There are a lot of kaiju inGodzilla’sentourage. A ton of the early works started with the basic premise of throwing Godzilla against another massive beast and moved into any further narrative details from there. Some get more attention than others. While the superstars like King Ghidorah and Mothra hog the spotlight, lesser-known icons like Baragon have to make do with only a couple of appearances. There’s something so charming about this horned horror that looks like either Godzilla’s long-lost brother or a giant rat in a Halloween costume.
The modern Monsterverse resolutely refuses to make its monsters slightly silly. Godzilla remains as regal and powerful as he always has; Kong has an undeniable main-character vibe, and nearly every other beast they’ve fought is either impressive or horrific. That’s not to say they should break outsomething like Godzilla’s sonas a comic relief character, but it would be fun to see the old actor-in-a-suit aesthetic reflected in the modern blockbuster franchise.
Baragon, Varagon, Red Godzilla, etc.
Subtitles
Subterranean Monster, Fierce King of the Underground, Giant Horn Monster, God of the Earth, etc.
Arika Watanabe and Eiji Tsuburaya
Haruo Nakajima, Rie Ota, and Toshinori Sasaki
First Appearance Date
Jul 03, 2025
Baragon is a quadrupedal reptile kaiju who loves to tunnel through the earth. Some fans notice that he looks a fair amount like Godzilla, and while that isn’t particularly intentional, it is rather ironic because he started as a placeholder forthe King of the Monsters. Toho planned a film calledFrankenstein vs. Godzilla, which was a descendant of a proposed film that would pit Frankenstein against King Kong. Yes, Toho calls Frankenstein’s monster “Frankenstein,” thus rendering that classic literary foible canonical in Toho’s narrative. The studio eventually set the project aside again in favor ofGodzilla vs. Mothra. They brought Frankenstein back, but they needed a new foe to pit Mary Shelly’s mighty simulacrum against. Akira Watanabe devised Baragon, filling the positionand giving Frankenstein someoneto tangle with.
Narratively, Baragon follows a familiar story. His first appearance describes him as the descendant of a reptile called a Baranosdragon from the Mesozoic era. While Godzilla lived in the depths of the sea, Baragon found comfort in the deepest tunnels below the Earth’s surface. Later books would recontextualize him a couple of times. His firstappearance in theGodzillafranchiseprovided him with a much more boring backstory. In that timeline, he was born in Gunma Prefecture, a well-populated chunk of the Kanto region of Japan. He moved to Monsterland at some point, where he would live out the rest of his days, far from the ski slopes and hot springs of his birthplace. Finally, his third appearance came with a massive lore upgrade. Baragon became one of the mighty Guardian Monsters of Japan, prophesied to defend the nation from an otherwise apocalyptic threat. He gained the subtitle “God of the Earth,“while Mothra became"God of the Sea” and King Ghidorah became “God of the Sky.” It was a brief spotlight, but it’s nice to see him get a chance at the big time.
What is Baragon capable of?
Baragon is one of the more straightforward kaiju in Godzilla’s entourage. He really only has one string to his bow. Baragon’s primary tactic in all situations is burrowing. He can create massive tunnels at staggering speeds, practically swimming through dirt like a 10,000-ton Bugs Bunny. His horn glows to provide him with light while he digs. In his first appearance, he could project a beam of extreme heat. While it vaguelyresembles Godzilla’s atomic breath, it isn’t strong enough to deal damage to his foes. Instead, Baragon uses his heat beam to soften dirt and dig faster. When he’s out of the dirt, Baragon prefers to attack by leaping toward his foes. He can clear several football fields in a single jump, allowing him to strike suddenly and surprise his foes. Baragon isn’t the most threatening kaiju out there, but he’s clearly happy deep underground.
What happened to Baragon?
Baragon is not the most successful combatant in theGodzillafranchise. InFrankenstein vs. Baragon, known in America asFrankenstein Conquers the World, his nighttime attacks on human settlementsare blamed on Frankenstein. This leads to a confrontation in which Frankenstein snaps Baragon’s neck before falling into a massive hole. Baragon returned forDestroy All Monsters, but he was mostly a bystander. Finally, he’s back forGodzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. Though his name was missing from the title, he got his first chance against Godzilla in that 2001 classic. Baragon again leads several raids on human areas, prompting people to again blame a more popular character, in this case Godzilla. Baragon attacked Godzilla through his usual tunnel and leap method, but Godzilla defeated him without much effort. Though unmistakably dead, Baragon’s spirit joinedthose of Ghidorah and Mothrain stunning Godzilla, allowing a person to finish him off.
Baragon originated in a truly bizarre film, but he’s one of the morestraightforward beasts in the franchise. He’s just a massive dinosaur who looks like a horned mammal and loves to dig. He fought Godzilla and Frankenstein but barely managed an hour of screentime overall. Baragon deserves better. If there’s ever been a time to bring him back, it’s definitely while the Monsterverse is obsessed with the Hollow Earth.
