Battra is a dark divine moth kaiju who first appeared in the 1992 Toho Godzilla Film Godzilla vs. Mothra.
Battra is the dark counterpart of Mothra that still protects earth but in a more violent way. Although Battra still protects the planet it more destructive than Mothra willing to completely kill a whole population just to protect the rest of the world.
Personality
Battra is solely concerned with the defense of the Earth, and will do whatever he can to protect it. Unlike Mothra, Battra sees humanity as a bright on the Earth that must be destroyed if the planet is to survive. Battra has made it his mission to eradicate the human race, which puts him into conflict with Mothra. However, despite his typical personality, he has occasionally shown heroic traits, as seen when he decided to help Mothra after Godzilla nearly killed her.
Origins
According to the Cosmos, Battra was created by the Earth itself twelve thousand years ago, when an ancient civilization created a climate-controlling device, which greatly angered the Earth. Battra's purpose was to destroy the device, but he went well beyond his purpose and eradicated the entire civilization, intending to wipe out all of the human race as well. Mothra challenged Battra and defeated him, sealing him in the Arctic Ocean.
History
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Thousands of years after being sealed in the Arctic Ocean by Mothra, Battra was awakened when a meteorite struck the Earth. Battra swam to the coast of Japan and burrowed, reappearing and attacking Nagoya. The JSDF fought Battra but were no match, and Battra left a wrecked city behind as he burrowed again. Battra appeared in the waters off the archipelago of the Philippines, where Godzilla and Mothra were battling. Battra knocked Mothra aside and engaged Godzilla, whom he deemed to be the bigger threat. The two monsters battled down to the sea floor in the Philippine Trench, where a volcanic fault opened up and swallowed them both, leading the JSDF to declare them both dead. But Battra and Godzilla lived on, as Battra appeared from the ocean depths and Godzilla rose from the crater of Mount Fuji. Upon metamorphosing from his larval form into his imago form, Battra flew to Yokohama to exact his revenge on Mothra. The sinister moth seemed to have an upper hand against his less violent counterpart, but soon, in the heat of the battle, Godzilla reappeared, and began to relentlessly attack them both. As Mothra battled with Godzilla, Battra intervened and rescued his counterpart. After a brief conversation between the two moths in which the two determined Godzilla to be the greater threat, Mothra and Battra teamed up to combat Godzilla together in defense of both Earth and humankind. Once Godzilla was defeated by their combined efforts, Battra and Mothra carried him out to sea. However, Godzilla, still conscious, killed Battra by biting into his throat, then attacking him with an atomic ray at point-blank range while he was being transported. Unable to carry both Godzilla and Battra's dead weight, Mothra was forced to let go, sending Battra's lifeless body and Godzilla tumbling into the ocean below. Mothra then flew in a circle and placed a seal over the final resting place of Battra, honoring his sacrifice. It was later discovered that an asteroid was travelling towards Earth. Battra would have traveled into space to destroy the asteroid, but because he was killed by Godzilla, Mothra had to make the journey instead, and departed Earth's atmosphere to begin the vital mission to save the Earth.
Godzilla Island
Battra is one of the many monsters controlled by the Xilien Zagreth, who sends him into battle against Godzilla and the other residents of Godzilla Island.
Video Games
Godzilla: Save Earth
Battra makes an unplayable appearance in Godzilla: Save the Earth as a summonable airstrike, much like how Mothra and Hedorah functioned in Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee. He will appear to assist any monster that collects the purple Atari symbol power up, and attacks the enemy monster with his prism beams. The Super X3 may appear instead of Battra if this power-up is collected. According to Simon Strange, Battra was in strong contention to appear as a playable monster in the game along with Hedorah, but was ultimately relegated to an airstrike. Battra would go on to be playable in the PlayStation 2 version of Godzilla: Unleashed, the third entry in Atari and Pipeworks' trilogy of Godzilla games.
Godzilla: Unleashed
Battra appears exclusively in the PlayStation 2 version of Godzilla: Unleashed, where he is a model-swap of Mothra. He possesses the same attacks as Mothra, with his prism beams substituted for Mothra's silk in larval form and her antenna beams in imago form. Like Mothra larva, Battra larva's energy can only be replenished if he hits a yellow crystal, but he regenerates energy normally in imago form. Battra is a member of the Mutants faction.
Godzilla (Playstation 4)
Battra appears exclusively in the PlayStation 4 version of Godzilla as a playable monster, in both his larva and imago forms.