MovieChat Forums > Gojira no gyakushû (1959) Discussion > Why does everyone love Anguirus?

Why does everyone love Anguirus?

posted 14 years ago by TitusYorick
11 replies | jump to latest

Honestly, I've been trying to figure this out for a long time now. I don't deny Anguirus's classing status as Godzilla's very first villain, which later went on to become Godzilla's ally. The thing is though, why is he so popular? Anguirus did next to nothing until "Godzilla: Final Wars" came out and he had that rolling ability. All Anguirus really did during the Showa era was stand around waiting to get shot by a stray energy beam. I know there's that scene in "Destroy All Monsters" where he bites Gidorah in the neck, but is that the only reason? After watching these movies for a considerable number of years, I can honestly say my nickname for Anguirus in those movies is "Useless".

[–] dark_sword 14 years ago

I think most fans admire Anguirus for his inspired design as well as his strong fighting spirit. Yes, he gets beats up more than anything in films like Godzilla vs Gigan, but the fact that he takes those hits and keeps on by Godzilla's side is something many fans admire.

Frankly, Godzilla has some bad luck with fairly useless allies in most of the films, Anguirus or otherwise. Rodan never does a great deal to help fight King Ghidorah in Monster Zero, King Caesar mostly just gets beat up by Mechagodzilla in Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, and so on. Jet Jaguar was pretty active in Godzilla vs Megalon, but that's mostly because Godzilla is playing second fiddle to Jet Jaguar in the first place. Even in the climactic battle in Destroy All Monsters, only Anguirus and Gorosaurus really help Godzilla in fighting King Ghidorah all that much, with the rest of the monsters either running off, not to be seen in the first place, or only getting pot shots in on King Ghidorah from the sideline once he's down. About the only instance of Godzilla getting true teamwork from monster allies was in defeating King Ghidorah for the first time in Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster, with Rodan and Mothra at his side.

[–] TitusYorick 14 years ago

Okay, I guess I can see some honor in staying by Godzilla's side like that, but I still don't see that as deserving such a cult following. That's like saying Snarf from "Thundercats" was a badass because he was always by Lion-O's side but always had other do his job for him.

[–] Martialhorror 14 years ago

I think the big deal here was that people love the whole "enemy becoming ally" trope.

Many of the most popular characters in movies/anime/comics, etc are the ones who began as villains and become friends.

I agree that its his loyal, fighting spirit that wins people over. However, I think Anguirus is underrated when it comes to strength. In fact, I think he is technically one of the stronger monsters out there.

The problem is he tends to fight aliens, who are often better equipped with lasers and *beep* Without any real ranged weapon, Anguirus is often blasted like mad crazy(remember Godzilla's blast wasn't as godly as it would become at first. In fact, I dont think it really effected guys like Rodan or Anguirus at first).

I think he's a strong monster who simply lacks weapons, while guys like Gigan are weak monsters with strong weapons. Most of Godzilla's allies dont suck, they just lack the weapons. Godzilla is unique because he's balanced. He is a super strong monster with decent weapons.

It should be noted that Anguirus defeats Gigan on his own in one of the books without too much difficulty.

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[–] BigRich 14 years ago

Not to be nitpicky but saying 'everyone' isn't even close to being true and I'm not sure where you got this assessment from. For one, you obviously don't like Anguirus. I personally couldn't give a sh!t about him. However, I did feel sorry for him when Megagodzilla/Godzilla broke his jaw and he ran off like a little bitch.
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[–] bhkittleson 14 years ago

i like underdogs, and anguirius sure is that! i like the fact he charges into situations he has no hope of winning. plus, he reminds me of a dog (granted a spiky one) and i love dogs. anguirus, anguilis, angilla, angorous, anzilla. hes got a lot of names too.

[–] scadeetin 14 years ago

Let's not forget that Anguirus displayed the ability to jump backwards on his hind legs and send himself spikes-first into a monster. I must have seen it in Godzilla vs Gigan. Godzilla held Ghidora's heads back while Angillus did it. I wish they would have shown this ability more often.

A monster doesn't need long-range weapons to be affective. Remember King Kong? Then there was Gabera in Godzilla's Revenge. He wasn't much of a match for Godzilla , but if he grabbed a monster, he could electrocute it with electricity from his body. I really wish they would have brought him back at least once.

[–] llothar 10 years ago

Because it looks and feels (at least in all movies except this one) like a pet.

People like pets.

[–] EpsilonX 10 years ago

The only Anguirus film i've seen is Godzilla Raids Again, but from what you're saying he pretty much sounds like the Krillin of Godzilla films.

[–] ezracobb366 10 years ago

This is kind of hard to describe, but I feel like it's not so much Anguirus himself but the film he makes his debut in. It's just so cool to see Godzilla fighting a creature in a film that has the same texture and feel as the original. We can see Godzilla fighting creatures in 70's, 80's, and 90's style films, but Godzilla raids again feels like the original. It's kind of like "This is where the series is going for the next half century, but it looks and feels like the original". I don't know, I'm trying to get this across best I can.

[–] rsreed13 10 years ago

I've always loved Anguirus because of his design. The first film I remember seeing him in was Godzilla vs. Gigan, and he's actually kind of fun there. I think part of my appeal with him is the fact that I never had a toy of him whereas I had the toys for pretty much every other character. So I was always having to use substitutes for him (a styracosaurus toy being the main one I used). I kind of always liked the idea of Godzilla, Rodan, and Anguirus as a trio of good monsters (I didn't see Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster until much later, so Mothra was always a "villain" in my eyes).

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[–] Times_Up 8 years ago

There's no denying the so-bad-it's-good camp factor, not to mention most of us saw these when we were kids so it has the nostalgia factor. Otherwise, yes, I think his inspired design and the way he moved. He was different. Plus he was Godzilla's side-kick.

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