Oodako

Oodako is a giant octopus kaiju that debuted in King Kong vs. Godzilla and returned in War of the Gargantuas. Oodako is also known as the "Daidako" (Giant Octopus) and "The Giant Devilfish". Oodako also appeared in the alternate ending for the movie Frankenstein Conquers the World.

Appearances
In King Kong vs. Godzilla, Oodako crawls ashore on Farou Island and attacks a village hut in an attempt to get the special soma berry juice that the natives store there. The natives, along with members of a pharmaceutical company, attempt to defeat Oodako with spears and shotguns, but to no avail. King Kong then appears behind a giant wooden fence, crushing it with his bare hands and throwing the crumbled pieces at Oodako. Kong and Oodako grapple until Oodako flees and Kong gains the victory.

In the alternate ending for Frankenstein Conquers the World, after Frankenstein's monster defeats Baragon, Oodako comes from the sea and fights him. Frankenstein's monster battles fiercely, but cannot compete with Oodako's numerous and powerful tentacles. Oodako drags Frankenstein's monster into the water, presumably to his death.

In War of the Gargantuas, Oodako attacks a fishing boat, but is defeated by the Green Gargantua, known as Gaira.

The Oodako prop was used to play the giant octopus Sudar in episode #23 (Fury of the South Seas) of the 1966 TV series Ultra Q.

Oodako (オオダコ, Ōdako) is a giant octopus kaiju created by Toho Studios that first appeared in the 1962 Godzilla film, King Kong vs. Godzilla.

Name
Toho's official name for the creature is simply "Giant Octopus", as shown in promotional material for Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.. Oodako is a fanmade nickname which translates to giant octopus, like Ootokage for the giant lizard and Ookondoru for the giant condor.

King Kong vs. Godzilla
In King Kong vs. Godzilla, Oodako crawls ashore on Farou Island and attacks a village hut in an attempt to get the special soma berry juice that the natives store there. The natives, along with members of a pharmaceutical company, attempt to defeat Oodako with spears and shotguns, but to no avail. King Kong then appears behind a giant wooden fence, crumbling it with his bare hands and throwing the pieces at Oodako. Kong grabs Oodako, but the octopus holds tightly on to Kong's head. After a short struggle, Kong pulls the monster off and throws it to the ground. He then throws two boulders at Oodako's head. Oodako flees back to the beach and presumably returned to the sea, Kong beating his chest and roaring in victory.

Frankenstein vs. Baragon
In the alternate ending for Frankenstein Conquers the World, after Frankenstein defeats Baragon, Oodako comes from the sea and fights Frankenstein. Frankenstein battles fiercely, but can't compete with Oodako's numerous and powerful tentacles. Oodako drags Frankenstein in to the water, seemingly to his death.

War of the Gargantuas
In War of the Gargantuas, Oodako attacks a fishing boat, but is defeated by the Green Gargantua, Gaira.

Reborn
Oodako is the animal partner of the Cloud Arcobaleno, Skull. Its tentacles follow Skull's hand and finger movements. Skull uses Oodako for the majority of his attacks. Once, when Skull raided Mafia Land with the Carcassa Famiglia, Reborn shot Skull's hand with a bullet, enlarging Skull's hand and confusing Oodako. Oodako didn't recognize the command, and Skull lost control of it.

Filmography

 * King Kong vs. Godzilla
 * War of the Gargantuas
 * Frankenstein vs. Baragon (Alternate Ending)

Trivia

 * The inclusion of Oodako in Toho's vast slate of monsters may be the fulfillment of a dream of special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, who had always wished to make a monster film with a giant octopus (original concept art for Godzilla himself for the 1954 film depicted him as a giant octopus).
 * For the Oodako scene in King Kong vs. Godzilla, four live octopuses were used. They were forced to move among the miniature huts by having hot air blown onto them. After the filming of that scene was finished, three of the four were released. The fourth became special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya's dinner. Along with the live animals, two rubber octopus props were built, with the larger one being covered with plastic wrap to simulate mucus. Some stop motion tentacles were also created for the scene where the octopus grabs a native and tosses him.
 * Each monster that Oodako fought with was of primate origin.
 * Oodako is one of the four minor Showa era monsters, who include the Giant Lizard, Skeleturtle, the Giant Condor, the Giant Sea Serpent, and Oodako, to have received one or more official toys. The others are Skeleturtle, the Giant Condor and the Giant Sea Serpent.
 * The M.U.T.O. Research website accepts "Oodako" as the Giant Octopus' official name.
 * Oodako is the largest Animal Partner. The other Partners are small or medium-sized pets.