Barugon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barugon (バルゴン) is a fictional monster featured in the second Gamera film, 1966's Gamera vs. Barugon, (better known as "War of the Monsters" stateside.) Barugon is not to be confused with the similarly named Toho Kaiju Baragon. The similarity is probably a coincidence, as katakana only offers a limited number of three syllable combinations.
Barugon is a quadrupedal reptile, with a massive, dinosaur-like head, sharp teeth, a long whiplike tail, a horn on his snout, a long rigid tongue and a row of spikes running down its back. The lizard-like monster has a strange, hissing roar, and was born from an egg which was at first believed to be a huge hunk of opal.
In addition to teeth, claws, tail and horn, Barugon possesses various strange powers which belie his somewhat ordinary appearance. Barugon's main weapon is his tongue, which sprays an icy mist from the tip that freezes targets. It proved to be extremely effective against the fire-breathing Gamera, who displayed a weakness to the cold; this was the weapon that won Barugon's first bout with the Friend of All Children.
In addition to the freezing tongue, Barugon seemed to possess a kind of ESP, which allowed it to predict an incoming attack. It also had a deadly Rainbow attack (upon witnessing Barugon using this ability, the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 gang remarked "It's like a Skittles commercial!") that possessed incredible range, and it used both these powers to decimate the JSDF. However, this rainbow proved ineffective against Gamera, and when the JSDF turned it back upon Barugon with a giant mirror, the monster wisely stopped using it.
In the end, however, Barugon was defeated by Gamera, who was able to exploit his single weakness--fresh water--by dragging the Barugon into a lake, drowning the fiend.
 |
This science fiction-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
