Mothra

(a.k.a. Mosura)

As guardian of the Earth, Mothra must save the Earth from threatening monsters trying to destroy it.

Monster Profile

Mothra

original

Length: 60 meters (197 feet)

Wingspan: 250 meters (820 feet)

Mass: 20,000 metric tons (22,000 tons)

Powers/weapons: Flight at Mach 3, hurricane winds, Poison powder

First appearance: Mothra (1961)

G-Series first version

Length: 65 meters (123 feet)

Wingspan: 135 meters (213 feet)

Mass: 15,000 metric tons (16,500 tons)

Powers/weapons: Flight at Mach 3, hurricane winds, poison powder

First appearance: Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

Notable G-Series credits: 4, 7

Fight record: Wins 1, Losses 1, Ties 1

G-Series second version

Length: 65 meters (213 feet)

Wingspan: 175 meters (574 feet)

Mass: 20,000 metric tons (22,000 tons)

Powers/weapons: Flight at Mach 3, hurricane winds, plus antenna blasts/ ray-shooting beam weapons, reflecting scales that turn attacking energies back on their source

First appearance: Godzilla vs. Queen Mothra (1992)

Notable G-Series credits: 19

Fight record: Wins 1, Losses 0, Ties 2

Larva

Original

Length: 180 meters (590 feet)

Mass: 12,000 metric tons (13,200 tons)

Powers/weapons: Web attack

First appearance: Mothra (1961)

G-Series first version

Length: 53 meters (174 feet)

Mass: 15,000 metric tons (16,500 tons)

Powers/weapons: Web attack

First appearance: Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

Notable G-Series credits: 4, 5, 9

Fight record: Wins 2, Losses 0, Ties 1

G-Series second version

Length: 120 meters (394 feet)

Mass: 15,000 metric tons (16,500 tons)

Powers/weapons: Web attack

First appearance: Godzilla vs. Queen Mothra (1992)

Notable G-Series credits: 19

Fight record: Wins 1, Losses 0, Ties 2

Mothra's Story

A monster of principle and peace, Mothra fights only when her protected people, the natives of Infant Island, are under threat. Guided by telepathic communication from her tiny twin priestesses, the Shbijin, Mothra has shown battle skill in defeating Godzilla and great bravery in single-handedly facing the terrible King Ghidorah.

Worshiped as a deity by the natives of Infant Island in the South pacific, Mothra, with her fuzzy body and colorfully patterned wings, conveys a sense of awe, not terror, as she gracefully glides into her encounters with humanity. She is one of the most beautiful of all monsters. Mothra's origins are shrouded in mystery, but to her people she is a benevolent god representing both love and renewal.

Mothra's always a monster on a mission rather than a blindly rampaging menace. Indeed, Mothra first appeared in Japan to rescue her tiny, foot-tall twin priestesses, who had been kidnapped by an unscrupulous promoter. Later, in Mothra vs. Godzilla, humanity appealed to Mothra for help against Godzilla.

Like most insects, Mothra passes through a complete metamorphosis in her lifetime. Hatching from an enormous blue egg, Mothra first appears as a gargantuan and rather ugly caterpillar, which spends most of its time searching for food.

Sometime later, the larva encases itself in a giant silk cocoon, from which ultimately emerges the multicolored winged adult Mothra. Both larva and adult are responsible for their fair share of destruction.

The caterpillar plows through anything in its path, whether building or highway overpass-even an ocean liners it swims from Infant Island. to the mainland. And the adult Mothra's colorful wings can create hurricane winds capable of blowing away most manmade structures.

Despite what could be described as a peaceful and a paucity weapons, Mothra is distinguished in having had the greatest success in battling Godzilla, dishing out at least two solid defeats to the King of the Monsters.

Though greatly susceptible to Godzilla's atomic ray, the adult Mothra stores a yellow poison powder in her wings, which she can release with devastating effect. The poison, combined with Mothra's speed and agility in the air, her wing-generated blasts, and her intelligence, make the giant moth a foe with which to be reckoned.

As for the larva, the strands from which it fashions its cocoon are strong in proportion to their giant source, and have been employed as a suffocating shroud not only to dispatch Godzilla but even to entangle and help defeat the mighty King Ghidorah.

As with other monsters (King Ghidorah, MechaGodzilla, and Rodan-who you will later see), the new series has seen Mothra updated, principally by the addition of several beam weapons, which place her in a class with the other ray-shooting demons of the 1990s.

The new Mothra is also able to shed scales from her wings. This enables her to reflect Godzilla's rays, dissipating its energy or directing it back upon the King of the Monsters.

The 1996 release of a non-Godzilla movie called Rebirth of Mothra (a.k.a. Mothra/Mosura) stands as further proof of the Big Bug's enduring popularity in the annals of of monster film fandom. She remains a living example of the power of goodness in overcoming adversity.