Kumonga (クモンガ, Kumonga?) is a giant spider kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 2004 Godzilla film, Godzilla: Final Wars.
Name
Kumonga's name comes from kumo (クモ?), which is the Japanese word for "spider."
Kumonga's name in the international English dub and American television dubs of Son of Godzilla is "Spiga" or "Spiega," which comes from "spider."
Design
Appearance
Kumonga's design in Final Wars retains the same appearance as the Showa incarnation, as it is primarily black with yellow stripes, but with more vivid, bright and numerous gold stripes over it, crossing to make a somewhat complex pattern on the top of the body.
The body's shape is much more complex, and slightly angular-looking. The body is also slanted towards the ground, which gives this puppet a more sinister look. Its eyes are now blue and have black pupils. The chelicerae are also more detailed and appear far larger with the fangs being smaller and the urticating bristles around the mouth were removed.
Portrayal
Kumonga is portrayed with puppets and CGI.
Roar
In both of its appearances, Kumonga makes a variety of chirping noises. In Godzilla: Final Wars, it also make a series of bird-like calls.
Personality
Not much is known about Kumonga's personality due to being under the mind coltrol of the Xiliens, but it acts like a vicious predator that attacks anything it sees.
Origins
In Godzilla: Final Wars, Kumonga is one of the many monsters used by the Xiliens in their campaign to conquer the Earth.
History
Godzilla: Final Wars
Kumonga appeared in Arizona and destroyed a trailer park before being suddenly teleported away along with all of the other monsters rampaging across Earth by the Xiliens, who claimed to want to save Earth. However, the Xiliens' true motives were revealed, and their leader X unleashed all of the monsters to resume their destruction of the planet's major cities.
In response, the Earth Defense Force freed Godzilla from Area G and had him defeat the Xiliens' monsters. X unleashed Kumonga in New Guinea to battle Godzilla. Kumonga was able to use its jumping ability to avoid Godzilla's attacks while trapping him in webbing, but Godzilla grabbed one of Kumonga's web strands and swung it through the air before letting go, sending Kumonga sailing over the horizon.
Abilities
Legs
It also has long legs ending in sharp points which can be used to skewer opponents or crush through materials, like in a scene in the movie Godzilla: Final Wars. It also appears to have jumping abilities.
Pedipalps
Kumonga has prehensile pedipalps that can be used to grab small prey.
Webbing
Kumonga can shoot a thick webbing and a stinger from his mandibles. The Millennium Kumonga's web was able to expand on contact with air from a single thread into a net for incapacitating foes.
Video games
Godzilla (2014 video game)
The "Godzilla: Final Wars" (2004) version of Kumonga produced a tough threaded net and used its ultimate attack, the "Tenacious Binding Death Net", to capture its victims. Controlled by the Xiliens, it assailed Arizona before landing in New Guinea to launch an attack on Godzilla. During the fight, Godzilla caught it in its own thread and tossed it into the air, never to be seen again.
The original Kumonga was operated using piano wire, a stark contrast to its subsequent appearance as computer generated imagery animation. The original model wound up 5 meters tall and required close to 20 people to operate it.Kumonga Kaiju Guide Bio
Trivia
- Of all the monsters who appeared in Godzilla: Final Wars, Kumonga does the least amount of damage, and also destroys the least amount of objects in the film, when excluding Hedorah's cut scene.
List of appearances
Films
- Godzilla: Final Wars (First appearance)
Video games
- Godzilla (2014 video game) (Kaiju Guide)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia. Godzilla: Final Wars; Page 117.
