Want to know more about Godzilla‘s foes and compatriots in the monster world? Take this opportunity, in the precious days before the release of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, to look over this profile of Mothra, Godzilla’s benevolent counterpart.
Name: Mothra
Etymology: “Mothra” is, perhaps obviously, derived from the word “moth.”
Species: Giant moth resembling the aglais io, or peacock butterfly.
Description: Mothra begins its life-cycle as a giant brown larva, later cocooning in many films, to emerge as a giant moth.
Abilities: As a larva, Mothra can spit near-endless strands of sticky silk, wrapping foes in a makeshift cocoon. As a moth, Mothra can fly and attack bodily, fire lasers from her antennae, and is sometimes seen emitting lightning from her wings. Mothra also has the ability to be reborn by laying eggs at the time of its demise, ensuring that larval Mothra and moth Mothra will recur constantly. Mothra’s eggs can gestate seemingly indefinitely.
Additionally, Mothra is typically accompanied by the appearance of minuscule twin pixies who can summon her with their alluring siren song. The pixies, called shobijin, can also communicate with humans.
First Appearance: Mothra (1961)
Actors Who Played Her: In all her appearances, Mothra was achieved through special effects and puppetry, but her shobijin have been played by The Peanuts (Emi and Yumi Ito), Pair Bambi (Yuko and Yoko Okada), Cosmos (Keiko Imamura and Sayaka Osawa), Elias (alternately, Megumi Kobayashi, Sayaka Yamaguchi, Misato Tate, Aki Hano), and Masami Nagasawa and Chihiro Otsuka.
Rundown: Mothra is the only monster in the Godzilla canon that is wholly and utterly benevolent. Although sometimes destructive, she only is ever determined to protect her young or fight against an even more destructive force. She has made more appearances in films than any other Toho monster, other than Godzilla himself.
Mothra debuted in her own solo film in 1961, and first met Godzilla in 1964’s Mothra vs. Godzilla (a.k.a. Godzilla vs. The Thing in America). She was also the star of her own trilogy of films – the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy – in the late ’90s. The Rebirth Mothra was a different monster in a different continuity, and was even eventually replaced by her son, called Mothra Leo. Come the release of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Mothra will have shared the screen with Godzilla ten times.
Origin: Mothra may be Malaysian in origin, as her shobijin originally sang to her in Malay, although the Mothra songs were translated into Japanese after her first appearance.
In the Showa era, the first Godzilla continuity, Mothra was worshiped as the central deity of a distant island called Infant Island. Presumably, she was a creature of terrestrial origin, and simply evolved to enormous size on said island.
In the Heisei era, the second Godzilla continuity, Mothra had laid dormant for 12,000 years, and was once the goddess of a long-extinct civilization. She is re-awakened by environmental malfeasance at the hands of pesky humans, and was forced to fight Battra, her evil twin and equally ancient moth creature.
In the Millennium era, Mothra seems to have three separate origin stories. In Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, a.k.a. GMK (2001), Mothra was the 1000-year-old protector of Japan who transferred her soul into a benevolent King Ghidorah. In Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., Mothra is somehow the same creature from her 1961 debut, and returns to do battle with a new, souped-up version of Mechagodzilla (called Kiryu in the film). In Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), Mothra was a 10,000-year-old rival of the bizarre robot chicken Gigan.
Mothra does not appear in the Netflix anime trilogy, although we do see a cult devoted to her 20,000 years in the future.
Commentary: Mothra is the only monster who regularly communicated with humanity, giving her a diplomatic edge over her rough-hewn kaiju compatriots. She was always seen as heroic, a protector, a goddess, and an enthusiast of music. Mothra is the gentlest and most soulful of creatures, and should rightfully be the Queen of the Monsters. Well, provided they have a Monster Island to live on, and enough food to keep them sated. Mothra, in being summoned essentially by holy hymns (sometimes sung by recognizable pop stars), also has a spiritual dimension that other kaiju lack. She’s not “tough,” in the conventional sense, but is judicious in her fighting choices.
While most other kaiju represent strength or destruction, Mothra represents the end of war. Although she’s a fighter, one can’t help but get a feeling of tranquility and sacrifice from Mothra. Godzilla is a hero in that he’s willing to stand up for the planet, but Mothra is a heroine in that she’s willing to fight for what appears to be a greater good. She has a moral dimension. Well, when she’s not knocking over buildings and setting Gigan on fire with her own body.
In a franchise wherein the monsters tend to represent bombs or avarice or hate, Mothra stands (flies?) in proud, humane counterpoint.
