is a fictional monster, or ''

kaiju is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...

'', which first appeared as the title character in

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 44 feature films in a career spanning 59 years. The most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki, his films have had a significant influence on the film industry. Honda enter ...

's 1956 film ''

Rodan is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', which first appeared as the title character in Ishirō Honda's 1956 film '' Rodan'', produced and distributed by Toho. Following its debut standalone appearance, Rodan went on to be featured in numerous en ...

'', produced and distributed by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the produc ...

. Following its debut standalone appearance, Rodan went on to be featured in numerous entries in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, including ''

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is a 1964 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the fifth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and was the second ''Godzilla'' film produced ...

'', ''

Invasion of Astro-Monster is a 1965 ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. It is the sixth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise and Shōwa period. The film was a Japanese-American co-production; it was the second collaboration b ...

'', ''

Destroy All Monsters is a 1968 Japanese Kaiju, ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film, which was produced and distributed by Toho, Toho Co., Ltd, is the ninth film in the Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' franchi ...

'', ''

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II , is a 1993 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Takao Okawara, written by Wataru Mimura, and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 20th film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, as well as the fifth film ...

'' and '' Godzilla: Final Wars'', as well as in the

Legendary Pictures Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC (doing business as Legendary Entertainment or simply Legendary) is an American film production and mass media company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull in 2000. The company has collaborated ...

-produced film '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters''. Rodan is depicted as a colossal, prehistoric, irradiated species of ''

Pteranodon ''Pteranodon'' (); from Ancient Greek (''pteron'', "wing") and (''anodon'', "toothless") is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of . They lived during the late C ...

''. In 2014,

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...

ranked Rodan as #6 on their "Top 10 Japanese Movie Monsters" list, while ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' listed the character as #15 on its "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time" list.

Overview

Name

The Japanese name ''Radon'' is a contraction of '' Pteranodon''. The spelling of Radon in Japanese also corresponds to the name of Ladon, the dragon guarding the Hesperides in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...

- since there is no distinction between "l" and "r" in Japanese. It was changed to ''Rodan'' for English-speaking markets in order to avoid confusion with the element

radon Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains through ...

. However, in '' Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II'', the English version of the film used the original name ''Radon''.

Development

As with

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...

, writer Ken Kuronuma turned to prehistoric animals for inspiration in developing the character, though unlike the former, whose species is largely left ambiguous, Rodan is explicitly stated to be a kind of ''

''. Just as Godzilla was conceived as a symbol of an American nuclear threat, Rodan was seen as an embodiment of the same danger originating from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. Rodan's debut appearance was the first and only time that the character was given a

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelate ...

color. It originally had a menacing face with a jagged, toothed beak, which would disappear in later incarnations as the character became more heroic. Rodan was portrayed via a combination of

suitmation Creature suits are realistic costumes used to disguise a performer as an animal, monster, or other being. They are used in film, television, or as costumed characters in live events. Unlike mascots, they are often made with a high degree of real ...

and wire-operated puppets for flight sequences. During suitmation sequences, Rodan was portrayed by

Haruo Nakajima was a Japanese actor best known for playing Godzilla in 12 consecutive films, starting from the original '' Godzilla'' (1954) until '' Godzilla vs. Gigan'' (1972). He also played various other giant monsters in ''kaiju'' films, including '' Mot ...

, who almost drowned when the wires holding the 150 lb. suit above a water tank snapped. In ''

'', the Rodan suit was of visibly lesser quality than the previous one, having a more comical face, a thick neck which barely concealed the shape of the performer's head within and triangular wings. The modification of the character's face was deliberate, as Rodan was meant to be a slapstick character rather than the tragic villain seen in its film debut. A new suit was constructed for ''

'' which more closely resembled the first, having more rounded wings and a sleeker face. The sleek face was retained in ''

'', though the wings and chest area were crudely designed. Rodan was revived in 1993's ''

'', this time portrayed entirely via a wire-manipulated marionette and hand puppets. Having received criticism for his emphasis on battle sequences relying heavily on beam weapons, special effects artist Koichi Kawakita sought to make the confrontation between Godzilla and Rodan as physical as possible.

MonsterVerse (2019–Present)

In 2014,

announced that they had acquired the rights to Rodan,

Mothra is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that first appeared in the 1961 film '' Mothra'', produced and distributed by Toho Studios. Mothra has appeared in several Toho ''tokusatsu'' films, most often as a recurring character in the ''Godzilla'' ...

and

King Ghidorah is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', which first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1964 film ''Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster''. Although the name of the character is officially trademarked by Toho as "King Ghidorah", the character was originally ...

from

to use in their

MonsterVerse The MonsterVerse is an American multimedia franchise and shared fictional universe featuring Godzilla, King Kong, and other monster characters owned and created by Toho Co., Ltd. The franchise is produced by Legendary Pictures and co-produced a ...

. Rodan appears in a

post-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or vide ...

of '' Kong: Skull Island''. It is in the depicting cave paintings showing him, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Godzilla in the footage that is shown to James Conrad and Mason Weaver. A casting call confirmed that Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah would be featured in '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters''. Viral marketing describes him as a titanic kaiju with the skeletal structure of a ''Pteranodon'' and magma-like skin serving as plate armor. The film's promotional website, Monarch Sciences, identifies the fictional island of Isla de Mara off the eastern coast of

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

as Rodan's location and describes him as being tall with a weight of 39,043 tons and a wingspan of , making it the shortest version of the character, yet also the heaviest and the one with the greatest wingspan; though part of the short height is this version of Rodan being a quadruped like a real pterosaur as opposed to an upright biped like the Toho versions. It is also stated to be powerful enough to level cities with thunderclaps generated by its wings. In ''King of the Monsters'', Colonel Alan Jonah uses Dr. Emma Russell to have the ORCA device awaken Rodan from Monarch's Mexican outpost 56. With Rodan awoken, Monarch's jets lead it into fighting King Ghidorah where it is defeated. After Godzilla is (seemingly) killed by the Oxygen Destroyer, Rodan becomes submissive to the latter before being defeated by Mothra in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

and then switching loyalties to Godzilla after Ghidorah is destroyed, leading the other Titans into bowing to him. According to a news clipping shown in the

end credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...

, Rodan returned to hibernation in a mountain north of Fiji.

Reiwa

Rodan made a cameo as a skeletal remain alongside

Anguirus is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', which first appeared in ''Godzilla Raids Again'' (1955), the second film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise. Anguirus is the first monster to be shown engaging in combat with Godzilla in a film. Since then, the c ...

corpse in the prologue of Godzilla: Monster Planet, laying near the

Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...

. A news reporter can be heard mentioning Rodan during the scene showing its dead body. The story behind the corpses of Anguirus and Rodan is explained in Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse, a prequel novel of the movie. The first Rodan emerged in

Paektu Mountain Paektu Mountain (), also known as Baekdu Mountain and in China as Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长白山, t=長白山; Manchu: Golmin Šanggiyan Alin), is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. At , it is the highest m ...

on November 2005, Rodan is then lured to China by the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the '' Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General S ...

. Rodan engaged in combat against Anguirus, which emerged at the same time in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

and lured to China by the

Russian army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...

, in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

. The Chinese military fought back against Anguirus and Rodan with a

bio-weapon A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism ...

, named Hedorah. Hedorah succeeded in killing the two, but it developed its own self-consciousness and betrayed humanity. In 2036, a flock of Rodans took over Siberia and compete against the Megaguiruses, both preying on European refugees on the

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the eas ...

. In Godzilla: Project Mechagodzilla, a prequel novel of Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, a second Rodan was said to attack

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

in 2029, its fate is unknown. In the mid-2030s, a flock of Rodans attacked

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and eventually took over the Italian Peninsula, preying on people. During project: Long March, a plan to keep

on land and lured him into

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

, humanity fight against Rodan and several other monsters in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

In 2044. A year later, during Operation: Great Wall, a plan to bury Godzilla alive in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over ...

, humanity attacked by the Meganulons, the Rodans preyed on both human and Meganulons. In Godzilla: Singular Point, Rodan has a more realistic pterosaur appearance and size and come in massive flocks.

Roar

The character's shriek was created by sound technician Ichiro Minawa, who sought to replicate the "

contrabass Contrabass (from it, contrabbasso) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchest ...

technique" composer

Akira Ifukube was a Japanese classical and film music composer, best known for his works on the ''Godzilla'' franchise. Biography Early years in Hokkaido Akira Ifukube was born on 31 May 1914 in Kushiro, Japan as the third son of a police officer Toshi ...

used for Godzilla. He layered it with a sped up human voice. The sound would be remixed and reused for several other Toho monsters, including the second incarnation of

and Battra.

Appearances

Films

* ''

'' (1956) * '' Valley of the Dragons'' (1961, stock footage cameo) * ''

'' (1964) * ''

'' (1965) * ''

'' (1968) * '' Godzilla vs. Gigan'' (1972, stock footage cameo) * '' Godzilla vs. Megalon'' (1973, stock footage cameo) * ''

Terror of Mechagodzilla is a 1975 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda (his final film as a director), written by Yukiko Takayama, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and Henry G. Saperstein, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and pr ...

'' (1975, stock footage cameo) * ''

'' (1993) * '' Godzilla: Final Wars'' (2004) * '' Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters'' (2017, skeleton corpse) * '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters'' (2019) * '' Godzilla vs. Kong'' (2021, stock footage cameo)

Television

* ''

Godzilla Island is a television show spinoff of the ''Godzilla'' franchise. It premiered on October 6, 1997, and ran for a total of 256 three-minute episodes, finishing on September 30, 1998. Set in 2097, most of Earth's ''kaiju'' (monsters) live on an island o ...

'' (1997–1998) * ''

Godzilla Singular Point is a Japanese anime television series co-produced by the animation studios Bones and Orange. Licensed by Netflix and directed by Atsushi Takahashi, the series premiered on March 25, 2021 on Netflix in Japan, and on Tokyo MX and other channels ...

'' (2021)

Video games

* ''

'' / ''Godzilla-Kun: Kaijuu Daikessen'' (

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same te ...

; 1990) * '' Circus Caper'' (

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

; 1990) * '' Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters'' (

; 1991) * '' Battle Soccer: Field no Hasha'' (

SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...

; 1992) * ''

Kaijū-ō Godzilla is a 1993 action adventure game by Bandai for the Game Boy. It was released exclusively in Japan. The game is notable for featuring nearly every monster in the ''Godzilla'' franchise up until the time of its release. Story While the game does ...

'' / ''King of the Monsters, Godzilla'' (

; 1993) * '' Godzilla: Battle Legends'' (

Turbo Duo The TurboDuo is a fourth-generation video game console developed by NEC Home Electronics and Hudson Soft for the North American market. The TurboDuo was test-marketed in Los Angeles in October 1992, before a nationwide rollout in May 1993. It i ...

; 1993) * '' Godzilla Giant Monster March'' (

Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear pri ...

; 1995) * '' Godzilla Trading Battle'' (

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

; 1998) * '' Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee'' ( GCN,

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by th ...

; 2002/2003) * '' Godzilla: Domination!'' ( GBA; 2002) * '' Godzilla: Save the Earth'' (

, PS2; 2004) * '' Godzilla: Unleashed'' (

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, ...

; 2007) * '' Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash'' (

NDS NDS may stand for: * Low German ( nl, Nedersaksisch, links=no, german: Niederdeutsche Sprache, links=no, ISO 639-2 language code: nds), a West Germanic language native to Northern Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands * Lower Saxony (german: Niedersa ...

; 2007) * '' Godzilla: Unleashed'' ( PS2; 2007) * '' Godzilla: The Game'' (

PS3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

/ PS4; 2015) * ''Godzilla Defense Force'' (2019)

Literature

* A version of Rodan appears in the 1986 novel '' It'' by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high ...

, in which the eponymous creature takes the form of the bird-like kaiju. * ''Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II'' (1993) * '' Godzilla King of the Monsters'' (1994) * ''Godzilla vs. Gigan and the Smog Monster'' (1996) * ''Godzilla on Monster Island'' (1996) * ''Godzilla Saves America: A Monster Showdown in 3-D!'' (1996) * ''

Godzilla 2000 is a 1999 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Takao Okawara, written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru Mimura, produced by Shogo Tomiyama and starring Takehiro Murata, Hiroshi Abe, Naomi Nishida, Mayu Suzuki and Shiro Sano. Produced and d ...

'' (novel; 1997) * '' Godzilla at World's End'' (novel; 1998) * '' Godzilla vs. the Robot Monsters'' (novel; 1998) * '' Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island'' (novel; 1998) * '' Godzilla vs. the Space Monster'' (novel; 1998) * ''Godzilla Likes to Roar!'' (1998) * ''Who's Afraid of Godzilla?'' (1998) * '' Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters'' (comic; 2011–2012) * '' Godzilla: Gangsters & Goliaths'' (comic; 2011) * '' Godzilla: Legends'' (comic; 2011–2012) – featuring Baby Rodan * ''

'' (comic; 2012) * '' Godzilla: The Half-Century War'' (comic; 2012–2013) * '' Godzilla: Rulers of Earth'' (comic; 2013–2015) * '' Godzilla: Cataclysm'' (comic; 2014) * '' Godzilla in Hell'' (comic; 2015) * '' Godzilla: Oblivion'' (comic; 2016) * '' Godzilla: Rage Across Time'' (comic; 2016) * ''Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse'' (novel; 2017)

References

External links

* {{MonsterVerse Film characters introduced in 1956 Fictional characters who can move at superhuman speeds Fictional characters with air or wind abilities Fictional characters with superhuman strength Fictional pterosaurs Fictional monsters Godzilla characters Kaiju Science fiction film characters Fantasy film characters Toho monsters

Overview

Name

Development

MonsterVerse (2019–Present)

Reiwa

Roar

Appearances

Films

Television

Video games

Literature

References

Further reading

External links