| 1 | '''[[center:[-[[Characters/MonsterVerse Main Character Index]]-]]]''' |
| 2 | '''[[center:[-[[Characters/MonsterVerseKaiju Kaiju]]-]]]''' |
| 3 | '''[[center:[-[[Characters/MonsterVerseGodzilla Godzilla]] | [[Characters/MonsterVerseKingGhidorah King Ghidorah]] | [[Characters/MonsterVerseKingKong King Kong]] | [[Characters/MonsterVerseMechagodzilla Mechagodzilla]] | [[Characters/MonsterVerseMothra Mothra]] | MUTO | [[Characters/MonsterVerseRodan Rodan]] | [[Characters/MonsterVerseSkullIslandKaijuAndOtherCreatures Skull Island Kaiju & Other Creatures]]-]]]''' |
| 4 | \ |
| 5 | '''[[center:[-[[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans Humans]]-]]]''' |
| 6 | ''' [[center:[-[[Characters/MonsterVerseFamilies Families]] ([[Characters/MonsterVerseRussellFamily Russell Family]]) | [[Characters/MonsterVerseMonarch Monarch]] ([[Characters/MonsterVerseIshiroSerizawa Dr. Ishirō Serizawa]]) | [[Characters/MonsterVerseUSGovernmentAndMilitary U.S. Government & Military]] | [[Characters/MonsterVerseSkullIslandExpedition Skull Island Expeditions]] | [[Characters/MonsterVerseEcoTerrorists Eco-Terrorists]] | [[Characters/MonsterVerseApexCybernetics Apex Cybernetics]]-]]]''' |
| 7 | |
| 8 | ---- |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ![=MUTO=] (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ---- |
| 13 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 14 | |
| 15 | [[folder:General and MUTO 1 and 2/Hokmuto and Femuto]] |
| 16 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/male_and_female_mutos_9.jpg]] |
| 17 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"[=MUTO=]: Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism. It is, however, no longer terrestrial; it is airborne."'']] |
| 18 | !!!'''Portrayed By:''' N/A |
| 19 | !!!'''Appear In:''' ''Film/{{Godzilla|2014}}'' | ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' (tie-in comic) | ''Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted'' (cameo) |
| 20 | !!!'''Species:''' Prehistoric parasitoid arthropod-like vertebrate | "Titanus Jinshin-Mushi" |
| 21 | |
| 22 | The remnants of a millions-of-years-old parasitic superspecies which once fed on Godzilla's kind before both species disappeared from the surface world. In the present day, two of their spores remained dormant in the fossilized bones of the ''Titanus Gojira'' specimen known as Adam/Dagon/Raijin before being accidentally disturbed in 1999. They subsequently matured into a terrestrial female and a smaller, winged male in 2014. They feed off of nuclear radiation and their sole goals beyond feeding are to unite, reproduce, and repopulate their species. |
| 23 | ---- |
| 24 | * ActionDad: {{Downplayed}} and possibly {{subverted}} by Hokmuto. Whilst he fights Godzilla to his dying breath in defence of his nest, he's less attentive than Femuto when their nest is destroyed, only flying off when his distressed mate charges in a panic towards the ruined nest, implying that his parental instinct isn't as strong as Femuto's and he's defending his mate more than his offspring. |
| 25 | * ActionMom: Femuto is prepared to fight anything to protect her unborn offspring, even Godzilla himself. [[spoiler:She also goes [[MamaBear completely berserk]] on the HALO team after realizing they caused the destruction of all her unborn young]]. |
| 26 | * AdaptationalJerkass: Highly downplayed with the male [=MUTO=], but in the film's {{novelization}}, he doesn't follow the female ''at all'' when they notice [[spoiler:their nest blowing up]]. |
| 27 | * AlasPoorVillain: It's hard not to feel a bit sorry for Femuto when she dies. She (and her mate) just wanted to have children, but she helplessly watches [[spoiler:their unborn children perish in a fire]], and she brutally dies when she's in the midst of an anguish-fuelled UnstoppableRage against the humans (whom the [=MUTOs=] were originally just apathetic toward) for taking everything from her. Her anguished vocalizations upon [[spoiler:seeing her nest's destruction]] convey the message perfectly. |
| 28 | * AlienBlood: They bleed thick, dark-looking blood, described in the novelization as being like sticky ichor. |
| 29 | * AllThereInTheScript: The script allegedly refers to the male as "Hokmuto" and the female as "Femuto." Hokmuto gets his name from Janjira being located in Hokkaido in an earlier draft, and Femuto gets hers from [[SamusIsAGirl being a lady monster]]. |
| 30 | * AlternateAnimalAffection: When they meet up for the first time, the MUTO pair nuzzle each other and touch noses, making beeping noises as their eyes flash towards each other. In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', Sam Coleman's Titan reproduction video "with the genitals blurred out" implies this act was actually the [=MUTOs=] engaging in coitus. |
| 31 | * AncientEvil: Emma Russell believes (albeit with gross ArtisticLicensePaleontology) that their species' population booms have caused at least two of Earth's past mass extinctions (an average mass extinction, for the record, is the extinction of roughly ''75% of all species on Earth'' at the time) -- at the very least, the [=MUTOs=] were implicitly the cause of a global dark age circa the 11th century BCE, before the entire species disappeared from the Earth's surface. Hokmuto and Femuto's eggs have been lying dormant in a subterranean Titan grave for 13,000 years, before a mining accident catalyzes Hokmuto's egg and sets off a series of events which puts the whole world at risk of another MUTO resurgence. |
| 32 | * AnimalJingoism: They're physiologically very evocative of insects, and the reptilian-looking Godzilla who hunts them down and seeks to destroy them is considered by Monarch to be the [=MUTOs'=] predator, in reference to the predator-prey relationship between most reptiles and insects in real-life. On the other hand, unlike real-life insects, the [=MUTOs=] paradoxically ''also'' prey on Godzilla's species by using them as incubators for their offspring, giving a reason for why the [=MUTOs=] stand a serious chance at killing Godzilla when they happily fight back against him. As of ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', this relationship has been {{downplayed|Trope}} [[spoiler:-- whilst Godzilla also kills the MUTO Prime in self-defence and defence of his global territory's balance the same way he killed the first two [=MUTOs=], he has no problem with letting Barb/the MUTO Queen live as part of his global territory after she submits to him, possibly because she has no way of reproducing (with the [=MUTOs'=] reproduction being the ''main'' reason they're a threat to Godzilla)]]. |
| 33 | * AntiVillain: Not exactly apparent until near the end of the film. Their goal is merely to unite with one-another and have offspring while following their natural instincts. Even with the amount of destruction they cause, they mostly only do so because they're so large, acting like actual animals throughout the movie. |
| 34 | * AnArmAndALeg: When [[spoiler:Godzilla uses his tail to kill Hokmuto]], Hokmuto's right front leg falls away, possibly due to the smaller spikes [[spoiler:on Godzilla's tail.]] |
| 35 | * ArtifactTitle: The MUTO anagram used to be a catch-all term for {{kaiju}} in general, as explicitly shown in the 2014 movie's prequel graphic novel ''Godzilla: Awakening'' (which is no longer canon to the Franchise/MonsterVerse after the release of ''Series/MonarchLegacyOfMonsters''). As of ''[[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters]]'', the giant monsters are referred to as "Titans", and "MUTO" is now a designation for denoting this particular species. |
| 36 | * AttackItsWeakPoint: The female [=MUTO=] is too heavily armored to kill through brute force. [[spoiler:Godzilla gets around this by forcing her jaws open and firing a torrent of atomic breath down her throat, disintegrating her from the inside out.]] |
| 37 | * AttackTheMouth: How Godzilla [[spoiler:gets past the female's heavy armor and kills her]]. |
| 38 | * BattleCouple: Hokmuto and Femuto are a mated pair, and they manage to put up a real fight against Godzilla when they work together. One-on-one, they are severely outmatched, although Hokmuto has the advantage of being able to fly. According to the creator's commentary, this was an integral part of their design process when making them. |
| 39 | * BeenThereShapedHistory: ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' states that the species may have caused [[PhlebotinumKilledTheDinosaurs one or two of the planet's past mass extinctions]] while acting out their natural life cycle. Emma notes that Jinshin-Mushi's recorded appearance in the 11th century BC coincided with "a global Dark Age that spanned all the way from Cambodia to Egypt": the range and dating of this Dark Age line up with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Bronze_Age_collapse Late Bronze Age collapse]], although Emma also [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology misquotes it as a "mass extinction"]][[note]]The last mass extinction event occurred at the end of the Cretaceous when more than half of all life at the time perished, and the last minor global extinction event was a decline in large mammal species that occurred 7000 years prior to the 11th century BCE[[/note]]. |
| 40 | * BehindTheBlack: A couple of particularly egregious instances occur with them. First when the male is eating a submarine in the Hawaiian jungle, and the squad on the ground don't seem to notice the male until ''several moments'' after they arrive. Then when the ''300-foot female'' tears its way out of Yucca Mountain's southeast side and marches across the relatively flat desert land towards Las Vegas, the military don't notice a thing when they're advancing on the mountain, only noticing the gaping hole Femuto left and the MUTO itself on the Las Vegas Valley once they navigate to the aforementioned hole on the facility's inside. |
| 41 | * BerserkButton: Godzilla's presence drives both [=MUTOs=] to get up and move to fight him off, due to him being a natural enemy of their kind who seeks to kill them both. |
| 42 | * BigBadDuumvirate: They are more or less this as a BattleCouple, though the female is arguably the bigger threat (and literally the bigger monster), as she is the most fiercely protective of their young which will threaten the whole world if they hatch. |
| 43 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: These giants measuring hundreds of feet in height have an insectoid-looking anatomy, and Femuto laying hundreds of eggs arranged in symmetrical patterns within their nest likewise brings insectoid reproduction to mind. Heck, the conflict between the [=MUTOs=] and the military is even framed somewhat like a BugWar. However, the visual effects supervisor [[InformedSpecies purports that they're actually (somehow) mammals]]. |
| 44 | * BigGuyLittleGuy: The male and female have this dynamic with the male being small and airborne and the female being large and landbound. On their own, the male can avoid and harass Godzilla but not actually injure him while the female is strong enough to hurt Godzilla but isn't quite strong enough to beat him one-on-one before he overpowers her, so they tag team him. |
| 45 | * BioluminescenceIsCool: They are black with glowing red markings, which pulse rhythmically with light when they're mating or when Femuto is disrupting Sergeant Morales' radio. Hokmuto's cocoon and the eggs in their nest likewise flash with bioluminescent light. |
| 46 | * BizarreAlienBiology: The [=MUTOs=] are stated to be mammalian, though they are [[BigCreepyCrawlies insectoid]] in morphology and many of their features resemble those of reptiles and dinosaurs, making their overall look a strange mixture of vertebrate, arthropod, and even biomechanical traits. The most bizarre part has to be them being ''terrestrial'' organisms, as they resemble no other creature on Earth (even [[spoiler:Ghidorah, ''an actual alien'']], looks closer to a terrestrial vertebrate than them). |
| 47 | * BizarreAlienLimbs: They each have a total of eight limbs. Hokmuto has one pair of front legs, one pair of wings, a pair of smaller arms in his abdominal region, and a pair of digitigrade hind legs. Femuto has a similar arrangement, though instead of wings she has a second pair of forelegs. |
| 48 | * BizarreSexualDimorphism: Hokmuto has wings, smaller manipulator arms, and is relatively small in size compared to Godzilla. Femuto has an extra pair of forelegs in place of wings, large manipulator arms, and is nearly Godzilla's size. Otherwise, the two are pretty much identical in appearance. This exists in some real-life animals, like spiders. |
| 49 | * BrotherSisterIncest: The mated MUTO pair's "spores" both came from the same skeleton, implying they were planted by the same parent. ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' confirms this, their eggs having been implanted by [=MUTO=] Prime in Adam / Dagon's corpse. |
| 50 | * BugWar: Downplayed. The [=MUTOs=] are not actively malicious and are merely following their natural instincts, but they present a massive threat to humanity due to their sheer size and civilization-crippling {{EMP}} capabilities (making up for low numbers at only two adults with how massive and powerful they are), their desire to reproduce, and their complete callousness to the harm they can cause to humanity and the ecosphere. For most of the movie, the military are completely out of their depth in their efforts to combat the [=MUTOs=], and it's ultimately up to Godzilla to save humanity from the MUTO threat; [[spoiler:although Ford manages to get a major hit in by destroying the creatures' nest, which in turn distracts the adults and turns the tide of their battle against Godzilla in the latter's favor]]. |
| 51 | * CanonForeigner: Although Creator/{{Toho}}'s ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise features plenty of giant mutant insectoid monsters, the makers of this film decided to introduce the [=MUTOs=] as an original set of this sort of creature for Godzilla to fight, for the sake of narrative freedom. |
| 52 | * CombatPragmatist: They're not averse to double-teaming Godzilla, which gives them a significant advantage in the FinalBattle. |
| 53 | * ConceiveAndKill: {{Discussed}} in ''Godzilla: Aftershock''. Emma Russell mentions that she suspected the MUTO pair's courtship would've ended in Femuto killing Hokmuto not unlike how praying mantis courtships end, although she notes this theory seems unlikely based on analysis of Femuto's reproductive organs. However, even in Emma's alternative postulation, she suspects a repopulated MUTO family would've eventually turned on each-other until only the very strongest was left alive, implying the mated pairing would've probably eventually ended in this anyway. |
| 54 | * ContinuityNod: In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', the female's head is being held at Castle Bravo, Monarch's Godzilla monitoring station. |
| 55 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: The male [=MUTO=] [[spoiler:gets impaled on a broken building by Godzilla's TailSlap]]. The larger female dies when Godzilla [[spoiler:forces her mouth open and fires his atomic breath down her throat, melting her neck from the inside-out until she's completely beheaded]]. |
| 56 | * DarkActionGirl: The female [=MUTO=] is a fierce, villainous MamaBear, who goes from indifferent towards humans to apeshit-violent when [[spoiler:her eggs are destroyed by the HALO team]], and she puts up a good fight against Godzilla ''before'' that. |
| 57 | * DarkIsEvil: They're a very dark gray color to the point that they're practically well-camouflaged at night. And unlike [[DarkIsNotEvil Godzilla]], they're an actual threat to the world at large and are notably more callous than Godzilla to the infrastructural damage they cause. |
| 58 | * DeadGuyOnDisplay: The ForScience type, close to HumanHeadOnTheWall if not for the fact that [=MUTOs=], well, aren't human. In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', Femuto's decapitated and preserved head is mounted on one of [[UnderwaterBase Castle Bravo]]'s upper levels, with the novelization confirming that Monarch are dissecting and studying the [=MUTOs'=] remains. |
| 59 | * DeathFromAbove: The male [=MUTO=] employs a hit and run strategy using his wings, and he dive-bombs [[spoiler:the boat carrying the nuclear bomb the military intended to use to kill him, the female, and Godzilla.]] |
| 60 | * {{Determinator}}: After realizing [[spoiler:Ford destroyed her eggs]], an angry mama MUTO doesn't stop trying to kill every last one of the HALO team so long as there's even one still alive. She doesn't even seem to notice the death of her mate whilst she's focusing on killing the humans in rage. |
| 61 | * DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: Their deaths in the 2014 film's novelization are somewhat different from in the film. Godzilla cripples Hokmuto by ripping off part of his wing with his jaws, then he crushes the disoriented male to death by using his full body rather than just his tail to ram him into a building. When killing Femuto, Godzilla first disorients her by blasting her point-blank with his Atomic Breath, then decapitates her with but a swipe of his claws (you can probably see why the film portrays Femuto's death differently, since the novel version makes you have to wonder why Godzilla didn't do that sooner if a claw swipe was all it took to finish Femuto off). |
| 62 | * TheDreaded: Their reveal to the modern world sends humanity into a mass panic. |
| 63 | * DugTooDeep: They were awakened after thousands of years when a mining operation unwittingly dug into the cavern where their eggs were lying dormant. Boyd's remark indicates it was contact with the outside world's air after so long that catalyzed the male MUTO egg's awakening. |
| 64 | * EatTheBomb: They feed on radiation and radioactive materials, so to them, a nuke is more of a tasty snack than a legitimate threat. |
| 65 | * ElementalPunch: The male [=MUTO=] usually activates his EMP ability by lighting up his segmented forearm's bioluminescence and then slamming it to the ground, unlike the female who is constantly surrounded by an EMP "[[SphereOfDestruction sphere of influence]]". |
| 66 | * {{EMP}}: They can emit natural electromagnetic pulses. Indeed, the lights suddenly going out in the area serves as a sign they're nearby. It also makes it difficult to use many modern weapons against them, exemplified when Hokmuto's EMP twice causes fighter jets that were sent specifically to watch out for the [=MUTOs=] to suddenly shut down mid-flight and helplessly crash.[[note]]Real fighter jets are hardened to resist EMP for exactly this reason; but even if all the electronics on a fighter ''did'' get fried, it wouldn't suddenly go into an unrecoverable flat spin as shown in the movie, because the engines would still be running for a while. It would probably be rendered useless as a weapons platform, though.[[/note]] Femuto is constantly producing an EMP sphere of influence around herself, whilst Hokmuto gives off EMP blasts, and he furthermore [[ItCanThink seems to have learned how to weaponize the blast against humans' aircraft]] by the time he uses it on Oahu. In the novelization, the actual purpose of the EMP is to disrupt Godzilla's ability, which here uses a bio-electric spark to ignite[[note]]''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' seemingly retcons the latter detail, portraying Godzilla's nuclear powers as being derived from the HollowEarth[='s=] GreenRocks, but this doesn't completely remove the possibility that the EMP canonically could still be used to weaken Godzilla's use of the energy[[/note]]; which makes sense given that the two species are natural enemies. |
| 67 | * EnergyAbsorption: Of the nuclear kind, with the [=MUTOs=] seeing nukes as more of a pastry than a weapon of mass destruction. Serizawa notes that Hokmuto is looking for nuclear fuel sources specifically as food to grow. [[spoiler:This becomes a problem later when the [=MUTOs=] snag a live and ticking nuke under everyone's noses to feed their young.]] |
| 68 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Hokmuto and Femuto are quite affectionate when they meet up, and they seem genuinely protective of each-other during their battle against Godzilla. [[spoiler:Then there's [[MamaBear Femuto]]'s [[UnstoppableRage reaction]] to the deaths of all their unborn young]]. |
| 69 | * EvilTakesANap: They were dormant spores attached to Adam's buried fossil for thousands of years, until a mining company unwittingly disturbed the cavern and catalyzed Hokmuto's hatching. Years later, the grown Hokmuto's bio-acoustics catalyzed Femuto's egg. |
| 70 | * EvilVirtues: Determination, Loyalty (They will cross oceans and fight Godzilla for each other and their offspring), Teamwork (When working together, they put up a credible fight against Godzilla himself), Love (They’re genuinely affectionate towards each other and Femuto [[spoiler: grieves for her unborn offspring when her eggs are destroyed]]). |
| 71 | * ExtremeOmnivore: Crossed with MetalMuncher, as they consume radioactive material including nuclear warheads (casing and all) during the movie. |
| 72 | * EyeLightsOut: When the male [=MUTO=] dies, we get a close-up of his eyes as the light in them fades entirely, emphasizing that he's dead. |
| 73 | * FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Besides MUTO Prime's method of reproducing the species (see her folder for details), the artbook ''Godzilla: The Art of Destruction'' indicates the [=MUTOs=] generally can reproduce by killing a ''Titanus Gojira'' and laying their eggs inside the fresh carcass. |
| 74 | * FeedItABomb: The military's plan for killing the [=MUTOs=] is a variation on this: they know the [=MUTOs=] will be attracted to a nuke while seeking to feed on it (note that both [=MUTOs=] demonstrated during the movie that they'll eat nuclear warheads whole), but they're hoping the pure concussive force of the explosion will be enough to kill them, rendering their ability to eat radiation irrelevant. |
| 75 | * FragileFlyer: The male [=MUTO=], thanks to flight and his relatively small size, can employ HitAndRunTactics with Godzilla but goes down instantly when Godzilla manages to get a direct hit in. This complements the [=MUTOs=]' separate fighting styles, allowing the two to work together well enough to gain the advantage against Godzilla: while the male distracts Godzilla, it allows the much bigger, stronger and flightless female to attack Godzilla from behind. When Godzilla reacts to this and begins to overpower the female, the male flies around and attacks Godzilla again from behind, distracting him and repeating the cycle. |
| 76 | * FullMoonSilhouette: A blink-and-you'll-miss-it case occurs when a silhouetted mountain in front of the full moon starts ''shifting'', [[ThatsNoMoon revealing that it's actually Femuto hiding in plain sight]]. |
| 77 | * FunWithAcronyms: Even if the [=MUTOs=] and the Kaiju generally aren't technically mutants in the [=MonsterVerse=] continuity, it's still an appropriate homage to the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise's roots that the acronym this species is known by spells out "Muto". |
| 78 | * GiantEqualsInvincible: They [[ImmuneToBullets shrug off all bullets]], tank rounds, and sea-to-ground missiles, though massed rifle fire and rockets to their faces successfully grab their attention more than once. |
| 79 | * GiantEyeOfDoom: When Ford and Sergeant Morales are trying to remain still and unnoticed on the train tracks as Femuto is passing underneath, we get a clear shot of Femuto's eye-sensor thing on one side of her head looming underneath their heads, and getting ever closer to Sergeant Morales as his radio begins to fizzle in sync with the eye-sensor's flickering. |
| 80 | * GiantFlyer: The male [=MUTO=] has a pair of enormous wings in place of one set of legs, enabling him to fly. |
| 81 | * GlassCannon: Hokmuto's wings make him swift, elusive, and insanely difficult for Godzilla to intercept, and he uses this to his advantage, managing to deal painful blows to Godzilla; but he's also much more fragile than his land-bound mate (who can tank many blows from Godzilla due to being almost as large as he is), often distancing himself when Godzilla goes on the offensive against him to escape any physical contact. [[spoiler:One brutal and well-timed TailSlap from Godzilla (which also crushes Hokmuto against a building and impales him on rebar)]] is all it takes to kill the male MUTO. |
| 82 | * GlowingEyesOfDoom: The [=MUTOs=] have red-glowing slits for eyes, which lack any kind of pupils, and they're decidedly the real threat to mankind rather than Godzilla (note that it wasn't until the [[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019 next movie]] that Godzilla displayed glowing eyes while using his atomic breath). These eye-slits may be heat sensors or compound eyes. |
| 83 | * GoodLipsEvilJaws: In contrast to their natural enemy Godzilla's expressive lipped mouth, the [=MUTOs=] have beaked, lipless mouths which occasionally drool and contain sharp teeth, and they're decidedly the real threat to humanity in ''Film/Godzilla2014''. |
| 84 | * GroundPunch / ShockwaveStomp: The male [=MUTO=] activates his {{EMP}} blasts by slamming his forelimb into the ground, although he at one point lets loose a blast while he's airborne. |
| 85 | * HeadbuttOfLove: Between the male and female [=MUTOs=] when they meet up. It's surprisingly adorable. Funnily enough, a glimpse of Sam Coleman's documentary in the sequel implies this is actually how [=MUTOs=] have sex. |
| 86 | * HitAndRunTactics: The male [=MUTO=] uses his aerial agility to get in quick and significant strikes against Godzilla, then fly away before Godzilla can do major damage to him. |
| 87 | * HookHand: PlayedWith. The male and female both have forelimbs ending in curved, meat hook-like appendages. |
| 88 | * TheHorseshoeEffect: It's speculated in ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' that the species will wipe out or reshape entire ecosystems to their liking, and likely create an extinction event, if they succeed in enacting their life cycle -- does this [[Characters/MonsterVerseKingGhidorah remind you of anyone else]]? It's almost as if the [=MUTOs=] are {{foreshadowing}} Ghidorah. The differences are that [[spoiler:the [=MUTOs=] are native to Earth whereas Ghidorah is an invasive extraterrestrial]]; and whereas the [=MUTOs=] are ultimately just living out their natural life cycle (albeit a highly destructive one) and tend to act like [[NonMaliciousMonster Non-Malicious Monsters]] unless provoked, Ghidorah is a straight-up OmnicidalManiac who is truly malevolent and actively seeks the Earth's destruction for his own desires. |
| 89 | * HostileTerraforming: {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''Godzilla: Aftershock''. It's theorized by Emma that if the MUTO pair had successfully reproduced, their brood would've been a subspecies which would've reshaped or eradicated entire ecosystems to fit their own needs whilst carving out a niche for themselves. In the 2014 movie, just two of the creatures trash San Francisco whilst moulding Chinatown's buildings into a giant underground nest for themselves; and in ''Aftershock'', Monarch's geological findings have strongly indicated that the MUTO species caused a global dark age where cultures across the ancient world disappeared practically overnight, and Emma goes several steps further by claiming that the [=MUTOs=] likely caused at least two of Earth's previous [[ApocalypseHow/Class4 mass extinctions]] each time they successfully reproduced (though it should be noted that Emma invokes ''massive'' ArtisticLicensePaleontology by claiming the aforementioned dark age in the 11th century BCE was one such "mass extinction", when the last such extinction event happened 63 million years before humans had even evolved). |
| 90 | * HowlOfSorrow: Femuto lets out a series of panicked keening sounds near the movie's end [[spoiler:when her nest has been consumed by an explosion]], followed by an anguished wail [[spoiler:once she's confirmed the death of her offspring]]. |
| 91 | * HumanizingTears: The [=MUTOs=] aren't very pretty to look at and they're completely callous to the damage they cause to human cities, but it's hard not to feel for Femuto, when [[spoiler:her eggs are destroyed]] and she lets out anguished cries while desperately rushing towards [[spoiler:the nest]]. |
| 92 | * HumansAreInsects: They are mostly indifferent to humans, although they will brush them away if they start stinging them with gunfire. The female quickly changes her opinion on humans from this to HumansAreTheRealMonsters once [[spoiler:the HALO team roast her eggs, killing her unborn children in the process]]. |
| 93 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: How [[spoiler:Hokmuto]] dies. Godzilla hits him with a TailSlap, smashing him into a building and [[spoiler:impaling him on rebar]]. |
| 94 | * InformedSpecies: They're described by the MPC visual effects supervisor in ''Godzilla: The Art of Destruction'' as probably being mammals based on the fact they possess skin, bones, and muscle. But he also admitted they do look more insectoid than mammalian. To say nothing of the [=MUTOs'=] reproductive cycle, which in light of this information makes [[MixAndMatchCritters the platypus]] look like nothing to gawk about. |
| 95 | * IntroducedSpeciesCalamity: In ''Godzilla: Aftershock'', the [=MUTOs=] are compared by Emma Russell to an invasive species. They are would-be {{explosive breeder}}s which are perfectly willing to trample over the modern world in pursuit of their own species' proliferation, and it's hinted that Godzilla might be hunting the MUTO pair because he considers them and their brood as much a threat to the world's ecosphere as they are to himself. New evidence uncovered by Monarch in ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' suggests that [=MUTOs=] have the potential to cause [[ApocalypseHow/Class4 mass extinction]] whenever the species spawns a new brood and have done so at least once in our planet's past. |
| 96 | * {{Irony}}: The male [=MUTO=] does all the things Godzilla does in [[Music/BlueOysterCult Blue Öyster Cult]]'s song "Godzilla": he pulls some ''spitting high-tension wires down'' as he escapes from Janjira, ''helpless people on a subway train scream'' as he looks in on them, and he ''picks up a bus and throws it back down'' as he obtains a nuke from the military to present to his mate. |
| 97 | * ItCanThink: It becomes pretty clear as the movie goes on that the [=MUTOs=] are quite intelligent and have good problem-solving. |
| 98 | ** Hokmuto's second usage of his {{EMP}} blast at Oahu, which disables oncoming jets headed towards him, was clearly deliberate on his part comparative to the first usage during his hatching at Janjira, showing he's learned to weaponize his EMP against humans who give him trouble. |
| 99 | ** Femuto seems to actively ''wait'' for [[spoiler:the train carrying the nuclear weapons]] and ambush them, making use of her natural camouflage. She is also [[spoiler:utterly and unmistakably distraught at the destruction of all her unborn young in a gas explosion]], and when she spies Ford Brody amidst the remains of the nest, it apparently gives the 300-foot beast a clear idea of ''what'' caused [[spoiler:the explosion]]. Although a distraction by Godzilla enables Ford to slip away, Femuto thereafter flies into a full-blown UnstoppableRage wherein she actively chases down and begins slaughtering the HALO team. |
| 100 | * {{Kaiju}}: A species of gigantic prehistoric megafauna like Godzilla's species, though more insectoid in appearance, and emerging from underground instead of underwater. The [=MUTOs=] are a natural enemy of Godzilla's kind, with whom they have a parasitic relationship, and they clash with the Big G himself whilst they're rampaging across the Pacific and trashing multiple cities in their path. The [=MUTOs=] are just as [[GiantEqualsInvincible immune to the military's conventional weaponry as Godzilla is]], whilst their {{EMP}} abilities additionally allow them to cripple the military's technology and cause fighter jets to drop like flies. |
| 101 | * LastOfItsKind: {{Subverted}}. The mated MUTO pair are described in the 2014 movie as the last of a species that lived when the Earth's surface was still being heavily bombarded by radiation. Since the pair's deaths, at least two other living specimens – the MUTO Prime and MUTO Queen – have emerged, with [[https://rue-morgue.com/sinister-seven-godzillas-mike-dougherty-king-of-the-monsterkids/ Word of God]] on ''Godzilla: King of the Monsters'' further supporting the notion that there might be more of the species still alive. |
| 102 | * LightningBruiser: Femuto is larger and stronger than Hokmuto, fast on her feet, and she can tank numerous hits from Godzilla. |
| 103 | * MaleMightFemaleFinesse: {{Inverted}}. The male is an agile GiantFlyer, while the female is larger, land-based, and relatively slower-moving. This is TruthInTelevision for many insect species that inspired these creatures. |
| 104 | * MamaBear: When Femuto [[spoiler:realizes her nest has been blown up]], she ''immediately'' ditches the fight with Godzilla in order to rush to her nest, screaming in maternal panic. [[spoiler:After confirming her unborn young's deaths and after seeing a human (Ford) at the site of the destruction, Femuto puts two and two together, and she flies into an UnstoppableRage against the military for the short remainder of her life]]. |
| 105 | * ManBitesMan: Right Godzilla as is getting double-teamed and overpowered by the mated pair, Femuto takes her opportunity by lunging towards him and embeds her beaked jaws right into Godzilla's neck/gills as she's shoving his enormous 90,000 ton mass by using nothing but her mouth until she knocks him into a building. At one point, Hokmuto tears into the top of Godzilla's shoulder by biting until the latter responds by doing the exact same thing to him. In seconds after Godzilla performs a StealthHiBye sneak attack on the female, she quickly crunches down on one of Godzilla's hands, which forces him to open her jaws all the way and [[spoiler: unleashes his Atomic Breath right into her gullet.]] |
| 106 | * MetamorphosisMonster: After hatching from his spore, Hokmuto (and probably also Femuto offscreen) start off in an [[NothingIsScarier unseen]] larval form, which goes into a cocoon to feed on radiation before hatching into the adult form. [[https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Sw5jIA7TS/ Word of God]] indicates the Queen MUTO/Barb is what a female MUTO develops into with age; furthermore, it's theorized in ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' that one way or another, Jinshin-Mushi is an even later metamorphic stage in the [=MUTO's=] life cycle beyond the standard adult form. |
| 107 | * MightyGlacier: {{Downplayed}}. The terrestrial female is a LightningBruiser who's bigger than the male and almost as strong as Godzilla, but she lacks the male's aerial agility. This compliments the [=MUTO=] separate fighting styles, allowing the two to work together well enough to gain the advantage against Godzilla: while the male distracts Godzilla, it allows the much bigger and stronger female to attack the Big G from behind. When Godzilla reacts to this and begins to overpower the female, the male flies around and attacks Godzilla again from behind, distracting him and repeating the cycle. |
| 108 | * MistakenDeathConfirmation: The unhatched second MUTO spore was officially declared dormant by Serizawa himself after Monarch vivisected it and ran every test on it for years. Then fifteen years after the spore was originally unearthed, it hears its pupating male counterpart calling out and it becomes active, birthing a female MUTO, to Dr. Graham's horrified disbelief. |
| 109 | * MixAndMatchCritters: Critics have most commonly characterized them as a mix between a praying mantis and a pterosaur, and ''Godzilla: The Art of Destruction'' alleges that they're actually mammalian. |
| 110 | * MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: Downplayed. The two are for the most part portrayed as equally dangerous, in different ways. While the female is larger and more powerful, the male can fly and is far more agile, and it takes the two of them to work together to challenge Godzilla. That being said, the female is notably more pissed off than the male when [[spoiler:their eggs are destroyed by the humans]]. |
| 111 | * MultiArmedAndDangerous: Both [=MUTOs=] possess eight limbs total: the female has four forelegs, two hind legs and a set of smaller arms, while the male [=MUTO=] has two forelegs, two hind legs, a pair of enormous wings and a set of smaller arms. |
| 112 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: The male [=MUTO=], by feeding on the nuclear radiation sources it plunders as soon as it gets his claws on them (the Janjira power plant's core, the stolen Akula submarine's nuclear arsenal), actually saves many humans in the vicinity from having to worry about radiation poisoning and contamination among the many other problems the [=MUTOs=] cause them. This is explicitly pointed out in the novelization. |
| 113 | * NoMereWindmill: Straight type in the novelization: there's a humorous extension of the casino scene where a casino-goer sees Femuto on the TV before the power goes out and immediately assumes the monster is a hoax like, in his own words, "global warming". Cue Femuto's leg smashing into the building where the Acceptable Target is currently located. |
| 114 | * NoNameGiven: The [=MUTOs=] aren't given specific names, but are just referred to as "the male" and "the female" of their species. The designation of "MUTO" was initially one for ''all'' kaiju in this universe, not just this species specifically. In merchandise, the female [=MUTO=] was called "Femuto". |
| 115 | * NonIndicativeName: The source of a brief joke. [=MUTO=] stands for "Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism," but as Stenz points out, "it is no longer terrestrial, [[GiantFlyer it is airborne]]."[[note]]For those of you feeling pedantic, "terrestrial" in this context simply means it comes from Earth, the opposite of "extraterrestrial".[[/note]] |
| 116 | * NonMaliciousMonster: They aren't really evil, most of the destruction they cause is just due to them being so large, and throughout the film, they act like real animals following animal instincts (to seize territory and mate). There are even sympathetic moments, such as the loving moment the couple has sharing a nuke, and the mother [[spoiler:crying at the destruction of her nest]]. |
| 117 | * NoSell: They are only mildly annoyed by even the heaviest ordnance the military can bring to bear. |
| 118 | * NothingIsScarier: We never see what their larval form looks like at all; with the presence of Hokmuto's larval form being felt through the giant WormSign his escape from the Philippines cavern to the sea has left, and through the tremors caused by his approach on the Janjira power plant and his attack on its reactor. |
| 119 | * NotQuiteDead: Twice. Hokmuto seemingly dies in his cocoon when Monarch attempt to electrocute him to death, with the glow and tremors ceasing and Monarch's vital readings on the cocoon flatlining – then a worker sent in to take a closer look notices that something is moving inside the broken-off section of the cocoon, before the now-adult MUTO emerges none worse for wear. InUniverse, Femuto's egg was assumed by Monarch to be completely "dormant" after excessive study and testing, but they realize it's awakened and hatched many years later. |
| 120 | * OffWithHisHead: The [[spoiler:female]] [=MUTO=]'s fate when Godzilla [[spoiler:fries her from the inside out with his Atomic Breath, causing her neck to melt]]. |
| 121 | * OneHitKill: [[spoiler:The male suffers this during the [=MUTOs'=] fight with Godzilla, when after enduring quite a bit of punishment due to the male's flighty tactics, Godzilla catches him off-guard and brutally ends him with a surprise TailSlap, breaking the FragileSpeedster[='s=] body.]] |
| 122 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:Ford Brody]] manages to destroy their nest of unhatched eggs in San Francisco ([[spoiler:much to [[MamaBear Femuto]]'s anguish and [[UnstoppableRage fury]]]]), and Godzilla kills the two [=MUTOs=] shortly after. |
| 123 | * PapaWolf: The male [=MUTO=] is far smaller than Godzilla yet is willing to dive-bomb the great lizard when he approaches the nest. |
| 124 | * ParasitesAreEvil: PlayedWith. They have a parasitic life cycle which involves laying eggs inside other, live Titans and letting them feed on the Titan host's blood until the Titan dies – and unlike Godzilla, the [=MUTOs=] are a real threat to humanity at large and to the world's biosphere if they ever succeed in reproducing. That being said, the [=MUTOs=] are characterized as [[NonMaliciousMonster Non-Malicious Monsters]] in their own right whom are largely just doing what their nature commands them to - it's just that unlike Godzilla, the [=MUTOs'=] drives and instincts are to humanity's and other species' complete detriment instead of their benefit. |
| 125 | * PersonalSpaceInvader: The male [=MUTO=]'s battle tactic against Godzilla consists of repeatedly swooping in and grabbing onto his upper-body, allowing the female to get an easier hit. |
| 126 | * PetTheDog: Despite their brutality when fighting Godzilla and their total apathy for humans, the [=MUTOs=] have a surprisingly touching scene when they unite in San Francisco to mate, with Hokmuto courting Femuto using [[spoiler:a live nuclear warhead]] as a nuptial gift, and the two sharing a HeadbuttOfLove before promptly starting to build a nest. |
| 127 | * PhlebotinumKilledTheDinosaurs: Emma states in ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' that geological dating of the ancient MUTO egg chamber in Siberia corresponds with the timing of a past mass extinction, strongly suggesting that the [=MUTOs=] were the cause when their species successfully repopulated; although Emma ''also'' [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology erroneously]] states in the same instance that another "mass extinction" occurred when Jinshin-Mushi was last active in the 11th century BCE, so it's unsure how accurate this really is. |
| 128 | * PregnantBadass: Femuto is heavy with unfertilized eggs in her adult form, yet this doesn't make her any less destructive and unstoppable against the U.S. military before she mates with Hokmuto. After laying her eggs, Femuto is a badass taking on Godzilla in defence of her nest. |
| 129 | * ProportionatelyPonderousParasites: Their life cycle apparently involves multiple larvae infesting a Titanus Gojira and pupating inside his body, similar to a Tarantula Hawk and related kinds of wasp. This gives them and Godzilla a pretty good justification for fighting beyond the fact that beating each other senseless while knocking over skyscrapers is just what kaijus do. |
| 130 | * PupatingPeril: Hokmuto hatches from a huge, glowing, crescent-shaped chrysalis after feeding on the radiation of a nuclear reactor from within for fifteen years. While his larval form is never seen, the imago is a winged insectoid which immediately begins a trail of destruction across the Pacific. |
| 131 | * RadiationImmuneMutants: Technically {{averted}}. They are immune to radiation (and feed on it), but they are actually creatures which evolved during a time when Earth was much more ''naturally'' radioactive. |
| 132 | * ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The eggs which Hokmuto and Femuto hatched from laid dormant in a massive skeleton for thousands to millions of years. In ''Godzilla: Aftershock'', it's revealed those eggs were down there for 31,000 years to be precise. |
| 133 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Downplayed. The [=MUTOs=] are black with glowing red markings and they're the real threat to the world in ''Film/Godzilla2014''; but they're ultimately [[NonMaliciousMonster Non-Malicious Monsters]] who just want to reproduce, [[spoiler:until Femuto is fully provoked to hostility against humans by the destruction of their nest]]. |
| 134 | * RedEyesTakeWarning: They have red [[GlowingEyesOfDoom glowing]] slits for eyes, which lack any kind of pupils. They may be heat sensors or compound eyes. |
| 135 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Upon [[spoiler:witnessing her babies erupt into flames]] and deducing that a nearby [[spoiler:Ford Brody]] did it, the female [=MUTO=] gets ''pissed off'', to say the least. She even starts directly attacking soldiers instead of doing so accidentally, managing to eradicate the entire HALO team [[spoiler:sans Ford]]; and once she sees the [[spoiler:human who was at her burned nest]] again, she is clearly ''filled with rage''. |
| 136 | * SculptedPhysique: They're organic but have a carapace resembling black metal. Creator/GarethEdwards has said that their appearance was in part a ShoutOut to the [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorphs]]. |
| 137 | * ShockAndAwe: To an extent. The [=MUTOs=] can emit [=EMPs=] thanks to their absorption of radiation. It doesn't directly harm organic creatures, but the force of their footsteps still creates a powerful shockwave of its own that can send humans flying. |
| 138 | * ShoutOut: The male [=MUTO=] looks like Mothra or Battra and fights like Megaguirus. |
| 139 | * TheSilentBob: Although the [=MUTOs=] are animals with alien-like, less-than-expressive faces, the message is clear when they meet up and have a HeadbuttOfLove. Femuto in particular manages to communicate a lot with nothing but her body language and actions during the climax, [[spoiler:when she charges in a panic back towards her blown-up nest, when she spies the destroyed remains of her eggs before Ford Brody draws her attention, and when she charges straight towards the HALO team and begins slaughtering them in a mad rage]]. |
| 140 | * SinisterScythe: The [=MUTOs=] have [[http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140226002115/godzilla/images/a/a5/Godzilla_2014_Official_Main_Trailer_-_36_Muto_Hand.png curved scythe-like legs.]] However, interestingly, they never use the spiked end, instead of resting the leg over the angulation when stepping or clubbing down. |
| 141 | * SlayingMantis: They're somewhat mantis-like prehistoric parasitoids that are a natural enemy of Godzilla's species. They have a pair of large, hooked forelimbs (which they use to stab Godzilla's vulnerable gills) and a smaller pair of manipulator arms. Femuto is twice Hokmuto's size but lacks wings. |
| 142 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Hokmuto and Femuto are the StarterVillain of the Franchise/MonsterVerse and they die in the first movie, but without them, the events of the subsequent movies would never have happened in the form that they did at all. Without their rampage causing TheUnmasquedWorld and causing Andrew Russell's death, the plot of ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' wouldn't have kicked off without {{the government}} and the public pushing for Titan extermination and without Emma Russell going mad from her grief; and without all of that, the plot of ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' wouldn't have kicked off at all, as [[EvilInc Apex Cybernetics]] would have remained unaware alongside the rest of the world of Godzilla's existence, there never would have been a telepathic Ghidorah skull for Apex to attempt weaponizing, and Skull Island would still be alive without Ghidorah's awakening by Emma which in turn led Ghidorah to awaken Camazotz and leave a PerpetualStorm for Camazotz to use. |
| 143 | * SpaghettiKiss: An [[InvertedTrope inversion]] and variation. While the [=MUTOs=] are performing their [[HeadbuttOfLove mating ritual]], Hokmuto passes [[spoiler:a nuclear warhead]] as a nuptial gift from his mouth to Femuto's. |
| 144 | * SphereOfDestruction: Unlike Hokmuto's triggered EMP bursts, Femuto's EMP is spherical and constant with a broad sphere of influence according to a news broadcast. |
| 145 | * StarterVillain: They're the first monster antagonists of the Franchise/MonsterVerse, and whilst they're no weaklings by any means, individually they're not in the same weight class as Ghidorah or Mechagodzilla are relative to Godzilla; and temperament-wise, the [=MUTOs=] are the least nasty of the [=MonsterVerse=] movies' {{Big Bad}} monsters, compared to those that come after them. |
| 146 | * StealthyColossus: Femuto is the size of a small mountain, yet she displays a remarkable talent for stealth during the train attack when she's camouflaged by darkness, with a group of soldiers failing to notice that a tree trunk/support beam behind them is actually her leg until she moves. Hokmuto is likewise able to sneak-attack Godzilla when he's distracted during the FinalBattle. |
| 147 | * TheStormbringer: {{Downplayed}}, but it's hinted in the movie that the thunderstorm which encroaches on San Francisco during the final act is being caused by the [=MUTOs'=] electromagnetic powers influencing the weather. More explicitly, Ford inwardly speculates as much in the novelization. |
| 148 | * SuperStrength: The male [=MUTO=] is able to drag Godzilla roughly 600 feet across San Francisco despite being only 3/5 Godzilla's size. |
| 149 | ** The female is a dominant being herself and is way physically stronger than her tiny mate. While it was shown offscreen, she left behind a gigantic shredded gaping hole from Mount Yucca's nuclear waste repository and has trudged and bulldozed her way through the city of Las Vegas after hearing Hokmuto's echolocation. She's also shown to be brutal opponent to Godzilla as one powerful slash from her foreleg caused him to howl in anguish as trickles of blood are gushed out of his gills, rams into his throat with a shoving bite, and had him floored with repeated attacks of her hammering into him with the curved sections of her frontal legs. |
| 150 | * ThatsNoMoon: A FreezeFrameBonus blink-and-you'll-miss-it example, but in one shot before the female [=MUTO=] makes her presence known in the train attack scene, you can see a mountain behind Ford and Morales start moving, revealing it's actually the female hiding in plain sight. |
| 151 | * ThereCanBeOnlyOne: In ''Godzilla: Aftershock'', one of Emma's theories about the [=MUTOs'=] life cycle post-reproduction is that once the parents and the new brood have finished [[HostileTerraforming destructively terraforming]] the environment for themselves, they'll turn on each-other until only the strongest is left standing. |
| 152 | * TranquilFury: While Femuto is engaging military forces in her RoaringRampageOfRevenge, some of her actions come across as surprisingly subdued at times, such as when she quietly yet murderously stalks towards Ford after she finds him in the remains of her nest, and later as she corners him on one of the boats. |
| 153 | * TimeAbyss: The MUTO species have apparently lived through at least one prehistoric mass extinction (which [[PhlebotinumKilledTheDinosaurs they were implied to be the cause of]]). The 2014 movie states that the [=MUTOs=] have likely been around since the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian Permian period]] alongside Godzilla's species, although later [=MonsterVerse=] installments have since turned the 2014 movie's Titan origin into one out of a MultipleChoicePast for the Titans generally. |
| 154 | * TinyGuyHugeGirl: Relatively speaking. The male [=MUTO=] is 2/3 the size of the female he mates with. Given that many arthropods, arachnids, and insects display [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism#Species_with_larger_females_than_males sexual dimorphism in favor of the female]] (read: the female of the species is normally larger than the male), this is a case of ShownTheirWork. |
| 155 | * TokenFlyer: Type 1. Hokmuto is the only one of the {{Kaiju}} in ''Film/Godzilla2014'' that's capable of flight, whereas his mate Femuto, their rival Godzilla, and the deceased Adam/Dagon if you count him too, are all land-dwellers. |
| 156 | * ToServeMan: While the [=MUTOs'=] primary food source is radioactive material, Femuto kills a squadron of soldier by [[SwallowedWhole devouring them in one gulp]] [[spoiler:when she's enraged at them. Based on the way she was leaning her open jaws towards Ford Brody, she was likely going to kill Ford the same way before Godzilla's timely intervention stopped her]]. |
| 157 | * TragicVillain: The [=MUTOs'=] are nothing more than {{Non Malicious Monster}}s who only want to reproduce. Their tragedy consists in unknowingly be capable of mass extinction the moment they have off-springs. |
| 158 | * UnblockableAttack: Hokmuto's {{EMP}} blasts, once triggered, can't be stopped by any kind of barriers – thick walls, the mountains of Oahu; the blast will surpass them all and shut down anything electronic within a few miles. Even military craft, which normally have specialized EMP shielding to prevent these kinds of blasts from taking them down in RealLife, are completely helpless when Hokmuto's blasts go off. |
| 159 | * UnholyMatrimony: They're not quite evil, but they're still the story's deadly main antagonists who don't care how their reproduction negatively affects the world, and they're a mated pair [[PetTheDog who are quite affectionate with each-other when they unite]]. |
| 160 | * UnstoppableRage: When the female [=MUTO=] finds out that humans have [[spoiler:destroyed her eggs]], she goes ''berserk''; [[spoiler:rampaging through the city hunting the HALO team down and [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge slaughtering them in revenge]]]]. To emphasize it a little more, before this point, the [=MUTOs=] were simply attacking the humans to get the sustenance and territory they needed for their growth and their nest, and otherwise they ignored humans. But when the female [=MUTO=] gets pissed, she actively attacks every living human she sees with murderous intent. [[spoiler:One hell of a MamaBear she is.]] |
| 161 | * VillainousIncest: {{Inverted}}. They're implied in the movie to be [[BrotherSisterIncest brother and sister]], having both hatched from spores laid inside the same dead {{Kaiju}}, and ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' more or less ''confirms'' this is the case. Regardless, their HeadbuttOfLove when they meet up to mate and Femuto's devotion to their resulting babies are two of the sweetest things about these otherwise-destructive creatures throughout their screentime. |
| 162 | * VillainousLegacy: |
| 163 | ** Although the [=MUTOs=] are killed at the end of the 2014 movie, TheUnmasquedWorld is permanent in all [=MonsterVerse=] installments chronologically set afterwards. This forms a major plot point in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', where the source of the conflict that leads to Ghidorah's emergence and exacerbates the other Titans' awakening is the worldwide government and public debate about how humanity should be responding to the Titans' existence. |
| 164 | ** In ''Godzilla: Aftershock'', Monarch's research on Hokmuto and Femuto -- their egg chamber and their bio-acoustics -- contributes a long way to their understanding of Jinshin-Mushi, giving Emma the idea to use sonic pulses against the new creature and save Godzilla's life. |
| 165 | ** Femuto unwittingly set off the entire plot of ''Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted'' which occurs a decade or so after her death. During her rampage, she trashed an RM Construction building that Raymond Martin and his entire family were residing inside, leading to Raymond's rampage which causes almost all the comic's conflict. |
| 166 | * WalkingTechbane: They make their presence known with an [=EMP=] field they emit, causing all electronic devices to fail within their radius. In the novelization, the [=EMP=] also causes guidance system errors, which make it impossible for electronic targeting systems to lock onto them even before being fried. |
| 167 | * WormSign: After the male [=MUTO's=] larval form escapes, it leaves a large trail of destroyed earth that clearly indicates his path from the cavern that held his egg towards the sea. |
| 168 | * XenomorphXerox: They're a Kaiju insectoid take on the concept. Sleek, black creatures from prehistoric times, the first glimpse we get of them is of two eggs that were gestating in the ribcage of a long-dead Godzilla to absorb radiation (we later find out that they can absorb radiation from any source, but the gut of another radioactive monster happens to be a good one). They're also {{Explosive Breeder}}s, and the second half of the film involves [[BugWar the military]] helping Godzilla to destroy them and their massive nest in order to prevent them overwhelming the world. |
| 169 | * YourSizeMayVary: Relative to each-other at least. The shot where the two [=MUTOs=] first meet has the female ''towering'' over the smaller male, looking roughly three times. Later, when they team up against Godzilla to defend their nest, the male now appears to be just slightly smaller than the female (though it's difficult to tell in some shots because of his wings, which the female lacks). |
| 170 | [[/folder]] |
| 171 | |
| 172 | [[folder:MUTO 3/Queen MUTO/"Barb"]] |
| 173 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monsterversequeenmuto.jpg]] |
| 174 | [[caption-width-right:350:]] |
| 175 | !!!'''Portrayed By:''' N/A |
| 176 | !!!'''Appears In''': ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' |
| 177 | !!!'''Species''': Prehistoric parasitic arthropod-like vertebrate | "Titanus Jinshin-Mushi" |
| 178 | |
| 179 | A specimen of the MUTO species which emerged from hibernation beneath a strip mall in [[UsefulNotes/NewJersey Hoboken, New Jersey]] (confirmed by the director) to follow King Ghidorah's command, before peacefully bowing down to Godzilla as the new King of the Monsters following his triumph over Ghidorah. She resembles the female which emerged in 2014, except she has spiky dorsal protrusions along her body to signify her increased age and is covered with scars. Unlike the original female MUTO, Barb is specifically a 'Queen MUTO', though exactly how her behaviour and physiology differ from her predecessor with this title has yet to be elaborated on. |
| 180 | ---- |
| 181 | * ContinuityCameo: She's essentially a cameo for her species in ''Godzilla: King of the Monsters'', inserted by [[https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Sw5jIA7TS/ the director]] out of liking for the creatures. She can be briefly glimpsed on a news report when the Titans are rampaging under King Ghidorah's command, and she makes a clearer appearance in the end scene alongside the other awakened Titans. |
| 182 | * CrownOfHorns: She has a similar appearance to Femuto, but her form is more distinct by having multiple spiky crests sprouting out of her back just like [=MUTO=] Prime. [[https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Sw5jIA7TS/ Michael Dougherty]] stated that her crowned protrusions emphasize that she's "different and older" than Hokmuto and Femuto. |
| 183 | * CoveredWithScars: It's difficult to look at them with her appearing around the last few minutes of the film and with the hazy aftermath of Boston's destruction, Michael Dougherty has stated that parts of her body has numerous scars from previously engaging with other Titans in battle and from past mating activities. |
| 184 | * DegradedBoss: The previous [=MUTOs=] were all the main antagonists of their respective stories and were presented as a major threat to Godzilla, who ultimately required human intervention before he could defeat them. Barb, however, is just one of the rank-and-file minions in King Ghidorah's enthralled Titan army, [[spoiler:and after Ghidorah's death, she almost-immediately submits to Godzilla as her new alpha without picking a fight]]. |
| 185 | * GoodLipsEvilJaws: {{Subverted}}, in contrast to the 2014 pair which preceded her. She has lipless, beaked jaws just like them, and she initially serves King Ghidorah alongside the other Titans when his Alpha Call awakens her, but she [[spoiler:submits to Godzilla as the reigning Alpha Titan after Ghidorah's death (which is especially noteworthy since Godzilla's species and the MUTO species are usually natural enemies)]]. |
| 186 | * GoodScarsEvilScars: Unlike the other known [=MUTOs=], Barb is CoveredWithScars, although [[https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Sw5jIA7TS/ they're practically invisible]] except in a certain light. This is a trait she has in common with [[GentleGorilla Kong]], and with her post-Ghidorah alpha [[BigGood Godzilla]], befitting how she's [[TokenHeroicOrc the only one of her kind so far]] who hasn't been a non-negotiable threat to the world. |
| 187 | * LastOfHerKind: With Hokmuto, Femuto and Jinshin-Mushi dead, she's the last living specimen of her species that we know of. However, ''King of the Monsters'' director [[https://rue-morgue.com/sinister-seven-godzillas-mike-dougherty-king-of-the-monsterkids/ Mike Dougherty]] has entertained the notion that this trope might be {{subverted}} yet again if more living [=MUTOs=] turn up. |
| 188 | * ReusedCharacterDesign: Visually {{downplayed}}. While she looks and sounds identical to Femuto, the Queen MUTO has a darker gray color scheme and rows of spiky dorsal ridges. |
| 189 | * TokenHeroicOrc: While the other specimens all opposed Godzilla because of their parasitic relationship with his kind, the Queen MUTO shows no aggression towards him after Ghidorah's death, [[spoiler:bowing along with the other Titans in acceptance of her new dominant ruler. Godzilla in turn accepts her submission and demonstrably sees no more reason to seek a fight with her than with the other subordinate Titans]]. |
| 190 | * TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:A mature female slightly larger than the ones in the 2014 film, submits to Ghidorah, and later Godzilla, as her Alpha.]] |
| 191 | [[/folder]] |
| 192 | |
| 193 | [[folder:[=MUTO=] Prime/Jinshin-Mushi]] |
| 194 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mutoprime001.jpg]] |
| 195 | !!!'''Appears In''': ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' (tie-in comic) |
| 196 | !!!'''Species''': Prehistoric parasitic arthropod-like vertebrate | "Titanus Jinshin-Mushi" |
| 197 | |
| 198 | The monster that serves as the antagonist of the ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' graphic novel prequel to ''[[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters]]''. Known in myth as the "Earthquake Beetle" or "Dragon Beetle", it is the "parent" of the MUTO caste Godzilla battled in 2014, fighting Godzilla and looking to lay new eggs in his body which will emerge as a planet-ravaging subspecies. |
| 199 | ---- |
| 200 | * AlienBlood: Has teal-colored blood come out of its mouth. |
| 201 | * AncientEvil: This creature, or at the very least another MUTO of the same caste, surfaced in 1000 B.C. to duel with Dagon and lay its eggs inside him, indirectly killing him, plus its appearance coincided with what's implied to be the societal collapse at the end of the Late Bronze Age. In the present, Jinshin-Mushi emerges after Hokmuto and Femuto's deaths to do what they could not: kill Godzilla and trigger a new MUTO population boom, which will surely spell the collapse human civilization and potentially the end of over half of all life on Earth. |
| 202 | * AntiVillain: Just like the [=MUTOs=] in the film, the creature may be destructive and antagonistic to Godzilla, but it's simply following its genetic programming in propagating its species the way it does. |
| 203 | * ArchEnemy: To Godzilla's species as a whole, as ''Aftershock'' shows this creature (or at the very least members of this creature's caste) previously killed two ''Titanus Gojira'' via implanting their young inside them. It's implied events like this are why Godzilla is the LastOfHisKind. |
| 204 | * ArcVillain: Of the ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' tie-in comic. |
| 205 | * ArtisticLicenseBiology: Assuming the theories about Prime's evolution are true - Prime is somehow an ''evolution'' of a standard MUTO, but also the ''predecessor'' of modern [=MUTOs=], and produces them as its offspring when it reproduces, meaning that it is a species that both created and came from its own descendant, in a setup that goes against the forward motion of evolution by forcing the species' existence into a closed circle. Somewhere, a taxonomist is probably crying. |
| 206 | * CivilizationDestroyer: Emma notes that Jinshin-Mushi's appearance in the 11th century BCE when it fought Dagon coincides with a "global Dark Age that spanned all the way from Cambodia to Egypt". The geographical range and timing of this corresponds to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Bronze_Age_collapse Late Bronze Age collapse]] in RealLife. |
| 207 | * DishingOutDirt: It creates earthquakes while burrowing through the earth. |
| 208 | * TheDreaded: It left an apocalyptic impression on the Ancient Phoenicians and the Ancient Japanese in the past, and on Monarch in the present day. |
| 209 | * EarthquakesCauseFissures: The tremors caused when it first surfaces in Guam open a gigantic sinkhole from which it afterward emerges. |
| 210 | * FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Injects eggs into unfortunate Titans with ovipositor stingers. |
| 211 | * GetBackHereBoss: It keeps hitting Godzilla and then running away to try and wear him down in the repeated battles. |
| 212 | * GiantFlyer: According to its character sheet concept art, it actually has wings folded up on its back and can fly. [[InformedAttribute This never comes up or is even slightly alluded to in its actual story]], however. |
| 213 | * GoodLipsEvilJaws: Although its face looks different from the other [=MUTOs'=], Jinshin-Mushi does retain the trait of having exposed teeth and fangs with no visible lips, in contrast to Godzilla, and it's just as much of a threat as Hokmuto and Femuto were if not more. |
| 214 | * GreaterScopeVillain: This MUTO caste is responsible for implanting the eggs of the [=MUTO=] pair, making it indirectly responsible for the events of the entire 2014 film. |
| 215 | * GroundPunch: It performs this whilst it's battling Godzilla in France, producing a shockwave so powerful that it throws Godzilla off his feet. |
| 216 | * HeroKiller: This type of MUTO has killed Dagon and at least one other member of Godzilla's species in the past. |
| 217 | * IntimidationDemonstration: Every time Jinshin-Mushi turns up in its quest to [[GetBackHereBoss wear Godzilla down]], it effortlessly chomps and devours a nearby manmade source of nuclear power, like a submarine or a power plant, demonstrating both its immense physical power and also its intent to defeat and kill the cinematic allegory for nuclear power. |
| 218 | * LegendFadesToMyth: Ancient accounts of Jinshin-Mushi became inaccurate over the centuries, eventually turning into Namazu, a ''catfish'' that causes earthquakes. |
| 219 | * MagmaMan: The orange color of her enormous forelimbs is actually filled with lava-like fluid, while the red veins around them are said to be even ''hotter'' according to [[https://twitter.com/Drew_E_Johnson/status/1438566127693549575 one of the artists]] of ''Godzilla: Aftershock''. Heating up her arms allows Jinshin-Mushi to inflict more damage from her strengthened blows. |
| 220 | * MeaningfulName: Jinshin-Mushi means "Earthquake Beetle", and most of its abilities rely on this. |
| 221 | * MightyRoar: It can emit shrieks that are powerful enough to [[spoiler:shatter Godzilla's dorsal plates]]. |
| 222 | * MoleMonster: Compared to the [=MUTO=] pair, who travelled by land or air once they reached their adult forms; [=MUTO=] Prime is shown to mainly travel by digging and burrowing underground, only emerging to feed, fight and/or reproduce. |
| 223 | * MultipleChoicePast: Emma Russell proposes two distinct theories about where Jinshin-Mushi fits in the MUTO life cycle – her first theory is that it's what Femuto would have metamorphosed into had she lived longer and killed her mate, the second theory is that Jinshin-Mushi is what the strongest among [=MUTOs'=] brood would have metamorphosed into after [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne turning on and killing its siblings]] (analysis of Femuto's reproductive organs makes Emma think this theory is more likely) – but Emma observes that Monarch can never know which theory, if either, is true. |
| 224 | * NearVillainVictory: It has one at the climax of ''Godzilla: Aftershock''. [[spoiler:Jinshin-Mushi has Godzilla injured and down on the ground, and is just ''seconds'' away from impregnating him with its offspring when the ORCA prototype's activation distracts it and gives Godzilla a chance to get back up]]. |
| 225 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: {{Implied}}. Assuming the MUTO Prime which emerges in the present is the same one which sired the MUTO pair featured in ''Film/Godzilla2014'' after fighting Dagon in ancient times, then that means it outlived its offspring by a matter of months. Whilst it's unknown if Jinshin-Mushi knows or cares that Godzilla is responsible for killing its two offspring, in any case, its mission is to defeat him and forcibly implant a new batch of offspring inside him. |
| 226 | * RedBaron: The Phoenician tablets refer to Jinshin-Mushi as the Abomination and "progeny of the Unclean Thing That Lurks in the Shadows Beyond the Light of Creation". The people of Ancient Japan, who gave it the name Jinshin-Mushi, also called it the Earthquake Beetle or the Dragon Beetle. |
| 227 | * ShockwaveStomp: Besides the GroundPunch, its profile notes that its mere footsteps have the force of a salvo of cannons. |
| 228 | * SpikesOfVillainy: Where Hokmuto and Femuto have spiked tips at the top of their legs, [=MUTO=] Prime has several spiked crests behind her back. ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' illustrator [[https://twitter.com/Drew_E_Johnson/status/1438566127693549575 Drew E. Johnson]] notes these spikes act as natural weapons as well as helping to move underground. |
| 229 | * VillainExitStageLeft: Its battles with Godzilla in Guam and France end with it retreating and Godzilla giving pursuit when it's unable to implant its eggs in him, which is all part of its GetBackHereBoss gambit. |
| 230 | * XenomorphXerox: Apart from the points listed under the [=MUTOs'=] general folder above; it's revealed in ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' that Jinshin-Mushi will forcibly beat down and subdue a Titan, implant its eggs in them while they're down, then it will retreat and leave the impregnated host alive and seemingly none the wiser until the eggs feeding on their uranium-rich blood eventually kill them. It's also theorized that this creature's origin is it's the next stage of a regular [=MUTO's=] life cycle beyond what we see in the 2014 film. With this trope in mind, one could even argue that Emma Russell ends up filling a Ripley-esque role as the Monarch operative most concerned with aiding Godzilla in defeating Jinshin-Mushi before it can finish what the regular [=MUTOs=] started. |
| 231 | * YourHeadASplode: [[spoiler:Godzilla eventually kills it by brutally stomping its head in.]] |
| 232 | [[/folder]] |
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