Scylla

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Overview

Gallery

Scylla
Nomenclature
Nickname(s)	Squid-like Titan
Biological Information
Species	Titanus Scylla
Height	341 feet
Weight	20,000 tons
Status	Deceased
Affiliation Information
Allies	Rodan Behemoth Methuselah Queen MUTO
Enemies	Ghidorah † Monarch Godzilla
Controlled by	Ghidorah † (formerly) Godzilla (formerly)
Production Information
Roar
First appearance	Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Latest appearance	MonsterVerse Declassified

The goddamndest thing.

― Sawyer describing Scylla (Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization)

Scylla (スキュラ^?), also dubbed Titanus Scylla, was a giant armored cephalopod Titan created by Legendary Pictures that first appeared in the 2019 film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as a minor Titan that obeys Ghidorah and later Godzilla. She reappears in the graphic novels Godzilla: Dominion and Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted, where she battles Godzilla, and later appears in the 2024 film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, where she is ultimately defeated and killed by Godzilla.

Name

"Scylla" refers to the female sea monster from Greek mythology, the daughter of Typhon. In other versions, Scylla was once a beautiful sea-nymph who was transformed into a hideous creature by the sorceress goddess Circe so that the latter could have the sea god Glaucus for herself. Monarch later confirmed that Titanus Scylla was named by the Ancient Greeks, who interpreted her as a female sea monster. It may also refer to the Scylla genus of swimming crabs, as parts of Scylla greatly resemble crabs, particularly her legs.

"Scylla" may be derived from the American dub name of Kumonga, Spiga. Since Scylla is inspired by Cthulhu and resembles it in some aspects of her appearance, her name may also relate to Cthylla, Cthulhu's daughter. Monarch gave Scylla the Titan classification Titanus Scylla. In Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, a Monarch map tracking Titan locations simply calls her "Titan 024."

Design

Appearance

Scylla is a giant armored cephalopod, and is brown coloration with six long segmented legs that are sparsely covered in hairs. Each of these legs possess two joints and end in a massive pointed claw covered in small spikes. She also has a plated mantle with ten tentacles and a pair of orange eyes. Most notably, she has a massive shell that curves inward like the shell of an ammonite.

In Godzilla Dominion, Scylla appears slightly different. She no longer has her swirling ammonite-like shell, but instead a more sloped, downwards-curving shell. Instead of tentacles, she now seemingly has over a dozen slender white tendrils sprouting from her face.

In the events from Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Scylla retains her design from Dominion, but the coloration of her shell has now changed from brown to red, and sports membranes between her legs. Upon being dispatched, Scylla's blood is shown as a desaturated yellow after getting killed by Godzilla.

Portrayal

It is believed that Scylla is portrayed through CGI and keyframe animation, although the portrayal is currently undefined. Scylla moves much like an actual spider, moving in fast bursts of short quick steps. She also has greater control over her legs, as opposed to spiders, which use hydrostatic pressure to extend their legs due to their lack of blood and bones.

Roar

While confronting Godzilla, Scylla emits a series of short yet quick chattering sound.

Personality

Scylla is an opportunistic Titan that feeds upon every source of radiation she can find. Although she bowed in submission to Godzilla after his battle with Ghidorah in Boston, Scylla's aggressive feeding habits causes her to go rogue several times, triggering a response from Godzilla to keep order. Although she will fight Godzilla when he intervenes with her feeding behavior, she will retreat when she knows that the odds are against her. Bernie Hayes speculates that Scylla's feeding habits could possibly be the result of her preparing to reproduce, or simply to gain strength in order to challenge Godzilla in battle.

Origins

In Homer's Odyssey, Scylla is a legendary monster who lives on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite her counterpart, Charybdis. The two sides of the strait were within an arrow's range of each other - so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pass dangerously close to Scylla and vice versa. The coastal town of Scilla in Calabria takes its name from the monster and is said to be the home of the nymph. The idiom "between Scylla and Charybdis" has come to mean being forced to choose between two similarly dangerous situations. Scylla is an armored tank of a Titan that can quickly change direction and maneuver sideways to throw off the attacks of opposing Titans in battle, driving its massive claws into the earth like six seismic mortars. Titanus Scylla is a scavenger with a biological imperative to feed on the carcasses of dead Titans and process their nutrients into a deadly bacteria that can poison water sources. As such, standard-post combat protocol calls for Monarch Pathology teams to immediately begin breaking down any Titan carcasses after engagements as quickly as possible. It has the ability to abandon its shell and burrow into a rock face or use cobbled together parts of sunken battleships as replacement exoskeletal armor until she can grow a new one to protect its tender invertebrate muscle tissue. With its long and dexterous facial proboscis, it can pull prey into its maw and consume from above. After digesting the flesh, the remains and sinew are regurgitated into a field of scattered bones arranged into distinct piles described in ancient mythology texts as "rows of dried skeleton wheat". Mythological evidence has been discovered that connects Scylla to Easter Island with analysis suggesting the mysterious statues that guard the shores may have been erected by ancients as megalithic scarecrows to keep it away.

― Cryptid Profile

History

Ancient Greece

According to Greek legend, Scylla would reside in and near the sea, killing the sailors of ships that sailed too close to her.

Rapa Nui Settlement

Scylla came into contact with the Rapa Nui when they settled on Easter Island. The Rapa Nui in turn, feared Scylla, and they would eventually erect the famous Moai statues around the shores of Easter Island as megalithic scarecrows to deter her.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Scylla awakens beneath an oil field in Sedona, Arizona.

In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Scylla is in a Monarch containment facility in a desert nearby oil rigs in Sedona, Arizona, being monitored by Monarch and designated "Titanus Scylla". After her file is briefly examined by Mark Russell, Scylla is awakened by the call of her new alpha, Ghidorah, and she destroys the oil rigs she was trapped under. Along with the other Titans (excluding Godzilla, Mothra, and Kong), Scylla is sent to hunt, moving as a pack with the other Titans, and she is seen using her legs to destroy buildings in Phoenix.

Scylla appears in Boston.

After Madison Russell uses the ORCA in Boston, Scylla is one of the Titans to make the journey but is unable to make it across America in time to help her alpha, and so arrives to see Godzilla having killed Ghidorah. Scylla follows Rodan in bowing down to Godzilla, her rightful alpha along with Behemoth, Methuselah and the Queen MUTO.

News reports later mention that Monarch has confirmed Scylla's Greek origin, and it can be seen that Scylla has become one of the most popular and famous Titans to humanity. According to the reports, Scylla is having a positive impact on the environment by emitting enough liquid nitrogen to slow down the melting of ice in Antarctica and stabilize the world sea levels.

Godzilla Dominion

Godzilla and Scylla fight off the coast of Savannah, Georgia.

Driven by hunger, Scylla decides to attempt to feed on a lost nuclear warhead off the coasts of Savannah, Georgia, before Godzilla arrives to stop her. After a brief battle, Scylla is defeated and retreats to an island near the tip of South America before hibernating in its freezing lake. She, along with the other Titans, are sent back into dormancy by Godzilla.

Godzilla vs. Kong

Scylla remains dormant during Godzilla's search for Ghidorah's remains that were desecrated by Apex Cybernetics and fight against Kong and later, Mechagodzilla as per her alpha's instruction.

Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted

The reactor beacon activated by Raymond Martin drives Scylla into attacking the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India. Scylla swiftly uses her legs and tentacles to dispatch the Indian Air Force fighter jets before she destroys the power plant and feeds on the radiation. She then retreats to the Indian Ocean right before Godzilla shows up.

Two days later, Martin lures Scylla into attacking the United Kingdom Nuclear Labs in Preston, and she feeds on the radiation before Godzilla can reach her. She then travels to Italy and attacks the Aviano Air Base so that she can feed on the radiation from the thirty American missiles that were stored beneath the ground. When Scylla makes her way through Rome, Godzilla manages to intercept her as they prepare to battle.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

In the middle of Rome, Godzilla confronts Scylla as she terrorizes the city's populace. The two exchange roars and charge each other, with Godzilla elbowing Scylla's body and stunning her. Immediately after, Godzilla picks up Scylla by one of her legs and throws her onto a building, handicapping her. Godzilla then jumps onto Scylla and pins her down, and as Scylla attempts to restrain him with her tendrils, she is blasted directly in the face by Godzilla's atomic breath. After several seconds of exposure to the heat ray, Scylla exploded and was killed instantly, resulting in several legs, bits of shell, and a torrent of blood scattering in all directions across the city. After the battle, Godzilla decided to rest in the Colosseum.

MonsterVerse Declassified

To be added.

Non-canon appearances

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong

Scylla first appears in the first issue being seen on a monitor on a Monarch Outpost on Skull Island by the Legion of Doom. In the second issue, after being summoned to the DC Universe, Scylla attacks Central City. In Issue 3, Scylla proceeds to attack Iron Heights and her rampage threatens to release the facility's inmates. However, Flash, Green Lantern, and Supergirl are able to prevent such massive prison break from happening and succeed in pushing Scylla back to the ocean. In the fourth issue, Cyborg informs the rest of the Justice League that Scylla is fully submerged in the Atlantic Ocean and is off the grid. Footage of her attack is also briefly seen on a monitor on the Watchtower. In the sixth issue, Scylla converge with Tiamat and Behemoth in Metropolis, with Lex Luthor using Mechagodzilla to summon and command the three Titans. When the Justice League arrive, Scylla battles members of the Green Lantern Corps who have created a giant robot to fight her. However, the battle is interrupted when the League of Assassins arrive with a pack of Skullcrawlers.

Abilities

Amphibious nature

Scylla's internal biology greatly resembles that of a squid, allowing her to survive both on land and in water.

Bacterial processing

Scylla can process the nutrients from the Titan carcasses she feeds on into deadly waterborne bacteria.

Bio-corrosive nature

Monarch describes Titanus Scylla as "bio-corrosive".

Durability

Due to the spiky armor that covers her body and legs, Scylla is durable enough to topple buildings and withstand bullets and missiles with little to no damage. Although Scylla manages to stay alive after Godzilla threw her into large buildings, her body cannot withstand his atomic breath.

Fog emission

When threatened, Scylla can release a dense fog-like pollutant from her body to feed on radiation and to cover her retreat.

Liquid nitrogen emission

Scylla can emit massive quantities of liquid nitrogen from her body, which allows her to slow down the melting of ice in Antarctica, stabilizing the global sea levels in the process.

Silk

Scylla can fire silk webbing from her mouth during her attack on Rome.

Speed and agility

Scylla can use her legs to move swiftly on land and in water. She is described as being able to quickly change direction and move sideways to avoid opponents in battle. She can also use a form of jet propulsion to swim at great speed.

Strength and combat

Scylla's legs and their spiky tips are strong enough to tear through solid rock and buildings with ease. Her tendrils are also capable of grasping enemies and destroying buildings, and latching onto larger. Her shell also provides protection from attacks. Her legs are capable of slicing into Godzilla, making him bleed, and her tendrils were strong enough to grapple the larger Titan.

Weaknesses

Restricted mobility

Despite having agile legs, Scylla's legs are modified for terrestrial movement. Due to this, Scylla is dependent on keeping her legs on the ground to remain mobile, and will struggle to move when she is turned upside down when there is nothing to cling onto. This allowed Godzilla to finish Scylla off with little effort after he tossed her into large buildings and flipped her onto her back.

Trivia

• When Scylla was first shown in a trailer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, she was widely believed to be Kumonga.
  • Scylla being located in Arizona can be interpreted as a reference to the scene where Kumonga attacked Arizona in Godzilla: Final Wars.
• The outpost Scylla was contained in, Monarch Outpost 55, is a possible reference to the 1955 Toho film Godzilla Raids Again, or Tarantula!, which was also released in 1955 and features a giant spider attacking Arizona.
• In the film's novelization, Scylla is mistakenly mentioned to have eight legs.
• Scylla appears to be the most popular Titan in-universe, as #Scylla is the most trending hashtag on Twitter after Monarch reveals Scylla's information to the world.
• Scylla was created by Michael Dougherty to indulge his interest in the Cthulhu Mythos. Scylla bears a resemblance to Cthulhu and Cthylla, with all three having a cephalopod-like head. Cthylla is even sometimes called "Scylla".
• Scylla also shares a near-similar name with Nerscylla, a giant spider monster from the Monster Hunter franchise, whose name was also derived from the Greek monster.

List of appearances

Films

• Godzilla: King of the Monsters (First appearance)
• Godzilla vs. Kong (stock footage)
• Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Comics

• Godzilla Dominion
• Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong
• Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted
• MonsterVerse Declassified

Novels

• Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization
• Godzilla vs. Kong - The Official Movie Novelization (Mentioned)
• Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - The Official Movie Novelization