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History: Bagan, the kaiju that never was, wasoriginally going to be featured in the first version of “The Return ofGodzilla” in 1984. The plot for this film would have gone somethinglike this; Godzilla is revived after nine years thanks to covertnuclear-waste-dumping in the ocean. However, as soon as he awakens, hemust confront the new kaiju Bagan, a shape-shifting kaiju that adoptsunique forms on land, sea, and air. Godzilla’s battles with Bagan aremostly one-sided, with Godzilla inflicting damage time after time, andBagan regenerating himself be taking on a new form. Then, afterGodzilla renews his strength by destroying a nuclear power plant andabsorbing the radioactivity within, he finally defeats Bagan. WithBagan now gone, Godzilla becomes the big threat to mankind and attacksJapan. Meanwhile, a scientist has discovered a new element called“Reiconium,” which possesses super nuclear energy. Far more powerfulthan nuclear energy, its potential as a weapon is so great that thescientist refuses to use it against Godzilla. Only after witnessingGodzilla’s aftermath, and with pleas from his daughter, does thescientist finally agree to use the Reiconium against Godzilla.Radiation is used as bait to lure Godzilla into the trap and thescientist sacrifices himself to detonate the Reiconium device, whichdefeats Godzilla. Months later, Godzilla’s lifeless body washes ashorenear a nuclear power plant. Suddenly, the Monster King’s eyes open andhe bellows, revived by the radiation. So basically after the monstervs. monster part of the film, the rest of the movie would have become arehash of the original Godzilla (1954) film’s plot. However, this ideawas ultimately thrown out in favor of the more serious and anti-nuclearversion of “The Return of Godzilla,” but Bagan would continue toresurface in several story proposals through the 1980s and 1990s.
So a few years later, after “Godzilla vs. Biollante,” Tohoprepared to give Godzilla a rest and revive another old monster. So in1990, pre-production work began on a film called "Mothra vs. Bagan".This story would have taken place not only in Japan, but also in China,Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Several designs weresubmitted for the new monster Bagan, as well as a number of storyboardsdetailing much of the monster action. However, when "Godzilla vs.Biollante" didn’t perform well enough at the box office for Toho'sliking, it was decided to cancel this project and instead continue onwith the Godzilla series with a revived old favorite, King Ghidorah.The plot for “Mothra vs. Bagan” would’ve gone something like this; Longago in ancient China, the vicious monster Bagan stalked the land. TheChinese called Bagan a living god, the feared protector of the smallcreatures of the forest. However, in present times, Bagan is merely alegend found in an ancient collection of Chinese poetry, where prophecyforetells the return of the vicious monster when evil rulers begin todestroy the land. Soon, however, the prophecy becomes true as globalwarming causes Bagan's glacial tomb in the Himalayas to melt away,releasing the ancient kaiju upon mankind, which he wants to destroy.However, as Bagan is freed from his burial place, a gigantic egg isdiscovered, soon hatching to reveal a Mothra larva, another ancientmonster, this one of peace, left behind by an alien civilization toprotect the world if Bagan ever returned (new origin). Mothra thentransforms into her adult form and battles Bagan, but the ending wasnever revealed (just try and guess who would’ve won). Bagan would beconsidered again for later films, but the only time he would everactually show up in a Godzilla-related project would be in the 1993Super Godzilla game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as themain boss. Bagan will more than likely never see any time on the bigscreen.
This topic was moved from forum General Discussion to forum Characture Backgroung on 5/18/2006 9:18 PM by X_Stomp_X.
