Toho’s Godzilla film franchise was, in many ways, one of the earliest cinematic universes ever attempted. Several of the iconic kaiju who fought with or against the King of the Monsters enjoyed introductions in wholly unrelated films. Mothra and Rodan, for example, could have launched series of their own. Godzilla remained the central figure, so everyone else stepped into his orbit. Though he’s much less well-known, Varan is another example of a monster from a solo movie who later joined Godzilla’s entourage.
The old Toho Godzilla films loved to bring minor characters back for huge events. There are several films that boast the presence of a ton of familiar kaiju. The modern Monsterverse is unlikely to try out this tactic. Legendary Pictures and the relevant filmmakers introduce plenty of new monsters, often for brief cameos. Since the newcomers seem to fill the roles in the most financially successful entries in the franchise, they don’t have much reason to bring back smaller names.
Where did Varan come from?
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Names |
Varan, Baradagi, Obake |
|---|---|
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Subtitle |
Giant Flying Squirrel Monster, Winged Membrane Dragon, Mountain God |
|
Designed By |
Teizo Toshimitsu, Kanju Yagi, Yasuei Yagi, and Keizo Murase |
|
Portrayed By |
Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka |
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First Appearance |
Varan |
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First Appearance Date |
October 14, 1958 |
Varan first appeared in his self-titled debut. Varan is Toho’s final black-and-white monster movie. Released in 1958, four years after the original Godzilla, the two projects share the great director, Ishiro Honda. Special effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya followed Honda from Godzilla to Varan. Screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa made his kaiju debut with Varan before moving on to write classics like King Kong vs. Godzilla and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. He adapted Varan‘s script from a story by Ken Kuronuma, who previously wrote Rodan. Varan probably takes his name from the Varanus genus of monitor lizards. In his debut film, a scientist dubs him Varanapode, but they call him Varan for short. A group of villagers worships him as the “Baradagi Mountain God.” In the American dub, the screenwriters call him Obake, which is the Japanese word for “ghost.” This lack of consistency isn’t uncommon in the franchise, though it likely didn’t help Varan stick around.
Canonically, Varan doesn’t have much of an origin story. He’s a dinosaur who somehow survived extinction and existed for millions of years beneath the surface of a Japanese lake. Much like Godzilla, he’s a dinosaur with a seemingly endless lifespan. Something woke him at some point, leading him to take residence on a secluded mountain. The local natives worshiped him as a god, but no outsiders ever saw him. The only thing that finally drew attention to the secretive monster and his island paradise was a pair of rare butterflies, which prompted a scientific expedition into the area. Early ideas surrounding Varan led to the designers combining elements of aerial and aquatic beasts to create something new. That new being would remain relatively obscure for the remainder of his existence to this point.
What is Varan capable of?
Varan might be the weakest kaiju ever to appear in a Godzilla film. Varan has several interesting physical traits, but nothing that anyone would reasonably consider a “power.” Godzilla breathes radioactive lasers, Ghidorah shoots lightning, and Destoroyah can summon a lightsaber from his horn, but Varan is mostly limited to pure strength and durability. He is very strong, as any giant monster must be. Varan is almost indestructible. His debut feature explains that his unique scales/skin are so flexible that almost no force can rupture them. In the IDW comic series, Godzilla in Hell, Varan tanks a jet of Godzilla’s atomic breath without any visible injury. He’s also a very versatile creature. Varan is one of the few giant monsters who can occupy the air, land, and sea. He can live underwater, evade the Japanese navy, and unfurl his membranes to glide as fast as Rodan can fly. The video games give him a “sonic blast” for balancing purposes, but he’s mostly just a big, goofy dinosaur with nearly-invulnerable natural armor.
What happened to Varan?
Varan doesn’t do much in the Godzilla franchise. His original film is a classic kaiju outing. The JSDF attempts to fight Varan, but only a chemical explosion can hurt him. They manage to force him back into the water, then detonate a massive explosion that presumably kills him. Varan returns in Ishiro Honda’s Destroy All Monsters. The film never specifies whether it’s the same Varan or his offspring. Either way, Varan lives on Monster Island with Godzilla and the rest of his kind. Alien invaders arrived to take control of the kaiju. Varan quickly disappeared, but he may have avoided their influence. The film never depicts him destroying anything, but he comes back to Monster Island after the aliens leave. Varan returns for Godzilla: Final Wars, but only for a moment. The film sees a small child playing with a Varan toy. He’s really more of a bystander.
Varan is near the bottom of the barrel of Godzilla’s entourage, but not because of any lack of quality. He has an interesting design with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, he usually just stands around in the background while other monsters do things. Fans of Varan only really have his solo project to turn to. Varan the Unbelievable seems happy enough being left out of the action.
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