The GNP Presents:
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
Adapted from the original screenplay by Shinichi Sekizawa
Novelization by Daniel DiManna
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This novelization is dedicated with love to the memory of Sadao Iizuka, whose incredible optical animations bestowed upon Godzilla his atomic ray, Ghidorah his gravity beams, and the many monsters and weapons of Toho’s science fiction/fantasy epics their unique and wonderous displays of animated light and power. His unique contributions to the dreamscape of kaiju eiga will never be forgotten.
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“We are all, at times, unconscious prophets.”
-Charles Spurgeon, The Salt-Cellars (1885)
PROLOGUE
Long ago, a bright and prosperous world met its end in a single day and a single night.
This second world was not large, but it was peaceful. Light blanketed the land in a comforting embrace of warmth and security, and its people basked in their sun’s eternal glow. Theirs were the ways of kindness and simplicity; they wanted for nothing, feared not for death, and suffered not the sin of vanity nor the need for material possession. They’d accomplished much in their time, building grand cities and governing their people with grace and respect. Above all, they were a race of knowers and seers. So keen was their innate gift of prophecy that the future held no surprises for them. There were no great mysteries to be solved, no dangers that could not be met and conquered. And thus, their place in the grand tapestry of existence seemed assured.
But it was not to be.
As time passed, a fog descended upon their sunlit world. A fog that could not be seen or touched or felt. A fog of the mind itself. The fate of the arrogant is to gradually lose sight of what was once so plainly seen, and the collective confidence of the people began to blind them to the future they once saw so clearly. In the absence of their vigilance, the signs of an impending doom began to pass them by. And when, at last, the signs became too overwhelming to ignore, the hour for salvation faded, lost in the shadowed haze of their clouded minds.
On a day as brightly lit as any other, a great and terrible form spread forth through the skies of the second world. The light dimmed, and a shadow was cast across the land. The great form descended upon the people, awash in devilish fire that ignited the very air around it. From the fire came the heads, tails, and wings of a demon. From its mouths flew mighty sparks and stinging bolts, and the air was filled with laughter as the skies burned red and the people – once masters of the future – despaired and perished.
When next the sun rose, its light would shine over a dead world. Barren lands now stretched their deadly fingers where cities once stood tall. To breathe the air was to suffer the burning of lungs and the boiling of blood. To look upon the sun was to feel one’s eyes scorched and spirit broken. And thus, nothing remained to breathe, or witness, or live.
Its evil task done, the great demon departed the ruined world. Where it will next appear, only the gods can tell…
–Ancient folktale, circa 2,640 BCE (author unknown)
NEXT CHAPTER COMING SOON!
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