Who was it that once professed that Kaiju were mostly innocent? That it wasn’t their fault that they were too tall, too strong, and too heavy? It was the legendary filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who believed in his heart of hearts that Kaiju were not evil by choice.
Ishirō Honda never met a Terrible-Monster.
Last week, we spoke at length about Yapool, the otherdimensional devil who sought to subjugate and debase humanity, and all other life in the universe. This week, we’ll speak on the vile, monstrous instruments through which he pursues his hellish designs — the Terrible-Monsters.
A Terrible-Monster may occasionally resemble some of the stranger Kaiju that have rampaged on Earth, but under their bizarre, mottled skin, a nightmare lurks. Artificial chimeras of metal and flesh lashed together by Yapool’s unending malice, Terrible-Monsters are not, well, monsters; they’re demons.
A Kaiju is driven by its own urges, and even the most arcane in perspective can be trusted to preserve themselves — but not a Terrible-Monster. They feel no pain, feel no hunger — no soul dwells within them of any kind. They exist only to cause suffering and destruction, and they are very good at it.
Within their bodies, bones of metal under nearly-indestructible hides contain not simply powers, but weapons — not for battle, but for extermination. Almost every Terrible-Monster, for example, holds the ability to breathe fire — or rather, contains an internal flamethrower. Verokron, the Terrible-Monster in the picture above, is constantly generating missiles inside its body, to be expelled from its mouth and all over its body.
These weapons are terrible and effective, but may be seen as a bit small for a foe like Ultraman Ace, Yapool’s nemesis — and it could be argued that they are. Instead, they are made for use on smaller targets — like fleeing humans, their infrastructure, the environment of Earth… All of it is fragile enough to be destroyed, and the Terrible-Monsters ceaselessly pursue the desolation of all before them.
It is only through the ceaseless fortitude of heroes like Ultraman Ace, and the humans they fight alongside throughout the eras, that these beasts are kept at bay. And yet, there is something deeply dreadful about that — After all, the forces of good only need to be found wanting once, and the Terrible-Monsters will surge forth, giving Yapool his final, hollow victory. The war never ends, after all, and the enemy’s soldiers never tire, nor show mercy.
And yet, the Ultras never give up. It is a battle worth fighting, and they will not stop until humanity conquers the Terrible-Monsters — those without, and those within ourselves.
