NAME: 
Gorosaurus (ゴロザウルス Gorozaurusu)
FIRST APPEARS IN:
King Kong Escapes, 1967
DESIGN FEATURES:
– shocking posture
– dead, stupid eyes
– tiny Tyrannosaurusish arms
– bulbous skull
SKILLS AND QUIRKS:
– attempting to eat people
– getting jaw broken viciously by King Kong
– hanging out with Godzilla
– smashing up Paris
– being miscredited as Baragon
– kangaroo-kicking King Ghidorah
MONSTER SOUNDS:
Gorosaurus makes me a bit sad. Within Toho’s kaijū stable, he’s one of the most basic of monsters – even more so than Anguirus – essentially an underdeveloped Godzilla with no powers or abilities other than being rather big. Even his frozen expression seems rather tragic if you look at it too long; his sad, sad eyes begging for love.
Surprisingly, Gorosaurus ranks highly on many fan lists of monster favourites, including my own. Perhaps it is his no-frills design and sympathetic aura that give him his edge. Even when presented as a villain in King Kong Escapes (1967), Gorosaurus’s vicious mauling by King Kong is rather traumatising.
Gorosaurus would return in Destroy All Monsters the following year, alive and well (Toho don’t care much for continuity, although fans will give you long-winded explanations of how he survived King Kong Escapes and was transferred to Monsterland), and this time Gorosaurus is on the side of the good guys: Godzilla and his monster pals. Gorosaurus takes part in the most unfair battle in kaijū history as every single monster on Monsterisland take turns beating the living snot out of a bewildered King Ghidorah. Gorosaurus gets some good punches in.
Gorosaurus would only appear in cameo flashbacks and stock footage in the years that followed Destroy All Monsters. I can’t see Gorosaurus being dredged up for any future Godzilla production, so I say great job, Gorosaurus! I miss your stupid face.
1 comment
Gomez Toth says:
Dec 3, 2013
Hello, this is Gorosaurus! Thank you for remembering me! I always love to hear from my fans! But you’re so mean – “stupid face”?! I always told the makeup technicians, “Emphasize my dimples.” How was I supposed to know that “dimples” in Japanese translates as “Make it bumpy.” It’s true that my movie career tanked after Destroy All Monsters (my agent ran away with my career AND my husband), but that’s OK because I always preferred the stage, especially stand-up. I love making people laugh!