Maguma

Maguma (Showa)

Maguma (Showa)

Maguma of the Showa era (南極怪獣 マグマ, Nankyoku Kaijū Maguma — Antarctic Monster Maguma / Prehistoric Giant Walrus) is a colossal semiaquatic mammal kaiju that debuted in Toho's 1962 hard sci-fi disaster masterpiece *Gorath* (Japanese: 妖星ゴラス, *Yōsei Gorasu*), directed by Ishirō Honda with special effects directed by Eiji Tsuburaya. Belonging to a forgotten prehistoric species of giant pinniped that had been preserved in cryogenic suspended animation beneath Antarctica's continental ice sheet for millions of years, Maguma was inadvertently aroused by the colossal thermal exhaust and subterranean vibrations of the United Nations' massive atomic rocket booster complex, constructed to alter Earth's orbital trajectory to dodge a collision course with the rogue star Gorath. Measuring 50 meters in length and weighing 25,000 metric tons, the enraged beast emerged to smash pipelines and bulldozer vehicles, threatening the salvation of mankind until the UN Space Force deployed an experimental VTOL jet equipped with an atomic heat laser to bury and terminate the creature.