed that she has some ties to Nazca culture. Mothra's connection to the Latin American continent is similar to that of her counterpart in the AniGoji continuity.
• This Mothra's bioluminescence-based abilities are similar to a special ability of the male MUTO, originally dubbed 'Hokmuto', in an early version of the 2014 film, Godzilla. Said ability was said to be a lightning-like "shockwave" that created aurora-like lights.
  • Furthermore, some scenes of Mothra (MA) are similar to the description of this Mothra's bioluminescence.
• In one interview with Michael Dougherty, he revealed that Mothra's eyespots are intentionally designed to look like Godzilla's eyes because he "wanted to create a connection between [her] and Godzilla". Additionally, he gave her slightly larger feet because he wanted her to be able to defend herself and fight with the other monsters if she needs to.
• Mothra's design in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack by Shusuke Kaneko shares many similarities with the Mothra in the King of the Monsters; much smaller in size comparing to Godzilla, more sharp and aggressive facial expressions, to have long hairless legs with a slender body. Both incarnations of Mothra don't originate from Infant Island and gained new weapons/abilities instead of the iconic poisonous scales. Monsters to inspire humanity to create mystical creatures from the real world is very similar to the cases seen in Shusuke Kaneko's Gamera Trilogy and his Godzilla.
  • Shusuke Kaneko confirmed multiple similarities between his GMK and King of the Monsters including Mothra to become "that"
• The Monarch timeline incorrectly states that Mothra was first discovered in her cocoon state when she was still just an egg, as shown in King of the Monsters.
• Much like the land-based Servum, Mothra's larval state shares many similarities to the Ohmu from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind such as the armored carapace, her multiple, dagger-like legs on the front part of her body, and her glowing body changing colors depending on her mood (blue for calm and red for enraged or distressed).

List of appearances

Films

• Kong: Skull Island (First appearance) (Cameo)
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Novels

• Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization

In other languages

Mothra's name remains the same across many languages employing the Latin alphabet.

• Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian: Мотра
• Chinese: 魔斯拉 (Mó sī lā)
• Italian: Watang, Mattra, Pulluk
• Yiddish: מאָטהראַ

References

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