the Thing, probably to avoid legal action from Columbia Pictures, which had released the original Mothra. Godzilla for the American market, American International Pictures entitled the movie Godzilla vs.

The 'ra' suffix follows the precedent set by Godzilla ( Gojira), which in turn is derived from kujira ( 鯨 ( クジラ ), ' whale'), which serves to indicate the character's enormous size.ĭuring its promotion of Mothra vs.

The name Mothra ( モスラ) is the suffixation of '-ra' to the English word 'moth' since the Japanese language does not have dental fricatives, it is approximated 'Mosura' in Japanese. Though Mothra is generally portrayed as female, male individuals of her species have also been featured in the franchise, including Mothra Leo in the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, and a male Mothra larva who appears alongside his non-identical twin in Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. IGN listed Mothra as #3 on their 'Top 10 Japanese Movie Monsters' list, while Complex listed the character as #7 on its 'The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time' list. Mothra, which was the best-attended Toho film since King Kong vs. Polls taken during the early 1990s indicated that Mothra was particularly popular among women who were, at the time, the largest demographic among Japan's movie-going audience, a fact that prompted the filming of 1992's Godzilla vs. Mothra is one of Toho's most popular monsters and second only to Godzilla in her total number of film appearances. The character is often depicted hatching offspring (in some cases, twins) when approaching death, a nod to the Saṃsāra doctrine of numerous Indian religions. Mothra's design is influenced by silk worms, their imagos, and those of giant silk moths in the family Saturniidae.

Unlike other Toho monsters, Mothra is a largely heroic character, having been variously portrayed as a protector of her own island culture, the Earth and Japan. She is typically portrayed as a colossal sentient larva ( caterpillar) or imago, accompanied by two miniature fairies speaking on her behalf.

Mothra has appeared in several Toho tokusatsu films, most often as a recurring character in the Godzilla franchise. Mothra ( Japanese: モスラ, Hepburn: Mosura) is a fictional monster, or kaiju, that first appeared in the 1961 film Mothra, produced and distributed by Toho Studios.

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