Varan

This article is about a fictional monster. For the village in Iran, see Varan, Iran. For the compositions of Bhai Gurdas, see Varan Bhai Gurdas. For the industrial communication system, see VARAN.
Varan
Godzilla film series character

Varan as he appears in his debut film, Varan the Unbelievable
First appearance Varan the Unbelievable (1958)
Last appearance Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Created by Ken Kuronuma
Portrayed by Haruo Nakajima
Katsumi Tezuka
Aliases Baradagi-Sanjin
O-Baki (English version)

Varan (バラン Baran) is a kaiju film monster which first appeared in Toho's 1958 film Varan the Unbelievable.

Overview

In its first appearance, Varan is a monster that lives in a saltwater lake within the Kunishiroshima valley, where it is known to the natives as Baradagi-Sanjin. It kills an expedition duo and then completely destroys a nearby village. After its home is invaded again, the monster proceeds to attack Tokyo and is seemingly unstoppable until it is tricked by the military into eating bombs. After a few detonate in its stomach, Varan is mortally wounded and escapes back into the ocean, but one final bomb explodes, ultimately defeating the creature.

Years later, Varan reappears in Destroy All Monsters living in Monster Island with many other monsters including Godzilla, Mothra, Kumonga, Anguirus, Baragon, Minilla, Rodan, Gorosaurus, and Manda. Varan is seen, in the wide screen version of the film on DVD gliding in to join the other Earth monsters to fight against King Ghidorah, although it does not actually take part in the fight. Within the context of the film itself it is only seen gliding through the air prior to the climatic fight at the end of the movie and in the last scene as a static model rather than as a suit.

Varan makes a semi-cameo in Godzilla: Final Wars using stock footage from Varan the Unbelievable during the narrative at the beginning, claiming that Varan was one of many monsters that arose due to the devastation that the World Wars brought, along with Gezora, Baragon, Gaira, Titanosaurus, and Megaguirus.

Varan is 50 meters (164 feet) tall and weighs 15,000 metric tons (16,534 short tons).

Appearance and abilities

Eiji Tsuburaya and Akira Watanabe based Varan's design on that of a Draco lizard, Godzilla, and a kappa. The name Varan is derived from varanus pater, or "father of lizards."[1] In its film appearances, Varan does not have any special abilities such as fiery or radioactive breath. It can however glide at speeds of Mach 1.5, and has a row of spines along its body which may afford protection.

Action figures

Few figures of Varan have been issued compared to other kaiju film monsters. Bullmark released the first ever Varan vinyl toy in 1970. Bandai has only issued Varan in gashapon form as part of High Grade Series 6, in promotion for the film Godzilla 2000. Y-MSF has also released a figure on the 6" scale in 2005. Other companies, such as CCP, Marmit, Trendmasters, and the modern version of Marusan have also released Varan figures.

Appearances

Films

In one of the early drafts of what would become Godzilla vs. Gigan, Varan was to have joined Godzilla and Rodan in defending the Earth against King Ghidorah, Gigan, and a new monster that had never been seen before with the name Mogu.[2] Shusuke Kaneko, director of the popular Heisei Gamera trilogy had originally considered Varan, along with Anguirus to star in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack as antagonists to Godzilla. Varan and Anguirus were however replaced with the far more popular Mothra and King Ghidorah.[3] The suit designer is said to have compromised by giving some of Varan's facial features to King Ghidorah.

Video games

Varan was considered for Godzilla: Save the Earth (2004), but was scrapped at some point.

Literature

References

  1. ↑ Ragone, August (2007). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-8118-6078-9.
  2. ↑ Rodan's Roost: Kaiju Scrap-yard: Return of King Ghidorah
  3. ↑ Rodan's Roost: Kaiju Scrap-yard: Varan, Baragon, Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack - Godzilla 2002
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