With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound, they'll pull the spitting high tension wires down. note
"Monsters are tragic beings. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice. That is their tragedy. They do not attack people because they want to, but because of their size and strength, mankind has no other choice but to defend himself. After several stories such as this, people end up having a kind of affection for the monsters. They end up caring about them."
Tropes that are associated with Kaiju from any medium, in regards to both the monsters themselves and the stories they inhabit.
See also Tokusatsu Tropes.
Tropes:
Monster tropes
- Aliens Are Bastards: Practically every giant monster or alien species that comes from space isn't visiting Earth with the best intentions.
- Animalistic Abomination: Many kaiju are these, especially the ones with more supernatural origins.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Whether it be from atomic testing or magic, plenty of kaiju started out as normal-sized creatures.
- Benevolent Monsters: While most kaiju are antagonistic towards mankind, a handful such as Gamera and Mothra will stand for mankind no matter what.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Bug-themed kaiju make humans look like ants in comparison.
- Bioweapon Beast: If Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke, genetically-engineered giant monsters are the new Tsar Bombas.
- Breath Weapon: THE most common ranged attack amongst kaiju. Across flames, lightning, acid, energy, ice, poison gas and more, and every shape and color to boot, there's a kaiju for every breath weapon you could think of.
- Chest Blaster: A rarer, but still decently common, kaiju ranged weapon.
- Combat Tentacles: Common amongst celaphod or alien kaiju.
- Eldritch Abomination: As if some of the creatures of H. P. Lovecraft didn't already count, some kaiju are freaky, insanity-inducing and surreal enough to fit right in with the rest of the Cthulhu Mythos.
- Expy: A pretty common way of creating a kaiju for a story is to make an expy of a famous pre-existing one. Common kaiju Expy archetypes include:
- King Kong Copy: based on the Eighth Wonder of the World
- Not Zilla: based on the King of the Monsters
- Ultraman Copy: based on the Giant of Light
- Eye Beams: The second most common ranged weapon, whether it be from one, two or several eyes.
- Friend to All Children: A pretty common trait among benevolent kaiju, not least of which being the trope namer himself.
- Gaia's Vengeance: Kaiju are sometimes interpreted in-universe as nature's revenge against mankind, though whether they actually are this varies from story to story.
- Gentle Giant: In spite of their size, some kaiju are as friendly as they are ferocious-looking. For example, Ultraman Cosmos is an entire show of these.
- Giant Animal Worship: Giant monsters worshipped as gods. While some (ie King Kong) are merely giant animals, others (ie Mothra) demonstrate actual supernatural abilities.
- Giant Equals Invincible: Kaiju can tank anything thrown at them except the most powerful of super weapons and other kaiju.
- Giant Flyer: Any kaiju that can fly is this by definition.
- Gigantic Adults, Tiny Babies: Kaiju offspring are usually portrayed as much smaller than their parents.
- Good Is Not Soft: Even if they valiantly defend mankind, heroic kaiju don't mind tearing apart the city or their opponent if necessary.
- Humongous Mecha: Any robot that is on the same scale as kaiju are this by definition.
- Immune to Bullets: and tanks, and missiles, and bombs, and pretty much anything below a megaton range or the equivalent.
- Isle of Giant Horrors: An island inhabited by kaiju (ie Monster Island).
- Living Dinosaurs / Prehistoric Monster: From Godzilla to Gomora, building-sized dinosaurs are the most popular kaiju archetype in fiction.
- Mama Bear: Any female kaiju with offspring is this by default. Notable examples include Mothra taking on Godzilla to defend her eggs and larvae, Gorgo's mother going on a rampage to free her baby from human captivity, and Femuto howling in grief and then going on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge when her nest is destroyed.
- Man-Eating Plant: Plant-themed kaiju more often than not display carnivorous traits, especially towards humans.
- Metamorphosis Monster: Some kaiju take on numerous, increasingly larger forms throughout their runtime, usually as an extension of Hollywood Evolution.
- Non-Malicious Monster: Some kaiju stories emphasize that the monster isn't evil or malicious but instead agitated, frequently by mankind, while other kaiju are simply nonsapient animals following their instincts such as finding food and defending their territory or offspring.
- Our Monsters Are Weird: Given how broad the term 'kaiju' is (giant monster that attacks Japan), you can bet there are extremely bizarre monsters.
- Papa Wolf: Similar to the mothers above, male kaiju parents will also be extremely defensive of their offspring.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Any destructive kaiju is this by comparison.
- Physical God: Certain kaiju are outright these, Mothra probably being the best example.
- Proportionately Ponderous Parasites: Kaiju are laced with relatively gigantic equivalents to fleas, which themselves can become a threat to humans.
- Red Baron: Kaiju commonly have these. Some notable examples:
- Godzilla: the King of the Monsters, God of Destruction, God Incarnate, Atomic Bomb Monster.
- Mothra: the Queen of the Monsters, The Thing, God of the Sea, Guardian of Earth, Supersonic Giant Moth.
- Rodan: the Giant Monster of the Sky, the Fire Demon, the One Born of Flame.
- Ghidorah: the King of Terror, Monster Zero, Three-Headed Monster, the Golden Demise, the One Who Is Many.
- Gamera: The Friend to All Children, the Guardian of the Universe, the Last Hope.
- Gyaos: The Supersonic Monster, the Shadow of Evil.
- Ro Beast: A kaiju that battles against a giant robot in a Mecha Show, as in the case of the trope namer.
- Sea Monster: Numerous kaiju live under the ocean though, unlike traditional sea monsters, almost always demonstrate the capacity to walk on land.
- Sizeshifter: Many kaiju, seijin and kyodai heroes demonstrate the ability to change sizes, usually from human-sized for the majority of the story to giant-sized by the climax.
- Tail Slap: Numerous kaiju have long tails that are used to whack at buildings and opponents.
- Tunnel King: Any kaiju that lives underground is guaranteed to be a master digger, and will inevitably burrow its way into civilization.
- Tragic Monster / What Measure Is a Non-Human?: In spite of their destructive nature, numerous monsters are portrayed as victims of circumstance that mankind is forced to destroy (ie Godzilla, Jamila).
Plot-related or meta tropes
- 20 Minutes into the Future: Many kaiju stories take place very slightly into the relative future.
- Alien Invasion: The vast majority of alien civilizations that come to earth in kaiju media do so with the intention of conquering, subjugating or eradicating humanity.
- Aliens Speaking English: Alien invaders can easily speak to humans in Japanese, usually without any justification as to why.
- All Myths Are True: Chances are that if a kaiju is featured in a myth, it'll turn out to be real and very much alive.
- Asshole Victim: It’s common for the first on-screen kill of a kaiju to be this.
- Artistic License – Paleontology: Ignoring their size, most dinosaur kaiju aren't analogous to real species.
- Artistic License – Physics: At the very least, the very existence of kaiju is a middle finger to the Square-Cube Law, to say nothing of atomic breath and/or flight.
- Bad Vibrations: Repeated earthquakes are a common way of foreshadowing an imminent kaiju attack.
- Behemoth Battle: A fight between two or more kaiju is bound to be this.
- Big Apple Sauce: New York is the most common target in American kaiju media.
- Colossus Climb: Climbing on or exploring the body of a giant creature or being.
- Creature-Hunter Organization: A typical way of including a competent human cast in a giant monster story, kaiju-busting corps such as the SSSP give humanity a chance without having to rely on giant monsters on their side. Sometimes they use mecha to carry the day, like the PPDC in Pacific Rim.
- Crisis Point Hospital: Occasionally seen in darker kaiju media, such as Godzilla (1954) or Cloverfield.
- Crowd Panic: A frequent shot in kaiju media is to show crowds of civilians running away from the monster in the background.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Especially common in Toku TV franchises such as the Ultra Series and Super Sentai.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Some kaiju stories are analogies for real-world social issues or historical events (ie Godzilla (1954), Episode 42 of Ultraseven).
- Destructive Savior: Even if a kaiju saves the world, it's guaranteed that the city they fought in wasn't.
- Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Atomic mutants, ancient gods, alien invaders, living dinosaurs, mechs and more all constitute the typical inhabitants of a kaiju universe.
- Fun with Acronyms: Very common for the names of the aforementioned Creature Hunter Organizations.
- Giant Foot of Stomping: The monster is shown to step on a smaller object, usually a tank.
- Giant Footprint Reveal: A kaiju's footprint is commonly used to foreshadow the monster's size and power without directly portraying it.
- Godzilla Threshold: The human protagonists, forced into a nigh-insurmountable situation by a kaiju, unleash a greater superweapon (which could also be a kaiju).
- Helicopter Flyswatter: Pilots in kaiju media fly close enough to the monster that it can physically strike them out of the sky.
- Humanoid Aliens: Due to the limits of suitmation, most aliens in kaiju media are humanoid in shape, if not outright Human Aliens.
- Hong Kong Dub: Pretty common for pre-2010s kaiju movies, especially in the Showa era.
- "King Kong" Climb: The monster is depicted climbing a building, usually a famous monument as per the trope namer and codifier.
- Lovecraft Lite: Any media that frequently shows its protagonists defeating nigh-invulnerable kaiju on a regular basis counts as this (ie the Ultra Series, Super Sentai).
- Mad Scientist: A common character archetype in these stories, whether they help create or destroy the monster.
- Make My Monster Grow: A staple of Super Sentai and Power Rangers, featuring kaiju being made from human-sized monsters thanks to magic.
- Mech vs. Beast: Any battle between a Humongous Mecha and a kaiju is bound to be this.
- Militaries Are Useless: Any military effort to exterminate a kaiju is bound to end in complete failure.
- Monster of the Week: Kaiju are treated as regular menaces to be defeated by colorful superheroes.
- Monumental Damage: Kaiju attacking a major city are bound to destroy a local monument. Tokyo Tower is a pretty frequent victim.
- No Endor Holocaust: As to focus on Rule of Cool, kaiju media often portray the awesomeness of kaiju destroying cities without addressing the in-universe death tolls and consequences. However, when kaiju stories do avert this trope (ie Godzilla (1954)), they make it blatantly obvious.
- People in Rubber Suits: The traditional method of portraying a kaiju on screen.
- Primate Versus Reptile: Starting with King Kong and taken to its logical conclusion with King Kong vs. Godzilla, this is a pretty common archetypal kaiju matchup.
- Rent-a-Zilla: Kaiju appearing in stories where they aren't the main focus.
- Scenery Gorn: A common aftermath shot in darker kaiju media.
- Space Whale Aesop: "Don't [insert vice here] or else a giant monster will destroy your city!" Common morals in kaiju media include:
- Green Aesop: Especially common during the 1970s, at which point Japan's pollution problem was even worse than that of the US.
- Nuclear Weapons Taboo: Starting with Godzilla (1954), Japan's national opposition to nuclear weapons has seeped its way into kaiju media throughout the decades.
- Speculative Biology: Some stories will specifically go to the trouble of creating a fictitious ecology and/or evolutionary history for their kaiju, something that has become especially common in the Modern Era due to the influence of works like the MonsterVerse.
- Stock Footage: Especially common in Showa-era kaiju media, with dubious results at times.
- Stop Motion: Another traditional way of portraying giant monsters, especially prior to suitmation.
- Tag Along Kid: Numerous Showa kaiju movies or series feature child protagonists as stand-ins for the audience of the time.
- Toku: The genre that birthed the kaiju genre. Expect loads of Stuff Blowing Up.
- The Tokyo Fireball / Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: Tokyo is by far the most frequently-destroyed city across kaiju media.
- Waist-Deep Ocean: Due to the limitations of Tokusatsu, aquatic kaiju battles tend to portray the monsters standing in the water, no matter how deep it would logically be. This still gets used in modern kaiju media, though moreso as an homage.
