Kaijū Menagerie
Dora Goblin (ドーラゴブリン Dōra Goburin)

Dora Goblin (ドーラゴブリン Dōra Goburin)

Kyouryu Sentai Zyuranger is varied in its villains and monsters. They can be terrifying as fuck. They can be destructive forces of nature. Or they can be children-napping, accordion playing dorks.
Alien Godola (ゴドラ星人 Godora Seijin)

Alien Godola (ゴドラ星人 Godora Seijin)

Unceremonious death aside, the Alien Godola — in character and design — are pretty great. They spend most of the episode cackling madly and taunting every human they come across.
Dora Minotaur (ドーラミノタウロス Dōra Minotaurosu)

Dora Minotaur (ドーラミノタウロス Dōra Minotaurosu)

As someone who grew up loving the original incarnation of Power Rangers, it's a real mind fuck to see familiar footage in its true setting. Familiar footage like Mighty Minotaur, or, as he was known in Kyouryu Sentai Zyuranger, Dora Minotaur.
Spider Monster (蜘蛛怪)

Spider Monster (蜘蛛怪)

I'm not going to lie to you. This article is an excuse to tell you to watch The Super Inframan.
Dodongo (ドドンゴ)

Dodongo (ドドンゴ)

The way Ultraman treats Dodongo is genuinely disturbing. It's like watching a psychotic child torturing an animal. He even rides him at one point, which is both funny and unsettling.
Sanda (サンダ) & Gaira (ガイラ)

Sanda (サンダ) & Gaira (ガイラ)

With their humanoid design, Gaira and Sanda are unique in the world of kaijū cinema. They have distinct personalities, making them far more interesting than your average destructive force of nature.
Manda (マンダ)

Manda (マンダ)

The concept of Manda is cool, and there's no other monster in the Toho line-up like him, but to successfully pull off a snake-like dragon is obviously a difficult task, which perhaps explains his lacklustre appearances.
Battra (バトラ Batora)

Battra (バトラ Batora)

Few monsters follow any sort of path of redemption in Godzilla movies, so Battra's story really does stand out. It's too bad Mothra, being the moth she is, hogs all the limelight.
Gezora (ゲゾラ)

Gezora (ゲゾラ)

Gezora's design is complex, but he is very simple to describe. He is, quite literally, a giant cuttlefish.
Pulgasari (불가사리 Bulgasari)

Pulgasari (불가사리 Bulgasari)

While he is the product of a deeply troubling propaganda machine, Pulgasari is more exciting monster than many of his Japanese contemporaries.
M.O.G.U.E.R.A. (モゲラ Mogera)

M.O.G.U.E.R.A. (モゲラ Mogera)

Though he's certainly no Mechagodzilla, I quite like Mogera. He poses little threat with his shrewish face and lumbering movements, but his design is impressive and refreshingly bizarre in both his iterations.
Maguma (マグマ)

Maguma (マグマ)

Maguma is possibly the most gratuitous monster in kaijū cinema history. He was so gratuitous that he didn't even make the cut of the American re-edit of Gorath.