Rodan

Rodan (ラドン Radon) is a giant Pteranodon kaiju that first appeared in the 1956 Toho film, Rodan, and made his first appearance alongside Godzilla in the 1964 Godzilla film, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.

Two individual Rodans, a male and a female, were featured in the character's debut film. Awakened by nuclear radiation, the Rodans emerged from Mount Aso in Kyushu and wrought havoc across the globe, eventually annihilating the city of Fukuoka. The JSDF tracked the beasts to their nest in Mt. Aso, and triggered an eruption using artillery, seemingly causing the two Rodans to perish together. However, in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, a single Rodan rose from the crater of Mt. Aso and immediately did battle with Godzilla. Mothra convinced Rodan and Godzilla to put aside their differences and help her drive off King Ghidorah, a malevolent space monster. Rodan went on to become a trusted ally of Godzilla in the Showa series, aiding him twice more in battle against King Ghidorah in the films Invasion of Astro-Monster and Destroy All Monsters.

Rodan was reintroduced for the Heisei series in the film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, where he was found on Adonoa Islandguarding over BabyGodzilla's egg. After being defeated by Godzilla, Rodan transformed into a new form dubbed Fire Rodan (ファイヤーラドン Faiyā Radon) and flew to Japan to retrieve BabyGodzilla from G-Force. Rodan was mortally wounded in battle by Mechagodzilla, and gave up his life force to revitalize Godzilla so that he could overcome Mechagodzilla and raise BabyGodzilla in his place.

Rodan's next film appearance came in the final film of the Millennium series, Godzilla: Final Wars, where he was a mind-controlled pawn of the Xiliens in their invasion of Earth. Rodan also exists in the continuity of the GODZILLA anime trilogy, with multiple members of the species featured in the two official prequel novels, GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse and GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla. The skeletal remains of the first Rodan in this continuity, killed by the bioweapon Hedorah, are visible during the opening of GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, along with those of Anguirus. Rodan was teased through a cave painting in Kong: Skull Island, the second film of Legendary Pictures' MonsterVerse, and is scheduled to appear alongside Mothra and King Ghidorah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the sequel to Legendary's Godzilla.

abilities

wind power

fire power

flight

film appearences

rodan (1956)

ghidorah the three headed monster (1964)

invasion of astro monster (1965)

destroy all monsters (1968)

godzilla vs gigan (1972)

godzilla vs megalon (1973)

terror of mechagodzilla (1975)

godzilla vs mechagodzilla 2 (1993)

godzilla final wars (2004)

kong skull island (2017)

godzilla king of the monsters (2019)

comics
 * Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #2-3, 5, 7, 10-12 (2011-2012)
 * Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths #1, 4-5 (2011)
 * Godzilla: Legends #2-3 (2011-2012)
 * Godzilla: Ongoing #1-4, 10-13 (2012-2013)
 * Godzilla: The Half-Century War #3 (2012)
 * Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #1, 5, 9, 13, 19, 20, 21, 25 (2013-2015)
 * Godzilla: Cataclysm #4 (2014)
 * Godzilla in Hell #2 (2015)
 * Godzilla: Oblivion #1, 4 (2016)
 * Godzilla: Rage Across Time #5 (2016)

books
 * Godzilla Saves America: A Monster Showdown in 3-D! (1996)
 * Godzilla on Monster Island (1996)
 * Godzilla vs. Gigan and the Smog Monster (1996)
 * Godzilla 2000 (1997)
 * Godzilla at World's End (1998)
 * Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island (1998)
 * Godzilla Likes to Roar! (1998)
 * Godzilla vs. the Robot Monsters (1998)
 * Godzilla vs. the Space Monster (1998)
 * Who's Afraid of Godzilla? (1998)
 * GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse (2017)
 * GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla (2018)
 * Do Your Best Chibi Godzilla (2018)
 * Close Friends Chibi Godzilla (2019)

games
 * Gojira-kun (1985) - Microsoft MSX
 * Godzilla (1990) - Game Boy
 * Circus Caper (1990) - Nintendo Entertainment System
 * Rodan (1991) [cancelled]
 * Battle Soccer: Champion of the Field (1992) - Nintendo Super Famicom
 * Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters (1992) - Nintendo Entertainment System
 * Battle Baseball (1993) - Nintendo Famicom
 * Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1993) - Nintendo Game Boy
 * Godzilla (1993) - Arcade
 * Godzilla: Battle Legends (1993) - NEC/Hudson Soft TurboDuo / PC Engine Duo
 * Godzilla: Giant Monster March (1995) - Sega Game Gear
 * Godzilla: Archipelago Shock (1995) - Sega Saturn
 * Godzilla: Heart-Pounding Monster Island!! (1995) - Sega Pico
 * Godzilla: Trading Battle (1998) - Sony PlayStation
 * Godzilla Generations (1998) - Sega Dreamcast
 * Collect Godzilla: Giant Monster Assembly (1998) - Sega Dreamcast VMU
 * Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (2002) - Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft Xbox
 * Godzilla: Domination! (2002) - Nintendo Game Boy Advance
 * Godzilla: Save the Earth (2004) - Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox
 * CR Godzilla 3S-T Battle (2006) - Pachinko
 * Godzilla: Unleashed (2007) - Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 2
 * Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash (2007) - Nintendo DS
 * CR Godzilla: Descent of the Destruction God (2010) - Pachinko
 * Godzilla (2014) - PlayStation 3 and 4
 * Godzilla: Kaiju Collection (2015) - Android and iOS
 * Pocoron Dungeons (2016) - Android and iOS
 * CR True King of the Monsters Godzilla (2018) - Pachinko
 * Godzilla Defense Force (2019) - Android and iOS