Let this be the last chapter in the Godzilla saga!
Round two of the King Ghidorahs, give it up for Keizer Ghidorah!
What's the Work?[]
Godzilla: Final Wars is a 2004 kaiju action film and the final installment to the Millenium arc of Godzilla films. In this grand finale feature, the Big G has been trapped in ice for decades when monsters suddenly appear around the Earth destroying major cities. When the Earth Defense Force is unable to take out the creatures, the Xiliens beam the monsters away and warn the Earth about a massive meteor called "Gorath" that will destroy the Earth.
When things appear to calm down, uh-oh! Turns out the aliens had hostile intentions all along and plan on taking over the Earth; the monsters were under their control and the meteor was a simple hologram. Where the Controller of Planet X wanted to take over using peaceful means, Controller X kills his boss and unleashes the monsters again to wreak havoc on the "human cattle". It's up to the Gotengo team to stop the monsters and Xiliens the old fashion way: awaking Godzilla.
Who is Monster X/Keizer Ghidorah and what he has done[]
Monster X
Remember the Gorath meteor that was just an illusion? Turns out there was a real one, and during the final confrontation with X in the Xiliens mothership, X drops it on Tokyo just to get rid of Ol' Gojira and prevent him from ruining their plans. He destroys it, and out comes a powerful foe: Monster X. During the fight, Monster X shows some sadism in battling Godzilla, such as blasting him with electric beams and mercilessly breaking his wrists. When the Xiliens send out Gigan, Monster X holds Godzilla in place so Gigan could hack away Godzilla with his chainsaw claws, letting out laugh-like growls and supporting a wicked grin as Godzilla yells in pain from each blow.
Anyways, Mothra arrives where she and Gigan kill each other, and Controller X is killed when he self-destructs the mothership to take the heroes with him (they escaped), leaving only Monster X in control. But Monster X reveals that unlike the other monsters who were brainwashed by the Xiliens, he was completely sentient the whole time and wants to destroy the world for the fun of it. With nobody to supervise him, Monster X bends down and transforms into his true form: Keizer Ghidorah!
As Keizer Ghidorah, he shows even more sadistic joy by using his beams to pick up and throw Godzilla around the Tokyo ruins Palpatine style. When Godzilla is on the ground, Keizer giggles as he stomps and kicks the overwhelmed Godzilla around. Instead of finishing Godzilla off the hard way, Keizer grabs Godzilla and drinks away at his life-force to heal his wounds. However, the Gotengo fires Keizer energy at Godzilla that greatly increases his powers, allowing him to throw Keizer into space before using his atomic breath to blast the dragon into smithereens.
Mitigating Factors[]
While the other monsters destroyed or fought Godzilla out of brainwashing, Keizer Ghidorah is not, and he's solely doing it for fun. Even after his supervisors been killed, he's still driven by his sadistic pride alone to both destroy the world and kill Godzilla. Sure he's not introduced until the last half-hour of the film, but the way he took his time torturing Godzilla far worse than any of the other loads of kaijus in the film (especially with the whole "sucking life energy") definitely makes it clear that this three-headed space dragon lacks any redeeming qualities.
Heinous Standards[]
Compared to the other Pure Evil Ghidorahs in the Godzilla series, I believe Keizer Ghidorah is another excellent contender. He's very similar to the Showa Ghidorah as a cataclysmic sadist who, under alien orders or not, shows pure thrill in destroying the planet and torturing Godzilla rather than fighting fair, even after his subordinates are defeated.
In the film's heinous scale, I won't include the other monsters since they're obviously under the excuse of brainwashing, although Gigan's may be skeptical considering the Shinobin's warnings he's given as an alien to destroy the planet... oh well, all offscreen. This leads to the only tipping point in the heinous scale that can compare to Keizer Ghidorah: Commander X. In a way, he's the eviler threat as he's the mastermind of the entire invasion in the first place, but I see it more as a "brains and brawn" situation. Where X wants to rule the world, Keizer Ghidorah seems more interested in killing and causing as much destruction as possible. Where the other monsters were brainwashed to doing X's work for him, Keizer Ghidorah was doing it for the sadistic thrill of it and continued to torture Godzilla for fun long after his master's death.
Final Verdict[]
He's only in the last 20 minutes, but Keizer Ghidorah does enough sadistic damage to meet his other Ghidorah incarnations. Another fine addition indeed.
Yes: 7
No: 0
Undecided: 0
Final Score: +7
Verdict: Pure Evil