Hedorah

Whereas Godzilla was a symbol of Japanese concerns over nuclear weapons, Hedorah was envisioned as an embodiment of Yokkaichi asthma, caused by Japan's widespread smog and urban pollution at the time.[1] Director Yoshimitsu Banno stated in an interview that his intention in creating Hedorah was to give Godzilla an adversary who was more than just a "giant lobster" and which represented "the most notorious thing in current society". He also stated that Hedorah's vertically tilted eyes were based on vaginas, which he joked were "scary". The monster was originally going to be named "Hedoron", though this changed once the TV series Spectreman introduced a character with an identical name.[2]

The monster was realized via various props and a large sponge rubber suit donned by future Godzilla performer Kenpachiro Satsuma in his first acting role for Toho.[3] Satsuma had been selected on account of his physical fitness, though he stated later that he had been disappointed to receive the role, as he had grown tired of taking non-speaking roles.[4] In performing as Hedorah, Satsuma tried to emphasize Hedorah's otherworldly nature by making its movements seem more grotesque than animal-like.[5] Several authors have noted that, unlike most Toho monsters, Hedorah's violent acts are graphically shown to claim human victims, and the creature shows genuine amusement at Godzilla's suffering.[3][4] Banno wished to bring back Hedorah in a sequel set in Africa, but the project never materialized, as he was fired by Teruyoshi Nakano, who accused him of ruining the Godzilla series.[4] Complex listed the character as #8 on its "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time" list.[6]

Banno had hoped to revisit Hedorah in his unrealized project Godzilla 3-D, which would have had featured a similar monster named Deathla. Like its predecessor, Deathla would have been a shape-shifting extraterrestrial, though it would have fed on chlorophyll rather than gas emissions, and all of its forms would have incorporated a skull motif.[2]

In Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Hedorah originates from the Dark Gas Nebula in the Orion constellation, journeys to Earth via a passing comet, and lands in Suruga Bay as a monstrous tadpole-like creature, increasing in size as it feeds on the pollutants contaminating the water. It proceeds to rampage throughout Japan, killing thousands and feeding on gas emissions and toxic waste, gradually gaining power as it advances from a water stage, to a land stage, and finally a bipedal Perfect Form that it can switch out for a smaller, flying form at any time. Godzilla confronts Hedorah at Mount Fuji, but his atomic breath has no effect on Hedorah's amorphous, water-rich body. Hedorah almost kills Godzilla using an onslaught of its powers. It is later discovered that Hedorah is vulnerable to temperatures high enough to dehydrate it, so the JSDF constructs a pair of gigantic electrodes on the battlefield to use against the alien. Hedorah and Godzilla continue to fight, and the former is subsequently killed when Godzilla uses his atomic breath to power the electrodes, which cripple Hedorah and allow Godzilla to fully dehydrate its body into dust.[7]

Hedorah briefly reappears in Godzilla: Final Wars as one of several monsters under the Xiliens' control before it is destroyed by Godzilla alongside Ebirah.[8] A 2021 short film created for the 50th Anniversary of the character would give the Final Wars incarnations of Hedorah and Godzilla a rematch amid an oil refinery in the daytime.

Hedorah also appears in Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters's prequel novel Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse, in which it was originally a colony of sludge-like microorganisms that consume waterborne chemical substances living in a waste mine in Hebei, China. After the Chinese government discovered it in 1999, they studied and converted the microorganisms into a giant, mist-like bio-weapon with red and yellow eyes called Hedorah. In 2005, the Chinese military commenced "Operation: Hedorah" to kill Anguirus and Rodan with the bio-weapon, but it attained sentience, destroyed Hebei Province, consumed the areas' pollutants, and disappeared, leaving an estimated 8.2 million casualties in its wake.

• Rhoads & McCorkle, Sean & Brooke (2018). Japan's Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema. McFarland. ISBN 9781476663906.