5 Forgotten Kaijus That Haven’t Been In Movies For Decades

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Giant monsters like Godzilla, King Kong, the Kraken, and Mothra have been popular in movies for many years. However, there are many more creatures in this category – known as kaiju – that haven’t appeared in recent blockbusters like the Monsterverse films, the Clash of the Titans movies, or modern Star Wars projects. Here are five examples of kaiju who haven’t been featured on screen for over 20 years, but could still make a big impact.

We’re only looking at appearances in movies for this. So, if a character appeared in something like the animated series Godzilla Singular Point, we considered them eligible.

5) Manda

Manda, a sea dragon from Toho, has a simple but impactful design. His main ability is using his long, snake-like body to destroy things, like ships or bridges. While he’s not strong enough to be the main villain in a movie, he’d be a fantastic monster to feature in an early battle, perhaps in a Monsterverse film.

Besides brief appearances in All Monsters Attack (also known as Godzilla’s Revenge) and Terror of Mechagodzilla, Manda has only appeared in three films: Atragon, Destroy All Monsters, and Godzilla Final Wars. Despite having limited screen time in each of these movies, Manda always made a strong impression.

4) Varan

Poor Varan is arguably the most overlooked of Toho’s giant monsters. Despite starring in his own film, he never reached the same level of prominence as Rodan or Mothra in the Godzilla series. He only makes a brief, almost unnoticeable appearance flying in the background of Destroy All Monsters, and wasn’t even involved in the final battle against Ghidorah. It’s as if Toho deliberately downplayed his significance. His role in Godzilla Final Wars was equally minor – limited to a quick shot of a child playing with a Varan toy.

It’s unfortunate this character didn’t quite work out, because the design itself is really good. While not as massive or strong as Godzilla, he’s a visually interesting prehistoric creature, and he has a unique ability: he can fly.

3) Baragon

Similar to Varan, Baragon appeared prominently in one film and then wasn’t used much after that. For example, during the final battle in Destroy All Monsters, he didn’t play a significant role in defeating King Ghidorah.

We last saw Baragon with a brief appearance in Godzilla Final Wars (using footage from his first film, Frankenstein Conquers the World), but before that, he had a significant role in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. It’s been a while, and it’s great to see this monster who digs underground return!

2) Guiron

Gamera didn’t make the list because his most recent film came out in 2006, just before our cutoff date. While that movie featured a younger version of Gamera, we still considered it. Luckily, his enemies were eligible, and we chose the strangest one: Guiron.

As a huge monster movie fan, I’ve been thinking about how cool it would be if Gamera showed up in the Monsterverse. And if he did, they have to bring Guiron along too! Seriously, that four-legged creature with a knife for a head is terrifying and would be an amazing challenge for Godzilla and Kong. Just imagining them trying to avoid that spinning blade is awesome. Honestly, a lot of Gamera’s enemies would fit right into that world – Guiron, Gyaos, the whole crew!

1) Anguirus

Anguirus, Godzilla’s original foe, eventually became a close ally – even more so than Mothra or Rodan. Despite this, he hasn’t appeared in the recent Monsterverse films.

Anguirus has a history of disappearing and reappearing in the Godzilla films. He was a regular in the older Shōwa era movies like Godzilla Raids Again and Destroy All Monsters, but didn’t appear for a while until making a comeback in Godzilla Final Wars. While he briefly appeared as a corpse in GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, we’re looking for actual appearances. It’s been 21 years since we’ve last seen him, so it’s time to bring Anguirus into the Monsterverse!

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2025-11-24 22:43