King Ghidorah

King Ghidorah (Titanus Ghidorah, Golden Demise, Monster Zero) is a giant three-headed space dragon that on numerous occasions attacked Earth and Godzilla and the other Earth Defenders. He is the main antagonist of the entire Godzilla film franchise as well as being the archenemy of Godzilla. He makes many appearances and in almost every iteration is stronger than even Godzilla.

Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster
In "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster,' Ghidorah's first appearance, he is a monster controlled by aliens to destroy and conquer Earth. He beats Godzilla one on one, and Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan have to help save the world. Mothra rides Rodan spraying the hydra with silk until he is almost fully blind and rendered useless, and Godzilla attacks his tails and body. They plummet into the ocean and Ghidorah retreats after losing totally.

Invasion of Astro Monster
In this Ghidorah is also put under mind control. He, Godzilla, and Rodan all are forced to attack the planet. there was a machine that was made by the humans to stop the kind control. Ghidorah is referred to as monster zero and is a little bit weaker than he was before, but not by that much. When the creatures are put of the mind control Godzilla quickly looks around and charges Ghidorah before he can even realize what is going on. He and Rodan constantly attack Ghidorah who is faring pretty good but must eventually retreat when he is once again almost dead.

Godzilla vs. Gigan
In this film and alien race once again takes control over a different Ghidorah who is weaker and not as good as the other Ghidorah. He teams up with Gigan under control and does not really put up much of a fight, and retreats with Gigan from Angurius and Godzilla. Ghidorah in this fights Godzilla and almost loses really easily. Proving that this Ghidorah is weak and basically useless.

Zone Fighter
In Zone fighter, Ghidorah is once again a destroyer of worlds and fights the zone fighter on an asteroid. Zone fighter tricks Ghidorah with a shield deflecting his own attack on himself and is almost killed by the Zone Fighter when he tackles and steeps on and breaks the necks of the monster and jumps on him and even shoots him with super guns. The near-dead Ghidorah retreats and is later captured to upgrade his gravity beam.

Destroy All Monsters
In Destroy all monsters Ghidorah is a secret weapon for an alien race. He battles many monsters at once and even though he seems invincible, he is easily overpowered by more than 6 monsters. Gorosaurus kicks him on the floor where all the monsters kill each head one at a time. He is stomped on by Godzilla coughing up blood. One of his head is left breathing until it is strangled by manillas smoke breath. Kumonga and Mothra cover his corpse with silk.

Heisei Era
Three little creatures called dorats come together in a scheme made by people from the future to destroy japan. When they form together they destroy a city and are then ordered to kill Godzilla. Ghidorah seems to be winning while he is steeping on Godzilla, but is dismantled by the protagonist humans and gives Godzilla enough time to grab his tails and consistently lift him up and slam him down to the ground until Ghidorah is weak. Ghidorah in an attempt to strangle Godzilla gets tossed away and has his middle head severed. When he retreats, Godzilla blasts his damaged body in the wing, and he falls into the ocean nearly dead. He is revivalized a few hundred years in the future and goes back in time to stop Godzilla, who is rampaging Japan. Ghidorah is now partly metal and more heavy than before. He and Godzilla have a brawl and when Ghidorah is lifting Godzilla in the air with his new machinery, Godzilla blasts him and they both plummet to the ocean, leading in Ghidorahs total death, and Godzilla alive and well. Letting Godzilla celebrate over his victory, and be in a sequel, and Ghidorah to be in a cameo.

Rebirth of Mothra III
In Rebirth of Mothra, Ghidorah is known as the destroyer of worlds and has some handy new skills. He captures children in a dome to drain their energy, so Mothra Leo goes back in time to stop Grand King Ghidorah from getting powerful. When she meets the much younger Ghidorah, he is weak and not mature, so Mothra has the upper hand, and drops into a volcano, but his tail burrows in the ground to regenerate, and Mothra Leo stays back to heal. In the future, Ghidorah comes back because he regenerated to fight Mothra's greatest form ever, Armored Mothra. She emerges and they have a long battle. Mothra hits Ghidorah in the stomach and drags him away, then drops him giving him a disadvantage. Mothra then flys by Ghidorah shredding part of his wing. Ghidorah attempts to stop her, but she is the stronger Kaiju at the moment. She eventually, when Ghidorah is flying, uses a skill to soar straight through the hydra, and after a few moments, Ghidorah explodes into bits and pieces, leaving Mothra to cry for victory over the dead Ghidorah.

Post-Millennium Era
King Ghidorah in this ear is depicted as weak and unskilled. He is one of three guardians that attempt to battle Godzilla which backfires, to say the least. In the encounter, King Ghidorah and Mothra attack the larger than himself Godzilla, who bites his necks and throws him away like a can to crush and play with. Once Mothra dies, King Ghidorah gets stronger, and is almost successful in the battle, until Godzilla absorbs the energy for himself and blows up King G and ghidorah with his own gravity beams made into atomic breath.

Godzilla Anime Trilogy
In the Netflix movies, which take place 20000 years after Godzilla takes over earth, Ghidorah is overpowered and is another dimensional being harnessed by an extraterrestrial race to destroy planets considering it a "greatest reward" based on their exif religion. Godzilla couldn't touch him until the germatron, an exif machine that can communicate with higher dimensional beings like Ghidorah, got disabled. after that, Godzilla smoked Ghidorah and destroyed him like a god.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters
In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Ghidorah, also known as "The Devil with Three Heads" is found frozen in a wall of ice at Outpost 32 in Antarctica. A group of people are attempting to reawaken this monster with the Orca device, and in doing so he breaks from the ice, where he encounters Godzilla. The two have a short battle, and Ghidorah eventually flies elsewhere.

Monarch tracked Ghidorah aboard the Osprey, only for him to disappear in a tropical storm over Brazil. Their new priority became dealing with Rodan, a winged Titan which Emma had unleashed from Outpost 56 in Isla de Mara, Mexico. As the Argo engaged in an aerial chase with Rodan, Ghidorah was detected moving to the location within the tropical storm. Monarch decided to lure Rodan to Ghidorah so they would fight each other. As the Argo entered the eye of the storm, it dove out of the way as Ghidorah and Rodan collided and began tearing at each other. Ghidorah restrained Rodan's wings with his left and right heads, and fired a gravity beam from his central head that blasted Rodan into the water below. Ghidorah turned his attention to the Argo and pursued it, only to be dragged underwater by Godzilla. Godzilla pulled Ghidorah under the surface and bit down on his left neck, tearing it off. Just as Godzilla seemed about to win, the military's Oxygen Destroyer struck the water and produced a colossal green explosion. While Godzilla was severely injured by the blast, Ghidorah was unharmed and flew out of the water, landing atop the Isla de Mara volcano. Ghidorah regenerated his missing head in a matter of moments and spread his wings, shrieking loudly into the sky. His call awakened other Titans around the world, including Scylla, Methuselah, Behemoth, and the Queen MUTO, all of whom began to rampage. Rodan landed at the foot of the volcano and submitted to Ghidorah, doing his bidding along with the other newly-awakened Titans. Ghidorah made his way to the East Coast of the United States, bringing with him a massive hurricane that settled over Washington, D.C. When Monarch learned that Godzilla was still alive, it sent a nuclear submarine to try and revive him while the Argo battled Ghidorah and Rodan in D.C. along with the military.

Horrified at what her mother had helped to unleash, Emma's daughter Madison stole the ORCA and brought it to Fenway Park, where she broadcast a signal that calmed the other Titans and lured Ghidorah to Boston. Upon landing, Ghidorah destroyed the loudspeakers broadcasting the sound and fired his gravity beams into the pressbox. Madison managed to escape onto the field, but Ghidorah found her and prepared to fire his gravity beams. However, the now-revitalized Godzilla arrived in the city surrounded by a military escort and blasted Ghidorah with his atomic breath. Ghidorah charged at Godzilla and the Titans collided with each other, producing a shockwave that shook the Argo. Monarch deployed two Ospreys to try and save Madison and recover the ORCA as Godzilla and Ghidorah continued to fight. Ghidorah restrained Godzilla with his heads and pinned him to the ground, but Godzilla used his atomic breath to force him off. Mothra flew overhead and used her silk to pin Ghidorah's heads against a building. As Ghidorah tried to free his heads, Godzilla charged and tackled him through the building. As Ghidorah lay on the ground and witnessed Godzilla approaching, he called to Rodan to intercept Mothra. With Rodan and Mothra fighting in the air, Ghidorah and Godzilla continued their battle on the ground. Ghidorah bit down on a nearby power substation and absorbed the electricity, which he projected through the tips of his wings, blinding and stunning Godzilla. Ghidorah pressed his advantage and leaped onto Godzilla, grabbing him in his claws and carrying him into the sky. Ghidorah used his middle neck to strangle Godzilla until he went limp, then dropped Godzilla from above the clouds. Godzilla struck the ground and was left immobilized as Ghidorah landed near him, ready to finish him off. The injured Mothra weakly crawled onto Godzilla and shielded him with her wings, then flew at Ghidorah as he fired his gravity beams, vaporizing her. After Mothra's energy flowed into Godzilla, Ghidorah bit down on his foe and began siphoning his energy through his mouths. Emma, having had a change of heart, repaired the ORCA with Mark and used it to distract Ghidorah and force him to release Godzilla. In order to allow the Osprey to escape, Emma took the ORCA and lured Ghidorah away in a jeep. Ghidorah pursued Emma and destroyed the vehicle with his gravity beams, launching Emma from the car. Mortally wounded on the ground, Emma looked up at Ghidorah and said "Long live the King" as her final words. Ghidorah turned to see Godzilla, covered in glowing orange cracks and emitting intense heat, approaching him. Godzilla emitted a nuclear pulse shaped like Mothra's wings and making the sound of her roar, with Ghidorah trying to shield his heads with his wings. The blast incinerated the flesh on Ghidorah's wings, and he fired his gravity beams at Godzilla, Godzilla was unaffected and unleashed another pulse, disintegrating Ghidorah's left and right heads. Godzilla stomped on Ghidorah's chest as the accumulated nuclear energy inside him exploded, leveling a huge portion of the city. When the smoke cleared, Ghidorah's last remaining head emerged from the rubble, hanging from Godzilla's mouth. Godzilla fired his atomic breath, which incinerated the head and reduced Ghidorah to nothing but ash.

In Isla de Mara, with the sea still devoid of life due to the effects of the Oxygen Destroyer, fishermen had managed to dredge up Ghidorah's severed head which had been torn off by Godzilla. Jonah and his men traveled to a warehouse in Isla de Mara where the head was being kept. After observing the head with sinister intent, Jonah simply remarked "we'll take it."

In Godzilla vs Kong the skull of King Ghidorah was used to build Mechagodzilla but later King Ghidorah took over Mecha Godzilla and Fought Godzilla and Kong but lost.

Physical description
King Ghidorah has gone through many changes in design since his original debut in 1964. His first appearance was as a large three-headed dragon covered in golden scales. He had no arms, but rather large, spoked wings unlike those of most dragons. He had two long tails that ended in spiked paddles, and his feet were flat and supportive. His heads were much like a horned, Chinese dragon, and even had a mane. Showa Ghidorah was 100 meters tall and had a wingspan of 150.

In 1991, in his Heisei appearance, His wings ended in sharper points was more of a true gold coloration and had snake-like eyes and necks. This incarnation was less bulky than previous and was seen to be smarter, too. Other designs, later on, were very similar to this, and the Desghidorah (prehistoric Ghidorah) design was dark red, and more dragon-esque. This new form had a height of 150 meters and a wingspan of 175.

In 2019, after a very long time since his last Toho appearance, his design has become more realistic and intimidating for the Monsterverse. His heads do not have a mane, but a crown of horns. His eyes are lava red and glow brilliant yellow when using his gravity beams, and they hold sentience. This new incarnation of Monster Zero has a bulky chest and digitigrade legs, and a ridge of small spines along his back and necks. His middle neck has two rows of spines. The two tails end in the flat spiked club, but now have the ability to rattle, much like a rattlesnake. His wings are very similar to a bat's and are extremely large in comparison to the rest of his body, giving him a massive wingspan. The scales covering his body had trace amounts of gold, and as a result he had electromagnetic abilities such as gravity beams (concentrated electricity beams), the ability to drain energy from other titans, and projecting lighting from his fingers. His height is 521 feet, and his wingspan is around 1500 feet wide.

Kingdom of Monsters/Rulers of Earth
King Ghidorah was featured in IDW's Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters, where he is portrayed as an ancient monster. In issue #8, he was revived after a young Asian monk performed a suicide ritual in order to revive the monster. Upon awakening, King Ghidorah flew to combat Godzilla in Washington, D.C. In the ensuing battle, King Ghidorah was beaten when knocked down by Godzilla. In a later issue, he briefly participated in a battle between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla. In the following three-way battle, Steven Woods fired Mechagodzilla's special weapon at both King Ghidorah and Godzilla, knocking out both monsters in the process. King Ghidorah did not appear again in the series and is presumed to be dead.

King Ghidorah returns as Mecha-King Ghidorah in issue #15 of Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. In issue #16, the Cryog leader Rhizon recalls discovering the badly wounded body of King Ghidorah following his earlier battle with Godzilla and Mechagodzilla. Rhizon ordered Gigan to slice off Ghidorah's middle head so that he could replace it with a mechanical head that gave him control over the entire monster.

In issue #24, it was revealed by Rhizon in a flashback that the Cryogs' homeworld was destroyed by King Ghidorah, and that the race's emperor, Karkaro, fled the planet when King Ghidorah arrived, prompting Rhizon to seize control of the planet.

Gangsters and Goliaths
King Ghidorah later appeared in three issues of the mini-series Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths. Here, it is shown that King Ghidorah is a resident of Monster Island along with Godzilla, Mothra, Anguirus, and Battra.

The Half-Century War
King Ghidorah appears in Godzilla: The Half-Century War, where he and Gigan were lured to Earth via a transmitter made by rogue Anti-Megalosaurus Force scientist Dr. Deverich. The device had already summoned SpaceGodzilla to Earth by accident, and soon enough, King Ghidorah and Gigan picked up the signal and headed to Earth. Upon making landfall in 2001, the duo proceeded to destroy half the world in a year. By 2002, the Anti-Megalosaurus Force had developed a weapon called the Dimension Tide, a device that could open miniature black holes. The AMF planned to use it on the alien duo and Godzilla himself. The two aliens were lured to Antarctica, soon were involved in a four-way battle between themselves, Kiryu, and Godzilla. At the fight's climax, the Dimension Tide fired and opened a miniature black hole. King Ghidorah and Gigan were soon sucked into the hole, with a heavily-damaged Kiryu following in suit shortly afterwards.

Cataclysm
King Ghidorah appears in Godzilla: Cataclysm Issue 1 locked in battle with Godzilla along with Mothra, Manda, and Anguirus. King Ghidorah bites Godzilla and shocks him through his bite, but Godzilla lifts Ghidorah by his head and slams him to the ground. Godzilla then blasts Ghidorah at point-blank range with his atomic breath and defeats him. It is unknown if King Ghidorah survived the encounter or not. Arata's grandfather later recalls that some members of his village pray to King Ghidorah as a deity that brings rain.

Godzilla In Hell
King Ghidorah appears in the second issue of the series Godzilla in Hell. He appears after Godzilla defeats the Demon Varan and sends him into a whirlpool with his gravity beams. King Ghidorah returns in the fourth issue, where he and Destoroyah are seen, defeated by Godzilla, in the ruins of a city. Suddenly, both kaiju heal and get back up, then relentlessly attack Godzilla together in a recreation of Tokyo in Hell, surrounded by a wall of flesh. Any time any of the three monsters were killed or mortally wounded, they instantly recovered and continued their assault. Godzilla eventually tricked King Ghidorah and Destoroyah into aiding him in escape by ducking when they both fired their beams and combining his beam with them, creating a blast powerful enough to destroy the wall. As Godzilla marched onward, King Ghidorah, Destoroyah, and everything else on the battlefield besides Godzilla disappeared into nothingness.

Oblivion
In Godzilla: Oblivion, King Ghidorah attacked and chased the humans visiting the alternate dimension in which he lived. Due to power problems, he was able to follow them through the inter-dimensional portal and began rampaging in their dimension. After emerging through the portal, King Ghidorah attacked the eastern United States for two weeks, completely destroying the cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. and resisting all attempts by the U.S. military, NATO, and the United Nations to stop him.

Godzilla was eventually brought through to the original dimension to fight King Ghidorah. The monsters battled in Washington D.C., after which King Ghidorah grabbed Godzilla and carried him over the ocean. The military detonated a nuclear bomb in the vicinity of both monsters, which appeared to kill King Ghidorah but left Godzilla unharmed.

King Ghidorah's carcass laid still at the bottom of the ocean, missing its middle head and with shredded wings and a gaping wound in its chest. A group of humans reached the monster's location and raised him up to the surface using a giant balloon. They then brought King Ghidorah's corpse to a facility and mechanically modified it as Mecha-King Ghidorah in order to fight Godzilla and draw him back into his own dimension.

Godzilla, King of the Monsters (Kodansya Manga Series)
In this manga produced by Kodansha Comics, King Ghidorah is first seen in the final panel of Volume 1 approaching Earth with Neo Gigan. He was either resurrected or acquired by Doctor Oniyama and utilized as one of the many kaiju in his collection, being named as King Ghidorah III, indicating that both the Showa and Heisei King Ghidorahs are present in the manga's continuity. King Ghidorah III was the first opponent to fight Godzilla in Volume 2, and severely injured Godzilla using his abilities. In the final moments of the battle, King Ghidorah III shot a gravity beam through Godzilla's neck, seriously wounding him. In response, Godzilla unleashed a stronger version of his Atomic Breath dubbed the 'Nuclear Typhoon', which blasted off King Ghidorah III's left and right necks, but leaving the middle intact. Forced to retreat, King Ghidorah III flew away as Godzilla passed out from blood loss as a result of the shot to his neck.

King Ghidorah III's DNA was also one of the components for Oniyama's finest creation, King Godzilla - two of his heads and necks, as well as his legs were used in King Godzilla's body.

The Godzilla Comic Raids Again
King Ghidorah appeared in the The Godzilla Comic Raids Again manga, being used by the Xiliens to take over Earth. Before reaching Earth, King Ghidorah encounters Biollante, who later becomes a King Ghidorah clone.

Abilities
King Ghidorah has had a number of changes made to himself over the years, but most of his traditional battle characteristics have remained the same.

Breath Weapons
Different incarnations have different types of attacks, some of which aren't used quite the same in battle. King Ghidorah, in most incarnations, is able to fire off powerful beams of what looks like electrical bolts of energy from each mouth, referred to as "gravity beams."
 * The gravity beams live up to their name in Zone Fighter and Godzilla: Final Wars, where they were able to lift opponents and objects off the ground and throw them around or bring them closer.
 * The beams were simply bolts of concussive thermal energy in GMK, where King Ghidorah fired bolts of electricity.
 * In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, after being converted into a cyborg, Mecha-King Ghidorah was able to fire a spiraling energy blast from his robotic head.
 * In Rebirth of Mothra III, Cretaceous King Ghidorah had fire breath instead of the regular energy bolts but this is likely because he was in his younger undeveloped form.

Wing Lightning

 * In Rebirth of Mothra III, King Ghidorah was able to project six bolts of lightning from each of his wings.
 * In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, King Ghidorah was able to do this after draining energy from a substation.

Golden Armor
Ghidorah has armored scales that provide him with some degree of protection. However, it does not guarantee total invulnerability.
 * The Showa era King Ghidorah's scales made him almost immune to energy attacks, but seemed to do little else. In Invasion of the Astro-Monster, Ghidorah withstood several blasts of Godzilla's atomic ray with no ill effects. In Destroy All Monsters, Anguirus used his tusks and fangs to lacerate one of the monster's necks.
 * In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Godzilla was able to use his atomic ray to sever one of Ghidorah's necks and burn a hole through his left wing. Ghidorah's scales would later be augmented by cybernetic armor when he was reconstituted as Mecha-King Ghidorah.
 * Desghidorah's black scales appeared to be a tough armor that could shrug off all but the strongest attacks, not just energy attacks but physical attacks as well.
 * In Rebirth of Mothra III, King Ghidorah had scales that were reflective and repelled even the strongest of Mothra Leo's attacks. However, when Leo reached his final armored form he was able to cut off one of Ghidorah's wings and finally completely destroy him with an energy tackle through the monster.
 * In Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Godzilla drew blood as he bit down on one of King Ghidorah's necks. At the end of the movie, Ghidorah is incinerated by a point-blank blast of Godzilla's supercharged atomic ray.

Hurricane winds
King Ghidorah is able to create hurricane-strength winds by standing and flapping his wings, or by gliding over an area at a low altitude. Ghidorah can reach interplanetary velocities, although his atmospheric speed was said to be approximately Mach 4 in Godzilla vs. Gigan (this may represent a comfortable maneuvering speed for the monster).
 * This ability is further demonstrated in the TV series Zone Fighter, with King Ghidorah using his wings to create hurricane winds during his battle with Zone Fighter on Earth, which he used to great effect and led to Zone Fighter challenging him on the planet Jupiter to prevent Ghidorah using this power.
 * In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Ghidorah is able to naturally generate a storm around him that resembles a hurricane.

Life force absorption
With the exception of GMK, King Ghidorah's various incarnations after 1995 each possessed the ability to drain an enemy's life force to be harnessed for the monster's own use; although the method varies depending on the particular version.
 * In Rebirth of Mothra III, King Ghidorah could create a pulsating dome that absorbed the life force of whatever was encased within. After depleting a planet of its life force, these energies would be materialized around Ghidorah as a cocoon with which it would use to propel itself through space towards a new planet.
 * Keizer Ghidorah was able to drain life force directly through its bite attack.
 * In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, King Ghidorah briefly used this ability after Mothra's sacrifice as it bit into a weakened Godzilla and began to drain his energy before been lured away by the ORCA.

Assorted other abilities

 * The Showa-era King Ghidorah had the ability to generate magnetic fields, a power Godzilla imitated in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla in 1974. While the fields' purpose was never stated, it was said that they were somehow connected to his powers. It is possible that he used them as a form of levitation.
 * In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, King Ghidorah could use his powerful necks to strangle Godzilla. After being reconstituted as a cyborg, Mecha-King Ghidorah lost that ability but was equipped with several electrified manacles and the G-grasper, a mechanical harness mounted on its chest plate.
 * In Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, King Ghidorah's immature form possessed an electrified bite. Its fully energized form was capable of generating a force field that absorbed the energy of an opponent's attack, combined it with that of King Ghidorah, and then discharged it back towards its enemy.
 * In Rebirth of Mothra III, King Ghidorah appeared to have a range of psychic abilities allowing it to teleport small objects and control minds, and telekinetic capabilities strong enough for Ghidorah to levitate himself.
 * In the Manga series Godzilla, King of the Monsters, King Ghidorah (this version known as King Ghidorah III) had the ability to turn invisible. He was killed during his fight with Godzilla, who used his nuclear pulse to blow off two of his heads - which were later used to help create King Godzilla.
 * In the Showa and Heisei eras King Ghidorah showed extreme hatred towards Godzilla and vice versa. This could suggest the intellect to understand rivalry. Monsters in the Showa era were known to have near-human to human level intellect and, in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, the Kaiju are known to be able to communicate with one another, which may explain this behavior in the Showa era films.
 * In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, King Ghidorah was shown as been able to regrow one of its severed heads after it was torn off in its fight with Godzilla.
 * In the netflix anime, king ghidora was impossible to touch but could touch everything else because he was from another dimension. That power was disabled after the germatron calculation machine was disabled, cutting ties with the dimension.

Initial ideas on his past
Initially, King Ghidorah was said to have come from outer space, an ancient evil responsible for destroying many planets, including Venus (or Mars in the US version of Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster). Though his origins in the Godzilla series are left enigmatic, a later appearance in episode five of Zone Fighter he was claimed as a creation of the warlike Garoga aliens. Arriving on Earth in a magnetic meteorite, Ghidorah devastated much of the Japanese countryside before being repelled by the monstrous team of Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan. In the follow-up movie, Invasion of the Astro-Monster, it was revealed to be a mind-controlled pawn of beings from Planet X, a newly discovered planet in Jupiter's umbra, who called it "Monster Zero". These "Xilians" coveted Earth's water resources and took control of Godzilla and Rodan in an attempt to conquer Earth. Earth intervened by freeing the monsters, and after a fight with Godzilla and Rodan, King Ghidorah flew back into space.

King Ghidorah made two more appearances in the Shōwa Series, both times as an agent of alien invaders. In Destroy All Monsters, controlled by the Kilaaks, it fought and was killed by the combined might of ten of Earth's daikaiju. There is some confusion around this event because inGodzilla vs. Gigan, King Ghidorah returns. However, Destroy All Monsters was set in the year 1999, while Godzilla vs. Gigan is set in the 1970s. So, chronologically, Destroy All Monsters takes place after Godzilla vs. Gigan, and is the last film of the Showa series, instead of Terror of Mechagodzilla.

Ghidorah also appeared in two episodes of the tokusatsu superhero TV series, Zone Fighter. He appeared in two back-to-back episodes, and was one of the few monsters to survive defeat at the hands of Zone Fighter.