lead=yes is a giant monster, or kaiju, which first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1956 film of the same name, produced and distributed by Toho. Following its debut standalone appearance, Rodan went on to be featured in numerous entries in the Godzilla franchise. Rodan is depicted as a colossal, prehistoric, irradiated species of Pteranodon. In 2014, IGN ranked Rodan as #6 on its "Top 10 Japanese Movie Monsters" list,[Josh Robertson, "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time", Complex (May 18, 2014)]
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 - 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.
Development
As with
Godzilla, 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
Pteranodon.
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.
[Jess-Cooke, C. (2009), Film Sequels: Theory and Practice from Hollywood to Bollywood, Edinburgh University Press, p. 38, ]
Showa era (1956-1968)
Rodan's debut appearance was the first and only time the character was given a chestnut 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 and wire-operated puppets for flight sequences. During suitmation sequences, Rodan was portrayed by
Haruo Nakajima, who almost drowned when the wires holding the 150 lb. suits above a water tank snapped.
In
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, 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
Invasion of Astro-Monster which more closely resembled the first, having more rounded wings and a sleeker face. The sleek face was retained in
Destroy All Monsters, though the wings and chest area were crudely designed.
Heisei era (1993)
Rodan was revived in 1993's
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, 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)
In 2014, Legendary Pictures announced that they had acquired the rights to Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah from
Toho to use in their
Monsterverse.
Rodan appears in a post-credits scene of . 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 .
Reiwa era (2017–2021)
The skeletal remains of an individual Rodan appears in the prologue of
, having been killed in China. This is expanded upon in the prequel novel Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse, in which it is revealed the Rodan emerged from Paektu Mountain in November 2005, attacked China, and battled Anguirus before they were both killed by a bio-weapon created by the Chinese military called Hedorah. In 2036, a flock of Rodans took over Siberia, competing against a swarm of to prey on European refugees on the Trans-Siberian Railway. In s prequel novel
Godzilla: Project Mechagodzilla, a second Rodan was said to have attacked
Kyushu in 2029 while another flock of Rodans attacked
Rome to prey on humans and eventually took over the Italian Peninsula in the mid-2030s. While enacting "Operation: Long March" and "Operation: Great Wall" in 2044 and 2045 respectively, United Earth forces faced attacks from an individual Rodan, among other monsters, in
North Africa as well as a third flock of Rodans feeding on Meganulon in China.
In Godzilla Singular Point, the show features various Rodans which are based on the Quetzalcoatlus. Most times, Rodan is smaller than its older counterparts, however, a larger, dark Rodan appears in the show, which is shortly killed by Godzilla.
Rodan would appear in , a 5-minute short film directed by Takashi Yamazaki, In the film, Rodan fights against King Ghidorah, but Ghidorah kills him mid-flight.
Roar
The character's shriek was created by sound technician Ichiro Minawa, who sought to replicate the "
contrabass technique" composer
Akira Ifukube used for Godzilla. He layered it with a sped up human voice.
[Erik Homenick, "Biography: Part IX - Myths, Monsters and Laments" , Akiraifukube.org (accessed May 30, 2016)] The sound would be remixed and reused for several other Toho monsters, including the Heisei incarnation of
King Ghidorah and Battra.
Appearances
Films
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Rodan (1956)
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Valley of the Dragons (1961, stock footage cameo)
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Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
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Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
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Destroy All Monsters (1968)
-
Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972, stock footage cameo)
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Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973, stock footage cameo)
-
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975, stock footage cameo)
-
Bye-Bye Jupiter (1984, stock footage cameo)
-
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
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(2004)
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(2017, skeleton)
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(2017, cave painting)
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(2019)
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Godzilla vs. Kong (2021, stock footage cameo)
Television
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Godzilla Island (1997–1998)
-
Godzilla Singular Point (2021)
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Godzilland (1992–1993)
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Godziban (2019–present)
-
Chibi Godzilla Raids Again (2023–present)
Video games
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Godzilla / Godzilla-Kun: Kaijuu Daikessen (Game Boy; 1990)
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Circus Caper (NES; 1990)
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(NES; 1991)
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(SNES; 1992)
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Kaijū-ō Godzilla / King of the Monsters, Godzilla (Game Boy; 1993)
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(Turbo Duo; 1993)
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(Game Gear; 1995)
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Godzilla Trading Battle (PlayStation; 1998)
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(GameCube, Xbox; 2002/2003)
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(GBA; 2002)
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(Xbox, PS2; 2004)
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(Wii; 2007)
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(Nintendo DS; 2007)
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(PS2; 2007)
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(PS3/PS4; 2015)
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Godzilla Defense Force (2019)
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Godzilla Battle Line (2021)
Literature
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A version of Rodan appears in the 1986 novel It by Stephen King, in which the eponymous creature takes the form of the bird-like kaiju.
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Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
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Godzilla King of the Monsters (1994)
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Godzilla vs. Gigan and the Smog Monster (1996)
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Godzilla on Monster Island (1996)
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Godzilla Saves America: A Monster Showdown in 3-D! (1996)
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Godzilla 2000 (novel; 1997)
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Godzilla at World's End (novel; 1998)
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Godzilla vs. the Robot Monsters (novel; 1998)
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(novel; 1998)
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Godzilla vs. the Space Monster (novel; 1998)
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Godzilla Likes to Roar! (1998)
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Who's Afraid of Godzilla? (1998)
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(comic; 2011 - 2012)
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(comic; 2011)
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(comic; 2011 - 2012) featuring Baby Rodan
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Godzilla (comic; 2012)
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(comic; 2012 - 2013)
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(comic; 2013 - 2015)
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(comic; 2014)
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Godzilla in Hell (comic; 2015)
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(comic; 2016)
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(comic; 2016)
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Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse (novel; 2017)
References in music
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The monster is mentioned in UMC's "Blue Cheese".
Bibliography
-
-
"Miniatures" by Stephen Dedman, Eidolon Magazine summer 1996, volume 5, issue 3 (also known as whole number issue 20 and the "Harlan Ellison Conference Issue"). Eidolon Publications, North Perth, Australia. .
