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Description
So I finally got around to another installment in TCE. This time, focusing on everyone's favorite space dragon.

--

SYNOPSIS

For eons, there has existed a cosmic horror that goes by many names: The Golden Eldritch, The King of Three, The Xilien Kings, Monster Zero . . . King Ghidorah. In the world of TCE, King Ghidorah is an immortal deity worshipped by a twisted and malevolent organization known, simply, as The Ghidorah Cult.

Ghidorah resides on the planet of Xile (Pronounced exactly as "exile"), a planet that exists far beyond the reach of any advanced intelligent life and is said to have existed since the dawn of the universe. Ghidorah's true form is left unknown. Among its numerous incarnations, Ghidorah's most common, recognizable forms that it can transfer its consciousness into are that of the giant three-headed dragon (The most famous depiction that has been recorded in numerous ancient figures and manuscripts) and its humanoid avatar: Three identical beings that act independently of each other, dressed in gown-like membrane with headdress-like horns and tentacles ending with sharp talons, referred to, exclusively, as The Xilien Kings, Ghia, Doa, and Raya. The latter form has no visible noses or mouths, but speak telepathically and is used by Ghidorah to communicate and influence mankind. Their other abilities include telekinesis, teleportation, regenerative healing, the ability to manipulate space and time, conjure manipulated black holes, conjure powerful gravity beams for attack, and can even create living creatures as an exension of themselves. King Raya, most notably, has been known to conjure a small pet referred to as a Dorat, which Raya uses either for mild comfort or entertainment, and can summon, duplicate, or erase out of existence at sheer will. The Xilien Kings typically present themselves as stoic, emotionless beings with an insolent nature towards humanity or any entity that opposes them. In some instances, The Xilien Kings will only act out in anger or frustration when they feel especially provoked by anyone or anything that defies their authority. On occasion, The Xilien Kings will appear on Earth and attempt to convert all that they come across to establish their cult. The cult's symbol is referred to as The Eye of Ghidorah, which Ghidorah, itself, uses as a tool to grow the cult. Anyone branded with this symbol falls under Ghidorah's influence and the symbol, itself, can be used as a beacon for Ghidorah to target victims marked with it, guaranteeing that they stay under their control. It can also be used by cult members marked with the sign to find and contact one another via telepathy.

The cult is led by Howard Hastur, who has led the cult for over 40 years. As an aspiring archeologist, he had been studying the history of The Ghidorah Cult for many years. But after losing his beloved wife to a Godzilla attack, Howard's mental state was forever decimated. 3 years after his tragedy, Howard yearned for new meaning in his life. Since then, he's been determined to get his revenge on Godzilla and turned his faith toward a cause much greater than himself, dedicating his entire livelihood to The Ghidorah Cult. After officially earning the rank of cult leader, he was hailed by The Xilien Kings, themselves, who embroidered him with one of their own eyes. This mystic eye gives Howard enhanced strength, agility, and stamina, allowing him to accomplish superhuman feats far beyond any mortal man. In public, he keeps his mystic eye hidden with an eyepatch.

Eventually, Yuki Honda is captured by The Ghidorah Cult, who only see her as a human/kaiju deity, being the only human on Earth to successfully encompass both human an kaiju DNA. The cultists summon The Xilien Kings to offer Yuki as a sacrifice. The Xilien Kings take Yuki for themselves with the intent of harvesting her to unlock her biological secrets, eradicating any chance of any insignificant human achieving the same level of power that they have achieved (Spoilers: She gets saved by Sergeant Lanza, who manages to fight off the cultists and avoid any critical damage from The Xilien Kings). Soon enough, Godzilla arrives to go on a rampage through the city and it all culminates in The Xilien Kings wanting to do away with Godzilla once and for all, to be rid of any chance of Yuki's condition being replicated. They combine into their dragon form and King Ghidorah battles Godzilla to the death in a one-one-one "Kaiju vs. Eldritch" match. While Godzilla manages to win the battle in the end, the war is far from over. Not only does Ghidorah regenerate and come back to fight another day, his dragon form is merely an extension of the eldritch's true self.

While Ghidorah's true motives are unknown, it's been foretold that Ghidorah will one day be powerful enough to destroy the world and usher in a new cosmic order in our galaxy, and nobody, not even Godzilla, will be able to stop them.

--

COMMENTARY NOTES

- So, yeah. Needless to say, Ghidorah in TCE is, basically, one big tribute to the Cthulhu Mythos. I really like the idea of King Ghidorah being depicted as a cosmic deity. So far, the closest we've gotten to that was in Polygon's Godzilla Anime Trilogy, in the last movie, Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018), and failed miserably (Ghidorah did not feel like an actual threat in that movie at all an his "fight" with Godzilla Earth is one of the worst kaiju fights I've ever seen). So I wanted to rectify that and go full Lovecraftian with the concept.

- Visually, the Xilien Kings were primarily inspired by The King in Yellow from the Cthlhu Mytho's. Other visual inspirations include Maleficent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Yellow Diamond from Steven Universe. Originally, I took inspiration from The Cryog, the villainous alien race from the IDW comic series, Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, but I gradually moved away from that and took inspiration from The King in Yellow. The hardest part was figuring out a humanoid design that retained all the recognizable elements of King Ghidorah, while still having it look distinctly "alien." I went through a number of sketches until I finally settled on the design shown here. Their main design is, essentially, a head with an array of tentacles for a body. Each King has eight tentacles in total by default. Six of them (Three on each side) function like hands and two that function like legs. Even though I gave the Xilien Kings very feminine features, I wanted their gender to be ambiguous, where they exist beyond the notions of gender identity.

- The Dorat is lifted straight from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). I don't know why, but I really like the idea of these cosmic beings having some sort of pet to fond over. TCE's Dorat design is visually inspired by the final film version of the dorats from GvsKG, an early concept drawing of the dorats (godzilla dorat concept art - Bing images ), and Kirara's kitten form from the anime InuYasha. Like The Xilien Kings, The Dorat has no visible mouth, nor does it have arms or legs, but does have a visible, cat-like nose. It communicates through purrs and soft, mammal-like humming sounds. Its body defies gravity by hovering about. It maneuvers by flapping its wings and curling and twisting its body through thin air.

- Unlike Godzilla, who I based specifically on his design from the Heisei Era, I wanted this version of King Ghidorah to have its own identity. While primarily inspired by his Heisei design from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), other inspirations included Maleficent's dragon from from Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Ghidorah's design from The Planet Eater. But, more specifically, I took inspiration from Ghidorah's design from the Godzilla Earth MMD fan animation on YouTube (youtu.be/28qe6bT8gCo ) (It's an excellent fan animation. Far better than the actual movie or the entire Polygon Trilogy combined!). Much like the Xilien King designs, Ghidorah's dragon form has no physical nostrils, nor does he have a visible throat or teeth like Godzilla does (Ghidorah's "teeth" are actually surraded extensions of his jaws). I really wanted to emhasize the alien aspect of the design, while still retaining the recognizable elements of the original design.

- I was originally going to call The Ghidorah Cult "The Monster Zero Society", since I had already designed the cult symbol as a stylized "zero." But I ultimately decided to go with "The Ghidorah Cult" because it felt more self-explanatory (Not to mention, sounding similar to "The Cthulhu Cult"), but I still retained the "zero" symbol as a more subtle reference to "Monster Zero."

- Howard's last name, Hastur, refers to the name of The King in Yellow. Originally his last name was going to be "Dagon", in reference to the Lovecraft story of the same name, but "Hastur" just seemed more appropriate. Plus, the name "Howard Hastur" rolls off the tongue better.

- The image of Godzilla fighting Ghidorah is an obvious nod to the theatrical poster for Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), illustrated by Noriyoshi Ohrai (godzilla vs king ghidorah 1991 poster - Bing images ). One of my personal favorite Godzilla movies. It was one of the first Godzilla movies I ever saw and was my first introduction to King Ghidorah.

--

Previously on "Godzilla: The Chimera Effect" . . .

Godzilla & King Ghidorah © Toho Co., Ltd.

Description
So I finally got around to another installment in TCE. This time, focusing on everyone's favorite space dragon.

--

SYNOPSIS

For eons, there has existed a cosmic horror that goes by many names: The Golden Eldritch, The King of Three, The Xilien Kings, Monster Zero . . . King Ghidorah. In the world of TCE, King Ghidorah is an immortal deity worshipped by a twisted and malevolent organization known, simply, as The Ghidorah Cult.

Ghidorah resides on the planet of Xile (Pronounced exactly as "exile"), a planet that exists far beyond the reach of any advanced intelligent life and is said to have existed since the dawn of the universe. Ghidorah's true form is left unknown. Among its numerous incarnations, Ghidorah's most common, recognizable forms that it can transfer its consciousness into are that of the giant three-headed dragon (The most famous depiction that has been recorded in numerous ancient figures and manuscripts) and its humanoid avatar: Three identical beings that act independently of each other, dressed in gown-like membrane with headdress-like horns and tentacles ending with sharp talons, referred to, exclusively, as The Xilien Kings, Ghia, Doa, and Raya. The latter form has no visible noses or mouths, but speak telepathically and is used by Ghidorah to communicate and influence mankind. Their other abilities include telekinesis, teleportation, regenerative healing, the ability to manipulate space and time, conjure manipulated black holes, conjure powerful gravity beams for attack, and can even create living creatures as an exension of themselves. King Raya, most notably, has been known to conjure a small pet referred to as a Dorat, which Raya uses either for mild comfort or entertainment, and can summon, duplicate, or erase out of existence at sheer will. The Xilien Kings typically present themselves as stoic, emotionless beings with an insolent nature towards humanity or any entity that opposes them. In some instances, The Xilien Kings will only act out in anger or frustration when they feel especially provoked by anyone or anything that defies their authority. On occasion, The Xilien Kings will appear on Earth and attempt to convert all that they come across to establish their cult. The cult's symbol is referred to as The Eye of Ghidorah, which Ghidorah, itself, uses as a tool to grow the cult. Anyone branded with this symbol falls under Ghidorah's influence and the symbol, itself, can be used as a beacon for Ghidorah to target victims marked with it, guaranteeing that they stay under their control. It can also be used by cult members marked with the sign to find and contact one another via telepathy.

The cult is led by Howard Hastur, who has led the cult for over 40 years. As an aspiring archeologist, he had been studying the history of The Ghidorah Cult for many years. But after losing his beloved wife to a Godzilla attack, Howard's mental state was forever decimated. 3 years after his tragedy, Howard yearned for new meaning in his life. Since then, he's been determined to get his revenge on Godzilla and turned his faith toward a cause much greater than himself, dedicating his entire livelihood to The Ghidorah Cult. After officially earning the rank of cult leader, he was hailed by The Xilien Kings, themselves, who embroidered him with one of their own eyes. This mystic eye gives Howard enhanced strength, agility, and stamina, allowing him to accomplish superhuman feats far beyond any mortal man. In public, he keeps his mystic eye hidden with an eyepatch.

Eventually, Yuki Honda is captured by The Ghidorah Cult, who only see her as a human/kaiju deity, being the only human on Earth to successfully encompass both human an kaiju DNA. The cultists summon The Xilien Kings to offer Yuki as a sacrifice. The Xilien Kings take Yuki for themselves with the intent of harvesting her to unlock her biological secrets, eradicating any chance of any insignificant human achieving the same level of power that they have achieved (Spoilers: She gets saved by Sergeant Lanza, who manages to fight off the cultists and avoid any critical damage from The Xilien Kings). Soon enough, Godzilla arrives to go on a rampage through the city and it all culminates in The Xilien Kings wanting to do away with Godzilla once and for all, to be rid of any chance of Yuki's condition being replicated. They combine into their dragon form and King Ghidorah battles Godzilla to the death in a one-one-one "Kaiju vs. Eldritch" match. While Godzilla manages to win the battle in the end, the war is far from over. Not only does Ghidorah regenerate and come back to fight another day, his dragon form is merely an extension of the eldritch's true self.

While Ghidorah's true motives are unknown, it's been foretold that Ghidorah will one day be powerful enough to destroy the world and usher in a new cosmic order in our galaxy, and nobody, not even Godzilla, will be able to stop them.

--

COMMENTARY NOTES

- So, yeah. Needless to say, Ghidorah in TCE is, basically, one big tribute to the Cthulhu Mythos. I really like the idea of King Ghidorah being depicted as a cosmic deity. So far, the closest we've gotten to that was in Polygon's Godzilla Anime Trilogy, in the last movie, Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018), and failed miserably (Ghidorah did not feel like an actual threat in that movie at all an his "fight" with Godzilla Earth is one of the worst kaiju fights I've ever seen). So I wanted to rectify that and go full Lovecraftian with the concept.

- Visually, the Xilien Kings were primarily inspired by The King in Yellow from the Cthlhu Mytho's. Other visual inspirations include Maleficent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Yellow Diamond from Steven Universe. Originally, I took inspiration from The Cryog, the villainous alien race from the IDW comic series, Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, but I gradually moved away from that and took inspiration from The King in Yellow. The hardest part was figuring out a humanoid design that retained all the recognizable elements of King Ghidorah, while still having it look distinctly "alien." I went through a number of sketches until I finally settled on the design shown here. Their main design is, essentially, a head with an array of tentacles for a body. Each King has eight tentacles in total by default. Six of them (Three on each side) function like hands and two that function like legs. Even though I gave the Xilien Kings very feminine features, I wanted their gender to be ambiguous, where they exist beyond the notions of gender identity.

- The Dorat is lifted straight from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). I don't know why, but I really like the idea of these cosmic beings having some sort of pet to fond over. TCE's Dorat design is visually inspired by the final film version of the dorats from GvsKG, an early concept drawing of the dorats (godzilla dorat concept art - Bing images ), and Kirara's kitten form from the anime InuYasha. Like The Xilien Kings, The Dorat has no visible mouth, nor does it have arms or legs, but does have a visible, cat-like nose. It communicates through purrs and soft, mammal-like humming sounds. Its body defies gravity by hovering about. It maneuvers by flapping its wings and curling and twisting its body through thin air.

- Unlike Godzilla, who I based specifically on his design from the Heisei Era, I wanted this version of King Ghidorah to have its own identity. While primarily inspired by his Heisei design from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), other inspirations included Maleficent's dragon from from Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Ghidorah's design from The Planet Eater. But, more specifically, I took inspiration from Ghidorah's design from the Godzilla Earth MMD fan animation on YouTube (youtu.be/28qe6bT8gCo ) (It's an excellent fan animation. Far better than the actual movie or the entire Polygon Trilogy combined!). Much like the Xilien King designs, Ghidorah's dragon form has no physical nostrils, nor does he have a visible throat or teeth like Godzilla does (Ghidorah's "teeth" are actually surraded extensions of his jaws). I really wanted to emhasize the alien aspect of the design, while still retaining the recognizable elements of the original design.

- I was originally going to call The Ghidorah Cult "The Monster Zero Society", since I had already designed the cult symbol as a stylized "zero." But I ultimately decided to go with "The Ghidorah Cult" because it felt more self-explanatory (Not to mention, sounding similar to "The Cthulhu Cult"), but I still retained the "zero" symbol as a more subtle reference to "Monster Zero."

- Howard's last name, Hastur, refers to the name of The King in Yellow. Originally his last name was going to be "Dagon", in reference to the Lovecraft story of the same name, but "Hastur" just seemed more appropriate. Plus, the name "Howard Hastur" rolls off the tongue better.

- The image of Godzilla fighting Ghidorah is an obvious nod to the theatrical poster for Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), illustrated by Noriyoshi Ohrai (godzilla vs king ghidorah 1991 poster - Bing images ). One of my personal favorite Godzilla movies. It was one of the first Godzilla movies I ever saw and was my first introduction to King Ghidorah.

--

Previously on "Godzilla: The Chimera Effect" . . .

Godzilla & King Ghidorah © Toho Co., Ltd.