#genzolar

A space monster that appeared in 1976, Genzolar was controlled by the Dracund aliens from the Titan Galaxy. They intended take control of Japan by using a weather control device but were quickly thwarted by Godzilla II. Realizing that there was no way to conquer with Godzilla around, they conspired to to frame the king of the monsters and turn the Earth against him. To do this, they took control of a creature from their home planet, Genzolar, who could turn invisible at will. Though Godzilla could see the monster, the ray it used to hide itself was impossible for the human eye to see. This made it appear that Godzilla, who was attacking Genzolar, was really attacking Tokyo. G-Force attacked Godzilla, blinding him with a chemical weapon, and he was forced to retreat. With Godzilla gone, the Dracund then launched an attack on Japan with Genzolar, revealing itself to be the real culprit. However, Godzilla soon returned and defeated Genzolar despite his handicap.

Genzolar is a strange beast, its enormous horn doubles as a “mouth” through which it consumes energy. Solar, electric, radiation, the energy it absorbs is used to power its many powerful ray from its horn. Its chief ability is known as Light Bending Curtain or Invisibility Ray. This is a ray that is produced from the tip of its horn and surrounds Genzolar. The ray bends light around the monster by producing colors that can not be seen by the human eye, allowing it to become invisible. Godzilla, however, can see through this illusion. Another ability Genzolar can use is the Vertical Light Spectrum Heat Ray. This ray is fired from the horn vertically (A.N. resembling a taller version of Ultraman’s Spacium Beam) in any direction, so long as there is clearance from its head. Genzolar can also create Illusion Copies of itself to confuse its enemy. This uses a similar ray to the the Invisibility Ray, and as such is visible to Godzilla. The copies can fire Spectrum Heat Rays, but cannot interact or be interacted with. They all also lack a shadow, only the real Genzolar has one.

Genzolar is a kaiju that is heavily inspired by the unmade film Godzilla’s Suicide Strategy: Tokyo SOS. The film featured a kaiju called Chamelegon that was invisible to the naked eye, but not to Godzilla. Chamelegon was supposed to be a robot, something that I did not realize when I initially designed Genzolar, who was originally what I imagined Chamelegon would have looked like, oops. In any case, I wanted Genzolar to look distinctly Showa-esq and weird, which was the style of kaiju at the time. I took a lot of insperation from Ultraman kaiju such as the Terrible Monsters from Ultraman Ace, Zetton from the original Ultraman, and Gymaira from Ultraman 80. The name Genzolar was the result of a Japanese word that means “phantom”, Genzō (幻像) and the suffix “-lar”, like Bemular.